Sreedhar Pillai

The Secret to Finding a Great Title for Your Blog

2013-05-22T08:06:44-04:00

More than a decade ago, when I wanted to register my first domain, I didn't know what to call it. But I was excited at the feeling and fun of registering and becoming the proud owner of a domain when no one had heard of Google, Yahoo or Facebook and the Web was still in its infancy. Frankly, driving a Ferrari onto your porch couldn't match it then!

So I couldn't wait and care then for all the search, thought and fieldwork you have to put in for choosing a name for my domain. When I started to fill in the online form, I looked out of the window and noticed that little street name plaque around the corner, which was always there but had never caught my attention before. It read Forge Valley Way. For some reason, quite unaware of what I was into, I typed in my first domain name, forgevalley.com.

Little did I realize then that I had inadvertently chosen a great domain name and also learned the secret of choosing great names and titles for your domains and blogs!

What I didn't realize at the time was Valley Forge was a great name in American history, well known in the U.S. and close to many American hearts.

I didn't also realize that the street name was chosen, due to its proximity to the oldest iron bridge, which is equally famous and close to the hearts of many British and history lovers, being a symbol of the Industrial Revolution pioneered in England. Perhaps a forge existed here 400 years ago when the bridge was built.

Forgevalley also turned out to be home to the best bread dogs in the world, 'Forgevalley Sherpei' turning out much ahead in Google search every time I tried to search for forgevalley.com.

Simply put, forgevalley.com rang a bell to millions around the world even before I decided what to do with it. It was already famous because it associated with something connected to history, human emotion and animal love, people always remembered.

It even came in handy for the grandiose and commercial venture I had envisaged for the domain, which I named Forgevalley Corporation, hoping to grow big like Microsoft Corporation. It still might become great one day, who knows?

Though creation of forgevalley.com was quite accidental, it has revealed the secret of great benefits of choosing any name somehow connected with great names which are already famous and to which people emotionally connect and remember easily!

How to Decide What Will Be a Great Name for Your Blog Title?

When I decided to base my blog on celebrities and stories of love and romance and their relevance to the social Web, I did a lot of search for a blog title which will reflect that, yet will meet the above described criteria of being already famous and associated with people's lives.

After a lot of search I came up with Lasting Rose, an easy to remember name which is also well associated with love and romance and Valentine's Day, the softer aspects of lives of celebrities and also ordinary folks.

I was very glad when my search showed 'Lasting Rose' also is a famous antique brand of chinaware everyone loves to possess for its beauty and delicate properties, which reflected the central theme of my blog.

Once you decide and have an idea of the central theme of your blog, it is easier to look for great and famous names associated with the idea.

Where to Find Great and Famous Names and Ideas Associated With Your Blog Topic?

Finding famous names and ideas for your blog title is easier than you think because they are all around you. Look out and find:

• List of 100 Greatest Novels of All Time
• List of 100 Greatest Movies of All Time
• List of 100 Greatest Songs of All Time
• List of 100 Greatest Battles of All Times

These are only some examples. Generally speaking any list or collection of old and famous things will be a good place to start searching.

How to Get People to Read Below Your Title and Take a Peek of Your Blog?

Now that you have got the attention of your potential visitor and a bit of his emotional urge to find what you are offering, it is time to reveal a bit more of what you intent to communicate.

Usually scanning of the title of your post or a listing of your recent post will expose the nature of the content of your blog. But there is one place you can show off your intentions more easily, it is the description of your Blog under its Title. It is also one place you can borrow from others liberally and be creative.

Like your title which associates through peoples memory of something, you description also can lean on stuff people have learned and remember for a life time. What we learn as children will somehow stick with us though as adults we live our lives far away from those. We may get attached to different ideas and values.

But the best thing is expressions of such things are all around us by way of quotes, tweets, hidden in literature and various forms of media, verse and prose. Thankfully the web makes it a lot easier to search them out using your key words.

Annotating a famous quote and adapting it for your description can be even a bit of fun.

For example, I had started with a simple straight forward description for my blog Lasting Rose:
"Shred Pillai's Blog on Celebs and Social Web." However as time passed and posts piled up, I realised that the nature of Lasting Rose has indeed changed quite a bit. It looked like the Wonderland Alice had wandered about. So I have changed it a bit.

"The time has come to talk of many things, of shoes and ships and social Web, of cabbages and celebrities."

Finding a good title and description for your blog need not be a stressful part of your life. It can be fun and creative experience with a bit of reading and search. You could even change it around to suit the evolution of the social Web and the change in the perception of your visitors.

How to Write a Blog Post in One Hour That Is Guaranteed to be Published, Get Noticed and Even Go Viral!

2013-05-14T00:12:41-04:00

If you are one of those who keep staring at your desktop and flipping through the tabs for hours, even days, wondering how to write your next blog post, you are not alone! The web is full of tips and advice for bloggers like you on how to write smashing posts that will go viral, bringing you zillions of hits and thousands of dollars in your account.

If you are not an expert blogger who blogs for a living, on your own expertise, have tried out all of the advice and still wonder how some people like Andrew Sullivan consistently post pieces the rest of the world go gaga about, this may be for you.

The truth is, writing a good and interesting post is not all that difficult, if you don't worry too much about it.

Chances are you may be already doing most of the work as a matter of routine.

Unlike all those numbered instructions and steps from the tipsters and experts, which sound like a chore and a pain in the butt you would rather put off, writing good blog posts can be real fun. You may think this is a The Onion post, but it isn't.

The trick is to keep constructing your article or blog post as you keep spending your time browsing. Unless you are an expert on something you blog about, that is when you really get the seeds of your post.

You are likely to spend most of your browsing time on topics, events, people, objects, places and sites of interest to you, on things closer to your heart or something you are passionate about. You may even be a practitioner or dream to achieve great things in whatever that may be. So there you are, you already have the most important ingredient for a great post -- your own emotional involvement and commitment!

No doubt, you get hooked on to the screen when you feel very strongly about something, most probably something just happening and catching big headlines. You may be subjected to a strong positive emotion, like joy, like when your favorite team won a game or negative one like in the aftermath of a tragic event. You want to shout out and get it out of your chest. Your headline!

Now is the time to open your favorite word processor, unless it is already open, and just type in what you wanted to get out of your chest and save the document. You see, your blog post is nearly ready because all gurus on blogging will tell you that the headline is the most important part of your post.

If you are really perturbed by the subject matter, you are likely to persist and read more either immediately or over a period of a few days and follow up on the event to satisfy your own information crunch and driven by your own emotion. You may even save an article or picture or video for a future look if you don't have time. Actually you are unknowingly preparing great content for your blog post.

All you have to do is to keep adding all that on the document you have saved, under the headline you just typed in. The best thing is to copy and paste the URLs from the address bar under your headline so that you can reopen the page at a later time with all its content. It will be a good idea to copy any vital quotes, opinions or tweets that you agree with or that upset you, as you continue to read so you don't have to go all over again.

Of course you can keep adding on bits and pieces you feel like blurting out from time to time to all those stuff you are adding while browsing. Very soon, you will see you have already a great part of it your post.

If you are someone who likes to dig deeper, you are likely to do some search as you go along. Those might exactly be the stuff anyone who reads your articles may be searching for. So you have also your keywords for your SEO. Just keep adding all those links to the bottom of your post.

So you see, you now have not only the skeleton but also some body for a emotionally driven, compelling content you want to share with your readers. The best thing to do now is put it away and forget it till you are ready to spend that one hour adding more and refining what you have to say, annotating and referencing with the links you have collected and embellishing with the quotes and tweets you have copied.

Now that you have your post in front of you, it is time to apply all those check lists the experts have recommended, to refine and fine tune your article. Almost certainly you will find that your post already takes care of most of them and "improving" further might destroy the natural flow and readability of your content.

If you are looking to get your post published elsewhere, chances are your post will be accepted by any sensible editor, as it will have great content supported by relevant references as well as interesting and current information everyone is talking about.

If you are aiming to get your post go viral, a check with the following checklist and guidelines of Carson Ward from SEOMOZ, detailed in his brilliant article can help.

A viral checklist

Two months from now it's going to be easy to sit down and create content in the same habits we always have. Not all content needs to be viral, but when that's the goal, make sure that you accomplish all of the following.

Did you sufficiently cover the topic? Is it long enough? (24)
Does the content inspire a high-energy emotion like awe (16), anger(18), or anxiety (18)?
Did your tone convey emotion? (12)
Is it practically useful? (16)
Is it interesting? (14)
Is it surprising? (8)
Does the author have fame/credibility? (8)
If it's supposed to be funny, is it actually funny? Are you sure your friends aren't just being nice? (∞)

You can't always have all of these factors, so I've added a maximum score in parenthesis to help prioritize those factors that research has shown to be most important to sharing. If you rate your content at or near 100, it's likely that it has a far greater chance of going viral.

You will be surprised to see that the post you just put together has a lot of the essential ingredients listed above as it will have an emotionally charged Headline with relevant key words and content which your readers will find interesting.

What you need to remember is that you can always go back to the post and fine tune it in most cases even after you post it, before it goes live. But what is important is that you are able to write your post without putting it off and carrying an unpleasant burden of an undone job.

As an example of putting all these in practice, you can check out this post which started as a bit of scrap like the picture of the draft above and the post published by HuffPost.

White Goat and Caged Parrot -- How the Indian Media Failed to See Facts From Fiction

2013-05-12T12:19:44-04:00

Like the rest of the industrial sectors that see a future in the huge untapped Indian market, the Western media has also partnered with Indian upstarts. However, unlike in other industries, the lack of substance and quality in the daily output of the Indian brands, which carry names like CNN-IBN can actually dent the credibility of the western media very quickly.

Though in a country of 1.3 billion people, the direct influence of these channels remain restricted to the urban elite and is minuscule, their viewership and influence now stretch globally thanks to the internet. Besides what they show on a daily basis becomes the fodder for a huge number of local channels and printed media the next day, often adding more color and crazy interpretation when translated in to local languages, as can be seen from some weird postings on Facebook.

The Indian Supreme Court and the Caged Parrot

During a hearing last week on the progress of investigation by CBI (Indian equivalent of the FBI) the Supreme Court of India made a few euphemistic references to assert that the CBI should operate independently, comparing it to a caged parrot which merely repeats the voices of its different masters, the supreme court itself also being one of them.

The Indian media at large latched on to the "caged parrot" euphemism, for its dramatic and mass consumption effect, merely repeating it like a parrot though the reference itself doesn't mean anything in itself without the reference to the masters or the events leading up to it.

Though agencies like Reuters reported factually, no one in the media had shown any understanding of the deeper and under lying checks and balances of the Indian constitution, which squarely place the agency under a government of elected representatives, to ensure its power is limited and subject to control.

In fact only a few months back, the independence of the CBI was the bone of contention of the anti graft agitators and the opposition who wanted to place it under the Lokpal, a new constructional body with unlimited powers, clearly removing all powers to control it from the elected representative of the people and subverting the essence of Indian democracy.

Though the current government led by Sonia Gandhi's UPA and Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh has adopted a "laissez-faire" policy with the agency, overseeing the work of CBI is clearly the prerogative of the government despite instances of nepotism, which the CBI is investigating. Its director had asserted that neither the central theme of status reports got changed after meetings nor any deletion of any evidence against any suspect or accused took place.

The media has failed to impartially report the whole issue, which has relevance to the so-called Coalgate scam and loss to the government, which in itself is wrong interpretation by the CAG of government policy of allocating coal resources without auction, which began way back in 1993.
The government actually has every right to see that the investigating agency take cognisance of these facts in its reports and has only ensured that as was done in all previous cases before the supreme court.

The fact that the CBI is investigating execution of a government policy for incidence of corruption can't take its democratic duties away as being demanded by the judiciary.

As the fourth pillar of democracy, it is the duty of the media to expose and bring such anomalies for public scrutiny and debate and there is no sign of such mature conduct other than blatant sensationalism.

White Goat, Which Has Gone Viral!

No one knows if a goat that was noticed in the compound of the Indian Railway Minister Bansal only a few hours before he was sacked has anything to do with goat sacrificed for Chicago Cubs curse. It probably had more to do with Hindu astrology and its remedial measures of donating animals to ward off evils. But this goat whether it knew or not, soon became not only a "scapegoat" for the minister's sins to be fed first and then to be sacrificed by him but also internationally famous!

The sensation hungry India media showed live coverage of the goat and the video reporting by leading channels, who had no clue of what was going on but chose to assume and report it as some sort of animal sacrifice went viral.

Such reporting, which was clearly intrusion of privacy of the minister, without permission and devoid of facts was clearly unprofessional, even if such acts are part of a culturally diverse Indian life.

Timing and Political Intrigue of Last Week's Events

While drawing conclusions, the channels have clearly failed to analyse the week's events in context and look deeper in to why they happened, choosing for wild guesses instead.

According to Money Control:

IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai says that by sacking Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal, the government has made a last ditch attempt to restore its fading credibility. Clearly serious questions will be asked as to just why the Prime Minister took so long to take this decision to sack his ministers. "Clearly there will also be questions as to whether the Prime Minister can completely insulate himself after the sacking of Ashwani Kumar," Rajdeep Sardesai said.

A deeper analysis would have proved that the government action was a well derived strategy in the wake of the regional elections in the state of Karnataka, which took place in the week.

The fact that the opposition which lost the state election had every reason to draw political punches to upset the government on the eve of the elections and the UPA government managed to successfully thwart the opposition ploy and win the election can explain last week's events more logically.

The media would have done much better by digging in to those questions of why the CBI chose to bring out the Bansal case, which they had been investigating for long just on the eve of the election rather than surmising on the plight of a prime minister who had no compunctions to resign from his post for lesser things like getting his way on the nuclear pact with the USA against stringent parliamentary opposition.

Is Andrew Sullivan's Way the Only Way for Bloggers Who Want to Make Real Money?

2013-04-05T10:51:07-04:00

Amidst a raging debate, stemming from a recent Pew report on the state of news media, whether it is the Golden Age of journalism or it is barely breathing its last, the journalistic world is keenly watching Andrew Sullivan's recent "pay wall" experiment with his famous blog, The Dish.

Though the unfulfilled expectations in advertising revenues of mainstream digital news media is widely perceived as the motivation for this venture, the blogosphere at large is not holding breath, thanks to the respect bloggers are gaining as influencers in brand promotion.

Contrary to the gloom and doom perception among news bloggers, a Technorati report on digital influence in 2013 places bloggers as an influential tribe on the up, whose real value is not grasped by those who splurge massive budgets on brand promotions.

Though blogs and influencers don't get a large portion of brands' digital spend, they rank high with consumers for trust, popularity and influence. When making overall purchase decisions, for consumers, blogs trail only behind retail and brand sites.

In fact, like the state of the media, there is much overlapping here thought he Technorati report doesn't seem to draw any distinction.

However, there is much convergence in the findings of the two reports as to the diversion of digital advertising resources from digital news media to other the digital media including blogs, with display ads, video and search claiming bulk of the spending.

Though the Technorati report further identifies the preference for mobile, social and video, where the buck gets the maximum bang, as the preferred technologies, blogging has a 30 percent share, only behind Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

Clearly there is huge distinction between blogging in journalism like that of Andrew Sullivan's, which influence politics, at least in the developed world, and hugely contributes to focus on issues and change the shape of the world, and blogging as a channel to stream the world's accumulated expertise for the benefit of consumers, which seems to benefit from the current trend.

In reality, with the sticky amalgam, which the TV, print and digital media as well as the social web tend to become, bloggers as a tribe, to remain influential, may find it necessary to go behind a paywall to win back credibility, the fundamental virtue in journalism, something money can't buy.

In fair criticism of the erosion of professionalism and standards which over a period of time will only destroy the trust, much like the paper advertisement lost its mettle decades ago for the same reasons, Bob Garfield of the Guardian rightly states:

All of that fantastic content Yglesias was gushing about is paid for by venture capitalists making bad bets, established media companies digging into their savings accounts to pay the bills, displaced workers earning peanuts, amateurs, semi-pros, volunteers and monks.

Then, there's e-payola: pay-per-post, pay-per-tweet, pay-per-review -- and their cousin, affiliate advertising, which gives bloggers and tweeters incentive to steer readers toward transaction. In broadcast TV, there's the serial incest between the news divisions and entertainment divisions, and on local TV, video news releases camouflaged as reportage.

Yet, none of these gimmicks is on the way out. Au contraire, they're all growing. Which is terrifying, for what they all have in common is that, to one degree or another, they compromise editorial integrity. Readers and viewers have no way of knowing that they are being marketed to, or that the content is inherently untrustworthy.

If anything, the social web, which in the case of Facebook which has grown over one billion members only accelerate this pernicious erosion of integrity.

For example, information put on the web can go viral irrespective of its factual nature merely by human and emotional reaction, very often producing unjustified results. This is further complicated by the level of education and evolution of the society.

However, over a long term the trust deficit from this onslaught volume over quality will be compensated by economic reasons, much like the manufacturing industry is slowly returning from China.

The demand for quality and veracity will inevitably grow due to scarcity and bloggers will be no exception to this trend. This of course implies that not only news bloggers like Andrew Sullivan but anyone who wants to keep high standards and quality will have to start expecting to be paid for it in some manner.

Is Sonia Gandhi a Real Indian Saint Accused as an Italian Carpet Bagger?

2013-03-19T12:03:48-04:00

Few women in history had to undergo a life as dramatic as that of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, which had been governing India for the last seven years.

In fact, the personal and emotional turmoil Sonia was forced to face on account of her own personal choices are harsher than those experienced by many of India's great saints.

Today, Sonia Gandhi, like her countryman Caesar, had to make the ultimate sacrifice by taking a double stab for the sake of India, a country of saints, which must earn her sainthood.

In a single speech, Sonia had to acknowledge the cause of the Tamils, some of whom murdered her husband for their cause, and denounce Italy, her country of birth, which is in a dispute with India, a country she has adopted.

Italian waitress

Many in India believe, based on the Western media which has proclaimed her the fourth richest politician and powerful woman in the world, that Sonia is a corrupt foreign intruder, out to destroy India. Her detractors, however, cannot explain what she and her family are doing in the heat and dust of Delhi, leading a frugal lifestyle, rather than basking on a sunny Mediterranean Island if she owns billions.

Not a lot is known about the circumstances in which Sonia met Rajiv, the scion of the Gandhi family and agreed to marry him despite great cultural and social differences. For a young Italian bride, hardly aware of the prejudice and taboo of archaic India, the very thought should have given nightmares.

Yet, to the credit of the young Rajiv, who made good on his promise and took her home, it turned out to be a story of great romance, sacrifice, tolerance and a great Indian tradition of welcome and acceptance of foreigners as their own.

No one called Sonia an Italian waitress at that time. If anything, it is a measure of how much the Indian society has reneged into narrow-minded nationalism and its insecurity that, fanned by parochial politics and ill education, Sonia is often referred to as an Italian waitress, especially on the social media.

In a country where hardly any work is respected and students, pampered by parents, never have to work to pay for their own education, it is relatively unknown that if you visit Cambridge, the waitress who serves you could be a student of the great university, though Sonia was just a language student.

If you are the leader of the ruling alliance, it is doubtful which Indian will stand being abused like that.

Oh my God! My mother-in-law is shot and dying in my lap!

Not many women had to cry that out to themselves, except during the wars.

When you are close to the pinnacle of power and personal security is something one takes for granted, the enormous shock of something like the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi is not something many Indian women would have taken.

Instead of fainting herself, Sonia had the courage and presence of mind to carry and rush her to the hospital, revealing the innate strength of her personality to face toughest of situations in life.

However, no can correctly fathom the personal trauma the family had to undergo, though the anger of the collective nation against the Sikh community, whose members committed the assassination, and the angst of the world on that day will never be erased from living memory.

Yet, when the time and need arose years later, Sonia showed no compunctions in renunciation of the power of the prime minister and in hoisting a very deserving Dr. Man Mohan Singh, a Sikh, to that position without batting an eye lid.

There aren't many saints who can be credited with much more personal sacrifice.

It is your husband, madam, in the bag!

Lightening strikes once in many peoples lives.

But in the case of Sonia it struck twice, with the assassination of her Husband Rajiv Gandhi by the Tamil militants of neighbouring Sri Lanka. (One might say it struck thrice with the accidental death of Sanjay Gandhi, her brother-in-law and brother of Rajiv).

Not many women had to welcome husbands literally in parts, in a body bag. Not many people can even take a guess of what might have gone through the mind of Sonia Gandhi on that fateful day, especially about the Tamil terrorists who sent her husband in smithereens.

Still, over the years, Sonia and her children have publicly come to terms with the Tamil Elam issue and, Sonia's daughter Priyanka has even visited the culprits in prison, in a sign of conciliation and forgiveness.

It is a real tragedy that despite all that, Sonia Gandhi, as the chair person of the ruling alliance has to undergo the political brinkmanship of an alliance partner, who has decided to leave in support of the very Tamil issue which took her husband's life.

The fact that Sonia Gandhi had to take the brunt of the politica lmanipulation of a party who was the sole source of corruption charges which put her own Congress party in great difficulties and stalled her programmes for the poor of the country is a real personal tragedy, only compounded by the fact that they stand for her husband's assassins.

What can you call this lady who perhaps is bearing a cross heavier than the one Jesus himself carried?

You too Brutus?

If all that is not enough, Sonia has finally put an end to the "You are Italian" cry of hysteria of the Indian masses, heightened by the recent diplomatic stand off between India and Italy, by publicly warning Italy not to take India for granted.

The fact that, Italy actually has case in its favour against India, from the fact that its marines were just doing a job protecting from Somali pirates, in international waters, makes Sonia's sacrifice even more adorable.

No woman of any country ever had to take such a stance against her country of birth for the sake of the country of her dead spouse.

History will no doubt one day record that as the perfect love of a leader for her people, worthy of sainthood, though the current generation of Indians can't see because they refuse to see.

It's Now or Never to Rename Valentine's Day as Elvis Day

2013-02-12T05:14:25-05:00

If you are someone who feel a tightness in your chest and tear drops swell in your eyes as you listen to any of Elvis' songs, perhaps no one but Elvis can make your Valentine's Day! You are almost certainly a baby boomer and you owe this to Elvis before you go; it is time to rename Valentine's Day as Elvis Day.

Valentine's Day is the ultimate celebration of love, the most precious of human feelings, personified by Elvis as no one else has. This is borne out by the titles he chose for his songs and their lyrics, almost all of which had nothing but love to sing about. Why are we then waiting for the kind bishop St. Valentine to abdicate to place the King himself on the throne of love?

What makes Elvis uniquely deserving is the emotional avalanche of each of his songs, delivered with powerful voice, intonation, timbre and mountains of emotion to someone in front of him, making you feel that someone was no one but you. Arguably even Luciano Pavarotti's superb delivery of the original "O Sole Mio" has never achieved the emotional turmoil of "Now or Never" by Elvis in listener's minds.

If 35 years after his death, in the age of social media, we still aren't calling Valentine's Day "Elvis Day," only the commercialism and short sightedness for immediate profits must be blamed.
As someone said, "You can bet that Col Parker, Elvis' manager, would have been all over social media: for a price. It would cost money to click onto the official Elvis page, or even his website. If not that, you'd have to pay to use it, with a teaser front page leading to a pay for Elvis main section. Nobody got to see Elvis for free, the Colonel saw to that."

In reality, even without the Colonel around, the situation is exactly the same. Despite the social web being a free for all world on its own, nothing about Elvis is really free, which virtually destroy any chance of the legacy of Elvis being passed on to the future generations.

In today's competitive world of modern electronic media and entertainment, different social values decide success and failure. Where values we knew and cherished are replaced by buckets of emotions of anger, hatred, lust, fame and glitterati, dominated by Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, the softer qualities of love, romance and angst of separation and loss, which endeared Elvis and his music to a generation, do not find much of a chance to survive.

In the broken-down social fabric of today, which is being reshaped by social media, where the pope can tweet to his sheep and you can find friends you can bang with just by a click, there are fewer and fewer people to listen to and experience the inexplicable emotional trips to fantasy worlds of joy and sorrow only Elvis songs can take you.

It is sad that whole new generations are really missing out on something which their parents and grandparents were granted to experience but have no real means of passing on, like lessons in text books or in curriculum. It is indeed a shame that future generations might not even know Elvis ever lived and graced the earth.

Songs like "Can't Help Falling in Love," "Always on My Mind," "Love Me Tender," "Are You Lonesome Tonight," "I Will Hold You in My Heart" or "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," which are indeed immortal, will be most probably forgotten.

When everyone is concerned about preserving and protecting our environment and a clean world for future generations and billions of dollars spent on efforts, there must be a ways to stop this being happening.

Releasing a royalty free album of memorable, evergreen Elvis songs as an ELVIS DAY album, free for all and downloadable on the net would be a good start.

Renaming Valentine's Day as Elvis Day must certainly make awareness of his music and legacy for years to come, naming a day to remember and celebrate.

With platforms like Facebook reaching over a billion memberships, with six billion more to join, the enormous power of the social web can definitely help to rekindle the dying memory of this great singer and human being among the younger generation.

For business minds in the know of the enormous power of the social web, that in itself must be ample reason for releasing at least part of the treasure on the web.

Sadly, the onus is on the baby boomers, who lived to experience the miracle in the voice and life of one of the sweetest of human beings, who gave us some of the greatest music which could really touch the hearts and souls of humans, to make it immortal for the sake of future generations.

Let us show our love of Elvis; for a start, let us call this Valentine's Day ELVIS Day!

Could Elvis Have Shaped the Social Web Differently?

2013-02-06T11:52:00-05:00

Facebook has amassed a gargantuan membership of over a billion people and Twitter aims to catch up with new features like Vine, taking micro-blogging to new levels. This spectacular growth of the social web, no doubt, is largely due to its nature as a free place for social interaction.

However, the role in the growth and evolution of social web, of pop stars and celebrities like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, who have enhanced their fan base and interact with their fans through social web, is also indisputable.

But what about Elvis Presley, who sent millions around the world in a frenzy without hardly ever stepping out of the U.S. soil and just by singing "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You," when no one had even heard of the social web? Could he have shaped the social web to be a totally different place from as we know it today?

There is no denying that without the television neither Elvis Presley nor Lady Gaga would have reached the level of popularity they attained. So the integration of the social web with television by most recent technological advances like social streaming and social DVR, which allows for real time interaction over social media with time shift, would have evolved naturally.

However, the popularity of Lady Gaga, who is a singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and activist on the social web is largely based on her daring stage appearances, issues like bullying and causes like LGBT rights, which the artist actively support.

Her achievements, like being invited to speak at Harvard, are more of a reflection of her beliefs and support of the issues she has chosen to champion for. As a result, the technology she sought was a means to interact with her fans on the web regarding those issues, enhancing her presence among her fans, which created her famous back room chats with her fans and which rendered her role of counseling her fans possible.

But in the case of Elvis Presley, it was his talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma and good humor which endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. He has been described as the sexiest man of his generation, so manly yet beautiful!

In the words of music historian John Robertson, Elvis was "a flirtatious teenage idol with a heart of gold; a tempestuous, dangerous lover; a gutbucket blues singer; a sophisticated nightclub entertainer; [a] raucous rocker."

Years after his death, fans continue to yearn for him with comments like, "We will never have someone like him again... Elvis, unique, wonderful, our king forever!!!!"

Obviously, the persona of Elvis Presley, which had no need of a social web for the entire world to swoon for him, might have attracted the entire world to Facebook, if he were to have a fan page!

Given the wild passion and infatuation his fans felt for him as was evident from his concerts, it is conceivable that tactile technologies, like the remote kissing devices, would have found their place in Facebook much head of simple chat.

May be you could have enjoyed an on demand virtual concert by Elvis Presley singing "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You," just for you.

Perhaps a new version of the Aloha from Hawaii music concert, that was headlined by Elvis Presley, and broadcast live via satellite around the world on January 14, 1973, in which fans could rejoice by touching Elvis, using this invention, wherever they happened to be could have been broadcast through Facebook or whatever name the media would have been called.

There is of course many things one can imagine as was possible. The predominant factors would be the key elements that made Elvis irresistibly humane and accessible to millions. One thing is sure, whatever shape the social web would have assumed, it would have done more to bind people of the world in romance, love, passion and compassion, qualities which Elvis was graced with in abundance.

Addicted to Facebook? There Is Hope. Now You Can Get Addicted to Vine With Vinepeek!

2013-01-29T16:11:10-05:00

Vinepeek has the potential and power to replace Facebook and Twitter in your life. For that very reason, no one can say how long it will last. However before you read this further, you must be aware that Vinepeek brings to you people's lives in uncensored, raw, six seconds shots. If you don't want to watch what people do in real life and share with others, better not take a peek.

Simply put, Vinepeek is a website with a small window which continuously shows a stream of 6-second-long microblogging videos embedded in tweets by a video-sharing feature called Vine, recently introduced by Twitter.

Vine, which is a video sharing service of Twitter, needs software currently available only on Apple's products like iPhone, iPod and iPad for you to embed six-second videos in your tweets. Once embedded and tweeted, the clip which has its URL can be clicked by anyone who can see your tweet, to watch your video which loops continuously, in a little window.
According to Twitter vice president of product Michael Sippey, like tweets, the brevity of videos on Vine inspires creativity. Dom Hofmann, co-founder of Vine, said the Vine embeddings are little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life.

In fact Vinepeek is actually more ingenuity than technology, As a matter of fact you can easily get a widget from Twitter to pull up the stream with tweets with Vine videos. But with the power of Vine and the enormous popularity of Twitter, sites like Vinepeek can take millions of users of the social web to a new phase and level of addictive dependence. Here is why:

In real life, if you are depressed, dejected or hopeless about your life, you head to your local pub where you can meet up with your pals and share your life with them. In reality, that is the reason most people get hooked to Facebook and Twitter where they can meet up with their real friends and hundreds of others who they have never met, with the convenience of a desktop or handheld device. However they still need to read, type or do some work to take in the updates of their buddies or watch the stream on the wall, not entirely conducive with the mindset. Vinepeek practically removes that element of unpleasant work by having to do nothing but watching to get the same level of enjoyment.

In fact the constantly changing and unpredictable short videos on the by Vine stream, with amazing visual and sound quality, are like infographics on steroids. You are taken in to a never ending whirl wind of time, space, and motion full of life, engaging your mind as never before, offering an experience entirely deserving to be called a new form of entertainment. It is always there, you feel like taking it in, you watch it. You don't, you simply ignore it and carry on with whatever you are doing. There is always the next one. In fact Vinepeek actually brings the Social Web to life!

Vinepeek in fact even makes the raison de etre of sites like Tech crunch, Mashable and a lot of others where we constantly check for "NEW" things a little bit questionable, bringing a series of objects and ideas we have never heard of or imagined, quenching our thirst for "novote" in life.

The exponential power of the video compared to the rest of the media in the development of human communication and understanding of life around us has not been fully understood. Vinepeek in fact brings a new dimension to this quest by pumping up an unusually high volume of imagery, sound and emotions to our brains, consciously and unconsciously in the shortest time. This alone can explain the enormous addictive power of Vinepeek. In time there can be hundreds of valid reasons to support sites like Vinepeek.

It is quite normal that initial glitches can be deterring. It looks like Apple has temporarily taken the Vine software from their store. Weather Twitter will continue with the development of Vine or not, utilities like Vinepeek are sure to pop up as any one who has enjoyed it even for a few hours will now find anything else unsatisfactory. For now My Facebook window is closed and the little Vinepeek is open in a corner of my second screen.

Why Won't the Indians Accept Rahul Gandhi as Their Own Obama?

2013-01-24T16:45:06-05:00

The opinion of Tony Blair, given during a visit to Delhi in 2008 as an ex-Prime Minister of the U.K, turned out to be as much intuitive as it was prophetic: "I think he [Rahul] is one of the most talented, able and insightful of the younger generation of politicians worldwide, but how he ends up in your politics again, that's for you, for him and for his party to decide. But I think he has got first class mind and great commitment to India."

Four years on, Rahul Gandhi has proved his worth as a political leader in his own right and not just as the son of Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress Party. He has been favored as a leader who can take the party to win the next election and foisted by a majority of the party leaders to the position of the vice president.

His insightful mind and commitment to his country could be glimpsed from the pathos of his acceptance speech which the Indian media has ascribed as the "Obama moment" of the party. His speech, revealing his personal anguish and hinting a lack of avarice for power, which he could have grabbed anytime he wanted, is seen as a rare one in the Indian politics.

Despite this, why is India, especially its youth, judging from the chatter on the social web and the Indian media, so skeptical and suspicious of the young Gandhi?

Karma -- the Indian perception of life

The reason, perhaps, lies in the Indian perception of life which writes off fellow human beings and their achievements and failures as the reward for the rights and wrongs of past births, something they call karma. Indians have scant respect, admiration or gratitude for stuff others do in this life and don't care why people behave or act in the way they do.

The tragedy of India is the hollowness of its youth. If only they could stop to think for a moment and look in to the psyche of Rahul Gandhi, who rarely smiles and appears more melancholic than angry, if only they try to look deep in to the make-up of his personality, perhaps they could see like Tony Blair did, the making of a great future leader.

Rahul Gandhi - Indian or Italian?

Rahul Gandhi, still a bachelor at 43, is a young Indian much different from any average youth of modern India. In fact there are many things "Obamasque" about him which a majority of the Indian population fail to grasp. For a start, like Barack Obama, Rahul Gandhi is born with an identity crisis, being born to a Caucasian mother and an Asian father.

A mixed parentage is rare in modern India after the departure of the British. While Rahul Gandhi is an Indian for millions of Indians, for political mileage, he is often depicted as an Italian prince, out to loot India's poor. As Obama had discovered, finding an identity must have been truly an excruciating experience for the young Gandhi, with neverending arguments with himself.

Being born in to terror and brutal violence is not for everyone.

In Rahul's youth, he "was taught to play badminton by two security guards. Then one day, they killed my grandmother and took away the balance from my life."

A few years later the young Gandhi lost his father in a suicide terror attack and had to live under commando protection ever since. How many of India's young can even imagine growing up like that and still being sane?

Yet Rahul Gandhi had no choice but to live through it and endure being ridiculed as an "Amul Baby" by his political opponents.

Coping with the high and low of absolute power

Coping with gaining and losing power is a nightmare for most people. It is almost impossible to imagine having to grow up in the lap of a family which has only tryst with absolute power and tragic death for decades. Knowing one day it may be your turn and live with the thought is nervewracking enough to drive anyone really insane.

There is no pressure like the pressure of political legacy.

One might say Rahul could have escaped from it all, perhaps by leaving the country. Not an option if you had to bear the immense political legacy of the Nehru family, especially if you had accusations about your late father to disprove, and meaningless political killings with no villains to avenge.

The notion of dynasty is actually nasty politics.

A dynasty is something in which sons are anointed or fathers are annihilated for power. The facts are starting from Rahul's grandmother Indira to Rahul; each Gandhi was foisted in to the position of the leader of the Congress party, in tragic circumstances or in the face of political decimation. Yet each of the Gandhi has been accused of dynastic ambition. That is also why majority of Indians can't grasp what Rahul meant when he said in his speech: "Last night, everyone congratulated me. But my mother came to my room and she sat and cried. Because she understands that the power that so many see is poison. She can see it because she is not attached to it (power)."

All of these should explain why in country in which dynastic politics is the norm, with regional and local politicians practicing it without shame, Rahul Gandhi was seen as a reluctant leader, despite having been given the power on a platter. Chances are you may never see Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister of India even if he will win many more elections for his party.

For those who really admire Rahul Gandhi and for those millions who believe and clamor on the social web that everything about him is phoney, an attempt to understand the makeup of his persona may be worthwhile.

You Don't Have to Chuck Your DVR in the Bin If You Are Addicted to the Social TV

2013-01-08T13:49:43-05:00

Here is a relatively obscure snippet of news, which could have made the corporate honchos of the leading makers of DVR like TiVo, Motorola, RCA, Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba and cable companies like Time Warner, Comcast and Cox which offer TV packages that include a DVR, sit up and take note.

DVR Falls Victim to "Social TV"

"Social TV," in which young viewers use cell phones to communicate with friends about shows they are currently watching, is reversing the trend to record shows on DVRs and watch them at some later time, according to a survey conducted in the U.K. by Digital Clarity. According to the study, 80 percent of users below the age of 25 communicate with their friends while watching TV, with 72 percent using Twitter, Facebook or other mobile applications. "Rather than social networks and television competing for attention it seems that young people are happy to embrace both and use one to enhance their enjoyment of the other," the study said. Digital Clarity founder Reggie James suggested that Social TV's actual victim has been the DVR.

"Social TV has changed this completely by turning programs into online events where you have to watch them as they happen," he said.

If the DVR marketing guys didn't take note, at least their dwindling sales projections should have given the first warnings of the changing trend.

However, ARKTAN, a Silicon Valley technology upstart, which has pioneered the social streaming technology, which enables the Social TV, has seen the writings on the wall and has come up with innovative solutions which allow social streaming to integrate with the DVR technology, which they call Social DVR.

So all those, who don't want to miss the fun of sharing what they watch in the privacy of their homes, with their friends on the social web, don't have to really give up their DVR just because they can't share their joy, excitement or anger with their friends on the social web unless they are glued to a telly.

With groundbreaking stuff like Social DVR, anyone can have his cake and eat it too! You can have the fun of watching your telly with social web and the convenience of a DVR when you want it, when you are ready for it and not as dictated by a channel's pre-determined schedule.

Keeping all the exciting features of DVR like pause, fast-forward, add, skip, etc. in tact, the Social DVR, with its time-sync capability is a technology enhancement that brings you the convenience of the DVR with all the fun and excitement of the social web. If you were at work and missed that climax of your favorite serial or a clinching moment your favorite team missed a goal with your friends, as and when it happened, you can still enjoy the moment as if you were with your friends, with SocialDVR bringing you their live tweets, comments, etc. as it happened at that moment.

So how do such amazing features become a reality? For a start, the developers have already successfully implemented their social streaming solutions with integration and curation technology for various platforms like social TV, celebrity homepages and curated social hubs.

TV shows like Dallas and Falling Skies and interactive web presence of celebrities like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and a host of others, powered by this social streaming technology implemented by media groups like UMG, place this technology provider ahead of the pack.

The developers have simply added additional features like time sync and support of additional functions, so that you don't have to mess with a second remote control, to robust APIs which allow you to capture and curate real-time social web content and conversation from multiple social platforms

Good news for those who are always on the move is that the time-syncing feature and social DVR capabilities are available for live and on-demand videos of TV shows and video programming playbacks across all platforms, including mobile.

If you are excited and want to know when this technology will be available to you, the website of Univision, is powered by both Social Streams and Social DVR, is live from October 2012. The site has already registered millions of viewers and thousands of videos on demand.

Apart from delivering the fun of live media with live social media, the effect of this technology might be far reaching. For example, reactions to events like the tragic gang rape in New Delhi or the Sandy Hook school shooting could be wider and spread over days, with decisive impact on shaping public opinion as more people will be sharing the impact of events.

Least of all, the enormous effect on an industry which will otherwise be facing a downgrading due to a product no one wants any more cannot be under estimated.

Fortunately, with Social DVR everyone can keep on smiling and hoping for better times both on the telly and on the social web.

Was the Newtown Speech the Most Difficult to Deliver for Obama?

2012-12-20T17:45:04-05:00

One day, when Barack Obama will no more be the president of the United States, someone will venture to make a movie on his life. It will be almost impossible to find an actor willing to enact the president's role because the performance of the future actor will be measured against that of the president himself, who in real life was forced to live through the toughest of theatrical moments, like when he addressed the Newtown school gathering after the massacre.

No actor, however capable, can bring out the agony of the president, who has to suppress his internal turmoil and present a different face to the nation for the sake of the position he is holding. No director can pull off visualization of a complex surge of emotions of a whole nation behind a tragic event like the one that happened in Newtown.

There are moments when a president has to deliver inspiring speeches to convey his vision or unify the country against adversity. Then there are occasions no one wishes to face in life, when the president is expected to address the nation, to say something, to console, assure and somehow alleviate the collective burden on the nation's psyche. The Newtown speech in the aftermath of the massacre of 20 innocent children and six of their teachers was one such testing moment for President Obama.

Though several tragedies have occurred during his presidency where he had to deliver consoling and supporting messages to the nation, the Newtown tragedy, coming right after a very divisive election must have been very different and difficult for the president.

It is hard to understand, why Barack Obama is seen as the first "black" president by many Americans and even by leading media though he was born to a white Caucasian lady. Though for the rest of the world this is a non-issue, it is the perception. However, this must have been the most difficult aspect for President Obama, who had to face and address a town whose population, and the bereaved they came to mourn, are almost entirely white.

No one can deny that such was the ferocity and divisiveness of the politics which only just ended in his re-election, which many in the nation still do not accept or at least have great difficulty to reconcile. No one can deny that the second amendment, which the president could do little about and something which his audience hold sacred had to do with the tragedy.

That, President Obama, as a very loving parent of two children, couldn't hold his tears while announcing the tragedy that occurred at Newtown as a national tragedy, didn't somehow alleviate his dilemma. Where trust was at best fragile, it must have been very difficult to find the right words to express and communicate something meaningful both to the community and to the nation at large.

The Newtown tragedy has occurred in the Christmas season, when everyone has to rejoice and not bereave, has rendered the event poignant beyond imagination. Mundane calls of presidential duties in the face of the Fiscal Cliff which he has very little time to sort out before the nation fall off it and the nomination of his future secretary of state must have been adding immense pressure to his working life. Yet the president was duty-bound to come to the bereaved, and address and console as the commander in chief.

President Obama did come to Newtown, and delivered the most difficult speech of his presidency with amazing grace. With measured words delivered in a way only Barack Obama, the great communicator, can do he somehow spoke, conveying the consolation and support of the nation he took to Newtown and asking for the nation's support and resolve to enable him for meaningful and effective action.

Without referring to the Second Amendment or NRA, he brought home the need for controlling the ownership and accessibility of dangerous weapons. Without admonishing, he brought home the need for better parenting and teaching and loving children. In as few words as possible he reminded Americans about family values they all need to return to.

You handled this horrific situation with such honest sympathy and grace. You have done our nation (and yourself) proud during one of our darkest moments. I am proud to call you my president.

For astute students of communication, President Obama's skills in oratory will be always be a benchmark. His speeches will be heard, watched analyzed and imitated for decades and centuries to come. But for true meaning and sense of his speeches, future learners will have to delve deep in to the contextual history and events as well.

Six Reasons Why Barack Obama Could Be Another Three Term POTUS in the Making

2012-11-13T02:55:57-05:00

For those who believe in celestial interventions in affairs on the earth, there were indications of the reelection of President Barack Obama and even a third term in office. But for mundane observers, a look at the events to the run up of the presidential election, its conduct and the post election realities raise the question whether Barack Obama will be the next three term president of the U.S. In fact most of the issues Obama is likely to address in his second term might need well over a decade to solve and are, for a determined president, too difficult to give up before he achieve.

A taller president

By achieving the impossible and winning the reelection, Barack Obama has grown taller in stature, virtually dwarfing almost everyone else, not just in the U.S. but on the world scene.

First, let's remember what Obama did in the first term: he passed the most substantial new element in the American safety net in generations, Obamacare. He helped pass a massive re-regulation of the financial sector, the Dodd-Frank bill. He passed the biggest stimulus package in our history, which I believe -- Ezra Klein convinced me of this -- prevented the worst economic depression in four generations. He did these things in the first two years, of course, when Democrats controlled Congress, but he did them. They were not chopped liver, whether or not you liked them. -- Q&As, Washington Post

However, everyone tends to forget the enormity of the unprecedented post-Lehman gloom and doom and impending recession Barack Obama was sent out to put right. What is not clear, at least to the rest of the world not familiar with the U.S. politics, is the equally massive obstruction he faced from a Republican majority in the House.

Add to all of those the spectacular annihilation of the number one enemy of the U.S.A he promised and carried out, matching the incredulity of the 9/11 attack on the nation, which has raised the credibility and image of the U.S. and its president as a force not to be taken lightly.
In short, the stature of the president has grown beyond that of any of the potential contenders for a long time to come. If President Obama decides to contest a third term, for which he may have plenty of reasons, there won't be many happy contenders.

Unique bond of a leader with his social web.

The truth is without the social web and its immense and electrifying power, the mystery of Obama would never have happened. At least in such a short time. This special bond shaped the 2008 election, owing to his youth and awareness of the potential of social media to take his message to a legion of young and savvy supporters. If anything, this special bond will only be stronger and forceful in imposing an obligation on himself to pursue the reforms and changing of the United States which he had promised but not quite finished. This is indeed the bond which has rendered Obama as the only Super PAC slaying Democrat.

In fact, there is no leader in either party who can claim anything similar to this phenomenon which will end if Obama decides not to run for a third term. It is hard to see how the Democrats will let that happen.

The fiscal deficit

During the Democratic convention, Bill Clinton asserted that one term is too short to remedy the fiscal damage created by the previous administration. But he didn't say two terms are sufficient. Even the president estimates a minimum of a decade, if he can get on with it unhindered. As it is, with a Republican majority in the house, it is questionable how much he can achieve. But if the electorate can see reason and buy the president's argument that he needs a third term, they are very likely to go with him.

Will Hillary? Won't Hillary?
The big question for the next election is who the Democratic Party candidate is going to be. It is said that Hillary Clinton will be the first choice if she will contest. But if Hillary is ready for it, she couldn't have stayed away from the campaign as she did, leaving Bill Clinton to let everyone second guess. If anything, Hillary has sent out the impression of an overworked diplomat who needs some rest and certainly not the sign of some one hungry for the power of the First Woman President of the U.S.A and willing to go for it. Hillary must know that at the age of 70, putting up your feet is a lot more comfortable than the gruelling chair in the oval office.

Changing demographics

The demographic which gave the most support to the Republicans yesterday was elderly white people -- not exactly the men and women of tomorrow. The age-group that gave Obama the most support was the young. White people supported Romney more than Obama; the country is becoming steadily less white. African-Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans overwhelmingly supported Obama. Latinos and Asian Americans are the fastest-growing categories of our population. -- Q&As, Washington Post

Much has been written about the demographic shift in the U.S. electorate which has turned in favor of Obama on account of his policies and the indifference of the GOP. This shift, which will widen in the next election, will be another compulsion for an obliging and liberal president not to give up too soon.

Shrinking election cycle and the number crunchers

If only it was actually four years -- two years is more like it. With so many people making a living talking and writing about politics, we'll be starting the next election cycle in two years, max. -- Q&As, Washington Post

The impact of the social media, social web, and a huge number of people who have taken election related professions which consumed 2 billion dollars in the recent election, the election cycle has been reduced to a perennial activity for analysts, strategists and others who predict the outcome. In a way, the next election cycle has already begun and an incumbent president becomes part of the cycle. President Obama has to weigh in if his next term will be enough, especially with the Republican majority in the House and obvious absence of an able successor to achieve his goals. Chances are he will see the need for a third term much like President Franklin Roosevelt before him.

For those willing to ponder, there could be any number of subtle signs of a prolonged presidency of Barack Obama one can't ignore. After all it is not as hard as searching for a needle in the hay stack.

Could the Secret of Romance of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor have been an evening of Sea bas and Sancerre in Swansea?

2012-10-01T13:38:16-04:00

They say the April weather is like a woman's heart. But if you have ever been in Wales, where the legendary Richard Burton was born and later grew up, you know the Welsh weather can be more like the heart of Elizabeth Taylor, his tempestuous queen of the silver screen and real life, who married seven times.
In his diaries yet to be published Richard Burton describes his relationship with Elizabeth:

'I have been inordinately lucky all my life but the greatest luck of all has been Elizabeth'

Richard Burton's Welsh love of language was paramount, as he famously stated years later, with a tearful Elizabeth Taylor at his side, "The only thing in life is language. Not love. Not anything else." Despite his protestations, the romantic episodes in the turbulent life of the legendary couple, on screen and in real life is the stuff History is written about and etched in human psyche.
It is only natural for someone coming from a land of harsh weather, hard work, booze, brawls, music, and rugby and sea food to also imbibe the tempestuous nature of his surroundings in to his character. But could they have also shaped his romantic life?

If you have a brave heart for romance of the kind the legendary Burtons were lucky to experience and if you are willing to take on the Welsh weather, you may find out that Swansea, not far from where Richard Burton was born, can offer what you are after. A truly romantic experience which evens the Burtons might have fallen in love with.
In deed, if Richard and Elizabeth could ever return to the earth for a patch up, they will love to spend the evening at La Braseria in Swansea, with a bottle of Sancerre and Sea Bas! So unique and lovely is the experience this famous restaurant can offer that it can unite even departed souls which have fallen apart. No exaggeration!
La Braseria can hardly be called a restaurant. It is because it offers you almost everything you expect for a romantic evening, even if you are not prepared for one. It is anything but Welsh except for the romantic city of Swansea in the centre of which it is located. But it has a unique ambiance, a soul which grows vibrant as the evening grows with exotic strains of music and happy and relaxed clientele, selections of fresh food ingredients you can chose from and decide how you want them cooked and the most cavernous of wine collection you can chose from.
All you will need is a heart with a romantic disposition and some company to share it with.
Sea Bas and Sancerre and Swansea might not have been the secret ingredients for a exciting romantic evening for Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor when they lived on the Earth, but they would surely want to visit this little secret corner of paradise on the Earth to rekindle their legendary romance, if they could, and kiss and make up.

What Do the Stars Foretell for Barack Obama?

2012-09-08T04:54:10-04:00

Hey, this is the year of the U.S. presidential election, a time when the pundits are busy predicting the future for all of us. All sorts of political analysts and political pundits get busy predicting the results of the elections and the future of the candidates. With the evolution of the social web and technology, experts claim that there are much more scientific ways. The accuracy of many of those will surely be tested in this election to be held in under two months.

Then there are also traditional methods of fortune tellers one can dabble in, for a bit of private pleasure and excitement of your own. Barack Obama is running a tight race with his opponent Mitt Romney. The DNC has given his ratings a bump but the latest job data has taken some sheen. So what are the stars holding for him and the future of the United States of America?

Well, unbelievable it may be, President Obama is entering a phase of strongest support from his stars according to the Indian way of star gazing and judging one's future. It may even bestow a third term of presidency and consequently a steady and prosperous period for the USA.

For Barack Obama, Saturn, according to the Indian calculations, offer maximum support during his life on the Earth. This is because Saturn is the "lord" of his ascendant "house" and bestows it with all strength, support and balance by also positioning in that house at the time of his birth. In fact Saturn gives him strength in at least four ways as per the Indian belief of stars being in control of your life and it's up and downs. Besides this Saturn bestows leadership and good fortune at least seven ways in conjunction with other planets. In fact Saturn is the planet with the highest strength among the entire lot, as per Vedic reckoning in eight ways.

So what is the guarantee that all these portend good times for Obama? Well if all of these have any bearing, it is the right time for them to manifest in his life. As per the Vedic principles, his life has just started a period of Saturn's influence, which should last for the next nineteen years. The logical conclusion is, how can a star, which is supposed to give him maximum support and benefits, take away position in life he has already achieved?

Let us say, for the sake of argument, all this is crap. But a look of the period of 16 years in his life he just finished is quite compatible with what the Vedic astrology portended! Like Saturn, Jupiter also has strong influence in his life, occupying his ascendant house and bringing all round good fortune during his period. Obama's spectacular ascendancy into influential position and relative affluence during the last decade, coincided with the period of influence of Jupiter, which he just finished in August, arguable but unbelievable as it can be!
Under the tenants of the Vedic astrology, Saturn is a Guru who removes arrogance, puts you through the real grind of life and bestows that vital balance and wisdom which makes your life meaningful. From the DNC speech of President Obama, it is clear that his most supportive planetary force is already flowing on to the persona of Barack Obama, preparing him for his next presidency.

"While I'm proud of what we've achieved together," Obama told the assembled in Charlotte, "I'm far more mindful of my own failings, knowing exactly what Lincoln meant when he said, 'I have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place else to go."

Perhaps, the unseen force is acting not just on the next president of the USA, but the world at large, with the breeze of the Arab Spring sweeping across the world, brining a whiff of a more equitable distribution of wealth and social justice, something the incumbents of the White House seem to be standing up for.

Should Obama Do an Invisible Bush Act at the DNC?

2012-09-04T10:23:29-04:00

Despite the gloss over Ann Romney tried to give the historic improvisation of Clint Eastwood, who tried to address and insult an invisible Barack Obama who had no way of defending himself, the Democrats will be eager to pull off something in return at the DNC.

Letting the GOP get away with a piece of stage drama to score a political point against them will be a political sin the democrats can't afford. They can't let the insult go away unpunished like the way the convention managed an important debilitating debate on abortion, which preceded it, to totally disappear from the agenda.

Though it may not be entirely in style for a sitting president, who has already declared that he is no way offended by the episode, to stoop to such silly political theatre, it actually gives Barack Obama a precious chance to defend his records by "Eastwooding" George Bush. After all, Bush, from whom he inherited the economic mess, was conspicuously absent from the RNC to evade having to defend his poor record which would definitely have hurt the claims of the GOP.

George Bush must have evaded the convention under pressure from the GOP, precisely not to remind anyone of his legacy or what the Republicans really did to the US economy in the eight years they were in power. In any case, George Bush couldn't have defended his record convincingly and might have ended up with embarrassing remarks, for which he has a solid record, which might have turned in to the high lights of the convention.

Though George Bush himself was on record about his decision to stay away from the convention, For the GOP itself, who is trying to win back the power in Washington, not being able to hold their ex president in front of the nation, as a guarantee of the rosy state of affairs they promise, is an indefensible weakness.

Whether the political managers of the Democratic Party can see this massive hole in the defense of the GOP and capitalize on it can make a real difference to the message they will transmit from Charlotte in the next few days.

Under normal circumstances any attempt by President Obama and his party to go back several years in history to defend their records would have been torn apart by the GOP as weak defense for incompetence. However, the GOP can no more complain about being unduly attacked if some one will do an "Eastwooding" on any of their leaders as they have publicly praised and justified what the Octogenarian Hollywood icon has enacted during the RNC.

But what will be the best way to delicately tap in to the enormous opportunity must be the thought which has kept the DNC managers sleepless for last week. Obviously a copy cat performance by another celebrity or any of the leaders will be deemed ridiculous and can easily backfire.

Their best bet is President himself, who has time and again proved his entertainer appeal, especially during the White House Correspondents Dinner Speech. Obama has proved not only that he can pull off effective jabs at his political opponents, but that he can do such things convincingly while unbelievably difficult situations like the operation Geronimo was being carried out under his command. President Obama no doubt is as much a theatrical performer as Clint Eastwood is.

It is hard to see that Barack Obama and his political managers will let such an opportunity go untapped. A rebuttal in some form or the other must be expected. It will certainly be one of the high points of the DNC.

In what form and way the president will deliver that will determine the political maturing of Barack Obama.