~ Be nice ~

The following are extracts from a girl who experienced a change in how people behaved or interacted with her in public domain, purely based on her attire. I suggest you to read her blogpost & adopt the same in your daily life.

"The power of this experience lies in the fact that it was not an intentional experiment. It happened simply because of the Chiberian weather which required me to cover as much of by body with warm pieces of cloth. Apparently, the type of cloth you place or wrap around your head defines how you will be treated."

"I pray one day, and soon, that people will be familiar enough with all other cultures and beliefs that they are not afraid or have reservations, and that the thing that stands out to them is not the wrap around my head, but the smile on my face."

Good learning for all. Time to change one's perspective about people, based on how they dress or look. If you are a parent then suggest you to groom your young one(s) about the moral of accepting people from diverse back grounds, cultures, belief systems & different sexual orientation. As in Urban India, we are seeing a lot of people from different states living in a city. We need different kind of social education in the younger ones where they mingle with everyone & not just flock by their feather. 

~ Human behaviour on Social Networks ~

Not really sure how would one interpret the behaviour of humans on the web. As most people tend to freely speak out in the virtual world via the popular Social Apps like Facebook / Twitter, many of us seem to have failed to differentiate the definition of "Like" vs "Read".

This rant originates from my observation of people's behaviour on the Social Networks. 

1. Does a like on Facebook actually mean they liked it or an acknowledgement of having read the piece? 
2. Or an RT (ReTweet) means they endorse the subject of the tweet vs they wish to pass on the information to their respective followers?

As of writing this post, I observed that 12 people have liked the post of "22 labourers killed in a road accident in Karnataka" from The Hindu.

I have add this debate with earlier too & failed to conclude on the subject. What your are thoughts on the same? 

~ Be kind ~

With so much of chaos & negativity in the environment we live, it is tough to remain positive. Also, it is very easy to err or blame others or expect others to do something for you. The big Qs are

• What have you done for those around?
• How have you been different to bring the change which you wish to see?

If each one of us can ask those Qs & do something about it then we definitely can bring about change in our lifetime. First step could be being kind to fellow homo sapiens, other species & environment. 

Hope fellow Bangaloreans learn something from the video & show some respect while riding or driving.

~ Socially Me ~

The life of an technophile living anywhere today, is expressing those moments of emotion as a constant stream of data to various Social Networks - FB, Twitter, Instagram, Path, G+. The power of smartphones & data connectivity has exploded into data bomb. Will not be surprised, if the Governments tomorrow are not elected by tweets :) 

I personally use all of those networks for various means:

1. Instagram: For clicking moments when am travelling & without my DSLR around. 
2. Path: For places  - restaurants, movies, leisure - all for audit trail purpose. 
3. G+: For sharing information w/ co-workers on various news items - tech, political, football.
4. G+Messenger: For 3 months, have been using it mostly to connect with Gooners who are spread across the globe. We share the latest updates, rants, news or anything to do with ArsenalFC. Happened to meet few of them in Bangalore & watched the Arsenal vs Manchester United game with Bangalore Gunners. This week we were amongst the first to have Arsenal FC Fans G+ Community.
5. Twitter: Consuming or sharing instant updates about anything under the sun which I like.
6. FB:  Updates from college friends, (ex)colleagues, travel, interests, etc.
7. Last.fm: For scrobbling songs.
8. Also there are numerous tech blogs which I follow on a daily basis.
9. Using LinkedIn more often over the last 2 weeks. Most of you who are connected would have noticed the activity :P
10. Youtube subscriptions are active, but not regular.

By now you have figured out how much of information over-load I go through in a day from various apps at various point of time. This definitely isn't good when you are working or otherwise. Your attention span takes a BIG hit & distracts from your task. Off-late {for the past 2 months} have made  conscious effort about how & when I use - Twitter & FB. I check them during lunch / tea breaks & post dinner, during weekdays. On weekends, my usage of Twitter & FB is high; considering football games.

The trigger for the post was this article by Roger Cohen - Thanks for not sharing, on NYT. 

Like everything else in life, when it comes to usage, technology too has its share of pros & cons. Instead of blaming - technology, smartphone, social networks, information overload - for not having enough time for loved ones or pursuing your hobby or reading a book or going for walk or run or meeting friends, etc. It boils down to the individuals' approach on maintaing the balance in the eco-system of life. Be it virtual or real, we still have control over ourselves. The day hasn't arrived yet, where machines have taken over & we have limited options. It isn't far, surely gonna happen. But till then, we are the masters of our own lives & we can maintain a healthy balance. Be the judge the next time when you are about to share or like something w/ the rest of the world :)

Take a look at the Socially Awkward Infographic. 

Image source: DigitalQuarters

Update: 26 Jan 13

If you are a developer, then I recommend you read Christian Grobmeier post 'The 10 rules of Zen programming' This should definitely help one focus & achieve more in the age of social distraction {Twitter, FB, Whatsapp, Emails, SMS, et al}