My favourite blogging software, WordPress, and my favourite blogging site, WordPress.com, by far the best in the world, seemed like they could simply do nothing wrong. The WordPress team are the most capable folks out there, design the best sofware, keep improving it with each passing day and always listen to their users though most of us are free users!

As most of us bloggers would agree, WordPress is simply the best blogging software available on the planet!

Now for the first time, unfortunately, they have put a wrong foot forward. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m talking about the new WordPress smilies. One fine day, WP decided to replace the fantastic old smilies with an ordinary bunch of emoticons that can be called as frownies. In my humble opinion, these new smilies are not half as good as the old ones. The old bunch were a set of simple, cute, emotive faces that were extremely expressive!

Unfortunately, WP has decided to completely replace the old ones with the new bunch. Take a look at the two and decide for yourselves:

This is the lovely old set of smilies (animation doesn’t work since this is a screenshot) taken from this page…

…and these are the ones that have replaced them…

smile
grin
sad
eek
shock
???
cool
mad
razz
neutral
wink
lol
oops
cry
evil
twisted
roll
!
?
idea
arrow
mrgreen

Since most commenters here use WordPress or comment on WP blogs, let’s have a poll on WP smilies:

Thanks in advance for voting! Please let me know your opinion on WP smilies by leaving a comment below.

Dear Earthlings,

There was something about my blogs that was bothering me. Now I have decided to fix it!

You are welcome to be a copycat!

Image: www.kyle-brady.com

Despite the fact that I try to promote free and open source software and despite the fact that most of the pictures and videos on this blog are not my own, I was trying to protect my posts by copyright Not any longer! Everything on this blog is now COPYLEFTED!

In case anyone wants to copy any post or any part of it, you are welcome to do so without asking me. While it would be great if you could provide a link back to this blog, even that is not necessary. As my blogs are about spreading ideas and thoughts and information, I realise the futility of trying to “protect” them when I want to spread them. I was also inspired by this post on my friend’s blog. Thank you, Axinia!

There is no more copyright,
The name of the game is copyleft,
So go ahead and be a copycat!

A few copyscape buttons may still exist on some posts. I’ll remove them as soon as possible.

Ever since the state government of Jammu & Kashmir collapsed after the Amarnath land transfer controversy, Kashmir has been on the boil. Read the latest news on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir here.

A paradise where peace has been lost . . .

Image: www.photoatlas.com

It all started with the state government’s decision to transfer 0.4 square kilometres of land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB). After the People’s Democractic Party (PDP) decided to withdraw from the state government led by the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad (of the Congress) over the issue, the land transfer order was revoked. However, the revocation order could not save the government and Ghulam Nabi Azad had to step down.

Mass protests erupted in the Jammu region (which is mainly Hindu with a Muslim minority, mainly belonging to the Gujjar community) against the revocation order. One person committed suicide and three were killed in firing incidents by troopers. The protestors in the Jammu region tried to enforce a blockade of the Kashmir Valley (which is mostly Muslim; the third region in J&K is Ladakh, which is largely Buddhist) by blocking the road link to the Kashmir Valley.

This led to a shortage of medicines, food, fuel and other essential commodities in the Kashmir Valley. Though the government maintains that it tried to keep the highway open and provide security to trucks plying on the route, mobs had virtually succeeded in enforcing a blockade of the entire Kashmir Valley. Mobs also attacked truckers from the Kashmir Valley and beat several of them severely and killed one trucker. Though many Gujjar Muslims supported the demands of the Jammu region, mobs also attacked the homes and properties of Muslims in the region.

Apart from the shortage of essential commodities in the Kashmir Valley, the region’s fruit crop could not be transported to their markets and they began to perish. The Kashmir Fruit Growers Association gave a call to march to Muzaffarabad (on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control) to market their produce as the Valley remained cut off from the rest of the country. Separatist leaders joined the fray and exhorted people to join the march to Muzaffarabad. Huge numbers of people from throughout the Kashmir Valley began a march to cross the Line of Control (LoC) despite a ban. Certain notorious elements across the border in Pakistan have sought to inflame passions on this issue and cause more trouble as well.

Fifteen people were killed in firing incidents on the protestors. Sheik Abdul Aziz, a separatist leader and a moderate, was among those killed. Following his death, separatist leaders in Kashmir gave calls to organise protests. More than fifteen people were killed and hundreds injured when police and paramilitary forces opened fire on the protestors. Apart from a few fringe elements who attacked the police and threw stones at them, the protestors, including women and children, were unarmed and peaceful. Hundreds more were injured in brutal beatings by the police and paramilitary forces. Shamefully, even ambulances were not allowed to operate during the protests and some were attacked. Some media personnel were not spared either. Notorious, heinous and disgusting laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Disturbed Areas Act that have no place in any society that calls itself civilised have been in force as they have always been in Kashmir and parts of the North-East.

Concerned that the peaceful protests were snowballing into an independence movement with calls for freedom and an end to Indian rule in Kashmir, the government decided to impose a curfew in all districts of Kashmir. Prohibitory orders have been in place for a week till now and eight more people were killed and many more beaten by the police and paramilitary forces. Newspapers have not been in circulation and the people of Kashmir are being subjected to extreme hardship because of the curfew.

The issue has been given a communal colour and it has brought out the divisions in Indian society. The sheer hatred that many people in different parts of India have for the Kashmir Valley and Kashmiris is evident on the internet on articles about this issue that allow comments. It is enough to disgust anyone who does not share the views of the hate-spewers.

Thankfully, not everyone in India has a sick, savage, regressive, backward and barbaric mindset that supports the repression of the people of the Kashmir Valley. There have been articles written by Indians like this one by Prem Shankar Jha that show that humanity and common sense are not dead in India.

There have been protests by truly patriotic people against the repression in the Kashmir Valley and in favour of finding a peaceful solution through dialogue:

Janahastakshep, PUCL and PUDR are holding a dharna on August 30 at jantar mantar from 11am to 1pm in protest against the crackdown on non violent people demanding ‘azadi’. IT is clear that only way in which Indian state restore its authority is by using coercive means. It is a form of collective punishment of the people that indefinite and unrelenting curfew has been imposed. Already reeling under economic blockade the imposition of curfew is making it worse with even hospitals not being allowed to function fully and attacks on ambulances and injured. Food is in short supply. Water and electricity disrupted. No one is allowed to move about even with curfew passes and there are restrictions placed on media. For 18 years it was told by Indian state and Indian opinion makers that if only the movement sheds weapons talks can be held. When that happened and largely non violent protests began instead of heeding the voice of the people and reaching out to them through talks the Indian state has decided to show its iron fist. Right to life and right to live in dignity stands suspended. Are we going to sit silently when such harsh measures are adopted? Do we want guns to make their reappearance as the Indian state is provoking the people to do? IF we believe that unity of people and their aspirations are our major concern should we not come out in solidarity and support for their cause which they were carrying out peacefully?Please spread the word to gather at jantar mantar on saturday August 30 at 11 am to protest the severe repression let loose on the people.
WE intend to demand lifting of curfew. Restoration of civil liberties. Allowing non violent assembly. Talks with people at the highest level so that 61 years of denial, repression, charade of dialogue, manipulation is discarded and substantive progress is made to democratically and peacefully resolve the intractable problem.

Though such voices of moderation, peace and wisdom are in a minority, the important thing is that atleast some Indians have begun realising that strong arm tactics and brute force are not the way to find a solution to this issue and the larger Kashmir problem. Kashmiris have been alienated completely from the rest of India. This is the time to change policy and find a solution to the issue by putting an end to the repression in Kashmir and finding a solution that is acceptable to all by means of dialogue with the people of Kashmir. People who truly love our country should not let our voices get drowned by those of the hate-spewing scoundrels who are the curse of India and of humanity as well.

It’s time to complete two tags that I should have done a long time ago. I have clubbed them with a recent tag in this post.

Tag One

Vishesh tagged me on June 22, asking me to reveal ten things that people here do not know about me. Some of you may already know a few of these things about me but others may not. Here they are:

1. I am an animal-lover. To be more specific, I should say birds and mammals as I am not exactly fond of other animals, but I don’t hate them either

2. I simply love cats! I give my cats feline names like Pardus, Leo, Tigris, etc.

3. I don’t watch too many movies

4. The last movie I watched was the Tamil movie Dasavataaram (The ten avatars).

5. Tintin is my favourite comic but I haven’t read Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and Tintin in Congo

6. I don’t watch much television except for sports and a little news.

7. I am a right-hander.

8. I love spicy food. I also love Mediterranean (especially Italian) cuisine.

9. I am a Pottermaniac.

10. I am a dreamer and a day-dreamer

Tag Two

Nita tagged me on June 30, asking me to write about 5 types of people whom I love to hate or who irritate me the most.

I don’t hate people, not even the most notorious criminals. If I hated people, I would never have written a post like this one:

DEATH to the death penalty!

Ofcourse, I hate many filthy concepts and other disgusting things in this world, but I am not going to bore anyone by writing about them here.

Tag Three

Vishesh tagged me again on August 12, asking me to write about things that changed my life.

1. My life changed in many ways after I discovered Buddhist philosophy.

2. My experience as a volunteer (though it was only for a short time) with a small NGO in my city (that works for the visually differently-abled) has changed me in quite a few ways. I am grateful to my classmate-friend for this experience.

3. I became an internet addict the moment I landed on the world wide web. My life has never been the same after that.

I am not a fan of tagging memes, so I’m not tagging anyone

Blogging is fun . . .

Dear Earthlings,

I’m having a whale of a time on the blogosphere thanks to all of you! After having carefully analysed the hits on this blog, I have decided to start two new blogs. I am posting things that are so diverse on this blog, that I am losing focus. So I believe it would be better to have different blogs for different topics. I have not started posting yet, but will do so as soon as possible. And yes, both are WordPress blogs. Here they are:

• Science, Engineering & Technology (http://scietech.wordpress.com) – This blog is about the latest developments in the the above fields.
• Prose & Poetry (http://proseandpoetry.wordpress.com) – This one is for the stories and poems that I write.
• I will continue posting on An alien’s thoughts about our planet (http://analienearthling.wordpress.com), but I may shift some of the older posts to the other blogs.

Axinia tagged me for this meme. I don’t like doing memes, but I have decided to do it as I don’t want to disappoint her. I’m not tagging anyone, though.

One religious work from a non-familiar tradition you’ll read:

I have almost no interest in organised religions. I have a few religious books belonging to different religions with me but I have not read them. Philosophy does interest me though and I have read the Dhammapada and திருக்குறள் (Thirukkural) but I don’t consider them as religious works. I would like to take a look at the Avesta as I am not familiar with it.

One music video-that you like-from your “least likely to listen to” genre:

I don’t know

A book from a genre you almost never read, that you have read, or you will read (promise!):

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen is a great writer and I mean no disrespect to her but I would never have read that book. I was forced to read it only because it was a part of my curriculum in high school. The curriculum had some fabulous books but I don’t quite understand why they included Pride and Prejudice

Somewhere you’d never thought to go on holiday/vacation, and why it might be fun to go there?

Any remote and uninhabited island. I would like to escape from the crowds, the noise and the pollution for a few days.

A specific food you’ve never tried, but will because of this meme, honest!:

Raw tomatoes

A sport or game you really hate, or haven’t tried yet, but are willing to give one more go:

I am a sports fan and I like all sports and games. I haven’t tried winter sports as I live in a hot tropical city. I would like to try out downhill skiing or ice-skating or even curling if I get a chance.

A style of dance you probably won’t try (we won’t make you promise on this one):

Kathakali

A career job you don’t feel you’re suited for, and why:

Surgery . . . I hated dissecting (dead) cockroaches and frogs in my high school biology practical class.

An item that’s “thinking out of the box” for this meme that hadn’t been included:

Who would you like to be born as if you were to be born again?

If there’s one thing in life you wanted to do, and will do because of this meme, what will it be?

Learn to read and write my father tongue, Telugu, as it is one of India’s national and official languages and is also called “the Italian of the East” as every word in Telugu ends in a vowel sound.

The so-called “mainstream media” in India is stooping to new lows with each passing day! Most of the “mainstream newspapers” have ceased to report news but have resorted to sensationalism and trivialism to sell their newspapers. The broadsheets are broadsheets only in name and form, but their content is sheer tabloid journalism. This has led to readers calling them as “broadloids”. Going by their news content, one should actually call them “broadvoids”. There seem to be no exceptions to this rule.

Well, sensationalism and trivialism are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many other unethical practices they indulge in to sell their newpapers. But stealing is the latest one!

Hindustan Times, a so-called “mainstream newspaper” has stolen a photograph that was taken by my favourite blogger and the person who led me to the blogosphere, Nita. Hindustan Times is published from Delhi and Nita lives in Mumbai. The article caught her eye because she was interested in the subject as she had written an article on the same on her blog. The article in the Mumbai edition of the newspaper is titled Towards getting it write and is penned by Rukmini Banerji and Wilima Wadhwa. The content is original but the photograph is a stolen one as the newspaper neither asked Nita’s permission to publish the photograph nor provided an acknowledgement. Nita is a freelance journalist and writer herself and she has written to the editor about this. Read more about this on her blog, A wide angle view of India.

Here is Nita’s original photo . . .

And here is the photo that was published in the newspaper . . .

Both the images are from Nita’s blog, http://nitawriter.wordpress.com

Now, Hindustan Times is supposed to be a “major” Indian “mainstream” newpaper. It is a commercial entity that is flush with funds. On the other hand, Nita is a blogger who posts articles purely for the love of writing and blogging. Nita would have accepted the use of her photograph if it had been used for a non-commercial purpose with an acknowledgement. She has the original photograph that was taken near her home and she can prove that it was taken by her. A few blogger friends are writing about this to make sure the paper responds to her e-mail. I hope the newspaper acknowledges that it had used a photograph from her blog and pays her adequately for the same along with an apology from the editor or whoever was responsible for stealing her photograph.

Nita herself does not believe that the so-called “mainstream newspaper” is going to respond to her e-mail. But the power of the truly free alternate media, especially blogs, must expose the unethical journalism that the so-called “mainstream media” indulge in to sell their newspapers!

Wish you good luck in your battle against those so-called “mainstream media” guys, Nita!