Pope Benedict and Islam

Pope Benedict XVI's remarks on Islam have made the Muslims all over the world very angry. In his recent speech at the Regensbury University in Germany on 12th September, he said that the early Muslims spread their religion by violence. He had quoted a 14th century Christian Empreror who said that everything Prophet Mohammad brought was 'evil and inhuman' such as his command to spreading by the sword the faith he preached.

Muslims all over the world felt that the Pope's remarks amount to a 'smear campaign' and a character assassination of the Prophet Mohammad. The Pope's remarks implicitly linked Islam to violence. This coming from a leader who represents millions of people is unfortunate as they have sparked outrage across the Muslim world.

We need world leaders who are tolerant and compassionate. They have a duty towards society not to make provocative remarks which ignite instead of appease. These remarks of the Pope before the holy month of Ramzan are 'ill-timed' and 'ill-concieved' and only hope that they do not reflect 'hatred in the Pope's heart' against Islam.

We do not need such prejudiced points of view.

9/11 - The world 5 years later

The world 5 years later, after the most daring and barbaric attack of terrorism ever witnessed was conducted on US soil, is at a crossroad , caught in the duel between Bush and bin Laden. Not believing in al-Qaida's idealogy and not able to digest Bush's policies in his war against terrorism.

The question which everyone is asking is whether the world has become a safer place to live in?It doesn't seem so. The knee jerk reaction of Bush after 9/11 in the form of the Iraq war, where he made the world believe that it had something to do with the fight against terrorism ( we know better now - Saddam hated the al- Qaida as much as we do), the futile attack on Afghanistan in his search for Bin Laden, his support to Israel in its attack on Lebanon all have quickly changed the enormous feelings of sympathy and love which made the entire world say that ' We are all Americans' to one of outrage and disbelief. The world sadly to say has become a more dangerous and less beautiful place to live in.

In his fight against terrorism Mr. Bush seems to have forgotten that 'the ends cannot justify the means' . Today we have a world that has less tolerance for human rights and even lesser respect for different cultures. We have America which is using 9/11 as a tool for racism. The Arab world is feeling alienated in the fight against terrorism. They are caught between the devil and the deep sea, against both al-Qaida and the US at the same time.

As rightly said ' Mr. Bush, you have taken advantage of the sympathy and love you got after 9/11 and turned it into a fradulent war and needless death, first transforming it into fear and suspicion.' You, Mr. Bush have made this world a more dangerous place to live in.

AdWords goes mobile

The Internet search giant Google very quietly, without any hype just entered the mobile phone market with Google AdWords. Yes, you can get the wireless version of AdWords on your cellphone now. But wait guys, its only for the Japan and USA market now. The other countries will have to be patient, although UK and Germany mobile users can also be targeted.

Google had first launched its AdWords campaign on mobile phones first in Japan and have gone for the USA market now. So when you google the location of the nearest pizza house or flower delivery boutique on your mobile, you can see Google AdWords advertisements (usually 2 lines) with clickable links. These are just like the ads which appear on a normal Web searches.

For the AdWord advertisers:

• They can develop their own adverts and marketing campaigns.
• They can set their daily budgets for these advertisements.
• They have to pay only when consumers click the ads or call the business.
• Has clickable links.

Methinks that this technology is not going to benefit all businesses but would be successful to those who have business related to restaurants, flowers, books etc.

Steve Irwin and the Sting ray

The sudden and untimely death of Steve Irwin 'The Croc Hunter' is a loss for the entire world not just for Australia. I grieve for his wife and two little kids. This was no age to die.

His tragic death makes me wonder why he was not careful. There is no doubt that he was always flirting with death and an accident was just waiting to happen. Be it the crocodiles whom he was wrestling or the sharks with whom he was swimming or handling some of the world's deadliest snakes and spiders. He was always too close for comfort.

That unfortunate day also, he was filming for a documentary on 'The Ocean's Deadliest' and isn't it tragic that the sting ray did prove 'dead'-ly for him? Steve's episode's on Discovery always made me ask the question that 'Aren't we supposed to respect our animals?' These are wild animals who need and value their space. Can't we make the public aware of them and do our bit for their conservation without intruding into their private space?

I say Love them. They too are creature s of God and make our world a more beautiful place to live in. But please respect them too. They are wild. They do not want you too close to them.

Steve was looking for 'things that can kill you in the sea'. Did he have to die to make his point? Was not his death unnecessary? Everybody is saying that it was a 'freak' accident. But I say that Steve was known for getting up close to dangerous animals. I wish he had respected the animals more. His death is a great loss for this world. In his way he tried to do his bit for the wild animals. But I wish he had been a little more careful and a little less closer.

How to become a better Blogger?

The best way to improve your weblog is to Blog, Blog and Blog and then to Blog some more.Yes friends, to be a better blogger improve yor writing skills and that can be done only if you write, write and write...
Remember, Practice makes Perfect.

You need something to talk about, correct?
For that read. Spend sometime reading daily. It will give you ideas. Think up a title for your post and the ideas will start flowing . Keep a journal. Whenever you get an idea, drop whatever you are doing and note it down. Also, pay attention to spelling and grammar.

Content matters - No amount of search engine optimization or blog membership is going to get you traffic, if your Blog is poorly written. Whatever your style - entertaining, funny, deep, informational... Improve on content. If your blog content is good you will have new returning readers.

Be Original - Be unique like your signature. Do not be a copy of others. You can tell when a person is copying or recycling something. Show that you are a real person. Distinguish yourself from millions of other bloggers. You can also read what other bloggers are saying and how, and then develop a style of your own. So blog your own stuff and have an interesting voice.

Stay focused - Decide on a topic which interests you and you are passionate about. Many bloggers do write on various topics like Politics, Marketing, Family... but the trick is to create a niche.

Learn new skills - and develop your abilities to do some basics. Upgrade your skills. Learn how to find and keep readers, how to promote your blog on Technorati, how to get listed in search engines, how to .... You can also draw upon the expertise of others to balance your capabilities.

Take time out to respond to comments on your blog. Acknowledge your readers. Show that their comments are appreciated. Make it personal.

Most important, update your blog as much as you can. Blog regularly. Weekly, daily, hourly .... Atleast once a week is the minimum required.

Searching the World Wide Web - Smarten up!

The Internet is terrific resource. It contains hundreds of websites dedicated to thousands of topics. With so many topics it is easy to get lost.

So know the type of search tools and learn some general search tips to make your search more profitable. However, use caution when searching the web as anyone can post websites about topics that interest them and these sites are always not accurate. So, learn how to evaluate web sites as all the information on these web sites is not always trustworthy.

As we live in an information age and the amount of information available is so mind bogglingly huge, we need to evaluate the sources from where we get the information. We need to constantly sift and select so that we can make responsible choices that we do not regret later on.

One of the things that you need to do is to critically evaluate the information you find. Then weed out the information that is useless. (You will need to discern between the useful and the useless.) It will take time and skill but keep at it!

Here are some tips for searching the web -

• Take the help of search engines like Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, HotBot, Go, Lycos, Web Crawler, Excite to search for key words and phrases.

• Use terms that are specific to your search. Avoid using broad terms as they will result in thousands of sites.

• Use Boolean operators like 'and' 'or' 'not' 'near' etc.

• You can also use Meta Search engines like Rede Search, Ask Jeeves, Big Hub, DogPile, C4, All4One . These usually search other less well known search engines and specialized sites.

• Use catalouges and indexes likeYahoo and About.com which list websites by categories. These will have sub categories which will help you locate sites related to your topic.

Most important: While searching select your site carefully. Read about who developed the site and whether it is credible.

Ethnic Profiling - Judging a book by its cover?

What is ethnic profiling?
Ethnic or racial profiling refers to government activity directed at a suspect or a group of suspects because of their race. When acts of terrorism are carried out and as a part of investigations it is concluded that the prime suspects belonged to a particular race, the people of that race have to undergo additional security checks because of their ethnicity and religion. As the threat is coming from a single group, they are singled out for further questioning.

Today, the ethnic profiling of Arabs and Muslims after September 11, is fueling Muslim rage and is shredding the tolerant culture to bits. It is enraging and alienating everyone in that group and in the long run is only radicalizing more and more of Muslim community. It is alienating the Muslim community in the fight against terrorism, when they could be helpful in combating terrorism.

Many reasons could be given for the impotance of ethnic profiling as an investigative tool against terrorism but the fact is that ethnic profiling is not only bad it is deadly. Taking action against someone solely because of their race or religion reeks of prejudice. It is the expression of racial hatred in the name of security. The question arises that ' will stopping men of Asian and Middle Eastern origin stop terrorism? ' Are we not vesting the sins of the guilty on the innocents?

Ethnic profiling is counter effective as it is stereotyping people just because the prime suspects of terrorism belonged to a certain race. Are acts of terrorism only limited to a particular religion? Aren't terrorist found all over the world and belong to different races too? Some one rightly said that ethnic profiling is basically a descent in the minds of the terrorists themselves. Don't terrorists think that all Americans are ' infidels '. This very mindset is causing them to commit mass murder and not allowing them to think what they are doing to real people.

If ethnic profiling must be done, then do it in a way to inspire co-operation and not fear. Handle it with care and respect. Single out people based on their behaviour and not their race. Do not let it cause a greater division.