But I still love Notepad

Notepad – my favorite editor. Even after working with popular word processing applications, I feel comfortable with Notepad. And when I edit HTML, instead of any WYSIWYG editor, I like to write codes in Notepad.

I really do not know the reason for my endless affection for Notepad; psychologists might be able to reveal the truth. As I am an avid typist and I rarely make spelling mistakes, I do not need spelling assistance. I like the simplicity Notepad has and I do not lose my attention in the crowd of uncountable icons. Black fonts on white background resemble century old conception of writing pads that my eyes and mind are habituated with.

I must admit that MS Word provides the rich text editor with helpful formatting functions that help to create documents without getting puzzled.

And I really feel overwhelmed when I enter today’s theme-specific world. Themes are everywhere starting from Durgapuja pandals in Kolkata to Gmail Inbox. Themes on Durgapuja pandals help to rediscover our forgotten cultural heritage. But why do we need these themes with an email application? So many images, colors, fonts – why? What is the use behind making the web more bulky?

Carbon footprint of Internet industry has already grabbed the attention of expert minds – web pages with more images, videos, animation and other special effects generate higher amount of CO2 when viewed by the surfers. Then why we are up to make our pages heavy?

I access my email inbox to receive messages – text messages. I feel comfortable to read them over a white background with no funny creature popping up from the corners. Hence, I reject the proposal of installing themes on Gmail – I am going to use the traditional and classic look.

Even on Orkut, I do not use any themes. Some of the themes pain my eyes and reduce readability. I am not against innovation and creativity. I understand that it involves great deal of knowledge to integrate these themes with applications like Gmail and Orkut. But, why they are doing this? Are they innovating just to innovate OR to show how expert programmers they are?

Whatever, I will stick with my Notepad affinity when it comes to write something or take down some notes.

Happy New Year 2009

Can't help it quoting from wikipedia:

2009 (MMIX) is the current year of the Anno Domini/Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It is a common year starting on Thursday. It is the last year of the 2000s decade.

2009 has been designated as the:

• International Year of Astronomy.^[1][2]

• International Year of Natural Fibres.^[3]

• International Year of Reconciliation.^[4]

Wish all of you a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

The position of LGBT Community members in India

Why are they fighting? So many NGO’s and social workers are trying to remove the taboo the members of LGBT community have been tagged with. It is like crying in a forest – nothing is going to change; not in India at least.

The Telegraph featured a story on LGBT Community of India in Graphiti on August 31, 2008. "Breaking Free" was the name of the story.

Breaking Free

"INDIA'S GAYS ARE GETTING ORGANISED AND BOLDLY COMING OUT IN THE OPEN"…Read the story.

(Thanks Telegraph for starting the digital version of Graphiti, otherwise I had to scan the pages)

And on the same day, the Survival Strategies column of Graphiti published harsh comments about gays - slums and skyscrapers side by side.

Here are few selective parts from the column:

Question:

I am a 20-year-old man. I have been involved in a homosexual relationship for the past two years with a friend of mine. I wanted to carry this relationship forward but he got involved with a girl and is now ignoring me. Getting ditched by him came as a terrible shock to me as it was totally unexpected and am going through mental turmoil. Please help.

Name and address withheld

Answer:

Mental turmoil? Just because he wants to try and be normal? Are you insane or what? There are more men than women in this country and if you really want to get lucky with men then go to Haryana where the man-woman ratio is miserable. There will be plenty of men who may desire you. So cut out this crap about mental turmoil and start looking all over again!

Cool Advice!!! So they are abnormal right? They cannot wish a long lasting relationship – all that they have is DESIRE!!! Perfect for them, isn’t it?

Scientists are still researching the reason for homosexual behavior. It can be a combination of gene that determines the orientation. How can it be abnormal?

Social workers are trying hard to settle people with physical deformities in the mainstream! We do not call them 'invalid' OR 'abnormal' anymore. "Differently abled" is the term society use for them. (Read how the term was coined)

Still some columns call gays abnormal. And that’s not all; just read the next strategy suggested to another person who is trying to survive:

Question:

I am a 30-year-old gay guy. I have fallen in love with you. I find you very attractive. For this reason, I can’t concentrate on my work and my wife is frustrated with me. Please help.

Name and address withheld

Answer:

Fallen in love with me? I am not gay, I have no desire to be gay either. I am very happy being with people like your wife so leave me alone and if you don’t want to be with your wife, leave her with me. Get the picture son?

Abusive. I don’t have any other word. Or should I say "AN UNCONVENTIONAL TAKE ON PERSONAL PROBLEMS – AND THEIR SOLUTIONS"? Read the entire column here.

Somehow I feel that the Graphiti has nothing to do with this. It is the problem of the columnist. I have never read a valid survival strategy in this column in my life (I admit that I missed some editions though). It sounds like people have done a great blander as they wrote to him!

It is true that some of the questions asked in the column are silly. But then nobody has asked Suhel to answer all the questions! If you feel an email is fake, why don’t you ignore it?

I can see that the topic of this blog post has changed suddenly. It is now an open letter to Suhel Seth.

Respected Sir,

If you are not interested in reading craps, then why are you handling the column? People write to you because they are suffering. If you do not have any suggestion, then just ignore them.

Those who send you letters or emails might not be of the same I.Q. level you belong to. The situation that appears to be a serious problem to them might be a silly thing for you. Please look at the situations from their perspectives if possible. Trust me, people have started reading this column for fun! If this is the purpose of this column, then no issues, just go ahead – mission has been accomplished.

Thanks
Saikat

P.S. I DO NOT HAVE ANY INTENTION TO HURT ANYBODY. IF YOU FIND ANY OF THE COMMENTS THAT I MADE IN THE ABOVE POST, OR ANY OF THE WORDS THAT I USED HERE INAPPROPRIATE OR HARSH, THEN I AM SORRY. DON'T SUE ME; SEND ME AND EMAIL AND I WILL AMMEND IT.

Orientation Crisis

Web Wings has completed 2 years on September 1, 2008. When I look back to the days that I have left behind, I feel emotional. My surrounding has changed completely; new faces around, new goals to meet.

Since then I was thinking of presenting Web Wings with a gift – something special, something unique! How can I excuse myself for not writing a single post on it’s birthday! So I wanted to come up with a gift that compensates the grief my Web Wings had to gone through. And then the idea came to my mind. I decided to make it my personal blog.

When I created this blog, I was not sure about its niche. As I am closely associated with Web, SEO, Content Writing – those topics naturally became the main content of this blog. And I also started thinking that Web Wings is all about Web, SEO, Web Copywriting, Online Marketing and all such stuff.

It is true that my profession would always be reflected in my personal blog, but it should, at the same time, cover a lot more, right?

So I am freeing it today – I am taking back the old title of the blog – it won’t be "Web Wings: A Blog on SEO, Web Content Writing, Web 2.0" any more. It will be Web Wings, just Web Wings from now on. Let's fly over the web and look at the real and virtual world with a bird’s eye. Cheers!