Retiring on 92

Inspired by the conventional wisdom about retiring while at the top, I hereby announce my retirement from blogging (after this, the 92nd post). I shall now focus my energies on something else, till the next big thing hits the Earth.

Retirement is clearly a difficult decision. This is especially difficult in an Indian context as Veer Sanghvi's article nicely describes, though in the political arena. I could easily extend that to virtually all other aspects of life (cricket, entertainment, business and so on) and you will see how difficult we find it to make a dignified exit. In this context, Infosys seems to be a remarkable example where the senior management seems to step out just when they seem to be irreplaceable.

Anyway, now my time has come to move on from this medium. I have been looking to improve upon the format for a while now, but haven’t quite succeeded, hence my decision. In any case, I believe the blogging mania on this planet has come to an end. Another year from now we will be cracking jokes about this format.

So long.

P.S. As a parting note, let me refresh your memory of the early 90s MTV with this video.

- posted by Rallix @ 4:55 AM 12 comments

 
Al-imentary my dear

I realise that I have been highly opinionated and judgemental of late which means this is the perfect time to change the mood of this webpage. For your entertainment, I provide below 3 links to Weird Al videos which are guaranteed to perk you up irrespective of your state of mind (well ok, no one can guarantee 100% satisfaction, but still).

But first, a quick recap - Weird Al is a well known parody-ist who has been around for the last 20 odd years, writing songs with social and unsocial messages. (Almost) No one has been spared Madonna, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Queen, Billy Joel, the list is endless. He has a few originals too.

But he's not just any parodyist. He's a versatile musician and actually extremely talented. Has a great voice and does not restrict himself to any one style, though I get the impression he prefers the alternative grunge scene. On top of this he's extremely witty and his lyrics are gems. Add to that the videos and you find yourself rolling on the floor. Check for yourself.

1. Amish Paradise - an absolute gem, and a must see (except if you don't know who the Amish are). And remember, his opinions are his alone :)
2. Bedrock Anthem - a crash course on the Flintstones. Especially enjoyable if you know the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
3. A Saga Begins - This one's for Star Wars fans, about Anakin Skywalker as a kid and his journey to Jedi-hood on his way to becoming Darth Vader. You may also enjoy this even if you don't know Star Wars since Don Mclean's American Pie is rather catchy :)

There are numerous others, and these might not be the best ones for you - there's a large repertoire to choose from. If you need more recommendations, just ask.
- posted by Rallix @ 4:02 AM 1 comments

 
Rediff-ining news
Rediff seems to have successfully built upon the commonest possible business model on the internet, i.e. generating traffic by allowing readers to freely post lewd messages in response to any article on the website. The content of the article doesn’t matter. Often Rediff posts a headline with a couple of leading statements, and the readers do the rest. I have followed these comments over the last few months, sometimes in amusement, mostly in annoyance, and often in anger. I have even sent a mail to Ajit Balakrishnan (after all, he is an IIMCal Alum) expressing my disgust at the complete lack of accountability on Rediff’s part to moderate these distasteful comments. Of course, I have not received a reply.

I have two points to make. First, by taking no ownership for what appears on the site, Rediff has positioned itself as vulgar media. Their wish. Second, the Indian general public is violent, cynical, communal and lewd. Very disturbing. (note: please refer to disclaimer)

Just about every article is a case in point, with reader comments ranging from “You can never trust these Pakistanis, they can kill anyone” to “Everyone knows Inzamam is the murderer” to “These Muslims are causing riots” (read disclaimer) to open comments on women’s anatomy to Sania should not wear shorts, because (sic) “What impact on Performance that a short skirt has for winning the game of Tennis. If she wears a full pant and play, she will lose or what. I think the wearing short skirt impacts your game by 1 % or less, so I beleive that the purpose of a short skirt is just a show-off and it is not much functional to the game” .

By the way, rediff does provide readers with the option to “report abuse” but given the kind of messages that do not get reported, I shudder to think about the ones that do.

You may criticize me for visiting this site if I indeed find all this so disturbing, but the issue is not about me, it is about the inciting nature of these remarks going completely unmoderated. These could have really drastic consequences, converting opinions into facts by repetition and confirming prejudices (a la Orwell). This is especially dangerous when the comments are communal or racist or sexual (one person's obscenity is justified because apparently "everyone does it").

I would compare this situation to Channel 4's reaction during the Shilpa Shetty incident - they were clearly embarassed about appearing to support racism and did a whole lot to counter that. Rediff continues unabashed. I sincerely hope they take note and reposition themselves as responsible media.

Disclaimer: please do not accuse me of generalising - of course I know that every Indian is not like this. Also, I have not repeated the comments verbatim since I have not bothered to store them - but what I have mentioned is approximately what the messages meant.

By the way, I am not the only one unhappy with Rediff.
- posted by Rallix @ 1:11 PM 1 comments