Blog Ban?!

I heard from one of my friends about the Indian government issuing orders to block links to blogs including ones hosted on Blogger! Was appalled by the step. Almost seemed like we are in the prehistoric world! What do we have here? Where did our freedom of speech vanish? When we can say what we feel like via other mediums like TV, Radio, Print et al, what's so intimidating about blogs? Is it that they have a much wider reach? Or is it simply that blogs are easier to block!? How can politicians who have been voted to power by the people stop those very people from even expressing themselves? If this is a case of certain miscreants up to no good, then why doesn't the government just 'take care' of them? Hmm! Lots of questions, many a stirred emotion, no clear answers.....

If you know better and know what's the latest, please leave your thoughts here....

Plum Party

Joining the party are some more books.... :D

6. Aunts aren't gentlemen
7. A few quick ones
8. The old reliable
9. A gentleman of leisure
10. Spring fever

Three cheers to the Solihull Library!! Hip Hip Hurray! :)

Providence, PLUM and I

I ought to be jumping up and down with joy...really! Providence has helped me get my hands on some PLUM (P G Wodehouse) books that I had earlier combed Bangalore's bookshops and libraries for but in vain. Though these books are from the library and I can't possibly think about owning them, the fact that I've an opportunity to at least read them once in my life is something to be jumping up and down about. The books that I've got so far (and hopefully I will get to read more than this if I am around in UK longer) are...

1. Very Good, Jeeves
2. Something Fishy
3. Doctor Sally
4. Louder and Funnier
5. The Small Bachelor

:-)

Reading book # 2 now. Came across this yesterday and laughed away to glory....

"Poverty is the banana skin at the doorstep of romance". Haaaa Haaa Haaa :) What prose, o boy! Hats off to the one and only PLUM...eh?

Update: I've managed to read a lot more of PLUM's books
- A gentleman of leisure
- The old reliable
- Wodehouse - A life by Robert McCrum
- The girl on the boat
- A few quick ones
- Aunt's aren't gentlemen
- Ice in the bedroom
- Bill the conqueror
- Money in the bank
- Do butlers burgle banks
- Indiscretions of Archie
- If I were you (This one's wonderful)

Blogs and the future....of the world

I've been wondering about this since yesterday.

What if someone were to have all that it takes to run an intelligent tool through all the blogs in the world and find out...

1. Which country has the maximum number of blogs?
2. What are the profiles of the people who blog in each of the countries? (Age, Gender, Education, etc)
3. What are the most popular topics that are blogged about in each country (alongside information about the people who belong to a particular type-set.....for each of these topics)?
4. What are people generally thinking about things that have a direct impact on the economy of their country? (Money, Share-market, Spending, Saving, Careers etc)
5. Is there some sort of a world-trend that can be predicted by mining all this information being poured into blogs day in and day out?

Any answers? You must be having some thoughts if you are into Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, Data Mining and the like...!