Reporters are often ignorant about what they are reporting. If you disagree with this statement, you might not have seen a report by IANS news agency published on Hindustan Times website about an anti-piracy and "corruption" software Republique that film director Sajid Khan claims he is using for his latest film Housefull to prevent illegal downloading of the film over the Internet.

Sajid Khan was quoted as saying that if anyone tries to illegally download the movie, not only will the files get corrupted but their IP address will be recorded and they will be prosecuted for piracy.

"We even have a call centre in Mumbai with 35 people on board monitoring the illegal downloading of the film. We've tested the process too and it worked wonders in five seconds," he added.

Who developed this anti-piracy software? And when? The reporter as well as the person who picked the story for HT website didn't bother to ask the question. Both failed to detect the hoax and very smugly warned their audience about the impending dangers.

But the readers weren't as ignorant or gullible. "Probably, it has been tested on farm animals rather than real people, but sure he wishes to go ahead with his BIG PLANS!" one of them commented.

A Twitter user @flyyoufools said: "Dear Sajid if you really cracked the anti-piracy thing then sell it to Hollywood. More money than your movie can make."

A few days ago, another Twitter user was wrongly attributed for a tweet that she had retweeted (a way of forwarding a message on Twitter) in a report by some information technology industry magazine!

Why does it happen? Maybe, because reporters rely heavily on press releases and cooked news handed to them by public relations professionals. Reporters are too happy to spew the gyan that's given to them by companies and their PRs. "Why bother to study the subject when there are 'experts' to give you all the information about things that are happening in your beat (specific topics that a reporter is supposed to keep track of). Studying will only confuse you." Ignorance is bliss!

While browsing the Web during an unofficial office break, I found this clever piece of street art or persuation art on BoingBoing. The "Make A Difference" poster has been designed by Imaginary Foundation (contrary to its name, the foundation is real), which has posted a PDF of the same for people to download and use.

The only problem with this kind of poster is that it will lose its uniqueness once all the "I Wills" have been torn. How will others display their approval? I tried to find some other solutions for such street persuation arts.

1. Use ribbons or laces: One can try placing ribbons or laces with a message along side such persuasion posters. People who support the cause can pick up a ribbon and put it on their shirts or bags.

2. Ask people to sign: Leave lots of space in the poster for people to sign the poster or leave a message.

3. Urge people to spread the word: A poster can also ask people to tweet or send a message to friends about their decision to support the cause. It will help spread the word as well.

What's your idea for a persuasive street art? Let the world know.

Sania Mirza flew to Pakistan on Thursday. And Pakis are very excited about their new bhabhi. This gutka (chewing tobacco) is a part of the Sania bhabhi wave in Pakistan.


Image/Twitpic

[For those who are gullible enough to consider the picture a real one: it's just a digital art.]

A few days ago, Google introduced on-screen keyboard along with its search boxes for several non-Latin languages that require special characters, including for Hindi. So I visited Google Hindi to try the new feature. As soon as I typed the first letter (the physical keyboard), I was stumped by Google's search suggestions.

Given that in today's world, Google often knows us more than anyone through our searches, the suggestions made by Google can lead to conclusion that most people who use Hindi on the search engine are amorous or sexually frustrated or downright lose characters. Why? Just look at the A-Z suggestion made by Google Hindi. Click on the images to view the original size.

A for Aunty

Women's revealing clothes and promiscuous behaviour are responsible for earthquakes. Says who? An Iranian Islamic cleric.

The cleric's interesting explanation of the earth's trembling is not in the wake of the volcanic eruptions that have disrupted air navigation but in reaction to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinijad's prediction that an earthquake is about to hit capital Tehran and that a large number of city's resident should be relocated.

Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, the leader for Friday prayers, said: "Many women who do not dress modestly...lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes."

The Iranian cleric's preachings to a crowd gathered for Friday namaz (prayers) reminds me of a sermon that I had heard blaring from a horn in hoarse but well trained voice of an Islamic cleric in Patna: "Women who paint their nails with nail polish, their nails will be extracted on the day of qayamat (doomsday). Those who wear lipstick, their lips will be skinned. Those who do not cover their heads will have their hair uprooted by the satan."

It was a very long sermon about how women who do not adhere to Islamic codes for dressing and behaviour will be punished by the satan. If all what the cleric was saying were true, there would be not a strand of flesh left on the skeleton of modern women on the day of qayamat.

[Guardian via @flyyoufools]

Why are some people like Shekhar Kapur trying to portray that Shashi Tharoor is the victim in the IPL-Kochi team controversy? Some have even created SupportTharoor.com and SupportTharoor.org websites. (I couldn't access either of the websites, but both of them have been registered and Kapur mentioned SupportTharoor.org in one of his tweets.)

Is there any doubt about the fact that Tharoor helped a business consortium win an IPL team in which his friend, fiance or whatever was offered "sweat stake" in violation of the law of the country? What made Sunanda Pushkar worth Rs70 crore? And why did Tharoor choose to help a business consortium win an IPL team? Does it sound in any way similar to a minister helping an infrastructure firm win a road project?

A designer has created Chairless, "a seating device for the modern nomad". The device, which is just a strap of fabric or a kind of support belt, is being touted as a portable chair that can fit in your pocket. The seat starp is said to be inspired by a similar strap used by the Ayoreo tribe in northern Paraguay. A part of profits from the product will be used to support the Foundation for Paraguayan Indian Communities.

After Minister Moon found himself caught in the midst of an ugly brawl started after allowing visa to a sexy South African model, he decided to give an interview to always-angry-and-hungry-for-interviews Ms Cam Butt of NudeTV over the allegations of helping a business consortium get a cricket team franchise for free stake in the team for his latest love—a mysterious woman with expertise in hideous make-up and a lot more that can't be said publicly. Here's a frame from the interview.

Flickr/Emmanuel Dyan

When will the cow sit? It's the question that a bunch of scientists tried to answer in their study Are Cows More Likely to Lie Down the Longer They Stand? The scientists were interested in knowing the ups and downs in a cow's life, literally.

Five Scottish scientists tried to predict cows' intentions of standing up or lying down after studying video recordings of cows and tallying them with data recorded by electronic sensors.
The Guardian summarised the study published in the Applied Animal Behaviour Science journal as:

A new study shows that the longer a cow has been lying down, the more likely it is to stand up, but the reverse is not true. Once up, you cannot predict how soon a cow will lie down again.

It didn't take me long to understand its application in our daily life. The study can be used to predict when will a cow sitting and ruminating in the middle of a road give way to the vehicles honking frenetically, or when will the cow standing in the middle of the road move under the shade of the gulmohar tree for a power nap. Kudos for the Scots.

Sunanda Pushkar is currently one of the most popular searches on Google, says Google Trends. Seems like a lot of people are interested to know about the controversial owner of the new Kochi IPL team and fiance of minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor. I guess people are more interested to know how she got the money to invest in the team.

Wow. By the time I finished writing this blog post, she has moved one rank up in Google Trends to 24th position. Whatever comes out of the controversy, she is sure to become the most popular "socialite" in India.

After the success of the Twenty20 IPL tournament, cricket is no longer a game in India. The latest tussle between minister of state for foreign affairs Shahi Tharoor and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi makes it very clear.

When Rendezvous Sports won the franchise for Kochi IPL team, Tharoor's role was reported to be "confined to encouraging the consortium that eventually won the team" (Mint, TOI).

In his statement released today (13 April 2010), Tharoor says the Kochi IPL team can bring great material and psychological benefits to Kerala’s economy and society. I don't understand how the common man benefits from a cricket team that plays entertainment sports for generating cash for itself and its owners. Tharoor adds that he is not going to benefit from his support for the consortium. Is there a case of benefitting someone else using influence and authority? I won't say anything about Lalit Modi because Tharoor has done that enough in his statement.

Following is the verbatim statement of the memeber of Parliament from Thiruvanathapuram on the IPL Kochi team controversy, published on his website (http://tharoor.in) on 13 April 2010:

Everything that's popular enters the vast world of porn, be it Sarah Palin or Marilyn Monroe. So the latest gadget sensation iPad is featuring in a amateur-style porn featuring an old delivery guy with long hairs and a sexy raven-haired girl. The video has been dubbed in the usual porn-quality with no link between the audio and the video. And, please don't freak on seeing the black hairy thing occasionaly entering the frame.



PS: This porn is safe enough to be watched even in office.

Recently, we Indians have been bombarded with a Save the Tiger campaign by a telecom firm. Nice way of combining business with social awareness, if that made any difference to the tigers.

A conservation group is relying on humans' animal instincts for propagation of their cause. A US group, the Center for Biological Diversity, is distributing 350,000 free Endangered Species Condoms in all 50 US states to highlight how the rapid rise in human population (thanks to high libido and Viagra) is driving species extinct at a cataclysmic rate, according to their website Endangered Species Condoms.