Nov 23

Books, authors, online and offline publishers in India

Posted in internet, media, technical

As an online publisher ,  I have often wondered how the number of  visitors to my websites compare with best selling authors in India.

From http://business.in.com/printcontent/17642

An English book was considered a bestseller if it sold 10,000 copies. Five Point Someone and each of the other books he wrote sold a million.

I have been reading a lot of books in the last few months and books published offline are usually of  much better quality than most of the content online (especially if it is India specific).  An online publisher with a network of websites gets more than one lakh visitors a month , more than a million visitors a year,  but monetizing the websites can be difficult.  Profits depend both on your technical and writing skills.

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Nov 18

Secure phone communication

Posted in business, mobile, phone, technical

Last  Saturday, I was speaking to someone  and  was surprised at the poor quality of  communication network.  I could not hear  what he  was saying  for a major part of the conversation and  it  seemed that his voice was changing suddenly.  

 With the increasing computerisation  of phone technology, it appears that it is  easier to intercept, distort and spoof  phone conversations on both mobile and landline phones.

These notes on  Intercepting communications  are very educative.

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Nov 10

Book reading in India

Posted in business, internet

Unlike developed countries like USA, UK  and even other  countries like Russia , where millions of books are sold, reading books is not a popular activity in India.

From http://indiaedunews.net/In-Focus/April_2009/Book-reading_disappearing_in_India_-_Javed_Akhtar_7969/

“Do you know how books are selected in some of the homes in my city of Mumbai? They are chosen by interior decorators… by interior decorators! If you have brown-coloured furniture and carpet, you must have brown-coloured books,” the award-winning poet told sources.

Another article

http://expressbuzz.com/magazine/book-reading-a-dead-culture-in-india/65191.html

Reading books (and not just for exams) improves your knowledge and creativity and is important for innovation.   The quality of  India specific online content is quite poor and there is little incentive for  real experts to share their information online. Books may be expensive,  but they are worth spending money on.

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Nov 3

Privacy and power

Posted in cyberlaw, government, internet

The power of  the internet and  mobile communications has been overestimated for one reason – there is no privacy when you are online.   When you realise you are under surveillance,  you are willing to pay a price for privacy  – buy a book ” Schneier  on Security” costing Rs 1000+ though the same information is available for free online.

Links to 2 articles from the book

The Value of Privacy

Privacy and Power

the proverb  -  “Who watches the watchers?” is very relevant today, especially in the Indian context.

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