Useful Information

Nov 23

Books, authors, online and offline publishers in India

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 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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Oct 30

Security concerns

Posted in business, cyberlaw, internet

If you are trying to secure your computer and websites, it is very difficult to distinguish between hype and the truth and choosing the wrong consultant/ expert/ software could only aggravate your problems.

This website on online security has some interesting updates on security related news, companies and cybersecurity experts.

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Oct 6

Drivers for your computer/ notebook

Posted in internet, technical

If you purchase a desktop / laptop /netbook, without an OS preinstalled, finding suitable drivers can be very time consuming.

You can download the drivers you need using the links posted at Driverpool

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Sep 13

Declining credit card usage

Posted in business, internet

An RBI report shows that both the number of credit cards issued and credit card transactions is declining.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Credit-cards-out-debits-in/articleshow/6543407.cms

One of the reasons could be the poor customer support offered by certain banks issuing credit cards.

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Sep 1

Internet – privacy / reputation management

Posted in internet, law

The risks of social networking explained in this article – The web means the end of forgetting .

If you don’t have a profile at a social networking website, there is a risk that some one will create a fake profile. If you have one, it could be hacked or misused.

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Aug 9