Jan 9

The joy of living in isolation

Posted in internet, media, mobile

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/joy-quiet-659

Most people cannot imagine life without family,friends and gadgets, but living alone in isolation, away from the internet and mobile, allows you to think in peace, reflect on human nature, greed, motivation and more.

comments: 0 »
Oct 10

Selling / Buying an internet company

Posted in internet, media

http://allthingsd.com/20110914/yahoo-for-sale-big-bidders-circling-including-marc-andreessen-as-board-pressure-mounts/

An internet company may be very profitable, but when there is a change in the ownership/ management , the profits can plummet as the sale of Myspace and numerous other websites has shown.

comments: 0 »
Aug 23

Big Companies offering work at home / telecommuting jobs in India

Posted in business, government, internet, media

Some news stories on big companies offering work at home / telecommuting jobs in India

http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20080324/technologylife01.shtml

http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/ew/2008/04/21/stories/2008042150020100.htm

http://www.i4donline.net/articles/current-article.asp?articleid=2041&typ=Features

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051011/asp/atleisure/story_5342890.asp

http://www.omamconsultants.com/milestones_detail5.htm

comments: 0 »
Aug 7

Content creation on a mass scale

Posted in internet, media

Interesting information on Demand media and content creation on a large scale

http://www.thefreelancertoday.com/demand-media-studios/

http://www.demandstudiossucks.com/2010/11/dmd-ipo-freelancers/

http://content.demandmedia.com/stats.html

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_demandmedia/

comments: 0 »
Jun 24

Declining internet usage

Posted in internet, media

From http://allthingsd.com/20110623/the-web-is-shrinking-now-what/
Internet usage in terms of time spent is decreasing.

Some of the reasons could be
1. Lack of security online – malware, spyware
2. After using the internet for a certain number of years, people have a fair idea of the quality of content available online, and often look elsewhere for indepth information.

comments: 0 »
May 9

Liberal education

Posted in government, internet, media

The Indian education system is geared towards passing exams with high marks, not in teaching students to think independently. This article

Beyond Technocoolies

throws some light on why there is so little innovation in India, why many people do not keep an open mind ,  think beyond stereotypes.  If people are treated fairly and there is little exploitation, they are far more productive.

comments: 0 »
Apr 11

Policy, government and legal websites

Posted in government, internet, law, media

Some websites for reference are

http://governancenow.com/ - government operation

http://www.observerindia.com/  – policy

http://www.akosha.com/ - legal assistance for consumers

comments: 0 »
Mar 31

View credit card statement online

Posted in cyberlaw, government, internet, media, technical

You can view your ICICI credit card statement online at

https://infinity.icicibank.co.in/web/cards/creditcardNLI/jsp/ccNonLoginPage.jsp

For generating a 3D secure code for online transactions (Visa /Mastercard), use

https://www.3dsecure.icicibank.com/ACSWeb/EnrollWeb/ICICIBank/main/index.jsp?utm_source=GA&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=3dsecure-RHS-banner-4

If your computer is hacked or ISP connection is insecure, the hacker may use the credit / debit card number entered to generate the 3D secure code himself and you will not be able to use the debit card for online transactions.  In such cases, the card will have to be blocked to prevent misuse online.

comments: 0 »
Mar 17

Paypal India changes from March 1, 2011

Posted in business, exchange rate, government, internet, media, PAN

For a few days after March 1, 2011, Paypal users in India got the following notification after logging in to their Paypal account.

Notification for PayPal users in India
With effect from 1 March 2011, you are required to comply with the requirements set out in the notification of the Reserve Bank of India governing the processing and settlement of export-related receipts facilitated by online payment gateways (“RBI Guidelines”).

1.Any balance in and all future payments into your PayPal account may not be used to buy goods or services and must be transferred to your bank account in India within 7 days from the receipt of confirmation from the buyer in respect of the goods or services; and
2.Export-related payments for goods and services into your PayPal account may not exceed US$500 per transaction. Click here to learn more.
Go to My Account

The notification did not appear for a few days, but it is now again visible.

Other than blocking mass payments , no other major changes have appeared in Paypal site for Indian users. Many personal and premier account holders have been able to send money from their account and receive money, though some Paypal business account holders have had the $500 restriction implemented and accounts limited. Paypal users who have written to Paypal support have been told that their accounts are being monitored. A similar rule seems to be implemented in  Turkey without advance notification with users unable to pay from Paypal balance.

Till January 2010, any Paypal user could have one business and one personal account as per Paypal’s Terms of Service. After Paypal wanted users to associate a PAN number with each account, some users had to choose between the business and personal account, since a PAN number could be associated with one account only.  With the new changes users now face the following disadvantages:
1. They are forced to withdraw at the prevailing exchange rate, earlier they could time their withdrawals to get the best exchange rate.
2. Higher exchange rates for payments in US$ -  Visa/ Mastercard charge around Rs 47/$ , Paypal charges approx. Rs 46/$ .

comments: 0 »
Mar 3

Unpaid contributors and internet companies

Posted in business, internet, media

Many internet companies have very high valuations and a major part of the value for some of these companies is created by  unpaid contributors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/business/media/14carr.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=business

Some platforms offer revenue sharing, but for most of the larger companies the content is created free of cost and the platform owner incurs the cost of hosting, promotion and moderation of the free content.

comments: 0 »
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