Call For Speakers For The IndicThreads.com Conference On Java Technology Closes Tomorrow

IndicThreads.com invites submissions for the IndicThreads.com Conference On Java Technology 2007 to be held on 26th and 27th October 2007 at the Symbiosis Infotech Campus, Hinjewadi IT Park, Pune, India. The conference is the premier independent conference on Java technology in Asia and is the place to be, to learn the latest in the Java world while meeting with like-minded individuals from across the industry. You can find details of last year’s conference at http://conference.indicthreads.com

Searching For A City In CyberSpace

Herald Column - Using Interent For City ManagementAn article about how and why city administration should use new age mediums like the internet to communicate with citizens and manage the city.

Also a quick look at the recent PMC scheme about including citizen suggested projects in the city budget for 2007-08.

—-

The PMC recently invited development project proposals from the public. These projects were to be considered for inclusion in the PMC budget for the year 07-08. I checked the PMC website egovpmc.com for the necessary form, but the site was a disappointment. I later attended a meet on the topic organized by the Grahak Panchayat. The team of enthusiastic oldies volunteering work for the Panchayat provided more information and the requisite form.

As Sweet As Honey, As Free As The Web

As Sweet As Honey, As Free As The Internet“Article about freedom on the Internet published in my bi-weekly column for the Maharashtra Herald daily newspaper.”

Orkut.com has been getting the Internet a lot of bad publicity of late. Orkut is a site where you can find old friends and make new ones. It has 1000s of communities and millions of active members. But this popularity has also made Orkut the favourite punching bag for the media today. It may be an obscure Orkut community that defames a national icon or some anti-Indian post on an Orkut forum, but it all becomes sensational news very quickly.

The reasons why we keep seeing these news are –
1) It’s very easy to find improper things on Orkut. If you spend 15 min on Orkut you will find somebody somewhere talking nonsense about some great man or saying things that might be offensive to someone.
2) Orkut’s popularity ensures that any Orkut news gets a lot of attention.
3) Orkut will always provide a steady stream of controversial news, as moderating Orkut is close to impossible.
So if a 24 hr news channel is short of news it can always pick something from Orkut or an offensive video from YouTube and blow the story out of proportion.

India’s first independent conference on Java technology – Pune – 1st & 2nd December 2006

Ever wondered why apart from a handful of open-source events, no learning-oriented technology conferences happen in India?

We are mostly stuck with conferences that are promotional events or marketing shows with free 5-star lunch, goodies and t-shirts in return for spending hours listening to why company X’s product Y is the best and how company X’s products are changing the world.