The One Year Challenge

Apr 8

Posted by Amit K in Personal | 1 Comment

Fitness and health have suddenly become a top priority in my life. Have lost more than 10 kgs in the past 6-7 months but still a long way to go till I achieve my goal of achieving a great body. Riding in my 23rd year right now, want a perfect body as soon as I turn 23. So will I achieve my goal? Definitely I Will.

What’s In My Favor

  • My dedication and motivation.
  • This blog post, that will continuously remind me of my GOAL.
  • A room mate who is equally health conscious.

The Odd’s Against Me

  • A sedentary ten hours job.
  • A metabolism rate that pretty much SUCKS.
  • Time , that always seems so less.
  • As I am away from home, have to rely on hotel food and the chefs in the restaurants I frequent aren’t particularly health conscious.

Hrithik Roshan or Amit

 

That’s Me , One Year From Now

Just Say It

Apr 7

Posted by Amit K in Personal | 1 Comment

If you need to say something, Just Say It.

There is no point pondering over things like is this the right time to say this or should I wait for a more appropriate situation. For take it from me, there is no such thing as RIGHT TIME.

I personally used to ponder over a lot over the after effects of what I wanted to say and wait for the right time to come. A wait that would never end. But have resolved to never do so in future and just express my feelings than hiding them deep inside.

So whenever you’ve got to say something, Just Say It.

If you’ve got to say Sorry. Just Say It.

If you’ve got to say Thank You. Just Say It.

If you’ve got to say I Love You. Just Say It.

If you’ve got to say F$%& Off. Just Say It.

Movie Review : Shaurya Film Review

Apr 5

Posted by Amit K in Movie Reviews | 4 Comments

Expectations were definitely nonexistent when I entered the multiplex, to catch some sleep. Oops to watch Shaurya. Last week’s release One Two Three had prepared me to take on any movie and leave the theater mentally sound. So I said to myself,” Bring on what you have Samar Khan(director of Shaurya) and I am ready to face it”.

Five minutes into Shaurya : “Ok, another of those patriotic army movies. Get ready for some preaching, Amit”

Ten minutes into Shaurya : ” Oh! So they are aping A Few Good Men, this time round. Time to find some sleep.”

Fifteen minutes into Shaurya : “Is it really getting interesting? Or am I hallucinating”

Twenty Minutes Into Shaurya : “The movie has me hooked.”

Shaurya Movie Story

Officer Javed Khan has been accused of killing his senior officer, Major Rathore. The lethargic fun loving officer Major Siddhant(Rahul Bose) has been entrusted with defending Javed. What Siddhant thought would just be a sight seeing and para gliding experience in the valleys of Srinagar turns out to be a life changing experience.

shaurya movie review

 

Shaurya Movie Poster

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Part 1 : Mumbai Bar (Blog) Camp 3

Mar 30

Posted by Amit K in Blogging | 2 Comments

Always wanted to be a part of what they call bar camps, and see whether they actually are as much fun as they promise to be or should I say as others claim them to be. And finally the opportunity did come knocking on the door with Bar Camp 3 organised at IIT Powai SOM Institute.

So here is my quick take on Bar Camp3. Quick but not short :) . Dividing this post into two parts, this being the first.

Organisers Of Bar Camp 3

Event was organized decently but could have been carried out in a better manner. The timing schedules were not put up properly. There were rather dramatic mismatches with the timings put on the “White Board” and the actual timing of the sessions being conducted in the seminar halls. In all other ways though the organisation was perfecly carried out. And must say over here, the blog t-shirts are pretty cool.

All sessions mentoned out here are the one’s attended by me. There were many sessions running in parallel and these were the ones I got an opportunity to attend.

Rashmi Bansal

Really wanted to be a part of this session. But due to display of improper schedule by the organizers, I missed it. Of the one minute that I did bother to catch , the session seemed like a light talk on blogging and how one shouldn’t get too involved in it. Plain and simple, without even a dash of tech in it.

How To Secure Your Blogs Session

A very very basic talk on security like why you should upgrade your wordpress blogs. Pretty much toddler stuff. Three musketeers from the audience interrupted, reinterrupted and re-reinterrupted the speaker recursively to make sure that the speaker got screwed and the impeccant audience couldn’t figure out what was going on.

Read the rest of this entry »

Did The Recent PR Update Screw You?

Oct 28

Posted by Amit K in Blogging, Google, Make Money Online | 1 Comment

If you are a pro-blogger then these few days must have been like waiting for your exam results to come out. Tense moments, bad dreams and miserable thoughts. And why not? Google’s PR (Page Rank) Update was on it’s way.

Google had warned various publishers that selling text links ads on their web pages and hence tampering Google’s algorithm would adversely affect their sites PR. And the warning wasn’t just an empty one.

The recent Google PR update toppled various famous sites PR and there were cries of dismay all around the blogosphere. Some problogger’s like Johntp suffered a major PR drop from PR 6 to a measly PR 3. Other PR 5 entertainment sites like Ourbollywood and Naachgaana slumped to a docile PR 3 from a healthy PR 5.

My Advice To Bloggers

Crying too much about the loss of PR wouldn’t do any good. I strongly recommend bloggers not to purchase links. Create a better blog to get quality traffic to your site and create a larger reader base. That’s the only mantra for a successful blog.

Now moving to the point of should you continue selling Text Link Ads? I guess if you think your major source of revenue is through selling text link ads, then it makes no sense removing them. Ask yourself , why you want a high PR . Is it just too command respect on the internet or is it too make a lot of money? If the answer is the latter then removing text link ads would be nonsensical. As if you want a good PR to sell links and if Google will decrease your PR if you sell links. Then you are in a real catch 22 situation. So do not care about Google and just go ahead and sell those links.

But if you observe a drop in the SERPs of your site or if google ( search ) traffic to your site has greatly reduced. Then the best option would be to ditch text link ads. Most of my blogs receive around 70% of their traffic through Google, so if selling text links are going to affect my SERP than I would prefer to stay away from them.

But John Chow whose site suffered a PR blow from 6 to 4 is in no mood to bow down to Google’s dictatorship. He has no plans of removing his text link nds and wants to take the Google bull by its horns. He has also stated that Google traffic is only 2% of his total traffic ( a big exaggeration , I feel) . Anyways, check out his post : “Turning A Negative To A Positive” : a real inspiration if you want to wage a war against Google :)

Here’s a great cartoon of this PR update: I found on the net. Cannot recollect though from which site :(

PR Update Cartoon

Read the rest of this entry »

Make Money Online With Widget Bucks

Oct 3

Posted by Amit K in Blogging, Make Money Online | 3 Comments


Earn $$ with WidgetBucks!

Just heard about this new site WidgetBucks that helps you make some great money by adding some cool widgets to your site. The widgets generally show shopping items available on different sites like newegg.com, amazon.com, etc.

Widgets come in a range of sizes( 468*60, 728*90, 660*330, 300*250, 160*600) and can be customized to different colors, so as to gel in with the colors of your site. By choosing the Merchsense option ( that is patented by Widget Bucks ) you can have ads relevant to your site content. Check the bottom of this post to see how the widgets appear.

How To Apply For WidgetBucks

As Widget Bucks is a relatively new venture, they do not have restrictions for publishers to join. No minimum traffic requirements or minimum PR guidelines. All you have to have is a site for which you must apply. In a few minutes you will receive confirmation by Widgetbucks to jadd the widgets to your site. I got thw widgetbucks confirmation mail in my bulk account, so please do check your bulk mail. Once you receive the confirmation, you are on your way making money with this widget.

Signup by clicking on this link : Earn $$ with WidgetBucks.

Get $25 Just For Sign Up At Widget Bucks

Auction ads too has this incentive to attract publishers to join their site. But it is rather difficult to make money with auction ads because you get paid only when some one clicks on the ads and then buys a product. So you get a commission only on converted sales.

But Widget Bucks isn’t that way. With Widget Bucks you make money on a ‘per click’ (CPC) basis and WidgetBucks claim that those who’ve tested them are getting $3-$6 CPM. Payment is via Check or paypal, but you need to hit $50 before you trigger your first payment. So to get your first pay check you just have to wait for another $25. This $50 payout is definitely attractive as other sites ( adsense, kontera) generally have a payout of $100.

Have A Big Bite When The Cake Has Just Been Baked

Widget Bucks has just launched ( it has an alexa rank of 1,000,000 +) and popular sites have already started blogging about it. So hit the hammer when the iron is still hot and cash on the opportunity to make some great money with Widget Bucks. I have just applied for Widgetbucks, for one of my sites and shall report about how much earningsI make in a week’s time. Also shall review any downsides if any on Widgetbucks.

Read articles about a few bloggers who have written about Widget Bucks :

Earn $$ with WidgetBucks

JohnChow’s Review on Widget bucks

Probloggers Review On Widget Bucks

How The Widgets Look Like ?

WidgetBucks – Trend Watch – WidgetBucks.com

 

WidgetBucks – Trend Watch – WidgetBucks.com

A Joke That Created Havoc

Sep 28

Posted by Amit K in India | 14 Comments

Rj Nitin must have never imagined that one of his many PJ’s on his Red FM show, Khurafati Nitin would cause riots in West Bengal. Ok so you all are interested in listening to the so called PJ? Then here it is : “shopkeepers will now have to make their own security arrangements as Gorkhas have taken to singing.” The reference being made to Indian Idol 3, Prashant Tamang.

Like me many of you might pull your hair off at the silly material passed off as jokes by these FM channels. But this so called joke, was not taken well by the fans of Indian Idol Prashant Tamang, leading to violence and strikes in the serene Darjeeling.

Now what surprises me is that “People In India Have Way Too Much Time To Waste”. First of all they have so much leisure time to listen to a rather stupid show on FM, then they have the time to protest and carry of dharnas against stupid jokes carried on that stupid show. And also get involved in fights for a man, who oblivious to all this is busy relishing his new found success.

First of all I do not feel there was anything racist about that PJ, cracked by RJ Nitin. If this joke is a racist attack, then what about the Santa Banta joke fodder that we have been feeding upon? Do those jokes mean, all the Sardar’s all over start engaging in fights and create widespread violence? Ridiculous!!!

 

Rj Nitin Jokes

Rj Nitin : Joke Bhaari Pad Gaya Bidu Read the rest of this entry »

And They Did It…… India Win Twenty Twenty World Cup

Sep 25

Posted by Amit K in Cricket | 1 Comment

A team of 15 youngsters. No experience of Twenty Twenty Cricket. A docile bowling line up. A batting line up sans Sachin, Saurav and Dravid. Surely no one in their right senses would put their money on India.

But cricket is a game of uncertainties. A team which wasn’t given a whiff of chance to do well in he shortest version of the game, have been declared the Champions of that game. Under Dhoni’s positive captaincy, India for once removed the chokers tag and held onto nail biting situations, handled the pressure excellently. And lo behold ….. They Did IT!!!!

A team of 15 rejuvenated champions. Twenty Twenty World Cup Champions. An overly agressive bowler in Sreesanth. A batting line up which had the Australians running for cover. Bow your heads to the new Twenty Twenty World Cup Champions… Team India.

India Are Twenty Twenty World Champions

Pic : India Are Twenty Twenty World Champions Defeating Pakistan In The Finals

Three Men And A Baby : A Comedy For the Entire Family

Sep 23

Posted by Amit K in Movie Reviews | 1 Comment

Just caught up with this wonderful comedy, Three Men And A Baby, directed by Leonard Nimoy. I had this dvd for quite a while but had just kept it in on the shelf. I do not know what prompted me to catch this flick, but whatever did, I am really happy that I caught up with this movie.

Three Men And A Baby Movie Story

Jack, Michael and Peter are three happy go lucky friends. Every thing’s going nice and jolly until one day, two unexpected parcels arrive at their doorstep. One is a cradle with a baby in it and the other parcel has a drugs in it. Suddenly their lives take a full 360 degree turn. With the responsibility of a baby ( who they are clueless how to manage) and with the police and goons after them for the drugs, what you can expect is one comic journey.

The movie is so appropriately tagged : ” They changed her diapers, she changed their lives”

Three Men And A Baby

Poster : Three Men And A Baby

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Yuvraj’s Six Sixes In One Over (Full Video)

Sep 20

Posted by Amit K in Cricket | 25 Comments

Shahrukh’s six pack is no longer the talk of the town. It’s Yuvraj’s six pack that the whole of India is going crazy about.

Twenty Twenty world Cup Match. India v/s England. A do or die situation for both the teams. Sehwag’s and Gambhir’s brilliantly orchestrated innings were made to look miniscule by one angry young man, Yuvraj Singh.

Yuvraj Singh Six Sixes In One OverAfter a rather disappointing Twenty Twenty tour so far, Yuvraj was blazing guns on Wednesday Night. A tiff with Andrew Flintoff had Yuvraj all charged up. And the next thing was balls flying all over the park. A helpless Broad could just look up at the skies as balls went flying in the air.

Watch the video of Yuvraj smash Broad for six sixes in the over. Sweet revenge for Yuvraj, after he was hit for 5 sixes in England by Mascarenhas. Read the rest of this entry »