We all need some time to be alone. Especially if you are a blogger stuck in front of the computer for hours, a hideout away from it is much needed. As for me, I hide in the basement. Call me crazy but this is how I get out of the daily stress of blogging. I know it sounds a bit ridiculous and may be a little creepy as well. As bloggers, we all have times when we just want to get away from the DAMN computer and find a place where there is nothing to bother or stress us out. To me it’s my unfinished basement.

A blogger’s life isn’t as easy and relaxed as most people imagine. The stress of having to update a blog regularly alone can cause a person heart attack ( ok, thats an exaggeration ), and besides blogging we all do have other committments like family, job,social life and a little TV time ofcourse. This post reflects as to where my private sanctuary is, where is my heaven or where I find the peace of mind to just not worry about a thing. You guessed it right - My basement.

Lately, I find myself sneaking downstairs to my basement a lot. After I have been stressed out on the computer for hours dealing with the fact that I am not getting where I would like to be and working on different projects, I certainly need some deserved alone time. Not to mention the stress after you have stumbled and dugg couple articles, talked on MySpace for a while, tinkered with Facebook for hours, participated on couple forums and ofcourse checked out ebay’s most wanted items, I need the time to relax and this is where the creepy basement comes in handy. [Read more →]

Tags: Blogging, Ramblings by Ritu - 7 Comments »

TechSmith is currently offering Camtasia and SnagIt for free. These two softwares are a bloggers friend so if you don’t already have them, go ahead and secure them right away. These are full versions and not just trial copies, so rush to the scene.

The usual price for camtasia is $299.00 and SnagIt $29.00.

Here is the link for detailed information on what these two softwares can do for you and why I say they are a bloggers best friend ( please read the full post so you know how to get the licensed key ). I would like to thank Linda for bringing this to my attention so I could share it with my readers. Thanks Linda

Let me know what you think of these softwares once you start using them. Once I get the licensed keys you will be seeing me using these two softwares a lot, especially Camtasia

Tags: News, Softwares by Ritu - 8 Comments »

So what exactly do you do when you have nothing to write? Some say, write nothing while other’s just try to come up with whatever they can. Well, if you are a blogger, I am pretty sure you are a reader as well. One of the best way to create a post when you have nothing to write is link to posts that you have read and think might be useful for your readers.

Well, I have nothing to write and that’s exactly what I am going to do, write nothing and link to posts that I think might be useful for you. Some of the links I have listed here are quite old but thought I would share them with you anyway, just in case you haven’t had a chance to read them.

Hope you enjoy these links

There you go, I had nothing to write so I thought I would share these posts from other blogs with you. Hold On! I do have something to write. I have been reading a book lately ” Jump Start Your Brain ” by Doug Hall. It’s an old book but as I was reading it I came across a quote that I could relate to blogging and bloggers in general. So here you go, some more for me to share with you. [Read more →]

Tags: Blogging by Ritu - 7 Comments »

A tree can only hold so many apples, and the same rule applies to Google when it comes to them trying to acquire every thing that seems within their reach. Google has clearly become the undsiputed king ( so far ) in search engine battles. But google’s interest in acquiring services from every market sector might be like swallowing a bone larger than the throat.

This post highlights as to why I think google is heading the wrong way and why Google is trying to monopolize the internet. The views and opinion expressed here are mine and might and might not be similar to yours. I just had the urge to write how I feel, so here I am writing it all out as to how I feel about the Big G. [Read more →]

Tags: Blogging, Google, Internet by Ritu - 16 Comments »

Social Networking sites are like ” Stop Signs, ” there is one in every corner. Some, we stop and look around and some we pass by without even taking the time to stop and look. With the emergence and growth of so many Social Networking sites it has become of utmost importance to find something that provides us with business networking opportunities in a casual environment. Global Business Networking ( GBN ) does just that.

I was invited by the GBN admin to use this site a couple weeks ago and I personally have had a very pleasant experience to say the least. The site is still in its infancy but with due marketing and loyal members, I think this site has a great potential to stand out in the crowded market of Social Networking sites. So, why exactly should you try this site out while you already have your hands full with couple of them? Keep reading and you might find some reasons, if not all as to why you should atleast give this service a chance. I have added quite a few images for you to see so as to give you an idea of what each section looks like as well. [Read more →]

Tags: Paid Review by Ritu - 5 Comments »

Updated Post:- After sending the letter to rojo, I received an email from them. The message is at the very end of this article.

First to those who don’t know what Rojo is,
” Rojo means “RSS with mojo” and in this spirit our company is dedicated to providing the best feed reader around so that busy people can discover and read content as efficiently as possible. Rojo was selected “best of the Web” for blog reading by the editors of BusinessWeek. To try Rojo for yourself, visit www.rojo.com and create your account (it’s free!). Rojo is entirely web-based, you won’t need to download any software. ”
( source:-rojo.com/corporate/services/)

I am little scared to link to it since I don’t want to expose anybody to anything that I deem inappropriate.

Here is my letter to Rojo which explains why I am disgusted

“ Dear Rojo admin,
I was disgusted to see some of the content on your site today after I was pointed out by one of my readers that you had adult content. I have been using your services for a while and thought these kind of things weren’t allowed ( I was almost certain until now ).

Just to make it clear for your unwatchful eyes the date was “11/23/07” when I witnessed an image of sexual conduct on your frontpage. Here is a excerpt from what was shown on the frontpage under the image

I brought home with hottie from the clubs. Girl was smoking hot, dark black skin and a banging body. the next morning i set up the camera to capture our morning ******* fest. Click here to see more videos of black hotties

I went and looked into your TOS and certainly you had clearly indicated the site isn’t for anyone under 18. Fine! As I scrolled further down I found this

As a condition to your use of this web site and the Service, you agree not to:

upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any information, materials or other content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, offensive, invades another’s privacy, or promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any individual or group; ( The post was obscene, racist, insulting, offensive, defamatory and pornographic to point out some )

Also I realize that it might be hard to track everything down for you guys but I bet there has to be a system setup to filter these things out.

I don’t know what you regard as obscene or pornographic but the content and image that was displayed on the date mentioned above was truly uncalled for and something that should be looked into ( And if you defer from the fact that the image wasn’t pornographic, you should probably get feedbacks from other users as well ). I am ashamed that Business Week awarded you “ best of the web “ for blog reading ( imagine my horror after reading such praise about you through such a reputable publication ).

I had listed your site on my blog for more readers to find out if they didn’t know about it since I thought it was a good service, but I was definitely wrong. If you will be serving these kind of images on your frontpage for whatever reason please make sure to change your TOS.

I am just glad I didn’t have my family with me while I was checking your site out cause that would certainly have made me look like somebody I am not. So next time you decide to let contents like that pass by please make sure to filter them and if not how about change your TOS so everyone knows what to expect.

Sincerely,
Nevermind

[Read more →]

Tags: News, Ramblings by Ritu - 6 Comments »