WordPress now supports press by email

I am very happy that finally WordPress now provides what Blogger/Blogspot has always been providing. Press by email. In simple terms, one just has to establish a “secret email” from “My Blogs” page within WordPress Admin. To publish a post, all you have to do is send an email to this address and you are done. Though there may have been a delay on my part to discover this feature. I saw this today, and clearly remember was not there when I started using WordPress.

You can also change this email ID any time you want. This has an even more powerful implication. Since any one sending an email to this ID will publish a post in your blog (there is no check on sender’s identity). One can quickly change this “Secret” email and share with others to invite open posts/views etc creating an open forum. Once done, this can be changed again, closing the entries, and making email pressing private again.

I just wish for some more goodies from WordPress:

1.  Any ideas/tricks on how to tag a post which is pressed from email
2. The WordPress blog URL which serves as OpenID is platform 1.1. Please start dishing out OpenID platform 2.0 which is what everyone else seems to be using now a days (including Google, Yahoo, Facebook, MyOpenID to name a few)

By the way, I got my OpenID 2.0 from “MyOpenID” and thats http://sidfadnis.myopenid.com/

Cheers !!
Siddharth

Kudos to small shop owners. Boo on Mall culture.

In this jet age when people are supposed to gain benefits of Internet shopping, and reap ample rewards from discounts available on-line, one shop still beats them all and the shops in glittering malls.  Let me explain how.

I was in dire need of a printer cartridge for my inkjet printer. It was way too costly in malls in Noida and I had no time or money to make a trip to Delhi’s Nehru place to find one at the cheapest price. I searched ebay and still price quoted there was MRP plus the courier charges, making it cost even more than the prices in Noida.

I was perplexed why would people buy something online, if they are not getting it at the right price, and if they could get it cheaper locally.

Then I decided to give it a try. My brother was supposed to come to Noida the next day from Ujjain. I asked him to find the price of the cartridge in Ujjain, which is a small town and comparatively in a remote location, giving you the impression that things like computer supplies might be costlier there. But to my utter surprise, the price quoted was lesser than I enquired anywhere else.

And the icing on the cake was: The cartridge was not available in Ujjain. However my brother informed the store keeper, that he needed to travel in the evening, and hence needed the cartridge before that. The storekeeper, setting an ultimate example of customer service, promised to get the cartridge ordered from next town, and to deliver at the railway station right at my brother’s seat, before the train’s departure.  And he kept his promise, indeed! All this at a price less than internet’s best price.

In future I am always going to get a quote from Ujjain shops first, for all things that I can get from there.

Google does it yet again!! Picassa Updates.

Though I am a bit late to notice this, but is worth sharing. Picassa for Web now supports:

1. Name tagging like Orkut, using your Gmail contacts.
2. Email upload.
3. A shiny new GUI.
4. And introduces Picassa 3 software, with some improvements to photo editing features.

I am not detailing it here, because the experts have themselves done it on Gmail and Picassa blogs. And finally here is a link detailing the differences between Picassa 2.7 and 3.0 beta.

 

My Celebrity Look-Alikes. I don’t know even a single bloke here.

 

Google does it again. Experimental iGoogle features.

Google is constantly changing its products. First it was Google Talk Labs Edition, then the hyped browser Chrome, and now they have put in some innovation and cool user interface in their personalized (for users) Google page called iGoogle.

This is still in experimentation, meaning, not everybody will be able to see this version of the iGoogle web page. But a few users have been invited by Google to use this experimental web page when they log in. (and that includes lucky me !!). Full story can be read on Google Support page.

The USP of this new interface are rounded boxes (called canvas view gadgets) on the Home page for various applications added onto iGoogle by the user. Any box can be maximized to view the full application in its own frame within iGoogle page. Also iGoogle has a left navigation to tab through each of the frames / pages of application added onto iGoogle. These boxes can be dragged and dropped to change their location on the Home page, can be collapsed, maximized and customized.

So now I can have all my favourite web applications, web sites, news feeds, jokes, weather forecast, Gmail, Gtalk and many more added as boxes to my iGoogle webpage and use them from a single window. I can also set iGoogle as my home page to have quick access to all my favourite web sites at once.

Did I mention GTalk, yes the best part of this new interface is that it also provides a separate tab in the left navigation for chatting using Google services. And now since base code of Gmail is supported on IE6 as well, you can go invisible while chatting from iGoogle irresepective of the IE version you are using. Great !! What else could I ask for. However as of now the Gtalk tab is not available to all who have access to the new iGoogle. Google says, there are still some bugs with this, which they are working upon. For me, I do not have the Gtalk on my iGoogle as yet.

All of this is what makes me a die hard Google “Bhakt”. I only wish Google to call more and more users to experience the new iGoogle, and to make the chatting tab available to all.

Here is a sneak preview of the new iGoogle, for those who do not have access to it yet:

 

Blogging Friends Forever Award

It has been quite some time now since Sudeshna conferred me with the “Blogging Friends Forever” award. I feel the time is now ripe to pass on this award to few of my friends as my blog has matured a lot. Also the number of hits to my blog has gone up considerably. Now going by various posts on Sudeshna’s and others’ blogs on cyberspace, something tells me that doing so is a must, and would rather be rude, if I don’t do it.

The following rules apply to this award:

1. You pass on the award to 5 people
2. 4 of them can be regular visitors of your blog
3. One (the 5th one) has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to who ever gave you the award.

So I pass on this award to:

1. To my friend and once upon a time colleague Kalyan.
2. My friend, gadget mentor, and brother Aditya.
3. Sharmila who is a new visitor to my blog.
4. Kulprete, my childhood friend, and now an enterprising fellow.
5. And to Alex from Russia who once visited my blog from obviously a completely other part of the world !!

 

Domino’s Pizza. Here’s a discount.

Now, I don’t know how many of you would actually prefer Domino’s above other pizza chains. But I got this mailer from them, offering a discount of 25%, if I forwarded the mailer to five of my friends. That was dumb enough, and risky, as I would have invited the wrath of my colleagues and friends for spamming them.

So I forwarded the mailer to many dummy mail ids that I possess and generated the 25% discount coupon. It is valid for a take away, home delivery and dine in as well.

Use it if you like!

Domino’s is a trademark of well, who else, Domino’s!! And dont blame me, if the above coupon doesn’t work!!

I do not work for their sales and marketing. I only want my friends to benefit from this scheme, thats all.

© ©

Sailana – Perfect weekend getaway

ince long, our family had longed for a weekend trip to some nearby place. However because of my mom’s health, and scarcity of leaves from my work, we were prevented from doing so for quite some time. Recently I planned to visit my parents on “Rakhi”. By this time mom also had regained her full strength and confidence (after her surgery). And we had all the reasons, time and opportunity to take our much wanted trip. Mom herself had planned it all out much before we (me and my wife) reached Ujjain. Dad had booked the taxi, a comfortable 8 seater Toyota Qualis, meaning we 5 had all the luxurious space to stretch our legs and take a nap if we wanted, while on the run.

How to Reach Sailana and where to stay:

Sailana is a small village in the district of Ratlam. It is 25 km from Ratlam city, and just 50 km from Rajasthan border. Closest (within Rajasthan) to Sailana is the district Banswada. Ratlam is a big railway station and connected to Mumbai by “Avantika Express” which runs daily. Also Ratlam is only 115 km by road from Ujjain district which is a very important holy city of Central India, one of the four places where “Kumbh” takes place every 12 years, and my home town . Ujjain is a “junction” speaking in terms of railways and is well connected to Delhi by “Nizamuddin Express” on daily basis. Two important trains here which could connect you to Indore-Ratlam-Ujjain belt (called “Malwa” region) on daily basis are:

1. Avantika Express: Indore – Ujjain – Ratlam – Mumbai Central.
2. Nizamuddin Express: Indore – Ujjain – Hazrat Nizamuddin (New Delhi)

If you plan to start your journey from Indore or Ujjain, then hiring a taxi would be the best option. If you are taking a train, I would recommend you to halt in Indore (if you want to shop) or Ujjain (if you want to worship and cleanse your soul) and take a taxi from there till Ratlam. The lesser spirited souls can halt in Ratlam itself, and save time on traveling to Sailana. Indore also has a domestic airport (if you want to shell out more bucks) and is well connected with Delhi / Mumbai / Pune / Bengaluru / Chennai / Nagpur.

Best time to visit Sailana:

Monsoons, morning hours only. Sailana is a small village and as such the places we visited had little or no lighting.

How we reached Sailana:

As I said, we hired a Toyota Qualis from Ujjain till Sailana and back. The road is fairly decent compared to standards of MP (roads in MP are the worst in India). The entire trip cost us 273 km. The best time to reach Sailana is around 11:00 AM, as around that time all shops / village is / are buzzing with activity. This also gives one ample time to explore all places, and still make it in time for a hearty lunch.

Starting from Ujjain we stopped at village Ingoria (10 km from Ujjain) for breakfast, the trademark breakfast “Poha and Jalebi” of MP.

On our way we crossed the city of Barnagar. The road from Ujjain till Barnagar is awesome, and the traffic is also minimal.

However from Barnagar till Ratlam, and within Ratlam city the roads are pretty bad. But once you cross Ratlam city, the road is again neat till Sailana. We also crossed two rivers “Gambhir” and “Chambal” on our way.

Coming back to Sailana, what to do, where to go:

Sailana was formerly a princely state, and I guess, it was a part of Rajasthan. Post independence it was merged in MP. A Fort belonging to the then royal family still stands tall in heart of Sailana, and the area is known as “Palace Chauraha“, or “Rajwada“.  A descendant of the royal family still occupies part of the fort, so we were told, by the officials present at the fort. The main tourist attraction of Sailana, is the Cactus Garden, housed inside this fort. It boasts a myriad collection of various types of cacti, some of them small, bush like. But most of them, large, huge and gigantic. It gives us a feeling, as if we have entered the neolithic era. The place is very serene and quiet, and the silence is only disturbed occasionally by squeals of peacocks, who thrive at the place. The place is also yet unaffected by commercialization, as the entry ticket is only Rs 5 per person. The cost to carry a single camera inside is just Rs 10 per instrument. The fort houses some empty cages, hinting that some animals were also kept here for display. But this was later discontinued for lack of animals / funds / rights to cage animals. I strongly recommend this place for flora enthusiasts.

Next we went to “Kedareshwar” temple of Lord Shiva. This is again famous in Sailana, and actually there are two of them, both 4 km both from the fort (but in opposite directions). We visited the one, which had a better connecting road! The temple is situated in a man made cave (carved out from a cliff of igneous rocks). The cliff along with many others surrounds a small valley. From the top of the cliff, a small stream of monsoon rain water forms a waterfall and joins a small pond of water in the valley. From here a river originates and flows down into the plains of Rajasthan. The whole setting is very beautiful, and quiet. Especially during the monsoons, all this is blessed with lush greenery, and is literally a treat for the eyes. After offering our prayers to Lord Shiva, all of us, including my parents climbed down the cliff into the valley (do not panic, there are stairs). We simply sat by the pond, frolicked in water and had lots of fun. Had we brought along a spare set of clothes, we could have had a nice swim / bath. This place also, I must comment, is free from commercialization and priests haggling devotees for money and donation.

Where to dine:

On our way back to Ujjain, we stopped at Ratlam, at a restaurant called “Palash”. The place is pretty clean and has clean wash rooms. The food was also nice, and I was pleasantly surprised to find continental food on the menu. Though the place is pure vegetarian, they do have a bar, which is housed in a different section of the premises. On way back, we again took a halt at village Ingoria for “Chai”.

The conclusion:

I never imagined, there could be such an interesting place so near to Ujjain, ideal for a day’s outing. I strongly recommend this place to all people visiting the “Malwa” region of MP. I would say, visit this place, when you have just a day to spare and want to spend it peacefully, and experience what India was like some 100 years ago. Cheers.

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Hey, this text is added to this post, after the post was published. I came to know later that Sailana also has a bird sanctuary. Funny, this was missed from the wikipedia article on Sailana.

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Just a small note to readers. Please visit the “Copyright” page on this blog to find out how I expect my work to be (or not to be) used. Thanks! Happy reading.

The Dark Book by Siddharth Fadnis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.

Wiki Rocks !!

Did you ever imagine, Wiki could start a cookbook. And here is one of their first, our very own Chapati. Read on….

My First Award !!

I usually go to Kalyan’s Blog every once in a while. He always comes up with so many posts from different subjects. However this last time I saw this link on his blog, that led me to Sudeshna’s Blog, which was all about recipes from Bengal and otherwise. The blog was simply “delicious”. And blog surfing has its own rewards too. I received this Award just for visiting her page. Yippee !!

Thanks Sudeshna, but I will defer passing this on, till there are a substantial number of visitors to my blog. This one is due on me.