Top link on Google - a pleasant surprise!

To be displayed among top three links on a Google search - isn't that something! If you search "Chicago snaps" on Google images, the top three images displayed are from my blogsite!

A few days back I noticed that my blog is getting increasing number of hits from Chicago. That piqued me. I wondered whether it was due to new friends I made on my visit to Chicago in April. But I wasn't convinced. Then I speculated whether Google is directing people from Chicago to my site. That sounded intriguing. I scrolled down my blog to see what could be causing it. When saw my blog entry on April 12th, titled Some Chicago Snaps, it clicked. Immediately, I opened another tab and searched for "Chicago snaps" on Google. Bang! Right there, I could see that the top 3 images were from my blogsite!

The Next Blog is not random

Most blogs on Blogspot display a "Next Blog" link on the top of the page. I have often browsed blogs using the "Next Blog" link. Successive clicks on Next Blog would throw up random blogs from across the world. It seems that blogspot has modified this feature and put some intelligence behind which blog to show next. Today, every click on "Next Blog" brought up another blog from India. And most of the blogs that came up where quite interesting. For instance, one the blogs was from a journalist reporting from Manipur.

I keep myself current on happenings in India - especially about political events. So I was surprised how little I knew about happenings in Manipur! Like, in Dec-09, it was reported that all schools in the state have been shut for more than four months! That's shocking - and news like these are hardly reported in our media.

New blog on SCM & PM

I have started writing a new blog on Supply Chain Management and Project Management to share my knowledge of the two subjects.

How often do I blog?

It was interesting for me to note my blogging statistics. 299 blog entries in 6 years. Close to 50 entries every year or 1 entry per week. I was very active in the first two years; then there was a lull for three years; finally, last year was an average year when it came to how frequently I blogged.

Template botched

I have messed up the template of the blog a bit. The previous template was leaving too much margin at both the sides. I wanted to increase the width of the blog page. So I have modified the template. However, I am not an expert at HTML coding (any more). HTML standards have changed considerably since the days I used it.

Right now the box that encloses the body of the blog needs to be widened. It is cutting across the middle of the page and appears on top of the text. I don't want to spend more time on fixing it right now. I will fix it later. Until then, I beg your consideration. And any help is welcome!

New Template!

I have changed the template for my blog. I had the previous template for over 5 years. Of late, I had got bored of it.

I hope you like my new template. Please leave your suggestions and comments.

One more blog

I have created one more blog: one-news-of-the-day.blogspot.com

Both, "the-news-of-the-day.blogspot.com" and "a-news-of-the-day.blogspot.com" were taken. Hence one-news-of-the-day.blogspot.com.

The idea is to post links to interesting (not necessarily the most important) news that I come across.

A few weeks back I had created impartial-observer.blogspot.com.

Changing the template for my blog

I want to change the template for my blog. However I have customized the standard template a little bit, by adding some of my favourite links in the right hand side pane. Hence I will have to be careful when I change the template, lest the customizations would be lost.

Can you suggest a good template for my blog?

Yes, the memories will never ever fade!

I scrolled down from Twenty most memorable ... , to read blog entry titled "Very few photographs of Korea trip", and I realized how true are the words I wrote three years ago!

Even today I can feel the freshness of the air in Namsangol. I still remember the thoughts I had as I strolled in the soft green grass there. I can still feel the inexplicable concoction of achievement, affection and longing, I experienced in my last ride from Suwon to Seoul. When I peep through the window of my mind, I am blinded by memory of the reflection of the rising sun on Building 63, seen through the window of the train cruising over Han river. Even today I lose the sense of time as I stroll down the memory lane in amzaing Myeong Dong! And till date no one else, except my wife, my mother, and the waitress in Seoul hotel, has been so concerned to voluntarily pack my breakfast everyday and force it on me.

I was right ... "these images on my mind will never ever fade ... their freshness will forever be the same"!

While browsing the past, swept away by Korea

I was reading random entires on my own blog. I was surprise at how many interesting thoughts I had scribbled over time. I felt inspired and moved, until I read Twenty most memorable experiences of Korea trip. And then I was overwhelmed with emotions - of nostalgia, awe, tenderness and something indescribably warm! It almost moistened my eyes. I could read no more. After the Golden Years of my life, the six months I spent in Korea are probably the most memorables time of my life. Even in these times, when inspiration has gone into an unending hibernation, images of my days in Korea stirred me to emotion.

I our mind, every place we stay gets associated with some feelings. With Ipswich, it's joy and beauty, with Pune it's activity and fun. With Korea, it's indescribable awe and warmth. If I ever want to fall in love with myself, I will think of Korea!!