Bloggers too will have their day!

It is International Webloggers' Day or InWeDay 29 days from now. On 14th June, 2008, bloggers from different countries will unite to celebrate the fourth such event.

Why is that?
Apart from revolutionizing the widely-known Valentine's day, Women's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Family Day, the greeting card industry has been making earnest efforts to popularize days like Teddy Day, Kiss Day, Hug Day, Promise Day, Naked Day (yeah, there's this one too!), Cheese Pizza day, No Diet Day, Nutty Fudge Day, Freud Day, Wife Appreciation Day, Hug Your Cat Day, Hiccup Day, and many more.** Should it be a surprise then if bloggers decide to celebrate a day of their own?

What is it?
The declaration of a day for bloggers is a way to recognize the importance and relevance of blogging in the current times. Lately, I have been engaged in discussions and arguments over the responsibility of media, the Fourth Estate in everyone's life and in everyday governance. All those discussions have pointed to the fact that a Fifth Estate has to rise to keep an eye on the Fourth Estate, at the same time hoping that there will never be a need for a sixth one. In his book, Watching the Watchdog, Stephen D Cooper, declares the blogging community to be the Fifth Estate.

How did it start?
A need to unite the blogging community was in the offing and it all started in 2004 with Rio Akasaka's webpage declaring 9th June as the Bloggers' Day. Later, 14th June was chosen as the International Webloggers' Day (InWeDay).

What do I do?
Participate. If you want bloggers from different countries, with diverse cultures and interests to unite and share a common platform, join the community.

Every year, bloggers participate in the event by meeting up at a pre-decided place or writing blogs posts on the current theme. This year's theme is Change. Make a blog entry on this topic on the International Bloggers' Day . There is also an award for the best relevant post.

**In case you are curious about the Days in our world, check this out.

Know how the most powerful government spends

The right to information on government positions is a widely appreciated phenomenon. However, few in the general public are aware of USAspending.gov, a website serving as an access-point of information on the US government's expenses.

Initially introduced as the Coburn-Obama Transparency Act, Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 came into being a powerful act soliciting complete transparency from the US government. This act required setting up a website, www.usaspending.gov, to help US citizens access information on government expenditure.

As a response to a frequently asked question, What's the purpose of the new legislation? the website says,

To provide the public with information about how their tax dollars are spent. Citizens have a right and need to understand where tax dollars are spent. Collecting data about the various types of contracts, grants, loans, and other types of spending in our government will provide a broader picture of and much needed transparency to the Federal spending processes. The ability to look at contracts, grants, loans, and other types of spending across many agencies, in greater detail, is a key ingredient to building public trust in government and credibility in the professionals who use these agreements.

Though completely functional with regular updates, I wonder if the US citizens ever bother to check the website. Launched on December 13, 2007, the website does not seem to have received the expected response. The website has not been an important topic of discussion since its launch. Four days after its launch,
WashingtonTechnology.com had carried a news item declaring a lukewarm response to the site. The media does not seem to have carried out any more reports on the website.

For the hungry and lazy times (while you are in India)

Last night, while surfing the net, I came across a website catering to tired, hungry souls like me. The website, Hungry Zone, not only provides reviews of numerous restaurants across India, but also eases out the ordering process.

This website can help you with:

• choosing a restaurant to your liking
  
• booking a table in the restaurant
  
• ordering food home via the phone or the internet
  
• planning a party
  
• deciding the meal from detailed menus
  

The website also provides an instant Meebo chat service for an urgent order.

One of the coolest services provided by this website is the tiffin service for office-goers. I checked the meal plans and prices for Bangalore, and found that you can have a proper vegetarian lunch for Rs. 30, the same you pay at your office cafeteria.

I think this website has been smart at tapping the potential of restaurant market online. The website's USP is definitely the online home delivery process; the service is available only in Bangalore, as of now. Placing an order online, after thoroughly going through menus makes home delivery more convenient, bypassing the confusion of the i-have-no-clue call-handlers. A number of restaurants facilitating home delivery have provided their menus online.

If you are hungry in Bangalore, click here.
If you are hungry in Delhi, click here.
If you are hungry in Mumbai, click here.

If you like surfing the net for recipes, you will like some available on Hungry Zone.

Please translate me - Translated in Hindi

कृप्या मुझे अनुवाद करें.

Hindi is in. At least as one of the languages in Google's translation service. The inclusion of Hindi is still at the very basic stage, but it is a welcome start for the large Hindi-speaking population of the world's largest democracy.

I know what you are doing now!

As the more-than-a-century old Boston Marathon took place on April 21st, thousands, probably millions, tracked every move, every step of forty athletes, including the father and son duo, the team Hoyt, on the track. Anybody in any place on the earth, from a web-enabled device, could catch the action of these athletes as they ran geared with MyAthelete GPS tracking devices. Imagine watching your favorite athlete on the miniature screen of your cell! Athletes wore the devices on their belts. GPS is on the running track now!

MyAthelete recently tested the beta versions of these PLS (Personal Location Service) units. These GPS tracking units have been developed by GTX Corp. I checked their website to discover some other amazing GPS services and products. We already know about tracking vehicles through GPS. Now, with the MyAthelete GPS tracking, we are tracking athletes. However, that's not all. The technology is now employed in footwear, thus promising to assist you in your everyday lives! How? By keeping track of the whereabouts of your toddler or your ill grandma. What the advertisers didn’t think of was a prospect of spying on the other half in a relationship! But, I guess, people are smart enough.

I must mention to my readers that this is a sponsored post. Watch out for more news on this technology in the next posts.

US Presidential history: How is 7th May important?

219 years ago, in 1789, the first Presidential ball was held on the 7th of May in the United States to honor the newly selected president, George Washington.

Can you be arrested for blogging?

Fellow blogger, Al Farhan was. He was arrested on unspecified charges and suffered an extended period of 137 days in custody for questioning in Saudi Arabia. Why? Because he chose the right to freedom of expression in a land that controls the media and has strict internet laws. Fouad al Farhan was released on the 26th of this month. He was not convicted with any crime; his arrest on 10 December, 2007 was triggered by his rather radical views. In a country where people are scared to express themselves, Al Farhan has no fear identifying himself and expressing himself. Al Farhan's blog, http://www.alfarhan.org is a reflection on the human desire to be free.

This blog salutes his courage.