Swathi Pradeep, the blogger with a free mind

I came across the blog of this young girl Swathi Pradeep, a Software Engineer from India now pursuing her MBA in USA, and finding time to blog about a variety of topics ranging from ‘comics, food, travel, photography, sci tech to book and movies reviews’ by chance, while searching for a WP theme. I just followed her comment and landed on her blog Swathi-licious.

I am quite impressed about her free, unpolluted thinking that does not fear about digging out the truth and expressing her views courageously. She digs at some of the most respected and accomplished journalists of India such as Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, Vir Sanghvi a and Karan Thapar, not without reason, but quoting from various authentic sources, including Indian media. Incidentally, these are the journalists that I read the most. That does not mean that I subscribe to their views. I like them for the simple reason that they are the best in today’s Indian journalism, while so many others are worse than corrupt politicians. The only exceptions are the journalists of the younger generation of Indians who fearlessly speak their minds.

Those who are not of Swathi Pradeep’s generation, but older like me, may be remembering the times when Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt, Vir Sanghvi and Karan Thapar were first noted as journalists and were fearless to report the truth, nothing but the truth. But, unfortunately, with the rise in the celebrity status of these journalists, they knowingly or unknowingly got involved with politicians, power-mongers, money-bags, lobbyists, and all sorts of people who matter in a democracy like India’s. And it is common knowledge that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. So, in their transition, they too became subjects of controversies, for one reason or the other, whatever may be the truth.

Swathi’s post on Sonia Gandhi and Congress/ UPA is particularly interesting, and she warns, it is not for the weak-hearted or the supporters of Congress/ UPA. She has done quite a lot of research and brings forth many facts, quoting authentic sources. One of the most interesting things I found in her blog is the video presentation by Dr. Subramanian Swamy on Sonia Gandhi and her family.

My self-hosted blog

On 14th December I wrote that I want a self-hosted blog. That was when I was searching around a good web-hosting service provider that can offer a reasonable amount of storage for my contents including images, photos, videos, unlimited bandwidth, etc. at a reasonable price. In fact there are quite a few of them, including hosts recommended by WordPress that complies with the requirements of hosting a WordPress blog.

The problem is not finding the suitable ones, but finding numerous such hosting companies that offer almost identical services within a certain price range that suits me. Then comes the question of which company is the best.

Having even found the best, all on a sudden you come across some alternative suggestions from well-established blog authors and even some negative opinions about why one should not go for a certain host! That lands you in more confusion!

The best way to resolve this issue is to search around and come to your own conclusions. So, I finally decided on GoDaddy.com, bought a domain, hosting space and started a blog named Tech-Sharing. As I am new to WordPress, I would love to hear from experienced bloggers on this question.

DreamHost Hosting Discount – Video

Some hosting companies offer promotional discounts, mostly through their affiliates, or even otherwise. I came across such a discount offer on one year hosting plan that suits most medium webhosting needs, WordPress blog setups, etc. You may try the method as shown in the video above and gain a saving of $50 on your hosting.

You can make an internet search for other discount offers as well, as I have found many more, and select the one which suits the best to you.

The code you have to enter while ordering a one year hosting is GIVEMEMAX that gives a $50 discount, when you use this coupon code. You will also get all the regular features like unlimited domains hosting, unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, one FREE domain registration etc.

How to post YouTube videos to WP blogs

Well, I am quite new to blogging using WP platform, though I have done quite a bit of blogging in my blogger blogs. As every beginner may do, I just tried to find out how to post videos on a WP blog, and I reached the WP instructions page. Then I searched for a suitable video and found out one on optimizing your desktop for Windows, as I posted on the previous post, and the second part here.

In blogger, I just used to cut/copy paste the embedding code from YouTube directly into the HTML option of blogger. I tried that too here. But, amazingly, the WP software reduced the long embedding code to just the YouTube URL plus the WP coding, which is same as the code at the instructions page at WP.

For example, the YouTube code is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vex2eh6m0dg&NR=1

When posting to WP blog, you simply change it to: [… v=vex2eh6m0dg&fs=1&hl=en_US] (for the dots, insert the missing original URL part).

The width and height of the video are customized by changing the code to [… v=vex2eh6m0dg&fs=1&w=450&h=360 hl=en_US] (for the dots, insert the missing original URL part).

Most of the WP bloggers visiting this post may be well-versed with what I am writing here. So, this may help newbies like me.

CLICK HERE to read the original WP guidance.

Windows Optimized Desktop

Watch this video on ‘The Windows Optimized Desktop about virtualizing user state (USV), application state (App-V and RDS remote application) and desktop setting’s for physical and virtual’, as the note below the video says. This is the first part of the two part video. So, click on the video to go directly to YouTube and then view the second part!

I want a self-hosted WP blog

After having spent some time blogging on blogger/Blogspot for some time, I have the feeling that I am lacking something or the other. I tried other free blogging platforms too! But each one of them gave one kind of inconvenience or the other. That made me to return to this blog and try something here!

Then while visiting other WordPress blogs, I found opinions in self-hosted blogs that for a blogger who would like to build up something, a reputation as a useful blog, or to be in control of one’s blog, it is always better to setup a blog with one’s own domain and self-hosting. I do feel it is a nice suggestion, because I have a website that offers free pen pals ads and hobby ads, started by me in 2006, and it never gave me any kind of trouble so far. I am the owner of the site and if I want I can leave it idle, sell it, or give away free to anyone I like! But that kind of freedom is not associated with a free blog! And that makes me think seriously about a self-hosted blog. However, I do not think that I will be closing down my other blogs, or migrate from there, as I want them to run as they are!

With the idea of such a blog, I visited many WP ‘How-To’ blogs, WP forums and guidelines, WP recommendations, etc. and all of them seems equally attractive and helpful or, I am a bit confused about what choice I should make, though I am serious about my own WP-powered blog! Any suggestions or help from those who went through the same experience or suggestions from WP veterans or experts are welcome!

Home-coming

It is more than two years ago that I started this blog! I just made one post and left it as it is! Those were the days I was trying to find out how to blog, what to blog, where to blog, etc.  I then started a Blogger blog and found it easier to use compared to others.

As an immature beginner, I spent a lot of time on the internet, and now, I am trying to learn how to blog using my Word Press account! I hope I will learn enough to run it successfully. And I look forward for guidance to friends who use word press. If you happen to visit this page, please leave a comment so that I can contact you for help and guidance!

Geographical orientation of skin color

Are you obsessed with skin color? Many people with dark skin crave for the fairest skins. It is a meaningless, especially for those who try to use options like plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, or other artificial means. Some people use laser therapy and cosmetic formulations that offer fairer skin. While some medications or skin care products, including face and body creams, herbal medicines, traditional medicines, sun protection products or sun blocks can be harmless, total change of skin like skin transplants can be harmful in the long run.

If we observe the habitats of various peoples, we may find a geographical orientation to the skin tone of each tribe or clan. People who had their original habitats on both sides of the equator are the darkest. When we move towards the north and south in the Torrid Zone itself (23.5 degrees north and 23.5 degrees south of the equator), we can find people with lighter shades of skin color than the people right on the tropics. Then, in the Temperate Zone (23.5 to 66.5 degrees north and south) we can find people with much lighter skin colors. For instance, people in North African countries have much lighter skin colors than the people in equatorial Africa. Just crossover the Mediterranean and watch the original inhabitants in the Southern parts of Europe. Compare it with the skin color of the Africans just on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In fact the difference is not much, provided you pick those people who inhabited these areas for a few generations. Don’t take the migrant populations on both sides.

From 66.5 degrees north and south to 90 degrees N and S (Frigid Zone), we can find the fairest skin colors. It is not that within each zone (Torrid Zone, Temperate Zone and Frigid Zone) a typical skin color is evenly distributed throughout the zone. But the color becomes lighter as we move from the equator towards the poles. The skin color transformation is gradual, fading from the dark hues to the fairest as we move from the equator to the Polar Regions.

For This observation we must exclude the people who migrated to other countries, like the whites in South Africa, and similarly located countries. The African peoples (Afro-Americans) or dark skinned Asians in the United States of America, Canada, European countries or countries in regions of milder climates are also not included for this study. We consider only those people who stayed in a region for generations. By living permanently in a particular climate, the skin color slightly changes. In the course of further generations’ evolution, skin color becomes lighter in milder climates and darker in hot and wet climates. Changes can be observed in white people becoming slightly darker by staying permanently in a hotter climate. A temporary change can be observed in what we call suntanned skins. But the skin acquires the original color when the observant moves to his/her original habitat or stays indoors.

The skin color becomes lighter when we move from the equator to the poles. It is because the sun’s rays fall directly and vertically on the equatorial regions. In the frigid zones sunrays are slant. Further, sunrays travel more to reach the frigid zones. Frigid or polar regions also have the shortest days and longest nights. So, the exposure to sunlight is the shortest for the people in these regions and heat and radiation are the least. Sunrays also have invisible rays like ultraviolet rays (UV) and infrared rays (IV) beyond the visible spectrum of sunlight. These rays can cause various disorders including skin cancer. Therefore, the dark skin is a blessing given by nature to the people who inhabit the regions where harsh direct sunrays fall throughout the year. Dark skin, it is scientifically proved, can withstand the harmful radiations of the sun, including ultraviolet rays and infrared red rays. So, dark skin is a blessing given by nature to those in the hotter regions to protect themselves from the harmful radiations of the sun.

Hello world!

Welcome to Sell Well. I am quite new to WordPress, and I seek the cooperation and guidance of fellow bloggers! Your kind suggestions and comments are welcome!

Thanks for your visit, thanks for your valuable time!
Krishna