Reg: New Facebook Guidelines Hoax

I saw many of my friends posting a certain "New Facebook Guidelines" hoax on their walls which reads:

In response to the new Facebook guidelines I hereby declare that my copyright is attached to all of my personal details, illustrations, comics, paintings, professional photos and videos, etc. (as a result of the Berner Convention). For commercial use of the above my written consent is needed at all times!

I thought I should write to them with an honest appeal towards their concern. Here goes:
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Dear Friends,
Let's break the chain. Stop the hoax. There are enough hoaxes already eating up the world internet bandwidth. These kind of posts not only promote phishing and spamming, they also help illegal companies categorize a group of individuals (who share such posts) as vulnerable to certain content and hence, their next marketing targets will be you. They have played the copyright trick on us this time as they know that people in this part of the world (if not directly) are actually emotionally attached to their posts and hold them dear. Our posts are filled with memories, not photos, with poetry, not rhymes, with expressions, not updates and with cares not shares.
Before addressing the issue at hand, let's see some facts:

• Six Million U.S. users leave Facebook in just a month:

The birthplace of Facebook has less active Facebook users than in the rest of the world. Huffingtonpost says; "Perhaps, after almost 8 years of commenting, poking, tagging, and de-tagging the novelty has worn off. According to Inside Facebook, six million U.S. users left the social network in May (2011) alone."

• India stands third:

India stands third in terms of time spent and activity on Facebook in the world. It is obvious as many are still being introduced to Facebook back here. But we should also note that Facebook has an astounding 74.82% penetration of online Indian population.

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Now coming back to where I started, yes, companies can make use of all the information that is posted by you as "public" and it literally means "public"- everybody (including people outside of Facebook). If you want to keep your data private, please use "friends", "only me" or "custom" settings to share your precious posts.
Companies work day and night to gather information about you, be it your name, email id, phone number, your location (GPS) or your friends' and family information. They are more concerned about selling their product to the most responsive customer base using the most effective medium. And it isn't ethically wrong.
Although, all the 'privacy policies' speak about keeping our data anonymous, yet if someone reads them thoroughly and interprets, one doesn't fail to notice that though all the data we share is not flagged by a "name" but it contains information about a particular person 'x' and knows what 'x' likes, shares, who 'x's friends are, who is he/she married to and when, when did he/she graduate, what's his/her email id, phone number, address, where he works, his/ her colleagues' name, his/her religion, what is his/her stand about his/her country, where he/she hangs out and with whom, his/her photos, tags, emotional outlets he/she turns to when low, whom he/ she approaches when happy, how much does 'x' earn and is he/she happy with it, travel plans, honeymoon plans, movies, novels, dresses, foods, songs he/she likes, his/her education/ research/ thesis, as to how his/her business is doing , which country he/she belongs to, and finally, where he/ she is currently available now on this good earth! (Personally, makes me wonder- after one has all this data about the old fellow 'x', do we have to know his/her name? )

These companies monetize on this. They fix up a CPC and a CPM on the particular group, community, tribe or country and gauge what the relevant economy of that country is saying in its subtlety and entirety. This isn't wrong. Not wrong at all. In fact, all this info helps us see more relevant ads,  more sensible friends suggestions, more networking, more sharing and hence, in a way, more connectivity. If used in the right way, just as in this MIT research video below shows MIT mapping Twitter feeds to generate twitter growth maps in the US, this data could (it's already!) drive phenomenal technological advancements or better, save someone's life- in the near future.



My point: Just think before you share anything. Because what you share is going public anyways. What you say about yourself, your friend, your country, your religion or faith might not be consciously intended to be 'public' by you. Just opt to share it with those who matter. Unfortunately taking control of your online identity is not as simple as making a little post on your Facebook wall. Face it.

As an example, see how companies/firms/institutions can 'map' a geographical area using what/how/where/when/why 'you' have posted and monetize on it. This is something that we all have known. I'm just contextualizing it.

http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/india

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Conclusively, the world is connected and very efficiently. This is helpful, very much if used wisely. Yet, in the wrong hands, it might be prove to be unsafe. Understanding the technology and the ethics with which the 'internet' operates, helps. The rest is always, just as always, a personal call.

As I said earlier, our posts are filled with memories, not photos, with poetry, not rhymes, with expressions, not updates and with cares not shares. Take care who you share them with. 

After all, it matters the most, only to you.

Now, The Hoax:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/26/new-facebook-guidelines-chain-letter-hoax_n_2192673.html

Disclaimer for Facebook and all Social Networking Sites

Disclaimer of an ordinary guy on Facebook/ Twitter/ LinkedIn/ Wherever:

Dear all,
I just wanted to update my status here with a disclaimer and for good reasons. Here goes:
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Whatever I say/ speak/ type/ write/ communicate/ message/ update/ sms/ tweet/ share/ like/ post/ comment/ convey/ discuss/ chat- in any form of communication, here or elsewhere, either in soft or hard format, electronically 

or in person- is simply my personal opinion. And none of these 'opinions' could be generalized nor held as a legal opinion. I am just an ordinary guy writing/ chatting with my friends here online and trying to have a good time. If any of my posts are found to be hurting, please ignore them. Not everyone can be a good movie critic. Not everyone understands the subtle emotions a poem (or even his own girlfriend for that matter) is trying to convey. We all have our weaknesses, we all have our worries, we all have our compromises. Abraham Lincoln was no different- he carried the pressures of leadership all the time, says Steven Spielberg. I am no comparison. Sir Amitabh Bacchhan addresses his fans on twitter as "Extended Twitter family" or something like that. I am just trying to crack a little conversation with my friends here- my online family- and not to formulate/ fabricate any political/religious/ sensitive views.

We have a voice- we speak. We have a brain- we think. We have freedom, we live life the way we choose, of course without harming/ affecting someone much. And all the laws, rules and regulations are supposed to protect this very essence that makes us human- "freedom".

So, to all those interested- Do consider this status update to be a disclaimer which clearly and fully states that all views I express here or elsewhere are my personal views and are not intended to trouble anyone in whatsoever form. Just as any cartoonist, a caricaturist, an animator, a creative director, a press-reporter or a film maker expresses his/ her vision about a subject of interest, I share my opinions with my 'friends', 'colleagues' and 'acquaintances'. This is totally natural and Human. If you are not anyone of these, don't even bother about what I say. It doesn't hold any value in your life. My 'friends', 'colleagues' and 'acquaintances' know me well and they would understand, at least partially, the context in which I am drafting my opinion.

Note: All names and references made to anybody in the above disclaimer belong to the respective persons (and of course not to me). Please do not relate this disclaimer or its content to anything other than what is explicitly expressed here. It's not contextual. It's literal and complete in itself with no indirect implications to anything.

End of Disclaimer.

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My actual status update to my 'friends', 'colleagues' and 'acquaintances':

I am relieved. Phew..
Hope this solves it. Phew again. I never thought that Social Media Networking would turn into such Serious Media/ Severe Media /Scary Media/ Sorry Media Networking.
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:)

Real Flow still holds ground in Fluid Simulation!

Realflow Vs Maya N-Particles system! Realflow outscores!

Auutodesk Galileo! Creating New Talk in Arch Viz!

Not a realistic output- but super cool tools to builds mammoths of cities, buildings, pathways, roads, sidewalks, lawns... and what not! #3D Technology!

Technology preview- Fluids in Maya

We are heading towards Heaven Guys!

Easy Animation Techniques/ Tweaks in Autodesk Maya

 

Autodesk says, results may differ, but who cares- this is good!

Details of Tim Burton's 'Frankenweenie' unveiled

 Disney release plot points for black and white movie

Plot details for Tim Burton’s new film Frankenweenie have been released by Disney. The full-length feature will be based on Burton’s short film of the same name from 1984. Scroll down and click below to watch it.

According to the synopsis details released, Frankenweenie tells the story of young Victor, who attempts to bring his dog Sparky back to life through scientific experimentation. Succeeding, the dog is revealed to the world – with disastrous results.

The film will be shot in black and white then rendered in 3D. Disney chiefs said in a statement: "This will elevate the classic style to a whole new experience." Over 200 puppets and sets have been crafted for the stop-motion film.

Winona Ryder , Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and Martin Landau will all be lending their voices to the production.

Cant wait to see Disney create another "whole new experience in classic style!"

The Man Who Made War on a Mountain- built a valley of LOVE!

“My wife, Phalguni Devi, was seriously injured while crossing the hill to bring me water; I worked then on a farm across the hills. That was the day I decided to carve out a proper road through this hill,” he told us.
“My love for my wife was the initial spark that ignited in me the desire to carve out a road. But what kept me working without fear or worry all those years was the desire to see thousands of villagers crossing the hill with ease whenever they wanted,” Manjhi said.

Dashrath Manjhi

He was ridiculed in 1959 when he started hewing a way through the Gahlaur Ghati hills of Bihar’s Gaya district, some 150 km from Patna. It would take 22 years for Dashrath Manjhi to finish his 360ft-long, 30ft-wide road — little wonder, for he worked alone, his sole tools his chisel, hammer and shovel. What was once a precarious passage just a foot wide is now an avenue that can accommodate cyclists and motorcyclists and is used by the people of nearly 60 villages with great ease. The road has also reduced the distance between Gaya’s Atri and Wazirganj subdivisions from 50km to just 10km. Children from Manjhi’s own Gahlaur and other nearby villages no longer have to walk eight kilometers one way to attend school — they can now study at a school just three km away.

We met Manjhi a few weeks before the cancer that finally ended his life on August 17 forced him to take to his bed. The 73- year-old was frail, but his energy was undiminished as he relived his work on the road. “I knew if I did not do it myself, neither would the government do it nor would the villagers have the will and determination. This hill had given us trouble and grief for centuries. The people had asked the government many times to make a proper road through the hill, but nobody paid any attention. So I just decided I would do it all by myself.”

Manjhi and his wife Phalguni Devi were a peace loving, simple, poor yet happy couple who lived in Gahlaur with their only Son (name unknown) just beside the mountain. “He is poor. I am Poor. All that keeps us alive is love” Phalguni would remark!

Each day the people of the village of Gahlaur Ghat had to make an arduous and dangerous trek just to reach the nearest market town, or even their own fields at Wazirganj where they had to work to earn the day’s bread!

The Manjhi couple also had to do this task of climbing the impossible hill everyday as Manjhi’s farm was on the other side of the hill. One day, while bringing water to her thirsty husband, Phalguni slipped from the slope of the hill and fell. She was seriously injured. Dashrath Manjhi did not have the money or transportation to save his wife. The hill stood between them and the town. She died.

Manjhi’s only hope for staying alive was gone with his wife’s death. He couldn’t cry; he couldn’t digest the fact. He retired to his bed. Manjhi’s brother came to take care of his Son. But none of this made any impact on Manjhi. His love-his wife was dead! And nothing in this world, nothing, would replace her. He wept in silence. He stopped speaking to people. He was seen speaking to thin air many times by the villagers. Many believed Manjhi had gone mad.
But Manjhi wouldn’t heed to the reactions of the world. Children made fun of him calling him a lunatic. Elders followed the kids. But Manjhi’s eyes were filled with his wife’s face. A year passed.

All of a sudden, one day, Manjhi felt a shiver running down his spine- not out of fear, but out of anger and rage! It was the hill that had killed his wife. “This mountain didn’t let her be happy when she alive, and now it has killed her! I can’t let this hill claim any more lives- any more loves!”

Manjhi got out of his bed and headed to the market. He sold his only sheep to buy a Chisel, a Hammer and a Shovel. He came to the foot of the hill and looked at the merciless piece of earth that had ruined his life. He steadied the chisel and lowered the hammer over it. He dug and dug and dug. For 22 years he dug.

Nothing stopped him.

Every time the hammer met the chisel head, Manjhi reminded- “My wife will not be able to see the fruits of my labor, but no husband will ever lose his wife again because of this mountain!”

The villagers, who were taunting him before, now started offering him tools as an aid to what he was doing. Yet, no one would’ve imagined that Dashrath Manjhi would actually accomplish his task of MOVING THE MONUTAIN!

It took him 22 years (1966-1982) to cut the hill into two and make a 360 ft long, 25 meter high, and 20Ft wide pass through the hill!

Today, the villagers have nothing but gratitude for Gaya’s “Mountain Man”, known almost universally now as Sadhuji.

Dashrath Manjhi belonged to Bihar’s Musahar community, regarded as the lowest among the state’s Scheduled Castes. While other Dalits in Bihar had at least some land rights under the erstwhile Zamindari system, the Musahars never enjoyed any such. Nearly 98 percent of the state’s 1.3 million Musahars are landless today. Not even one percent of them are literate, which makes them the community with the country’s lowest literacy rate. For many of them, the day’s main meal still comprises roots, snails or rats, from which the community’s name is derived.

After Manjhi completed his road, he worked tirelessly for the betterment of his community. Among his other efforts, he managed to persuade nearly 50 Musahar families of his village to settle on government- granted land, although most of them were unwilling to leave their old homes. But when Manjhi started living on the allotted land, the rest followed suit. This new settlement is now known as Dashrath Nagar. Manjhi’s other efforts have been less successful. Despite his herculean feat, the Bihar government has given him only token appreciation and insincere help.

Himself landless, he made a petition once for property on which to build a hospital. Then chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav allotted him a five-acre plot in a village called Karzania — the people of the village never allowed him to take possession as they were using the land as a grazing ground. More recently, the Bihar government recommended Manjhi’s name for the Padma Bhushan. This never materialized, nor did Nitish Kumar’s promised support for a road Manjhi wanted from Wazirganj to Gahlaur. Government sources say the forest department had refused permission for the road, claiming that Manjhi had violated regulations by cutting away at the hill without the department’s permission. The Padma Bhushan was reportedly denied to Manjhi because of claims made by certain quarters in the bureaucracy that he did not actually carve out the hill road single-handedly. The villagers who benefited from his labor were outraged at these reports.

“Where was the forest department sleeping all these years when Sadhuji was creating history to help thousands of poor villagers? We have seen him from our childhood, hacking at the hill day and night as if he were possessed,” said Raj Kumar, a 30- year-old Gahlaur resident. But Manjhi was unfazed. “What I did is there for everyone to see. When God is with you, nothing can stop you,” he told us as we left. “I will keep working for the development of the villages here so long I am alive. I am neither afraid of any punishment from any government department for my work nor am I interested in any honor from the government.” Brave words, but perhaps only what one would have expected from the man.

Dashrath Manjhi's last days in Hospital

 

The government attempted amends by giving him a state funeral last week — but, as he well knew, it is his work for the love of his life- Phalguni that will live on longer than any honor.

Dashrath Manjhi's Road- Manjhi Road

Brad Bird moving away from the Animation Industry into Live action Movies! We'll all miss you!

LOL!

Know all that's just about Facebook in a less than 9 mins! Great for Starters!

Letter from Jim Carrey- A better U is a better universe...

 

"When I was a small child I brought relief to my family by taking their painful concerns and turning them into comedy. They enjoyed watching me play. Later, my career in show business blossomed after I made the conscious decision to serve the audience what I thought they really needed to see, someone who is carefree in the world and treats it all with a healthy dose of irreverence.
 Since very early in my memory the real thrill in life for me was..... Read on

Pixar Chief John Lasseter to Cameo in 'Cars 2'

In this publicity image released by Disney, a hefty yellow pick-up truck named John Lassetire, named after Disney and Pixar animation chief John Lasseter, is shown. The character will be introduced in the upcoming animated feature, "Cars 2." 

The producers of "Cars 2" surprised the Disney and Pixar animation chief in honor of Pixar's 25th anniversary by introducing a hefty yellow pick-up truck named John Lassetire — get it? — in the upcoming sequel. Lasseter said they registered the character's name to celebrate the animation studio behind such films as "Toy Story," ''WALL-E" and "Up."

"It was news to me," said Lasseter, who is also serving as a director on the animated film. "I did not know about that, so I was a little surprised. I ended up voicing this character. It was just one line, but now I have a 'Cars' character. I'm very excited about that. He's a good ol' American pick-up truck, which I think is very appropriate for John Lassetire."

Lasseter's character serves as the pit crew chief for a high-profile race car. In the sequel, slick race car Lightning McQueen and his tow truck friend Mater set off on an around-the-world adventure. "Cars 2" producer Denise Ream said she was inspired to inject Lasseter in the film by George Lucas' brief cameo in "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith."

Read on: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=12894587

Bad a$$ Beetle!

That's one "fast" beetle you don't want to mess with especially when it's "ON the GO!"

Volkswagen does it again. Awesome 3D, Compositing, Tracking- What not!