Thursday, October 1, 2009
Facebook Invades Orkut the Google Run Social Network
The Google run social network, Orkut is by far the most popular social network in India. It's where high school and college students, and young professionals hang out. According to Alexa Orkut is #4 top most visited site from India with Facebook at #5 trailing closely behind. Facebook gaining promenence in India is very recent. A lot of people did not want to get on Facebook, and there are still some who are not on Facebook. All this can change with the Orkut connect via Facebook.
I logged into my Facebook account to find that I can connect to my Orkut friends on Facebook with three easy steps. Here are the steps:
There was a big message on top of my profile to connect with friends from Orkut and it seemed easy enough when I clicked on the link for the steps. The tools to connect to Orkut friends from Facebook has been there for a long time, like through the Friend Finder API as seen on the Lapnol blog. Now those friends who are in Orkut will also be a part of your Facebook as well, you just have to click!
It's only a matter of time before more Orkut users switch to Facebook. I'm pretty sure Facebook can take over the #4 seat from Orkut once more people from India use and get more of their friends to join and stay on Facebook. What's ironic though is it's a Facebook API that runs on Orkut site and matches those users on Facebook and connect friends together.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Use Social Media to Fight Plagarism and WIN!
I wrote about plagiarism and how it is so common in the work place a couple of weeks ago. Sure enough there was another big story on the horizon. There's a very popular food blog in Delhi, Eat Out in Delhi that's run by Hemanshu Kumar. We've heard about it because we've read the reviews in Time Out Delhi. Being big foodies, we love reading, watching, and talking about food. I personally love the fact that the Delhi National Capital Region has more things available (which are even delivered to your doorstep).
The story of plagiarizing EOiD blog started with a classic Indian outsource scheme. SpiceJet outsources its content needs of their in flight magazine, Spice Route to Maxposure, which then outsourced it to Hirak Gautam, who is a freelance writer, who happens to be a 'chef' at a Delhi hotel (I'm assuming it has some stars). The supposed author, instead of doing his own homework searches reviews on Google (or directly went to EOiD site) and manufactured his own version of reviews, et voila, there's an article made! Easy right? After all, what are the chances of people reading 'print' on a flight reading 'online' articles or blog posts?
Last week, a regular reader of EOiD found the article on Spice Route. It was practically copy-pasted from the EOiD blog, without credit to Hemanshu or EOiD. The reader then took a picture and informed Hemanshu. He posted the story on EOiD and there was an immediate out cry in the Indian twitterverse. With comments going up on EOiD post about the case. Hirak Gautam, the so-called "author" was forced to set up his own Twitter account and reply for his mistake. The excuse? He was on a deadline. A representative from Maxposure also commented on the EOiD post saying, "strict action will be taken on this issue". The next day, Mail Today published a story on EOiD about the SpiceJet fiasco. According to the article, Hemanshu is demanding compensation and a published apology. You can read more about the story here.
We were all excited and spoke about the case extensively at the Gurgaon tweet up last night. We were more excited because we watched the story happen and tweet and spoke about it to our online friends, and twitter followings, in a sense we WERE part of the story and community.
The three lessons I take from this sorry mess:
1. Plagiarism gives freelancers a bad name. It gives India a bad name. It gives outsourcing a bad name. There's a lot of talented writers, chefs, and Indians out there and they all write their own original pieces. Not everyone is a horrible lazy writer (aka douchebag). If you are, you should change your profession -- I don't care if you're a kickass chef with connections. You should just remain a chef. (No offense to my kickass friend chefs who write their own pieces, you know who you are.)
2. Editors in India need to be proactive. Spice Route does have editors ya? What were they doing? Don't they check facts or check the copy? Stop being cozy in your 9 to 5 job and start checking the damn copy for real. You're as accountable as the guy who copied it. The article would've never gone to print if the so-called editors were doing their job. There IS a "job" attached to the title you know. (Frankly, I'm surprised that EOiD was as polite and peaceful as they've been in handling this. If it happened in my friend circle, the people/companies involved would've been flamed, torched, and burned left and right.)
3. Things can change, they have. And yes we can! As consumers of social media, it is our job to inform the community when we spot stuff. If the reader who was on the plane didn't inform EOiD, the story would've never gotten out. We can use the power of social media to improve our world.
Jeanne said last night that, "As consumers of social media, we shouldn't be tweeting for tweet sake but help bring about awareness and change." This is what open web should be doing.
We're still waiting on how this story is going to resolve itself. The ball is in Maxposure/SpiceJet's court now. Keep your eye on @eoid for updates.
Photo by: Rebecca Jackson
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Dealing with Dirty Cops in India
It's a big coincidence that BBC broke the story on police brutality in India yesterday morning because I was going to write about my experiences with them the day before. It's not news that police in India are corrupt. Offenses go from asking small bribes such as “chai money” to beating people and killing them. While it's understandable that police harass and ask for bribes because they're not paid properly, it is still annoying to the general public.
I would've let it go if it was a one time case but this is the second time the police picked on my driver. First off, I don't really have a great opinion of the police force in India. The only people I respect are the ones who are higher up officers – because they believe in justice and getting the perps to face consequences. I've also seen them in action on a stake out so I know how they behave. I've heard so many stories of what cops do to get bribes and have personally witnessed such things. It's really ugly and disgusting.
Since it was Tuesday, most of the markets and shopping centers in Gurgaon were closed. There wasn't much traffic on the street. I went to Galleria Market to run some errands and told the driver to pick me up after an hour. I called him up after I was done when I got to our pre-arranged pick-up spot. He said he was coming but I didn't see him at all, so I started walking the block and kept an eye out. In the distance, I saw a white car that looked like the car we came in and two cops surrounding it. Now, my eyes are not in a great condition – due to the over use of electronics such as the computer, iPods and PSP, I can't really see that far. And since my pup chewed both of my glasses, my eyes seemed to be working fine until two days ago. As I approached the car, I saw that it is really our driver and the cops are really talking to him. The driver was behind the steering wheel calling the guy who runs our car service.
Our driver happens to look Asian because he's from Sikkim a state in the Northeast part of India. We like him because he's on time, prompt and knows where he's going most of the time. If he doesn't he'd check with the guy who runs the service. We like this service because it's very efficient, and we have a great deal with them. They'd replace the car if the AC's not working, they get you to the place you need to go on time, and they're available for pick-ups and drops at odd hours like 1 am for the airport etc. The guy who runs it is flexible and it's pretty much a two men operation with two cars or so. They both don't speak much English but we get by. I like the driver because he's aware of security issues, protective and can maneuver out of bad situations. (More on that later.)
I immediately looked at the cops – a skinny tall one and a fat short one. I recognized the skinny cop with khaki uniform because he tried picking on us last week until I came out of the ATM and asked him whether I can help him. He said something about parking and let us go. This time again, I asked them what the matter was. One cop said he was on the cell phone, another said, it's because it's a no-parking area. The skinny one scrammed immediately right after that. I guess he realized it's no use dealing with me. He also had his name tag on his uniform. I tried reading it and tried memorizing it. The fat short cop, also in khaki didn't have a tag. He seemed like he wanted some money out of this deal and told me to sit in the car. I sat, put the bags that I was carrying away and assessed the situation. The fat cop then got into shot gun position and we drove three feet down the road where other cops where sitting.
There were two cops in khaki on a Gypsy (great little jeep car that's used mostly by police and government officials) and two traffic cops on plastic chairs in front of the Gypsy. I knew that already because I just passed by them. The fat cop got out and handed the papers to the traffic police. You can tell they're traffic police because they wear white and blue uniforms. I called Will at home and spoke to him about the situation. I just wanted to be on the phone and talk to someone about it. He asked me if I wanted him to come down to Galleria. I was a bit alarmed because this is new territory for me. I've heard enough horror stories of Gurgaon cops. At least officers in West Bengal spoke English. I told him that it was not necessary and that I'll be calling my lawyer friend soon. I got out of the car while I was still on the phone and walked over to the traffic police. I got off the phone, I lifted my sun glasses and told them, in English that he was on the phone because he's picking me up. I told them that I just passed by them and that they did see me. (I know they were watching me because I look like a foreigner. Nobody wears all black in India, especially not tourists.) Besides, people stare at people all the time here, especially if you're a woman and obviously a foreigner or worse yet, you're white. One of the traffic cops on the chair mumbled something about parking and looked at the papers. I looked at the cops on the Gypsy and they didn't seem to care about what's going on in front of them. Only the fat cop seemed eager to squeeze something out of the situation.
I walked back to the car to get my lawyer friend's number and called her up. She's handled mostly human trafficking cases but she's familiar with dealing with the police and procedures. I walked back in front of the cops while I was on the phone again. I spoke to my friend about the situation, and told her in front of them what has been happening. I made sure they heard me even though the conversation was all in English. The fat cop looked up, worried. Then they let us go, my driver called and I was back in the car as she was telling me what to ask for from the cops if they asked for money. They didn't even get to that part and let us go. By that point I told her that we're on the way and that they've let us go because I've been stern and have been on the phone a number of times. I also told her that this might be racially motivated since the driver is Asian and this is a second time we've been stopped in the same area. Indians are very race conscious and if you're white or Asian you tend to stand out.
My friend said that if they ever asked for money, ask for a slip or receipt of some sort. Tell them that you're willing to pay the fine but you're not willing to pay through illegal means – that you'll pay through the proper channels. She also told me to learn Hindi fast so I can yell at them properly. It's just another day dealing with dirty cops as far as I'm concerned. But it's a widespread and well known problem. What the Naureen Shah from Human Rights Watch said was right, India needs reforms for its police forces if they want to be a proper “democracy” and properly modernize the country.Photo by: mvcorks
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Reading Newspapers - A Lost Art in America?
I watched Obama's inauguration with two American friends in Kolkata. I think we watched it on BBC because we didn't like the commentary on CNN or something. All of a sudden, the news presenter mentioned Howard Dean. Both of my friends passively asked, "Who's Howard Dean?" Shocked, I stared at them for a moment and asked with my accusatory tone, "You don't know who Howard Dean is?" I didn't wait for their response, "He's the chairman of the DNC, which is like the governing committee for the Democrats."
"Well how are we supposed to know that!" was my friend's reply. Then she said, "We have three people here and the only person who knew about Howard Dean is a non-American. That just tells you how much we know about our country..." Sometimes it is true that people outside America know more about what's happening in America than the average American. We often joked about how rickshaw wallas in India read newspapers everyday and knows what's happening around the world. For some taxi drivers in Kolkata, they make it a habit. Even if they can't read in English they'd read the newspaper in Bengali. There would be boards on the street with papers posted so that people who pass by or folks who can't afford them can read. Usually these are posted by party cadre of a particular ward.
For those taxi drivers who can, they would read the paper in English. In the beginning it surprised me to see an English paper in a cab, but later it became almost a norm. It's also one of the ways I can identify whether the taxi driver is from West Bengal or new from Bihar -- a state in North India that has the most migrant workers. Never mind how accurate or not the paper is, what matters to them is that they learn how to read, practice their English, and are in constant contact with the world at large.
I made my dad subscribe to New York Times and the Nation when I was in high school. It was one of those things I just had to do as a nerdy, goodie-two-shoe student council kid. But my paper reading habits have been really bad since I left New York (and I'm no longer 'goodie-two-shoe'). I have a feeling my attention span is also shorter -- thanks to social media. I still read NYTimes, but it's all online. I'm trying to get back into the habit of reading newspapers but it's been tough. We subscribe to two papers here -- Times of India (which I don't really like but it has Soduku, and a relatively reliable schedule for movies), and Economic Times (because that's the only paper that seems to edit their stories, and it has Dilbert and the exchange rates). I'd also recommend Hindustan Times. I'm more into magazines because I like the style of writing. I prefer in-debth coverage to run of the mill regurgitated press releases. I've heard more than once from folks who write press releases of how "journalists are lazy" -- well you should come here and really see to what extent it can get. Case in point: a recent coverage of the American in Delhi blog. The reporter almost copy-pasted an entire post and did no leg work. She wrote whatever it is that she found on that blog. The blog isn't hard to find, it's #1 on Google for... you guessed it: "american in delhi".
As of April this year, according to New York Times, circulation numbers have been dropping in America. It's because of budget cuts and the fact that people are moving online to read papers. One thing about online reading though is it's up to the user. They'd choose which sections to see via email or RSS feed and completely disregard other sections. News is more funneled and gets viewed only when it becomes popular. It's up to to the user now to figure out to what extent they want to know about the world. So if you just follow popular celebrity news, you might be an expert on Michael Jackson but won't know what the heck ASEAN is or even think Burma is a province of China. (Oh believe me, I've come across those people more than once.)
I don't blame them. I don't usually get mad either, I just find it funny. Occasionally I'd retort, "Well, it's almost like a province of China." (But that's an inside foreign policy joke.) I also have my own weaknesses -- just because I know who Howard Dean is doesn't mean I know every famous or semi-famous American. I don't know all the governors in all the states. I also wouldn't be able to identify American Idol contestants or winners. An average American might be able to identify Linsay Lohan from a mile away. I wouldn't, whether she's naked, clothed, running, walking, sober or high. I can't even spell her name right the first time.
What about you? Do you still read physical newspapers or does your life revolve completely around the Internet?
Photo by: DRB62
Monday, July 20, 2009
Plagiarim: a National Pastime?
Bad writing is one thing, straight off plagiarism is another. I'm really tired of seeing this happen over and over, especially in India. And just because you give the person credit as a name doesn't mean you have the permission of that person to post it. You need EXPLICIT PERMISSION or some sort of an agreed license like the ones from Creative Commons.
Here's a bad case of copy-pasting that I came across recently:
On July 17th, a twitter by the name of @ruplal sent me a message a brand new site to take a look. The site was: http://kolkatatech.com. I think I had been tweeting about my concerns of riots in Kolkata and how work would be interrupted that day. A lot to my friends are in Kolkata, a portion of that friend circle is in tech. I checked the site, which happened to be a blog that doesn't seem to be proof read. Indian English is fine, and typical, but then I saw a familiar name: Angsuman Chakraborty -- an acquaintance who runs a company in Kolkata. We've met a couple of times at BarCamp and other tech network/unconferences. I thought, well, it's about time someone starts writing about the Kolkata tech scene since it badly needs to start moving and growing.
I thought Angsuman was starting a new blog, but it was very unlike him since his core audience is not really Kolkata. He wouldn't limit himself for just Kolkata. (It's not economically viable.) I checked the other posts and it seems the blogger(s) has been "borrowing" content from other folks. I thought, maybe it's a syndicated blog of some kind. I sent @ruplal a message, checked profiles on LinkedIn of the co-founders of the site. And checked back with @augsuman on Twitter. I asked him whether it was a new site he was putting up or just random copy-pasting. I really didn't think it was. Angsuman replied this morning that it actually was a copy-pasting job using his name on a post about Google Chrome.
I wasn't surprised but I was a bit disconcerted -- 'pissed off' might be the term. Copy-pasting happens ALL THE TIME in India. I've seen a very unethical boss do it, colleagues do it, I see it on blogs again and again. There are instances where I've refused candidates to join my team after evidence of plagiarism in their sample writing. It's a sin that has no redemption. It gives India a bad name. It gives writers in India an even worse name. Plagiarism might not get you in court in India, but you're still breaking international law. If morals and ethics don't appeal to you, as a blogger you should know that Google will penalize the blog for duplicate content -- it will hurt you in the end. If you don't have the time, resources, or talent don't bother running a site.
Have you seen cases of copy-pasting and plagiarism? Do you confront it or just ignore it because it's so common?
Photo by: Esther_G
Friday, July 3, 2009
Indian Cultural Sexual Identity
You probably heard about the landmark, historical case about decriminalizing the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 377. Where “India becomes the 127th country to take the guilt out of homosexuality,” according to The Times of India.
IPC Sec. 377 itself is a tricky law to tackle. I first heard about the gay rights movement and how Sec. 377 is a farce in an LGBT Film Festival in Kolkata a couple of years ago. Sec. 377 didn't just criminalize homosexuality, it criminalized penetration of any kind that was “unnatural” more specifically, penile penetration. That leaves out abuse by other means sexually (to children, non consensual etc.), it also left out the fact that 'hetrosexual sex', if it's not “natural” is criminalized. Sec. 377 is used throughout India by cops to pick up any suspicious couples, be it opposite sex or same sex to get bakshish or bribe money. It's a law that cops use to bully people into giving money. Once the bribe is given, you're let go. It's not like in the west back in the days when people would be arrested, jailed or assaulted. India has a different take on this all together.
India culturally, is very fluid. There are whole colonies of hijaras or transvestites/hermaphrodites throughout India. The way Indians view sexuality is different. The first thing that shocked me when I came here was seeing men hold hands in public. It doesn't make them “gay”, they cry and laugh and that's a cultural norm. It made me uncomfortable because I was conditioned differently. They also wear large flower prints, which I as a woman won't ever wear. The 'shiny shirt syndrome' is also rampant. Men and women have very fluid gender roles in India. The experience of coming out varies by family but it doesn't usually end up in psychotherapy or death. The Hindu scriptures themselves contain accounts of homosexuality. The ancient Kamasutra texts were believed to contain 'gay sex' as well, until the British came. That was also when they enacted Sec. 377.
For some in India, this is all about reversing what the west imposed and going back to the Hindu heritage. For others it is about India joining the 21st century. India is on the road to progress and prosperity. The government projects the economy to grow at 7% for FY10. It is a nuclear power, it's the world largest democracy, and it is trying desperately to be liberal just like Europe and America. So it is only natural to have liberal laws that allow folks to have their sexual freedom. I was talking to my friend Zaid Al Baset, who is a sociologist and a lecturer at Kolkata's prestigious St. Xavier's college two days ago about Sec. 377. I told him how some might see it as a trendy thing to do for India to decriminalize homosexuality. For the past two years, I've seen that it's been cool to be queer and folks are more open than when I first came here seven years ago. There is also a new generation, a more affluent and liberal young people enrolled in colleges. This generation tends to be more out going and accepting compared to the stay-at-home folks two generations ago. Zaid agreed with me about the trend. He's been studying literature and films that cover the subject of homosexuality and there has been a new wave that explores the subjects in the Indian popular culture. Even two days ago we both doubted the decriminalization. I told him that nobody wants to be remembered as the administration or the legal body that made “homos legal”. I was wrong.
This is only the beginning. There are religious groups – mostly Christian and Islamic, which are already objecting to the ruling and would be taking the case to the Supreme Court. It will be interesting to see what India does in terms of gay marriage and so on. And what would happen in practice in terms of health care and taking care of children? Zaid suspects that it'll be another couple of decades until India legalizes gay marriage. Then again, it might arrive a lot faster, too.
Photo by: lighttripper
