The Social Media De-Clutter Project

After getting into the rut like everybody else into creating social media profiles all over the place, recently I have got into cutting this back at bit. What I realized was that over a period of time, what has resulted in all that was me glaring in front of a screen (mobile, tablet or laptop) and let content be thrown on to me by all the various social media sites. Without actively searching for content I wanted to read at a particular time, this was just such a waste of my energy and time.

I got to so many profiles that it was impossible to make use of this in the 24-hour day. See the "About me" section and "Follow Me" link for all profiles.

I have personally initiated a declutter project since last year. Here is how it went and where I am.

I have deleted by Facebook Profile. Yes, its true. facebook.com/umarpirzada is no longer. It was pretty easy. I took a backup, I don't know why but probably that's linked to withdrawal symptoms. Then I converted it to a Facebook page and then I set up the page for deletion. This is called burning the boats. In a 14 days time (now only 7 left) the page gets deleted and end of story.

It is a long way to go as I still have accounts on Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. I got facebook pages, blogs also.

So, I sat down and mindmapped my thoughts on how I use the various Social Media platforms today. Here is what I got.

Next I started reviewing, if I wanted to continue doing with what I did i.e. if the objectives remain the same. They did. So next I started re-arranging and connecting my objectives to the tools with the objective being to reduce the tools.

Facebook Profile went off as I am going to use Google+ for it. People who want to connect with me can connect via Google+ and I will do the same. Moreover, the closer friends, I am connected via whatsapp for more instant messaging. For connecting with Family, again, I got whatsapp.

I have rationalized my Twitter account usage also meaning, unfollowing accounts whose feeds I am not interested in. Considering, I am going to stay connected with friends through Google+ and with family via Hangouts or Skype, I don't need to follow them on Twitter. Moreover, I am going to get back to using Flipboard a lot more, I don't know why I stopped. This means realistically, I can set up topics to cover all my news updates, what do I need Twitter for then. Yeah, I have narrowed it down to use Twitter only for getting my opinion across.

For professional networking, I am going to keep it separate from everything else and use LinkedIn.

For getting my opinion across, I will use Twitter, Blogger and my UTP Facebook Page. The latter is also a consolidation of everything I publish. While not perfect yet, but I think I should be able to get some time out and bring more structure to using the various social media platforms. Using less of Twitter & Facebook for mindless feed updates, I have made the first move to Flipboard.

Here is how my desired mindmap looks now. Lets see how I progress.

Letter to ECP - Complaint registered for Poll Rigging - Election 2013

I have played my part and registered my complaint at info@ecp.gov.pk. If you also agree, please play your part. You may use the content below, if you want. I am sure if enough messages reach them either via email or any other mechanism, manual of electronic, they will take notice. Let's play our part and leave the rest to them to play their role. Allah Tawakkul!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Sir,
I have seen enough videos coming from all constituencies in Karachi showing pre-poll and post-poll rigging and high chance of irregularities which should mark the results null and void.

I am concerned that my vote and of many other Karachites has been misused or compromised. The party coming out strongly in any Karachi constituency as per indicators on media, does not have the "people's mandate" as the results would incorrectly indicate, which defeats the purpose of a free and fair election, impacting the democratic process. While I am not an expert in the area but this should be a violation of the constitution and code of conduct as well, you may decide best.

I am sure you would have seen these videos also going viral in the social media. If not, I would be happy to direct these to your attention.

Take for example, a particular party's candidate won 170,000 votes from a constituency. If we do the math, this means that in the 10 hours of voting (assuming if this happened, as you know, it didn't), there were 10x60, 600 minutes available. Assuming robots were processing votes, 283 votes per minute were casted meaning more than 4 votes per second were casted.

I don't think this is humanly possible and last I heard, the ECP did not hire robots for election duty. My own experience was standing in queue for at least 3 hours and the process of validating my identity being pretty non-electronic, took at least 5 minutes to cast one. This is the best case scenario.

Appreciate if notice is taken and elections are re-conducted in Karachi with all polling stations marked sensitive and Army involved in the end to end process with physical presence overlooking each step. This is the only way to get a free and fair election in Karachi which holds 20 important seats in National Assembly and 42 in the Provincial Assembly which could have a big political impact in the final outcome of the election and hence formation of government.

For now, my concern is on Karachi as my vote was conducted there. However, we have seen pre-poll and post-poll rigging videos coming from other places in Sindh as well as from Punjab. We would request for attention in those constituencies as well so the outcome of this important event which is the main responsibility of the ECP at the moment, is a clear and fair representation of the people of Pakistan.

This would be really considerate of you and probably the most appropriate decision from your side. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Regards
Umar Pirzada

Back with an Androidified Big Bang!

So I have been missing from action, like majorly. There has been amazingly out of control stuff that has been going on. I became a father again, got some manly presence in the house with a boy. The equation is a little balanced with 2 men and 3 women in the house now. The MBA program keeps me busy and well obviously work pressure goes with it.

However, leaving all of that aside, I got andrioidified. Got myself the Samsung GT-8000, also known as the. 10.1 galaxy note recently and this blogpost is being constructed from it. After using the iPad for a little while before my wife took it from me as a forced gift as a return for the new kid in the house, I am not really missing it too much. People complain about the android market not being comparable to the app store, well trust me, I didn't miss anything. You should know what you want to do with your device. I got all the necessary apps that I used on the iPad and considering thIs device comes with its own stylus (S Pen), Samsung has stepped into some interesting apps using this, most considerably the S Note. While character recognition is not too bad, I am loving the shape recognition more, especially at work where a lot of paper was used earlier to draw out ideas, maps, flow charts etc.I am hoping developers get to work using this add-on hardware as there is lots of scope. I could use an enhancement to mindjet mindmanager to effectively use the S Pen but not a showstopper right now in any case.

Good iPad replacement I would say, and if this post publishes in the way I expect it to be, I have signed it off. Hope to be posting more often, as always, thanks for still coming here, you have no idea what it means for me to still hold on to my readers.

Getting Over the Writer's Block

I have been staring at the "Add New Post" screen for the weekend which will end in a few more hours. I have being wanting to write something but just can't seem to get myself to write. One of my fellow blogger had said once that this is the typical situation called "the writer's block". There is a cure and that is to get the fingers talking without any peer pressure.

This means write out whatever you think without thinking of the "perfect" topic to write on. Sometimes there aren't any topics around and it doesnt have to always make sense when you write. The best thing about writing is that even if you feel you are not making sense, you are. Thats the amazing thing about writing.... and reading for that matter.

The same line could mean different for different people. Hence the most nonsensical piece of writing still has the probability of making sense for someone out there. The probability is freakishly low considering firstly that somebody has to come read this post and secondly he/she needs to make sense out of it. Considering the no. of hits I am getting these days, I wouldn't count on it.

But thats the second point to remember when trying to come out of the writer's block. You dont need to worry about the audience or the reader. You just write for the love of it. I think I realize what I am doing. I am just writing and letting the words just get completed into a phrase and into a sentence to a paragraph and I already have 4 para-blogpost in place. I feel like writing more. Maybe another blog-post after this one.

I think a blogger needs to remind himself consistently that he didn't start blogging for the sake of somebody else. He started writing for himself and we are back in business. So, this one is for myself and for all those fellow bloggers who can just realize from this post, how easy it is to get out of a writer's block.

Attention Wanting

Why does it feel when I am in the process of writing a blog or tweet or update my status on the gazillion social networking sites that I have accounts... that i want attention. I guess that's exactly why... I do want attention...

But I am not the only one right? That applies for all humans regardless of whether they are as addicted to the Internet like me or not. We all have this natural in-born craving to get noticed. We like to stand out in a crowd. Not all the time but once in a while we do.

It doesn't matter who you are or what you do. Its not about how much money you make. Its not about on what level of the food-chain you are. The high ups get noticed anyway. But even the ones at the bottom of the pile get noticed for being at the bottom of the pile.

Whether it is at a professional level at work. One wants to do well. Speak up in a meeting. Get a job well done just to get noticed. On the other side, it could be a casual get-together with friends or family. It could be a simple walk in the park but you could get the craving to wear something that would make you stand out or do something different.

This is all regardless of how good or worthless one feels at any particular moment in time. This is really bothering me by the way.

The strange part is that you could be at either extreme to get noticed. Extreme behavior is easily noticed. Best or worst, you are breaking news.

I think its only moderation where one can get away without getting noticed...or wait... on second thought, even those people would get noticed. This time people would say, this person is a good moderate guy. He doesn't do anything extreme. You can have the craving to be moderate as well to get noticed.

If you are at the top, you get noticed. If you are the bottom, you get noticed. If you are somewhere in the middle, you'll get noticed.

Should I be feeling insecure? Regardless of what we do or don't do, we'll get noticed? If we don't get noticed, we'll follow our natural instinct to do something to get noticed. We are made strange beings, that's for sure.

UTP - Revamped

Peekaboo!!! I see you...

I am back yes. After quite a longer time than planned. I had left you with one of the best posts I have ever thought off and I see that my feed-readers have gone up instead of going down. Quite a pleasant surprise to say the least while coming back online.

4 months is a long time to be away from blogging and I just couldn't find that spark to sit on and drive me back to blogging. Not that I have anything now either as you can see with my long-winded method of writing continues :P.

However, lot has happened in these 4 months. Its been a happening few months to say the least.

Lots of good things have happened. I passed my CISA exam which I had taken the break for originally. So gave the exam and got the results in all of this time of absence. Currently am in the process of getting certified.

I got promoted. Yes, the long awaited promotion came through. That was a big motivational boost in these tough times.

On the other side of things, I got a new look. Off goes the beard and in comes the shiny clean-shaved UTP. Most people say I have shed off a few years which wasn't exactly the idea as that was what the beard was there for in the first place. Anyway, trying to live without a beard for a little while. It takes the effort to shave in the mornings where UTP is as lazy as can be but lets see how long this lasts.

Change is never bad, I feel. Of course with the revamping of the look I needed a pair of sunglasses to go with it :P. Never been a big fan of them ever really. None of them suit my face but anyway, got a pair which I only wear while driving. Got a nice blue-tooth headset to link with my phone as well.

Added to that I got trained on Oracle Financials and Sharepoint Administration. Big boost to the resume considering I will get the opportunity in the upcoming year to implement and use that as well in a global project for the company.

So lots of good things to share and many upcoming as well. All good for now, knock wood (teesra kalma goes here plz...)

So with all that happening how can I just start blogging on the same theme. This blog needed a revamp as well and so you have it. A new theme to go with a new beginning. I can't promise being as regular as you would expect but hey its better than nothing.

Expression of feelings & thoughts through blogging is a very important element of life for me. So, a post here and a thought there, that is how its going to be. See you around.

Making Extra Money Through Freelance

With the current financial crisis there has been a whole run of trying to make money through a second medium. Lots of people have lost their day jobs. Those who have them have been told no promotions or bonuses this year. The people who were living on credit face higher  revised interest rates. There is enough doom and gloom to be concerned and probably know this is once a lifetime kind of a crisis.

There have been people who have been unable to handle the pressure and have gone into negative mode. This post is not addressed for those people. This is for the ones who have taken the mission to come out of the crisis stronger, smarter & achievers. This post is for those people who believe in themselves and are willing to work hard to survive.

In the old days, in the absence of Internet, a second job meant something after the day job which took time and effort. Things apply pretty similarly today also other than the fact that due to the Internet being so effective these days, it is relatively less on effort with emphasis on quality. If you can do quality work, you can make a lot of money online.

I need to trackback to this website here. Whoever is behind it is doing the right thing. Writing some nice posts and giving some good guidelines. I am pretty much a newbie when it comes to trying to make online as I have made much in the short while I have been blogging. Long way to go. In any case, I found this website useful and hope you do the same.

The bottom line is that everybody is worried about their bottom line in the bank statement, heheh...

I know some great people are out there who are writing really well. A minor tweak here and little ad placement efficiency and just see how you can make some money. You know you can definitely use some.

You can donate some to me for giving in these wonderful tips. I know I could use some for sure.

70 Top Tips to Generate Blog Traffic

Well the post topic is no marketing gimmick. You will get exactly what you came here for. All credit to Dr. Sandy who is on a mission to help all bloggers out there. He writes really well and here is one of his posts that was exactly what I was looking for. Everything in one place.

If you are a blogger, this is what you need to read and try to get moving on your readership numbers. It all makes sense to me at least. Here is the link.

70 top tips to generate blog traffic

This is where I picked up some ideas of joining the Blog Catalog and join the social network for bloggers. The post also mentions Twitter and loads of different things u can do. They all sound simple when read in one place.

All the best bloggers. Rule the world!!!

TWITTER This, TWITTER That

I have recently entered the Twitter Realm as well. I was more dragged into it by my wife cos we just love doing things together :$. There was however another news that had caught my attention early this year and I had kept it for a trackback post. You might have heard it as well.

Hackers hijack Obama's, Britney's Twitter accounts

That is pretty much the first time I heard about Twitter. Maybe it was a marketing gimmick. Whatever it was, it worked. Its like half of the world is crazy about Britney and rest for Obama or maybe a little more on Britney's side but in any case, it worked. Just like I heard about it so would a lot of others.

Next step, my wife joins twitter and I follow. I get two accounts made. One UTP & get All Sports Fans on as well. But the breakthrough was attending Dubai Twestival. I met other UAE twitters under one roof and was part of something special in the twitter world. Twestival was being celebrated all around the world on that day and twitterers or tweeters (still getting the hang of it) were meeting all around the world in respective cities.

Anyway, I think I am going to stay on twitter for a while cos I think I can find some good use for it. TwitterFeed is what is getting each post from here to my twitter page and I am touching another different reader audience altogether.

Moreover, I am getting the opportunity to live-tweet sports matches using All Sports Fans. Yes I am living my dream of being a commentator with people following me. Currently am doing the Dubai Tennis Championships.

You can follow All Sports Fans on Twitter through http://twitter.com/allsportsfans

You can follow UTP  through http://twitter.com/umarpirzada



It is great to find some bloggers there and whoever I have recognized I have started following. However, I know there are heaps of my readers out there who I couldn't recognize. Appreciate if you could follow me so I know who u r on Twitter.

OH BTW...a little achievement, I touched 50 regular subscribers on UTP. Not a big number but sort of a little achievement for me. Thanks for making this blogging experience so special. It wouldn't be the same without you people.

If you haven't already, subscribe to UTP by using a Feed Reader for RSS FEED or subscribe to Get Blog Posts via EMAIL

UTP's Sports Talk Forums [BETA]

Calling all Sports Fans out there. Being a wannabe die-hard sports fan myself and never passing on a sports discussion without having my say, I have finally decided to get a forum going. I already had UTP's Sports Blog which I plan to get going again more regularly, I now present to you UTP's Sports Talk Forums.

A few of my friends have been asking to work on some sort of a forum to have some serious discussions on various different sports. That always sounded like a great idea considering so much of heated discussions take place on sports while at work or while meeting up in the evenings with friends. I have always been exploring various options to get something of the sort going. The result is UTP's Sports Talk Forums.

It is still in a BETA version as I didn't want to delay the launch too much. It will be under constant improvement as it grows. I know how so many people love talking about various different sports. I can assure that you should be able to find your particular section of the sporting world and get started with a discussion. As the idea is in it's nascent stage, feel free to get in touch with feedback or suggestions at sportstalk@umarpirzada.com

My main objective is to get together some serious sports fans who really want to speak their hearts out. This is by no means a commercial stint and I do plan to manage the people involved in discussions. Guests can come and read but the contributors will really be some die-hard fans. That should automatically mean some very timely discussions all around the year.

Spread the word and let it reach the people you know who would love to be part of such discussions. Lets help make a serious sports fans community. Looking forward to some action at UTP's Sports Talk Forums.


 

 

Fun with Adsense

Sometimes it can get really funny with Adsense. I am sure people who have it on their websites would know what I am talking about. The question is whether you can REALLY trust the inteligence of Adsense on your blogs or not.

We were first hit by the shock at Mayg & UTP which is by the way the couple's blog with Mayg being my better half. Adsense brought up advertisements for Divorce Lawyers...

I dont remember bringing up any such topic in the post and we ensure that we bring out the lighter side of the married life so that particular topic was completely out of the blue...and quite embarassing just to add.

Wherever you use the word Love you are bound to get a dating or get UAE girls...ewww... ad...

If you write about mobile phones or anything to do with it... you would be getting iPhone mobile covers advertisement from I dunno which company. I remember it has an Italian name.




Let's see what comes up there. I have mentioned some really popular ads so that should confuse the Adsense engine a bit. Hehe... let's see...

Somehow My Sports Blog gets a lot of Citibank for NRI ads. I have no idea how that links up with sports. It works well though on most occasions so not really complaining. In fact I think I am doing ok on the Adsense part considering I have been on and off from the blogosphere. Working hard to increase revenue though... somehow...

Do you have an Adsense story?

Where have all the Cowboys Gone?

I mean what I actually meant was, where have all the readers gone? I know I am being stupid by writing something like this. I mean of course people would have given up one me. Wrote me off from their feedburners. Nobody likes a dead blog. I dont blame you at all.

But...yes..there is a BUT. I am back. Yet again.

I will start letting everybody know that I am back. How? Of course by coming on to their blogs and starting to read again...I have been out of the scene. Blog posts due. Enough said.

Wordpress Blogger Recommendations

As one could expect I have been spending a lot of time exploring the new gadget and also how I could have all the tools to get my blogging experience in place.

While doing the same I have come across two great wordpress plugins.
1-WPHONE
This one gets the blogger a much more useful wp-admin interface on the PDA. (this post is being written using the same)

2-WORDPRESS PDA & iPhone
This one helps better viewing of your wordpress hosted blog on a PDA.

So the second one is something that is recommended for all wordpress bloggers as it will help you get a much wider audience (including me) who use PDAs to browse your blog.

The first one is for people who write and manage their blogs from their PDAs.

You can find them both on wordpress plugins directory.

Testing new blogging tool

I finally got it. My very first qwerty based piece of gadgetry. Yes people. You are looking at the new generation blogger who blogs from his phone. To be more precise, a PDA...

After evaluating many options I finally went ahead and got myself a HTC Tytn II. To explore the neat piece of machinery that I am holding in my hand, you can head to the HTC website. Its the ultimate business tool and has an arsenal of options which pretty much meet my requirements.

Anyway, this is my first post from my phone. Let's see how this goes.

P.S. Actually it didnt go as well as I would have liked and had to edit it a bit from the laptop. There are a few things to learn I suppose. It will come back. The bottom line is I am very happy with my purchase.

Didnt feel the urge to write...

Hello - this is UTP. Yes still alive.

OK the urge was there but honestly, I don't know what happened, but I just switched off from blogging mode. It may have been real concentration on my studies which are looking quite difficult now with the exam day coming near quickly. It was going fine until last week where I switched off from studies as well. Then there is Ramadan also which took up a lot of time and for the good reasons also. I am hoping to get back to study routine from tomorrow.

I think that is something that I lack. Consistency. I need change too soon. Some people call that immature. I don't think I am immature but I may be in denial. Sounds strange coming from a married, father of a 2.5 year old. I know, that is quite strange.

In the midst of buying a mobile phone cum blogging machine. I am trying to decide between a Nokia E90 and a Nokia E71. I have spent hours on the Internet this past week reading on the options. HTC Touch Pro, Blackberry, Nokia, etc. Am down to these 2. I want a good phone with good web browsing, wi-fi and easy typing abilities.

Any suggestion on the above considering lots of people still come to read here? I am amazed by the dedication of you readers. Seriously amazed. SALUTE you while feeling all embarrassed to not keeping this blog up-to-date. Please accept apologies and don't give up on me.

I will be back soon. Do let me know your opinion on E90 vs E71? or any other recommendation. What do you use to blog and browse? Thanks so much.

Chitika - Alternate to Google Adsense

When I wrote my post on Google Adsense and Mozilla Firefox, a lot of comments came through asking me if I knew any other good alternates to Adsense. Even though it is one of the most popular advertising networks on the Internet, there are other people who are working hard in competition as well.

I had come across Chitika in my early days of my birth as a blogger while I was searching for alternates to AdSense. I was thinking maybe I can put in two different advertisement sources and earn from both at the same time. I hadn't read the Adsense Terms and Conditions though and when I did I found out that you cant have any AdSense competition on the same website, I threw an over-smart giggle. I was becoming money-minded.

Anyway, when I came on Chitika's website, the first article they have on their page is that Chitika is allowed with Google AdSense on the same page. That was all that I wanted. I tried different things on Chitika and was quite impressed how they are not actually competing with Adsense as their products are much different. You will find out the difference when you sign up and start exploring. Their priorities and their target market is pretty different.



The first thing that impressed me was their variety of products. They have items to use for the area on the right and left of your site if a viewer has a different resolution on their monitor. These are called Whitespace ADs.

They have got Multi-Product Units (MPUs) which will have multiple items for sale in the same AD Unit. They also have Chitika Premium which they themselves say is useful if you have lots of visitors from the USA.

However, their most popular is eMiniMalls and Linx where you can earn on the traditional Cost-per-Click (CPC) or Cost-per-Impressions (CPI). Lot's of good stuff.

So, there you have it. For the people who wanted an alternate to AdSense, Chitika is one.

Getting Famous...

A wise man once said...

"Its not the quotes who make people famous, its the people who make the quotes famous."

That wise man is me, UTP :$

Being a Leo, I was told by people that some of the personality traits that I am born with is Leadership, Curiosity and Dying for the Spotlight. I have always died for the spotlight. Attention seeker is something that has always been attributed to me. Its not the best trait in the world, trust me, cos many a times I have been left embarrassed by my antics.

I mean talk about a guy who wouldn't get off the stage once he got a chance to sing. They had to pull me off. Ah! The university days. There was not a single year when I didn't perform while being there. I wasn't the best singer around but who cares. Spotlight is all what I crave for. After graduating I stayed behind and worked a few years in the university as well. Even performed in those years. I was in love with the stage. I think I still am.

I would chat with strangers, force upon some philosophy. I would not make sense more than make sense (did that make sense?). But the times I did make sense, I made a note of the thought. I would use that thought wherever possible.

I even went and shot a video as a model (imagine, I bet nobody knew about this one!!!). I could never make it through to competition of handsome and hot models on the private Urdu channels so I gave my try at a Sindhi channel. I had actually gone for a singing audition and maybe a little towards acting at max. But the person who was taking the audition immediately realized, that with that Sindhi accent, I would make a joke out of it. So she asked me to do a bit of walking here and there and that's that. In a few days, I was a Music Video model. Now that would have been something that should have been kept under covers until I die but not me. I had to go share the copy of it with almost everybody I deemed appropriate (that is everybody). And no, I am not posting a copy of that video here.

When I entered the blogging world. That was it. I mean what a combination. I could write what I wanted and people can come and read. Imagine. That is the perfect solution for the Leo in me. It has taken quite a few years to become a regular blogger and I am still a long way to become a good one but who cares. I go around reading and commenting on people's blogs and they come back returning and getting a chance to read my lousy hither-thither stuff. I just love networking whether it be business or social. I just love the attention as well as the interaction.

Today, I shared a very important part of me. It was important for me to let this out on my blog. Its not really something I really like about myself. Maybe now that its out and everybody will start criticizing, I will try and improve on this and become the introvert that I was born.

Oh yeah, the quote at the beginning of the post is invented by me. You are free to use it wherever you want, just give me credit. Oh shucks...there I go again.

Google Adsense & Mozilla Firefox

Today I am writing a post to recommend two good Internet products which I find the best in business right now. Mozilla Firefox & Google Adsense.

MOZILLA FIREFOX

When Mozilla Firefox first came out, just like any other normal Internet user, I had my apprehensions. I am one of those people who would never be the first to try something new. I usually like things to settle down a bit and then based on some feedback and reading get on with it.

However, I have just started using Mozilla Firefox with much regularity now and find it much more effective than Microsoft Internet Explorer. It has excellent performance speed-wise and the response is excellent. Added to that are the excellent security features which work in the background to avoid any attempts to compromise on security or anything that could be harmful to the browsing or computer usage experience.

Somehow, Google has proven that whoever they attach themselves, the quality just improves. Take Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, Feedburner, Orkut, Youtube and many more. They are anyway the pioneers in Search Engine technology and are the leading search engine and email service provider in the market. Google means quality and it has surely taken over the Internet world if you talk about competition between them and Microsoft.

This post is to recommend Mozilla Firefox if you haven't tried it already. Its free to download and install. You can notice the difference yourself. I can assure you, you would not be disappointed.

GOOGLE ADSENSE

This is nothing new to veteran bloggers and the way Google has just increased its online advertisement market in the quickest of times is amazing to say the least. I think every 8 out 10 sites I visit have Google Adsense in some way or another. It is simply amazing. It has especially caught up storm in the blogosphere with so many people now writing blogs regularly.

The idea is to get some advertisements on your blog or website so that whatever time you spend maintaining your website or blog becomes worthwhile as well. You can earn on a number of impressions (hits) on your website as well as if somebody clicks on the ads on your website. There are also opportunities for earning on referring some products and also on Google Search.

The best thing I like about it is the ease of use. I am not a web designer by any means but even I could easily do a bit of reading and get started with advertisements on my websites.

The other wonderful part is that Google Adsense only places those ads which are relevant to your website content or your recent posts. It is an amazing engine that goes through the material on the website and shows relevant advertisements only.

If you haven't signed up for Google Adsense already, I would recommend doing so at the first instance. I mean whats the harm in making a buck or two while enjoying blogging as well. All the best.

Welcome to 'UTP'

Hello People,

This is UTP signing back in again after a long break. I am very excited about managing to get my personal web space with my own name after a long wait.

Its another new beginning and I will be looking forward to suggestions to improve things around here as I try and explore new ways to make things more closer to my liking as well.

Looking forward to catching up on old blogger friends and making new ones as well.

UTP

Missing...

I have been pre-occupied with an important project at work....which has completed development and testing and soon is going to move to its implementation phase....its very interesting and actually linked to something that I am good at as well...

Its taken up my weekends and has put me through long hours at work...however soon there will be some happy time...with the automation completing by mid of May. Its a tough month ahead also but its soothing to see success after lots of effort.

My studies have suffered big time as well....with exams nearing...its worrying times and honestly I have lost that knack to study also. Just feel so mentally exhausted all the time. I have already passed some big exams in life and its like my mind cant find the energy to clear of just a few more. Sounds so stupid coming from a 26-year old....and yes I just realized that. These next 4 years could set the record straight for life. Just need to find some motivation to study and get it over with. Finance is not exactly running in my blood but I think I can get things done....if I could just find some motivation. I have been getting the "Is it really worth it?" thoughts....and with not the right kind of support system around...it really is a case finding something to motivate myself. Its not that that is something new, its been pretty much like that all my life. Just to need to get back to finding something to get me going again.

Anyway, its really good to see people still coming here and my hits haven't really gone down. So all you people out there who still come....thanks....a lot....you make my day....each day I am able to check my mail and see some comments still coming....that is really encouraging....my google reader must be exploding now with me not seeing how everybody else I know has been doing on their blogs...its been that kind of month, last month....

I ll be back soon....and with a big bang....I m planning something big in the blogworld....just need to find some time....