Thought Card – 13 – Jan – Birthday of Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma – First Indian to travel into space in 1984 – Soyuz T-11

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Sharma was born in 1949  in Patiala, Punjab, India and was schooled at St. George's Grammar School, Abid Road, Hyderabad.
He joined the NDA as an Air Force cadet in July 1966. He was commissioned into the Indian Air Force as a Pilot Officer in 1970. In 1971 operations against Pakistan, he flew various missions in his MIG aircraft with distinction.
Sharma, then a Squadron Leader and pilot with the Indian Air Force embarked on a historic mission in 1984 as part of a joint space program between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Soviet Intercosmos space program, and spent eight days in space aboard the Salyut 7 space station. He was conferred with the honour of Hero of Soviet Union upon his return from space. The Government of India conferred its highest gallantry award (during peace time), the Ashoka Chakra on him and the other two Russian members of his mission.

QUOTE:

In a famous conversation, he was asked by the then
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi  how India looked from
space, to which he replied, Saare Jahan Se Achcha,
(a reference to an iconic Urdu poem used in India's
freedom struggle, usually referred to as
'Saare jahaan se atchha Hindustan hamara, '
our land of Hindustan, is better than the entire world').

(Source: Wikipedia.org)

Tags: ashok chakra, astronaut, birthday, cards, cosmonaut, ecards, greetings, hero of soviet union, iaf, indian, indian air force, indian space research organisation, indira gandhi, isro, knowledge, mission, rakesh sharma, russian, saare jahaan se achha, salyut, soviet, soyuz t-11, space, thought for the day

Creative Idea Cards – Swans from Ice Cream Cone Paper holder

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How the Idea was born:

We 3 friends were having ice-cream cones (of the packed variety, London Diary in this instance) at a mall in Sharjah in 2006.

During the flow of the conversation at the table in which we were sitting outside the ice-cream shop, I noticed that we had finished the ice-cream cones and the 3 conical wrappers were lying on the table.

In my usual habit of fiddling with the paper, suddenly I found that I had folded the conical wrapper into the shape of a swan. I quickly created the swan family using the other 2 wrappers. The third wrapper was already torn short by chance and perfectly completmented as the baby swan!

Much to the amazement of my friends, I created the 3 swans on the spur of the moment at that table and photographed the swan family with my 7.2mp Sony W-35 'point and shoot' digital camera in macro mode without flash.

Tags: creativity, ecards, egreetings, friends, greetings, ice cream cone wrappers, ideas, knowledge, london diary, macro photography, mall, origami, paper, recycling, sharjah, sony w-35 digital camera, swans

Thought Card – 12 Jan – Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda – (Key Figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America)

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Swami Vivekananda  (January 12, 1863–July 4, 1902), born Narendranath Dutta  was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Hindu philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a world religion during the end of the 19th century. Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America", through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago in 1893.

(Source: Wikipedia.org) Visit Vivekananda.net

QUOTES

This world is neither good nor evil; each man
manufactures a world for himself.

Women deserve and are fit for everything.

Life is but a dream of death.

No man is born to any religion;
he has a religion in his own soul.

Tags: 12 jan, anniversary, birth, birthday, ecards, egreetings, greetings, hinduism, inter-faith, knowledge, ramakrishna mission, swami vivekananda, thought cards, thought for the day, vedanta, yoga

Thought Card – 11 Jan – Birthday of Aldo Leopold, founder of the science of wildlife management

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Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American ecologist, forester, and environmentalist.
He is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949)  which is compared to Henry David Thoreau's Walden, and has sold over two million copies. Influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation, his ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement, with his biocentric or holistic ethics regarding land. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management. (Source: Wikipedia.org)
Visit AldoLeopold.org –
the Aldo Leopold Foundation

QUOTES
The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries
of the community to include soils, waters, plants,
and animals, or collectively: the land… In short,
a land ethic changes  the role of Homosapiens
from conqueror of the  land-community to
plain member  and citizen of it.  It implies
respect for his fellow-members, and also
respect for the community as such.

Tags: A Sand Almanac, aldo leopold, anniversary, birth, birthday, conservation, ecards, environmentalist, forester, greetings, january 11, knowledge, land ethics, quote, Thoreau, thought for the day, Walden, wilderness society, wildlife management

A Birth Anniversary Thought Card – 10 Jan 1864 – George Carver Washington – America’s first coloured scientist and one of the finest the world has ever known!

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George Washington Carver was born in Missouri on the Moses Carver plantation. His parents were slaves.

He taught himself to read. His family was so poor, he couldn't afford to buy a pencil, so he made a holder and used a pencil that was only 1/4 inch long.

He wrote to a college to enroll and they accepted him, but when they found out he was black, they told him he couldn't attend. After five more years, when he was 30 years old, he was accepted at a college in Iowa.

He  did a lot of experimenting to find new ways to use different plants. He made more than 300 products from peanuts. He even made soap and ink from peanuts. From sweet potatoes, he made 118 products, including flour and candy. He made 75 products from pecans and even made a building material for walls from cotton stalks.

Money, stylish clothes, and fine cars were not important to him. He thought the truly successful person was the one who had learned to serve others.

He was one of the finest scientists the world has ever known.

(Read the full story at: http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdcarve.htm: )

QUOTES

Our creator is the same and never changes
despite the names given Him by people here
and in all parts of the world. Even if we gave
Him no name at all, He would still be there,
within us, waiting to give us good on this earth.
☻
No individual has any right to come into the world
and go out of it without leaving something behind.
☻
How far you go in life depends on your being tender
with the young, compassionate with the aged,
sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak
and strong. Because someday in your life you will
have been all of these.

Tags: agricultural, american, anniversary, birth, birthday, cards, ecards, egreetings, george carver washington, knowledge, scientist

Joke Card – Share-a-smile – Kiss

Joke Card – Share-a-smile – Kiss

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He always kneeled before the maid
And kissed her finger tips;
But he lost out. Another man
Came by and kissed her lips.

JOKE: The New Pun Book, by Thomas A. Brown and Thomas Joseph Carey  Copyright 1906 Gutenberg.org
PHOTO: Taken by me from my Chennai aunt"s collection of showcase dolls.

Tags: comedy, ecards, egreetings, funny, greetings, humour, jokes, kiss, knowledge, love, maid, pranks, romance, wit

Thought Card – On Friendship

Thought Card – On Friendship

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The Google doodle today (Jan 6)  tells us that it's the visionary poet Khalil Gibran's birthday. Here is a nice thought from him on friendship:

A friend who is far away
is sometimes much nearer
than one who is at hand.
Is not the mountain far
more awe-inspiring
and more clearly visible
to one passing through the
valley than to those who
inhabit the mountain?

Khalil Gibran

Thought Card for the Day – Generosity – Khalil Gibran

Thought Card for the Day – Generosity – Khalil Gibran

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

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Wishing all our good-wishers and readers a Peaceful and Prosperous 2011.

The cartoon greeting featured above is by a good friend and talented cartoonist Mr. Vijayan of InkBugDesign.com

Joke Card – Share-a-Smile – Marriage

Joke Card – Share-a-Smile – Marriage

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"Let me see," said the minister, who was
filling out the marriage certificate and
had forgotten the date, "this is the fifth,
is it not?"

"No, sir!" said the bride, with some
indignation, "this is only my third!"

JOKE: The New Pun Book, by Thomas A. Brown and Thomas Joseph Carey  Copyright 1906 Gutenberg.org
PHOTO: Taken by me from my mom's collection of showcase dolls.

Share-a-Smile :) – Joke Cards – Meat

Share-a-Smile :) – Joke Cards – Meat

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Share-a-smile:)

"You know Fatty Schultz the butcher. What do you suppose he weighs?"

"I don't know, what does he weigh?"

"Meat."

JOKE: The New Pun Book, by Thomas A. Brown and Thomas Joseph Carey  Copyright 1906  Gutenberg.org
PHOTO: Taken by me at my cousin Shyra's place in Chennai, paper doll created by my 7 year old niece Sri Darshana.

Know your Web Founders – Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, Hotmail.com

Know your Web Founders – Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith, Hotmail.com

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Jack Smith, Sabeer Bhatia Creators of the World Wide Web's first commercially  successful and free  Email Service -  HOTMAIL.COM
Quote:
"It solved a real world problem:
The killer idea was to make
email available on the web…"

Sabeer Bhatia, a Stanford grad,  joined a startup company called Firepower Systems Inc, where he spent two years.
In 1994, Sabeer started working on new ideas for the Internet and he teamed up with Jack Smith, a colleague from Apple Computer, Inc.

While working on a concept of a web-based database, they realized the potential of a web-based e-mail system. And thus decided to create one called HoTMaiL (the uppercase letters spelling out HTML—the language used to write the base of a webpage).

It was commercially launched on July 4, 1996, American Independence Day, symbolizing "freedom" from ISP-based e-mail [8] and the ability to access a user's inbox from anywhere in the world.

In less than six months, the website attracted over 1 million subscribers. By December 1997, it reported more than 8.5 million subscribers. On December 30, 1997 (Bhatia's 29th birthday), Hotmail was sold to Microsoft for a reported sum of $400million. (Source: Wikipedia.org)

Thought Card – General George Patton On the Perfect Plan

Thought Card – General George Patton On the Perfect Plan

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"A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow." – General George S. Patton

Free Good Habits Card – Konkan Culture of Eating

Free Good Habits Card – Konkan Culture of Eating

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(Download/Save (right-click on link and select
"Save Link As" or "Save Target As")

There is a saying in Sanskrit which roughly translated means "Let Noble Thoughts come to us from all sides"

That is the inspiration behind the Good Habits Card created today – Konkan Culture of Eating.

The pointers are applicable in any eating situation anywhere…they are quite universal and that was inspirational.

The text below, in case you are not able to read it properly on the card:

'Look at your plate while eating. Never ask for a thing if you have it already on your plate. If you do, it shows only your greed. Let not a single grain of rice be strewn outside the plate. Do not make a fuss about any deficiency or defect in the food – less salt, more chilly and so on. If there is any foreign matter like hair, do not shout about it. Quietly remove it. But if you suspect any harmful substance being mixed with the food, tell others about it so that they are duly warned. Do not waste anything. Leave the plate clean'.

PHOTO: Konkan Thali (Indian meal with contents varying from one regional cuisine to another).

TEXT: Extract from "Shaym's Mother" by Sane Guruji (a Marathi classic)

Evolution of the Internet Username

The Net Generation Cartoon - Evolution of the Internet Username

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The Internet username started out with lots of people using nicknames and  other imaginative words. People were really scared to share personal information on the Internet then.

Then with the proliferation of more web services and a lot more of people on the Intenet, finding a username of your choice became difficult. So people started adding their birth year or the year of opening their email/webs service account at the end of their username.

But since 2006, with the advent of social networking sites like Orkut and now Facebook, the younger generation of users have got no fears or qualms about using their real identities. Some even go as far as posting their phone numbers and home addresses with photos of everyone of their family and friends. Risky? Yes….but this seems to be how a very open technology like the World Wide Web/Internet is fostering a more open society.

Snaps for Thought – Moksha Search Engines – Large Hadron Collider vs Mandala – Scientists and Spiritualists on the same journey (Outer Search vs Inner Search)

Snaps for Thought – Moksha Search Engines – Large Hadron Collider vs Mandala – Scientists and Spiritualists on the same journey (Outer Search vs Inner Search)

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I find the inner search more attractive since it's like trying to go back to the source…isn't it obvious enough that the world we live in seems to be a projection of our mind? It's like watching a movie, and suddenly mid-way you try to find the projector room from where the movie is being screened.

The outer search, according to me, will never end since the material Universe is mathematically recursive…I think this is very obvious too…doesn't need a genius to figure it out. Einstein said at the end of his days:

"I was like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

LARGE HADRON COLLIDER

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a gigantic scientific instrument near Geneva, where it spans the border between Switzerland and France about 100 m underground. It is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles – the fundamental building blocks of all things. It will revolutionise our understanding, from the minuscule world deep within atoms to the vastness of the Universe. (Source: CERN)

MANDALA

A mandala is a Hindu geometric pattern or chart, typically circular or square, that symbolically represents the cosmos and is used for meditation purposes.
According to David Fontana, its symbolic nature can help one "to access progressively deeper levels of the unconscious, ultimately assisting the meditator to experience a mystical sense of oneness with the ultimate unity from which the cosmos in all its manifold forms arises." (Source: Wikipedia.org)

Know your Web Founders – Jerry Yang and David Filo, Yahoo.com

Know your Web Founders – Jerry Yang and David Filo, Yahoo.com

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Jerry Yang, David Filo – Creators of the World Wide Web's First Web Directory YAHOO.COM
Quote: "Thousands of people were producing new Web sites every day, we were just trying to take all  that stuff and organize it to make it useful."

How Yahoo was born: 1994, Stanford University

Jerry Yang and David Filo were electrical engineering students from Stanford University.

The World Wide Web was at its infancy then and was an exciting diversion for the duo from their tedious studies.
There were zillions of websites to explore but no way to keep track of the cool ones. So they got the idea  of  putting together a list of their favorite sites, organized into topics, then designed a search engine that made finding the right site as simple as typing in the right keywords. (Adapted from: Entrepreneur.com)

In April 1994, Jerry renamed his "Guide to the World Wide Web" "Yahoo!" for which the official expansion is "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle". The word's general definition comes from Gulliver's Travels which means "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth." The original URL was akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo.

(Source: ComputerWeekly.com)

As Yahoo!'s list of sites expanded, so did its number of users. By November 1994, 170,000 people a day were visiting the site. By 1998, Web surfers were dropping into Yahoo! at the rate of more than a million a day. (Source: Entrepreneur.com)

Father of the World Wide Web, The World’s First Website

Father of the World Wide Web, The World's First Website

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What Inspired this BlogPostCard:

Today morning, from my BoingBoing (one of the world's most famous blogs) RSS feed, I came across  a link to an  article written by Sir Tim Berners Lee himself – Long Live the Web published on Scientific American.

On a side note, to make the blogpostcard more exciting, I'm thinking of redesigning the information presentation in a more lateral way (meaning not in a linear fashion as you see it now). Actually, the whole concept of a blogpostcard was that – information presented in a condensed yet radical visual format for easy assimilation. I think I'm yet to reach that zenith.

Sir Tim Berners Lee -  Creator o f the World Wide Web

Recent Quote:
"The world wide web went live, on my physical desktop in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 1990.  It consisted of one Web site and one browser, which happened to be on the same computer. The simple setup demonstrated a profound concept: that any person could share information with anyone else, anywhere.

Born: 1955, London, England

He studied at The Queen's College, Oxford, from 1973 to 1976, where he received a first-class degree in Physics.

The Hypertext (linking) Idea
While an independent contractor at CERN from June to December 1980, Berners-Lee proposed a project based on the concept of hypertext, to facilitate sharing and updating information among researchers.

World's First Website
In 1989, CERN was the largest Internet node in Europe, and Berners-Lee saw an opportunity to join hypertext with the Internet: "I just had to take the hypertext idea and connect it to the Transmission Control Protocol and domain name system ideas and—ta-da! — the World Wide Web."

The first web site built was at CERN, and was first put online on 6 August 1991. Info.cern.ch was the address of the world's first-ever web site and web server

Learning a Language from Signboards (Arabic) – Daraj (Staircase)

Learning a Language from Signboards (Arabic) – Daraj (Staircase)

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If I remember right, I had clicked this through my mobile phone camera in my office building.

I think learning a language through the signboards in a city will help improve our vocabulary in that language.

Would be great if people can  create their own series in other languages and share it.

The Net Generation Cartoon – Exciting Net Trends for Today

The Net Generation Cartoon – Exciting Net Trends for Today

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(click to enlarge)

Exciting Net Trends is a now and then update if we come across some exciting web technology or service news.

Facebook to provide email…
goodbye Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo?
Facebook moves closer to web domination.
Books the domain Fb.com.
Soon you can have YourName@fb.com
Facebook is expected to announce this
on 15th Nov 2010.

(Get more information at these links: You've got FMail)

New .co domain name extension released
Now you can have YourWebsiteName.co also,
apart from the usual YourWebsiteName.com

(Get more information at these links: .CO Domain Names are now available)

New web browser called RockMelt  launched
Rockmelt aims to become a "Social Browser"
by integrating your social life directly into
your web browser's interface.
(RockMelt.com)

Thought Card for Today – Walt Disney – If you can dream it, you can do it!

Thought Card for Today – Walt Disney – If you can dream it, you can do it!

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Net Generation Cartoon – Goodbye Website Designer, Hello Facebook Page Designers

Net Generation Cartoon – Goodbye Website Designer, Hello Facebook Page Designers

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(click image to enlarge)

The Local Revolution has just now begun, meaning that local businesses and community based services are going to get a huge boost through the popularity of Facebook. So goodbye website designers and thanks for all the fish.

What I mean is that website designers serving  local businesses are better off moving their clients onto Facebook. Because that's where all the action is going to be, you can even forget search engines and SEO etc. Not that these are not going to matter, they will but the bigger leverage will be with a presence on Facebook.

News source: Facebook Deals gets massive brand backing

Thought Card for Today – Plant A Tree, Save A Life

Thought Card for Today – Plant A Tree, Save A Life

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Thought for Today – Nature eCards – Plant more trees

Thought for Today – Nature eCards – Plant more trees

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Profiting from Mother Nature's property,
Shouldn't we also give,
When we get it all for free?
It's really easy,
All that we have to do is…
PLANT MORE TREES!