by Priyanka
Last night as I was coming back home late at night from DC, I spotted two ladies looking intently at this statue of Mahatma Gandhi. I don’t walk on that road often so I had never seen this statue but I was very surprised to see this magnificent statue of Gandhi right in the middle of the city. The statue has been gifted by the Indian government and the Indian Americans in USA. At times like this I think that DC may be USA’s capital but when you see gifts from countries around the world displayed around the city, it seems to me to be a world city.
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by Priyanka
Yesterday I went for a guest lecture and I decided to stay after the lecture to participate in the class discussion since it was on my favorite topic of mobile phone usage among youth in different countries. Needless to say I learnt about some very interesting stuff.
But during the discussion, I heard this story about "Ancient Romans and the lead pot" in the context of multitasking.
The story is that in ancient Rome, Romans who could own a lead pot were considered of a higher status, but what they didn't know was that the lead was poisonous so when they ate food cooked in the lead pot, they died because of poisoning.
The story brings to mind so many examples from our modern day life.
Multitasking – Since we have so many technologies available we multitask. While working we keep checking our emails or we keep messaging. Does it really make us efficient?
Food – related diseases – You can call it diseases of affluence or whatever, but the sad truth is just because it is available and we can afford it we eat whatever we like and however much we want. We do not focus on the fact that we need to eat healthy and in limited quantities.
I have seen many people eating, just for the sake of eating.
Let's not dig our own graves, as the Ancient Romans did
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by Priyanka
I haven't been blogging quite regularly. I have been wanting to but too much was happening. I shifted residence and that can be quite time consuming. At the same time, I decided to slim down so threw out a lot of junk and sold a few things which I thought I didn't necessarily needed. I still need to sell my TV
Yes, I don't really watch it and don't need in my new place. It feels good to get lighter.
I also started teaching last week at John's Hopkins Univ in DC. Teaching two sections can be a lot of work but the fact that I am teaching social – media related topics makes me look forward to it. And the best thing is that my students appear to be very enthusiastic. One of them sent me this link on
social media guide by Kodak today. It appears really well put together. If you are a beginner you might find it useful.
I am also looking forward to completing my dissertation this semmester. So yeah, it is going to be one hell of a busy Fall but I am feeling very prepared. So wish me luck. Tomorrow I am giving a guest lecture at American Univ in DC on my dissertation. Hoping that students will enjoy it
And yes, I am also planning to get my drivers' license this Fall. Yeah, I know I am a bit behind on this but it didn't seem like a priority until now.
So these are the trivia of my life. Few accomplishments…and many more to chase for
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by Priyanka
A survey by InMobi, of 205 college – aged consumers revealed that almost 57% of the respondents browsed the Internet on their mobile phones.
These respondents who accessed the Internet on their mobile phones belonged to different classes – 20% were from working class, 38% from lower middle class, and 42% from upper middle class.
Approximately one-third of the respondents who accessed the Internet, engaged with brands that were advertised. Of the respondents who engaged with brands, 72.5% visited the ad website, 10% called the company, and 17.5% bought the product.
Tags: mobile, Internet, youth, India
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by Priyanka
Business Week has an article on,
MXit (pronounced as 'mix it') a mobile social networking tool in South Africa developed by
Herman Heunis. Since it's launch in 2005 by
MXit Lifestyle, the service has spread to 120 countries, however, the bulk of its users are in South Africa and Indonesia. The service has attracted more than 14 million users in developing countries and an estimated 250 million messages are exchanged every day.
MXit allows users to exchange one-on-one text and multi-media messages, to participate in chat rooms and also supports connections to other instant messengers such as MSN, ICQ and GoogleTalk. Since the main service of exchanging one-on-one messaging is free for its users, MXit, generates half of its revenue from selling content such as games, music, and digital accessories and half from advertising alongside content.
What sets the service apart from other social networks, is the provision of a number of civic-minded services such as low-cost downloads, education tools and even real-time drug counseling services.
On his recent visit to South Africa in early July, US President Barack Obama, used MXit to connect with the young people. US Embassy in South Africa has signed a yearlong partnership with MXit to support it's outreach program in the region.
MXit, shows that mobile social networking maybe an effective tool to engage users in social issues.
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by Priyanka
Mobage town is Japan's biggest mobile social network launched by DeNA. The members of Mobage-town can exchange messages, chat in communities, share music, read pocket novels and blog besides other activities. All it's members are represented by an avatar living in a virtual room, which the members can decorate by buying "Moba Gold", a virtual currency. In order to acquire Moba Gold, the members have to click on ads, and sign up for affiliate services and invite new members.
The success of their business model, has led DeNA Global, a subsidiary of DeNA to launch a global service in
English called MobaMingle. The English service is available in 70 countries on cell phones and excludes Japan.
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by Priyanka
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