Google ROCKS !

I guess, It is obvious. Everyone knows it. Any other company would have been content to lay back and rest on their laurels. But they are not that kind. No Sir. They keep coming up with fantastic ideas like Google news and the latest one about which I will be talking about.

I signed up yesterday for their latest product : Adsense.

What is it ?

It delivers targeted advertisements to your website. For years, online advertisers have been talking about targeted ads but nobody has ever really delivered. And google has. In a big way.

Just take a look at the ads on this page about kerala. The ads are about kettuvallam houseboats and the karakathi beach house ! That is how targeted it can get. And I didnt have to do a thing. Google understood the content of the page and delivered the best ad for it. Infact, the ads were so targeted that I felt very tempted to click them myself ! In the end, I did a google search and learned more about them :-)

This page about a US VISA bill affecting indians has ads about green cards and immigration.

When I saw these, I knew Google had a winner on their hands. This will change the online advertising industry in a way nobody could have thought about. And it came from the most unlikely direction.

Ofcourse, there are still a few issues. This site's home page is not getting very targeted ads. I read in a forum that a page listing download mirrors was getting ads about lady's mirrors :) But I am confident that google will solve them sooner than latter.

And finally, we will have ads which are related to and enhance the content of the page. Way to go !

So if you have a website and want to make some money, go ahead and partner with google.

3

I have three designs and a question for you.

Do you guys/gals like the

1. the current design of tamizhan ?

2. or the new sandalwood re-design of masala ?

3. or the govinda re-design of punnagai ?

As you can see, the three are different color schemes applied to the same design.

I have put up an ad at masala or rather a way to put up an ad. Anyone wanting to advertise there can use the link there to do so. I dont expect anyone does though ;-)

Among other things, I have plans of putting up “theme based links” on masala. The idea is to celebrate a particular week as say philosophy week and then put all the links that I like and can find on philosophy in that week there. Just to add a little bit of novelty to the proceedings. Let me know if you guys/gals like the idea. Suggestions for themes are welcome as well.

Moving over to cricket, I do think that these defeats are a good thing. Once we come out of the hype, we can take a realistic view of the whole thing and learn a lesson or two. Ganguly definetely needs to be axed from the test team. Maybe, it is time to give sachin a chance to lead the test team and see how things work out. Maybe, age would have added the necessary qualities required for a captain to sachin.

More chitchat :
I just love the two centershock ads. From the name of the product to the message they want to convey to the ads themselves, everything is in perfect sync. It must be a whole lot of fun working in such ad agencies, isnt it.

Waiting for the reliance infocomm service to start in bangalore. I am most intrigued by the 144 kbps internet connectivity advertised. If that comes true, then it will be mobile blogging now onwards. Thoughts as it strikes posted on the web. Maybe, I am hoping too much ?

chit chat

Been blogging for over eight months now. A pre-occupation with design and frequent changes in the backend/host has meant that writing has taken a back seat.

Note to myself : write more.

Sreekanth, Please get back to blogging.

Bill Gates will be giving a speech at the wipro amphitheatre in ecity day after tommorrow. The thought of kidnapping him and asking a BIG ransom appeals to my criminal mind :-)

The one day series without sachin holds no interest for me, more so since the Indian bowlers seem to be in a genorous mood.

The ban on tamil movies in karnataka has meant that I am yet to see even a single tamil movie released on Deepavalli. Gotto to get my hands on a VCD soon.

The new ThumsUp ad with Akshay is cool. Finally brawn takes a backseat in a ThumsUp ad.

The Vaa Nila song in the latest rahman album, Kaadhal Virus, is groovy.

Time to get a snack.

Mamallapuram / Mahabalipuram.

Since the current design of tamizhan.com revolves around a photograph of arjuna's penance from Mamallapuram, I thought I would share some information I collected on it during the process.

from the indiamart pages,

Name.
The proper name of the site is “Mamallapuram”, after Mamalla, an honorific of the Pallava king, Narasimha Varman I (630-668), who created the earliest of its monuments. But it is popularly called “Mahabalipuram”, or “The city of Bali”, whom Lord Vishnu chastised for his pride and of whom there is a relief in one of the excavated temples here.

About Mahabalipuram
The history of Mahabalipuram dates back to two thousand years, it contains nearly forty monuments of different types including an “open air bas relief” which is the largest in the world, for centuries it has been a centre of pilgrimage, it figures in the early annals of the British search for the picturesque in India in the 18th century, today it attracts shoals of foreigners in search of relaxation and sea bathing, and most strange of all, it has an atomic power plant for neighbour. A small library has been written on it.

Over its history and that of its monuments a number of scholarly controversies rage. Mahabalipuram was already a centre of pilgrimage when, in the 7th century Mamalla made it a seaport and began to make temples fashioned of rock. It was through Mahabalipuram that many Indian colonists, who included sages and artists, migrated to Southeast Asia. Sri Lanka's national chronicle, the “Mahavamsa” testifies to this fact.


from the TTDC site,
This skilfully carved rock is the largest bas - relief sculpture in the world. It gets its name from the figure of an ascetic who is believed to be Arjuna, the hero of Mahabharata, doing penance to obtain a boon from Lord Siva. However, there are others who think that the figure is actually Bhagiratha who entreated Siva to let the river Ganges flow over the earth.

Among the other carvings on the rock are animals and heavenly beings witnessing the descent of the Ganges from the Himalayas and some episodes from the Panchatantra tales.


from the roamin-aboout site,

One of the most spectacular carvings is the “Descent of the Ganges”also known as 'Arjuna's Penance'. The carving tells the story of pious Arjuna who persuades Shiva to use his hair to break the fall of the River Ganga. The large cleft between the boulders is the where the Ganges descends.
Around him is a crowd of animals, gods, and ascetics watching the saving of the world as the river descends.


from the jetairtours site,

TOURIST SPOTS IN AND AROUND MAMALLAPURAM :
Caves : There are nine rock-cut temples. The Mahishasuramardhini cave, depicting the goddess fighting a demon on one side and Lord Vishnu's cosmic sleep on the other, is a particularly remarkable one.

Krishna Mandapam : A bas relief, notable for its realistic representation. The panel relates to one of the stories of Lord Krishna.

Arjuna's Penance : This is the world's largest bas relief measuring 27m X 9m. This huge whale-backed rock contains figures of gods, demigods, men, beasts, birds and almost all of the entire creation. And, this is easily the pride of Mamallapuram.

The Five Rathas : There are the five monolithic temples, each created in a different style. They are also known as the Pancha Pandava Rathas - and four out of the five rathas are supposed to have been carved out of a single rock.

The Shore Temple : This is one of the oldest temples. Unique about this temple is the fact that it houses shrines for both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. This belongs to the early 8th century AD and it is a classic example of the first phase of structural temples constructed in pure Dravidian style.

The Government College of Architecture and Sculpture: Here training is imparted in the various branches of temple art and architecture, according to Silpa Sastra.

Crocodile Bank : Is situated about 14 kms. away from Mamallapuram. Over 5000 crocodiles representing 6 different species are maintained here. There are also numerous other types of rare reptiles.

Covelong : The remains of the fort have now been converted into a luxury beach resort which offers facilities for windsurfing and swimming, an ancient Catholic Church, a mosque and the  ruins of the fort make interesting viewing from this 5 Star hotel.

Tirukalukundram : This tourist spot has a small Shiva temple situated on the top of the Vedagiri
hill which is 160m high. Just before noon everyday, two White kites stop at the temple and are fed by the temple priests. Legend has it that these two birds are actually saints who daily make a stop to rest at the temple on their flight between Varanasi and Rameswaram.

There is also a larger Shiva Temple in the town below. At the South-East end of the town is a spacious tank whose waters are said to have curative powers. Once every 12 years, a conch is discovered in this tank and thousands of devotees flock to bathe in the tank at this auspicious time. A collection of the conches is displayed in the larger Shiva Temple.

Muttukkadu : This is an ideal picnic spot. T.T.D.C, runs a Boat House, where facilities for boating and wind surfing are available.


Sounds like a good place to visit ?