Printer manufacturers can help control pollution

In an era where waste management is a big issue, would it not be in the interest of everybody if printer manufacturers like HP were to come forward to encourage refilling and encourage reuse of the printer cartridges, toners, ink tanks etc and provide proper ink, toners and refill kits?

Today, printer manufactures are actively engaged in using technology to restrict consumers from being able to refill the cartridges used in their printers. This is, obviously, done to force to users to buy the expensive "original" cartridges by the manufacturers.

For the users this means...

• Increased cost of printing per page.
• Piling up to avoidable waste in the form of empty cartridges.

The empty cartridges are contributing to the huge plastic waste that is compiling around the globe. My little office has 2 HP inkjet printers for the last 3 months and there are already 8 empty cartridges lying around waiting to be disposed.

The use of refilling not only drastically brings down the per page cost of printing, it also reduces a major waste management problem significantly. Besides this, if original solutions are available from the manufacturers, themselves, consumers like me will not have to use alternate low quality solutions from the grey market.

I strongly believe, it is high time governments take a pro-active step and convince the printer manufacturers to promote refilling in a bid to help reduce the wastage generated in the form of printer cartridges.

Publicity Gimmicks or Truth

The media has been going overboard with the news and rumours of developments in the relationships of Saif - Kareena - Shahid.

I find it very hard to believe that there is any element of "making or breaking hearts" in break-up between Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor and the reports of formation of a new alliance between Saif Ali Khan and the actress. It appears to be more of professional relationships that suit them and their projects at hand.

The timing for the change of partner by Kareena is a little too obvious to accept the theory that there has been any personal bonding or heart breaking between any of the three.

Shahid and Kareena were moving together while they were working together in the movies. Now that those projects are over it suits them to concentrate on their newer projects and team up with their new project partners. The media has also been talking about Kareena and Saif working together on a movie project.

I feel, that seeing the popular young actress moving around with a different partner caught the attention of some enthusiatic reporter. The interpretation of the coupling may have been done correctly or there may be an error - this is a fact that only the stars themselves can confirm.

Whatever be the case, the media has only been too obliging to provide them and their movie projects so much space and publicity for free. There are other movie projects that are spending mega bucks to get the same kind of of attention from the media, before the release of their movies.

So much coverage is certainly enough to motivate a section of the audience loosen their money bags and venture to the cinema hall to see the movies.

The conservative part of me certainly hopes that no one breaks his or her heart neither any of the famous Bollywood actors nor any of their fans when they find out that there was little truth or depth in the publicity.

Writing Blogs - Its good! Its Fun

I feel I have come a long way since 3rd December 2006 when I wrote my first blog here at Writer's Itch.

The more I write - the more I feel like writing, and believe me I have written a lot.

I may not compare to some of the professional writers who can write page after page without much pause, but still I have written enough original content - mostly research based - in the last 10 odd months. I have enjoyed all that I have written.

Let me summarize - I am presently maintaining about 8 sites, these include websites and weblogs. The way things are moving, I won't be surprized if it becomes 16 before I complete my first year at blogging.

You can find my content here at BlogSpot, then at WordPress. There's a link here that will take you to a blog at Opera.

One of my proud display is "www.merabsp.com" the portal for Information on Bilaspur City. It is been completely done from concept to implementation under my stewardship.

I have submitted articles for magazines - though not all were selected. I have tried my hand at news-writing.

Lets see how things pan out.

Writing here after almost 2 months

Hi!

I am writing here after more than 2 months, but I must say that I have been writing all this while. Internet has enabled me to wear my writer cap and now it just won't come off.

Writing has been my favorite pass-time or you may call it hobby, but I did not know that I would like it so much. I am registered with several sites where I contribute online with my writing. It really gives a lot of satisfaction that your work is being read.

The biggest thing of writing online is that you have a mechanism to gauge the number of times your contribution has been accessed. It lets me decide on which part of my own knowledge base I should dwell on to keep up the readership.

Its pays - a very important consideration. Money is a sign of ones success of his endeavors in life and once you are paid for some work you have done it speaks volumes about your work.

Above all, I am enjoying it.

Hindi transliteration is impressive.

I have been wanting to try the transliteration feature of the editor over here. Lets see how it works, here goes...

अब मैं इंग्लिश मे टाईप कर रह हूँ। जैसे ही मैं स्पस-बार दबाता हूँ तुरंत उसी जगह पर अपनेआप वहाँ पर हिंदी आ जाता है। इसने एक भी गलती नही कि। काफी अच्छा काम किया है इसको बनाने वाले ने।

The developers of this blogger site have really made effective use of technology and I must say I am impressed with this English to Hindi conversion done here.

Off late my contributions here have reduced as I have found a more productive place to write. My team and I have worked to develop the information site of Bilaspur. The development of content in this site allows me to exercise my writing skills.

Moreso, we have added a news section to the site. Though it has still not matured fully, it gives me enought opportunity to write and enter the news. This exercise has specially become exciting because some of the news sites have recognized the place as a news source, which in turn is driving some traffic our direction.

All the excitment of developing content for the site is keeping us busy with little time of write anywhere else. Still the itch to write prevents me from keeping away from this place for a long time.

Writing and Writing Away

This blog has certainly helped me get into the flow of writing.

Obviously the readers of this blog may feel that there is not much that can be seen here that can in any be quantified in terms of my writing work. But, then this is where I write when I just want to write, generally when I get an itch to write.

This blog gives me a vent for letting out some of my emotions and try out my hand at different types of writing. Starting out from here I am maintaining a total of 3 blogs, 2 web-sites as part of my on-line portfolio. I have started contributing to the local newspapers. I have done a couple of small commercial valued writing assignments and a number of ghost writing work for my friends and clients.

Lets see where this itch to writing has in store for me in the near future.

An Opinion on CWC 2007

There was absolutely no enthusiasm amongst the general public in India for the Cricket World Cup 2007 finals. India was an absolute no show and got knocked out in the Group matches, so much so that it could not qualify for the Super 8 Series.

This led to a total change of mood and loss of interest towards the tournament. Nobody was interested in any cricket related news. Within one day the audiences vanished and the channels showing the CWC games had lost their popularity. The public frustration and resentment was at its peak. So much so, that a couple of groups came forward asking the people not to buy the products of the companies who had shown all the high-pitched ads displaying the Indian Team players.

All the ads showing the cricket stars were gone. A couple of companies went to the extent of making public announcements to renounce the cricket players and pledging not to use these players in their ads and publicity material until they showed a marked improvement in their performace.

The cricket players in particular and the cricket board of India (BCCI) as a whole became the favorite topics of the comedy shows. The comedians had a field day encashing on the high-pitched claims made by the players in the ads and their poor performance. The promotors of one of India's leading television channels went to the extent of cooking up a scheme to revamp the entire cricketing and playing format of the game in the country, which was, as expected, promptly rejected by BCCI.

Let's see how the events unfold. Something drastic needs to be done and that too soon to retain the public interest in the game.

Gajendra