Yes! That’s right. Enough of Social Networking. I have decided to quit Orkut n FaceBook. I thought of deleting both my Orkut and FaceBook Profiles. But, then again, creating a new profile will be a pain in the back, just in case i change my decision!

I am not Politically or Morally against Orkut or FaceBook like Tom Hodgkinson or Techno Llama (But I completely agree with both of them) nor I would say i am not interested in social networking at all. It has been Good for certain things. I might even come back after a few months. But as of now, i am just going to stay away from it.

I estimate that for me Orkut/Facebook easily eats up at least half an hour a day. That’s more than 180 hours a year. Quite some time! I have lots and lots of other stuff that need my attention. My time is so valuable you know. Therefore, I am just downsizing!!!

Why I joined Orkut?

• Helped me Connect with a few of my old buddies
• Everyone else in the World joined.

Why i am quitting Orkut?

• It is Eating my Precious Precious Time
• Too much Hype
• Groucho 2.0 Rule
• I just feel it is a Public Popularity Contest
• I Got Bored with it

That’s it for now. I would like to hear from others who also have quit or decided to quit Orkut/FaceBook.

PS: You can always follow me in less Intrusive and Unnerving Social Media, such as this Blog.

Yesterday, I came across this Advertisement in Youtube… It is really a Nice Ad Against Smoking… When the video started, i was like Yuck… wtf is this… And at the End, understood the Message!

A Very Effective Message and Nice Use of Satire to help Deliver. The Girl starts picking her nose and then other people start doing the same… That is how everyone starts Smoking and Drinking… Peer Pressure… Many of my friends told me, they do it just because it makes you look Cool… What’s so cool about a Filthy Habit?! Not only Smoking, the same applies to Drinking as well…
Here is that Advertisement…

Comments Invited to Discuss the Issue!

Orkut and Facebook are two of the most popular social networking sites, with both offering very similar features and capabilities.

I do have access to both an Orkut and Facebook account and find myself using Orkut the majority of the time. I am exploring Facebook only now. Right now, I actually prefer Orkut when comparing Facebook vs Orkut from a usability perspective. Here’s what i think.

>I like Orkut, because i got used to it. The ease with which you can work in Orkut is really cool but Facebook is qite complicated. I remember when i started using Orkut in 2006, i never had any issue. I joined Orkut on my friend’s recommendation that it was quite useful for him to find old friends. And, It actually helped me find my childhood buddies too.

>Navigation in Facebook is quite confusing. Whereas, Orkut is very intuitive.

>In Facebook, It is difficult to search for friends, as you can only see the profile photo before adding as a friend. But, they have “Discover People you might know”.

>Facebook gives unnecessary updates, which are trivial as to who wrote on whose wall… which quite frankly, becomes annoying after a while.

>Orkut gives you much easier personalization, where you can choose which friends you want to see updates on, birthday reminders, photos, etc. Though, i would like to control parts of my profile, scrapbook and communities too, like that.

>Orkut has themes, Facebook doesnt.

>I feel the communities in Orkut are quite useful and many use it to their advantage. But, Orkut can do something to restrict people whom you do not know, to see what are all the communities you are part of. It sometimes affects your privacy.

>Facebook has lots of ads. Orkut too has started adding advertisements, but i feel its in a designated slot, so doesnt affect the users much.

>It depends on the Country. Here in US people havent even heard about Orkut. Whereas in India, Orkut is quite popular.

>Finally, it comes to where you have more friends and in which Social Networking Site your friends are active. So you go to the site in which he/she is active in and check for their updates. Isnt it?!

So, Which one do you prefer?

To you guys out there, I’m trying to remember just why it was that, when we were young, we thought it would be so cool to grow facial hair.

From an evolutionary point of view, there are lots of different theories about why men have facial hair and why women, for the most part, don’t.
I actually tried to find this out, but there were so many theories out there, it seems the scientific world really doesn’t know for sure.
There’s the theory that men went out into the cold the most to do their hunting, so they needed beards for warmth.
There’s a theory that it’s just a simple fact of hormones.
There’s the belief that mens’ facial hair is just another evolutionary development to attract females as a sign of masculinity. And there are more.
Whatever, to me it doesn’t make much sense.

Basically, upon reflection, I remember getting man-hairier when i was in my 12th std…which seemed cool to me, then. I was around 17yrs old! I was told that, it will grow thicker and in a more proper way, only if you start shaving. So, i wanted to shave.

A few of my friends, had started shaving regularly. For some reason, this insulted me, coz it made me feel like a small boy. “I’ll show them!” I thought. “I’ll have crazy thick hair on my face!”
And, unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. Crazy Hair!

The first time i shaved was as soon as i finished my 12th std. I went shopping and bought the Razor, Shaving Cream, Brush, After-Shave Lotion, etc etc! The next day morning i woke up early, all charged up to do my first shave!
I Grabbed the razor, popped in a fresh blade, and made everything ready with what is quite possibly the perfect shave setup. After rinsing my face, lathered up thickly and shaved whatever small mustache and beard that was there! And then there was the aftershave.
I was only shaving fuzz, but it was cool.

After that i started shaving once in 2-3 months, then every month and now it has become every week!

I have suffered many cuts and scrapes and various other outrageous misfortunes whilst trying to maintain a clean-shaven look and feel!

Once during my second year, frm the study hols till the next semester beginning, i didnt shave. I was too lazy and so let it grow. Having a beard was kind of cool! I think it made me look tough! I really hate shaving and it was fun not to for a while. In the end I gave up. I just couldnt find the right balance or scruffiness and sophistication!

Besides that, professionally, I can’t go around looking unshaven and unkempt. I either have to be clean-shaven or have a beard…I can’t BE in between, unless I’ve decided I’m growing a beard.

The task went from a “do it when you want to feel like a grownup” thing to a “do it every day if you don’t want to look like Grizzly Adams” thing.

Now, I’ve certainly reached a point where shaving has become a chore. And i don’t know why, i almost always feel like a skinless chicken (uricha koli) as soon as i finish shaving.

I hate Shaving!

I wish, i knew magic, so that i could control the amount of hair on my face. I could make it grow to exactly the size and shape i want it to be! But, unfortunately, in reality, i cant make do without shaving.

So, shaving is a necessary evil in my life!!!

Hey… Catch U ppl later… I gotta go shave now…!!!

I am often asked this question, so I thought I would answer the question here.

When someone asks me whether i would like to have a drink, My short answer is that “I don’t feel like I need it.” That’s good enough for some!

But it’s not as haphazard as that simple explanation makes it sound. I have given it a lot of thought. I kinda see it as something I’d need a reason to start doing, rather than something I need a reason not to do. I sometimes ask people why they do drink. The usual responses are “to fit in,” “to be social,” and “to let loose.” I think I do all right covering all three of these on my own.

There are a couple of reasons I’ve come up with through my own observations, that people either aren’t aware of or can’t say aloud. I sometimes see people using alcohol as an excuse to act a little dumber. I don’t mean that in a bad way. Consider the man who can’t get on the dance floor until he’s had a few drinks, or the boy who can’t go up and talk to a girl without a little liquid courage. I am not those people. I’ll dance if and when I want to dance, and I’ll talk to the girl I’m going to talk to without needing any form of crutch.

So fine, it’s not a necessity for me. But it’s fun, right? Why not give it a try?

So, i went on to give it a try during one of the tours with ma college buddies. Well, i dont know whether you can consider that as getting drunk. Because, we drank only Apple Cider, its just a beverage(like wine) made from juice pressed from apples and its alcoholic content is the least among all. Only 7%!

That was in Manali. Myself, Kanthimathinathan and Hariharan were determined to taste wine/beer or something during this tour! We wanted to know the Mystery behind getting drunk! We had purchased 2 bottles of Apple Cider from the Factory Outlet of a Apple Winery on our way to Manali! Before buying we checked out the alcoholic contect of all types of alcoholic beverages they had in stock. Beer, wine, heavy liquor or any other spirit. Apple Cider had the least, so we went on to buy it. We reached Manali, and went shopping. After returning to our rooms, we prepared ourselves to get drunk. It was all so funny. Hari had bought himself a small bottle of 8PM(it has a higher alcoholic content) and Kanthi and Myself had one bottle of cider each. We started drinking. Yuck! It’s taste was so awful. I was wondering, if this cider(with its least alcoholic content) itself was so horrible, how would the other alcoholic beverages taste! And after finishing off the bottle, I was expecting that something would happen! It didnt make me dumber or do weird things as i was expecting! lolz! I was as normal as before! So, we started to prepare our beds for sleeping. Within sometime, Kanthi started vomitting all over the room. And so, Myself and Hari, went to sleep in the next room with our other friends, while Kanthi c***** u* t** m***(words removed upon the request of my dear friend Kanthi, who doesnt want to get insulted further!!! He called me up after seeing this post and asked me to remove his name and put in Mr.X! On further negotiations, we agreed to remove these words instead of the name!) and slept in our room. We still have all those photos and videos. It was all very funny and hilarious. From then on he got the nickname WINE KANTHI!

Eventhough i drank that day, I never really enjoyed the taste. I’d have to hold my nose to drink that, much to the amusement of my friends.

And now finally i’ve made a decision! I don wanna drink. Unless, someone does something to improve the taste!

I listed down some reasons that i could think of for making this decision. They are:

1.Because it Tastes bad.

I can’t stand the smell and taste of alcohol, and don’t understand what is appealing about chugging down huge quantities of what is essentially poison, into my body. And if ever, I want a drink in my hand, nothing beats a Pepsi.

2. I enjoy being in control.

And being sober around drunk people, I see what stupid decisions and mistakes that drunk people make all the time. In fact, that’s the best thing about being sober – you get to laugh at everyone else, and still be able to remember it the next morning.

3.Because I like to drive.

I can take my own car anywhere, leave whenever I want to, and not have to shell out money for a taxi or bum a ride off somebody else.

4.Because I don’t need to be drunk to have fun.

I’m glad I have at least experienced a lot of stuff so far in my life that I don’t feel like I have missed out on anything so far.

Well, this is my Personal Decision. I’d not militantly say everyone should give it up, or that anyone should aspire to follow my lead. I just wish more people could acknowledge that it’s a reasonable conclusion to have reached for myself, and let me have it.

I don’t think that’s too much to ask.