Dating Sims

I recently started playing these dating sims. these links have been collected by me over a long time so I thought my blog is a perfect way to save them, in case my computer crashes….and you guys can check them out too!

For a brief introduction, here are a few lines i picked up from Wikipedia.

Dating sims (or dating simulations) are a video game subgenre of simulation games, usually Japanese, with romantic elements. They are also sometimes put under the category of neoromance. The most common objective of dating sims is to date, usually choosing from among several characters, and to achieve a romantic relationship. The term dating sim is also often used as a synonym for the visual novel genre. In a typical dating sim, the player controls a male avatar surrounded by female characters. The gameplay involves conversing with a selection of girls, attempting to increase their internal “love meter” through correct choices of dialogue. While bishōjo games make up the bulk of dating sims, other types of games exist. Games where the player character is female and potential objects of affection are male are known as GxB or otome games. There are many variations on this theme: high-school romances are the most common, but a dating sim may also take place in a fantasy setting and involve such challenges as defending one’s girl from monsters.

For girls

http://silentreaper.deviantart.com/art/Death-Note-Flash-Game-97847424

http://candid-ishida.deviantart.com/art/Kitsune-Date-Adventure-22757983

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs46/f/2009/222/e/c/Noru_Cafe_by_Pacthesis.swf

http://pacthesis.deviantart.com/art/Anime-Sim-Date-2-5-108011888

http://yavmamemo.deviantart.com/art/My-Sunshine-A-Summer-Romance-145525169

http://arlequinne.deviantart.com/art/Autumn-Snow-DS-game-v-2-0-110417211

http://anthrobecc.deviantart.com/art/Dating-Rpg-135705571

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/208375

http://www.java-gaming.com/game/3542/Festival_Days_Sim_Date/

http://www.dressupgirly.com/play/351/other-age-dating-sim-for-girls.html

http://nummyz.com/dating-sim-academy.html

http://mostplays.com/play/Love_Dating_Sim_Xtras_6594

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs49/f/2009/222/3/6/Anime_Sim_Date_2_0_by_Pacthesis.swf

http://nummyz.com/dynasty-lovers-dating-sim.html

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/390578

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/237305

For boys

http://www.hurongames.com/node/324/play

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/68502

http://pacthesis.deviantart.com/art/Anime-Sim-Date-1-0-91406624

http://pacthesis.deviantart.com/art/Anime-Sim-Date-0-0-97424253

http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/datingsims.html

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/270982

http://www.java-gaming.com/game/2239/Galaxy_Angel_Date_Sim/

Links to Dating Sims

http://dating.lovetoknow.com/Free_Dating_Sim_Games

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/464886

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/425304

http://www.java-gaming.com/c/Dating_and_Sim/

http://www.actionflash.com/directory_sim_dates_p2.php

Opinion on Dating Sims

http://www.astahost.com/info.php/dating-sims_t10099.html

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Dating_sim

Therapeutic Clowning and Play Therapy

Poonam Vaidya

Sutradhar, a non-profit educational resource centre, will hold a  seminar on ‘Play in Hospitals’  on 28th May at 4 pm at Ashirwad, St Mark’s Road. “The Open Forum has been held since 1996 to bring people involved in childcare like parents, teachers, NGOs, researchers and people from the government together. A range of issues on early childhood have been discussed in past forums,” says Revathi Suresh. ”Early childhood is a neglected period,” she adds.  Sutradhar lays stress on importance of play in education and believes that a large variety of play materials allows children to learn concepts and make connections , the foundations of early learning.

It is often a great challenge to take play to children in institutional settings like hospitals. The forum seeks to look at chronically ill children who spend long periods away from home, under intense medical care. Though play therapy is relatively new in India, there are now organisations that are trying to make a difference to affected children and families by exploring ways to help them cope with the stress brought on by the hospital environment, and focusing on their emotional health and well being. In this Open Forum, individuals from two such organisations will be sharing their experiences.

Doctor Clown India is India’s first Therapeutic Clowning group. It was brought into India from France by Severine Blanchet. These clowns are very different from the ones at the circus. “Therapeutic Clowning is where they make children comfortable in hospitals, sustaining a cheerful environment.” Says Revathi. “Therapeutic Clowning aims to offer unconditional love through non violence or ‘ahimsa’ clowning.” says Nazu Tonze, a.k.a. Dr. Gladys, the first professional female therapeutic clown in India, who will be speaking at the Forum.” We make kids laugh so they don’t feel afraid. Even though many people call me a clown, I love my job. It is not easy to ‘clown about’ as it seems.”

Play therapy is generally employed with children ages 3 through 11 and provides a way for them to express their experiences and feelings through a natural, self-guided, self-healing process. Says Meera Oke, who will speak at the Forum, “Play Therapy is the use of theoretical model of role play to help the child adjust to a stressful situation, in the hospital, it is used for chronically ill children. We have evolved our own bedside model, where we go to the kids instead of them coming to us.”

Play Therapy in India was started in Pune by the Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital and Research Centre. It is now being used in Manipal Hospital, Bangalore through the Priyanka Foundation.” We plan to share our experiences of two and a half years in Play Therapy and train people who are interested.” Says Oke.

“The doctors in Manipal took a while to get used to the idea of Play Therapy, but now they fully support the idea and say it is an important part of care, especially in chronic cases like cancer. It makes a child feel ‘at home’, even in a hospital.” says Oke. “We familiarize kids through medical play where we use small play models of the hospital equipment so the child knows what will happen to him. There is also reversal of roles, where the child pretends to ‘operate’ on a doll.”

Sanjokta Malgonda, who works directly with the children at Manipal says, “At first, there was no response from the kids, but soon, they understood the concept. Thanks to Play Therapy, we were able to establish rapport with the child and they seemed to enjoy themselves.”

We asked the mother of a five year old patient in Manipal Hospital, what she thought about Play Therapy. “I think Play Therapy is a good thing. My son was able to enjoy even in the dreary surroundings. Every day, he responded joyfully when a new toy was given to him. I recommend Play Therapy for all kids in hospitals. It helps them keep their mind off the pain.”

Says counselor Usha Shinde “Play Therapy is an essential part of the treatment of a child, especially if hospitalized for a long period of time. Children don’t generally like the hospital atmosphere and 40 minutes of play per day have proven to have a therapeutic effect on the child.”

Feminist Blogs and Websites

Hi this will appeared on page 7 of DNA Newspaper, Bangalore. I am working as an intern there. So you are seeing news before its published. Hurray!

Poonam Vaidya

The internet, the newest and most flexible media, can oppress or empower women. As the saying goes, “it’s not the media, but the way it is used.” Pornography, cyber-stalkers, anonymous online attacks, disfiguring photos and forms of sexual harassment and threats are a few ways women are ”virtually” oppressed, while sites and blogs like Blank Noise Project, Ultra Violet and Hengasara Hakkina Sangha empower them.

Blank Noise is a public and participatory arts project begun in August 2003 with a small group of 9 participants. Conceived by  Jasmeen Patheja in August 2003, it started out as a student project at Srishti School of Art Design and Technology in Bangalore as a personal reaction to confront street harassment, commonly known as eve teasing. The project has grown through workshops and local volunteers to a five-city, hundred-plus volunteer project that seeks to address street sexual violence through dialogue made possible as a result of sustained public interventions.

“The site has already grown out of the main url at to include a separate blog for Action Heroes. We also just started ‘Blank Noise Guy’, which invites male reactions and responses to street sexual harassment ” says Hemangini Gupta, Coordinator of the Blank Noise Project. “We are self and volunteer-funded.” She adds.

Through various interventions and techniques the project hopes to bring a change in the public perception of eve teasing. “I did not ‘Ask for It’ is the current main focus of the project, but we are also working on other projects that will start the process of questioning the relationships between clothes and violence inflicted upon women. For instance, we are asking people to send in phrases and sayings in their local language that deal with this assumption that a way a woman behaves determines the way in which she is treated – or the potency her very existence has, in disrupting a household. Another project, Reporting To Remember, which is a project compiling acts of violence against women in the name of culture, tradition and religion is also ongoing” says Hemangini.

Besides these, older projects included making innovative street signs, and a display of daily objects that can be used for self defense, photographing the scene of crime and building a dictionary of words they consider that can be considered as ‘eve teasing’ and Late Night Walks.   A more controversial aspect of the blog is the Bangalore-used ‘Unwanted’, where photos of men accused of Eve Teasing are uploaded and collected.Hengasara Hakkina Sangha is a women’s rights organization’ started in 1993 with a feminist, activist women’s rights resource center based in Bangalore, which aims to trigger a women’s movement in India by providing knowledge about the law and  training poor rural women and NGO activists working with them in Karnataka. Today, NGOs, state institutions, media, civil society organizations, professional organizations, students and trade unions to promote women’s rights through research, documentation and communication. Its main objective is to enable all women to control and transform their lives, their slogan being “Rights, not favours”.

“A lot of people have contacted us regarding the ’sexual harassment at work’ issue. We have also got women in crisis and women and men who want to volunteer to help.” says Usha B.N. of Hengasara Hakkina Sangha, also the Associate Editor of Ultra Violet.

It also began Ultra Violet, a blog which features a community of young feminists blogging on the various issues, challenges, and triumphs that affect women in the areas of gender, law and rights. “It first started only as an experiment, but now has raised awareness, mostly among the youth, who frequent the internet.” says Usha. The blog provides a place to explore and understand young women. It is also a space to celebrate women’s histories, wisdom, creativity, laughter and love for life. ‘Violet’ is the colour of feminism adding ‘Ultra’, makes it ‘extremely violet’ firmly stating that it is a feminist blog and not ‘just another space for women’. “There are no plans to expand right now. We want to keep intact the quality of the website and blog through regular updating, keep it interactive and seek maximum feedback.”

A picture from one of the many programmes for empowerment of women by blank noise project

Story Links and Details

Blank Noise

http://blog.blanknoise.org/

http://blanknoiseactionheroes.blogspot.com

http://blanknoiseguy.blogspot.com/

Ultraviolet

http://youngfeminists.wordpress.com/

http://aninditasengupta.com/

http://meenu.wordpress.com/

http://sharanyamanivannan.wordpress.com/about/

http://apusworld.com/blog/

Hengasara Hakkina Sangha

http://hengasarahakkinasangha.org/weare.html

More…..

http://womensblogs.sitagita.com/BlogView.Asp?BId=1080

http://www.workofwomen.org/member_profiles.php

http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/about/

http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog

http://feministblogs.org/

A picture from one of the many programmes for empowerment of women by blank noise project

http://womensblogs.sitagita.com/BlogView.Asp?BId=1080

http://www.awid.org/eng/About-AWID/Staff

http://www.indiatogether.org/women/

http://www.indiatogether.org/women/

http://www.sitagita.com/

http://www.saveindianfamily.org/

http://nirati.wordpress.com/

http://womensblogs.sitagita.com/BlogView.Asp?BId=1080

http://www.swingingpuss.com

http://www.blogbharti.com/category/women/

http://infochangeindia.org/Women/

http://www.beginningwithi.com/travel/0806bangalorestreets.html

http://www.sexualharassmentsupport.org/

http://www.imow.org/home/index

http://sexualharassmentsupport.org/blog/2009/02/11/pink-chaddi-campaingn/

Angels and Demons

Poonam Vaidya

Angels & Demons, set to release on May 15, has attracted bouts of controversy worldwide, especially among the Catholics for its ‘Anti Christian’ views, resulting in a demand for the ban of the film.

The Brian Grazer & John Calley production is the prequel to The Da Vinci Code and is a mystery-thriller, based upon the bestselling novel by Dan Brown which revolves around the quest of fictional Harvard University symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) to unravel the mysteries of a secret society called the Illuminati and to prevent a plot from annihilating Vatican City. The movie, directed by Ron Howard and distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has been accused of presenting the Holy Bible and its sacred messages in a distorted manner and also of attempts to malign the Christian faith and insulting its followers,

Catholic students in Bangalore seem unaware about the release of the film, or its impact worldwide. Thomas K. Thomas, says he hasn’t read the book or watched the movie, and “Doesn’t care much about these religious matters, since they don’t affect him in anyway”. Pamela is more knowledgeable and forthcoming about the issue. She says that she hasn’t heard about the movie, but she vaguely remembers reading the book. “As far as I am concerned, I don’t see how any movie which is Anti Christ should affect anyone. If your faith is firm and you believe in your religion, what anyone says shouldn’t matter, so I don’t see any point in the protests, because at that rate everyone should be protesting against every other religion, and every other Bible and Koran, which says that only their god is the true god. (Implying that others are false)”

Alphin Chacko, another Catholic student, said that he was totally indifferent towards the movie . Remembering Da Vinci Code, which he says was a great movie; he says “All these works should be taken as fictional. They simply cannot be real. There is no need to protest, since one’s faith is very personal and if something as trivial as a movie can break that, it shows weakness of character and shallowness of belief” Tresa George, too, had similar views. She said she cared too much about her religion and nobody, especially one man with a camera, could damage her beliefs. “Why should I be worried about one man’s point of view?” she challenged. “It’s just him expressing his opinion and creativity.” When asked about the ban on the movie, she said that if the producers of the movie had the backbone to make the movie, they should be ready to face the consequences and controversies it brought with it.

ART – IN TODAY’S RECESSION-HIT WORLD-

Poonam Vaidya

The Art & Sculpture preview, ‘Summer Medley of Phantasmagoria’ will
take place on the April 29th, 2009 at 7 PM in Leela Galleria, Level C.
The event will include contemporary art and sculptures, by Anand
Bewadkar, Bharati Sagar, Doddamani, Muni Mohan, Neena Singh, Romicon
Revola, Sudhir Meher and Shan Re, which will be followed by an exhibit
from April 30 – May 6, 2009

Preceding the exciting and exclusive event, DNA interviewed artists,
art collectors and art galleries to learn where art stood in today’s
recession-hit world.

Art Collectors are the city seemed to have given up investing in art.
Arti Bharadwaj, an impulsive art purchaser, has not been very
impulsive of late. “Art is just a perception that you pay for, you
will never know its actual price. I don’t buy that much art, but in
the current scenario, people would want to save, not spend. I think
art is overpriced and certainly, it is not a necessity.” Art collector
Neeta Jaipuria admits that she has drastically reduced buying art, to
the point of discontinuing. “I used to buy mostly modern art, but now,
I hardly buy any. Recession is the main reason. ” Naveen Bogle (name
changed) says he has not bought art for around two years. “Prices have
hit the roof recently” he says, “I don’t think there are many buyers
right now. My philosophy is to observation it like a share market, you
invest when stakes are low, so you can make a profit”

Indra Bharadwaj, owner of Right Lines Art Gallery, agrees. “Yes,
recession has hit artists badly. There is a drop in sales, as art is
no longer a priority, but an ultra luxury. The situation has come as a
reality check to artists, whose focus now is no longer the deadline,
but the quality of work.” Rajesh Kannan, an artist involved in the
exhibition ‘Orient and Oriental’ says he took up art in order to
represent nature and the spirit of the universe in abstract and
contemporary themes. “Recession has affected me and other artists very
badly. There has been a drop in sales. Even for ‘matured artists’ the
market is virtually dry.” Artist Sujata Tibrewala, the owner of art
exhibition ’Pratimbima and also an artist herself, complains. “Buyers
have become very less. Artists have to choose whether they want to
bring down prices or simply not sell their work. Rather than the art
itself, we look at what it symbolizes.”

But Renu George, from Time and Space Art Gallery, disagrees, “The
situation is not as bad as it’s made out to be. The market is still
wide open for upcoming artists. If the work is priced below a lakh,
and is good, it still sells. But recession has mostly hit the big
names, whose unaffordable works have stopped selling. Still, sales are
satisfactory and buyers are still looking for good work to invest in.”
Rajashree Kandelwal, owner of Frame Defines remains neutral in her
outlook “Before, we used to get many orders, especially from corporate
offices. Most projects have been put on hold. People who earlier
invested in art, especially IT professionals, no longer spend money on
expensive paintings. However, paintings within the price range of
Rs.35000 to 40000 still find buyers.” Artist Gurudas Shenoy, also
continues to remain positive. “The situation is not as bad as people
think. Good work will always sell. If you have a good item, buyers
will automatically come to you. There is no point in reducing prices.”
He still believes that artists who really work hard will succeed in
today’s world. “I am a good artist, and my prices will only go up. I
don’t care about what people think, I paint because I’m passionate
about it and have fun while doing it.”

“I Failed”

Poonam Vaidya

As the marks were declared through various the internet and the cell
phone, and will soon be out through official and tangible “marks
cards” across the city, we hear hoots and cheers rising up from
various students, and celebrations all around. But what about the
students who continue to stare at their computer screens, shocked and
dumbfounded, or those who shut their eyes tight and repeat “It can’t
be….it’s not true”? The ones that hang up their friends’ calls and
ignore messages, knowing they will only ask the ultimate question,
“How much did you get?.” Those who face scornful, judgmental glares
from society?

Caught in this crisis are 3,43,519 out of 6,06,321 students (56.66
percent) who failed to  clear the exam this year. Is all lost for
these aspiring students? Failure should  not be perceived as the end
of the world. Failing exams doesn’t make you a failure in life. If
anything it presents you with a range of options, one of which is
retaking.

Dr. Ali Kwaja, founder of the Banjara Academy, a secular,
non-commercial and non-sectarian organization, which offers  training,
counseling, emotional support and an opportunity to serve mankind,
says a lot of people have come to him for counseling, regarding
examinations. “I look at each one with the individuality, as they are
all different”.

Apply for revaluation, photocopy or retotalling: According to
psychologist Ali Kwaja, this is the first step to be taken by
students. “I advice students to go for re-evaluation, since their
failure could be attributed to a glitch in the system, but I always
warn them not to rely on it, instead move on and reapply for a
supplementary exam, which will give them admission in some college,
albeit it may not be the college of their choice.”  The supplementary
exams will be held between June 25 and July 4.

Deal with your feelings – However you respond to the news is fine.
Whether it is shock, denial, frustration or even anger, your emotions
will be running high so it’s important to let them out..

Indulge in a bit of serious analysis – Ponder upon the reasons why you
failed. There is a big range of factors that can contribute to
failure. Says Dr. Kwaja “The second step is to determine the reason
for failure in the subject, and decide whether theY want to opt for a
different stream.”

Stop blaming others-  You might what to believe you are a victim of
circumstance, but stop projecting your shortcomings on to others, so a
little introspection about where you went wrong. Your actions are
something you yourself have sole authority over.

‘Get advice’ –  Talk to your lecturers and find out what are your
academic weak points.  You’ll find just putting your words into
feelings will help you to gain some perspective. So turn to friends,
family.

Start revision as soon as you can.

Make sure you have all the required materials like notes, textbook,
old question papers. Buy a guide if required.

Consider taking time off- Decide instead if take a break from the
tension and stress and doing something you always wanted will help
you. This will require seeking permission from parents or guardians.
List toppers include travel, a short courses in animation, computers,
personality development, public speaking, or social service, taking up
a job, etc. Remember, this will make it harder to get readmission, and
you will have to risk discontinuing your education.   In the context
of whether taking a break is beneficial, he says “ I strongly oppose
it for those who have failed, although it might be beneficial for
students who have scored well and need some time a perspective to
decide on which stream to take up next”

Dr. Lakshmi advices parents not to do a “postmortem” of the issue,
“they must support and remind the child to stay positive, as they
still have another chance”

Details
Last date to apply for obtaining a photocopy May 16
Cost of obtaining the photocopy of each subject Rs 300
Last date to apply for revaluation May 20
Cost of Revaluation for every paper Rs 750
Last date to apply for retotalling May 20
Cost of retotalling each paper Rs 200

Dowry Harassment

Preeti Biyani, 29 committed suicide on Tuesday, April 28 by hanging herself. Even though she left a suicide note saying that nobody was responsible, her parents alleged that she committed suicide due to dowry harassment.

DNA asked women’s NGOs and Women’s Welfare Organizations in and around Bangalore about different ways to curb dowry harassment.

S Dinesh, from Intellectia, a legal organization helping women, offers education as the first long-term method to prevent dowry harassment. He says. ”Other short term measures that can be taken are calling help lines like Women’s Commission and the Vanitha Sahay Vani, who offer combined couple counselling. If harassment continues despite these measures, the girl should contact the police. Parents can keep the police informed and report when the first incident of dowry takes place. Lodging a complaint is an essential legal remedy and act as an indirect warning” he says. “But one should exercise caution as some opportunistic women make fake complaints under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.”

Mrs. SV Sujata, from Dhavala Mahila Vedika says “the girl can directly protest about being harassed, take legal remedies, or call a helpline. The girls’ side can first try to negotiate with the boys’ side; otherwise ask help from relatives or the police. I believe these incidents are on the rise, especially if the girl is not working, the boys’ side asks for dowry as compensation.”

Ravikanth from Swati Mane, a women’s organisation dealing with empowerment, says “the girl can call and register a complaint, or receive counselling. The girls’ parents can arrest boy and boys’ side if they complain to the police, or receive help from relatives. I think incidents of dowry are on the rise.”

Hema Deshpande, from Vanitha Sahay Vani thinks that the girl, when harassed, should complain to the nearest police station or call a helpline.  Parents should keep in touch with their daughters after marriage and pick up on clues of harassment and suicidal tendencies, if any and take action. “The first step to be taken by the families is negotiation. Problems of dowry are also caused by misunderstanding, so to prevent conflict, families should sit together and talk about issues rather than quarrel.”

Sujata Rajan, from the Sneha Trust, which is organizing a meet on May26th, for victims of dowry, says, “Girls being harassed should simply file for divorce. If every girl’s parents’ refused to give dowry, then the problem would not exist to begin with. I feel the girl’s parents are equally at fault.” She feels that dowry laws give an dangerous advantage to women. “When there is a police complaint, the groom is immediately arrested. I do not feel this is right. There is no real problem of dowry in cities, maybe in villages it still exists. Girls are too outspoken and educated nowadays to be harassed.”

Psychologist Ishita Datta explains the state of mind of a women traumatized by dowry harassment. “The main reason for dowry death is low self esteem. The girl thinks she is worth only the amount she brings in. so when it is not high enough, she faces negative self image. She feels there is no point in living, which is why extreme cases result in suicide. But, in most cases, brides are unhappy and depressed.”

“In cases of dowry, the girl should be explained to that she is expected to bring money for the boys’ side by law and therefore should not feel inadequate and stand up to dowry harassment.”

Twitter

Why I joined Twitter and why some of my friends are on it (to write this article)

Poonam Vaidya

If the whole world could share every random thought as soon as it stuck them, to everyone in the world, at anytime, anyplace, anywhere, what would it be like? The concept is hard to digest, but Twitter has made this mindboggling concept a reality. Anyone can see what everyone in the world is doing, with updates every 30 seconds. It has successfully killed the concept of ‘free time’ and ‘boredom’ for many. Twitter has been accused of ‘cannibalizing blogging’, especially after it recently tied-up with Facebook and WordPress. There are over 200 Twitter-based applications such as TwitterSearch, TwitterStats, TweetScan and TwitteRoll that make it all the more exciting.

Since its creation in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Twitter has become the “SMS of Internet,” More than just social interaction; Twitter is being increasingly employed for breaking news, updates on politics, sports, entertainment and events around the world. Twitter allows users to read each others’ updates known as ‘tweets’ which are up to 140 characters in length and displayed on the user’s profile. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications.

“When I first started doing it, I thought, ‘geez, not another website to worry about updating and checking’, but now I’m glad I did it” says Point Chevalier on Twitter’s Homepage. also  contributed to by Nicholas Carr who says “Twitter is the telegraph system of Web 2.0”. Eric Nuzum, author of The Dead Travel Fast, too, confesses ”If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, it is one of those things, like MySpace, that sounds totally ridiculous and stupid when you first hear about it. But once you start using it, you realize how much fun it is.”

Twitter has only started becoming a rage in Bangalore, with a February 2009 Compete.com blog entry ranking Twitter as the third most used social network , after Facebook and MySpace.  Shwetha D, who just began to “twitter” a week ago, says she uses it to keep in touch with her sister in England.  “she (her sister) uses twitter to keep in touch with her family, since all other popular social networking sites have been blocked on her office computer” Apart from that, she says she enjoys the freedom of posting updates anytime, anywhere, through SMS. We checked random tweets to find out about what users from around the world though of Twitter.

David “Yep, twitter is certainly amazing in so many ways, but its important to not get obsessed with it – which is easier said then done. Once you’ve got a nice set of people to follow, its a good idea to categorize them into groups and use a third party application like tweet deck to help filter out the noise. Beware though; twitter can easily become a massive time killer.”

Khurram “The reality that your writing is short, sweet, to-the-point and understandable only adds to the value”

Brett Borderrs

“…Twitter is fun and useful, I hope mainstream doesn’t corrupt it and make it unusable. Twitter is like a breath of fresh air on the Social Media scene. I have been on it for just a few weeks now and I have met several interesting people. It is a platform to network with people you would like to meet in real life”

With Twitter recently gaining recognition for issues of  Ashton Kutcher getting his one millionth follower having beaten an account owned by CNN for the milestone and the recent surge in celebrities like Oprah, Barrack Obama, Britneys Spears to name a few, it won’t be long before Politicians and Bollywood superstars, join the rat-race, and find themselves craving for more ’followers’ in order to  establish their status in society and compare themselves to other competitors  .

Work-Life Balance

This article WAS NOT PUBLISHED. i HOPE IT WILL BE SOMEDAY. You are therefore looking at unpublished news, a sight rarely seen by most.

Poonam Vaidya

The newly emerging   “performance culture”  keeps high expectations of its employees, only to reward them with little or no job security. The infamous effect of recession has hit the work place, with people losing jobs at the drop of a hat. The powerful, competitive environment has been replaced by a fatigued, anxious and demoralized atmosphere at the work place sending alarm bells ringing.

The expression “work-life balance” was first used in the late 1970s to describe the balance between an individual’s work and personal life. Balancing family, leisure time and career result in high levels of commitment, performance, motivation and flexibility in employees and so that both they and the company benefit in the long term.

Here are a few ways to maintain a healthy balance between work and private life:

Look after yourself: Make sure you follow a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and get at least six to seven hours of sleep.

Make time for your family, friends, partner and self: Make sure you do not miss important events like birthday parties, anniversaries and get-togethers because of work. Remember they are more important than any job and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Spend some time alone away from work, and do what makes you happy.

Managing time at work: Use time effectively and efficiently. Remember to take compulsory breaks, they prevent fatigue and make you more productive. Make a clear distinction between work and non-work aspects, so you can give equal importance to both.

Ask employers for help: Employers can help by endorsing compulsory leave, strict maximum hours and foster an environment that encourages employees not to continue working after hours.

Focus on goals and outcomes: Think about what you want from life. If you’re feeling stressed, say something about it earlier rather than later.  Write down your thoughts and feelings and discuss it with a friend, partner or counsellor, if needed. Measure your performance by what you achieve. Figure out ways to sharpen your skills and improve your potential.

Acknowledge your limitations: Know that it is not possible to do everything. Allow yourself to say ‘no’ to clients, employers and fellow employees, rather than making broken promises. Stop feeling guilty. Nobody is the perfect worker and the perfect partner – we all have to make choices and compromises.

Inicio is an organization based in Ireland with a branch in Bangalore, which helps businesses understand employees and build stress-free work environments in order to improve productivity and performance, increase retention and engagement by controlling bullying and work-life imbalance.

Payal Shah, one of the directors of Inicio, who works extensively with various organisations in Ireland and India, says “one can achieve work-life balance by organizing work and focusing on goal-oriented rather than task-oriented performance. You need support from your institution, family and yourself to achieve work-life balance.” When asked about the current situation, she replied “The situation has changed. People are too afraid to even take maternity or sick leave, as it could put their job on the line. But the situation is improving, and will restore to normalcy in the next three to four months.”

Curly Bubble on Word Press; ourWORLD poonam88

(Video about virtual reality)

<a href=”http://w01.ourworld.com/v11/tracking?source=assoc_widget&user_id=5169863″><img src=”http://cdn.ourworld.com/v11/games/../../shared/i/players/group5169/user5169863/promo.png”/></a>

This is my OurWorld avatar. Click it and you shall magically be transported into alternate reality. Its a lot of fun and very addictive. You can be a Tourist for free, but you must pay t o be a resident. You past levels by earning Flow, which you use up to get prizes and coins, with which you can change your hair, clothes, and  get some other accessories. You need to pay for gems or get them through surveys, postings, etc, (see free gems on top) Any comments will be answered. Have fun! Don’t get addicted!

The link…

http://w02.ourworld.com/v11/tracking?source=ref_link&user_id=5169863

Crafty Trick:

This is the best way to earn gems free. When you have logged in, look to the top right corner of Ourworld. Click ‘Settings’ and go to ‘Promotions’. Copy and paste the link which tells you to ‘post on your blog’ on your blog.  Later, go to your blog.

Don’t have a blog? If you are having problems with the above method, go to Settings again and cut and paste the referral code on a word document and press enter. When it ‘hyperlinks’ (turns blue and is underlined) click it.

Click the avatar or link and you will go to the ourworld site, with your log in address typed for you. Ignore that and see the top right hand corner again. It says ‘Not a member?…’. Join Ourworld again.

Important: Remember to log off your original character before you sign in to the new one.

Save your character.

Handy Tip 1 : When they ask for an email address, here’s the trick…any thing will do. as long as it has @ and .in or .com, in that order. For example yourname@yourname.com, pets@mile.in, etc. be sure you can remember them, however, if you ever want to go back to the account, which is not really needed, as once your on level 5, you ditch the character.

What I have done is, used the  character’s name by itself. For example, one of my characters is Spit On Me. So the email I use is spit@me.in and a common password for all. I keep track of my character by making them give me their hearts…it’s cool…makes me look good as well as able to track who my other characters are. Now when you get the gem code, log in to your other characters profiles and add it to Settings. Then go to profile, see ‘crush’? Your original characters name should be there. Click on it and press ‘gift’ send yourself Durniture, clothes, or the other gifts! I personally wait till my characters have collected 30 gems, so I can send myself the mystery box. Flow battery in January gives you 20 to 500 flow. I have around 10 characters and can always make more. things you can’t gift are Items from Elevated Design, Inventory, Bejewelled and some other specific items like some hair, clothes, jewellery, especially all flow boosters.  i save gems for them in my main character

Handy Tip 2 : As you gain 5 levels, you will get 5 gems. Continue if desired. Stopping at level 5 is the best, but you can do get 5 more gems at level 10. I calculated….you need 10 flow to get 5 gems, as you already have 10 flow and you need 20 flow to get to level 5.

Handy Tip 3 : Don’t use these gems to buy stuff. Go directly to Starlight Store and get flow booster cuffs. They give you 20%,50%,100% and 200% Flow boost, starting from 50 gems to 200 gems. Also Jewelery from Bejeweled is available now. Make sure you buy different ones… a crown, a broach, bracelets for both hands, a necklace and hair clip or decoration, thus attaining the max flow boost, since you can wear all at one time. Bento Mystery boxes and Dark or Light Mystery Boxes also give you Flow boosters. Flow battery in January gives you 20 to 500 flow for 30 Gems. you also get flow battery from Crews, mentioned later.

Handy Tip 4 : Also, get the Facebook necklace by going to free gems on the top right hand corner and doing the needful.

Handy Tip 5 : When Zoe tells you to take a photo and send it to a friend, the same e-mail rule applies as Handy Tip 1…write anything along with a @ and. in that order. If you want to retain the photos, send them to your own e-mail address. You can select as many after buying them and putting a tick.

Handy Tip 6 : I found that Strategy games are the best to increase flow, the top three being Storm the house (I scored 102 flow after reaching level 65), Balloon Tower Defense (finished the game with 36 flow) and Bow Master Prelude (still playing have 150 flow from the game till now)

In Bow Master Prelude, go to Options and select ‘Easy’ under Difficulty and ‘Auto Aim’ in Shooting Style

The other Strategy Games fun to play are Diner Dash and Cake Mania 2. Apart from them, in action games, I like Jungle Kid (best action game to earn flow), Kid Bike and Extreme Heli Boarding.

I found the Bejeweled Games really annoying, though they do increase flow. Check out newer games with Doug on the Pier and Veronica at Soho.

Other things to do with Gems:
It is easy to spend gems on something and regret it later. So plan what exactly you want and then decide how many time you want to create fake characters, 5 gems for every character.

These are a few suggestions:

1. Flow Booster Cuffs or Jewelery from Bejeweled. Make sure you buy different ones…a crown, a broach, bracelets for both hands, a necklace and hair clip or decoration, thus attaining the max flow boost, since you can wear all at one time.

2. Inventory 100 OR 250 (Capacity)

They cost 30 and 60 gems respectively.

Important Note: iF YOU BUY 100 inventory, YOU LATER REALIZE THAT ITS NOT ENOUGH AT HIGHER LEVELS, WHEN YOU ARE RICHER AND HAVE MORE SSTUFF. So I suggest that you directly get the 250 inventory by saving up 60 gems. I made that mistake. I bought the 100 inventory, and couldn’t buy it again so i needed to buy the 250 inventory again since i wasn’t allowed to buy the 100 inventory again. So I practically lost 30 gems.

3. The dress or hair you always wanted. Make sure this is not available through coins, if it is, it should be at a very advance level.

4. Those Permanant Pets, if your into that stuff. I found it annoying.

5. More Condo or Photo Inventory, if you plan to click away and want a great Condo.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I TRY TO SPEAK FOR EVERYBODY WHEN I SAY “NO ONE CARES ABOUT A CONDO” REALLY. HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU VISIT A TOURIST CONDO? LET ME MAKE A POLL, EVEN. SO MY CONDO ONLY HAS STUFF I WIN, I NEVER BUY.

Handy Tip 7 : Each time you play Dance Planet, winning the Dance Move Challenge bonus round awards you one random move out of five from that level. If you win a move you don’t already have, it gets added to your regular ourWorld Dance moves right away. Each of the seven Dance Planet levels has five new moves for a total of 35 new moves you can earn! Keep playing to discover and earn them all!

Handy Tip 8 : Use The Bubbler instead of spin the wheel to use up flow. Remember to select only the ‘1’ bubble, not 5 or 10. If you have more than 10 flow and plan to use it up at one time, then after using n10 flow on The Bubbler, go spin the wheel, around 10 times maximum. If you still have more flow after that, go to The Bubbler again. I need to suggest to the maker of OW please, please, please….new ways to spend flow. join me in the movement on the forums.

Handy Tip 9 : To get more gifts from the bubbler instead of coins, fill up your inventory till only five items are left. This increases your chance of getting cooler gift up to 50%. The ourWORLD site does this so that the encourage you to buy more inventory space for yourself, thus making you depend on coins and giving them profit. When the 5 slots are filled up, you will get a message that your inventory is full. Delete item you don’t like…5 of them and try using rest of the flow. This method is not guarenteed to work, but I found it was true for me. So I keep an almost full Invenory and get more gifts. But as I have suggested to buy 250 inventory rather than 100, which saves 30 gems later, you might be confused. I reccomend saving gems.

Handy Tip 10 : Earn new dance moves by going to Dance Planet and doing all moves correctly. I think you can get one move per song, once you have earned a move on it, you won’t get another.

Handy Tip 11 : Its even more important to retain the email (fake or otherwise) of your multiple characters. When I get gem codes, I use it for all my ‘fake’ characters as well, earning gems. Then I go to my actual characters profile, and visit their Condo. Look at the top left corner. There is an option to send gifts. click it and see the top….there is an option to send more gifts….you can choose you gifts and send them to yourself. Later, in your profile, you can choose where to place things! So now you can spend your coins and gems on everything else but the Condo, who no one visits anyway! This works for clothing, tatoos, vehicles (assuming that your fake character is at level 20 tp 40) and portions.

Handy Tip 12:

Crews: So crews, the new concept was a hit. It is an amazing marketing Gimmick, in order to pressurize us to spend more gems, giving more preference to Residents. You need to be in level 25 to start a crew, and need 50 gems. So everyone that had that much started one. you can win different prices seeing, the level of gems your crew collects. I was surprised to see that very popular crews did not have high meters. Know Why? it is the average every member spends. So if there is one member with 3 stars, the crew reaches the threshold of prizes faster than if that crew had two members with 2 and 3 stars each. So i would suggest the smaller the crew, the better.

Important Note: I THINK IT IS BETTER THAT YOU START WORRYING ABOUT CREWS ONLY AT THE END OF THE MONTH, WHETHER YOU ARE A CREW MANAGER OR JOINER. IT DOESN’T REALLY MATTER IN THE BEGGINING. ALSO, FOR CREW JOINERS….BEWARE OF THE MANAGERS (PEOPLE WHO CAN THROW YOU OUT) THEY CHUCK YOU JUST AFTER THE END OF THE MONTH, SO THAT YOU LOSE ALL PRIZES!

Handy Tip 13:

Vehicles these give you a reason to level up. : Skates, skateboards, hoverboards, skooters, vehicles and flting in auto parts. I think a person at level 70 can buy all. You can probably convince them to buy you the item as a gift, in return for the same or more return of gems. A Win-Win situation.

Handy Tip 14 :

Getups: there is a gay looking guy who tellos you to buy clothes for prizes, and to earn coins. i completed all, so i earn 1080 coins a day. This receives a thumps up from me. you get 20% off on the items that cost coins. the gem costing items can be bought by your fake characters, but remember the colour of the item and the name.

Handy Tip 15 :

Nevermore: a new island which I don’t have too much information on. but there is going to be a Skeleton Key Clothing Shop there. An outline of Soho is shown. The new island is called Nevermore.  Read Edgar Allan Poe’s Poem “The Raven”. for info about its origin.

Handy Tip 16 :

Webhunts: Caden, that egoistic oW Manager. I think he is hot, though. He asks you to email many things to get a level up. It receives a thumbs down from me.

Handy Tip 17 :

Toolbar: Starting Dec 28th, oW needs to detect the ourWorld toolbar on your system in order for gem codes to work. Some computers don’t like the pop-up when ourWorld is running, so I have links for the toolbar down below. When you click the link, it will automatically start the download.

Toolbar for Firefox
Toolbar for Safari
Toolbar for Internet Explorer + Others

I use Firefox myself, and I hear many people complaining. I don’t understand why, myself. I seems to work fine for me, 10 gems per month. Once oW EMAILED ME  a new code! I would like to put it up, but too busy.

Handy Tip 18:

Portions: ones that make you glow are old, the ones that make you small cool, and i hear of rainbow colour etc.

Handy Tip 19:

Outfits: Tourists have 3. Residents i don’t know.

Important note: I remove all clothes and put all flow boosters on. then save the outfit. add tatoos and portions, too. save outfit.then you can click the outfit and then add clothes and hair etc. so you don’t have to ad individually. I never use any accesory, as it takes away flow boosters.

Handy Tip 20 :

Mr. Mole’s Friday Bazaar: A perfect way to waste gems. Everything available seems stupid. I like only the mermaid tail.

Handy Tip 21 :

Marketplace: thumbs down. everything is too expensive, and only residents can sell, though everyone can buy. I think it should be open to all, then everyone would reduce prices and it should be free to see, not cost gems to sell!

Enjoy! Please comment if you have any other tips and tricks and generally, if it helped you.

P.S. Remember to limit bad language, or insult people. they will report you, it happened to me. now i can’t really write anything.