Before I declare the results let me give a brief synopsis of my ‘judging’ experience. The first thing that I felt about this competition thing was it’s not that easy as it apparently looks. Visiting everyone’s album, short listing photos, uploading them in one’s own album, organizing them and writing the series of post, selecting the judge(s), coordination with the judge (remember its cross country in most cases with a time lag), exchange of emails, m2ms sharing ideas and views and above all earning enough points to afford the exorbitantly expensive prizes from MS Mall.
 
Though we all take these competitions lightly, there’s an immense sense of participation. We see the photographs, rate it, post a comment and wait for the result. I am sure you guys enjoy the ‘wait’ factor like I do. All this is made possible because of only one guy- Paul. I don’t know how he manages his work life & MS. All I know he takes these humongous efforts to bring the members closer with every competition he floats, without expecting any material reward. His unique model of self sustainable competitions should be an eye opener for MS management and case study for other networking sites. He earns points through the competitions itself and distributes the points as Prize. Isn’t it amazingly innovative, simple and successful?
 
So folks, lets stand and give a big hand to Paul- the man who made this possible single handedly. Agar Paul nahin hota to kya hota? :D
 

My 100th gift is the MS Aeroplane, gifted by Rohitthebest.
Unbelievable? Believe it.

For the uninitiated, I have been trying to acquire the plane since it has been introduced as the most expensive virtual gift in the universe. I wanted if for my travel, after retirement, when I am too old to fly with my weak and worn out wings. Being in economically weaker section in terms of M$Ps, I was trying to persuade the presently inactive Lyla (cousin2), who is the richest MSian around with more than a lac M$Ps. Faisal gifted me the custom made Bentley, which is a amazing piece of a automobile, but if failed to fly.

I will fall short of words to appreciate this magnanimous gesture of Rohit. In this virtual world where each members dripping with sweat & blood, struggle rigorously to earn each single M$Ps, he has probably spent the earning of his lifetime on a single gift. I know the 30,000 points doesn't matter, the plane doesn't matter too. The whole thing sounds extremely silly. But it's the big heart and the thought that matters.
Eventually many members would own the plane. But the history that's created today will remain till the end of time (or crash of server, whichever is earlier).

Thank you Rohit :). I am lucky indeed to have friend like you.

Incidentally, he will be hitting his Century review today. Congratulations Rohit ! Here's wishing you many more centuries and happiness for years to come.

Thanks to ~mbf~ to for unbreaking my heart. The first aircraft for OMfisher Airlines is available.
Thanks to Smits, who deleted my 100th & 101th gifts given by her, to empty the 100th slot. On your Platinum Jubilee today, wish you happy times ahead.
Addendum : It must be added here  that in tune with the 'Day of the Big Hearted',
sudipto33 gifted me an apartment to be used as the Hangar for the place., and
surely he has also exhausted all his savings in one gift.
Thanks sudipto- it always feels good that i have met you in person, Jaipuri
gems are indeed great :)

Thanks to everyone who has expressed their love & care. Love you all :)

Today is 'The day of the Big hearted' in MS. Let's celebrate!

Cheers!

Because of ‘Diary’ comment section the traffic to office servers have increased manifold. Finally, MS is banned in most of the offices worldwide....

 After ages, I had this nightmare yesterday night. Since I have quit smoking, I am having such evil hallucinations………

Dear Friends,

Our beloved friend Amit aka main_chup has sent me an sms saying, they are happy to announce that they are going to be parents of twins soon. He is probably too shy to share it publicly, but it's already featured in "Member news section" in MS, please check out for yourself. Otherwise, I would have also shrugged it off as another April fools's prank !

He also wanted names to be suggested for various combinations possible. So I request everyone to send him congratulatory m2ms with name suggestions.
Thanks.

....a picture is.
I was extremely happy when MS introduced the photo Album in member’s profile. It was great to see members uploading pictures of their family, friends, pets, travels and own sketches. Most of us, who love travel, photography or both are always eager to see each other’s works, interact & comment.
 
For many like-minded members, Photo Album opened a whole new world within MS. The joy of sharing moments of happiness, creativity and artworks gave an altogether new dimension to the so –called ‘product review website’ with ‘ user generated contents’. 
 
To me it’s a great break from the mundane. When I got bored reading 100s of reviews on Jodhaa Akbar or felt mediocre after commenting on numerous poems/ quotations/ after-thoughts/ second thoughts/ without thought ramblings, photo albums gave me refuge & solace.
 
Then, MS introduced rating & commenting photos as another option of earning MS points. Eventually, enthusiastic members like Paul started picking up snaps from other’s album and started floating competitions, thereby enhancing member interactions & points kitty.
 
I kept on uploading snaps till I paused to think (thankfully!). At this juncture I have this strong feeling that the Photo album needs attention, to make it effective & more user friendly. 
  
My thoughts-
 
Ratings- I don’t see it serve any useful purpose. I have observed that, pictures of children, animals, wives, nature (like hills, ocean, river, fog, rain, cloud, trees, water, mist) and curvaceous pictures get “HOT” ratings initially. But they gradually cool down with more ratings over time. Pictures of inanimate objects like ‘my old pair of sandals’, ‘my new bike’ surprisingly gets low ratings. Imagine anything hotter than burning fire? My picture of fire in Tandoor has been rated 7.1 after 17 votes. Whereas the next photo titles “Kingfisher girl” stands at rating 8 after 20 votes. Duh !
Comments In lieu of ratings must be encouraged with more points. A ‘hit counter’ may be a good idea though.
 
Concept of Albums- I have 105 snaps (and still counting), Nik has 387 (when I last saw). Now, these numbers are repulsive. I am sure most members would get tired commenting after 10-15 snaps because of the sheer volume of snaps & dearth of time. Will anyone keep on clicking to visit Nik’s 246th pic or my 66th? No. Won’t it be great to able create albums and store the photo’s in a systematic way? I am eager to create separate travel albums like Nepal, Darjeeling, Goa, Hampi, Kerala and more specific theme albums ‘Experiments with light’,‘Darkness of Desire’,‘ After death’ and ‘Pain’. (Examples of the former & the latter in uploaded in this post.)
 
Alerts-How the hell people keeps a tab when someone uploads new pic? How to let people know? Send a bulletin? I personally find bulletins very irritating. Won’t a summary alert be helpful on ‘changes’ made in profile?
 
Slideshow- It saves time. Its let’s you know where you are in a series of pictures. Once all the photos are numbered it would be easier to remember & return to them later. I want to return to Nik’s album.
 
Tags- Right now diaries have tags, which primarily are useless. Photos should have tags too. Information on albums existing for Goa or Kodaikanal if made available would be great.
 
Rearrangements- of photographs should be allowed. I want my Netguru snaps to feature first in the slideshow. Also, I want to place the pics of Kolkata meet (Mimi, Nitesh, Snigdha) alongwith the MSian series.
 
Editing – Once pictures are commented editing shouldn’t be allowed. Imagine after obtaining “wow’, ‘amazing’, ‘wonderful’, ‘sooooo sweeeeeeeet’ and 25 such adjectives for Hakoona’s smiling cat or my smiling camel being replaced by our self- portraits! Isn’t it criminal to steal compliments? 
 
Deleting – Like photos the album owner should have the power to delete offensive & bad comments. Else, things may get dirty, if someone wants to play foul. 

The long & short of it
Okay, lemme cut the crap. I want to upload 1500 snaps to start with. I may never end up writing 400, 500 or 800 reviews but I can upload thousands of snaps, which is worth millions of words. I want to be the Lyla of Photo Albums (yes, I can’t forget her).
 
Am I asking for too much, that I should be kicked outta here? 
…………………………………………………………………………………
…………….
Ps: I have accounts in Orkut, Flicker, Picassa, Kodak Gallery but what’s the fun if there are no buddies to fool around?
 

FORM NO- UH01
APPLICATON FORM  FOR  CHANGE OF USER  ID
 
[General Instructions: Please follow the instructions carefully while filling up the form. Incomplete/ torn/ illegible/ half-eaten/ crumpled/ forms used as origami (nothing to do with orgasm) would be liable for immediate rejection ^
This application form is subject to rigorous scrutiny by the management team. The final verdict may or may not match your choice of new ID. Once the new ID is formed the old IDs would be rendered defunct. No further communication in this regard would be entertained through m2m, f2f, m2f or f2m. By submitting this form you are swearing that all the information is correct to fullest of your knowledge & you are aware that such information may be used against you whenever deemed necessary.
Please copy paste your application form in the comment section.]
 
1.Present ID:………………………
(Please fill in your present ID, Don’t use BOLD CAPITAL. Use the UPPER CASE & lower case letters in exact position as the case may be. Please mention if you are a nUtcAsE)
 
2. Present Gender
 Male         Female      Androgynous    
 
2a. Member since-  DD MM YY
 
3. Reason behind formation of your present ID
[Tick the applicable options. Please don’t lie (means don’t lie down, tell the truth)]
 
 My ID was a morbid accident (describe the accident in separate sheet of paper)
 The keyboard, on which I typed my ID in, was defective
 A mouse walked over the keyboard while I was having a loo-break
 I can’t think beyond my name
 I stole it from somewhere
 It was my yahoo ID and I didn’t reinvent the wheel
 None of the above
 
State your reason here in case you choose ‘None of the above’………………………………………
 
4. Reason for changing you ID?
[Tick the applicable options. Please don’t tick any options if you don’t want to change your ID]
 
 I can’t write anything
 My ID sucks better than a vacuum cleaner
 My ID doesn’t represent my true persona
 I have become infamous so want a disguise
 I have become famous so want a disguise
 I only attract lecherous old M
 I only attract bored to death B
 I don’t attract anyone
 None of the above
State your reason here in case you choose ‘None of the above’………………………………………
 
5. How many duplicate IDs you have ?
 One      Two      Three      Four       Don’t remember
 
6. Do you remember password of all your duplicate IDs
 Yes        No       Did not check in last 3 months
 
7. Which ID do you use more frequently?
 Original         Duplicate1      Duplicate2      Duplicate3       None 

8. Write the new IDs you want in order of preference
ID-01-…………………………
.
ID-02-………………………….
ID-03-………………………….
MS suggestion-……………… 

9. Write the new gender you want
 Male         Female      Androgynous     
 
10. Which of the following achievements you target with your new ID?
 Change of sex
 Improve writing ability
 Create controversy
 Become popular
 Become dormant
 Become selective & choosy
 No idea
 None of the above
State your reason here in case you choose ‘None of the above’………………………………………
 
11. You are done. Please go to top & read the General Instructions once again. 
  
[^ Conditions apply. Those conditions are only known to management and would not be shared with you, haha !]

Am I dreaming?

I see the ID archer_com_2000 changed to madhuriesingh. Magic? or Pepper spray ka kamaal ?

Does this mean now in MS, any member's  ID can be changed at his/ her will , everything else remaining intact in the profile ?

So, given a chance to change, what new ID you fancy ?

Example- sudipto33 becomes jaipuri_quack

Let me admit and put in record that I actually requested a mouthpad for the topic in the title, through the indomitable mouthpadder chintu25. Unfortunately, like justice “Mouthpad delayed is mouthpad denied”.
 
Like war heroes and spiders, I did not give up. I waited. Then this diary thing happened. I realized I don’t need mouthpad anymore. Paul says, today the diary completes a months of its formation. I am taking this opportunity to post my favorite topic, with illustrations.
 
We all love giving advice. Let’s accept it. Like that Reliance advert, giving advice, wanted or unwanted, relevant or irrelevant doesn’t cost us anything. If the receiver of advice takes them seriously, s/he might get benefited but at his/ her own risk & cost!
 
I felt some norms should be placed for Giving general Advice in MS under various topics. So here goes...
 
Qualification to give General Advice- This is an absolutely unnecessary parameter. One doesn’t need to be a specialist, expert or knowledgeable to anything remotely related to the topic s/he is generally advising on. That means anyone can give General Advice on any goddamn thing on earth or beyond.
 
Example- General Advise on walking on the Moon
You can be much carefree while walking on the moon. The gravitational pull in moon is 6 times lesser than earth, which means a person will have 6 times more time to balance himself after he slips over a banana peel & falls in slow motion. Also, jumping over a poodle of water or dog shit will make him/ her fly 6 times more distance than earth. However it is advisable to carry a torch as there is no dark side of the moon, its all dark. 

Be Authoritative, but beat around the bush
Don’t give any direct tips and put lot of disclaimer after every advice. Remember Disclaimer saves from unexpected repercussions.
 
Example- General Advise on Cooking Shark Fin soup with Crabmeat
Be careful while detaching the shark fin from a live shark. It is advisable to wear protective gear and read necessary manuals before you collect  & prepare the shark fins. Alternatively you can collect shark fin from a dead shark, but make sure it’s not dead for more than 2-3 hours. Otherwise the soup taste would be adversely affected. You can’t have crabmeat unless you find a crab. Once the shark fin and crabmeat is available, you can start cooking the soup. 
  
Give those advice you seldom follow yourself
This is self-explanatory and I have enough examples in my own reviews & comments.
 
I can go on but I think I have made my point. I will now eagerly wait for sudipto33’s post on General Advice of taking General Advice.

Ps: I was remembering psyxx and wish he is back soon.

I was wondering whether i should post a detailed review about the 14th evening function . I mean is it worth writing about being a "Award giver" of a top Brand Award , seeing Cyrus Broacha live and meeting a few obscure MSians and Faisal in flesh & blood over dinner ?

Shall i post a detailed diary on what happened ?
Shall I post a detailed review on what is the future of MS?
Or Shall I just post the Photographs?
Would anyone be interested to know what we spoke about and how Doveye looks ?
*
*
*
I am wondering.......what to do....

[Review posted- http://www.mouthshut.com/revie
w/AgencyFaqs.com-139240-1.html<
br>
There are finer & further details, which can’t be discussed in the limited space of the review. If anyone has any specific questions I would be happy to answer them in the Review comment section.]

This new trend of gifting introduced in MS, is very interesting. Everyone is in gifting spree, sweetness & friendly warmth all around. Finally those dumb points are used up in some (non)sense, and boy! We have discovered we have more friends than points.
 
Given a chance, i wanted to gift all my friends something. But i don’t have enough points and am damn lazy to rate at random to gather points! And by the time the initial euphoria subsides, i think the "new member review" alerts are going to reduce drastically & most members’ existence will be point-less (pun intended).
 
In the last couple of days of gifting celebrations, my observations  -

Most of the present enthusiastic members are less than 2 years old & they have max 5, 6 or 7000 points. The "affordibility" being low everyone is sticking to gifts worth 50, 100 or 200 points. Most members who have accumulated large points have either left MS or do not know anyone well enough to gift! [Imagine return of those purist members to decipher the present MS interface & complications !]
 
No one has dared to gift a bikini, a hotel room for two or a kiss. It clearly shows that the members need to interact more "closely" and be more "liberal" henceforth. 
Finally he/ she who gets a 2seater Airplane as a gift is the King/ Queen of MS and undoubtedly, the member who gifts it, is the richest member- the Mukesh Ambani of MS who can spare 30,000 points (it will take roughly 5 years for me) in one single gift. 
 
I am planning to ladynap Lyla to inherit her 100,000+ points to have a jumpstart. If Lyla does'nt turn up, i have to look for someone closer to her in statistics...:p
 
I now wonder why people are hesitating to send me a kiss or hugs, knowing that I no longer smell like an ashtray ;-)
 
The erstwhile “product review site” has been overhauled to something apparently useless but funnier. Are the dead turning in their graves?

No one can rate this crap NU…..har har har har 
Cheers!