I thought I’d write about some more issues in detail but I see no point. For the moment I am done with rediffiland rediffblogs et al. This is the first time I am quitting this place coz I’ve been forced to do so. Rediff left no choice. I created a new iLand but 75 per cent of my comments turn into arrays which is far more depressing.
I don;t want to lose touch with some wonderful writers I stumbled on iLand. I shall keep visiting you even if you do not drop by. However I wont post here till they sort this mess. This place is annoying like hell.
if anyone is still interested in my writings, you can find me on ..
http://terminal-moraine.blogspot.com
Take care and happy blogging.
#Almost a fortnight since we reluctantly embraced this 'upgraded' site and much to my anguish I remain 'Aria c'. Fine that rediff iland is rechristened rediff blogs but why was I bestowed a new 'surname' to commemorate this occasion? My everyday ritual is- I click users, click edit profile, change my name which is stored as 'Aria c' to 'Aria' (I wonder who did that ' coz it wasn't me!) and click 'save' I get the message 'user updated' but hey.. everything gets reverted! I remain 'Aria c' and it goes on .. I even tried changing 'c' into something better sounding but that too in vain.
I persisted that the problem shall get sorted on its own but after exhausting my precious patience a few days later, I decided to send a mail to the admin ' to his credit I got an instant response "Dear Aria, I don't understand your problem, can you please write in detail" so I elaborated the painful procedure in delightful detail and sent again. This time I got the reply "Dear Aria, we will get back to you shortly" and since then I wonder when this 'shortly' period shall end coz I haven't got any reply and I know that the method of changing 'user information' is something that God her/himself can not divine.
#The default 'appearance' was shoddy with the categories lined up at the top and content following after. I must say I hadn't seen such an "unique template" before so rediff certainly deserves accolades for this invention but then the old fashioned me preferred categories neatly lined up in the sidebar along with the 'post titles' 'archives' et al. In short I wanted a fresh appearance but when I threw a glance at the available templates I discerned that most of them are faulty. Half of them do not have guest books/friends tab and even if they do ..it's merely a showpiece coz clicking at them shows blank pages. Perhaps the 'vital info' is shielded from mortal eyes and is treasured in a secret chest. Whatever- I wished for a 'normal all revealing template' so I hunted carefully for one and activated it. It was OK.
#A day or two later I got restless so I clicked 'widgets'. I reasoned 'one at a time' so I selected 'calendar' and clicked add. It should be mentioned here that rediffblogs suffers from dyslexia. If you add/erase something it doesn't get the command instantly. It takes its own sweet time. So if you wish to make any change you got to select the option and go for a walk and then return to detect any progress. I didn't know it then so I waited painfully staring the screen and clicking here or there. After a while the calendar did appear.. but beside the guest-book! I concluded that perhaps this widget is for the rear side but a few minutes later it appeared in the front too. I had asked for one and got two ' not bad. I had two calendars ' one at the back and other in front. But guess what? The front calendar had consumed all other widgets - recent posts, categories, archives and everything else which existed in the sidebar. I now had a huge calendar and my posts, thats all.
Needless to say I was panicking. I deleted calendar and again waited patiently(I wasn't aware of the dyslexia, as yet) the calendar refused to go. In my eagerness I activated another 'appearance' which later seemed better than the previous one ' so all this exercise at least led to something. I dare not add any widget again.
#A few days later I wanted to post a blog. I always post with pictures and so I clicked the 'insert image' icon on the post blog window and selected a picture from my hard drive and clicked upload. The image icon which appeared on the window was blank. I tried many times. Eight out of ten times the images don't show up and when they do they appear in thumbnails. Then I detected that they ask for vital statistics like ' height, width and positions like ' top, bottom bah blah. I was never good in mathematics in school and as an adult my biology sucks likewise .. however I fiddled with the numbers and clicked something I know not what ..and then something huge and hazy appeared. When I strained my myopic eyes ' I had an eureka moment! it seemed like the picture I had chosen from my hard drive.. sadly it was repulsive enough for me to abandon the mission impossible. If any of you spammers(only spammers read what I write, i.e. if they read what we write) know the trick of posting images ' kindly enlighten me, I shall be forever grateful and shall visit your spam site in return.
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To be continued.
Rediff Blogs suxx ..
PS -
I hate it coz my handle appears as Aria c.. I can neither erase that c nor can I change it to any other alphabet. I have tried it many times. Why should I be forced to call myself ‘Aria c’ ?
I am scared of changing the template coz most other templates do not have Guest-books. I am scared that if I try changing the template I’ll lose my Guest Book which is one unique feature of iLand.
Many comments from my post ‘passage’ have disappeared.. some comments from earlier posts are also missing.
I get almost 20 spam comments everyday thats another headache but I guess we have to deal with it ..
I want to have an avatar picture..
when we post comment on rediffblogs our handle appears as plain text . .why isn’t the link displayed when we are logged in to comment?
first and foremost .. I want my handle back or at least should be given a chance to change that annoying ‘c’ from my second name .. it bugs me immensely.
and I know - no one is listening and I am talking to myself and spammers.. thats about it .. all the more reason to quit this place. I was never too fond of it to begin with.
The supreme solace is in suffering and the sole sapience is existence. When you forget to live and long to exist you've found your hell, which is more intoxicating than a potion of absinthe. Life keeps inventing something that would eventually lead to death, a long way to freedom. You do not fathom it in its arrogance and its pathos but you keep on trying. In this manner creation lures you again, with enrapturing hopes for the future which shall never come, and lulls you into dreams of more than mortal ecstasy, so while you listen to life's siren strain, you sigh ..
Nebulous time, moments between
sleeping and waking engulfed me,
for a split second I was born again
as a graceful gazelle, a humongous
leap could alter present time, and
another better season could follow,
then the second past and I was me,
trapped in life, a time which,
goes on and on
Reality this morning corresponded uncannily to a nighttime dream that I frequently had. The universe seemed contained of these moments in this room and the room was filled with music. I watched as my body began to quake and I saw my head snap back and my eyes roll in their sockets. My body froze and wriggled as if in a death-dance. The muffled half silence took on an underwater blur. Sounds lost their origin. It told me in some odd way that soon the pain would be cut in half. Why could I not make the first leap from my place out there and plunge deeper ..
when time appears to loose it's motion
when mind and body seem to drift apart
a rippled serenity, an eternal melody
free of our masquerade, our own lies,
reveling sublime joys which fears nothing
wishes naught, resents none, and
sinks deeper, into a delicious stupor
There was an elusive figure dancing just in and out of sight. Certainly it was there, enjoying every minute of distress. I savored it too, not only to discover the strength and weakness of my own being but because it tied me to the only feeling that remained in the small world. Escape was the only thought, I didn't want to be touched by any other notion. And then .. sunlight penetrated through the window .. clear warm sky crossed with broad swaths of illumination and a gibbous moon fading at the horizon, which gave enough luster for me to gradually gain a sense of the space I was in, although I lay just beyond tapestry safely silhouetted in the darkness, and life seemed miles away from there
