Neha Tiwari Pvt. Ltd.

What better way to start the new year than hopping on a plane to a beautiful country? On January 1st, I’ll be traveling 9,000 miles to India where I will be until the end of March.

This trip is primarily for personal reasons, but I also will be looking into some interesting networking opportunities as well. I am really happy that I get to play a significant role in a traditional Hindu wedding which will be unforgettable! In January, I will be mostly in Delhi and Raipur visiting family and shopping for the wedding. In February, we move to Rajasthan where the wedding will take place. Last time I was in India, I loved Rajasthan but got terribly ill so I couldn’t really do all that I wanted. This should be great chance to have a re-do. In March, I am planning to visit south India (a place I have never been) and also touring different places I have yet to experience.
(more…)

Last week, I had the chance to be shot by the infamous Lan and Vu Bui, photographers who have notoriously captured Veronica Belmont, Casey McKinnon, and Zadi Diaz.

The Bui’s were a lot of fun to work with and I appreciated their creativity and work ethic. You can check out their blog about our shoot here.

I think they turned out pretty well. Here are a couple that I liked:

(more…)

The convention of microblogging has been around for a couple of years and so far has sustained through our cutthroat economy. At its inception, many long-form bloggers and geeks alike were skeptical of the new way of online expression;who would want to blurt out short thoughts on the internet? It turns out millions of people worldwide were just waiting for the right opportunity.

With the recent fall of Pownce, it is interesting to note what makes a microblogging service sink or float. Twitter had its fair share of users, but that doesn’t mean that others will be deterred from making what may be the next big thing. For those developers wondering what a user wants and values in a microblogging platform, I have developed a short list of strategies that work with the general tech savvy consumer:

1. Avoid creating a caste system

I have never really understood why someone would want to pay to microblog, blog, social network, etc. The entire basis of the internet is being able to acquire resources for free–so why start charging? It also creates an apparent socioeconomic divide and a clique of people who have more access because they pay the arbitrary fee. It is understandable that developers want to profit off of their creation, but seek more creative avenues to do so.

2. Clean house

Microblogging services have become a huge target for marketers, spammers and the like. Protect your community by eradicating the abusers from the systems. Make your users watchdogs and enable them to play part in defending your microblogging society. Wikipedia has strictly stuck to this model and Twitter seems to have adopted similar protocol.
(more…)