Dreamy World

Dealing with Content Theft (Part 2)

Narayanan Aier — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:16:00 +0000

Two days back I published a post detailing my first experience of dealing with content theft and plagiarism. That post got a comment from an expert in this field: Jonathan Bailey from Plagiarism Today. Since I couldn’t make much headway after reading his comment I decided to contact him by email. Here I will reproduce parts of the reply that he sent to me. I hope all those of you who are victims of content theft and plagiarism find this information useful.

In his reply Jonathan first explained what DMCA stands for:

DMCA stands for Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It is a U.S. (act) that, long story short, requires hosts to remove infringing content from their servers when they are properly notified. Though it is a U.S. law, anyone can use it, regardless of nationality, so long as the site is hosted within the U.S

Most other countries have similar laws including the whole of the EU, Australia and others.

Having understood that, I read through two chapters on his website. The information on his website will give you a good run down on how to look for the host and how to contact the host. These two chapters are available here:

I will make a few points here. Firstly, Jonathan has done a great job with his blog. You can find almost anything related to content theft, copyrights and plagiarism. He even has stock DMCA notices in his Stock Letters section. All you have to do is download the form, fill in your desired details and send the notice to the concerned host. Makes our job fast and a bit easy! Thank you Jonathan for all the help and keep up the good work!

After having gone through his website the first thing I did was get a Creative Commons license. It is a good idea to declare your copyright policies explicitly on your website. You can get your Creative Commons license here. But be sure to read through the documentation and explanation of clauses before you get a license for your work.

Have you been a victim of content theft, copyright infringement or plagiarism? How did you deal with it? Please share your comments and experiences here.

Cartoonize Your Photos

Narayanan Aier — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:26:22 +0000

Cartoonize your photos! That’s what befunky.com does to your photos. It gives your photos cartoon-like effects. All this with a few simple steps:

Upload your photo
If you want to then crop or rotate your photo
Add some color to it or some plain sketches
Add some warps or remove warps
Special effects! Here you can add almost anything to your photos: lips, eyes, hair, hats, eye wear and a whole lot of other cool stuff.

Look what I did to my photos:

: Being Funky!

Yeah I know the strip at the bottom of the photos (with the logo and the “created at www.befunky.com” text) can be annoying. But if you decide to overlook it (or crop that part using an image editor, whatever suites you) this website is actually a pretty good tool.

After you are done with editing your picture, you can either save it on your desktop, post it on your social network (befunky.com supports over 20 of these) or send it as an email attachment to any of your contacts. Alternatively you can save it to your gallery (requires an account with befunky.com). Now the best part. Clicking on “Print Product” takes you to Zazzle.com where you can have these photos printed on T-Shirts, postage stamps, mugs, postcards, greeting cards, key chains, stickers and magnets! For a fee of course.

Have you used befunky.com? What did you think about it? Do you know any other similar photo editing tools? Have your say here.

Dealing with Content Theft

Narayanan Aier — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:35:00 +0000

Recently I happened to stumble upon another blog here at wordpress.com with a post “very similar” to one of my blog posts. At least that’s what I thought in the beginning. On continuing to read the post, I realized that this person’s post is not similar to mine…It is an exact copy! I have had cases in the past where other bloggers quote some part of my blog posts. Even then they always used to provide some acknowledgement and a trackback. This is the first case where I have been a victim of outright plagiarism. My first reaction was of utter shock. I didn’t think that someone would do this. How naïve was I!

On researching further, I realized that content thefts are rampant especially when it comes to blogs. Having discovered that I’m not alone in this boat, I set forth to tackle this issue. I tried contacting the blog author by leaving a comment on his/her blog. I am guessing this person moderates comments so my comment never showed up on his/her blog post. But I am sure my message must have gone through. I waited for a few weeks for a reply. What was I thinking? Obviously I didn’t get a reply.

Next step I contacted the guys at WordPress directly. Within an hour of reporting this case, I got a reply:

Hi,
Thanks for the report. That blog has been flagged and frozen accordingly. The author will be forced to get in contact with us.

Best,
Anthony
Automattic | WordPress.com

It feels great to know that WordPress is quite serious about dealing with this issue. If you are a blogger and would like to know if your blog content has been stolen or if you are a victim like me then follow these steps:

Use any online tool for detecting copies of your blog content. I used Copyscape: www.copyscape.com. It’s neat and simple. Or as Mark here suggests you might also try Copy Alerts: www.copyalerts.com.
If you find that your blog has been copied then the first conventional thing would be to contact the blog author. If the author’s email address is not mentioned in the blog then leave a comment in his/her blog. Now wait for a reply.
If the author refuses to acknowledge your original content or doesn’t even reply, then get in touch with the blog hosting authorities like WordPress.com or Blogger. If wordpress.com is the host, then you can report the blog as spam or “splog” by clicking on the “Report as Spam” link on your admin bar (Blog Info -> Report as Spam). Note that you need to be signed into your wordpress.com account to do this.

Have you been a victim of content theft? How did you tackle it? Share your experiences and solutions here. Your inputs might help other fellow bloggers.

Where there is a will…

Narayanan Aier — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:39:48 +0000

I have been going through a pretty hectic and somewhat exhaustive phase in my life- the reason why I haven’t been able to post a lot for nearly two months. But during these frenzied weeks, I did take out time to read a book- The Alchemist. And I’m really glad I did that. Through his book, Paulo Coelho provided me hope.

Some rationalists might call his ideas and views overly optimistic. I disagree. He’s expressed the right amount of optimism. Having said that, what is the right amount of optimism? To pick yourself up after being badly disappointed again and again while thinking that all these obstacles are personal tests on the way to achieving your dream, your destiny- that is the right amount of optimism. It is easy to give up and go into a shell when you are down and out. The trick is to see the silver lining and move forward.

I will take the risk of quoting a clichéd idiom: “Where there is a will, there is a way”. Perfect for this post, isn’t it? (Actually “Try and try will you succeed” also fits the bill).

Do you feel differently about this book? Have you read any other inspiring books? Please share your comments and experiences here.

Movie Review: Jaane Tu…ya jaane na

Narayanan Aier — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:09:25 +0000

When the movie started I was half expecting a regular Bollywood boy-girl flick. You know, the one where the boy and girl are best friends and don’t realise that they are in love with each other until the end of the movie. But somehow, Abbas Tyrewala manages to turn this “frequently over told” story into a “light hearted, feel good” movie.

No spoilers in this review. So read on!

Tyrewala has done a fantastic job with Jaane Tu, both with respect to writing as well as directing. He has taken a seemingly normal story and turned it into a very watchable and entertaining movie by adding his own flavors. This movie has something in it that most modern movies don’t: “Reality”. The gang of college friends, the nick names, the middle class, the rich, the relationships between husbands and wives…You instantly start relating to the movie’s characters.

The entire cast has performed extremely well. Imran Khan (Rats) was fantastic. Genelia D’Souza (Meow) was equally good. I would like to see how these two fare in other movie genres. Karan Makhija (Rotlu), Nirav Mehta (Jiggy), Alishka Varde (Bombs) and Sugandha Garg (Shaleen) are exceptional. Pratik Babbar is impressive. Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseeruddin Shah are hilarious. So are Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan. Paresh Rawal is at his comic best. Renuka Kunzru (Mala), Manjari Phadnis (Meghna) and Ayaz Khan (Sushant) have also done well.

A huge cast, isn’t it? That’s what surprised me. Since this was Aamir Khan’s movie I expected Imran Khan to hog all the limelight. Completely wrong! On the contrary each and everyone of the above mentioned actors have more or less of an equal role to play. Probably the reason why the movie worked so well at the box office.

I must mention A.R. Rahman is at his best. Jaane Tu’s music is still ruling the charts and radio waves.

On a scale of 1-5, I will give this movie 4.

Have you seen this movie? What did you think about it? Please share your comments here.

Movie Review: The Happening

Narayanan Aier — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:39:03 +0000

When I entered the movie hall yesterday I was half expecting a brilliant movie like Sixth Sense or Signs. But as the movie progressed I realized this movie falls into Shyamalan’s other basket of “not so brilliant” movies (remember The village and Lady in the water?).

The movie revolves around a natural happening in the northeastern states of the US. It involves some mysterious neurotoxin released by plants. This causes the human mechanism of protecting themselves from self inflicted injuries to fail. This means people end up killing themselves. Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife (Zooey Deschanel) and a friend’s daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez) are trying to escape this event. Towards the end when they realize that they cannot make it alive, Elliot and his wife decide that they want to die together. They come out into the open expecting to kill themselves, but by then the “happening” had already passed. Why? No one knows. And the movie doesn’t bother to explain. A concrete explanation of the “happening” would have helped. Instead, the director relies on modern day news: speculation.

Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel have performed well. Ashlyn Sanchez’s acting skills are worthy of note. The storyline was good, but the movie lost its plot towards the end.

In short, The Happening= Not happening. On a scale of 5, I would give it 2.5.

Have you seen this movie? What did you think about it? Leave your comments here.

Movie Review: Tashan

Narayanan Aier — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:44:58 +0000

What follows is not much of a review than a disparagement of this movie.

This is probably by far the worst movie that I have seen in recent history. Yasraj films have lost it. They have lost the ability to differentiate between good directors and absolutely horrendous directors. As my friend puts it rightly in her blog the director Vijay Krishna Acharya should stick to his vocation of dialogue writing. The film has got nothing going for it. The script is useless, the story line is nonsensical, the costumes are shocking, the dance sequences are atrocious and the cinematography was ghastly. No kidding! Some of the camera angles actually gave me a headache.

Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar were good in the execution of their roles. Although their killing of the English language is entertaining initially, it starts to get to you later on. Saif Ali Khan doesn’t have much to do. And Kareena Kapoor is average. But the most scandalous part of the movie was left for the last twenty minutes action sequence. The director’s brain must have gone for a walk when these stunts were being played out.

The director surely thinks we Indians are dimwits. Why do I say that? Well, there are so many scenes in the movie where the change of sets and locations is totally preposterous. In one scene Kareena, Akshay and Saif are in Haridwar and in the next scene they are driving down a narrow road in Greece! (with Kareena in the boot!) Let’s face it, who is the director kidding? There are no rivers near Haridwar that have crystal clear blue water!

The only saving grace for the movie is Vishal-Shekar’s music. They have done a tremendous job.

If Yashraj keeps throwing such garbage at us, very soon they might loose their stature as the production powerhouse. They might do well by being selective about the script and the director.

I would give this movie a 0.5 on 5. Just a note: That’s the lowest rating a movie has ever got on my blog.

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Can’t believe what you just read? I asked one of my friends who was online what he thought of this movie review. And this was his response (He has seen the movie too):

Me: do i need to berate it more?

M.J: yes i think lil more

Me: or shud i tone it down a bit?

M.J: .5 on 5 is generous

Me: lols…no dude…in future i mite see a worse movie…then i need to have some room for that

M.J: no remote possibility

Me: lols

M.J: nothing can be worse than this…are these stars carzy…how do they sign films like this?

England’s response to the IPL?

Narayanan Aier — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:52:57 +0000

The BBC reported today that the ECB might be coming up with a response to the IPL. First off, a response to the IPL? That doesn’t even make any sense. IPL is a local league in India that draws the attention of a lot of international players because of the big bucks. Since, it is a local league, where does competing with the IPL come into the picture? Do soccer leagues compete with each other to gain popularity or to make quick bucks? I have never heard of the English Premiere League and the Spanish League battling it out with each other. So I am guessing what the ECB means is that they want a share of the profit from the format of the game that was invented by them.

Part of the reason behind organizing their own T20 league could be the fact that English players have been barred from playing in the IPL till 2010. Well if you want your players to be monetarily satisfied why not change the contract and allow them to play in the IPL from the next season? If you read the BBC article, you will notice that the impetus to this league has been given in part by a Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford. Sir Stanford has already organized two editions of a T20 tournament in the West Indies and they have been pretty successful. But at the end of the day, he is a businessman who would like to cash in on the popularity of T20. Hence, his aggressive pitch for a T20 league in England. There are three particular flaws in this proposal. Firstly, ECB might not be able to splash around as much cash as the IPL does. Secondly, I don’t see how they can create a window for this new league in the busy international schedule. Thirdly - and this could be the most important factor- almost all of the international stars are contracted with their IPL teams for three years. That means their current contract ends in 2011. So these players might not be available for the English league for the next three years.

I am not opposing the establishment of a league in England. Just don’t project it as a “response” to the IPL. In fact the ECB and the BCCI might benefit from collaborating with the each other. How? Well, the ECB could have an arrangement with the IPL teams where in players could be transferred from the IPL teams to the English league teams. Yeah, like soccer! Or work with the ICC and the BCCI to create dedicated windows for both the leagues in the international cricket calender.

Lastly, the BBC article quotes Sir Stanford as saying: “With the IPL, when the sizzle and sparkle has gone away, what’s left?” I don’t think he has judged the magnitude of the IPL correctly. With industry heavyweights investing heavily in their teams, Sir Stanford should realize that these team owners will leave no stone unturned to make huge profits. And how do they make profits? By keeping the enthusiasm alive and kicking. And in a cricket crazy nation like India, it should not be too difficult to do that.

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To read the BBC News article cited in this blog post click here.

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Movie Review: U Me Aur Hum

Narayanan Aier — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:54:08 +0000

If there is any actor who can probably match Aamir Khan with his directorial skills, it has got to be Ajay Devgan. He has done a fantastic job with U Me Aur Hum.

The way he has gone about directing and acting is amazing.

That’s what Kajol said in an interview few months back. And every word of that is true. When I read that interview, I felt that she is just promoting her film. How wrong I was!

This movie describes a journey of life between two individuals deeply in love with each other. Piya (Kajol) is a waitress in a cruise liner when she is wooed by Ajay (Ajay Devgan) who is holidaying in the cruise along with his group of friends. Eventually they get married. Piya is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the same time when the doctors realize that she is pregnant. What follows is a really moving and open portrayal of Piya and Ajay’s sufferings and how they make it through.

Kajol has probably given her best performance till date. When she gets the memory loss attacks, a chill runs down your spine. You hope that no one ever suffers from this. That’s how well she’s essayed the role. Ajay Devgan is in his usual best. But where he scores is his direction. Although the plot might be similar to the 2004 movie ‘The Notebook’ (directed by Nick Cassavetes), Devgan has made it more realistic by adding his flavor of sensibility (Yes, for a change a Hollywood movie was more filmy!). No unnecessary twists and no unnecessary dance and song sequences. A welcome relief from the string of average films that the Mumbai film industry has been throwing at as for the past few months.

The rest of the cast which includes prominent actors like Sachin Khedekar, Sumeet Raghvan, Divya Dutta, Karan Khanna and Isha Shervani have done exceptionally well. The music by Vishal Bharadwaj blends beautifully into the movie.

On a scale of 1 to 5 I would give it 4.5. In short, do go and watch the movie.