The clock hands have definitely started running faster because I can’t believe the fact that 2007 is almost over. As I write this post, I can’t help but retrospect about all my accomplishments and failures in 2007, and hope for a better year ahead. This post is not supposed to be a nostalgic trip down my personal life. Instead, I plan to hand out some “awards” and mention other important events that are related to my blog. Winners- Sorry, I have no flashy badges to hand out. Just a link. 🙂
Total Hits till date, while I was writing this post- 276, 280
Total Comments-2,940. I don’t really believe this number because at least 25% of these comments are my replies.
Top Post of 2007– None other than Deathly Hallows-Lots of Leaks Surface. This post received 7,978 hits in a single day, thanks to the Harry Potter mania.
Top Search Engine Term– No, it’s not Harry Potter or any other permutation combination. It’s “Taj Mahal”, “Jesus Statue in Brazil”, and other words related to my post The New Seven Wonders of the World.
Most Enthusiastic Commenter– No guesses here! I have only one contender and that is Ish. 🙂 In fact, it’s not just to do with my blog, Ish comments enthusiastically in the blogs of all his friends. He doesn’t look at the length of his comment and stops only after he’s done explaining his viewpoint. You need to read his comments to really know what I mean.
Top Blogging Topic– I have tried to blog about all sorts of things that interest me. But my categy widget tells me that there are the Top Three Categories-
- Movies (obviously)
- Technology
- J.K Rowling (Of course!)
Post with the most number of inflammatory comments- After I wrote a post bashing J.K Rowling and the new book (in a very bad,abusive language), people started bombarding my comments section with all kinds of ludicrous comments. I had to close down the comments section for sometime. I’m not very happy with this post because on second thoughts, I shouldn’t have written such a childish post. But then again, it’s my blog and I write whatever I feel like. 😛
Here’s an example-
I came across this page accidentally while searching for something on google. It was explicit very early on that there are several inconsistencies and innacuracies in what appears to be the pathetic rant of an illiterate moron.
The sole thing ‘hurting’ anyone’s ‘intelligence’ is the terrible phrasing and literary style of this utter piece of crap. To begin with, the phrase is ‘an insult to my intelligence’ but i shall refrain from being too pedantic and not comment further on your choice to use simpler, less grammatically correct, words.
Futhermore, you speak of various plot holes, yet your argument appears to lack substance as you fail to point out any of these and back up your point with any feasible evidence.
Ignoring your petty attempts at low rate sarcasm, i will move on. You criticise this woman’s writing, so go on, why don’t YOU write a novel then? Write a book, get it published and make it a multimillion pound bestseller. No, not some half-ass fan fiction which rips off her plots, your own. See if you get thousands of sleepy kids waiting in line for YOUR ‘epic’.
Your response to this will probably be ‘but i never said i was an author’. Well, neither did JK Rowling before THOUSANDS OF MILLIONS OF CHILDEREN, ADULTS AND TEENAGERS AROUND THE WORLD BOUGHT AND READ AND RAVED ABOUT HER PUBLISHED BOOK. But she tried, and clearly succeeded. Your opinion is irrelevant.
You know WHY it’s an epic? Of course you don’t, your IQ rivals that of an Amoeba (look it up). So i’ll explain. Because even though you didnt like it- you feel compelled to rant and talk about it. It’s THAT important to you. Surely if it’s worth you wasting your WISE words and evidently PRECIOUS time on (when you could be out getting a husband and starting your beautiful family) then it is an epic. Any publicity is good publicity. Secondly, have you heard of any other book which had an opening like this?! Probably not, most illiterates don’t know many book names. Alas, i pity you. But trust me, there hasn’t been. And if there has, not for a long long while. THIS MAKES IT AN EPIC.
Moron.
Top Blog for Entertainment– Not many of you know about this blog called Profusion, but I love reading it to get all kinds of gossip news.
Top Blog on India and other current events– Nita, just because of the simple reason that I haven’t come across any other blogger who writes about India with such passion.
Top blog for movies and other reviews– There is a tie here-
1. Prestidigitator– He writes wonderful movie and book reviews. So, if you’re an avid movie fan or a book reader, then you really need to check out his blog.
2. Baphomet– Bap has an amazing style of writing, which is evident from his recent series of blog fiction. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed.
3. Canadian Cinephile– A very professional blog with very good reviews on movies, both new and old.
Cooky Award of the Year– Goes to Nikhil, for keeping hundreds of hard disk under his bed, for getting bored because he took ONLY 18 credit hours in Fall, for signing up for 30 credit hours in Spring 08, and for having the guts to laugh outrightly at a Professor and then getting thrown out and for sending me a free copy of his upcoming novel.
Top blog on Technology– Engtech, because I love all the tips and tools that he dishes out. My all time favorite is the WordPresss Ninja Comment tool.
Worst Blogs of 2007: Tie again!
1. I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER? – – No seriously…what is so cute about those stupid cat pictures? Happy with the enormous success of this blawg, the authors have started another one on dogs- Loldogs ‘n’ Cute Puppy Pictures– which is definitely much better, because I love dogs.
2. Scobleizer– We need to stop labeling this guy as a Tech guru. The quality of his posts is declining exponentially. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of adding him as a friend on Facebook, and since that day, he hasn’t stopped irritating me with his stupid status and twitter updates.
Actually, there is another one that I came across recently- Dalit Nation- The Only Authentic Voice of the Dalits. The author takes pleasure in analyzing every main stream event (even the crowning of Aishwarya Rai as Miss World) from a caste-system-point-of-vew. He abuses anyone who doesn’t agree with his narrow view point. Such blogs that focus on the caste system need to be shut down.
Top Controversy– The Blogger OpenID thing, all thanks to some unexplained moves made by Blogger.
Best WordPress Theme for 2007: The Journalist Theme. I saw lots of blogs, including mine, implementing this neat, two column theme. Like the blog description mentions, it’s perfect for people who need lots of writing space.
Best Feature Introduced by WordPress in 2007: Integrated Blog Stats. I love the detailed, blog stats that are available on WordPress. The best thing is that it keeps getting better.
Top Blogging Tools for 2007– Windows Live Writer and everything Greasemonkey
Top Technological Innovation– Apple iPhone
Top Event– Everything Britney Spears and Rowling
Moment of the Year: Miss South Carolina 2007 talking absolute sh*t on National TV
Biggest Flop of the Year– Saawariya
Best TV Series– Heroes
Best Movie– Though not in 2007, I would give it to Tri Colors and The Double Life of Veronique by Kieslowski
Time and Again 
I had planned to write something like this.. hey ,did u read my mind or what ??? 😛
well, many things in this list are common for us..
no wonder we are capriconians.. 😛
harry potter is my favorite too..i too was wordpress top blogger for a night 😛
i had written a couple of posts on hacking for which i too received some harsh and funny comments..
I agree with u when u say ISH is the most enthusiastic commenter here . 🙂
And yeah i hate that i can has cheeseburger..
i wonder how it gets so many hits..dont the people have any useful work rather than seeing those cats in stupid poses …
by the way
HAPPY new year… 🙂
Ooooh…I’d like to thank the academy, my parents, friends and Ruhi! This means so much to me…sniff. 🙂
Man…it’s nice to see you actually coming out with such an exhaustive post like this. Plus I love the new look…mesa thinking of upgrading to CSS too now!
Nice post! Keep your eyes on my blog for a special Best Of 2007 entry, Cinephile style of course.
Seriously, though, it’s been a pleasure reading your blog and I look forward to an exciting 2008 of sharing.
Cheers,
Jordan
Happy New Year !!!!
I am too lazy to do some post like this lol….
going thru this one, looks like u had a good year, 2007 hmm wish u all the success in 2008
Aah Ruhi my love, you flatter me too much. You should not have revealed your adoration for me here, for all to see. But I accept it, graciously. I only hope I can live upto the high standards you hold me in.
LOL.
Seriously, thnx.
p.s. First thing I do after I start working – get myself custom CSS. No wait, thats after the iPhone and the BMW. (might take a while)
@ arvind:
why don’t you still go ahead and make such a post? It will be fun reading your take on it.
I saw your recent post about hacking- the funniest part is people asking you to hack their ex-gf’s account. LOL.
Happy New Year to you too 🙂
@prestidigitator
Don’t forget to carry the trophy of the sexy lady 😛 It took me quite some time to come up with this post. I have been working on it on and off. And you need to get the upgrade. It’s totally worth it 🙂 Comes to a little more than a dollar per month.
@Cinephile
It’s always a pleasure reading your posts and scrolling down for the rating. 🙂 I need to start commenting on your blog though. Hope to do that in 2008.
@Dinsan
Happy New Year to you too. You seem to be quite busy- haven’t seen any new post in your blog 🙂
@Bap
Yeah, you better live up to the high standards, else I’ll take back the trophy from you 😉 Btw, why BMW? I’m sick of all the Indians here- all of them either drive a Toyota or a BMW. 😦
OMG! Thank you so much for naming me the most enthusiastic commentator in the entire world (Okay, too grand ain’t it? Who cares anyway! :P)
And I’m sure you’ll have many more worst blogs by the end of next year. There’s already a LOLdogs something that’s catching up with Cheezburger and LolCats. And scobleizer, I stopped reading his stuff ages before. I thought GigaOM is a much better blog and there are many more people reviewing things. Engtech is great, so is Lorelle.
So you finally got the clickable header too, neat work. I really like this place now, go you. And keep writing and don’t even think about vanishing. And comeon, we know your IQ is more than an Amoeba. 😛
totally agree about ish, he’s the unstoppable commenter!
not that i’d ever dream of it!
this theme just reminds me of islands. like lost. rainy, breezy islands.
@Ish
I’m sure others have said the same thing about you 🙂 Yes, I did see Loldogs and have added the link to my list of Worst Blogs. GigaOM is definitely good. In fact, all the blogs in his network, including Web Worker Daily are quite nice. I mentioned Engtech because I find his tips to be really handy.
Finally got the header image click-able. Boy, it was a lot of work. I wonder what hosting your own site will be like! I don’t even know how to do that. Hopefully, now that I’ve gotten the upgrade, I won’t vanish. But I don’t know. My life’s supposed to get a little crazy in the first half of 2008. We’ll see!
@Sulz
Heh…his energy is contagious! I’m proud to say that I’ve known him since his first days of blogging. 😛 Thank you for your comment on my theme. I’ve tried to make it look different. It’s taken a lot of work. I just hope that I don’t get bored of it. Else I’ll have to work on another theme soon. I’m eagerly waiting for your new blog look for 2008.
You are calling I can has cheezburger as the worst blog of 2007 because you don’t like cats! well… how would you like it if i called your blog the worst one in 2007 because i hate people like you?
just remember.. there are many cat lovers out there (including me) who just love this blog and the super cute posts! if you don’t get it, don’t call it a bad blog! i hate dogs, but i won’t call Lol Dogs n Cute Puppy pictures a bad blog because i realize there are people out there who like dogs and puppies!
@ munim:
This is a very personal attack and it’s funny because you don’t know me and have commented on my blog for the first time. So, don’t do that again, else I’ll block you. There is a difference between saying that “you hate the blog author” or saying that “you hate the blog topic”. In my case, it’s the latter. But you proposed the former.
My opinions are my own and I do know that there are many people out there who love those pics…else that blog wouldn’t be getting so many hits. I, however, don’t like it and sincerely feel that it’s one of the worst out there.
Exactly… you don’t like it… so don’t call it a bad blog! there are tons of people out there who like it! If it was the worst one out there, how is it getting so many hits?
And I didn’t attack you.. I was just pointing out that I don’t necessarily hate the blog of a person who I don’t like…. so its not fair to call a blog bad just because you hate cats!
sorry for a double post:
I am one of your new readers and I really like your blog.. But I really don’t see the logic of calling the second most popular blog on the wordpress network as the worst blog. if it was such a bad blog, it wouldn’t be there. i think you phrased your comment wrongly, you should have wrote, it’s the blog YOU hate the most.
just a small point, but it makes a big difference.
@ munim:
Well your comment was quite ridiculous and this is exactly what you meant, if you scroll back and take a look.
Oh really? Why is it not fair? this is my blog and I’ll say whatever I like. There are many popular things out there. It’s not necessary for everybody to like them.
That is exactly what I’d implied in my post- that I don’t like it. I didn’t say “hate”, which is a very strong word. So, don’t misquote me. Besides, you shouldn’t be even talking about “phrasing comments”, when you got off on the wrong foot with me.
PS- If you still don’t understand my point, then I don’t see the point of launching a dialogue. I don’t need to explain my personal choice.
That is exactly what I’d implied in my post- that I don’t like it. I didn’t say “hate”, which is a very strong word. So, don’t misquote me.
nope.. you said its the worst blog of 2007.. thats what got me pissed off. You are free to express your opinions, if you like or don’t like something. But you can’t put it up as the worst blog of the year. that too a very popular blog.
Okay, there is no point in starting a flame war here.. Like I said, I just didn’t like that one single thing in your latest post, otherwise I really like your blog.
I am going to stop commenting now.. Peace.
Hi Ruhi
Nice blog you have there.
Just one question, how is Greasemonkey a blogging tool?
@ Jagtesh Chadha:
Greasemonkey is actually a Firefox add-on that can be used to improve your browsing experience. You can download lots of greasemonkey scripts and tweak the look/functionality of a lot of things. For example- Right now, I’m replying to your comment directly from the “Comments” tab, which is much faster. You can also add a script that will auto-fill these user ID forms, or totally change the way Google products look/function. If you’re interested, then you can read more about it by clicking on the link provided in my post or search for Greasemonkey in my blog.
I know what Greasemonkey is, but never knew it could aid blogging. Thanks for the tip!
And btw, you might wanna check out Flock if you’re into social-networking sites (Facebook, del.icio.us, Flickr, Twitter, et al).
@Jagtesh
Yes, I use Flock as my main browser (check out my button in the sidebar). I’ve even written a review on it. Not really into social networking, but I do like the media bar and the small blogging tool, apart from the fact that it’s built upon Mozilla Firefox and supports most of the Firefox add-ons.
Ruhi, I don’t like those damn cats either.
🙂
thanks a lot..
probably tommorrow i would do that post……. 🙂
@ Canadian Cinephile:
😛 Thank Gawd I’m not the only weirdo around here.
@Arvind
Great! Will keep an eye 🙂
Happy new year! 🙂
Oh and blogstats were implemented in 06.
@ Ashish:
To you too! 🙂 Yes, I know the blog stats were implemented in ’06- what I mean is, they’ve received an upgrade this year.
I believe hosting one’s own website would be easier than having a Custom CSS on a WordPress.com blog. That’s because when you’re hosting your blog, you have a total control over all the critical files and things become much easy. For example, if you were using WordPress.org, then you wouldn’t have needed a lot of work and CSS to get the header to be clickable. Here you’ve got just a CSS stylesheet in your hand so it tends to get tougher altering the entire look with it.
Wishing You & Your Family A Very Happy & Joyful New Year!!
Take care, mam :o)
Ravi (a reader of your blog)
@ ish:
That’s correct…but I’m not sure if I know how to manage my own website. 😦 Until I’m confident about that, I don’t want to get tied in paying monthly fees. I was thinking about it too…but on second thoughts, I just got the CSS upgrade, and I should make some use of it.
@Ravi:
Thank you Sir! 🙂 Happy New Year to you too.
Hey Ruhi, Happy New year!
By the way which theme is this and have you got CSS upgrade?
@Poonam
Happy New Year to you too 🙂 How was your Goa trip? I’m sure you had lots of fun!
Yes, I got the CSS upgrade. The skin is based on Baubles (link in the post), but I added my own images and stuff. 🙂