Orkut Censoring Anti-Muhammad, Anti-Denmark Forums

(Published on Blogger News)

After the explosion of rage over the cartoon issue, it seems that the Orkut team over at Google is having their hands full removing forums and profiles either desecrating the Prophet Muhammad or wishing death upon the entire population of Denmark.

Profiles and forums depicting Islam's prophet Muhammad as a pig, someone "in love" with pigs or as a pedophile have disappeared, only to sprout back up again within hours.

One profile entitled Hazrat Mohammad (similar to a previous profile with a nastier title) depicts Islam's prophet as not only gay, but as a converted Catholic.



A forum which portrays Islam's prophet as a pedophile (warning: explicit images) seems to be one of "those weeds" Google just can not delete as noted by the creator's public description.

Orkut can keep deleting this community and leaving the Death to Denmark communities...I don't give a ****. This community is like herpes. It will never go away.

But it is not just forums and profiles insulting Islam Orkut has to deal with. It seems as if they are in the process of weeding out communities dedicated to the destruction of Denmark and Norway as well.

Although most of the major ones have been eradicated, several still remain, although they are easy to spot with titles such as Death to Norway (and other variations).

Orkut, whose purpose is to network businesses, relationships and people with similar interests is quickly becoming filled with rhetoric from extremists on both sides of the issue. Ironically it seems that Google (at least on Orkut's forums) is quickly finding itself in a position that is their least favorite to play--Internet nanny.

Google Adds Profile Views To Orkut

(Published on Blogger News, Hat Tip: God Catch)

(Update: Also published on The Social Networking Weblog)

It looks as if Google has rolled out another feature for Orkut lovers everywhere. Entitled "profile views" this feature allows users to find out "who is watching them" and perhaps pay them a return visit.

Orkut gives a brief description on their News page.

"Your profile views," found on your homepage, shows you the number of times orkut members viewed your profile and lists 5 members who viewed it recently. This number does not increase when you view your own profile but counts every visit from other users, regardless of whether they viewed it before. [...]

The number of profile views and list of recent visitors is refreshed once a day.

Users can opt out of this feature, however they will be unable to know who viewed their profile, something many people (both good and bad) will probably want to know about.

Although this feature is new to Orkut citizens, Joga users (created by Nike and Google) have been familiar with this for quite awhile.

Google's latest feature may simply be a tool to encourage users to interact amongst each other. Then again it could be a way for them to analyze their user base for commercial gain.

Although Orkut has many more features to add (as well as problems to resolve such as the infamous "donut error"), Orkut is steadily attracting new users ranging from the religious to the business minded.

Google has not released any public numbers on how many users Orkut has, but some estimate that the figures are well above 16 million.

Yesudas, Love Him, Hate Him, Do You Know Him?

(Hat Tip: Insane Instincts)

Over on Harish's web journal, he points users towards two discussions in forums centered around one man, Yesudas.

Apparently Yesudas has some fans who are angry that someone has insulted their hero. It seems that Subhash is upset that a community was formed mocking Yesudas, so he decides to lash out in all caps.

I M REALLY SURPRISED TO SEE THAT THERE ARE FEW PEOPLE ON EARTH AS PETTY AND UNSANE AS THE MEMBERS OF THIS GROUP.

YOUR ARE CRITICISING A PERSON LIKE YESUDAS WHO HAS PROMOTED CARNATIC MUSIC AMONGST YOUNGSTERS, MASSES. [...]

IF U DONT LIKE HIS STYLE JUST STOP LISTENING TO IT...BUT U CANT MALIGN A PERSONS IMAGE IN THIS WAY.

MY DEAR FRIENDS EVEN I CAN START A GROUP AND SAY SOMETHING..BUT SOMETHING LIKE THIS..IS BEYOND IMAGINATION...I REQUEST U TO STOP THIS BLUNDER...

Ouch. I think my ears eyes are hurting. Anyways, Harish responds back by posting in enemy territory:

I am one of the contributors to the community "Yesudas's classical music hater". I am one of the people whom subhash terms insane. [...]

I have tremendous respect for KJY as an artiste, but I dislike his classical music. Thats all!. Its like a vegetarian disliking chicken. Does that mean the vegetarian means disrespect to a non-vegetarian.

I hope all of us music lovers respect the fact that constructive criticism will only help music improve and freedom of expression is one of the basic rights.

It seems that some users are preparing to wage "Orkut holy war" by marking the Yesudas hating forum as bogus. I have never heard about Yesudas until today, but attempting to silence dissent is a bit overboard.

Is it me or are there too many zealots today in cyberspace?

Orkut Toolbar (What Every User Needs)

While searching for a resolution regarding the Firefox Grease Monkey dilemma, I stumbled upon this Orkut Toolbar extension which I think every "Orkuteer" should have.

A little more about this useful tool from the site.

Orkut Toolbar helps you to format the text of your posts in the Orkut forums.

With Orkut Toolbar all you need is type your entire text without any formatting code and then select the desired parts of text and apply the format using the toolbar buttons. Much like you do in MS Word or any other text editor.

Created by Renato Rodrigues, this tool bar makes posting links and images (yes, I did say images!) within Orkut a snap.

I have already installed it, and it has made posting links and signatures much easier, instead of typing it all by hand or copying from a notepad on your computer.

For more information you can visit the Orkut Toolbar Forum or the Firefox forum.

Update: Listed feature underneath "Orkut User Tools" in the sidebar.

Law Verses Freedom (Are We Really Free?)

Over in the Philosophy forum, Claudia has started an interesting discussion regarding laws and whether or not they truly bring freedom.

Kumar thinks that the law "saves small fish from eating by
big fish in the sea of the humans," while 'Hi'...I'm Back suggests that laws "act like guidelines," a quote I've heard from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Yan, however has the best response:

I think laws are an attempt to organise society. [...] I personally believe that the only way laws can have the authority and means to be egalitarian, is through autonomy: self law.

That doesn't mean that each individual makes his/her own law, but that a whole society decides and votes for its laws. The first consequence is that everyone knows the law (or is supposed to). Well, that's how I see democratic law-making.

The sad (yet true) fact of reality is as Yan hinted at, people generally need some type of body to guarantee their individual freedoms. Ironically it seems that by creating such a body, you tend to give up freedoms in the process.

Note: ironically in Philosophy club (where I live) we were discussing a similar topic yesterday. Scary.

Terrorist Verses A Freedom Fighter

Over in the United Nations forum, Farukh starts an interesting topic by asking everyone what is the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter?

Here are some of the "civilized" responses below:

Rosney: A terrorist can be a freedom fighter but his means are wrong. A freedom fighter is not necessarily a terrorist, for example Martin Luther King Jr.

A terrorist doesn't deserve freedom, he deserves punishment.

Tawfigur (on page 3): To me, a FREEDOM FIGHTER is a person who fights for his nation or people (for liberation). fighting for religion can also be freedom fighting.

A terrorist is one who is fighting for a group who are derailed from the normal track just to establish some unjust demand. a terrorist doesnot have any religious or national backing. a terrorist or terrorist group might reflect a religion or natinality. but that is for exploiting. they do not have the backing of the general people.

Marcelo (on page 4): A freedom fighter is a warrior who's target the military opressor only, a terrorist is a criminal who target women and children.

Tawfigur probably has the best response out of the entire forum, but unfortunately some members within the discussion can not see the difference between the two. Sad.

Unfortunately on page 5, the discussion gets heated with Patriot and Ahad cussing each other out while presenting their viewpoint.

Single And Loving It!

For all of those people who joined Orkut for reasons other than dating, "I'm Single and I Love it!" is the forum for you! Started by Sada Sivam, this forum has almost 3,000 members!

And if you were wondering why these people would desire not to cuddle next to the (future) one that they love, Ain (along with others) has an explanation of why:

• Ain: I would say i dont have to be answerable to anyone. i am FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE and i love it.



• AsadBlinks: whatever u earn is yours n you spend it on your ownself...being married is like being handcuffed



• Qasim: freeedom! coming home late at night with no one to question u.. no nagging/complaining :D



• Arun: One song sums it all up...Bob Marley- No woman No cry!

Although dating is encouraged on Orkut, I have my own "concerns" about meeting the right person online (although some people have inside Orkut).

Anyways, I wonder if any of these users will still be single after say five years? Anyone want to take any wagers?

FireFox Update Bad

Unfortunately the latest update for Firefox has killed my ability to use Grease Monkey, a tool I use to create categories via Del.icio.us.

I have applied to beta test Labelr, which would enable categories for blogger, but until then I will continue publishing interesting things within Orkut, until God can bless me by having blogger install categories.

Selah!

Update: It looks like my cries for help were answered by the Almighty. Categories are up again!

Miss Orkut Has Arrived!

Awhile ago we mentioned that Yogesh had won the Mr. Orkut award for the month. Unfortunately no female victor was declared, leaving Yogesh to bask in the glory all by himself.

Today I'd like to announce that Khushi has been declared Miss Orkut for the month of April.

And it looks as if she has found "the one." Here is a little about her below:

We all want to fall in love. Why? Because that experience makes us feel completely alive. Where every sense is heightened, every emotion is magnified, our everyday reality is shattered and we are flying into the heavens.

It may only last a moment, an hour, an afternoon. But that doesn't diminich its value. Because we are left with memories that we treasure for the rest of our lives.

Khushi seems to be a Pakistani native who currently lives in France (if not, somebody correct me on this). She enjoys hanging out with friends, watching the show Friends, and painting friends as well.

Khushi seems to be a frequent user of Orkut, with 10,000 scraps and counting (sheesh!). Perhaps we can add to that by dropping by and saying hello.

Atheist Demanding Respect

Over in the Atheist vs Theist forum, Sharad demands equal respect for his beliefs.

Why cant Atheism be a religion, where our beliefs are in the inherent goodness of a human being.

Just being a Atheist does not mean we condone all forms of evil like murder or rape. [...]

My only point is Atheism is also rational and we are not as dumb as some theists perceive us to be.

My personal question to you is--can you respect Atheism?

Sharad goes on to explain how everyone views him as a sinner because he is an atheist (although most religions that acknowledge God's existence do call atheists sinners).

The conversation continues with Sharad requesting an explanation of evolution from a theist. As of this post, his request goes unchallenged.

Note: I guess I'll give it a shot. ;)

Cartman Alert!

Now almost everyone knows this guy "Eric Cartman" from the animated series South park. And also knows that he`s the single most meanest,Most naughty,troublemaking kid ever!!! So, what do you get when you give people "the opportunity to be Eric cartman" and "the right to free speech"? War? Ultimate chaos? no? then total anger and discontent maybe?

Yes, a little maybe, but definately big hearty laughs and a jolly good time...I know its hard to believe, but go over to The eric cartman community and see the thread What would eric cartman say about...People here all know that its all in fun and should not be taken seriously(there were a some people who got offended, so if you`re likely to be offended easily, dont go there, because after you`ve had your way with the person above you, its your turn...they`re gonna get ya!! THEY`RE GONNA GET YA!!!)

And I aint ending this post this time without giving the credit to the one who started the community Jon to the k and the person who started the topic, Marcelle(way to go)!!!

Originally posted by Yash Gupta.

Free Joga Invites!

Update: It seems they have opened up Joga for the masses. Mondine in the Google Community informed me of the update. Thanks!

__________________________________

Some of you may have heard about this new Google-Nike joint venture--and then again some of you may have not.

For those of you who are curious Joga.com is a community base on one thing--football (or soccer if you live in the US).

Here's a description below:

Welcome to Joga - the community for soccer players dedicated to keeping the game beautiful.

Joga is a place to meet other soccer players, share your own soccer experiences and enjoy photos and videos from around the world.

Join us and help remind the world how the game was meant to be played.

Play beautiful

In my honest opinion Joga is everything Orkut should be and makes its older sibling look...ugly. With videos, authentic celebrity profiles and even a mini blog tool (did I mention the ability to change your background?) Joga will become the dominate forum of choice--at least for soccer fans.

If anyone is looking for free Joga invites (yes free...and you don't have to be a member of Orkut in order to join it, although others are advertising) all you have to do is post your request in the Joga Invite Pool and one will be sent ASAP!

See you there! And play beautifully!

Hotmail Hacker Stealing Passwords?

The irony of this happening in the Hack Hotmail community forces me to have little sympathy for the victims.

Although I do not use Hot Mail anymore, apparently Fariiisssshhhh is attempting to steal people's passwords through social engineering.

Of course this only works if someone wants to hack another hotmail account using Fariiisssshhhh's advice.

Moral of the story: you reap what you sow.

A Program For Scrap-a-holics

Updated: See bottom of the post for details.

Well I'm back from a weekend visit with family and I check my Gmail account and lo and behold, what do I get--a message from Alexandre Pires pointing me towards a program he has developed for Orkut Scrap-a-holics.

With FT Scrap Verify you send scraps for all your friends in Orkut and all your communities. The program also warning you when you receive new scraps.

I downloaded the program and true to description it does allow you to scrap all of your friends (in my case 300 plus) with whatever message that you have in mind.

Although such a program would allow you to communicate with the masses, a similar one was developed before which was abused by spammers (evil beings who lurk in cyberspace).

I wonder if Alexandre could develop RSS feeds for community forums? Hmm...

Note: Alexandre developed the previous program, Flood Everything 1.2 (as noted here) before being blocked by Google.

Update: Listed feature underneath "Orkut User Tools" in the sidebar.

Update 2: Added photo. Also a new version of FTP has come out and I love the community alert feature! Highly recommended for heavy users of Orkut as you can not only "mass scrap" your friends, but be updated on when new conversations hit your favorite forums.

South Park Trivia

How many "I love something" communities have you joined? Do you feel the communities are good? Are you really enjoying there?

There`s this community south park fanatics in orkut, in which ali Had started a game Trivia Back in june 2005. And theres no stopping for the fans of this crazy cartoon show aired on comedy central. The members take turns answering the previous question and asking their own. These are the die hard fans of south park who`ll watch every episode of south park again if they have to to answer the question. But that`s not required because they already know whatever happens in each episode from a-z/beginning to end.

This is so unlike any other community where the wisest topic people could come up with was whats your favourite character. Sure, there are such topics in this community too, but people are just crazy about the trivia topic. Its here that they get to show other people how well they know their favourite show. So if you like this show, this is one topic you`ll enjoy reading....
At the time of writing this post the topic seems to be accumulating some jibberish with ali speculating that the next episodes wont be aired....But I`m just gonna clear that up. get ready for a new question guys-What does the licence plate of kyle`s dad`s hybrid car say?

Originally posted by Yash Gupta.

New Team Member Introduction

I am Yash Gupta. I`m 18 years old and you can expect posts about all kinds of fun things there are to do on orkut. These would include cartoons like south park, Simpsons, Family guy, Drawn together..etc. Maybe all the cartoons there are.
Well, there`s actually nothing else to be written as into, you guys can go see the details on my orkut profile page if you like. So, without making you guys wait for long, I`ll post asap but right after I get the go-ahead from Darnell.

Originally posted by Yash Gupta.

Islamic Banking Anyone?

This forum could prove useful--especially since I have some questions for some of my "Middle Eastern friends" who happen to follow Shariah law when it comes to investing, banking, etc.

More from the Islamic Banking and Finance forum:

Islamic Banking and Finance has emerged in recent decades as one of the most important trends in the financial world. There has always been a demand among Muslims for financial products and services that conform to the Shariah (Islamic law).

With the development of viable Islamic alternatives to conventional finance, Muslims are beginning to find Shariah compliant solutions to meet their financial needs.

The forum is moderated which is a good sign as trolls tend to avoid posting stupid questions that often cause arguments. Since I am in the financial services industry, perhaps they could answer some of my questions as Muslims tend to invest differently than other religious/ethnic groups.

The True Face Of Evil

Babrus, over in the Drawing forum is looking for suggestions on ways for him to improve his images. (which you can see here and here).

The first one, entitled "The True Face of Evil" is okay, although the second one (Sarah the young...) is better in my opinion.

Note: Unrelated, but if you want to check out some cool images online, Vision Afar is where it's at. This image reminds me of a Russian friend of mine.

World Peace, Is It Possible?

Within the World Peace forum, Vimal asks everyone what exactly is the first step towards world peace.

Fili proposes that we "stop religions from taking control" while Meghana counters with "stop taking control of religion."

Beyond the fistyness, Angel sums it up the best by saying:

Peace is about community -- about working together, encouraging each other, helping each other to live better, more fulfilling lives. Most of all, peace is about respect -- respect for ourselves, each other, and the planet we share.

Vimal pretty much agrees with the statement (as do I) although convincing radicals of this idea (cough, cough Osama) may take some time--if we have not killed them yet.

Can I Get A Fair Trade?

This forum looks fairly interesting, and I love the overall concept of it. Check out their description:

Put your money where your morals are.

Fair Trade is a growing, international movement which ensures that producers in poor countries get a fair deal. This means a fair price for their goods, [...] long-term contracts which provide real security; and for many, support to gain the knowledge and skills that they need to develop their businesses and increase sales.

Within this forum their seem to be at least a couple of good discussion going with Sandra posting about the consequences of the Rainforest Alliance labeling food while Mats is looking for some fair trade clothing producers.

Congratulations Yogesh!

This month's winner of the Miss and Mr. Orkut competition is Yogesh Joshi!

Here is a short description of Yogesh on his about page:

I am a cheerful and a jolly person.I am quite humorous and i bet you can't hold your laugh when i am there.I am a dude in real sense and you will accept that when we meet!!

Congrats Yogesh! And if you feel robbed of the privilege of being on the front page, simply submit yourself within the forum.

Note: Apparently their was no female winner this month. If you are upset about this, take it up with the owner Rizwan (no scrap hating here).

Life And Coding...

For those who kept sending me emails or scraping me, I have added an extra link just in case you are unable to post a comment on the weblog. (either way is fine with me, although the "hack" was not letting some comments go through)

As far as the extra contributors go, Fayyaz from Pakistan has recently joined the fun, (check out his weblog) and others will be joining in as soon as we can resolve the blogger errors (Grrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!).

I am still looking for extra contributors (especially some women) and if you are from a third world country (i.e. Iran) I will allow anonymous posting as your President is kinda crazy. Selah!

Orkut's Cooler Brother (Joga)

Although I have been away for a while (work, family, life, etc.) I was fortunate enough to receive an invite into an Orkut style forum totally dedicated towards football/soccer.

Here is more from the Google Blog:

What do you get when Google and Nike get together and brainstorm? A sneaker-shaped server? A great TV ad for web search? No, you get Joga.com, an online football community that combines Google technology with Nike's unique sports content and access to players. Joga brings people all over the world together to celebrate their shared passion for the game of football (for you Americans out there, by "football" I mean "soccer").

Unfortunately Joga puts Orkut to shame, as it has several features that Orkut lacks such as the ability to change your background, built in weblog (very basic compared to Blogger.com) and last but not least no mention of the donut error of death.

One neat thing about it is the ability to view your Orkut forums through Joga.

For those of you unfortunate enough to be on the outside, Prashanth has screen shots...and possibly an invite as well (something I'll add to this weblog later on).