Good morning dear readers.

Most of you might already have heard about twitter but you are still hesitating to jump into the world of tweets and tweeps. To help you build your network, this post might help you to find Mauritian tweeps and leave your username so that others can follow you.

Without any doubt, the #awesome #mauritian #blogger @yashvin should be the first one in your list, isn’t it?

While I agree that creating or mentioning a list might be the simplest, I will use a totally different approach to give the possibility to Mauritian tweeps to be different.

Anyone who wants to get followers are the most welcomed to drop down a few words along with their twitter username.

Abuse of Twitter might be bad for health, take care!

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NO PRICE CHANGE, again!

Wow! Been long time since I last posted on the price of petrol! That was back in March 2011! In fact, the Petroleum Pricing Committee previously met on the 27 December 2011 but since there wasn’t any price change (and I was a bit busy), so I did not really care to write about that.

For those who want a graphical view :

Bon weekend!

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Yes. That happened right in Mauritius!

To tell you the truth, I was going to publish another article but when I came across this local news, I immediately started to write this text.

The court has infringed a fine of Rs190,000 to a young 21yrs old university guy for offenses made towards a teenage girl some 3 years ago. At that time, the girl, aged 16years old and the 19yrs guy got to know each other on the net. However, she cut off all contact when she noticed that his talks were becoming indecent. The worst was still to come. He then faked her profile/display picture and harassed both the girl and even her brother by sending them text messages.

After 3 years, the verdict was finally pronounced. The magistrate charged him of several offenses including “unautho­rised modification of computer material”, “unauthorised access to computer data”, “using an information and com­munication service for the purpose of causing annoyance”. She also said that she’s sending a strong signal through this huge fine amount.

However, the questions that I am asking myself right now :

• At the end of the day, who is really paying for his deeds??
  Most probably his parents, or perhaps himself but that’s little probability given that he’s only a student.
• Isn’t some (REAL!!!) social work/community service more appropriate as punishment to the guy and to serve as a bad example for others to follow?

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Hello folks!

1st February 2012! Time flies so quickly. This month will be even shorter with only 29days and 3 public holidays! Youpiiiii!

After my article on the Kharmas, you must have been surprised to see this blog post here, isn’t it? Well, you might not believe it, but “Kharmas” is a widely searched keyword on the net and generate much traffic, hence the decision to write again on this topic.

Many have been looking for the corresponding dates for the year 2012, which are as follows :

• 16 December 2011 -> 14 January 2012
• 14 March 2012 -> 13 April 2012
• 15 December 2012 -> 14 January 2013

Remember, DO NOT start anything new in your life or make the first step during this same period. It is said to be inauspicious.

btw, 16000 comments already! Thank you all for being here! Cheers!

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School Certificate students having brilliantly passed in all of the papers have most probably no reason to worry. But for those who performed less well, many among them will need to take a critical decision :

• Repeat the whole year or
• move forward with the existing results although not satisfactory or
• perhaps move to the next class level but sit for the GCE exams or even the same one again.

The government’s decision…

Earlier today, I heard that as from this year, any student with only 3 credits will be allowed to pursue to the next class, that is, A-Level. Previously, students needed at least 5 credits to be able to do so.

As far as I know, a big majority of courses and vacancies (including governmental ones) require at least 5 credits at O-level. I fail to understand why the government is so keen on producing so many school leavers at the expense of a good quality/standard of education. In this same vision, the same government is also aiming at producing at least one graduate per household.

To do what? Sit unemployed at home because of

• the limited and saturated job market and
• the mediocre results?

IMHO, sit for the papers again and secure your future. If you are not the bookish and nerd type, invest into a proper training/course and be among the best in what you are good at!

Remember, life is like a race! If you don’t run fast you will be a broken andaa (egg)!

Quote from the bollywood movie, 3 Idiots. 

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A shot taken yesterday near Immigration Square, Port Louis.

If you have not understood the small joke, click on image to enlarge and read the text on the windshield as well as have a look at the tyre.

Enjoy weekend! I gonna have a blast, hopefully!

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Ce n’est pas le titre d’une nouvelle série télévisée mais plutôt le titre du reportage que la chaine M6 a réalisé sur notre ile.

N’ayant pas pu le voir personnellement (pas encore du moins), je compte sur ceux qui ont pu le visionner pour partager leurs points de vue sur cette reportage. Les opinions divergent. Alors que certains affirment que les journalistes étaient impartiales, d’autres affirment le contraire. La question que beaucoup se pose : Est-ce-que cette nouvelle vidéo va avoir un effet néfaste pour le tourisme sur l’ile?

Dernier point avant de vous laisser la parole : Un des personnages (Pablo Escobar) a été tabassé dans la soirée de lundi après la diffusion sur M6. Ce dernier est actuellement aux soins intensifs.

La vidéo est dispo sur Youtube. A vous!

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The objective of this post is to briefly explain the blackout of the web on the 18th January 2012 and also, why everyone kept talking about SOPA and PIPA. If you feel that you already know what we are talking about, you should try to read some other articles as what will follow here will be pretty straight forward, just for the sake of explaining what is happening on the web.

What happened exactly?

There was a huge protest going on during the last days.  Everything was happening online, right on the web. Different web sites, organisations as well as individuals (like you and me) were publicly showing that they were against SOPA. Web sites talked heavily about this SOPA/PIPA for days and on the 18th January, many among them have put a halt to their activities by just displaying a Black page with some text, explaining their position on this matter.

What is SOPA/PIPA?

SOPA : Stop Online Piracy Act

PIPA : Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT IP Act)

Both of them are aimed at stopping online piracy of copyrighted items, though they are a bit different but we will not go into deeper details. However, the way that SOPA/PIPA handle copyright issues is highly unacceptable and controversial.

If SOPA becomes a reality, it will give the power to the US government to block the access to whole web sites that are accused to violate this bill with just a court order. SOPA will also allow internet service providers to monitor your traffic usage and block any web sites suspected of copyright infringement.

For example, if YOU, as a user, upload a video featuring a copyrighted music to youtube, the US government can ban the entire YouTube and no Americans will be able to view any youtube page. Copyright owners can then sue Youtube for hosting such copyrighted materials.

In short, the accused web site will just be killed.

Who are supporting SOPA?

Basically all web sites/organisations who create, produce and commercialise copyrighted materials, in the form of movie, music, photography, designs etc.

Right at the start, godaddy.com showed its interest in the SOPA. A huge boycott campaign was immediately launched and web site owners started to move their web sites and domains from godaddy to some other domain/hosting company which are against SOPA. After a few days, godaddy.com reviewed its position and changed sides. It is now against SOPA.

How does it affect web site owners and you?

Censorship. The internet will become a place where everything will be censored. There won’t be any freedom of speech. Sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, Wikipedia, or any sites that allow user generated content CANNOT exist under these laws.

Megaupload. You have surely heard what happened. No?

Well, on the January 2012, the US government together with New Zealand’s authorities have arrested the people behind this huge file sharing web sites after copyright infringement complaints on behalf of copyright holders. The web site was immediately closed down and if you visit it right now, that’s what you will find :

This is not a joke. This is the kind of things that will happen to every web site and the owners if the actual SOPA/PIPA comes a reality.

And for people outside US?

While the SOPA/PIPA is only applicable to the US, the whole world will be directly affected since a big majority of web sites are hosted and these organisations are based in within the United States. You should not forget that mostly everything happens there, and if anything bad happens there, you are the ones to be affected, in all cases.

That means no web sites offering music/video among others will exist and managed from there.

What’s next?

After the historical protest of the 18th January, S. Smith, the US Representative who proposed SOPA/PIPA, decided to postpone the voting of the bill until there is a wider agreement on a solution to handle copyright issues. Lawmakers are now trying to find better alternatives to fight online piracy.

Despite I really wanted to make this blog go “black” on the 18th January too, I did not do so at the expense of the high traffic on the blog on that special day, especially on the BMW on the Mont Choisy beach post.

Hope that you have a better overview of what took place during the last days and why you could not access some of the web sites you regularly visit. If ever some of the material I have written above is misleading or wrong, please correct me by writing a comment below. Again, I have simplified things a lot just for the sake of simplicity.

Leave you here,

Take care!

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Unlike for the 2010′s edition, Total did not issue any communique to ask customers to exchange some invalid tickets. The results have been proclaimed as scheduled, on the 17th January 2012 in the premises of the Mauritius Turf Club. Below is the official results, as published by the Total Mauritius.

I won none. Better luck next time!

Again, let me remind you of the monthly challenge “Guess Where” currently going on till the 21st January 2012. Give a try by guessing the location of the 2 pictures.  Click here.

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No news are confirmed yet at this moment but it seems that the Police arrested the driver who was apparently drunk. From the tiny bits of data I gathered, people ran away at the sight of the BMW 650i speeding along the beach this evening.

An image is worth 1000 words? So, enjoy the 5000 words below! (lol)

Many thanks to Jaii R who allowed me to publish his shots!

I have a little guess about the charges that might be put on the driver. Probably parking in an unauthorised area. Let’s see if the media gets hold of this incident which could have killed innocent sea lovers.

Share and Like please! And join our fan page to be part of the fun!

If you are interested to participate in the monthly “Guess Where?” game, head over to this page. 2 new pictures, 2 new locations to discover!

Cya!

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