eCommerce Infographic – Revolution Visualized
By hovo | August 24, 2010
Topics: eCommerce | No Comments »
Nokia launches Ovi App Wizard, the simplest fastest application store EVER!!
By hovo | May 3, 2010
Nokia’s Ovi Store may still be seriously losing in the app war to Apple and Google, but something tells us Espoo’s betting on its new Ovi App Wizard to help it gain some ground. Putting mobile software creation in the hands of the code-illiterate, the auto-generated application wizard lets anyone — and we mean anyone — turn any RSS or Atom feed out there into an app, and publish it to the Ovi Store. Surprisingly, it really is that simple. While we could have made a personal app with our Twitter and Facebook feed, we went ahead and finally made an Ovi Engadget app by simply going to oviappwizard.com and going through the four step process — we put in all three RSS feeds, uploaded our logos, tweaked the colors and hit publish. According to Nokia it should only take 24 hours for the app to be approved — yes, there’s some sort of approval process — but we’re still waiting for our app to show up in the storefront so we can download it on our N97. There’s the ability to serve up third party ads, but you’ll have to prove that you own the content you’ve placed in your app. Again, super simple, but we’re a bit wary of the sorts of apps that will start to pop up, and not sure we need everyone’s own personal feeds/sites overtaking the store. But we’ll let you be the judge of that — go on, hit the read link, create an app, and Ovi-populate.
Topics: mobile | No Comments »
Where to buy Torx Plus Tamper 6 screwdriver for new MacBook Pro?
By hovo | January 22, 2010
The latest MacBook Pro models with the non-user replaceable battery use three “Torx Plus Tamper 6” screws to hold the battery in place. This is the term used by Apple. The manufacturer calls them “Tamper Resistant Torx Plus” screws. These are a variant on the normal 6 point Torx, having 5 points instead and intended to be more secure by controlling access to the drivers.
I did find this particular Torx Plus Tamper 6 product on www.wihatools.ca where it’s called SoftFinish Torx Plus Screwdriver IP6 X 60mm, and they have the complete range or Torx, Torx Plus, Torx Tamper Resistant, Phillips and Slotted Precision Screwdrivers.
The tamper resistant torx plus screws have the post in the center, just like the tamper resistant torx screws, which is what differentiates them from the new torx plus fitment (not the number of grooves, which distinguishes torx from torx plus).
Here is an image of the WIHA #36211 Torx Plus Screwdriver IP6
Topics: hardware | No Comments »
Open Source E-Commerce: Winners and Losers in 2009
By hovo | December 31, 2009
For the last year we have compiled monthly statistics on the top Open Source eCommerce programs, including several free or nearly-free proprietary programs that are sold for less than some OSC programs. “Open Source” means free to look at and to modify, not free of cost: about half of the top OSC programs reviewed are sold for a fee.The statistics we compiled include the raw Google search results for each of the programs. Over time the results become more meaningful as trends and rankings emerge. We discuss the methodology at the end of this report.OsCommerce has enjoyed a long reign as the most popular Open Source eCommerce (OSC) program, with Zen Cart close behind. While osCommerce and Zen Cart still remain the most popular programs in terms of Google’s raw search results, Magento and several other newer carts have been rising rapidly. At the current rate, Magento is projected to overtake osCommerce by August, 2010.
The Contenders
We followed twenty-three programs over the past year, which represents approximately 50 million Internet pages both at the beginning and at end of the reporting period, for a consistently stable industry population. The programs researched include: osCommerce, Zen Cart, Magento, XT-Commerce, Cube Cart, X-Cart, PrestaShop, Quick Cart, Ubercart, CRE Loaded, CS Cart, osC-Max, Shopify, Virtue Mart, Zeus Cart, EOS Online Merchant, osCommerce Project (now osQuantum), Lite Commerce, Open Freeway, Dash Commerce, OSC-SS, IOMPI, and JadaSite.
In terms of number of pages, seven of the OSC programs gained a significant number of pages over the last year, thirteen programs lost, and two programs (Cube Cart and osQuantum (formerly the osCommerce Project) held steady throughout the year.
In terms of rank order, osCommerce and Zen Cart remained at the top, the Russian-based X-Cart dropped three slots to end in sixth position. This allowed California-based Magento, the German-based XT:Commerce, and the UK-based Cube Cart to each move up one position.
The Biggest Winners
|
Top 10 E-Carts for 2009 |
||
| Rank | December 2009 | January 2009 |
| 1 | osCommerce | osCommerce |
| 2 | Zen Cart | Zen Cart |
| 3 | Magento | X-Cart |
| 4 | XT:Commerce | Magento |
| 5 | Cube Cart | XT:Commerce |
| 6 | X-Cart | Cube Cart |
| 7 | PrestaShop | Quick Cart |
| 8 | Quick Cart | CRE Loaded |
| 9 | Ubercart | Ubercart |
| 10 | CRE Loaded | osC-Max |
Magento is far and away the winner in the page popularity contest, more than doubling the number of pages over the past year. This is a rate of nearly a half million pages added each month. Magento 1.0 was released in March, 2008.
But PrestaShop jumped the highest in rank order, leaping five positions from 12th to 7th. It wasn’t even in the Top 10 one year ago. PrestaShop 1.0 launched in July 2008, the most recently released program we studied.
XT:Commerce gained at a rate of nearly 200,000 pages added each month. However, due to stiff competition the program dropped in rank by three positions to finish the year in sixth place.
The number of pages on UberCart slightly increased from 629,000 to 740,000. However, it began and ended the year in ninth position.
In the up-and-coming-new-programs category, EOS Online Merchant increased from nearly 27,000 to 58,200 pages. However, due to changes in positions of other programs, it decreased in rank from fifteenth to sixteenth.
The Biggest Losers
During the last year, the popularity of osCommerce plummeted 54 percent, losing 16 million pages. At the time of this report, the Grand Dame of the OSC world still has more than twice the number of pages as Magento. However at current rates, osCommerce and Magento will each have 11 million pages next July, and by August Magento will have surpassed it.
Zen Cart also steadily declined in popularity, sliding from a peak of 11 million pages down to slightly more than eight million by December 2009. This is a run rate of a quarter of a million pages lost every month this year.
The Zen Cart team has promised a new release each year since 2007; however, in April of this year it gave the vaporware a new number — Zen Cart 2.0 — and still did not release it.
CRE Loaded dropped only two positions, from eighth most popular to tenth. However, it lost about half the number of pages it had at the start of the year. It began with about 1.5 million and ended with about 600,000 pages. The CRE Loaded team made some marketing blunders that were not well-received by their market and, despite many mea culpas, apparently never regained their audience.
They also shifted their strategy to focus on a payment module program called CRE Secure and doggedly pushed store owners about PCI Compliance, but the marketing messages were confusing. The typical online store owner will learn confusing industry acronyms when necessary, not when it is convenient for vendors.
Likewise, osC-Max dropped two positions, from 10th place to 12th. It lost about 25 percent of the number of pages it had a year ago. The osC-Max team made no major changes over the past year, so the losses are likely due to the general migration toward Magento.
Virtue Mart, formerly known as mambo-phpShop, lost about a thousand references per month over the last year, starting and ending the year in fourteenth position. Virtue Mart is an OSC program designed as a plug-in for the Mambo or Joomla content management system.
LiteCommerce is a light version of X-Cart. The group lost about 13% of page references over the past year. Interestingly, the team has focused its attention away from both Litecommerce and X-Cart on a new, 100% AJAX-based program called ECWid that can be integrated with any web site in about five minutes. We will report on and begin following this program through the next year.
Shopify lost nearly 100,000 pages over the course of the year, dropping from 312,000 to 215,000. Shopify is a hosted ecommerce solution - no installation required - for small online retailers built on Ruby on Rails. It was started in 2006.
Holding Steady
Cube Cart and osQuantum maintained the same levels of page popularity throughout the year, ending the year with a non-significant change in number of pages related to their programs.
Cube Cart is available in both a free version and a for-fee version. Originally released in 2003, it has maintained a small feature set that is very stable. While it is not based on osCommerce, many of the functions are very similar and therefore familiar to those migrating from osCommerce programs.
The osQuantum group (formerly the osCommerce Project) came out with a bang a little more than a year ago when a splinter group of osCommerce programmers became weary of waiting for the next release of osCommerce to make its way through the group’s bureaucracy. The group quickly finished the current version of osCommerce and added some valuable security features to it.
However, marketing and/or copyright issues caused the group to suddenly withdraw their finished version and re-focus their energies on their own program, osQuantum. The group has been quiet for the past few months, apparently hard at work.
Methodology
We performed a Boolean Web search on the same date each month for each of the top OSC programs. Boolean searches use mathematical operators, i.e. AND, OR, NOT and (), to get the most accurate results possible. Repeating the same search over time allows patterns to emerge and thus makes the data more meaningful. Our results and rankings are based on the total number of Google results pages reported for each program at the time the search was conducted.
source: ecommerce-guide.com
Topics: people, software | No Comments »
How To Identify and Deal With Different Types Of Clients
By hovo | October 17, 2009
In business, being able to read people and quickly get a sense of who you’re dealing with is an invaluable skill. It turns your encounter with a client into an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the upcoming project and how it will need to be handled. It is one of the building blocks of a professional relationship.
In today’s digital age, the arena has shifted to the Web, and the online office space that most freelancers inhabit limits personal interaction. Though sussing out a client’s personality via online communication is difficult, it still remains an invaluable tool in your arsenal.
In the freelancing field, you will encounter a range of client types. Being able to identify which you are dealing with allows you to develop the right strategy to maximize your interactions with them, and it could save your sanity. Below is a list of the most common personality types and the tell-tale signs that will tip you off.
The Passive-Aggressive
This is the client who is very passive when you ask for initial input, but when you submit the finished product, they aggressively attack it, demanding a lot of detailed changes, both major and minor. They had an idea of what they wanted all along but kept it mostly to themselves. Even though they showed appreciation of certain ideas and elements throughout the development process, do not expect the passive-aggressive client to keep any of them as they send revisions your way.
Identifying Characteristics
- Communication is mostly one-sided and unhelpful during project development.
- Makes statements such as:
- “I’m not really sure what we’re looking for.”
- “Just do something that would appeal to us generally.”
- “You totally missed the point of what we wanted.”
How to Deal
Patience is the key. Expecting the last-minute requests for revisions may soften the blow of the client’s aggressive behavior. Keep your original layered design intact so that you can easily refine and change it later (not that you wouldn’t, but it does happen). Also, make sure your contract specifies a limited number of revisions.
The Family Friend
This is the client whom you have known for years either through personal or family interaction, and this connection has landed you the job. The relationship will be tested and perhaps marred forever by what could very well be a nightmare of a project. This family friend believes he deserves a “special” price and unbridled access to your work. They will sometimes unwittingly belittle your work or not take it seriously because of their personal connection to you.
Identifying Characteristics
- These clients are easy to identify because… well, you know them.
- Makes such statements as:
- “Could you just throw something together for me?”
- “I don’t want you to think that just because I know you I want you to cut me a deal.”
- “You’re going to charge me what?! But we go way back!”
How to Deal
The way to deal with this client depends on how well you know them and how much you value your relationship with them. But remember that anyone who would take advantage of such a relationship is not truly a friend, so respond accordingly. An honest approach could end up saving the relationship. But start off with a professional, not personal, tone, and they may follow your lead. Of course, if you truly value the relationship, you may want to pass on the job altogether.
The Under-Valuer
Like the family friend described above, this client will devalue your creative contributions. But there is a difference: you do not actually know this person. There is no rationale for their behavior. They feel they should get a “friend’s” pricing rate not because they want to be friends with you, but because they do not see your work as being worth that much… even if they couldn’t do it themselves. Not coming from a creative background or even having had exposure to the arts can mar someone’s appreciation of the work that you do. After years in our field, we make it look easy, and that is what the under-valuer sees.
Identifying Characteristics
- Does not respond to questions in a timely fashion.
- Makes such statements as:
- “It’s not like it takes much effort on your part.”
- “Couldn’t you just throw something together for me?”
- “How hard can this really be?”
How to Deal
Confidence is key here. You know what your work demands and how well you do your job. The under-valuer will recognize this confidence. Don’t back down or concede a point to the client when discussing your role in the project. Standing firm will establish the professional and respectful tone you deserve. If the client does not respond in kind, cut your losses and decline their project.
The Nit-Picker
This client is never fully satisfied with the work you do and will constantly pick on minor details here and there that they dislike and want changed. Do not be surprised if they ask you to change these same details over and over ad nauseam. It is not a sign of disrespect (as it is with the other clients), but simply the nature of the person. They may have been burned in some other project and are now unsatisfied with everything in their path, including your work.
Identifying Characteristics
- Complains almost consistently about unrelated things.
- Personal outlook comes with a scathing bite.
- Makes such statements as:
- “How hard is it to [fill in the blank with any rant]?”
- “I’m really not sure about this element here. It just doesn’t pop!”
- “I don’t think you are really getting it.”
How to Deal
Once again, patience is important (especially if you have some sadistic reason for taking on nit-picking clients). Try to detach yourself from the project as much as possible, so that the constant nit-pickery does not affect you personally. It is easy to feel hurt or get defensive when your work is repeatedly questioned, and you may begin to doubt your skill. But understand that this is not about you or your talent; it is simply a personality trait of the person you are dealing with. And once again, protect yourself in the contract.
The Scornful Saver
This client has similarities to the nit-picker and under-valuer but is actually impressed with your work and skill set. The criticize you merely to undermine your confidence in an attempt to lower your pricing rate. Unlike some other client types, the scornful saver understands creative people and their processes. But they are cheap and manipulative, and their scheme may have worked in their favor once or twice in the past. So, they continue to subtly abuse the people they hire in the hope of saving every last penny.
Identifying Characteristics
- Compliments always come with a less-than-flattering qualifier.
- Takes time to respond to questions, sometimes making you ask more than once.
- Makes such statements as:
- “I really like what you’ve done overall, but I’m unsure about one or two things.”
- “You may not have gotten exactly what we’re looking for, but you’re close.”
How to Deal
Once again, it is all about confidence. Having a solid understanding of your field and being confident in your knowledge and abilities will keep this client’s manipulation in check. Standing your ground and even calling the client on some of their tactics could shift the balance of power over to you. Be prepared to walk away from the project if the disrespect and manipulation continues. There will be other projects and other clients.
The “I-Could-Do-This-Myself”-er
Where to begin… When this client farms a project out to you, they make clear to you that they know how to do what they’re hiring you to do but that just don’t have the time to actually do it. They may be working at a firm or an entrepreneur; either way, you are there to pick up their slack. If they’re at a firm, you could be in for an interesting situation; they were likely hired for their particular style and proposals, and now you will have to please two sets of people: the person who hired you and the people who hired him.
Identifying Characteristics
- Will generally be (or look) hectic and rushed.
- Communication from them often takes the form of short bursts of information.
- Makes such statements as:
- “I could easily handle this if my schedule weren’t so full.”
- “Really? Not sure that’s the direction I would’ve gone in, but whatever.”
- “Remember, you are filling my shoes, and they’re pretty big.”
How to Deal
The “I-Could-Do-This-Myself”-er will likely have recognized your talent and skill right away, which is why they hired you. They merely want you to know that this project (and thus you) is not above their ability. And though these reminders will grate on you periodically, they will let you run with your ideas, perhaps offering suggestions or feedback on the final design.
The Control Freak
This client desperately needs to micro-manage every little detail of the project, no matter their qualifications. No decision may be made without their explicit input and approval. This tiresome client forces himself into your workflow, heedless of either invitation or protest, and will demand access to you at whim. The concepts of boundaries and strict work processes are easily lost on the control freak, who constantly disrupts the flow. They may also believe you lack dedication or preparedness, further reinforcing their need to interfere.
Identifying Characteristics
- Initial contact is long, detailed and one-sided, with little input sought from you.
- Your input remains unsought as the project pushes forward.
- Makes such statements as:
- “This way we can keep in contact 24/7 in case you have any questions, or I do.”
- “I really know best what is right for the project and what is not.”
- “What do you mean, I’m distracting you? I am the only thing keeping this project on track!”
How to Deal
If you absolutely must take on this client, for whatever reason, resign yourself to the fact that you will not be steering at any point. You will have to detach yourself from the work because you will have no control at all. You will merely be constructing, not designing, so just let go and let it happen. You may want to exclude this project from your portfolio.
The Dream Client
This client, widely dismissed as a myth, does in fact exist and understands the full scope and artistry of your work. They value your role and creative contributions and want you in the driver’s seat as soon as the project gets underway. They are timely with responses and payments… payments that they did not “negotiate” but rather accepted for what they are. They reflect on your suggestions and have confidence in your capabilities.
Identifying Characteristics
- Is enthusiastic about the project and your involvement in it.
- Communication shows awareness of and respect for your role.
- Makes such statements as:
- “Here’s the brief we prepared. The rest is pretty much up to you.”
- “We like what we’ve seen and trust you’ll do great things for us.”
How to Deal
Don’t brag! Just enjoy the ride and hold on to them for as long as you possibly can!
Wrap-up
Being able to identify the type of client you are dealing with will prepare you for the job ahead. It will also help you decide whether to accept the job in the first place. Your contract will reflect the power dynamics of the project, so the more you know about the client, the better able you will be to adjust the contract as necessary. Have you come across other types of clients in your freelancing career? Please let us know in the comments.
source: SmashingMagazine.com
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Press Release: Digi-Cards, The best and most secure digital download cards in the world
By hovo | March 9, 2009
Date: March 3, 2009Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The best and most secure digital download cards in the world are now available in Canada. Join the thousands of people around the world discovering why digi-cards are better than CDs, DVDs, and print media for digital content distribution.
From independent artist to record labels, from small bars and clubs to major corporations reaching out to customers and fans in ways never before imagined, Digi-cards are the leaders in the digital download cards revolution, offering support for music, audio, video, print, ringtones, documents, photos, images, eBooks, eCatalogues, etc. in one easy to carry business-card size plastic card.
With its many features and flexible applications, Digi-cards offer innovative solutions suitable to all budget sizes and customer needs.
For just pennies per Digi-card*, our premium product is easily customizable with your logo or image, featuring glossy full color or black and white print, and with high quality embossing of numbers at the front, a unique random access code at the back underneath a scratch surface, plus a magnetic stripe for added security and convenience, our Digi-cards are impossible to duplicate, and do not look like other laminated paper cards or cheap plastic phone cards.
Give your fans or customers the best of your content, on our easy to carry and great looking Digi-cards. If you have digital content or electronic files to distribute, your files belong on a Digi-card!
To contact us, please visit our website at www.digi-cards.ca or call in Canada at 1-877-866-2227.
About MB Digital Enterprises
MB Digital Enterprises is a Canadian independent production and graphics company specializing in the development of digital content. From audio and video production, to graphics and print management, from web to 3D digital virtualization, we are a one stop shop for all your digital content needs.
MB Digital Enterprises is the exclusive distributor of Digi-cards in Canada.
source: Digi-Cards
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Fedora 10 doesn’t include Xen, KVM rules uncontested
By hovo | October 23, 2008
It may be just a coincidence but the just released Fedora 10 doesn’t include Xen. And this happens just a month after Red Hat unveiled its new virtualization strategy, adopting KVM and acquiring the startup that maintains it: Qumranet.
The reason behind this unexpected drop is explained in the official project newsletter:
No Dom0 Support in Fedora 10
…”There is pretty much zero chance that Fedora 10 will include a Xen Dom0 host. While upstream Xen developers are making good progress on porting Dom0 to paravirt_ops, there is simply too little time for this to be ready for Fedora 10. So if you need to use Fedora 10 as a host, then KVM is your only viable option at this time. If you can wait for Fedora 11 (or use RHEL-5 / CentOS-5) then Xen may be an option for you.” …
The distribution lifecycle implies a new major release every six months on average.
This means that Fedora users will have a long time to explore the opportunities that KVM offers. And in the meanwhile Red Hat will be able to further attract them with some new interesting products based on Qumranet technology.
source: Virtualization.info
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You can only go analog on Mars - Hosting Industry Sky Rockets
By hovo | October 15, 2008
“Waaas Happn?” “Yougotit” – I was working up in Harlem in the seventies. I was often taken for a cop. It was a happening place, dangerous. I was in my cream leisure suit.
If you have seen this new TV show “Life on Mars” you will note the hero is hit by a car, in 2008, and wakes up in 1973. He is a cop in both realities.
The show is a study of the analog vs. digital world.
A few weeks ago I was at the Hosting Transformation Summit, one of the major points was that data center demand would be growing faster than capacity. The demand spread would catch-up was 4-5 years. That denotes a strong sector.
Our economy: As firms trim unprofitable offices, lay off employees; streamline operations they will make other changes. They will add SAS services that match the solution to the headcount. They will add servers to take up the marketing and customer service void left behind by that closed office. They will add GPS and communication solutions trying to emulate UPS as they deliver more and more Amazon packages. All of this will further hosting growth.
Yes we could go back to doing budgets in long hand on accounting ledger paper. Running all your credit card sales by hand, bundling with rubber bands then sending Betty to the post office. But you live in the digital not vinyl world.
The overall market is looking where to go. P&G has always been good in a down market; maybe I will go there. Most investors however prefer some growth in addition to safe investmnts. I like hosting growth.
It is going to take months for the overall market to find what you already know. They are confused. This is a small sector, hiding in the corner of the economy. This is a small blog, sending a flare up in the night. After some of this dust clears they will see the positives and wish they had seen that light.
So Wall Street, if you are looking for growth, price stability, recurring dependable revenue stream, consolidation potential and sustained profitability, look no farther. Hosting controls the digital world.
source: thewhir.com
Topics: Uncategorized, news | No Comments »
Transcend introduces series of new HDDs
By hovo | August 15, 2008
Transcend Information introduced a series of new hard-disk drive (HDD), StoreJet, for meeting demand for portable storage.Three new 2.5-inch HDDs, 25P/C/M, have been introduced, with all complying with both notebook and desktop applications. Storage starts from 150GB to 320GB in maximum.
For a detail specification comparison, please visit company website.
Topics: news, hardware | No Comments »
Combative Indian magazine struggles to sell ‘bad news’
By hovo | January 28, 2008
A glance at a newsstand in any major Indian city reveals a media market in the midst of a boom. There are frothy tabloids, slick business papers, racy Bollywood glossies and lifestyle magazines, with new titles hitting the stands every week. Advertisers are shoveling out cash and foreign investors are stampeding in.But the news is not as good for the country’s boldest English-language news magazine, Tehelka. The crusading independent weekly is struggling to expand and take a bigger slice of a highly competitive print market.
Like many anti-establishment publications around the world, Tehelka has garnered only lukewarm support from advertisers and relative disinterest from readers more interested in upbeat news.
Tehelka, which means “sensational” in Hindi, has lived up to its name with hard-hitting investigations that have often used undercover cameras to confront officials and expose corruption. Its crusading reports also focus on the downtrodden of India.
After beginning as a Web site in 2000, Tehelka rocked the country the next year with a sting operation in which its reporters secretly filmed senior politicians and army officers taking bribes and, in some cases, consorting with prostitutes. The scandal forced top politicians, including the defense minister, to resign.
“Tehelka has pioneered a new kind of journalism in India,” Anil Dharker, a media critic and columnist who has edited several Indian publications, said. “It has forced other papers to investigate more and become more competitive in their reporting.”
But shortly after the bribery scandal broke, a government-appointed inquiry turned its focus on Tehelka. Reporters were arrested and questioned and the Web site’s main financial backer was imprisoned for two months. Tax raids and judicial investigations followed, and its staff fell from 120 to three. The site went into debt and finally out of business.
In early 2004, Tehelka emerged from the rubble as a reader-financed weekly newspaper. Calling itself the “People’s Paper” and promoting what it called “free, fair and fearless” journalism, it was, and still is, backed by the intellectual and social elite - writers, lawyers, businesspeople and activists. Arundhati Roy, Shashi Tharoor and V.S. Naipaul lined up to support it. More than 200 people became founder-subscribers by paying 100,000 rupees, or $2,500, to be associated with the venture.
“Tehelka attracts a very affluent, influential, well-educated readership in India, which could potentially be very attractive to both investors and advertisers,” Harjinder Singh-Heer, a media analyst based in London, said.
From its offices in a swank south Delhi neighborhood, Tehelka’s staff of about 45 journalists combines vigorous reporting, interviews and straight analysis with essays and columns by high-profile writers and intellectuals.
“It is crucial to bring stories of people who will never read a magazine to those who ought to be made aware of them,” said Tarun Tejpal, the paper’s founder and editor in chief, a charismatic 44-year-old who has worked for and edited several major Indian magazines.
The weekly’s hallmark remains its sting operations. The footage is often sold to national television channels.
“That’s why people who will never read a magazine in English in India will still have heard of Tehelka,” said Shreekant Khandekar, a media analyst who said the method also provided a clever marketing tool.
Last year, a Tehelka reporter spent six months undercover in the western state of Gujarat, where more than 2,000 Muslims were killed during a pogrom in 2002. The undercover footage showed Hindu nationalists confessing to murder and rape. The transcripts were published in November. The next issue, headlined “India Writes Back,” contained only reader mail, most expressing deep shock. Nonetheless, the chief minister of the state, Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist who was implicated in the sting, was re-elected last month.
The weekly’s fame, however, has done little to help lift its financial fortunes. Tehelka has been hampered by a cash crunch. With a budget of close to $3 million last year, according to Tejpal, the loss last year was under $1 million.
Tehelka, which sells around 75,000 to 90,000 copies a week and has a subscriber base of about 30,000, attracts few advertisements. Its 106-page special issue on the Gujarat massacre featured just three ads. Last year, ad revenue came to around $750,000, Tejpal said.
Its main rivals - the English-language political news magazines Outlook, India Today and The Week - are backed by large media groups and, in one case, a business conglomerate. The market leader, India Today, has a circulation of 1.1 million each week and a readership of more than 15 million, according to its Web site.
source: Herald Tribune
Topics: Uncategorized, companies, business | No Comments »