Month Review

I’m happy to tell that I have posted 7 posts this month. I was really busy all through this month with my exams. So, I couldn’t post as much post as I would have wanted. 3 of my favorite posts this month are:

1. Communicate Through Blogs Effectively
2. Bloggers Unite for Human Rights
3. Ethics of Justice or Ethics of Care?

Random happiness

1. This blog is 365 days old today. Tomorrow is its birthday. :D

2. Three posts of this blog have been featured on kikolani.com (on her Fetching Friday series) which is an indicator of writing quality posts. Even though I posted 7 posts this month, the number of featured posts has increased. The featured posts are:

Reader Appreciation

Top commentator
Life as i know it is nothing without its readers. I’m very proud to say that this blog has a very dedicated readership. I thank all the readers from the bottom of my heart. And it gives me great pleasure to say that, the most number of comments were shared by UPrinting this month.

Commentator of the month
The most appreciated comment is shared by Melinda this month. The commentator says:

…Since the project is outside of work, using work materials (to me) would be unethical so I would not use material from my place of business--at least not without asking permission.

If I couldn't afford to pay for the materials I needed--and say, it was a good cause (the project), I would probably ask my employer if he/she would make a donation to the cause. If he said no, then I might ask if I could buy the material from them for cost and have the $$ taken out of my paycheck.

If I couldn't afford the material--then I would not do the project. Taking material from work is essentially stealing and I wouldn't do that…view the post.

Thank you all for being with Life as I know it throughout the month of July. I hope your love for this blog will never fade away.

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This is the part one of a new series Ethical Dilemma. In this series you’ll find some common situations which will make you think. You’ll have to make some ethical decisions in this series which will help you to have a better understanding of the ethics you believe in. I hope you will also develop your reasoning skill through this.

Here is your first ethical dilemma:

Suppose you are doing a project outside of your work. The project will need paper, pens and other materials available at work. You have noticed other employees taking home such materials. You are thinking about doing the same. What is the problem in this situation? What are your alternatives? What are the consequences of each alternative? Which alternative will you choose? Is your choice ethical?

Related Post: Ethics of Justice or ethics of care

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The primary voting period has expired on July 7, 2009. Then among the top 77 candidates expert’s panel selected 28 finalists on July 21, 2009. Now the voting power has been awarded back to us once again. Now we’ve the power to vote for 7 worthy candidates. The top voted 7 natural places will be awarded with the title “new 7 wonders of nature” in 2011.

It’s a matter of great sorrow for all the Bangladeshis that the Cox’s Bazaar-world’s largest sea beach was eliminated from the final list. It was 3rd in its group.

On the other hand, Bangladeshis can rejoice as the Sundarbans won a place in the finalists list. Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. Don’t forget to vote for it.

Vote for the wonders

First please take this small quiz:

1. Which is worse?

A. Hurting someone’s feelings by telling the truth.
B. Telling a lie and protecting someone’s feelings.

2. Which is the worse mistake?

A. To make exceptions too freely.
B. To apply rules too rigidly.

3. Which is it worse to be?

A. Unmerciful.
B. Unfair.

4. Which is worse?

A. Stealing something valuable from someone for no good reason.
B. Breaking a promise to a friend for no good reason.

5. Which is it better to be?

A. Just and fair.
B. Sympathetic and feeling.

6. Which is worse?

A. Not helping someone in trouble.
B. Being unfair to someone by playing favorites.

7. In making a decision you rely more on…

A. Hard facts.
B. Personal feelings and intuition.

8. Your boss orders you to do something that will hurt someone. If you carry out the order, have you done anything wrong?

A. Yes.
B. No.

9. Which is more important in determining whether an action is right or wrong?

A. Whether anyone actually gets hurt.
B. Whether a rule, law, commandment or moral principle is broken.

The answers fall in two categories, J or C. Count your number of J and C answers using this key:

The higher your J score, the more you rely on ethics of justice. The higher your C score, the more you rely on ethics of care.

Ethics of care and ethics of justice are two ways of differentiating right from wrong and making moral and ethical decisions. None of these two is better than the other. Even though ethics of justice and ethics of care may seem very different from one another, actually they are connected. People generally depend on both to making ethical decision. The more you are able to mix these two ethics, the better you are in making the right decisions. Actually, very few people score 9 Js or 9 Cs. Most of the people have a combined result.

Ethics of justice relies on principles like justice, fairness, equality or authority. The advantages if this approach is that it looks at a problem logically and impartially. People who follow this style hope to make a decision based on certain principles which are higher than any individual’s interests. Disadvantages of this approach are that people who rely on it might lose sight of the immediate interests of particular individuals. This style is more common for men than women.

Ethics of care is based on sense of responsibility to reduce actual harm or suffering. The advantages of this approach are that it is responsive to immediate suffering and harm. The disadvantage is that, when carried to an extreme, this style can produce decisions that seem not simply subjective, but arbitrary. This style is more common in women than men.

So, what is your style of making ethical decisions? Do you rely more on ethics of care or ethics of justice? What was your score? How do you feel about your score?

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Source of the quiz: Discovering Philosophy by Thomas I. White

Even though human rights have been a topic of discussion for as long as I can remember, it is a burning issue now, especially after the recent occurring in Iran. Thanks to BloggersUnite bloggers all around the world have received the opportunity to unite on this issue and blog together to bring a change to this world.

Know Your Rights

Human rights refer to some basic rights and freedom which every person is entitled to have under any circumstance. These basic rights include freedom of speech, freedom of religion and culture, freedom to acquire knowledge, justice, safe childhood, physical safety etc. Sad but true, in many places of the world human rights are being severely violated everyday.

In this post, you’ll read about internet censorship, which is a form violation of a human rights.

Internet censorship is a violation of human right as it contradicts with freedom of speech and knowledge. Internet censorship is the process of blocking internet sites so that the users of a particular country or region can’t visit those sites. It also includes strict rules about publishing information on the internet, even when the information is on a private site or blog. Many countries adopt internet censorship to control the “source of knowledge and news”. Iran has very strict internet censorship rules. It has blocked more than 5 million sites including facebook and youtube. It has blocked political, human rights, women’s freedom and pornographic sites and blogs. Many bloggers and online activists have been brought to jail because the government was not happy with what they had to say. Iran is so strict about internet censorship, that it was one of the 13 countries who were labeled “enemies of the internet”.

I think internet censorship to this extend is not necessary. Every grown up should be given the right to choose between right and wrong by themselves. Everyone should have the right to gather knowledge from where ever they can and from every angle of a story. Everyone should have the right to express their feelings in a non violent way. Blog is a great way to share views and opinions. Restraining this privilege is a very bad practice, according to me.

You can ignore the censorship with the help of this links:
1. Free Gate
2. Ultrasurf

How to get involved
To promote human rights the least you can do is you can blog about it. If you decide to blog about this issue to raise consciousness, you can consider these topics which were suggested by BloggersUnite.

1. The wrongful imprisonment of journalists covering assemblies.
2. Governments that ignore the plight of citizens left tot he mercy of gangs.
3. The censorship of the Internet in order to prevent freedom of expression.
4. Harsh punishments that include torture, forced labor, and starvation.
5. Sexual assault against women by members of military or militia.

Further reading:
Internet censorship in Iran
Human rights

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World Population Day is an annual event which is observed every year on July 11. The day seeks to raise awareness about the ever raising population of the world. World Population Day started its journey in 1989 and it’s the 20th anniversary of this day. The theme of this year is “Fight Poverty, Educate Girls”. Thanks to Bloggers Unite for arranging a platform to blog about this issue under its banner.

Let's get on the same page

On July 11, 1987 the estimated population of the world was 5 billion. In 2000, world population reached 6.06 billion. And after 9 years, on this day, the estimated world population is 6,761,217,750 (and counting) which indicates a 78 million population increase per year. It is feared that world population might reach up to10.7 billion in the year 2050.

Where are you planning to house that entire people?

How are you planning to feed them?

Because of the ever rising population poverty is increasing, quality of life and standard of living is decreasing and it is also having a toll on the ecosystem and the environment. Wild species are becoming extinct 50-100 faster than they naturally do. Even though the population growth is slowing down, more than 90 percent of the current growth is triggered by the developing countries. In those developing countries, normally the number of properly educated women is much smaller, when compared to the number of educated men. Lack of female education is a major cause of population increase. That’s why world leaders are putting so much emphasis to female education to slow down this population explosion.

Now it’s your turn

You have heard what I have to say about world population and now it’s your turn. Share your views and opinions. Are you from an economically developed country or a developing country? Is your country overpopulated or is the population of your country rapidly rising? What can be the best possible solution to this problem? Is raising awareness enough to fight this global problem?


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Communication is the process of sharing of information between two or more individuals or groups to reach a common understanding. Oral communication is much spontaneous and most of the time easier to understand as it includes facial expressions, body language and emotion. But when it comes to written communication such as blogs, you will not be able to convey the desired message to the readers effectively if you don’t be careful. In that case you’ll fail to reach a common understanding and thus fail to communicate with your readers.

Use familiar words
Selection of words is very important when it comes to writing. Many people believe that using difficult words in their writings enhance the beauty of their posts and reflect their intelligence. But that’s not the case at all. By using too much difficult words the writer actually kills the appeal of reading the post. In some cases difficult words challenge the intelligence of the reader, by which the reader might feel offended. Same goes for using too much technical words (words specialized for certain fields) and abbreviation. When using abbreviations, make sure that you have mentioned the full form of that at least once.

Remember, the readers of your blog might be coming from different countries, where English is not used as the primary mode of communication.

Choose short words
Short words often communicate better than longer words. If it doesn’t harm the meaning of the sentence, try to use short words instead of longer words. Between these two, which one is easier to understand:

1. The decision was based on the assumption that an abundance of readers is forthcoming.
2. The decision was based on the belief that there would be more readers.

Use concrete language
By concrete words I am referring to the words which form sharp, clear and specific meanings in our minds. Abstract words like “the majority” and “substantial amount”, has more generalized meaning which might not always be perfect to use.

A very large amount of profit has completely two meanings for a small retail shop and the Microsoft.

Try to avoid passive verbs and voice
Using passive verbs and voices too much takes away the strength of the language. So use more active verbs if it is possible.

Use examples
Try to give examples to make yourself clear. But the overuse of examples is not a good thing to do.

Never do stereotyping (must follow)
This is a fatal mistake that many bloggers and writers do. This has a very critical effect on readership. Stereotyping is the act of classifying or treating all the people of a society or community in the same way (especially in a negative way). Never ever make this mistake. When I say that “Bangladeshi’s are poor”, I am stereotyping. Because even though more than 50% people here live below the poverty line, there are hundreds of billionaires in this country. It’s just an example.

Avoid discriminating words (must follow)
Be very careful about words which can easily offend someone by its discriminating behavior. Never discriminate based on race, color, religion and gender. Be very careful when writing about “social status”.

I hope this helps you in writing better blog posts and increase readership.

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This month has been really great as long as blogging is concerned. I have blogged full time through out this month of June. Even after my summer vacation was over, I’m very happy to tell, I didn’t take any time off from blogging. I have posted 15 posts this month. Among these 15 posts 5 of my favorite posts are:

1. Bloggers Unite: For a Free Iran
2. Fight Bloggers Block and Depression
3. What Not to do to Fall Asleep
4. Bloggers Unite: Say No to Drug Abuse
5. Tipaimukh Dam Project: We Have to Protest

Random happiness

1. This blog has crossed the 100th post mark this month. The 100th post is: Bloggers Unite: Say No to Drug Abuse

2. Life as i know it stands still on PR3 after a PR update this month.

3. Chris Lloyd has answered to the request of mine and guest posted on this blog. The title of the post is: Self Improvement through Journaling

4. Two posts of this blog have been featured on kikolani.com which means a lot to me. The author of the blog Kristi is a great blogger and a friend of mine who blogs about social media, photography, and blogging tips. The featured posts are: Fight Bloggers Block and Depression and A Little Comparison: Part 2

Commentator of the Month

Life as i know it is nothing without its readers. I’m very proud to say that this blog has a very dedicated readership. I thank all the readers from the bottom of my heart. And it gives me great pleasure to say that, the most number of comments were shared by MindWriter this month. MindWriter is a blogger and a friend of mine from Bangladesh. She authors a personal blog.

Comment of the month

The comment of the month was shared by Timethief on Reduce Stress and Depression by Blogging. The commentator says:

"...Sometimes the simple act of writing things down can help me clarify my feelings and render them less emotionally and physically harmful. In my journal blogging I explore difficult thoughts, feelings, and situations and gain a better understanding of myself and a clearer insight into others. Blogging privately helps me analyze what's going on in my life, regain perspective on situations and people who are stressing me out, and helps me consider some options for dealing with them. It strengthens mt problem solving skills and leaves me feeling calm and collected..." read the full comment

Thank you all for being with Life as I know it throughout the month of June. I hope your love for this blog will never fade away. If you haven't already then you can subscribe to this blog's feed and stay connected.