Harsh Dhulia's Blog

Get your PC straightened out at your own risk.

Thats the disclaimer i'm gonna throw at every guy who comes to me for help with his PC.

And mind you, I put this disclaimer after lots of bad experiences. The worst of all such experiences happened on 10th April, 2008 when my dear friend Prakash invited me to install Ubuntu(a flavour of Linux, thats how Prof. Sanjay Chaudhary puts it) on his PC.

PC Status #1 - 160GB Hard disk full of data, Microsoft Windows XP SP2 installed and functioning properly, Ubuntu installed but not working fine.

I decided to get rid of Ubuntu first. So I installed a partition manager software on windows and deleted the Ubuntu and Linux Swap partition on the hard disk and created new partitions from the unallocated space for installing a fresh copy of Ubuntu.

PC Status #2 - 160GB Hard disk full of data, Microsoft Windows XP SP2 installed and functioning properly, Ubuntu deleted, new partitions created for installing a fresh copy of Ubuntu.

I restarted the PC after doing the above step and the PC did not boot into windows or anything else. This damn thing happened as GRUB(an application that manages multiple operating systems on Linux PCs) had been deleted and i had no way of getting through to Windows.

I did not have the Ubuntu CD available so i popped in the kubuntu CD(another flavour of Ubuntu, eh Prof. Chaudhary ?). After fumbling around with the kubuntu settings I finally managed to get the installation started. In the meantime I convinced Prakash to leave his studies and watch a movie(The Covenant) with me.

PC Status #3 - kubuntu installation starts, unknown status of data on 160GB hard disk, unknown status of windows, Prakash and I start watching 'The Covenant'.

By the time the kubuntu installation completes we have already watched 20min. of the movie. Now kubuntu and windows both are working fine. I start the PC in windows only to find that kubuntu decided to treat itself lavishly and installed itself on Prakash's 36GB partition rather than the 5GB partition it had been alloted. Prakash starts going haywire beacuse the late 36GB windows partition contained his personal photos, lecture notes and other stuff which was imp. to him and was collected after huge amounts of effort.

All I can manage is a grin on my face wishing that Prakash doesn't kick my ass(thats easy, all he needed to do was call a few friends. everyone's eveready to kick some ass). Prakash, being the ideal good boy he is, controls himself. Meanwhile another asshole, Paras enters the room and Prakash starts to utter his tale of anguish even though he is not asked to do so. So Prakash's tale of anguish brings an instant smile on Paras's face and he starts annoyingly repeating my name in different pitches sounding like a meditating mimicker.



PC Status #4 - kubuntu installed correctly, Windows working properly, 36GB personal data lost(ouch!!), Prakash in distress, Paras gets into mode ANNOY, I start emaciating.

A new problem turns up with kubuntu as no C programs can be run on it(aint that supposed to be good?). Paras tries out some wierd command on the terminal but that doesn't work, so we decide to install ubuntu instead of kubuntu (shitless ubuntu flavours, why cant they just compile it into one gr8 compilation, Microsoft you oughta be listening too..).

The first two partitions that had been created for kubuntu are intact. So i pop in the ubuntu CD and ask Paras to get us through with the installation. Now Ubuntu doesn't detect those partitions either so Paras tries out a software to create partitions for Ubuntu.

Paras gets the GNOME Partition Edition(GPARTED) CD from his room and pops it in. The application starts and Paras mercilessly hits enter several times only to find that GPARTED formatted the whole 160GB hard disk. So now Paras sits on the chair with a big grin on his face hoping Prakash wouldn't kill him & I switch into 'MEDITATING MIMIC' mode and start repeating Paras's name in many different tunes and pitches which even a classical singer couldn't produce. I have a big Sibaca smile while i'm emulating the meditating mimic. Prakash turns to a pale yellow as if he had just been rejected by the love of his life [:D].

PC Status #5 - kubutu not installed, ubuntu not installed, Windows not installed, 160GB hard disk totally empty, Prakash on the verge of crying, Paras on the verge of getting killed, Me on the verge of bursting into laughter.

That pretty well sums up the vicious circle of events that consumed my 4 hours. In the end, I successfully install Windows, I successfully complete 'The Covenant' & I successfully install Ubuntu(yeah, Paras is no good..). So Prakash goes to sleep at 1:30 AM with a heavy heart. Paras and I play a Counter-Strike clan and forget totally about past events.

I came across this amazing article in the Times of India
(Page 18) edition of 7th April.

The title of the article was -

TO BUILD TRUST, GROOM YOUR DIGITAL IDENTITY

Below are given some tips to increase the number of relevant google searches for your name. I have also added some excerpts from the article.

Every person on the internet has his/her own identity. If you have a name which is pretty unique then you may have a very clear idea of how farspread your identity on the internet is.

But if your name is pretty common then it might be difficult tracing your google identity. For example - if you name is Ankit Agarwal or Rohan Verma or Rahul Sharma then you will be lost tracing your identity on google because there are lots of Ankit Agarwals, Rohan Vermas and Rahul Sharmas and it would be almost impossible to find the links relevant to your name among lakhs of links that turn up.

While writing this article I did a google search on Rahul Sharma and i got 2,78,000 search results. Now thats a pretty huge number. And if that wasn't enough there is also a Santoor player whose name is Rahul Sharma. The first few pages of the google search were filled with links related to him.

Sometime in future you'll be applying for a job, project or an internship somewhere. Your future recruiters are likely to do a google search on your name and if they could find a good amount of information about you from google then your job or recruitment is almost done. And i guess if thats the case then your interview would be hassle free too...

I am adding an excerpt from the TOI article here.

"As the saying goes, on the internet, nobody knows you are a dog. In fact, for most netizens this is probably the best part of being in the virtual world. Losing yourself in the folds of trillion-odd pages is a very comforting idea. Shed an identity and don a brand new one, in a jiffy. Great, right? But hang on, have you googled yourself recently?"

This is what the TOI article has to say on why you should improve your google image -

"So that means, if you are a marketing professional, your would-be clients probably already google you. If you are looking for a job, your prospective employers do the same. And if you are want to get married, that sweet girl you met is doing it too.

How would this help, you ask? Well, say for instance, the same would-be clients were to google you and find that you have many other satisfied clients who have commented on your blogs, then getting the project might be easier. Your employer might find some interesting write-up on your company profile mentioning you, which might give you an edge. Similarly, if you were considering an arranged marriage, and you stumble upon a prospective groom’s profile on a social network and find that his friends think he is a warm person, it’s likely this would make you more comfortable.

So instead of trying to erase your identity from the way, a better way of managing your digital trail is to make sure you’re giving people the information you want them to find. In fact you should try to groom your digital identity and show it off even."


We leave a digital trail with almost every activity we do on the internet. Be it sending an e-mail, posting on forums, scrapping on orkut, blogging and even while using documents from the internet.

TOI says -

"So lets face it. Privacy on the internet has become a myth now. With data mining, search engines sending out trawlers and other crawling mechanisms adding pictures to connect the dots, just by logging on to the internet you have already done away with much of your “privacy” anyway. Whether you like it or not, if people are even slightly tech savvy, no matter how they come across your name—be it from a friend, a postcard, business card or email—the first step many people are going to take is go home and google you."


So the first thing that you should do is google yourself and check the first few links that are thrown up on you.

While googling your name i suggest you to play with your name a little bit.
For eg. I found more relevant searches for my name when i googled harshdhulia instead of harsh dhulia.

Lets say your name is Vinod Kumar, then you should try the following keywords for your google search -
vinod kumar, vinodkumar, vinod_kumar, "vinod kumar", "vinodkumar", vinod.kumar etc.


Tips to improve your Google Image a.k.a Digital Identity -

1) According to me having a google account should be your first step. You can start a blog on Blogger, have an email id at Gmail, publish your pictures on the web with Picasa and earn money with Adsense all with one account.

2) Start your own blog. You should definitely opt for this option. Even though you think you dont have any content to put up for your blog, you should atleast start your blog and put up a simple welcome page on it. That's pretty good for a beginning. You can add content to your blog later whenever you find yourself in a jovial mood.

3) If you already own a blog or a website then you should start focusing on increasing your blog/website's Alexa and Page Rank if you havent already done so. This would help a lot in promoting your site/blog.

4) Try googling your friends or seniors from your college or some other people you know who might have a better Google Identity. After doing so notice the website that turn up in the first few search results. Keep a list of all these websites.

5) Find out more about all these wesites on Wikipedia. You'll get detailed information on every site at Wikipedia. Open your accounts or link yourselves to the websites.

6) Finally I leave you with some improtant tips from the TOI article -

"To start grooming your reputation online, start a blog, even if it’s just a few pages worth. Have colleagues suggest you for wikipedia or make sure you are represented on Squidoo.com or write an article for sites like OhMyNews.com or ChangeThis. Then of course there are the social networking pages that give you the freedom to portray yourself in a flattering light. Try posting things that you would like the world to see.

If you are feeling stretched thin by trying to deal with so many different profiles, log on to programs like Ziki.com, Wink.com, Rapleaf.com and Spock.com. They offer you an opportunity to reclaim editorial control on how your identity is constructed and represented online. Basically, these sites are aimed to become the central clearing house for all information about you on the internet. This can be like your own private wikipedia entry. You could begin with creating your profile into one of these sites, and then you add your feeds to your profile. You can pull any RSS feeds you currently publish and sites like Ziki will compile them together into an up-tothe-minute round-up of your own verbiage. Throw into the mix links to your profiles on other sites such as LinkedIn, eBay, Amazon and others and this should help you create a fairly comprehensive profile of your online presence."

To view the Time of India article "To Build Trust, Groom Your Digital Identity" - click here