Net Gains: May 22, 1996 - one of Lyndon Cerejo's published articles

About 9 weeks ago, a businessman from Australia was planning to come to India in search of software talent that our subcontinent is so famous for. He had planned to conduct interviews at Bombay (India's financial capital) and in Bangalore (India's software capital). He had no idea of what India had in store for him, but wanted to get an idea of where he could hold his interviews, how much he would pay for that, and which papers/ magazines he could place his advertisements for how much. Now what Joe Riley did was to turn to the Internet, and search for the word 'Bombay' (like it or not, Mumbai is still Bombay, in Australia). He got a whole lot of Bombay sites on the Net, but couldn't find what he was looking for. So he sent an e-mail from my page (one of those listed in the search results) asking me to help him out by recommending a hotel, and by giving him the fax numbers of the major newspapers that had an overseas employment section dealing with computer professionals. Had he tried today, he would have got all that he could possibly want to know about Mumbai - on the Net. Because, starting today, there's a new, very comprehensive site on apna Mumbai. It's called MUMBAI ON THE NET.

Mumbai on the net is being made available to the world today - May 22, 1996. Conceived by Prakash Arya, Director, Arya Computers Pvt. Ltd., this idea has been supported by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation Ltd., (MTDC), in the guise of official sponsorship of the site by them. Mumbai on the net is a focussed web-site targetting educated citizens (who are subscribers of VSNL's GIAS service), and others either planning to visit our city, or those who are just plain interested in knowing more about Mumbai. The best part about Mumbai on the net is that it's absolutely free - this information resource is available to web-surfers the world over at no cost, unlike certain sites that require you to be a subscriber before you access their information. Mumbai on the net is put up on a server in the US of A, and Mr. Arya plans to recover costs from advertisers on this site who can advertise on pages related to their line of business - like Baskin Robins advertising in the Ice cream parlour section of the Food Plaza on this site.

For the likes of Joe Riley (anywhere in the world), the 'Travel & Tourist Information' and 'City Information' sections would satiate their quest for details about Mumbai, be it about airlines, car rentals, hotels, travel agents, or the government here, maps, the weather or just the history of Mumbai. There is a listing of tourist spots, weekend getaways, and even religious places of interest here.

Paarrtttyyy animals can have a field day, in the 'Leisure' and 'Food Plaza' sections catering to clubs, discotheques, bars & pubs, fast food joints, Ice cream parlours, and what have you. The 'Entertainment' section makes it easy to keep tabs on what's happening where as far as Movies, Theatre, TV, and Music goes.

The information available at Mumbai on the Net is not all fun and time-pass related. There's a lot of serious, vital and maybe even life - sustaining information in the 'Public Utilities' and 'Emergency Services' sections. Need to know where you could find a day-and-night chemist or petrol pump ? Need a list of ambulance services, police stations and fire brigades ? Need the contact numbers of Heart attack helpline, or maybe the LPG leakage helpline ? It's there, under the 'Emergency Services' listings on Mumbai on the net.

But Mumbai on the net is not a site you need visit only when you need any Mumbai - related information. The 'Magazine' section ensures that you could drop in week after week to get your dose of humour, Bollywood gossip, Glamour (in the form of a pin-up), and even a smile a la Mario Miranda ! This magazine is updated week after week, talking about what made news in Mumbai during the past week, and carrying a feature article of topical interest - be it the traffic pollution, pathetic state of our roads, or the guys we love to hate - MTNL ! 'What's on this week' keeps you updated on the "happening" exhibitions, festivals, and special occasions.

Mumbai on the net also caters to business im Mumbai via the 'Classifieds' and the 'Personal & business services' (legal, financial, pest control, employment agencies that kind of stuff). There's even a virtual supermarket on these web - pages in the 'Shopping' section that has in its complex, book shops, departmental stores, sports goods, jewellers, gifting services, consumer electronics, and a computer & software section, to name a few of the shops therein. For any further information related to Mumbai on the net, you could e-mail [email protected].

Mumbai goes onto the net in a big way today, and remember, you read about it first here, in what better place than Bombay Times ?

Cyberdefinition

USERS : Collective term for those who stare vacantly at a monitor.

Users are divided into three types: novice, intermediate and expert.

- Novice Users. People who are afraid that simply pressing a key might break their computer.

- Intermediate Users. People who don't know how to fix their computer after they've just pressed a key that broke it.

- Expert Users. People who break other people's computers.

	Net Gains (May 22, 96)
Net Gains Archives: 1995 \| 1996 \| 1997 \| 1998 \| 1999