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Saturday, August 23, 2003

July/August 2003: "Journalists need to get more comfortable with mistakes. We might as well; there are probably a few in most of our stories. And it�s the best way to fight them."
Tata Chemicals: Press releases
Tata Chemicals Ltd, the pioneers and undisputed leaders in the packaged salt category today unveiled Desh ka namak, its new brand positioning and advertising campaign for Tata Salt. A paradigm shift from the rational (right brain) advertising approach to the category, the Desh ka namak platform will see Tata Salt take an emotional (left brain) platform, which has the potential to be a big category clutter-breaker
Features > A glass act: "TCL soda ash's white colour and low impurity content make it the preferred element for manufacturing high-quality sodium silicate. TCL's own sodium bicarbonate plant has a capacity of 50 KTPA. The product is manufactured from its own soda ash and marketed not only domestically but also exported to the Middle East, Africa and Bangladesh. Other manufacturers use TCL's low-chloride soda ash of consistent quality as a source of alkali in the making of sodium tripolyphosphate. "
Tata Chemicals Ltd.
Solvay Sodium Bicarbonate: "BICAR® is a synthetic and pure Sodium Bicarbonate produced using the Solvay process, requiring common salt and limestone. It has a wide range of uses as well in chemical and pharmaceutical industries as in animal feeds or human food or other industrial and manufactured products."

So Much to Write about....

Blogging is tough. I have many new ideas but nothing crystalise to writing. I know this would make a nice subject, but when I sit down to write everything evaporates, nothing is left.

It's the nature of commercial writing that is so daunting. You are required to produce instant copy and that which will elevate and impress the big executive (who knows zilch about the writing process). Problem is most of the corporate types have read the wrong types of books and it's difficult to convince them what real writing, the process is all about.

Firstly, they think that writing is what is going through their minds. They don't realize what's going through their minds are just that: thoughts. Writing is the process by which thoughts travel down from the mind, down the tendons to the finger tips, and then to paper or the screen and there are many slip-ups and dangers that can happen in this process.

Secondly, they know the end product of this laborious process: the newspaper, the glossy magazines, the well-edited brochures, etc. but do not know what effort have gone into producing these. They think they all came about with one person, not as a process as a whole. So they think that an article, a brochure, a script can be written in a few minutes (after all, it's a few words, isn't it?) and can appear in the form they want in a day. Therefore they rush the process and end up with unsightly mistakes, wrong punctuation, and bad formatting that kills the quality of the final product.

Will they learn? I don't see them learning.
Salt Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about sodium chloride: "What you always wanted
to know about salt*
*and now you have someone to ask.
What is salt?
Where does salt come from?
Are surface salt deposits visible from space?
Does salt have historical significance?
Any consumer tips on using salt?
Where is salt produced in North America?
How much salt is produced in the U.S.?
How much salt is produced around the world?
What technologies are used to produce salt?
What is 'solar evaporation'?
What is 'solution mining'?
What is 'vacuum pan evaporation'?
What is 'rock salt'?
By production technology, how much salt is produced?
What's the biggest use of dry salt?
What's the biggest use of salt in brine?
Why do we use salt in cooking and food processing?
Where can I get recipes featuring salt?
What's more important: health outcomes or blood pressure?
What about salt and blood pressure?
What do doctors think about sodium and hypertension?
Do studies show cutting dietary salt reduces heart attacks?
What's the latest major study about dietary salt and health?
What does the prestigious Cochrane Collaboration say about 'Reduced dietary salt for prevention of cardiovascular disease'?
What's the latest major analytical review on dietary salt science?
What's the latest major analytical review on dietary salt policy?
What about salt and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Do athletes need extra salt?
Why do we use iodized salt?
Is salt the best highway deicer?
How does salt compare to alternative deicers?
Why do animals need salt and trace minerals?
Why use salt in your water softener? (hint: searc"

Learning the Ropes of Blogging

Blogging is all about keeping record, seeing things and reacting to situations, news, inspiration, whatever. How it comes out depends on the frame of mind that one may be in at that moment. There may be millions recording their private thoughts in the blogosphere (that's what blogging domain is all about) and this may lead to an overflow of information - some of them misplaced - in cyber space. What does all this mean. Blogging is also a responsible craft. The blogger being writer, editor, critic and publisher it is upon the blogger to exercise restraint in what he/she writes.

So, Salty You Want It Eh?

Doing a lot of research on what Tata Chemicals does. I find that it is one of the leading manufacturers of salt and it's from salt that Soda Ash (Sodium Hydroxide) is manufactured, and, obviously common kitchen salt. Who could have thought that Tata Salt came all the way from Porbandar or thereabouts to adorn our palates and tastes.

Writing the Tata Chemical Website

I am re-writing the Tata Chemicals website and its an interesting task, full of challenges though. Got the hang of its structure and am research contents to include the various products manufactured by it. Simultaneously, I am also editing and uploading to the tata.com website. It's a tough task, considering you have to design and write something completely new and have to impress the company to brass. I have also heard that the company's top man is a hard nut to crack, and a sticklet at that. Correct me if I am wrong.

What's It Anyway?

Still lost but getting the hang of blogging. It takes a lot of my time finding out, how to do it, solving the glitches, painstakingly uploaded pages disappearing without a trace, links going haywire, it's too difficult I guess.

Been reading some other blogs to find out what's going on. Guess it will take sometime, but what the heck, I have time on my hands and the employer's internet connection.
Hi this is my first blog! I don't know how this works!! But I am game enough to try!!! Ah! seems there are some instructions... I will have to sit and read them... till my eyes pop... okay so here goes....