Basically in plainspeak the Facebook terms and conditions are saying “As long as your photos are on Facebook, you’re agreeing to give us the right to do anything we want with any of your photos for any reason. Once you take your photos off, we might still have a copy but we won’t use it. However, rest assured we don’t claim to own your photos so we won’t sue you for using your own photos, just so you know.”

For the past roughly 8 years, I’ve been signing off many of my e-mails with “stay in high spirits” or “stay in rising spirits.” This is inspired by a concept in the Sikh community called “Chardee Kalaa.”

I will explain it to the best of my ability. The words Chardee and Kalaa are from the Punjabi language, and together they form a phrase which is a state of being.

Chardee means rising, but it can also mean growing, unrelenting, blossoming, becoming whole, increasing, and elevating.

Kalaa has various meanings. Kalaa means an art, and an artist is called a Kalaa-kaar (art-doer). In addition, in Sanskrit, Kalaa-vanth means the moon (beauty-having). Kalaa therefore also refers to beauty, or unique personality.

I have a few definitions of Chardee Kalaa.

The first is the art of being in perpetual elevation. This means to always be in a state of growth, evolution, and increasing love and faith for the Truth, the Creator and Creation.

2nd: the art of becoming whole. This means to be like the moon when it is going from nothingness to becoming a full moon. The moon reflects the light of the Sun, and a truly enlightened soul reflects the light of the Truth.

3rd: having an unrelenting, blossoming personality. This means to be always in a state of faith, to not give up on righteousness, and at the same time to approach challenges with patience and love.

4th: the art of rising. This means to consistently be in spiritual growth, and to not waver or be lazy in your spiritual path. To elevate yourself, little by little, consistently, every day, to eventually become one with the Truth and the Creator who is the Truth.

I think all of these definitions work together to form the personality of an individual that is truly in “Chardee Kalaa” and this state of being relies on faith, love, courage, patience, discipline, grace, steadiness, perseverance, and optimism based on trust in the Will of God.

It’s easy to say it as a sign-off, but practicing this state of being is a real journey and there are some fortunate people who can remain in this state of being. At the end of every congregational prayer in the Sikh community worldwide, the following phrase is recited, which I think sums up this state of being:

Naanak Naam Chardee Kalaa
Thayray Bhaane Sarbat Da Bhalla

Through the teachings & blessings of Guru Nanak, through the Name of God, may we remain in Chardee Kalaa.
By Your Will, Dear Creator God, may you ensure the Wellbeing of All.

alright that’s all for now :)

-k.s.

—-

Update:

This topic continued on Cre8asiteForums with some interesting comments from the members there.

— read the updates below —

If you’re using WordPress 2.5.1, and you don’t like the Categories box being underneath the post write box, and you want the box back in the sidebar, this is for you!

Screenshot:

—-

Before you start, backup your wp-admin/edit-form-advanced.php file.

After backing it up, locate the file and open it in your code/text editor and follow these steps:

Step 1) Find and delete this:

<div id="categorydiv" class="postbox <?php echo postbox_classes('categorydiv', 'post'); ?>">
<h3><?php _e('Categories') ?></h3>
<div class="inside">
 
<div id="category-adder" class="wp-hidden-children">
	<h4><a id="category-add-toggle" href="#category-add" class="hide-if-no-js" tabindex="3"><?php _e( '+ Add New Category' ); ?></a></h4>
	<p id="category-add" class="wp-hidden-child">
		<input type="text" name="newcat" id="newcat" class="form-required form-input-tip" value="<?php _e( 'New category name' ); ?>" tabindex="3" />
		<?php wp_dropdown_categories( array( 'hide_empty' => 0, 'name' => 'newcat_parent', 'orderby' => 'name', 'hierarchical' => 1, 'show_option_none' => __('Parent category'), 'tab_index' => 3 ) ); ?>
		<input type="button" id="category-add-sumbit" class="add:categorychecklist:categorydiv button" value="<?php _e( 'Add' ); ?>" tabindex="3" />
		<?php wp_nonce_field( 'add-category', '_ajax_nonce', false ); ?>
		<span id="category-ajax-response"></span>
	</p>
</div>
 
<ul id="category-tabs">
	<li class="ui-tabs-selected"><a href="#categories-all" tabindex="3"><?php _e( 'All Categories' ); ?></a></li>
	<li class="wp-no-js-hidden"><a href="#categories-pop" tabindex="3"><?php _e( 'Most Used' ); ?></a></li>
</ul>
 
<div id="categories-all" class="ui-tabs-panel">
	<ul id="categorychecklist" class="list:category categorychecklist form-no-clear">
		<?php dropdown_categories(); ?>
	</ul>
</div>
 
<div id="categories-pop" class="ui-tabs-panel" style="display: none;">
	<ul id="categorychecklist-pop" class="categorychecklist form-no-clear" >
		<?php wp_popular_terms_checklist('category'); ?>
	</ul>
</div>
 
</div>
</div>

Step 2) Find and delete this:

<div class="side-info">
<h5><?php _e('Related') ?></h5>
 
<ul>
<?php if ($post_ID): ?>
<li><a href="edit.php?p=<?php echo $post_ID ?>"><?php _e('See Comments on this Post') ?></a></li>
<?php endif; ?>
<li><a href="edit-comments.php"><?php _e('Manage All Comments') ?></a></li>
<li><a href="edit.php"><?php _e('Manage All Posts') ?></a></li>
<li><a href="categories.php"><?php _e('Manage All Categories') ?></a></li>
<li><a href="edit-tags.php"><?php _e('Manage All Tags') ?></a></li>
<li><a href="edit.php?post_status=draft"><?php _e('View Drafts'); ?></a></li>
<?php do_action('post_relatedlinks_list'); ?>
</ul>
</div>

Step 3) Find this (Don’t delete it – just find it):

<span id="autosave"></span>
</p>

Step 4) Paste this underneath:

<div class="side-info" style="margin-left: -15px;  ">
 
<div id="categorydiv" class="postbox <?php echo postbox_classes('categorydiv', 'post'); ?>" style="width: 260px;">
<h3>Categories</h3>
<div class="inside">
 
<div id="category-adder" class="wp-hidden-children" style="margin-left: -5px; ">
<h4>	<a id="category-add-toggle" href="#category-add" class="hide-if-no-js" tabindex="3"><?php _e( '+ Add New Category' ); ?></a></h4>
	<p id="category-add" class="wp-hidden-child" style="width: 250px; " >
		<input type="text" name="newcat" id="newcat" class="form-required form-input-tip" value="<?php _e( 'New category name' ); ?>" tabindex="3" style="width: 150px; " /><br />
		<?php wp_dropdown_categories( array( 'hide_empty' => 0, 'name' => 'newcat_parent', 'orderby' => 'name', 'hierarchical' => 1, 'show_option_none' => __('Parent category'), 'tab_index' => 3 ) ); ?>
		<input type="button" id="category-add-sumbit" class="add:categorychecklist:categorydiv button" value="<?php _e( 'Add' ); ?>" tabindex="3"  />
		<?php wp_nonce_field( 'add-category', '_ajax_nonce', false ); ?>
		<span id="category-ajax-response"></span>
	</p>
</div>
 
<ul id="category-tabs" style="width: 2px; ">
 
</ul>
 
<div id="categories-all" class="ui-tabs-panel"  style="height: 400px; margin: 2px; ">
	<ul id="categorychecklist" class="list:category categorychecklist form-no-clear">
		<?php dropdown_categories(); ?>
	</ul>
</div>
 
 
 
</div>
</div>
</div>

Step 5) Save (make sure your old copy was backed up).

Step 6) Login to your WP Admin and go to “Write > Post” and check it out. If you like it let me know that it worked. If not, I cannot provide support but you can still contact me at info [at] kulpreetsingh [dot] com.

Disclaimer:
This has been tested on WP 2.5.1. I am not responsible for your WP installation or for this fix. Please backup your edit-form-advanced.php file and restore it if this doesn’t work.

—-

Update:

Screencast by Rebecca Bollwitt (Miss604) on how to do the above:

—-

Update 2:

It turns out there’s a plugin that does this as well! Probably easier to manage for the non-coding population, especially because it will / should extend regardless of your version updates. It is a little different from my method, but the concept is the same. The website’s in Turkish but the plugin page is in English: http://beyn.org/sidecat/

—-

Update 3:

Peter Keung took this fix and the plugin above and made a new plugin. Thank you Peter! You can download it here: http://www.theblog.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/sidecat_reloaded.txt

So most of you probably have a Facebook account, but have you ever thought about whether one account is enough? Yeah, I know you’re probably thinking “is he crazy? I get enough pokes and vampire invitations already.” But hear me out.

Before they become habits, we all come to social networks with some type of agenda. In the case of Facebook, there are many reasons why people use it because although it began with students, its user base is continually expanding to the general population. Firstly, we use it to keep in touch with our current friends, relatives, and associates. Second, we use it to get back in touch with people with whom we lost touch. Third, we use it to network with professionals (i.e. people at work, people at school, people in the same field, people from the same discussion forum). Fourth, we use it to learn or teach about issues we consider important (e.g. Allow coloured profiles on Facebook, Don’t allow coloured profiles on Facebook, Leave Britney Alone, 1,000,000 Who Hate George W. Bush, etc.). There are other reasons as well.

Now, if you have one profile – and only one – it will be difficult for you to post images you want to share with friends, while you have professional associates on your Friends list. Likewise, if you’re in groups with strong political or religious motivations, it could have repercussions in your work or school situation.

I know that technically Facebook doesn’t allow or encourage multiple accounts, but I think it is essential. Here’s how I would go about it:

The Personal Account
Use this account for only your close friends, family, and people with whom you’ve grown up. People that you trust and who trust you. People who wouldn’t Photoshop your pictures and re-post them on Fark.com. This is the profile where you can relax a little bit.

The Professional Account
Use this account for your work associates, school non-friends and professors, and people to whom you’d like to show your most polished self. This one can have a more detailed “Career” section while not having to be filled with your favourite movies, books, etc. It’s a good idea to keep your profile on this one free from the clutter of applications like “Hot or Not” and “Pet Pupz” and instead make it look like a professional portfolio.

The Anonymous Account
Facebook doesn’t like anonymous accounts and they might try to stop you, but usually you can come up with a reasonable name that is totally anonymous. You can use this for activism. If there is a group that you want to join or start, but can’t be associated with, you can use this account. Some people might not like my suggestion here, but this is a really important tool for non-profits as well. Sometimes you want to promote a cause, but don’t necessarily want your organization to be responsible for the group. You can start a group with this account and still promote your cause and even indirectly promote your organization, but not be representing your organization. Note: in a legal sense, regardless of the name you choose, you are responsible for your actions and I do not suggest anyone to use this method for anything inappropriate or illegal. Use your head!

It’s important in the case of all three of the above to keep an eye on your privacy settings. Sometimes when you have your settings set too loosely, people can still see your profile although you’d prefer they didn’t. For example, when you send someone a message, they will be able to see, at the very minimum, your limited profile. So it’s a good idea to make sure you’re sending a message to a particular person from the appropriate account.

Fake Profiles for Spam
Be careful if you’re using an anonymous account. Only use it for good, and don’t get attached to it. If you use a fake profile for spam, that is EVIL! Don’t do it! You probably will get reported and it’s not good karma.

Source: JVManna on Flickr.

Next Up
Throughout the month of May (and some of June), I’ll be sharing my experience in the last two years with the following topics: “Facebook Marketing for Non-Profits” and “WordPress as a CMS” – Look out for it! If you have any questions for me you’d like answered, please post them in the comments or e-mail me: info [at] kulpreetsingh [dot] com.