"We know that for some change is difficult"

Norm, she doggin you on the way out bro! Good 1 Mallika!

Well alright ya'all, I wish all here past and present only the best in life.

Take care everybody.

Peace

Mallika, did you really think that out? The one thing about this site is that because of it's design it shows up high in search engines and it's fast it is also easy to navigate for those that are not into the complex sites.

Also what about all the content and articles that are referenced on here from elsewhere? There is really good content on this site. What is going to happen with all the historical dialog?

Yes, the intent.com site is very slow sometimes and the same things happened with several other social sites and because they were slow people stopped participating. It does tend to drive someone away.

I really don't think it makes any sense to do that. I can understand not having comments here anymore I think the content is very valuable.

it's a sad day!

this has been for the most part a great site..

it's sad to see it close...

i want to say to all of the regulars before the close...have a great life! it was a fantastic experience!

D.

It was fun and we had some good exchanges, but there was a pattern at IB. Posts that called for giving reason and reality a chance to find the truth and not assigning the unexplainable to the supernatural were often not allowed or even deleted. These “reality posts” seemed a threat to the owners.

But faith, which is nothing but blind belief, is at the heart of many conflicts today and indeed throughout history, and if we don’t learn to reason things out our children and grandchildren will inherit a very dangerous world, if a world at all?

Thanks for letting me post here even though, since the RCB debacle, only under many different display IDs.

Let’s strive to

Seek - try to locate or discover
Knowledge - the body of truth
Enlightenment - education that results in understanding, and
Peace - the absence of mental stress or anxiety

and help the world find a religion that worships the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science. It might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.

All the best to all of you. Take care, Ron.

I wish you the best of luck with Intent.com, Mallika.

Intentblog has been a unique place to read and comment over the past three and a half years, for me. I've "met" some unforgettable people, many of whom I've come to quite love.

The most compelling aspects of Intentblog were the sometimes-fiery political discussions, the literary posts and comments, and the ad-hoc playfulness and jokes. I've missed Shekhar's participation, and the participation of other Indian bloggers from the entertainment and literary arts worlds, as well as the synergistic dialogue between Deepak and Shekhar, for the past two years. These are things that will never be recaptured, I think.

I understand and support your purpose with Intent.com. And I was encouraged about the future of the collective Chopra family voice, after I viewed Gotham's interview of Deepak.

I send my best wishes and love and blessings to all who have read and written here.

love, h

Dear Mallika, you write:-
".....helps you connect with people you choose to be in touch with in a more efficient way."

That sounds awfully self-serving and if I may respectfully say, a touch arrogant.

I am extraordinarily grateful for the lives that have touched mine here at IB, EVERY single one of them indispensible ingredients to this cake we call Life.
An upmarket cake rather speaks for itself.
'Even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table.'
I feel outcast, right now. I'm sorry.

Dear Mallika,

Good luck and success with Intent.com which is already becoming a blossoming community.

Thanks a lot for Intent Blog which has been a once in a lifetime experience to me.

I met lots of very nice people here; together we were inspired to engage ourselves into a number of projects.

I am very grateful for the time I have spent here and learnt a lot.

Especially I want to thank Harbhajan Singh, who inspired me in a great way to make my own website in the way I did.

But almost everyone has been an inspiration to me for which I am very grateful. That is why I spent a whole page on my website, especially dedicated to Intentblog:

http://www.heartphone.org/poem_of_the_stone.htm

All the best to everyone that has been posting and commenting to this blog! May you all blossom in your very own special way!

Mieke

It's been a good ride...no...Craig...ur right..I don't like change! I doubt I'll get involved in Intent, I've perused the site, but it doesn't turn me on....

Having said that..I completely understand Mallika's business decision, and wish her and all the Chopra's the best.

Mallika, Thanks for providing this forum for the last few years...it's been fun, for the most part.

So...a shout out...to all the regulars, it's been fun...have a wunnerful life....

Ruth, Ambasteve, Baby D, Keith, Heather, Skep, Ed, Craig....mainly I've interacted with you guys, and if I miss someone I'm sorry...you guys are great...all the best to you....

Craig...you can beat it...i know you can....just do it...you're the best...

Ruthie...a big hug from your big, dumb conservative friend....we really would enjoy a cup of coffee together...and i bet we'd part as friends!

Steve...keep'em to the right, out there on the left coast....i wish i had your brains...

Baby D....maybe we'll meet in the islands...you see a big dude, drinking rum and coke, smoking a big stogie, and surrounded by a bevy of babes..walk on over and say hi... :)

Good luck to all....

much love,

norm

ps...the bevy of babes was just for fun...with a face like mine...they run!!

mallika...

will you condider at least keeping one thread open where the regulars can keep in touch with each other and the world? OT maybe? if not, thanks for the memories!

Thank you, Mieke. I may have inspired you but you brought many unknown facets of my book to my knowledge, because of which I often said that you seem to have understood my book even more than me lol.

Heath, you with your Hindi/Punjabi songs kept me wondering if you were actually an Indian in western name/garb. I enjoyed your songs sooo much though I often failed to comment on them.

Similarly, I enjoyed posts of many others though I did not comment on them. There are many accomplished wise men/women here.

Then who will forget Kate, who for most of the time in the past remained as illusive as love itself and we thought she was actually not real, or that she was an old lady through and through, only to discover later that she was as young as to be almost in her teens.

I too will miss this site, more so because I dont think I will like to visit intent as frequently as intentblog because intent to me seems to be overwhelming with shops as in some mela grounds as compared to the one-stop-shop simplicity of the intentblog or of its first page. Here you can find everything at its first page and then it is up to you to go further or not, while there one gets tired even seeing the varied topics, intents and what not and then is not left with the energy to move further.

Yet life moves on and so should the intentblog...

Harb

harb...i think it's a mistake to shut down the site...it's bit like kicking ur guests out...the party is over...maybe they will reconsider...but i won't be holding my breath...

emperor...all the best bro...

kate...u were an angel on earth...

heath...the NY flower...may u bloom well beyond the memories...

to all...damn!

Hi, Mallika and Everyone,

Thankyou, Mallika, Deepak, and Gotham for this fun blog it has been interesting and informative with just the right touch of serious, lightheatedness, conflict, craziness....all in one..

I wish you well with intent.com and I am sure it will find it's audience.

To all the regular IB folks, and, the, not so regular, it has been great to drop by and chat and offer up some interesting comments on any given day. I will miss checking in and giving my two cents.

Norm, you are a great sport, I just loved letting you have it for being such a loyal repub! A hug right back at you, and, also, to each and every IB'er.

don't worry, be happy, because we are all one being with multiple personalities at the surface, yes, that is right....we are all just plain crazy :)))

ruth

Well Harb, my Dutch translation is still with a friend of mine who will seriously review it and perhaps, one never knows, there will be a possibility to publish it at the end of 2009/beginning 2010.

It is all in the game.....

Mieke

#10 Thanks for the mention, Norm. I do enjoy your bluster. In fact there's been much best medicine here, and that's a good belly laugh. I gather you've got the belly for it!
Nice idea, Diab.....keep a thread open....just not practical and will never be the same, even if those wanting agree a seperate meeting hole, whoa!
Life moves on and Keith already knew that.

Hey, I'm gonna miss all you guys and in this very unique setting. OT was nearest thing to on the street encounter, without the threat of arrest!

Okay, you know where I live ;) Ask the good Harb....

Dear Mallika

I can respect your decision to concentrate your energy in one place and move on. But I have to say that Intent just does not have the diversity nor interest that Intentblog has. Thank you for your past efforts in bringing us Intentblog. All the best to you at Intent and in all ways.

I have learned much here. I think I have gained more than I have given but will pay it forward.
Thank you all Intentblog contributors. It is you who have made this such a special place.

A big shout out to a special person. Ed, you will never be an outcast no matter where you find yourself.

I hear you Norm, intent dot com, is just a little too woo-woo sophisticated for me; but I will have to see what Dr. Chopra is writing somehow!

Guess what! Just last night I had my (Reinhold) Niebuhr conversion, the time in life when Churchill says we all become conservative: Robert Kagan thank you! I have been converted into a neoconservative by a Jew man! Irony of ironies!

Well, being that I am hopelessly too far in debt, pretty soon here I will be the only homeless conservative you know; oh well, at least I have seen the light!

Free the Iranian people! Let us rid this world of tyrannous governments, monkery, and despots! O yeah, its on . . .

No IB no more, I am now cybernetically homeless also, ooo, woe is me: o, diabolical quipping Diablo what hath this world come to!

Ok, take care all, Ron, the sage of Sagan, heath, the loving fighter, Harb, the spiritual intellect, Dr. Matai, simply the intellect (while quite spiritual also), Mieke the compassionate, Ed the educator (always posting good stuff), Bonnie, and here is a bouquet of cyber flowers for you, and of course Ruth, hmmm, she leaves me speechless. And there have been many, many, others!

I don't want to start naming names that have not posted on this thread b/c then I will forget somebody important!

Take care all!

Give em hell Blagojevich! Impeached for fighting for the poor. Quoting Tennyson!

Can I get some money so I can play too!

Arrrrrr

it's like a funeral!

Hey Mallika
Thanks for the ride, one of the most amazing rides I have ever experienced. Peace and love to you.

this has been a strange
and wondrous place
i learned how to type
at more than a snails place
i've been embarrassed and angry
and humbled
and honored
by people of grace
and love and compassion
i've been challenged to my core
by poets and mystics
by scientists and jesters

by a tree

by angels

and by watermelon seeds
and the pink pink mountains

peace comes from peace

and so much love to you all

derek

Frail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCclrQ1pOAo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4wVRcE5gIs

Gosh, I take a break from checking IB for a few days, and look what happens :-).

I certainly don't have words to express what IB meant to me these past 3-4 years. Even though I lurked most of the time, I read almost everything posted, and I've grown to love all you regulars. But most of all, experiencing your vibrant dialogue allowed me to look through a hundred pairs of eyes and that has enriched my world immeasurably. A heartfelt Thanks to all of you.

Well, I'm glad Mallika is going to leave all this incredible material still up online for us, but it will still feel like being in a museum.

See you all on Intent! It's certainly not going to be the same, but that's not all bad, and very likely a lot of good!

Cheers to all, thanks for the fun, it won't be the same without reading some new nonesense from Deepak :) or Ruth's daily rants, Baby D.'s damm!, Craigs struggles with his demons(be well brother), Skinny Norm providing much needed relief when the right cause simply becomes too much here on IB, Heathers' biting wit, Kate's sweetness, UT's whimsy,verbal batonage with Ron and getting down with the God, more or less with(mainly less) with Skep, the many headed Irvine and his minyins, the noble Gotham and dear sister Mallika, and yes dear North, hope you are well.

I never thought in a miilion years I would spend more than a sec on this site, but low and behold made it to the end, that's something to include on a resume if you ask me.

Remember their are only two races of humanity according to Dr. Frankl:

The Decent and
The indecent

I've met some pretty decent folks here, proud to
cut and paste some Prager (it was good for you) and sometimes even sharing my own thoughts.

God bless you all and fight the good fight!

Love,

Steve

I do live quite close to the river, Diablo.

That would be...the river of De Nile.

Tears of a Tree grown sad.

Tributes to all!

Luvz & Hugz

Me2

gang...am the eternal optimist...

i don't think mallika is a meanie...she won't split this global family apart...there's got to be a way to keep such priceless friendships together and keep the discussions going even when we don't always agree! please say it's only a dream and when we wake up, wipe the sweat away, all's well...damn!

says good ole ed...

"'Even the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table.'

I feel outcast, right now. I'm sorry."

it's like a loss round this table right now, like a funeral...why, master? nooooooooooooooo..............................

"the river of De Nile"

har har har har

Ref. 25; thank you Shmuel! I wish the best for you and your family always brother!

Well, alrighty then! I'm now a member at Intent.com along with Craig.

I'll be UncleTree and you can be the one who sees and writes to me there.

No open thread, alas, so's I will keep a blog and eye it out.

I need a place to vent, it seems.

I hope the Chopra family can continue to put up with my shenanigans.

Although, I will play here till it's completely and utterly retired.

See you there, my friends!

Bowing...over and out.

UT

"I can respect your decision to concentrate your energy in one place and move on. But I have to say that Intent just does not have the diversity nor interest that Intentblog has. Thank you for your past efforts in bringing us Intentblog." says bonnie...totally agree!

inviting intentbloggers to intent

is like bringing naughty children to a fine dinner

oh oh could be fun

Dear Mallika, thank you for keeping up all the discussions of the past, I feel much better. They reflect the evolution of thought, and the content on Intentblog is "the" leading edge of the wave however the wave shall now manifest itself elsewhere since Intent.com does not provide for this more linear format. I am impressed with some of the function and design of Intent.com and consider it to be a worthy repository and means of connecting people and intentions.

I agree with what DK said. I also understand your perspective and I know you are sometimes challenged with the "comment" section but that is only an indication of one’s success. You can change the way the commenting section works in Moveable Type to alleviate some of that for example you can make it so that you control and authenticate who actually comments rather than having to deal with each individual comment which I know drains your resources.

It was very nice for you all to open yourselves up to the world rendering yourselves vulnerable and enduring some of the undesired elements that come with that.

There are some important things to consider if even you don't act on them now, you can always change your mind later if some impetus should arise to do so.

IntentBlog is a Blog, a single purpose function and Intent.com is a social networking site with multi-purpose function. There is a difference between the two although a social networking site may have journals or blogs they do not have the efficiency, simple structure and specific single purpose of a true blog or “web log.” A social networking site with advanced function actually becomes a social engineering site and can be used to engineer society. A social networking site is a multi-purpose entity which stipulates certain design requirements that result in certain limitations.

There are many common folk out there that are intimidated and overwhelmed by the social networking sites and it can be confusing to anyone at least at first.

The #1 reason for a site like IntentBlog is that it can withstand the Slashdot effect as some call it which is when a million people try to view a web site. There is a need for a site like this that disseminates awareness and can respond to a heavy demand for it’s content. This is why for example Google’s main page is so sparse and why many sites with a multitude of rich content quickly crash with any large volume of interest.

Although not impossible it is an engineering challenge requiring lots of high performance hardware and special configuration to create a rich content site that can serve large numbers of people during peak times as well as it does during off peak times.

If you need any additional technical assistance or insight let me know.

Much Love
Richard

Mallika Chopra wrote "In the coming days, we will be making the transition from this site - by shutting off comments here, and by redirecting www.intentblog.com to the blog roll page on Intent.com ."

I checked the "blog roll" link[http://www.intent.com/latest] it is actually the latest "blog posts/entries" list/roll of Intent voices/members.

As such Intent(Beta)' Homepage has no Blogroll (of recommended blogs of other bloggers.) The indvidual Member/voices' blogs have no blog roll either. It carries only the list of their own posts/ blog entries.

It is a good idea to enable Blogroll option for individual members/voices. Not that important though.

Some suggestions for a better transition to - and experience of - the Intent site.

1.) Since you plan to redirect http://www.intentblog.com/ to http://www.intent.com/latest it is a good idea to make that page as functionally similar to Intentblog home page as possible, or at least it have the feel and look of the same.

-Increase the number of blogs displayed on the page to 20 (or 15) from the current 10.

-A list of Latest/Recent comments (about 10/20 depending on the frequency of comments)

-Post an Open Thread ...in the Intent Voices section on a weekly or perhaps a daily or from a time-to-time basis depending on the frequency of other posts.

2.) You could also similarly increase the number of Intent Voices' and Members' blog entries to 10-each from the current 5 and 3 respectively.

3.) It is an excellent idea to allow members to recommend a blog entry if they like it. Depdneing on the number of recommendations, these can be automatically displayed on the 'recommended' blogs list on the front page. This feature could be very handy when the Intent site grows in readership and activity... so as to improve the quality of discussion. For example see [true community blogs like DailyKos.com, Of course it has a hell of a lot of other good features too; like recommending a comment, troll rating, individual user comment history and search, etc.]

***

For transition of purposes alone - Intent still in beta phase - and if your intention is not to discourage other intentblog readers, I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND point number 1.) above.

"2.) You could also similarly increase the number of Intent Voices' and Members' blog entries to 10-each from the current 5 and 3 respectively."

This on the Intent Homepage as against the page "http://www.intent.com/latest" as in point number 1.)

I would also recommend that the URL be www.intent.com/blog or (www.blog.intent.com) and make it as functionally similar to intentblog.com as possible.

As Richard Thomas wrote above, the experience of a blog (or even a 'community blog' like say DailyKos.com) is very much different from a social networking site not just functionally but also by audience tastes' wise.

People who are averse to social networking can participate on the blog section. That way you can keep the Intentblog readers and potential blog-only audiences in general. This can also act as a further incentive for social networking and community blog participation on Intent...

Checking out Intent and having some fun...

My blog:

http://www.intent.com/user/5101/public/blog/view

massco

Well I see you are giving them hell already brother!

Now be nice . . .

K, this night owl has to get a little sleep.

Good morning all!

Peace

Mallika,

Thank you for taking the time to create Intentblog and now Intent. It is a source of fun, inspiration and valuable information about the pressing issues facing humanity.

this smacks of change for the sake of change

i like THIS blogsite and spent A LOT of time trying to learn how to navigate in it

ther new blogsite is an IMPOSSIBLY SLOW LOAD and it MAKES NO SENSE TO ME

too much STUFF

too f***ing confusing

frankly, I hate it

too many professional writers posing as ordinanry surfers

too fake

it is all a big sham and a lie, as far as I can tell

pure Hollywood, with a knee-jerk liberal flavor--
and i am a liberal myself

i am mourning the loss of IntentBlog and am sure that many many REAL PEOPLE besides me also feel this way

the new place is FAKE FAKE FAKE

i can smell it a mile away

too many ads

too many fakey glamour people

too much sham and hypocrisy over there

there was just the right amount RIGHT HERE, where we all love to be

PS i believe that you, your "brother," and your "father" are all fake people also

not completely sure, though

(not saying that you are not Cute)

http://www.amazon.com/Sartorial-Eloquence/dp/B000VWH0AK
.
.
.
.

You've a certain sartorial eloquence
And a style that's almost of your own.
You've got the knack of being so laid-back
It's like talking to the great Unknown
You've got a self-sufficient swept-back hairdo,
Pretty certain that you've got it made,
Oh, your lifestyle shows in the clothes you chose.
Sitting pretty in the masquerade

Sing it
Don't you wanna play this game no more
Don't you wanna play no more
Don't you wanna play this game no more
Don't you wanna play no more

You remain the only main contender
Though you never, you never meant to lose at all
Down at the mouth yet unsurrounded
Adamant before the fall
Though when you go you know I might be lonesome
But I'll keep it under close control
Go and get your kicks and babe let's call it quits
I believe I'm feeling indisposed

Don't you wanna play this game no more
When you go you know I might be lonesome
But I'll keep it under close control
Go and get your kicks and babe let's call it quits
I believe I'm feeling indisposed

.
.
.
.

A final goodbye!

Thank you all very sincerely for the great experience, discussions and debates we have indulged in here over the past three-odd years. I have met some incredibly gifted people on this journey, great, seminal writers and precocious, revolutionary thinkers, like my buddy Skep. IntentBlog has been a great format/forum for liberal speech, openness and diversity. As it evolved, it accreted a substantial worldwide audience ranging from ordinary folks to intellectuals to media personnel, to the nutty.

One of my most challenging experiences at Intent Blog was, with the support of my trusted wingman, the honest exposure of religion for the fraud that it is. To think of it, it is staggeringly incredible to realize that the vast majority of humans all around remain so firmly entrenched in this scourge, intoxicated by its deceptions and willingly, or unwittingly, pass the torch of nonsense on to the next generation. And so on and so on! Isn’t it time to break the cycle?

As I see it, religion is the most deleterious social cancer in the human experience! It has been at the epicenter of world conflicts all throughout history and now. First, it unconscionably disables your mind, bleeds your wallet and, as in the case of Jim Jones, takes your breath away. Some of its most ardent, committed, misguided extremists today represent a most lethal threat to the very continuum of life on the planet as we know it, for example, suicide bombers. What are you doing to fight this veritable threat?

With this, I bid you all a wonderful life, one full of joy, happiness and fulfillment! It has been an amazing journey and fun! So long and goodbye, everyone!

Dear Mallika, and everyone,

I have enjoyed this site tremendously, and made some good friends along the way. I only hope that Intent.Com will try and be as diverse and yet as simple as Intentblog has been.

I also hope I can sign in there as I am still having a devil of a time getting a post on here!

DK I hope your great advice and input will continue at the other site, and I hope to see all of the regulars there including the not so turned on Norm. (I know he is still glum and nursing the loss of his gun packin idol Sara Palin)

Wish everyone all the best in 2009 and don't forget to breathe, long, deep, and often.

Kindest Regards,
Stan

Malika:

You might want to think about keeping IB going until you move from the beta stage. Intent.com moving at a snails pace (not being able to even receive the home page) may eventually turn people away. I'm pretty persistent but at some point even Facebook becomes more appealing.

I could not get Intent to respond today.

lol Derek, I have a nice comparison to make:

We had a few weeks of moderate to severe frost in our country and everyone in our country got excited about skating on natural ice.

So there were some skating events organized.

Some of them were soo successful that they had to be cancelled for the next day because of too much success :)

Mieke

Ron, Stan, LPB; you guys can't leave us now!

They'll work out the kinks at intent:

I hope.

Peace

Craig I'm not goin' anywhere.

I may have stopped posting here but I've been visiting and staying and reading everything here on a daily basis, ever since I stopped post on a daily basis.

It ain't over 'till the fat lady sings.

This site is unique. I visit many sites and there are non like this out there.

Intent is a fluff site I'm sorry to say. It's a dime a dozen site. And just when the world is beginning to open it's eyes and get smart to fluff we have another....well another fluff site.

I usually check the number of responses to a post before I read it. Here at IB I'll read a post no matter how many responses have been posted because I have grown to love the regular posters and responders. On Intent there are so many posts that are not being responded to it signals to me that Intent is already dead in the water.

Well time will tell.

I don't mean to be harsh. I just have to speak my mind.

Craig:

Ok maybe I spoke to soon. I didn't realize why you were saying, "you guys can't leave us now."

And then I went over to Intent to give it a closer look.

I created an account and it looks like Malika is on to something.

It could be a very powerful forum. I see Desmond Tutu has posted. Imagine we have the opportunity to interact with the likes of Desmond Tutu.

It ain't ova 'till it's ova.

Dear Mallika, hope you are still reading this thread. There is an addon and or techniques that would allow the Intent Blog readers to actually monitor the comments, relieving you or others of the burden. Having to do with the cream principle I have written so much about. Obama is using it by the way. The readers push the cream to the top allowing the sediment to fall to the bottom a powerful collective effort and control.

I would also urge you to check out for example www.intensedebate.com and there is Google Moderator.

As for intent.com and perhaps this site depending on what you do it would make sense to integrate with OpenID 1.x, 2.0, FaceBook Connect, MySpaceID, Yahoo, and Google authentication. It is not that hard to do and anyone that has an account on one of these sites can quickly and easily create an account on Intent. It also allows you and them to push and pull data between the other social networks and Intent.com.

It is what is happening, so fast I can hardly keep up with it, but it has a lot to do with the Universal Information System I have written about. There is a way to integrate Intent.com with the Universal Information System and create genuine economic value and efficiency that will help fund your endeavors. I won’t go into detail here because I don’t want to give away your own trade secrets that you are not yet aware of yet (then again maybe you are) and have some large corporate entity with profit before service intentions to usurp your creation. What is possible is phenomenal.

You could think of Intent.com as a web service and repository with a specialty, which is “intent” and actually allow users to display their lists of intents on their other social networking sites. Facebook would be one of the first Portals you could integrate with.

Just some thoughts some feasible and fitting with your plans and perhaps some not…

dear Mallika,
I have been in NYC and away from IB for more than a week, but did not want to miss this chance now, when I am still able to post - to say THANK YOU to the three plus years you and your family made this format possible.

My experience is immeasurable for I have met a group as no other, and the years of diverse articles, great contributers, and most special - the interactions of sharing with people all over the world, has been extraordinarily unique.

I wish you well with Intent. Love and blessings
always,
~ Kate

everyone loves IB...so why don't u respect that and keep it, master?