US site quotes Techgoss
By Techgirl

Conde Nast is one of the most successful publishing houses in USA.  Its magazines and websites Reditt, The New Yorker, Architectural Digest, Glamour, Gourmet, Teen Vogue and Vanity Fair are widely read in most parts of the world.  Conde Nast also owns two of the most respected technology websites in the world – Wired and Arstechnica.com.

On Dec 30, Conde Nast site Arstechnica.com did an indepth article on the recent clash between Indian origin tech firm Apex Technology Group and a number of anti H1B and anti Indian American sites. This Arstechnica article quoted Techgoss in a number of places

“
The battle between New Jersey-based Apex Technology Group Inc. and a trio of anti-H1B sites began late last month, when EndH1B.com reproduced a posting from an Indian IT worker forum in which one Pankaj Jain warned his fellow H1Bs to beware of Apex's employment practices. Among Jain's allegations were that the Indian-run Apex was a "desi bodyshop" that treated Indians like "bond servants", delayed payment, and attached illegal riders to contracts compelling H1Bs to stay with the company lest they forfeit a paycheck.

………….

Coverage of the controversy and of the newest ruling has appeared at Indian IT blog Techgoss.com, and the site's director has expressed support for the free speech rights of the anti-H1B activists to BrightFutureJobs.com.

……………

The incident has given some anti-H1B activists who could otherwise be credibly accused of xenophobia the chance to play the part of protector of an exploited Indian worker. BrightFutureJobs.com reports that the anonymous administrator of EndH1B.com stated in response to Apex's request for Jain's identity, "We are not in the business of helping exploitative Desi bodyshops target their H-1B victims for harassment, retribution, or violence."

Techgoss.com reports that the sites are appealing to the EFF for legal help in fighting the takedowns, but the organization has yet to weigh in on the case.
“

Techgoss and its writers have received substantial national and international coverage this year.  Times of India wrote about us twice. Mint and Economic Times were kind enough to give me a couple of paragraphs. American super blog Gawker, respected tech and copyright blog Techdirt and now Conde Nast linked to our articles. Good way to end the year.

(Techgoss had published the following on Sept 1, 2009)

Techgoss quoted in TOI
By Techgirl

The Times of India (TOI) is India’s largest circulating English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The paper sells more than 3 million copies and the Times of India website is among the top 5 news sites in the world.

So, naturally we were pleased when Techgoss was quoted in a Times of India article titled ‘Sex, or whatever sells!’. A technology tabloid like techgoss should know something about the subject.

The Times of India article started off with mentioning that even as most Indian’s cry for ‘better’ content, tens of millions watched the hugely popular reality show ‘Rakhi ka Swayamvar’. The article interviewed/quoted a creative director of Balaji Telefilms, a VP at NDTV, filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj and Director Madhur Bhandarkar

Last (hopefully not the least), it quoted techgoss

“
Ultimately, content counts. Says Dhananjay Varma, who runs the website TechGoss, “Most media groups in the world are forced to juggle three roles these days — public watchdog, entertainment (apart from news) and being a successful business entity. People want news about everything — they want to know about the BJP conference in Himachal Pradesh as well as when Katrina will marry Salman.”

Varma points out that while the world’s leading social networking sites Facebook and the micro-blogging tool Twitter have yet to make profits, “despite the recession, America’s No. 1 technology blog Techcrunch and No. 1 blogging group Gawker are hugely profitable. So, it is possible to be only driven by creative decisions.”

So, while content across mediums may face business pressures, things will continue to click only if there’s some heart — and substance — involved!
“

My Editor makes more sense when I read him in print. Now only if the Times of India will give my blog a plug as well.

Techgoss note: Techgirl is a senior Tech journalist who reports on the IT, KPO and KPO Sectors for a leading media house.  In her spare time, she dabbles in satire in her blog http://techgirltalk.blogspot.com