The incidents that rocked Bangalore on July 25 2008 shook everyone who calls Bangalore their home.
This I feel was more so because Bangalore has been a really safe place to live for many years even while it is trying to catch up with bigger cities in terms of infrastructure and cosmopolitan lifestyle. I am proud to be a Bangalorean and it pains me a lot to see this happen to my city. Of course, it is painful when it happens to anyone. Any city in India or outside has potentially become a target. No place is safe anymore. It is indeed sad how my mentality works. As long as it was not my city I felt pity for the victims but now when it is my city it is more of seething anger against the people who are causing mayhem and spreading terror.
I begin to think is there a solution at all? The greatest of minds have been working tirelessly to keep the common man safe and find ways to bring such people to justice but it just seems to me to be an impossible task, a tall order, one that might just not be achievable unless all of us have a strong resolve to make the justice system work for us.
It indeed is difficult for the intelligence to foretell who is up to what and how to avoid a disaster waiting to happen. With cities like Bangalore you are dealing with a huge number of floating population and keeping a tab becomes not only difficult but an impossible one. I guess the common man can only help by being on his guard all the time (and I mean all the time) and look our for any suspicious behavior or objects left unattended and inform the police straightaway. Its best to be safe than sorry.
The government on the other hand has to start recruiting people who are appointed and are dedicated to protect the common man in such situations. I mean not deploy police forces as they are already have their hands full with a lot of things (what with providing security to our ministers who are good for nothing).
It is time they beef up security measures at local market places, malls, Bus/Railway stations. CCTV cameras with dedicated personnel keeping a tab 24/7. If this is what it takes to reinforce faith in the system and for people to live in the city with a peace of mind then this is what needs to be done.
I know i have repeated a lot of solutions which have been put across by a lot of people before. I strongly believe the governments of the past as well as the present lack a strong resolve to face situations head-on and deal with it. They are always playing the game of pleasing all parties and all religions and all castes and what not. If you have been elected and placed in the seat of authority where your decisions matter you should be bold and strong enough to make a decision - of course, after consulting well informed minds - and stick to it. There is no point going around asking for vote of confidence everytime!!! It just shows how weak you are and that you don't believe in your own decision making skills.
Just a few hours ago, similar incidents were reported in Ahmedabad. It is indeed sad for a country which is already grappling with a lot of issues at hand the least of which seems for its own downfall the Safety and Security of its people.
A strong resolve from its people and Governments alike to fight terrorism in its roots to make sure the people of its cities go on with their life as usual is the only mantra to fight terrorism and bring such people to justice.
Peace.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
In the blink of an eye!
So Jessica Alba, who happens to be one of my favourite actors since her Dark Angel days posted a challenge on the net.
It is as frivolous as it looks but i love the fact that actors at that level do not lose their inner self or become too prude to be associated with such things. Its nice to see a human side to these celebrities.
By the way its quite easy to stare for more than10 minutes. I have years of experience and some irrefutable evidence to go with it :D
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
WordWeb - Terms and Conditions!
I had downloaded WordWeb a month back and had found it quite useful and I now have it on all the computers I use.
Last night when i tried to use it, I saw a message warning me that to continue the usage i will have to answer a question.
How many times have you used a flight in the last 12 months?
I happened to choose more than twice and it in fact, stopped me from using the free version and prompted me to update to the Pro version.
Their justification:
"WordWeb free version may be used indefinitely only by people who take at most two commercial flights (not more than one return flight) in any 12 month period. People who fly more than this need to purchase the Pro version if they wish to continue use it after a 30-day trial period."
Read More
Weird and Funny at the same time. I had never come across such a licensing term before. I am still coming to "Terms" with it :)!!!
Last night when i tried to use it, I saw a message warning me that to continue the usage i will have to answer a question.
How many times have you used a flight in the last 12 months?
I happened to choose more than twice and it in fact, stopped me from using the free version and prompted me to update to the Pro version.
Their justification:
"WordWeb free version may be used indefinitely only by people who take at most two commercial flights (not more than one return flight) in any 12 month period. People who fly more than this need to purchase the Pro version if they wish to continue use it after a 30-day trial period."
Read More
Weird and Funny at the same time. I had never come across such a licensing term before. I am still coming to "Terms" with it :)!!!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Could there be an iPhone killer?
Ever since the iPhone was debuted in the Macworld Conference last year our lives have never been the same again.
Ok, i know its not been such a revolution yet, but it has had a juggernaut run upto now.
It's intuitive user interface and multi touch features among other technological innovations have wowed many a people.
A simple phone device which weighes almost as much as a brick and was invented to make us mobile and in effect help people to reach us anywhere has turned out into this absoultely wonderful piece of technological marvel, not only helps us to be mobile, but is also a information device, a multimedia device and much much more.
Everyday, there are new innovations and new patents being filed in this field. Everyone wants more features, more ease of use all at their finger tips and this keeps the telecommunication industry to push the envelopes each and every day.
Blackberry and a majority of the Nokia models and to some extent the Motorolas and Samsungs had kepts us
interested before iPhone made its grand appearance. iPhone came, and it just conquered everyones hearts! Althought it has quite a far way to got to capture the market share and become ubiquitous.
This also leads us to the question that by the end of this year could there be an iPhone killer?
Its not such an absurd thought if you think how iPhone became the talk of the town in just about a few hours.
iPhone itself with its introduction has created a precedence of sorts and this could lead to more mobile and smart phone manufacturers trying to come up with their answer to the iPhone.
HTC launched its HTC touch which was dubbed the iPhone killer. Touch has performance issues and quite frankly can be dubbed the poor man's iPhone. The LG viewty could have been better if they had provided a much better camera and wi-fi support. But, it is still a very good product. OpenMoko the open source mobile platform was also launched and it managed to create a lot of hype in the open source world.
Now, Nokia which easily has the largest share in the mobile handsets market is seemingly on the verge of creating the iPhone killer and it is codenamed it "Tube". There is a lot of hype and buzz created around this and it will exciting to see how this
one goes.
Iphone indeed has been the trail blazer in terms of smart phones with excellent user interface and blending it with intuitiveness and ease of use. It is now upto the competition to push the boundaries of innovation and come up with a better and smarter yet simple and more importantly an affordable mobile phone as an answer to the iPhone.
Ok, i know its not been such a revolution yet, but it has had a juggernaut run upto now.
It's intuitive user interface and multi touch features among other technological innovations have wowed many a people.
A simple phone device which weighes almost as much as a brick and was invented to make us mobile and in effect help people to reach us anywhere has turned out into this absoultely wonderful piece of technological marvel, not only helps us to be mobile, but is also a information device, a multimedia device and much much more.
Everyday, there are new innovations and new patents being filed in this field. Everyone wants more features, more ease of use all at their finger tips and this keeps the telecommunication industry to push the envelopes each and every day.
Blackberry and a majority of the Nokia models and to some extent the Motorolas and Samsungs had kepts us
interested before iPhone made its grand appearance. iPhone came, and it just conquered everyones hearts! Althought it has quite a far way to got to capture the market share and become ubiquitous.
This also leads us to the question that by the end of this year could there be an iPhone killer?
Its not such an absurd thought if you think how iPhone became the talk of the town in just about a few hours.
iPhone itself with its introduction has created a precedence of sorts and this could lead to more mobile and smart phone manufacturers trying to come up with their answer to the iPhone.
HTC launched its HTC touch which was dubbed the iPhone killer. Touch has performance issues and quite frankly can be dubbed the poor man's iPhone. The LG viewty could have been better if they had provided a much better camera and wi-fi support. But, it is still a very good product. OpenMoko the open source mobile platform was also launched and it managed to create a lot of hype in the open source world.
Now, Nokia which easily has the largest share in the mobile handsets market is seemingly on the verge of creating the iPhone killer and it is codenamed it "Tube". There is a lot of hype and buzz created around this and it will exciting to see how this
one goes.
Iphone indeed has been the trail blazer in terms of smart phones with excellent user interface and blending it with intuitiveness and ease of use. It is now upto the competition to push the boundaries of innovation and come up with a better and smarter yet simple and more importantly an affordable mobile phone as an answer to the iPhone.
Friday, March 14, 2008
The Hottie and the Naughty!
I think that Paris Hilton is the sweetest, cutest and the most glamorous celebrity on planet. Its a pity she gets into a lot of nonsense.
On David Letterman where David quizzes her about her jail term and upsets her...
and here he is four months later making up for his rude behavior. She looks like a princess in that yellow dress!!!!
Love Ya,
Paris :)
On David Letterman where David quizzes her about her jail term and upsets her...
and here he is four months later making up for his rude behavior. She looks like a princess in that yellow dress!!!!
Love Ya,
Paris :)
Monday, February 11, 2008
The Placebo Effect
The past two weeks were really something. I with few of my friends decided to make a short film on the topic "Say No to Drugs and Yes to Life".
This is a serious topic yet we had to give it a new look and wanted to approach the topic in a fresh manner without much of the stereotypes attached to it. My only concern during the shooting and in post production was that, the film in no way should make the audience feel like they have seen this before. The way the topic had to be handled and the movie's treatment right from the beginning to the end was very important to me.
I had two very good scripts at hand. One of the concept was mine, with the script and screenplay all done by me. I was quite happy to go with it, as it did not require too many actors and could have come out quite nicely.
But, i decided to go for the more challenging idea that my friend floated, it was very challenging and it took me some time to convince myself that i will be able to do it.
We all now knew what we had to tell, but the problem was how do we tell it without being too explicit, or too cliched...
I along with Samprita, Nikhil, and Rahul came up with the script and screenplay. I knew we had quite a challenge on our hands, but i also knew if things went as planned, we could pull off an astonishing short here.
I have shot two other short films earlier of about 5 min duration each. So, i was hoping for a similar experience this time round. I was overwhelmed when i realized that it would not be as easy as i thought earlier.
I had to get all the actors around and since everyone had some or the other creative inputs, i had to take all of them and consider how i would put it across. I think my mistake during this short film was that i did not go with a set screenplay instead thought that i would improvise on the sets so that would make me open to more ideas. Bad idea!
All i ended up with was too much of confusion and too much chaos in the budding actors, leading to time crunches and all in all a chaotic weekend, which i may never forget for a really long time, although i must admit, the rush that it gave me while calling the shots was immense and i will take a lot of pleasure that i was a part of it and i am very proud of this short film. I just hope i can put it on the net so that i will be able to get more views and suggestions and comments and brickbats.
I would personally like to thank Don (film shot extensively at Don's crib), Samprita (story, screenplay, choreography, editing, voice over, and for a lot of patience throughout the making of the film), Santhosh (for keeping his cool while we shot his bits over and over and over again, plays the drug abuser), Nikhil (for arranging the cameraman, the editing studio, basically getting this project onto the launch pad, plays the musician), Rahul (plays the racer, for his creative writing inputs, his voice overs), Neha (plays the athlete, who stood under the sunday afternoon sun for long time and we unfortunately had to edit the scene in the studio), Priyanka (plays the dancer who just could not control her laughter for some reason and just would burst into peels of laughter - she looks quite a bit like Cameron Diaz - hmmm have i found my muse already!!!), Marion (expert advise on how the scenes involving the drug abuser could be shot to make it look more authentic), Chandru (cameraman), Girish (asst cameraman), Suresh (Video Editing) and above all Srivatsa for helping us out from beginning to the end and arranging for the cameraman and editing studio and showing the faith in us that we could come up with a good short film.
It has a been a great learning curve and all i have are positives to take away from this project.
I hope the movie gets selected, if it does i will not be able to upload it on the net due to copyright issues, if not i will post it on youtube and will be available on my blog here as well.
In the end, you might feel like you just had a mind numbing, spirit crushing boost to the head but its just
"The Placebo Effect"
This is a serious topic yet we had to give it a new look and wanted to approach the topic in a fresh manner without much of the stereotypes attached to it. My only concern during the shooting and in post production was that, the film in no way should make the audience feel like they have seen this before. The way the topic had to be handled and the movie's treatment right from the beginning to the end was very important to me.
I had two very good scripts at hand. One of the concept was mine, with the script and screenplay all done by me. I was quite happy to go with it, as it did not require too many actors and could have come out quite nicely.
But, i decided to go for the more challenging idea that my friend floated, it was very challenging and it took me some time to convince myself that i will be able to do it.
We all now knew what we had to tell, but the problem was how do we tell it without being too explicit, or too cliched...
I along with Samprita, Nikhil, and Rahul came up with the script and screenplay. I knew we had quite a challenge on our hands, but i also knew if things went as planned, we could pull off an astonishing short here.
I have shot two other short films earlier of about 5 min duration each. So, i was hoping for a similar experience this time round. I was overwhelmed when i realized that it would not be as easy as i thought earlier.
I had to get all the actors around and since everyone had some or the other creative inputs, i had to take all of them and consider how i would put it across. I think my mistake during this short film was that i did not go with a set screenplay instead thought that i would improvise on the sets so that would make me open to more ideas. Bad idea!
All i ended up with was too much of confusion and too much chaos in the budding actors, leading to time crunches and all in all a chaotic weekend, which i may never forget for a really long time, although i must admit, the rush that it gave me while calling the shots was immense and i will take a lot of pleasure that i was a part of it and i am very proud of this short film. I just hope i can put it on the net so that i will be able to get more views and suggestions and comments and brickbats.
I would personally like to thank Don (film shot extensively at Don's crib), Samprita (story, screenplay, choreography, editing, voice over, and for a lot of patience throughout the making of the film), Santhosh (for keeping his cool while we shot his bits over and over and over again, plays the drug abuser), Nikhil (for arranging the cameraman, the editing studio, basically getting this project onto the launch pad, plays the musician), Rahul (plays the racer, for his creative writing inputs, his voice overs), Neha (plays the athlete, who stood under the sunday afternoon sun for long time and we unfortunately had to edit the scene in the studio), Priyanka (plays the dancer who just could not control her laughter for some reason and just would burst into peels of laughter - she looks quite a bit like Cameron Diaz - hmmm have i found my muse already!!!), Marion (expert advise on how the scenes involving the drug abuser could be shot to make it look more authentic), Chandru (cameraman), Girish (asst cameraman), Suresh (Video Editing) and above all Srivatsa for helping us out from beginning to the end and arranging for the cameraman and editing studio and showing the faith in us that we could come up with a good short film.
It has a been a great learning curve and all i have are positives to take away from this project.
I hope the movie gets selected, if it does i will not be able to upload it on the net due to copyright issues, if not i will post it on youtube and will be available on my blog here as well.
In the end, you might feel like you just had a mind numbing, spirit crushing boost to the head but its just
"The Placebo Effect"
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Steve and his Thinnovations
I watched the Macworld Keynote 2008 yesterday. I will immediately admit that i was not blown away.
Of course, if in your previous Keynote you introduced a product as insightful and as innovative as the iPhone, it would be really difficult for you to do a follow up to that.
Steve had four things to offer a Time capsule, iPod and iPhone software updates (all aren't free updates, he is charging $20 for the iPod touch software updates for the existing customers), the iTunes movie rentals - apple TV take2 to make the movie renting experience even easier and much more enriching, and finally the thinnest laptop the Macbook Air.
I felt the iTunes movie rentals will make a bigger impact more than Macbook Air.
Steve is now hard selling his apple TV. They have come up with a second take of the Apple TV which can be used even without a computer and which will directly stream rented movies, music, TV Shows, youtube videos on to your Full HD TV. Since, he has the backing of all major production houses - this might just be the next big thing from Apple.
Macbook Air is unbelievably thin. You are spell bound by the engineering team which came up with such a thin laptop.
The ad just makes you wanna have one of those. But, when reality dawns on you and when better sense prevails, you actually notice, that its functionality not the best laptop that money can buy you.
Although, If we just take the 2008 address by itself it had its moments i must say.
My moments:
The Blades of Glory preview - Will Ferrell rocks!
The Teton Gravity research clip - Whoa! Can they actually do such things?!
Steve opening taking out the Mabook Air from the envelope
Paul Ottellini Intel CEO handing the Intel processor as souvenir to Steve
Of course, if in your previous Keynote you introduced a product as insightful and as innovative as the iPhone, it would be really difficult for you to do a follow up to that.
Steve had four things to offer a Time capsule, iPod and iPhone software updates (all aren't free updates, he is charging $20 for the iPod touch software updates for the existing customers), the iTunes movie rentals - apple TV take2 to make the movie renting experience even easier and much more enriching, and finally the thinnest laptop the Macbook Air.
I felt the iTunes movie rentals will make a bigger impact more than Macbook Air.
Steve is now hard selling his apple TV. They have come up with a second take of the Apple TV which can be used even without a computer and which will directly stream rented movies, music, TV Shows, youtube videos on to your Full HD TV. Since, he has the backing of all major production houses - this might just be the next big thing from Apple.
Macbook Air is unbelievably thin. You are spell bound by the engineering team which came up with such a thin laptop.
The ad just makes you wanna have one of those. But, when reality dawns on you and when better sense prevails, you actually notice, that its functionality not the best laptop that money can buy you.
Although, If we just take the 2008 address by itself it had its moments i must say.
My moments:
The Blades of Glory preview - Will Ferrell rocks!
The Teton Gravity research clip - Whoa! Can they actually do such things?!
Steve opening taking out the Mabook Air from the envelope
Paul Ottellini Intel CEO handing the Intel processor as souvenir to Steve
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Alternative Medicine
Its funny to note how most people perceive the term 'alternative medicine'. I am no medicine guy but alternative medicine to some extent has evoked interest off late in me. Alternative medicine comprises of any form of practice other than the commonly followed practice of medical science to cure diseases or ailments, this might include spiritual, religious or even your grandma's magic potion. So, in my quest for knowledge of this kind of medicine i recently came across Health Kinesiology.
Kinesiology is a science pertaining to the study of body movements in humans. Health Kinesiology on the other hand is not entirely based on science and it is not entirely related to Kinesiology.
It is interesting to note that many people would not be aware of such a practice. In India, i don't think there are many practitioners of this kind of alternate medicine.
It is process of healing the body from its ailments by taking a holistic approach. The practitioners 'listen' to the patients body by a process known as muscle testing to find out the body's ailments and the root causes for it. Treating the root causes over the due course of time either reduces or in rare cases completely rids the patients of their ailments.
Well, thats the theory of it anyway. Like most alternative medicines the science or the way it actually works is not clearly understood.
And just as in any form of medicine it has its believers and its skeptics.
It is not proven science, but, a good practitioner truly may be able to help the patient. Skeptics although believe it is just another way of making a quick buck. I am sure in a few years to come some of the celebrities will try it out and who know some might even swear by it for its magical cures and then HK practitioners worldwide will be smiling their way to the bank.
I would like to believe that most ailments not all, begin and end in the mind. You treat the mind the body heals by itself. A healthy lifestyle does help one to keep most illnesses at bay.
Cheers to good health!
Kinesiology is a science pertaining to the study of body movements in humans. Health Kinesiology on the other hand is not entirely based on science and it is not entirely related to Kinesiology.
It is interesting to note that many people would not be aware of such a practice. In India, i don't think there are many practitioners of this kind of alternate medicine.
It is process of healing the body from its ailments by taking a holistic approach. The practitioners 'listen' to the patients body by a process known as muscle testing to find out the body's ailments and the root causes for it. Treating the root causes over the due course of time either reduces or in rare cases completely rids the patients of their ailments.
Well, thats the theory of it anyway. Like most alternative medicines the science or the way it actually works is not clearly understood.
And just as in any form of medicine it has its believers and its skeptics.
It is not proven science, but, a good practitioner truly may be able to help the patient. Skeptics although believe it is just another way of making a quick buck. I am sure in a few years to come some of the celebrities will try it out and who know some might even swear by it for its magical cures and then HK practitioners worldwide will be smiling their way to the bank.
I would like to believe that most ailments not all, begin and end in the mind. You treat the mind the body heals by itself. A healthy lifestyle does help one to keep most illnesses at bay.
Cheers to good health!
Sunday, January 06, 2008
SCG Test
Happy New Year All!
The thrilling and controversial test at the SCG has come to an end. Australians have come victorious and have equaled their previous record of 16 consecutive test wins. It is indeed difficult for cricket fans in India to feel anything but livid with the way the test went from Day 1. This test match could go into the record books just for the sub-standard levels of umpiring seen from not only Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson but also the TV umpire Bruce Oxenford from Australia.
This is not the first time India has cried foul over umpiring decisions down under. It could be recalled that during 1999-2000 tour of Australia Daryl Harper was our nemesis giving Sachin out to quite a few times. We all know how Muralitharan was mentally harassed and accused of chucking and was no-balled by Darrell Hair on their tour down under.
Its interesting to note that Australians seem to have had the rub of the green on many a occasions when playing in their backyard. My memory fails me when i try to recollect visiting teams have decisions go for them in Australia. Of course, there may be few dubious ones which go against the home team, but not like the ones that Indians have received, and received on such regular basis now.
Indians now have to take this as an impetus and push themselves to perform much better on the field and also try not to get into any verbal tangos with the Aussies. Its very interesting to note that when you are on a roll and you are winning there a lot of things you can get away! Indians have lost both their matches in the series now. Going into Perth, they do not have a good track record, having lost both the matches they have played there.
It will take a lot out of Kumble and his men to bounce back now, but, if they fail to see a challenge in this situation and writhe in self pity it will only be a matter of time when they are comprehensively beaten in the remaining test matches as well.
Positivity and believing in their strengths and showing the will and desire to fight it out in the middle will help them repeat their success they achieved during 2003-04 tour.
The thrilling and controversial test at the SCG has come to an end. Australians have come victorious and have equaled their previous record of 16 consecutive test wins. It is indeed difficult for cricket fans in India to feel anything but livid with the way the test went from Day 1. This test match could go into the record books just for the sub-standard levels of umpiring seen from not only Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson but also the TV umpire Bruce Oxenford from Australia.
This is not the first time India has cried foul over umpiring decisions down under. It could be recalled that during 1999-2000 tour of Australia Daryl Harper was our nemesis giving Sachin out to quite a few times. We all know how Muralitharan was mentally harassed and accused of chucking and was no-balled by Darrell Hair on their tour down under.
Its interesting to note that Australians seem to have had the rub of the green on many a occasions when playing in their backyard. My memory fails me when i try to recollect visiting teams have decisions go for them in Australia. Of course, there may be few dubious ones which go against the home team, but not like the ones that Indians have received, and received on such regular basis now.
Indians now have to take this as an impetus and push themselves to perform much better on the field and also try not to get into any verbal tangos with the Aussies. Its very interesting to note that when you are on a roll and you are winning there a lot of things you can get away! Indians have lost both their matches in the series now. Going into Perth, they do not have a good track record, having lost both the matches they have played there.
It will take a lot out of Kumble and his men to bounce back now, but, if they fail to see a challenge in this situation and writhe in self pity it will only be a matter of time when they are comprehensively beaten in the remaining test matches as well.
Positivity and believing in their strengths and showing the will and desire to fight it out in the middle will help them repeat their success they achieved during 2003-04 tour.
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