Z E P H Y R

Dinosaur - Would you like me to introduce you?

2009-06-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I posted here, but, this one is one hell of a hilarious video:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

End Times

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

Slumdog Millionaire - On popular demand.

2009-03-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Great movie and anything that I would say now, most likely, has already been spoken, analyzed, criticised, and accepted. So, let me cut to the chase. The post is on popular demand, non-south Asians asking for translation of Jai ho song lyrics.
Love the music by A R Rehman, awesomeness of Gulzar's lyrics, and Sukhwinder's voice. Without further ado ...
Hindi Version:

Jai Ho!

Aaja aaja jind shamiyaane ke taley
Aaja zari waale neele aasmaane ke taley

Jai Ho!

Ratti ratti sachchi maine jaan gawayi hai
Nach Nach koylon pe raat bitaayi hai
Ankhiyon ki neend maine phoonkon se udaa di
Gin gin taarey maine ungli jalayi hai
Eh Aaja aaja jind shamiyaane ke taley
Aaja zari waale neele aasmaane ke taley
Baila! Baila!(Dance! Dance!)
Ahora conmigo, tu baila para hoy(Now with me, you dance for today)
Por nuestro dia de movidas,(For our day of moves,)
los problemas los que sean(whatever problems may be)
Salud!(Cheers!)
Baila! Baila!(Dance! Dance!)

Jai Ho!

Chakh le, haan chakh le, yeh raat shehed hai
Chakh le, haan rakh le,
Dil hai, dil aakhri hadd hai
Kaala kaala kaajal tera
Koi kaala jaadu hai na?
Aaja aaja jind shamiyaane ke taley
Aaja zari waale neele aasmaane ke taley

Jai Ho!

Kab se haan kab se jo lab pe ruki hai
Keh de, keh de, haan keh de
Ab aankh jhuki hai
Aisi aisi roshan aankhein
Roshan dono heerey hain kya?
Aaja aaja jind shamiyaane ke taley
Aaja zari waale neele aasmaane ke taley

Jai Ho!

English translation (transliteration to a great extent to retain the poetic essence and does not really do justice to the original.):

Jai Ho =Something between “Hail” and “Hallelujah”

Come, come my Life, under the canopy
Come under the blue brocade sky!

Iota by iota, I have lost my life, in faith
I’ve passed this night dancing on coals
I blew away the sleep that was in my eyes
I counted the stars till my finger burned

Come, come my Life, under the canopy
Come under the blue brocade sky!

Taste it, taste it, this night is honey
Taste it, and keep it,
It’s a heart; the heart is the final limit
You dark black kohl
It’s some black magic, isn’t it?

Come, come my Life, under the canopy
Come under the blue brocade sky!

For how long, how very long
It’s been on your lips
Say it, now say it
The eye is downcast
Such lit up eyes Are they two lit-up dimaonds?

Come, come my Life, under the canopy
Come under the blue brocade sky!

Credit: inkspillz.blogspot.com

Anti-thesis.

2008-10-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

Some time back Sequoia VC's published the slides of doom - RIP good times.

But, here comes an under current from Altos Ventures, an anti-thesis.

And, I always have room for humor

होली स्मोक्स मैं हिन्दी में ट्रांस्लितेरेशन कर रहा हूँ!

2008-06-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

यह तो बहुत कूल है, infact कूल ही नहीं ultimate है। मैं इंग्लिश में टाइप कर रहा हूँ और यह अपने आप हिन्दी में लिख रहा है।
I love this. I must say bravo to GOOGs.

This was just a test post.

Xobni my new inboX

2008-06-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

I am loving it and this is no commercial for McDonalds. The history of the product is synonymous with serendipity similar to Flickr. The company started off building an analytics tool for MS Exchange and due to privacy concerns converted it to desktop productivity tool.

What is Xobni? (BTW, Xobni is reverse of Inbox)

Xobni is the Outlook plug-in that saves you time finding email conversations, contacts and attachments.

I have been using this for almost over a month now and I am impressed. What do I like the most about this - search search and search! The primate search that comes with Outlook is no better than lousy *yawwwnnnnn*.

Here is what I like:
Every selection of an email shows the details of the email - emails exchanged with sender, sender's "network" basically who else the person has been ccing (nothing privy), and files exchanged (two extra candies for this).
It also tells what the sender's rank is. In other words, how big a fan the sender is.
A graphical presentation of what times of the days the emails have been exchanged.
Search is BIG. Search not only searches current mails but archived ones too, did I say I like the search.
This is what is there for instant gratification but if you are the statistics and graphs kind of a person then select from menu "Xobni Analytics" and voila you get all kinds of analytics to dig your email behavior and productivity. Be prepared for some surprises here.

Now, what I don't like:
Two things, when the Xobni companion is visible it drags Outlook to a craaaawwwlllllll. Not good, defeats the purpose.
Secondly, while using three column Outlook interface the companion eats most of third column. This is little annoyance but it isn't that bad either.

8 things Bollywood, I knew not.

2008-04-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

And, here I shamelessly reproduce them for you. Original can be found here.

1.”Bollywood” vs. “India”. You hear again and again that Bollywood is the biggest film industry in the world, producing 800-1000 films a year. Actually this isn't strictly correct. It's the Indian film industry that produces that many films; Bollywood -– defined as commercial Hindi films produced in or around Bombay -– produces only about 150-200 films a year. According to Ganti, both the Telegu and Tamil film industries produce equal numbers of films (though I suspect budgets and audiences are probably smaller).

2.Taxation. Unlike in the U.S., where the film industry has always been treated by the government as a legitimate business, in India for many years, the film industry was treated as a vice, and taxed egregiously, at rates between 25 and 75 percent. This is so despite the fact that the film industry is the second largest in the country in terms of capital investment, and the fifth largest in terms of people employed.

Moreover, the tax is not just one tax, but a whole series of them, affecting the producers, distributors, and exhibitors of films. States use taxes to protect local language cinemas, and the Indian government waives taxes on films that are deemed to be especially patriotic (recently, films like Lakshya and LOC: Kargil were 'tax-free'. So the next time you see some uber-patriotic war film and wonder how Bollywood got so patriotic all of a sudden, keep in mind that there's a profit-margin in there.)

The tax situation has improved somewhat since May 1998, when the government finally granted the film industry the status of an actual “industry,” which means some alleviation of taxes, as well as smaller perks like reduced rates for electricity. However, taxes on films are still pretty high.

With all the tax, it's a wonder that the industry survived at all, especially during the deep recession in the early 1970s, when the government imposed a 250 percent tariff on imported film stock.

3. Flops. The success rate for Bollywood films is 15-20 percent a year. The vast majority of films are 'flops'. The industry survives because there is always some rich sap ready to invest in another film (see #6 below).

4. Number of Prints. The number of prints made for even big films is no more than 500 or so, including prints to be sent abroad. Compare to Hollywood, which releases big films on 3000 or more screens at once in the U.S. alone. One has to keep in mind, of course, that normal (i.e., non-multiplex) movie theaters in India are much larger than in America. A big movie theater in India can seat up to 2500 people.

5. Box Office totals. I've often wondered why we don't get precise box office totals for Bollywood releases the way we do in Hollywood. According to Ganti, while theaters at the main urban centers give quite specific box office numbers, the smaller centers (which also sometimes get films a little later) don't report their earnings accurately or consistently.

6. Financing. Bollywood movies are produced and financed in a completely chaotic way. Here are two paragraphs from Ganti on the decentralized, flexible Bollywood system:
The industry is neither vertically nor horizontally integrated in the manner of the major Hollywood studios or multinational entertainment conglomerates. 'Studios' within the Indian context are merely shooting spaces and not production and distribution concerns. Though there has been a move toward integration and points of convergence . . . these instances are not systemic and do not preclude others from entering the business. Essentially, the 'industry' is a very diffuse and chaotic place where anyone with large sums of money and the right contacts can make a film.

Although both the Western and the Indian press use the metaphors of factories and assembly-line production to characterize the Bombay film industry, i.e., 'Bombay's dream factories churn out hundreds of films a year,' in reality the industry is extremely decentralized and flexible and a more apt comparison would be to a start-up company financed with venture capital. Each Hindi film is made by a team of people who operate as independent contractors or freelancers and work together on a particular project rather than being permanent employees of a particular production company. Films are often financed simply on the basis of a star-cast, the germ of a story idea and a director's reputation. . . . Power resides in the stars, directors, and producers. The industry contains very few non-value-added people such as executives, lawyers, agents, professional managers, i.e., the 'suits,' who do not contribute to the actual filmmaking process. There are also no intermediaries such as casting agents, talent scouts, or agencies like ICA and William Morris.

In the absence of lawyers, Ganti notes (and Suketa Mehta corroborates much of this in his book Maximum City, which is also largely based on personal experience with prominent figures in the industry), large deals are often sealed on the basis of verbal agreements between trusted partners. The informal nature of the system also makes it a convenient haven for 'black money' –- cash investments by gangsters, who need to hide their earnings from tax collectors.

7. English. These days, many Bollywood screenplays are written in English originally. The reasons for this are many and overlapping. Here is how Ganti explains it:
While the narration of a [Bollywood] script is in Hindi or 'Hinglish' – a mix of Hindi and English prevalent among urban elites, many contemporary screenwriters first write their scripts in English and then translate the dialogues themselves into Hindi or work with a dialogue writer who is more proficient in the language. The specifics of a screenplay such as location, time of day, scene descriptions, and camera movement are always in English. The presence of English as a language of production may surprise readers, but is testament of the cosmopolitan nature of the Bombay film industry where people come from every linguistic region of India, and are not necessarily native Hindi speakers. . . . This reliance on English by screenwriters is a recent phenomenon and also signals a shift in [the screenwriters'] background. In the earlier decades of Hindi cinema, screenwriters were often Hindi or Urdu poets, playwrights, or novelists who supported their literary endeavors by working in the film industry. Today, the majority of screenwriters come not from such literary backgrounds, but from a wide range of professional as well as film industry backgrounds. (69)

The change in the kinds of people who write the films might explain why some people feel the films today are not up to the par set by the 1950s and 60s. It also explains how the Hindi dialogue in more 'urban' themed films (like Dil Chahta Hai) sometimes seems a little forced, as if everyone would be more comfortable doing the whole thing in English.

8. Synch-sound. The vast majority of Bollywood films are still dubbed. The industry is still generally using older cameras, which produce camera noise, and has never invested in creating sound-proof shooting conditions in their studios. As a result, it's still easier and more efficient for actors to dub their voices in studio after shooting. This state of affairs is unfortunate, as dubbing is sometimes adversely affects the quality of the acting and the 'production values' more generally.

This set-up also helps non-Hindi speaking actors (like the Tamilian superstar Kamal Haasan) to enter into the Hindi film industry. Conversely, it allows Hindi film actors to get into non-Hindi film industries, even if they don't speak the language. The weirdness is that in some cases, if the actors concerned can't quite get their lips around the language in question, other actors' voices might be over-dubbed for their lines. Thus, the actor who is physically on screen may have his lines vocalized by someone else, while the songs in the film are sung by yet a third person!

Funny.

2008-04-09T21:51:00.001-07:00

Even John McCain.

2008-04-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

The power of web 2.0, Candidate for President of the United States Sen. John McCain posted his question to the netizens on LinkedIn!

Oh oh! I also, found that he is 3rd degree link to me, you can send mails for free to him, he has been recommended by two people (as of 4/9), and he has over 500 connections.

I am going to send him an invite. And, ping him later to see if he recalls. :)

My Anthem, off-shored ...

2008-04-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

and, nothing makes me happier than seeing the world flatten.

These videos are created as part of Pangea day - May 10, 2008. They have created numerous such videos by different people for different countries on YouTube. Here is the mission as quoted from their website.

Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film.

Why? In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that – to help people see themselves in others – through the power of film.

Peace out.

Miracle?

2008-02-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

Laloo's Railway budget may be very good. But, this is too much. Haan.

Funny post from CNET.

2008-02-23T14:34:00.000-08:00

CNET posted this lessons learnt from the new Knight Rider. Fun read.

Check it out here.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord! - 2

2008-02-21T22:38:00.000-08:00

Femtocell is no female contraceptive product. Femto, actually is an SI unit - 10^-15. And, Femtocell is a technology. In three words - cell-to-wifi.
This could be revolutionary in days to come, this technology enables a user to seamlessly move from a cell phone network to a home based wi-fi network and vice-versa, and that too without breaking ones yap-yap (read: conversation).
Interestingly enough this is being introduced by cellular carriers, in the US Sprint Nextel branded AIRAVE. The home base is nothing but a modem like device that connects to the Internet. Sprint Nextel offers this for $50 for the device and $15/user/mo. for unlimited voice from wi-fi + cell phone plan cost + broadband cost.
Wonder what a dent Meraki can make?
My prayer - Where are you Skype?

Jodhaa-Akbar: Bollywood's arrival.

2008-02-19T23:42:00.000-08:00

Don't know about the controversy brouhaha about this movie and I could care less. The movie is a good watch. It is majestically made, very royal and for once the battle scenes look genuine and to the scale. I am giving it 3.5 ticks rating. Ash is as mannequin as it gets and Hrithik delivers. Good job. Movie suffers from what every period movie does, we all know what happened! So, the movie is a refresher in motion picture.
Music is excellent, Khajaji is phenomenal but then I love sufi music.
So, what makes this movie Bollywood's arrival? One thing, I did not watch this movie at NAZ8 (naz8.com) the local desi multiplex. Being the monopoly in the bay area they feed crap when it comes to service. But, thanks to UTV they had the movie running at AMC Mercado and it was a delight watching this movie in a stadium theater! Why thanks to UTV, while reading an article on Bollywood in The Economist I learnt that UTV's Ronnie Screwala makes big bucks and risky movie and UTV has partnered with Hollywood's biggies to deliver it with quality in US town.
Now go watch the movie in quality.
UPDATE: How could I miss the jugalbandi of Hindi and Urdu? Very melodious.

Love this commercial

2008-02-19T23:38:00.000-08:00

Guess who the genius child is being imitated. This whole series is funny. 5 hahas to this commercial.

A peppery green Mint.

2008-02-19T22:45:00.000-08:00

OK, so I have been wanting to write about this site for a while but did not because I wanted to "check it out" myself first. And, about six months out here I am. If you are as fidgety and control freak about your personal finance as I am and want to know which crevice of your car you dropped your last penny, then this is for you. No no, this is not one of those metal detector for the hobbyists. Mint, allows you to manage and watch your finance from one place.

What you need to do this?
Sign up with minimum information, enter account info (username/password) for your financial account (don't panic yet and continue reading, and do not hesitate to click on the ad on the right).

What Mint does?
If you have successfully completed the above Mint goes out and ~~collects~~ retrieves all transactions from your different accounts and displays:
1. Transactions from all accounts (can be broken down to individual accounts)
2. Show graph for your cash to debt ratio
3. Show graph for spending trends (you can drill down to individual transactions)
4. Information on where you spend money
5. Compares spending habits with US average (basically, tells you how stupid you are)
6. Shows alerts for over budget spending based on patterns
7. Sends weekly reports to your favorite email
8. Sends alerts for upcoming transactions
9. What you can't do is the best security feature, commit a transaction (transfer funds etc)
And more ...

How does it do this?
Before putting any info into this site I did a little sniffing around and this is what I found. Mint uses Yodlee a very well established company that provides the gateway to financial institutions and is proven to be one of the most secure around. My previous employer's 401 K provider (ING) used them for a similar service as Mint's (and more). Mint, by itself holds very little personally indentifiable information and claims to not hold any sensitive info. I have some faith considering this is a very big fish to fry then to steal from somebody like me. Besides, every now and then they expire the financial account info and user has to re-enter this info.

Very nice, what do I pay?
Nothing! Free. So, don't expect an 800 call support. They do have online support via email.

So, how do they make money?
By providing another feature to its users. Ya, they tell you how screwed you are and if you want you can apply to better banks, credit cards etc. and save and make more money.

Over all after using this for over 6 months with real data, I am spanking this 4.5 stars. It keeps me on the toes.

What can be improved?
List of financial instutions. They have most but some are still missing.
I would really want to see some of the stock brokerage account, which they currently don't have. ING used to have it so Yodlee has this provision.

UPDATE: I just got wacked on this post so here I will try to add some more:
I already have the features that I liked and what I missed was user interface:
This is a cool AJAXy site enhancing user experience with ease of use.

State of the Fourth Estate

2008-01-28T20:28:00.000-08:00

Amazing! Is all the wiff that came out of me after seeing at some of the analysis of the press after the delivery of State of the union speech by George W. Bush.

In the name of analysis was - how many times certain words were used, how many times the Republicans and Democrats clapped and stood ....

Transcript of the State of the union speech from The White House.

Open letter to Quixtar's "E-Commerce Entrepreneurs"

2008-01-27T18:27:00.000-08:00

To Whom It May Concern:

I respect you. And, it is totally your prerogative to be what you want to be.

Just a clarification, IMHO, you are not an entrepreneur. It is very insulting to the real entrepreneurs to be called a participant in a pyramid marketing scheme.

With all due respect, if you don't know me do not pretend that we've met before and try to strike a conversation. This is an old trick to woo the gender-of-interest, if-you-know-what-I-mean.

A kind of schizophrenic paranoia has inculcated in me since you started "randomly" "meeting" me at Borders, Barnes and Nobles, Kohls, Walmart, Best Buy just to mention a few stores. You cowardly hunt me on the pretext that we've met before. Interestingly enough, you chase only people of your ethnicity (may not apply to all, but all I have encountered). Please protect and respect human values besides the environment.

You claim yourself to be an "ecommerce entrepreneur", phuleese, here is the definition for entreprenuer for your convenience. Quixtar is nothing but ecommerce arm of Amway. The real entrepreneurs sit happy in Canada's Ada Michigan.

On that note, I hope now I will have one less "entreprenuer" chasing me to become an "entreprenuer" just like them. These proposition sound more like the spam emails I get for "Income Opportunity from home".

Thank you.
-sd.

PS: Here is an interesting Quixtar Sucks blog.

Strike of the Bhojpuri

2008-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

Bhojpuri film industry is growing by leaps and bounds. But, this catchy ad from Maggi caught me totally off guard. Very catchy!

There is one more ad for which I could not locate a video was Brylcreem Gel. This one is based around Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Mac Power this week.

2008-01-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

No, I am still a PC bloke! But admire Apple and this year I am kinda hooked to know what Macworld is going to reveal. This year, IMHO, is the year of IPTV aka Internet based TV (includes TV shows that one can buy and soon rent from iTunes) and I feel Macworld will be interesting to watch to just find out if there will be anything related to IPTV. Apple already has a TV product called Apple TV in a very small way.

Since, Google and Apple are such bumchums they might even come up with something together such as free rentals from iTunes carry Google's adsense? Who knows.

........

See Idiot box posting.

The idiot box is becoming smarter now.

2008-01-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

There was a phase when TV suddenly had reached a point when it was being called the idiot box. Then came TV on the computer and now everything every where. Especially since start ups like Joost et al hit the scene.

What makes this interesting is, in todays digital era most of our valuable memories (aka pictures) and entertainment including home videos are in digital format. Keeping a desktop next to your flat screen will only make the stars collide.

Some time back I had pondered upon an idea of bringing all this together in one box somehow and had stumbled upon the concept of HTPC (Home Theater PC). This would do everything needed or at least what I could dream of. Interestingly, also found softwares in FOSS (Free Open Source Software). After brainstorming with Swash and before I could start any thing I was MIA.

Now, if looking at the XBOX logo you are wondering WTP am I smoking here. Well, thats what I thought when I looked up XBOX in detail. This bugger could be answer rather the best answer to my digital worlds collide and become one theory. XBOX's marketing team has hardly highlighted its hidden abilities, one being - media hub!!

Yes, XBOX can be used to stream videos, audios and digital picture files from your computer on the network to your TV/Home Theater. This is without any additional purchases. All you need is the computer should be running XP, Zune software or Windows Media Player 11+. This can also be acheived by using devices from Netgear, D-Link or Apple TV. I found the list to either not cost effective or not very kewl. Even heard they are not easy to setup except, of course, Apple TV.

Now, you can play games, watch TV, stream videos or audios in one place. Thats what I call the - Geek Appeal.

But, only drawback, with recent change in the DVD market and most of the studios aligning behind Blu-Ray XBox gained one disadvantage. It only comes ith HD DVD.

Note, I have seen no place that mentions Playstation 3 to have the media hub feature or for that matter any other game console.

Except for the Blu-Ray part and lack of direct ways of capurting Internet streams, I give full points to XBOX even though Playstaion 3 is sexier looking.

Funny news from The Onion - Half Of 26-Year-Old's Memories Nintendo-Related

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord!

2008-01-11T21:33:00.000-08:00

But I know the reason why you keep your silence up, no you don't fool me
The hurt doesn't show; but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you or me

If you are like me who has a constant urge to flip out a mobile computer to do something on the Internet then you would certainly understand what is in the air tonight. Before you jump into the urban legend around the song, I am talking - Wi-Fi.

Meraki is a SFO based community Wi-Fi provider suffering from same issue as numerous wonderful ideas that failed! If one visits their web site one will lose all hair scratching - WTP?!?! is this?

Meraki, the way I understand, is a very similar service as European Fon (also allows to make money just like SyncOne.net). A free community shared Wi-Fi. Marketted under a geeky "Mesh Network" concept that essentially means people buy a box from Meraki and share it with the community. The bandwidth or the connection speed is separate for the user from the community. Google failed miserably trying to bring Municipal Wi-Fi, I am hoping for Meraki to click. BTW, Google, I believe, has invested in them and will be serving ads to free users.

What I could not figure from their site:

How exactly they work?
What one gets for their $?

This post has reference to In the air tonight by Phil Collins.

More chaos in Obama's heritage.

2008-01-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

How could I keep shut when Presidential candidate 2008 Barack Obama's heritage is being questioned by all sides?

I think he has bollywood link and is part Indian. Can't digest check out yourself.

You asked for it so get more real info on Barak. Click here.

I want my free music.

2008-01-03T17:58:00.000-08:00

So much for the RIAA's witch-hunt.

*spit* *spit* I just spat my frustration to revel in this free software. Free Music Zilla check out more here. You can download YouTube movies and pretty much every other knock offs of YouTube and watch them at your liesure. The software pretty much chimes with all your

And, if you are still wondering how you are going to watch a FLV file. Well, here is another open the free player.

Enjoy!

Update:

Just as this was not enough here is what Google Ads displays note the boxed area:

Note: This posting is in no way encouragement to piracy or any illegal activity. RIAA's reference is only to highlight the point that prohibition is not a solution. Apple like evolution is what is needed.

Taare Zameen Par - Another Brick in the Wall.

2007-12-27T15:54:00.000-08:00

And, teachers leave them kids alone; is what's conveyed, more precisely teachers and parents in this movie.

All in all this movie has made sure that it does not do better than average at the box office.

With such a phenomenal story and script. Excellent performances this movie still may not click at the box office since it does not have the "Dard-e-khisko" factor to it. There is no leg shaking, masala or fly-me-to-the-moon action - perfect formula not be heard.

Second half of the movie can be considered slightly slow. Aamir does not make an entry for all one hour and fifteen minutes of the movie. But the first half is a delight. UnADULTerated childhood innocence, naughtiness and day dreaming. The delivery from Darsheel Safary is absolute out of the world. Some of the "senior" mega "Shirtless" star "Khiladis" who have raved millions by "stammering" for no apparent reason need to pick some queues from this kid. Especially, some of the emotions delivered by this kid is sheer brilliance. Dunno who owns the credit the kid or the director.

A lot of netizen has recommended this movie to moms and pops to watch. IMHO, this movie is for everyone who have tastes more evolved then who just like "Dard-e-khisko".

Also, I do not recall any movie (including Hollywood) that has addressed this subject. So, this is one heck of a different movie. IMHO, if this movie is not better than then this is as good as Black. I do not have the calibre to describe this movie any more. So here I rest my keyboard. Watch this movie and judge yourself.

4.9/5 bravos from my quarters.

This posting has references to the lyrics from The Wall, Pink Floyd's album. The song is Another Brick in the wall.

Wiki is driving me insane.

2007-12-20T18:41:00.001-08:00

What are the chances that you:
1. Randomly type Ras Malai in wikipedia
2. And, you would ACTUALLY get an article.

This actually happened!

And, knowing Google's struggle with Checkout service against PayPal; I wonder how well "Knoll" would do. Even if people are paid for Knoll contribution and you can download the entire Wikipedia (did I hear somebody whisper plagiarism) to your iPhone (that is if you can hold that size of info in your hand); I wonder aloud how well the idea kick.
Interesting info on Wikipedia's size.

OSO - an anorexic fest.

2007-12-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Manoj Kumar, Udi baba, slap stick parody; wondering what has this got to do with Om Shanti Om. Hmmm, these were the things I liked about this movie.

Those who know my "penchant" for SRK would probably expect that I would thumbs down this movie. But, this movie was saved by Farah Khan's parody. Yes, she has an excellent humor very similar to Sajid Khan's (her bro). These two siblings do not even spare themselves when it comes to ridiculing.

The movie does a good job at creating a period setup, colors and costumes. And, has done an excellent job at parody. Story is as haywire as Phil Spector's hair. In general digitized copy of Karz.

Three scenes that sent me off my seat only for humor reasons in no particular order.

1. Manoj Kumar's driver license (He has his hand over his face)
2. "Udi baba" (Bengali exclaimation, here super heros super power)
3. South Indian movie set (Funny was Rascale. Subtle connotation - pussy cat, used for a stuffed tiger doll.)

The song that sent this movie's claim to Guiness Book (no confirmation) "Deewangi Deewangi" is what I call the anorexic fest. Whatever happened to the healthy heroine who used to eat their three normal meals a day!!! Also, some dance steps in this song is plagerized from here (forward about 20 seconds and check the two guys standing). "Dard-e-Disco" has a very catchy tune but I hate the song for the bastardization. So, I am going to refer to this track here on as - "Dard-e-Khisko".

I would probably give 3/5 chicks to this movie.

On a side note: WTP is/was wrong with you SRK?
Who are you trying to impress with your exposed midriff and belly button? A Badshah's courtesan covers her midriff better than this.

Credits:
Phil Spector image - The Nightwatchman/ReadingEagle.com

Cancer Cure - taking "D" out of Ph.D.

2007-12-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

Last week met with an old friend, and we had some major brain tsunamis about everything but the useful! An interesting point that he made, at that time I swooshed it as nothing but BS. Cancer can be cured by balancing human body's pH scale (and so the title of this post). His analogy was flawless but I was still cynical till I spoke to my little friend - Google. The anology was of a swimming pool, to maintain the pH a few drops of minerals is required. But, interestingly no Doctor tells this in case of cancer and prefers to shave the patient with invisible blade!!

A little search on Google got me this set of results on the topic. Crux of the result - an acidic body is an invitation to all deseases including cancer! Period.

If this is so easy why not educate people about diet. There are million and one shows on weight loss diets why not one for this? I guess the question will linger for a long time. Sad but true.

Image: From the Internet. A cancer cell is being attacked by immune system.

I am back.

2007-12-02T11:38:00.000-08:00

Just as I had promised to some, I have arrived in blogosphere, I am back. Been almost seven months (eternity in Internet terms). What happened during this time:

1. Moved back to Bay Area

2. More expenses

3. A guzillion more social network sites on the Internet

4. Gas price has crossed the 3 mark and over (BTW, I go to the cheapest and shadiest gas stations)

5. People have left message on my blog saying - "I have lost my nuts". I say thanks for the FYI.

If this is true then this is kick butt!

2007-05-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

They just solved my ever-so-dominant pain in the you-know-what. This is kick butt. I hear a lot of "new" Web OS coming and yap yap and more yap. But, these guys are convincing and unlike every other NKOTB who preaches on surviving on ad banners; these guys actually have a revenue clamp.
You try and then buy! Welcome to Windows world (however much people hate M$, the reality is that is the way we get fed.).

What is so great about nivio:
- They have squared the wheel (in their own words), it is a windows system
- You get 5 GB of managed storage (Synched, backed up, spam and virus protected. Now, is that kewl or what)
- You have a suite of free softwares available or can buy other apps. (I loved this idea for $$)
- Funny part, you need browser to access this and for browser you need an OS. The world is round after all and consumers get screwed any ways!!!

What I think we really need now is a real $100 laptop that actually works! And, I have an idea. A simple computer/laptop with Celeron or a low end AMD processor about 1 GB of flash based storage, and has only one app on this masterpiece - a BROWSER does not matter which one and this could be running on any stripped down OS available (and so the need for storage space).
Turning on this baby should be nothing but starting the BROWSER. Bang and "The World is yours"¹.
Say what you?
1. Line was used in Scarface (Michele Pfiffer's debut movie).

I am an addict (but there is hope).

2007-05-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

I just found out that I am a 52% addict, irrespective of what it means. I am 52% addict of coffee and this comes for a freaking dating site. Freakin psychos!

I am 52% Addicted to Coffee

Click on the link above go to their site at my cost and take the quiz, you parasite!
Another one of my posts that may interest you, you freak!!
PS: I am still under pain, see previous post.
PPS: You get extra points for hating my blog.

I just died in the arms of most hated blog!

2007-05-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

I am college educated, I have been blogging for over a year, I have started several efforts of my own, I have a respectable full time job with a Fortune 500 company.

And, what have I gained -
I drive a 12 year old car that coughs every time I shift gears.
I still don't own a home and pay rent under a curse.
I am done with almost 1/3rd of my life and not sure if Social Security will support me after significantly contributing to it. Screw immigration policy!

After all this I get this in my face - The world's most hated blog. Congratulations! Dude, you're my hero.

Before, it was - The million dollar page.

WTP!?!? How do people get such ideas?!?!? How do I make my blog hated?

Please don't tell me things can be worse, I was my mom's favorite so back off!!

PS to the previous post.

2007-05-18T16:29:00.001-07:00

The first line was one of my biggest struggles while posting the previous post.

Which is correct:
1. Overheard *in* the street .....
OR
2. Overheard *on* the street .....

My reasoning was, since I stand *on* the street and not *in*side the street 2 is correct. But, devil whispered I am wrong and I stood choosing 1.

Your opinion?

Totally street inspired.

2007-05-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Overheard in the street - "I can't spend 300 dollars, but I need an iPod, or how would I listen to my music". This person had a laptop and a Starbucks coffee and was sitting in the sun. The keywords (marked with font weight) that rung in my ears like the bell rung at Hiroshima every year to mark the tragedy there. The weight of the fonts indicates the decibel intensity of the keywords in my head.

Questions that crossed my mind in no particular order.
- Is this abuse, ignorance, peer pressure .....?
- Since when iPod became a need?
- Is this really that difficult, you have a laptop to listen to your music?
- Why just iPod, there are million other less expensive music jukebox?
- Starbucks - average coffee - $3. 3 x 100 = 300.
Considering 5 cups a week - 20 weeks - 5 months.
Don't have Starbucks for 5 months and you can afford "the need".

Similar posting.

I want my Zee TV: Money for nothing and Colors for free

2007-05-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Haan Haan meelord, I proudly claim to be a subscriber of Zee TV that shows all episodes of relationship between non-blood related women in the finest light of cat fight and inconspicuous conspiracy. Whether it is the battle of the Jethanis or the love of three betiyans. My best infotainment on Zee TV is Ravana and the Hindi News.

But the real bang for my buck came when Jayapradha was covered by Zee News. I never knew my TV could handle so many colors. Most surprising, all these colors could be dominated by one color - WHITE! Enter Jitendra my all white contrast!! More importantly this post is to salute the makers of Tohfa, the men who dared to bring all the flowing Binny sarees and color to screen in just one song and dance with all imaginable aerobic moves.

As if this was not enough, Rajababu sent an email with the best dance moves and full-throttle laden thursts with lyrics to match!

PS: Title is mocked down version of Dire Straits - I want my MTV

Today is my crack day ...

2007-05-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

... with negative relation to controlled substance. First it was CS's email with English pics, hilarious. And then, Rediff posted this Bollywood's most absurd. Some of it are really riots.

Where we are headed ....

2007-04-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

Got this from a friend CS and had to put this here. This is absolute lol.

Beverage 2.0 - Jones Cola

2007-04-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

Last browsing through the beverage aisle at the local grocery store came across this soda - Jones Soda. A fairly low profile beverage maker. Just for kicks took a pack of four home. After finishing the first bottle I started reading the text on the bottle and first thing that kicked me was - Dude, this is web 2.0 or what.

Few interesting things that caugth my attention.

The label on the bottle is user generated. Meaning consumers send their picture and it gets printed on label if selected

Message under the bottle's cap. They are same as fortune cookie and they admit they picked it from real fortune cookie!

Spelling is "unorthodox", some thing on the lines of Flickr.

Further digging found that this drink was not popular because Target had some kind of exclusivity on the product. And, this deal is expiring soon so expect this drink to be in your local grocery store, SOON.

Google's messages are slamming funny!

2007-04-15T17:42:00.000-07:00

Logging after an eon to post and was greeted with this! Now, one can blog in Hindi and the title was hilarious - Shuru ho gaye mamu! Funny.

On the other side, I was disappointed that now there is a limit to the amount of images that can be uploaded to blogger. WTF!?!?

I have been christened royal!

2007-03-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Not to clean the posterior oneself after the deed is done to me is the height of royalty and no I would not let any one ruffle my feathers from the wrong end. It is dear, and comes with fine prints. But, a bidet is an experience and my entry into the exclusive club of "royalty". My previous post should convey my fancy for this gadget.

After spending a month in India feeling the warmth of prosperity and development, it was time to scoot back into the western hemisphere with a layover in Seoul, S Korea. Had some plans of checking the entire city especially the Palace, but missed the opportunity but, did not miss the bidet! Courtsey: Seoul Royal Hotel.

What amazed me was the amount of detail and sophistication this thing had on it and then airline companies says they can't make airline seats more comfortable! This thing can be adjusted from an electronic panel that would digitally tell its state, set the temprature, give all options of "intensity", can do "root canal" cleansing as well and all this on the fly!!! I still wonder about the sophistication on this gizmo. Amazing!

Word of caution from the horses mouth, this experience can be uncomfortable.

Delhi has changed.

2007-03-04T18:15:00.000-08:00

If San Jose, CA area is known as Silicon Valley because of it's high tech industry then Delhi is the city of bridges and construction.

There probably is no nook left in the city where one does not find construction happening. There can not be a bigger billboard screaming that this is the sign of prosperity. Who would have expected a sophisticated metro station in the middle of congested Chandni Chowk. Swelling with pride factor.

I can't aim no more.

2007-02-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

After thousand hour wait at the carousel finally had all my baggage together and my bladder was at the verge of exploding and had to make a dash to whereelse .... mensroom.

In the rush did not realize; right when I relieved myself I realized, WTF!?!? In a country where the average height is probably 5'5" the urinals are located almost at 4' height. One has to know enough physics to compute the projectile's trajectory to find the right aim. And, me no good at this.

This was the first time I noticed this and it was stuck to my head and started comparing height of pretty much every thing that crossed my path *ahem* exceptions are always there. And, everything was higher than we normally find elsewhere.

Even taking a dump was a tip-toe affair considering the height. And, after all the intake you can imagine the number of visit takes an exponential upswing.

Disclaimer: Numbers may be exaggerated!
PS: I know I am kinda wierd to notice things like these but, what to do.

Million and one wet smooches

2007-02-27T17:48:00.000-08:00

After almost two years I am here - Delhi. There is something about this place, the moment I step off the airplane (ya, I flew in) I felt this million and one wet smooches on every pore of my skin - it was the humidity! Nevertheless, it was refreshing considering the weather of Seattle, this was rejuvenating.

Walking to the baggage claim, something bugged the hell out of me and have to bitch about it. The airport's flooring has this expensive marble and there is one carousel for thousand and one flight that decide to arrive at the same time - midnight! How about a regular flooring and few extra carousel.

Note: I will be posting India visit in retrospect so expect posting that may not be in sequence.

I had thought I knew it all of voyeurism ...

2007-02-22T19:59:00.000-08:00

... till I was sent this, however contradictory this was sent as ode to tea. It gives a new dimension to the obsession (don't ask which obsession we're talking about). I had heard of all kinds of things but a blog!

For other related blogs.
Girls with tea cups (Teabirds)
Babes with books (WARNING: NSWP)
Women with wine

There are numerous other blogs of similar kind linked from the original blog, which may or may not be NSWP. You've been cautioned.

I am not that innocent.

2007-02-20T12:06:00.000-08:00

Last six months have changed all that I had of Britney. What I think:

She is jealous of FedEx
She is blonde
She does not have a strand of hair on her body (as of today)
She is in trouble and should be put on suicide watch
Her head is round, I always thought it to be flat

She used to be a singer
She is brunette
Her hair is more important to the news then other events
She is blonde (OK, I can't decide. See #3)
While typing Britney Spears in Google toolbar, two most common suggestions are:
1. britney spears crotch shot, 2. britney spears no underwear
(can't decide who is better: Britney, Google, Internet, Internet User)
She is an absolute bald (see #3)
Her hair is on sale

There are other women who went bald and beautiful. They deserve the attention too.

No liquid on-board.

2007-02-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

I would prefer a glider to this. Rest is self explained:

Funniest assassination plot!

2007-02-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Found this on Turbanhead. Since I read this only I know how I managed to sprinkle these words in this post between my RLOL!

Hubby Busted In 'Slay Belle' Plot.

Yes, I found this funny.
Quote:

... it had to be before the end of the week so he could “mourn her before the
holidays,” said Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.

Moron!

Dreaming of the sunrise....

2007-02-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

The green meadow with sunlight splashed all over it and the beautiful blue sky, now I am not talking about the Windows XP background. This is a very serious obsession of mine that one day I shall overcome the beautiful grey Pacific North-Western morning to see the sun rise. But, my alarm is forever defeated.

So, thanks to Swash, today once again he enlightened me to this.

The ultimate in wake-up technology! Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Nanda:

Fabmall acquires Indiaplaza.

2007-02-16T12:18:00.000-08:00

Fabmall acquires Indiaplaza to create the world's largest India centeric e-commerce site (www.Indiaplaza.in). Quality will continue to suck and deliveries will be further delayed. (pun intended). But, the variety will remain as vast (that is positive.) and confusing (not so positive).

Allergic @&*($%&#

2007-02-12T12:47:00.000-08:00

Excuse my hypocritical censoring of the title. I wanted to be little more hypocritical and add beeps but the technological handicap held me back. (Update: In yet another act of hypocrisy and prudeness, I have further censored the title. "Aligning my post with my original resolve to refrain from all profanities.")

My inspiration for this posting is this ~~fudging~~ post here. Below is a quote.

is baar censors ne kuchh nahii.n kaaTaa ... chaar gaaliyaa.N kaaTii.n; do m**darch*d kaaTe ek b*hench*d kaaTaa; ek aur gaalii kaaTii; aur jab usake liye hamane argument kiyaa ki sir ye aap kyo.n kaaT rahe ho Black Friday me.n se ... aise hii ye log baat karate the ... wo actually jab Tiger Memom kaa ghar jalataa hai puuraa maahiim jalaa duu.Ngaa m**darch*d kar ke ... wahaa.N beep aataa hai ... to chaar jagah beep aataa hai ... wo chaar gaaliyaa.N kaaTii hai.n ... aur jab hamane unako puuchhaa ki aapane ye kyo.n kaaTaa ... censor-waalo.n ne ... unakaa argument ye thaa ... counter-argument ... ki aap ko aThaarah ch**tye diye the na is baar?

What is hilarious is the bargain of 18 ch**tiya ... unbelievably LOL!
I am proponent of *responsible* free speech and yes, I do want to swear to my hearts content. But, "yeh hamare yahan nahin hota" attitude of censor board only shows a case of ED - Extreme Denial or is it just a juvenile prudeness of "meri mummy told me so"? I come from Delhi (FYI: India's capital) where swearing is as important as punctuations in archaic Victorian English (interstingly, Govt. Offices still use this too.). The remaining country is no different, yet use of "street language" is a big no no. An excellent piece of art like Omkara is phooh phoohed by my neighborhood aunties for its language but near naked song and dance aka item numbers, and violence is as normal as Adam and Eve's navel. To my non-Indian brethrens, NO, Indian's don't stop traffic and do a little song and dance everytime it rains.

Even though, I like free speech I add a little asterisk to it as *responsible*. Essentially, use your judgement *WHAT* to use, *HOW* to use and *WHEN* to use.

PS: There is a Brooklyn Qawalli Party (BQP)

Answers.com - answers to where I am.

2007-02-08T23:18:00.000-08:00

About six years back I had found a tool Babylon. This was an excellent tool to bridge the gap between what I knew and what I did not. Any where on my computer if I clicked with a key combination it would get me the definition of the word in multiple languages and everything related to it. It is like spell checker in Office Word, only better since it works with anything. The catch, it is NOT free.

Enter Answers.com, 1-Click Answers is a similar tool and this is free. It does not provide as much info as Babylon does, but suffices my needs. It can really be addictive.

iPhone - Geeks ultimate fetish.

2007-02-08T22:39:00.000-08:00

Launch of iPhone satiated every geeks ultimate fetish. Music player, Wi Fi, browsing with a full browser, no stylus AND A PHONE in sleek sexy case.

All is good. But, there is something that is missed in all the praise for this mother of all geek's tool. Battery life - 5 hours and 15 for just music. When an avid user is swinging this sword in all directions; I wonder how long will this last. A commuter from New Jersey to New York city or some body living in South Bay and working in San Francisco; will the battery life be enough between recharges to last through a day. It is a wait and watch.

One thing that I would really want to see is convergence of Credit Card with mobile phones. Something that works with infra red. Bankrate.com has an article, which talks about this concept.

Considering Airtel Call Home - STOP!

2006-12-26T00:13:00.000-08:00

OK, so if you are considering switching to Airtel call home or join new just because they are offering 7.9 cents a minute. Hold your horse real tight and read further.

I made the mistake of jumping first and suffered big. First I am very keen to meet the Program manager, Project manager and the person who signed off on their website. The security (registration) is as if they are going to hold my future behind it and the user id is a randomly assigned number even major banks allow to pick a 5 character userid if it is available. The site did not allow me to login for almost 24 hours and it was picky thereafter as if the person authenticating me was on nicotine break. After all is done, tried calling got a long dead break and no response and could not use the line anyways. They use AJAX very nice BUT it is broken some of the places and can be very confusing! I could never register my phone numbers.

Finally, after all the huffs and puffs decided this is it. I am cancelling this. So, I call up the support that claims 24/7 support hehehehehehe ..... only if you are willing to hold 40 minutes! After 7 attempts, a carpal tunnel injury and endangering another tennis elbow I got through and on complaining about the wait, I was told - "it is because of high volume call", that was a big no no; it is the sign they are having more trouble than what I have imagined. The representative was friendly and nice though.

On the whole wait before you sign up, Airtel is a good company and is not inherited through generations so I am all for it. They are very disruptive and they have shaken Reliance India Call (I use this service). I uphold their jihad on price, kudos. It will take them some time to fix some of their website glitches. These glitches should have been caught long time back though, this is not some thing new and Airtel is big enough to do so. Something, seriously missing is easy dial feature capability to store numbers.

I did not face any such trouble with Reliance India Call and never had to call the support.

PS: Reliance is matching the deals with some good breaks.

Taj, man's greatest erection for a woman.

2006-12-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

I know the title is not original. Most likely you would have seen it on million and one people's t-shirt with via-agra in the following (find similar t-shirts at indobundee). But, there is a reason to worry and hence this posting.

Manhood is shrinking and size does matter; at least in this regard. Here is the article. Click here.

Past, present, future and everything in the middle about the Taj.

Make love not war!

2006-11-21T23:52:00.000-08:00

After reading this article, my belief in peace has been rejuvenated to a new height.

Crane accident across from work.

2006-11-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

Last night a crane crashed into a residential building right across from work. Casualty reported one. Condolences to family and friends. News and video link click here.

This accident picture was taken from my office building by a coworker, which is right across from the street. (stay tuned more pix to come)

Interestingly, there is an identical crane right next to my office building. See map reference.
Legend:

The accident site
My office building
The identical crane site

"Cat fight" claims 10 lives.

2006-10-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

Not exactly, I am just exaggerating. But, found this kinda funny so had to post it.
More details click here.

Image source: heroika muljadi

Munna Bro.

2006-10-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

Watching Lage Raho Munna Bhai, there was this very uneasy itch that pointed to the storm following the lull - Gandhigiri. Even a site has been put up for the same cause click here.

OK the movie, so I was skeptical about this movie when I left home. I found the original Munna Bhai to be mediocre and hardly funny in fact the jhuppi part was extremely annoying, and the claim of the new movie to be better than the first only sounded like the echo of other movie makers - "this is a very different kind of movie". But, this one did what it said.

Light movie, what I liked was even though fairly philosophical the lingo was colloquial no unnecessary sugar topping just because Bapu was in the house.

IMHO, Boman Irani (no doubt he is talented) was the only weak link. He could not deliver the punch of paaji. Circuit (Shankareshwar) (Arshad Warsi), IMHO, was the real punch in the movie, this guy has talent. This guy was flawless. Too bad he lost so much time before being noticed again. What I did not want to see was that Bapu really doing a walkie-talkie with Bhai (Sanjay Dutt), nice work with the hallucination part. Most importantly, the packaging of Bhai-ism with Gandhism in the present tense and its influence was sweetly wrapped.

By the way, in Singapore Bhai (=brother) is considered offensive, kinda "N" word for Sikhs. Click here. Interestingly, the world is full of racial slurs for all. So the world is flat after all.

Yahoo! Mail practically beautiful.

2006-10-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

In the midst of cries of the Google nerds and the merciless onslaught of acquisitions done by Googlee we have ignored the wisdom of the Jedi master Yoda of Internet - Yahoo!. According to various sources Yahoo still is the most visited site on the Internet. Being the mother battle ship of information why not.

Coming to the topic. We've loathed over Google's AJAXy GMail and Windows Live Mail but some of us just missed out on Yahoo! Mail beta (Web 2.0 style) - No experience required.

IMHO, the most beautiful aspect of this UI is it did not try creating a new UI. Yes, it just photocopied Outlook and is immensely clean. A million and one thing is happening on the screen yet nothing is intimidating.

Things I liked list:

Clean, non-intimidating UI
Tabs. I loved this. So, now if I search my mail instead of taking away my current veiw a new tab is created for the results. No more "Grrr.. It looks like popup blocker ...." either.
Nicely integrated with Yahoo! Calendar. No more leaving the screen it is there at the bottom subtly ready to take dates.
Autocomplete of what all is already saved.
The page has fair amount of ads yet none of them are intrusive and none of them so far have asked me to light their farts.
While composing mail one can come out to a new window and it still gives the option to merge with the original browser window.
All this heavy duty AJAX is fast with no glitches considering this to be beta (first time login takes a few seconds as all the fanciness is cached.).
Drag-n-drop (one or multiple) mails
Easy access to mark mail as spam
Coolth is the way to mark emails for followups
Own context menu where needed
Excellent keyboard access
If for any reason, I can switch back to old version

One thing I would want to see is tag based organization of emails. So far all providers have nice folder based organization.

Closing notes, I liked Yahoo! charts want to see all of Yahoo! Finance change to 2.0 and ditto for calendar especially since it is directly integrated with Mail.

KANK - Hither come, Whither gone

2006-10-16T13:56:00.002-07:00

Yaawwwnnnn .... been away for a while and that yawn includes little bit for the bosom buddies (aka - Karan Johar, SRK et al).

Confession time: however biased I am, I kind of liked the movie and I will credit two reasons for this - subject and Abhishek. While Abhishek could give a complete spectrum of acting agility; SRK had a tough time moving anything more than his forehead, puckered lips and his adam's apple (chiming in perfect harmony with his hysterics). I wonder how much botox he is carrying under his skin and still manages to get through airport security.

I liked the subject hated the unneccessary locale, I guess this was the prude hypocritical justification for the state-of-affairs - hamare yahan aisa nahin hota hai!

I don't know what Amitabh was upto in this movie. In a crisp pimp dress, I guess he had the most fun time in the movie. I still don't know what this character was about in the movie.

Movie is long, songs are shoved in, US locale was not needed, Amitabh's character was him testing the water for his new movie Nishabd (supposedly this is "different" from Lolita), and breaking the bed post with call girls is only justified and humored by all if it is done by Amit ji but ... hamare yahan aisa nahin hota hai. And, yet the man is still mesmerized in his dead wife's memories, I wonder what killed that poor wife. Some of the scenes are well shot with the scenery etc. Subject is very contemporary and upfront less SRK's botox.

Rani is OK kind of the dull cousin, I think Priety did a better job in the movie.

I don't know who the makers of the movie were trying to fool. Mens's soccer (football) is NOT POPULAR in the US the way it was portrayed. I guess they did not have any other sport to use to relate to both Indians and Not-Required-Indians (NRI) other than teen patti. Yaaawwwnnnn .... hamare yahan aisa nahin hota hai.

Funniest moment in the movie the tattoo on SRK's arm (this was suppose to make him aggressive and ubersexy), the thought of it makes me lol then rlol. It was such a stupid copy of David Beckham's tattoo of his wife's name (Victoria) in Hindi script, which "coincidentally" rhymes with "Victory". By the way the tattoo on David Beckham's arm is misspelled, I knew it the first day I saw it. Knowing my hetu hetu madbhed from the Hindi class the "H" can only be to compensate for the propah British accent. Here is the confirmation of the mistake.

Wah!

2006-10-08T15:40:00.000-07:00

All my mental capacity was put to challenge in figuring out which one is the real thang and which one is "inspiration"?

Real or Not Real?

Related posting: Only if my life had a bluescreen to it

Sexual Healing - immigrant style.

2006-10-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

"... I want Sexual Healing
Sexual Healing is good for me
Makes me feel so fine, it's such a rush
Helps to relieve the mind, and it's good for us
Sexual Healing, baby, is good for me
Sexual Healing is something that's good for me
And it's good for me and it's good to me
My baby ohhh
Come take control, just grab a hold ..."

Now that I have all your attention, here is my reason for the swing and the sexual healing and the relation.

I really don't get the immigration departments logic of functioning. Give amnesty to illegal immigrants, let terrorists live in a jolly state with expired visas but, when it comes to leggit immigrants who have continously contributed to the well being and prosperity of US behold for dinosauric years before you come out of your exploits. I am talking of immigrants who are working on temporary work visas aka H1B.

Yeah, I have often read at various forums of grievances from US citizen's about foriegners taking our jobs and on f**kedcompany that these geeky, oil loathed, pot bellied, funny accented, stinky curry powder, ass scratcher working at cheap rates and stealing my job ......... hold it there. Think again. If this pot bellied, funny accented, stinky curry powder while scratching his ass had the fair permits to work would he not work at the same wage as you! He is being exploited because of the screwed up immigration policies!! And, if this pot bellied joker decides to move back to his native land guess what he takes away from you (the least) - one job, at least 20K in savings, and one less thing to poke fun at; the flip side, the sooner he gets his immigration he spends that 20K + more all here, employing the citizens who still want to watch Monday night football from their lazyboys, works at fair wages without threatening your 401K and contribute in million and one other ways that some can't even fathom.

The same thing applies to the dependent spouse who come with the curry powder and are highly qualified. And, all her talent is wasted sitting at home watching, pathologically, Oprah, Dr. Phil and Desperate Housewives etc ... All of them require and maintain an IQ level of negative 96. And, pot belly gets no healing at home and works longer hours at lower wages. (OK, last line was kinda exaggeration)

When will such issue be addressed; it is becoming a phonomenon now that if somebody is disgruntled the only way they are heard is by going on a shooting spree at innocent children in some high school in some obscure town.

Think about it and write to your local congressperson about this. If nothing direct them here.

Other related postings:
The Immigrant Song
Immigration Brouhaha

Links in this posting:
H4 women folks getting desperate
Lyrics for Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye
Picture source: Flickr (it is really pretty, eh?)

Cat fight!

2006-10-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

No reason in particular to post this. But, found this to be funny. Gives a whole new meaning to cat fight. I love the vengeful expression on the cop's face and the chase.
This is from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, India.
Photo source: TOI

The most annoying and effective commercial.

2006-09-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

Say whatever one may want to but IMHO this is one of the most annoying TV commercials I have ever seen/heard and probably one of the most effective. No CNN buff will miss this commercial it is inevitable.

This also reminds me of the talking clocks.

Oh boy!

2006-09-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Where else in the world can this happen? Thanks to democracy and free speech.

Video link

YHOO! Charts is here!!

2006-08-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

We heard eons ago of Yahoo! coming out with its Web2.0 finance portal to counter the new kid on the block a.k.a. the undertaker a.k.a. Google boy. The beta is here (only chart for now). And, it looks sexy! Looks very professional and to the extent of services provided by paid brokers.

For some reason it worked really well on a wide display computer with IE 6 but the display was haywire on a smaller display with IE 7. Note: Did not have the option for FF. IE wins again!
Now, what I liked:
- Ability to add other symbols and compare them on the same chart a la a-2-a (apple-to-apple)
- Good display of splits and dividends (on-demand)
- Under Technical Indicators menu there is a slew of options (confession: I stayed with the default, could not make a head or tail of remaining.)
- User-friendly and good experience
- Can collapse left panel to occupy whole screen with the chart only
- Time range can be specified manually or dragging

What I did NOT like:
- It only is the chart misses out the conciseness of Google Finance (Guessing rest is to follow)
- I need news/events with hovering mouse over, just like Google's, this I think is the biggest miss IMHO, that was a killer by Googly

Yahoo! has a lot more data and experience in this field and I would want to see more from them. Wondering what MSN is upto.

Related posting: New front for GOOG.
PS: Keep an eye on Zoho, this is one bad boy. IMHO, they have probably assembled the best office suite online in Web2.0 era.

Concentration Eatery.

2006-08-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

If politicians mobilizing support by instigating Hitler-ian viewpoints in Mumbai was not enough that now we have a restaurant too. The article.

Pic source: TOI

Live from Bin Laden's Sex Dungeons

2006-08-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

I am speechless about this.

I don't even know how to react to this. Imagine Whitney and Osama sniffing coke and visiting Kabbalah in Israel together.

Other related posting.
Niece purrrsss... Uncle grrrssss....

My 21 gun salute

2006-08-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

There is not much to say for this, but this is one of the most heroic acts I have heard in recent times, especially knowing Bihar the way I do.

The article.

New look.

2006-08-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

After a long procrastination; finally being bored of my blog's older look and inspired by Swash's blog's new look I decided to get a new look myself.

The only complaint, I want to expand the width of the post area, but since the layout is so dependent upon graphics that it will not be a straight job.

If you think you can help me on this or direct me to a skin similar to this available for free drop a comment.

Thanks mate.

Social banking??

2006-08-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

If social pictures, bookmarks and home pages were not enough then, now we have social banking. Guessing what is this? This is where people lend their money to other people who need it à la eBay of banking. People actually bid to lend you money. How insane or how humane?
Presenting Prosper.com.

To Othello or Not to Othello, that is the Omkara.

2006-07-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

I am no connoisseur of English literature neither contemporary nor classic. The closest I have ever encountered Shakespeare was during my high school's one act plays where I pretty much memorized the lines and vomitted to the audience. So, I have no clue what Othello is about and don't really care. But with little Shakespeare that I remember, Omkara has done a tsunamic proportion of brilliance in adapting the script to this avatar. I was very pleased that the end of the movie was not altered to fit the sugery fate like it was done in Parineeta. Tragedies do happen.

IMHO, Saif deserves National Award for his role. Level of attention paid to details was amazing. Eg. Bottom of Langda's pants tied with string, long, painted nail of his pinky finger; except one detail - khaini (chewing tobacco) is placed under the lower lip not the upper (experience talks), but this can also be a personal preference I guess. I liked how his limp was subtle and not prominent. One of the finest work I felt was the colloquial language which enhanced the story and presentation. Thankfully, the language was not chastized to sound from a foreign country called Bollywood. Another, good thing I felt was that now people have started to break the dominance of Hindi and started accepting its other dialects.

Omkara (Ajay Devgan, the always teeth grinding constipated man) and Kesu (Vivek Oberoi) were OK. I liked Kesu's name - Kesu Firangi, emphasising his "kind-of"-Anglophillic character. I liked the flow of the movie even though I over heard people cribbing about the movie being too long. Interestingly, the love making scenes besides being sensual profounded the ethos of each character very nicely. Among the ladies of the movie - Dolly (Kareena) best was the dying scene. IMHO, Indu (Konkana) did the best. Not because of her dialogues but her presence and performance. Billo (Bipasa Basu) was the big b(l)ip on the radar screen (read: silver screen).

Music is excellent especially, Naina and Beedi. Naina is extremely sensual and Beedi, what can I say it is top on my current chart. If dialect were a genre Beedi is second only to Raj Kapoor's Chalat musafir le liyo re from Teesri Kasam. Who can question Gulzar's lyrics on subjects like these.

What I found misfit in the movie was the background music. IMHO, for some reason it did not gel. The background music was at times influenced by pop music and other times by English classical, there was a gap left unbridged. Second, pre-marital hanky-panky in rural India did not digest too well with me. Lastly, the dialect which did not sound Bhojpuri. UP speaks Bhojpuri but I will give the benefit of doubt since western UP speaks Khariboli (I think that sounds similar to Hariyanavi as it sounded in the movie).

I am sure some quarters of the industry will use Omkara as an excuse to copy more Hollywood movie stories as "inspiration". Note, Othello is a stage play and a classic and Omkara is an adaptation. Just like Lolita's adaptation on its way.

Now, I am a cheap B and have bought only one movie so far - Sholay. And, the way I will rate this movie is that I will probably own a copy of this movie.

This movie is another message to the likes of Wussy club (Karan Johar, SRK et al); get some real stuff.

My Raapchick item ranking rates the Bipasa and Konkana as the dusky Raapchick items for this term. You think you are Raapchick enuff? Get your own Raapchick t-shirt from Indobundee.

Identity fraud my ...

2006-07-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

Reading this article the first thing that came to my mind was my conversation with Citibank last weekend. After smoothly getting through to the "Finance associate" I was asked three questions to verify my identity.
1. What is your name?
2. What is your mother's maiden name?
3. What is your social security number?

Do these questions worry you? If no, read the third question again. They did not ask me for the last four but the WHOLE number. During a previous such conversation the associate had incessantly argued with me to give my complete social security number and that the associate could see my complete number on the screen. After somebody has given the three pieces of information and the address from the system, I wonder what is left to the imagination of an identity thief.

If you think I am blaming the Call center people in India. NO. They are doing what they have been trained to do. A financial organization like Citibank can commit such a "thoughtful" oversight despite its Jihad against identity theft is ridiculous.

A reliable source tells me that the Citibank in India is actually a franchise based out of Chennai and they also manage the call center for Citibank US. And, they do not need to worry about violating any identity issues that we have become so privy about in the west.

Link to the article. Click here.

Saree slaughter continues ...

2006-07-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

The sexiness of saree just refuses to stop. Here is another set of pics augmenting my previous posting on the subject. This time it is the bollywood attack.
Previous post Ode to saree. Click here.
Links to pics. Click here.

PS: Saree is also spelled as Sari.

Recommendation accepted?

2006-07-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my recommendation would be accepted by B-School.

What I had suggested about Krrish. Click here.
Result. Click here.

Krrish... Dolly gone wild.

2006-07-11T23:22:00.000-07:00

It's a horse. It's a monkey. It's a ..... Dolly.

You must have gotten what Krrish is here (not really and you're not missing much) but if you are not sure what Dolly is click here.

No IMHO for this one, I am very opinionated for this one.

This movie is gone bad in every which way. The movie is a mediocre abuse of the "green screen". The movies made in 60's and 70's did a better job of background screen. Now to the *ahem* "original" story and the first super hero of India. The originality of the movie was cloned(the Dolly connection) by a movie made in 2003 - Paycheck.
This one is for the originality:

I would rate Jadugar to have a more bang for the buck than our *original* *first* Indian super hero. Priyanka does not get the opportunity to "show" any of her "talents". And there is nothing else left for me to mention.
Thank you.

PS: If you still plan on watching this movie, do not forget to keep a bottle of Asprin next to you.
PPS: My recommendation to any B-School. This movie is a classic case study for advertising and marketing.

Not so horny bull!

2006-07-11T21:28:00.000-07:00

The question has become synonymous with - "Why did the chicken cross the street?". Why did Zizou ram into Materazzi with his hornless head?

I have heard three versions of the story:
1. Nipple tweaking
2. Racial slur (as confirmed by lip reader)
3. All of above (insult to injury)

Irrespective, after twenty years of professional soccer, in last 10 minutes of your glorious career and almost a world cup, you lose your temper. Even though I rooted for you, gambled and made money on you - I do not think Zizou, you were right in what you did. What a shame.

The is not the first time Materazzi did what he did, he is known for it. My brother tells me that WC 1982 Italy had a similar player whose sole job was to distract and disturb players on the field. This is not Super Bowl, you are talking Soccer World Cup; player's get killed for making mistakes. Rooney was similarly red carded in the game against Portugal. Stepping in the groin was excusable but his behavior later got him the red card, which was a result of his short temper that Portugese took advantage of. Zizou too had done the same in the past and he fell victim of it.

However, I liked the way you got the guy. Seriously, it was one of those rare moments that I am going to cherish for a long time Zinedine Zidane. And, I give you a standing ovation for your performance and feel sorry that you could not get the same when you left the field.

As for FIFA, IMHO Materazzi should be banned for life if found guilty of racial slur. FIFA's slogan this WC was "Say no to racism". Otherwise, he did what he had to; again IMHO he should have been the man of the match.

Some interesting links of Zidane including videos of his brilliance. Click here.

What to do now?

2006-07-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

After a month of nail biting, on-the-edge nervousness, tears, anger, swearing, mud slinging, exhaustive spreadsheet usage (yes) and reason to get up early today I have come to the cross-roads where I ask myself - What do I do now? In part I blame my classmate from College TRV for initiating this agenda.

Still wondering what I am talking about - World Cup 2006. The magic, the moment, the legends, the mishaps, 30 days, 64 competitive matches; it is time for withdrawl symptoms.

Some pictures from this game. I think Fox Sports has done the best job of brining it together. I was disappointed by Flickr.

Pictures:

World Cup Finals

Player's Wives and Girlfriends

Babe fans at World Cup 2006

Boys, these pictures should give you enough reasons to convince your parents to let you continue with soccer.

Statistics: this will be updated as more info flows in
Viewership: Estimated to be 1.5 billion (Super bowl has a viewership of ~95 million)

Aaah... for the love of the game ...

2006-07-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

They say, a picture speaks a thousand words and video a million. Nobody can understand that better than I. After creating a small Mt. Fuji of crumpled electronic draft of this posting, I found this ESPN/U2 anthem for the world cup soccer 2006. None of my attempts could have possibly delivered what this video from U2 does.

Original from U2's site. Click here. (U2's site has some other videos too.)

Ignorance and Commentators, priceless.

2006-07-06T00:21:00.000-07:00

This is a hilarious account that was put together by WSJ with info from Big Soccer. I do not think that the commentators were familiar with any other player's name other than David Beckham. Wonder why?

Despite everything this fiscal quarter belongs to Disney DIS. Partly thanks for Pixar.

Pick your favorite insane thing said by the announcers so far. Click here.

The French zattack!

2006-07-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

Another disappointing world cup match. You may wonder why and some of you may also say why when I was supporting the French team?

The only part that I liked about the match was that finally referees decided to stop playing cards(only two yellow cards, one to each team.). And bravo to the Portugese team who played so valiantly. I am afraid but the French just got lucky. After the penalty score the French played a strategically defensive game but broke the tempo of the game and IMHO a very risky decision. Well, it is done and over ... we'll see what happens in the finals. Italy's defense line is probably one the strongest right now (unlike the Brasilians). Brasil reminds me, when they were in the match I could not find my Brasilian shirt and when I finally did they were out. Damn! I guess I will wear it for the finals.

Something off the topic, I don't think I have ever seen a player as respected as Zinedine Zidane.

PS: How can I forget to thank the French for helping India create history. Wonder how, oh the wonder boy Vikash Dhorasoo the man who usually substitutes Zinedine in the highly competitive midfield. Vikash is the only player of Indian descent to have played the World Cup soccer.

Few links of interest.
Pics from the game. Click here.
Zinedine Zidane. Click here.
French Squad. Click here.
Viskash Dhorasoo. Click here.
Yes, soccer was once "known" in the US. Click here.

Will Google get into my pants next?

2006-06-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

It's a wallet. No, it's a card. No, its GBuy. The latest buzz on the grapevine; the latest in myriad of services from Googleee... Surely, Google from being the friendly neighbor in the Silicon Valley is now becoming the not-so-friendly bully. It scooted Yahoo in lot many ways and now it is taking head on with eBay's PayPal. Though Eric Schmidt has very categorically said that this is not going to be people-to-people transaction but different and the rest of yapping. Here is my $0.02 on this topic.

Knowing Google the way we all know is going to tie this down with our purchasing behavior. There has been a lot of blogs saying that Google is going to use this service for ad words payment, IMHO there is more to this.

Once a user purchases something online using GBuy, Google will start promoting other products same way Amazon and other e-coms do; "Those who bought this also ..." the difference - what the e-coms do for their own service Google is going to do it for all of Internet and each of these recommendations can be monetized the same way as adwords. More bling for Google.

Now, since Google already knows what the user purchased, "Those who bought this product ..." can also be delivered to GMail. How about Froogle? A "Buy it now" right from Froogle site. What about Google Base? An edge to Craigslist? This is not just a threat to eBay but Amazon too. A direct access to user's personalized page. Not to forget the toolbar, remember how maps is integrated. Every page that has a payment option the toolbar can introduce - "Would you like to use GBuy for this purchase?", with this kind of access to users purchasing Google can certainly negotiate further discounts from merchandise sellers and say buy this with GBuy and save 1% or get a 10% rebate on your next purchase or 50% rebate on AdWords. GBuy can be tied to its video service and Answer service and cut on the cost of verifying payments with third party clearinghouse.

If Google manages to hit a volume that is astronomical; mighty Google can offer clearinghouse services (since it already has the transaction data) similar to First Data, MasterCard and Visa at a cost lower than the biggies are charging at least in the Internet arena; maybe not MC and Visa are backed by bankers. Never screw with bankers unless the bank can be acquired.

Google's Analytics that I have been using for over 2 months, I have come to the conclusion that it is very AdWord centric (kind of disappointed overall) this service too will revolve around the adwords.

Lastly, I think Google should acquire USPS and use them for delivering search results along with these merchandise too. Instead of stamps put AdWords on the envelope. Google should also acquire maternity wards and offer deliveries for free on one condition, baby's butt will get a display panel for AdWords and the earnings later can be forwarded to college fund.

Give and take?

2006-06-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I have been curious to see a living example of effects of economics on culture. In a way, how superficial cultural fanaticism is.

So, here is my case. How about call centers in India? Just for those who don't know about Indian civilization the first Indian settlement is known to be 9000 years old and ever since this might has evolved culturally and socially. Without ticking more here is the article that somewhat answered my quest.

By no means I want to obstruct the economic prosperity of India on the contrary I am a very strong proponent of the prosperity, BPO, ITeS and IT . But, after reading this I was reminded of my Afro-American culture class I had back when I was doing my Engineering. One of the first things that farm owners did after bringing slaves to the farms was giving the slaves an English/American name. Is this new form of, I don't know how to put this, you know what? Or is this yet another simple give and take of hybridization, evolution?

Another related posting - Get your accent right.

Scoot iPod here comes sPod.

2006-06-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

This is just what the doctor prescribed. The quality siesta in the heart of a metro. Did I catch your attention yet? You, sleep deprived zombie yuppie.

OK, so here is the story. Yesterday, "BIG" on CNN headline news was about this Comcast's cable guy who fell asleep at a client site while being on hold for AN HOUR by Comcast support (funny, eh?). That triggered a neuronic impulse in my sub-concious grey matter about something I had read some light years ago - Sleep Pods! A brainchild of a CMU grad, later Wall Street Banker named Arshad Choudhury. Formalized as MetroNaps provides fast track people 20 min power nap for only $14. Kinda 'xpensive for sleep but this power nap is loaded. Nevertheless I guess the idea is interesting. Also, now it is franchised so you can operate one too.

Watch the cable guy sleeping video that got him caught click here.
More on MetroNaps and what sleep pod is. click here.

PS: The poor cable guy was fired by Comcast. But, don't you think the phone support should have been fired? Why would Comcast's own support keep its field guy on hold for ONE HOUR?
Image source: MocoLoco

FIFA WC 06

2006-06-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

Ghana vs. US
Did somebody say Ghana was playing its first world cup? They wacked the US team like a local kid being bullied by veteran bully. What a tireless, aggressive, strong game by Ghana. I am very tempted for the Ghanese team but they lack exposure. The only player I think who made any impact on the field from US side - McBride (note: he has European exposure) and Reyna the Cap. Donovan is nothing but short burst of sprint gone haywire and highly overrated player. US performance was full of mistakes from the line up to passes on the field to attacks.

BTW, why were they trying the offside trap in their match against Italy? They just got lucky tying the game, but that was probably the most stupid thing a novice team like US could have tried in a World cup match.

Argentina vs. Mexico
Ah, what a game. Finally, the world cup quality of game has arrived. Despite Argentina's performance through its group games and being the highest scorer yet, I am very sceptical about them. Reasons, in the group game the only comparable team was Holland and they drew with them (by the time they played this game the teams had already qualified for round of 16). Against Mexico they had a tough time winning the game. So, its a team to watch. But what goals. This was a 120+ mins of watching on the edge game. I chewed by fingers in apprehension during this game. The goal in the overtime was devine.

Portugal vs. Netherlands
Why are Dutchs not wearing ORANGE? The match or the blood bath was more of gladiator's in the arena. The referee was playing poker with the cards. Lets see whats there in store next.

French have made to the round of 16, lady luck must really be shinning for this team. The only reason I wanted them to go to round 16, give one more chance to Zizhou (Zinedine Zidan).

I am hating the card games by referee the whole meaning of cards is lost.

And the ESPN commentators. They are hilarious, they sound like Yogi Bera. In the England vs. Ecuador match, Beckham scored a brilliant free kick goal (remember Bend it like Beckham?). But, the commentator's statement that the goal keeper did not have a chance to do anything was slightly indigestable. The goal keeper did not just make an attempt at saving by diving but was able to move the ball to. And please focus on the game rather than glamor.

The New World Order.

2006-06-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

The US has kicked everybody's posterior and is the only super power. They humor the French, tommy the Brit leadership (besides making fun of their teeth/dentist and fancying the accent) and lead the world. What I don't get is, why get judges for TV shows from across the pond only to humiliate oneself?
First it was Simon Cowell and now Piers Morgan (former editor of London Daily Mirror and now judge for America's Got Talent). Coincidently, Simon Cowell is also the executive producer of the new TV show America's Got Talent.

Being an Indian I wonder how can I contribute to the US besides taking support calls, write geeky code (nothing to do with Da Vinci Code), contribute to Social Security and never use it, and provide a comic accent only to be made fun of.

Image source: USA Today

Jolie'sPit?

2006-06-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

The title was the toughest to come up with. But, what is going on with today? Wedding, marriage, rental, divorce everything at one go in marital world. I know this is one of those rare postings I had never expected I would do but, I am.

OK, so here is a situation where the world is in a dilemma, Shakespeare is twisting and twitching in his grave with the question - to do or not to do and Howie Mandel is cursing do or no do. Still wondering what I am talking about then here it is - Will Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ever marry? I had never thought I would post anything about this "global issue" but I fell into the trap of this heading, which flew right into my face.

My question, do they really need to? I mean, Angelina has been married twice in the past and Brad once and they both seem to be happy with each other, doing everything that they want like adopting the world, saving the world and more (Sounds like The Incredibles, eh?). The media seems more worried about their wedding then the couples themselves. Why is the media so girlie about this? There are thousands who are living in a blissful companionship and others in their marital bliss; what is the problem people? It is not like they need any tax break.

Click here for the article.

What if your rental car wanted to stay with you?

2006-06-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

Wondering what kind of question is that? How, why, what, WTF?

Well, as we all know our world revolves around two words demand and supply. Here is a current issue. In the state of Gujrat, India where there has been a sudden steep drop in the sex ratio (oh no, people are still having plenty of sex; remember, India has over billion people.) with the fairer sex in high demand the curtain of tradition/culture/hypocrisy has been dropped to accommodate "rental" wives. As funny and ridiculous you might find this; it is true! Yes, wife for rent.

And who said the upper castes could not engage with lower caste. When the "need" of the hour knocks on the door, we got to do what we got to do - RENT! The monthly rent being astronomical INR 8000 = ~ $180 a month. Oh and one can rent a different wife next month and another thing these wives are already married but available as rental "wife" and happily too. Don't believe me, check out here.

This is an example how human societies have evolved/turmoiled over the ages and adapted itself to changing circumstances. Does this ring the bells of polygamy?
Why not make polygamy legal?

PS: Will this make prostitution Pay as you go?
PPS: I think the PS came out quite immaturely. The two can not be compared. IMHO the rental part is a social evolution, which eventually will transform into polyandry. And, at the same time this could be the first step towards a matriarchial society (??).

Fresh Coffee.

2006-06-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

Well, if that is what you call it. This fresh, unique flavored, short supplied, exoticly processed and *warm* coffee comes directly from the behind of paradoxurus, a tree-dwelling animal and that makes it expensive and I mean it. Here is all you can learn about this exotic coffee from Indonesia. Click here.

Only a connoisseur would value this. Wish my sh*t were of some value.

Playing Cards vs. Red Cards.

2006-06-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

Watching the US vs Italy game has made Group E one of the most interesting groups in World Cup soccer, from being a "decided" group. Italy's first victory only made its second round advance concrete till they met with US and drew. What a blunder! Thanks to the referee. I am sure he flew directly from Vegas and forgot the difference between playing cards and soccer cards.
The referee destroyed the enthu from the game. With three players out the energy was sucked out.
Bravo to the US team. Down by two players and fighting against Italy and drawing was nothing but pure hard work and good strategy. Awesome game.

On a totally separate note, Brazil needs to decide if they want to secure their position or help Ronaldo meet his world record. Ronaldo has been a big disappointment this world cup.

Image source: Fox sports.

Dunno why.

2006-06-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

This image has something about it I can not explain. Ignore the appropriateness/inappropriateness about this image but there is something about this image irony, humor dunno yet I find it funny.

Image source: bitchphd
Link source: VG (high school mate)

Whatever.

2006-06-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

I never knew that English language was like a deck of playing cards. It has a wild card - WHATEVER. This post is in conjunction with a previous similar post. This is another profoundly molested word by teenagers and adults alike (maybe not). When everything fails, whatever it!

I am like trying to like blog like ....

2006-06-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I have been wanting to blog on this subject but could not for the fear of offending humanity.

The use of the word LIKE.

Finally, a blog I will cherish for the longest time. The blog is current with pristine humor, value, education and something that irrespectively will bring a smile. Miss Cellania, you are doing a huge favor to humanity. Thank you.

Initially, I was under the impression that the use of the word LIKE was a very teenage girlie way of adding verbal spaces between words in a sentence (NOTE: I am NOT calling this punctuation.), but lately I feel that this is like a bed-wetting tabboo that never got cured. Now, in Miss Cellania's word I am no language Nazi; neither do I claim to have the slightest command over any language nor is English my native language. But, IMHO the word has been profoundly molested.
Actually, I have noticed this disorder in some grown ups too.

Miss Cellania's like blog like Click here.
Like usage of the like word and like the everything of the like word like click here.

iPodly relief.

2006-06-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

After seeing this I only have one wish. The Cult of iPod should put/create a docking station for all iPods in all new borns derriere.
Found at.

Crunch time

2006-06-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

This is probably one of those crunch times I have always wanted to avoid.

Never knew life could be this tough juggling between World Cup 2006, NBA, India/WI cricket test match and the rest.

I really want to watch Brazil's first match and I am afraid I will not be able to; even the proxies are of no use at this time. Aaaarrrrggghhhh ..... this is extremely frustrating. Life is full of tough decisions. Son of a b17@# the ISP does not allow streaming from ESPN. I should dump my ISP/Cable service for this. Don't want to get TiVo .....

Hey, if you have any idea drop in the comments for this posting.

FIFA WC US Czech mate.

2006-06-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

The title is a mouthful of acronyms.

US defeat at the hands of Czech team should not be so disappointing. US team in no way were a match to the Czechs.

3-0 defeat in World Cup is huge. This exposes few key factors about the US team - lack of exposure to world soccer, a very weak defense line and a weak mid-field that could not support either the fowards or the defense. Czech defense line was way too strong for Donovan and the forward line to do any damage.

Winning against Italy will be a dream come true and after Ghana's match against Italy, US has a very steep uphill fight against Ghana too.

Think outside the coasts. Soccer league in US have tried very hard to create expertise from within US, IMHO that was a wrong approach either export players to European/South American leagues or get players and teams from Europe and South America to play with them. Create new tournaments in the US so players will come from all over and share the "real thing".

I hate it when commentators shout during NFL and NBA that the winning team is the "world champion". Please don't fool us!

Image source: MSN Fox sports

Hera Pheri Hera Pheri

2006-06-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

Phir se Hera Pheri (PHP) is a bad attempt at making the poor cousin of Jane Bhi Do Yaaron (JBDY). The movie is old wine in a new bottle and stale too. There is sporadic comedy but over all repeat from Hera Pheri.

Movie is too crowded with too many comedians trying to creep onto each others toes. Climax is 100% inspired by JBDY's climax and fails miserably. I could not believe that 25+ yrs old audience could find a 800 lb. Gorilla humorous (Note: The Gorilla looked like a bad case of cloning mutation).

There was zero intelligent comedy as stated by Paresh Rawal. Big disappointment from Priyadarshan. And, if he is still planning on making 5 more of these - God Bless Him.

But, Bipasa looks ek dum item boss. Get this t-shirt and more from Indobundee.

Hera Pheri = Swindle

Coordinates to the secret man hole

2006-06-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Due to another covert mission Secret Agent Rajababu could not provide the coordinates to the stolen man hole earlier. Finally we received the coordinates through an informer and after decyphering and authenticating the information we have confirmed the coords.
Here is the link.

Here is the satellite image.

Context of this posting click here.

What happened to Google's uPod?

2006-06-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

Google impressed us with its continuous uPod (Under Promise Over Deliver). But, this time around mmmm... read on.

Requested an invitation and received it in no time. I added a few grey hairs waiting for Google Analytics though.

So, what is my take. Considering the limitations of browser and Internet technology I think they have done a phenomenal job specially with autosave and other AJAX-yness. I am relatively ignorant about other spreadsheets like Zoho, iRows and WikiCalc. And I have my reasons for being ignorant - Why would I put my finance info on somebody else's server knowing that this will be used "against" me to scour and throw ads about consolidating my debts. I can save my grocery list but do I really need a spreadsheet for that? BTW, I did not like the name itself; how about calling it GSheet? (risky considering typos) How about something on the lines of Excel?

Google's spreadsheet is very rudimentary compared to what M$ Office offers and from what I have heard/glimpsed the new Office is even more deadly. But, lets not get into geeky fantasies here. Google Spreadsheet offers very basic features, probably what Excel offered in its infancy. I do not see any threat to M$ yet from Google's spreadsheet. Some features that have been praised like - capability to share, GTalk (IM); well, this and more is already available with M$ Office and much more sophisticated.

Will I use it? Mmmm... I don't think so. Does not suffice my hunger. It is like those social calendars - why would I want to put on social calendar who I am meeting next week? Evite is more than sexy for me. Hello? this goes out to all those Flickr, MySpace, social networking people who are also complaining about Govt. eavesdropping on their phone lines.

How about SMEies? Mmmm... not very convinced why they would use it either. I know of a few SMEies who either do not have broadband in their office or access to Internet is restricted due to *ahem* productivity concerns. (BTW, these businesses are in/around Silicon Valley). Interesting to note these companies had an internal network for file sharing though. Paying $50-150/mo. for Internet will cover the one time cost of getting MS Office, which can be used through the lifetime of the SME. Besides, what if the Internet is down around Q4 financial analysis time when everyone is hitting the server? (Comcast's service was down on me for almost 2 days before a technician came in. My life had come to a stand still.). SMEies would anyways need a desktop version of spreadsheet for their field/sales staff who are on the road with limited or no Internet access.

I will be more convinced of this service when Internet is available for free or available on powerlines (yes, through the power socket on our walls). It is possible and feasibility studies are being done. Rest is beyond the scope of this posting.

IMHO Writely made more sense to me than the spreadsheet (especially this rudimentary). Though I think if Google can bundle this into their Google Appliance some how for SME or large companies that can be killer (I have some other thoughts there but will post later). That in my opinion makes much more sense. For now I believe ThinkFree Office and OpenOffice are better alternatives for spreadsheet users if they do not want to use/pay for M$ Office.

Unless I missed the target audience altogether I think my humble guess is not too far fetched.

As I walk through the valley of geeks ....

2006-06-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

Boing Boing was recently threatened in a "pre-emptive" move by some company regarding Soccer world cup and not to say anything negative about that company.

Side note: I found that a lot of companies and Governments have banned or blocked sites such as Boing Boing because of some controversial posting and freedom of speech etc. I found that such sites publish RSS feeds that can easily be used to access this information using Feed readers such as SyncOne.net without any censorships like the ones that Google and Yahoo impose on its Chinese users and anonymously too.

Here is Boing Boing's retaliation to the pre-emptive move.

Here is the link to RSS feed from Boing Boing. Click here.

Alchemy is for real.

2006-06-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

Everyday when I leave work I ask myself - What did I achieve today? Despite astronomical number of keystrokes, few million lines of incomprehensible code, packets of voice information exchanged over the phone and billions of bits burned on the Internet along with all work related emails; I tell myself I have achieved NOTHING!
Why, because there are these brat little kids in this world who have not even completed school forget about college and have revolutionized this place where I live called world. I really have achieved nothing when I look at people like www.milliondollarhomepage.com. This is what I call sheer brilliance. Turning dust into gold, the ultimate alchemy.
A KID from somewhere in UK started this site and sold pixels YES PIXELS moron - the little granular dots on your monitor; for advertising on his site. The one pager has nothing but ads millions of them some so small that you can't even make out what it is yet companies from all over have paid thousands and bought PIXELS YES PIXELS AGAIN MORON.
Now to add shame to the injury this kid was blackmailed by a hacker to bring the site down if he did not put his banner. Guess what, the kid negotiated with a security company and got protection for free.
If I see this kid, I promise to perform a tribal dance around him as a mark of respect and sacrifice three desktop mice. FUCK!

More info and history click here.

PS: I had intended never to use any profanity uncensored on this blog, but this finding broke all boundaries of restrain. Pardon me.