Rohan Nigam

Idea - The most resilient parasite in this world.

2010-07-17T15:22:00.001-07:00

A narration which stimulates people's mind and manages to open up a discussion is the best narration according to me. I haven't felt so blown over by watching a thriller in years. And after Matrix no other movie has done this to me. I would still say Matrix was the better of the two. That is because,apart from the fact Matrix came well before, Matrix somehow managed to show more connection between the characters. With Nolan,the chemistry between the characters is not as great as his movies turn out to be. I had seen it in Dark Knight, Memento and in Batman Begins as well, the characters don't really share a strong bond. You can sure carry back the thrills and the plot and all the amazing action sequences but not emotion, which is an equally important part of any genre of movie according to me. Anyways, this doesn't take anything away from the fact that Christopher Nolan is a genius film maker and in 'Inception' he provides us the ultimate product that has a stroke of technical brilliance, a fascinating concept and was also mentally stimulating at the same time.

The Lost, the Matrix Trilogy and the Inception belong to the same category according to me. They all belong to the entertainment category that come once in a decade and they leave behind a mark for the rest of our life. It's the amount of discussion and interest that they generate even after years pass by.

***SPOILER ALERT***
One also has to admire how much attention to detail it requires to come up with such a mind boggling concept. There are few scenes worth mentioning from 'Inception': Every person enters a dream abruptly - No one remembers how the dream starts in real world too. The simultaneous kicks back to the “real” world or the layer above. The climax scene in which a car is about to crash into the water - the whole time the dream world inside a dream has no gravity. And how minutes of dream in reality is years in the dream world. At one point there are three different action sequences each happening in different time frames including the one in the spinning hallway and shifting gravity and each one has an impact in the level above it and Nolan manages to keep it all in order. Finally, the ending of the movie which has raised many questions in my mind, the important one being whether Cobb was in a real world or a dream world? I believe that it was the real world but just to keep things interesting and theories floating, I would want it to be a dream.

There are few folks at NYTimes and Huffington Post and in my circle of friends who felt this movie was too long and boring (or too complex). Well while watching the movie, I personally did not feel the movie ran for over 2 hrs in length and in fact, I actually felt kind of sad when I sensed that the end was near. I really feel bad for all those guys to have not had the great experience I had watching it.

1971 Indo - Pak War - A Third World War?

2009-07-15T23:52:00.001-07:00

While all through out my history class during schooling I learned that Nazi's were bad, It was only after I passed my schooling I realized that US sees or at least used to consider USSR as an equal threat to them and to the whole world as Nazi's were. Apparently, my history teacher was very good at teaching the history of India than the History of the other parts of the world. It was natural he did not mention much about the cold war. To be fair to him, I never could relate to the history of the other parts of the world at that age. So sadly, the only thing I carried back about world's history was that Nazi's were bad.

Indo-Pak War-1971:
Many people know about the famous India-Pakistan 1971 war which was called "Bangladesh War". Not many might have heard that it could have almost turned out to be the perfect catalyst needed to start a third world war and for some strange reason I wanted to blog something about it. Actually I wanted to blog about this since neither Wikipedia nor any other link mentions this war as a potential start that would've gone on to become a Third World War.

The United States under the leadership of Nixon supported Pakistan both politically and materially. This was not because he wanted to do business with Pakistan but it was because of two main reasons:
Firstly, they feared Soviet Union's expansion to south and south east asia.
Secondly, Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and where he intended to visit in February the year following the war in 1972.

India and the USSR:
With US and China giving open support to the Pakistan, India was left to turn to USSR. While relations between India and USSR were always good and India always kept USSR in mind whenever they had any defence expansion plans. It was in 1971, that the relations got to a new level with the signing of "Indo–Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation ". Many believe that this treaty was a direct result of having common enemies in China and USA, but some also believe that this treaty was possible because of Soviet Union's earnest foreign policy towards India: Though the Soviet Prestige in India rose to new heights, but the Soviet influence on Indian Policy did not increase. No wonder India had lost a lot when USSR was dissolved.

Pakistan-China:
China was pissed off with India fresh after the 1962 Sino-Indian war, which by the way was never officially declared as war by both the countries. They still maintained the diplomatic relations but there was never that level of comfort. Pakistani's on other hand, had made very good settlements on the border issues they had with Republic of China and now (in 1971) viewed China as their strongest ally in Asia.

The War:
So while the war was going on, and the Pakistan army was all set to face defeat US intervened and Nixon sent a USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal which undoubtedly was carrying Nuclear arms. In reply to this, USSR sent two groups of ships carrying Nuclear missiles and a Nuclear Submarine to keep out USS Enterprise. The tension between the two sides was very high and a third world war couldn't have been ruled out. But, US decided that it was not ready for an all-out nuclear warfare with USSR and called the USS Enterprise back.

Hence, we survived one of many world war III scares. The thing different about this scare was that it was never considered to have the potential to trigger a WWIII.

TED and Me

2009-06-12T14:29:00.001-07:00

Frankly, this blog might be the direct effect of me following TED conferences like a chimp who was lost and hungry for months and who finally landed in a garden full of bananas. But seriously, I am finding it difficult to express how much every talk in TED have inspired me and helped in evolving my thinking towards life in general.

Some of the people who are reading this blog might have already heard about TED, an annual conference which gathers entrepreneurs, thinkers, artists and academics from the fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design. Every one of this conference is already overbooked well in advance. To give you an idea, the 2010 conference is already sold out almost an year before. But now, all these talks are open for the entire world. We can all watch these talks from our very home. The idea is simple but it has a really big impact.

Now, there are lot of people who talk about changing things and do nothing about it and frankly speaking at this moment of my life I am one of them. I am more worried about the problems that I have in my life than the problem the world faces. I rarely get time to think what I can give to the world. Most of the time that I spend now is in first committing mistakes and then later on correcting those mistakes or repent about them if there is no way to go back and correct them. But even with all these things, giving 2 hrs a week to TED has impacted my thinking so much that I can now see the bigger picture of life. I have understood that just doing things for the sake of doing is completely useless. There has to be a reason, a meaning behind everything we are learning in life.

There is so much to learn from these talks. Some talks just left me spell bounded and I also remember getting so involved watching podcasts of few talks, that I missed my metro rail stop twice or thrice so far.

I would have loved to mention some of the talks that really inspired me, the only problem is that there are all so good that picking few from them would not do justice to the other talks. But, If you want to get a real intellectual boost, if you want a mega dose of optimism, or if you just want to let your hair down for a few days with kindred spirits follow TED this summer.

I really don't care whether you read my previous posts or not or if you will read my other posts and follow the other links that i would provide in my posts in future. But ted.com is one link which I would want all of you to follow.

For everyone reading this blog: Do yourself a favor, Go and visit http://www.ted.com/
Get inspired and spread this to inspire others.

Cheers.
Rohan

World War Movies

2009-06-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

While I was whiling away through the University library the other day after returning few long overdue books, I suddenly overheard a couple (they were holding their hand tight!) talking in German.

I don't know what happened after that to me. But the very next moment, I was going through the Library's Collection of the movies on World War. I had already seen quite a few of them before. But, I always had the drive of wanting more. I possess strong feelings of "never had enough" of anything in my life.

So I ended up picking two DVD's. The first one being:

Taking Sides

Harvey Keitel. Yes, I saw this man in some awesome roles but never bothered to remember his name. Anyways,I watched first half of the movie in 3 days and yes it was that boring. On the cover it gave "Taking Sides" - Powerful Performances. It was not until the last 20 minutes you will know what they really mean by powerful. I cannot say I haven't seen such a powerful performance before but it was after a long time.

This reminds me of the days when I was growing up. At that time,the word "Powerful" had a different meaning to me. A Powerful performance in Bollywood terms would mean Sunil Shetty and Sunny Deol beating the crap out of every cop in the police station, that after breaking off the Jail with their bare hands and "maskal" power and finally going on to kill the funny looking villain.

But anyways, lets not shift the focus of this blog which was actually talking about the world war movies. So, "Taking Sides". Nazi rule ends and in the whole first half of the movie almost every second dialogue had "Art(music, in this case) vs Politics". All in all just one another not too bad movie which talks about the condition of the Germany after World War-I.

Then, while I was all tired after a long 4 hrs session of tennis and cricket(after an year), I started watching "Stalingrad" . The second movie I had brought from the library.

This movie took me by surprise. Watching an english dubbed version of 1993 german movie, I thought would not be such a great experience. But, it turned out to be alright. This movie was different than any other world war movies in more than one way: It showed the soldiers as normal human beings, who were caught in circumstances far beyond their control while their superiors continue to put them in those situations where they had no choice but to fight. One more thing about this movie was, it was in no sense a Nazi-apologist film. Finally,the war scenes portray the horror, insecurity and confusion of a battle, instead of how cool, heroic and exciting fighting looks like as that shown in a movie "Enemy at the Gates". Anyways, Stanlingrad is a must see for all the people who love history of world war. Though film is slow at some points but is equally engrossing at other points.

Before I end this blog, I just want to mention some of the best world war related movies I ever saw. Again, there might be movies which i might have forgotten and there might be some that I might have missed simply because I haven't seen them yet. But, I will eventually catch up with them in the next few years of my life:

1. Enemy at the gates
2. The Downfall
3. U-571
4. Schindler's List
5. Saving Private Ryan
6. Pearl Harbor
7. The Thin Red Line
8. Windtalkers
9. The Pianist

Besides this, few of the movies that I would want to see in near future would be "FlyBoys" even though it was officially declared as a flop. I personally loved the trailer though. After that, "A Very Long Engagement" - Just because I want a masala movie that has romance with world war as backdrop. Just like Pearl Harbor.

One movie which I am desperate to watch is Inglourious Basterds. "You haven't seen war, if you haven't seen it through the eyes of Quentin Tarantino" the promo says. I wish it turns out that way. I just love Quentin Tarantino's work.

By the way, did I mention that the couple whose conversation led to me watching these movies and posting this blog were actually talking Spanish not German.:) How the hell am I supposed to differentiate between the languages that I do not know.

Cheers.
Rohan

10 months of hibernation

2009-05-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, I couldn't believe it. It's been almost 10 months since the last time i blogged. It was mostly because I wanted to correct bunch of complicated things going on in my life. And though i have managed to put few things back on track, there is so much more that still needs my attention. Arghh... I don't know why i am talking all this now.

Let's see what all has changed since the last time i blogged:

I started twittering and have begun to like it now. You might know this from the Twitter Updates column on the right hand side of this page. Twitter is one more reason that has kept me away from blogging.

A major epidemic scare has gone down flat even though WHO claims that it might come back to become more deadly. I don't know about everyone else, but it did scare the shit out of me for sometime. Now there are theories floating that this Swine flu scare was a big political fraud to divert people's attention from the worst global economic meltdown the world has ever faced.

IPL T20 season-2 turned out to be even better and exciting than the first one. And guess how many matches i had watched this season : ZERO. Yes, somehow cricket doesn't excite me anymore the way it used to couple of years back. But looking back at the highlights i felt that I did miss out on something.

Coming to F1, I cannot express how depressed I was seeing Schumacher struggle in his final two seasons and finally seeing him say good bye to the F1 world. But strangely, F1 has become more interesting than ever now. Well at least till last season. Amazing end to the season. And this season, I think we already know who the world champion is going to be: Jenson Button. And yes, I know it's too early in the season to make such a statement. Also wonder, when was the last time Ferrari's were desperately trying to compete to stay in top 5 teams in the constructors.

And in Tennis, Nadal's first loss in French Open in 6 years. I don't know why but I felt happy about this. May be because this opens the door for Federer. Lets wait and watch if Federer can do it this time.

In Politics, Obama deservedly became the US president and even among the toughest of times continues to inspire people. On the other hand, Pakistan finally succeeded in forcing the entire world to lose faith in its democracy. Politics in India also saw a change in the way it functions. Against all odds and factors like Anti-Incumbancy Sonia Gandhi's Congress came out on top. Not that its going to change much the way India is now, but it's a significant news.

While all this is going on, N.Koreans are trying to prove a point to the whole world. And they managed to add one more problem to the already existing huge list of issues that US faces by launching second nuclear test. Looks like N.Koreans and Taliban are trying desperately to prove Mayan calendar's prediction of world ending on December 21, 2012 right.

Well there is so much to write but there are too many mediums available for all of you to know about these things. Anyways, I felt nice writing after such a long gap. I am planning to take out some time every week to blog. Let's see how it works out.

Look who's here !

2008-09-25T22:35:00.001-07:00

Apple started the revolution and I believe google is the perfect brand to carry it forward. Just few days after the launch of chrome which i am already completely in love with, even with all the things it doesn't have when compared to firefox, google comes up with the android. By the looks of it, it seems to be another revolutionary supercool phone. I have my eyes on this one. Let's hope it turns out to be great and let's also hope i can own one of those in the near future.

Cheers

Diary of the I-Day

2008-09-16T12:48:00.001-07:00

Hurricane IKE

Sept 14th

4 am :

I lie down with iPod plugged into my ears, listening to one of my favorite bands - Coldplay. For some reason I find all of there songs magical. I never can say this about many things in my life. Anyways, right now I don't feel like taking out the ear phones and that's not because I really want to listen to Coldplay at this time but because if I don't hear them now, I hear destruction. That makes my heart pound a little faster. I feel the winds beating the hell out of the walls and the balcony doors. I just feel that these damn wooden structures(yes, everything is fkng wooden here in USA !!)will give away to these strong current of winds any moment. I feel the force shaking the entire duplex apartment of mine. I strangely remember all vague things, all the people I loved and I care for.

Every now and then the strong gush of winds make me come out of my nostalgia. I've spent the entire night in the hope that I will see the normal life again. Nothing matters now. Power or no power. Food or no food. I just want this hurricane to go away soon. My roomies and I sit there in the dining area, not wanting to sleep. I actually slept for an hour before I felt something heavy hitting the damn French balcony doors that we have. I just sense that at any moment these doors would give away and head straight on to me. I went and dared to move the blinds to see what the hurricane is doing and I see the parking lot of the apt in front of me which is completely flooded with water. I see debris on the cars, I see trees struggling hard to keep their ground and I also observe many of them which couldn't and flying all over the ground . I could see the winds changing their direction every few minutes and I know I am in the eye of the hurricane. No particular floor or spot in the apartment feels safe.

It's been 2 hours since I started writing this. Its almost 6:30 in the morning and I still see no sign of light. It's dark and I get the feeling it will remain like this for a long time. I no longer want to sleep even though my head feels heavy. I am tired typing on my ipod. I am going to brush and may be hope to have something to eat. May be pretend as if everything is normal. Cya on the other side of this much needed break.

7 am :

The winds seems to have reduced a little. It went to 85-90 mph while i was typing the previous draft. Had something to eat finally not because I was hungry but only because i was not comfortable with the situation I was in. No power since 2 am in the night made matters worse. Took some pictures and videos this morning. They can never tell what I actually went through but they are pictures nevertheless. I answer a call. Its my aunt. They are fine and so am I. I go back to the bed and lie down and I already feel my eyes heavy...

10 am :
Call #1 : How are you? Are you alright?
Reply: I am sleepy. Blah Blah Blah... I want to sleep. Bye.

12 noon:
Call #2 : How are you? Sleeping till 12?
Reply: I slept at 8 what do you expect. Bye

1 pm:
I wake up and feel relieved for this hurricane has finally ended. Rain seems to have reduced completely. For the first time we (me n my roomies) come out of the apartment and we look around and feel how lucky we are to have escaped without any damage. Many apartments had to be vacated in the middle of the hurricane. Wonder how that would've been for those people.

Relaxed and relieved we thought we can get back to normal life soon. And now I realize how wrong I was. The moment I convinced myself that hurricane had ended and I can relax, was the beginning of the most irritating days of my life...

The worst thing to be without ?

2008-08-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

When I posted this question at a discussion board, I got some amazing replies. Here are some of them:

1. Love
2. Friends
3. Parents
4. Ego
5. Faith
6. Desires
7. Good Health
8. Peace of mind
9. Enthusiasm
10.Self-Respect

There were few who did not understand or rather misunderstood the question to be 'the one thing they would love to be without'. And this is what they had to say:

1. Current Presidential Candidates
2. Homework
3. Taxes
4. Worrying
5. Racism
6. War
7. Seperation
8. Back biting Friends
9. Sickness
10.Love
11.Marriage

But guess what the best answer turned out to be. HOPE.

Its amazing to know how often we use this word. "I hope it's not going to be hot today." "I hope i will have a beautiful daughter." "I hope i will get an A." "I hope i can win this match." "I hope i can have a firm of my own." "I hope. I hope. I hope".

The standard dictionary definition, and one that is generally accepted by most of the world is “to FEEL that something desired MAY happen:” . Well i dont care what the dictionary has to say. I don't know what The Holy Bible or the Ramayana or Bhagvadgeeta have to say about 'Hope'. All i know about hope is that it's a wish in your heart of good things to come.

Hope for me personally means that no matter what adversity I face and no matter how hard times get, I know my sunshine will come. It's an eternal burning flame that will never go out as long as someone believes. There are many things to hope for: love... long life... wealth..., Hope is just the start to get you going and eventually keeps you going.

Here's the answer from the discussion board that i chose as the best answer:
The Worst thing to be with-out is "HOPE", because when one looses hope , you lose your will for living and one's life end -ups up-side down , It's like you are loosing your Hope in God and your Hope is your strenght , your integrity ,your faith, your love, if all of these are gone then one will be dead Spiritualy, and then Self-Pitty will over power you. Hope and Peace and grace to all.

Someone has rightly quoted "When you don't have anything, there's always hope."

Memory

2008-08-13T16:29:00.000-07:00

" ..Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a permanent record.."
-memento

Now how true is that? I feel its completely true. I can distort my memories and convince myself they are true. Its weird but its true. And i can share so many instances from my own life where i found this to be true. Lets start with the school life, from whole of my school life I took pride in the fact that i was good in mathematics but then i look at my old school report cards and there i see 13/100 (which is Fail btw) in mathematics in the final exam of my 6th grade. I have distorted my memory into forgetting what i don't like to remember. All I remember is from that time onwards whatever math exam i gave, my performance was good. Now, this might be sounding a little childish.So, lets move onto another example from little more recent days.

I remember about an year back when I said good bye to my parents and my friends at the airport I was sad for them and yet happy for seeing them all there. But what i don't remember is that there were so many others who were not there. People who really meant something to me. I didn't miss them at that point of time. I did not realize that they were missing. But now I picture them there along with all others saying good bye.Strange but I see more people than actually showed up. And this is another thing about memories. Sometimes, at least in my case, I cannot remember the things(or people) that mean most to me.It's as though my brain gets lazy, and will not allow me to digg deep.

I know many people who are in love with their memories not the person they were with. I know many people who don't hate the person but hate the memories of the sad and disappointing moments they had with that person.I myself actually can be a good example of such a person. I am sure many of us are. And many of us have such unpleasant memories.

But whatever be the argument i feel Memories make up a part of our brains that need to be nourished daily and frequently. Without them, we wouldn't be human. Memories are special, and should be treated that way. Far too often, the people we love leave us, but it is with the memory of them that stays in our hearts that they are still here with us.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - Simple is beautiful

2008-07-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

So I finally get to watch this movie. I was curious about this movie, not only because it was an Aamir khan's production but also because previews and promos clearly hinted that it would be a typical bollywood love story. Boy and girl are close friends and don't realize that they are in love. And before we go into the theater we know that this movie can never have a sad ending. Strange as it may sound some of the biggest hits in Bollywood have had the same story. I mean common how many times haven't we seen a boy running at the airport desperately trying to stop the girl from flying away. How many times haven't we seen a boy who is extremely innocent whole movie, suddenly finds courage to show his machoness for the girl's sake. But all this worked in many movies and this movie is no exception.

I am really crazy about Bollywood, not because i want to see Sanjay Gupta trying his level best to copy stunts and stories from Hollywood movies, or Deepa Mehta making her social statements thru the movie, or not even because of Roshan's and Baweja's attempt at making a real Hollywood style sci-fi movie and definitely not because of Bhatt camp's successful attempts at making erotic thrillers. I like bollywood because of movies like Jaane tu ya jaane na. Mind you, the movie is not a master piece, the performances are decent and the direction well there was nothing new about it either. But, when the movie is over, there is a sense of happiness inside you. Something really nice. Also like to add one more thing about the airport scenes, I loved it when i saw it in Pyaar to hona hi tha, I did not hate it when it was in Chalte Chalte, and i really loved it when in the final episode of Friends, Ross runs after Rachel to stop her from going away to paris. So, the point is, its the chemistry and emotions that make the scene better or worse not the setting or the backdrop.

Most important things in life that we like are really simple things. They have simple emotions attached with them. And most things that we see in films either disturbs and irritates those thoughts or they make us feel good about them. Some of my most liked movies like DDLJ, KKHH, Veer-Zaara, or not so famous Pyaar to hona hi tha or even last year's hit Jab We Met they all had one thing in common ,no not that they were love stories but they were simple love stories. And Jaane tu ya jaane na cashes in on that simplicity factor. Well there is another factor which is youthfulness if we can call it. I know many people of my age who really didn't like movies like Veer-Zaara . But, this movie actually understands youth's 'so real yet so dreamy' emotions. And the characters in the movie for a change are someone we can relate to. They fit in their roles perfectly. Imraan khan gave a smooth performance considering this was his first film. Jenelia, well struggled a little with dialogue delievery i thought and actually i am still on her "Bommarillu" hangover, that might take some more years time to fade off. And i found the girl who played the character of 'Meghna' (Manjari Phadnis) to be very cute.

All in all this movie was a refreshing change in spite of few things which i cannot possibly understand... for instance, marriage at the age of 20?? But well its a movie and in a well made movie like this we can neglect minor things.It actually made me feel nostalgic at some parts. Once again this proves the fact that whatever Aamir does, he does it with class and maintains that quality.

Talking about simplicity, there's Shahid's Kismat Konnection releasing soon. Aziz Mirza is another director who makes uncomplicated movies. Lets wait n watch.

My name is Hiro Nakamura, and I am from the future

2008-06-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

Heroes is clearly now one of the most amazing TV series i have ever seen in my life. The thing that took me by surprise was that every episode of the two seasons left me wanting for more. The thing i love is that Heroes isn't just for the geeky Sci-Fi lot, but it also taps into that childhood dream we all had of being able to do something 'special', such as fly or turn invisible or to travel through the walls.

Heroes has such a great range of characters and the storylines never become too much. They weave and twist into one another seamlessly and unlike other shows. They never show any inconsistencies in order to push one story over the other.It truly is a show in which every episode gives you enough to feel satisfied over whilst at the same time being able to deliver a killer cliffhanger

The variety of characters and their powers is simply amazing. From Peter Petrelli who can absorb any power from other "Heroes" and can do anything, to the evil Sylar, who hunts for people to get his powers to claire who is indestructible and can regenerate any part of her body to Isaac Mendez, the painter who can paint the future, to Nathan Petrelli -the flying man, to Hiro Nakamura,who can bend time and space. This series has got everything to amaze you. Every kind power that you dreamt of having while you were a kid.

My favorite character without any doubt has to be Hiro Nakamura. Not only because he can go back n forth in time, but also because of his innocence and earnestness. Although Peter Petrelli also comes close to this but the choice of the character Hiro makes me tilt towards him. Not to mention, Sylar has to be one of the best villians on TV. Infact, I haven't seen such a powerful charaterisation of a villian in any sci-fi hollywood movie also.

Anything sci-fi that i would see in future, I would compare it with Heroes. And if it could come atleast half as close to what Heroes is now, i would say it is good. I will make sure my children (when they come along!) get to watch this show.:)

Damn! I can't wait to watch Season 3.

Women are amazing at times !!

2008-06-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

Women with long nails speak out against iPhone design

Most people either love or hate the iPhone's touch screen, and based on a report on the LA Times, women with long fingernails are among the haters. Why? Well, since the iPhone's touchscreen only responds to electrical charges emitted by your bare fingertips, women with long nails are left out in the cold. A woman interviewed for the article went so far as to suggest Apple was being misogynistic because it did not include a stylus for women and didn't consider womens' fingers and nails when designing the phone.

Honestly, though, this same argument has come up against keyboards, touch screen monitors, and anything else that involves the use of your fingers, so should every gadget maker change the design of its products to accommodate users with long nails, or should people with long nails learn to work around this problem like they have in the past? I'd love to hear what Apple has to say about all this, but I doubt they'll ever address this particular design flaw.

Personally, I'd rather have them focus on the real issues of the iPhone, like the lack of a video camera, extra storage, and better camera, but that's just me. Besides, there are styli out there that work with the iPhone just fine and are pretty affordable.

This all reminded me of an iPhone reviewer who had a hard time using the iPhone due to her long nails, and in her frustration she said, "I guess people who use Apple products are too cool for fingernails." But are we? What do you think?

Well all i have to say for this lady is: There's only one person in this world who can help you with this problem of long nails and that's not Steve Jobs. I guess, Steve would agree with this one.

Things people say about me (or to me)

2008-06-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

[Warning]: Only meant for fun. People who really have something important to do please don't waste your time reading this blog. Extremely senseless piece of .... you know what.! :)

The following are some of the things the people have actually told about me. These are the things that were either told directly or i got to know through someone or i accidentally heard them when i wasn't supposed to. Just typing anything that comes to the mind randomly.

Weirdo.
Too much attitude.
Boring guy who puts weird pictures and status messages.
World's worst cook.
An idiot who keeps blabbering .
He works hard.
Horrible writer.
Feel pity for him.
Boyfriend material.
Cannot handle a relationship.
Ruins other lives.
You are the World's most boring guy.
A nice guy.
Deserted soul.
Overacts a lot.
Helps people.
Non sense talker.
He's different person.
Smart guy who knows what he's doing.
Smooth talker who is impeccable at lying.
Always exaggerates things
I hate him.
I like you.
I see a loser in you.
Go to hell.
Get lost.
Sexy hands.
Extremely nice taste for clothes.
What is that you are wearing? You look like a conductor.
Shahrukh. :)
You are a good singer.
Worst friend.
An opportunist.
Good listener.
Lots of patience.
Decent guy.
You look hot in these clothes.
I would never take any help from you even you are the last person on the earth.
Eats a lot.
He is out of his mind.
Eats less than a girl.
You are dude dude.
Always cries for everything.
Anger on his nose.
Don't think he can do it, no experience at all.
Your voice is like sonu nigam's.Are you related to him?
You are desperate.
That's a very bad behavior, you are not fit to be a class leader.
You are not a responsible brother and not a responsible son and can never be a responsible parent.
You have been behaving like a grown up and a responsible person. Stay like this.
You are an idiot.
The most irritating guy i've ever met.
You can do everything and anything you want unless you stop yourself.
I am lucky to have you.
I do not deserve you.
You dont deserve anything what i am giving.
I don't know why i dont hate you. I should'nt be talking to you.
Good bye forever.
I have nothing for you but hatred.
You are my best friend and i'll always be there for you.
I am in love with you.
Do what you like but know what you want. Otherwise you will be called unsuccessful.
We should always do the right thing.
You are a mean person who always points out mistakes in others overlooking your own.
You are my best buddy.
You have a very cute smile.
You are very stubborn.
Insensitive person.
Believe in god. You will find yourself full of self belief.

These are random things that were actually said about me by the people connected to me atleast most of them. These are the things that affected me in a good or a bad or sometimes in a strange funny way. I find it amazing i remember so many things. And i am sure everyone does. Atleast, they do remember the important things and some not very important things also. Well, one thing is clear. People don't forget things easily, so got to be careful what you speak. But writing the post was fun. :)

- Rohan

People whom i loved but never lived....

2008-06-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

No, not the ghosts but i am talking about the fictional characters that live in my memory and i am sure in many other people's.

1. Sherlock Holmes
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous Detective needs no introduction.

2. Robin Hood
A fictional character or a legend still not known!

3. Chacha Chaudhary
Not a muscle man and not a man of mystery just sheer presence of mind.

4. Wolverine from X-Men Comics

5. G.I.Joe
My first action Comic book

6. Batman - The Dark knight

7. Nancy Drew
An amateur detective who was a girl. This was something new.

8. Superman
This is my fav comic book character just because he was gifted to fly naturally unlike other
characters.

9. Spider Man (Peter Benjamin Parker)
Officially the most commericially successful superheroes of all time ! :)

8. He-man
Most under rated comic character. Again Natural strength.

9. Pied Piper
No not the one who drew rats out of Hamelin. I am talkig about the one who could hypnotise
people with music and other sonic technologies.

10. Dick Tracy
Never thought police detective could be intelligent until i read this.:) Still like reading
them.

11. Sindbad the sailor
Amazing adventures over the ocean.

12. Mitchell Y. McDeere - The Firm by John Grisham.
The extremely intelligent, smart and yet innocent lawyer ever.

13. Luke Chandler - A Painted House by John Grisham
An 7-yr old character who sees the world around him with innocence.

14. Robert Langdon - The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown will have some trouble matching up to his own creation. Truly a brilliant character.

15. Rudy Baylor - The Rainmaker
A young law graduate who lives a life full of struggle until he finds a lawyer in himself.

16. Charlie Trumper, Becky Salmon - As the crow flies by Jeffrey Archer
Truly inspirational characters.

17. Ashley Patterson, Toni Prescott, Alette Peters - Tell me your dreams by sidney Sheldon
My first real encounter with a thing called multiple personality disorder.

18. Robert Bellamy - The doomsday conspiracy
An intelligent naval intelligence agent who becomes victim of an international conspiracy.

19. Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple - Agatha Christie's Leads
These genius characters will never be replaced. Atleast for me.

20. Supandi - The Mad Cap from Tinkle
Really the dumbest character i ever come across in life.

21. Frank and Joe Hardy -The Hardy Boys
I just wished all the time to become one of the hardy brother's. Adventurous.

22. Carson O'Connor and Michael Maddison - Frankenstein Trilogy by Dean Koontz
Best crime detective partners according to me.

I might encounter many fictional characters in my life. But, so far these were the few i could sit and think of. Felt really amazing going down the memory lane and thinking about all these characters.

Three things that only feel like love but aren't

2008-06-07T23:46:00.000-07:00

Here are the three things which are often mistaken for love:

Obsession
Obsessive feelings are often mistaken for love because people rationalize that, “It must be love if I can’t think of anyone else.” Obsession is similar to lust but it is much more misleading and destructive. While lust is often fleeting, fading as two people come to know each other better, obsession sticks around once people have seen each other flaws and all. In fact, obsession can be made worse with time while lust always fades. Love can grow out of lust but obsession kills love every time. The more time and effort invested in an unhealthy obsession based relationship the more intense the obsession can become and the more damage is done. People in an obsessed state have a one-track mind where the other person is concerned to the point where they often lose touch with who they are as an individual. This loss of individuality creates a vicious circle of behavior where the obsessed person grows more and more dependent on the other person and on the relationship in general. Even so called unrequited love (love that is not returned) can become an overwhelming obsession. This is where obsession gets dangerous. When one person believes they are in a relationship that doesn’t truly exist, or when one person is more invested in an existing relationship than the other, the foundation for an obsession has been laid. So how do you recognize an obsession? There are signs. If all of your time and effort goes in to satisfying the needs of another or in chasing after another person then you are at risk of becoming obsessed. If one person is always trying to please the other person or if the relationship is without consideration and compromise then it could be based on obsessive feelings rather than real love. Real love is nurturing and helps people grow but obsession is debilitating and takes away from the psyche of the person caught up in it. If you feel like you have lost yourself, if you are always striving to please your partner without them doing the same for you, and if you find yourself making all your decisions in your life based on the feelings and needs of the other person you are obsessed and not in a real love relationship.

Lust
You know the feeling… that unexplainable and often sudden physical draw to another person that hits you like a ton of bricks within moments of meeting. This is the feeling that is all too often mistaken for “love at first sight” but that is really nothing more than an intense physical attraction. When we fall in lust we often think we’re in love for three reasons; the attraction is instantly intense and therefore feels pre-destined, you are essentially strangers meaning that your idea of who the person is resides almost entirely in the realm of fantasy and fantasies always seem perfect, and finally, you have yet to really see the other person for who they are because you are so caught up in a whirlwind of desire that you see only what you want to see. If love blinds then lust gouges out your eyes and renders you an irrational mess. Overwhelmed by the physical allure people in lust can’t keep their hands off of each other, they think about and talk about one another 24/7. If you are inexperienced in matters of the heart it is hard to see that lustful feelings are only of a surface nature. Lust differs from love like night differs from day. When you are in lust you are still in the dark about the other person, they look good because you haven’t seen them in the clear light of day, but eventually reality will take hold. Only once you know the object of your lust better and see them flaws and all will you really know if you have found love. In the early days of a relationship lust rules and when the dust settles many people find they don’t really like the person to whom they were so intensely physically attracted. When this happens the relationship abruptly ends and leaves people wondering where the love went. But love is more than a physical longing, although physical attraction is definitely a key ingredient in any romantic relationship, and if all you have between you is attraction you’re not really in love. Really loving another person takes time, it takes perseverance and it can’t be based on physical attraction alone. Until you know somebody well you can’t really be in love.

Rebounding
Everybody has heard of the rebound fling. This is a relationship that comes very quickly on the heels of another relationship ending. Rebounds are rarely based on love but are really a way of alleviating the loneliness people feel when a relationship ends. Even people who wanted their previous relationship to end can fall for the rebound phenomenon. Rebounding can feel like love for the simple reason that the people involved want to be in love. They are used to being in a relationship and feeling in love and more than anything else they want to feel those things again. They convince themselves they are in love when in reality they are really missing the relationship they left behind. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they want their old partner back it just means that they want to be in a relationship with somebody… and in a rebound phase that somebody could be anybody. Rebounding is shady because usually one of the people involved has genuine feelings for the other and this person ends up getting hurt when the rebounder comes to their senses (sort of speak). You can never be open to a new love when a part of you is pining for one that has been lost. Rebound relationships are really just emotional band-aids and new love can’t be found when old love wounds haven’t been given time to heal. How can you tell when enough time has passed between the end of one relationship and the beginning of another? How can you protect yourself from a rebound-based relationship? The answers are complex. There is no proven amount of time needed to move on from a relationship and for this reason it’s hard to say how one can protect themselves and their heart from a rebound. However there are some very clear signs that you (or your new beau as the case may be) aren’t quite over a lost love. If the old relationship keeps coming up or interfering with the progress of a new relationship than chances are good that you’re stuck in a rebound. If the rebounder keeps rehashing problems from the past relationship within the new relationship this is a clear sign that they haven’t moved on enough to fall in love again. Finally, if there are unresolved issues from the old relationship chances are very good that the new relationship is a rebound. Bottom line, if you feel as if the old relationship is a third party in your relationship yours is not a relationship that is based on love. You can’t find new love when you are harboring feelings for an old love or when you are longing to be in a relationship. Love can’t be forced at will, it must be found, and that can only happen for real when our hearts and minds are free.

Well take these three out and then comes the big question: What the hell is love then? After reading the above three things i can safely say that love doesn't exist. Even if it does, its not worth wasting your time blogging about it. ;)

-Rohan

50 Amazing but useless facts !

2008-06-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.
Of all the words in the English language, the word 'set' has the most definitions!
What is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France.
"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
"Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.
In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child
A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off!
Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
You can't kill yourself by holding your breath
There is a city called Rome on every continent.
It's against the law to have a pet dog in Iceland!
Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day!
Horatio Nelson, one of England's most illustrious admirals was throughout his life, never able to find a cure for his sea-sickness.
The skeleton of Jeremy Bentham is present at all important meetings of the University of London
Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people
Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe!
The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump!
One quarter of the bones in your body, are in your feet!
Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different!
The first known transfusion of blood was performed as early as 1667, when Jean-Baptiste, transfused two pints of blood from a sheep to a young man
Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails!
Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin!
The present population of 5 billion plus people of the world is predicted to become 15 billion by 2080.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only ONE testicle.
Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.
Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."
Coca-Cola would be green if colouring weren’t added to it.
On average a hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute.
More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.
The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 english words.
More people are allergic to cow's milk than any other food.
Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.
The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' heads enables it to see all four feet at all times!
The six official languages of the United Nations are: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a church in Nebraska, USA.
You're born with 300 bones, but by the time you become an adult, you only have 206.
Some worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food!
Dolphins sleep with one eye open!
It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open
The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old!
The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
Queen Elizabeth I regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not
Slugs have 4 noses.
Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.
A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 69 years!
A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!
The average person laughs 10 times a day!
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain

World's Most Beautiful Woman

2008-06-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Introducing Carlizina Jolectron, the latest Hollywood beauty. On closer inspection, the stunning actress appears rather familiar. In fact, Carlizina isn't even a real woman - she's a digital combination of Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron and Carmen Electra.

This stunning brunette has Angelina Jolie's lips and hair, Carmen Electra's eyes and Charlize Theron's nose. Carlizina is just one of the entries in Photoshop website Worth1000.com's contest to find the ultimate celebrity.

One-word meme

2008-05-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

I saw this at some other blog and wanted to give it a try:

You’re feeling: Confused
To your left: Book
On your mind: Responsibilities
Last meal included: Okra
You sometimes find it hard to: Hate
The weather: Sunny
Something you have a collection of: Thoughts
A smell that cheers you up: Perry-Ellis
A smell that can ruin your mood: Sewage
How long since you last shaved: Week
The current state of your hair: Long
The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): Speakers
Your skill with chopsticks: Nonexistent
Which section you head for first in a bookstore: Fiction
Something you’re craving: Peace
Your general thoughts on the presidential race: Boring
How many times have you been hospitalized this year: None
Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: Library
You’ve always secretly thought you’d be a good: Pilot
Something that freaks you out a little: Exams
Something you’ve eaten too much of lately: Cookies
You have never: Voted
You never want to: Love

This was harder than it looked!! Especially trying to form one word answers (I cheated on one with a hyphen but anyways it was the name of my perfume). I was tempted to put little explanations or elaborations in parentheses behind some of them but I resisted.

Let me know if any of you do this so that i can read your answers.

PS: Kind of feel this post is not meant to be on this blog, don't know why though ! So might delete it after sometime.

The blackest day of F1 ever !

2008-05-20T00:07:00.000-07:00

1994 San Marino Grand Prix

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix,was the third race of the 1994 Formula One season and it turned out to be the blackest day in grand prix's history. Until yesterday, i thought the only reason for that was the death of one of the legends of F1, three-time world champion Ayrton Senna. But to my surprise, the entire weekend was full of weird incidents which finally turned out to be the shocking coincidences for the entire F1 world.

Schumi's Word: Michael Schumacher eventually won the race. In the press conference following the race, Schumacher said that he "couldn't feel satisfied, couldn't feel happy" with his win following the events that had occurred during the race weekend.

Incidents:

Friday First Qualifying Session:
On Friday, April 29, during the first qualifying session to determine the starting order for the race,Rubens Barrichello, a driver for Jordan that time, hit a kerb at the Variante Bassa corner at 140 mph (225 km/h), launching him into the air. He hit the top of the tyre barrier, and was knocked unconscious. His Jordan rolled several times after landing before coming to rest upside down. Medical teams treated him at the crash site, and he was taken to the medical centre. He returned to the race meeting the next day, although his broken nose and a plaster cast on his arm forced him to sit out the rest of the race weekend.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=la0vQlYOKbs

If you see that video you will know Ruben was very lucky. But not everyone is..

Saturday Qualifying:
Twenty minutes into the final qualifying session, Roland Ratzenberger failed to negotiate the Villeneuve curva in his Simtek; he subsequently hit the opposing concrete barrier wall almost head-on and was critically injured. Although the survival cell remained largely intact, the force of the impact inflicted a basal skull fracture. Ratzenberger, in his first season as a Formula One driver, had run over a kerb at the Acque Minerali chicane on his previous lap, the impact of which is believed to have damaged his front wing. Rather than return to the pitlane, he continued on another fast lap. Travelling at 190 mph (306 km/h) his car suffered a front wing failure leaving him unable to control it.The session was stopped and the remaining 40 minutes were eventually cancelled. Later in hospital it was announced that Ratzenberger had died as a result of his multiple injuries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd44NDq6wok

Villeneuve curva
Villeneuve curva, the location of Ratzenberger's crash is incidentally named after Giles Villeneuve, who also died with a fatal crash in 1982's belgian grand prix. He is the father of Jaques Villeneuve, who saw his father fly and crash into the fence at the age of 11 but still decided to take racing as his career.

Senna's Reaction to Ratzenberger's death:
Professor Sid Watkins, then head of the Formula One on-track medical team describes Ayrton Senna's reaction to the news, stating that "Ayrton broke down and cried on my shoulder". Watkins tried to persuade Senna not to race the following day, asking "What else do you need to do? You have been world champion three times, you are obviously the quickest driver. Give it up and let's go fishing", but Ayrton was insistent, saying, "Sid, there are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on."
Senna had qualified on pole position, ahead of championship leader Michael Schumacher.

Race

First Start:
At the start of the race, J.J. Lehto stalled his Benetton on the grid. Pedro Lamy, starting from further back on the grid, had his view of the stationary Benetton blocked by other cars and hit the back of Lehto's car, causing bodywork and tyres to fly into the air. Parts of the car went over the safety fencing designed to protect spectators at the startline causing minor injuries to nine people.

Restart: The most tragic moment in F1's history
Once the track was reported clear of debris, the safety car was withdrawn and the race restarted with a rolling start. Two laps after the restart, with Ayrton Senna leading Michael Schumacher, Senna's car left the road at the Tamburello corner, and after slowing from 190 mph (306 km/h) to 131 mph (211 km/h), hit the concrete wall. Although the crash seemed benign, it was immediately evident that Senna had suffered some sort of injury because of the manner in which his helmet was seen to be mostly motionless and leaning very slightly to the side. In the seconds that followed his head was seen to move to one side slightly causing false hopes to be raised.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbtBfvflZnQ&feature=related

Professor Sidney Watkins, a world-renowned neurosurgeon and Formula One Safety Delegate and Medical Delegate, head of the Formula One on-track medical team, who performed an on-site tracheotomy on Ayrton Senna, reported:
“He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am totally agnostic, I felt his soul depart at that moment.”

Second Start
The results of the restarted race would be determined by the aggregate results of the aborted first race and the second race. From the restart, Gerhard Berger took the lead on track but Schumacher still led the race overall due to the amount of time he was ahead of Berger before the race was stopped. Schumacher took the lead on track on lap 12, and four laps later, Berger retired from the race with handling problems. Larini briefly took the lead as Schumacher pitted but the order was restored when Larini took his own pit stop.[11]

Ten laps from the finish the rear-right wheel came loose from Michele Alboreto's Minardi as it left the pit lane, striking two Ferrari and two Lotus mechanics, who were left needing hospital treatment.

Michael Schumacher won the race ahead of Nicola Larini and Mika Häkkinen, giving him a maximum 30 points after 3 rounds of the 1994 Formula One season. It was the only podium finish of Larini's career, and the first of just two occasions when he obtained world championship points. At the podium ceremony, out of respect for Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna, no champagne was sprayed.

Permanent changes to the F1 Racing:

The 1994 Imola layout, which had been in place since 1981,was never again used for a Formula One race. The circuit was heavily modified following the race, including a change at Tamburello—also the scene of major accidents for Gerhard Berger (1989) and Nelson Piquet (1987)—from a high speed corner to a much slower chicane. The FIA also changed the regulations governing Formula One car design, to the extent that the 1995 regulations required all teams to create completely new designs, as their 1994 cars could not be adapted to them.The concern raised at the drivers briefing the morning of the race, by Senna and Berger, would lead to the Grand Prix Drivers' Association reforming at the following race, the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix. The GPDA, which was originally founded in 1961, had previously disbanded in 1982. The primary purpose of it reforming was to allow drivers to discuss safety issues with a view to improve standards following the incidents at Imola. The front two grid slots at the Monaco Grand Prix that year, which were painted with Brazilian and Austrian flags, were left clear in memory of the two drivers who had lost their lives. Additionally, a minute of silence was observed before the race.

Last Lap of Ayrton Senna's Life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw-dV-69V4M&feature=related

Schumacher 6 yrs after Senna's death:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOQjYCwgLdE&feature=related

Sources: Wikipedia, BBC and me

An Important Realization

2008-05-12T15:28:00.001-07:00

ust thought to take a break from the regular copy pasting stuff at my blog to come up with some original thoughts. I don't claim to be a polished writer or a speaker but what the hell ! This is my blog !

Did it happen to you anytime that you realize a movie can influence you so much that you actually start hating the reality. You start thinking about your self and you find your life is going exactly the way you don't want it to go. You actually start realizing that most of the people in the world are doing something they don't really like. Well, it happened to me yesterday. Day before yesterday night I happened to see a movie, a true story of a guy named: Christopher McCandless.

A decent,smart,intelligent guy he is from what you see in the first few minutes of the movie,you wouldn't expect him to do what he did: He leaves an admit from Stanford and donates all his scholarship ($24,000) to a charity and abandons almost everything he had lived with throughout his life till that point from parents to money to even his own name. Well he did not head to a party at Miami beach and nor did he go to Himalayas to attain peace by praying alone. He actually goes into the wild in search of adventure. An adventure that takes him from wheat fields of South Dakota and takes a renegade trip down the Colorado River to the non-conformists' refuge of Slab City, California, and beyond. Along the way, he encounters colorful characters from different part of American society who shape his understanding of life and whose lives he, in turn, changes. In the end, he tests himself by heading alone into the wilds of the great North of Alaska, where everything he has seen and learned and felt come to a head in ways he could never expect.

Every person he meets along the way, starts loving him so much that they wouldn't let him go. "If there is anything you want in this life, Just reach out and grab it". That's what he says to one of the person whom he connects on his journey. The most touching moment of the movie comes from one of the an elderly man living his usual life whom he meets on his journey begins liking him so much that he say's "Please don't leave I'll adopt you as my son or a grandson".

Each person he encounters, loves the spirit of the guy, loves the kid inside him and they in turn begin finding the kid inside themselves. Realizing that life is more than what they are seeing or doing. The character himself experiences exactly what he wanted to when he started this adventure.

Writing here about the movie might not do justice but i felt like sharing one of most amazing experiences i've gone through after watching that movie. The most amazing realization of truth of life i have ever had. Though there have been experiences that have taught me many things about life.But this realization makes me feel that i am free to do anything i want. I am not bound to anything and that i am the only one stopping myself.

The ending of the movie might not be something what everyone would've liked to see. But from what i saw of the character, the end is something that changes everything that he had experienced. It's a realization of a guy who ventures into the wild to find his ultimate freedom and eventual and that tragic realisation is that "Happiness is only real when shared".

This is so true. Chris is so true.

I would really want to recommend this movie to everyone who wants to be free but are stopping themselves. Oops, i almost forgot to mention the name of the movie: "Into the Wild".

- Rohan

10 Most Historically Inaccurate Movies

2008-04-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

We all accept that movies stretch the truth in the interest of building drama. The following ten flicks, however, treat the truth like it was Silly Putty -- pulling and twisting it until it's unrecognizable.

1. 10,000 B.C.
Director Roland Emmerich is usually a stickler for realism (see: sending a computer virus via Macintosh to aliens in Independence Day). So we hate to inform him that woolly mammoths were not, in fact, used to build pyramids. Heck, woolly mammoths weren't even found in the desert. They wouldn't need to be woolly if that were the case. And there weren't any pyramids in Egypt until 2,500 B.C or so.

2. Gladiator
Emperor Commodus was not the sniveling sister-obsessed creep portrayed in the movie. A violent alcoholic, sure, but not so whiny. He ruled ably for over a decade rather than ineptly for a couple months. He also didn't kill his father, Marcus Aurelius, who actually died of chickenpox. And instead of being killed in the gladiatorial arena, he was murdered in his bathtub.

3. 300
Though this paean to ancient moral codes and modern physical training is based on the real Battle of Thermopylae, the film takes many stylistic liberties. The most obvious one being Persian king Xerxes was not an 8-foot-tall Cirque du Soleil reject. The Spartan council was made up of men over the age of 60, with no one as young as Theron (played by 37-year-old Dominic West). And the warriors of Sparta went into battle wearing bronze armor, not just leather Speedos.

4. The Last Samurai
The Japanese in the late 19th century did hire foreign advisers to modernize their army, but they were mostly French, not American. Ken Watanabe's character was based on the real Saigo Takamori who committed ritual suicide, or "seppuku," in defeat rather than in a volley of Gatling gun fire. Also, it's doubtful that a 40-something alcoholic Civil War vet, even one with great hair, would master the chopsticks much less the samurai sword.

5. Apocalypto
This one movie has given entire Anthropology departments migraines. Sure the Maya did have the odd human sacrifice but not to Kulkulkan, the Sun God, and only high-ranking captives taken in battle were killed. The conquistadors arriving at the end of the film made for unlikely saviors: an estimated 90% of indigenous American population was killed by smallpox from their infected livestock.

6. Memoirs of a Geisha
The geisha coming-of-age, called "mizuage," was really more of a makeover, where she changed her hairstyle and clothes. It didn't involve her getting... intimate with a client. In the climactic scene where Sayuri wows Gion patrons with her dancing prowess, her routine - which involves some platform shoes, fake snow, and a strobe light - seems more like a Studio 54 drag show than anything in pre-war Kyoto.

7. Braveheart
Let's forget the fact that kilts weren't worn in Scotland until about 300 years after William Wallace's day and just do some simple math. According to the movie, Wallace's blue-eyed charm at the Battle of Falkirk was so overpowering, he seduced King Edward II's wife, Isabella of France, and the result of their affair was Edward III. But according to the history books, Isabella was three years old at the time of Falkirk, and Edward III was born seven years after Wallace died.

8. Elizabeth: The Golden Age
In 1585, when the movie takes place, Queen Elizabeth was 52 years old - Cate Blanchett was 36 when she shot the film - and was not being courted by suitors like Ivan the Terrible (who was dead by then). And though the movie has her rallying the troops at Tilbury astride a white steed in full armor with a sword, in fact she rode side saddle, carrying a baton. She was more of a regal majorette than Joan of Arc.

9. The Patriot
Revolutionary War figure Francis "The Swamp Fox" Marion was the basis for Mel Gibson's character, but he wasn't the forward-thinking family man they show in the flick. He was a slave owner who didn't get married (to his cousin) until after the war was over. Historians also say that he actively persecuted and murdered native Cherokees. Plus, the thrilling Battle of Guilford Court House where he vanquishes his British nemesis? In reality, the Americans lost that one.

10. 2001: A Space Odyssey
According to this film, in year 2001 we would have had manned voyages to Jupiter, a battle of wits with a sentient computer, and a quantum leap in human evolution. Instead we got the Mir Space Station falling from the sky, Windows XP, and Freddy Got Fingered. Apparently the lesson here is that sometimes it's better when the movies get the facts all wrong.

- Yahoo Movies

Google fools with time manipulation, Mars colony

2008-04-02T16:23:00.001-07:00

Perhaps it’s only a coincidence that on this April Fool’s Day, Google has announced an extraordinary initiative to improve your e-mail experience.
Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google, which unleashed its annual April Fools initiatives today.

With Custom Time, you can change the time stamps on up to ten e-mails per year to make it look like you didn’t miss deadlines, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. But wait! If you make it so that an e-mail was sent in the past, wouldn’t that have affected subsequent events? Apparently Google can even smooth out related kinks with its “e-flux capacitor” to “resolve issues of causality.” One user apparently told Google, “I used to be an honest person; but now I don’t have to be.”

Even more exciting, Google claims to have teamed up with Virgin Group to launch Virgle, the first human colony on Mars. You can even apply to join the venture by answering the questionnaire. You’d better think really hard about how you would respond in tough situations. What would you do if “unexpectedly confronted with the emergence of a bewilderingly alien and frighteningly advanced Martian life form” that “appeared bent on killing” you if you “failed to quickly and effectively communicate my peaceful intentions and potential value to its civilization”? Once you’ve got that down, submit a 30-second video through YouTube explaining why you want to live on Mars. It’s just that simple, fool.

–Elizabeth Landau, Associate Producer, CNN.com

Yahoo backs Google's OpenSocial gadget standard

2008-03-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

Google has succeeded in signing up Yahoo and MySpace to a new and independent OpenSocial Foundation

Last year, Google announced OpenSocial, which wasn't open and wasn't social ... but now it probably is, because Yahoo and MySpace have signed up to a new OpenSocial Foundation. According to Yahoo's announcement:

The OpenSocial Foundation will be an independent non-profit entity with a formal intellectual property and governance framework; related assets will be assigned to the new organization by July 1, 2008. The foundation will provide transparency and operational guidelines around technology, documentation, intellectual property, and other issues related to the evolution of the OpenSocial platform, while also ensuring all stakeholders share influence over its future direction.

It also quotes Google as saying: "Developers and websites should feel secure that OpenSocial will be forever free and open."

The basic idea is that any social networking can support the OpenSocial API and that any developer can use it. So if you develop an application that, for example, allows users to throw sheep at their friends, people will be able to throw sheep on MySpace, Orkut, Hi5, Friendster, LinkedIn, Ning, Six Apart, XING and any other site that signs up, if the developer so chooses. It's just like every town having its own McDonald's.

The OpenSocial launch did not, however, include Facebook, which has its own developer platform, which is obviously what inspired OpenSocial. It's in Facebook's interest to have unique Facebook applications, though it won't be able to stop reimplementations on OpenSocial.

Whether it will make any difference remains to be seen. How many people will switch from Facebook in order to use what amounts to a gadget, especially if the gadget actually offers less functionality than an associated web site?

Limp Bizkit - Behind Blue Eyes

2008-03-12T15:38:00.001-07:00

The World's Billionaires 2008

2008-03-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

1. Warren Buffett
2. Helú Slim & Family
3. William Gates III
4. Lakshmi Mittal
5. Mukesh Ambani
6. Anil Ambani
7. Ingvar Kamprad & Family
8. KP Singh
9. Oleg Deripaska
10. Karl Albrecht

Four Indians in the top 10 Billionaires. Makes me feel proud.But,at the same time I feel sad that there are still problems like these (in the links below) in India to which very few people pay attention:

http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiabroadcast/20080123/r_t_ibn_hl/thl-child-mortality-rate-highest-in-indi-275e0e3.html

http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/03child1.htm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003029624_aids31.html

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/25/stories/2006122502601800.htm

Makes me wonder... does having highest no. of billionaires from our country in the top 10 list is a sign that India has come of age or does all the simple problems where we stand the highest again is a sign that India can never be called as a developed nation??

PS: Do see all the links.