It's Simple.

One Bedroom Flat - A fake story by an Indian Software Engineer?

2011-11-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

This is a critique on the anonymously written story titled

"ONE BEDROOM FLAT... WRITTEN BY AN INDIAN SOFTWARE ENGINEER..", one of the gazillion sources:

http://www.knowledgebase-script.com/demo/article-92.html

------------------------
Very good 'story' with a great moral. But that is all it appears to be. I have seen it float on the Internet so many times now, that I would love to meet the original author and have a factual reality check with what is written here. There are flaws that point to the fact that it was written with a biased perspective as if to justify what this person could not achieve. To name a few:

[1] A person who is aiming to save to return back will not eat out everyday, be it McDonald's or even a Pizza kitchen. He/she will cook frequently at home.

[2] Someone saving to return back home will refrain from going to discos regularly. If they did, they deserve what they see as end.

[3] I see no quest for intellect or knowledge in the author. Sounds like a sub-optimal professional whose only aim is to make money.

[4] To get only 10 days 'holidays'? Who get 'holidays' for personal reasons? Those are called 'vacations'. And I do not know a single person who did not get enough time to bond with their family at such an important occasion. If he truly wanted to, he could have quit the job, and went back permanently. No? I doubt if the author even has worked in a global environment, let alone a western company.

[5] "I was forced to select one candidate". What the hell is he picking? Cherries? Vegetables? And who is forcing him? The society? The neighbors?

[6] Who can get a visa approved for spouse within 10 days?

[7] If your savings start diminishing just on calling cards, you are probably not in the right profession. Then yes, it is NOT worth for you to stay abroad and away from your family. Better return back.

[8] "Part work part monetary conditions prevented it." Hmm. Again a helpless professional who was 'forced' to value money more than the parents.

[9] He had to return to USA because he could not buy a property in India, so he rather chose to stay renting in an expensive environment. But there is no concern about kids education etc. Hmmm.

[10] The author is not happy with the cable TV and how it has ruined the kids. BUT this is in India. So where does he want to be now? NOT India? How does him staying abroad bring Cable to India?

In short: every new endeavor, attempting something different, traveling a path not taken before, will bring discomforts. But that is what pioneers do. That is what braves do. The pains and the sufferings are surely there, but they are side effects that you can minimize - IF you take control of your life. There are those that love their wells and ponds. And then there are those who dare to jump out, and see what is around the block. Someone who sounds so helpless and so vulnerable as if they had nothing to do with whatever happened in this story, I call them fake (and if the author of this story is not fake, I challenge them to counter the facts I pointed at above). They seem to be writing about something that they have never experienced themselves. And I am not even referring to the C grade literary composition skills that are manifested in this story.

So hail to social media that runs more on emotions, and less on facts and ownership. Way to go educated engineers of India!

(This critique has nothing to do with anyone who publishes it, but has everything to do with those who publish it without an author's name on it. I also have a pet peeve against mis-represented emotional media with no accountable authorship.)

[Tech Tip] Google Chrome Won't Launch

2011-10-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

I cannot tell you how I lived without my favorite web browser for past one week. I searched everywhere on the internet (using the crappy old monolithic Internet Explorer) for fixes to why Chrome (or FireFox for that matter) would show up in Task Manager, but won't launch.

Now that I know why, I will share it with you:

If multiple AntiVirus/AntiSpamware scans yield to nothing, and you recently did not allow a Microsoft update, most likely spoolsv.exe service is to blame. In my case, that is what was the issue.

Apparently Chrome (and surprisingly Firefox too) rely on spoolsv.exe service to tell them about the available printers at launch time. Now if the spooler cannot respond in time, it looks like the querying programs hung up indefinitely, even before displaying any GUI.

Try killing spoolsv.exe manually in task manager, and launch Chrome again. If it does, good for you - don't forget to put a thank you note below. If it doesn't, well, you may have found another issue, solve it to your own piece of fame:-)

Good luck!

P.S. It is amazing how annoying such issues can be, with the user left with no objective data as to what is going wrong. Google, and the mighty dumbed down Microsoft, take a note please?

A hot plate, or a Corruption free India. You choose.

2011-04-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, I was taught a million reasons to be proud of the nation I belong to, the soil we played cricket on, the waters that wash all your sins, and the air we proudly inhaled. Well, I was a student, blindly trusting the books, and the teachers. What do you know?

Then came the time for the kins of me to assimilate into the society and carry the great nation forward. Guess what: there was not one, not two, but dozen of shockers that took us by surprise. There was the soil we worshiped, but it was dry, because there was no rain as there were no trees around. There were the waters we touched our foreheads with, but it was so dirty you could farm virus and bacteria in it for teaching - let alone washing you of your sins. There was the air we proudly took in every independence day - but it was so polluted it would send you to an asthma clinic before you could praise the flag.

And now to the root of it all: half a century long governance that promised millions they will be fed, taken care of, given better life. When in fact that gave rise to evil self serving practices with a perpetual dream of heavens to entice the unfortunate voters.

Is that really what a Democracy is? It is Government 'of the people, by the people, and for the people'. When, along the path to glory, did we change the meaning from 'enable the people, strengthen the people, empower the people' to 'paralyze the people, barely feed the people, hope for the people'?

Corruption is a very vague term. Granted: in any form of governance, there will be a class of people that will find ways to fulfill self interests at the same time making policies that 'enable' the masses. But what I have seen growing up, is not an infrequent display of dishonesty. I have seen men and families and women struggling to survive, because they don't have enough resources to sustain a basic humane life, let alone growth. Time and again I (and people of my generation) have had long debates about what can we do to fix all this. Can a simple voter's mandate change the system? What happens when all your choices are corrupt? Whom do you choose? Do you boycott the election process? Then there is re-election. And elections in a 1 billion strong democracy are costly to say the least. Or do you fight to become a policy maker yourself? It doesn't quite work unless you have never ending resources, are born in a rich/influential family or you comply with the 'system' s rules and regulations.

You may argue that a huge population has so much to do with it. I agree. I do not know how it came to where it is today. To take an easy way out, surely we can blame the 'invaders' and 'rulers' who did not take good care of our forefathers, did not teach them good family planning practices, did not grow them enough to make good citizens. But I do not want to go there. There are a 1000 ways to solve a problem. And 999 of them involve complaining and whining.

So why does the common folk not do anything? Our culture is known for extremely strong family ties. But why does it stop right there? What of the society we live in? What of the flag that flares on our school buildings? Where did we lose the sense of identity, of belonging to a nation? Why do families enforce 'make your life, yeh to chalta rahega' (take care of yourself first, the system will not change for you)?

One would think that we are that way (hum to aise hi hain). Timid. Self conscious. Complex with inferiority. I still remember a popular video on Facebook that titled (hum Indians bhi nah..). More than I felt proud about it, it annoyed me. Why has it become a practice to compromise, to settles for less/whats available, to just say 'hum to aise hi hain' or 'chalta hai' when things aren't favorable. Why? What is it that we are missing? A common drive?

But then I look at how a simple sporting even united the entire nation recently: of all classes, colors, religions, origins. And I would say "REALLY?" Where did THAT drive come from? You wanted your nation to do good, and excel, but ONLY in a SPORT? What about real life? Is it enough just to live a dream for a day, or a week, say that we are proud that we are the champions, and carry on with the mundane ways of life the next week, as if nothing happened, saying "chalta hai yaar. hum aise hi hai"? Why?

Honestly, I did not have answers to any of the questions I am raising, until today. I found out about the "India Against Corruption" movement, that grew almost 2 fold over night. And that was my answer. We CAN unite, for just a little bit more than a sporting cause - to cleanse a system that our kids will feel proud of - not just on Aug 15 or Jan 26, but every day, every minute that they live in it. Just like we are proud of our own achievements in life, lets achieve something for the nation we were born to. Regardless of what our nation gave to us, let's see what we can give to our nation.

If despite of all the corruption and struggle we can be the second fastest growing economy in the world, bring up boys from ticket collection to winning the World Cup, build corporations that own the balls of the likes of Jaguar, be leading researchers in world class institutions, THINK ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO IF WE HAD FAIR RESOURCES!

I will not blabber anymore. I just urge you to read about the cause here (http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/), and if it makes sense to you, support it, even if it is in small ways, by talking about it in social media, or joining the fast on site in India, or skipping meals if you are not in India.

I am skipping a meal today. And not just to feel good about it (heck yes it feels good too:-), but also to connect my ego back to where it is aligned with millions others like me - to create a social push.

Will you?

Best Hindi Jokes

2011-01-12T00:58:00.000-08:00

बंता: तुम्हारी दुकान पर मिठाई रखी है, तुम्हारा इसको खाने का दिल नहीं करता!
संता: करता तो बहुत है पर पापा माँरेंगे इसलिये चाट कर रख देता हूँ!

संता: आज मैंने एक जान बचाई!
बंता: वो कैसे?
संता: मैंने एक भिखारी को पूछा 1000 का नोट दूँ तो क्या करोगे? उसने कहा `ख़ुशी से मर जाऊँगा`, तो मैंने उसे नोट नहीं

दिया और उसे बचा लिया!

बंता: सुना है आप अपनी पत्नी के साथ बर्तन धोते हो?
संता: तो क्या हुआ! वो भी तो मेरे साथ रोटियाँ पकाती है!

बंता: खुशियाँ क्या होती हैं?
संता: पता नहीं यार, मेरी तो कम उम्र में ही शादी हो गई थी!

संता रोटी का 1 टुकड़ा खुद और 1 मुर्गे को खिला रहा था!
बंता: यह क्या कर रहे हो?
संता: खानदानी लोग है, रोज़ रोटी चिकन के साथ ही खाते हैं!

बंता: यह चिठ्ठी तुम किसे लिख रहे हो?
संता: खुद को!
बंता: इसमें क्या लिखा है?
संता: मालूम नहीं!
बंता: क्यों?
संता: अभी मुझे मिली कहाँ है!

जीतो: मैं आपका खाना चार बार गर्म कर चुकी हूँ आप इसे खाते क्यों नहीं! कहो तो यह खाना कुत्ते को डाल दूँ!
संता: मेरी सज़ा बेचारे कुत्ते को क्यों देना चाहती हो?

संता: कल पापा गिर गए बहुत चोट लगी बहुत चिल्ला रहे थे!
बंता: अब वो कैसे है?
संता: ठीक ही होंगे कल से कुंए से कोई आवाज़ नहीं आई!

संता जलेबी बेच रहा था मगर कह रहा था `आलू ले लो आलू`!
बंता: लेकिन यह तो जलेबी है!
संता: चुप हो जा वरना मक्खियाँ आ जाएँगी!

संता को पूरी रात मच्छरों ने बहुत परेशान किया!
संता की खोपड़ी घूमी और उसने ज़हर पी लिया और बोला अब काटो सालों सब मरोगे!

बंता: धृतराष्ट्र के 100 बच्चे थे! पाण्डु के सिर्फ 5 ऐसा क्यों?
संता: जिनकी आंखे होती है उनको और भी काम होते हैं!

My Own Private India. No. Really!

2010-07-14T00:17:00.000-07:00

This is a response to an unwittingly crafted so called 'humor' column in Time magazine, published on July 5, 2010, by Joel Stein.

At the face value, this column came across as genuinely funny.

But then I did some research on Mr. Stein to understand where he was coming from. And boy am I not glad I did that!

Born into a Jewish family in Edison, NJ, he went to Stanford, worked briefly for Martha Stewart, got hired by Time magazine as a staff writer, honeymooned on a luxury island (not that it matters), taught humor writing at Princeton, and is now a full time columnist for the Time magazine.

Further, his writings have always been off-beat, sarcastic, slightly dark, but mostly caricature-like. Example: the way he wittily came up with an article on the Amish in the 'What's next' series was fabulous! Or even how he pulled hair off his own employer (Time)'s legs about how they rank the top 100 most effective people in their fields of work, and started his own Joel 100(TM) list was unmatched:-) Hell... he had even (sarcastically) praised George W. Bush II for reducing his taxes in this article!

So what do you expect from a writer who could not digest the fact that his home town had actually become home to countless geniuses (engineers, inventors, doctors, merchants) who were actually smarter than the merchant families that he grew up with, so smart as to build the whole town slowly with their hard work and wit? That frustration had to come out somehow? And it did. In the questionable article.

To be fair, Jewericans (as in Guindians, refer to Joel's original article here) have been known in history to be aggressive about creating huge businesses, by hook, or by crook. In fact I sense helplessness in Stein's statement where he coins the term 'not so genius merchants'. If they were not so genius, how the hell does Edison, NJ now have 25% of its population with Indian heritage? And if you wanted to keep the town 'the way it was when you grew up', why did you not do something about it?

Please face the change, and admit it like a man. Don't just eek it out in a 'humor column'.

Now if you still want to change the dynamics of 'legal' immigration and assimilation and cultural fusion, just because your hometown isn't what you saw when you were a kid, may I recommend being a little more welcoming to legal immigrants who already have it hard on them (perhaps just the way your parents may have?).

I have resisted sharing this here until now (and I really do not like to talk about it either), but here it goes. Right outside Princeton university campus, a few years ago, an empty liquor bottle came flying and crashed next to me on the sidewalk. When I looked back, it was an open Jeep Wrangler with a few seemingly teenagers, screaming and telling me to go back where I came from.

I was on a research project in a very competitive field, and got accepted from among hundreds of applicants. I had no clue why someone could hate me so much. I still do not know. But I did not make a big deal out of it. I did not write a hate blog right then and there. Rather I went back to my project, finished it, earned a U.S. research degree, worked very very hard (legally) and made a professional career out of it. I wonder what any of those kids are doing these days. Perhaps writing humor columns for Time?

First try explaining that, then let us talk about whether Mr. Stein's article has humor in it or not.

Disclaimer. The author of this blog, Prashant Chopra, apologizes if this column hurts Joel Stein's feelings. It is a humor column and is in no way intended to hurt anyone, let alone any specific community of people.

P.S. If you would like to let Time magazine's team or Mr. Stein know about your concerns about his article, please click here, and send them a message. Remember: always assert when you see unfair behavior.

P.P.S. Here is another great rebuttal on cnn.com by a well read physician of Indian origin, if you are interested. Thanks to Shwetal for sharing!

P.P.P.S. Since many people raised concern about such a string rebuttal, I am trying to justify my thoughts here:

The first time I read Mr. Stein's column, I wanted it to be funny, and it got pretty close with references to the not-so-genius merchant cousins, the Guindian kids, the dot-heads, etc, etc.

Half way through the text, I thought it is getting dark now, and boy there is some fun ahead, as I love dark humor!

And then it was over. And I am thinking to myself: was it a sarcastic admission to the defeat of local community at the hands of legal immigrants? Or does it root somewhere deeper? I asked a non-Indian friend to read it, and although he didn't find it offensive, he didn't find it funny either.

That forced me to do some research on Mr. Stein's writing and his life. Perhaps that's his style and I just didn't get it? The more I read about him and his previous articles, the more I found him to be a strongly egotistical comic (and he even admitted to this in one article) who wrote bashingly (yet smilingly) about the Amish, the Time's 100 most effective people list, the economy, G. W. Bush II, and his love for classic Rock.

Fine. I have no issues with humor, satire, or sarcasm in general. But knowing what I know about him now, all these strong stereotypes must represent something somewhere. I cannot help but shiver at the thought of kids still growing up, going to school with immigrant (Indian, Chinese, Spanish ...) kids, coming back home with questions, and finding these stereotypes in the answers their parents give them.

More than the hint of racism (which I found to be there, minimally, but not strongly), I am more concerned about what the 2nd or 3rd generation non-Indian or non-Chinese parents are teaching their kids about resilience, patience, assimilation, and cultural fusion.

Sigh!

P.P.P.P.S.

[1] Why does Joel find it so hard to understand the dynamics of legal immigration? In his own words "I was shocked that I could feel a tiny bit uncomfortable with my changing town when I went to visit it.". Why was he shocked? Isn't response to change bi-lateral? So the ones assimilating are supposed to understand that there will be resistance to change. But the ones accepting the change will not?

[2] References to phrases like "India is so damn poor", "whose gods have multiple arms and an elephant nose", "not so sure about the genius thing" are directly offensive and are in no way humorous. You talk about the freedom of speech. But do you also have the resilience to take similar insults back, at its face value? Indian 'culture' teaches you to be patient, non-violent, and respect for elders and family (yes there are exceptions, but in general that is the case). American style of life and culture is more open to criticism, and open discussions. That is a very big gap right there. And change (read assimilation) bridges that gap. But the change has to be from both sides.

[3] The geniuses did not move to Edison on their will and certainly not before immigration rules were relaxed to attract foreign born talent. They started moving to U.S. on invitation. Even today, how many legal Indian/other immigrants do you think can stay in the U.S. just because of the lifestyle? They stay because there are employers and opportunities that recognize their talent and skills that are really scarce in the 'native' population. So no, the exits didn't start running all of a sudden to Mumbai. Rather, a red carpet was thrown all the way to Mumbai, and Delhi, and Calcutta, and Chennai/Madras, and Beijing, and Tokyo, and London, and Moscow, and many other cities, to get the 'best' of Indian/foreign talent on board without which most of the advanced R&D would be happening overseas and U.S. importing it. And I am not talking about writing simple computer programs. I am talking about robots that guide rockets, perform surgeries, physicians that are humane to patients, and merchants that create jobs and pay taxes and bring prosperity to the whole nation.

P.P.P.P.P.S. There are two ways you can react to a culture that is different from where you grew up:

[1] You take your time. You understand the differences. You learn about the other culture. You show them what you bring to the table. You pick the best of both, they do the same to some extent, and you slowly assimilate.

[2] You come in, you are insecure because more than you are proud of the good things about how you grew up, you immediately notice the 'negative' points and are readily ashamed of it. Not knowing how to keep up your heritage AND be a respected citizen of the world AND a worthy multi-cultural American, you kneel down, and say "I leave everything that I grew up on, please accept me". And that moment onwards, you uncomfortably do what it means to be 'American', and write it all out here to assure yourself that you did the right thing.

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. This is what an author wrote on CNN: "bottom line is there is no racism - only economic fairness. Come to our country and assimilate - become an American and raise your family here - bring your extended family here - live a great life - I am 100% behind that American Dream. I am against using our country so you can have a 47:1 currency conversion to rupies and live like a king back in the slum that is India. "

And this was my response: "I think you have a hard shell of a brain. Did you not read a single line of what I wrote? You contradict yourself when you say 'come live here the America dream' and at the same time you say 'oh make immigration difficult, there guys are taking our jobs, changing our towns'.

Would you be ok with immigrating the whole immediate family if just one of them is valuable to US economy as a technical/economical resource? Let me guess your answer: NO.

Would you be ok with guaranteeing a no hassle immigration to deserving hard working legal immigrants at fair pays, so they wont have to worry about taking their bags and go back because of administrative delays and take their savings with them? Let me guess your answer: NO.

Take your head out of the beer pot that you seem to portray you have, and be rational. It is easy to talk the talk. It is hard to try to know the reality on the other side and not base your impressions on a hollywood blockbuster that showed slums in glory.

I can tell I am glad I never got to work with you. You may not be racist, but you are so misinformed and narrow minded my head would explode just talking with you.Have a happy dreamy colorful American life! "

What the Hell is the West teaching these kids about India?

2010-06-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

So I came across this critique request at an online photography website's forum from a gentleman who recently visited India for 5 weeks, and was seeking general comments on how well he captured the essence of India.

Guess what: not a single one of his about 100 pictures showed a high rise, the new Delhi Metro, the new malls, the Akshar Dham, the world's largest public transit system (the railways), the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the brilliant kids who can count faster than a DSLR can take pictures, the rising middle class feminine section thanks to growing tech jobs, etc, etc.

Every single one of his pictures show either a poor kid with no clothes on, a village girl carrying water in torn clothes, a cow, a goat, an over crowded rickshaw, a mother breast feeding her kid in public with not enough cloth to cover herself, etc., etc.

I am now sick and tired of the so called adventure photographers making a 2 week trip to India, taking pictures of the dirtiest neighborhoods and poorest people they can find, and posting their portfolio for helpful critique titled "India Part 1, 2, 3".

What the hell is the western world teaching them about India? Is that all they can see and find?

How about the Taj, the Red Fort, the biggest public rail transit system, the Akshar Dham, the desert, the folk dances, the festivals, the temples, mosques, the entrepreneurs, the IITs, the Art Academies, the musicians, the neighbors watching out for each other's kids, the middle school geniuses who can count faster than a DSLR can snap pictures, as photography subjects?

Give me a f$#$$*%g break!

That Thin Line Between Moving Art & Exploitation

2010-06-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

I took three candidate pictures to a colleague who does film photography exclusively, for hobby. I wanted to know his opinion on which one to submit. He did pick one. But not without stirring me up a little by questioning my motives when I clicked an old person's portrait in the street without his knowledge. Here is that picture:

He asked me if it would really make a good picture if I just clicked a street shot without 'connecting' with the subject. His argument was that my motivation is not to try to understand what a subject is feeling (and then portray it on film/pictures), rather I just wanted to capture him/her as a third person, hoping to 'move' people, and get a good score in a challenge.

And after a long debate, I did admit that my primary motivation was to take a picture that has mass appeal, and only a secondary goal was to become a better photographer 'as a side effect'.

However, I do want to be able to take more pictures like this... that grab your attention when you look at them, BUT be fair to the subject at the same time, so I am not exploiting their situation/presence in the scene.

I found one great candid shot on a famous Indian photographer's Flickr page, that shows a physically handicapped person almost crawling across. My first reaction was: wow what a great street shot. But immediately it hit me: did the photographer ask the person's permission before clicking this shot? What and how much does he know about the subject? Could the photographer actually feel what it is to go through that disadvantage? I asked the photographer twice (once via email and again via a comment on the photo), and I just heard back from him as a comment: "I only ask permission for taking street portraits."

I found yet another such moving candid portrait right here, by an IndiBlogger member.

So, I am curious to know.

What motivates you when you attempt a good candid picture? Is it the desire to express what and how you see things? Or is it the desire to score mass appeal and sympathy? Or is it both? And if so, how do they relate to each other?

Most importantly: does it make you a good photographer if you just capture one moment out of a person who is suffering? Is it not important, as an artist, to first relate to the subject, his/her condition, even before we try to portray that 'something' that we want to come across in our artwork?

I do not know the exact answer. But I do know this:

I will NEVER again take a candid picture, if it is emotive, without first trying to relate to the subject (talking to them, getting a perspective to it, and then getting their permission) before I click that next 'awwww' shot.

Of course feel free to comment here below the post about what you think about it.

Mr. President...

2010-06-04T11:59:00.001-07:00

... the lens caps are on!

Faisal Shahzad: Where's The End?

2010-05-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

It was just a few months back that I was watching Qurbaan, and wondering why movies like this are made, and what their purpose is.

Is it just to make money by attacking a popular/infamous issue? Or is it to flick a spark in the sub-conscious of ill-minded and to give them ideas?

I was horrified by the thought process and the character justification portrayed in the movie. I won't lie: I found myself pretty shaken at some of the things they showed were happening. Best of all, the city of NY -permitted- the director for shooting some of the scariest bombing scenes in the heart of the urbia.

So when cases like this supposedly stupid suspect, Faisal Shahzad, come to light, I am forced to think that there are more such self motivated, brain washed cult following citizens of the world, who are walking around/among us, and plotting their supposed 'demise to heavens'.

That's an eerie feeling. Almost like having a snake around your body, but you can only feel it, and not see it.

And then time and again, you think: where's the end to it? You can kill people, and bodies (hell they are killing themselves up anyways). But how do you kill what still remains as a zombie: the extremism, the following, the brain washed youth who don't have enough to eat and so they unwillingly join the Madarasas (Islamic Religious Schools that provide food and clothing to those attending, similar to Christian Missionaries, although not as pure in intentions)?. (I highly recommend watching this docu-story by Sabiha Sumar to open up your perspective.)

It's a war between ways of thinking. Between cultures. Between ideologies.

How do you win this one, you smart Nuclear-Bomb-inventor-Moon-Traveler-Mars-Prober-Robot-Maker-Human-Cloner human? Huh?

Or would you say there is no war at all.. it's one group's conspiracy to maul the other so cultural/racial supremacy thrives? Is Faisal Shahzad actually guilty then? What do you trust? Who do you trust?

Suggestions welcome...

He kicks my integrity. Everytime!

2010-04-30T11:21:00.000-07:00

This lil dude always gets to me. I can watch this clip when I am sad, when I am mad, when I am stressed out, when I am sleepy, when I am depressed,...

.. he always moistens my lashes, kicks my integrity in the gut, and then leaves me all fueled up to 'make a difference'.

Truly an anthem, Sir!

Response: The Death of the Reasonable Indian.

2010-04-30T00:35:00.000-07:00

This is my response to Suchitra Vijayan's blog “The death of the reasonable Indian ?”:

In my opinion (mark these words as you read further), in every human being,

[A] There is what we call national pride (clubbed with patriotism), and

[B] There is the will to make things better (nothing is perfect. is it?)

To some people, [B] gets sidelined because they refuse to admit to what is wrong under [A], and needs upheaval. This is what I call the ‘faux pride’, since it doesn’t make a progressive society.

To others, [A] causes them to notice what is wrong, to criticize it, and to make an attempt to better it. This is close to how I think too. You can’t improve something that you don’t even know is wrong.

Extremes of either would keep one tainted and away from performing a true citizen’s role. There has to be a balance. For example, bashing one’s nation always without providing the means to improve things would be a distortion of [B]. While neglecting everything that is wrong would be a distortion of [A].

In short, we are all different personalities, and love our nations in our own ways. Let us criticize what needs improvement, and leave personal opinions alone. So what if Radha’s thoughts are close to [A]? She has as much love for India as you do, would you not say?

The key is to not criticize each other so much, but criticize the system that led us to be this way, AND provide ways for improvement. With the risk of being blamed for over generalization, I would say that Indians (generally) love to criticize, without suggesting/providing means for a change.

Let’s first change this attitude, then we'll talk.

You may like to read a related blog on my website here.

Good luck!

The Death of Common Sense.

2010-04-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am sure you are aware of the recent incidents that led to the arrest and interrogation of an Indian IFS official posted in Islamabad for espionage.

My first reaction was: Oh God. Not again. Don't they get paid pretty well already?

On the second day of reporting, I was telling myself: Ok. She is naive, and we caught her just in time. No big secrets compromised. Not a big deal.

But today, as I am reading about the 'real' reasons, I cannot believe but bite my toes off! She did that for WHAT? TO GET BACK AT HER SENIORS?? She frikkin compromised national security to avenge her colleagues??

What else would you call that except the death of common sense? Or perhaps we are the ones who lack common wit and she really is smart enough to have done a big harm, and now knows how to avoid a life sentence?

But it just doesn't stop there, you see. Our intelligence was so darn smart they broke the identity of a senior RAW official posted at the same commission. And not only that, THEY DID IT JUST THE DAY BEFORE premiers of India and Pakistan were about to meet for bilateral talks.

You go guys!

Don't get me wrong. I am plenty patriotic. But cases like these make you wonder if we have the controls in right hands.

May God bless our motherland. Jai Hind!

Hitler, Bose and a Common Enemy

2010-04-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

Published CULTURE & LIFESTYLE | 11.08.2003. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,943230,00.html.

Director Shyam Benegal (far right) with actors during the shooting of "Netaji: The Last Hero" in Germany.

Subhas Chandra Bose, who raised an army in exile to fight the British, is revered as a freedom-fighter and patriotic icon in India. So why was Indian director Shyam Benegal shooting a film on Bose’s life in Germany?

The residents of Marquardt, a sleepy town near Potsdam west of the German capital, were rubbing their eyes in disbelief last week.

An Indian film crew had taken over the sprawling verdant grounds of their picturesque neo-baroque castle located on the banks of a lake. Vans full of technical equipment and costumes were parked in the driveway as technicians, actors and extra hands -- both German and Indian -- hurried around barking instructions and calling out to each other in German, English and a handful of Indian languages.

The fuss wasn’t about the latest glitzy song-and-dance movie churned out by India’s mainstream multibillion dollar Bombay-based film industry known as Bollywood. Rather it was the shooting of a weighty historical epic tracing the last five years in the life of Subhas Chandra Bose or Netaji (the leader), who set up the Indian National Army in exile to fight against British colonial rule during World War II.

Titled "Netaji: The Last Hero," the film directed by 70-year-old Indian cinema legend Shyam Benegal, throws light on a little-known, almost strange, chapter of Indo-German history. The shooting stint in Germany focuses on Bose’s two-year stay in Berlin in the early 1940s and his single meeting with Hitler when he requested the Führer’s help in the Indian independence struggle against the British Empire.

"It’s the story of a great adventure, of a flamboyant person who was obviously a romantic as well as a strategist, because who would think of leaving the country and trying to raise an army to fight for Indian independence from outside of India?" director Benegal, who is considered the pioneer of new wave Indian cinema, told Deutsche Welle.

The enemy of my enemy
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in INA Uniform

Bose (photo), a revolutionary lawyer and leader of the Congress Party in India who stood in direct confrontation with Gandhi’s passive and nonviolent resistance methods against the British, escaped from India in 1941 following British imprisonment and made his way to Berlin, after failing to get himself smuggled to the Soviet Union.

Bose’s plan was to get Hitler’s help to stage a revolution in India that would distract British forces from the war against Germany under the motto "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." He calculated that in the process, Britain would lose the war against the militarily superior Germany and as a consequence, lose India as well.

"However things didn’t quite turn out that way," Benegal said. Though the Germans provided financial support for Bose to broadcast radio propaganda messages to India, it wasn’t until more than a year later that Hitler, allegedly impressed with Bose’s cause, agreed to hear him out.

But the much-awaited meeting on May 27, 1942, ended in disappointment for the Indian revolutionary. "In that meeting, he [Bose] asked Hitler to cut out passages in "Mein Kampf" dealing with Asians and [Hitler said] that it was better for India to remain under British domination. Hitler refused to help him," Benegal explained.

German history professor Johannes Voigt, who authored a book on India during World War II, said it wasn’t just Hitler’s strong theories of race that stopped him from helping Bose, whom he considered racially-inferior. "He was convinced that colonial rule needed to be upheld if Europe’s dominance was to continue. Besides India was too far away."

Indian POWS and a submarine escape

Benegal’s three-hour, four-million-euro epic also dwells on what is considered Bose’s biggest accomplishment in Germany – the raising of a 3,000-strong Indian Legion force, made up of Indian POWS captured by the Germans in the course of fighting in North Africa. The Indian community in Berlin was pressed into service to play the role of the troops.

Bose envisioned the force spearheading an attack on the British while the Germans swung through the Soviet Union and the Middle East to India. But that plan fell apart, too, when the Germans were defeated at Stalingrad in early 1943. "Bose soon realized it was pointless for him to remain [in Germany] much longer," said Benegal.

The Germans, however, provided Bose with the means to get out of Germany to Japan, where he believed he stood a better chance of organizing a large-scale Indian army. In February 1943, the Indian exile leader boarded the submarine U180 at the Kiel harbor on the Baltic coast, and traveled to the coast of Mozambique, from where he transferred to a Japanese submarine.

Netaji: The Last Hero by director Shyam Benegal

In the movie, the escape from Germany and the spectacular journey are filmed on site in Kiel’s harbor (photo).

After Bose’s departure, the Indian Legion Force in Germany came to a sad end. "Their fate remains largely unknown. They were absorbed into the regular German army and sent to fight in Normandy," said Professor Voigt. "After the war, some came back through southern Germany, many perished and some were sent back to India after the war."

A gravestone inscription, "five unknown dead, 4.5.1945" in Immenstadt in Swabia, southern Germany, is believed to be one of the last remaining traces of the Indian Legion in Germany today.

Bose himself finally raised an army in Burma and led the soldiers into India to fight the British, but he died in a plane crash in 1945 and never lived to see Indian independence.

A touch of romance

The memory of Subhas Chandra Bose’s mission in Germany isn’t just consigned to history books and archives. Bose married Austrian Emilie Schenkl in the 1930s during his first visit to Germany. The couple moved to Berlin where they had a daughter, Anita. Today Bose’s daughter, Anita Pfaff, is an economics professor at Augsburg University in southern Germany.

Director Benegal’s shooting at the Marquardt castle involves romantic scenes with Bose and his wife (played by German actress Anna Prüstel) strolling through the picturesque grounds, a mellifluous Hindi song playing in the background. Berlin actress Prüstel said it was amazing how few people in Germany were aware of Bose’s visit to Germany. "This whole cooperation with Hitler, Bose’s go-it-alone attitude is simply so unbelievable. I find it hard to understand how nobody ever used this material and got it out in the public," she said.

Scheduled to release in January next year, both in Hindi and English, Benegal’s action-packed film is expected to raise awareness of the revolutionary and his cause. The veteran director (photo, below), who has also made a film on Gandhi’s life, said he wants "Netaji: The Last Hero" to set the record straight on one of the most controversial political figures in pre-independent India.

Shyam Benegal

"Among all the anti-colonial leaders in Asia, he [Bose] is the only one the British continue to claim was a traitor," he said. "But Bose’s idealism was free of any kind of cynicism. In that sense he had a simple, straightforward goal – to free India. That makes him a hero figure to me."

Sonia Phalnikar

Mild Peppers May Help Burn Calories

2010-04-28T14:49:00.000-07:00

By April Fulton

NPR. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/04/more_study_needed_on_power_of.html?sc=fb&cc=fp .

We're liberal about piling on the hot chilies in our food, and science suggests there's even some benefit to the sweating we're doing when we eat them -- it burns calories.

But what about those people who just can't stand the heat?

Chemicals found in mild peppers might help burn calories. (Jon Feingersh/Blend Images/Getty Images)

Research presented at theExperimental Biology meeting in Anaheim, California, (namesake of one of our favorite peppers)shows that dihydrocapsiate (DCT) --a chemical found in a strain ofmild chile peppers -- has helped some people boost their metabolism without the tongue-burning side effects.

But don't stock up on mild peppers to lose weight just yet. The people in the very small study were already on a low calorie liquid diet for a month. More research needs to be done on whether consuming DCT would help people on more realistic diets, researcher David Heber of UCLA's Center for Human Nutrition tells Shots.

Hot peppers have been an integral part of the diets of Latin Americans and Asians for centuries. Who can imagine Szechwan beef or tamales without a bit of heat?

And several studies over the past decade have pointed to the chemical capsaicin, which gives peppers their fire, for its potential role in boosting metabolism. Capsaicin also been cited as a potential appetite suppressant, perhaps leading to its frequent starring role in a host of diet and detox products.

But while some people (like our blogger, Scott Hensley) pour hot pepper sauce on everything because they like the taste, many people just can't stand the heat. So Heber and his colleagues set out to see if capsaicin's calmer cousin, DCT, might also exert a calorie-burning effect.

They studied the before and after body weight and fat of 34 men and women consuming a low-calorie liquid meal replacement. Three times a day, a third of them were given a placebo pill, a third were were given a pill containing 3 milligrams of DCT, and a third were given a 9 milligram pill.

Those DCT doses weren't big, Heber says. They're like a generous sprinkle of seasoning.

What they found was that the people given the most DCT after a meal showed an increase in heat production and fat burning without the burning sensation. That is, DCT acted in their G.I. tracks the way hot peppers do -- boosting metabolism. And, the chemical structure of DCT is such that it doesn't fit the sensors on our tongue that detect pain, so no burning, Heber says.

They found that the 9 milligram, three-times-a-day dose helped the average-sized woman burn an extra 100 calories a day. No magic bullet, but a help, Heber says. (You can download the the PowerPoint presentation here.

Still, as boring as it sounds, an overall good diet and regular exercise are the key to weight loss. "If you have chocolate cake with your chili pepper, you're not going to lose any weight," he says.

The World of Greed and Debts

2010-04-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

Greece crisis: Fears grow that it could spread

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8648029.stm

IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Khan: "We need Greece... back on track"

The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that the crisis in Greece could spread throughout Europe.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that every day lost in resolving Greece's problems risks spreading the impact "far away".

World financial markets, recovering slightly on Wednesday, have been badly hit by fears of contagion from Greece.

Mr Strauss-Kahn was speaking at a news conference in Berlin after trying to persuade reluctant German politicians to back the terms of a rescue deal.

But even as politicians were trying to resolve the crisis, Europe's debt problems were flaring elsewhere.

We now enter an uncertain period. Will the financial markets test Portugal or Spain? The Spanish economy is five times the size of Greece. Will other bail-outs be needed and would the German taxpayer revolt against helping out others?

Gavin Hewitt, BBC europe editor

Read Gavin's blog in full

The Standard & Poor's ratings agency delivered more bad news by downgrading Spain's debt to AA from AA+.

The agency said Spain's growth prospects were weak after the collapse of a credit-fuelled housing and construction bubble.

Mr Strauss-Kahn's comments foreshadowed S&P's news. "What is at stake today is the economic situation of Greece. But it's more than that.

"We also need to restore confidence... I'm confident that the problem will be fixed. But if we don't fix it in Greece, it may have a lot of consequences on the European Union," Mr Strauss-Kahn said.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, and European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, were in Berlin to urge German MPs to agree to a rescue deal under which Greece would get billions of euros in loans.

Deeply unpopular

For me personally, it's getting to be a real possibility that I may need to leave this country. We may see a new wave of people leaving, particularly young people, especially if our salaries decrease.

Ioannis Matzavrakos, Athens

Eurozone crisis: Readers' reaction

Greece faces 'death spiral'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that talks on the bail-out package must be sped up.

"It is perfectly clear that the negotiations with the Greek government, the European Commission and the IMF need to be accelerated," she said after meeting Mr Strauss-Kahn.

"We hope they can be wrapped up in the coming days," she said.

But many German politicians are opposed to the bail-out of Greece, and Mrs Merkel has herself been accused of offering only qualified support.

Germany is facing elections, and with public opinion against giving billions of euros to Greece, Mrs Merkel must tread a fine line.

As Europe's largest economy, Germany would provide the biggest single loan to Greece among the eurozone nations.

The aid package being offered by the EU and IMF is currently 45bn euros ($59bn; £39bn).

But support for the bail-out in Germany will not be helped by claims that the total cost of the proposed package could be up to 120bn euros over three years.

After meeting Mr Strauss-Kahn on Wednesday, the leader of Germany's Green Party, Juergen Trittin, said the aid could total "between 100bn and 120bn euros".

Risk fears

Financial markets continued to be hit, following credit rating agency Standard and Poor's downgrade of Greek debt to "junk" on Tuesday.

The message that has been emerging from the markets this week is that a resolution to the Greek crisis needs to be found in the next few days. A failure to resolve the issue runs the risk of sparking contagion through Southern Europe

Simon Derrick, Senior currency strategist, BNY Mellon

Q&A: Greece's economic woes

Greece crisis: What can be done?

Could UK face same fate?

Portugal hopes not to be next

This means the rating agency views Greece as a much riskier place to invest, and increases the interest rate investors will charge the Greek government to borrow much-needed money on the open market.

On Wednesday, that interest rate hit 11.3% for 10-year Greek bonds - another all-time high for a eurozone country.

Interest rates on two-year bonds hit a new high of almost 19%, later falling back to 16%.

The euro hit a one-year low against the dollar of $1.3146.

European stocks also fell sharply on Wednesday, although they recovered some of their losses in afternoon trading.

Overnight Japan's leading share index, the Nikkei 225, closed down more than 2.5%.

The turmoil forced Greece's stock market regulators to impose a ban on short-selling, amid concerns that bank shares are being undermined by speculators.

Contagion concerns

Concerns about the Spanish and Portuguese economies also intensified following the downgrade by S&P.

Spain's deputy prime minister, Maria Teresa de la Vega, appealed for market calm, telling reporters: "We have a very serious plan of... deficit reduction. We have adopted an austerity programme.

"We are adopting all the measures needed to meet our commitments. So I want to send a message of confidence to the population and of calm to the markets," she said.

PROBABILITY OF COUNTRIES BEING UNABLE TO PAY BACK DEBT

With any debtor, there is a chance they will not be able to repay their debts. These figures in the above graph express the likelihood as a percentage called the Cumulative Probability of Default (CPD)

The figures express the probability of a country defaulting sometime over the next five years

Mr Strauss-Kahn also urged caution in the face of the downgrade. Ratings agencies "are reflecting what they are collecting in the market.... One should not believe too much what they say, even if they are useful," he said.

But even before the downgrade investors were turning negative on Spain. Yields on Spanish 10-year bonds reached their highest level - 4.27% - since the euro was launched.

Meanwhile, investors are demanding an interest rate of close to 6% from Portugal.

"If yields rise much further Portugal may, like Greece, be in a position where [borrowing] on the open market becomes just too expensive," warned Jane Foley, research director at currency trader Forex.com.

Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Socrates spoke of "a speculative attack on the euro and Portuguese debt".

He said he would work with the opposition party to restore economic confidence in the country which also had its credit rating downgraded on Tuesday.

Time running out

HAVE YOUR SAY

The Greeks need to accept the pain that is the inevitable and foreseeable consequence

MarkGE

According to Simon Derrick, from Bank of New York Mellon, time is now running out for Greece to secure a deal.

"The message that has been emerging from the markets this week is that a resolution to the Greek crisis needs to be found in the next few days," he said, warning that delays risk "sparking contagion through southern Europe".

The Last Lecture Before His death - Dr. Randy Pausch

2010-04-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

[IPL Finals] Yes. Each one of 'You' is a Super King!

2010-04-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

Call it a flick, lucky, or whatever the heck kind of moment you want to call it. But the truth is: Chennai Super Kings are now IPL 2010 Champions. All the excuses (Tendulkar unfit, Pollard's batting order changed, etc. etc.) cannot and will not change the outcome of the match.

It was a good match. One team won, the other lost. Hero of the millions (Little Master Blaster) lived his reputation, a not as famous sportsman (Raina) saw opportunities, and squeezed them.

Everyone put in their part. But in the end, it's a game of numbers, seconds, and mistakes. No rocket science there. The take away: great players may sometimes define the outcome of a team sport, but they always - and I repeat - ALWAYS make a good game.

So let's celebrate the victory of a sport. The victory of all the street cricketers who diligently make way for oncoming scooters by running off to the pavement with the stumps. The victory of all the chai and paan-wallahs who volunteer to put a TV screen for the masses. The victory of all the mommies who walk in the living room with half mended dough balls or half cut bhindis because they cannot focus on fixing dinner as their favorite player is hitting two consecutive sixes.

Let's celebrate Cricket. Go Cricket. Go India!

Increasing Blog Viewership

2010-04-23T00:33:00.001-07:00

Review: HP Slate v/s Apple iPad

2010-04-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

By Nilay Patel posted Apr 5th 2010 5:59PM. Exclusive original post was here.

Well, well -- what's this? We just got our hands on what looks like an internal HP Slate presentation given to cool down some of the iPad hype amongst HP employees, and it just happens to have specs and pricing details on the elusive Windows 7 tablet. As we'd heard, the Slate will run $549 in its base configuration, which has a 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 capacitive multitouch display, a 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor with UMA graphics and an accelerator for 1080p video playback (we're assuming it's a Broadcom Crystal HD chip), 32GB of flash storage and 1GB of non-upgradeable RAM. There's also a $599 version with 64GB of storage, and both models will have a five-hour battery, an SDHC slot, two camera, a USB port, a SIM card slot for the optional 3G modem, and a dock connector for power, audio, and HDMI out. Of course, what this spec list doesn't cover is software, and we still haven't seen much of how HP plans to make Windows 7 on a full slate device with netbook-class internals perform as smoothly or as intuitively as its demo videos. That's not a small challenge, especially since the iPad is out now and setting some pretty high expectations for how this new breed of tablets should work. We've got our fingers crossed -- show us something good, HP.

Review: Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

2010-04-18T20:52:00.001-07:00

This review has moved to our newly found Digital Imaging Review website. Please click here to reach that page. Enjoy reading another independent off-beat review at our new website!

Review: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens

2010-04-18T20:50:00.001-07:00

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Review: Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro Telephoto Zoom Lens

2010-04-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

This review has moved to our newly found Digital Imaging Review website. Please click here to reach that page. Enjoy reading another independent off-beat review at our new website!

[Review] 15 Reasons the iPad is Better than a Netbook

2010-04-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

The following is a guest post from Eric Jones, Erictric reader and blogger at CoreGeek. Highlighted are fifteen reasons why the iPad may just be a better choice over a netbook:

1. Hardware quality – Apple builds quality hardware, both in looks and feel. A lot of the netbooks are cheap and flimsy.

2. Functionality without hassle – No worries about managing anti-virus and all of the headaches of a Windows-based operating system.

3. It’s always ready to go – Leave it on, let it sleep. Touch the button to wake from sleep and you’re using it right away. No waiting for the device to boot up every time.

4. Excellent battery life – Apple says the iPad’s battery will last 10 hours on a charge. Some reviews, with heavy testing, have shown it to last even longer. “The iPad lasted 11 hours and 28 minutes, about 15% more than Apple claimed. I was able to watch four feature-length movies, four TV episodes and a video of a 90-minute corporate presentation, before the battery died midway through an episode of “The Closer.” – Walt Mossberg.

5. User experience – No more mouse. iPad uses full multitouch interface. To me using the iPad interface feels like the future. “The iPad user experience is instantly compelling and elegant. It’s not every computer and every function. It’s a computer that’s designed for speed, mobility, and tactile interaction (emphasis mine) above all other considerations.” – Andy Ihnatko.

6. E-Reader – With iBooks or Amazon Kindle software it’s an e-reader with the form factor of a book. “But it’s just such a bloody good book reader that some folks will never wander far from its eBook functions. And why not? From one perspective, it’s hands-down the best book reader you can buy.” – Andy Ihnatko.

7. Comics – “Reading digital comics on most devices is a pain: the screens are too small, or you’re confined to the landscape orientation, which forces you to scroll to see entire pages or zoom in to read text. The iPad, quite simply, was built for this. The colors are bright and beautiful, the text is perfectly legible, and being able to change the orientation of the screen on the fly allows you to adapt your reading to however the artists decided to lay out the panels.” – Ben Kuchera Ars Technica review.

8. Excellent Screen – Photos and movies look fantastic. It has excellent viewing angles too. Most netbooks I’ve seen have crappy screens. “You can lay the iPad flat on a table while you eat or drink and it looks just fine at a decidedly skewed angle — far more so than with the iPhone. This IPS stuff is the real deal; here’s to hoping for an IPS display in this year’s new iPhones.” – John Gruber.

9. Lots of applications (apps) at affordable prices – iPad is really about the apps with over 180,000 available apps — that’s a lot of software. Some are free, most $0.99, some more (the more expensive apps usually offer a trial version). Apps are without a doubt where iPad will excel. Soon enough, there will be some great killer apps coming, too. Right now, the Netflix App is being universally praised for more than obvious reasons.

10. Speed – iPad is very fast. Even some dissenting reviews commented on the impressive speed. “The performance is stunning. Unlike even the iPhone 3GS, the iPad never seems to be anything but snappy. Apps open crisply. Animations never slow the presentation.” – Paul Thurrott.

11. Gaming – There are some great games. I’m not a heavy gamer but have found the iPhone/iPod Touch the perfect platform for a casual gamer like myself. Many of the games available are cheap, if not free. If I get bored with a certain game, I don’t feel bad for not revisiting or quitting it because it didn’t spend $30+ for it. The idea of gaming on the iPad is similar.

12. Photo Frame – Put it on a stand and use the built-in photo display feature to run as a digital photo frame when it’s not in use.

13. Portability – The “slate” style form factor gives you options and positions that are difficult with a traditional “clam shell” style laptop. Ever tried to use a laptop standing up or lying down? It’s also a nice size to easily carry around in a bag.

14. It’s not just a bigger iPhone / iPod Touch – “The iPad isn’t a big iPod Touch—an iPod Touch is a miniature iPad that restricts the full multitouch experience in exchange for offering greater portability. With the iPad, in contrast, you get multitouch the way it was meant to be done.” – Jacqui Cheng Ars Technica review.

15. The Indescribable – Perhaps Stephen Fry has said it best:
“I had been prepared for a smooth feel, for a bright screen and the “immersive” experience everyone had promised. I was not prepared, though, for how instant the relationship I formed with the device would be. I left Cupertino without an iPad, but I have since gotten my own, and it goes with me everywhere.”
“…for me, my iPad is like a gun lobbyist’s rifle: the only way you will take it from me is to prise it from my cold, dead hands. One melancholy thought occurs as my fingers glide and flow over the surface of this astonishing object: Douglas Adams is not alive to see the closest thing to his Hitchhiker’s Guide that humankind has yet devised.”

Here's a link to the original post.

[Movie Review] Sous Les Bombes (Under The Bombs) 2007. Arabic.

2010-04-17T11:52:00.000-07:00

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[Movie Review] Bliss (Mutluluk) 2007 Turkish.

2010-04-17T03:57:00.000-07:00

This review has moved to our newly found Movie Review website. Please click here to reach that page. Enjoy reading another independent off-beat review at our new website!