YOUNGISTAN

Top 10 Hollywood soundtracks that I love to hear again and again!

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:57:00 +0000

1. Batman Begins

A fusion of Orchestra and Electronic music, this track was composed by Hans Zimmer. Music is exceptional and this one dominates them all, the chase sequence my god is just mind-blowing!

2. Navras- Matrix Revolutions

The beginning of the song itself amazes me, lyrics are from Brhadaranyaka Upanisad. The mantras are recited over an electronic beat and boy I fell in love instantly with the song, must listen! Composed by Don Davis and Juno Reactor

3. Mortal Kombat

Choose you Destiny.. tataataa.. its a pretty old track, of the nineties but an instant hit. Yes its again electronic but tell me how many of you used to hum this piece! We grew up with it, I certainly did!

4. Saw theme

The very first impression of the song shall remind you the gory scenes of the film! Saw: "Hello Zepp", "Zepp Overture" was composed by Charlie Clouse. Its again an orchestra but an apt one for the film.

5. Mission Impossible

Nineties music just seems to dominate my top 10 list and no surprises with the Mission Impossible Theme by Danny Elfman. It was played at almost all the occasions that I can possibly recollect :D

6. Terminator

The one and only film that comes to my mind when you talk about Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is Terminator, what follows is the theme! Danny Elfman again and yes it takes you even more further into the history lanes-1984!

7. Die Another Day

I dint know who Madonna was until I came across this masterpiece! The single spent 11 weeks at number one on the United States Billboard Singles Sales Charts and is her most successful title on the sales chart to date. Die Another Day was the most successful Bond theme-song since the 1980s

8. The Fast and Furious - Tokyo Drift

Fast and Furious is known for its soundtracks besides Cars! ;)
Mustang Nismo (Feat. Slash) by Brian Tyler topped my iPods 'Most Played' playlist many a times! Its full of energy and adrenaline and what more can you ask for! Rock at its Best!!!

9. District 13/Banlieue 13

I never knew that it had an equally interesting background score until I've been to the film. Though not famous the troupe Octopus did a fantastic job! I have all the soundtracks of the film now, why wouldn't I , afterall its Electronic! :P

10. Transformers and Pirates of Carribean

Sorry, I wasn't able pick one among these coz both of them are my favorites, What I've Done by Linkin park just had to be on my list and so was the POC theme, Hans Zimmer appears yet again! :)

Well I'm done for now, so what about you? Do share your top 10 list with me!

Five Hollywood Flicks that made my '09

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:55:00 +0000

1. Avatar

Well without a second thought, this obviously had to be just there on top for one profound reason-Fantasy surpassing Reality!

A whopping $232 million in the first week and gaining the 26th place on imdb are just 'few' of the records to name. Taking animation to a whole new level, it has set a benchmark by winning the hearts of the anime-appetites.

Just as James admits this was 'the perfect' time for the movie-2009, people wanted a change, they wanted a more realistic sci-fi and boy wasn't that a super cool awesome Christmas-New Year Gift!

He might well land up with another Oscar, I hope so!

imdb

2 .District 9

If I were to go with the plot and the script this definitely had to be on my chart. The whole new idea of pulling off the stranded aliens from District 9 of Jo-Burg is more than impressive. The action of Sharlto Copley was just incredible-din't he make u cry? For me the best part of the movie has been the climax, both Avatar and District 9 share a theme of 'Mankind suppressing Aliens'. It was a welcome change and it might be one of the reasons for the movie to make a revenue of six times the budget!

imdb

3. Inglorious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino had proved once again as why he is one of the most admired directors of Hollywood Cinema. As with the most of Tarantino's movies Inglorious too had a remarkable screenplay and the plot with the Brad Pitt's action along with others is just an icing on the cake!

If you love history especially the World War II then you definitely must go for this top #68th imdb film!

imdb

4. The Hangover

You might ask me as why I have chosen Hangover besides Transformers/Terminator/FnF but if you are looking for some serious comedy ,entertainment then this is 'the choice of 09'. It just redefined the word 'Hangover'. How many of you felt so?

Really worth your money and hence it sits on 8 star[imdb]

imdb

5. Up

No list ever ends without a Pixar movie eh? They made History with Wall-E, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and this year was no different. If u have the appetite for Animation then Up( # 70 on imdb) is just up for you!!

imdb

I wanted to post five and I did, but just in case if u want five more then they can be Tranformers-Revenge of the Fallen,Angels and Demons, X-men Wolverine, Terminator Salvation, 2012 :D

So whats your list of Fav Five, write a comment, share it with us! :)

The Size of Our World

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:21:00 +0000

I found this very interesting comparison of heavenly bodies on stumbleupon at rense.com. I thought it would be a nice share.

10 Ways to Destroy Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:35:00 +0000

Whether it took the Earth 4.5 billion years to get to where it is today (or a mere seven days), destroying it might take a lot less time. Take a look at these spell-bounding new ways of destroying our Earth and how far man can reach from today's perspective.

10. Total existence failure

You will need: nothing

Method: No method. Simply sit back and twiddle your thumbs as, completely by chance, all 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms making up the planet Earth suddenly, simultaneously and spontaneously cease to exist. Note: the odds against this actually ever occurring are considerably greater than a googolplex to one. Failing this, some kind of arcane (read: scientifically laughable) probability-manipulation device may be employed.

Utter, utter rubbish.

9. Gobbled up by strangelets

You will need: a stable strangelet

Method: Hijack control of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in Brookhaven National Laboratory, Long Island, New York. Use the RHIC to create and maintain a stable strangelet. Keep it stable for as long as it takes to absorb the entire Earth into a mass of strange quarks. Keeping the strangelet stable is incredibly difficult once it has absorbed the stabilizing machinery, but creative solutions may be possible.

A while back, there was some media hoo-hah about the possibility of this actually happening at the RHIC, but in actuality the chances of a stable strangelet forming are pretty much zero.

Earth's final resting place: a huge glob of strange matter.

8. Sucked into a microscopic black hole

You will need: a microscopic black hole. Note that black holes are not eternal, they evaporate due to Hawking radiation. For your average black hole this takes an unimaginable amount of time, but for really small ones it could happen almost instantaneously, as evaporation time is dependent on mass. Therefore you microscopic black hole must have greater than a certain threshold mass, roughly equal to the mass of Mount Everest. Creating a microscopic black hole is tricky, since one needs a reasonable amount of neutronium, but may possibly be achievable by jamming large numbers of atomic nuclei together until they stick. This is left as an exercise to the reader.

Method: simply place your black hole on the surface of the Earth and wait. Black holes are of such high density that they pass through ordinary matter like a stone through the air. The black hole will plummet through the ground, eating its way to the center of the Earth and all the way through to the other side: then, it'll oscillate back, over and over like a matter-absorbing pendulum. Eventually it will come to rest at the core, having absorbed enough matter to slow it down. Then you just need to wait, while it sits and consumes matter until the whole Earth is gone.

Highly, highly unlikely. But not impossible.

Earth's final resting place: a singularity of almost zero size, which will then proceed to happily orbit the Sun as normal.

Source: "The Dark Side Of The Sun," by Terry Pratchett. It is true that the microscopic black hole idea is an age-old science fiction mainstay which predates Pratchett by a long time.

7. Blown up by matter/antimatter reaction

You will need: 2,500,000,000,000 tons of antimatter

Antimatter - the most explosive substance possible - can be manufactured in small quantities using any large particle accelerator, but this will take some considerable time to produce the required amounts. If you can create the appropriate machinery, it may be possible - and much easier - simply to "flip" 2.5 trillion tons of matter through a fourth dimension, turning it all to antimatter at once.

Method: This method involves detonating a bomb so big that it blasts the Earth to pieces.

How hard is that?

The gravitational binding energy of a planet of mass M and radius R is - if you do the lengthy calculations - given by the formula E=(3/5)GM^2/R. For Earth, that works out to roughly 224,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules. The Sun takes nearly a WEEK to output that much energy. Think about THAT.

To liberate that much energy requires the complete annihilation of around 2,500,000,000,000 tonnes of antimatter. That's assuming zero energy loss to heat and radiation, which is unlikely to be the case in reality: You'll probably need to up the dose by at least a factor of ten. Once you've generated your antimatter, probably in space, just launch it en masse towards Earth. The resulting release of energy (obeying Einstein's famous mass-energy equation, E=mc^2) should be sufficient to split the Earth into a thousand pieces.

Earth's final resting place: A second asteroid belt around the Sun.

Earliest feasible completion date: AD 2500. Of course, if it does prove possible to manufacture antimatter in the sufficiently large quantities you require - which is not necessarily the case - then smaller antimatter bombs will be around long before then.

6. Destroyed by vacuum energy detonation

You will need: a light bulb

Method: This is a fun one. Contemporary scientific theories tell us that what we may see as vacuum is only vacuum on average, and actually thriving with vast amounts of particles and antiparticles constantly appearing and then annihilating each other. It also suggests that the volume of space enclosed by a light bulb contains enough vacuum energy to boil every ocean in the world. Therefore, vacuum energy could prove to be the most abundant energy source of any kind. Which is where you come in. All you need to do is figure out how to extract this energy and harness it in some kind of power plant - this can easily be done without arousing too much suspicion - then surreptitiously allow the reaction to run out of control. The resulting release of energy would easily be enough to annihilate all of planet Earth and probably the Sun too.

Slightly possible.

Earth's final resting place: a rapidly expanding cloud of particles of varying size.

Earliest feasible completion date: 2060 or so.

Source: "3001: The Final Odyssey," by Arthur C. Clarke

5. Sucked into a giant black hole

You will need: a black hole, extremely powerful rocket engines, and, optionally, a large rocky planetary body. The nearest black hole to our planet is 1600 light years from Earth in the direction of Sagittarius, orbiting V4641.
Method: after locating your black hole, you need get it and the Earth together. This is likely to be the most time-consuming part of this plan. There are two methods, moving Earth or moving the black hole, though for best results you'd most likely move both at once.

Very difficult, but definitely possible.

Earth's final resting place: part of the mass of the black hole.

Earliest feasible completion date: I do not expect the necessary technology to be available until AD 3000, and add at least 800 years for travel time. (That's in an external observer's frame of reference and assuming you move both the Earth and the black hole at the same time.)

Sources: "The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy," by Douglas Adams; SPACE.com

4. Meticulously and systematically deconstructed

You will need: a powerful mass driver, or ideally lots of them; ready access to roughly 2*10^32J

Method: Basically, what we're going to do here is dig up the Earth, a big chunk at a time, and boost the whole lot of it into orbit. Yes. All six sextillion tons of it. A mass driver is a sort of oversized electromagnetic railgun, which was once proposed as a way of getting mined materials back from the Moon to Earth - basically, you just load it into the driver and fire it upwards in roughly the right direction. We'd use a particularly powerful model - big enough to hit escape velocity of 11 kilometers per second even after atmospheric considerations - and launch it all into the Sun or randomly into space.

Alternate methods for boosting the material into space include loading the extracted material into space shuttles or taking it up via space elevator. All these methods, however, require a - let me emphasize this - titanic quantity of energy to carry out. Building a Dyson sphere ain't gonna cut it here. (Note: Actually, it would. But if you have the technology to build a Dyson sphere, why are you reading this?) See No. 6 for a possible solution.

If we wanted to and were willing to devote resources to it, we could start this process RIGHT NOW. Indeed, what with all the gunk left in orbit, on the Moon and heading out into space, we already have done.

Earth's final resting place: Many tiny pieces, some dropped into the Sun, the remainder scattered across the rest of the Solar System.

Earliest feasible completion date: Ah. Yes. At a billion tons of mass driven out of the Earth's gravity well per second: 189,000,000 years.

3. Pulverized by impact with blunt instrument

You will need: a big heavy rock, something with a bit of a swing to it... perhaps Mars

Method: Essentially, anything can be destroyed if you hit it hard enough. ANYTHING. The concept is simple: find a really, really big asteroid or planet, accelerate it up to some dazzling speed, and smash it into Earth, preferably head-on but whatever you can manage. The result: an absolutely spectacular collision, resulting hopefully in Earth (and, most likely, our "cue ball" too) being pulverized out of existence - smashed into any number of large pieces which if the collision is hard enough should have enough energy to overcome their mutual gravity and drift away forever, never to coagulate back into a planet again.

A brief analysis of the size of the object required can be found here. Falling at the minimal impact velocity of 11 kilometers per second and assuming zero energy loss to heat and other energy forms, the cue ball would have to have roughly 60% of the mass of the Earth. Mars, the next planet out, "weighs" in at about 11% of Earth's mass, while Venus, the next planet in and also the nearest to Earth, has about 81%. Assuming that we would fire our cue ball into Earth at much greater than 11km/s (I'm thinking more like 50km/s), either of these would make great possibilities.

Obviously a smaller rock would do the job, you just need to fire it faster. A 10,000,000,000,000-tonne asteroid at 90% of light speed would do just as well. See the Guide to moving Earth for useful information on maneuvering big hunks of rock across interplanetary distances.

Pretty plausible.

Earth's final resting place: a variety of roughly Moon-sized chunks of rock, scattered haphazardly across the greater Solar System.

Earliest feasible completion date: AD 2500, maybe?

2. Eaten by von Neumann machines
You will need: a single von Neumann machine

Method: A von Neumann machine is any device that is capable of creating an exact copy of itself given nothing but the necessary raw materials. Create one of these that subsists almost entirely on iron, magnesium, aluminum and silicon, the major elements found in Earth's mantle and core. It doesn't matter how big it is as long as it can reproduce itself exactly in any period of time. Release it into the ground under the Earth's crust and allow it to fend for itself. Watch and wait as it creates a second von Neumann machine, then they create two more, then they create four more. As the population of machines doubles repeatedly, the planet Earth will, terrifyingly soon, be entirely eaten up and turned into a swarm of potentially sextillions of machines. Technically your objective would now be complete - no more Earth - but if you want to be thorough then you can command your VNMs to hurl themselves, along with any remaining trace elements, into the Sun. This hurling would have to be achieved using rocket propulsion of some sort, so be sure to include this in your design.

So crazy it might just work.

Earth's final resting place: the bodies of the VNMs themselves, then a small lump of iron sinking into the Sun.

Earliest feasible completion date: Potentially 2045-2050, or even earlier.

Source: "2010: Odyssey Two," by Arthur C. Clarke

1. Hurled into the Sun

You will need: Earthmoving equipment

Method: Hurl the Earth into the Sun. Sending Earth on a collision course with the Sun is not as easy as one might think; even though you don't actually have to literally hit the Sun (send the Earth near enough to the Sun (within the Roche limit), and tidal forces will tear it apart), it's surprisingly easy to end up with Earth in a loopy elliptical orbit which merely roasts it for four months in every eight. But careful planning can avoid this.

This is impossible at our current technological level, but will be possible one day, I'm certain. In the meantime, may happen by freak accident if something comes out of nowhere and randomly knocks Earth in precisely the right direction. Earth's final resting place: a small globule of vaporized iron sinking slowly into the heart of the Sun.

Earliest feasible completion date: Via act of God: 25 years' time. Any earlier and we'd have already spotted the asteroid in question. Via human intervention: given the current level of expansion of space technology, 2250 at best.

Source: "Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers," by Grant Naylor.

Can we stop aging and reverse it's effects?

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Why do we age?

Over the centuries, people have often wondered how it is that our bodies grow and develop from a tiny fertilized egg, to a newborn baby, to a young child, then a teenager and, finally, a young adult. A huge number of very complex changes within our bodies must happen perfectly in order to achieve this.

Once we grow into our adult perfection, why can’t we just stay there? Why do we have to age?

And can we stop it?

Doctors and scientists used to take aging for granted. Scientists used to think that because aging was a natural process, there was no need to investigate it. Is it the wear and tear of the body that causes aging or the life span of a person is defined by his genetic structure?

You've heard it said many times before: "Youth is wasted on the young." Unfortunately, the trade-off for the life experiences and wisdom that comes with age is the gradual loss of youth and physical health. We're constantly reminded that "life's too short." Time eventually takes it toll, and the body simply doesn't work as well as it did before.

But what if that didn't have to be the case? Imagine what people could do with an extra decade or two of healthy years. Now how about an extra fifty? Hundred? Five hundred? Imagine accumulating wisdom and experience without the threats of disease and frailty. Imagine being able to stop aging and reverse its effects.

Sounds like a plot for a science fiction story? The truth is putting an end to aging isn't a far-off dream: it's quickly becoming a reality, according to speakers at ideaCity 2008. The conference, hosted and produced in Toronto by Moses Znaimer, featured the latest research on slowing and stopping the aging process. The goal: not just to increase human lifespan, but to increase the healthy years -- perhaps indefinitely. And the "cure" may be available sooner than you think. Here's what the speakers had to say:

Ray Kurzweil

Don't be fooled by appearances. On the outside, Ray Kurzweil looks like a baby boomer but on the inside he claims to be decades younger. Advances in science are paving the way for revolutionary treatments, and he plans to be around to take advantage of them.

Imagine being a "designer baby boomer". In his talk at ideaCity, Kurzweil outlined how the biotechnology revolution is changing the paradigm of medicine. New technology can design and simulate treatments, computers can simulate human intelligence and tiny robots (known as nanobots) and nanotechnology devices could soon be used to kill cancer cells or control insulin. Genes can be added or be "turned off" to prevent diseases. Organs and tissues will eventually be restored to their youthful state. He predicts the biotechnology revolution will peak around 2020 -- well within the grasp of today's Zoomers.

The challenge, Kurzweil argues, is getting through the next 15 years to reap the benefits. How? By slowing the disease and aging processes using the knowledge we have today. If you want to see the specifics, Kurzweil and co-author Terry Grossman outline their strategies in their book Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever. The book acts as a guide to the aggressive strategies you need to employ to retain your health, including regular exercise, managing stress, taking supplements and treating inflammation in addition to the chapters dedicated to a healthy diet.

Michael Rose

Imagine being in a dark factory with only a flashlight. That's how Michael Rose describes how we used to approach medicine: Try to detect the source (if you can see it) and correct the problem. The approach doesn't work well for the complex networks that make up the human body. However, genomics (e.g. the Human Genome Project and DNA mapping) has effectively "turned on the lights" to provide a better understanding of how components and systems work -- and where faults occur.

The problem is that our genome has an unfavourable vocabulary -- it tends towards what Rose calls "bad words" like cancer, Alzheimer's disease and heart disease. The solution is to find therapeutic treatments to rewrite these bad words in order to literally stop your genome from killing you. In the end, you'll have a longer life, but also a healthier and more robust constitution.

In his book, The Long Tomorrow -- How Advances in Evolutionary Biology Can Help Us Postpone Aging, Rose argues that there is no single "fountain of youth" or fabled "elixir of life", despite what the old legends say. Instead, the field of Nutrigenomics, the study of the relationships between nutrition and genes, will lead to nutritional supplements meant to protect health and put off aging.

Aubrey de Grey

"The first 1000-year-old is probably less than 20 years younger than the first 150 year old."

Say what?

In order to understand this statement, you have to stop thinking in straight lines. When it comes to life span, Aubrey de Grey, chairman of the Methuselah Foundation, sees exponential rather than linear increases. What starts as the doubling of small numbers (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc) soon explodes. The numbers almost sound too good to be true, but once the fundamental breakthroughs happen, then achievements will accelerate rapidly -- and so will life expectancy.

How will these miraculous numbers come about? De Grey argues that our metabolism causes damage on an ongoing basis. This damage eventually causes pathology (disease). What we need to do is prevent and repair damage at the metabolic level, and maintain our bodies to keep them in top shape. Damage can be repaired with engineering. This means getting rid of "junk" inside and outside of our cells, getting rid of excess cells, replacing lost cells and dealing with mutations.

In other words, repairing damage "buys time" until the next advances come along. Extending lives means saving lives, especially since more deaths are caused by aging than terrorism, war, accidents and natural disasters combined. It's not surprising that de Grey is a force behind getting people to understand the importance of this issue... and to do something about it.

For more information, check out de Grey's book, Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime, and the Methuselah Foundation website.

Overall, the ideas and methods may be different, but the speakers all seemed to agree on one thing: if you can maintain your health a little longer, you'll be able to benefit from the treatments when they become available. With all due respect to George Bernard Shaw, youth will no longer be wasted on the young, and aging will become a process of continued personal growth rather than decay.

Video :-

New aging research into living longer, disease prevention, quality of life, healthy lifestyles, longevity - conference keynote speaker Dr Patrick Dixon

Scientists have stopped the ageing process in an entire organ for the first time. Know More

Your Suggestions will be greatly entertained.

Five First Person Shooter games that I love the most!

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:45:00 +0000

What makes First Person Shooter games so very interesting??
Well may be because of their design, the arms and ammunition that they carry, the stealth, challenge they pose and also may be because of the missions, but whatever may be the reason they have always been on Teen's Desktop! I have always been a great fan of FPSG's and I'm gonna play them for the rest of my life ;)
Here I want to list my top 5 FPSG's. The list may include some of the basic games but as I said they are from the very first day of my encounter with FPSG.

1. Project IGI

This shall be my all time favorite. When I first came across this game I just had no idea as how to play, believe me it was a crap but then again the moment I found a grip, I made up my mind instantly that I'm gonna complete the game soon.
It has got decent graphics, pretty much perfect for a games of 2001. This game had everything from the mission challenge to the interesting twists. It was more like a real time experience. Story revolves round an undercover agent David Jones who tries to infiltrate the enemy camps with utmost stealth and precision.
Well, I had no idea that its a FPSG, actually I even donot know what a First Person Shooter Game was. All I knew was I loved shooting, killing, crossing the challenging mission, plan my next move! ;)
So that makes me to rate it among my all time favourites!

2. Max Payne 1 & 2

Max, is that you, help me Max, Max, Max............

More than the game I liked the comic strip that was the part of the game. Seriously, that, I felt was a wonderful idea to put the story of the game and I suppose that had made the game even more entertaining. It had some good graphics, the locations, the architecture, everything was so perfect about this game that can simply draw your eyes!
Interestingly it even carries some Romance, Emotion and also yeah a nude scene of Mona Sax ;) .
Guns, Guns and more Guns! It had blood, planned missions, challenging situations and yes the "Slow Motion" the Time Frame that you can only experience in this game.
Both 1 and 2 were exceptional and the Hollywood flick as well!
If you love Mona go for this! ;)

3. Halo

Chief says it all. One of the finest works from Microsoft Game Studios: Halo had instantly made its mark.
The science fantasy that it carried was too much for people like me to cling to it. Guns, Aliens and of course the 'Warthog' were quite a fun. The colorful interface with an excellent storyline was quite attractive, also not to mention the soundtracks, they just summed up 'the experience'. A perfect blend-one has to play HALO in his lifetime!

4. Half Life 1 & 2

Black Mesa Research Facility has everything for you to hang out. From reactors to steam turbines, from research staff to alien creatures.. its got some serious action. Unarguably one of the top 100 games ever made till date-it was a trend setter, a masterpiece of 1998. Game revolves round an underground research facility, where an accident creates a disaster driving the research subjects wild and they later take over the lab and the hero Gordon gets into action wiping them out.
Both Half Life 1 n 2 have been a huge hit and made huge profits. Not to mention the soundtracks. Half Life 2, I believe has the best background score!

5. Call of Duty

Go Go Go... Get a Call of Duty DVD now!
This game is so lively, realistic that to relive the moments of world war 2, you've got to play this! The makers of Spider Man tasted such a huge success from this game that they have around 6 versions of the game released so far.

Trust Matters

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:17:00 +0000

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Socialising your web browser

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:52:00 +0000

With the advent of free social networking sites like Facebook, My Space, Twitter(i personally like the concept of Twitter), Linked-in, Orkut etc.., communication over the internet has taken a revolutionary leap since 2004.

All these websites started of as small services at university level taking advantage of the innovative concepts arising out of collaboration between the computer world and the society. It has become a way of life for a lot of youngsters worldwide.

Hot or Not ???

For example, the advent of Facebook came about as a spin-off of a Harvard University version of Hot or Not called Facemash. Facemash “used photos compiled from the online facebooks of nine Houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the “hotter” person.” To accomplish this, Zuckerberg (the Inventor) hacked into the protected areas of Harvard’s computer network and copied the house’s private dormitory ID images.

Though he had to face legal charges for his breach of privacy, the next semester he founded ‘The Facebook‘ extending the Hot or Not concept to a larger scope as you see it today. Everyone’s been talking a lot about a universal face book within Harvard and it has now grown to be the largest ‘facebook’ with more than 175 million active users worldwide.

The earliest and crudest form of communication was blogging->articles posted in chronological order and the viewer has an excellent option of commenting on it then and there itself. The other popular offspring was forums.

The Aftermath

These were followed by numerous innovative projects like:

Web - Albums (both private n public) for amateur as well as professional photographers to showcase their talent. Eg:- Picasa, deviantart, flickr, photobucket etc..,

Online Bookmarking and Stumbling like stumble-upon, delicious, Digg, Reedit, Slashdot, Furl, Magnolia etc..,

Streaming Videos popularised by Youtube, Metacafe etc..,

One click file hosting services like Rapidshare, Megaupload, Mediafire, sendspace etc..,

The tantalizing peer-peer torrent technology. Eg:- mininova, thepiratebay etc.., As quoted by Alexa no website in the history of internet has grown faster than mininova.

The World’s Favorite Free Encyclopedia

The most successful concept of them being Free Encyclopedia called Wikipedia which succesfully outsmarted the famous and age-old encyclopedia britannic. The main criteria behind this was britannic is not free, one has to be a premium member to avail all the features.

Wikipedia provides you with same amount of info at free of cost. It would be astonishing to know that the number of full-time employees working with this worlds largest free encyclopedia is mere 22. Unbelievable isn’t it?

How could such a small number of people write so many articles? This is where Wikipedia scores out the Britannica - Wikipedia’s 12 million articles (2.8 million in the English) have been written collaboratively by over 9 million volunteers around the world, and almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone who can access the Wikipedia website. Try out yourself.

Socialising the heart of internet

Web browser as they say is ‘the heart an soul of internet’. Taking advantage of the above incredible features Flock, inc has moved a step further by developing a web browser which is tailor made for Social Networking. The browser is powered by the famous Mozilla Firefox Technology.

Flock was founded on the vision that the web browser can and should enable the richest user experience possible across information-gathering, sharing, communication, self-expression and interaction. It has a whole new bunch of features which is gonna make you drool over it instantly. It is touted by many as their “New Favorite Web Browser”.

I am using it since dec 2008 and i bet(100%) this one’s definitely gonna spice up your social life. Go for it. Stay Connected. Rule the Web.

Tour now

Major Electronic Music Websites

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:49:00 +0000

The websites i mentioned below are rich in content w.r.t Trance and Electronic music.They are large and resourceful databases satisfying the thirst of hardcore electronic music fans.Visit them and have a blast!!!.

These websites are presented in the alphabetical order but not based on the order of preference. All are equally good in some or other categories.

BeatsDigital is a UK-based online music store, that specializes in electronic music, dance music and remixes.

Beatport is a US-based online music store located in Denver, Colorado that specializes in electronic music, dance music and remixes. They featuring a fully flash AJAX GUI to offer the maximum interactive and rich content to the user while they surf in Beatport.And they supply the three major format as user to choice while they download - MP3, MP4 and WAV. Vary on different format, they have different price, MP3 and MP4 almost same price, and WAV a bit higher than the forth format.

Discogs is a website that consists of a huge database of music discographies (recent stats: 440,444 releases - 267,319 artists - 39,073 labels). The content can be added or changed by anyone, but has to be approved by moderators. Formerly focused only on electronic music, it has been gradually extended to other genres, such as Jazz and Rock.

Djmixes2k is a non-profit website offering direct downloads as well as BitTorrent downloads to livesets and mixes. They re-opened April 26, 2001, when the previous owner decided to quit. They changed their concept a bit and decided to only post privately recorded livesets and mixes. The sets stay online for 10 days.

iTunes Store is a digital music store run by Apple Inc. Music is purchased at (typically) $.99 USD on a per-song basis. Files are available either in a Digital Rights Management (DRM) protected AAC format, or in a 256-Kbps AAC format with no DRM, known as iTunes Plus.

I:Vibes : EDM related community, focusing on news, reviews and articles.

Juno Records is a online retail store that selling dance music related items, such as : CDs, vinyl records, music downloads, music merchandise and DJ equipments. They not just selling a fixed major kind genre music, but a wide range genre music like : Garage, Downtempo, Hip Hop/R&B, Rock and more.

MP3.com.au is Australia’s most popular Music Service Provider.Australia’s official MP3 Music Service Provider, showcasing the latest Music news, reviews, competitions, software, MP3 chats, MP3 hardware and free downloads from leading Australian Musicians.”

Trance.nu is a popular website related to electronic dance music, mostly Trance. The site offers news, articles, reviews, artist diaries, an online community, competitions and more.

Created as a labor of love by two trance fans who wanted to give back, TrancePosters is the first site to offer the community quality posters and trance related media.

Tranceaddict or “TA” is the world’s biggest Trance related online community. Founded in 2000, it now has well over 50000 members from all over the world and the most hits per day of any trance related site. Among the community there can be found professional DJs & Producers, as well as a good base of amateurs who have the possibility to promote themselves and their work.

Vinylsound.com is a electronic music comunity for Spanish speakers. News , charts of best djs of world,reviews ,live sets online and more… .

Indian Rock Scene–Popular Sub Continent Bands

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:46:00 +0000

The Indian Sub Continent has always had a special place at the Music Scene and Rock n Pop are no exceptions! With the encouragement that the educational institutes provide these days, the music hungry folks found it pretty easy to exhibit their talent and thus every college today has its own music band. But some have evolved over the years and have established their place at the top and yeah carry some serious fan following.. And this post is all about some of my favorite picks.

This list includes the College n non-college Rock bands from India

Indian Ocean

Unarguably one of the famous Indian Rock Bands ‘Indian Ocean’ , a contemporary fusion music band was formed by Susmit Sen and Asheem Chakravarthy and later Amit Kilam, Rahul Ram joined the band. Some music critics describe the Indian Ocean music as “Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution”.

Desert Rose, Khandisa and Jhini are a work of IO and they have also worked for the Bollywood flick Black Friday!

Official Website

Parikrama

Parikrama is a Rock and Roll band from India. They have several live performances and original numbers to their name. The band was officially formed on June 17, 1991 in New Delhi.

This band composed the song “The Superhero” for the geeks of Bangalore only recently. This was in due course of the visit of Microsoft’s chairman Bill Gates to the IT capital of India, Bangalore.

A Parikrama original “Rhythm and Blues” was created in course of their jam session with Usha Uthup.

Parikrama has recently released a few more originals like the Lord of the Rings-inspired “Am I Dreaming”, “Tears of the Wizard” and “In the Middle”.

Apart from “But it rained” another Parikrama original called “Vapourize” is a crowd favorite. “Vapourize” is a 7:30 minutes long song and features harmonized Guitar Solos with a Violin Solo.

The band has been performing in many events for quite some time now and some of their recnt performances are listed below..

Parikrama is touring all the Indian metros, with Saif Ali Khan.

Parikrama opened for Iron Maiden on Feb. 1st in Mumbai on the first concert of their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour. This was the fourth time they played alongside Iron Maiden.

On April 27,2008, it performed at ATMATRISHA, the cultural fest of PES Institute of Technology , Bangalore

On the August 15, 2008, it is performing at “Umang“, the college fest of Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics.

In September 08, they performed at RENDEZVOUS 2008, the annual cultural festival of IIT-Delhi, New Delhi.

On October 17, 2008, they performed at the Qurum Amphitheatre, in Muscat, Oman, playing a selection of their own as well as other famous rock hits.

Official Website

Bhoomi

Bhoomi is a music group based in Kolkata, India. They are a Bangla language band. In July 2006 they became the first Indian band to play at the United Nations.

Since the debut album, they have gone on to play folk songs they wrote which were influenced by influences from western music - like the blues. This is prominent in their song “Bhangor Mohiser Gaan” - a salute to the herdsman’s wife who waits for her husband and cattle’s return from the forests - each day endangered by the threat of wild animals which prey on them both. There were gems from the traditional Baul based minstrel songs - which imparted a spiritual message alongside - like “Emon Manob Jonom” and “Kancha Haarite”.

Touring has been one of their strong points. Soumitra, one of the band’s lead singers, has always stressed on their live performances, which has taken the band on a punishing schedule around the globe. They have played in the USA in four touring seasons - and each time doing a hectic schedule aound the country - initially in California and the Mid-West and then subsequently in various cities on the East Coast. In 2006 they capped off their live performance tour program in the United States with a performance at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, in a special performance for UN Staff. This was their 880th live performance - an incredible achievement for any live band who have resurrected Folk music from its forgotten and dust-gathered past.

Their UN performance resulted in the group penning their first song in English - For a Better Day.

In 2008 Bhoomi was the only Asian Band to perform at the International Jazz Festival at Montreal, Canada.

Official Website

Insomnia

Insomnia is a Rock band based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The band’s repertoire includes both English and Bangla songs. The band has an album each in English (Cry of the Spirit - self released) and Bangla (Proloyer Shomoye - Asha Audio). Insomnia is one of the most notable new Rock bands from Eastern India for its unique sound, stage presence and bilingual repertoire.

Insomnia plugged in for the first time in 1999 as the South Point High School band. After numerous line up changes the new recruits were all from different schools: Sayantan Neogi (Ninnai) - La Martiniere for boys, Kolkata; Prasenjit Chakrabutty (Pom) - Don Bosco Park Circus; and Souvik Gupta (Savvy) - Nava Nalanda High School. Therefore, unlike popular belief, Insomnia is not an SPHS band even though it started out as one.

Insomnia’s first show as a professional outfit was on 7 July, 2002 in Music World, Park Street. The band has gone through many potentially crippling line-up changes. However against all odds they stuck on and the current line up has been active since the middle of 2005.

Noteworthy performances by the band:

Insomnia were Eastern Zonal Winners and All – India 2nd Runners up at Castrol Garage Rock, 2003 held in Mumbai

Insomnia were Finalists at the All – India Rock band competition at Springfest 2003, IIT Kharagpur

Official Website

Strings(Pakistan)

One of the most Popular Rock bands from Pakistan had first appeared in the film Zinda and have tasted a huge success, prior to making it into Bollywood they have released a few albums like Duur, Strings, Strings2 with Koi Aane Wala Hai as their latest in ‘08.

They hav received many awards and here are a few..

Won the “Best Artist Award” at MTV Asia Awards.
Won “The Musik Icon of 2006” award.
Won an award for “Best Band” at the first Sangeet Awards ceremony held at Royal Albert Hall.
Won the Indus Music Award 2005 for extensive contribution to the pop music industry.
Won MTV Asia’s “Most Favourite Band” award 2005.
Won an award for the “Best Band” at the Third Jazz Indus Music Awards.
Won an award for the “Best Lyrics’Zinda’” at the Third Jazz Indus Music Awards.

Official Website

Zeest(Pakistan)

Most Campus Dwellers are aware of the famous ‘B.C Sutta’ ! The overwhelming response that this song received had just threw the band to limelight which is presently working on their new album 100 Rupai.

The band was formed in Karachi, Pakistan in 2003 by Saqib Abdullah a.k.a Skip, who is the singer, songwriter & composer . In 2007 Umair Ghouri officially joined the band. And now Zeest is a duo of both Saqib Abdullah & Umair Ghouri.

Official Website

I would also suggest you have a sneak at Boditree (An XLRI music Band) as well as Euphoria ( One of the famous Pop bands from India).

The list seems endless coz. every other day a new band seems to make it up and so I have listed the ones that I listen often, choices are open you can comment.!

Computer DJing--All you wanted to know!

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:53:00 +0000

Well its a known fact that a computer DJ is the one who mixes or rather makes digital music on his laptop or a desktop

Often the MIDI controllers and also the required Interfaces are employed to bring about the physical controls similar to those of record decks, but its the softwares that play a major role here in Computer Djing.

Here I list some of the famous computer DJ soft wares and yeah not to mention I tried some of them!

Ableton Live

Ableton Live is a professional loop-based software music sequencer for Mac OS and Windows by Ableton. The latest major release of Live, Version 7, was released in November 2007. Unlike other software sequencers, Live is designed around the notion of being as much an instrument for live performances as a tool for composing and arranging. It is also often used for precision mixing of tracks by DJs.

Official Website

Virtual DJ/Numark Cue

With effects, samples, and transitions that rival vinyl turntablisms, Virtual DJ lets anyone produce polished MP3 mixes.

At the top of the graphically-intense interface, song-structure visualizations show the beats as the music plays. Two simulated turntables play the currently- loaded tracks. Windows below the turntables show samples, effects, music search, recording, program options, and an Explorer-style interface for loading music. You’ll need to download an MP3 encoder if you don’t want to record files in WAV format.

Virtual DJ not only can create audio collages, but it now also can make montages of video clips. The stylish interface and high number of features score points, but learning how to use the program is a hit-or-miss proposition. Fortunately, the program offers a thorough user guide. Virtual DJ is well worth a look both for aspiring mixers and newbies.

Official Website

Sony ACID pro

Sony ACID Pro is a professional digital audio workstation (DAW) software program, originally published by Sonic Foundry, now developed and sold by Sony Creative Software.

With Acid Pro 6 (released in Q3-2006), Sony introduced a full digital audio workstation which also includes MIDI and multitrack audio recording with full support for ASIO, VST, and VSTI audio, plugins, and music synthesizer standards.

ACID Pro uses Acid Loops (meaning they contain tempo and key information for proper pitch transposition) painted out across the screen to create music tracks. Acidized loop sample CDs are available from Sony, as well as third party companies.

As with most sophisticated software packages, ACID is not a single software product but defines a family of products spanning a significant range of features. In a related-marketing effort, Sony has continued to support ACIDplanet, a content web site originally launched by Sonic Foundry which is aimed at current ACID users, prospective ACID users and the general public. It describes itself as “the Internet’s premier site for music, video and unique artists”.

Official Website

Traktor DJ Studio

Serious DJs, look no further–Traktor DJ Studio busts out a power-packed array of tools, surpassing the abilities of traditional DJ equipment. This versatile application gives you everything you need for live and in-studio mixing and remixing, complete with automatic beat synchronization, one-touch looping, a solid track-search function, interactive graphic waveform displays, and smooth cross fades at the click of a button.

Best of all, Traktor DJ Studio has an intuitive interface, closely resembling a real-world mixing board, that makes it easy to set and save multiple loops and cue points in a track. Our main complaint is that some of the cooler features only run (or run smoothly) on high-end machines, and you might not want to risk taking your nice laptop to a gig. Its price and performance mark Traktor DJ Studio for professional use.

Official Website

eJAY

Coming to eJAY-the one that I love the most, all I can admit is that its the best music/game software ever produced! The bright and colorful interface that it carries and not to mention the advanced features such as loops, reverb, bass synthesizing and drum loop editors, equalizers and many more make this one of the most preferred softwares and especially by the newbies. This one is just like arranging a jigsaw puzzle, it has many builtin sound notes, all you ned to do is pick and place them accordingly so that it sounds good on ear–now isnt that simple! Try it out and iam sure u’ll just fall in love instantly. Since the original Dance eJay, there have been many releases catering to different music genres and users, including techno and hip-hop as well as a PlayStation 2 edition

Official Website

So if you are a game, go on have fun make music and sway all the way!!!!

Try my Music Album `Amateur’s Mishmash` follow this ==>

http://www.youngistanspeaks.com/2009/02/amateurs-mishmash.html

and do not forget to comment

Alexa Sparky - a best tool to judge the performance of a Website

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:26:00 +0000

Do you know??? there are approximately around 215,675,903 websites lingering around on the world wide web as tracked by the internet monitoring company Netcraft in Feb 2009. This number is growing rapidly since 1995 (18000 websites then).

Did you ever had a problem searching these large number of websites for an appropriate answer for your question on Google, Yahoo, MSN, Baidu etc..,?

Have you ever scratched your head looking for the best websites from this jungle on whose content you can rely upon and argue with your friends in a debate?

Did you ever had confusion over 'which site to bookmark?' for future reference

If you are a person who owns a blog or a website then you definitely want to know how your counterparts are doing on the WWW. And also what might be the daily traffic they receive?

and Did you ever wonder which are the Top 10 sites among the lot or atleast the Top one.

If not then Alexa has. The award winning web information company maintains the most reliable list of traffic rankings for all the sites that creep up every now and then into WWW. It provides you with a useful toolbar called Alexa Sparky which builts itself into the status bar of your browser providing you the following features:-

Related Links: I found this feature very innovative which judges the taste of the user based on the current/previous website he visited and displays the related website links.
Traffic Trend: This one shows a curved line indicating the recent traffic performance of the website which directly reflects the quality of the website content recently.
Reach Meter: A neat little indicator that shows the overall site's reach upto now.
Enhanced Search: This one Shows Alexa Rank Indicator next to search results on Google, Ask, Yahoo, Live and MSN. This is very useful because the rank is immediately mentioned below each search result link and you can choose the best bet accordingly without wasting your time hobbling around all the links.
Traffic Rank: Numbers speak volumes. Well people at alexa know about this which is why they maintain a rank for each of those 215,675,903 sites.

Well as expected the top slot toggles between Google and Yahoo followed by Youtube, MSN, Facebook, Myspace, Wikipedia, Blogger. You don't need to worry much about the Top 10 sites as they are already famous and commonly used. The range where alexa comes into picture is from rank 11 to 1 lakh.

Judge the site based on alexa ranking just as you judge a movie relying upon IMDB rating or Rotten Tomatoes percentage.

So the next time you open a browser be smart and get sparky with alexa toolbar.

Mumbai Terror - 26/11 Charge Sheet Released

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Well, we do all have seen the disasterous face of terrorism during the Mumbai Terror attacks. It was just a day to be enough specific - 26/11. The date itself when heard brings tears, the tremendous number of innocent people who had lost their lives for no reason, their families i pity. It was truly a dreadful disaster and hope history does not repeat itself anytime again. And it is we who has to prevent this happening in future. How??? - If this is your question, then the answer for it is by helping the police in any sense possible. Well many of us have under-estimated our Indian Police, but let me tell you they have really done a ton of work to have this charge sheet release. Now I adore them...

On Wednesday(25/02/09) filed a 11,280-page chargesheet in the Mumbai terror attack before metropolitan magistrate MJ Mirza at the Qila Court in the city.

The chargesheet names 47 accused including the lone terrorist captured alive during the Mumbai attacks, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab; Fahim Ansari, the terror suspect arrested from Uttar Pradesh, and Sabauddin Mohammad.

Fahim and Sabauddin are the two Indians involved in the attack while all other 45 accused are Pakistanis. The 45 Pakistanis include nine terrorists killed during the Mumbai attacks and Kasab.

"We have garnered evidence in our investigation to prove that maps were provided by Fahim and Sabauddin to help the perpetrators to launch attacks," said Joint Commissioner Rakesh Maria, the officer investigating the Mumbai terror attacks case.

"The Mumbai attackers took people held as hostage to higher vantage position to sustain the siege at the Taj Hotel, Oberoi Hotel and Nariman House and made no attempt to get in touch with any governmental or police to negotiate," Maria said.

"The 26/11 mission was a fidayeen (suicide attack) mission," he added.

Fahim and Sabauddin made detailed maps and carried out reconnaissance of all the important locations & passed it on to the terrorists who carried out the attacks.

During the investigations the test identification parade of the dead terrorists was also carried out with Maria revealing that it was the first time that conducted identification parade of dead bodies.

The chargesheet also established the role of marine wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba in carrying out the attacks.

"Kasab revealed during the interrogations that he was promised Rs 1.5 lakh to carry out the attacks," said Maria.

The accused wanted from Pakistan are Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives including the terror groups top commanders Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah and Abu Qama.

Two of the accused were reportedly army personnel and the police are investigating if they were still with the Pakistani Army or are not part of the the LeT.

All the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai were trained in Pakistan with Lashkar-e-Taiba accused of planning and executing the entire operation

Now, I wait to see that these bloody terrorists get death sentence for what they have caused to India...

OSC"AR" RAHMAN AND RESUL POOKUTTY

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:15:00 +0000

Hurray!

"Mere paas ma hai(My mom is with me). In the course of my life i always had choice of Hate and Love - i chose Love and i'm here. God is Great"- AR Rahman after winning the Oscar for Best Original Score and Best Original Song

"This is Unbelievable. I dedicate this award to the whole of India. This is not just a sound award this is history in my hands" - Resul Pookutty after winning the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing

The Slumdog's Journey ends at the last stop - the OSCAR's and with an outstanding clean sweep of awards (8/10). What an Oscar Ceremony it was for India in particular!...I'm totally spellbound. I was expecting this but not these many. The 81st Oscar's will be etched in the history of indian cinema (more specifically the indian music industry) as the first ever Oscar's yielding a massive three awards by Maestro Rahman and Mixer Resul.

Coming to the core of the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire', personally it didn't work for me, in the sense that it was not logically sound. But the way Danny Boyle (Academy's Best Director) culminated all the technicians, cast, designers was fabulous and Oscar Worthy.

--> They say a good start leads to a very good middle and to a roaring finish. Slumdog has them all. The way Irfan Khan starts with his powerful "Madar****" dialouge in the jail with Jamal
>and Rahman's rousing 'O Saya' (the choice of train sound while it starts, was a master piece and i have no words for rahman sahab.. it was in chorus with the steps towards success)
>and the use of bollywood style music by simon beafouy to play with those little slumdog's fleeing away on the runway
>and the way Danny Boyle captured the escape sequence in sync with them-altogether it was a rollicking start.

-->Resul's Sound mixing was absolutely fantastic in the middle of the movie. Particulary for me the 'Ring Ring Ringa ... sequence' was rattling, as one of my friend said 'the sound and the singer's voice resonated in the ear even after leaving the cinema hall'.

-->Most of the Music Director's score according to the scene depicted by director, but in Rahman's case it's reverse...his background score dictates the scene. From his evergreen Bombay Theme (My FAV) which has been used extensively by Mani Ratnam in the film Bombay to his Latika's Theme in Slumdog, he has captivated each and everyone of his diehard fan's all over the world today.

Listen to Bombay Theme and Latika's Theme from AR RAHMAN's track list on last.fm
or Listen from the below playlist :-

-->and JAI HO... at the end > there would have been no other better finish to movie that has won many heart's. The choreogarphy was awesome too. The lead actors Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto share an excellent chemistry between them.

Resul Pookutty the 'underdog' when compared with Rahman got his big break with the critically acclaimed 2005 film Black. Then he minced,merged,mingled and mixed with audience emotions in movies like Zinda, Gandhi-My Father, Traffic Signal, Sawariyaa, Musafir, Ghajini and has finally got the deserved international fame this time with Slumdog Millonaire.

If 'AR' was born directly into Hollywood he would have got an Oscar even before the release of "Lagaan". Well it's better late than never... he finally got '2' - what we all think is very well deserved.

JAI HO...Rahman...it's DIL SE from all of us.

Take a close look at Rahman at his Official Website

Amateur's Mishmash

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:45:00 +0000

I'm quite happy to launch my first music album named Amateur's Mishmash :D. Wondering how I ever could make music? This is not an official music site nor I'm an Artist!! They are just small music clips which I composed using the eJay software. Well all I can say is that you can create some good music using the Empire Software. This is some excellent Stuff to work on! Do check out my songs--awaiting reviews!!!!

1. Life in Space

http://rapidshare.com/files/199577623/Life_in_Space.mp3

2. Italohalo

http://rapidshare.com/files/200917813/Italohalo.mp3

3. Keep Movin

http://rapidshare.com/files/200924084/Keep_Movin.mp3

4. Dont Stop

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wjznm2jqmkz

5. Luvdeep

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zjdd3ard3lo

6. Dance n Sway

http://www.mediafire.com/?mrdydqmijzl

7. No Limits

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?nobhmjowz1i

8. Blast ( Bonous Track)

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jnxjqmmjzdy

All the files are converted to mp3 format from wav and hence the audio quality seems to have gone down and so I request you to use an increased volume level than your usual level for a better output!! :D

Celebrating the First Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 06:42:00 +0000

From Runway 9 to Fresco.... From Dance Floor to Cool Cake.... well then what am I referring about??

THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF YOUNGISTAN SPEAKS

Its been a year since we started our journey-- The Blog-o-yage { The Voyage of Blogging} and boy.. I can confess that we have made tremendous improvement, we are yet to learn as how to improve our page rank but I can say that our posting.. the content has certainly improved.
Gone are the days when I used to copy the content from elsewhere, today we just don't copy-paste instead we put our point of view here after making a considerable research. On this personal note lemme share some useful info for all those budding bloggers-the beginners.
Here are few reasons why you need to blog..

1. A Blog is your Website

A Blog is simple, built in tool , user friendly internet application. Any person with the most basic knowledge ( One who can create a notepad) of computer and internet can start writing and can establish his identity on the internet. All you need to do is select a domain and start posting.

2. Exploring the Web

Well if you have started posting and would like to concentrate on certain areas such as science, news, politics etc.. then blogging will certainly help you. To post some excellent stuff you will obviously search the inet and end up visiting so many websites and also the diverse content which you might not have explored if only you werent a blogger.

3. Improvement of General Ability

If you deal in varied topics you are bound to improve your general knowledge. I have found it personally and I recommend you henceforth!

4. Web Design XML Issues

Well this one is for all the so called budding professionals or Design Aspirants...
Blogging Templates are the best examples of XML Products which deal with Data Binding, parsing , layout, Presentation issues. You come across many scripts, codes etc which involve some serious programming issues.

5. Hosting Bandwidth Domain and Web Slang

I dint know about Bandwidth, Hosting ,Domain and stuff like this until I purchased a Domain tell you what we are setting up a new Website pretty soon. All this has happened only because of blogging.. My fantasy towards blogging introduced me to these Issues and wow.. arent they intresting?? Think..?

6. Adsense and Monetization

I never had an idea that my blog would help me in earning some bucks. Yeah the very idea of Online Income had turned me on.. I learnt about Adsense Monetization.. and the Advertising Concept. So now you better give it a thought.

7. Your Online Diary

Blog is your Online Diary. Share whatever you find worth sharing. Connect to people across the Globe.. Expand your Circle.. Gain the Knowledge. Enjoy working, publishing and Designing!!

Start Blogging Today!!

Also before I end lemme also introduce you to our new authors of Youngistan Speaks

Rajesh n Pranav-- My classmates , my Best Buddies and also our chief Designers!!
All the Best and I hope they make this a wonderful place!!

Celebrating the First Anniversary of Youngistan Speaks with the launch of my First Music Album which I have 'composed' using the eJay software.(Album to be posted in the next entry) Hope you love it. Download them today and yeah don't forget the reviews! After all what we expect from you is the feedback! :p

VeNoM
l8r..

Slumdog Bags 10 Oscar Nominations

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:55:00 +0000

Well I have been busy posting about Slumdog ever since it bagged the Golden Globe and this time around there's no exception. Slumdog has been winning hearts and I find no reason for not doing so one more time at the Oscars, sincerely I'll say that its the best movie ever to be directed by a foreigner on an Indian Script( Q n A by Swarup).

And may be this was one of the reasons why it bagged 10 nominations. And do not forget the Music, A.R Rahman, as usual creates yet another sensation-nominated for 3 Oscars!!! Finally a hearty Congratulations from team Youngistan!'

As usual we expect you to top all the 10 nominations and all the best.. I need not expand this coz it might have already been done by many News Websites :d. However here is what the "Telegraph.co.uk had to say.."

Bookmaker William Hill has installed the feelgood film as 4/11 favorite to win best picture, beating The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader.

The British-made film about an orphan boy from the Mumbai slums who enters the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is also shortlisted for best adapted screenplay - writer Simon Beaufoy’s story is based on the novel Q&A by writer Vikas Swarup.

The other nominations are for cinematography, film editing, sound editing, sound mixing, original score and original song (it has two nominations in the last category).

Its star, 18-year-old Londoner Dev Patel, missed out on a best actor nomination, but is thrilled at the prospect of attending the Los Angeles ceremony on February 22.

Patel said: “It’s just amazing. For Slumdog Millionaire to be included in the nominations for the Oscars is a huge honor. When we first began working on the film I don’t think any of us ever imagined that we might end up attending the Oscars ceremony as a result. I’m just so proud to be a part of this project and I have been overwhelmed by the positive reaction to the film. Thank you to everyone who has supported us. I truly feel blessed.

Beaufoy, whose previous credits include The Full Monty, said: “Secretly and sometimes not so secretly, this is the nomination that floats in every screenwriter’s dreams. I am fantastically happy and honored - not just for myself but for Vikas Swarup’s wonderful novel without which I would have never started my journey to the world’s Maximum City, Mumbai.”

The heart-warming story won four Golden Globes earlier this month - for best picture, best director, best screenplay and best soundtrack - and has 11 Bafta nominations in total.

Although it is destined to be one of the biggest hits of the year, Slumdog Millionaire does have its detractors. Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan is among those who have criticized the film, suggesting that it “projects India as [a] Third World dirty underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots”.

Spring Fest-Energy, Exitement, Entusiasm

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:02:00 +0000

Indian Spring Season brings not just the bitter cold weather but also the hotter Fests! Yes the Festive Season is back, time for some fun and excitement! The Awkward Challenges, Handsome prizes, Thrilling Performances, Enthusiastic Participants last but not the least the Stunning Responses from the Audience this is what the fest is all about! And here is what you can expect this season as well at some of the happening institutes, to name a few are the Spring fest, Saarang, TechFest, Kshitij and many more..

Coming back to Spring fest - The most awaited Fest of the Season which apparently attracts the students from all over the country as well as the foreign participants is to be held at IIT Kharagpur during this month. A 4 night-3day Fest features the events such as Taal, Pal, Anubhav, Armageddon, Wildfire, Rangmanch, Hasya Kavi Sammelan etc.

But the most famous event seems to be the Star Night which involves the musical performances by some of the notable Artists of South Asia. This event is such a huge crowd puller that for latecomers, it is usually impossible to get a seat inside Open theater and sights such as students hanging on tree branches and on the high Open Theater walls to catch a glimpse of the concert are not uncommon.

Alongside the Cultural Fests, Technical fests have also gained huge popularity and TechFest organized by IIT Bombay ranks first claiming to be the Asia's Largest technical fest.
A technical fest basically concentrates on encouraging new technologies, conducting workshops, guest lectures by famous educationalists and technocrats over the world. Technical Competitions, Robotics, Aero Design, Lan Gaming, etc are some of the common events that attract huge participants.

These Tech Fests also offer a platform for the Firms to expose their future projects and thus giving them a chance to access their products which also implicitly acts as a marketing base.
And may be this is the reason why companies flock around the fests sponsoring these gigantic events! ;)

OK now before you access how worse this post has been.. lemme drop a quick list of events and the corresponding web links...

Techfest IIT Bombay
Shaastra IIT Madras
Techkriti IIT Kanpur
Kshitij IIT Kharagpur
Techniche IIT Guwahati
Cognizance IIT Roorkee

Rendezvous IIT Delhi
Mood Indigo IIT Bombay
Spring Fest IIT Kharagpur
Saarang IIT Madras
Antaragini IIT Kanpur
Alcheringa IIT Guwahati
Thomso IIT Roorkee

10 Best Movie Posters of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:48:00 +0000

What makes a Poster so special? and when it comes to the movie posters there's a lot that goes into making them!!
A mere poster tells you what the film is all about and with the advent of exceptional Photo editing and image development soft wares they are just getting better and better. The other day when I was looking for some technical poster I found this website which carried a post about the best posters of 08. I picked 10 Best posters {Its my fav. choice of 10} among them which I would like to share here, however do visit the site and you may like the others as well... :)

The Choice is open! Its just my top 10 list, yours can be entirely different and I don't stop you from drawing your favorite list :p !! Do share your top 10 list!!

Source: abduzeedo.com

From Roja to Golden Globe

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:43:00 +0000

The Mozart of Madras has made it yet another time and this time around its something exceptional, The First Indian to receive a Golden Globe and what a pleasant birthday gift he could ever ask for!!

Celebrating AR Rahman's Triumph at the Golden Globe.....

Conquering billions of hearts, unifying the world and setting a benchmark with his style of music, A R Rahman had once again proved that Music has no language or regional barriers. With an extraordinary debut as a music director for the film Roja for which he was awarded the National Film Award this man showed that he possessed a terrific talent and that certainly drew the attention of many directors and he never left them a chance to regret!!
Yes coz most of Rahman's songs are such a great box office hits that you find the freshness in the songs though you hear them the hundredth time!!

His first soundtrack Roja was listed in TIME's "Top 10 Movie Soundtracks of All Time" in 2005

After the fabulous debut, the next biggest hit from Rahman which comes to my mind is Bombay
Bombay's music is such a fantastic compilation that it was featured in Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage(The track "Bombay Theme" from the soundtrack is an instrumental orchestral piece composed, arranged and conducted by A. R. Rahman). By the way the film itself is so touching that I must admit it is one of the greatest ever from the Indian Film Industry.

Some of his finest works include Gentleman, Rangeela, Minsaara Kanavu, Jeans, Dil se, Lagaan, The Legend of Bhagath Singh, Warriors of Heaven and Earth, Boys, Water, Rang De Basanti, Jodha Akbar, Slumdog Millionare etc..

Not just films Rahman had composed many Albums and the one album that instantly comes to any Indian's mind is Vande Mataram by Rahman produced by Bharath bala. Whether it is the energetic Maa Thujhe Salaam sung by Rahman or the soft Revival a poignant rendition of Vande Mataram by Anuradha, Sujatha, Kalyani Menon and Seema, the deft orchestration and the precision audio mixing, a mark of Rahman's music, catch the attention of anyone who is interested in music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ399KOoNRA

Here is the International Award List

Black Reel Awards
- 2008 - Best Original Soundtrack - Slumdog Millionaire

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
- 2008 - BFCA Critics' Choice Award for Best Composer - Slumdog Millionaire

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (United States)
- 2008 - Best Music Score - Slumdog Millionaire

1995 - Malaysian Award (Malaysia)
- Contributions to music

1995 - Mauritius National Award (Mauritius)
- Contributions to music

New York Film Critics Online Awards (United States)
- 2008 - NYFCO Best Score Award - Slumdog Millionaire

Rotary Club of Madras
- 2008 - Lifetime Achievement Award

San Diego Film Critics Society Awards
- 2008 - Best Score - Slumdog Millionaire

Satellite Awards (United States)
- 2008 - Satellite Award for Best Original Score - Slumdog Millionaire

Golden Globe Awards (USA)
- 2008 - Best Original Score - Slumdog Millionaire

Finally before I end, I like to congratulate Rahman on his success and also wish him the best at the Oscars. Lets hope Rahman bags an Oscar as well!!! :)

A.R Rahman's Official Website

VENOM by VeNoM

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:53:00 +0000

I always loved watching Discovery n NGC and especially the 'Wild' and 'Built for the Kill' when it comes to the category of Animal science , however I like the other shows aired as well.. But lemme not get into them , instead this post is all about 'VenoM' . The other day I was trying to find out the top 10 Venomous Snakes of the planet and our search engine(I hope you like Google Search :) ) threw me a huge list of sites bearing the Top 10. But then I was confused coz each site showed a different list of top 10 with some similarities as well , there was no branded so called official top 10 list. I tried to figure out but as usual lost interest after a while :D and I ended up listing out the Venomous Snakes of the 7 continents.
I now feel that its a pretty good find and so here comes the list. I dont think so that I would satisfy the 'Venom experts or rather the Herpetologists' but I can atleast hope for the best ^_^

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

Asia

To start with Asia is one of the richest habitat for the most poisonous snakes.
Almost instantly u say Cobra if you are an Asian when asked about venomous snakes. The deadly venom which it carries makes it the formidable Snake.

King Cobra- found in South and South-East Asian parts , its the longest venomous snake on the planet. Its named King since it feeds on other snakes and on its own species at times.
A lethal strike can kill the human within no time.

Indian Cobra-found in the Southern Asia( India,Pakistan,Bangladesh,Srilanka,Nepal,Bhutan) it accounts for most snakebite casualties in these parts.
The Spectacle marks which it displays to warn off predators is the striking feature of this snake.Its often worshiped and is treated sacred in the Southern India. It's categorized as the Big Four of India.

Russell's Viper-found in South East Asia, China ,Taiwan and Indian Sub-continent, its most dangerous viperid snake. This deep yellow,tan brownish snake covers a huge part of Asia and is responsible for almost all the snakebites on the region. Its the common viper and is extremely camouflaged

Krait-found on Indian Soil as well as the South East Asia , it carries a venom 15times more potent than the Cobra . Comes in different varieties such as Banded Krait, Common Krait etc. These are Nocturnal Creatures mostly feeding on rats , frogs and lizards

Pit Vipers- they are the poisonous vipers found all over Asia.

Malayan Krait (Bungarus candidus )- Southeast Asia and Indonesia. 50% of the bites from this snake are fatal even with the use of antivenom treatment.

Africa

Black Mamba-the World's second largest poisonous snake lives in Africa. Growing upto 4 mts , these black-mouthed snakes are the most feared and dangerous snakes on Africa. They are found in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Botswana, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and the Congo. These can hunt prey both in day and night making it one of the successful predators.
Their Cousins Green Mambas are also dangerous but only carry 1/10th of the toxic content of their former species.

Boomslang-Its an exception of the Colubridae family, and carries a highly dangerous venom. Its a small snake and lives in Saharan Africa.

Puff Adder- is a venomous viper species found in Savannah and grasslands from Morocco and western Arabia throughout Africa except for the Sahara and rain forest regions.

Bush Viper- This triangle headed green snake lives on the tree perches feeding on lizards and birds and known to carry a lethal venom. Its found in sub sharan Africa

Egyptian Cobra and Gaboon Viper are the other poisonous snakes of the continent

Europe

Common Adder-Not recognized as highly dangerous these are wide-spread snakes of Europe.

Long Nosed Viper-Its the most dangerous viper of Europe.The most distinctive characteristic is a single "horn" on the snout, just above the rostral scale. It consists of 9-17 scales arranged in 2 (rarely 2 or 4) transverse rows

Ursinis' Viper - a venomous viper and a very widespread species, found from southeastern France all the way to China (Xinjiang)

North America

American Copperhead- a venomous pitviper species found in North America. Its not known to inflict lethal doses of venom, this snake is an ambush hunter like the most vipers

Cottonmouth is a venomous pitviper species found in the eastern United States. Adults are large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite, but their reputation for aggression is largely undeserved. This is the world's only semi aquatic viper, usually being found in or near water, particularly in slow-moving and shallow lakes and streams.

Coral Snake- the smallest, yet one of the most poisonous snakes lives in southern parts of North America. The notable feature of these snakes are the colorful bands on their skins.New World coral snakes possess the second most potent venom of any North American snake, behind some rattlesnake species.

Rattlesnake-Diamondback Rattlesnakes are the largest of all North American Venomous Reptiles and is in the family Crotalidae. These impressive snakes are not only deadly, but incredibly beautiful as well.Around 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States each year.

South America

Bushmaster- The Bushmaster, lachesis muta muta is the largest Pit Viper in the world with a nasty reputation as a "cruel dude". The Bushmaster is a huge, thick-bodied and highly venomous snake with a triangularly shaped head, one of nature's warning signs that a snake is poisonous and potentially deadly.

Tropical Rattlesnake is a venomous pitviper species found in South America. The most widely distributed member of its genus, this species poses a serious medical problem in many parts of its range.

Jumping Viper is a venomous pitviper species found in Mexico and Central America.

Others are Mojave Pit Viper, Eyelash Viper, fer-de-lance

Australia

When it comes to Australia you'll find a great number of venomous snakes. Infact four of the top 10 venomous snakes hail from Aus.

Inland Taipan-also known as the Small Scaled Snake and Fierce Snake, is native to Australia and is the most venomous snake in the world. Maximum yield recorded (for one bite) is 110mg. That would probably be enough to kill over 100 people or 250,000 mice. These rare snakes are virtually unknown in collections outside of Australia.

Taipan - Australia. The venom delivered in a single Taipan bite is enough to kill up to 12,000 guinea pigs.

Tiger snake- a type of venomous serpent found in southern regions of Australia, including its coastal islands and Tasmania. These snakes are highly variable in their color, often banded like those on a tiger, and forms in their regional occurrences.Tiger snakes possess a potent neurotoxin (notexin), coagulants, haemolysins and myotoxins, and rank amongst the deadliest snakes in the world.

Death Adder is a genus of highly venomous elapid snakes. Commonly called death adders, they are native to Australia, New Guinea and nearby islands, and are among the most venomous snakes in the world.
Death adders inject on average 40 – 100 mg of extremely toxic venom with a bite. This makes an untreated death adder bite one of the most dangerous in the world.Death adder venom is completely neurotoxic, containing neither haemotoxins or myotoxins, unlike most venomous snakes.

Australian Brown Snake-The King Brown or Mulga snake is a venomous snake found in Australia. It is the second largest venomous snake in Australia (after the Taipan) and the third largest venomous snake in the world and produces large amounts of venom. Although the name implies it is a brown snake, it is in fact part of the black snake genus.

Australian Copperhead is a genus of venomous elapid snakes native to the relatively fertile temperate southern and eastern part of the Australian continent.

Oceania

Almost all the sea snakes are venomous and infact the deadliest snake on the planet lives in ocean!

Beaked seasnake- also known as the hook-nosed sea snake, the common sea snake, is a species of sea snake.
It is found in the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf (off Oman), south of the Seychelles and Madagascar, the seas off South Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh), Southeast Asia (Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand, Vietnam), and Australia (Northern Territory and Queensland) and New Guinea.

Yellowbelly Sea Snake- or Pelagic Sea Snake is a species of sea snake found in tropical oceanic waters around the world.

Banded Sea Snake-Sea Snakes are highly venomous marine reptiles inhabiting the warm tropical waters of the world.

Snakes are most beautiful reptiles. Protect them and also their habitat.

I hope you like the post..
As usual I expect some replies.. so do drop them.

Join the War against Terrorism

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:22:00 +0000

Fighting terrorism is like being a goalkeeper. You can make a hundred brilliant saves but the only shot that people remember is the one that gets past you. -PAUL WILKINSON

November 26 2008 - this is the day the Mumbai people, the whole of India and perhaps the world will never forget. On this day at around 9:00 PM, a group of 10-15 unidentified (who the f*** is caring about their identity) terrorists stormed into the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminal (Popularly Known as VT Station) and Colaba hospital, inhumanly killing scores of innocent people and causing havoc. They then spread themselves into groups, snatched a car and went straight to the Taj Hotel, Oberoi-Trident Hotel and Nariman House (house of Israeli Nationals) asking for British and American Passports. The attacks have been dubbed by media as "India's 9/11", an apparent reference to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

They were basically a series of ten coordinated attacks committed by Islamic militants, which began across Mumbai, India's financial capital and largest city, on 26 November 2008 and ended on 29 November 2008 when Indian security forces finally regained control of all attack sites. The Operation lasted more than 60 hours. Casual

A previously unknown organization identifying itself as the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility by email sent to news organizations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the attacks probably had "external linkages", believing that the attack could not have occurred without help. Well whatever might be the organisation, whether it may be the Lashkar-e-Taiba or Al-Qaeda or any other new born one, I wondered what is the motive behind these attacks.

Possibilities being

1) They will get huge international publicity as so many media channels have been providing non-stop live coverage of the incident.

2) They wanted to frighten the foreign nationals who visit India.

3) And as claimed by one terrorist (who has been caught by the NSG - National Security Gaurd) that their aim was to blast the Historic and Iconic Taj Hotel just as they did with 'JW Mariott' Hotel in Islamabad.

Coming to the fundamental aspects of these senseless organisations:

A Mujahid is a Muslim involved in a jihad, who is fighting in a war or involved in any other struggle. The plural is Mujahideen. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad ("struggle").

What is the meaning of Jihad?

Literally, jihad means doing one’s utmost to realize a goal. It is not the equivalent of war, for which Arabic and the Qur’an use qital. Jihad has a wider connotation and embraces every kind of striving in God’s cause. A mujahid is devoted to his or her cause; uses all physical, intellectual, and spiritual capacities to serve it.

Jihad’s related principle, that of amr bi al-ma‘ruf wa nahy ‘an al-munkar (enjoining good and forbidding evil), seeks to convey the benefits of Islam to everyone and to convince them to abandon all of their evil practices. The Qur’an calls Muslims the model community, one required to communicate the Prophet’s message to humanity and to live Islam, just as the Prophet did: Thus, We have made you a community justly balanced, that you might be witnesses for all humanity, and the Messenger may be a witness for you
Please try to refer this important website about more information.

These senseless terrorist groups doesn't recognize the importance of this holy war and at the back of it they keep on terrorising innocent people with numerous blasts and gun-firing. Moreover they degrade the name of almighty "Allah" by saying "jihad in the name of Allah" and do such evil deeds themselves.

Now comes the most important and the main aim of this article>>>I request the people who are reading this post to 'Join the War against Terrorism'. By saying this i doesn't mean that each and every person should enroll themselves in the army and flush out the terrorists. Beat them indirectly in every possible way each one can afford to. I myself tried to find out some possibilities:

1) Counsel the terrorists and change their minds (probably the most difficult one but definitely not impossible).

2) Do not politicise the Security Forces. Give them maximum permissions while dealing with terrorists.

3) People should feel responsible in informing police about any untoward incident.

4) Do not differentiate people based on caste, creed, race and religion which indirectly induces these evil deeds.

5) Recognise People who stand up against terror.

6) Be calm and stubborn during such attacks. Indomitable Spirit is the need of the hour.

7) Create voluntary groups which will co-ordinate the efforts of the government and the civil society and which will educate people about terrorism and how to stand up against it… Giving information to security agencies…For a Voluntary community-based self-policing movement to emerge, people have to break free of the prisons of individualism and 'what is in it for me?' thinking.

Elinor Ostrom's path-breaking book, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (1990), offers dozens of examples of community self-policing from around the world that succeeded, even in the absence of a corollary state enforcement machinery. The logic of these cases is simple: people can find solutions to their own problems, provided they are aware of their inherent strengths as a community.

8) Create terror laws which will give out stringent punishment to people indulging in acts of terror within a short period of time. It will make it a deterrent for people to indulge in terror activities.

9) Finally select the right leaders after all they are the seeds of democracy.

I seriously request you to please give your valuable suggestions as this is not a war by single person, it is the war of humanity against evil. This is the perfect 'Jihad' as communicated by the Almighty "Allah".

Last but not the least (rather this is the start of your required inspiration) i would like to SALUTE those brave and dynamic soldiers who tried until their last breath in saving us from these terrorist attacks. May their soul rest in peace. This is the perfect answer to the people who raise questions when these soldiers are given a mere 1000 bucks more in return for their precious lives.

Who Dares, Wins. Who Sweats, Wins. Who Plans, Wins. - British SAS

Jai Jawan!!! ( Hats Off Soldier!!!)

Minima Dark extremely customizable

noreply@blogger.com (VeNoM) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:06:00 +0000

So here comes yet another addition to the Minima Dark Template Family. This Minima Dark edited by Usuário Compulsivo and named Minima Dark Compulsivo is a 3 column, simple and extremely customizable one.

I stumbled upon this the other day and just instantly I applied it to one of my blogs. U can check it here.

Since its the basic template and as this carries no images hence it loads faster though its adapted to 3 column. Lemme list some of its striking features.

Its a 3 column
Its simple and hence loads faster and carries no images
Widget Friendly which can accommodate 300*300 as well as 150*150 columns in its sidebar. Widgets at the bottom giving it a refreshing web-site look.
Top tab and Feed Buttons.
Comes equipped with Technorati and Social Bookmarking at the end of each post.
Content expand option available.
Column spacing at the bottom of posts.
Tabber Tab
with Related Articles and Comment form beneath every post

Steps to configure your template.

1. As advised back up your previous template.
2. Upload the xml file
3. Now get to the Dashboard-Layout-page Elements

i) Edit the Top Link List which u can observe over there to your links.
ii) To customize your Tabber tab ,create three Feeds or your widgets

Now save them and navigate to edit html portion and try to find these widgets. Suppose you have saved a widget viz. Wallpapers as a feed so try to search wallpapers(ctrl+f mzilla) and cut the entire widget
it should be something like this.
< b:widget id=xxx type='feed' / >

Now cut this comple widget to widget and place it just below the tabber. The image tells you everything.

Once you are done with it save it.

Now check the include widget option.

iii) Now find "RSS Feed" and give your feed link.

iv) Now find Ur_BlogName or credits and replace them with your Blog title and so on.!

v) Donot remove the Footer Credits!

vi) Now try to search "form" you'll find a Google Search Form enclosed in the div section. Replace the form with your Search form. This is a must!

viii) Now find the "Bookmarks" and you can find four social book marking options over there and if u need more just add them over there..!

Q) How to embed Ads Within posts?
A) Get to Edit Html section , Expand Widgets and now try to search " data:post body ".

The image is self-explanatory! Click to have a full-view of the image.

ScreenShots

Demo | Download

Thats it about this template. It was originally in Portugese and I just added the Bookmarking and Technorati options and converted it into English.
Thats it for now.. Hope you like the template..
More to follow....

History's Greatest Speeches

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 06:57:00 +0000

Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.
--Pearl Strachan

Words, from the time memorial have influenced the masses, grabbed the attention of people in so many revolutionary movements, has been a powerful tool in motivating, influencing, persuading, informing, translating, or simply entertaining the huge number of fans.

They made heroes overnight, brought down the greatest of empires and brought up equally resounding governments, catapulted simplest of human beings into fame and glory-etching their names in the history as the most powerful, legendary and evergreen souls.

Leaders from Adolf Hitler to Martin Luther King, Jr. and or even modern political figures such as President-elect Barack Obama are effective orators who used oratory to have a significant impact on society. The speeches of politicians are often widely analysed by both theirs fans and detractors.

In this post i will try to present some of the outstanding, spirited, emotional and controversial speeches of the contemporary world. At first i thought of naming this post as ~~"Top 10 Greatest Speeches of History"~~, but when i read/listened them not a single one deserved partiality. Every speech is a Master Piece in it's own way, having a specific purpose, directed towards achieving the goals of the PEOPLE or rather a NATION to whom the speech was delivered.

There is no true orator who is not a hero.- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sermon on the Mount - Jesus Christ

In the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount is a compilation of Jesus' sayings, epitomizing his moral teaching. Jesus of Nazareth gave this sermon (estimated around AD 30) on a mountainside to his disciples and a large crowd. Matthew groups Jesus' teachings into five discourses, of which the Sermon on the Mount is the first. The others concern instructions for the disciples, parables of the Kingdom, instructions for the Church, and a harsh denunciation of scribes and pharisees. [Read More] [Listen].

Galileo Affair

The Galileo affair, in which Galileo Galilei came into conflict with the Catholic Church over his support of Copernican astronomy, is often considered a defining moment in the history of the relationship between religion and science. [Read More] [Listen: Part-1, Part-2].

Give me Liberty or give me Death - Patrick Henry

"Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" is a famous quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech made to the Virginia Convention. It was given March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, and is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the Virginia House of Burgesses to pass a resolution delivering the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War. Supposedly in attendance were Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. Reportedly, the crowd, upon hearing the speech, shouted, "To arms! To arms!" [Read More] [Listen].

The Declaration of Independence - Thomas Jefferson

Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress. [Read More] [Listen].

Blood and Iron - Otto Von Bismarck

Blood and Iron (German: Blut und Eisen) is the title of a famous speech by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck given in 1862 about the unification of the German territories. It is also a famous transposed phrase that Bismarck uttered near the end of the speech that has become one of his most famous quotations. Although Bismarck was an outstanding diplomat, the phrase "blood and iron" has become a popular description of his foreign policy partly because he did on occasion resort to war in a highly effective manner to aid in the unification of Germany and the expansion of its continental power. [Read More] [Listen].

The Gettysburg Address - Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's carefully crafted address, secondary to other presentations that day, came to be regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American history. In just over two minutes, Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens, and that would also create a unified nation in which states' rights were no longer dominant. [Read More] [Listen].

This was their finest hour - Winston Churchill

This was their finest hour speech was delivered by Sir Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 18 June 1940. It was given shortly after he took over as Prime Minister of Britain on 10 May, in the first year of World War II.

It was the third of three speeches which he gave during the period of the Battle of France. These speeches (the other two being the "Blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech of 13 May, and the "We shall fight on the beaches" speech of 4 June) were a great inspiration to the embattled United Kingdom as it entered what was probably the most dangerous phase of the entire war. [Read More] [Listen].

The Infamy/Pearl Harbor Speech - Franklin Roosevelt

The Infamy Speech was delivered on December 8, 1941, by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, one day after the Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. The address is regarded as one of the most famous American political speeches of the 20th century. [Read More] [Listen].

The Quit India Speech - Mahatma Gandhi

The Quit India speech is a speech made by Mahatma Gandhi on August 8th 1942, on the eve of the Quit India movement. He called for determined, but passive resistance that signified the certitude that Gandhi foresaw for the movement is best described by his call to Do or Die. His speech was issued at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay, since re-named August Kranti Maidan (August Revolution Ground). However, almost the entire Congress leadership, and not merely at the national level, was put into confinement less than twenty-four hours after Gandhi's speech, and the greater number of the Congress leaders were to spend the rest of the war in jail.
[Read More].

Tryst With Destiny - Jawaharlal Nehru

Tryst with Destiny was a speech made by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. The speech was made to the Indian Constituent Assembly, on the eve of India's independence, towards midnight on August 14, 1947. It focuses on the aspects that transcend India's history. It is considered in modern India to be a landmark oration that captures the essence of the triumphant culmination of the hundred-year Indian freedom struggle against the British Empire in India. [Read More] [Listen].

History Will Absolve Me - Fidel Castro

History Will Absolve Me (Spanish:"La historia me absolverá") is the concluding sentence and subsequent title of a four-hour speech made by Fidel Castro on 16 October 1953. Castro made the speech in his own defense in court against the charges brought against him after leading an attack on the Moncada Barracks. Though no record of Castro's words was kept, he reconstructed them later for publication in what was to become the manifesto of his 26th of July Movement. The trial helped propel Castro into the public consciousness as a leading figure in the resistance to the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. [Read More]

We will bury you - Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev famously used an expression generally translated into English as "We will bury you!" ("Мы вас похороним!", transliterated as My vas pokhoronim!) while addressing Western ambassadors at a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow on November 18, 1956.Full translation of the quote reads: "Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will dig you in" (Нравится вам или нет, но история на нашей стороне. Мы вас закопаем). [Read More]

There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom - Richard Feynman

There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom is the title of a famous lecture given by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at Caltech on December 29, 1959. Feynman considered the possibility of direct manipulation of individual atoms as a more powerful form of synthetic chemistry than those used at the time. [Read More]

Ask not what your country can do for you - John F Kennedy

U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivered his first and only inaugural address on Friday, January 20, 1961, immediately after taking the presidential oath of office administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren.

The address is 1364 words and took 13 minutes and 59 seconds to deliver, from the first word to the last word, not including applause at the end, making it the fourth-shortest inaugural address ever delivered. It is widely considered to be among the best presidential inauguration speeches in American history. [Read More] [Listen].

I am Prepared to Die - Nelson Mandela

'I am prepared to die' were the closing words from Mandela’s statement from the dock at the commencement of the defence case in the Rivonia Trial at the Pretoria Supreme Court in April 1964. His speech has been widely reproduced in many forms.

Mandela’s powerful statement revealed his moral integrity and strength of conviction in the struggle for equality for all South Africans.His words garnered support from individuals and organisations across the world, creating a momentum for change which ultimately brought about an end to apartheid in South Africa. [Read More].

I have a Dream - Martin Luther King Jr.

"I Have A Dream" is the popular name given to the historic public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., when he spoke of his desire for a future where blacks and whites among others would coexist harmoniously as equals. King's delivery of the speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters, the speech is often considered to be one of the greatest and most notable speeches in history and was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century by a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. [Read More] [Listen].

Tear Down This Wall - Ronald Reagen

"Tear down this wall!" was the famous challenge from United States President Ronald Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall.

In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin, by the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear it down as a symbol of Reagan's desire for increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc. [Read More] [Listen].

Sermon on the Mound - Margaret Thatcher

The Sermon on the Mound is the name given by the Scottish press to an address made by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on 21 May 1988. In the address, Thatcher offered a theological justification for her ideas on capitalism and the market economy. She claimed "Christianity is about spiritual redemption, not social reform" and she quoted St Paul by saying "If a man will not work he shall not eat". [Read More]

Gazimestan Speech - Slobodan Milošević

The Gazimestan speech was a speech given on 28 June 1989 by Slobodan Milošević, then President of Serbia. It was the centrepiece of a day-long event to mark the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, in which the medieval Serbian kingdom had been defeated by the Ottoman Empire. The speech was delivered to a huge crowd gathered at the place where the battle had been fought, Gazimestan in the Central Kosovo. It came against a backdrop of intense ethnic tension between ethnic Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and increasing political tensions between Serbia and the other constituent republics of the then Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. [Read More] [Listen].

A More Perfect Union - Barack Obama

"A More Perfect Union" is the name of a speech delivered by United States President-elect Barack Obama on March 18, 2008 in the course of the contest for the 2008 Democratic Party presidential nomination. Speaking before an audience at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 18 of that year, Obama was responding to a spike in the attention paid to controversial remarks made by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor and, until shortly before the speech, a participant in his campaign. Obama directed to the broader issue of race in the United States.

On March 27, 2008, the Pew Research Center called the speech "arguably the biggest political event of the campaign so far," noting that 85 percent of Americans said they had heard at least a little about the speech and that 54 percent said they heard a lot about it.Eventually, The New Yorker opined that the speech helped elect Obama as the President of the United States. [Read More] [Listen].

Mystery Bonanza : e-books

noreply@blogger.com (Sunny) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:27:00 +0000

Agatha Christie 67 Novels

Arguably, she is one of the world's most famous writer of mystery novels. With her outstanding and gripping compilation she caught the attention of every mystery enthusiast. She wrote many short stories, novels, plays which entertained the people of early and mid 20th century. Her works, particularly featuring detectives Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple, have given her the title the 'Queen of Crime' and made her one of the most important and innovative writers in the development of the genre.

Christie has been called—by the Guinness Book of World Records, among others — the best-selling writer of books of all time and the best-selling writer of any kind, along with William Shakespeare. Only the Bible is known to have outsold her collected sales of roughly four billion copies of novels. Here is a collection of her 67 novels in PDF format(e-books) i found on the internet.

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John Grisham 18 novels

John Grisham is one of the most prolific and beloved mystery writers today, still reaching the top of the bestseller lists with books like The Testament (1999) and King of Torts (2003). In recent times, he has also experimented with different genres, such as A Painted House (2001), a semi-autobiographical work, and Skipping Christmas (2001), a holiday narrative. He is identified primarily with legal thrillers. A Collection of 18 of his novels for you:

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle : Sherlock Holmes

....Sherlock Holmes>>>well he is the most popular and brilliant detective on the earth. His name is known every where and is synonymous with "detective reasoning and astute observation". He is so popular that he even overwhelmed his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Many people think that he is a real life detective who actually lived in London solving many difficult cases with ease. Even now in the eastern part of the world people believe that all those novels were written by him as an autobiography. I call it as a self-plagiarism by Conon Doyle (lol).

His works are considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction. Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories that featured Holmes. All but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are narrated by Sherlock Holmes himself, and two others are written in the third person.

Fact: In Microsoft Windows, Dr. Watson is an application debugger included with the operating system. It is usually named drwatson.exe, drwtsn32.exe or dwwin.exe depending on the version of Windows. It is named after Dr. John H. Watson of Sherlock Holmes fame, with the idea being that it would collect error information (symptoms) following the problem.

A collcetion of his novels. Download, Read and Njoyyy!!!

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Stephen King 100 novels

Stephen dubbed as the 'Horror King" is an American author of over 200 stories including over 50 bestselling horror and fantasy novels. King was the 2003 recipient of The National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

King evinces a thorough knowledge of the horror genre, as shown in his nonfiction book Danse Macabre, which chronicles several decades of notable works in both literature and cinema. He has also written stories outside the horror genre, including the novella collection Different Seasons, The Green Mile, The Eyes of the Dragon, Hearts in Atlantis and his magnum opus, The Dark Tower series. In the past, Stephen King has written under the pen names Richard Bachman and (once) John Swithen. A Collection of his 100 novels here:

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Sidney Sheldon 16 novels

As a legendary storyteller, novelist, and screenwriter, Sidney Sheldon remains one of the world's top bestselling authors and is the only writer to have won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Edgar. All eighteen of Sheldon's novels reigned at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. His second, The Other Side of Midnight, held the Times's then-record of fifty-two weeks on the list.

Sheldon was the creator of TV's classic hit programs The Patty Duke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, and Hart to Hart. Additionally, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The Guinness World Records 2004 heralded him as the most translated author in the world. A collection of his 16 novels:

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Dan Brown 4 novels

Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code and the 2000 bestselling novel, Angels & Demons.

Brown is interested in cryptography, keys, and codes, which are a recurring theme in his stories. Currently his novels have been translated into more than 40 languages.

Although many perceive Brown's books as anti-Christian, Brown states on his website that he is a Christian and says of his book The Da Vinci Code that it is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith". A collection of his 4 novels here:

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I personally love this collection, but i want comments from u on this and ur suggestions on other books are most welcome.

Books Source: FreeBookSpot