Simplicity

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-05-27T00:00:00.000+05:30

Miss Malini Dot Who?
She is India's most popular celebrity blogger, has a full-time staff of 10, and reaches out to a quarter million followers every month.
Why Do Beans Make You Fart?
I exaggerated so much today that I feel like I could just die.
— Lifey (@9to5Life) May 24, 2012
Jonathan Ive interviews - Telegraph Part 1 and Part 2 and Sir Jonathan Ive: The iMan cometh
Video - Dancing
Wow!
Axis
A new browser from Yahoo!
Longing for the Return of Dueling Pistol
As the Olympics has grown and modernized over the years, many events have fallen by the wayside. While many are unmourned - does anyone miss club swinging? - others could easily return to the program. Here are the top 10 events that would be exciting to resurrect.
Skydiver lands safely without parachute
Gary Connery is apparently the first person to skydive out of an aircraft and land on the ground without injury without the use of a parachute.
Movie Simpsons
Scenes from the Simpsons paired with movie references.
An Ant Ballet, Choreographed By Pheromones And Robots
Palmer's project, Ant Ballet, is an augmentation of ant societal behavior. By appealing to their most base instincts--hacking the pheromone signals that ants rely upon for communication--Palmer is able to manipulate ants, to choreograph their movements.
Is This The First Logo Based On Touch-Screen Gestures?
South Korea to chemically castrate rapist
South Korea is set to carry out the chemical castration of a serial rapist later this week, implementing recent legislation for the first time.
Hans Rosling: Religions and babies
Hans Rosling had a question: Do some religions have a higher birth rate than others -- and how does this affect global population growth? Speaking at the TEDxSummit in Doha, Qatar, he graphs data over time and across religions. With his trademark humor and sharp insight, Hans reaches a surprising conclusion on world fertility rates.
The Facebook Fallacy
For all its valuation, the social network is just another ad-supported site. Without an earth-changing idea, it will collapse and take down the Web.
Leap Motion
The Leap is a small iPod sized USB peripheral that creates a 3D interaction space of 8 cubic feet to precisely interact with and control software on your laptop or desktop computer.
Upside Down Apple Logo
Why is the Apple logo upside down on laptops when the lid is open?
Robert Carlock walks us through highlights from 30 Rock's six seasons so far - Part 1, Part 2
These Indian village women know Victoria's secret
In a traditional rice-growing region of southern India, these luxurious bras are enhancing the lives of poor rural women.
Google: We've acquired Motorola Mobility
Reinvented Clothes Hanger Won't Ruin Your Necklines
Nokia Releases A Font Designed To Work In Any Language
'I Am a Hunter' Song - Gangs Of Wasseypur
The next big hit. More here
Movie Trailer - Cocktail
Starring Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone & Diana Penty. Directed by Homi Adajania.
A blind man's first experience with echolocation
Four Seasons unveils $18m website
Luxury hotel chain Four Seasons has unveiled a new website that cost an eye-watering $18m to develop.
I don't know if I should laugh or cry.
Organized Wonder
Share and discover the best talks, documentaries, interviews, short films and various other videos scattered across the web.
Pictures - Scenes From Brazil
Learn to say "fuck you" to the world once in a while
by Sol LeWitt.
How Common Is Your Birthday?
'Ishaqzaade' And The Murder Of The Heroine
Also - Ishaqzaade – In defense of Zoya
Top 10 Pervasive Tech Myths That Are Only Wasting Your Time
How Yahoo Killed Flickr and Lost the Internet
How To Blog Anonymously (and how not to)
Could this photograph change the future?
A few weeks after Google announced the completion of their paradigm-warping technology Google Glass, this picture appeared in the G+ account of Google VP Sebastian Thrun.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Arjun: The Warrior Prince, Love Recipe, Love, Wrinkle-free, MLA, Rakhtbeej and Yeh Khula Aasmaan.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-05-13T00:00:00.000+05:30

The frequent fliers who flew too much
Many years after selling lifetime passes for unlimited first-class travel, American Airlines began scrutinizing the costs - and the customers.
Can Geoengineering Solve Global Warming?
Meet the researchers who are developing new methods for countering global warming using geoengineering. Some solutions come with great risks...
In Libya, the Captors Have Become the Captive
The tables have been turned - brutally - on Qaddafi loyalists.
It's you, not me: 42 ways to break up with someone
My Fave - We broke up because I got tired of pretending, and you noticed.
Kitchen cures doctors swear by
Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?
Psychologists now believe fledgling psychopaths can be identified as early as kindergarten. The hope is to teach these children empathy before it's too late.
Reddit's "What Secret Could Ruin Your Life if It Came Out?" Thread Is a Harrowing Descent Into the Darkest Reaches of the Human Soul
Trailer - 'Ganguly - The Movie'
Scamworld: 'Get rich quick' schemes mutate into an online monster
A network of pitchmen have used the internet and fear of a failing economy to play the ultimate long con.
GoGoFantasy Is A New Kinkstarter For Porn
Folks with fetishes, grandmas with groin urgings, and couples into copulating can create projects and request cash in return for filming certain acts.
On Diaspora's Social Network, You Own Your Data
Airplane Passengers as Explained By Their Pants
:)
Modified Social Benches, Wonderfully Impractical Public Benches by Jeppe Hein
My girlfriend said I should open up and tell her what I’m thinking. I said “I wish my dick had a cape.”
— Brian (@BDGarp) April 17, 2012
Dying feels like when someone doesn't text you back immediately.
— Mae (@mzeld) May 7, 2012
Pictures - The Giant Marionettes of Royal de Luxe
Based in Nantes, France, the street theatre company Royal de Luxe performs around the world, primarily using gigantic, elaborate marionettes to tell stories that take place over several days and wind through entire cities. Puppeteers maneuver the huge marionettes -- some as tall as 12 meters (40 ft) -- through streets, parks, and waterways, performing their story along the way.
Pictures - The Last Horse Drive
Reuters photographer Jim Urquhart recently captured these scenes from a fading culture, as he followed Montana ranchers on their final horse drive, moving more than 300 horses down from their winter range.
Comic - Time spent on a new social network
Teaser Trailer - Ek Tha Tiger
Starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. Directed by Kabir Khan.
Movie Trailer - Peddlers
Director : Vasan Bala
Cast: Gulshan Devaiah, Siddharth Mennon, Kriti Malhotra, Nimrat Kaur and Nishikant Kamat.
Mark Twain on Plagiarism and Originality: "All Ideas Are Second-Hand"
Also -
Henry Miller on Originality
United Breaks Guitars
How a musician got his revenge on the airline that broke his guitar.
Well done!
Going Solo: A Brief History of Living Alone and the Enduring Social Stigma Around Singletons
Rap Genius
Rap lyrics explained.
India, a Nation United...by Noodles?
Wanted - asteroid miners: Rewards 'trillions' of dollars (you just have to work out how to get all that platinum back to Earth first...)
Planetary Resources, the Seattle-based 'asteroid mining' company set up by Google chiefs Larry Page and Eric Schmidt and filmmaker James Cameron is hiring.
How did I miss this.
Also - How Asteroid Mining Will Work
Once upon a time in IPL with Pune Warriors
What happened to Kamran Khan.
India's Oprah, Aamir Khan
On Aamir Khan's TV debut.
Also - Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate : self-righteous star to SOS?
Aamir Khan's Satyameva Jayate played it safe
A Case Of Bazaar Piety
Aamir, an entrepreneur, has reconciled the market with activism. By Santosh Desai.
TextsFromHillary for Mamata Banerjee
Haha! (The original TextsFromHillary has shut down though.)
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Dangerous Ishhq, Ishaqzaade and The Forest.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-05-06T00:27:00.000+05:30

Kings of the carnivores
Who eats most meat? Vegetarians should look away.
Luxembourg tops the list while India is at the very bottom.
Is An ESPN Columnist Scamming People On The Internet?
The strange saga of Sarah Phillips, who went from message board commenter to ESPN gambling columnist and hid her identity from editors, scamming many of the people she met along the way.
Friends Oral History: Inside the Ratings Juggernaut's Secret Past
Friends began with a casting miracle-the uncanny chemistry of six up-and-coming actors (two of whom weren't even really available)-combined with a legendary director, and a pair of writers who nailed the young, single, urban life as never before on TV. In an adaptation from his new book on the rise and fall of NBC's "Must See" TV, Warren Littlefield, the network's former president, presents an oral history of its 10-season ratings juggernaut, learning how the stars' characters were shaped, their lives altered, and their hearts a little bit broken.
Barrett Brown is Anonymous
From a tiny Uptown apartment he's organizing a worldwide collective of hackers that brought down HBGary and helped overthrow the government of Tunisia.
The real CSI: what happens at a crime scene?
From the diver who finds the body parts, to the forensic specialist who identifies flecks of paint on the victim and the handwriting expert who examines the killer's notes... What happens behind the yellow tape of one crime scene.
Uncatchable
George Wright, America's most elusive fugitive, ran for forty years. He ran from the cops after escaping from prison. He ran from the feds after the most brazen hijacking in history. He ran from the authorities on three continents, hiding out and blending in wherever he went. It was a historic run-and now that it's over, he might just pull off the greatest escape of all.
After Eleven Years, It Stings To Say This...
Mathew Samuel, the journalist behind Operation Westend which felled Bangaru Laxman and George Fernandes, on how it upturned his life.
PVR vs Cinepolis: The Show (Down) Is On
Ajay Bijli's PVR and Mexican chain Cinepolis will be locked in a fascinating duel in the world's biggest market of moviegoers.
Cinepolis is much better. More leg space, better screens, more eating options...the pricing of the food items still pisses me off though.
Inside Abujmarh The Mythic Citadel
Abujmarh was portrayed as the military HQ of the deadly Maoist insurgency. After an arduous week-long trip, Tusha Mittal discovers a totally different picture.
LinkedIn Acquires Professional Content Sharing Platform SlideShare For $119M
Slideshare has a heavy India presence.
How Many People Are In Space Right Now?
Death By Chocolate and other dangerous desserts by Gemma Correll
:) The rest of her portfolio is good too.
Against Chairs
...chairs suck. All of them. No designer has ever made a good chair, because it is impossible. Some are better than others, but all are bad. Not only are chairs a health hazard, they also have a problematic history that has inextricably tied them to our culture of status-obsessed individualism. Worse still, we've become dependent on them and it's not clear that we'll ever be free.
The Question: why do great teams come to an end?
Pep Guardiola's final season at Barcelona became like a Greek tragedy – the hero aware of his destiny yet unable to avert it.
Movie Trailer - Gangs Of Wasseypur
Directed by Anurag Kashyap. Starring Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chaddha and Huma Quereshi.
How to cook onions
Why do recipe writers lie and lie and lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions?
Ad With Ashton Kutcher As Raj Pulled After Outcry From Indian Americans
An advertising campaign for potato chips that featured the actor Ashton Kutcher playing an "Indian" character named "Raj" in brown makeup with a sing-song accent appears to have been pulled after drawing heavy criticism from Indian-Americans the day it started.
Also - How To Fix Popchips' Racist Ad Campaign
chartsnthings
A blog of data sketches from the New York Times Graphics Department.
Pictures - Afghanistan: April 2012
Passer-by pushes suicide man off bridge
Well done sir.
An 86-year-old, real-life Robinson Crusoe
An 86-year-old Yorkshire man, Brendon Grimshaw may have lived alone for many years on the tiny island paradise of Moyenne in the Seychelles in the middle of the Indian Ocean since he bought it in 1962 for £8000, but he is rarely lonely.
For Brendon has spent the years reintroducing the indigenous giant tortoise to Moyenne and now shares the island with 120 of the magnificent creatures, on one of the world's smallest national parks.
The greatest films of all time by Roger Ebert
Hickies - Turn your kicks into slip-ons
A ground-breaking lacing system that replaces traditional shoelaces and lets you easily slip in and out of your shoes while keeping them snug and secure. Never tie or untie your shoes again! Get rid of the bows and customize your footwear.
Kickstarter Sets Off $7 Million Stampede for a Watch Not Yet Made
I'm leaving the internet for a year
Been enjoying Ryan Ten Doeschate and Dirk Nannes' IPL Diaries
The Ayatollah Under the Bed(sheets)
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, all politics may not be sexual, but all sex is political.
India's Broken Promise
How a Would-Be Great Power Hobbles Itself.
...even as Indian elites confidently predict their country's inevitable rise, it is not difficult to detect a distinct unease about the future, a fear that the promise of India's international ascendance might prove hollow. This anxiety stems from the tense duality that defines contemporary India, an influential democracy with a booming economy that is also home to more poor people than any other country in the world.
E.T. not home? Scientists say Earth may be a 'one-off fluke' and the Milky Way's billions of planets may all be lifeless
Critics reviews and rating this week - Fatso and Jannat 2.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-04-29T01:08:00.000+05:30

Filters vs. failure: Instagram's perfect messes could spell trouble for creativity
Are risk-free mobile apps homogenizing our creative output?
I never understood the fascination with Instagram and its filters. I uninstalled it after using it for 2 days.
Planchette: A Dying Curiosity
An investigation of the disappearance of visiting ghosts.
Study Sheds Light on How Birds Navigate by Magnetic Field
Researchers have identified cells in a pigeon's brain that record detailed information on the earth's magnetic field, a kind of biological compass.
How Psychedelic Drugs Can Help Patients Face Death
The Man Who Hacked Hollywood
They've become a part of the pop-culture landscape: sexy, private shots of celebrities (your Scarletts, your Milas) stolen from their phones and e-mail accounts. They're also the center of an entire stealth industry. For the man recently arrested in the biggest case yet, hacking also gave him access to a trove of Hollywood's seamiest secrets-who was sleeping together, who was closeted, who liked to sext. What the snoop didn't realize was that he was being watched, too
Can an Algorithm Write a Better News Story Than a Human Reporter?
Had Narrative Science - a company that trains computers to write news stories—created this piece, it probably would not mention that the company's Chicago headquarters lie only a long baseball toss from the Tribune newspaper building. Nor would it dwell on the fact that this potentially job-killing technology was incubated in part at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Those ironies are obvious to a human. But not to a computer.
At least not yet.
Time-Lapse Video Shows One World Trade Construction
The Tangled Tale of Aakash, the World's Cheapest Laptop
When Einstein Met Tagore
On July 14, 1930, Albert Einstein welcomed into his home in the outskirts of Berlin the Indian philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. The two proceeded to have one the most stimulating, intellectually riveting conversations in history, exploring the age-old friction between science and religion. Science and the Indian Tradition: When Einstein Met Tagore recounts the historic encounter.
The Original Copycats
'Clone king' Rocket Internet is quietly but fervently ramping up its India operations.
I see jabong.com ads everywhere.
The home grown 'raddiwalla' goes online on Kuppathotti [Trash your trash]
Decision making in cricket: In the blink of an eye
So what sets such batsmen apart? It is tempting to assume that they simply have better visual reaction times than the rest of us and can pick the ball up quicker. But according to "Wait", a new book by Frank Partnoy, that is not the case. It concludes that the best batsmen are no faster at "seeing" than their less successful colleagues, or even many amateurs. Whether you are Virender Sehwag or a village-green clubber, it will take you around 200 milliseconds to react to the ball. The best batsmen are set apart by what happens in the next 200 milliseconds, which the book calls the preparation stage. This means deciding on the shot, moving into the correct position and swinging the bat.
Bangalore Journal: Living in India's 'Costliest City'
Caine's Arcade
A 9 year old boy - who built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad's used auto part store - is about to have the best day of his life.
This is fabulous.
Introducing Google Drive... yes, really
Upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs and beyond.
Immigrants hold fake IDs
Bangladeshis Found With UID, PAN, DL.
Again, why I am against the UID project.
Adobe Store - India
Not that anybody is spending a lakh for each of their products!
Zero to twelve years old in under three minutes
Frans Hofmeester filmed his daughter Lotte once a week for the past twelve years and produced this time lapse film.
ThisYaThat
Compare book prices at Indian online book stores.
The Cookstove Conundrum
According to a study by the World Health Organization, indoor air pollution from "primitive household cooking fires" is the leading environmental cause of death in the world. In most rural homes, which lack electricity, a stove can be an open fire and the fuel as basic as wood, dried animal dung or agricultural residue, together known as "biomass" fuels. The result is nearly 2 million deaths a year, worldwide, almost as many as are caused by malaria and tuberculosis combined.
I had linked to the excellent e-toilet couple of weeks back. Not sure how economical it is but it solves a long standing problem. Wish somebody tackled stoves next.
Cartoon - We're Going Digital
:)
Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi and Tezz.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-04-22T00:10:00.000+05:30

The Rise of the Killer Drones: How America Goes to War in Secret
An inside look at how killing by remote control has changed the way we fight.
The Bravest Woman in Seattle
She survived an evil, gruesome attack. Her partner did not. An account of a victim, a widow, telling her story on the witness stand.
(This piece was awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.)
Two-Gallon-a-Day Coca-Cola Habit Contributes to Woman's Death
Can You Make Yourself Smarter?
A new memory game has revived the tantalizing notion that people can work their way to a higher I.Q.
At This Eatery, It's A Free For All
Flowchart - Should I Check E-mail?
Where boys and girls don't talk to each other
This is so stupid.
Kidney stone mystery solved
New research by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis provides evidence to explain why some people are more prone to develop the condition than others. Their discovery opens the door to finding effective drug treatments and a test that could assess a person's risk of kidney stones.
The World's First Commercial 3-D Chocolate Printer Is On Sale
Pictures - Marijuana
Pictures - Glimpses of Humanity in Choreographed North Korea
Planet Earth, narrated by kids
BBC America made this promo of kids narrating the Planet Earth nature documentary in place of David Attenborough.
UID brings serious discrimination concerns: Edgar Whitley
Professor Edgar Whitley was the lead author a London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) report that demonstrated the futility of nationwide biometric-based identity schemes, showing that they were slated to become endless exercises of ever-increasing expenditure, bringing in their wake serious risks like identity theft.
Also - Coriander, s/o Pulav, gets Aadhaar card in Andhra!
An Aadhaar card, bearing the number 49911866 5246, was issued in the name of Mr Kothimeer (coriander), son of Mr 'Pulav'. In the address section, it was mentioned as Gongura Thota (Hibiscus Cannabinus), Mamidi Kaya Vuru (raw mango village) of Jambuladinne Mandal in Anantapur district. The card displayed the photo of a mobile phone against the name of the card holder.
Why I am against the UID project.
Super slow motion highlights from Danish TV show "Dumt & Farligt"
This is brilliant.
Infographic - World of Religion
Coke Hug Me Machine
You hug it, it returns the favour with a Coke. Because vending machines have feelings too.
The true politics of cricket disguised as a good turn
On Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan.
Webbygram
Lets you browse your Instagram stream from the web.
IPL's hidden attraction
The fan frenzy, including wearing team shirts, waving flags, screaming hysterically and performing high-fives with total strangers, is so out of proportion to local or even state representation that it clearly points to something deeper and more psychological. Professor Daniel Wann, an American psychologist, has published several studies and books on fan psychology. Over time, he devised the Sport Fan Motivation Scale which isolates the eight major motives for becoming a sports fan: eustress (positive stress), escape, entertainment, economic, aesthetic, group affiliation, self-esteem and family bonding. It's an intriguing mix.
Six degrees of aggregation
How The Huffington Post ate the Internet.
How to Fit Reading Into Your Schedule and Actually Finish the Books You Want to Read
Script of Anurag Kashyap's Dev D
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Hate Story and Vicky Donor.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-04-15T00:54:00.000+05:30

How one man tried to become the healthiest person on the planet
A Q&A with best-selling author A.J. Jacobs, whose new book, 'Drop Dead Healthy,' chronicles his bizarre quest for perfection.
Inside Slave City
What is it that makes the Indian middle class treat their domestic help with such derision and abuse?
The Mind of a Self-Immolator
On 22 March, Jamphel Yeshi, a 27-year-old Tibetan, burnt himself to death in protest against Chinese oppression in Tibet. He had decided on it 10 days ago. What happened in between?
And God Made Nihari
It is more than a mere dish. To this gourmet tourist, it is the axis that holds good while everything else is in a swirl.
A Daughter's Revenge
Brigitte Harris cut off her father's penis, accidentally killing him in the process, because, she says, he sexually abused her for years. In 2009, she was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, and sentenced to five to fifteen years. This week she'll have her first parole hearing. Should she be released?
The Stanford Education Experiment Could Change Higher Learning Forever
Last fall, the university in the heart of Silicon Valley did something it had never done before: It opened up three classes, including CS221, to anyone with a web connection. Lectures and assignments—the same ones administered in the regular on-campus class—would be posted and auto-graded online each week. Midterms and finals would have strict deadlines. Stanford wouldn't issue course credit to the non-matriculated students. But at the end of the term, students who completed a course would be awarded an official Statement of Accomplishment.
Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?
Social media-from Facebook to Twitter-have made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier (or more narcissistic)-and that this loneliness is making us mentally and physically ill. A report on what the epidemic of loneliness is doing to our souls and our society.
How My Aunt Marge Ended Up in the Deep Freeze...
"Bernie," the new film from Richard Linklater stars Jack Black as Bernie Tiede - a small-town funeral director beloved by nearly everyone in Carthage, Tex., sweet-natured and gregarious, a lover of show tunes and Jesus - who ends up murdering an ornery wealthy widow, played by Shirley MacLaine. Tiede stuffs her in a freezer, after shooting her four times in the back. Her frozen body stays there for nine months while Bernie spends a big chunk of her fortune, millions of dollars, on assorted good deeds and indulgences, buying the people of Carthage pretty much whatever they want - cars, Jet Skis, airplanes - and pledging a new wing for the Methodist church with hardly anyone bothering to ask where he got so much money.
Even after the body is discovered and Bernie confesses to the crime, a lot of people in Carthage are so sure he couldn't have done it ("Bernie? Dear, sweet Bernie?") that the district attorney (played by Matthew McConaughey) has to move the trial two counties south just to find a jury that's willing to convict him. It's a story about people believing what they want to believe, even when there's evidence to the contrary. It's a story about people not being what they seem. And it's a story, as the movie poster says, "so unbelievable it must be true."
Lefties Aren't Special After All
The popular image that left-handers have been persecuted across history is a myth. But the current tendency to associate left-handedness with creativity and leadership is also unfounded.
Jon Stewart and the Burden of History
He's not so funny anymore, and it's not only because he's come to take himself seriously. It's because in the Obama era, we're starting to see the price of refusing to stand for anything.
Video - Holi
Wow!
Delight, India's first eToilet
Excellent. Coin operated, automatic washing and space for ads.
Movie Trailer - Dangerous Ishhq
Starring Karishma Kapoor, Rajneesh Duggal, Divya Dutta, Jimmy Shergill, Ruslaan Mumtaz and Arya Babbar. Directed by Vikram Bhatt.
ONLY because we can
Nice interactive video campaign.
10 Curious Facts About Dreams
Flyte MP3
Flipkart's MP3 store available as Android app.
Video - A dramatic surprise on a quiet square - TNT Benelux
To launch the high quality TV channel TNT in Belgium we placed a big red push button on an average Flemish square of an average Flemish town. A sign with the text "Push to add drama" invited people to use the button. And then we waited...
Dramatic indeed!
Matt Groening Reveals the Location of the Real Springfield
Twenty-five years after The Simpsons made their TV debut, the show's creator talks about Homer's odyssey-and his own.
Toward a simpler, more beautiful Google
Google+ redesigned.
Yep, our 5-year-old told his teacher not to use Comic Sans
Hillary Clinton likes 'Texts from Hillary' Tumblr
Pictures - The Nenets of Siberia
In arctic northern Russia, industrialized resource extraction and climate change are presenting a double threat to the Nenets, an indigenous people native to Siberia. The Nenets depend heavily on their reindeer herds, using them for food, clothing, tools, transportation, and more as they migrate more than a thousand kilometers across the tundra every year. Photographer Steve Morgan recently traveled to the Yamal Peninsula to document the Nenets and their threatened way of life.
Mark Zuckerberg: I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.
The Last Handwritten Newspaper in the World
'The Musalman' published in Chennai.
Tendulkar's unseemly media blitz in the wake of his 100th hundred
Sachin Tendulkar's media blitz in the wake of his 100th hundred has been unseemly and cheapens his legacy. Mukul Kesavan doesn't hold back any punches.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Ab Hoga Dharna Unlimited, Bittoo Boss and Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-04-08T01:38:00.000+05:30

Big Indian Ideas
Like them or not, the brainwaves that no citizen can ignore.
The Man Who Wore a Sanitary Napkin
I am perhaps the only man to have ever worn a sanitary napkin. I am the only man who understands what a woman endures during those days. The wetness. The discomfort. The constant fear of stains. It's like walking around dragging a heavy chain tied around your feet.
It is my dream to make India a 100 per cent sanitary napkin-using nation.
The rapes will go on
In a two-week long investigation, Abhishek Bhalla and G Vishnu spoke to more than 30 senior cops in the Delhi-NCR region. More than half had shockingly ugly views on rape victims. This is the face of law exposed. How can the system effect justice through men like these?
This really pisses me off.
Watch out for what you eat. It could be killing you slowly and sweetly: says new CSE junk food and nutrition study
Full report.
You don't really expect chips, cola and instant noodles to be healthy but then lying about the nutritional information is something else.
Shit Delhi Girls Say
This meme is everywhere.
Traffic
Life as an air-traffic controller.
Absolute Beginners
Eight women remember their first times having sex.
In the Battles of SOPA and PIPA, Who Should Control the Internet?
When the Internet was created, decades ago, one thing was inevitable: the war today over how (or whether) to control it, and who should have that power. Battle lines have been drawn between repressive regimes and Western democracies, corporations and customers, hackers and law enforcement.
Controversy Deepens Over Pesticides and Bee Collapse
A controversial new study of honeybee deaths has deepened a bitter dispute over whether the developed world’s most popular pesticides are causing an ecological catastrophe.
Angry Birds, Farmville and Other Hyperaddictive 'Stupid Games'
How time-wasting video games escaped the arcade, jumped into our pockets and took over our lives.
Movie stars in their first roles
Texts from Hillary
Funny tumble blog.
Behold, A Clever Broom That Stands On Its Own
Clean and Dry Intimate Wash
Designed to address the problems women face in their private parts, Clean and Dry Intimate Wash offers protection, fairness and freshness. To be used while showering, its special pH-balanced formula cleans and protects the affected area, and even makes the skin fairer. Life for women will now be fresher, cleaner, fairer!
Oh lord.
The Invisible Man
Camouflage artist Liu Bolin.
Facebook after 100 years
A grim statistic.
Google Begins Testing Its Augmented-Reality Glasses
Also - 4 Problems Google Glasses Have To Solve Before Becoming A Hit
Google Glasses Face Serious Hurdles, Augmented-Reality Experts Say
An Expert's View on Google's Goggles
And the funny take - The real Google Glasses
Take a Virtual Tour of The White House
Movie Trailer - Shanghai
Directed by Dibakar Banerjee. Starring Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin and Prosenjit Chatterjee.
Movie Trailer - Teri Meri Kahaani
Starring Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. Directed by Kunal Kohli.
Movie Trailer - Kya Super Kool Hai Hum
Starring Tusshar Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu, Angela Jonsson, Neha Sharma and Sarah Jane Dias. Directed by Sachin Yardi.
Movie Trailer - Rowdy Rathore
Starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha. Directed by Prabhudeva.
Pictures - Afghanistan: March 2012
April Fools 2012: We Ruin Every (Tech-Related) Joke On The Internets
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Housefull 2.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-04-01T01:19:00.000+05:30

Antiviral Drugs Could Blast the Common Cold-Should We Use Them?
Odd Blood: Serodiscordancy, or, Life With an HIV-Positive Partner
What it's like to be one half of a couple where one partner is HIV positive, and the other is not.
Death of a data haven: cypherpunks, WikiLeaks, and the world's smallest nation
The strange story of Sealand, a nation housed exclusively on a World War II anti-aircraft platform seven miles off the English coast.
Twitter hoaxer comes clean and says: I did it to expose weak media
Tommaso De Benedetti faked the identities of world leaders and fooled editors into publishing false stories.
Puberty Before Age 10 - A New 'Normal'?
What science tells us about the incredible shrinking childhood.
Watching 130 episodes of The Simpsons simultaneously
Exploring 10 Popular Sleep Myths
Paper: the next great iPad app, from the brains behind Courier
Looks good.
Google Self-Driving Car Test: Steve Mahan
"This is some of the best driving I've ever done," Steve Mahan said the other day. Mahan was behind the wheel of a Toyota Prius tooling the small California town of Morgan Hill in late January, a routine trip to pick up the dry cleaning and drop by the Taco Bell drive-in for a snack. He also happens to be 95 percent blind.
The Best Nanny Money Can Buy
Muneton, 49, who grew up in "a very poor family" in Sao Paulo. In 1990, she befriended a young American woman who had relocated to Brazil. When Muneton invited her to her family's home, the woman saw her natural ease with children and suggested that she move to America and become a nanny. Within a few months, Muneton was caring for the children of a rich family in South Carolina for only $100 a week.
When Muneton started working through Pavillion in 2002, however, she increased her salary to $85,000 a year. As she gathered sterling recommendations, she began increasing her pay. Eventually she worked for some of the country's wealthiest people, whom she accompanied on private jets to many of the world's most exclusive resorts. Today, she says, "there are no more poor people in my family." Muneton bought a nice house for her mother, a condo for her sister and a taxi cab each for two of her brothers. She also owns a beach house in Brazil, a penthouse in Miami and two properties (a six-unit building and a duplex) in Los Angeles.
How Jumpers Are Made
Pringle of Scotland commissioned artist David Shrigley to create this humorous short animated film about life behind-the-scenes at Pringle to celebrate the brands return to Milan Fashion Week.
Nice.
When Will India Get the Cricket Board it Deserves?
Never.
Pictures - A Collection of Kisses
Edible Cookbook That You Can Read, Cook And Serve
Video - All of Lionel Messi's 234 goals
Also - Lionel Messi documentary
A recent 45-minute documentary on Lionel Messi, which starts with his discovery in Argentina and runs through the end of last season.
Pictures - A Look Inside China
Cartoon: Time to put the "not" in "notification"
Suddenly, I'm surrounded by notifications. Three new email messages. Five things just happened on Facebook. Four people have mentioned, DM'd or retweeted me on twitter. Six Google alerts. LinkedIn on the iPhone now feels the need to notify me that I can always check it to see what my contacts are up to. (That has to be the ultimate meta-reminder: an app reminding you that it still exists.)
And if I still don't feel like I have the pulse of my system at my fingertips, I can install a shareware utility to notify me of all sorts of involuntary muscle movements on the part of my operating system and applications: "Backup complete." "Word just updated itself." "Photoshop just completed peristalsis."
Ballet dancers in super slow motion
Wow!
Moshi Moshi Curve
Bluetooth powered wireless handset and iPhone dock.
Nice.
Video: Ants mate with half-eaten, dying queen
A more macabre video from the insect kingdom would be hard to find.
Critics reviews and rating this week - Blood Money and Bumboo.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-03-25T00:23:00.000+05:30

A Critical Look at the Future of Zoos–An Interview with David Hancocks, renowned zoo architect and noted Zoo Director Emeritus
The split brain: A tale of two halves
Through studies of this group, neuroscientists now know that the healthy brain can look like two markedly different machines, cabled together and exchanging a torrent of data. But when the primary cable is severed, information - a word, an object, a picture - presented to one hemisphere goes unnoticed in the other. Michael Gazzaniga, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the godfather of modern split-brain science, says that even after working with these patients for five decades, he still finds it thrilling to observe the disconnection effects first-hand. 'You see a split-brain patient just doing a standard thing - you show him an image and he can't say what it is. But he can pull that same object out of a grab-bag,' Gazzaniga says. 'Your heart just races!'
Researchers study a small group of patients who underwent surgery that split their brains.
How one man escaped from a North Korean prison camp
There was torture, starvation, betrayals and executions, but to Shin In Geun, Camp 14 – a prison for the political enemies of North Korea - was home. Then one day came the chance to flee...
How One Response to a Reddit Query Became a Big-Budget Flick
Now, in response to The_Quiet_Earth's question about time-traveling marines, Erwin started typing. He posted his answer in a series of comments in the thread. Within an hour, he was an online celebrity. Within three hours, a film producer had reached out to him. Within two weeks, he was offered a deal to write a movie based on his Reddit comments. Within two months, he had taken a leave from his job to become a full-time Hollywood screenwriter.
The Case Against Google
Imagine you woke up tomorrow and Google was gone. You would still be able to search the Web. You could still send email. You could still use maps, make phone calls, watch videos, network with friends, write blog posts. There would be a period of adjustment, and it would be incredibly inconvenient but you would get by. There are other options. Some would feel it more than others; Google is a tool of the masses. Despite more than 20 years of the World Wide Web and more than 35 of personal computers, the Internet is still a very troubling place for many people. Google is the cipher they use to make sense of the chaos.
India in One, Two or Three Weeks
Three insider itineraries for visiting one of the world's most compelling and confounding countries.
Losing Steam
For long considered a microcosm of India, the Indian Railways is now on a rusty track to ruin. Ashok Malik on what ails the country's biggest employer and how to fix it.
Why Even the Best Exit Polls in India Are Useless
Conclusions about caste and community vote patterns in Indian elections are all based on erroneous data. At best we can only make qualitative assessments, but if political 'scientists' were to admit this, what would they do?
The Benefits of Bilingualism
Being bilingual makes you smarter and can have a profound effect on your brain.
Does It Matter Whether God Exists?
The philosopher John Gray has recently been arguing that belief in God should have little or nothing to do with religion. Is he right?
How to Get a Girlfriend: 7 Lines That Never Fail
:)
Inception Explained - An interactive animated infographic
Cartoon - Sixteen Ways To Use Your Wrist Now That Watches Are Obsolete
Also - My Life In Shirts
The Most Common Cooking Mistakes
Everyday objects
Jason Taylor has challenged himself to make an object a day for the entire year.
Train Your Brain for Monk-Like Focus
Stamen watercolour maps
Watercolor textures overlaid on OpenMaps map tiles by Stamen Design.
Love it.
Minimal Movie Posters India
A tumblog dedicated to minimalism in movie posters specifically for Indian Cinema.
Get Up, Dressed for Work, and Eat Breakfast in 5 Minutes - The Japanese TV Show Way
This is fabulous.
Why Does Movie-Theater Popcorn, Soda, Candy Cost So Much?
Man sues movie theater for charging too much for fountain sodas.
Wantful
Tell us a bit about the person you're buying a gift for. We'll help you curate a set of sixteen perfect gift ideas. Your collection is delivered in a custom printed gift book. They choose the item they love the most and we deliver it.
Pictures - The First Day of Spring
Easily manage all your social network settings from one page with Bliss Control
Lavabo Mons
Sink for kids.
Nice.
Full transcript of Mohammad Amir interview
Shortly after his release from prison and before returning to Pakistan, Mohammad Amir gave his first interview about the spot-fixing scandal to Michael Atherton on Sky Sports. Here is the full transcript.
The Space Bar Desk Organizer
The Space Bar is a simple, elegantly-designed desk accessory that minimizes clutter while providing additional USB ports for your computer. After a long day of work, simply slide your keyboard into the designated space below the shelf and store your office miscellany - keys, digital camera, etc. - up top.
Nice.
MakerBot Replicator
The MakerBot Replicator is the ultimate personal 3D printer, with single or dual extrusion (2-color printing)--and a bigger printing footprint, giving you the superpower to print things BIG!
These are going to be common soon.
Too Much SEO? Google's Working On An "Over-Optimization" Penalty For That
I Singe The Body Electric
I live in a house of slamming doors and broken dreams. I am no longer myself, I am convinced that I am starring in somebody's tragic film
Meena Kandasamy, a poet, activist, translator and scholar, shares her harrowing experience of being married to a violent man and subjugated to severe emotional and physical abuse.
Could this happen on Indian TV some day?
Mayhem-absolute, unadulterated mayhem-during a panel discussion on the Pakistani television channel Express News. Haha!
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Agent Vinod.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-03-18T01:06:00.000+05:30

The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
Don Johnson won nearly $6 million playing blackjack in one night, single-handedly decimating the monthly revenue of Atlantic City's Tropicana casino. Not long before that, he'd taken the Borgata for $5 million and Caesars for $4 million. Here's how he did it.
Graduation Day
When the massive earthquake and tsunami hit northeast Japan in March, some 25,000 people were killed, many of them swept out to sea. Chris Heath recounts what happened to eight children who went to school that morning.
CIA divorces: The secrecy when spies split
A look at the complications of CIA marriages, and how secrets often lead to separation.
The Story of a Suicide
Two college roommates, a webcam, and a tragedy.
On Indian student Dharun Ravi's trial.
The bin Laden plot to kill President Obama
He talks about restructuring and rebranding al-Qaeda like a CEO of a company would.
Video - Sarah Palin versus Julianne Moore
A scene for scene comparison of Sarah Palin's actual media appearances and Julianne Moore's reenactments of them from the movie Game Change.
Sudhish Kamath: Why a filmmaker and a critic can't be friends
What do all the controls in an airplane cockpit do?
A pilot answers. In detail.
Indian TV shows now on YouTube
11 Ways Advertisers Make Food Look Delicious
Video - Pixel baby dancing
:)
Pictures - A World Without People
For a number of reasons, natural and human, people have recently evacuated or otherwise abandoned a number of places around the world -- large and small, old and new. Gathering images of deserted areas into a single photo essay, one can get a sense of what the world might look like if humans were to vanish from the planet altogether. Collected here are recent scenes from nuclear-exclusion zones, blighted urban neighborhoods, towns where residents left to escape violence, unsold developments built during the real estate boom, ghost towns, and more.
One of the best series on In Focus.
Microwhat
Before and After pictures of microwaving everything.
Movie Trailer - Ishaqzaade
Starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra. Directed by Habib Faisal.
How do blind people dream?
Video - Introducing Google Play
Nice ad.
Humara Movie
Humaramovie.com, is an independent, on-demand channel for expert generated short form content. This shall be a repository of all short film content from India, or having an India focus/ theme.
How to draw Bugs Bunny
Watch as legendary animator Chuck Jones draws Bugs Bunny, one of the many characters he helped create during his long career.
Watch What Traffic Will Look Like When Cars Drive Themselves
The Origin of the Budget Briefcase
Then there's the object at the center of the money shot from each Budget Day in India: the leather briefcase that the finance minister clasps amorously to his chest, as he poses for photographers on the steps of Parliament.
In Indian Homes, Phones and Electricity on Rise but Sanitation and Internet Lagging
The Housing Census figures are out.
DollarShaveClub.com - Our Blades Are F***ing Great
Excellent.
Poster series explaining complex philosophical theories through basic shapes
When Mom Goes Viral: Marilyn Hagerty, 85, Is Talk of Social Media
After Review of Grand Forks Olive Garden, Marilyn Hagerty, 85, Is Talk of Social Media.
Pictures - The 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
Long Live Cinema
Home to the Indian Indie. India's first indie film database and a home video label focusing on independent films and short films.
My husband, the perfectionist
Vijeeta Dravid on her husband, Rahul.
Facebook Blocks thousands of Indian users for using the word c*****
What chutiyapanti!
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Chaurahen, Love Possible, Say Yes To Love and Zindagi Tere Naam.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-03-11T00:35:00.000+05:30

They Did It To Pluto, But Not To Pink! Please Not Pink!
Pluto isn't a planet anymore. It's been demoted. Now it's pink's turn. I'm talking about the color pink. It turns out (and this is not a new development, it's just something I didn't know), there is no pink in a rainbow. It isn't there.
Sabatina James: Why My Mother Wants Me Dead
When Sabatina James refused an arranged marriage, she sparked a violent war within her family—and a threat on her life.
How the TED Conference Started An Intellectual Movement
Smart talk has never been such a valuable commodity. It's spawned conferences like TED, Davos, and now a slew of upstart competitors. It has made the eighteen‑minute TED lecture a viral online phenomenon. But are we running out of things to say?
The Mystery of 18 Twitching Teenagers in Le Roy
When 18 students started twitching, parents suspected the environment. The answer turned out to be much more complex.
Child’s Play Reinvented
Tired of the same old toys, Bangalore’s Toy Lab is changing the game with interesting innovations.
Finally, Fake Chicken Worth Eating
Why use the poor chicken as a machine to produce meat when you can use a machine to produce "meat" that seems like chicken?
Are You As Busy As You Think?
Undercover Billionaire: Sara Blakely Joins The Rich List Thanks To Spanx
Why Being Sleepy and Drunk Are Great for Creativity
The Incident Report. Or, The Time I Broke It
Ouch!
Thank You, Dravid
The tributes are pouring in - Mukul Kesavan, Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, Sharda Ugra,
Rob Smyth, Sambit Bal, Harsha Bhogle.
Also - Why Rahul Dravid is India's greatest Test cricketer, bar none
Time lapse of ants invading a document scanner
Francois Vautier installed an ant colony in his scanner and scanned it each week for five years. This is the resulting time lapse video.
British 5-year-old's impressions on logos
Not as good as the original but still fun.
Nano Workout
A healthy lifestyle without breaking a sweat.
Paan Singh Tomar – Q & A with Tigmanshu Dhulia & Sanjay Chohan (Pics/Video)
60 Girls with the Dragon Tattoo
Collection of book covers for the Millennium trilogy.
Startling Photoshop Makeovers of Classic Nudes in Art
Forget Your Past
Ruins of a huge Bulgarian monument in honour of Communism.
Pictures - The Colors of Holi 2012
Introducing Google Play: All your entertainment, anywhere you go
Android Market is now Google Play.
Also - Google Play? What The Hell Was Wrong With Android Market?
How do blogs need to evolve?
Before she was Gaga: The unseen photos
Could This Slick Packaging Convince People To Eat Bugs?
The story of Keep Calm and Carry On
You've seen the now-famous Keep Calm and Carry On poster and its many many variations, but did you know that this British WWII poster was never distributed to the public and was discovered only recently in an English book shop?
Zynga
Zynga games platform is now live with games like CityVille, CastleVille, Hidden Chronicles, Words With Friends and Zynga Poker.
Jimmy Kimmel Live - Movie: The Movie
Nice :)
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Chaar Din Ki Chandni and Kahaani.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-03-04T01:48:00.000+05:30

Life, With Dementia
On prisoners with Alzheimer's disease and their incarcerated caretakers.
I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave
My brief, backbreaking, rage-inducing, low-paying, dildo-packing time inside the online-shipping machine.
Should You Get a Vasectomy?
It seemed like the perfect contraception: no hormone-weirding pills, no devices to insert, no more latex. Ever. Sure, you had to let a surgeon take a scalpel to your balls, but afterward you'd get to have baby-proof sex for the rest of your life. Bareback, baby-proof sex. Really, if you were done procreating, why wouldn't you get a vasectomy? Benjamin Percy found out.
Inside the High Tech Hunt for a Missing Silicon Valley Legend
When computer science legend Jim Gray disappeared, his friends and colleagues — including Bill Gates and Larry Ellison — used every technological tool at their disposal to try to find him.
I'm Being Followed: How Google—and 104 Other Companies—Are Tracking Me on the Web
Who are these companies and what do they want from me? A voyage into the invisible business that funds the web.
How Georgia Did It
Eight years ago, faced with rampant corruption, Georgia took a series of drastic steps, among them the overnight sacking of the entire police force. Did it work?
For iRobot, the Future Is Getting Closer
iRobot has sold millions of Roomba vacuum cleaners, and its bomb disposal robots protect soldiers. Now, it is using video and computing advances to create robots that can handle more duties.
Spotlight on movie profitability
Relationship between Rotten Tomatoes score and profit.
Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?
Comic - Error Code
:)
Lytro
Unlike a conventional camera that captures a single plane of light, the Lytro camera captures the entire light field, which is all the light traveling in every direction in every point in space.
Since you'll capture the color, intensity, and direction of all the light, you can experience the first major light field capability - focusing after the fact. Focus and re-focus, anywhere in the picture. You can refocus your pictures at anytime.
Quite amazing this. You can play with the pictures here.
Go, Sachin, go? But what did we do to deserve a Sachin?
...we are all keen to fix the blame, not the problem. We are also unwilling to acknowledge a serious flaw in the Indian character — a willingness to celebrate success too soon, a willingness to settle for mediocrity when excellence should be the goal.
Thus, we are over the moon merely because our hockey team qualified to enter the Olympics. Hello? Is this what the world’s best team upto the 1960s should be thrilled about today, when Australia makes mincemeat of us each time we clash in some tournament?
Simple techniques for photographing food
How Three Germans Are Cloning the Web
Oliver, Marc, and Alexander Samwer, a trio of German brothers have a wildly successful business model: Find a promising Internet business, in the U.S., and clone it internationally.
Pictures - Afghanistan: February 2012
The Lively Morgue
New Tumblr blog from the NY Times featuring their archival photo collection.
The Artistifier
Turns any YouTube movie into a black and white silent movie.
Why the Progress Bar Is Lying to You
Our computers are trying to pacify us. When you transfer a file, a progress bar appears to calmly tell you how much time is left. But here's why that soothing assurance of progress is more like a wild guess.
From Rapunzel to The Little Red Riding Hood, Beloved Children's Classics as Minimalist Posters
Felton Report is here
Flipkart's digital music store in now online
Excellent.
Pictures - Disabled Protesters Vs. Riot Police
A protest in Bolivia demanding rights for the disabled turned violent yesterday as hundreds of people in wheelchairs and crutches clashed with riot police.
Out of the box
Most phones come with flimsy manuals with complicated language and jargon. These books, which can live on a bookshelf actually contain the phone.
Each page reveals the elements of the phone in the right order, helping the user to set up the sim card, the battery and even slide the case onto the phone.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Diary of a Butterfly, London Paris New York, Paan Singh Tomar and Will You Marry Me?.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-02-26T00:36:00.000+05:30

Between Roses in Mumbai by Katherine Boo
The story of a young man on the run in the slum he dreams of escaping.
The Secret Life of Bees
The world's leading expert on bee behavior discovers the secrets of decision-making in a swarm.
The Book of Jobs
What it means to stay true to the Steve Jobs brand.
Video - Is this the worst penalty ever?
Also - Back-heel penalty kick by UAE's Awana Diab
The Jerusalem Syndrome: Why Some Religious Tourists Believe They Are the Messiah
There's a joke in psychiatry: If you talk to God, it's called praying; if God talks to you, you’re nuts. In Jerusalem, God seems to be particularly chatty around Easter, Passover, and Christmas—the peak seasons for the syndrome. It affects an estimated 50 to 100 tourists each year, the overwhelming majority of whom are evangelical Christians. Some of these cases simply involve tourists becoming momentarily overwhelmed by the religious history of the Holy City, finding themselves discombobulated after an afternoon at the Wailing Wall or experiencing a tsunami of obsessive thoughts after walking the Stations of the Cross.
Unique Entrance made by the Bride
Dilip Weds Mohana. 12 Feb 2012. Sree MahaMariamman Temple, Singapore.
Well done.
The Emperor Uncrowned
Nice article by Vinod K Jose on the rise of Narendra Modi.
Also - Narendra Modi's official website has been redesigned
Readying himself for 2014?
Hindutva Lab 2.0
BJP-ruled Karnataka is on a dangerous path of radicalisation. Rana Ayyub traces the scary distortion of an entire society.
Indian Stretchable Time
The 'ish' watch. Nice.
Dead for 32,000 Years, an Arctic Plant Is Revived
One Is the Quirkiest Number
Living alone means freedom to come and go and space and solitude to recharge. It can also unleash eccentricities.
Google to Sell Heads-Up Display Glasses by Year's End
Also - Google Glasses Will Be Powered by Android
Tired of Feeling Bad? The New Science of Feelings Can Help
Is your emotional style getting you down? Research finds the neural basis of your responses to life-and how you can change them.
The myth of the eight-hour sleep
We often worry about lying awake in the middle of the night - but it could be good for you. A growing body of evidence from both science and history suggests that the eight-hour sleep may be unnatural.
The Periodic Table Table Featuring Theo Gray
Some people collect stamps. Wolfram Research co-founder and author Theo Gray collects elements. Step into his office, and you'll see a silicon disc engraved with Homer Simpson, a jar of mercury, uranium shells and thousands of other chemical artifacts. But his real DIY masterpiece is the world's first "periodic table table." Within this masterfully constructed table-top lay samples of nearly every element known to man, minus the super-radioactive ones.
Twitter: The Modern Day Complaint Department
People don't fill out comment cards anymore. They don't send nasty emails to the complaint department. They go on Twitter and raise hell in 140 characters or less. Social media sites like Twitter are increasingly becoming the modern day complaint department, and for good reason - complaining on Twitter often gets immediate results. It's also faster than sending an email and it's way more public.
From Bollywood Starlet To Florida Women's Rights Champion
Somy Ali, Bollywood actress who once dated Salman Khan, now helps abused women in Florida.
Photos: 8 Moon-Landing Hoax Myths--Busted
Collaborate and edit anywhere with the updated Google Docs for Android
Pictures - Japan Earthquake: Before and After
The Best of LIFE: 37 Years in Pictures
Beauty in every grain: For the first time remarkable photographs reveal hidden charms of ordinary sand
Every World Press Photo Winner From 1955-2011
Pictures - Carnival 2012
More From Carnival 2012
switcheroo
Photographer Hana Pesut takes photos of couples wearing each other's clothes.
No Room for Mistakes
Design Perfectionists at Home
Aeroshot
Inhalable caffeine.
ZootOut
A local lifestyle recommendation engine.
Best. Technical College. Ad. Ever.
What begins as a seemingly cheesy commercial for the Central Institute of Technology in Australia quickly devolves into a morass of extremely dark silliness. But yes, it's actually a real ad for a real school. Very creative, twisted, and funny.
Comic - First Post
The problem with posting comments in the order they're submitted.
:)
Striking it rich
For scores of cricketers, the Indian Premier League is the ticket to the good life, the Hayabusas and the Audis, the plush apartments and financial security for their families. The story of six players and their journey from struggle to millions.
Pepperplate
Manage recipes, menus and shopping lists.
Looks good.
Pinterest: Delightful, Addictive, Theft
Also - Is Pinterest Illegal?
Here we go - Flickr disables Pinterest pins on all copyrighted images
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Jodi Breakers and Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-02-19T00:43:00.001+05:30

Open Your Mouth And You Are Dead
The freediving world championships occur at the outer limits of competitive risk. During the 2011 event, held off the coast of Greece, more than 130 athletes assembled to swim hundreds of feet straight down on a single breath-without (they hoped) passing out, freaking out, or drowning. James Nestor reports on the amazingly fit, unquestionably brave, and possibly crazy people who line up for the ultimate plunge.
What makes a perfect spy tick?
Trashed
How did a popular, handsome college freshman end up buried in a Bucks County landfill? A tale of a baffling death, Joyce Carol Oates, and the secret society that may have cracked the case.
Quanitta Underwood - A Contender for Olympic Gold and a Survivor
The story of Olympic boxing hopeful Quanitta Underwood, who was sexually abused by her father as a child.
Adele: One and Only
The newly minted Grammy winner's lows and highs-from throat surgery and heartbreak to the biggest-selling album of last year.
The Forgetting Pill Erases Painful Memories Forever
For years scientists have been able to change the emotional tone of a memory by administering certain drugs just before asking people to recall the event in detail. New research suggests that they'll be able to target and erase specific memories altogether.
Greatest Simpsons Cameos From First 500 Episodes
White House Code Names
A POTUS's Secret Service nickname is chosen with care. Its meaning is open to interpretation.
How Companies Learn Your Secrets
Your shopping habits reveal even the most personal information - like when you're going to have a baby.
Genome Sequencing's Affordable, and Frightful, Future
Genome sequencing is becoming affordable-which could lead to some very scary self-discovery.
At the Blackjack Ball, Card Counter Dr. Edward Thorp Is King
Why was a math professor pushing 80 the top draw at an ultrasecret blackjack ball? A look into the rise of a card-counting mastermind.
How Interval Training Can Improve Health
Short, intense bursts of exercise, followed by brief periods of rest, produced significant benefits for the heart and overall health.
Don't Understand Indian Food? They'll Break It Down
Borrowing the assembly-line format and chipper style of chains like Subway, owners of Indian restaurants plan to make dals, curries and flatbreads into fast food.
Did You Hear We Got Osama?
Do people consume news just to entertain themselves?
Why not make Arnab Goswami Prime Minister?
He is the only person I know who can be more outraged than outrage itself.
He can extract outrage from a dead cockroach. "Who is responsible for the mysterious death of this innocent cockroach, Mr Prime Minister? The nation needs to know. Was the cockroach really a member of the Indian Mujahideen, as is being claimed by intelligence agencies, or was he another loyal follower of my TV show who spontaneously combusted in uncontrollable outrage?"
Haha!
Pictures - Rising Protests in China
6 rules of modern poster design
:)
Redesigning the Windows Logo
Windows 8 has a new logo.
Did Police Trawl Gaming Site for Sticky Bomb Info?
Delhi Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta had spent "hours" carrying out research into sticky bombs, and that printouts were distributed afterwards to explain how they work. But instead of describing the bomb used in Monday's attack, the printouts looked a lot like the instructions for an online game, even saying how much damage sticky bombs could do "to the player."
The report noted that the language of the police printout had actually been borrowed from an Internet game called "Terraria."
Feel safer now?
Dogs Diving Underwater Are Terrifying And Bewitching
Wow!
Short term mobile phone storage for NYC students
Interesting.
Shekhar Kapur Announces Qyuki: A Social Network For Stories
Samsung's super-sized Galaxy Note changed my life
Funny review.
A Single Man: One Chinese Bachelor's Search for Love
The French Government Wants To Tone My Vagina
Inside my amazing and embarrassing postnatal "perineal re-education" class, paid for by la France.
Winning American Idol: try to be last
If you are appearing on American Idol or the X-Factor, try to be one of the last to sing. That's the conclusion from a new paper presented at a University of Westminster seminar today. Lionel Page and Katie Page look at an important topic - the evaluation of a sequential order of performances.
Also - Last Shall Be First in Idol Economics
Pictures - World Press Photo Contest 2012
A nazm on Jagjit Singh by Gulzar
The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies 2012
Couple of Indian companies on the list.
Electronic Security a Worry in an Age of Digital Espionage
When Kenneth G. Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution, travels to that country, he follows a routine that seems straight from a spy film.
He leaves his cellphone and laptop at home and instead brings "loaner" devices, which he erases before he leaves the United States and wipes clean the minute he returns. In China, he disables Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, never lets his phone out of his sight and, in meetings, not only turns off his phone but also removes the battery, for fear his microphone could be turned on remotely. He connects to the Internet only through an encrypted, password-protected channel, and copies and pastes his password from a USB thumb drive. He never types in a password directly, because, he said, "the Chinese are very good at installing key-logging software on your laptop."
100,000 Scovilles - Naga Chilli Vodka
We filled a carboy with vodka, and into it we poured so many Naga Jolokia chillies that there was nothing but darkness in that carboy, nothing but darkness. We left the chillies to infuse and impart their flavour, colour and deathly fire into the vodka, and we've bottled the result. We are sorry. We are truly sorry.
This stuff smells like pure evil, like the very blood of Satan himself. Such a pungent nose of chilli, it makes your eyes water just sniffing it.
Pictures - Valentine's Day 2012
12 Hand-Written Love Letters From Famous People, From Henry VIII To Michael Jordan
How Google Created Its Epic(-ish) Valentine's Day Doodle
How to Say I Love You
In 100 different ways :)
For the love of songs!
Nice collection of romantic Hindi movie songs.
Comic - Valentine Dilemma
TEDxPhoenix - Kelli Anderson - Disruptive Wonder for a Change
Kelli believes that the world is full of order that doesn't necessarily deserve our respect, and in her TEDxPhoenix 11.11.11 TEDxTalk, Kelli inspires us to change the world around us by rejecting normal order, messing things up, and causing millions of teeny-tiny disruptions to whatever is sitting in front of you.
Butt Cleavage Dress
Exactly what it says.
Gumroad: Sell digital goods with a link, no storefront needed
Pictures - Japan earthquake and tsunami: See how the country has rebuilt in 11 months
Critics reviews and ratings this week - ?, Ekk Deewana Tha and Married To America.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-02-12T00:32:00.000+05:30

MTV Roadies Teaches You How to Win Friends
An abusive reality show from India becomes the most social show in the world.
Welcome To The Jungle
What does Amazon's entrance into India mean for our nascent e-commerce market?
Obama, Explained
As Barack Obama contends for a second term in office, two conflicting narratives of his presidency have emerged. Is he a skillful political player and policy visionary-a chess master who always sees several moves ahead of his opponents (and of the punditocracy)? Or is he politically clumsy and out of his depth-a pawn overwhelmed by events, at the mercy of a second-rate staff and of the Republicans? Here, a longtime analyst of the presidency takes the measure of our 44th president, with a view to history.
The Mystery Monk Making Billions With 5-Hour Energy
The secret life of Manoj Bhargava, whose 5-Hour Energy caffeine and vitamin shot has rung up more than $1 billion in sales.
Cheating, Incorporated
On the adultery website AshleyMadison.com.
India's Own Jasmin Revolution
It took a suicide and the Facebook account of a man named Jasmin to set it off. Within five months, it saw 164,000 nurses rallying online—thousands of them in actual hospitals too-for better work conditions.
How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy
Jaroslav Flegr is no kook. And yet, for years, he suspected his mind had been taken over by parasites that had invaded his brain. So the prolific biologist took his science-fiction hunch into the lab. What he's now discovering will startle you. Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia? A biologist's science- fiction hunch is gaining credence and shaping the emerging science of mind- controlling parasites.
How Massage Heals Sore Muscles
Researchers have found what happens to muscles when a masseur goes to work on them.
'Charlie Bit My Finger' Video Lifts Family to Fame
A 2007 video of a boy chomping on the finger of his brother has been viewed 417.6 million times, making it the most successful noncommercial video in YouTube history.
Mindful Eating as Way to Fight Bingeing
A concept based on Buddhist teachings encourages people to eat slowly, paying close attention to the sensation and purpose of each morsel.
The Virgin Father
Trent Arsenault has never had sex, but he's the father of fifteen children-and counting. The more he antagonizes the FDA, and unnerves television audiences across America, the more his in-box is flooded with requests for his sperm.
20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
2012 World Press Photo winners
No Robots
A student film, from San Jose State University, which is directed by Kimberly Knoll (USA) and 張永翰 Yunghan Chang (Taiwan).
Love it.
Dissecting box office with Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Oramax Media
Interesting discussion.
Official Wikipedia App for Android
Comic - Kerning
:)
Meundies Wants To Send You A New Pair Of Underwear Every Month
Congress Remakes "Jai Ho" into Party Anthem
Bits of the song in this video
Movie Trailer - Paan Singh Tomar
Starring Irrfan Khan and Mahie Gill. Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Band creates the 'most relaxing tune ever'
Listen to it
Up for review
How DRS has altered many aspects of cricket - the way batsmen play spinners, the increased boldness of umpires when it comes to lbw decisions, the reduction in the tension between teams, and the introduction of a new tactical angle to the sport.
What goes wrong when players go through a lean period?
Good players don't lose their skill but they can lose their way, writes Greg Chappell.
Interesting theory.
We are what we sing
Anonymous Hacks Syrian President's Email. The Password: 12345
Social Media Explained
:)
Literally Unbelievable
Collects examples from Facebook of people who think stories from The Onion are real.
Nike Unveils Ninja Shoes For Yoga Class
Umm...yoga is meant to be done barefoot. And then people end up writing about 'how yoga can wreck your body'. Do it right first.
Christopher Payne Photography
Love it.
South Hall Office
Glorious place to work.
Penguin's beautiful new edition of Kama Sutra
More here
At the gym: who is looking at whom
:)
So You Think You Can Be a Morning Person?
The lessons of Steve Jobs
Video - Jamie playing multiball
This one has been doing the rounds. Lil' kid playing table tennis with his father.
What did people do in a Medieval City?
A list of medieval occupations.
What Should Starbucks Sell in India?
Textbuk.in – A Text Book Rental Service for Students
Terry Moore: How to tie your shoes
Terry Moore found out he'd been tying his shoes the wrong way his whole life.
Move Your Ass
Bangalore's runners list a bunch of their favourite routes for those of you who believe the most efficient way to lose some lard while exploring the city is to go for a long run.
How Does Facebook Make Money?
Also - The 'Eggs In One Basket' Index
Tech companies' biggest revenue source by percentage.
Misreading the Elections
Too often obscured by the media's penchant for prediction, ground realities in UP reveal the issues that truly determine results.
If only the media could eschew its penchant for prediction, which tends to skew all other coverage towards the same superficial register, it would have far more time to examine the realities on the ground, and to unearth the specific local issues and conflicts that truly determine results. The media gives us the impression that little else matters beyond the promises of reservations, "vote-bank politics", populist grants and loan waivers, and "anti-incumbency". Actual voters, meanwhile, are already preoccupied with things like the September 2011 floods in eastern UP and the unavailability of fertilisers for farmers in central UP—and politicians are already talking about them as they campaign; but the national media doesn't seem to have devoted a single story to these subjects.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu and Valentine's Night.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-02-05T00:23:00.001+05:30

Wonder Dog - A Golden Retriever Reaches a Raging Boy
A golden retriever was the only thing that could reach a raging, disconnected boy.
Feet In Smoke: A Story About Electrified Near-Death
Excerpt from John Jeremiah Sullivan's "Pulphead," on his brother's electrocution, and what it did to his brain.
The Art of the Obituary
The Fast, Fabulous, Allegedly Fraudulent Life of Megaupload's Kim Dotcom
9 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Trust Online Reviews
How They Do It in Venezuela
As Miss India auditions begin, it is a good time to ask why this little South American country wins so many world titles.
The Taming of the Chef
A profile of Gordon Ramsay.
Oscar nominations 2012: if posters told the truth
Is this really the film you saw?
Top five regrets of the dying
A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying, and among the top ones is 'I wish I hadn't worked so hard'. What would your biggest regret be if this was your last day of life?
A Mother Lets Her Sons Do the Cooking
How one mother delegated dinner time. And made it work.
Tiny Story
Once upon a time, a tiny story with great soul.
Nice.
Super glue - be careful with it
:)
Inshallah Kashmir : Living terror
Ashvin Kumar, whose short film "Little Terrorist" won an Oscar nomination in 2004, has released his new documentary "Inshallah, Kashmir: Living Terror," on YouTube and Vimeo.
What really happens to our muscles as we age if we are chronically active?
Also - An MRI of two women, one 250 lbs and the other 120.
The Adventures of You and I
A one-of-a-kind book. Customized on demand to each kid, printed individually, and hand-bound.
Nice.
Why I am an atheist and a naturalist by Mark Jaquith
For Founders to Decorators, Facebook Riches
The graffiti artist who took Facebook stock instead of cash for painting the walls of the social network's first headquarters made a smart bet. The shares owned by the artist, David Choe, are expected to be worth upward of $200 million when Facebook stock trades publicly later this year.
The social network company announced its $5 billion public offering Wednesday afternoon, which is expected to value the whole company at $75 billion to $100 billion. Ultimately, that offering will mint a lot of billionaires and millionaires.
Crew targets $3B bounty from WWII shipwreck
A shipwreck hunter says he has found the wreck of a World War II merchant ship that was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Cape Cod with a load of platinum now valued at $3 billion — perhaps the richest hoard ever discovered at the bottom of the sea.
Who Gives a Tweet
Twitter users say only a little more than a third of the tweets they receive are worthwhile. Other tweets are either so-so or, in one out of four cases, not worth reading at all.
Early copy of Mona Lisa found
Amazon India Goes Live with Junglee, Takes Marketplace Approach
More like a price comparison site than a marketplace.
Also - This is why Amazon's Junglee is gonna SMASH the B**ls of Indian e-Commerce players
Not sure about that. Indian online buyers making purchases from unknown websites? Not happening.
Happiness Takes (A Little) Magic
There's a whole laundry list of disclaimers attached to it, but my pal (and Pulitzer winner) Matt Richtel wrote about a Stanford research report suggesting that spending considerable amounts of time on multimedia/technology can make us unhappy.
Fresh Impressions on Brandmarks (from my 5-year-old)
Excellent.
A Parking Garage Designed Like A Go-kart Track On Steroids
The Greatest Books of All Time, As Voted by 125 Famous Authors
Legacy: whose father what goes?
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan on Indian cricket.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Gali Gali Chor Hai, Love You To Death and Staying Alive.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-01-29T00:21:00.001+05:30

The Lives They Lived
Maybe it seems this way every year, but 2011 felt marked by more than its fair allotment of iconic deaths. Steve Jobs, Betty Ford,Elizabeth Taylor, Geraldine Ferraro And Christopher Hitchens, As Well As Osama Bin Laden and Muammar El-Qaddafi. You will not read about them in these pages. The Lives They Lived is not a greatest-hits issue. Instead, we gravitated to those lives with an untold tale.
Geography Lesson Revised
It won't be such a bad thing-smaller states. Language-based units have run their course. It's time to factor in economic, social, cultural realities.
A Pan-Indian Gram Sabha
Our representatives have failed us dismally, so it's time to bring people directly into the process of legislation. In the IT age, this should be easy.
On the Hindi vs TOI ad wars
Hindu's new ad talks to TOI instead of consumers
A second dive into the Hindu vs TOI war of TV commercials
How TOI woke up The Hindu
Make It Do
In 2012, I'm not going to buy anything except what I've used up or worn out. For all else, I'll make do with what I already own or I'll do without.
The Most Important Man in Music
Spotify's Daniel Ek created a free, Facebook-enabled platform that could save the recording industry from piracy-and iTunes.
The Mystery Behind Anesthesia
Mapping how our neural circuits change under the influence of anesthesia could shed light on one of neuroscience's most perplexing riddles: consciousness.
Sex, Lies, and Hit Men!
A Houston man allegedly tries to hire several hit men to kill his wife. Each fails miserably. It becomes the talk of the town.
Let the Robot Drive: The Autonomous Car of the Future Is Here
Newsweek's Oscar Roundtable Reveals Actors' Private Parts
Welcome to Newsweek's annual Oscar Roundtable. Michael Fassbender's penis makes everyone laugh. Charlize Theron sleeps with her statue. Christopher Plummer boogies to house music. Tilda Swinton talks about her first time. George Clooney doesn't want to live in a trailer. Viola Davis is terrified of Meryl Streep.
The Magnificent Five
Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, Ganguly – who contributed the most during India's Golden run in Test cricket.
Impact Index does a Test cricket analysis here to determine who contributed the most, in which period, how they combined with each other and what it all really means at the end of it. We examine certain truisms, identify some myths and confirm some facts.
Surprise Dance on Finnair Flight to celebrate India's Republic Day
Twitter will censor tweets, but will try really hard not to
Ikea Caters To Kitchen Voyeurs With Interactive Peep Show
It offers a voyeuristic tour that takes us into Ikea-outfitted kitchens, where we find ourselves smack in the middle of scenes ranging from a family celebrating Grandma's birthday to a housewarming party to a woman making dinner for a date. And we see these picture-perfect environments from a variety of points of view, ranging from the perspective of other people to the family dog as well as a pigeon and a cat.
Interesting.
The Mercenary Techie Who Troubleshoots for Drug Dealers and Jealous Lovers
Movie Teaser - Talaash
Directed by Reema Kagti. Starring Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji and Kareena Kapoor.
Movie Trailer - Agent Vinod
Starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Directed by Sriram Raghavan.
Movie Trailer - Tezz
Starring Ajay Devgan, Anil Kapoor, Kangna Ranaut, Sameera Reddy, Mohanlal, Boman Irani and Zayed Khan.
Directed by Priyadarshan.
Comedy Central now in India
Yaay!
Lisa Harouni: A primer on 3D printing
2012 may be the year of 3D printing, when this three-decade-old technology finally becomes accessible and even commonplace. Lisa Harouni gives a useful introduction to this fascinating way of making things -- including intricate objects once impossible to create.
THE next big thing. Everything from simple household objects to organs will utilise it.
Dr Manmohan Singh (pmoindia) on Twitter
"What if..." Movies reimagined for another time & place
What if recent movies had been made in an earlier era.
Cartoon - Where were you when the sites went out?
Haha!
Famous Photographers Pose With Their Most Iconic Images
The Ghanta Awards are here – Celebrating the Worst of Bollywood
Also - Golden Kela Awards
My picks - Worst movie - Chatur Singh Two Star, Worst actor - Chirag Paswan (Miley Na Miley Hum) and Worst actress - Kangana Ranaut (Rascals).
Ikea shelves Indian retail market move
Apple, America and a Squeezed Middle Class
Why Apple makes its products in China.
MunchWithUs
MunchWithUs is a social dining network that brings people together over tasting menus at top restaurants.
Hmm...
Danah Boyd - Cracking Teenagers' Online Codes
danah boyd is one of my fave people.
Is Priyanka's Dress Sense Insincere?
Also - The politics of clothes: What Priyanka's Amethi sari tells us
Priyanka Gandhi is hardly ever seen in a sari in Delhi. For the July 2008 trust vote in parliament, she, in fact, showed up in trendy dark trousers and a white shirt, an outfit both stunning and honest about who she is.
The stately young mother is often seen picking up her children from school in casual jeans and T-shirt. She attends charity functions in western wear, steps out for Delhi dinners in western wear, is seen at restaurants in western wear. Then why, oh why, must the gorgeous Priyanka Gandhi get into ethnic costume every time she visits Amethi?
I don't know why this is such a big deal. People always dress differently depending on the occasion/company/place.
Video - Watermelon skin carving
Great skills.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Agneepath.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-01-22T00:26:00.001+05:30

I Was Kim Jong Il's Cook
True stories from the Dear Leader's onetime chef.
Selco's Harish Hande Wants To Spread The Light
Harish Hande says small-scale, stand-alone solar installations are a better way of reaching poor, remote villages. That's why he wants to seed and mentor local enterprises in this field.
Art of the Steal: On the Trail of World's Most Ingenious Thief
Gerald Blanchard could hack any bank, swipe any jewel. There was no security system he couldn't beat.
Counter-Terrorism Is Getting Complicated
The Boy Who Heard Too Much
He was a 14-year-old blind kid, angry and alone. Then he discovered that he possessed a strange and fearsome superpower - one that put him in the cross hairs of the FBI.
Some Like Her Hot
A profile of actor Michelle Williams.
Conversations in the Nude
Open's staff writer Mihir Srivastava likes to sketch nude portraits of regular people-men and women, strangers and friends, thin and fat. Some are disgusted when he asks them if they would pose for him. But, surprisingly, many agree. Why?
The Fast Life of Oscar Pistorius
The "fastest man on no legs" may be Olympic-bound.
Kerala to have 450 e-toilets by March
An e-toilet has an automated door opening, power flushing, automatic closet washing and sterilisation and automatic platform-cleaning mechanism -- all backed by SMS alerts to inform a control room about the status of water tank and biogas plant in the event of any errors or failures.
Good but the cost is prohibitive.
Chocolates You Customize From Modular Parts
Nice.
In Which I Fix My Girlfriend's Grandparents' WiFi and Am Hailed as a Conquering Hero.
:)
How do the Japanese multiply?
Interesting.
TOI film critic Nikhat Kazmi passes away
Hers was the first review I would post every week.
Lucky Ant
Every week we bring you a project from a business in your neighborhood that needs to be funded.
When you see something you like, you can pledge money. Once the business reaches their goal, they will use that money to complete their project. If they don't reach their goal, we'll just give you your money back.
You get rewards and perks from the business that you invested in like free stuff, behind the scenes access, and VIP treatment! You also get the satisfaction of having invested in your neighborhood!
Kickstarter for the neighbourhood.
Video - Marcos Baghdatis blows up and breaks 4 tennis racquets
Rage!
Rajinikanth's website does not need the internet
Webchutney has developed a microsite dedicated to superstar Rajinikanth for the Bollywood site desimartini.com that runs without the internet.
Amit Gupta found a bone marrow donor
Well done interweb!
Double Dish - Serve snacks, hide what's left behind
Nice.
Watch The "Powers Of Ten" Remade Using Food
Julian Assange: The Rolling Stone Interview
The Whisky Water Trick
Neat.
Notification Control
Access your email notification settings for services like Facebook, Twitter etc.
Use along with MyPermissions.
Alain de Botton: Atheism 2.0
What aspects of religion should atheists (respectfully) adopt? Alain de Botton suggests a "religion for atheists" -- call it Atheism 2.0 -- that incorporates religious forms and traditions to satisfy our human need for connection, ritual and transcendence.
Computer Games - Look Around You
:)
Pictures - Animals in the News
Om my God, who wrecked our yoga? The Dirty Picture of a 5 bn dollar industry
In response to the NYT article, How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.
Make Your Cubicle a Better Place to Work
Designer kitchens
Carl Kleiner photographed the ingredients for Ikea's Homebaked is Best recipe book in 2010. His latest work for the brand's kitchenware revisits the same minimalist, if slightly obsessive, aesthetic...
People Are Awesome: The Coffee Shop Where Everyone Pays for Everyone Else's Drinks
Urination at War: Don't Be Mad at the Peeing; Be Mad at the Killing
Hell yes!
On the uproar about a video that appears to depict four Marines urinating onto the dead, bloodied bodies of Taliban fighters.
Save cricket from lynch mob experts; it needs help, not curses
At last somebody is talking sense.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-01-15T00:50:00.000+05:30

The Cult of C-Grade Movies
This is cinema that can make a masochist wince. So how come it is acquiring fans who know-or ought to know-good cinema from bad?
Kitchen Confidential
Having spent three months snooping around a restaurant, Sohini Chattopadhyay reveals why even great recipes sometimes don't make it to the menu, the food service industry's unforgiving hierarchy, and other secrets.
Ricky Gervais Would Like to Nonapologize
A profile of comedian Ricky Gervais.
The Girl Who Tried to Save the World
The life and death of Marla Ruzicka, a 28-year-old aid worker in Baghdad.
Movie Trailer - London Paris New York
Stars Ali Zafar and Aditi Rao Hydari. Directed by Anu Menon.
Look forward to seeing Aditi Rao in a full-fledged role.
Grooveshark Mobile
The subtext of all tweets: ...
The subtext of all tweets: "Modern life has dissatisfied me in some immeasurably small way."
Photos: Death for 50 Rupees
On drug addiction in India.
Heartbreaking.
More here - The Needle and the Damage Done
Death and decay in a Delhi neighbourhood where chemists serve as drug dealers.
Bukowski's "The Blue Bird," Beautifully Animated
The Blue Bird is one of my fave poems.
India records one year without polio cases
Finally!
Stem
Stem is designed to allow a cook to spray juice directly from a citrus fruit. No longer do you have to cut and squeeze your fruit to get the juice out like a common cook.
Interesting.
Every Presentation Ever
Haha!
John Steinbeck on Falling in Love: A 1958 Letter
Tubalr
Tubalr allows you to effortlessly listen to a band's or artist's top YouTube videos without all the clutter YouTube brings.
OyeBazaar
Poster and prints store in India.
Slim pickings. Hope it gets better.
SuperEmbeds: Viva La Revolucion
Advanced tools to customise video embeds.
How to Sync Your Bookmarks from Your Computer to Your Smartphone
The biggest art show in Bangalore is back
Chitra Santhe will be held on 29th Jan.
10 Artists Who Make Unreal Fakes Of Everyday Objects, From Cigarettes To Trash Bags
Pictures - Haiti: 2 Years After the Quake
Acrobatic Ballet
Jaw droppingly good. More here - Amazing Chinese Swan Lake Ballet
The Complete History Of Art References In The Simpsons
Seven novels make Man Asian Literary Prize's strongest shortlist
Penis tattoo gives guy permanent erection
Will IKEA Be a Hit in India?
Not if they take the Apple route.
Cut the Rope
Browser version of the popular game.
swissted
Vintage punk, hardcore, and indie rock show flyers redesigned into international typographic style posters.
Nice.
Video - Fotoshop by Adobe
Excellent.
Fuseproject Unwraps The Third-Gen One Laptop Per Child
The Joy of Books
After organizing our bookshelf almost a year ago, my wife and I decided to take it to the next level. We spent many sleepless nights moving, stacking, and animating books at Type bookstore in Toronto.
The Science Behind the Smile
An Interview with Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness.
Search, plus Your World
Google integrates Google+ personalisation into search.
Reddit, teach me some street smarts
I think of myself as a relatively smart person when it comes to things like math and science. The problem is that I'm not very 'street smart'. What advice do you have when it comes to things like identifying aggressive body language, situational awareness, identifying shady people, etc.. This kind information seems like it could come in handy one day.
My Guantanamo Nightmare
On Wednesday, America's detention camp at Guantanamo Bay will have been open for 10 years. For seven of them, I was held there without explanation or charge. During that time my daughters grew up without me. They were toddlers when I was imprisoned, and were never allowed to visit or speak to me by phone. Most of their letters were returned as "undeliverable," and the few that I received were so thoroughly and thoughtlessly censored that their messages of love and support were lost.
Aakash Ubislate 7: The Inside Story of India's $50 Computer Tablet from Datawind
10 Stubborn Body Myths That Just Won't Die, Debunked by Science
The Restart Page - Free unlimited rebooting experience from vintage operating systems
Q&A: Former President Kalam on Eradicating Poverty
US scraps 8-decade-old FBI definition of rape, to count more people as victims, including men
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Chaalis Chauraasi, Ghost, Sadda Adda and Tutiya Dil.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-01-08T00:39:00.000+05:30

How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body
On the Trail of an Intercontinental Killer
What Defines a Meme?
Our world is a place where information can behave like human genes and ideas can replicate, mutate and evolve.
Climate Change and the End of Australia
Want to know what global warming has in store for us? Just go to Australia, where rivers are drying up, reefs are dying, and fires and floods are ravaging the continent.
11 Indian Startups To watch In 2012
Behind Every Great Woman
As more women earn high-level corporate roles, more husbands are staying home, raising the kids, and changing the rules.
Comic - The life of a web designer
Thats my life.
BIGFlix
NetFlix like service from Reliance.
How to Find Out if Someone's Secretly Been Using Your Computer
Paul Sahre Creates Stunning Boxed Set Of Malcolm Gladwell's Classics
Nice.
Movie Trailers - Jodi Breakers
Starring R Madhavan, Bipasha Basu, Omi Vaidya and Dipannita Sharma. Directed by Ashwini Chaudhary.
Movie Trailer - Kahaani
Directed by Sujoy Ghosh and starring Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chattopadhyay and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Everything you need to know about buying a camera
Scientists have figured out how to make entire events disappear
Aakash Update: Oversold, Underperforming
A Flowchart for Choosing Your Religion
:)
Remake
Photo remakes of famous art.
Indian Revolution Born in Farce Ends in One
The Indian news media generate public interest through two distinct kinds of stories - the reporter's story and the editor's story. In 2005, when Parliament passed the Right to Information Act, which gave any Indian citizen access to most government documents, it was the result of a long and difficult process of influencing public opinion by reformers and persistent reporters. It was never a sexy story. Beat reporters kept pushing the many aspects of the idea of right to information, and the story slowly made its way from the inside pages to the front pages, from the periphery of television reportage to prime-time discussions. It was the reporter's story, and at the end of it, all the public was reasonably well informed about the act, why it was important and how they could use it.
The anti-corruption movement, on the other hand, was an editor's story from the very beginning...
Pictures - A View Inside Iran
Pictures - Welcome 2012! New Year's Around the World
Pictures - Winter Arrives
Pictures - Afghanistan: December 2011
Your next hairstyle
:)
Wall Ideas | Frames
Nice.
Dinner Etiquette 101
How Doctors Die
It's not a frequent topic of discussion, but doctors die, too. And they don't die like the rest of us. What's unusual about them is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little. For all the time they spend fending off the deaths of others, they tend to be fairly serene when faced with death themselves. They know exactly what is going to happen, they know the choices, and they generally have access to any sort of medical care they could want. But they go gently.
Start 2012 By Taking 2 Minutes to Clean Your Apps Permissions
Eight lazy ways to lose weight
Introducing Bajaj Auto's Brand New...Car?
One analyst described it as an "upgraded rickshaw" and said it would pose no challenge to the Nano, which itself has attracted only a fraction of the buyers once anticipated because of production delays and safety concerns.
"After seeing the RE60, you realize what a phenomenal achievement the Nano is," said the analyst, Hormazd Sorabjee, editor of AutoCar India, a trade publication. "It is nowhere near a full-sized car which the Nano is. Clearly it's just not got the sophistication of the Nano."
The Joy of Quiet
By Pico Iyer.
Trying to escape the constant stream of too much information.
My Top Ten Top Ten Top Ten list
Trials and Errors: Why Science Is Failing Us
For too long, we've pretended that the old problem of causality can be cured by our shiny new knowledge. If only we devote more resources to research or dissect the system at a more fundamental level or search for ever more subtle correlations, we can discover how it all works. But a cause is not a fact, and it never will be; the things we can see will always be bracketed by what we cannot. And this is why, even when we know everything about everything, we'll still be telling stories about why it happened. It's mystery all the way down.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Players.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2012-01-01T01:13:00.000+05:30

#Riot: Self-Organized, Hyper-Networked Revolts-Coming to a City Near You
The Fat Trap
In the battle to lose weight, and keep it off, our bodies are fighting against us.
The Nik Evans Paternity Case
How far would you go to help your son fulfill his dream of having a child? What if that son fell into a coma, from which you know he'll never emerge? Would you reach inside him to extract and preserve his legacy? If you were Nik Evans's mother, you would-and you'd start a paternity fight unlike any the world has ever seen.
Navigating Love and Autism
A young couple's story.
The late great Lucy Grealy on her face, tragedy, beauty and identity
The writer contemplates beauty and identity following reconstructive surgery.
Original Fictions and Romance
Tehelka mag special.
Best Hindi movies of 2011 - The Hindu's Sudhish Kamath, Raja Sen, Rajeev Masand 1, Rajeev Masand 2, Subhash K Jha and Mayank Shekhar.
The Best Movie Posters of 2011
Men Shop in Bulk
Women shop, men stockpile. That's one theory, anyway, of how men buy clothes differently from women. If women see shopping as an opportunity, a social or even therapeutic activity, the thinking goes, then men see it as a necessary evil, a moment to restock the supply closet.
12 Of The Best Products Of 2011 and 10 More Of The Best Products Of 2011
Also - 14 Of The Year's Best Ideas In Interface Design
The best tech writing of 2011
I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping... - Roger Ebert
The 101 Most Useful Websites on the Internet
Socket to Them
Photos of outlets from around the world.
Subpug
A new feed reader.
Pictures - North Korea Mourns Kim Jong Il
Best films of 2011 - The New Yorker, The A.V. Club, Time Out, Roger Ebert, Telegraph and Chicago Tribune.
Also - Roger Ebert's The best documentaries of 2011
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Qawwal and Party
An hour long rendition of Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai, Live at Wallace Lawler Centre, Birmingham,1983.
Bio-design
Where the materials of design are not plastics, wood, ceramics or glass, but rather living beings or living tissues.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Kya Yahi Sach Hai.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2011-12-25T00:48:00.000+05:30

What did it feel like to be inside the World Trade Center at the time of the 9/11 attacks?
Answered on Quora.
The Perfect Holiday Netflix Queue by Woody Allen and More
Fight the seasonal blues with these movies hand-picked by Hollywood's finest. George Clooney names his favorite political thrillers; Tilda Swinton chooses tales of human kindness. So grab the hot cocoa and hit "play."
Discovering Autism: Unraveling an epidemic
Autism rates have increased twentyfold in a generation, stirring parents' deepest fears and prompting a search for answers. But what if the upsurge is not what it appears to be?
A Thing or Two About Twins
They have the same piercing eyes. The same color hair. One may be shy, while the other loves meeting new people. Discovering why identical twins differ-despite having the same DNA-could reveal a great deal about all of us.
9 most clutter-breaking Indian commercials of 2011
Prime-time Confessions
A new channel, a new reality show and a new concept. Sunaina Kumar explores how Life OK aims to be different.
Sex and advertising: Retail therapy
How Ernest Dichter, an acolyte of Sigmund Freud, revolutionised marketing.
Outlook's special food issue
How Smart Is This Bird? Let It Count the Ways
Scientists knew pigeons could count, but now they have evidence that the birds can perform abstract mathematical reasoning.
All I want for Christmas...
What certain members of the cricket community would like for Christmas.
:)
Hitler reacts to SOPA
This never gets old. Surprisingly well written though.
Movie Trailer - Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya
Directed by Mandeep Kumar. Starring Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia Desouza, Ompuri and Tinu Anand.
2011's Most Promising Technology Startups from India
Thumbsaver
Magnetic nail setter. Can help you position a nail into position without leaving your fingers exposed to a hammer. It features a powerful magnet to hold virtually any nail, staple or screw.
Dennis Storm and Valerio Zeno eat each other's cooked flesh on Netherlands TV show
No words.
Masanobu Sato, The World Champion of Masturbation
9 hours and 58 minutes!!! And does it fall off after that?
Time Out Food Awards
Android app - IntoNow
Identify live TV, or anything that's run on TV in the last five years, from your television, computer or mobile device. Like Shazam and SoundHound but for TV.
Does Airport Security Really Make Us Safer?
As you stand in endless lines this holiday season, here’s a comforting thought: all those security measures accomplish nothing, at enormous cost. That's the conclusion of Charles C. Mann, who put the T.S.A. to the test with the help of one of America's top security experts.
Best table tennis shots of 2011
Is a cure for the common cold on the way?
Todd Rider, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing an antiviral drug called Draco, which has proven successful against all 15 viruses to which it has been applied in lab trials with human tissue and mice.
Kickstarted: How one company is revolutionizing product development
A Reluctant Twitter Experiment
Early on, Twitter was a wonderful well of serendipity that I'd dip into frequently throughout the day. During these dips I'd see comments, exchanges and anecdotes from friends that allowed for seamlessly picking up conversations with people I'd often go weeks or months without seeing face to face. It was the realest reflection of my social network and it was magical.
Those days are long gone.
Twitter has evolved from my social network to my RSS reader on a cocktail of crack, speed and steriods. It's gnarly. And I can't keep up.
YouTube Rewind
A timeline of this year's most popular videos and events and to see what the world watched in 2011.
Pictures - Winners of the National Geographic Photo Contest 2011
Four Reasons Why Shashi Tharoor is Wrong about whether we should abandon our Westminster-style parliamentary system and move to an American-style presidential system instead.
The Unintended Effects of Driverless Cars
Official North Korean TV making the announcement of Kim Jong-il's death
Holy crap!
And - Pictures - Kim Jong Il, 1942-2011
Also - How genuine are the tears in North Korea?
Its amazing how differently he was perceived in his own country and outside. Or maybe it just shows the power of mental conditioning.
What a Dog's Tail Wags Really Mean: Some New Scientific Data
Five Ways to Improve Indian Health Care
From the 'High Level Expert Group Report' on 'Universal Health Coverage for India', Instituted by Planning Commission of India. Full report (pdf)
Where are they now? The Vancouver riot Kissing Couple
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Don 2.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2011-12-18T00:05:00.000+05:30

Could This Be The End Of Cancer?
It's a disease that kills millions a year and a slew of hoped-for miracle treatments have gone nowhere. Now scientists say vaccines could hold the key-not just to a cure but to wiping out cancer forever.
Extraditing Christopher Coke and a Massacre in Jamaica
After the United States demanded the extradition of a drug lord, a bloodletting ensued.
Twitter Tips: Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask
Google Zeitgeist 2011
Your Life on Facebook, in Total Recall
Facebook brings back the past with new design.
2011 Rewind – 11 songs we played in non-stop loop
Homaro Cantu & Ben Roche: Cooking as alchemy
Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche come from Moto, a Chicago restaurant that plays with new ways to cook and eat food. But beyond the fun and flavor-tripping, there's a serious intent: Can we use new food technology for good?
IE to Start Automatic Upgrades across Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7
Today we are sharing our plan to automatically upgrade Windows customers to the latest version of Internet Explorer available for their PC.
That's good news.
Do Vitamins Actually Work?
Sports Illustrated launches Swimsuit Issue in India
Aakash Tablet
is now available.
So why aren't our MP's getting it.
How hot is pepper spray, anyway?
Video - Bearded Dragon playing Ant Crusher
Haha!
Joyce Carol Vincent: how could this young woman lie dead and undiscovered for almost three years?
On 25 January 2006, officials from a north London housing association repossessing a bedsit in Wood Green owing to rent arrears made a grim discovery. Lying on the sofa was the skeleton of a 38-year-old woman who had been dead for almost three years. In a corner of the room the television set was still on, tuned to BBC1, and a small pile of unopened Christmas presents lay on the floor. Washing up was heaped in the kitchen sink and a mountain of post lay behind the front door. Food in the refrigerator was marked with 2003 expiry dates. The dead woman's body was so badly decomposed it could only be identified by comparing dental records with an old holiday photograph of her smiling. Her name was revealed to be Joyce Carol Vincent.
Pictures - The Ashaninka, A Threatened Way of Life
The Ashaninka are one of the largest indigenous groups in South America, their ancestral homelands ranging from Brazil to Peru. Since colonial times, their existence has been difficult -- they have been enslaved, had their lands taken away or destroyed, and were caught up in the bloody internal conflict in Peru during the late 20th century. Today, a large communal reserve set aside for the Ashaninka is under threat by the proposed Pakitzapango dam, which would displace some 10,000 Ashaninka.
Rahul Dravid's speech at the Sir Donald Bradman Oration in Canberra:
Awkward Family Photos
Truly awkward.
Alter Ego: Portraits of Gamers Next to Their Avatars
Catch the fever: It'll help you fight off infection, evidence shows
With cold and flu season almost here, the next time you're sick, you may want to think twice before taking something for your fever. That's because scientists have found more evidence that elevated body temperature helps certain types of immune cells to work better.
The Indian Road Romeo
Photoblog of M.S. Gopal, winner of Best online photojournalist at the T.S. Satyan Memorial Awards for Photojournalism 2011. (via)
The Facebook Resisters
As Facebook aims at millions of users, some are content to sit out.
Comic - Plastic Bags
Stores have a competition to see who can spread your items across the most plastic shopping bags.
:)
Archaic Ranji points system needs a revamp
Meet the Internet's newest boy genius
Get your personal Chrome experience on all your devices
Google updates Chrome with multiple user profiles.
How to Share Google Chrome with Multiple People on the Same Computer Without Screwing Up Your Logins
New Tweets Per Second Record - 25,088 TPS - Set By Screening Of Japanese Movie "Castle in the Sky"
Pictures - China's Abandoned Wonderland
In Chenzhuang Village, China, about 20 miles northwest of central Beijing, the ruins of a partially built amusement park called Wonderland sit near a highway, surrounded by houses and fields of corn. Construction work at the park, which developers had promised would be "the largest amusement park in Asia," stopped around 1998 after disagreements with the local government and farmers over property prices.
Shock as retreat of Arctic sea ice releases deadly greenhouse gas
Dramatic and unprecedented plumes of methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – have been seen bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists undertaking an extensive survey of the region.
Vintage Steve Jobs footage on Apple
Rare 22 minute presentation given by Steve Jobs in 1980. The video was gifted to Computer History Museum by Regis McKenna.
Why Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance rejected the UID Bill (embeded report)
The committee headed by Yashwant Sinha pointed out several anomalies in the existing bill and urged the government to "reconsider and review the UID scheme as also the proposals contained in the Bill in all its ramifications and bring forth a fresh legislation before Parliament." The committee also suggested that the data already collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) could be transferred to the National Population Register.
Scientists discover a gene linked to short sleep times
German scientists have found a gene variant that may be responsible for some people's short sleeping habits.
WordPress 3.3 "Sonny"
Available for download.
Sherlock returns in January
Hope we get it soon on BBC Entertainment in India.
Minimalist Tees
7 tees...one for each day of the week. Nice.
Could Eiffel Tower become world's largest tree?
An engineering firm has unveiled plans to turn the Eiffel Tower into a vast, tree-like monument by cladding its mesh iron body in over 600,000 plants.
Why sexualisation of female news anchors doesn't really work
...a study conducted by two Indiana University researchers recently found that women looking to break through the glass ceiling into senior broadcast news positions or more prominent on-camera roles in television may hinder themselves when they succumb to pressures to dress in a more sexually alluring manner.
International Development Ryan Gosling
Nice 'hey girl' meme.
Critics reviews and rating this week - Faraar, Jo Hum Chahein, Pappu Can't Dance Saala and With Love, Delhi.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2011-12-11T00:03:00.001+05:30

The interactive Periodic Table of Swearing
Fucking genius! I wish the swear words were a bit better. Way too British.
The Year in Movies
"Drive," "Bridesmaids," Chaos Cinema, movies that weren't movies, hilarious old-person makeup and the sundry objects that were hurled off the screen in 3-D.
The Generous Marriage
From tribesmen to billionaire philanthropists, the social value of generosity is already well known. But new research suggests it also matters much more intimately than we imagined, even down to our most personal relationships.
On the Limits of Self-Improvement
There's an entire micro-economy based on the pursuit of betterment. The author-58, full-figured, and ferocious in his consumption of cigarettes and scotch-agreed to test its limits, starting with the Executive De-Stress Treatment at a high-end spa.
Part I, Part II, Part III.
Guantánamo Diary
The youngest prisoner held at Guantánamo on his seven years in detention.
The Top 10 Everything of 2011
In 54 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad, of the past 12 months.
Voice Control, the End of the TV Remote?
Samsung, LG, and others are racing to bring voice control to the TV set.
A Brave Comeback For Bahadur?
After more than two decades, Abid Surti is reviving his comic book superhero through the silver screen.
Shall We Call The President?
Pending bills, disrupted sessions, no legislation. Maybe it's time for Parliament to go, says Shashi Tharoor.
The recent political shenanigans in New Delhi, notably the repeated paralysis of Parliament by slogan-shouting members violating (with impunity) every canon of legislative propriety, have confirmed once again what some of us have been arguing for years: that the parliamentary system we borrowed from the British has, in Indian conditions, outlived its utility. Has the time not come to raise anew the case — long consigned to the back burner - for a presidential system in India?
The dolphin jetpack that lets you swim like one
Wow!
Startup Radically Reinvents The Disposable Coffee Cup, Eliminating Plastic Lids
Love me tender?
There is a question I have been wanting to ask for a long time now, particularly of my filmmaker friends: Can you name ten tender love scenes from Hindi films made in the last five years?
Can you? Because I can't. I can't even think of even five. Of course, people's interpretation and judgment might differ, but when I say tender love scenes, the emphasis is not on love scenes. The emphasis is on tenderness. Which involves a measure of gentleness. A certain degree of empathy, even respect.
Google Currents: First Impressions Of Google's Flipboard Competitor
Mind-Boggling Digital Portrait Uses Video Clips As Paint
The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies
The Bechdel Test is a simple way to gauge the active presence of female characters in films and just how well rounded and complete those roles are. (via)
ZopNow
Online grocery store catering to South Bangalore.
India Asks Google, Facebook to Screen User Content
As usual Sibal shoots off before thinking.
Censorship
The Indian government's most recent attempt at censorship may be mired in controversy, but it is hardly unusual.
Did Kapil Sibal Inspire Sonia Gandhi Hackers?
India's Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal may have unwittingly inspired hackers to deface Sonia Gandhi's web profile Friday, the day the Congress party president turned 65.
Saul Bass Made the Title Sequence Into a Film Star
Famous Magazines' First Covers
Introducing Graphic India
Liquid Comics presents Graphic India, a web portal that will not only be home to several popular and brand new digital comics but also aims to be the premier place to discuss pop-culture from around the world.
Tom kaun? Junior artists paid Rs 150 to play screaming fans of Tom Cruise at airport!
Twitter's 2011 Year in review
Twitter: Yours to discover
Twitter rolling out new design.
The new, new Twitter: 10 big takeaways
New York Times's Reveal is the Mirror of the Future
Reveal, created by The NY Times Company Research & Development Lab, is a mirror platform that explores the roles information and media might play in our future routines.
A smart mirror like Reveal displays your heath stats, the weather and news headlines while you’re brushing your teeth.
Apple Submits Updated Campus 2 Plans to Cupertino, Reveals Stunning Renderings
More - Apple's New Campus Will Put On A Spectacular Show Every Year, Starting On Steve Jobs' Birthday
H&M Puts Real Model Heads On Fake Bodies
The bodies of most of the models H&M features on its website are computer-generated and "completely virtual," the company has admitted. H&M designs a body that can better display clothes made for humans than humans can, then "dresses" it by drawing on its clothes, and digitally pastes on the heads of real women in post-production.
Twine, A Tiny Gizmo That Holds The Internet's Future
Twine, a puck filled with sensors, detects anything from moisture to magnetism: Stick it anywhere, and it'll tweet status updates at your command. And there's no coding skills required.
Luis von Ahn: Massive-scale online collaboration
After re-purposing CAPTCHA so each human-typed response helps digitize books, Luis von Ahn wondered how else to use small contributions by many on the Internet for greater good. At TEDxCMU, he shares how his ambitious new project, Duolingo, will help millions learn a new language while translating the Web quickly and accurately -- all for free.
How to Choose the Perfect Mouse and Keyboard
Infographic - Wal-Mart Is HUGE
A Drug That Wakes the Near Dead
A surprising drug has brought a kind of consciousness to patients once considered vegetative - and changed the debate over pulling the plug.
Kolaveri Di featuring Sonu Nigam's son Nevaan Nigam
At least this is cute. (via Megha)
Pictures - Fukushima: Inside the Exclusion Zone
In June, National Geographic sent AP photographer David Guttenfelder into the exclusion zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station, which was badly damaged in the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. He captured images of communities that had become ghost towns, with pets and farm animals roaming the streets. Later, in November, Guttenfelder returned to photograph the crippled reactor facility itself as members of the media were allowed inside for the first time since the triple disaster last March.
Cartoon - Death by PowerPoint
Shocking News Cast
The Most Important News Story You Will Ever See!
Haha. Spot on from The Onion.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - Ladies VS Ricky Bahl, Lanka and Ye Stupid Pyar.

Links For A Sunday Morning

2011-12-04T00:05:00.001+05:30

My Bridge to Nowhere
I am finally going to meet the birth mother, at her request, at a mall in Paramus, N.J.
I have a lot of feelings about the meeting. I have had a lot of feelings for a long time now. After several years of trying to have a child, and after several more years of science trying on our behalf, my husband and I decided to adopt. Somehow we thought that once we let go of the genetic link, out of the ether, a child would appear. I have been wrong before, but never have I been quite this wrong.
How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran
How a failed 1979 sci-fi project called Lord of Light became the centerpiece of a C.I.A. rescue plan for six Americans captured during the storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
First 3D Movie of Orgasm in the Female Brain
Frequent Soccer-Ball Headers Linked to Brain Injury
Jeff Bezos started with books. Now his company dominates the web in more ways than you think.
Comment Moderator, the Dirtiest Job on the Internet
Someone has to sanitize websites' comment boards. The toil and thick skins of online moderators.
More Military Dogs Show Signs of Combat Stress
At least 5 percent of the 650 dogs used by American combat forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.
10 Books That You Might Have Missed but Shouldn't
Some titles that might have flown under the radar.
The Sex Addiction Epidemic
It wrecks marriages, destroys careers, and saps self-worth. Yet Americans are being diagnosed as sex addicts in record numbers. Inside an epidemic.
Retail Therapy?
The UPA government's decision to allow FDI in the retail sector has spawned heated debates all over the country and rekindled fears of the East India Company.
In an economy more globalised than ever in history, why is it so easy to scare Indians by raising the bogey of the foreigner?
Kathryn Schulz: Don't regret regret
We're taught to try to live life without regret. But why? Using her own tattoo as an example, Kathryn Schulz makes a powerful and moving case for embracing our regrets.
Serpentine
A collection of images of the seductive and mythological snake, which will be published as a book in Fall 2012.
The flowers one is neat too.
Why does entering a room make you forget things?
Have you ever strolled into the kitchen to get something only to immediately forget why you're even there? You're not alone. Psychologists from the University of Notre Dame have discovered a link between walking through doorways and lapses in our short-term memory.
BigRock.com commercial - Savitri Bai
Nice.
Comic - Your opinion is very important to us
The Secret of Life from Steve Jobs in 46 Seconds
The Astonishing Visual Lists of Autistic Savant Gregory Blackstock
From owls to lighthouses, or what a sixty-something retired pot washer can teach us about art and love.
Louis C.K. Hates Twitter
He is right. We are a generation who is more keen on documenting moments rather than experiencing them.
Movie Trailer - Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu
Starring Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor. Directed by Shakun Batra.
Japanese Engineers Create Extremely Lifelike Robot Girlfriend
Like one of the commenters says...doesn't answer one obvious question.
Grandmother Tips
Just a few tips that my grandmother should have given me, but unfortunately never did.
Nice.
What Kind of Fish are You
People who look like fish or the other way around.
The 5 Best Toys of All Time
Bangaloreans gear up for Jagriti Theatre's first season
Wish it was closer to my place.
Annie Murphy Paul: What we learn before we're born
Pop quiz: When does learning begin? Answer: Before we are born. Science writer Annie Murphy Paul talks through new research that shows how much we learn in the womb -- from the lilt of our native language to our soon-to-be-favorite foods.
The next stage in our redesign
Introducing the new Google bar.
Little Printer
Little Printer lives in your home, bringing you news, puzzles and gossip from friends. Use your smartphone to set up subscriptions and Little Printer will gather them together to create a timely, beautiful mini-newspaper.
Infographic - Why Running Shoes Do More Harm than Good
Scientists Brace for Media Storm Around Controversial Flu Studies
Locked up in the bowels of the medical faculty building here and accessible to only a handful of scientists lies a man-made flu virus that could change world history if it were ever set free.
The virus is an H5N1 avian influenza strain that has been genetically altered and is now easily transmissible between ferrets, the animals that most closely mimic the human response to flu. Scientists believe it's likely that the pathogen, if it emerged in nature or were released, would trigger an influenza pandemic, quite possibly with many millions of deaths.
In a 17th floor office in the same building, virologist Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center calmly explains why his team created what he says is "probably one of the most dangerous viruses you can make"-and why he wants to publish a paper describing how they did it.
Most Shared Articles on Facebook in 2011
Pictures - Where in the World? A Google Earth Puzzle
Striking images via Google Earth.
Flash Mob Hits Mumbai
A flash mob of around 200 dancing to Rang De Basanti at CST.
Also - Meet Shonan Kothari, the Woman Behind Mumbai's Flash Mob
Zynga Builds Its CastleVille Walls, As Its Facebook Traffic Flattens And Falls
Also - In Some Virtual Worlds, the Thrill Is Gone
Zynga and other social game developers search for the next FarmVille-scale hit.
Comic - Privacy
:)
Aadhar, A Few Basic Issues
The much-feted UID project acquires a few enemies who take to attacking its methods.
All the Single Ladies
Recent years have seen an explosion of male joblessness and a steep decline in men's life prospects that have disrupted the "romantic market" in ways that narrow a marriage-minded woman's options: increasingly, her choice is between deadbeats (whose numbers are rising) and playboys (whose power is growing). But this strange state of affairs also presents an opportunity: as the economy evolves, it's time to embrace new ideas about romance and family—and to acknowledge the end of "traditional" marriage as society's highest ideal.
The man who's been photographed with 2,000 celebrities
Over 23 years Richard Simpkin has collared more than 2,000 celebrities to have his picture taken with them. Why, asks Tim Dowling.
Critics reviews and ratings this week - I Am Singh, Land Gold Women and The Dirty Picture.