2009...

To be honest, this is one of the worst years of my life. Sorry, its "the" worst year of my life. Being the last day of the year I wondered what did I do all this year and I remember no great incident. The only things that come to my mind is that I went for only two movies with friends and had a Mahabalipuram trip. That's all!

I couldn't hang out with my friends nor had a good time with any of them. Almost the entire year I had to be shut inside my house trying to study for my exams. I had to miss two important weddings of my life (first ever wedding of a friend and top it all, my own sister's). I could do nothing to pursue my ambition and I was forced not to work on it even a single day. And also the death of Blackie. Well, enough of crying out. That's not gonna undo anything.

I'm finally happy as the '09 comes to an end. Tomorrow, the new day, the new year, the new decade will be the new chapter of my life. I'm gonna start living my life in my own way once again (sorry friends, your way is not working out for me). I'm tired of doing what is best for me as most of the time I figure out its not. I'm gonna start doing what is more important to me. I hope my life gets back the to be pre '09 or even better.

Happy 2010

Ads...

I found some really exciting ads this year. Lots of creativity and almost every time these ads were played on the TV, I wouldn't take my eye away. Here are some of my favorite ads.

TATA DOCOMO Friendship Express:



This is not a great ad but execellent music and creativity. The music here is known as A Cappella (music without any instruments). The best part of this ad is that it starts with the basic du-du-du DOCOMO music and finally gets into fusion with Indian Classical. Who ever composed it, Great Job!



Simply Reliance:




One of the best of its kind and a perfect harmony with everything. Awesome Flute by Naveen, awesome choreograph by Prabu Deva and excellent dancing and acting by Hrithik. A simple story of Pied Piper and innovation! Worth Watching a million times!


Vodafone Zoozoo:

I guess most of you will agree with me, this is THE BEST ADS I have seen in a long long time. Lot's of hard work behind this one. Some of you may think its a CGI. But no! Its real humans acting in costumes. And that's what makes these ads even more awesome. They are short, simple and funny. Around 30 ads were created, each about a Vodafone subscription. These ads were made exclusively for IPL 2009.

Click Here to watch all the ads in You Tube in playlist.

You can Download zoozoo ads HERE.

Top 5 Expensive Mobiles In The World

I was watching a news channel which was playing a segment about expensive mobiles studded with diamonds. I asked myself which is the most expensive mobile in the world. I surfed through and found the top 5 expensive mobiles.


5. Motorola V220 Special Edition = 24,31,751 INR ($51,800)

It is a standard Motorola Mobile studded with 1,200 diamonds and added a keyboard inlaid with 18 carat gold.



4. Vertu Diamond = 41,31,160 INR ($88,000)

The handsets are diamond-encrusted made from platinum. Only 200 of the handsets are produced.


3. Sony Ericsson Black Diamond = 1,40,83,500 INR ($300,000)

Only 5 pieces were produced as of 2007. I'm not sure if many more were produced or not. It is said to have Quad-band with Wi-Fi, an Intel 400Mhz processor running windows mobile 5, and a touch sensitive 2″ screen. It will also include internal memory of 128mb and will come with a 2Gb SD card for external storage, plus a respectable 4 Megapixel camera.



2. Vertu Signature Cobra = 1,45,52,950 INR ($310,000)

Vertu is also pretty rare as only 8 are being made! The Cobra will feature one pear-cut diamond, one round white diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies. Vertu will also be offering a “cheaper” version, ruby free, at $115,000 (£62,162).


1. Goldvish “Le million” = 4,69,45,000 INR ($1,000,000)

Goldvish “Le million” is officially the most expensive mobile phone in the world, according the Guiness Books of Records. The “Le million” has 120 carats worth of VVS-1 grade diamonds

I have no idea who would ever buy any of these. Even if any one does buy, how would they even think of using it??? If they are are not gonna use it then why buy??? Lolz...
  

F.R.I.E.N.D.S Bloopers

Here is the collection of bloopers (shots behind the scenes) from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. There are lots over YouTube. Just search for Friends Bloopers.




This is a deleted scene from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. This scene takes place in an airport where Chandler and Monica are misunderstood as terrorists. This scene was to be aired two weeks after the Sept 11, 2001. After the WTC incident, the producers decided not to air the scene.

2011 Cricket World Cup Matches Announced!

ICC has announced the matches for the 2011 WC. ICC has aimed for the shorter WC and the Super-8 group has been replaced by the old method Quarter-Finals. 14 teams have been split into 2 groups and a team has to end in the top 4 in the group to get to the Quater-Finals, after which the tournaments becomes a knock-out stage. The matches to be played in Pakistan has to shifted to Sri Lanka. Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka, however they will be welcomed to India if they reach the finals.

The teams are -

Group A - Australia, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada, Kenya.

Group B - India, South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Netherlands.

Indian matches are as follows,

Feb 19 - India vs Bangladesh - Mirpur
Feb 27 - India vs England - Kolkata
Mar 6 - India vs Ireland - Bangalore
Mar 9 - India vs Netherlands - Delhi
Mar 12 - India vs South Africa - Nagpur
Mar 20 - India vs West Indies - Chennai

Quarter finals - Mar 23 (Mirpur), 24 (Colombo), 25 (Mirpur), 26 (Ahmedabad)
Semi finals - Mar 29 (Colombo), 30 (Mohali)
Finals - Apr 2 (Mumbai)

Matches at Chennai:

Feb 20 - Kenya vs New Zealand
Mar 6 - England vs South Africa
Mar 17 - England vs West Indies
Mar 20 - India vs West Indies

Plastic Indian Rupee Notes

Finally India too have started printing plastic currency notes. Well, not actually started, but its on trial. In September 2009 Reserve Bank of India decided to use polymer banknotes on trial basis. Initially 100 crore of 10 rupee notes will be introduced. Its lifespan will be about 4 times more than the normal notes. I'm eagerly waiting for those plastic notes.

Also India has minted its first bi-metallic coin. The new 10-rupee Coins are minted with nickel and bronze on the outer side and ferrous steel in the inner side. Here is a picture of our new bi-metallic coin. I got one of it about a month back. I got two of them now.

Source: Wikipedia

 DID YOU KNOW:

• Indian Rupee was the official currency in Pakistan, Oman, Bahrain, UAE, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Seychelles, Mauritius, etc. until 1960's. Since then these countries started using their own currencies.
• The Bhutanese Ngultrum is at par with the Indian Rupee and both are accepted in Bhutan. The Indian rupee is also accepted in towns of Nepalese side of Nepal-India border.
• Some Indian Shops in UK accepts Indian Rupee. 

Songs Copied From ARR

There are too many talks everywhere about Indian Musicians copying their songs from west. But the hard truth is that this happens vice versa too. Even western musicians have copied from the Indian Musicians, especially from A.R. Rahman. View the following video to know youself.

Indian Cricket Rankings

I just went through the Cricket Rankings for the Test and ODI teams and players at CricInfo.

First of all, India Ranks 3rd in both Test and ODI. India is clearly ahead of the fourth ranked team and only constant poor performance for months together alone will lower India's rank. But India is not far from the 2nd ranked team.

Then I checked the Player Rankings.

ODI Player Rankings:

Bastmen:

1. MS Dhoni
2. Yuvraj Singh
7. V Sehwag

No bowlers in top 10.

Yuvraj ranks 8th in all rounders

Test Player Rankings:

Batsmen:

1. Gautam Gambhir

Bolwers:

6. Harbhajan Singh
10. Zaheer Khan

All Rounders:

10. Harbhajan Singh

Gautam Gambhir being on top was a surprise for me. I knew he would be on top 10 but never expected him to be on the top.

Chennai Public Transport goes Hi-Tech

MTC will introduce Global Positioning System (GPS) to all bus stops. Every bus stop in the city will soon have a GPS, a vending machine, a public telephone, a cell-phone charging outlet, ceiling fans and security guards. Nearly 500 such bus stops are coming up in the city before September. Now, due to the GPS, one will have an exact idea of how soon the next bus will arrive.


If any bus suffers a break-down or is over-speeding, or even if it decides to take a detour on another route, the fleet managers will know immediately. Apart from all these features, these bus stops might soon have surveillance cameras, FM radio, water vending machine and an ATM machine.

Bangalore had installed GPS to all its Vovlo buses, two years back. But Chennai is going to be the first city in India to have GPS installed to all its buses.

Also Chennai would be the first city to get a Mass Passenger Information System. The commuters can track buses in their mobile phones and internet too.

Pictures Of Volcanic Eruptions

Here are some of the cool pictures of Volcanic eruptions from my collection.

Here is the picture of the volcano on Krakatoa. The latest eruption started in April 2008 and it continues today.

Here is a beautiful picture of a volcano and aurora.

Augustine Volcano, Alaska, on January 30, 2008.

An eruption from Cleveland Volcano, Chuginadak Island, Alaska, taken from a satellite.

A Dormant Volcanic Mountain.

Nikola Tesla vs Thomas Edison

I was watching the movie 'The Prestige', which is a story of two magicians. The movie also involves the lives of the inventors Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. According to the movie, Tesla hides from Edison and Edison is interested in destroying Tesla's works. I surfed through the net to find out about these two men and this was what I found.


Thomas Edison is well known for his invention of Direct Current (DC). But what about Nikola Tesla? Have you ever heard of the inventor 'Tesla' or any of his inventions? The only time one might have heard of him in text books is 'Unit of Magnetic Flux Density', which is named after him.

Check through the encyclopedia and find out who discovered the following.

Who discovered Radio? Marconi?
Who discovered X-rays? Roentgen?
Who discovered Vacuum Tube Amlifier? De Forest?
Also check on who discovered the fluorescent bulb, neon lights, speedometer, the automobile ignition system, and the basics behind radar, electron microscope, and the microwave oven.

Very little would the name Tesla be mentioned in these cases, thanks to Edison.

Tesla worked as an assistant to Edison at first. Edison had just invented the electric light bulb, but he needed a system to distribute electricity to houses. He designed a DC (direct current) system, but it had many bugs in it. Edison promised Tesla lots of money in bonuses if he could get the bugs out. Tesla took the challenge and ended up saving Edison over $100,000, which was millions of dollars by today's standards. Edison later refused to keep his promise. Tesla quit not long after that, and Edison spent the rest of his life trying to discredit Tesla (which is the main reason why he is so unknown today).

But there is a huge hidden stories which you would never come across in any books. Visit this page to know more about Tesla and his discoveries.

Google Earth Chennai Updated!

The Chennai City has been updated by Google Earth on May 18th, 2009. Now the city looks more beautiful than what it did previously which was something like 3 yrs old.

Here are some of the screen shots of the new Chennai City from Google Earth.

The first thing I wanted to see as soon as I knew that Chennai was updated was the Kathipara Grade Separator. It looks very beautiful, but will be more beautiful if there is greenery around it. Greenery is also a part of the plan and hence hopefully it will be done in another year.


The new images are taken in an angle such that u can make out the height of the building too, whereas in the previous version, the images were taken exactly overhead. This is clearly seen in this image. Its the thiruvanmiyur junction. We can see the Tidel Park and also make out its height. The foot over bridges are also clearly seen.


Here is the Padi Junction. Looks neat as well.



The Toll Plaza of the IT Corridor.

The Prestige - A Review

I came across this movie a few months ago and I was kind of obsessed with it for a week or two. This is a movie of a different kind. Directed by Christopher Nolan (of “The Dark Knight” fame), this movie revolves around the life of two magicians. Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) were assistants to a magician along with Julia McCullough (Piper Perabo), who is Angier’s wife. During one of the shows, Julia is accidentally drowned while performing a trick. Angier blames Borden for the death of his wife as Borden had tied a new knot on Julia’s hands leading to her death. This creates hatred between the two.

Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman

Angier and Borden start their own shows individually with Cutter (Michael Caine) being Angier’s engineer and Olivia (Scarlett Johansson) as his assistant, while Borden works with Fallon, his engineer. Both Angier and Borden set out to destroy each others career. Borden brings out a new trick called, “The Transported Man”, where he throws a ball and go through a door and instantly comes out of the other door to catch the ball. Angier is obsessed on finding out how he plays the trick. But later he creates a similar act, gaining more audiences on his side.

The story follows the two magicians' lives, their tricks, sacrifices and their obsession to find out each others secrets. The story taking place on late 18^th century also collides with the lives of the scientists Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman

Both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale played their roles to perfection. Joan Bergin’s costumes were attractive. Scarlett Johansson was very pretty in her 18^th century attire. The movie is full of secrets and suspense right from scene one and at the end of every scene, a secret or a suspense is revealed. Watch out for the climax!

This movie would keep you on the edge till the end and its a 'Must Watch movie'.

My ratings:

Overall - 9.7/10

Screenplay - 9.5/10

Editing - 9.9/10

Costume - 9.8/10

Encounter With Snakes

I have come across Snakes quite a number of times in my life. I have not been attacked from any one so far (luckily) and I hope it will never happen.

The first time I ever came across a snake was around 12 yrs ago. I saw my dad chasing something in the garden with a stick. I thought of helping him when he called out not to come nearby at all. Out of curiosity I went near him and saw a snake trying to crawl out of the garden and my dad nearly killed it.

The second time was as nearly as 3 yrs ago. I came home after the culturals at IIT Saarang. I was too tired and decided to sleep without eating. As I was entering my room, mom called out not to go to the room as there is a snake. I was half asleep already and I went into the room to notice the snake had curled on the window grill, which was very close to the bed. I went straight to the other room and slept off. Only in the following morning i realized that there was a snake in my room and when I asked my mom what happened to it, she replied that my dad killed it.

The third one was the most funniest and the best encounter i ever had. It was during the third semester exams and me along with Jabez and Barath were sitting together (I was at the extreme right) and studying in one of the atriums. Suddenly a guy ran across us from right to left and shouted, "Snake!". I turned to see a snake just a meter away from me. I was nearest to the snake and hence i was more prone to be attacked. I just jumped backwards, out of reach of the snake. The snake kept on crawling and ended up near my bag. My bag was opened and the snake comfortably went inside the bag and came back out. By this time one of the security guard came with a stick and chased it away. I found it really difficult to use that bag since then but luckily my exam didn't go bad that day.

The fourth one had been fairly recent. It was a month ago and I was walking towards my college, talking with my sister over phone. As I was walking I saw a snake crawling from the river to the other side of the road. This time I didn't even bother about the snake and it didn't bother about me.

All these snakes I have come across are of the same species (I don't know which one it is). And I realized that these snakes will not harm any human until it feels insecure. That is, if you don't try to harm these snakes, they will not harm you.

Am Back!

Hi friends!!!

Its been nearly 5 months since I posted or read any of my friends' blog. For the last five months I was completely cut-off from the internet. But now I'm back.

These five months hold some special place in my heart. It has been the best and the hardest time of my life (so far). It was the last semester of my college life and surprisingly my entire class was so close together throughout the semester. We never bunked a single class and almost all of us had the attendance of above 90% (for the first time after first sem).

Having only two days of college in a week (thu and fri) each of us were looking forward for those days. Had the best time of our college life, had lots of fun, played lots of pranks and laughed our guts out. For a change, we celebrated our own farewell with our staffs in the staff room. We bought a huge cake and gave it to our staffs and made each of them give a speech.

The last working day of the college was very sentimental. Most of us ended up crying. And on the last day of exams we chatted, joked around and had the last fun at college.

Now that the college has ended, everyone has parted on their own ways. Most of us have no idea where our future lies. I just wish that each of us find a happy future and hope to be in touch quite regularly.