Jollywood !

[ctsy - IndiaGlitz.com ]

Majaa is Vikram's next Flickr. With Anniyan rocking the Box Office, and Overtaken Chandramukhi's records early on, Vikram is now a relaxed man. And his next movie, Majaa, is precisely showing his mood. Maja is likely to go for a name change, but the pictures of Majaa that are out (however unrelated to the story..) are vibrant in terms of color and cast.

Beautiful colors carved out of different moods. I think Balasubramaniam is the Cameraman (correct me if im wrong). I like all those pictures, and this is the best one... Click here to see it.

Some more news about Thiruvaasagam In Symphony. Take a look at this pic.


[ctsy - IndiaGlitz.com]

Ramamoorthy - Viswanathan, Ilayaraja, AR Rahman, SA Rajkumar, Vidyasagar and Barathwaj (Sujatha and Madan on the back seats). All musicians on a single row, and only this kind of events can trigger this. What a show.

Most of the Google Search results to my blog originate from the Keyword "Harivarasanam MP3".
So, not to disappoint the music community, here's the MP3 i have uploaded on CoolGoose

Enjoy !

Madras Namma Madras

Dont be surprised, if Google Map search for Chennai gives the Madras Map. Try this, and you will surely be awe-struck to see the beauty of Chennai.


[ctsy - Namma Karthik ]

Thanks to Karthik, he spotted this, and informed me today morning. Karthik showed a Coonoor picture. I was, however, curious on Chennai. But then, Karthik had found the Latitude - Longitude for Coonoor (This one is in Nilgiris.. Karthik originates from here) and spotted the place... Great !!

I used KeyHole long back, but it showed only North America and someparts of Europe, very clearly, as close to RoofTop. So, same work-around India, would help reaching the RoofTop of my home soon. Imagine Google Maps and Google Locals together working in Chennai. Wow !

It will be like, you will search for "good jasmine flower" and Google will return you the Shop outside Kabali temple, Mayilapoor.. and show you a map as to how to reach it. You think this is funny... This is now possible in US, and will soon be in India. I bet !

My Sweet Petrol

[ctsy - The Hindu ]

"Petrol Prices Rise : Rs. 2.50 per litre"

I was getting, 3.6 Litres for Rs. 150 and now I would get 3.3 Litres for the same price. The price rise is understandable. How long can a government run on a loss, by letting Petrol on a price that is not affordable by Oil Companies.

Even LPG gases are to be priced at Rs. 450, but we are given LPG for Rs. 250. Slowly, it has to reach the 450 mark. And it will happen. So, soon we will have a day, where One Masala Dosai in Saravana Bhavan will cost around Rs. 70. Im talking of the very near future, say 2008.I already had One Curd rice for Rs. 175 in Mumbai. I couldnt digest both the fact and Thayir Sadham.

What I couldnt bear is that, within one month of purchasing my bike, Petrol prices have gone up by Rs. 3+. Statistically, I would get less than 1.5 litres for Rs. 150, next year. Kiruba was suggesting everyone to go to office by Bicycles, and so does Google. Well, what will happen to software guys from Sholinganallur ?

I've decided to put a repeater reminder, for the Thiruvasagam In Sympony. I wish it takes the hype. Buy it !! Read my previous post - See if im good at convincing.

Techno-Savvy

I read a fact book that said, a average person in the Software field, depends on 270 computers a day, directly or indirectly. Right from the Home computer, The database that validates your Swipe Card, your eMail server, Windows Server, Mainframe Server, Proxy, ISP, Yahoo Server, Google Server, Blogger (WOW) server and my list keeps going.

I was wondering too much of dependancy, in a very short span of time. More than two hundred computers, phew, thats a fanatic number. How did we grow this big and wide. It was 1995, when we never even thought it would be like this. I saw a computer only in 1997. And in just 7 years, I cannot measure the exponential growth.

We send emails to the next seat person (Peer ?). We chat with people within the office. We SMS a person standing in front. Technology is certainly a Complan Boy.

It has now become that I could always be reachable on Yahoo or MSN or atleast on GMail. I would give an Instantaneous reply. Iam online from morning 5 AM till 10 PM. After that I sleep with a Cell Phone on my bed. Damn ! Have i gone so busy. Very simply, NO !

Im not busy, or very necessarily an important person. But these are technologies available for me. I subscribe a broadband connection, and that facilitates me a 24 hour -always on (as Dayanidhimaran says).

I assume this exponential growth will take us somewhere, when we will mock at ourselves for being so Tech-Savvy.

Off talk - See if you can understand this picture ?? A man watching a Game Video.


[ctsy - BoingBoing]

Saga Comes to an End

A Three Year Saga comes to an end. Metti Oli is ended, and has created a Vaccum on Sun TV. Ususally, a good running serial is abruptly ended and people take a mind-set that no serial can replace that one. Later, after a few weeks, they start depending on the next serial. This has been the trend, ever since Mega Serials started capturing Prime Time.

The Last serial I ever watched was Chiththi. I really loved it, and think no other serial has a better screen play as that one. I ocassionaly watch Unjal on Vijay TV starring SPB Charan and others. It had a good pace. But then, its been half a year since i Stopped watching TV.

Nyways, as far as Tamilnadu is concerned, there is no Cable TV... it is only SUN TV.
"Unga veetula SUN TV connection koduththaacha ??" is the usual dialogue.

Looks like "Muhurtham" is occupying the Metti Oli slot, from tomorrow.

Vaazhga Valamudan... !

Thiruvaasagam !

ChennaiOnline.com has a beautiful offer, on its site. It is the Long-waited "Thiruvaasagam in Symphony" on stands and has a 10% offer on Cassette, CD and DVD. The DVD is accompanied with Booklets containing the Lyrics of Thiruvasagam. Read on the Suggestions of Sujatha, in this issue of Aananda Vikatan.

Im sure you liked this picture. Thanks to www.raajangahm.com for a beautiful pic, and I did a Photoshopping on it. Tell me, how do you like it. This one had the perfect mood for the title.


Click here for the ChennaiOnline.com offer on Thiruvasagam in Symphony. Wish you take it this way, and enjoy the benefit.

Now about the Sujatha Article on Aananda Vikatan.

Sujatha's suggestion -
"1. CD or Cassette, pay for it, and Buy it.
2. Dont send via Internet. Avoid piracy. Do not listen in MP3, as the compression sucks out the quality of music.
3. Hear it on Bose speakers, or relatively good Surround system. People who dont want to hinder others, hear it on iPOD.
4. Listen it in peace, alone at night. Hear it repeatedly (like once in two days).
5. Dont listen in full volume. Symphony is delicate, so listen in normal volume level.
6. Idle to have a musical knowledge to enjoy. Not that you need to identify the Raaga.
7. After all this, if you like it.. appreciate the man - iraja2005@yahoo.co.in

Do this as a smallest effort to glorify the greatest musician of this century."

I've booked for it. Iam Impressed by the take.
"Thiruvaasagaththukku Urugaar, Oru Vaasagaththukkum Urugaar"

Saturday Sunrise

With every Sunshine of a fresh Saturday, well, You get Karthik's Photo on my blog.
[Did you expect a poem !! Gotcha !! Write back what you feel, and click the pic for a bigger version]

As promised, Karthik has sent a pic he took in Wisconsin (but the promise was for last saturday). Nice Pic, isn't it ?

Anniyan Review on Teakada and Dreamstores. Seems to be justified reviews.
Indiaglitz review here. Looks like too-much of praise, that the movie may not deserve.

Tweaked the Side Bar a little. Fell a little Greedy on the Google Ads.
I got a mail from Google-Adsense, with a few suggestions. What you see is the implementation.

The Thennavan Bug

Thennavan was bit by the Ammani bug, and I was by him. Here's my piece of chunky.

09.00 AM - 10.45 AM Meet with Danny - Discuss Strategies
11.00 AM - 11.30 AM Team Meeting - Get Inputs
11.30 AM - 11.45 AM Coffee with TGS - ask for T-Docs
12.10 AM - 01.30 PM Con Call with Indian folks - Mark's BDay
01.45 PM - Lunch with Christy - get orders.
03.30 PM - 06.30 PM Prepare Design Documents for BMSY project

**** important . send "happy fathers day greeting".
****

I hate the concept of missing life in between work. Dont be Damn Artificial.

There is an Anniyan next to you

[ctsy - nowRunning ]

I like this photo of Anniyan better than anything (because it fits my CSS).
News - Anniyan - The Much expected block buster is out on Silver Screens. If you are a Vikram fan, this is your busiest day. Watch the movie First Day First Show at Sathyam or Many other theatres it is releasing in.

Forget all the stories you heard about Anniyan, and watch this movie blank. Im sure Shankar would not Disappoint us. There is one man's life at Stake - Oscar Films Ravichandran. Today is his Dooms day, where we decide if the movie is good or bad. Huge Crores of money has been put into this (Im not sure if it is worth it).

I heard somwhere, that Anniyan did not get any sponsors, because they did not want anybody to Sponsor and Advertise with Anniyan. But since a few days, I watched a Anniyan hoarding, sponsored by Lalitha Jewellery. (Pic was nice.. damn i dont have a Digital Camera !!)

Did you infer something strange. Movie Producers make films for people, spending millions. After that, they wait for the Public Decision. This fear is missing in Politics. Actually, and Ironically, the fear should be there in Politics, and Politicians should have a darn Commitment like what Movie Producers have.

AM Rathnam is committed to give good movies, and he strives hard to keep his standards. Why is a Politician not committed to doing good to people.

I see only difference. Movie producers put money, hire a responsible Director, who in turn takes great care in putting Artists people like, and Technicians that are reliable. But a Political leader, doesnt care who is underneath him. He just worries about who is above him, and how to reach that position.

How would it look like, if we ask politicians to Spend their own money to do Reforms to public OUT OF THEIR OWN MONEY, and later after Five years Re-Imburse them, with Incentives, depending on the Performance of their Governance. This way, the Politician is urged to produce results in his time, and get more money based on the Deeds, he had committed.

I understand, that this wouldn't happen and it is a crazy idea.., But hey !!! I just gave Shankar another new Story to make.

Useful Information (Quite rare to find useful info on this blog, uh !!)

Mobile puncture service for both two wheelers and four wheelers within Chennai who operates 24 hrs :- 9382819164. Just give them a call if your vehicle is punctured anywhere in Chennai, they would reach the place within 10 mins. They do not charge anything more than the ordinary puncture shops.

I verified this, before putting it on. They seem good. Information Source - Sudharsan Srikanthan

Tag Musique !

Ram.C Music Tagged me. That means, I would have to list down my Inventory and songs that I personally like. You should understand the essence of this.

Musique - aka Music has been my dream. I still long to have a Surround Bose speakers in the Home-Theatre room of my house (which doesnt exist.. this is another dream, eh). Crystal Clear Music - im a big fan of that. With Beautiful sound systems, you will be able to appreciate "Kaadu Potta Kaadu" from Karuththamma, which is also one of my personal favourite.

It is close to difficult to rate the songs, when there atre abundant. Yet these are the songs still in my memory.

No. of albums I own:
When it comes to buying Albums, I only buy Classical Music. My Interest varies from Small Thukuda Songs to Huge Keerthana's either Tamil or Telugu( I dont understand Telugu). So, Im not counting the Albums I own. I have a Big collection in the Form of Cassettes, and few in the form of CDs and many in the form of MP3s, all Carnatic.

On Movies, i have a appreciably big 7GB collection of Tamil and Hindhi MP3s. That should be huge. Selected Olden songs to Recent past, all movies take a good place on my Playlist.

Last Album that I bought:
I cannot forget the most recent Album purchase. I bot "Swagatham Krishna" by Piththukuli Murugadas, in Conne-Xions. On my way back, I met with a major accident and was on bed for 3 months all. All the 3 months i was listening to Piththukuli, and it was heaven.

Give it a try. Last Album I downloaded was Anniyan and Kana Kandein. Two good things I'm still chewing.

Currently Listening to:
"Kaalai Arumbi Pagalellaam Podhagi, Maalai Malarum Innoy !!"

A melody from Kana Kandein, is rocking my ears. Have you had this strange feeling, that when you hear one song in the morning, you will be Humming the song the whole day. I was Humming "Kaalayil Thinamum Kan Vizhiththaal Naan Kai Thozhum Devadhai Amma !" from New yesterday.

Albums that I'd want to take with me if I am alone on an Island:
I wouldnt wish that would happen. And if it did, the music I'd like to accompany are a few Sudha Raghunathan and KJ Yesudas. Of course, Illayaraja's 80's Hits and AR Rahman's 90's Hits will always be there.

Songs that you are most likely to hear me sing or hum (Song – Movie / Singer(s) / MD):
You could easily spot me singing one melody from any AR Rahman song. I very often humm these songs.

Telephone Manipol ! - A beautiful piece of improvization from AR Rahman. It contains all elements of music, and probably 200+ layers on Frooty Loops.

Vaathaapi Ganapathim - A Master-piece song performed by KJ Yesudas (I used to call him Jesudas, in childhood !). This is a very big song when sung, but actually a very small song when written.

Karunai Theivame Karpagame ! - Unnikrishnan will melt in your ears, when you listen this song. It easily wins your humming just on one time hear.

Uyirum Neeye - I guess this one is sung by Srinivas, it is a very unpopular song, but very Scintiallating (because i humm it very often).

Pa Sa Ni Sa - (Sounds Crazy ??) If someone humms this close to you, just approach him blindly and say "Hello Mr. Keerthivasan". Im the only person in the world that humms this beautiful piece from Bombay. I dont know why, but I do this often when Iam checking Lotus Notes mails.

Raasaathi Unnai - Chocolate Cake Song by Jeyachandiran - Ilayaraja. Beautiful song.

Favorite Singer(s):
In order of Priorities I give to listen, these are my favourite Singers.

Piththukuli Murugadas
Sudha Raghunathan
KJ Yesudas
Hariharan
Sujatha
Unnimenon
Karthik - Sriram Parthasarathy
Vijay Siva - if you dont know this person, you better know a musical genius.

Im just skipping the Favorite Lines section. I will do it separately, on a separate post.

Now comes the best part.

I am tagging my fellow Bloggers, for Musique Tag.

Lazygeek - a person who shows great interest in Music, and most of all Lyrics.
Kiruba - He likes music too.
Iyengar - You should know about him
Senthil - The Jack of all is good for Music
Prabhu - I think he is on vacation
Krithika - very Optimistic person

This one brought good memories of very good songs. Thanks Ram..
This is to anyone who wants to Put up their list, pick up this tag. (Never mind, its not a link).

Save Your Summer ! Build your own AC

Here's an interesting read, and an amazing invention made by a student of an unknown university.

He has made an Air Conditioner from a Table Fan. This is the need of the Hour in Chennai. You wont belive, Chennai is still burning under a very angry Sun, and the Air Conditioner shops are rocking their business. They would have won their credits.

Well, if you cant really afford a AC, or if you are a Try-IT-On kid, then give this a try.


[ctsy - BoingBoing ]

Yep ! This is what your AC would look like, if you could make it.
Read more on how to make this thing work, HERE. Trust me, you dont want to miss this.

More nag : Anniyan is all set to release on 17th of this month.(Is that day after tomorrow !!)

There is a new discovery, in case you didnt know. UC Berkeley planet hunter Geoff Marcy and his colleagues have discovered the most Earth-like extrasolar planet ever seen. Click here to read more.

I once discovered a planet, but no one agreed to accept. What to do, Great men are Ignored initially (or, is it always ??).

Traffic Arrogance

We are not a normal person, when we drive (atleast not me..). If you would drive on that Nelson Manickam Bridge, you certainly would not be a normal person. You would have to exchange looks with the next bike person. You would be easily irritated by the car thats sliding backwards. You are about to shout at the Auto, that took a quick turn and occupied the space you thought of occupying. You yell at the Cycle guy who just scratched your bike.

You should see the entire tension of all the people waiting on the God Damn Red Signal, in the Nelson Manickam Bridge. Sometimes, the Queue starts at Loyola College itself, those times are Heaven in itself. When all these happening to me, for the past one month, i noticed one thing.


[ctsy - Someone's worldtrip_2002 ]

We are rude people on road, no matter how good we are. Most of us are not polite drivers. We easily get irritated by mistakes committed on road, even though we are aware it might happen to us. Have you seen people shout at people who fail to start their bikes, even after the signal is on. Have you seen people gaze strong looks when someone puts a sudden brake, for the sake of a road-block.

We easily get angry on Road. Looks like everyone is on a hurry. Everyone's rushing and accelerating to their destinations. Teenagers think they are on a Mission Impossible movie, and drive like the Heroine is to be saved.

Should really put down the tension. These kind of tension on road are dangerous.
My way of avoiding is - off to office before 8 AM. No traffics. I can see my speedometer kiss 80.
Fresh air (and bad smell at valluvar kottam Onyx) refresh the day.

Next time you are on drive, think of tolerating mistakes. The person on the other seat is driving much like you, and what happens to him can always happen to you.

Click here to read Ramya's article on Blogging activities. Few/most of the names mentioned there are my friends.

Bushisms

Monday mornings are the laziest. I wish i skip this monday morning part every week.

Talking of Bushisms - if you are not aware as to what it is, here goes.

Bushisms - A very classic excerpt/snippet of speech given my the 43rd President of United states.

George W Bush is well known for loose talks, and they have induced a separate rangwe of audience for them. Here are a classic examples of Bushisms.



Most of them do not have sense and meaning, and keeps wondering how could a Powerful man on the world talk such non-sense.

"It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of — and the allegations — by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in some instances to disassemble — that means not tell the truth." —George W. Bush, on an Amnesty International report on prisoner abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Washington, D.C., May 31, 2005

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." —George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005

"We discussed the way forward in Iraq, discussed the importance of a democracy in the greater Middle East in order to leave behind a peaceful tomorrow." —George W. Bush, Tbilisi, Georgia, May 10, 2005

"I think younger workers — first of all, younger workers have been promised benefits the government — promises that have been promised, benefits that we can't keep. That's just the way it is." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 4, 2005

"It means your own money would grow better than that which the government can make it grow. And that's important." —George W. Bush, on what private accounts could do for Social Security funds, Falls Church, Va., April 29, 2005

"It's in our country's interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005

"We expect the states to show us whether or not we're achieving simple objectives — like literacy, literacy in math, the ability to read and write." —George W. Bush, on federal education requirements, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005

"He understands the need for a timely write of the constitution." —George W. Bush, on Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of Iraq, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005

"Well, we've made the decision to defeat the terrorists abroad so we don't have to face them here at home. And when you engage the terrorists abroad, it causes activity and action." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005

"But Iraq has — have got people there that are willing to kill, and they're hard-nosed killers. And we will work with the Iraqis to secure their future." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 28, 2005

"We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an environmental challenge." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 20, 2005

"Part of the facts is understanding we have a problem, and part of the facts is what you're going to do about it." —George W. Bush, Kirtland, Ohio, April 15, 2005

"I'm going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy it. I enjoy taking on the issue. I guess, it's the Mother in me." —George W. Bush, Washington D.C., April 14, 2005

"We look forward to analyzing and working with legislation that will make — it would hope — put a free press's mind at ease that you're not being denied information you shouldn't see." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 14, 2005

"I want to thank you for the importance that you've shown for education and literacy." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 13, 2005

"I understand there's a suspicion that we—we're too security-conscience." —George W. Bush, Washington D.C., April 14, 2005

"If they pre-decease or die early, there's an asset base to be able to pass on to a loved one." —George W. Bush, on Social Security money held in private accounts, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 30, 2005

"In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis; you don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, 'How do you think my standing will be?'" —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005

"In terms of timetables, as quickly as possible — whatever that means." —George W. Bush, on his time frame for shoring up Social Security, Washington D.C., March 16, 2005

"I repeat, personal accounts do not permanently fix the solution." —George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005

"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." —George W. Bush, Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 22, 2005

Copyright - Thats Copy - Right !

What do you have to say about this picture ?


[ctsy - BoingBoing ]

Here's confession. If every computer now bought in India, would be shipped with Original Windows, imagine the turn-over Microsoft would have taken in. Take the funny-bone. Yesterday, i was in Richie street, buying a PC for uncle. Windows CD is available for less than a hundred, and Linux is costing more than 500 bucks. God Damn Linux is supposed to be free OS.

I only remember Karthik's dialogue, "..you know why people dont prefer Linux in India, despite the software being free, Because in India Windows is also free...". Thats subtle truth on the face.

Why am I writing this ?? Lazygeek had removed a snippet of Aananda Vikatan from his page, because a fellow blogger commented about copyrights. Well, that left me reactionless.

I had a really bad habit of posting images on my Blog without giving credits. Then Jeff Philips mailed me a educator, and i really understood the importance of crediting the authors. I feel only creativity has to be given proper Credits. Thats the one that breaks hearts for creators, ie their creation used without their name.

The other things have to be Copyright protected as well, but logically I dont mind crossing lines on what is not illegal. I may not be very professional in composing a Disclaimer for using other guys stuffs on my blog, yet Something tells me "Thats not wrong.."

Lateral Worries

I was talking to my neighbour about the Entrance Taking Exit in Tamil Nadu. He told me an Illustration, Ladies and Gentlemen - be prepared for this.

There is a girl in my X-school, and she has been doing really great in her academics. She has been dreaming all MBBS. It has been her desire to become a doctor, eversince she was a Kid. And you should see the way she studied, for her exams. Unfortunately she had scored 598/600 in her main subjects.(I nearly fainted at this point,.I cant handle big numbers).

Now with very limited seats for MBBS, and few students scoring 600/600, and No entrance exam marks considered. Add Our very old and useless Reservation system. Whats the Bottomline ?

A Girl cannot get a medical seat despite great effort and brilliant mark.

Now, Iam confused. I feel pity for the girl. How would you react. ???

Kingfisher Soars to sky !

[ctsy - flyKingfisher ]

The Kingfisher Airlines has been Launched in the Indian Skies, and Vijay Mallaya, the face of the $2 billion UB Group is all smiles.

Operations are not yet in Chennai, and involve only Delhi Banglore and Mumbai. Competitive rates, and the Back Side TV screens are the biggest attractions. Of course Kingfisher is Glamorous in all aspects.

Still Life

[ctsy - Gizmodo ]

Look at this camera from Casio. This should be the slimmest I've ever seen. It is a 5 Mega Pixel camera, and promises a feature of Anti-Shake. Guess it wouldnt show the wavering imasges, when your camera shakes at the last moment. I did not get more informations about this camera. The Casio site is in Japanese. Somebody please send me a link.

Attended Siva's wedding in Royapuram. Looked like I was circling entire Chennai yesternight. Never seen those places. Also, it was heaven to see the Harbour via that bridge across the Harbour.

Siva came on a Charriot (I've only seen Queen Elizabeth climb such a thing..) with Manmadha Raasa on the Music Band. Marriages are somthing beyond ordinary. Siva cut the cake, and one photo session with the Bride. Vidu Joot. Everyone climbed up the podium, gave the gift and rushed to the food mall(hall actually). Very good food. No great numbers, but limited high quality food. Long Live Shiva.

News Update : MSN Toolbar is now powering Internet Explorer with Tabbed Browsing. Thank Heavens Miscrosoft is atlast opened its eyes to improve Internet Explorer. Get the software here.

Defenseless on a War

Who was Defenseless - Me. War with whom - Rain. Funny isnt it. Well, it wouldnt have been funny, if you were me, and if you were on the Nelson Manickam undergraound bridge waiting for the Damn signal, and all of a sudden it starts poring. I was wearning no helmet. No funny handkerchiefs Crowning me (i hate that habit..). Not even a glass to protect my eyes from the rain. You know how it feels, when drizzles hit your eyes, when driving.I was not good enough like Arvindswamy to put down my bike, and dance useless steps on the Road.

Rain gets its respect only when it rains, when it is expected to. Unexpected rains on Nelson Manickam Raods are not welcome.

Forget it. I can manage all my sneezings today.

Hey, if you are a Mainframe guy, you might want to look into it.
Click here to learn the importance of Mainframes, these days.

I guess tomorrow is a very auspicious day. Many marriage invitations waiting to get executed at home. What does that mean , Good Food ? Oh yes. One reception tonight, and will know about it all.

Invictus is here !

As promised, Karthik Jeevakumar aka Invictus is here, with one of his photograph.



Click on Pic to see the full version.

Karthik is right now in Chicago..
More on Karthik, will be from himself.

Whoopa ! You Commented well.

Different people seemed to have different take on the Entrance Exam take-away. Take a look at the Comment section of the previous Post, and you will now. Interestingly, few (or more) of the points were to be accepted. Deepak, Krithika, Shailendra and Anbu had issues against it, and they have a valid reason for it.

Nyways, Like it or not. The law is made.

See if you can Appreciate the following.


[ctsy - BugBash ]

This was an effort that started two Mondays back, and Kiruba had put a link on it. I watched them for the past two weeks, and guess it might grow up to be a Dilbert. I subscribe for Daily Dilbert, and enjoy the fun. As Dilbert is for Management and Middle Management, BugBash is for Techno- Software guys. You should like it, if you are a Software Engineer by any chance.

You could even subscribe for this Cartoons. Click here for BugBash and Here for Dilbert.

Anything Special ?? Middle of weeks are damn boring.

Entrance takes Exit

Im so happy that if you would come to my home, Ill give you fresh Bengali sweets.
Reason : Tamil Nadu abolishes common entrance test

This is a respectable move provided, Single Window System still stands good. The reason why Iam happy, and how I can justify them are as follows.

When I completed my +2, we had a Rank order in the class after results. And the rank order never got disturbed even after adding the TNPCEE marks. Whats the difference it makes. Entrance Exam is no more a filtering criteria. Everyone has a B.E seat. Why should students spend nearly Rs. 5000 on a extra Entrance Coaching class, Extra travel to a useless college in some outermost circle of chennai, Extra application forms, and Tons of unwanted Tension.

+2 Exam is supposed to weigh a persons ability to do his degree. Why would Anna University have to doubt the credibility of the exam, by having another one added to it.

But talking about Rural students getting benefitted out of this move is ambiguous. Another problem will be faced by CBSE students. CBSE +2 scores arent that high, so they compensate on TNPCEE marks to get euivalently competitive Cut-off. Now thats void.

There are many Cons for this legal decision. Yet, I wave my hats off for the bold / boldest move made by the Chief Minister.

Open for a debate... Voice out by clicking on Comments.

China takes on Hollywood

I dont know if there is a term like "Hollywood" and "Bollywood" (of course, i hate Kollywood for Tamil film industry - i suggest Jollywood for Tamil, whats your take ??) for the Chinese film industry. Anyways, this Chinese movie has taken over the entire Hollywood by awe.


[ctsy - KungFuHustle ]

There is no story in the movie (or atleast it is simple..) and the movie doesnt depend on it. The key part is the Action sequences and the Rolling comedy. You have digital graphics effects on both. Freeze frame/ Slow motion sequences are the best you can see. This movie has brought in scenes that you did not watch in Matrix.

The comedy scenes involving Stephen Chow (he is the director as well) is amazing. I was imagining Kamalhaasan and Yuki Sethu in Panchathanthiram.


[ctsy - KungFuHustle ]

Many reviews are in praise of the movie and Stephen Chow for the movie is really Bloody and the action is too violent. But strangely you will have a laughter on your face when watching it. It is like watching some Leslie Neilson movies with really great Action Sequences.

You better watch this movie. BTW the Tamil Dubbing of the movie seems to Rock the theatres.
Mirattal Adi is the name and it has all the common Madras Slang features in it. I dont know why all the movies are pushed with Madras language. I did like the Tamil Dubbing of Titanic, but others are all useless crap of making a good movie untolerable.

Raghu and Karthik say Mirattal Adi is good, just because of the Tamil. Go have a watch.

Ganguly is Not Out still

Even though there are no matches being played, The DADA is still under deep critisism (how do you spell that).

Look at a mail forward - sent by Pravin.


[ctsy - MScIT Group on Yahoo]

Robotica !

June Digit is now on Stands. 3 CDs, 1 Book, 1 DVD and normal Digit Magazine. All for Rs. 200. Go Get 'em now,.

Do you recognize any of these. You'd have seen it somewhere.



Jack was facing this problem, and most of us are **ssed off with this technology.

DO you have an idea, of why this is there at place. Here's answer.

If you are viewing this site, you should be a decently educated omputer literate. And you would know what is called SPAM.

Web definition for SPAM - An inappropriate attempt to use a mailing list, or USENET or other networked communications facility as if it was a broadcast medium by sending the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it. Mass junk E-mail.

However, SPAM is not just on emails. Its everywhere. People are trying to misuse features, whenever there is a loophole.

Keep aside SPAM, and come to ROBOTs.

Robots are tools available for your computer, that will help you fill out forms. You would have entered your name and email address millions of times, to get anything and everything on net. So, these programs, have an intelligence to read out what the page is all about, and fill them out, while you are at convenience.

So, what ?? well, you could design a script and employ a Robot, and create One Million Yahoo! email IDs on one day. Thats called a different kind of Spam. - Spam O Spam !! (kidding... i dont know what it is called.)

To prevent that, the domains and sites put up this technology, which Generate Dynamic text, and put them scrambled up, so that Robot programs cannot correctly recognize the words. Only Humans can. Thats the magnificiency of Human Minds.

For example, look at the first scrambled text on the picture. "STRIUMB". Robots will read them as "SHRMB". So, they would fail in their attempts to Spam the domain.

This is how, Computer programs break Computer Programs.

Ganapathy Dreams !

[ctsy - Sivachander ]

Thats Gana aka Ganapathy Balakrishnan Tantry dreaming.

Guess whats he thinking ???
Come out with different ideas, and you get a crazy gift !!

Point and Shoot

[ctsy - MotorRadaufkleber ]

I watched Torque day before yesterday, and tried that on My Honda Activa and my broken leg. Worked out, i shortened the 20 minutes drive to office to 12 minutes. Speed thrills and Kills. But I guess my quota of accidents are over, i have completely utilized them. So, no more.

I got a ringtone, yesterday night on my C100. Thanks to Renganathan, it was an amazing song i like to hear all the time. "Harivarasanam". I have an mp3 (anybody ?) of K.J. Yesudas siging that song. You will hear one Mirudhangam and one Yesudas, thats it. You can only imagine the divine-ness of the situation, when you are listening. Mail me if you want the song.

Lazygeek has put up an interesting article, about the Ban on Smoking on Televisions and Movies. I agree to what he says (give it a read...). Stunning Coincidence is that Kiruba, also has put up something really funny (sometimes called an eye-opener) about smoking.

This one seems to be a long week. Its only Thursday, still.
Salaries Credited, and EMIs debited. What a balanced life im having.. Phew !

Of Conversations

Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
- Kin Hubbard

Cuty Quote. It is an art to begin a Conversation, and it is skill to do it with flair and style.

Why do many of us struggle to begin a conversation. Probably because, we are not sure of the reaction. We are not sure as to where it will end. Directly getting on to a question, requires authorisation. You cant avoid a direct question, if it comes from your boss. But lets say you talk to a new peer, new neighbour, new anybody. How to begin a conversation.


[ctsy - abigails ]

First and Foremost point, if you are trying to initiate a conversation, is to understand the real meaning of conversation. It is a two way talk-snippet of something - Two Way. Most of us fail to leave a listening ear. We need to make our ears modest enough to listen. When we dont have a listening ear, conversations turn into Arguements. So, the first point here, is to start a conversation in a way that the other person would react.

Its the same internet technique.
1. Come down to the wave length.
2. Talk in his language
3. Accept feed, back to you.
4. Listen and Respond (theres a difference between "Talk back" and Respond).
5. Do not clash on view points

Most of you guys would certainly have gone through a GD. But, sadly, as far as i have seen, people do well in GD, where they strain to listen and get marks. But they do not do it, outside. They are not ready for a conversation. But more interested in arguements.

Let us say this is a product promise, you know whats the tag-line.
Start good conversations, you will become a good leader.

Forget your MSN Messengers

My whole life is stuck up with Beta. Almost all the Good Softwares I use for Sophistications are in Beta release. To say, even GMail is still in Beta. Most of Google's softwares, are saturated in Beta. Next up is Yahoo ! Yahoo from time to time has released different versions of messengers. The current Beta is more than all you can imagine.

The look and feel is same as the neat Yahoo Messenger 6.0. But MSN Mesenger 7.0 tempted me with greater Outlook, and good features. Now Yahoo Messenger 7.0 Beta, is breaking all the look and feel needs, and gives more importance to features. Just one of them is more than enough for me. Voice Messages. The mother of all features on a messenger. MSN doesnt even allow you to Offline Message a person (Thats really very poor). But Yahoo now is allowing me to send a Offline Voice message to the person, that get stored.

It gives us Sophisticated clarity of sound, like a conversation on livce phone (or more better). The Voice feature, no longer troubles you with Handsfree button, and so on. A dream answering machine, in actual. I only wished i had more emoticons - nope, not in this release. But guys with real good internet connection, and good SPeakers and Microphones, download the new version of Yahoo Messenger 7 Beta here, and try to Buzz me.

A very late review

[ctsy - rMadhavan ]

A very nice chat with Iyengar today morning, brought fresh memories of Alaipayuthey.

The discussion was about Shankar's strategy of telling messages through his movies. So far, as i have seen (and not seen), Gentlemen - Indian - Mudhalvan - Anniyan, all of 'em talks only of corruption. And i dont see any message to take home. But on the contrary, Maniratnam gave me a message to take home, even though it was irrelevant to me in Alaipayuthey. Anbe Sivam touched my life, that i adopted a few qualities (or atleast tried to).

Talking of Alaipayuthey, a movie every youngster in Tamilnadu enjoyed, rejoiced and thought they were gifted with Yet another classic Love story. But Alaipayuthey was more to it. It was a complete Love story, I would say, Complete in all its senses. Most of the Love stories end up showing the Happy Lovers rejoining after a Calamity to the Villain. Alaipayuthey starts there.

Karthik and Shakti have got married, even before you realize. They were in Love, and never even tried to understand each other (much like reality). Maniratnam shows an Ad-Hoc Love, and is not stressed to show the purity of Love between them, as is not. Both of them, have the support of their friends/ sister and with that dirty courage they get married, without informing their parents. After incidents, they move to a separate residence, where they begin a Husband-Wife life. Pretty incidents throw Mis-understanding in between them. It is common in a married life, yet, in a Love-marriage mis-understandings are commonly interpreted as Disappointments.

Shakti has tons of disappointments, and Karthik is depressed by the quarrels. What seemed to have been a Beautiful Romantic life, is all of a sudden a Quarrelsome affair. Thats when Mani takes over. "Enough guys, enough seeing a peppy love story, listen to what i have to say about your life. What you need in a married life. ". A state-of-the-art accident scene, and Shakti is in hospital. And Maniratnam sends his messengers into the playground. Arvindswamy and Kushboo.

I would reccomend you to watch those scenes. Mani understands when to use technology. He uses Slowmotion Freeze frames, in those climax scenes, unlike using them for showing Fingers of Heroes in their introduction scenes. He does that to impose- super impose his message.

The care and understanding, and most of all Back-support at critical times, is what is important in any relationship. When you Yell or back fire the person for committing a mistake, for which the person is already feeling bad about, the person becomes aloof. He/she doesnt have support when he needs it.

A relationship, in generic terms, should make you feel cozy. Make you feel comfortable. You are never alone. Even when somethings wrong, it gives you courage, that you will face it together. Mutual understanding, care and support are key factors of any relationship. Thats what Karthik and Shakti missed in-between them. And thats precisely the message of the movie, if you did not get it from theatres.

Katz ! If you are still not convinced, let me know.

The Hole Story

[ctsy - BoingBoing ]

What you see above, believe it or not, is a Manhole cover/lid. No, not in Chennai.

Its Japan. This site hosts various artistic Manhole covers used in Japan. Chk them out.

Jai Hanuman

[ctsy - Sriram (thanks a lot !) ]

The above pictures are from a West Indies Hanuman Temple.

Karya Sidhdhi Hanuman in Trinidad, 85 feet idol of Hanuman, the small Hanuman shrine below the statue, the newly built idol of Dattatreya and Anagha Devi, Raja Rajeshwari, Ganapati and Shiva Linga was Consecrated.

The temple exists since June 2003.

Its marvellous to see helicopters showering Water and Milk as abishekam..

Bolo !! Jai Hanumaan.

So Far So Good

Back to Square One. Number Game.

Avyukta would reach 5000, today.

Whats so good about it. Well, quite some good things happened to me.

This blog has become my very good commitment, everyday mornings.

Freedom of thought, free to express and most of all Very good NEW Friends.

Happy Moments !!

Lets keep it movin... atleast i hope to.

Out for Exams

[ctsy - Intekom ]

Im out for exams, and will back tomorrow. I hope i have a happy news to share tomorrow.

Wish me Luck !!!

MS Paint for once too good

[ctsy - BoingBoing ]

Could you believe this picture was drawn on MS Paint. The Artist spent 500 Hours on this picture, and unleashed creativity and skill. These things are the happiest things, according to me. I used to sit and draw for more than 4 hours, on a small piece of paper. And the result will make all the effort feel good. Nice Pic.

New to Crew : Kart Jeevs is up on Avyukta.
He's got a new Canon EOS 300D. Enjoy

Monday Morning Browsing

One great Site, that caught my attention today morning.

Chennai Customs

This is one site, where the Customs Chennai, gives all the rules and regulations, and the Tariff for the Customs/Excise taxes.

But what makes this site more interesting is the e-Auction. The site hosts a list of articles seized or taken off from the Passengers who couldnt or wouldnt pay the Customs, the tax that was levied upon them. From Diesel engines to Garments, eberything is on auction, and for a cheap price (it seems). Should give it a try.

Why not register, and try it out.

Sucked out of the Stars

My company sponsored a movie night yesterday. And it was the First time in my life (and hopefully the last) that I walk out of the theatre, without watching the Full movie.

You'd be surprised to hear the names.. Theatre: Sathyam (RDX) Movie: Star Wars Episode III


[ctsy - George Lucas]

Main problem was purely because, I havent watched the earlier movies. And I didnt understand a single bit of it. Single Bit. Dont know who is the good guy, and who is bad (Ok ! we can figure that one out..). Yet the special effects were mind-boggling. But i dont like the idea of fighting with that torch like thing. Rajnikanth is better.

May be im not an elite audience to watch Star Wars.

My Personal Google

If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative.


[ctsy - Avyukta ]

I dont really know, why this is the Quote of the Day, when you Personalize you Google Home page. Google Labs gives you more. You could even put your GMail on the Home page.

The +2 Result Festival

How would your day be, when someone sends a Good Morning Mail, like this.

If you feel like doing some work, Sit Down and Wait until that feeling goes away

Thanks Raghu for sending this. Im seriously considering this.,

Whats news ?? Thursday already..

+2 results are out in Tamilnadu, and boy, oh boy !!.
ChennaiOnline and many others who had hosted the results on their servers were down like hell.

This culture of viewing results on the Net and Cellphones, was just evolving when my results came out. My result was known only in the evening, and only i know what sort of emotional imbalance went on in my house after knowing the results.

The +2 guy, who just got his result would have now known about his chances of getting inside Infosys.
Obviously the fella is going to study B.E in some college, any Discipline (for the sake of doing B.E) and then forget all his Mechanics, Electronics, GeoInformatics and every single thing he studied, and blindly join Infosys or some Software company and start C++ training.

Im sorry, if i were wrong in your case. But thats true in most of the B.E students i have seen.
Whats your opinion. I have a big thought burst now.. but then read the first line.....

Ill do it this weekend.

Google's next Beta - Google Desktop Enterprise.
Exactly what you were thinking (atleast what i was wanting).

It searches Lotus Notes too.. and whats more, it searches on LAN and not just the Desktop.
Im trying it tomorrow in office, and will Post on it.

Take a look at this - http://desktop.google.com/plugins.html
Amazing collection of softwares.

Blog India

You cant run out of news, when you visit Kiruba. This time it was from the comment section, and thanks to Mohankrishnan.

Indian Government has plans to recognize the Bloggers of India, who could shape opinions. Many bloggers so far have been appearing on lots of magazines, and due recognition has been achieved. People have made marks, already. And this will help in a better way.

"We are framing the rules for giving accreditation to dotcom journalists, including bloggers. We want an inclusive policy and we want to complete the process as early as possible" Principle Information Officer Shakuntala Mahawal said.

"The idea is to sequester the genuine from the fraud and acknowledge those who really want to make a difference. They will be given facilities and better access through accreditation."

Thats impressive, huh !!!

Read the Full Article here.

So start your blog today, and find out how much difference you can make.

1857 - The Rising

Ever since I had Mrs. Proto Fernando for Social Studies, i have always shown my complete interest on History. No one teaches Social as she does. The first Contemporary teacher who shaped my life. When many people did not like History, i enjoyed it, just because of the way the subject was taken. And during my 8th to 10th standards, I had dates of History on fingertips.

And if someone wanted to hear my History talent, here's where i normally start. The Sepoy Mutiny. Mangal Pandey 1857. I start the story like a movie, where at the introduction scene a warrior is hanged. Then the struggle goes on till 15 August 1947.

Aamir Khan should have had the same impact on history. Or did he think another pre-1947 movie, will win him names.. dont really know. Whatever, "THE RISING" is up and coming.


[ctsy - RisingTheMovie ]

The story is about Mangal Pandey being a soldier in British Army, during the fight in Afghanistan, and he saves his General's life after which they become great friends. Now there will be a few girls (One English and One Rani Mukharjee). They sing, romance and what not. Then comes the good part, the wierdest part of Indian History. Soldiers are given controversial weapons, which they have to bite and spit before firing. This exact thing they are biting was supposed to be Beef.

The British were now were hurting the Religious feelings. Thats when Mangal Pandey starts revolting, and exactly at that point, India got Independance. I personally admire the hair style of Aamir Khan for The Rising. Reminds me of Kamal Haasan before Hey Ram.

Hot Post !

Normally the Dialogue is, "Sweat and work for 5 days, and enjoy the cool Saturday and Sunday". But i was working cool for the five days, and taking resting with all possible sweat.

Saturday and Sunday in Chennai was burning. My foot got burnt at Perumal Koil. Never ever felt heat like this in my life. Hope it ends before this weekend.

Still it couldn't stop me from watching these movies.

• Colleteral
• Day After Tomorrow
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Dumb and Dumber
• Oceans Eleven

Ive seen few of them earlier, yet whiling away my time.

Whats More. Air Conditioner's Sale like never before in Chennai.
The sales should have topped last years by minimum 200% growth. TNagar Rathna Stores seems to be drowned in the flood of Air Conditioner buyers.

But, after all, im the one whos fussing about the heat in chennai. The guy at the corner of the road, sits on the burning sun, and keeps stitcing the old worn out shoe.

Strike the Difference

[ctsy - Obviously Indiaglitz ]

Looks similar, huh ! Very probably the stories are different. But both the pictures look very similar and Both are injured in their hands.

I remember those old days of picking up the kumudam and spot the Six differences page.

I see one small difference and feel triumphant on spotting the difference. But now Im insanely matured to see Two Different pictures, and declare they are the same. Blame it on my education.

My Local God

[ctsy - Panasonic ]

With Sun frying up every inch of traffic, I rushed home and imprisoned my self.

Complete surrender to my saviour. Im forgetting all my plans for the weekend.

All those people, out of Chennai. Here's news : Chennai is Burning like Hell

Bitty Browser - Cuty !

Take a look. This is not a Picture. Would you be impressed, if this was a Browser. Its a small Browser within your browser window.

Just Click on Open URL, and give any Web or RSS URL. And your page opens up within this browser. How good is that ??


[ctsy - Bitty Browser ]

Today is Friday the 13th. What a deadly combination.

The President of India

I did this strange thing today morning. I started visiting the NIC sites. Browsing through Various Government Departments, this is where i landed in.



I never thought a site so beautiful and informative was even there. Tons of information, loads of photos, audio and video about the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, and the Rashtrapathi himself. With History on due and the Vision Documents on hand, the Site is completely balanced, in giving you information what you look for. You could even mail the President through a form in the site.

Its a JSP Page, and yet works best with Internet Explorer. Take a Peek here.


[All Picture Ctsy - PresidentsOfIndia ]

Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam is our Presidents full name. He got 30 Doctorates from different Universities.

My, My, My ! Thats why he is a President, and im just another guy.

Firefox has released a Critical Update. Ensure you have Firefox 1.0.4

Yahoo ! has created a news set of eMoticons. They are ABSOLUTELTY COOL.
Check it out ! I like the "Hold On, Im on a Call" emoticon.

Next Level Gaming

The Gaming industry has been on Nitro Boost. PS2 and XBoxes have been sold even in chennai. There are a few PS2 rental play stations in chennai too. I was only wondering the growth.

Take a look at this, new level gaming. Introducing the Real Virtual Car.


[ctsy - BoingBoing ]

You see a person driving a car in a stadium (probably a F1 race track). But only the Stadium part is wrong. The car is Standing still, but the LCD Screen shows animations of the Game. So, he is virtually in a race track, but physically in a car like this.


[ctsy - BoingBoing ]

Virtual Reality, Gentlemen. Beautiful gaming experience.
I wish i play NFS Underground in this car.

PCs for 10,000

**Google is Blogrolling, mates**. And it reads quite some sites, and most of all it reads Yahoo! Search Blog.
Check it out ! www.Google.com/googleblog is now changed to googleblog.blogspot.com, just like everyone else hold their blog on Blogger.

More News. Blogger was down today morning. So all our Blogspot sites were not reached. Dont really know what happened.

Hot News : PCs for Rs. 10,000/-. An ultra-compact desktop computer priced at Rs 10,000 was unveiled by Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, at New Delhi. Whats more, it is mobile, free to use anywhere desktop. Mobilis, sporting a 7.4 inch VGA LCD screen and several innovative features, including a six-hour battery life, is a state-of-the-art product for users who demand the freedom to work anywhere, anytime.

Read it more on "The Hindu", here

I dont really know, if it is a good sign of bringing down the prices of PCs. Actually, there's nothing like bringin down the prices of PCs.

Have you ever wondered, when in 7 years Hamam's Price has gone up from Rs. 7 to Rs. 11. Thats a growth of about 150 %. But the PC that was costing 45,000 is 19,000. Thats approximately a DOWNFALL of 250 %.

That clearly shows you Two very important things.
1) Iam really weak in Maths.
2) The Price reduction did not come down because of increasing Consumption.

It is only that, even if PCs prices come down (if thats what you call it), there is always a PC costing 45,000. And very clearly thats got more better feature.

The Arguement may be, it is enough to have necessary features. But is that really enough ??
Human minds are ready to accept what is enough, Only they dont know the boundary of enough, so they keep expecting. (I have already warned you, im becoming a philosopher !!).

Whats your stand on this ? Do you really see PCs prices going down, or do you see Lower end PCs getting cheaper, becaus of the introduction of High End PCs (It may sound as if both mean the same..but trust me they dont).

"என் இனிய தமிழ் ப்ளாகர்கேள"
thanks to Adengappa for this new Tamil Unicode tool that allows us to Publish Tamil on Blogs.

Give it a try here

Tomato Sauce and Tony Blair

The following is an article on the link provided by BoingBoing.

"A NEW chilli sauce goes on sale today that is so hot it could KILL.

Ultra-concentrated “16 Million Reserve” is the hottest science can make. The sauce is 30 times hotter than the spiciest pepper and 8,000 times more fiery than Tabasco. Diners must sign a disclaimer recommending “protective gloves and eye wear” — but even sweating testers in safety gear were blinded by tears for 30 minutes.

Just 999 bottles of it are on sale at £105 each.

Medical experts fear it could kill asthmatics or hospitalise a user who touches a sensitive part of the body afterwards. Creator Blair Lazar, 35, specialises in “extreme food” in New Jersey, US.
After trying it, he said: “It’s like having your tongue hit with a hammer. Man, it hurt.” The sauce is named after its score on the chilli heat measure, the Scoville Unit. "

Off-beat, Avyukta hits 4000 today. The last 1000 came on really fast.

Tony Blair becomes the Prime Minister of The Great Britain for the Third Time in a row. Dont you think it is something wonderful. Bush did not come to Presidentship for the second time with Grace... but Tony Blair has. What sort of belief would the country have for the man, that it trusts its Governance to him for the third time in a row.

Hats-off to Tony Blair. The Silent Worker.

www.keerthivasan.com launched
its got nothing interesting yet, except a good flash layout.

Manathil Urudhi Vendum

The most respected man in my mental territory - Mahakavi Barathiyar.

Starting monday with his poem, nothing is much better as this.
I have highlighted, the lines I take for myself. These three lines, and i can succeed.


[ctsy - Barathiyar Kavithaigal]

Have a nice week ahead of you.

Gods Own Machine

The All new Mercedes Benz M-Class. Wanna Test ride ?


[ctsy - MB - USA ]

Its not as impressive as Honda Activa, so ill stick to it. (oh my Gawd !)

Perspective Vision

I am a regular browser of cartoon sites, and few of them amuse me with beautiful thoughts. take a look at this one.


[ctsy - CartoonStock - KES series by Kevin Smith ]

Picophone - Good Try

Ironies are the part of life (im becoming a philosopher, day by day, phew !). I only remember Anbe Sivam's conversation between Kamal and r.Madhavan.

r. Madhavan - "even if we are ready to pay, we dont get facilities. Thats India for you !!!"
kamal - "as long as you people think, that you can pay whatever, and get whatever, THAT WILL BE INDIA FOR YOU ".

Good one, huh ! The point is, we have high speed connections, and yet we dont have a very satisfying software to have Voice Chat. Many times i think "Voice Chat is an equivalently costly to Telephone calls, only it makes us think its cheap". Reason, in voice chat - we assume it is cheaper, so we talk for a very long time, even though we do not have anything to talk about. And that virtually brings the cost closer to brief telephone calls.

But last week, me and my uncle discovered a better way of communication. PICOPHONE.


[ctsy - Vitez ]

It is a Amazingly Small application, that helps you dial an IP and talk to remote, in a much much Clear way. The audio would be Crystal Clear. Main reason being, there is no Audio Server in between. Picophone existed long back, but then, only now i got Broadband.

Get more information and Downloads here

BTW, did you know, my mom started a Blog.. she said if you could blog, then any one could
Check it out, here

Indian Technology goes proud

Read the Business article on the

Thiagarajan's trail-blazing invention!

[ctsy - Rediff In ]

makes us proud.

Speed Up the Web

Minds are always greedy. Arent they. Even though you have High speed Internet connection, you would prefer web pages getting downloaded even faster. To say, you want other pages getting downloaded at the speed of Google returning the search results. Have you ever imagined that way ?

Well, even if you have not, please accept Googles next beta product - Google Web Accelerator - GWA.

This gets installed on your browser (IE and Firefox 1.0+, nice to see more on Firefox) and chaches the pages you see, and later on refering pages, gives you chached + current information on the page. Also sometimes does the Pre-fetch of pages, so that the moment you type the URL, the desired page zaps up at hilarious speed.


[ctsy - Google Labs ]

Unfortunately, im not able to experience that, as even after installing this one, i dont seem to find any significant difference. I guess this would be a product with quite some bugs, as some of them already showed up. Let me wait and see the results.

We need to give some time for every good thing to happen.

Hitachi DZ-MV730A Camcorder (aka) Wow !

Hitachi DZ-MV730A DVD Handycam Camcorder - you know why its a wow. It burns DVD, what you see via viewfinder. It records directly onto a DVD-R.

Thats approximately $870. (hold on, im counting....).

(ok, im done.. I cant buy it,.).


[ctsy - Hitachi dvdcam ]

I have wondered if buying a Handycam would be wiser than buying a Digicam (Still). Im more amused by Still images, than boring and wierd home videos asking people to smile and "Say Something" talks. I admit, it would be of gerat use, and a treasure rather at some occassions. But for most of them, i guess a Digicam would do.

BTW, people who want this DVD Cam, here is the specification.

• Recording format: DVD-RAM / DVD-R
• Imaging device: 680K Pixel CCD
• Recording mode: 16:9 widescreen recording for both DVD-RAM and DVD-R discs
• Zoom: 16x optical / 240x digital zoom
• LCD: 2.5 inch LCD monitor can operate as a light
• Analog conversion: External AV input for recording analog sources to DVD
• Video recording: DVD-RAM: approximately 40-120 minutes of MPEG-2. DVD-R: approximately 20-60 minutes of MPEG video
• Digital Still Photos: DVD-RAM: records nearly 2,000 JPEG 640 x 480 resolution. DVD-R: approximately 220 JPEG images 640 x 480 resolutions
• Image stabilization: Yes, electronic image stabilizer for video
• Low light shooting: 0.3 lux in low light mode
• Focus: Auto and manual focus
• White balance: Auto and manual white balance
• Exposure: Auto and manual exposure
• Viewfinder: .2 inch color viewfinder
• Dimensions (H x W x D): 3 3/8 x 2 x 4 13/16 inches
• Weight with battery: Approximately 1 pound 2 ounces
• Supplied accessories: 700ML 1hr battery, AC adapter / charger, special S-video and composite AV cable, shoulder strap, lens cap

Tell me if you buy one !

Mile sur mera tumhara

Forget A. R. Rahman's Vande Mataram. Forget Lata Mangeshkar's Vande Mataram. "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara... To Sur Bane Hamara" composed by the great Bhimshen Joshi, a masterpiece lost in time, is perhaps the best of songs in national integration genre. I would say this was the best footage ever aired by our good old Doordharshan. I wonder what's stopping them from airing it nowadays. I stumbled upon this link on the web. Some cool desi grads from MIT have composed their own version of this national integration song. Well, this was sung in every official language of India. Now, thats true national integration- A. R. Rahman's Vande Mataram has only a few components to it... Song was shot in Rajasthan and Kerala, and composer and technical team were from Tamil Nadu. Well, this beautiful version is shot all over India with all Indian languages!

Doordharshan could do a revival of national integration theme by airing this song again. I don't think the original version is available anywhere on the net. However, the cool MIT Indian grads have composed their own version for Deepavali celebrations. Just check this out...
http://web.mit.edu/anoop/www/msur/msurscreen.mpg

A low end version of the same is available on this page:
http://www.mit.edu/~kapoor/mile_sur_small.wmv

If anyone has any contacts with DD, I would request them to make efforts to air the original song again! DD could pull off some popularity ratings with the current political scenario, heh, heh, heh...

The DaVinci Key

The world is waiting for Dan Brown's next-up. "The Solomon Key" is almost a sequel of The DaVinci Code (shortly called TDVC). Brown says that the cover Illustration of TDVC is the key for his next book - The Solomon Key. The book again features "Robert Langdon" a professor from the Harvard University. The Langdon charater is the trump card for Dan Brown, as he does this act of overriding emotions on the user, using the thoughts of Langdon.

What I mean is, superimposing the thoughts of Robert Langdon in a way that it becomes our thought, and the story moves fast. Thats been Dan Browns key, all the way to success. The Solomon Key is expected to release February 2006. This book is on the Freemasons, that means a lot of American leaders are in trouble. Well, Conspiracy is my favourite topic. I wish Dan Brown was in Chennai and wrote stories about DMK and ADMK. I also wish Dan Brown wrote about Netaji and Nehru.



[ctsy - Amazon ]

There's already a book on the speculations of the "Solomon Key". It is called the Davinci in America, by Greg Taylor. Will give it a read and let you know whats it all about.