The fly that made it

Indian Cinema should be proud of this movie.

For as implausible as the idea of having a vengeful fly is, the makers of this movie have it "believable". 

What impressed me the most about this movie is the quality and its budget. Wikipedia says that Naan E was made with a budget of Rs. 30 Crore. In comparison, Endhiran is reported to have been made with Rs. 130 Crore (I doubt the Endhiran facts). The quality of the graphics and the logic that went into making Naan E is amazing. I think (I might be wrong) that Naan E is an example of a movie where the graphics got its fair share of the budget and the acting crew got their fair share, and as a result, the viewers get their money's worth as well.

This must be a very important rule in Business (if it already isn't, it should be) - if a product's raw material cost split up is unreasonable, stay away from producing or consuming the product.

how (un) safe are we?

In the recent past, Blizzard, Yahoo, and Linkedin have reported that they have been hacked in some way and that hackers have seen their users' passwords.

If you were a Yahoo mail user with their bank account details in an email in your inbox, and if your account had been hacked, you might be in trouble already (alright, maybe I am stretching it a bit). If you had your email address registered at Linkedin and if you had the same password for your Linkedin account and your email account, you are almost completely compromised. 

What is surprising here is the amount of the users' data transmitted or stored by these websites, that is in plain text (for laymen, any one over hearing this would know everything). It is as surprising as a full ship with a hole in it.

It isn't easy to know which websites or applications store the passwords in plain-text. This Pidgin wiki gives an interesting idea that should be widely followed. When a user signs up for an account, just mention how (in) secure your storage is. Tell them how the password is stored, whether it is encrypted at their machine before sending it through to the server, if the channel of communication is secure and the possible ways in which their security can be breached.

The growth of the Internet seemed to be based on trust at first, but as it turns out, it was just because users are unaware.

We have to rethink how safe we are in the Internet. Each (wo)man for himself.

4 guys, a girl and a guitar

This song had already been heard 130M+ times on the tube before I heard it. Yet, the absence of exclusivity doesn't take the tiniest bit of this song's feel-good-factor away.

I think the feel-good-factor comes from the simplicity of this song and its video. It is just 4 guys, a girl and a guitar. I don't think that there is some army of geeks on strange computers behind this music.
Alright, I'll admit that there could have been some editing here, but really, how much could possibly have been done? There are just three microphones here (I say that because there is only so much one can do while recording 3 voices of people cramped together) and every one did their part in a single recording.

What does this have to do with a feel-good-factor? The simplicity of this song, the instruments, the singers, the video.. everything tells that we can do cool stuff with whatever simple bit we have too. This song really is a tribute to art.

(I have seen the drummer boy do something with his macbook in another video, but still..)

the Cadbury way

There aren't many companies that can get away with an advertisement like this one. There are even fewer that can make the viewers smile to this. But then again, the right product from the right brand at the right time can sell.

Inner Ring Road Conundrum

This is a (possible) solution to solve the traffic jams in Bangalore's Intermediate Ring Road. The proposed timed U turns would have a barricade separating the two roads. The unmanned U turn would not have any barricade and would be similar to the existing U turn. The two timed U turns' would be mutually exclusive in allowing traffic through them and the time period would be at an optimal rate to allow traffic to flow freely.

It has been a while since I've written anything so, this post might seem a bit rusty.

twit-twit

Me? Indian

Indians are unique. Maybe unique is an understatement; maybe we are special.

You see, there are very few others in this world who have such exposure to diverse communities as we do. We, specially as teenagers, get to live in an open community all day and get back to our usually conservative families at night. Some may think that this is beautiful. But diversity can be a dangerous thing.

Diversity is worth the title only when members of each faction proudly live up to what they have been taught to be right. If feeble minds mix it all up, the convoluted mess that is created is just plain disgusting. Originality is lost and without it, diversity is just a sludge.

Each one of us is a product of years of history. There is a lot more that went into making us the way we are than meets the eye. Every tiny incident in India's glorious and at times tainted past resulted in us being who we are today. That I believe is something to be proud of.

I was personally, happy when Madras became Chennai. I like it when some one who talks very good English pronounces words from their language the way they are meant to be. I like it when people are proud to be who they are and do their roots justice.

I think that respect for their own cultures makes people of other nations proud to be them. The way of life that the television dictates to us is the culture and tradition of some other land. We follow it because the ones we see on TV love it. Maybe if we loved being us just as much as they loved being them, they'd decide to be us in a heart beat.

It disgusts me to watch people listen to music and dream of things that they cannot relate to.

It hurts me to think that I cannot converse in any Indian language as well as I can in English. Makes me question who I am. Makes me ask myself if I am a wanna-be.

I want to see the World. I want to be in all the places that I have been shown or have been told about. I want to see all the good things in the world. But, I like to think that when i become old and withered, I'll see my 100% Indian grandfather when I look at myself in the mirror. That who I will die as was decided with my birth. I want my kid to dump me 6 feet under Indian Soil.

I don't want this post to bring out the Indian in you. If 20 or so years of being you couldn't make you appreciate you, a few of my lousy words will not and it will be foolish of me to hope for them to.

However, if you think this could make sense, look around at the mess we have made of ourselves.

Love what you truly believe is good, not what you've been made to think is nice..

as good as new :D

after spending four years in an evergrowing concrete jungle thats spread over a few acres, you feel like you know the place like the back of your hand. like you've been there and done that. then when someone reveals to you a whole new world of possibilities, you feel so.. small..

that is close to how i feel now.

our perspective of the world is always imperfect. makes me doubt if there is anything such as a perfect perspective.

sometimes, we see the world flying past us in a daze; and at other times, the world is as stagnant as an inanimate round of bullets floating in thin air like in a matrix movie.

in either case, the world seems to revolve around us.

college life is very interesting. it is like winter nights sleep in a cold house located on an hill station under a very thick blanket. you have to curl up and twist around in your struggle to keep yourself warm. when u finally find that warm cozy spot, you stay there.

much later at night, when u toss n turn a bit, you end up in the cold part of the bed and as a result, wake up.

the blanket and warmth is like the time and people you meet in college. you toss and turn until you find that really amazing cozy spot; and if you decide to be adventurous and explore new spots, all the sleep suddenly vanishes and you spend the rest of the night cursing yourself.

later, at mid morning, the bed seems like the best place to be in. warm and comfy.

heh.. 3 years down n techians can still surprise me :D

The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost

John Grogan: A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A water log stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if your rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?

Marley and Me :

u must watch this one