What am i listening to this week?

1. Sir Mixalot - Baby got back
2. Shawn Desman - Let's go
3. Jack Johnson - Sitting, wishing, waiting
4. Damien Rice - The blower's daughter
5. DJ Sammy - Why

Grokster decision in!!

Hollywood wins, everyone else loses.

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A comic book cover archive of over 50,000 covers!!

A huge database with thousands of great comic book covers for comics fans!!!

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travelling...

everytime i travel, i think its gonna be a piece of cake...and everytime its still the 11th hour figuring out if i missed something. i hate making lists and usually pay the price for not doing so. And when i do make one...its in notepads across both my laptops or a scribble on a notebook. And when i need all of the info...u guessed it...dun find it! So this time around (have 3 days to go for my 20 day vacation) i've conciously tried to note all of it and even been making word docs and excel sheets...lol...i'm losing it i know!!!

Bittersweet Symphony

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the veins meet yeah

No change, I can't change
I can't change, I can't change
But I'm here in my mind
I am here in my mind
But I'm a million different people
from one day to the next
I can't change my mind
No, no, no, no, no, no, no,no,no,no,no,no(fading away)

Which F1 driver am i?

Lol...didn't expect this one...am ok with the profile...but not Jacques...Button please??

You can take the quiz too...here.

The Top 25 Innovations (courtesy CNN)

Here's an article of what the top 25 innovations in the world are. Btw no surprises that the internet rules at No.1. What would we even do without it??? I really wonder...

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AMD cracks HP business notebook market

AMD debuts its new chip 'Turion' - 64 mobile chip (competitor to Intel's Pentium M) in the new HP nx6125 series. Read more by clicking on the title link.

Play it again....

Sunil asked me sometime back to list my fave cover versions. So here they are (in no particular order):

UB40 - Cant help falling in love - (Original by Elvis)
JXL - A lil' less conversation - (Original by Elvis)
Travis - Hit me baby one more time - (Original by Britney Spears)
The Corrs and Bono - When the stars go blue - (Original by Ryan Adams)
5ive - We will rock you - (Original by Queen)
The Corrs - Dreams - (Original by Fleetwood Mac)
Guns n Roses - Knocking on heaven's door - (Original by Bob Dylan)
Smashmouth - I'm a believer - (Original by The Monkees)
Roxy Music - Jealous guy - (Original by John Lennon)
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah - (Original by Leonard Cohen)
Aretha Franklin - Respect - (Original by Otis Redding)
Bus Stop - Kung Fu Fighting (Original by Carl Douglas)
Alient Ant Farm - Smooth criminal - (Michael Jackson)
Cake - I will surive - (Original by Gloria Gaynor)
The Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton - Big yellow taxi - (Original by Joni Mitchell)
Sheryl Crowe - First cut is the deepest - (Original by Cat Stevens)
Mr.Big - Wild wild world - (Original by Cat Stevens)
The Byrds - Turn turn turn - (Original by Pete Seeger)
Joe Cocker - With a little help from my friends - (Original by Beatles)
The Fugees (Lauryn Hill) - Killing me softly - (Original by Roberta Flack)
Joan Jett - I love rock n roll - (Original by The Arrows)
CCR - Heard through a grapevine - (Original by Gladys Knight and the Pips)
Matt Pond PA - Champagne supernova - (Original by Oasis)
Lauryn Hill - Can't take my eyes off you - (Original by Frankie Vallie)

The Telegraph UK came up with their Top 50. I don't know if I agree with some of them there and can't understand how you can rank them (unless you measure airplays). More cover versions can be found here. I haven't listened to all to say if they make the cut. You be the judge. Leave your top 3-4 cover versions in the comments section.

ManUtd: The new Asian connection

ManUtd has signed Ji Sung Park from PSV at a deal estimated to be around 4 million pounds. Read the club statement here. You can read more of the story at espnsoccernet. This is the second summer signing for ManUtd. Hope that Park gets the energy to the midfield that has been sorely missed last season with Keano showing his age (he is still a class act though). As witnessed in his PSV champions league games, Park adds more to the wings which gives cover for Ronaldo.

The wheels keep turning: Pistons force game 7

Pistons forced Spurs into Game 7 of the NBA Finals (to be played on Thursday night - Friday morning on ESPN in India). This is the first 7th game being played since 1994. Don't miss it...set your alarms for 6:30am IST.

Book Tag victims!

This is the collection of book tags published by Amit...so go ahead and check who is reading that book you are reading right now!!!

Microsoft Blocking Firefox

I've faced this too many times myself. Firefox does not work on Microsoft sites and a few Microsoft supported ones. Says you need to have IE to view the page. That's complete bollocks as only i decide which browser i wanna use to access whatever site. I can use my bank ATM card in other ATMs too right? So what was that story of Microsoft antitrust case again!!! Monopoly someone said eh?

This link ('Read more')takes you to another blog...you can read comments by other Firefox users as well as check for the evidence of a tracking tool developed for the same.

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ratDVD Version 0.6.1119

This application compresses your 9GB or so DVD down to 2GB or less without loosing any valuable quality. Worth a look-in i say.

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What am i listening to this week?

1. Audioslave - Be yourself
2. Black Eyed Peas feat. Sting - Union
3. The Bravery - Honest mistake
4. Oasis - Lyla
5. Inaya Day - Lift it up (Mike Cruz and Francois Vox mix)

Sports Update: Cricket, NBA, Formula 1, Soccer

As Bill Lawry says, 'Its all happening out here!' Just look at what had happened this sporting weekend. A few ups and lots of downs!

Cricket:
The biggest upset has been with the Aussies been taken to the cleaners by our neighbours - the Bangladeshis!! The funniest part is that Ponting wanted to bat on a green top as if to suggest that he was creating a challenge to play Bangladesh (they are just not good enough). Ok, maybe they are not most of times (at least compared to the Aussies), but who in his right mind gives an inch...winning is a habit...losing is too (ask the Indian teams). So it wasn't a huge surprise that they lost their 4th straight match (the earlier two before the Bangla game being the 20/20 match against England and the game against Somerset)...and note that in all the last 3 matches the opposition has chased successfully the Aussie target! Pietersen is a monster of a hitter and he showed that yesterday...he dished out the same fare to men from Oz (who do it on a routine basis with Gilchrist/Hayden/Ponting/Symonds)...taste of the same medicine eh? Which leads me to think that the secret of success against the Aussies is to take the game to them (to the point of being arrogant) and f*** their happiness...remember Sachin in Sharjah? or Dravid/Laxman in Calcutta...they just lose the plot! And yes, they are all growin old...though they would take offence to this! So this hopefully builds up to an exciting Ashes series (a competitive one for a change)!

NBA (The Finals):
Robert Horry has done it again...stealing a one point win over the Pistons in Game 5 in OT. He's doing what Steve Kerr did with the Bulls in the 90s. Its the 3 pointers at the dying seconds which make it that more exciting! So with the series at 3-2 (Spurs) this one is going down to the wire!!!

Formula 1:
Or was it Formula None??? The whole race was just a sham!!! Think of the pairs of Ferraris/Jordans/Minardis racing and am sure you would have been jumping in your seats...ya sure!!! On one hand Bernie's planning to popularise the sport in the land of Nascar and Indy...and 14 cars don't race because of Michelin deciding that ts tyres would not be able to take the 13/14th corners...please tell me that building a chicane was not the only answer!!! People pay hundreds of dollars to watch the sport (forget how much the team spends on their equipment at each circuit) and TV revenues get generated by races like in Nurburging...not by people turning off the sets seeing only 6 cars. One friend text'ed me saying think about Karthikeyan's chances of finishing third. That really didn't stop me from turning off the TV..who wants to see him finish third out of Jordans and Minardis (with Ferrari taking up the first two)? Am sure he would get his chance sometime in the future hopefully. (He couldn't even keep up with Moneteiro!). All in all it was the most forgettable races of all times...hope lightening does not strike twice!!!

Soccer:
Greece were the Euro champions but frankly they never impressed me...they played like Jim Courier...pegging away...taking the pressure and scoring the crucial goal off a corner or a freekick. They just can't seem to win any more matches (neither here in the Confed Cup or in their World Cup qualifers) losing to Japan 1-0 last night. Their play doesn't inspire any confidence and their goalkeeper needs to figure out that he isn't at a volleyball championship (with him looking to come flying to punch balls and coming up second best most of the time)!
Next were Brazil who were upset 1-0 by Mexico. I didn't see the game so am not sure if the win was a fair result, but the previous games showed that the Brazilian spunk is missing..of making their opponents dance. And while Adriano and Robinho can have their days in the sun, Ronaldo is still the real deal...and Kaka improves with every game. Look out for Diego when he starts more games in the right wing.

another lazy weekend...

Am kinda pissed with my body clock...i still end up waking up at 7am irrespective of what time i go to sleep...its actually good on weekdays...but on weekends....no can do!!! how i wish i could sleep well into the afty...guess that's not gonna happen...sigh!

yesterday was spent just lazing around the house...doin nuthin actually...put my fave U2 dvds (Live at Slane Castle, Live at Boston...2001 tour) on and just chilled. Have been tinkering with the idea of opening a place (live act joint) for sometime...just don't have the guts i guess...but will happen in the future for sure! So anyways dbo suggested we go to this place called 'Opus' in Chakravarthy Layout (close to Windsor Manor)...and we loved watching Samira/Shanky/Prakash play some tracy chapman/corrs/alanis/stone temple pilots/beatles/lauryn hill etc etc...was pretty neat...the place was packed...kinda reminded me of Insomnia at Chjimes in S'pore but this place is not indoors...people just laze around in low seats/steps...a very alternative lounge idea. Junta in Bangalore could drop in there...Sat nights are rocking usually...we even spotted Hariharan there last night.

Came back and caught the argentina v australia footie match...alternating it with the mtv video awards...cudnt figure out how lindsay lohan won best female beating hillary swank...someone plz explain...cudnt get that one!!!

today is back to chillin...will go dvd shopping soon...plan to pick up Spanglish if i can and The Sea Inside. it would be beer in the afty (thanks to UB coming out with the KF cans!)...and evenin wud be spent watchin mindless TV followed up with the F1 race...hope Ferrari and Schumi do one better than Montreal!!!

lemme get back to bein lazy...you all have a good weekend!

Review: Batman Begins

This movie is a bit different from the other superhero movies. Its dark and focuses more on the character and its evoltuion to its crime-fighting persona. It shows the vulnerability of a superhero...shows him as a human..which is quite true for Batman because he is one of the only few who doesn't have any magical powers in his portfolio. He knows the streets and is a mean fighter. Bale fits into this role superbly - in the guy looking to overcome his fears to his Batman role and his suave Bruce Wayne role...this guy does it better than what Clooney and Keaton could ever hope for. Clooney was never a superhero character actor and Keaton was just too bloody old! Katie Holmes is for cosmetic purposes only...don't think she is coming back for the next one. Michael Caine does the Alfred role pretty well though there's not much in the role to be truthful.

All i can say is that this movie just rocks...its definitely one of the best superhero movies for some time. And while it doesn't follow the graphic novels like Sin City, it remains true to most of the Batman evolution. I have read reviews where Christopher Nolan (director, also directed Memento) has been criticised for the fight scenes. While they are true to an extent, he does a far better job at telling the story than anyone has done so far. And people actually clapped at the end of the movie...haven't seen that for a while for sure. We were all smiles when we left the theatre...so if you haven't seen it yet...go and see it...you won't be disappointed!

Review: Batman Begins on the Right Foot

The latest schlock-free Batman chronicle, Batman Begins, trims away a lot of the sensational stuff. There's no Robin (and so no giggles at his costume), no theme villains, no bright costumes and a minimum of wisecracking.

This is what www.wired.com says. I'll try and give a first hand account when i see it later today.

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Dell says he'd sell Apple's Mac OS

Michael Dell is interested in licensing Apple's Mac OS. Its a longshot but atleast someone's openly agreed to selling it if it presents itself in the future.

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Book Tagged!

Was mildly surprised when Kaps said 'You have been book-tagged'...i was like 'eh?'. A lil' R&D revealed that this is quite a wave across blogdoms...so here is my addition to the same.

I've been reading books since i started spelling the words right...ya maybe it was a Noddy that started it all. Since then, though I have yearned to get attached to a good library I've always ended up buying books. One at the airport for every trip has become a ritual nowadays!

Total books I own:
I honestly don't know...cause i had hundreds back in Calcutta where I was growing up. Then my family shifted to Ahmedabad and everything got packed and I kept adding to it, by finishing a book and passing it to my mom. And now that they have shifted again, the books again lie packed. In Bangalore, there should be around 20-30 books right now with me.

Last few books I bought:
1. Lonely Planet - Toronto: Since my family shifted there and I would be going there for a trip in July.
2. Hari Kunzru - Transmission: Cybergeeks always interest me...lol..nah..just heard its a good read so picked it up
3. Jerry Hopkins & Danny Sugerman - No one here gets out alive (The Jim Morrison biography): Anda and Vinay had been talking abt this book a while back
4. Vir Sanghvi - Rude food: One of the airport experiments where this caught my eye...is a very interesting read (writings do get repeated at a few places as this was a column initially spread over the years...but is for you if you ever wondered where the chicken manchurian came from...hint:its nowhere close to the orient!

Last book(s) that I was gifted:
No one gifts you books anymore do they? Doesn't happen to me atleast! The one gifted to me by Sunil back in Nov 2003 was-
Michael Lewis - Liar's Poker

Last book(s) I read:
1. Lance Armstrong - Its not about the bike: One of the most brilliant books I've ever read...this guy is an inspiration to anyone...after i read this did i even come close to figuring what dbo had gone through (he was a stage one fortunately)...don't think i'm ever gonna take off my yellow band...here's to you Lance!
2. Che Guevara - The motorcyle diaries: Had been looking for it for quite sometime and Landmark relented ultimately. This book borders less on the politics and more on Che's own life and its discovery...it was where his ideals/throughts were getting formed which at the end made him a great revolutionary. You can read more about it in the May archives which talks about the movie and the awesome soundtrack.

Currently reading (and in the queue):
1. Lance Armstrong - Every second counts: Got it from Sunil today...bus ride to office won't be boring tomorrow.
2. Hari Kunzru - Transmission

Five books that mean a lot to me:
1. Richard Branson - Losing my virginity: Its a book written for anyone who has ever dreamt of doing something on their own. The style is very informal and you would wonder was it so easy and who this person really is? Who in their right mind wants to go on a hot air balloon in the face of strong currents?
2. Lance Armstrong - Its not about the bike
3. Nick Hornby - Fever pitch: I love Nick Hornby for two reasons. Firstly he ties up stuff like music and soccer which i love with his books. Secondly when you read his books, you end up relating to most of it (ok maybe not being at the Arsenal ground...). This one's for the football (or is it soccer now?) mad fans...the one's who go with the ups and downs of a club...not the one's who just fancy a player or a season...i loved every page of this.
4. Nick Hornby - High Fidelity: This one is about songs and relationships...catch the movie if you don't like reading too much. Has John Cusack in it.
5. Ayn Rand - The fountainhead: Read this when i was in school...didn't understand much of it back then...got pretty confused actually, but if you can keep a fifteen-sixteen year old interested in philosophy and that also for 1000 odd pages...you got yourself a damn good book...the characters are brilliant and remain etched in your mind...how many other characters do we even remember from other books?
Had to add one more-
6. Anurag Mathur - The inscrutable Americans:Maybe not a masterpiece but was one of the funniest I've ever read on a satire of the 'Amreekan' way of life!

Books that I plan to read soon:
1. Thomas L. Friedman - The world is flat
2. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Love in the time of cholera
3. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One hundred years of solitude
4. Shaun Mehta - Divya's Dharma: and i get my autographed copy too..eh Shaun?

Tag five people and have them do this on their blogs:
1. Satish
2. Progga
3. Saint
4. Anurag
5. Udit
Handa & Aloke (they don't have a blog but can leave the same on the comments section here).

Kaps says:
"Amit Varma of India Uncut is collecting all the book tags in one post. So if you have completed the book tag please pass on the Permalink to him so that he can compile the same."

This was my first ever tag...i hope a did a decent job at it!

:)

Black Eyed Peas and Coldplay

Been listening to the new albums of both these bands and here are my 2 cents worth:

1. Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business
They pick up right where they left at Elephunk. There's been more experiments in this album (following their trend of collaborating with other singers) with the tracks featuring James Brown, Sting, Justin Timberlake, Jack Johnson etc. This album is all phunky and R&B...they keep shifting from one to the other.

'Pump it' will remind of the Pulp Fiction theme which has been blended into this track damn well.
'Don't Phunk' with my heart starts with astrain of an old 60's hindi song and then Fergie just takes it away...a sure hot-stepper for the summer!
'Union' is my fave in the album mixed with Sting's 'An englishman in New York' with him lending the vocals to it...pretty neat!

2. Coldplay - X&Y
Really can't peg this one. More than once I feel they are getting into the zone where all their songs sound pretty similar...i like them a lot and but they can so put you to sleep if you cue all theirs tracks one after the other.

The only two tracks that I like are 'Speed of Sound' and 'Talk'. Maybe you might like more...I guess their music/albums grow on you.

Not really sure if this would be as big as 'Rush of blood...'

Video of Steve Jobs' Speech to Stanford Students

Drawing from some of the most pivotal points in his life, Steve Jobs, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, urged graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks including death itself at the university's 114th Commencement on Sunday...

...don't think he mentioned the fact about dropping out..hehehe!

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DivX 6 Is Out

DivX 6 is out coupled with the simultaneous launch of the DivX Media Format (DMF), a wrapper around DivX 6 videos that enables consumers to create sophisticated menu pages and chapter titles, similar to what today's DVDs provide.

Go check it out.

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100 Greatest Pop Songs Since 1963 (WMA Download)

100 greatest pop songs since 1963, determined by experts at MTV and Rolling Stone magazine (WMA Download.

Am not a huge fan of lists but this list lets you download the songs in wma format (urls are posted next to the songs).

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How Sinful are you?

Check out this site: Lol..good fun

http://www.blogthings.com/howsinfulareyouquiz/

I have a 29% chance of going to hell...is that good or bad?? :P

Does that song remind you of something? Part I

This one I've been planning to write for sometime now...to me some of the songs define a moment I've shared with someone or just myself. Its just too uncanny...whenever I hear these songs...the mind goes back to that video it clicked way back in the past. Here's a few...not in any chronological order...

1. Billy Joel - We didn't start the fire
The first album i bought with my pocket money back in school...and made it a point to learn the lyrics by heart...and i still haven't forgotten them by the way! One of the reasons i remember it is because a schoolmate said 'Hey they say Amitabh Bachchan in it'...lol...actually it was 'Russians in Afghanistan'...dunno how he got Bachchan there but was a good laugh anyways! Loved that album - Stormfront.

2. Des'ree - Life
Sitting in the Stockholm hotel in '98(for the 50th AIESEC anniversary celebrations) and Yog says 'dude have you listened to this one...i love it man'...i listened and have kept on listening to it...'Life indeed can be fun, if you really want to' as she says!

3. Genesis - Home by the sea (Second part)/Mr.Mister - Broken Wings
Stole this mix tape from my uncle...i think it was my best mix tape groing up in school...thanks to him these songs are etched in memory forever...all my faves still have these!

4. U2 - Still haven't found what I'm looking for
In Delhi for my summer vacations in school..i picked up Joshua Tree from my uncle and it became my all time fave band and song...the song's been my life really...still treading on new things and figuring them out as well as figuring out myself.

5. Ace of Base - Sign/East 17 - Its alright
Summer vacations in Delhi after 10th with Tuba and Baptu and dunno why we loved it...sometimes you just do...we would break into these songs suddenly and gheeso-ed them real bad! Those were the days!

6. Take That - Back for good
My first break up and I got this song from my ex...it hurt...and was messy...but now we are good friends (of which I'm glad)...here's to you...you know who you are!

7. Eagles - Love will keep us alive
Lol...used to sing this song on the phone to eachother at 2-3am at night...whispering...lol...gawd!!!

8. Status Quo - In the army now
The AIESEC tradition of playing it when the votes are announced for President...Katyal and me were there side by side...he was the frontrunner...he didn't win..neither did I...Nihar did...the song still gives me the goosebumps.

9. Chantal Kreviazuk - Leaving on a jet plane
Two reasons i remember this song...first because this was the only song that made me cry...correction...bawl...during the closing plenary of my last AIESEC conference...where i realised a part of my life was over...the moments gone and i wouldn't meet some of the amazin people i've ever met ever again! Second was because a drunk Yog put this in a loop at the last party in Jaipur and I finally put him to bed...it was still playing!

10. Roxette - How do you do?
Soham in school made me sing this song at a teacher's day...lol...i know i suck...just needed the stamp of everyone around...hahaha...but roxette i loved growing up in school...their 'Tourism' album is what i always listened to.

11. Bon Jovi - Keep the faith
It was back when cable first came to India and we didn't have a connection but i wanted MTV badly so i used to drop some electrical cables from the TV to the cables runnin outside the house...and I got a faint reception...Bon Jovi was playing and it was the top 100 countdown of the year.

12. Dire Straits - Romeo and Juliet/Walk of life
Both are because of Bakshi...the first one because she always begged me to play (before the parties...yelling at me from her hostel room) and how could i ever refuse her? The second was to the best jive ever...Addie and Bakshi...Handa dropped in once to spoil the party...only time I've seen Handa jive!

13. Disco Dancer - Jimmy Jimmy aa ja aa ja
Lol...ok am not nuts...this is here just because Handa came over to the DJ counter and asked for this song one night...dunno why...said he liked it...i din play it ofcourse...but had a change of heart some parties later when i decided to play the fool and played it alongwith Kishore Kumar's CAT - Cat maane billi...lol..go figure!!

14. Guns and Roses - Sweet child of mine
Have come across few people who didn't like this song during college...remember all the L square parties with Aloke/Rakshit/Kan/Handa in it!

15. U2 - With or with you
Madhu's car when she was getting used to it...i think we sang that song a lot during the drives....how can u not love it?

16. Whigfield - Sexy Eyes
One of the first AIESEC dances associated to this song and i went to teaching the steps to juniors...even to a few IIMBians...remember Helsinki City Centre cultural party..all 300-400 of us dressed in our ethnic clothes doing the steps to Whigfield...what a sight...bummer that I don't have the pic with me...even the locals joined in it...and it was raining...just awesome!!!

17. Go West - King of wishful thinking
Back in school, a girl (whom i fancied) gave me the Pretty Woman soundtrack and told me to listen to the third track...so Go West sang for me and while I didn't understand what she was trying to tell me i loved this song...one for the post breakups!

18. Doors - Roadhouse Blues
Aloke/Kan/Handa/Aby and me at the Purple Haze in Mumbai when i stopped by for the evening...the DJ made our day..played all our fave LSquare songs...and i almost missed my flight...we really din wanna go from that pub! One of my fave parties with friends!

19. Fool's Garden - Lemon Tree
Bought my first double CD in CityDisc in Bern...it was an assorted album called Platin. I was supposed to go to Feisch but because of some mis-communication Roman had to go leaving his beautiful Bern apartment all for myself for the evening...that was my first trip abroad alone...din know what to make of it...played the CD...loved the tracks...then Thomas & Tom from the LC dropped in and we all went out. That conference had Lemon tree (the remixed version) playing all the time...got hooked to it!

20. Bryan Adams - Inside Out
This song just reminds me of Sonali during recruitment and how i wrote her the lyrics...this one's for you kiddo! One of the best songs ever written.

End of Part I

What am i listening to this week?

Retro this week... :)

1. Heart - Alone
2. Yes - Owner of a lonely heart
3. Dire Straits - So far away
4. Massive Attack - Teardrop
5. Verve - Sonnet

Linkin Park wants a Warner-free IPO

Linkin Park is looking to float an IPO, but only if it can get out of its deal with Warner: it's not longer interested in being tied to a label, and intends to release its music strictly over the Internet from now on.

Is this the first ever case of a band floating an IPO? Anyone knows anything???

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Recover those files you deleted for FREE

Here's a good freeware to restore files deleted from recycle bins.

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Skype Rocks!!!

Ok officially i subscribed to the Skype-In service and got myself a New York number...and it works like a charm..so from now on anyone can call me at that number and its gonna divert all of them to my laptop (catch is that i have to be around to friggin get them!). For 30 euros a year i think its a steal...its bloody cheaper than my BSNL monthly rental!!! Go figure! and yes...i get unlimited free voicemail service with it...ya ya ya!!! So go Skype me!

:)

Travails of travels!

Here we go again...even before my Toronto/London trip is over...am plannin my next trip for the 15th Aug weekend....the fact that i have a mumbai-blr-mumbai ticket lying with me kinda aggravates it...frankly i hate plannin for my trips...except if its like a one week tour in a foreign city. in that case my lonely planet is my best friend...else i just wanna pack my bags and just leave. it happened a few times earlier...bookings done but still didnt work out. with travellin i really like it simple...pick a place and just go specially if u r goin for a weekend. when u start makin elaborate plans, delegate work and not in agreement as to where to go...its usually bites the dust. so hopefully this aug trip wud be as good as the pune one...specially since the cast includes the usual suspects...aloke/kan/handa/me...and maybe T/Resh if they can get away...so heres to a nice getaway!!! cheers!

and yes if u guys know of a good place for the weekend around mumbai (3-4 hrs to drive down)...plz do duggest!

United - First Domestic Airline With WiFi In The Sky

United now has regulator approval to offer real WiFi in the sky. The good thing for the airlines, of course, is that more people now have WiFi equipped laptops, which should increase the demand for such things. What's not at all clear, though, is how United intends to price the service, and if it will be as ridiculous as many people expect.

The bigger question is when do we ever see this happenin in the Indian skies?

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Gmail Hard Drive

Great way to store files in your Gmail account in a Web-based format. Instead of having to install something, you can access GmailHardDrive.com from anywhere!

I've just started on this...lemme know how you find this...first look suggests a crude website...but as long as it works i guess its fine!


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How-To: Podcasting (aka How to get Podcasts and also make your own)

This is the helpful guide to get Podcasts on your iPod.

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Skype in merger talks with Yahoo?

It's sort of early in the game on this, but word on the street is that Skype and Yahoo are in a close contact,as in, snuggly enough to talk about a possible buyout. It makes sense from the standpoint that Yahoo already wants to add voice to their Yahoo! Messenger platform, and Skype would be an attractive acquisition in...

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Few funny pics i picked up from the net...

Hehehehe...

where the heart lies...

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diamonds are your best friend...not hers!

Dear Santa...

no prizes for guessing what happened here...

dada in the runs again...

its welcome news for sure...ganguly to crack a 50 and a 100 in the same match! while i'll crib when he's not makin any runs and call for his head, this bugger is special...he's one of the key reasons india is where it is....he gives the edge to team india. so yes, he should be in the team, but not by captaincy alone...so its good to see him hitting a few in his fave country...hope its a sign of his fortunes changing...i guess only time will tell! and yes we can see him in the MCC XI as he is replacing sarwan. make us proud dada!

A few movies...

Its been raining movies on DVD as well at the hall for me for the last couple of days...

Yesterday I did what I've been yearning to do for a long time...watched 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and 'Snatch' back to back on DVD. Inspite of having seeing ti so many times earlier...I just love watching these again and again..its just too much of the Guy Ritchie magic with these two...and yes btw I finally figured out what the fuck Brad Pitt was saying in Snatch thanks to the subtitles!!! And if you like Guy Ritchie please don't watch 'Swept Away'...watch 'The Hire:Star' which is amongst the BMW movies.

Today I caught on DVD, Kubrick's classic 'Lolita' finally. Its a masterpiece and am sure I wouldn't be the person who would have said it. John Mason and Sue Lyon are just amazing. While there is no nudity the whole movie is full of sexual tension which is pulled off amazingly well in the black and white backdrop.

The final movie of the day was 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' at the hall. All I can say that I didn't go in with the hype...I told myself even if the movie is crap, Jolie would just take my breath away. While she did exactly that (now I know why Brad left Jennifer)...the movie is really good with the dry humour and gunfights and car chases and everything blowing up! If you saw 'War of the Roses' which had Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner define the term domestic violence this movie turns it up a few more notches....here they actually trade gunshots and bombs. But unlike Roses, this one doesn't end in tragedy...there has to be a sequel sometime down the line for sure!

So thats that for now...hope to catch Batman Begins next week..shall post how I liked/didn't like it. Atleast I'll go to see Katie...lol.

NBA Finals on TV

Its gonna be the Pistons v Spurs from tomorrow morning at the NBA Finals. In India all matches are live on ESPN from 0630 am. The dates (IST) for the games are 10th/13th/15th/17th/20th/22nd/24th. The last 3 would happen only if necessary. Pistons might do a repeat this year! Lets wait and watch!

Live8

Live8 is finally happening on the 2nd July at London (Hyde Park), Paris (Palais de Versailles), Berlin (Brandenberg Gate), Rome (Circus Maximus), Philadelphia (Museum of Art).

The bands at London are U2, Coldplay, Dido, Keane, Elton John, Annie Lennox, Madonna, Muse, Razorlight, Scissor Sisters, Paul McCartney, Joss Stone, Mariah Carey, Stereophonics, Sting, Robbie Williams, REM, Velvet Revolver, Bob Geldof, The Killers, The Cure, Snow Patrol.

Tickets to Hyde Park are free but by lottery; go to the site (click on blog title) to find out how to text and qualify. Other concerts are free.

Wish I was in London on the 2nd!!!

What am i listening to this week?

1. Max Graham v Yes - Owner of a lonely heart
2. James Blunt - You're beautiful
3. Crazy Frog - Axel F
4. Black Eyed Peas - Don't phunk with my heart
5. Amerie - 1 thing

Wi-Fi Locator Util

Found out this good util. Check it out: http://jiwire.com/
Am sure there could be more like the same. But this has a simple interface and you can manage your hotspots here. Has listings of Wi-Fi spots (free + paid) across most countries and cities.

For footie fans!

See the FansFC news box on the left? That should keep you in up to date with the latest in footie news!

Unlikely Newsmakers

The Girl who reads aloud!
She goes to a clogged Beijing highway to read English for the past 5 years.

The Poker bet that made $10 bn
IIT grad cracks it with PartyPoker

Virtual red-light district
Porn webistes to have their own domain ending with .xxx

Check out these utilities!

DVD Utils
Since I've started burning DVDs I've been looking for new software to fiddle with. The following are what I would recommend. For some you would have to look for serials and cracks if you do not want to buy it online.
1. DVD Decrypter: Free to install, it helps to dump all your DVD files on your disk or removable media for you to burn it later. Very simple to use and small application.
2. Clone DVD: Helps if you want to copy the exact DVD (with or without the special features). Comes with a 2 week trial. You should know how to crack that one!

Transformation Pack
1. Longhorn: Wanted to see how your desktop would look like with Longhorn? Well the wait's over. Get it here. Read the review of sneak peeks here.

P2P
1. Limewire: This is the one which doesn't bg you with spyware or ads. You can download almost everything including the latest 'Desperate Houswives' episodes ripped from HDTV. Only downside is that its a heavy Java application so could slow down your system a little. But no pain no gain eh?

World Clock
1. Personal World Clock: Ever wanted to know what the time was before you made that call and woke up someone across the atlantic or pacific at an un-earthly hour (I've done that!)? Then you would need this (if you don't have it already)...easy to use, works on Java, so choose your cities (there's a restriction though on how many you can see on your customised screen) and make sure you call at the right time.

Looking for more utlities? Check out the following sites:
1. Fileforum
2. CNet
3. Cracks
4. Serials

For Hardware reviews for the product you are looking to buy try these:
1. Tom's Hardware
2. CNet Product Reviews
3. PC Mag
4. Epinions