Diversification (Love Story 2050) vs Non-Diversification(Ugly aur Pagli)

Posted by foniars as Review, bolllywood

There was a very rare event that happened today (7:00 AM 1st july,2008), the sort of event that happens once in a decade, I woke up early and then I had breakfast in the college mess. These events independently may not be as rare (they are rare, with a better frequency) but the combination of […]

Popularity: 3%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Review, bolllywood | Comments Off 

Where thoughts are reborn and dies in matter of seconds!!

Posted by anurag as anurag's stuff, cartoon



A day in my office. After a long time they finally took me off from the animation team and gave me an opportunity to try my hands on some core graphic designing stuff. I was asked to submit a logo and banner design for a funky highway transit on bhopal-indore highway. So I put it off for a while; played with some different ideas; spun my wheels; and eventually put together some rough scribbles here and there.


I have seen times when you get loads and loads of ideas at an instant and you are not able to interpret them to the mark. Even their are times when you go totally blank and try to relocate set of old ideas but finally you end up with some wierd stuff. Actually its quiet a common phenomenon for me and happens almost everytime I sit to design, don’t know whether it happpens to other architects and designers….even engineers..


“If the idea is good it’ll come back to you”. It’s a great way to reduce idea overload and ensure high quality.- said by a faculty member of our architecture department.



I will say that although I think it turned out tight enough, the idea isn’t that strong - and I wanted to tweak the letters and add some layers of pattern behind it…something related to highway and activities taking place there.

The cabin which they allotted to me is something like a box having two openings - one rectangular window opening to the exterior and one circular window just in front of my drawing table opening to the interior office space, according to them designers can extract ideas by observing activities goin’ on in office space…wat a nonsense, I would call it more like a disturbing element seeying people roaming around in front of you…it would have been far better if they could have simply put up a nice portrait…even a mirror will do the trick…

I think I gotta figure out some way, if you are getting new ideas every now and then…..you should even learn how to manage them and use them effectively in future. Let me know if you have something to add to it - some effective tips.
Cheers:)
Anurag

Popularity: 1%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under anurag's stuff, cartoon | Comments Off 

Wats this creative crap?? I’ll take you inside!

Posted by anurag as anurag's stuff, essay types

First of all, let’s remember that although we use the word “creative thrust”, it is not something you can put in the drawers of your house or sell in a bottle- it is a nominalisation, and that means it was taken from a verb which describes an activity and frozen into this nebulous noun.The verb literally means “to create”.In essence, this means “to make something”, and that’s our first stop on re-defining creativity.



1. You can’t be “creative” unless you are DOING SOMETHING - CREATIVELY.

This is really important to understand because the word is so terribly misused all the time.Being creative is something THAT YOU DO when you engage in the act of MAKING SOME THING.



2. CREATE SOME THING with a purpose is what it means to be creative.

That’s another place where people really lose it on this topic.

That could be some thing that solves a problem, has an effect on society or on reality in some way, or on yourself.

3. In order to be creative, you do NOT have to “invent something new”

Creativity and innovation are TWO SEPARATE TOPICS, that’s very important to understand.A lot of people mistakenly think that when they explore their creativity, they WILL have to come up with something no-one, out of all the billions upon billions of people on this planet in all the hundreds of thousands of years of human history has EVER thought of.That’s NOT creativity! Creativity is when a little kiddo works out for themselves how to get at a toy on a high shelf with a stick.Happens to virtually EVERY kid, it is THEIR CREATIVITY, their marvellous experience and their REWARD.



Opening the Doors To Creativity



The No. 1 obstacle to creativity and flow is FEAR.



Art and engineering Solutions & Creativity

Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with me?” and painting the answer in words or colours or structures or circuits, over and over again, we might ask instead, “Give me something that will heal me …” and wait for the mind to present something. Jus wait and I m sure u’ll get something.

That is THE most extraordinary moment of turning away from old stuck “pain screaming” and beginning on a whole new exploration of the processes of creativity, and the PURPOSES of creativity.



What questions would YOU ask of your own creativity?

What contributions would YOU like to make to the world, what legacy would you like to leave in pictures, sounds, in systems and structures that YOU CREATED?



“Give me something that will make the people who see/hear/touch/use this feel …”

Feel what?

Happier? More hopeful? Less sad? Less angry?

But as an artist, architect or an engineer, this is up to you.

You can CHOOSE to choose differently. If you want people to feel even worse than they already do, disgusted, more angry, more desperate, that TOO is in YOUR POWER .



Creativity Explored

It is EASY to ask ourselves a question and receive the answer, as easy as it is for me to say to you, “Remember a time when you saw a dramatic sky that was like a symphony or a flamboyant dance? What did it look like? What were the colours? Tell me about it …” - AND FOR YOU TO ANSWER MY QUESTION, as best you can.

Do this every day and your vision become richer, deeper, more satisfying, every more astonishing, ever more wonderful.

In the process of this active use of your creativity, you will LEARN about your creativity. You will learn how it works, become more comfortable and assured as you begin to really UNDERSTAND how you create the answers to your questions, and you remain absolutely IN CONTROL of these processes of creativity, all the way.

YOU choose where to take this; YOU are in charge through the questions you ask before the stream begins the answer.


Long live CREATIVITY and its everchanging forms..>>

Cheers :)

Anurag

Popularity: 1%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under anurag's stuff, essay types | Comments Off 

My first official blog post

Posted by anurag as anurag's stuff, cartoon

This is kinda illustrated blog u’ll be seeying throughout my blogging….last one was more kinda essay-types, I wanted to write about the topic creativity and its forms from quiet a long time and as an introductory I wrote on that…hope u’ll enjoy that one as well.. I’ll b back again tomorrow with some more interesting stuff n illustrations..

Cyah.



Cheers :)

Anurag

Popularity: 1%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under anurag's stuff, cartoon | Comments Off 

Cricket,My Passion!!!!!

Posted by passionateme as random



Just as I post this I am looking down my memory lane, a fictitious hot tear trickling down my cheek washing the dust accumulated out of ages and i am getting very much nostalgic. There are only certain things we can do fluently (without hesitations,shy,fear or anything) in any environment amidst any number of on-lookers. To put it better let me state an instance: When asked to sing amidst a group of people, a person who has not been trained or who is not been used to, will hesitate a lot to sing, while a singer takes pride in moving forward and coming with a short and sweet performance just like that (this is one of the main driving points for me to make this post). I have seen many examples to say it and I cant refrain from admiring people when they enjoy doing things they are best at, irrespective of the situation or surroundings. This admiration has sometimes pushed me into the trench of pensiveness on what do i think i am best at(if at all there is any) and the best possible answer was cricket.

Cricket,the very mention of the word takes me back some 17 years down the memory lane when i was already familiar with this word and the name “sachin” has already formed the part of the vibrations from my vocal chord and was at the top of my admirations. As Mom recollects that at the end of the 1992 world cup, when asked who is the winner of the cup, i used to promptly comprehend that its “Papistan”(i was 3 years old then not to know its Pakistan exactly). I can still recollect the days when i used to stay in trichy every vacation during which cricket was life for me and my cousins(Mouli,Prassanna). From the kid batsmen who needs a by-runner to a self-dependent amateur to a competant player, my cricketing skills started growing with me and i can faintly recall certain incidents like “rolling-on-the-floor fight with Prassanna on deciding who is the “sachin” of the family…..”,”fights between the three of us in the matches that we play between one another in which each of us individually represent the 11 odd men of the country we choose for each. sometimes we will have to imitate the particular player’s batting or bowling style too and we even made detailed scorebooks too”,”the tour we made to Raghu anna’s place which we ourselves named as “India tour of Australia” and the games we played there and not without the fights and my ‘childish’ reactions to Mouli when he gets me out”,”the games me and Mouli unitedly played against Prassanna who bravely and singly fights a loosing battle” and so on. Those days were really pleasurable to remember and i always looked forward to trichy visits. Coming to cricket in karur, it was also one of the important hunting grounds for me as i enjoyed playing there too all those years during non-vacation days. There were times when weekends were most-anticipated and some some 20 0dd people gather and play all through the day never-minding the sun or its heat. I play whenever I getr company, irrespective of it was a weekday or weekend or even if tomorrow as tough paper in annual examination etc. I was obssessed in having good bats too and all through those years i had some 6 or 7 bats.(I still have one there). Cricket was my life there too. I still remember that even in the last day before heading to Trichy I played there.

Then comes mention about cricket in school. In the school i studied, we used to have cricket matches between 2 teams formed within the school(7th standard onwards,tennis ball cricket) and prizes would be given on the “sports” day. In 7th standard I was desperate to get into a team and after a good performance during the selections i indeed got into a team in junior level as a main strike bowler. If I remember correct, i took 4 wickets with the ball and was out for a duck with the bat and we lost the match by 3 runs. Then came 8th standard wherein junior level was neglected and after hard toiling and convincing i was lucky enough to be one of the two juniors to get a berth in senior match. Of course considering the quantum of experience of others i was clearly overshadowed. We won the first match amidst controversies(mainly attributed to poor umpiring) and had a “re-match” for a fair call and lost it miserably, i remember bowling a couple of wicketless overs and scoring some 3 or 4 runs in one of them when i got chance to bat(i had a poor batting form then). I was at my peak in 9th standard both with the ball and bat and had my fair share of lime-light too. Again we had two matches that year. In the first match I had picked 2 wickets and shared the supposedly record partnership with kiran when our team was in a pathetic state (i remember scoring 30 odd runs and kiran scored some 40 odd and we shared some 85+ runs for the 6th wicket). We both perished after a good fight and others followed to end the game in a tie and which meant a “re-match” again. In the rematch i was asked to open the batting (i opened the bowling too) which i was not comfortable with, rather i was not prepared for it. I seemed like settling in nicely but unfortunately i got out scoring some 8 or so touching a wide deliverly off the legs to be caught in the deep!(Ah! blame my timing). I tried different things with the ball and got 2 wickets again and we won the match with ease with contributions from all- a team win! Then comes 10th standard and i had the opportunity to lead a team. We unianimously agreed upon “no re-match” idea and keep to it fair and true. It was the most easiest match i ever played. With debut as a captain, I had made complex plans on spells,field settings for each batsmen,winning strategies-plan A to Z :) , batting order etc but it turned out to be too simple for stuffing all those things. We had to field first and with wickets at regular intervals we restricted them to a meagre 43 in 13 odd overs (matches are 20 over games) and w e got the target in just 7 odd overs. I went in at no.3 and smashed 25+ out of the target. I enjoyed tormenting the bowlers(specially 9th class guys) and it turned out to be easy. The match started at 7.30 and first innings was supposed to end at 9.45 or so but it turned out that entire match was over by then, thanks to my team.( I also enjoyed playing the “show” matches which were played for practise just before the main games). I could not go anywhere near the game in 11th and 12th and i had played a few times at Swami’s place after joining college. The next bigger stage was playing in inter-hostel tournament(”Ruby” cup) here in college which i did not do well at all but indeed it was heartening to feel back in the game. All these years I have improved in my bowling especially in pace but my batting has become a serious let down( it was turn of tables as intially i considered me to be better batsman rather than a bowler).

On the whole I can reassure that cricket is my “talking” point but considering the achievements in it, i fear i have not gone anywhere above “intra”levels. I always feel bad about it and one of the main reasons is lack of opportunity. I feel let down to see that i was in schools without cricket teams and the first requirement to join a cricket team @ college was past representations or achievements in school level. I always feel i could have easily been a professional player but in the end of the day I’m not! :( But more than that my love for the game demands me for playing atleast once in a while (playing does not imply to play in professional games but to join others who play for fun in front of hostels) but considering my inability to move well with strangers(even though they are in same college, same year and share the same wretrched mess food) stops me from moving ahead but anyway the days before and during ruby cup were filled with some good cricket enough for quenching atleast a sill of the huge rock of thirst formed due to the accumulation of age old longingness to play it. Atleast last year’s edition will give more enthusiasm to drive the ambitions home in the coming two years but till then the “longing” mound mounts on and i can only grin and feed on these beautiful memories deriving happiness out of the reminiscences. I cannot neglect cricket anyday even when i am not physically playing it and it has set very proundly into me and my blood. Perhaps I can wishper that cricket is my first love!!!!!

Thank you for a patient travelling in my nostalgic express into the past and hope you enjoyed the ride too :) ! Take Care :)

Regards…..





Picture courtesy:: www.themediasite.net

Popularity: 5%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under random | Comments Off 

Dasavatharam review….

Posted by passionateme as reviews





Warning: This review is done purely based on the opinion of the author and it may be spoiler too,so those who have not watched it can read further(blue text) at their own risk!!!!



Well, I watched Dasavatharam, Dr. Kamal Hassan’s so called “magnum opus” yesterday evening. Before I move on,let me make it clear that I am not an ardent fan of any particular actor. I watch movies of all actors and appreciate when i like them and so goes for harsh criticism. I may so confer myself the term “neutral”.



REVIEW:



I went to the movie after reading both favorable and unfavorable reviews which goes to show the mixed response from people. I went in without much expectation. The movie starts with the 12th century part,narrated by the lead character Govind in what seemed to be a function for accolading him. It was really a tense sequence and the scene where Rangarajan Nambi chants “Om Namo Narayanayah….” when threatened to death to chant “Om namashivaya” was really overflowing with emotional valor. Also the dialogs in this part are really astounding, I was very impressed with Dr. Kamal Hassan’s tamil skills,truly great and unarguably the best in this aspect. Ms. Asin’s role is not much in this part apart from screaming and shouting, and it turns out that she kills herself before her husband breathes his last,showing her traditionalism. From this part, the movie moves into the main theme “chaos theory”. Govind,the scientist is the main character of the ten characters is a scientist in synthetic bio weapons research and their team invent a new virus which can be a revelation in bio war, but after an accident which results in the death of a monkey in the lab(used for the research) he is hurt and decides not to continue with even though he is offered huge sums of money for he fears the invention may fall into wrong hands and turn against humanity and mankind. He runs away with the vial containing the virus and is hunted by an ex-CIA man Fletcher helped by Mallika Sherwat who forms a short time “crowd puller” role. Man! he is some villain and I still find hard to digest that it is played by Dr.Kamal himself. There is a car chase sequence which was done very well and Govind after a series of events sends the vial through courier to a 95 year old woman who has lost her marbles. Govind lands in India and after a series of events the vial gets into an idol and the idol becomes the priced possession now. Govind is hunted by Fletcher everywhere who is in turn pursued by Balram Naidu,a RAW agent. I liked Balram’s character very much and he forms the funnier part of the movie with awesome timing in humor and slang. Andal(Ms Asin) joins Govind on the run and other characters like kaifullah khan,Avtar Singh,Vincent move with their sub-plots simultaneously. All these ten characters are connected brilliantly and that explains chaos theory in a simpler way. The chasing sequences are done quite well. The climax fight is really mind blowing(remember both characters in it is done by a 54 year old legend) and the CG work in tsunami and other parts did not live upto the hype and bad at places. But on the whole, it is really entertaining and enjoyable. One might get a feeling that the story is built upon the ten characters rather than other way round but still the connection is really praise-worthy. There are some places where logic is compromised and some places where Dr.Kamal’s ideas on atheism and other things are mixed in but indeed the audience are not insane to nod to everything that is depicted. They are not forced to accept anything and it is upto them to decide upon. But certain people cannot understand some real brilliant points about the movie especially regarding chaos theory so the verdict in box office is still uncertain. Also I am not sure if the amount of money spent was justified in the CG work. Nevertheless I am really moved by the hardwork of the team and especially Dr. Kamal Hassan. It may not be perfect movie but certainly a good one, I would give 8 out of 10 for the movie and 10 on 10 for Dr. Kamal Hassan and camera man Mr. Ravi Verman.



Personally, I enjoyed the movie and indeed dying to watch it again(after the ticket prices come down). I would recommend you not to read any review(or read both good and bad like me) and go to the theater without expectation and you will be served with good entertainment.



That was my review hope you liked it. See You soon TC :)







*Picture courtesy: http://tamilgrounds.com/blog



Popularity: 6%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under reviews | Comments Off 

iPhone, USA vs India

Posted by Abhijith as Uncategorized

A few details about iPhone in USA(as of date of the post):

* compulsory new 2 year post-paid contract with only one company, AT&T

* costs for the lower capacity model, phone = $199 from July 11 for 3G model + monthly charges = $70 excluding taxes, excluding messaging, but unlimited data access i.e. free internet

* unlocking new model almost impossible because you have to buy with credit card, and if you don’t activate phone(3G model) within 30 days from date of purchase, penalty will be applied

* current details indicate terminating the contract(by paying high fees) with AT&T will mean that you have to return the phone as well

* as mentioned internet access will be free in the contract..

* there is no option of a prepaid iPhone, unlike in Australia or UK

So for India, I guess they will have a contract system, offering the phone for a low price with postpaid contract or a high price with prepaid.

Since such bundling(phone+plan) is not common in India, it will be interesting to see what plan is proposed. Also complicating the situation is the fact that most people use prepaid plans with an unlocked mobile, i.e. freedom to use mobile with any provider.

News wires have it that Airtel and Vodafone are waiting for 3G directives from the government, hence the delay. Rumours abound for a release in September.

Suppose a person buys an iPhone with a postpaid plan, there will not be much intent for unlocking it. But for a person who buys it for a prepaid option, usually he will not have  a credit card, so tracking that iPhone will be difficult, so the only way to make money will be to sell that prepaid iPhone for a very high price.

According to some speculators the actual price of the iPhone, i.e. the money the carrier has to pay to Apple for every piece they(the carriers) sell, is about $525 for the 8GB model.

This amount, about Rs.22,000 , could be the end price which people pay for the iPhone in India ultimately.

Notwithstanding the ‘early bird’ signup/registering for the iPhone by Airtel and Vodafone, I hope people don’t fall head first into a ditch they do not know the depth of.

trackback: http://abhijith1729.blogspot.com/2008/06/iphone-usa-vs-india.html 

Popularity: 13%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments 

rajini’s sivaji kicked raped and murdered

Posted by krish nish as Uncategorized

overall overseas collections of sivaji the movie by its week 2



$3,705,252





http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/weekend/?yr=2007&wk=25&p=.htm





overall overseas collections of DASAVATHARAM the movie by its week 2



$11,653,212



http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/weekend/?yr=2008&wk=25&p=.htm





4 TIMES AS MUCH AS SOTTAJI THE LOSS!!!!!!!

Popularity: 5%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

Coffee With Chidambaram Muthu on Georgia Tech University

Posted by sundarrajan.g.s as chidambaram muthu, coffee with experts, gatech, georgia tech university, univesity cafe

Hi all,

In an initiative to better understand life at various universities, I intend to interview a few graduate students about the situation there..

To start of this special series of Coffee With Experts, we have Chidambaram Muthu.. A student of 2004 batch from NIT Trichy..

Chidambaram aka Chithu, studied Computer Science and Engineering from NIT Trichy.. Chithu went on to work with Oracle in Hyderabad for 2 years.

Chithu is now on the verge of completing his MS from Georgia Tech University and would be joining Microsoft in August 2008.

Without further ado, its over to Chidambaram…

Coffee With Chidambaram Muthu - A birds eye view of Georgia Tech university

This information gives an overview of apping situation/life at Georgia Tech University.

* Entry Criteria such as approx CGPA range:

It depends on the program you are applying to. But its usually on the higher side because Gatech is rated in the top 10 schools for many departments.

I would say > 8.5 CGPA would be ideal..

* Research Experience at undergraduage level.

It is not a MUST, but is helpful if one has research experience…

Because at some point or the other, he would end up doing research (For eg: RA position).

* Typical Gre & Toefl scores range..

Usually GRE and TOEFL scores are just a cut-off for admission.

If I remember right, it was 1250 / 1600 in GRE and 250 / 300 in TOEFL during my time.

But nowadays it looks like the evaluation method has changed for both GRE & TOEFL.

So I am guessing it will be some equivalent score now.

* Does the university require subject GRE?

Yes. Gatech asked me for subject GRE

* What is the aid scenario?

Only Phd students come with aid.

Masters students very rarely get aid before starting.

But it is possible to get aid in the first semester itself for masters students, if the prof you are interested in working with, has a research opening and you are lucky :-)

Most students work for 1 semester under the professor so that the prof gets to know them better and later get funded in the second sem.

If not funded in the first sem, students usually work inside campus for hourly wages.

Working off campus is illegal, unless approved.. Usually that comes without tuition waiver but it can help take care of living expenses.

I must tell you here that it becomes pretty hectic in the first semester if you are working outside the department, because you have to take care of academics as well.

* How much money should one shell out for the entire course if it completely unfunded..

I am assuming this question is for master’s program since phd is always funded.

Atlanta is a moderately costly city and so living expenses per month would be ~500-600 bucks normally, assuming you take a shared room and cook at home regularly.

Tuition fee per semester will be close to ~$12000 per semester (this information might be a little outdated. Please check on the college website for exact figure).

That makes it ~$15000 per sem. You can estimate the total amount based on how many semesters you would take (3/4) and of course, the dollar-rupee conversion rate :-)

* Career opportunities after the course?

Excellent I should say, atleast for CS. Most people in my batch had more than 1 full-time job offer and in good companies.

I had offers from Microsoft, Google, Cisco and Goldman Sachs. Since Gatech is a well known school, many companies come on-campus.

* Typical Money made during internships?

Students typically make enough to manage tuition for one semester.

* How easy it is to switch departments?

I know of very few people who have switched departments, but it is possible to switch departments if both the departments involved are okay with it.

But it is always better to think about what you want to do rather than coming here and wanting to change.

* switch from Phd to MS?

If you join the phd program and later find you are genuinely not interested, it is definitely possible to switch to MS.

For this again, you need to get the concensus of the prof and the graduate program co-ordinator.

Applying for Phd just for the sake of aid is not considered a good practice, and I would definitely discourage it

Because it creates a bad impression with the profs, not just for people who do it, but for other people who come after them.

* Any other issues/ inputs which will be helpful.

If you are planning to apply to gatech (or that matter any other university in the US), put in a lot of effort in preparing a good SOP because that matters a lot.

Also, gatech has been admitting a lot of international students off-late and it just might be a good time to apply!

Thanks a lot chithu for sparing your time and answering these questions.. On behalf of CWS readers, I wish you a very big thank you and ofcourse, all the best for your future..

Readers, hope you found this information useful.. For previous episodes of coffee with experts, click here.

Popularity: 3%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under chidambaram muthu, coffee with experts, gatech, georgia tech university, univesity cafe | Comments Off 

Infrastucture a necessity for devloping countries

Posted by K.M.vathul as Uncategorized

Infrastructure plays a great role in developing economy,few examples of such countries are Malaysia, japan,Singapore….



these countries were comparitively poorer than India at the time of Indian independence but now the average salary of a individual is 20 times more than a Indian individual.The main reasons for the growth of these countries are speeding up infrastructural development

good roads ,hospitals ,schools ,colleges,I.T parks and other facilities and very low corruption



India even though it is developing ,it is not as fast as it is supposed to be

Popularity: 3%



June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Comments Off 

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