Need Time to See Time!

In this super charged rat race that we are all part of, the most precious possession in our hands that keeps eroding away at a pace far greater than we realize is TIME. If there ever were to be some statistics drawn on how often people look at their watches or mobiles or any device that gives them the time over the years, we would know how time-centric we have all become. I once counted more than 20 objects in my house that could show me the time at any give point of time. :-)

One way for us to reduce our fetish to be on top of time all the time is to get devices that make figuring out the current time as obscure and difficult as possible. The experience has gotta be so irritating that one should think "I am better off not knowing the time". This company, quite unknowingly, is making an honest attempt at helping us here, in the garb of fashion or attention seeking.

Here are some samples:










Now.... who can tell me the time without going through an user manual ?? :-)

Bangalore needs help!

Do your bit...

Sad and Clichéd

Just got to know that Ishmeet, the winner of Voice Of India contest on Star Plus last year, is dead. As tragic as this is, just look at the last line of the article:

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the country had lost a 'gem' and a 'void had been created in the music world that would be hard to fill'.

Really... void in the music world... really! C'mon dude, think original or real for once!!

Wiki Wickedness

Google is making too many business enemies while winning many many users, and they are doing both at an astonishing pace. One of the most revered and welcomes services online is Wikipedia. Google has now attacked this haven too with Knol. I am sure you will start seeing context sensitives Ads and more pretty soon on Knol, which is something that would never happen on Wikipedia. But then, knowing Google, they are gonna make this service so much more cooler than Wikipedia.

Let the wars begin or rather continue. We users have all to gain... :-)

IM Jack

I have used MSN Messenger at the start of my IM days, then moved to Yahoo messenger, then gtalk and now use skype. Skype is mainly for work related stuff and is the only one on which I am online all the time. One of the reasons I couldn't keep in regular touch with many of my friends was paucity of RAM, yes, computer RAM. If that ain't an innovative reason, I wonder what is. :-) I just don't have the RAM to run MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, GTalk and Skype at the same time. So, I prefer not to run any except the one that which gives me roti, kapada and makaan.

I have waited patiently for an app that can be an all-in-one IM tool for all these services. I was among the first beta customers for Trillian. The app sure has come a long way since its early days and is quite good. Its major drawback was/is, it can't do skype yet. In the last few years, many more all-in-one apps like Digsby, Adium and online ones like Meebo, ebuddy, miranda etc have come up. They all have their strengths and unfortunately one big weakness... yup, none of them can do skype.

The reason none can do Skype is more to do with Skype than any of these apps. Skype was very close doored when it came to integration, until recently. The first to make use of this benevolence from Skype was Pidgin (formerly GAIM). Some good samaritan (maybe from google) came up with this integration tool. This tool with a few glitches here and there works quite well with Skype. The only drawback is that you need to have Skype app running all the time. Pidgin moves it to "Invisible" mode and take control of all chat sessions, in and out. I have not tried voice chats yet though.

All in all, I have finally found the jack of all trades of the IM world and I am loving it. Try it ... :-)

Movie Review : The Dark Knight

A master director comes with a sequel to an already very very successful prequel. Christopher Nolan brought the comic hero out of his comic book persona created the earlier batman series, and got us the very dark, more real (well, as real as can be) batman with Batman Begins. With The Dark Knight, he has taken the franchise to the next level.

The movie is again very dark, in true Nolan signature style. A warning to folks interested in watching the movie, you are hopefully a fan and hence know the characters, else do some reading. Nolan has not spent much time in delving into the past or significance of characters, so, come prepared. Though Christian Bale has done a great job along with the rest of the regular cast, the show was owned by the refreshingly cool and eerie screen presence of Heath Ledger as Joker. A once in a lifetime performance, and sadly his last, as was later pointed out by my cousin, that Heath Ledger died earlier in the year. With all respect to Jack Nicholson (ex Joker), Ledger made me sit up and watch the Joker and not find him funny. Since the plot and suspense is truly what made this a great film, I will refrain from even coming close to it. But the ending description of Batman and Gothams need for him... well, truly great writing(again Nolan and his brother!).

IMDB has given it 9.7 on 10 making it the #1 film of all time, Rotten Tomatoes has given it a 94% fresh.Needless to say junta and critics find this a great movie... and why not, It is! I give it a 9 and take away a point coz... well, I think Nolan could have been a little less caring for the bad guys in the movie, but then, DC Comics couldn't let him have his every which way, could they. :-)

They are Legends!

I am watching the mens singles final going on at wimbledon. Another Federer/Nadal final and another great match! Unfortunately, the English weather has acted up again. The match is now stopped and the score reads 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(8), 2-2 (Deuce). Can a match get any closer ? Whoever wins this match, we have been privileged to be seeing one of the greatest finals ever at Wimbledon.

Bravo Legends, Bravo!!

Edit: The match has just ended, with the final score reading... 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(8), 7-9 for Nadal. The greatest match of tennis I have ever watched! Speechless...