Peak Day Blues

I've previously written about iPhone clone in China , with a video showcasing it's nitty gritties. A columnist of Popular Science magazine recently went all the way to China to find out for himself if it's true. And boy oh boy, he discovered iClone!! Read more... PS: A rather long article, but interesting read about China's intellectual property issues. Via: Bala

By: K. Gautam Having won the Test Series, I expected India to carry the momentum onto the One Day Series. Sadly, it seems that England has turned the tables, and if India doesn’t get its basics right, it is going to get routed in the rest of the matches. Rather than lamenting on the availability of a genuine all-rounder (after the loss in the 3rd one day), Dravid should ponder on the sub-standard fielding and running between the wickets, which has been the major difference between the two sides. India almost paid the price for poor fielding and unimaginative bowling at the death in the second one-dayer. Where Paul Collingwood, Kevin Peterson (considered an average fielder), Stuart Broad, Monty Panesar, Ian Bell, and James Anderson have been assets for the England side while fielding, Sourav Ganguly, Munaf Patel, Ramesh Powar, RP Singh, and Zaheer Khan have been very expensive liabilities for India. The running between the wickets has been pathetic, to say the least. To see Sourav Gangu

Gautam, the master musician, has reviewed one more movie in Life Is Reel blog of mine. The movie he's reviewed is Going For Broke, screened in HBO recently. Read the full review here

Cochin is all set to leap into a metro city status this coming November as the authorities have decided on having shopping facility in the night. According to a report: "Kerala’s port city of Cochin took another step towards the metro city status by paving the way for much needed night life. The process was kicked off yesterday by traders by keeping the shops open during the night. Though the present night shopping facility will be available only during the Onam festival season till August 30, it will be made a permanent feature from November 1 The Kerala Chamber of Commerce and Industry is trying to bring together various agencies like police, transport, residents associations, traders’ bodies and different wings of the administration to make the night shopping safe and smooth. The district administration has extended total support to the move as it would ease the traffic congestion in the city during the day hours considerably. District Collector A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish has promi

According to JuxtConsult, the Internet population in urban India grew 28% between April 2006 and April 2007 That's an amazing number considering India is emerging as a pure-play broadband provider. Of the total 30.3m urban Internet users, 25.2m (or 83%) are "regular" users who log on at least once a month. The balance, 5.15m (17%), are "occasional" users who log on infrequently. Some 20m Internet users make daily visits to the Web! 77% who access the Web from home do so with a broadband or superior connection. 74% of work-related access is also based on broadband or superior connections. Read the full report here

I believe India is blessed to have Rahul Dravid as our captain. He is one of the best orators around, with articulative skills that no other captain can match (read: Inzy & others). India were a disaster in yesterday's match and this is what Dravid had to say: "I thought there would be a bit more for the bowlers in the wicket" Oh okay, so it's not our bowling! Blame it on the pitch! "Credit to the opposition. They played a perfect One-day game. They really batted well, got two guys who went on and got a hundred. It's exactly what you want. They then took wickets up front with the new ball" I see. It's not because we played bad cricket, they performed better! "For us, it's a bit of an issue because of the lack of a genuine all-rounder" Ahaa! None of us knew that. Blaming it on lack of talent??! "It's been a disappointing performance all round but there are six games to go and hopefully we'll bounce back" Wow! That o

As I had blogged about it previously , a special treat awaited us this past Sunday. Smrithi, an organization formed by Malayalee BPO professionals working in and around Saravanampatti, Coimbatore had organized a wonderful get together to celebrate Onam. The event was organized in true team spirit! One could see everyone chipping in to help, seen rarely in other events. The first event was Pookalamalsaram which saw 5 teams participating. [believe it or not...i was one of the judges in this event!] After that, it was time for the kids to have some fun. And at noon, we all had a lip-smacking, true to the cause, mallu Sadhya. To catch all the action in pictures, head over here

What a way to kill competition and capture market share! Now touted as India's largest real estate company, thanks to its hugely oversubscribed IPO, DLF has unleased a price war in the heartland of south, Chennai. According to CNN-IBN, the realty giant will soon launch a residential project on the Old Mahabalipuram Road at almost half the price quoted by other prominent builders. Read more Prices will start at Rs 2,700 per square foot against a market price of Rs 3,500. This is as opposed to premium developers such as Purvankaras, The Mantri Group and The Hiranandani Group that have priced their apartments at Rs 4,200 a square foot.

I was really amused by the hullabaloo created over Rahul Dravid’s refusal to enforce the follow-on at the third test at the Oval by some of the former Indian cricketers. True, it is disappointing that Dravid didn’t enforce the follow-on, as it would have given an opportunity to win the series 2-0, which would have been ideal. Though it is difficult to buy Dravid’s defense, where he cited the fatigue factor, it was a creditable performance by India winning the series, something to really cheer about, as overseas Test Series wins for India are rarer than Blue Moons – and never mind a second string English bowling attack, they still had a formidable batting lineup. I can understand the disappointment and criticism from the non-cricketing experts (the public and the media), the scores of them that we have in this cricket crazy nation, as they might not fully understand the nuances of the game. But the former cricketers should know better. What amuses me most about the former cricketers is

AnswerTips is a cool new feature from the makers of Answers.com, one of the premier destinations for word definitions and pronunciations. I especially use Answers.com for audio pronunciations for words I'm not familiar with. What is AnswerTips? You double click on any word, anywhere in this blog that you don't understand, and you get a popup that explains what that word means. Try double clicking on India in the previous post. You will get a short summary about India and also an audio link to listen to how it is pronounced. This is a really cool pop-up and I'm sure you will really enjoy utilizing this new feature. So, why waiting? Give it a try!

It's 60 long years since India became a democracy and here's wishing India many more happy returns of the day! Now, one might wonder why I'm wishing India of becoming a democracy rather than the usual "Independence Day" wishes, right?? If you look back at India's history, it was ruled by Maharajas & Nawabs before the Europeans came in. And by my version of history, Indians lived under an iron fist rule, the same way Britishers ruled India for 100 odd years. And hence, I think the best thing that has happened to Indians and India at large over the past 60 years is DEMOCRACY - The freedom to talk anything, to do anything, and to live the way you want. JAI HIND! You don't think Democracy is great?? Ask anyone who lives in a Capitalist/Socialist/Communist regime. PS: Do look out for that "self-destructing" 10 second pop-up greeting message, Mission Impossible style ;-)

In recent years, BharatBala Productions and AR Rehman comes up with revived versions of our patriotic songs. This year is no different and here's their latest tribute to Vande Mataram - A Revival.

After a long gap, Bruce Willis and his Die Hard series is back with Die Hard 4.0. Gautam, who is also an ardent fan of Bruce has written a well-sketched review in my movie review blog. Head over there to catch all the action!

Smrithi - The Spirit of Oneness is a cultural organization formed by Malayalees in and around Saravanampatti, Coimbatore - the emerging IT corridor of India. The organization was formed around 2 weeks back and already boasts of 300 plus members. Malayalees from KGiSL, SPi, Robert Bosch, Cognizant, Spheris and Perot Systems are part of this organization. They are kickstarting their Onam Celebrations this coming sunday with a few cultural programs and a sumptuous Onam sadhya. The venue is the Panchayat Auditorium in Chitra Nagar (opp. Amman Kovil). For more details, pls contact Srivatshan of SPi @ 9894600448 PS: Eagerly looking forward for a sadhya :-)

60 years ago - MERA BHARAT PARESHAN! 30 years ago - MERA BHARAT MAHAN! Today - MERA BHARAT JAWAN! I think this subtly describes India's 60th anniversary...!

If you thought you've heard it all -- from 50 cents' Bucket Song to the more recent Hotel Keralafonia - Aliyo, ithu ellam onnum alla...(Bro, you haven't heard anything yet!) Here's another creative malayali performing the mallu version of "I want to breakfree" aptly titled I am a മലയാളി! powered by ODEO

These days one usually ends up getting loads of forwarded e-mails from friends and relatives quite often... some are motivational, some are spiritual, some are down right threatening (if u dnt frwd it in the next 4 scnds ur head will burst!!), and of course some hot pictures of... well, you know what I mean! And am not even talking about spam mails here... I opened one such "hot mail" sent by Praveen John. Needless to say it was "really" good and I couldn't resist sharing it with my 18+ men audience!... Without much ado, CLICK HERE to see this hot snap... Ladies, extremely sorry for posting this and I request you not to click!!!

Getting up at an ungodly time when the sun is still fast asleep, sipping a cup of coffee, you cuddle around the balcony of your house while rain gods shower with all their might above you... hmm... this is BLISS! Wish life would stand still at that moment!

Wipro Technologies, the global IT services business of Wipro Limited (NYSE:WIT), and Infocrossing, Inc. (NASDAQ: IFOX), a US-based provider of IT infrastructure management, enterprise application and business process outsourcing services, today announced that the companies have signed a definitive agreement for Wipro to acquire Infocrossing for $18.70 per share in an all cash deal that will create one of the world leaders in end-to-end IT infrastructure management solutions. The acquisition will be conducted by means of a tender offer for all of the outstanding shares of Infocrossing, followed by a merger of Infocrossing with a Wipro subsidiary. "With its unique Platform based solutions, Infocrossing also brings in significant expertise in Health plan & Payer Management segments. With its proven track record of processing over 175 million claims annually and providing contracted services to over 90 managed care organizations, Infocrossing will considerably enhance Wipro’s ADM

Thanks to Gautam, who's promised me to write more reviews, I was able to update my long pending movie reviews blog.... Click over here to read Gautam's review of Chennai 600028!

Yeah, I know it's been a long and tiring week for ya' all. And like me, I know you also are desperately waiting for this upcoming Saturday & Sunday... Here's some "tasty" news for you... Shetland Island-based Blackwood’s Distilleries is introducing Diva Vodka , the world’s costliest liquor, in India. The price: $450,000 or Rs 1.9 crore for 750 ml. The high cost is because the vodka bottle is lined with Swarovski crystals and diamonds. When the vodka is poured, it comes filtering through these gems. The cost of the vodka depends upon the quantity and quality of the gems. The company intends to launch some economy models priced around Rs 2 lakh per bottle, and even these would make Diva Vodka the costliest liquor in the country. Via: Undu!

Over the past 2 weeks, we've seen at least three high profile court cases announcing their final judgment. If it was Dr. Haneef who was detained in Australia for a fortnight under terrorism charges, it was Mr. Madhani in Coimbatore relating to the Coimbatore bomb blasts case. In the public eye, once a person is framed/charged with a certain crime, he/she is definitely guilty. And these days it is trial by media also. Imagine Mr. Madhani's plight! Never in my wildest dreams I thought he was not guilty and I was in for a shock when he was acquitted of all charges. The same goes with Dr. Haneef in Australia. The third high-profile convict was Mr. Sanjay Dutt, bollywood's very own Don. I mean, in all fairness, till Mr. Kode decided to imprison him, I was under the impression that Mr. Dutt would walk out as a free man, not guilty of any charges. Now with all these hoopla around, one seriously doubts whether Justice Delayed is Justice Denied! What's your opinion?