Link Picks

Hey everyone
Here's my pick of links for this week. Hope you guys find them interesting


join1goal.org
There are millions of illiterate people on the planet. This site set up by the United Nations requites online signatures to help children reach education. Every signature click would fund in for a child's education. Don't wait, just go for this noble cause.

antivuvuzelafilter.com
Irritated of the south African percussion instrument ruining your match. Here's the solution to it. This site brings to you a music clip, which actually filters the vuvuzela sound by creating opposite bands. Featured on a couple of tech shows, seems like this piece of service should be working. And under 5$, its quite cheap.

whatsonindia.com
Are you an avid TV viewer in India, but sometimes hardly find anything interesting, then this is for you. Whats On India is the first media programming guide for Indian DTH providers. No matter if you're using Tata.Airtel,Reliance Big DTH,or Videocon d2h, this site lets you find your favirote shows, shows that might rouse your interest. and set them on your DTH box. This kind if service is quite good, if you tend to forget show timings or tuning them just like me. Its also good for those who watch Indian channels online, but don't have a program guide, or are devoid of the last day changes in the show timing.

tv.burrp.com
This site is the similar to whats on India. But why have i featured it here. Here's the reason. Its a good alternative for whats on India, and allows you to instantly search for show channel wise unlike whats on India.


soccerphile.com
The site is for all the soccer addicts. Soccer history, and facts about the game and the records, all here. You can also get tickets for transport ,accommodation and events here.


fifasoccerblog.com
This site is a forum for all the soccer addicts to discuss over the ongoing FIFA world cup. A great place for all the soccer addicts to free their spirits.

Hope everyone finds these links useful.

iPhone4 gets Unlocked damn soon

I just came to know that the iPhone just got jailbreaked. Though the unlock is for its features only, but not for the operator restrictions as Apple has made quite a number of changes to its iOS.


Source

Surprising Reliance

Since last week,i had been facing text message delvery relaterd problems. My messages were being delivered quite late, infact sometimes days late. And so was the case with people sending messages to me. When i crosschecked it with my other operator numbers,i realised that it was some issue with my reliance gsm number.

I called up Reliance's customer care ar 21:31hrs on the 22nd. They committed that my issue would be resolved in the next 12 hours. Now that even Airtel doesn't commit, this seemed like a joke. Atleast it seemed so. The CCE registered my complain without any hassles, without crosschecking any settings or confirming my location,or even asking the details of the numbers on which i was facing the problem while sending.

The next day, i started sending messages around 10:00hrs like i usually do,without caring about the commitment. Around 13:30hrs, i recieved a message that my issue had been resolved. And that was indeed the case. Surprising for a terribly congested network.

Pak bans sites again..

A court in Pakistan has imposed a ban on Google and Youtube access in Pakistan after it was addressing on the issue of incorrect depction of Islam by sources mentioned in these sites. In all,the court has banned seven sites for simlar matters.

When will Pakstan ever learn...........Or i'd rather say Will Pakistan ever learn to get out of cheap disgusting insane polictics ! Maybe they're getting inspired by their 'officially declared' insane president.

Wonder why people can't live and let others live in peace

Appz Picks

Hello everyone
While going across some applications at my friends phones,i noticed some were just too irresistable to ignore. So here i am sharing them with you. Hope you like this new section

Mobiesta
An application for those who live in the NCR of Delhi,and need to find whats up in the city, all the events and functions. A location based service. More info can be seen at http://mobiesta.com/about_us.php

Nigella quick collection for food
This was one application mentioned on a show. The application lists recipie's by the celebrity chef Nigella Quick. A paid app. More on it from here

Thick buttons for android
This is one of the free appz for those Android users which find the traditional Android keyboard's keys too small for their hand. This application is free,and reportedly pretty good. More on it here

Google Goggles for Android
Another one of the location based applications pretty much easily available,but this one from the giant itself. Run the application, and point your camera, and you'll find out the servces in the direction you point e.g the Eateries,or sale in the direction pointed by the camera. A must use for any Andoid user.More on it at http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/#text

Wire Goggles for Android
A fun application. This application allows you to view the given image pointed by the camera graphed into a mesh of wires. The application currently allows you to view the lines in four colors,with more colors expected soon. More info on it http://recombu.com/apps/android/wire-goggles-app-review_M11808.html Download it from here

Joikuspot for Symbian
This app allows you to use your Wi-Fi enabled Symbian phone to be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot, where all other devices can connect. Can be easily downloaded from joikuspot.com

Lookout

Lookout is the easiest way to protect your phone from viruses, hackers, loss and theft. For Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. This is a free security application for your android,blackberry and windows handset. It backs up your data,and stores it on the internet. Also, data is regularly backed up which can be helpful in theft surveilance cases. You can download Lookout for free from mylookout.com .

Hope you all loved the appz. Feel free to pour in your comments.

With some inputs from BBC

Link Picks

Hello Everyone
Here's another list of the link picks. After the exhaustive list last time,here's the list for this instance.


wefollow.com
This site categorizes twitter users on their usage,tweets,followers,and their genre of tweeting. A great site to find out the best tweeters online.


qlock.com
A desktop clock which shows time for multiple time zones. A great application. I've tried and tested it couple of years back, and its one great application.


sugarsync.com
A great cloud based sync service. Get all of your files on-the-go, instantly and securely from any Mac, PC or mobile device. basic services are for free till 2Gig,though you haved to pay for a professional one.


tastekid.com
Need to find sites discussing about your fav interests. Here's the ultimate resource for it. Log on and find out who's writing on your topic.


flattr.com
A micro payment site where you get paid for sharing a content. Aimed at giving people ways to earn, its something pretty new and praiseworthy.


wikiworldbook.com
Want people to find you online on twitter. Wikiworldbook's the name. Its more like the tweet wall, but its free, and gives a good interface.


rainymood.com
The site contains a 30min thunderstorm stream,which they clam to give soothng effects in your sleep.


tenterprise.co.uk/3dpenanlysave
Its football season, and here's a great 3d game in which you have to save the other team's players to make a goal.


Hope you enjoy them. Suggestions/Comments are welcomed.

Micromax launches W900

Recently came to know that Micromax had released its W900 handset. Here is what it looks like




On the first impression, it looks like Nokia 5800, but is quite different. Its desktop interface reminds me of HTC HD.

The phone runs on the old Windows Mobile 6.1,which simply means office capabilities with Office for Windows Mobile . This old OS is the one big con in the phone. The phone is quad band(i.e runs on four bandwidths),suports EDGE, has in-built GPS with Indian maps by Mapmyindia , and also has Wi-Fi capabilities, but no 3.5mm port. The camera is 2.0 Megapixels,and has a 3.2Inch touchscreen.

The phone is expected to be priced around Rs7500-9000.

Here's the overview of the phone in brief

Form Factor Bar Style
Band Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900MHz
Weight 113g
Dimensions 112×55x14.2mm
Display 262K, 3.2 inch WQVGA Touchscreen
Camera 2.0 MP
Music Multi Format Music Player (MP3 / AMR / MIDI / WMA)
Operating system Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
CPU K3 Hi3611 460MHz Processor
GPS Yes, with maps from Mapmy India
Motion Sensor Yes
WLAN WiFi 802.11b/g
3.5MM Jack
Video Player WMV/WMA/Mp4/H.263/AVI
Messaging Yes, SMS/MMS/EMS/Email
Games Yes
EDGE/GPRS/WAP/MMS Yes, EGPRS (Class10)
PhoneBook Memory Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Internal Memory 256MB ROM, 128MB RAM
Expandable Memory MicroSD (upto 16GB)
Battery Type Li-ion 1500mAh
Talk Time Up to 5 hours
Standby Time Up to 480 hours




Source

Movie Review - Wall E

In my ongoing movie mania, i've been PRIVILEDGED(notice my words) to seen a movie. WallE by Walt Disney and Pixar studios. And this is probably one of the best movies i've seen till date. Being an animation movie, it stands apart from all the real nonsense we've been producing. This movie gives you a message, entertans you, and the kids.Being an adult, i can say that sometimes movies made for the kids outperform the movies for us adults, for they teach us to be a human, and our so called adult movies teach us nothing but how to destroy the planet and our lives. Released in 2008, i feel guilty of missing watching it then, its so good. Watching it on the big screen would have been so awesome.

The Plot:

WallE is a robot set on the Earth for disposing trash. This is some year around 2715. Earth is nothing but a trashcan - full of trash. Toxic wastes and human made products have made it very difficult for humans to survive, hence they fled somewhere around 2110. WallE is the last robot working. All other robot of ts generations have broken down. WallE manages the trash on Earth,packs them in cubes, and makes huge piles of them. He's probably tired of his lonely life, and wants a partner like he sees in the movies.

One day,a rocket alands on Earth,and a shining robot comes along with it. The robot's name is Eve, and is sent to find plants on Earth. WallE falls in love with Eve(well, kind of). When WallE shows the plant to Eve, Eve gets locked and waits for a rocket to pick her up. WallE stays with her all this time, during rainfall,sunshine,and frost. Finally,when the rocket comes,WallE goes with Eva, and reaches Axion - the spacecraft humans escaped to whle the Earth was cleaned.

There on Axion, many incidents occur. WallE finally manages to talk to Eve again,but repeatedly causes problems to her. Slowly, after he secures the plant which Eve was supposed to hand over to the captain,she gets impressed. They two start gelling aong together.

But the autopilot turns rogue, and tries every bit to stop the captain from returning to Earth. In the hindrances it creates, WallE gets damaged extensively. Somehow they all return, and in time Eve repairs WallE. The humans rejoice their return to home, and start turning the world green.

Final Verdict:

The movie is superb,excellent, bravo ! I can't find adjectives to describe it,its so good. Its so difficult getting to fnd a decent movie these days. Pixar's animations are 'way out of the world' brilliant(would have loved it more in HD). Director Andrew Stanton has done a memorable job. Even Steve Jobs showed by investing in this movie how can we mix business with mankind's welfare. The photography is great. And so effortlessly they communicate effectively the message that its only us who can care about the world, no robots can save it for us.


On the whole, i'd give it a full 5/5 for being a sheer entertainer. A must see movie !

Movie Review - The Exorcist

After hearing a lot about ths movie from my pals, i decided to give this movie a try.
The movie was released in 1973. Still such an old movie has its charm. William Friedkin has done a good job. This is probably the only Christian mythological movie i've ever come across till now.

The Plot:
The movie consists of three interrelated stories.
The first story is about a priest Lankester Merrin, who used to practise exorcism, but now does excavation in northern Iraq.

The second story is about an actress Chris MacNeil who lives in Georgetown with her daughter Regan MacNeil. Her daughter Regan becomes possessed by by a demon, and starts acting horridly. The demon intends to stay in Regan unless her body rots.

The third story is about a pychologist Damien Karrass who left medicine for the love of god. His mother dies had been wounded, and died alone, and Damien finds hmself at fault for leaving her mother alone for his job.

The demon inside Regan attacks Chris, and makes her call Damien. The demon shows his smartness by psychologically torturing Damien refererring to his fault. Damien takes the permission from the church to perform exorcism, and takes the support of Lankester Merrin. They start the exorcism rite. While performing the rite for the second time, Merrin is killed. Damien starts cursing the demon and asks him to come inside him, which the demon does. Realising that the demon had entered his body, Damien jumps out of the window and is killed. Hence they save Regan's life. After all this, Regan and her mother shift to a new home. Surprisingly, Regan doesn't remember anything that happened during her possession.

Final Verdict :

The movie is good. All the actors have done tremendously well. Regan's character does frighten at occations during her possession. Though some scenes are disgust the viewers(but for supernatural topics,they're inevitable). Though the movie takes time for the audience to understand, its a good one. Don't be surprised if someone gets freaaked out while watching the movie.

Overall, i'd give 3 out of 5 for a job well done.

What do you think?? Do you feel the same , or have a different opinion. Feel free to pour in your comments.

Movie Review - Bandidas

Along with my ongoing streak, i had the opportunity to catch another movie. The Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek and Steve Zahn starrer Bandidas.


The Plot:

The story is set in Mexico. Jackson, an employee of a New York based bank is on a mission to capture a specfic area of land for his bank's supremacy over the market. Unfortunately,he turns evil, and tries getting all the land for himself out of greed. In his quest, he signs an agreement with a local banker called Don Diego, and poisons him. After Don Diego is out of the way,he starts acquiring the land people had mortgaged for one paisa, and even killing those who protested. In this process, a farmgirl Sara's father who had mortgaged his land to Diego,is shot, and he narrowly escapes death. To avenge for the shootout and the injustice done to them, Sara(played by Salma Hayek) vows to rob as many banks as possible. She is joined by Maria(played by Penelope Cruz), Don Diego's daughter, who had been in Europe since the last ten years, and had returned just a week before Diego was poisoned. They are assisted by a local priest.

In order to investigate into the robberies, the bank sends in an investigator Quentin(played by Steve Zahn) to find those who have been robbing the bank, and those who killed Don Diego. He starts investigating,but Maria and Sara get to him and show him the truth. He understands the situaton going on, and decided to support them.

When Jackson gets sick of the constant robberies, he decides move all the money and gold of the nation to Texas. But while he's on the way to Texas, Maria,Sara and Quentin fal his plans, and rescue the gold and the money.

Final Verdict:

The movie is average. The story isn't that powerful, but spices have been added to compensate for that. But still while watching the movie, at many occasions, i was disgusted with the unnecessary scenes that were added to maintain timeline and story.

Considering everything, i'd give the movie a 2 out of 5 for the weak direction,and for the unnecessary elements added.

Movie Review - Inglorios Basterds

Hello everyone

I was able to catch the brad pitt,christopher waltz,melanie laurent starrer world war saga "Inglorious Basterds". Directed by quentin tarateno,the movie's story revolves around the second world war period. Staged in France, the story narrates how Hitler's men commited atrocities on Jews. Looking at the complexity of the story(and my poor understanding of French and German), i'll keep my review short and keeping in view people who dont understand these two languages.

The Plot :

The story is set in Nazi occupied France. The movie unfolds in three chapters. In chapter one,the Nazi's look out for Jews in the land and kill the one by one. One such Jew family is brutually murdered by Colonel Hans Landa leaving behind their daughter Shoshanne to manages to escape. Landa was especially appointed by Hitler to clear up the remaining Jews in France.
In chapter two, the Amercans send in their Liutenent Aldo and his team to counter the Nazi atrocities. This team, popularly known as the Basterds by the Germans, gain support of those who've been bigtime fugitives for the Germans, and use their assistance to counter them. Eventually, even Hitler starts feeling the heat of the Basterds.

In chapter three, one of the war heroes, Fredrick Zoller is bitten by the love bug when he comes across a cinema owner Emmanuelle Mimieux who happens to be Shoshanne(who changed her identity). Zoller even has a top German director making a movie on his accomplishment,and plans to show it to the top notch Nazi's as his masterpiece. In order to impress Shoshanne,Fredrick changes the venue of the premiere of the movie and helds it at Shoshanne's cinema. Shoshanne decides to burn the cinema down, and kill every Nazi in it. Meanwhile,the Basterds also team up with a German superstar,and bomb the movie premiere.

At the premiere,though the basterds manage to get inside the cinema with the actress,they get caught by Landa, only to free themselves by trading with him. At the same time,Shoshanne also executes her plan to burn up the place, but gets killed by Zoller in the action. The bomb planted by the basterds also explodes. The whole place is destroyed. Hitler is killed in the incident. The basterds kill Landa's associates, and mark Landa with a scar they make on every German they leave alive.

Final Verdict:

The story seems to be set in way ages back, which might give people problems to understand. Spanish and German usage also makes it difficult for people to understand, though those who know both these languages fluently will love it. The story is edited and executed wonderfully. In these ages of fun movies, a serious movie might not appeal everyone, not cannot be screened for kids as it has lots of violence.

Considering every factor, i give it 2.5 out of 5 for its good execution and editing, and the various issues involved for viewers.

Pakistan giving Refuge to a terrorist associate

Pakistani government has been denying for years that the most wanted underwold kingpin Dawood Ibrahim was not in Pakistani territory. But today, the Indian media got another concrete evidence that he still resides in Karachi, infact owns two bungalows there, and gets Karachi police protection.

Her daughter had posted the following status on her facebook profile on May 5

Missing mom and dad and junaid and reenz and moeen and mazia and everyine in Karachi

Junaid happens to be her husband, and the Pakistani cricketer Javed Miandad's son.

Furthur investigation reveals that Dawood lives in Clifton, an upmarket area in Karachi. Clifton happens to have the late Benazir Bhutto living there too.

Whatcha gotta give now,some more lame excuses. Why not stop terrorist activities and stop this crap

Source

Movie Review - Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge

Yesterday, i finally managed to catch the Warner Brothers production "Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge". The movie's directed by Ashwini Dhir, and was released early this year.

The movie deals with the menace guests make while their 'gigantic' short stay. They come from some far away place, live for weeks, or even months, hamper the lifestyle, and create nothing but trouble. The movie has many messages in disguise - something i never expected.

The Plot:
Puneet(Ajay Devgan's character) is a scriptwriter and his wife Munmun (Konkona Sen Sharma) is an interior decorator. They have a six year old son Ayush who studies in school. They're living a peaceful life until the son's Hindi teacher complains them that he doesn't even understand even phrases like 'Atithi devo bhavah'. This gives the family the feeling that they dont get any guests at all.
So finally they get a guest. This gentleman was Puneet's some enstranged father's younger brother(Lambodar chacha,played by Paresh Rawal) drops in without any prior notice from his village, and since the moment he drops in, he starts creating a ruckus. Both Puneet and Munmun's life gets completely off track.

The story continues. Time passes by. This guest stays on for more than one month, without any sign of plans of going soon. He teaches the cultural and moral values of the Indian culture to the family. The situations become worse. Payment delays cause the bank officers(from where he had taken a car loan) to seize his car. Ganesh Chaturthi comes, and Lambodar chacha decides to celebrate it. Luck starts favouring them and by the blessings of god the manager of the bank releases the car. The manager happened to be knowing Lambodar chacha. Things keep on changing for good then.

In the end,Puneet's family finds out that it was someone else's relativewhom they have been atending for more than a month now. The gentleman, whose guest Lambodar chacha actually were, had the same house number, but was in a different wing of the building. All's well that ends well

Final Verdict:

The movie's well directed. Director Ashwini Dhir sticks to the grassroot, and makes a movie for the masses, not just for the multiplex goers. The movie is hillarious. But as mentioned earlier,the movie does give some serious messages. Amongst our busy lives, we've lost time for culture and family. We've mixed culture with fun way too much for dignity and respect. Our lives have become more self centric,more selfish without even caring about those who have to tolerate for us. Moreover,those still stuck in their awkward traditional ways should adopt to changes with the changing times,though keeping the roots of the tradition very much alive.

Paresh Rawal has done a splendid job. Ajay could have done better. Konkona's also performed well. The movie's nice - but for the north Indian audiences only.

On the whole, i'd give 2.5 out of 5.

Yesterday, i finally managed to catch the Warner Brothers production "Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge". The movie's directed by Ashwini Dhir, and was released early this year.

The movie deals with the menace guests make while their 'gigantic' short stay. They come from some far away place, live for weeks, or even months, hamper the lifestyle, and create nothing but trouble. The movie has many messages in disguise - something i never expected.

The Plot:
Puneet(Ajay Devgan's character) is a scriptwriter and his wife Munmun (Konkona Sen Sharma) is an interior decorator. They have a six year old son Ayush who studies in school. They're living a peaceful life until the son's Hindi teacher complains them that he doesn't even understand even phrases like 'Atithi devo bhavah'. This gives the family the feeling that they dont get any guests at all.
So finally they get a guest. This gentleman was Puneet's some enstranged father's younger brother(Lambodar chacha,played by Paresh Rawal) drops in without any prior notice from his village, and since the moment he drops in, he starts creating a ruckus. Both Puneet and Munmun's life gets completely off track.

The story continues. Time passes by. This guest stays on for more than one month, without any sign of plans of going soon. He teaches the cultural and moral values of the Indian culture to the family. The situations become worse. Payment delays cause the bank officers(from where he had taken a car loan) to seize his car. Ganesh Chaturthi comes, and Lambodar chacha decides to celebrate it. Luck starts favouring them and by the blessings of god the manager of the bank releases the car. The manager happened to be knowing Lambodar chacha. Things keep on changing for good then.

In the end,Puneet's family finds out that it was someone else's relativewhom they have been atending for more than a month now. The gentleman, whose guest Lambodar chacha actually were, had the same house number, but was in a different wing of the building. All's well that ends well

Final Verdict:

The movie's well directed. Director Ashwini Dhir sticks to the grassroot, and makes a movie for the masses, not just for the multiplex goers. The movie is hillarious. But as mentioned earlier,the movie does give some serious messages. Amongst our busy lives, we've lost time for culture and family. We've mixed culture with fun way too much for dignity and respect. Our lives have become more self centric,more selfish without even caring about those who have to tolerate for us. Moreover,those still stuck in their awkward traditional ways should adopt to changes with the changing times,though keeping the roots of the tradition very much alive.

Paresh Rawal has done a splendid job. Ajay could have done better. Konkona's also performed well. The movie's nice - but for the north Indian audiences only.

On the whole, i'd give 2.5 out of 5.

WANTED - Dead or Alive

Warren Anderson

Formerly Chairman,Union Carbide Limited

Accused of killing 15274 humans, directly affecting 5,74,000 people, resulting of losses over 270million$, and escaping parole


Currently residing somewhere in the suburbs of New York,United States of America


Report any information/whereabouts

Movie Review - Kites

So i finally caught up with the much hyped movie - Kites. This Rakesh Roshan production had been in the news for being an international movie , and know what, it doesn't disappoint. Anurag Basu has done a good job, although he could have done much better(seemed like he thought the international look and feel would have made things easier,but weak editing cannot be compensated).



The Plot:

Jay( Hritik's character in the film) is a dance trainer in Vegas, who also does many other things like selling popcorn,pirated movie DVDs, and even marrying(For money,green card scandal you see). He probably has to work hard to meet his ends. His main aim in life is money, as he's sick of struggling to meet ends.
In his dance classes,there's a girl who has a crush on him. The girl happened to be Gina Grover, the daughter of the owner of the biggest casino in the US. He's got a great pal Robin,who gets him all sorts of girls who are ready to pay up for a green card. During his green card scandal,he gets to marry a Natasha ,a poor Mexican. Surprisingly, they don't know each other's language. Something in Natasha appeals Jay.

When Jay comes to know that Gina's dad is a multimillionaire, he decides to get her(a gold digger indeed), and makes her his partner for a dancing competition. At the end of the competition,Gina's millionaire father Bob invites him to Gina's brother Tony's engagement. He attends, and for his surprise, Natasha's Tony's fiance.
After the engagement,jay asks Natasha out for sometime, which she agrees. Then Jay and Natasha go out for a drive, have a great time ahead. But Tony catches them. This beat him up and run away.

So the chase begins. Tony keeps on tracing them, and they keep getting away. eventually Natasha and Jay fall in love. On their way, they rob a bank. They eventually flee to Mexico. But even there Tony arrives. Jay gets shot in the process, and Natasha leaves her secured in a wagon, and herself commits suicide by jumping in the ocean.

Jay somehow survives, goes back, keeps on joining the missing puzzles of the story, kills Tony and his men before suciding by jumping into the ocean where his soul unites with Natasha's.

Final Verdict:

The story is nice, and the way Anurag Basu directed it is good. Don't listen to any critic review. Okay the movie isn't something you'd like to watch over and over, but its a good one time movie. Paying 150 bucks for this movie seems price well justified.

The music is pretty good,Rajesh Roshan has done a splendid job, especially with the sound engineering in 'Fire'.

Hritik's performance in the movie is awesome,magnificent. His dance moves in Fire are mesmerising. Barbara Mori is nice,but could have been better. Kangna Ranaut(Gina) also suits her role.

On the whole, the movie is good. I'd give it 3,5 out of 5


Do you feel the same,or have a different opinion. Feel free to pour in your comments

Apple Launches iPhone 4

Finally,Apple unveiled its new iPhone 4 on Monday. 4stands for its 4G compatibility, which means 3G+Wi-Max. Wi-max happens to be Wi-Fi available for access on the move anywhere.

This iPhone happens to be the same one which was found by Gizmodo engineers. The launch by Apple's CEO Steve Jobs confirmed it. The phone boasts non-curvy ends,a larger and more responsive touchscreen, better connectivity, and great looks.

For a complete in-depth review, we'll have to wait till someone gets its hands on it.

Airtel becomes the Fifth Largest Operator in the world, buys out Zain Telecom

Indian cellular giant Bharti Airtel announced on Monday that it finalised a deal to take over Africa's second largest telecom company "Zain Telecom". The said deal makes Bharti Airtel the fifth largest operator in the world after the likes of China Mobile and Vodafone. The deal happens to be the second biggest deal lagging only behing TATA Steel's European Chorus steel's buyout.

And for the record, Zain Telecom (Formerly known as Celtel) was one of the founding investors of the Bharti Airtel when it was founded in 1992. It held 15% stake in it then which it later sold off.

Thats one good reason for me to celebrate, being Airtel's six year old user.

Legendary Indian Diamond for sale

Arch Duke Joseph diamond, a diamond comparable to the great Kohinoor diamond(which happens to be embedded in the British queen's crown) is up for sale now. Asking price : 6.6 million $. The company who owns it has decided to sell it off.

Lets hope atleast this Indian diamond reaches back its 'home'.

Links Special - Indian Travel and Trips

Hello everyone
With the holiday season round the corner,here is my pick of the sites you'll find helpful for planning your trip. Here's the list


joobili.com
A travel planning site.

routepurple.com
This site allows you to plan your 'natural' tour. The green interface of the site shows the committment of the site towards taking you to the nature. The best site to get packages for natural habitat.

couchsurfing.org
Going to some place, and feel like talking to a local there. Check out this site and get someone to assist you there. This site is a community for connecting those who're about to travel. A must check.

eventsv.com
In case you need to visit some concert outside,here's a good site. This site lists all the great concert out there, the cheapest tickets for them, and the best accomodation available. Various events are listed. Though the site is somewhat new,it still lists numerous events, and still listing more.

dontforgetyourtoothbrush.com
Lastly, you must have planned up your trip by now. But how to plan for your trip. No matter how much you plan, there's always something left out. This site lets you do all the planning, and planning in the best way for your trip. From your toothbrushes to everything, it makes a list of all the things, and you can check things using it.


Hope you find these sites pretty useful. Happy Journey

Link Picks

Here's another list of sites i picked in the last month.

mitto.com
An online secure password wallet.


vitamindinc.com
This site gives you a software which allows you to use your webcam as a surveilance camera. An amazing application for monitoring your home while you were out.

paper.li
An aggregator of all the feeds on Twitter,in a newspaper like layout. A refreshing view to the old twitter.


socialmention.com
This sites check out for whats the hottest topics up on twitter, and whose tweeting about what.


thetweetwall.com
A site where you can become a celebrity on twitter. Register on this site, and it will put your your twitter link on their featured page. You can get great traffic on your twitter page from this utility.

earthobservatory.nasa.gov
Get amazing landscapes and views from NASA's labs. A must see for those having free time.






Hope evryone loves surfing them. Happy surfing

How to save the Environment

On the World Environment Day(5th June), i feel the need of noting down the ways we can help save the earth for our predecessors.

Here are some small but useful steps useful enough for securing are future


Use A CFL

Replace a regular bulb wth a Compact Fluorescent Light bulb(CFL). CFL uses 60% less energy than a regular bulb, and hence can save upto 140Kg of Carbon Dioxde a year.


Clean Your AC

Clean or replace the filters of your AC. Cleaning can save the earth upto 150kg of carbon dioxide a year


Switch Off

Dont leave the devices on standby. Switch them off. A TV set thats switched on for 3hours, and kept in standby mode for 21 hours consumes 40% of its energy in standby mode only.


Ramp Up your Refrigerator

Defrost your old fridges and freezers regularly. Even better is to replace them with new ones.


Cover and Cook

Cover your pots whle cooking, it saves a lot of fuel for preparing the dish. Pressure cookers and steamers are even better,they can save upto 70% energy(not to mention the time too).


Washing Machine

Use the washing machine only when its full. If you need to use it when its half full, use the half load settings.


Switch Off vehicles at Red Lights

Probably the most ignored region. At red lights, we keep our vehicles on, just for the sake of laziness of giving ignition to the vehicle again when we have to go. But the long Red light guzzles up litres of our fuel and money, and makes our environment unsafe. Its better to Switch them off if the waiting time is more than 60 seconds.

Plant a tree

A single tree absorbs a tonne of Carbon Dioxide over its lifetime. The shade it provides can reduce your AirConditioning bills by 10-15%.

Fresh Foods

Buy fresh foods instead of frozen. Frozen food requires 10% more energy to produce. Buy organic food as a preference, as organic soil captures and stores Carbon Dioxide at much higher levels than the normal soil. According to an estimate,if all our soyabean and corn were grown organically, there would have been 580 billion pounds of Carbon Dioxide removed from the atmosphere.

Avoid meat

Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane,which they exhale with every breath.

Improve your driving style

Dont abuse the accelerator pedal, use the engine break instead of the pedal break. This will significantly cut down the pollution,as well as your fuel costs.

Be green

Stop using the car for every small distance. Start walking,biking,carpooling, or taking mass transits whenever possible. Avoiding 16miles of driving every week would save 226 kg's of Carbon Dioxide emissions a year. Keeping your car tuned up can improve efficiency and reduce emissions.


Avoid Plastic Bottles

Have a drink at the nearest McDonalds, or subways instead of buying a bottle. Figures say 15,00,000 tonnes of plastic is used to bottle water only. This bottled water is extracted from the underground sources, and hence dries up our springs and underground aquifiers. Moreover, transportation of water emits greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide, which heat up the planet.

So here are the steps. I'd urge you all to follow them, and make our planet beautiful

A tip for all Americans

Some of my friends residing in the United States as full citizens tell me that there are Pakistani's who impose as Indians. This is after the fact that the state of Pakistan and its government has been actively involved in promoting terrorism.

Its my humble suggestion that the next time there's a suspect,consider him a terrorist. Dont discriminate him if he's an Indian. Indian Muslims have been peace loving and generous. Its only the ones attached to the Pakistan and Afghanistan who promote terror.

Etisalat in New Delhi ??

For the last few days,i had been tracing a new cellphone frequency in my circle. As new 2g operators haven't yet come out comletely,i thought it must be some operator testing his systems. On enquiring,the cellphone dealers weren't able to tell anything,they simply had no information. Guess what, i was correct.



And the operator is Etisalat. The Abu Dhabi based mobile operator whose already looking for a partner in India for its operations,and was trying to buy a stake in Reliance ADA Group.

So the stage is set for another round of the Indian mobile wars

Finally Back..

Hey everyone
So after a long time, i'm back to blogging. Being involved in my annual examinations,finally i'm free to pursue my interests.

Hoping to see more of you here