Unseen Video – Mumbai Terrorist Attacks 27/11

September 12th, 2009 5 Comments »

Just happened to see this documentary about the Mumbai 27/11 Terrorists attacks and what can I say ? It left me with a heavy heart.

About the documentary:

The untold story of 2008’s terrorist attack on the Indian city of Mumbai. The story is told in the words of its victims and the gunmen. Produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Dan Reed, Terror in Mumbai tells the story of what happened when 10 Muslim gunmen held one of the world’s busiest cities hostage; killing and wounding hundreds of people while holding India’s crack security forces at bay.
Featuring footage of the attacks and interviews with senior police officers and hostages, including the testimony from Kasab – the sole surviving gunman, Dispatches reveals what happened, hour by hour, from the perspective of the security forces, the terrorists, their masterminds and the victims.

How to fake being a celebrity on Twitter (For local celebrities whom Twitter won’t even accept for Verified accounts)

September 12th, 2009 2 Comments »

@ev is a very cunning and equally clever guy. Otherwise, he would not have taken extra efforts in “pulling” or making way for real life celebrities on Twitter. Now, don’t tell me you didn’t know that. You can get a verified account on Twitter easily. Believe me you can. You don’t have to tweet much, don’t have to have friends, don’t follow anyone either. All you have to do is to do something radical, like visiting the Twitter head quarters, and shaking a leg with the people there are office. But not all can visit the HQ in US, so for the local celebrities, like in Tamil/Mallu movies, you can try your part by following these simple rules.

1. Don’t follow anyone. If absolutely necessary, follow less than 10 people.

This is really really important. If you follow everyone back, you’re NOT a celebrity. Your “weight” is nothing.

2. Don’t reply to everyone. But read all replies, don’t ever respond.

Remember this mantra: You should listen to everyone, but pretend that you don’t listen to anything at all.

3. Respond to replies/questions where you have an opportunity to show off.

Ex:- If someone asks “What are you doing now/ Where are you ?”

Suggested Answer: “Dining with Amitabh Bachhan / Discussion with 3 directors at a time for my next venture / Waiting at the airport – on my way to Mauritius” etc.

4. Follow other celebrities

Simply to let everyone know that you guys are a league.

5. Show off pics of events/things that only celebrities do

Click with your mobile camera, every presentable pic, like a dining, a party, a horse riding session etc. You’ll get loads of replies.

6. Don’t tell your daily routine to the world.

Twitter will keep asking but don’t ever tell. Instead, be selective and tell things here and there, if you know what I mean. Rest of the things you can leave for the people to guess.

7.  Endorse/support initiatives and charities, and brag about them

If you follow these methods, you will get the status of a celebrity on Twitter and hopefully, someday they will verify your account.

James Cameron’s new mega movie “Avatar” sneak peek at Satyam Chennai

August 21st, 2009 4 Comments »

This is exciting news. The super mega movie Avatar, is being released on December 18th worldwide and in Chennai, there’s a special sneak peak preview at Satyam Chennai, on 28th of August.

I’ll be there for sure, if you can join in. The seats are limited so you might want to rush.

Check out the facebook group. You can confirm your presence there. Meanwhile, check out the official trailer.

Is Mallika Sherawat or Gul Panag more popular on Twitter ?

July 17th, 2009 3 Comments »

The bollywood celebrities are all Twitter these days. Gul Panag has been using twitter for a long time now and is probably one of the most popular actors on Twitter. But bollywood diva Mallika Sherawat last day visited the Twitter HQ and even did a quick dance party with Twitter folks.

mallika-sherawat-gul-panag-twitter-1

There has also been reports that Mallika Sherawat is the new “brand ambassador” for Twitter in India. Some people think that its a bit unfair as well.

mallika-sherawat-gul-panag-twitter

It would be interesting to see the trend carry on from here adding more and more bollywood celebrities on Twitter !

Softwares I use daily and can’t possibly avoid

July 11th, 2009 3 Comments »

Just like that !

On windows

  1. Adobe Photoshop – For all the image trimming for blogging.
  2. Firefox Browser – Browsing without firefox ? Difficult.
  3. Windows Live Writer – The one place blogging hub. Miss it on mac.
  4. Winamp – For music.
  5. Tweetdeck – For tweeting.
  6. Notepad – For quick notes.
  7. Skype – For calls.

On Mac

  1. Ecto – instead of Windows live writer.
  2. Firefox – browsing.
  3. Adium – Chat.
  4. Skype – For calls.
  5. Taco HTML Editor – For coding.
  6. iWork – For all the snazzy presentations.
  7. Open Office – For all the boring documentation.
  8. Flickr Uploader – For uploading photos from the desktop.

Web Apps

  1. Google docs – For sharing files and office documentation.
  2. Google calendar – For scheduling events.
  3. Google reader – For subscribing to sites.

The Obvious ones

  1. Gmail
  2. Quick Notes
  3. iTunes

End of list.

2012 Movie looks very promising

July 9th, 2009 5 Comments »

Just saw the 2012 trailer and got blown away. Its probably going to be a case study for special effects.

However seeing the trailer it looks like the director has something about mass destruction, just like in his previous movies. Looking forward to it.

The Scary house owner at Oberon Mall must be a genius

June 7th, 2009 12 Comments »

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Those of you who might have visited it already are lucky. Those of you who haven’t yet – clever.

If you’re planning to visit this place soon, this post is going to be a spoiler, suspense killer.

First off, I want to congratulate the man who “formulated” this idea of scary house. My clever guess is that this is the same guy who owns the gaming station in the floor above. How did I guess it ? Read on…

The scary house is of course scary. But it might not be the scare tactics that you’d expect at a multiplex/amusement park. Its the same thing as going “ayyo” when someone jumps in front of you around the corner of your house. But a scare is a scare right ?

There is no animatronics / electronic devices / sound effects what so ever that you have heard of in Disney Land or some amusement park. The whole show is run by four-five chaps who plays the ticket guy, scare monsters, sound effects guy and all that. There is a dwarf too, who’s defenitely going to scare you. (Tip: He sits at different places on different days to keep the random thing going. So don’t expect him at the same place twice.)

In fact, the owner of this “Scary house” (as I told you earlier) could be the same guy who owns the game station near by. The reason is that, while he started the game station, with all the gaming devices, he had to pay the highest bill and to counter it, he started the scary house with no lights on. Clever guy.

That’s why I think he’s a genius. He saves on electricity, no production cost,and a marginal maintenance cost. Wonderful idea.

So if you want to get scared, head to the scary house. If you don’t want to, and thinks this kinda stuff is silly, try setting up a home-scary house right in your home, may be when the power-cuts are on. Would be a better scare.

So where do you start after an economic breakdown ? GM has an answer

June 4th, 2009 2 Comments »

Loved this video, and can’t agree more.

Angels and Demons Review – It tries but fails to thrill you

June 1st, 2009 2 Comments »

angels-demons Last weekend I watched Angels and Demons (at Sreedhar Cochin), not because it was penned by Dan Brown, not because it was the (technical) sequel to Da Vinci Code or not because it had run in to controversies, but because if I missed this, then my curiosity won’t let me be. So I gave it a go. But honestly the movie fails to thrill you like Da Vinci Code, it tries much but in vain. I haven’t read the book prior to watching the movie, for those of you who did, you wouldn’t expect much from this flick as its all down on paper. I must say I was lucky not to have read the book or else, I would’ve let myself go whatever remained of suspense and juice in the movie.

I don’t want to dare go into the story, but one thing I missed in the movie was the dark side and the villains. They were so flimsy, though there is a beautiful element of surprise towards the end. My wife easily guessed the suspense from the look of it right from the first half she said, but I couldn’t. So much for the good part. Rest everything about the story is plane boring, not enough controversies, not enough suspense and no thrill.

Wanted to ask the director this Q. What was he thinking about the car chases ? Every time the Vatican police and Tom Hanks jumps in to those SUV’s (Dodge I suppose) and speed through the streets, there is a blaring music, upbeat stuff which I liked very much.. but you didn’t have to repeat it all the time. And a college professor speeding through the streets in an SUV is far from charming unlike a James Bond or FandF. Need I mention that there was none chasing them !

On the whole, the movie is a plain one. No thrilling stuff except the “kahani mein twist” part. But you don’t want to miss this one, or you’ll feel ashamed later.

Shashi Tharoor – Ahead of the rest, not with the right pack though

May 22nd, 2009 3 Comments »

shashi-tharoor-twitter

Looks like it that Dr. Shashi Tharoor’s efforts, and the hopes of all the people who voted him especially the ‘one lakh’ who helped him win is going to get extrapolated from tomorrow as Dr. Tharoor is a “special” candidate in more than one way, and the fact that he’s not becoming a minister now.

- He is the only candidate (and now MP) who Tweets. (http://www.twitter.com/shashitharoor)

- He is the only politician to have “come down” the ladder from UN Under Secretary post to an “elected” MP status, following his passion.

- He is the only young politician from Kerala who have been (unnecessarily) ridiculed over his attire/slang/mannerisms.

A lot of hopes and prayers are with the man while he sets foot in the Parliament. But his recent exclusion from the cabinet and the numb replies from the official circles on him not becoming a minister has poured water over fire.

To me, this man carries with him quite a bunch of hopes and aspirations, mine and many likes in Kerala. He talks, walks and thinks like a man who can bring in the difference. He is capable of it, even though the sceptics might brand him an inexperienced one.

Just wondering if he would reciprocate what Trivandrum did for him. Not that it was a favour, but there are expectations, huge expectations..would he be able to sieve his way through the mess ? Or would his intellect dim amidst the rush ? Either way, its hard time for him. So here’s wishing him good luck.