Best actor
Umpiring in his fifth consecutive World Cup final, this award goes to West Indies' Steve Bucknor. His decision-making has slowed down so much that even in slow-motion it looks pretty fast. Notice that he is usually looking at the stumps below his zinc-ked nose while giving decisions reluctantly.
Best film... oops match
The only award for which there were few candidates, actually just two. The last Super 8 match when England beat West Indies by 1 wicket and 1 ball remaining. The unlucky one: South Africa beating Sri Lanka with 1 wicket in hand after Lasith Malinga had claimed four wickets in a row.
Critics award for best actor
Matthew Hayden of Australia. Until last year he was not even being considered for the World Cup. Until Saturday night he was the leading scorer of the World Cup.
Critics award for best film
Ireland, for beating Pakistan, and Bangladesh, for defeating India.
Best actor(s) in a sad role
Captains, Brian Lara and Inzamam-ul Haq. Both had sob-sob sendoffs. The first one decided to quit international cricket completely and the second stepped down as ODI captain.
Best actor in a supporting role
Tom Moody, Sri Lanka's coach: Did anyone hear anything from him, including wanting to coach India, during the last two months. Perfectly cast, always in the background, yet with an important role to play.
Best actor in a comic role
Andrew Flintoff of England for his outstanding performance of getting drunk, falling into the sea and then having to be rescued. He was suitably rewarded as England stripped him off as vice-captain.
Best actor in a villainous role
Greg Chappell. For taking a team of talented players and winning only one match, against lowly Bermuda.
Best dialogue
Two nominees, both Dutch captain Lucas Petrus van Troost. First, after the match against South Africa when Herschelle Gibbs hit six sixes in an over: "Before the match we told ourselves, we'll make history and we made it."
And the second, after losing to Australia and South Africa, and on the eve of their match against Scotland: "After two warm-up matches, we're ready for the big one."
Best debut
Shaun Tait. Fast, young, bowls wides and no-balls, troubles all batsmen.
Best make-up
Lasith Malinga. Fuzzy, tinted and bouncing hair, zinc on face, pouting lips and for hurling the ball out of somewhere over the umpire's left shoulder.
Best choreography
Ireland captain Trent Johnson's bizarre jig when he leaps on one foot, then the other while flapping his arm. The chicken dance, as it's being called now, is the in-thing at all fashionable dos in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Best guest appearance
Marvan Atapattu of Sri Lanka. Like in 1996, this former captain has failed to play a single match.
Best story and director
Malcolm Speed of the ICC for giving a World Cup which had everything including a murder mystery.
Best screenplay
For the Bangladesh vs Ireland match which was actually supposed to be an India vs Pakistan tie.
Best editing
For the Sri Lankan (81-2, 10) bowlers for finishing a 100-over match in just 37.2 overs against Ireland (77, 27.4).
Best action
The 120 kg-weighing (a conservative figure) Bermuda's Russell Dwayne Mark Leverock gravity-defying successful effort to pluck an edge by Robin Uthappa at first slip.
Lifetime achievement award
It was a World Cup of veteran thespians and, hence, quite a few candidates. But this award goes to Dustin Hoffman.. err to Glenn McGrath who might be tempted to reconsider his retirement decision after this.
Best Art movie
Team India.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
na tum jaano na hum: An explaination for the unenlightened..
kyon chalti hai pawan => Due to varying pressure zone formation
kyon jhoome hai gagan => Because of earth's revolution
kyon machalta hai mann => Problems with respiration
na tum jaano na hum => But I just gave all the reasons!
kyon aati hai bahaar => Because of a change in season
kyon lutata hai karaar => Suffering from mental tension
kyon hota hai pyaar => Because of opposites' attraction
na tum jaano na hum => Seems you didn't pay enough attention
kyon gum hai har disha => Because you have a poor sense of direction
kyon hota hai nasha => Because of drug addiction
kyon aata hai mazaa => Brains response to physical sensation
na tum jaano na hum => Even after all the EXPLANATION!!!! C'mon
kyon jhoome hai gagan => Because of earth's revolution
kyon machalta hai mann => Problems with respiration
na tum jaano na hum => But I just gave all the reasons!
kyon aati hai bahaar => Because of a change in season
kyon lutata hai karaar => Suffering from mental tension
kyon hota hai pyaar => Because of opposites' attraction
na tum jaano na hum => Seems you didn't pay enough attention
kyon gum hai har disha => Because you have a poor sense of direction
kyon hota hai nasha => Because of drug addiction
kyon aata hai mazaa => Brains response to physical sensation
na tum jaano na hum => Even after all the EXPLANATION!!!! C'mon
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Simple rules to live by
No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.
Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.
Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
The best is yet to come.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
Do the right thing.
Call your mother and father often.
Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass.
Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.
Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.
Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
The best is yet to come.
No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
Do the right thing.
Call your mother and father often.
Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Top 10 Unconventional IPOD uses
Top 10 uses of an iPod you'd never expect
You may be used to seeing people listen to iPods on the train. You may even use one yourself in the gym or while walking the dog. However, the rise of the iPod has prompted generations of developers - and creative end-users - to exploit possibilities other than simply listening to music or watching videos.
Record flight data
The little white box can also be used as black box. One airplane modification company, LoPresti Speed Merchants, has apparently added iPod integration to its Fury line of planes, with a view to using the MP3 player as an in-flight data recorder.
According to LoPresti, the iPod can record more than 500 hours of flight time details as well as act as a voice recorder to capture cockpit conversations and clearances. The company's CEO is also hoping developers will come up with some new aviation applications using the iPod.
The cockpit isn't the only place Apple's MP3 players can be found on aircraft. Seats that connect iPods to aircraft entertainment systems are expected from a number of airlines from this year.
Cut medical bills
Using an iPod can be good for your health, it seems. Radiologists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a system to share images using open source software and the Apple MP3 players.
UCLA's Dr Osman Ratib, whose background is in medical imaging, wanted to find a way to sidestep the $100,000 workstations needed to view high-resolution images that required 3D rendering. So, with help from programmer and fellow radiologist Dr Antoine Rosset, he created OsiriX - an open source application to enable radiologists to teleconference with the images on Mac desktop systems.
Make your desktop ultra portable
Developers have already cottoned on to the potential of the vast storage the iPod packs in. One company has devised a service whereby users can almost carry their laptops inside their iPods.
Once users of the service, which already include some police forces, plug their iPods into another PC, the iPod will present them with their 'home' desktop - files, folders, Outlook emails, preferences, cookies and the like. The system is apparently used by students and salespeople, who regularly use different PCs, as well as police and the military, who need secure access to their desktops.
Improve your tech knowledge
Aside from all the enterprise applications, it's worth remembering the iPod is first and foremost an entertainment device. If you fancy killing some time in between meetings, fill the iPod up with your favourite tunes, music videos or even a TV show or two.
However, one of the more interesting changes the iPod has wrought on broadcasting is the podcast - user-generated content of every stripe and on every subject. If you fancy genning up on tech in your lunch hour, there's a thousand and one podcasts to suit, available from the iTunes Store.
Polish your bowling
Technology is now even inveigling its way into the fusty world of cricket. According to reports, the England team have been given clips of their opponents' batting and bowling to be played on video iPods to help prepare for matches during the Cricket World Cup.
Reuters reports that team members have long been used to studying such footage on PCs but the decision to put clips on iPods is a recent one. Apparently the gadget-laden cricketers have had footage put on their games consoles too.
Run Linux
Both Linux and Apple products bring out the fanboy in geeks the world over. Now one band of souls is working on uniting them in an iPod running on Linux. The LinuxiPod project has been running for years and has successfully installed Linux on several generations of iPod.
And if all that were not enough to warm the cockles of the techiest techie, the iPod Linux lot have also managed to install playable if not high spec versions of Doom on iPods.
Turn it into an enterprise haven
All that lovely storage is just crying out to be used for business purposes. Should you feel so inclined, you can buy a microphone that fits into your iPod and records audio - essentially turning the device into a Dictaphone. And with up to 80GB knocking around, even the longest of meetings can be stored for posterity.
As well as massive audio files, you could use the iPod as a larger version of a USB memory stick and keep all the documents and spreadsheets you need for portable use. And the iPod is equipped with a host of personal information management (PIM) tools, with several solid applications out there for helping you do even more with your PIM - including iSync, which as the name would suggest, lets you sync all your calendaring and contacts between your iPod and your computer.
Get some education
Schools and universities are already waking up to the potential of the iPod as an educational tool, podcasting lectures, making audiobooks available for students and using iPods to record music lessons for example.
Duke University in the US even took to giving away free iPods to all incoming students hoping to encourage them to make use of them for education purposes. Some Scottish schools have also experimented with a more straightforward iPod-as-bribery tool, rewarding healthy eaters with one of the shiny devices.
Commit theft
What looks more innocuous than an iPod hooked up to a PC? What some employers have come to realise is that not every worker is filling up their MP3 player with music - they may be filling it up with sensitive corporate data, a practice that fraud investigators have observed and which has spawned the term 'pod-slurping'.
Other members of the criminal fraternity have been turning to the iPod to store the particulars of their nefarious acts, including details of identity thefts. Which is rather handy for the police when they turn up to investigate and find an iPod packed full of vital evidence.
Personalise it
There's a world of applications out there to give your iPod a flash new look. Don't like the font? There's an app that can change it. Fancy putting some new wallpaper on your iPod? There's one that can do that too. There's even some third-party apps that will act almost as RSS readers and suck content such as weather and news updates onto the device every time it is connected to an internet-enabled PC.
And if you fancy making sure your iPod stays yours, some developers have come up with an anti-theft application. If the software in question is installed, the next time the iPod is connected to an internet-enabled PC, it will betray the thief by sending information on its whereabouts to its original owner.
You may be used to seeing people listen to iPods on the train. You may even use one yourself in the gym or while walking the dog. However, the rise of the iPod has prompted generations of developers - and creative end-users - to exploit possibilities other than simply listening to music or watching videos.
Record flight data
The little white box can also be used as black box. One airplane modification company, LoPresti Speed Merchants, has apparently added iPod integration to its Fury line of planes, with a view to using the MP3 player as an in-flight data recorder.
According to LoPresti, the iPod can record more than 500 hours of flight time details as well as act as a voice recorder to capture cockpit conversations and clearances. The company's CEO is also hoping developers will come up with some new aviation applications using the iPod.
The cockpit isn't the only place Apple's MP3 players can be found on aircraft. Seats that connect iPods to aircraft entertainment systems are expected from a number of airlines from this year.
Cut medical bills
Using an iPod can be good for your health, it seems. Radiologists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a system to share images using open source software and the Apple MP3 players.
UCLA's Dr Osman Ratib, whose background is in medical imaging, wanted to find a way to sidestep the $100,000 workstations needed to view high-resolution images that required 3D rendering. So, with help from programmer and fellow radiologist Dr Antoine Rosset, he created OsiriX - an open source application to enable radiologists to teleconference with the images on Mac desktop systems.
Make your desktop ultra portable
Developers have already cottoned on to the potential of the vast storage the iPod packs in. One company has devised a service whereby users can almost carry their laptops inside their iPods.
Once users of the service, which already include some police forces, plug their iPods into another PC, the iPod will present them with their 'home' desktop - files, folders, Outlook emails, preferences, cookies and the like. The system is apparently used by students and salespeople, who regularly use different PCs, as well as police and the military, who need secure access to their desktops.
Improve your tech knowledge
Aside from all the enterprise applications, it's worth remembering the iPod is first and foremost an entertainment device. If you fancy killing some time in between meetings, fill the iPod up with your favourite tunes, music videos or even a TV show or two.
However, one of the more interesting changes the iPod has wrought on broadcasting is the podcast - user-generated content of every stripe and on every subject. If you fancy genning up on tech in your lunch hour, there's a thousand and one podcasts to suit, available from the iTunes Store.
Polish your bowling
Technology is now even inveigling its way into the fusty world of cricket. According to reports, the England team have been given clips of their opponents' batting and bowling to be played on video iPods to help prepare for matches during the Cricket World Cup.
Reuters reports that team members have long been used to studying such footage on PCs but the decision to put clips on iPods is a recent one. Apparently the gadget-laden cricketers have had footage put on their games consoles too.
Run Linux
Both Linux and Apple products bring out the fanboy in geeks the world over. Now one band of souls is working on uniting them in an iPod running on Linux. The LinuxiPod project has been running for years and has successfully installed Linux on several generations of iPod.
And if all that were not enough to warm the cockles of the techiest techie, the iPod Linux lot have also managed to install playable if not high spec versions of Doom on iPods.
Turn it into an enterprise haven
All that lovely storage is just crying out to be used for business purposes. Should you feel so inclined, you can buy a microphone that fits into your iPod and records audio - essentially turning the device into a Dictaphone. And with up to 80GB knocking around, even the longest of meetings can be stored for posterity.
As well as massive audio files, you could use the iPod as a larger version of a USB memory stick and keep all the documents and spreadsheets you need for portable use. And the iPod is equipped with a host of personal information management (PIM) tools, with several solid applications out there for helping you do even more with your PIM - including iSync, which as the name would suggest, lets you sync all your calendaring and contacts between your iPod and your computer.
Get some education
Schools and universities are already waking up to the potential of the iPod as an educational tool, podcasting lectures, making audiobooks available for students and using iPods to record music lessons for example.
Duke University in the US even took to giving away free iPods to all incoming students hoping to encourage them to make use of them for education purposes. Some Scottish schools have also experimented with a more straightforward iPod-as-bribery tool, rewarding healthy eaters with one of the shiny devices.
Commit theft
What looks more innocuous than an iPod hooked up to a PC? What some employers have come to realise is that not every worker is filling up their MP3 player with music - they may be filling it up with sensitive corporate data, a practice that fraud investigators have observed and which has spawned the term 'pod-slurping'.
Other members of the criminal fraternity have been turning to the iPod to store the particulars of their nefarious acts, including details of identity thefts. Which is rather handy for the police when they turn up to investigate and find an iPod packed full of vital evidence.
Personalise it
There's a world of applications out there to give your iPod a flash new look. Don't like the font? There's an app that can change it. Fancy putting some new wallpaper on your iPod? There's one that can do that too. There's even some third-party apps that will act almost as RSS readers and suck content such as weather and news updates onto the device every time it is connected to an internet-enabled PC.
And if you fancy making sure your iPod stays yours, some developers have come up with an anti-theft application. If the software in question is installed, the next time the iPod is connected to an internet-enabled PC, it will betray the thief by sending information on its whereabouts to its original owner.
Friday, February 02, 2007
The Ant and the Grasshopper
OLD VERSION...
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
NEW VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with on-line petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for noncompliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.
The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India..
As a result losing lot of hard working, brilliant ants and feeding the grasshoppers, India is still a developing country......
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
NEW VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with on-line petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for noncompliance). Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.
The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later...The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India..
As a result losing lot of hard working, brilliant ants and feeding the grasshoppers, India is still a developing country......
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