Be Back on December 2nd!

First off,apologies from yours truly for the sudden disappearance!
My exams are going on right now,so I'm tied up with that..Blogging along with studying seemed an impossible task,since I tend to spend at least 6 hours a day for the former..So I'll be back on December 2nd..Got lots of new ideas and improvements in store for my blog when I return :)

Keep in touch till then,and please dont forget The Maverick's Haunt!

Digital Video Eyewear

The Digital Video Eyewear is basically a combination of two 320 x 240 video screens and a comfortable goggles. You can plug it in to your DVD player or video iPod and indulge in your favourite movie all on your own without having to share the screen with anybody else!

PLUS you can view any field-sequential content in 3D! Talk about virtual reality eh? But of course you need the content first for you to view it. Just Google for movies that support this content and buy or download it. Get the Digital Video Eyewear and experience the difference!

Ever heard of an Exabyte?

An exabyte (EB) is a large unit of computer data storage, two to the sixtieth power bytes. The prefix exa means one billion billion, or one quintillion, which is a decimal term. Two to the sixtieth power is actually 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes in decimal, or somewhat over a quintillion (or ten to the eighteenth power) bytes. It is common to say that an exabyte is approximately one quintillion bytes. In decimal terms, an exabyte is a billion gigabytes.

1 Exabyte=10^18 bytes

How Many Bytes for Anything
Much of the following table is derived from figures calculated by Roy Williams on his page called "Powers of Ten."

Information object	How many bytes
A binary decision	1 bit
A single text character	1 byte
A typical text word	10 bytes
A typewritten page	2 kilobyte s ( KB s)
A low-resolution photograph	100 kilobytes
A short novel	1 megabyte ( MB )
The contents of a 3.5 inch floppy disk	1.44 megabytes
A high-resolution photograph	2 megabytes
The complete works of Shakespeare	5 megabytes
A minute of high-fidelity sound	10 megabytes
One meter (or close to a yard) of shelved books	100 megabytes
The contents of a CD-ROM	500 megabytes
A pickup truck filled with books	1 gigabyte GB )
The contents of a DVD	17 gigabyte s
A collection of the works of Beethoven	20 gigabytes
A library floor of academic journals	100 gigabytes
50,000 trees made into paper and printed	1 terabyte ( TB )
An academic research library	2 terabytes
The print collections of the U.S. Library of Congress	10 terabytes
The National Climactic Data Center database	400 terabytes
Three years' of EOS data (2001)	1 petabyte ( PB )
All U.S. academic research libraries	2 petabytes
All hard disk capacity developed in 1995	20 petabytes
All printed material in the world	200 petabytes
Total volume of information generated in 1999	2 exabyte s ( EB s)
All words ever spoken by human beings	5 exabytes

How Much Information Exists
Since 2000, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have continued to estimate each year how much information exists on the planet Earth. The Executive Summary of their report, "How Much Information? 2003" is available at their Web site. Here are just a few highlights:

Information object	How many bytes
How much information each person on earth produces per year	1 to 2 exabyte s
How much of the above is printed information	.03% of the total
How much e-mail information per year	11,265 terabyte s
How much radio information	788 terabytes
How much TV information	14,150 terabytes
How much telephone information	576,000 terabytes
How much postal information	150,000 terabytes
How much office document information	195 terabytes

Azhagiya Tamil Magan videos from the movie

Here are some clips from the latest Vijay movie Azhagiya Tamil Magan.The download links on rapidshare will be up in a short time;so watch these videos from the movie meanwhile.And lol,don't expect DivX quality-these videos and scenes from Azhagiya Tamil Magan have been taken with a mobile camera.The videos on YouTube feature the following scenes:

ATM VIJAY INTRO SONG-ELLA PUGHAZUM
ATM VIJAY TITLE
ATM VIJAY INTRO
ATM MADHUREY SONG

Watch it here also:

Azhagiya Tamizh Magan Video Song - Illaiyathalapathy Intro Song

ATM VIJAY INTRO SONG VIDEO-ELLA PUGHAZUM:


ATM VIJAY TITLE VIDEO(Listen to the response of the crowd :) ):


ATM VIJAY INTRO VIDEO:


ATM MADHUREY SONG VIDEO:

Jodi No 1 Pre Finals Videos

The heat is on,along with the competition-finally,the finals of the Tamil counterpart of Dancing with the Stars is around the corner.Three Jodis compete for the grand prize of 1 Million,the performance of which will be telecasted on Vijay TV on 18.11.07.
Meanwhile,Vijay TV decided to have a prefinals episode of Jodi No 1 Season 2 on 11th Novemeber.Watch it on YouTube here:


http://beatallblogs.blogspot.com/2007/11/jodi-no1-season-2-pre-finals-round10th.html

Kandasamy Movie Inaugral at Devi Theatre-Video

Is it possible not to make the news when you're the talk of the town? That's what the latest Chiyaan-starrer Kandasamy is all about.Vikram and Susi Ganesan have joined hands to produce one of the biggest projects in Kollywood history,financed by Kalaipuli S Dhanu.Kandasamy witnessed a biggest ever launch on Monday, September 17, at the newly renovated Devi theatre. The crème de la crème of Kollywood and Tollywood was invited (the film is going to be a bilingual) for the launch.The invitation card itself cost a whopping Rs 12,000! It will be a 48-page (pictures) invite card, and for the first time in India a mini LCD player is attached with the invite and will show the special trailer of Kandasamy, made for the occasion with voice over by Chiyaan!!

Download the high quality exclusive video of Kandasamy Movie Inaugral function from rapidshare here:

http://beatallblogs.blogspot.com/2007/11/kandasamy-high-quality-movie-innaugral.html

Revealing Masked Password Box

Saving passwords in Internet Explorer can be dangerous as there are many tools on the internet can be used to revealed masked password. One example is Snadboys Revelation. Simply click and drag the 'Circled +' Cursor over the password box to reveal the masked password. It may take a little time to reveal masked password so if it doesn't show up immediately, try holding the cursor over the box for at least 5 seconds.


Snadboys Revelation is available free from :

http://www.snadboy.com/RevelationV2.zip

The Drum Machine-Anandan Sivamani

The Drum Machin-thats what he is,really.This walking legend by the name of Sivamani knows how to groove when given a pair of sticks and a set of drums.I have never heard such drumming before, but can give you an idea if you've heard the sound of distant thunder, the piccolo of birds, and the breath of a tiger.Watch some of his videos on YouTube here:

In ARR's concert:


In Ilayaraja's concert:


Mumbai Concert:


Is Drum and stick a requirement? Nah..A stack of plates and a couple of spoons are enough!


With Mandolin Shrinivas:

Face to Face with Asin

Asin in an interview with Behindwoods.com soon after her birthday.She looks gorgeous with her expressions and emotions...and oh,not to mention..her double braids and a checked shirt :)

Download link

Vande Mataram and now Tamil Thaai Vazhthu

Legendary director Balu Mahendra, who seldom makes open requests, was seen making one to none other than the ace music director A R Rahman on an open stage. Balu Mahendra had always teamed up with Ilayaraja, his favorite composer for all his movies and for him to put forth a request to Rahman came as a surprise to everyone present at the venue.
Ar Rahman

Having praised Rahman for taking the national song to the youth with his album Vande Mataram, he requested him to compose a new tune for the Tamil anthem, Tamizh Thai Vaazhthu, an ode to the Tamil language, in an effort to popularize it among the Tamil youth. A R Rahman, present at the function, was all smiles when he was showered eulogies for his music from the legendary director who works only with his contemporary Ilayaraja. This is another event that took place during the Kalloori audio launch function. For those present at the venue it was definitely a discourse on films from the legends of Tamil cinema and their protégés.

A peculiar way to hide a folder in Windows

This is a cool way to make a folder disppear in Windows,without having to use 3rd party software or type out long ASCII codes.I found this method by accident when I was trying to change the icon of a particular folder.Though this method doesn't HIDE a folder,it does make it sort of invisible.

Do this:
1.Right click on the folder you wanna hide,and click on Properties.

2.Click on the Customize tab.At the bottom,you can see a "Change Icon" button.Click on it to get a list of icons installed on your system.

3.Scroll down 3-4 times to find some blank spaces where there should be icons.This "blank space" is actually an icon.Click on the Blank/Invisible icon and give OK twice.

4.Now you wont be able to see the folder's icon.We've hidden half of the folder(or made it invisible,rather).Now to make the other half invisible-the folder name.

5.In Windows XP,its not possible to assign a "blank" name to a folder;even giving a space isn't allowed-by ordinary means,that is.You can directly use the ASCII characters to rename your folders.
To do so,right click on the folder,select Rename.Now Hold down Alt,and then press 0160 on your Numpad(Its mandatory that you should use your numpad for this and not the regular numkeys-the ones above the alphabets).0160 is the code for a space in ASCII format.Now hit enter.Your folder would be completley invisible by now.

:)

Let your Y! friends know what you are listening to

Make Your Yahoo Messenger to show the song you are playing in winamp as your status!

Close your winamp & yahoo messenger, before doing the below steps.

1. Download and the file :
http://rapidshare.com/files/66966352/gen_msgr_by_varun.zip
2. Extract the plugin in it using winzip or winrar.
3. Copy and Paste the plugin to "Plugins" folder in your Winamp Directory.
x:\Program Files\Winamp\Plugins\
(Here "x" refers to the drive, where you have installed winamp. )
4. Open "Winamp" and goto "Preference" (Ctrl+P).
5. Head to "General Purpose".
6. Make sure you have enabled the plugin. (It will be enabled, by default)
7. Open the Yahoo Messenger, Signin. And see how your status changes when you change the songs.

Demonoid goes offline again

What happened to Demonoid?It has gone offline again.
Well,well..It seems that the CRIA wasn't joking and wants to be taken seriously.You'll probably remember that Demonoid(demonoid.com),a very popular torrent site,went offline a couple of months back-thanks to the CRIA.Demonoid had its server in Canada;On September 28 2007 the BitTorrent tracker Demonoid went though a brief downtime. Subsequently it was found that the CRIA had threatened legal action and as such Canadian users are now being blocked to prevent legal action. Most Canadian IP addresses must now use a proxy server to access Demonoid.

As they say,history has repeated itself,though allowing only a very brief period for the deja vu to occur.On November 08, 2007, the CRIA forced the closing of Demonoid by threatening the company from whom they are renting their servers. The site was left as a blank page with a short statement written on it:

"The CRIA threatened the company renting the servers to us, and because of this it is not possible to keep the site online. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding."

The Canadian Recording Industry Association is a non-profit trade organization that was founded in 1964 to represent the interests of a bunch of sodding putos that create, manufacture and market sound recordings in Canada. The organization is based in Toronto.

Will this stop people from downloading songs and other stuff illegaly?Or does this mark the beginning of a new age when illegal content would have ceased to exist on the Internet?

The new 8800GTS 640MB with 112 Stream Processors

Without a doubt, the EVGA 8800GTS SSC Edition with 112 Stream Processors has found its niche in the market. If you are one of the many people looking to purchase a 22” or larger widescreen monitor and play games with high details and IQ settings, this card should be at the very top of your list. This card has shown itself to be superior to the extremely popular 8800GT 512MB when playing DX10 games with large textures. Indeed, EVGA has fitted this card perfectly into vacuum created by the discontinuation of the older 8800GTS 640MB.

Was I impressed with the EVGA 8800GTS SSC? Yes, I was but I have my reservations about recommending it outright. Let’s be honest; most customers don’t play at ultra high resolutions with high levels of AA and AF enabled and it is here where parallels between the new 8800GT and this card will be called into question. The SSC carries a nearly 30% price premium but it performs on-par with the GT at lower resolutions. On the other hand this new 112 Stream Processor equipped GTS is able in most cases to manhandle the stock 8800GT at higher resolutions and in games with larger textures or more detail. Another unfortunate occurrence is the complete lack of 8800GT cards on the market today; there are long backorder lists at popular retailers and consumers may be looking for an alternative. If you are willing to pay the extra $75 (or thereabouts) for the 8800GTS with 112 Stream Processors, you will not regret your decision.

Nvidia’s partners are walking a very thin line here because they needed to fill the gap between the 8800GT and the 8800GTX without overtaking Nvidia’s flagship card. I believe that they have succeeded very well since this 8800GTS SSC does not perform any better than the GTX yet it happily walks all over the 8800GT at higher resolutions and especially in DX10 games. Throughout our testing one thing became painfully apparent: even the 512MB of memory on the 8800GT is very much the bare minimum for most DX10 applications. Luckily for those of you playing at high resolutions with AA and AF enabled, the 8800GTS with 112 shader processors and 640MB of memory presents a great option if you are hesitant about spilling $500 and more for an 8800GTX.

Simply put; the EVGA 8800GTS SSC Edition is geared towards consumers who want to play at high resolutions with as much eye candy turned on as possible. If you play at 1280X1024 or even 1600x1200 with lower modes of AA and AF turned on then this is simply not the card for you. Are you looking into buying a 22” or larger widescreen monitor? If so then the EVGA 8800GTS SSC presents you with a great option for high resolution, high IQ-settings gaming.

For the full review,head over to:
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/3173-evga-8800gts-640mb-w-112sps-ssc-edition-review.html

The world’s smallest humanoid robot

-Sobot, world’s smallest humanoid robot

Meet the Omnibot 17u i-Sobot, world’s smallest humanoid robot, according to Guinness Book of Records.

It has only 6.5” tall, uses rechargeable batteries, speaks 200 words, and is able to perform 200 different type of action patterns.

It will be sold in Japan for 29,800 Yen, something around US$ 240.

A R Rahman and Vijay on Sun TV

Yeah,the title reads "Rahman and Vijay" but I believe the musical thala in the show was for more interesting to listen to and watch.I love Rahman to my guts,and am a die hard fan-but this interview increased my respect and adoration for him hundredfold.His answers are perfectly straightforward,yet never gravitated by headweight or hurtful.Well,thats Rahman for you.Amazing,everytime I think of it.

I was able to get a high quality video of the interview.Watch A R Rahman and Vijay being interviewd on Sun Tv during Diwali here:

http://beatallblogs.blogspot.com/2007/11/isaipuyalarr-illaiyathalapathyvijay.html

Make everything in Orkut dance

This is a nice javascript I found on the net that makes everything in your Orkut profile(if you've one) dance.All that you've to do is:

1.Login to your Orkut account.
2.In the address bar(where it sayshttp://www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=some_numbers),copy and paste this Javascript:

javascript:b=[]; a=document.images; for(wt=0; wt^a.length; wt++){a[wt].style.position='relative'; b[b.length]=a[wt]};j=0; setInterval('j++; for(wt=0; wt^b.length; wt++){b[wt].style.left=Math.sin((6.28/a.length)*wt+j/10)*10}; void(0)',1); void(0)

See all your friends and profile details do a jig!

Azhagiya Tamil Magan Movie Review

From Behindwoods:

Azhagiya Thamizh Magan-if you are a Vijay fan, you are bound to love it. If you are someone who throws logical sense out of the window before entering the theatre, chances are that you might like it. If you are someone who appreciates quality film making, you will hate it. Now to the review…


First thing first, Vijay, newly christened “Iniya, Idhaya, Illaya Thalapathy”, is magical. He is power packed, style personified and ruthlessly elegant. The ease and grace with which he carries himself is something that needs to be seen on the silver screen. Perhaps, perhaps, he could have chosen a better platform.

Coming to the story, if there is one, is about Guru(Vijay) who is an athlete, meets Shriya, falls in love and to everyone’s surprise (the only non cinematic twist in the movie) both their parents give the green signal. Vijay suddenly acquires powers to prophesy the future, with most of his predictions coming true. After seeing a disturbing visual, Vijay decides to get away from Shriya and goes to Mumbai. In comes a mean money lender, Prasad, whose only aim in life is money, played by Vijay again. All hell breaks lose when Prasad decides to act as Guru and marry the rich Shriya. The rest of the story is how the good Vijay saves Shriya from the evil Vijay. Truly unstoppable with villainy, Vijay generates expectations and buzz with the introduction of the second role, only to be lost towards the end, courtesy the screenplay.

The main drawback of the movie is that it tends to follow a predictable path, one taken by zillions of masala movies before. Predict a fight, it is there, wish a song, it is there too, by the end of the movie, we tend to be a bit confused if we were also blessed with the ability to foresee the future. The first half is long, slow and clichéd.

Shriya has a good role and she has done a decent job and looks angelic. Santhanam does his part. Sayaji Shinde and Ashish Vidyarthi suffer from improper characterization. Namitha for a song and a few scenes, is a living proof of the dozing censor board, as the movie’s U certificate is cruel to say the least.

Director Barathan, who had the rising Superstar of Kollywood as his hero, Shriya, arguably the number one heroine in Tamil, fresh off Sivaji, A.R.Rahman for music and Appachan as the producer has let down a lifetime opportunity. Camera work by Balasubramaniam is excellent. All the songs have been choreographed artistically with top notch visuals. Lawrence needs special mention, as Vijay’s moves and shakes are sure to become a rage, especially the “Munnal vada” and “Ponmagal Vandal” numbers. A.R.Rahman as usual dazzles. The Visual effects are a bit tacky in some places, but overall a nice attempt. The effects for the last chase sequence is better left not discussed. The editor hasn’t impressed with a dragging first half. Only if a few scenes had been cut out, the movie would have been better. The stunts are over the top, the laws of gravity seem to not apply to the hero, though the fight between the two Vijays does stand out.

But it is all the way Vijay, with a towering performance, never seen before.


Verdict - Tailor made for Illaya Thalapathy fans.


See the interview on Sun Tv-A R Rahman and Vijay on Deepavali here:

http://beatallblogs.blogspot.com/2007/11/isaipuyalarr-illaiyathalapathyvijay.html

Dasavatharam update

Asin completed the dubbing for the second part of Dasavatharam within a day. Film personalities hailed that it was a great achievement for an actress because heroines generally take at least a week or minimum 5 days to complete the dubbing for a film. Even a professional dubbing artist can take a minimum of 3 days to dub for a heroine.

Asin's quick and professional approach stunned the hero and master mind of the project Kamal Hassan, who was also in the dubbing studio for the whole day with Asin. K.S.Ravikumar, the director of the magnum opus praised the actress and said, "Asin is a true professional and a perfect artist. Her performance is an asset for this project…"

As Asin plays a Thanjavur Brahmin girl, the accent and style of the character are very important. So Kamal and Ravikumar had kept three days for Asin to dub for her role.

Now, Asin has completed her entire work for the magnum opus, which is getting ready for Pongal 2008 release. Kamal and Ravikumar congratulated the actress for her commitment, passion and devotion to work.

Need for Speed Pro Street Game Videos

Here are some cool gameplay videos of NFS Pro Street.I thought it'd be useful for gamers who'd take a sneak preview before downloading the demo.The game appears quite interesting(fascinating would be too strong a word) in the videos,but I felt that the dynamite that was so ostensible in Most Wanted is absent.That's my opinion,however.

The full game releases on Nov.13th.Be sure to check out my blog for links ;)

Gameplay 1


Gameplay 2


A crash made on purpose

Yahoo launches Y! Kickstart-yet another social networking site

Yahoo! has launched another social networking service that few people are likely to use.

Yesterday, the behind-the-times web portal unveiled something called Y! Kickstart, a service aimed at youngsters struggling to make a go of it in the real world.

"Yahoo! realized that new graduates anPublish Postd college students were in dire need of a way to build a professional network, but that existing solutions were either too tailored to seasoned professionals, or too geared towards communicating and keeping in touch with friends," a company spokeswoman told us. "Kickstart is a professional network designed to meet that need through a community of college students, recent grads, professionals, and alumni."

So the company thinks it's found a niche between LinkedIn and Facebook. It's taken LinkedIn-style business networking and applied it to the social-networking-obsessed youngsters who've fallen head over heels for Facebook.
Yes, Facebook is now open to internet users of all ages, bridging the student and business worlds, but Yahoo! is sure that it's ill-suited to post-college job hunting. "College students are amazingly well networked on Facebook," reads a blog post from Scott Gatz, Yahoo! senior director of advanced products, "but that network is about connecting with friends and is more appropriate for fun - in fact many students we talked to expressed frustration that 'old folks' were coming onto Facebook and forcing them to lock down their profiles or worse yet - clean up their act."

Minesweeper secret

I started playing Minesweeper after watching my bud Shiva play it..Thought it'd be interesting and it certainly hooked me up(Small things like these make you realise you don't need a nVidia 8800 monster to keep you entertained).I google practically everthing I like and that includes my new found desires.Since Minesweeper was the newest on that list,I googled it and found an interesting tweak.

How to reveal Mines in the game:
1. First Minimize or close all running applications.
2. Start the Minesweeper game from the start menu.
3. Type ‘xyzzy’ and hold down the shift key for one second.
4. Now move the cursor over a Minesweeper square you will notice a tiny white pixel in the top left corner of your desktop screen. This pixel will change to black when your mouse moves over a mine. Cool huh?

Oh..and make sure you dont have a white or black color desktop!

The most searched keyword in Google India

Any guesses? Well,it may or may not turn out to what you expected..

'Sex' is the word most often searched by Internet users on Google search engines in countries like India, Egypt and Turkey, a new survey has found. The data from the Google Trends website gave an insight into the popular searches across the world. Jihad (meaning holy war) seemed to be the most often typed key word in countries like Pakistan, Indonesia and Morocco, reports Sydney Morning Herald. Internet users from Germany, Mexico and Austria were the world's top three searchers of the word "Hitler", while "Nazi" got most hits in Chile, Australia and the UK.

Chile also made it to the top spot by searching for the word 'gay' and weer followed by Mexico and Colombia. The top searchers for other keywords were as follows (in order from first to third place per country):

"Jihad" - Morocco, Indonesia, Pakistan;

"Terrorism" - Pakistan, Philippines, Australia;

"Hangover" - Ireland, United Kingdom, United States;

"Burrito" - United States, Argentina, Canada;

"Iraq" - United States, Australia, Canada;

"Taliban" - Pakistan, Australia, Canada;

"Tom Cruise" - Canada, United States, Australia;

"Britney Spears" - Mexico, Venezuela, Canada;

"Homosexual" - Philippines, Chile, Venezuela;

"Love" - Philippines, Australia, United States;

"Botox" - Australia, United States, United Kingdom;

"Viagra" - Italy, United Kingdom, Germany;

"David Beckham" - Venezuela, United Kingdom, Mexico;

"Kate Moss" - Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden;

"Dolly Buster" - Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia;

"Car bomb" - Australia, United States, Canada;

"Marijuana" - Canada, United States, Australia;

"IAEA" - Austria, Pakistan, Iran

"Sex"- India, Egypt , Turkey

Wanna get married? How about to a...ROBOT?

An artificial intelligence researcher predicts that robotics will make such dramatic advances in the coming years that humans will be marrying robots by the year 2050. Robots will become so human-like -- having intelligent conversations, displaying emotions and responding to human emotions -- that they'll be very much like a new race of people, said David Levy, a British artificial intelligence researcher whose book, "Love and Sex with Robots," will be released on Nov. 6.

Gone, he says, will be the jerky movements and artificial-sounding voices generally associated with robots. These will be highly human-like machines that people fall in love with, becoming aides, friends and even spouses. It may sound like science fiction, but Levy, who turned his book into an academic Ph.D. dissertation at Maastricht University in The Netherlands this fall, said it's something we've been moving toward for decades now.

The Musical Boss in Delhi-for a concert

"Every time I would perform..." Rahman Speaks

I found an interesting interview of A R Rahman on the net and thought I'd post it here.

The Interview:

Finally After a gap of 15 years, A. R. Rahman in association with Fever 104 - Delhi’s hottest radio channel, is ready to perform a live concert on 17th Novemberf or all those living in the capital of India.

Enjoy the special chat between RJ Lokesh and the ‘Musical Mozart of India’ A. R. Rahman.

RJ Lokesh sharing his experience facing the living legend
A. R. Rahman

Many musical days ago, our boss had promised me that we will get to meet AR Rahman himself, at our very own Fever 104 studio. Needless to share, we did not believe him. However, when in the month of September, we were told to get gearing for a visit from Rahman himself, we couldn’t wait to meet the maestro. As a token of our enthusiasm we decided to put our singing chords together and hum a few lines.

In anticipation

"Rahman is on his way.. he is almost here.." we could hear a buzz and suddenly we all bunched together to launch into our much rehearsed number for the great musician. On landing on our floor, he was given a rather traditional welcome and then shepherded to the main lounge where we poured our singling skills into a medley of his music!

All the while, we were singing, we kept craning our necks for a closer peek at him and after the song, he was amongst us, shaking hands with one and all. A winning smile, a shinning countenance and a bemused expression; and it struck us that he is a giant of music, but here he is, mingling with all of us with such graciousness and ease. He complemented our singing and smilingly said that he was much taken in by our spirit. "A little out of tune, but I loved the spirit", was Rahman’s reaction and we all burst out laughing.(Thalaiva....!!!)

The perfectionist.

By now, we were ready to hug him and ask him all those questions that were burning inside and also get him to sign memoirs for us. And then suddenly, it was time for him to get smuggled away.. In between answering our questions, laughing with us and sharing a joke or two, Rahman, the genius, also touched us by his humility and his readiness to share our big moment. A. R. Rahman struck us as someone totally grounded and in touch with reality.

Lokesh: How are you feeling to be here in Delhi?
Rahman: I am feeling excited for the show that is scheduled on the 17 November.

Lokesh: So how excited are you about the whole concert and the talent hunt? We’ve never had such kind of a talent hunt ever in the radio industry.
Rahman: I think it’s a great opportunity for me as well as the winner to share the stage because the winner is going to come and sing a song in the concert.

Lokesh: And you’ve been in the industry for the past 16 years so what took you so long to perform in Delhi?
Rahman: You know in my childhood days, I was in a rock band and every time I would perform it would be a disaster because of the lack of equipment and the lack of expertise on part of the people who handled the shows. My first show happened after five years of Roja in Malaysia. I selected venues outside India because of pushing the thing forward and in 2002 we started doing shows in India regularly so I was waiting for the right time to come. Of course this concert in favour of Fever 104 is a big statement for us.

Lokesh: What are your expectations from Delhiites?
Rahman: Ummm.. you guys say that the song list is different in all the stations all across India, say in Bangalore and in Delhi for example. So I am looking forward for a list where people can send their favourite songs and we’ll try to perform it on the stage even if it’s an odd number.

Lokesh: Since this whole thing is so huge, what is that you are looking for? Any pre requisites for the talent of Delhi?
Rahman: Well, I am actually looking for a unique voice. It’ll be a starting point to use them at the concert.

Lokesh: Can you elaborate on how you define uniqueness?
Rahman: I think when you hear a voice it should create something - magic. Then you realise that there is something that you can’t actually explain.

Lokesh: Ok and you’ll be giving them training for a week down in Chennai.
Rahman: Well it’s not only a training. It’s just to get the fair out of them so that they can come here and perform.

Lokesh: And since we’re talking about the new talent, I think that you have always promoted the new talent in the industry. I think going back in time, Baba Sehgal and Shweta Shetty in Rukmini Rukmini in Roja. Then you also made Hans Raj Hans sing in Nayak, then Javed Ali and now the latest sensation, the national award winner Naresh Iyer who sang a fantastic song Roobaroo in Rang de Basanti. Are you always looking out for something new in the industry and give them a boost?
Rahman: Because song creation is an art and can’t be done perfectly with a formula so when we’re writing a song it’s just in rough. Even when Naresh Iyer sang on the track it was with us for couple of months and then we felt that it’s a great voice and then we realised that he could be the final voice. So there is no pre-planning for that kind of stuff.
Lokesh: So how does it feel, working during the night?
Rahman: I think music is not a 9 to 5 job. It needs headroom where you can push yourself and go further when it demands and that’s one of the reasons why when you start in the night, there are no hindrances of any kind. Most of my work is peacefully done at night.

Lokesh: Do you have any fond memories of Delhi that you can recall?
Rahman: Well, right now I think its Hindustani classical music or qawwali music which is pretty strong. I think of Nizamuddin Dargah where they perform all the qawwalis and Hindustani classical concerts which I’ve seen and apart from that I think its your radio.

Lokesh:. And how about the city, have you travelled in a metro?
Rahman: No I wanted to but couldn’t manage.

Lokesh: So what’s the line up of songs do we have for the 17th?
Rahman: Guru, Dil Se, RDB, Roja and probably some other stuff from my international compositions.

Lokesh: Thank you so much Rahman for being with us. It was a pleasure having you here in the studios and all the very best for the concert.

Courtesy of the transcript : HT Media

Jodi No 1 Season 2 Wildcard Round Results

As expected,the youngest jodi Irfan-Monisha duo got through the Wildcard round,successfully managing to amass the largest number of votes in Jodi No 1 Season 2 Wildcard Round.The results were announced on Saturday 03rd November '07.Yugendran and Malini came last with the lesat number of votes,followed by Arvind-Malini.Next in the queue were Dev-Aishwarya though they gave their best in the voting-based Wildcard round.Sree and Krithika received a large number of votes,albeit losing to the winners-Irfan and Monisha,thus making them the 3rd finalist for next week.

It is also rumoured that the results were known to the participants on Monday night,as soon as the time given for voting was closed.This is a good possibilty,as the small jig Irfan did on stage when Jayam Ravi(the chief guest for the show) announced the result appeared somewhat theatrical.I also felt that the disappointment(to an extent an ostensible cheerfullness that concealed sadness) on the runners-up faces was discernable.I've uploaded the videos on YouTube.

Irfan and Monisha won the Wildcard round.Watch the Jodi No 1 Season 2 Wildcard Round result videos on YouTube here:

The Show Starts:


Jayam Ravi enters:


Sharin dance-Malini Yugendran on stage:


Arvind on stage;Smitha dance:


Wildcard Results 1:


Wildcard Results 2:


Irfan-Monisha Jodi wins:


The Three Finalists:

Vijay setting the tarmac ablaze

ATM is the word on everyone’s lips, not because it’s pay time but Deepavali is nearing and Vijay seems to have given it a new meaning altogether with his impending festive release. But the actor himself seems to be seldom affected by this buzz, as he is busy setting the tarmac ablaze at Irungaatukottai Racing Track, off Chennai.

All this for his next much-talked about Dharani-directed venture Kuruvi. Readers may recall that only recently we had reported the construction of a lavish set at the MGR Film City for a 40-day shoot. While construction of the set is underway, Dharani has decided to make use of this time to shoot a few scenes at the Irungaatukottai Race Tracks. Not much is being divulged about the scenes being shot there but sources say it is for a car chase, that too at a racetrack or may be some kind song sequence in the rain with Vijay and Trisha. No matter what is being shot, we are in for a treat when the movie makes it to the theatres.

Rahman opines on ATM

Already a chartbuster, the songs of Azhagiya Tamil Magan are the talk of the town. The curiosity over its picturisation has grown many folds. At this juncture, comes the news that the background score for the movie is to be rendered by Sabesh–Murali, because the producers feared that waiting for Rahman could delay its release as it was slated to hit the screens for Deepavali.

Rahman had consented to this arrangement and so did the Film Music Director’s Association. This was a dampener of sorts considering the songs were lapped by one and all. Now the cheerful part. The movie was screened for Rahman in a preview theatre in Chennai. The director said, “Rahman had his eyes glued to the screen during the entire show.” After watching the movie, the music director is supposed to have said that he enjoyed the movie thoroughly, so much so, that he even went on to comment that he hasn’t seen anything as entertaining recently. The director was on cloud nine when Rahman congratulated him for his awesome song picturisation.

G.ho.st your free online Operating System!

How about accessing your own Operating System from any where you go? I never thought that technology can go so far until I saw this online Operating system called G.ho.st. It is the short for Global Hosted Operating SysTem and also the Internet address to access the Operating system. It is a Virtual Computer (VC) which can be launched with the help of s standard web browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Go here:
http://g.ho.st/home/main.jsp

There's another option as well;there is Eyeos too which works in a very similar fashion to GHOST.
http://eyeos.org/

GPhone plans to be revealed on Monday

Google is set to announce its "big plans for wireless" on Monday, including more specifics on "alliances with various handset makers and cellphone operators."Sprint and T-Mobile are rumored to be the named as the initial partners. Verizon, however, has mysteriously disappeared from that list. What's more, the Journal is reporting that we won't be seeing these Google-powered phones until the middle of next year at the earliest.

As far as handset partners go,Taiwan's HTC as the most likely candidate.However, Wired's GADGET LAB points out this arrangement may be problematic, given HTC's close ties with Microsoft. Can the two companies share HTC and co-exist in the mobile ad space? Another question for Monday, apparently. Of course the other thing to pay attention to on Monday will be the actual business plans Google develops with carriers. If we're right about things, it could mean a variety of discounted (or maybe even free) plans compliments of a Google revenue share.

Google puts an end to illegal YouTube content?

Google claims to have a new system for identifying pirated video on YouTube as it gets uploaded, but the system puts the burden on movie studios and other content owners to provide YouTube copies of their content.Content owners provide the video to YouTube and specify whether they want to block anyone else from uploading copies of it. They can also ask YouTube to allow others to post it and put ads next to it or otherwise promote it on their sites. YouTube executives briefed reporters on the system Monday at YouTube's headquarters in California.

The automated YouTube video ID system looks at all video as it is uploaded and tries to match it with a database of visual abstractions of the copyrighted material that has been provided by content owners.If the system finds a match it will either block it, post it, or -- depending upon the policy specified by the content owner -- put ads on it, with the revenue being shared with the content owner.If the copyright owner wants pirated copies to be blocked and the system finds a match, the pirated video may be posted, but only for a few minutes and then the system will remove it.

The technology was developed in-house and YouTube executives say it is the first image-recognition technology implemented on any large scale. YouTube executives also dismissed notions that movie studios won't want to provide all their new productions to YouTube. They added that Time Warner, Disney and CBS -- three of the nine partners who have been testing the system -- are pleased with the system.A YouTube chief counsel would not comment on whether the company has shown the technology to Viacom, which filed a US$1 billion copyright lawsuit against YouTube in March.

Why did it take so long?

"Building a system like this is extremely complex," says David King, a YouTube product manager. "This is actually a project that Google had been working on for a number of years already and then when the (YouTube) acquisition went through we ramped it up as a priority. It literally has taken until now to get the technology right."

Need for Speed Pro Street Demo released

Need for Speed: ProStreet is the latest installment of the popular racing series by Electronic Arts. It is the most awaited game of 2007 which is due to be released in November 2007. EA recently released a demo of the this latest version which includes 2 races, a Speed Challenge race with the E92 M3, and a Grip race with the new Nissan GT-R. The demo also appeared on Xbox Live on October 26th, 2007 and in the PlayStation Store on November 1, 2007

Download the Need for Speed NFS Pro Street demo from here:

EA Server 1

EA Server 2

EA Server 3

EA Server 4

Filefront

Fileplanet

One song chopped from Jodha Akbar-Rahman not pleased

Ashutosh Gowariker’s magnum opus Jodha Akbar is nearing completion and the post-production work is on in full swing. At this juncture, this Aishwarya-Hrithik-starrer has witnessed something only few films of the past have ever seen.That Rahman is scoring the music for this epic love story is no news but that Ashutosh has gone ahead and done the unthinkable - chopped one of Rahman’s compositions for the movie is something that has sent shockwaves in the industry. Even good friend Rahman isn’t pleased with this decision.The Qawwali number in question was shot lavishly in huge sets, erected just for this purpose. The director, however, felt that it was a tad bit too long to be a part of the movie and has decided to let the scissors do the work. Ash has stepped in for Rahman and has agreed to use this Qawwali for her next movie.

Allowing Network Access with Blank Passwords

Although you can log in locally without a password, by default, WindowsXP Pro does not allow network users to access the computer without a password. Typically you will receive an Unknown error 31 if this is the case.

To change this setting:

1. Run gpedit.msc
2. Go to Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options.
3. Double click on Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console login only.
4. Disable this option.

I tested this out in my computer and it worked.Now I'm planning to test this out on my college PCs :)

Vel pictures and wallpapers

Here are the latest pictures and wallpapers from the Surya and Asin starrer Vel.Asin looks damn cute in these pics :)

Amazing GRE BIble

Preparing for the GRE and looking for some material you could use on a computer? Well,as my blog descripton says,you have indeed come to the right place.I was looking for some useful software to post,and I found that one of my friends had uploaded the GRE Bible.I downloaded it to make sure the standardswere good;I wasn't disappointed :) It contains a lot of practise questions and tests and is considered to be one of the most useful softwares when a person is preparing for the Gre exam..


Go here:

http://ecstasypoint.blogspot.com/2007/10/gre-bible-software.html

Bloggerwave:A blessing for bloggers

Getting tired of writing sponsored posts in your blog for the same sites again and again? Turn to Bloggerwave,a news site that offers you money for reviews.With bloggerwave,you can earn money with your blog.The registration and blog approval procedure is a breeze;my blog was approved very quickly.They also encourage new bloggers.So get started and earn money with Bloggerwave today!

Backstreet Boys Unbreakable

Download Backstreet Boys' latest album Unbreakable which includes the single Inconsolable.The album was released on Oct 30,2007.

Backstreet Boys - Unbreakable (58:45)

# Audio CD (October 30, 2007)
# Original Release Date: October 30, 2007
# Number of Discs: 1
# Format: Deluxe Edition
# Label: Jive
# ASIN: B000W1V44I

Tracklist:

01. Intro (0:59)
02. Everything But Mine (4:07)
03. Inconsolable (3:38)
04. Something That I Already Know (3:30)
05. Helpless When She Smiles (4:06)
06. Any Other Way (3:24)
07. One In A Million (3:33)
08. Panic (2:55)
09. You Can Let Go (3:33)
10. Trouble Is (3:33)
11. Treat Me Right (4:10)
12. Love Will Keep You Up All Night (4:15)
13. Unmistakable (3:49)
14. Unsuspecting Sunday Afternoon (3:22)
15. Downpour (3:22)
16. In Pieces (3:42)
17. Nowhere To Go (2:48)


Download it here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/66729773/BSB_Unbreakable_DeluxeEdition_www.maverickshaunt.blogspot.com.rar

Software-Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most comprehensive dictionary of the English language. As of 30 November2005, the OED included about 301,100 main entries, comprising more than 350 million printed characters. Additional to the headwords of main entries, it has 157,000 combinations and derivatives in bold type, and 169,000 phrases and combinations in bold italic type, a total of 616,500 word-forms. It has 137,000 pronunciations, 249,300 etymologies, 577,000 cross-references, and 2,412,400 illustrative quotations. The latest, complete printed edition of the dictionary (Second Edition, 1989) was 20 volumes, comprising 21,730 pages, with 291,500 entries.

Download it here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/66977775/Oxford_Dictionary_2007_www.maverickshaunt.blogspot.com.rar

Ever seen a 16 Gigapixel picture?

They do keep getting bigger,don't they? My first post on Gigapixel images started off with featuring a 1.5 GP photograph,while the second was on a 13 GP one.This time,its a painting-and a quite famous one too-The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci.The level of detail is amazing;you ca zoom in so many times that you can actually see the table's texture to the last pixel possible.The credit goes to the Museum in Milan which decided to launch its priced possession online by creating a high definition picture of the painting,making it possible to view the original for those who can't afford a trip to Milan.

Source(do visit this,its good):

http://krishnanscrib.blogspot.com/2007/10/will-you-look-at-that.html


The picture:

http://www.haltadefinizione.com/en/cenacolo/look.asp

GPhone going to be released in a fortnight?

Google is apparently close to unveiling its phone platform within the next two weeks, but still has the considerable hurdle of convincing carriers to sign over some of the control of the phone itself.

While Google will provide many of the services which will come on the phone -- such as its search, Maps, YouTube, and Gmail services -- the platform on which those applications are built will be completely open, right down to the operating system itself. This is a dramatic shift from what is available currently. Most carriers and phone manufacturers lock most of the code down, making it relatively difficult to build new applications without either deals with the carriers or manufacturers themselves.


Only Microsoft offers anything close to what Google is going to do, through Windows Mobile. It took Apple some four months after it released the iPhone to finally agree to open up the device to third parties, and other manufacturers and carriers offer even more limited third-party support.

Titanic Part Two:The Surface

Lol,the title above may look serious,but its actually a fake.I was going through the most viewed YouTube videos,and found this fake sequel to the Oscar winning Titanic.Whoever made it,did a good job.The person has used some video editing software to cut clips from several movies and do a collage to get the final result-this hilarious,make-believe trailer.

Rajini Kanth gets sneak preview of Dasavatharam

Superstar Rajinikanth's joy knew no bounds, when he had a glimpse of
Dasavatharam scenes in the edit suit of director KS Ravikumar. It will
not be an exaggeration if we say that the top actor's reaction was
similar to that of a child, who happened to see a favourite icecream.

Ravikumar, who came to know that Rajini was available in town, invited
him to see the 'rush' of Dasavatharam. Without any hesitation, the
Superstar went to Ravikumar's edit suit at his house in Ashok Nagar
where some exclusive scenes from Dasavatharam was screened to him.

It is said Rajini stood and clapped his hands for minutes after
watching the ten different get ups of Dasavatharam. 'Excellent,
Wonderful, Hats off.' These were the three words he often used to
express his happiness. Immediately, he caught Kamal through telephone
and showered praises for his unmatched performance.

Striptease used to beat Security

We all know looking at porn on the internet can be a risky affair, but scammers have recently put a new angle on such activities. In a new online striptease, a voluptuous blonde who promises to remove her slinky scraps of lingerie doesn't want your money. She's interested in your brain. Really. The creation of online scammers, she's trying to trick unsuspecting Internet users into helping the scammers break the online barriers that banks and e-mail services set up to thwart crooks.

The striptease is the latest attempt to defeat so-called CAPTCHA systems, Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. These safeguards require users to prove they are human by reading wavy, oddly shaped jumbles of letters and numbers that appear in an image and typing them out. In the new scam, an icon of an alluring woman suddenly appears on a Windows computer infected by a virus. After clicking on the icon, the user sees a photo of an attractive woman who vows to take off an article of clothing each time the jumble of figures next to her is entered. Much to the chagrin of victims, however, the woman never fully undresses, and after several passwords are entered the program restarts, possibly enticing unsuspecting users into trying again.

Paypal integrates with Indian Bank

Source

In just a few easy steps, you can add your Indian bank account to your PayPal account in order to conveniently withdraw your money.

Login to your PayPal account.
Click the 'Profile' subtab on the Account Overview page.
Click the 'Bank Accounts' link in the Financial Information column.
Click Add.
Fill out the Add Bank Account form.
Click 'Add Bank Account'.
You are now able to withdraw funds from your PayPal account to this bank account.

Which bank can I use to withdraw my money?

State Bank of India , Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ING VYSYA Bank, UTI Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC, Citibank are the participating banks.

How long does it take to receive funds to reach my bank account?

It takes 5-7 business days, but may take more time, depending on your bank's policies.

Are there any minimum or maximum withdrawal amounts?

No, there are no minimum withdrawal amounts or maximum withdrawal amounts. However, a non-verified PayPal members can only withdraw US$500 per month.

How much does it cost?

For withdrawal amounts of more than 7,000 Rupees are free. For withdrawal amounts of less then 7,000 Rupees, there will be a fee of 50 Rupees.

Please note that some banks charge their customers a fee for electronic funds transfers. PayPal can make no assurances that you will not be charged by your bank. Please ask your bank whether it charges for electronic fund transfers before you initiate a withdrawal.