This past week I was surfing channels on the idiot box when i thought of this post. Like quite a few of my posts i hope to make this part of a series. I am going to list out a few scenes from famous/infamous movies or tv shows which i can watch over and over and over again.
Scene 1
Of course i will have to start with the Movie which gave me my username. THE MATRIX. Now this movie i remember watching around 3 times at the Rex theatre in bangalore. and multimillion times at home on the tv and computer. The entire movie for me is stellar scene after scene after scene. I will list out only 1 in this post and its the one which i remember seeing 2 nites ago.
The training sequence of Neo where he's learning various styles of combat. He opens his eyes and says to Morpheus. "I know kung-fu!" This is followed by the first indication that Neo is the one! That fight sequence was awesome. I can watch it any time. The morning after, i came to work and on my white board i quoted Morpheus "Don't think you are. Know you are!!" Mindblasting! :D
Scene 2
I think this is one of those feel good scenes which have you humming the song at the end. STEPMOM. While the movie has julia roberts, the scene only has Susan Sarandon and her kids. Its the scene when they sing "Ain't no mountain high enough". Very spontaneous, spunky and fun. It brings a smile to my face. The son is very cute as is the girl and they bring about a sense of joy in this scene which is uplifting to anybody's mood.
Scene 3
As we are all aware recently 2 stellar actors came together for the second time and this time unlike the first they had way more screen time together than the first outing. People expected fireworks but were instead treated to a damp squib. The actors of course are Al Pacino & Robert de Niro and the movie righteous kill (Previous outing was "Heat"). I watched the movie and called for Al Pacino to quit acting because of his dismal peformance this past few years. Of course a few years back I would never say such a thing. He's awesome but i would rather remember him for his brilliant performance as Lt. Col Frank Slade in SCENT OF A WOMAN. The scene i most recall at this moment is of course, the Tango! Hooaah! It was the best dancing scene i had ever seen. Its engraved in my mind and i dont think anyone can top that. Gabrielle Anwar (Super hot!!) was excellent. Al though stole the show with this movie. Memorable performance to say the least! :D
That's all for now folks. Hopefully i should get in another post before the new year. Am travelling to pune today! Take Care you all.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, you family, friends, neighbours and other random people you know. :D
Oh and party at 59PC starts 2000hrs on 31st. Please RSVP via email/phone.
Cheers!
December 19, 2008
December 12, 2008
Proud Son!
While the apple has fallen far from the tree, there is no doubt in my mind that "My daddy strongest, smartest, coolest, awesomest" Its time to SUIT UP! This is gonna be LEGEN..... wait for it!!! DAIRY!!!
While i pretty much told everyone about this earlier, as of today my dad is Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon. (he was Maj. Gen. Prakash Menon, for the uninitiated)
For security reasons, i shall not divulge anymore.
With this good news though, there is a bit of sad news. 59 PC will be taken away by January :(
I need to give 59PC a proper sendoff!
Watch this space for more details.
While i pretty much told everyone about this earlier, as of today my dad is Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon. (he was Maj. Gen. Prakash Menon, for the uninitiated)
For security reasons, i shall not divulge anymore.
With this good news though, there is a bit of sad news. 59 PC will be taken away by January :(
I need to give 59PC a proper sendoff!
Watch this space for more details.
November 18, 2008
Recount
When i first heard about "Recount" I didnt read the review. I just looked at the picture and found out who all were there in it. I was intrigued why stellar actors like Kevin Spacey, John Hurt, Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern and Dennis Leary were acting in a TV movie. Okay fine, Dennis Leary is no stellar actor, i love his song "a$$hole" though. I also learnt that this was made for HBO. I knew instantly that this must be watched because a network which has shows like "Entourage" and "Californication", only produces pure gold. Remember Band of Brothers? Hell yea!
I am sure most of us have seen Fahrenheit 9/11 by Micheal Moore, in which he dissed Dubya big time. In all the accusations, he mentioned about impropreity of the elections. Well, this movie potrays the drama that unfolded post election. I, for one, knew that there was some drama but the extent of which i was unaware of.
Brilliantly made by Jay Roach, its a bit of a departure from his sort of movies. Jay Roach made AWESOME movies like Austin Powers, all 3 of em. He made Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. So this is a slight change.
The actors, all of em, superbly fit in their roles as Republican and Democratic Campaigners. Kevin Spacey and Tom Wilkinson have major parts which they have pulled off with awesome ease. Dennis Leary is good. Yup he is. John Hurt was cool as cucumber in his small role. Laura Dern plays Secretary of State Katherine Harris and I think she's done a brilliant job. I just researched a lil and found out that All these 4 were nominated for Emmy Awards. Recount also won the Emmy for Best Directing and Best Made for TV Movie as well as Best Editing. Truly deserving! :D
I won't talk about the story here mainly because anything i say will give away the drama. What amazed me was how in gods name Dubya made president inspite of this. At the end of the movie, they showed actual news footage from that time and the resemblance of the actors with the real people is uncanny to say the least. Also the news footage shows that the movie is a potrayal of all that unfolded in that time.
I would recommend this movie to one and all. It's funny in parts. The anguish towards the end is heartfelt. It shows how even a powerful nation like America is not perfect. Far from it. The image of America (in my head) took a nose dive last nite! Although, every time i go to the google or apple website, its hard not to admire products that have come from there!
If i had to rate this movie. I would give it **** on *****.
I am sure most of us have seen Fahrenheit 9/11 by Micheal Moore, in which he dissed Dubya big time. In all the accusations, he mentioned about impropreity of the elections. Well, this movie potrays the drama that unfolded post election. I, for one, knew that there was some drama but the extent of which i was unaware of.
Brilliantly made by Jay Roach, its a bit of a departure from his sort of movies. Jay Roach made AWESOME movies like Austin Powers, all 3 of em. He made Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. So this is a slight change.
The actors, all of em, superbly fit in their roles as Republican and Democratic Campaigners. Kevin Spacey and Tom Wilkinson have major parts which they have pulled off with awesome ease. Dennis Leary is good. Yup he is. John Hurt was cool as cucumber in his small role. Laura Dern plays Secretary of State Katherine Harris and I think she's done a brilliant job. I just researched a lil and found out that All these 4 were nominated for Emmy Awards. Recount also won the Emmy for Best Directing and Best Made for TV Movie as well as Best Editing. Truly deserving! :D
I won't talk about the story here mainly because anything i say will give away the drama. What amazed me was how in gods name Dubya made president inspite of this. At the end of the movie, they showed actual news footage from that time and the resemblance of the actors with the real people is uncanny to say the least. Also the news footage shows that the movie is a potrayal of all that unfolded in that time.
I would recommend this movie to one and all. It's funny in parts. The anguish towards the end is heartfelt. It shows how even a powerful nation like America is not perfect. Far from it. The image of America (in my head) took a nose dive last nite! Although, every time i go to the google or apple website, its hard not to admire products that have come from there!
If i had to rate this movie. I would give it **** on *****.
November 17, 2008
Happy Budday
I thought i should wish MADZY & PREETO A very very happy birthday! :)
Have a Blast. I am still reeling from yesterday! Preeto :)
Cheers
p.s Scooby is so cute!
Have a Blast. I am still reeling from yesterday! Preeto :)
Cheers
p.s Scooby is so cute!
CAT Chronicles
It's not often that one decides to poke fun at himself publicly! So, i would request that whoever reads this, please be gentle!
My tryst with CAT began a long time ago when i was in the second year of college. Those days (wow, seems fricking long ago) the IIMania was in its prime. Everybody was talking about it and how difficult the CAT is. CAT btw stands for Common Admission Test. Its the entrance exam held by the IIM's for their Management Courses, read MBA. A ton of other institutes also accept the scores for their own courses. So its the exam to take get into a good college. Those days, I had study material from Career Forum to help me prepare. Those books were rarely used and ended up collecting dust in the corner of my bedroom. I did read a few of the books for my parents sake and because i did make a vain attempt to prepare towards the end.
I gave the exam and while i knew that Quant, my achilles heel was gonna pull me down, Language, my crowning glory would help cover up the embarrassment of the low score. Now the scoring for cat is awesome. Its relative, so even if you screwed up, you hope and pray that others screwed up worse! So for example, If i get a 90th percentile, it means my score is better than 90% of the people who have written CAT. Its a nice feeling when you see a 90+ on the score card. Over the years i have gone from strength to strength (dats right) I have scored as high as a 95percentile. But as luck would have it, the interviews and GD's sucked and hence i am still giving it another shot.
This was my 6th Attempt at CAT. That's right 6th Attempt. I was there when they reduced the number of questions and had 2 marks questions. I was there when the paper leaked and for the first time in history the infallible CAT was rescheduled. I was even offered the paper the evening before the exam. I remember the conversation i had with my dad that evening where i was actually contemplating the buy and he told me something in the vein of "Somebody gonna get hurt real bad. Somebody" I remember cursing my luck that day only to learn the next day after the CAT that its been cancelled. I guess sometimes daddy and mommy do get it right!
Anyway, so i have seen it evolve and get tougher every year. More candidates sign up and the competition is cut-throat. But as with most of my attempts at CAT, i was ill-prepared for this one. Heck, I had prayed that they reject my application. :P Anyhoo, i was assigned a center in Mayur Vihar. That's trans-yamuna. That means its f@#$%&g far. That also means, i have never been there before. The prev nite, i spent time going over the map and decided on a route. I left arnd and hour and a half before reporting time thinking I will be there well in time. Boy, was i wrong! I got lost a coupla times and as with Delhiites and their directions, nobody will admit they don't know, all of them will say "Go Straight!" Luckily that area was one market after another and while it was a gamble to stop and ask for directions as you end up blocking traffic, I finally found a cycle rickshaw fellow (god bless him) who told me exactly where to go!
I reached just in time for and rushed in. I found myself wondering what's gonna happen this time as i walked up the stairs. Upon finding my assigned room, i realised that it was a 2nd standard classroom. Cursing my luck, i squeezed into the desk to realised that this was gonna be one long exam. I couldn't move my legs an inch and within 5 mins i was beginning to get restless. In my restlessness and this happens quite a bit with me, this thought creeped into my mind out of the blue. Have you locked the car? I had left my phone and ipod in the dashboard so i was even more worried. As i tried to dismiss the thought, the test procedure started. Using that to take my mind off the car, i filled up the answer sheet with the personal details and what not. I happened to glance over and the dude sitting in the next row was acting shady. To my amazement, he was trying to cheat. I wanted to laugh and tell him, dude its the cat. Unless you have the fricking answer key, nothing will help. He had written some shit on his left arm, which he was writing on his desk and then rubbing off his arm. Thank god for that idiot coz i completely forgot abt the car till the exam ended. I was paralysed for a lil bit as my legs dint like the treatment.
The exam as i perceived it, was quite easy. I regret not having prepped quant enough. That said, i dont know if it wouldve helped anyway. :P
I shall let yall know what my score is. If not too embarassing of course! :)
In case any of you require any help with CAT please feel free to contact Career Launcher coz I ain't going down as a CAT advisor! :)
Oh and BTW, the car was locked and the my phone/ipod were safe! What a relief!
My tryst with CAT began a long time ago when i was in the second year of college. Those days (wow, seems fricking long ago) the IIMania was in its prime. Everybody was talking about it and how difficult the CAT is. CAT btw stands for Common Admission Test. Its the entrance exam held by the IIM's for their Management Courses, read MBA. A ton of other institutes also accept the scores for their own courses. So its the exam to take get into a good college. Those days, I had study material from Career Forum to help me prepare. Those books were rarely used and ended up collecting dust in the corner of my bedroom. I did read a few of the books for my parents sake and because i did make a vain attempt to prepare towards the end.
I gave the exam and while i knew that Quant, my achilles heel was gonna pull me down, Language, my crowning glory would help cover up the embarrassment of the low score. Now the scoring for cat is awesome. Its relative, so even if you screwed up, you hope and pray that others screwed up worse! So for example, If i get a 90th percentile, it means my score is better than 90% of the people who have written CAT. Its a nice feeling when you see a 90+ on the score card. Over the years i have gone from strength to strength (dats right) I have scored as high as a 95percentile. But as luck would have it, the interviews and GD's sucked and hence i am still giving it another shot.
This was my 6th Attempt at CAT. That's right 6th Attempt. I was there when they reduced the number of questions and had 2 marks questions. I was there when the paper leaked and for the first time in history the infallible CAT was rescheduled. I was even offered the paper the evening before the exam. I remember the conversation i had with my dad that evening where i was actually contemplating the buy and he told me something in the vein of "Somebody gonna get hurt real bad. Somebody" I remember cursing my luck that day only to learn the next day after the CAT that its been cancelled. I guess sometimes daddy and mommy do get it right!
Anyway, so i have seen it evolve and get tougher every year. More candidates sign up and the competition is cut-throat. But as with most of my attempts at CAT, i was ill-prepared for this one. Heck, I had prayed that they reject my application. :P Anyhoo, i was assigned a center in Mayur Vihar. That's trans-yamuna. That means its f@#$%&g far. That also means, i have never been there before. The prev nite, i spent time going over the map and decided on a route. I left arnd and hour and a half before reporting time thinking I will be there well in time. Boy, was i wrong! I got lost a coupla times and as with Delhiites and their directions, nobody will admit they don't know, all of them will say "Go Straight!" Luckily that area was one market after another and while it was a gamble to stop and ask for directions as you end up blocking traffic, I finally found a cycle rickshaw fellow (god bless him) who told me exactly where to go!
I reached just in time for and rushed in. I found myself wondering what's gonna happen this time as i walked up the stairs. Upon finding my assigned room, i realised that it was a 2nd standard classroom. Cursing my luck, i squeezed into the desk to realised that this was gonna be one long exam. I couldn't move my legs an inch and within 5 mins i was beginning to get restless. In my restlessness and this happens quite a bit with me, this thought creeped into my mind out of the blue. Have you locked the car? I had left my phone and ipod in the dashboard so i was even more worried. As i tried to dismiss the thought, the test procedure started. Using that to take my mind off the car, i filled up the answer sheet with the personal details and what not. I happened to glance over and the dude sitting in the next row was acting shady. To my amazement, he was trying to cheat. I wanted to laugh and tell him, dude its the cat. Unless you have the fricking answer key, nothing will help. He had written some shit on his left arm, which he was writing on his desk and then rubbing off his arm. Thank god for that idiot coz i completely forgot abt the car till the exam ended. I was paralysed for a lil bit as my legs dint like the treatment.
The exam as i perceived it, was quite easy. I regret not having prepped quant enough. That said, i dont know if it wouldve helped anyway. :P
I shall let yall know what my score is. If not too embarassing of course! :)
In case any of you require any help with CAT please feel free to contact Career Launcher coz I ain't going down as a CAT advisor! :)
Oh and BTW, the car was locked and the my phone/ipod were safe! What a relief!
November 5, 2008
Music I Recommend. Dated November 2008
While there are a ton of things to post about in my life, i thought this would be appreciated.... This is a list of stuff i am listening to these days.... Comments please.
First up is my obsession at the moment :) Some of you might have already been bombarded by me to listen to this. Its killer! Especially since i can play the main riff on zhe guitar :) Muhahahahhaha! :D
This one is called "Let it Die" by the Foo Fighters! Dave Grohl is one talented mofo...
The next one is called "I will possess your heart" by Death Cab For A Cutie. Weird band name i know. Cool song!! I have included two versions. The unextended intro version and the extended intro version. Love both!!
You gotta spend some time, Love!
You gotta spend some time with me,
and i know that you'll find love,
I will possess your heart!
Nice lyrics! :)
Next up is "Addicted" by Saving Abel. I like the lyrics. The video has a slightly modified version of the lyrics. I couldnt get an embeddable version so its just the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq3MK8dLyvc
What i listen to first upon entry in my car is this next one! Won't name it... This dudes a fricking genius!! If anyone can get their hands on the DVD please please let me know! I have searched without success for a version online! :(
This song hasnt left my favorites list since i heard it some time back. Also the OST for "Life, Love and All That!" :) "Love Hurts" by Incubus. These guys are incredibly talented! Brandon Boyd has one of the best voices on the planet. Check out their Morning View Sessions on youtube! If you call me, you will hear the sweet sound of Incubus before hearing me sexy voice :D
This shall be a continuing series so look out!
FYI comments are mandatory. You dont need to signup to comment people! :D Jeez what a sellout I am huh?
First up is my obsession at the moment :) Some of you might have already been bombarded by me to listen to this. Its killer! Especially since i can play the main riff on zhe guitar :) Muhahahahhaha! :D
This one is called "Let it Die" by the Foo Fighters! Dave Grohl is one talented mofo...
The next one is called "I will possess your heart" by Death Cab For A Cutie. Weird band name i know. Cool song!! I have included two versions. The unextended intro version and the extended intro version. Love both!!
You gotta spend some time, Love!
You gotta spend some time with me,
and i know that you'll find love,
I will possess your heart!
Nice lyrics! :)
Next up is "Addicted" by Saving Abel. I like the lyrics. The video has a slightly modified version of the lyrics. I couldnt get an embeddable version so its just the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq3MK8dLyvc
What i listen to first upon entry in my car is this next one! Won't name it... This dudes a fricking genius!! If anyone can get their hands on the DVD please please let me know! I have searched without success for a version online! :(
This song hasnt left my favorites list since i heard it some time back. Also the OST for "Life, Love and All That!" :) "Love Hurts" by Incubus. These guys are incredibly talented! Brandon Boyd has one of the best voices on the planet. Check out their Morning View Sessions on youtube! If you call me, you will hear the sweet sound of Incubus before hearing me sexy voice :D
This shall be a continuing series so look out!
FYI comments are mandatory. You dont need to signup to comment people! :D Jeez what a sellout I am huh?
October 21, 2008
Life
First up, this post is not a "Philosophical" one, where i talk about "Life". It just so happens that one of the better shows i came across on american television is called "LIFE". Even google search results are weird :)
Life is a cop show, but is old school. No high-tech gadgetry to help solve cases. Considering those CSI-type of shows use Agilent equipment (That's the company i work for), I should automatically be drawn to them but this show had me in the first 10 min. The shows tend to start with what seems to be news footage of interviews with people surrounding Charlie Crews... It does help in creating a sense of curiosity.... You learn something new everytime..... Charlie Crews here is played by Damian Lewis. I have seen him before but can't recall where. He's British, that i know but pulls off the neutral accent well. There are times when he reminds me of David Caruso from CSI-Miami. He throws out these nice one liners which is but a layer of this detective who was convicted wrongly for a murder and who was later released when dna evidence proved he wasn't.
He's back on the force now and is paired up with an ex-junkie partner Dani Resse played superbly by Sarah Shahi. Fiercely independent, she doesn't really trust Charlie in the beginning, but with time he gains the trust. Their chemistry is quite good. Charlie is trying to find out on his own who was behind the murders he was accused of. He is a changed man obviously, he's was a cop sent to prison for a crime he dint commit. The crime involved a triple homicide of his friends and their kid.
I recommend this drama for a coupla reasons. One the acting is good, screenplay is well written. You tend to connect with the characters on a very basic level. Damian Lewis for one has done a fabulous job potraying a man who wishes to appear normal when all he wants to do is find out who murdered his friends. Fun moments of the show are what he does with his settlement money (given to him upon his release as compensation) Earlier in the year, the show was kinda cut short because of the writer's strike. Its back now and while i am yet to get started on the second season, i have heard its as good as ever. In any case the first season ended on a note which left us beggin for more!
Again, you know where the first season is available.
Cheers
Edit: Minor typos fixed as pointed out by "cow-herd" :P Also read comments to find out where you have seen damian lewis before. Dude, thanks... It was eating me up inside as i had decided to remember without googling it! :)
Life is a cop show, but is old school. No high-tech gadgetry to help solve cases. Considering those CSI-type of shows use Agilent equipment (That's the company i work for), I should automatically be drawn to them but this show had me in the first 10 min. The shows tend to start with what seems to be news footage of interviews with people surrounding Charlie Crews... It does help in creating a sense of curiosity.... You learn something new everytime..... Charlie Crews here is played by Damian Lewis. I have seen him before but can't recall where. He's British, that i know but pulls off the neutral accent well. There are times when he reminds me of David Caruso from CSI-Miami. He throws out these nice one liners which is but a layer of this detective who was convicted wrongly for a murder and who was later released when dna evidence proved he wasn't.
He's back on the force now and is paired up with an ex-junkie partner Dani Resse played superbly by Sarah Shahi. Fiercely independent, she doesn't really trust Charlie in the beginning, but with time he gains the trust. Their chemistry is quite good. Charlie is trying to find out on his own who was behind the murders he was accused of. He is a changed man obviously, he's was a cop sent to prison for a crime he dint commit. The crime involved a triple homicide of his friends and their kid.
I recommend this drama for a coupla reasons. One the acting is good, screenplay is well written. You tend to connect with the characters on a very basic level. Damian Lewis for one has done a fabulous job potraying a man who wishes to appear normal when all he wants to do is find out who murdered his friends. Fun moments of the show are what he does with his settlement money (given to him upon his release as compensation) Earlier in the year, the show was kinda cut short because of the writer's strike. Its back now and while i am yet to get started on the second season, i have heard its as good as ever. In any case the first season ended on a note which left us beggin for more!
Again, you know where the first season is available.
Cheers
Edit: Minor typos fixed as pointed out by "cow-herd" :P Also read comments to find out where you have seen damian lewis before. Dude, thanks... It was eating me up inside as i had decided to remember without googling it! :)
October 15, 2008
'Til Death
This is a first of a series of posts which i have planned. These talk about TV shows which i have watched and loved! Shows which i think we should all watch. I will cover most Genre's except for Reality Shows!
'Til Death is filmed in front of a Studio audience! are the words after the opening credits! Like most shows, there is a small scene prior to the credits that lays premise to the episode. With an average running time of 21mins, its perfect for a quick laugh!
The show stars Brad Garrett from "Everybody Loves Raymond". He's the brother. An extremely tall fellow with a deep voice. He is perfect for comedy! He stars in this comedy as Eddie Stark,a History Teacher who has been married for umpteen number of years. His wife, Joy, is played superbly by Joely Fisher (Zoey Busiek:Wild Card). They play this bickering husband and wife, each trying to outwit the other in different situations. They live in suburban Philadelphia and the show starts with the moving in of their new neighbours who are newlyweds. The newlyweds are played by Eddie Kaye Thomas (American Pie) and Kat Foster (Super hot, Not a show) ;) As usual a funny name had to be thrown in, so the newly weds are Jeff and Steph Woodcock! :)
The thing I love about the show is that there is always a new situation and while not all episodes draw laughter, the least it does is bring a smile to my face. Eddie is constantly trying to prove he is right and joy is wrong. He is so sure of himself that when he goofs up its hilarious. He shares all his marital advice with Jeff which is sometimes fruitful but mostly a laugh riot in the making! Jeff who is the assistant headmaster at Eddie's school is quirky and funny in most scenes. He and eddie share great chemistry on screen. Heck pretty much everyone works well with the other. The arguments, the physical comedy, its all tastefully done and leaves you feeling good.
In the first season, I was extremely pleased with one particular episode. I would love to kill the suspense for you but choose not to for the pure joy of it. I was so happy when i saw that episode. It's the small things that matter and that's quite clear. The surprise of that episode just reminded me of good times! :)
I, am in the course of watching the second season ever so slowly and would be more than happy to share this joy if so requested. You know what i mean! ;P
'Til next time
Laugh away!
Zinc.... Live in Concert
Ola!
People are bound to think that I am obsessed with promotion of my house and what not, but frankly, some of the stuff that goes down at 59PC is seen only in movies! Last weekend, Madhav Aka Bodo, whom I had been pestering for the longest time, finally managed to get Zinc to perform at 59PC. Nothing fancy just an "In house concert". I sent out invites to people i know through facebook/email/sms. If you did not receieve an invite, i am truly very sorry.
The house was not packed or anything (thank god) but people kept coming and going and coming and going. A few of us were there throughout though and got to see/hear the music.
The Band played a mix of own compositions and Covers. Akshay Kaushik on Lead Guitar is in my opinion Jimi Hendrix reincarnated because when he plays, it looks so easy. He's got a super awesome guitar with which he does some super cool stuff. In true Jimi style, playing with his teeth while performing Voodoo Child. On the Keyboards we had Soumyajit Roy, who has amazing throw in his voice and belts out Bandeh by Indian Ocean like he was born for it! (I sang with him ;-) Plays the keyboard with his eyes closed, literally. On the rythm guitars we have Bodo, who also sings. He's pretty good in both aspects. Also written some of their own compositions which totally rocks! Last but definitely not the least we have Gautam Menon on the drums. An amazing talent with an eye for detail. His drums need to be perfectly placed for him to give an awesome show. Very very tight drumming. Piply tells me that he photographs well too! :) Good on ya mate! The Lead Singer of the band Soumya Jha (She's a chick) was unable to make it. She has an absolutely heavenly voice. Deep and melodious, it was a pity she couldnt make it!
Being a fauji house, sound-proofing was out of the question. We closed the doors and all and tried to keep it down, but its a rock band, low volume is something which is unacceptable. I had anticipated neigbours showing up to complain and had in my mind set a target of midnight when they would likely show up and we would have to think of something else. To my surprise, the 1 neighbour from another building altogether showed up at 0120hrs. Way past my deadline. The band was also quite tired considering they had been playing, with short breaks in between, since 2000hrs.
The biggest surprise showed up soon after this. I was sitting inside talking to Tanya and Piply when Bodo comes in saying, "Dude, Dude, You wont believe what happened!" I was like "what did you do?" Feeling my damage control instincts kicking in. What he told me next left me with mouth wide open! It turns out, 2 very pretty looking ladies had walked up and asked why the music had stopped? Upon being told the reason, they sided with us. Add to that, Bodo and Khurana asked them to come over as we would be carrying on and they said ok. I dint really believe bodo but nonetheless moved out into the balcony and lo and behold 2 ladies and a dude popped in a few minutes later!
The boys continued acoustic, playing some super covers and original compositions. Akshay Kaushik, the band's lead guitarist played some exquisite solos in songs like Layla and Stairway to Heaven.
All in all it was a heavenly night! Next morning after getting all the gear back to bodo's place, he was kind enough to feed us breakfast. We hadn't eaten all nite! The Scrambled eggs, toast and bacon was the cherry on the cake.
Photo's from the evening are below. Hope to see you next time!
Cheers
People are bound to think that I am obsessed with promotion of my house and what not, but frankly, some of the stuff that goes down at 59PC is seen only in movies! Last weekend, Madhav Aka Bodo, whom I had been pestering for the longest time, finally managed to get Zinc to perform at 59PC. Nothing fancy just an "In house concert". I sent out invites to people i know through facebook/email/sms. If you did not receieve an invite, i am truly very sorry.
The house was not packed or anything (thank god) but people kept coming and going and coming and going. A few of us were there throughout though and got to see/hear the music.
The Band played a mix of own compositions and Covers. Akshay Kaushik on Lead Guitar is in my opinion Jimi Hendrix reincarnated because when he plays, it looks so easy. He's got a super awesome guitar with which he does some super cool stuff. In true Jimi style, playing with his teeth while performing Voodoo Child. On the Keyboards we had Soumyajit Roy, who has amazing throw in his voice and belts out Bandeh by Indian Ocean like he was born for it! (I sang with him ;-) Plays the keyboard with his eyes closed, literally. On the rythm guitars we have Bodo, who also sings. He's pretty good in both aspects. Also written some of their own compositions which totally rocks! Last but definitely not the least we have Gautam Menon on the drums. An amazing talent with an eye for detail. His drums need to be perfectly placed for him to give an awesome show. Very very tight drumming. Piply tells me that he photographs well too! :) Good on ya mate! The Lead Singer of the band Soumya Jha (She's a chick) was unable to make it. She has an absolutely heavenly voice. Deep and melodious, it was a pity she couldnt make it!
Being a fauji house, sound-proofing was out of the question. We closed the doors and all and tried to keep it down, but its a rock band, low volume is something which is unacceptable. I had anticipated neigbours showing up to complain and had in my mind set a target of midnight when they would likely show up and we would have to think of something else. To my surprise, the 1 neighbour from another building altogether showed up at 0120hrs. Way past my deadline. The band was also quite tired considering they had been playing, with short breaks in between, since 2000hrs.
The biggest surprise showed up soon after this. I was sitting inside talking to Tanya and Piply when Bodo comes in saying, "Dude, Dude, You wont believe what happened!" I was like "what did you do?" Feeling my damage control instincts kicking in. What he told me next left me with mouth wide open! It turns out, 2 very pretty looking ladies had walked up and asked why the music had stopped? Upon being told the reason, they sided with us. Add to that, Bodo and Khurana asked them to come over as we would be carrying on and they said ok. I dint really believe bodo but nonetheless moved out into the balcony and lo and behold 2 ladies and a dude popped in a few minutes later!
The boys continued acoustic, playing some super covers and original compositions. Akshay Kaushik, the band's lead guitarist played some exquisite solos in songs like Layla and Stairway to Heaven.
All in all it was a heavenly night! Next morning after getting all the gear back to bodo's place, he was kind enough to feed us breakfast. We hadn't eaten all nite! The Scrambled eggs, toast and bacon was the cherry on the cake.
Photo's from the evening are below. Hope to see you next time!
Cheers
October 6, 2008
Sample the Genius!
While on the topic of 59PC, i think everyone should sample some of the genius ideas that Mr. Nair came up with. I will take credit for egging him on and irritating him till the edge only to see him come up with some kick-a$$ stuff!! Here are the invites and posters prepared over the past few years by Mr. Nair.
During one of our 8pm conversations we decided to throw a beer and biryani party for the people. Of course, once he came up with this, it turned out to be so much more! Cheers man!
The infamous "Bar-Mitzvah Blowout"! Infamous mainly because both hosts were out of commission before most guests left. Of course the party continued! Still a very very cool invite and an even better poster that people signed at the party.
This was a Good Luck Bodo Party we decided to throw with the hope that all the 8pm we showered upon the boy did not go to waste! :) It didn't, not only did he pass his exams but he outdid us, the rat Ba$tard. Well Done Bodo! You did us proud.
I can't recall if we sent this out out but i found it in the archive. Created from scratch so i think it is quite awesome! 8pm was a nice touch! :) Damn, bodo u lucky kid... we have thrown you a lot of parties!
This was actually the first of the invites. Very cool was what came to mind the first time i opened this! This is what it all began with! :)
This came out of the blue a few days before the Bar-Mitzvah. "A commemorative Poster" is what Mr. Nair called it. It shows off our "obsession" for Jack. Thanks for introducing him to me man! I owe ya.
Well, i guess that's the lot. You can check out full size invites/posters at http://picasaweb.google.com/neomenon/SampleTheGenius#
During one of our 8pm conversations we decided to throw a beer and biryani party for the people. Of course, once he came up with this, it turned out to be so much more! Cheers man!
The infamous "Bar-Mitzvah Blowout"! Infamous mainly because both hosts were out of commission before most guests left. Of course the party continued! Still a very very cool invite and an even better poster that people signed at the party.
This was a Good Luck Bodo Party we decided to throw with the hope that all the 8pm we showered upon the boy did not go to waste! :) It didn't, not only did he pass his exams but he outdid us, the rat Ba$tard. Well Done Bodo! You did us proud.
I can't recall if we sent this out out but i found it in the archive. Created from scratch so i think it is quite awesome! 8pm was a nice touch! :) Damn, bodo u lucky kid... we have thrown you a lot of parties!
This was actually the first of the invites. Very cool was what came to mind the first time i opened this! This is what it all began with! :)
This came out of the blue a few days before the Bar-Mitzvah. "A commemorative Poster" is what Mr. Nair called it. It shows off our "obsession" for Jack. Thanks for introducing him to me man! I owe ya.
Well, i guess that's the lot. You can check out full size invites/posters at http://picasaweb.google.com/neomenon/SampleTheGenius#
September 30, 2008
59PC!
If you have even been to 59PC you will relate to this a little more than others but this is an informational blog and 59PC holds a special place in my heart. 59PC for the lesser informed is the place where most people land up to meet up with friends and have a good time. Also known to host movie premieres as well as preview shows, its a place where booze tends to find its own way in not to mention "piggie fests" when certain guests are in town! Aite, aite, its my pad, my place of residence, my personal heaven on earth.
I have hosted my share of parties over the past few years, mostly with the help of my friends. Am gonna mention a few names who have not only instigated me but have helped me on my way by way of preparing funky invites, assured participation and most importantly sourcing of both food and drink! Let me name the chosen few who have had a hand in making 59PC what it is! First and Foremost, Shyam "Jack", Tanya "NOT SPOILT", Mekhala "Mekhu", Madhav "Jackass" aka Bodo, Dheeraj "DJ", Debahuty "Piply", Madhur "Madzy", Anuj "Sunny" (who knew his name was Anuj?). Guest Appearances from Arjun "Arjun" Mohanrao, Meenakshi "Meen", Dilpreet "Preeto", Jaspreet "Jas" (yeah idiot), Aman "The dude" (He let me drive his civic), Saurabh, Sorabh "My man" Mohey, Utpal "Uppu", Sahil "Idiot" Butz, Jauymini "JB". Food provided by Usha Aunty and the SAC's Hut! If i have missed your name please forgive me. But right at the end, i must mention one more name without which 59PC could never have been the place it is now. That name is Krishna "Kicha" Menon. Ma brudder is the guy who has showered his "love" (means gadgets) upon me. Heck some of them he dont even know about!! :)
Anyway coming back to the place. Well 59PC is located in the New Delhi cantonment area. Indirectly it means that the surroundings are nice and green and the weather is cooler (temp wise) than outside the cantt area! Most of the time my friends are able to enter the cantt area without a problem but on occasion i have had to pull my weight (which is a lot) to get them in. Even after entering the cantt people tend to get lost inspite of enough signages, because of the multiple entry points into the area. Like typical armed forces accomodation it has been painted every year but still manages to look bad after the monsoon. I live on the first floor but with some amazing luck, i have rarely had neighbours! Even when they have been around, its always been for short duration. Short enough to give them the impression that the party must be a one off thing! :)
Anyway, other than being a party destination, 59PC also tends to multitask as a halfway house for me parents and Krishna. Aside from this the guesthouse is in full force for atleast a few months every year. The cab service run by yours truly runs through the year. I do it with a smile on my face because i have no other option! :) (see still smiling) Its a price i am very willing to pay for having the place to myself the rest of the time!
Of the parties that have been hosted on the premises a few very distinctly come to mind. These were those parties which took some planning and also led to shyam being sick for the next few days :P An example of his would have to be the "Bar Mitzvah" held in honour of Shyam and my birthdays. That was an awesome party although it ended a little early for me on account of the wastedness. Both hosts were out first!! We owed the continuation of that party to other people!! :D
Another awesome party was a brainchild of Shyam (Technically, he used to make all the invites) "Sharabian Nights" aka Beer and Biryani night. Ruddy brilliant concept and execution.
Of course the last big party of that nature was on Premiere Night. No invite was prepared but it really wasn't required. A big bunch of us got together to premiere "Life, Love & All That" and preview "Crouching Deepak, Hidden Shanbhag"
This was a quintessential shi shi fu fu party (thanks DJ) with some superb snacks presented even more superbly. It was night to remember, especially since it was also a farewell party to Shyam who is currently pursuing his Masters in Communication (Advertising)in the land down under!
Anyway let me close this post by saying that in all likelihood, 59PC is going to be invaded by parents by end of the year or i will have to let it go, so until then i am throwing an open invite to one and all to visit and enjoy the wonders of 59PC. I promise you a great time!
Cheers!!
Jack to you!
p.s Names in this post are a figment of my imagination. All the hard work and creativity is mine! :P JUST KIDDING! The names are not in order of preference! ;)
September 26, 2008
An iphone forward!
I received this forward some time back and sent off a rebuttal soon after. Here's the uncensored version! My apologies for the bad language.. Nobody disses the iphone that much! :D
Good Evening,
As a huge apple fan, i am completely disheartened with their decision to launch the apple iphone as a luxury phone! I mean 31 and 36k. No way i shall be buying it anytime soon. Yup, no 3g either in india. 3G here refers to the kind of gsm network. The data speeds are somthing like 10times faster than the current 2.5G we have.
Howvever, dissing on the iphone using the indian mentality is something which i wont stand for so here are some points which you may call as my rebuttal. My comments are highlighted Below. Some of the points made are valid but others are just plain dumb!!
Read on for further information.
Cheers
Your friendly neighbourhood Neo
On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 3:50 PM, Somebody wrote:
Hi All,
Read before buying your 3G iphone in India for 31000 and 36000 for 8 Gb and 16 Gb respectively !
Somebody.
This is from my I.T. guys, and pretty authentic. Please share with your friends'
BUYERS BEWARE!!
Friends ...those of you in India planning for iPhone... THINK TWICE BEFORE MAKING A DECISION... The shortcomings of iPhone are endless...
* No video calling oh yeah, i was just video calling my buds in blore! I haven't really seen this as an issue before? since when have we indians bothered to make video calls? you really think our network is that fast? The call wouldve ended before the damn video comes thru
* No AD2P on the Bluetooth,
* CAN'T share ANY (mp3, images, videos....) files via bluetooth, if you have ever read about an ipod, iphone you will know, that it is a secure device, not meant for sharing? Anyone buying an ipod aint buying it so he/she can share with her friends. In anycase the previous point merely reflects the same thing
* Can't use as a wireless modem, (you pay ridiculous data charges to activate internet on your phone , but cannot connect it to your PC and browse when you are at home) (the first porion of this point is bang on, you can't use the iphone as a modem. but the second portion just pisses me off! Who is paying ridiculous data charges? FYI, airtel is gonna give iphone users 500mb/month free data and then 50p/mb thereafter for 12 months. Sweet deal if u ask me)
* No copy and paste, (cannot copy a part of a.... Say... email & send it....have to type it out yourself) (Well smarty pants, if you are in IT i pity the company you work for. Ever heard of fwd? no copy paste is true but i think its more relevant when talking abt sms. Oh and BTW as another downer there's not forwarding of msg's)
* No 3.2 or 5 mega pixel camera, (the 2MP camera it carries is worst camera I've ever seen... photos look like they have come out of a VGA camera) (I see that you haven't really used an iphone? Ask anybody who has ever used an iphone, they will vouch for the fact that inspite of having only a 2 mp cam, the iphone snaps are awesome. I guess you are still using your VGA camera phone which came out in 1999. Move on dude. Not every phone can have a 3.2 mp camera. BTW you forgot to mention no Flash)
* No video recording with camera,
* No front camera, No flash. (well i guess i jumped the gun. You seem to break one issue into 3 to make this email seem endless. Again, front camera is for people who want to video call and as i explained earlier, its not something that's a deal breaker)
* No JAVA support (It's only a software issue man, i am sure if there is massive hue and cry they will fix this)
* No physical keyboard (BELIEVE me! this alone is a deal breaker...touch keyboard as good as it looks...once you use it then only you come to know about the importance of having a hard keypad) (No physical keyboard is a deal breaker? Again, this is not a regular phone. Its an apple iphone, its new, its swanky is funky. I like the touch keypad/keyboard. Takes getting used to but grows on you! )
* No 3G network yet in India, so why pay for expensive 3G phone if you cant use its 3G services ... so, for India, iPhone 2.0 is no better than its first version ( Well 3G is likely to roll out by mid next year. They are clearly stating there's no 3g. Atleast being honest right? Technically speaking both iphone versions cost the same so whether they sold a 2g or 3g version it really doesnt make a difference. Atleast now when they roll out 3g you will have a compatible phone but oh wait, u havent even used an iphone much less bought one, so my bad man, my bad)
* No removable battery. (You cannot change battery. Have to send it to apple outlet.. Come on now!...This is not an iPod. It is a bloody phone. You cannot live without phone for 2-3 days) (Well i dont have statistics but i am thinking that the iphone battery conking off is not that common. Its like the ipod battery. I havent really heard anyone complain that the battery is messed up and needs a replacement.)
* No haptic feedback and cannot send MMS, ( well there's no way of knowing this, but i dont think JIMMY knows what Haptic Feedback is? I din't. Had to google it. You should too. IMO not required really)
* can't use as external storage device (16 GB of utter waste. Next time you go to your friend's house & find some interesting songs, movies , etc...Sorry you cannot connect your '16 GB' phone and share it! Apple apparently has a solution.. ' BUY MUSIC & MOVIES FROM iTUNES STORE '...... Give me a break will you APPLE!!!) (Yea, apple give JIMMY a break. I really dint know that I could buy music and movies from the itunes store in india. Next time you go to your friends house and find some interesting songs, movies etc, make sure you have a PEN DRIVE. Its this small USB device that will fit in your pocket. It comes in various storage capacities from 1gb to 32gig )
* No FM radio, (yea, i have an ipod and i wanna listen to the radio. Get your priorities in order. Maybe its just me but i prefer to be in control of what music i am listening to)
* can't use your mp3 files as ring tones,(This is heights man!!!) (agreed, this is quite sad)
* Cannot insert any other SIM card…. (Duh! Locked stands from something man!)
* Completely tied to iTunes... Connect to your friend's iTunes & you risk erasing everything on your phone. (Be a little smart and don't connect your iphone to another computer without making sure that he auto sync is disabled)
List goes on & on & on….
* We Indians are used to these features. Most of our phones already have these features. & we cannot do with out them.... I mean can you imagine paying so much for a phone with which you cannot transfer files via Bluetooth. What age is this ...STONE AGE???
* Some features may be activated by jailbreak... But why the hell should you risk losing your warranty after paying so much. (Do you know what jailbreak is?)
* And want to add third party software's??? YOU HAVE TO BUY THEM FROM iTUNES STORE ONLY!!! . (Shell out more money). Apple is a bloody control freak. Don't surrender your freedom to it. (uh huh! so that's where jailbreak is required)
* It's good for American market (who have no idea what mobile freedom/choice is) which is in stone age compared to Asian European markets. When they want to buy a phone, they have to go to network operators and buy only those phones that are available on that network. & stick to that company until their contract expires. You want to change carriers? Not before paying damages, & buying another phone on the other network again. (oh so americans have no idea of freedom and choice? Which planet you living on man. You can change providers at will, sure it depends on which contract you sign while starting out, how much you will pay while exiting. Its called a contract for a reason. You really don't have to pay for whichever handset you choose because of that same contract. The iphone is subsidised by AT&T to $199 but you can't leave the store without buying a connection which at minimum will bring the cost to over $500. That means that apple isn't really over pricing it that much here)
* On the contrary, we in India have so much freedom. We go to handset shops & buy whichever phone we like. Then go to carriers.. checkout the plans & buy SIM.. Don't like the plan or rival carrier came up with a better plan???? EASY .. just remove & replace the SIM.
* Apple is trying to IMPOSE THEIR MODEL ON US riding on the hype iPhone has created in the US (yes it was a flop in Europe ...that's why Apple never talks about its sales in Europe).
* Don't fall for the subsidized price of iPhone... CHECKOUT THE DATA PLAN ATTACHED TO ITS SIM ..they will recover the cost through ridiculous data plans. Bill might come to around Rs 2500/month.(ATLEAST AMERICANS PAY THAT MUCH) (hahaha, read a fricking newspaper, no subsidized iphone here. I would actually consider buying an iphone if it were subsidized. the monthly charges could thus be taken as a emi)
* Let me clear one thing though.. iphone is the best-looking phone (its touch interface is nothing like you have ever seen ), & best browsing experience out there no doubt .... (& others are fast catching up. check out the android demo at Google IO 2008).... BUT AFTER A FEW DAYS, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO FUNCTIONALITY...
* Those of who buy it... You will be most happy for almost a week... & then, ...YOU START REGRETTING IT!!!
* My advice...WAIT FOR HTC DREAM (powered by android), NOKIA N96!! Still not convinced by then...by all means go for iPhone...
* So friends lets spread this info to all our friends and help them in making a wise decision..... & those of you who have bought unlocked versions already please share your experiences with others.
Whatever you might say or do. 1 thing is clear. The device is awesome. Some of the kinks can be fixed with simple software updates. It's really that simple. Other's like flash don't have solutions, but I can live with it.
If you think i was too harsh and dint make valid points! Well I don't care. Diss on it all you want. I am an apple fan. Steve Jobs has revolutionized the market with his ipod and iphone! You are the man!
An interesting piece of news. Bloomberg accidently printed a Steve Jobs orbituary by mistake yesterday!
ROCK ON!
Good Evening,
As a huge apple fan, i am completely disheartened with their decision to launch the apple iphone as a luxury phone! I mean 31 and 36k. No way i shall be buying it anytime soon. Yup, no 3g either in india. 3G here refers to the kind of gsm network. The data speeds are somthing like 10times faster than the current 2.5G we have.
Howvever, dissing on the iphone using the indian mentality is something which i wont stand for so here are some points which you may call as my rebuttal. My comments are highlighted Below. Some of the points made are valid but others are just plain dumb!!
Read on for further information.
Cheers
Your friendly neighbourhood Neo
On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 3:50 PM, Somebody wrote:
Hi All,
Read before buying your 3G iphone in India for 31000 and 36000 for 8 Gb and 16 Gb respectively !
Somebody.
This is from my I.T. guys, and pretty authentic. Please share with your friends'
BUYERS BEWARE!!
Friends ...those of you in India planning for iPhone... THINK TWICE BEFORE MAKING A DECISION... The shortcomings of iPhone are endless...
(as is with this email, jackass)
* No video calling oh yeah, i was just video calling my buds in blore! I haven't really seen this as an issue before? since when have we indians bothered to make video calls? you really think our network is that fast? The call wouldve ended before the damn video comes thru
* No AD2P on the Bluetooth,
* CAN'T share ANY (mp3, images, videos....) files via bluetooth, if you have ever read about an ipod, iphone you will know, that it is a secure device, not meant for sharing? Anyone buying an ipod aint buying it so he/she can share with her friends. In anycase the previous point merely reflects the same thing
* Can't use as a wireless modem, (you pay ridiculous data charges to activate internet on your phone , but cannot connect it to your PC and browse when you are at home) (the first porion of this point is bang on, you can't use the iphone as a modem. but the second portion just pisses me off! Who is paying ridiculous data charges? FYI, airtel is gonna give iphone users 500mb/month free data and then 50p/mb thereafter for 12 months. Sweet deal if u ask me)
* No copy and paste, (cannot copy a part of a.... Say... email & send it....have to type it out yourself) (Well smarty pants, if you are in IT i pity the company you work for. Ever heard of fwd? no copy paste is true but i think its more relevant when talking abt sms. Oh and BTW as another downer there's not forwarding of msg's)
* No 3.2 or 5 mega pixel camera, (the 2MP camera it carries is worst camera I've ever seen... photos look like they have come out of a VGA camera) (I see that you haven't really used an iphone? Ask anybody who has ever used an iphone, they will vouch for the fact that inspite of having only a 2 mp cam, the iphone snaps are awesome. I guess you are still using your VGA camera phone which came out in 1999. Move on dude. Not every phone can have a 3.2 mp camera. BTW you forgot to mention no Flash)
* No video recording with camera,
* No front camera, No flash. (well i guess i jumped the gun. You seem to break one issue into 3 to make this email seem endless. Again, front camera is for people who want to video call and as i explained earlier, its not something that's a deal breaker)
* No JAVA support (It's only a software issue man, i am sure if there is massive hue and cry they will fix this)
* No physical keyboard (BELIEVE me! this alone is a deal breaker...touch keyboard as good as it looks...once you use it then only you come to know about the importance of having a hard keypad) (No physical keyboard is a deal breaker? Again, this is not a regular phone. Its an apple iphone, its new, its swanky is funky. I like the touch keypad/keyboard. Takes getting used to but grows on you! )
* No 3G network yet in India, so why pay for expensive 3G phone if you cant use its 3G services ... so, for India, iPhone 2.0 is no better than its first version ( Well 3G is likely to roll out by mid next year. They are clearly stating there's no 3g. Atleast being honest right? Technically speaking both iphone versions cost the same so whether they sold a 2g or 3g version it really doesnt make a difference. Atleast now when they roll out 3g you will have a compatible phone but oh wait, u havent even used an iphone much less bought one, so my bad man, my bad)
* No removable battery. (You cannot change battery. Have to send it to apple outlet.. Come on now!...This is not an iPod. It is a bloody phone. You cannot live without phone for 2-3 days) (Well i dont have statistics but i am thinking that the iphone battery conking off is not that common. Its like the ipod battery. I havent really heard anyone complain that the battery is messed up and needs a replacement.)
* No haptic feedback and cannot send MMS, ( well there's no way of knowing this, but i dont think JIMMY knows what Haptic Feedback is? I din't. Had to google it. You should too. IMO not required really)
* can't use as external storage device (16 GB of utter waste. Next time you go to your friend's house & find some interesting songs, movies , etc...Sorry you cannot connect your '16 GB' phone and share it! Apple apparently has a solution.. ' BUY MUSIC & MOVIES FROM iTUNES STORE '...... Give me a break will you APPLE!!!) (Yea, apple give JIMMY a break. I really dint know that I could buy music and movies from the itunes store in india. Next time you go to your friends house and find some interesting songs, movies etc, make sure you have a PEN DRIVE. Its this small USB device that will fit in your pocket. It comes in various storage capacities from 1gb to 32gig )
* No FM radio, (yea, i have an ipod and i wanna listen to the radio. Get your priorities in order. Maybe its just me but i prefer to be in control of what music i am listening to)
* can't use your mp3 files as ring tones,(This is heights man!!!) (agreed, this is quite sad)
* Cannot insert any other SIM card…. (Duh! Locked stands from something man!)
* Completely tied to iTunes... Connect to your friend's iTunes & you risk erasing everything on your phone. (Be a little smart and don't connect your iphone to another computer without making sure that he auto sync is disabled)
List goes on & on & on….
* We Indians are used to these features. Most of our phones already have these features. & we cannot do with out them.... I mean can you imagine paying so much for a phone with which you cannot transfer files via Bluetooth. What age is this ...STONE AGE???
* Some features may be activated by jailbreak... But why the hell should you risk losing your warranty after paying so much. (Do you know what jailbreak is?)
* And want to add third party software's??? YOU HAVE TO BUY THEM FROM iTUNES STORE ONLY!!! . (Shell out more money). Apple is a bloody control freak. Don't surrender your freedom to it. (uh huh! so that's where jailbreak is required)
* It's good for American market (who have no idea what mobile freedom/choice is) which is in stone age compared to Asian European markets. When they want to buy a phone, they have to go to network operators and buy only those phones that are available on that network. & stick to that company until their contract expires. You want to change carriers? Not before paying damages, & buying another phone on the other network again. (oh so americans have no idea of freedom and choice? Which planet you living on man. You can change providers at will, sure it depends on which contract you sign while starting out, how much you will pay while exiting. Its called a contract for a reason. You really don't have to pay for whichever handset you choose because of that same contract. The iphone is subsidised by AT&T to $199 but you can't leave the store without buying a connection which at minimum will bring the cost to over $500. That means that apple isn't really over pricing it that much here)
* On the contrary, we in India have so much freedom. We go to handset shops & buy whichever phone we like. Then go to carriers.. checkout the plans & buy SIM.. Don't like the plan or rival carrier came up with a better plan???? EASY .. just remove & replace the SIM.
* Apple is trying to IMPOSE THEIR MODEL ON US riding on the hype iPhone has created in the US (yes it was a flop in Europe ...that's why Apple never talks about its sales in Europe).
* Don't fall for the subsidized price of iPhone... CHECKOUT THE DATA PLAN ATTACHED TO ITS SIM ..they will recover the cost through ridiculous data plans. Bill might come to around Rs 2500/month.(ATLEAST AMERICANS PAY THAT MUCH) (hahaha, read a fricking newspaper, no subsidized iphone here. I would actually consider buying an iphone if it were subsidized. the monthly charges could thus be taken as a emi)
* Let me clear one thing though.. iphone is the best-looking phone (its touch interface is nothing like you have ever seen ), & best browsing experience out there no doubt .... (& others are fast catching up. check out the android demo at Google IO 2008).... BUT AFTER A FEW DAYS, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO FUNCTIONALITY...
* Those of who buy it... You will be most happy for almost a week... & then, ...YOU START REGRETTING IT!!!
* My advice...WAIT FOR HTC DREAM (powered by android), NOKIA N96!! Still not convinced by then...by all means go for iPhone...
* So friends lets spread this info to all our friends and help them in making a wise decision..... & those of you who have bought unlocked versions already please share your experiences with others.
Whatever you might say or do. 1 thing is clear. The device is awesome. Some of the kinks can be fixed with simple software updates. It's really that simple. Other's like flash don't have solutions, but I can live with it.
If you think i was too harsh and dint make valid points! Well I don't care. Diss on it all you want. I am an apple fan. Steve Jobs has revolutionized the market with his ipod and iphone! You are the man!
An interesting piece of news. Bloomberg accidently printed a Steve Jobs orbituary by mistake yesterday!
ROCK ON!
Life since the iphone launch!
It has been a while since i posted. Coupla reasons for it which include laziness, boredom and well for the longest time I was just busy....
Well as you might know, the Iphone launched amongst a lot of buzz and boo's in india in august. Boo's because of mostly the price. I was totally against buying the iphone right out of the gates mainly coz we dont even have 3G in india. Iphone 3G is known for its lightning fast internet speeds. We are at 2.5G with 3G slated to get released sometime next year. Maybe then it will be a viable option especially because apple is well know for downing the prices every year and i suspect the same shall go down mid next year!
When the iphone was announced in india, there was a major buzz that every tushar, deepak and hrithik will have the iphone within a month of its launch. But frankly, i don't see it that much. Its mostly the rich brats (i dont know too many of them) or businessmen who seem to have gone in for the iphone. Heck, they have even stopped advertising the iphone on TV. Unlike the US where the iphone took the market by storm with people lining up like crazy to buy themselves a phone, here the launch was a quite sad and sales also i am guessing have been nothing to write home about.
I am quite happy though about one thing. In case you didn't know this already, I am a proud owner of an Ipod Touch (now 1st gen). One thing i hated abt the ipod touch was the fact that since i stayed in a country where the itunes store was not open, i dint have access to the games or apps as they are called. I have a wireless router at home so i can access the internet on my ipod but couldnt download some nifty apps which make it so much cooler. But now, i can download apps from the app store. By that i mean i aint paying, i am downloading the good free apps and games. I am hoping that soon we shall also have the itunes store open in india. It will give indian artists the chance to make some money. Sure the number of ipods in this country is miniscule but we are getting there. Also piracy is rampant, who knows it may actually help in curbing it to a certain level.
So life for ipod touch users has changed, but otherwise tushar, deepak and hrithik are still listening to music on their walkman phones!! :D
Well as you might know, the Iphone launched amongst a lot of buzz and boo's in india in august. Boo's because of mostly the price. I was totally against buying the iphone right out of the gates mainly coz we dont even have 3G in india. Iphone 3G is known for its lightning fast internet speeds. We are at 2.5G with 3G slated to get released sometime next year. Maybe then it will be a viable option especially because apple is well know for downing the prices every year and i suspect the same shall go down mid next year!
When the iphone was announced in india, there was a major buzz that every tushar, deepak and hrithik will have the iphone within a month of its launch. But frankly, i don't see it that much. Its mostly the rich brats (i dont know too many of them) or businessmen who seem to have gone in for the iphone. Heck, they have even stopped advertising the iphone on TV. Unlike the US where the iphone took the market by storm with people lining up like crazy to buy themselves a phone, here the launch was a quite sad and sales also i am guessing have been nothing to write home about.
I am quite happy though about one thing. In case you didn't know this already, I am a proud owner of an Ipod Touch (now 1st gen). One thing i hated abt the ipod touch was the fact that since i stayed in a country where the itunes store was not open, i dint have access to the games or apps as they are called. I have a wireless router at home so i can access the internet on my ipod but couldnt download some nifty apps which make it so much cooler. But now, i can download apps from the app store. By that i mean i aint paying, i am downloading the good free apps and games. I am hoping that soon we shall also have the itunes store open in india. It will give indian artists the chance to make some money. Sure the number of ipods in this country is miniscule but we are getting there. Also piracy is rampant, who knows it may actually help in curbing it to a certain level.
So life for ipod touch users has changed, but otherwise tushar, deepak and hrithik are still listening to music on their walkman phones!! :D
June 23, 2008
R.I.P George Carlin
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - George Carlin, the dean of counterculture comedians whose biting insights on life and language were immortalized in his “Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV” routine, died of heart failure Sunday. He was 71.
Carlin went into a Santa Monica hospital Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham.
Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. It was announced Tuesday that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Carlin constantly pushed the envelop with his jokes, particularly with the “Seven Words” a routine called “The Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV.”
When Carlin uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace. And when they were played on a New York radio station, they resulted in a Supreme Court ruling in 1978 upholding the government’s authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language.
“So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I’m perversely kind of proud of,” he told The Associated Press earlier this year.
He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies. Carlin hosted the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” and noted on his Web site that he was “loaded on cocaine all week long.”
When asked about the fallout from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson’s breast-baring “wardrobe malfunction,” Carlin told the AP, “What are we, surprised?”
“There’s an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body,” he said. “It’s reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have.”
Carlin was born May 12, 1937 and grew up in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, raised by a single mother. After dropping out of high school in the ninth grade, he joined the Air Force in 1954. He received three court-martials and numerous disciplinary punishments, according to his official Web site.
While in the Air Force he started working as an off-base disc jockey at a radio station in Shreveport, La., and after receiving a general discharge in 1957, took an announcing job at WEZE in Boston.
“Fired after three months for driving mobile news van to New York to buy pot,” his Web site says.
From there he went on to a job on the night shift as a deejay at a radio station in Forth Worth, Texas. Carlin also worked variety of temporary jobs including a carnival organist and a marketing director for a peanut brittle.
In 1960, he left with a Texas radio buddy, Jack Burns, for Hollywood to pursue a nightclub career as comedy team Burns & Carlin. He left with $300, but his first break came just months later when the duo appeared on the Tonight Show with Jack Paar. Carlin said he hoped to emulate his childhood hero, Danny Kaye, the kindly, rubber-faced comedian who ruled over the decade that Carlin grew up in — the 1950s — with a clever but gentle humor reflective of its times.
Only problem was, it didn’t work for him.
“I was doing superficial comedy entertaining people who didn’t really care: Businessmen, people in nightclubs, conservative people. And I had been doing that for the better part of 10 years when it finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong things for the wrong people,” Carlin reflected recently as he prepared for his 14th HBO special, “It’s Bad For Ya.”
© 2008 The Associated Press
This guy was really awesome. Here's a sample why!!
Carlin went into a Santa Monica hospital Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham.
Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. It was announced Tuesday that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Carlin constantly pushed the envelop with his jokes, particularly with the “Seven Words” a routine called “The Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV.”
When Carlin uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace. And when they were played on a New York radio station, they resulted in a Supreme Court ruling in 1978 upholding the government’s authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language.
“So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I’m perversely kind of proud of,” he told The Associated Press earlier this year.
He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies. Carlin hosted the first broadcast of “Saturday Night Live” and noted on his Web site that he was “loaded on cocaine all week long.”
When asked about the fallout from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson’s breast-baring “wardrobe malfunction,” Carlin told the AP, “What are we, surprised?”
“There’s an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body,” he said. “It’s reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have.”
Carlin was born May 12, 1937 and grew up in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, raised by a single mother. After dropping out of high school in the ninth grade, he joined the Air Force in 1954. He received three court-martials and numerous disciplinary punishments, according to his official Web site.
While in the Air Force he started working as an off-base disc jockey at a radio station in Shreveport, La., and after receiving a general discharge in 1957, took an announcing job at WEZE in Boston.
“Fired after three months for driving mobile news van to New York to buy pot,” his Web site says.
From there he went on to a job on the night shift as a deejay at a radio station in Forth Worth, Texas. Carlin also worked variety of temporary jobs including a carnival organist and a marketing director for a peanut brittle.
In 1960, he left with a Texas radio buddy, Jack Burns, for Hollywood to pursue a nightclub career as comedy team Burns & Carlin. He left with $300, but his first break came just months later when the duo appeared on the Tonight Show with Jack Paar. Carlin said he hoped to emulate his childhood hero, Danny Kaye, the kindly, rubber-faced comedian who ruled over the decade that Carlin grew up in — the 1950s — with a clever but gentle humor reflective of its times.
Only problem was, it didn’t work for him.
“I was doing superficial comedy entertaining people who didn’t really care: Businessmen, people in nightclubs, conservative people. And I had been doing that for the better part of 10 years when it finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong things for the wrong people,” Carlin reflected recently as he prepared for his 14th HBO special, “It’s Bad For Ya.”
© 2008 The Associated Press
This guy was really awesome. Here's a sample why!!
Rock On!!!
I remember seeing a poster of this in the news the other day and thinking to myself, wow that's a nice looking poster they got!! Its got that gr8 movie kinda look to it!!
Not only that, its got a nice mix of actors. Arjun Rampal (eh? whatever!!) Purab Kohli (not bad) Luke Kenny (WTF?? Isn't he the guy from Channel V launchpad) & finally a surprise package in Farhan Akhtar (Yes, that's right. DCH director in his acting debut). Seems like a good package. Then today i saw the trailer, and guess what?? August suddenly seems too bloody far away!! Oh well, this seems to be well on its way onto "MY" list of good hindi movies to watch!
Enjoy the trailer.
BTW, the music also really sounds cool. Anything with guitars is ok in my book. The track in the trailer end starts off a lot like the track in "Lakshya".
Thoughts???
Not only that, its got a nice mix of actors. Arjun Rampal (eh? whatever!!) Purab Kohli (not bad) Luke Kenny (WTF?? Isn't he the guy from Channel V launchpad) & finally a surprise package in Farhan Akhtar (Yes, that's right. DCH director in his acting debut). Seems like a good package. Then today i saw the trailer, and guess what?? August suddenly seems too bloody far away!! Oh well, this seems to be well on its way onto "MY" list of good hindi movies to watch!
Enjoy the trailer.
BTW, the music also really sounds cool. Anything with guitars is ok in my book. The track in the trailer end starts off a lot like the track in "Lakshya".
Thoughts???
June 16, 2008
Iphone 3g announced and prices slashed or is it?
As rumoured, Steve Jobs announced the Iphone 3g last week bringing about a buzz in the industry as to updates that it might include and what extra we can expect.
People are expecting some real awesome new features to be included in the iphone 3g with updated 2.0 software. This includes microsoft exchange server compatability (outlook mail can be checked on ur phone), also ppl are expecting some killer new applications from the SDK (Software Development Kit) that they introduced some time which gave developers the chance to creat applications to be used on the iphone! There is still a lot of divide among corporates as to incorporating the iphone for business purposes mainly because there is still a lot of uncertainty among the users esp when it comes to distrubution of the applications. See presently, every iphone user has to use the itunes application to download and install any app. Also developing of custom software for the iphone esp corporate users might be a sore point. Of course companies would want to test the iphone prior to implementation but I dont see a large scale implementation in the near future.
Coming to the price slashing!! Of course people jumped at the $200 price tag. Damnit, i was so excited. I paid $300 for my 8gig ipod touch. I was like damn what a waste, but upon further reading it turns out that's its a marketing gimmick. In fact if u buy a premium plan in the states u wont pay a dime for ur iphone!! The way it is planned out is that u pay small for the phone and pay big for the service. Now the question ppl will ask is this. What abt unlocked iphones? Wont there be a quantum leap in those cases? Well the answer as i see it is a big N O, NO!
Why, Arjun u ask me? People used to pay much more to buy and then unlock their iphones. Won't more people want a cheaper iphone which can be unlocked making the entire deal way cheaper than before? Here are some of the new "security" features introduced to virtually stop unlocking of iphone 3g. First and foremost, they will stop selling the iphone online. I think this move is gonna hurt them the most. People still prefer to buy it online esp in the states, no time wasted in going to the store. Next they have said that you cannot buy an iphone and leave the store without buying an AT&T plan. If you do buy a plan and dont activate it within 30 days there is a stipulated penalty that will be levied. Also incase u say buy the iphone and contract and then cancel it, there is a rumour that u will have to return the iphone to cancel the contract so that loophole is also covered.
They have basically found out all the ways to get consumers buy their iphones and get the AT&T plan. Sometimes you gotta give something to get something.
Oh well, I have always wanted an iphone and i know i will get one when its launched. When after launch is a bridge to be crossed when i come to it. I shall withhold judgement until its launched and consumer reviews start coming in.
Till then, keep watching this space!
Cheers
People are expecting some real awesome new features to be included in the iphone 3g with updated 2.0 software. This includes microsoft exchange server compatability (outlook mail can be checked on ur phone), also ppl are expecting some killer new applications from the SDK (Software Development Kit) that they introduced some time which gave developers the chance to creat applications to be used on the iphone! There is still a lot of divide among corporates as to incorporating the iphone for business purposes mainly because there is still a lot of uncertainty among the users esp when it comes to distrubution of the applications. See presently, every iphone user has to use the itunes application to download and install any app. Also developing of custom software for the iphone esp corporate users might be a sore point. Of course companies would want to test the iphone prior to implementation but I dont see a large scale implementation in the near future.
Coming to the price slashing!! Of course people jumped at the $200 price tag. Damnit, i was so excited. I paid $300 for my 8gig ipod touch. I was like damn what a waste, but upon further reading it turns out that's its a marketing gimmick. In fact if u buy a premium plan in the states u wont pay a dime for ur iphone!! The way it is planned out is that u pay small for the phone and pay big for the service. Now the question ppl will ask is this. What abt unlocked iphones? Wont there be a quantum leap in those cases? Well the answer as i see it is a big N O, NO!
Why, Arjun u ask me? People used to pay much more to buy and then unlock their iphones. Won't more people want a cheaper iphone which can be unlocked making the entire deal way cheaper than before? Here are some of the new "security" features introduced to virtually stop unlocking of iphone 3g. First and foremost, they will stop selling the iphone online. I think this move is gonna hurt them the most. People still prefer to buy it online esp in the states, no time wasted in going to the store. Next they have said that you cannot buy an iphone and leave the store without buying an AT&T plan. If you do buy a plan and dont activate it within 30 days there is a stipulated penalty that will be levied. Also incase u say buy the iphone and contract and then cancel it, there is a rumour that u will have to return the iphone to cancel the contract so that loophole is also covered.
They have basically found out all the ways to get consumers buy their iphones and get the AT&T plan. Sometimes you gotta give something to get something.
Oh well, I have always wanted an iphone and i know i will get one when its launched. When after launch is a bridge to be crossed when i come to it. I shall withhold judgement until its launched and consumer reviews start coming in.
Till then, keep watching this space!
Cheers
May 20, 2008
Iphone's coming to India!!!
I know its been forever since i posted. Its been a while since i posted on Tech news. So here we go.
THE IPHONE IS COMING TO INDIA!!
"Its already here", you say. You see it in every second Sardar's hand and every rich mohawk flaunting jock in delhi. Well now we are talking officially. That means an original Iphone which wont have to be unlocked to be used. One which basically comes without a warranty because it has been unlocked. There is a way around that though. This is ofcourse if you haven't "bricked"(rendered completely useless, a very expensive paperweight) your iphone. All you need to do is reset everything which means lock the phone and then get it fixed.
AAh.. i always seem to digress from the topic. So around 2 weeks ago, i received some bad news. That vodafone won the bid to sell the iphone in india. As we all know, Apple has been maintaining an exclusivity when it comes to providers. Only one provider per country kinda deals. I was kinda pissed because, i realised that i shall be forced to change numbers in order to buy an iphone. I know number portability is not going to kick in by the year end, so i was resigned to my fate. But then last week a rumour surfaced that Airtel will also be selling the iphone in india. My first reaction was how was that possible. Apple has been known for innovation and maintaining exclusivity to the core. Heck they took on the music industry when it came to revenue sharing over itunes.
But as it turns out, the rumours are true. In a chain deal with Singtel, apple seems to be moving out of the exclusivity deals and starting what is most likely going to be "PRICE WARS" in growth markets like india, phillipines and australia. Singtel has a stake in Bharti so through them they plan to sell the iphone in india. Of course this means that the iphone shall be competitively priced when released, which in turn is good news for guys like me. Gonna max out my credit card on the iphone.
Another piece of the puzzle is that fact that a 3G phone is also rumoured in the works. India rite now works on a 2.5G network. Which means that the speeds esp for data is quite pathetic. 3G offers a massive upgrade. The important point here is this. India should be upgrading to 3G by next year so should we hold on and wait for both the 3G iphone and 3G network?
Watch this space. Coz i am following this quite closely.
April 1, 2008
To Udhampur and Back!!!
Let's start with a little background info.... My dad's in the Indian Army... He is posted to Udhampur, which is close to Jammu. I have been to jammu once, when i was heading to Awantipore, which is closer to Srinagar... Jammu is well the 2nd last railway station on that line and Udhampur is the last. The track ends at Udhampur. Most ppl get off the train at jammu coz its more connected than udhampur.
So inspite of my parents moving to udhampur in 2006 Nov i failed to visit my house there since then. My parents keep "surprising" me with visits at delhi. Mostly on weekends..! Anyhoo, i finally decided to bite the bullet and head home for holi weekend. I knew i would survive mainly coz my brother Kris was there, not to mention my cousin sisters and aunt from bangalore. To top things off Mekhala also decided to tag along. So i knew i could keep the heat off me for most of the weekend...
The trip started quite ominously, My phone decided to screw with me... It conked off at the station. To add to the screwups, the dude who booked the tickets, smartie pants, put mekhala down as male.... oh and he booked us till jammu instead of udhampur. But i said, screw it, lets do it (sorry richard) and we decided to speak to the tt when the time came. The train was quite crowded, not to mentioned overbooked. TT in his hurry dint notice the 2 males listed on the ticket and signed off on it. He told me to meet him before jammu to extend the ticket and i was all happy that we were not gonna get screwed over.
Morning came and i was informed by the other passengers that the TT had come and gone twice.. :) Sleepy sleeperson that i am, i dint know!! I went and found him. He decided to make me his BEST FRIEND!! He kept talking and talking and talking and ... u get the picture. His motive was to get his son a job in gurgaon, i was like dude i cannot do anything for u. Finally i convinced him and he started saying stuff abt the fares.... kept saying itna lagega blah blah!! i was like dude make up ur goddamn mind... finally he said we can settle at 200 and i was like phew finally.... but he asked to see the ticket... OH i missed out on the main point here.... First thing he asked me... Is she your wife?? (i wanted to laugh so loud, dunno how i controlled myself) anyhoo.. so he finally started making the ticket and lo and behold he noticed we are 2 males.. I dint know what to say, i told him the truth that even i realised it very late... so please to help us out... then he said that i am doing u a big favor and the usual crap that comes along with that.... Finally he made the ticket and i literally ran back to my compartment...
Train was damn late and by the time we got there it was way past lunchtime. Adding to the misery.. flat tyre on the way and overheated tyre rim... when i say overheated... i mean smoking hot... got home excited to see everybody but guess what my dad wants to go for golf "RIGHT NOW". Oh well, Tiger quickly bathed and went to whoop some a$$... Needless to say overconfidence was not reqd and i got my a$$ whooped by both dad and bro... Anyhoo.. got back chilled out and pigged on some awesome chinese food. Then came the best part of the evening.. We all sat and sang songs and danced and stuff. It was awesome... my cousins well they can both dance and sing... both of them got shakira's moves down... finally ended the day with scrabble... Crashed finally very peacefully in the wee hours of the morning...
So inspite of my parents moving to udhampur in 2006 Nov i failed to visit my house there since then. My parents keep "surprising" me with visits at delhi. Mostly on weekends..! Anyhoo, i finally decided to bite the bullet and head home for holi weekend. I knew i would survive mainly coz my brother Kris was there, not to mention my cousin sisters and aunt from bangalore. To top things off Mekhala also decided to tag along. So i knew i could keep the heat off me for most of the weekend...
The trip started quite ominously, My phone decided to screw with me... It conked off at the station. To add to the screwups, the dude who booked the tickets, smartie pants, put mekhala down as male.... oh and he booked us till jammu instead of udhampur. But i said, screw it, lets do it (sorry richard) and we decided to speak to the tt when the time came. The train was quite crowded, not to mentioned overbooked. TT in his hurry dint notice the 2 males listed on the ticket and signed off on it. He told me to meet him before jammu to extend the ticket and i was all happy that we were not gonna get screwed over.
Morning came and i was informed by the other passengers that the TT had come and gone twice.. :) Sleepy sleeperson that i am, i dint know!! I went and found him. He decided to make me his BEST FRIEND!! He kept talking and talking and talking and ... u get the picture. His motive was to get his son a job in gurgaon, i was like dude i cannot do anything for u. Finally i convinced him and he started saying stuff abt the fares.... kept saying itna lagega blah blah!! i was like dude make up ur goddamn mind... finally he said we can settle at 200 and i was like phew finally.... but he asked to see the ticket... OH i missed out on the main point here.... First thing he asked me... Is she your wife?? (i wanted to laugh so loud, dunno how i controlled myself) anyhoo.. so he finally started making the ticket and lo and behold he noticed we are 2 males.. I dint know what to say, i told him the truth that even i realised it very late... so please to help us out... then he said that i am doing u a big favor and the usual crap that comes along with that.... Finally he made the ticket and i literally ran back to my compartment...
Train was damn late and by the time we got there it was way past lunchtime. Adding to the misery.. flat tyre on the way and overheated tyre rim... when i say overheated... i mean smoking hot... got home excited to see everybody but guess what my dad wants to go for golf "RIGHT NOW". Oh well, Tiger quickly bathed and went to whoop some a$$... Needless to say overconfidence was not reqd and i got my a$$ whooped by both dad and bro... Anyhoo.. got back chilled out and pigged on some awesome chinese food. Then came the best part of the evening.. We all sat and sang songs and danced and stuff. It was awesome... my cousins well they can both dance and sing... both of them got shakira's moves down... finally ended the day with scrabble... Crashed finally very peacefully in the wee hours of the morning...
HOLI HAI!!! Awoke to the annoying cries of get ready to play holi and all.. and i was like.. Get ready??? Played a lil holi.. had a decent enough time.. pigged out on trout.. mmmmmm.... that evening my cousins and aunt left for delhi and then to blore... so that nite we tried to watch a movie.. parents passed out so movie cut short... Brother in the mean time gets hooked on to the Aatif song from Race.... He ain't no Bono so it was painful.. As mekhala tried to sleep she was awakened by the screeching cat that is krishna... and we both did a "halla bol" on his a$$ and yanked away my ipod to lessen the pain...
Woke up next morning all gung ho for golf... shoulder was killing me but i decided to wing it... Also found my long lost ferrari cap... the one which schumi wore during the press conference after the race he had just won... Played well this time... was on the verge of whooping Krishna's a$$ unfortunately.. a few mishits here and there ruined my chances... halved the game (that's draw for the uninitiated) yea krishna, if u reading this.. we halved u dint win!!
We left that evening and by god was the train crowded... I mean there were ppl sleeping/standing/sitting everywhere... dint sleep much.. but was glad to get home in the morning... not that i missed delhi.. but whatever... good to be back...
I can understand if u skipped thru the whole thing and are reading this bit.... it's way too long... But i was in a mood (not to work) so ... deal with it.. :D
Snaps of the trip at picasaweb.google.com/neomenon
Feel free to laugh at my snap!!
W00T!!
W00T!!
March 27, 2008
Amazing...
This is one of my favorite bands..... Collective Soul... Check out the original song and see how amazing these guys are... The acoustic here is killer too!!!
Sure the singer is making weird faces while singing.. that doesnt take away from the fact that the band ROCKS!!
Check out their latest album Afterwords. Fav songs on the album are Georgia Girl & Adored
Sure the singer is making weird faces while singing.. that doesnt take away from the fact that the band ROCKS!!
Check out their latest album Afterwords. Fav songs on the album are Georgia Girl & Adored
March 24, 2008
Updated: Music i am listening to
Sorry for the long periods of silence and inactivity.... Been crazy busy... Went home to Udhampur for the first time.... next post will be abt the trip! But here's the top music on my charts... eesh... sounds really crap... here's the muzik i have on repeat these days...
1. John Mayer - Say (from the movie The Bucket List)
2. Racoon - Love You More (not the armin van buuren version, the original)
3. Racoon - Close Your Eyes
4. Boyceavenue - Lovestoned ( search for this in youtube and prepare to be amazed... also check out all the other videos by boyceavenue)
5. Onerepublic - Apologize ( am sure u have all heard this)
6. Goldspot - Friday (this one's not coming of this list anytime soon)
Peace!
1. John Mayer - Say (from the movie The Bucket List)
2. Racoon - Love You More (not the armin van buuren version, the original)
3. Racoon - Close Your Eyes
4. Boyceavenue - Lovestoned ( search for this in youtube and prepare to be amazed... also check out all the other videos by boyceavenue)
5. Onerepublic - Apologize ( am sure u have all heard this)
6. Goldspot - Friday (this one's not coming of this list anytime soon)
Peace!
March 7, 2008
Music I'm Listening To....
This idea is not mine but is "borrowed" from a dear friend of mine... His blog is listed to the right... Ultraswamy...
I shall try and update this from week to week.... I would request readers (that's u) to leave comments listing what they are listening to... Comments can be limited to 2 songs.. i however shall list 5-10 tracks.... These are the seven songs on the top of my latest playlist on my ipod touch (hehe had to throw that in)
1) Goldspot - Friday (check it out on youtube, also see the related links)
2) Them Clones - Through Another Night (Delhi Band, Awesome, also my ringtone)
3) Dream Out Loud - It's Raining Now (Again an Indian band, catch them from time to time on VH1)
4)Cake - Short Skirt Long Jacket (intro music to "chuck" Tv show i like, also kickass lyrics)
5) Needtobreathe - More Time (This Tracks on the P.S. I Love You soundtrack, its addictive)
6) Ryan Star - Last Train Home ( This one's again on the same soundtrack, sung by one of te finalists on ROCKSTAR: SUPERNOVA, check out his tracks on youtube, he oughta have won!!)
7) Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly (This song won the oscar for best song, from the movie ONCE)
Yea, i guess that it for now.... Mor often than not, i listen to these on the way to and from work....
PEACE!!
I shall try and update this from week to week.... I would request readers (that's u) to leave comments listing what they are listening to... Comments can be limited to 2 songs.. i however shall list 5-10 tracks.... These are the seven songs on the top of my latest playlist on my ipod touch (hehe had to throw that in)
1) Goldspot - Friday (check it out on youtube, also see the related links)
2) Them Clones - Through Another Night (Delhi Band, Awesome, also my ringtone)
3) Dream Out Loud - It's Raining Now (Again an Indian band, catch them from time to time on VH1)
4)Cake - Short Skirt Long Jacket (intro music to "chuck" Tv show i like, also kickass lyrics)
5) Needtobreathe - More Time (This Tracks on the P.S. I Love You soundtrack, its addictive)
6) Ryan Star - Last Train Home ( This one's again on the same soundtrack, sung by one of te finalists on ROCKSTAR: SUPERNOVA, check out his tracks on youtube, he oughta have won!!)
7) Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly (This song won the oscar for best song, from the movie ONCE)
Yea, i guess that it for now.... Mor often than not, i listen to these on the way to and from work....
PEACE!!
February 25, 2008
Oscar Winners List
Here we are.... The Academy didn't throw up too many surprises.... Here's a list of winners!!!
Congrats to the winners!!! Daniel Day Lewis is da man...
Best Motion Picture: "No Country for Old Men."
Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood."
Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose."
Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men."
Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."
Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."
Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters," Austria.
Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."
Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno."
Animated Feature Film: "Ratatouille."
Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."
Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood."
Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Original Score: "Atonement," Dario Marianelli.
Original Song: "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.
Costume: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."
Documentary Feature: "Taxi to the Dark Side."
Documentary Short Subject: "Freeheld."
Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Makeup: "La Vie en Rose."
Animated Short Film: "Peter & the Wolf."
Live Action Short Film: "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (`The Mozart of Pickpockets')."
Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass."
Congrats to the winners!!! Daniel Day Lewis is da man...
Best Motion Picture: "No Country for Old Men."
Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood."
Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose."
Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men."
Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."
Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."
Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters," Austria.
Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."
Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno."
Animated Feature Film: "Ratatouille."
Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."
Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood."
Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Original Score: "Atonement," Dario Marianelli.
Original Song: "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.
Costume: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."
Documentary Feature: "Taxi to the Dark Side."
Documentary Short Subject: "Freeheld."
Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Makeup: "La Vie en Rose."
Animated Short Film: "Peter & the Wolf."
Live Action Short Film: "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (`The Mozart of Pickpockets')."
Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass."
February 19, 2008
Format Wars Update -> Toshiba Quits HD-DVD
Toshiba has said it will stop making its high definition DVDs, ending a battle with rival format Blu-ray over which would be the industry standard. Following a review of its business, Toshiba said it would stop production of HD DVD players and recorders. The HD DVD format has suffered as major US film studios backed the Blu-ray format, which is being developed by electronics firm Sony and partners. Analysts said the move would allow Toshiba to focus on other products. “We concluded that a swift decision would be best,” Toshiba president Atsutoshi Nishida said.
Toshiba said the tipping point came last month when Warner Bros’ followed a number of other film studios in deciding to release its movies only in the Blu-ray format. “If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win,” he said. Toshiba will continue to supply retailers with machines until the end of March this year. After that, Toshiba will continue to provide technical support to the estimated one million people worldwide who own HD DVD players and recorders. A number of studios, including Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks, signed up to produce movies in HD DVD, but Toshiba’s withdrawal is expected to reduce the number films available in the format. RIP HD DVD, hail the Blu-Ray, the new king!
There's more to this though... Blu-Ray isn't going to have it all as one might think..... There may be tough times yet for Blu-Ray yet.... More on this... soon... (once i figure it out myself ) :-)
Cheers
Source: BBC
Toshiba said the tipping point came last month when Warner Bros’ followed a number of other film studios in deciding to release its movies only in the Blu-ray format. “If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win,” he said. Toshiba will continue to supply retailers with machines until the end of March this year. After that, Toshiba will continue to provide technical support to the estimated one million people worldwide who own HD DVD players and recorders. A number of studios, including Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks, signed up to produce movies in HD DVD, but Toshiba’s withdrawal is expected to reduce the number films available in the format. RIP HD DVD, hail the Blu-Ray, the new king!
There's more to this though... Blu-Ray isn't going to have it all as one might think..... There may be tough times yet for Blu-Ray yet.... More on this... soon... (once i figure it out myself ) :-)
Cheers
Source: BBC
February 18, 2008
Oscar Nominations
Before i get into the nominations, i hope everyone knows that the WGA strike is officially over and the writers got back to work this past week. The Oscars will be on in full flow. Am sure this year's oscars show is gonna rock. People must be dying to celebrate. Here we go with the major nominations!! My Picks for the main one's are in Italic. Leave a comment with your picks!!!
Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah"
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War"
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild"
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton"
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie in "Away from Her"
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose"
Laura Linney in "The Savages"
Ellen Page in "Juno"
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement"
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton"
Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"Surf's Up"
Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"Julian Schnabel
"Juno" Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" Paul Thomas Anderson
Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"
The Other nominations in my opinion are more technical and since i haven't seen all the movies i would rather not comment. In case you are wondering how i made a pick among these, I watched trailers and whatever footage i could while the other's i have seen.
One movie that i can't wait to watch is Paul Thomas Anderson's "There will be Blood".
Daniel Day Lewis is an awesome awesome actor. All his movies are so so awesome, Like Aamir Khan he too is a perfectionist and does movies only once in a while. Must watch movies of his
"My Left Foot", "Gangs of New York", "Last of the Mohicans", "In the Name of the Father" to name a few.... He won his last oscar for "My Left Foot". Am rooting for him and my other favorite JD (Johhnny Depp)
Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah"
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War"
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild"
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton"
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"
Julie Christie in "Away from Her"
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose"
Laura Linney in "The Savages"
Ellen Page in "Juno"
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There"
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster"
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement"
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone"
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton"
Best animated feature film of the year
"Persepolis"
"Ratatouille"
"Surf's Up"
Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"Julian Schnabel
"Juno" Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" Paul Thomas Anderson
Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement"
"Juno"
"Michael Clayton"
"No Country for Old Men"
"There Will Be Blood"
The Other nominations in my opinion are more technical and since i haven't seen all the movies i would rather not comment. In case you are wondering how i made a pick among these, I watched trailers and whatever footage i could while the other's i have seen.
One movie that i can't wait to watch is Paul Thomas Anderson's "There will be Blood".
Daniel Day Lewis is an awesome awesome actor. All his movies are so so awesome, Like Aamir Khan he too is a perfectionist and does movies only once in a while. Must watch movies of his
"My Left Foot", "Gangs of New York", "Last of the Mohicans", "In the Name of the Father" to name a few.... He won his last oscar for "My Left Foot". Am rooting for him and my other favorite JD (Johhnny Depp)
Movie Formats
VCD
VCD is an mpeg1 based format, with a constant bitrate of 1150kbit at a resolution of 352×240 (NTCS). VCDs are generally used for lower quality transfers (CAM/TS/TC/Screener(VHS)/TVrip(analogue) in order to make smaller file sizes, and fit as much on a single disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rather than MB, so when looking at an mpeg, it may appear larger than the disc capacity, and in reality u can fit 74min on a CDR74. I can see quite a few of you guys going "oh that's what the 74min on the CDR meant!!" Yep... it also refers to 74 min of audio that can be stored on a CDR, in audio cd format. Mp3 you can store upto 700mb. Just a FYI in case you ever wonder how to play a VCD on PC, when u open the cddrive look for files most likely to be named "avseq01.dat" you can play it in windows media player.
SVCD or SuperVCD
SVCD is an mpeg2 based (same as DVD) which allows variable bit-rates of up to 2500kbits at a resolution of 480×480 (NTSC) which is then decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to the variable bit-rate, the length you can fit on a single CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are the most common. This format is few and far between. I have yet to come across any SVCD.
DivX / XviD
DivX is probably the widely spread movie format in history. Everybody uses it for it's excellent quality and brilliant performance, not to mention impressive compressiblity. In case you are wondering what exactly DivX is, its basically a codec (set of files similar to driver files) that is used to both decode (read) and encode (write) movies. That means that if u have the codec installed in your system, you should be able to watch movies encoded using divX. You should also be able to convert/encode video's into DivX.
Why do i call it impressive, you ask. Well let me take the help of an example. Let me compare it to two choices that we have, VCD and DVD. VCD as described earlier can store movies in small resolution and 74min per 700mb, quality here is ok at best. DVD as is going to be described next is 4+gb for a 2+hr movie (in excellent quality). Another thing is the sound, in vcd we can only have 2 channel sound, DVD can have 5.1 surround sound. Now a 2+ hour movie encoded in DivX, will be not more than 1.36 GB (2 cd's) Also we can have 5.1 surround if the encoder decides. With the advent of DivX compatible DVD players, i can actually fit 6 movies on 1 DVD (700mb each) All in excellent quality (video and sound). Of course, if you have a kicka$$ big LCD/High Def TV, then you will notice a quality difference between DivX and DVD video, but hey, its a price i am willing to pay to watch 6 movies on 1 DVD.
Oh and Xvid is a different codec with same/similar features as DivX.
DVD-R
Is the recordable DVD solution that seems to be the most popular . it holds 4.7gb of data per side, and double sided discs are available, so discs can hold nearly 10gb in some circumstances. SVCD mpeg2 images must be converted before they can be burnt to DVD-R and played successfully. Well these are mostly, stripped down copies of DVD's after removing the extra features and compressing it to fit on a 4.7gb disc. Quality is gr8 if encoded well. These can be written directly on a DVD-R and watched on a regular DVD player.
HDDVD x264/720p
This is the latest addition. This the rip of HDDVD. These will come with labels such as x264 or 720p. Also nowdays Blu-ray rips are showing up. These are only meant for people with HIGH END systems and HIGH END Televisions, Hometheatres, dvd players.. you know the works... Shouldn't be bothered with if you have a small TV, without 5.1 surround and Rosita (FRIENDS anyone??) Of course this is my opinion...
I shall however include a list of stuff which i have installed on my system which ensures that practically any audio/video file is playable.
1. DivX (video codec)
2. Xvid (video codec)
3. Ac3 (audio codec)
4. Real media alternative (video codec)
5. Quick time player (vide codec, comes along with itunes, need not be installed if u have itunes)
6. vlc media player (this baby plays everything under the sun, excluding .rmvb)
For all of these except for the players, you need to install only the codecs, no need to install any players (divx has its own player)
I seem to have left out RMVB in all this, This is again a video codec which compresses even more than divx. If done well, the quality difference is minimal but evident. But the compression really makes up for it. For eg, a 700mb file can be reencoded in rmvb to be 450mb without a huge loss in quality.
Hope this helps in explaining about movie formats. Of course feel free to get in touch with me for any help... I shall try and help you out the best i can.
Cheers!
VCD is an mpeg1 based format, with a constant bitrate of 1150kbit at a resolution of 352×240 (NTCS). VCDs are generally used for lower quality transfers (CAM/TS/TC/Screener(VHS)/TVrip(analogue) in order to make smaller file sizes, and fit as much on a single disc as possible. Both VCDs and SVCDs are timed in minutes, rather than MB, so when looking at an mpeg, it may appear larger than the disc capacity, and in reality u can fit 74min on a CDR74. I can see quite a few of you guys going "oh that's what the 74min on the CDR meant!!" Yep... it also refers to 74 min of audio that can be stored on a CDR, in audio cd format. Mp3 you can store upto 700mb. Just a FYI in case you ever wonder how to play a VCD on PC, when u open the cddrive look for files most likely to be named "avseq01.dat" you can play it in windows media player.
SVCD or SuperVCD
SVCD is an mpeg2 based (same as DVD) which allows variable bit-rates of up to 2500kbits at a resolution of 480×480 (NTSC) which is then decompressed into a 4:3 aspect ratio when played back. Due to the variable bit-rate, the length you can fit on a single CDR is not fixed, but generally between 35-60 Mins are the most common. This format is few and far between. I have yet to come across any SVCD.
DivX / XviD
DivX is probably the widely spread movie format in history. Everybody uses it for it's excellent quality and brilliant performance, not to mention impressive compressiblity. In case you are wondering what exactly DivX is, its basically a codec (set of files similar to driver files) that is used to both decode (read) and encode (write) movies. That means that if u have the codec installed in your system, you should be able to watch movies encoded using divX. You should also be able to convert/encode video's into DivX.
Why do i call it impressive, you ask. Well let me take the help of an example. Let me compare it to two choices that we have, VCD and DVD. VCD as described earlier can store movies in small resolution and 74min per 700mb, quality here is ok at best. DVD as is going to be described next is 4+gb for a 2+hr movie (in excellent quality). Another thing is the sound, in vcd we can only have 2 channel sound, DVD can have 5.1 surround sound. Now a 2+ hour movie encoded in DivX, will be not more than 1.36 GB (2 cd's) Also we can have 5.1 surround if the encoder decides. With the advent of DivX compatible DVD players, i can actually fit 6 movies on 1 DVD (700mb each) All in excellent quality (video and sound). Of course, if you have a kicka$$ big LCD/High Def TV, then you will notice a quality difference between DivX and DVD video, but hey, its a price i am willing to pay to watch 6 movies on 1 DVD.
Oh and Xvid is a different codec with same/similar features as DivX.
DVD-R
Is the recordable DVD solution that seems to be the most popular . it holds 4.7gb of data per side, and double sided discs are available, so discs can hold nearly 10gb in some circumstances. SVCD mpeg2 images must be converted before they can be burnt to DVD-R and played successfully. Well these are mostly, stripped down copies of DVD's after removing the extra features and compressing it to fit on a 4.7gb disc. Quality is gr8 if encoded well. These can be written directly on a DVD-R and watched on a regular DVD player.
HDDVD x264/720p
This is the latest addition. This the rip of HDDVD. These will come with labels such as x264 or 720p. Also nowdays Blu-ray rips are showing up. These are only meant for people with HIGH END systems and HIGH END Televisions, Hometheatres, dvd players.. you know the works... Shouldn't be bothered with if you have a small TV, without 5.1 surround and Rosita (FRIENDS anyone??) Of course this is my opinion...
I shall however include a list of stuff which i have installed on my system which ensures that practically any audio/video file is playable.
1. DivX (video codec)
2. Xvid (video codec)
3. Ac3 (audio codec)
4. Real media alternative (video codec)
5. Quick time player (vide codec, comes along with itunes, need not be installed if u have itunes)
6. vlc media player (this baby plays everything under the sun, excluding .rmvb)
For all of these except for the players, you need to install only the codecs, no need to install any players (divx has its own player)
I seem to have left out RMVB in all this, This is again a video codec which compresses even more than divx. If done well, the quality difference is minimal but evident. But the compression really makes up for it. For eg, a 700mb file can be reencoded in rmvb to be 450mb without a huge loss in quality.
Hope this helps in explaining about movie formats. Of course feel free to get in touch with me for any help... I shall try and help you out the best i can.
Cheers!
February 15, 2008
Movie Sources
First up, ma apologies for not posting for such a long time. Been busy !!
Hopefully shall keep posting more often from now on.... Plus the net's back up at home so that always helps....
The reason why i chose this topic is that i felt its something that is interesting......
I am sure that you all have either downloaded and/or seen a movie from the web.... Ever wondered what the filenames actually mean?? Hopefully after reading this you shall find some clarity.....
Here's a normal file/folder name that you may find on the web...
The.Darjeeling.Limited.DVDRip.XviD-DMT
So... what does this name mean in terms of quality, in terms of size, etc??
The name of the movie is obviously The Darjeeling Limited
Its a DVDRip... meaning ripped/copied/converted into .avi from a DVD
Xvid here refers to the codec used to rip the movie.
DMT here is the releasers/uploader/ripper's name
DMT here may be an individual or a group of dudes/dudettes who do this stuff!!
Ok so now you know what the name means... Lets move on to other movie sources...
Now movie sources are basically the format from which a movie is shaped up so that it can be uploaded and viewed by others.
Here are the Various Sources.
CAM
Now a CAM rip is what we call a "theatre print". Its usually shot using a Digital Video Camera in the theatre. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this wont be possible, so the camera may shake. Also since its dependant on a camera, there may be an agle involved. Cropping which means cutting a part of the picture out is used a lot in this kind of source because one may not always get the exact frame of the screen. Sound in this case is taken using the on board mic. Obviously, its not gr8 plus you might hear people laughing or screaming depending on the film. However, becasue this source is normally shot in an empty or close to empty hall to avoid detection, sound isn't always bad.
TELESYNC (TS)
WORKPRINT (WP)
A workprint is a copy of the film that has not been finished. It can be missing scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WPs are very different from the final print and others can contain extra scenes. WPs can be nice additions to the collection once a good quality final has been obtained. Sometimes the special effects have not been added so its quite funny. Same is when sound has not been added and people are firing shots onscreen without any sound.
R5
This is fairly new movie format. Basically the same as DVD Screener - this kind of release is legal DVD released in Russia to decrease the level of pirated movies in this country. Retail is rushed out by the studio, so there is little to no cleanup of the film after the telecine process. As a result, you can see some scratches, hairs or other mess on the picture, but you will hardly notice it while watching. External English audio is often used, as these are supplied with Russian sound by default. These are quite popular because they give nice flawless DVDlike prints, however because the audio used is not the original, sometimes it can be a lil weird. However, if the audio quality from another source is good, its almost as good as a DVDRip
DVDRip
Hopefully shall keep posting more often from now on.... Plus the net's back up at home so that always helps....
The reason why i chose this topic is that i felt its something that is interesting......
I am sure that you all have either downloaded and/or seen a movie from the web.... Ever wondered what the filenames actually mean?? Hopefully after reading this you shall find some clarity.....
Here's a normal file/folder name that you may find on the web...
The.Darjeeling.Limited.DVDRip.XviD-DMT
So... what does this name mean in terms of quality, in terms of size, etc??
The name of the movie is obviously The Darjeeling Limited
Its a DVDRip... meaning ripped/copied/converted into .avi from a DVD
Xvid here refers to the codec used to rip the movie.
DMT here is the releasers/uploader/ripper's name
DMT here may be an individual or a group of dudes/dudettes who do this stuff!!
Ok so now you know what the name means... Lets move on to other movie sources...
Now movie sources are basically the format from which a movie is shaped up so that it can be uploaded and viewed by others.
Here are the Various Sources.
CAM
Now a CAM rip is what we call a "theatre print". Its usually shot using a Digital Video Camera in the theatre. A mini tripod is sometimes used, but a lot of the time this wont be possible, so the camera may shake. Also since its dependant on a camera, there may be an agle involved. Cropping which means cutting a part of the picture out is used a lot in this kind of source because one may not always get the exact frame of the screen. Sound in this case is taken using the on board mic. Obviously, its not gr8 plus you might hear people laughing or screaming depending on the film. However, becasue this source is normally shot in an empty or close to empty hall to avoid detection, sound isn't always bad.
TELESYNC (TS)
A telesync is the same thing as a CAM except it uses an external audio source (most likely an audio jack in the chair for hard of hearing people). A direct audio source does not ensure a good quality audio source, as a lot of background noise can interfere. A lot of the times a telesync is filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, giving a better picture quality. The quality ranges from drastic to pristine. Its always advisable to check out samples before going in for this kind of source. It happens a lot that CAM rips are mislabelled at Telesync's.
TELECINE (TC)
A telecine machine copies the film digitally from the reels. Sound and picture should be very good, but due to the equipment involved and cost telecines are fairly uncommon. TC should not be confused with TimeCode, which is a visible counter on screen throughout the film. If done well, the TC is a big jump up in terms of quality from CAM for sure and most likely a TS as well.
SCR (VHS)
A pre VHS tape, sent to rental stores, and various other places for promotional use. A screener is supplied on a VHS tape, and is usually in a full screen resolution, although letterboxed screeners are sometimes found. The main draw back is a “ticker” (a message that scrolls past at the bottom of the screen, with the copyright and anti-copy telephone number). Also, if the tape contains any serial numbers, or any other markings that could lead to the source of the tape, these will have to be blocked, usually with a black mark over the section. This is sometimes only for a few seconds, but unfortunately on some copies this will last for the entire film, and some can be quite big. Depending on the equipment used, screener quality can range from excellent if done from a MASTER copy, to very poor if done on an old VHS recorder thru poor capture equipment on a copied tape. Most screeners are transferred to VCD, but a few attempts at SVCD have occurred, some looking better than others. This type of thing is old school and not many are found these days.
DVD-SCREENER (DVDscr)
Same premise as a screener, but transferred off a DVD. Usually letterbox or widescreen (black bars top and bottom) , but without the extras that a DVD retail would contain. The ticker is not usually in the black bars, and will disrupt the viewing. If the ripper has any skill, a DVDscr should be very good. Usually transferred to SVCD or DivX/XviD. These show up a lot around award times because they are sent to award juries and end up getting leaked from there. Even otherwise DVDscr have become quite common. I remember the DVDscr for a certain ridley scott film about a "firangi gunda" was leaked online around 2 weeks prior to theatrical release.WORKPRINT (WP)
A workprint is a copy of the film that has not been finished. It can be missing scenes, music, and quality can range from excellent to very poor. Some WPs are very different from the final print and others can contain extra scenes. WPs can be nice additions to the collection once a good quality final has been obtained. Sometimes the special effects have not been added so its quite funny. Same is when sound has not been added and people are firing shots onscreen without any sound.
R5
This is fairly new movie format. Basically the same as DVD Screener - this kind of release is legal DVD released in Russia to decrease the level of pirated movies in this country. Retail is rushed out by the studio, so there is little to no cleanup of the film after the telecine process. As a result, you can see some scratches, hairs or other mess on the picture, but you will hardly notice it while watching. External English audio is often used, as these are supplied with Russian sound by default. These are quite popular because they give nice flawless DVDlike prints, however because the audio used is not the original, sometimes it can be a lil weird. However, if the audio quality from another source is good, its almost as good as a DVDRip
DVDRip
A copy of the final released DVD. If possible this is released PRE retail. Again, should be excellent quality. DVDrips are released in SVCD and DivX/XviD. This is the definitive print for sure (unless its fake of course) These are normally on the web a good week or so before the actual retail release. These may come in 5.1 surround.
Each of these may come in either 1cd (700mb) or 2cd (1.36gb) sizes, depending on quality and length of the movie. The really good groups are great at getting the sources and releasing these before others. People also tend to re-encode other people's uploads and try and pass it on as theirs.
These wars are sometimes good and sometimes bad for people who await releases.
January 16, 2008
Apple unveils ultra-thin MacBook Air
Looking to build on the success of its iPod and iPhone devices, Apple Inc. introduced several new products including an ultra-thin laptop computer, dubbed the Macbook Air, and a much-anticipated online movie rental service. The new Apple notebook computer’s major attribute is its sleek profile: it’s about three-quarters of an inch thick and weighs three pounds. The Macbook Air features a full-sized keyboard, a 13-inch screen, a built-in 
camera, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, all powered by an Intel Corp. dual core chip. Appearing on stage at the company’s Macworld expo, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the computer, which he called “world’s thinnest notebook,” will cost $1,799 and is scheduled to ship in about two weeks. Ultramobile notebooks represent about 6% of the 270 million notebooks expected to the sold this year. Apple may benefit from good timing. Asus International Ltd.’s recently introduced Eee PC has topped sales charts at Amazon.com and is usually sold out at retail stores.
Two words "FRICKING AWESOME!!!" Steve Jobs is the man.
camera, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, all powered by an Intel Corp. dual core chip. Appearing on stage at the company’s Macworld expo, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the computer, which he called “world’s thinnest notebook,” will cost $1,799 and is scheduled to ship in about two weeks. Ultramobile notebooks represent about 6% of the 270 million notebooks expected to the sold this year. Apple may benefit from good timing. Asus International Ltd.’s recently introduced Eee PC has topped sales charts at Amazon.com and is usually sold out at retail stores.Apple’s CEO also launched the computer maker’s much-anticipated online movie rental service and unveiled an updated Apple TV device that will let viewers bypass their computers and rent movies directly from their widescreen TVs. Mr. Jobs said iTunes users can rent new-release movies to watch over their computers, iPods or iPhones for $3.99 for a 30 day period. Older titles will rent for $2.99 for the same time period. The service has the support of all major Hollywood studios including Walt Disney Co., Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, News Corp.’s Fox, Lionsgate and New Line, Apple said. Mr. Jobs also disclosed Apple had sold more than four million iPhones worldwide in the 200 days since the company’s trend-setting smartphone was launched. Is this going to be an another year of big success for Apple? It seems so right now…
Source: Zdnet, Macworld, WSJ
Two words "FRICKING AWESOME!!!" Steve Jobs is the man.
January 14, 2008
And the winner is......
The winners at the Golden Globes were announced in a one hour telecast. No stars attended the show therefore the truncated show. There were some surprise winners atleast as per the popular votes.
Here's the full list of winners.
MOVIES
BEST MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Atonement
BEST MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp and Tim Burton RULE!!!!!)
BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (This dude is one of the best actors ever!!!)
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Julie Christie, Away From Her
BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd (HELL YEAH!!!!)
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There (Playing Bob Dylan!!!)
BEST DIRECTOR
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille
BEST SCREENPLAY
Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France/U.S.)
BEST SCORE
Atonement
ORIGINAL SONG
''Guaranteed,'' Into the Wild (Eddie Vedder baby!!!!)
TV
BEST DRAMA TV SERIES
Mad Men (Pretty good, about Admen)
BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES
Extras
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, Damages (Scary performance, well deserved)
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES
David Duchovny, Californication (Absolutely killer performance, not to mention show)
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (Good show, good performance)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, MINISERIES, OR TV MOVIE
Jeremy Piven, Entourage (My MAN!!!! He's the absolute BEST!!!!!!)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, MINISERIES, OR TV MOVIE
Samantha Morton, Longford
BEST ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Queen Latifah, Life Support
BEST ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Jim Broadbent, Longford
BEST MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Longford
Here's the full list of winners.
MOVIES
BEST MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Atonement
BEST MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Sweeney Todd (Johnny Depp and Tim Burton RULE!!!!!)
BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood (This dude is one of the best actors ever!!!)
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE DRAMA
Julie Christie, Away From Her
BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd (HELL YEAH!!!!)
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There (Playing Bob Dylan!!!)
BEST DIRECTOR
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Ratatouille
BEST SCREENPLAY
Ethan and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (France/U.S.)
BEST SCORE
Atonement
ORIGINAL SONG
''Guaranteed,'' Into the Wild (Eddie Vedder baby!!!!)
TV
BEST DRAMA TV SERIES
Mad Men (Pretty good, about Admen)
BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES
Extras
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Glenn Close, Damages (Scary performance, well deserved)
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES
David Duchovny, Californication (Absolutely killer performance, not to mention show)
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL OR COMEDY TV SERIES
Tina Fey, 30 Rock (Good show, good performance)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, MINISERIES, OR TV MOVIE
Jeremy Piven, Entourage (My MAN!!!! He's the absolute BEST!!!!!!)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, MINISERIES, OR TV MOVIE
Samantha Morton, Longford
BEST ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Queen Latifah, Life Support
BEST ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Jim Broadbent, Longford
BEST MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Longford
January 11, 2008
Format Wars Update -> Porn Providers Rethinking Next-Gen DVD Plans
LAS VEGAS—The adult film industry is still taking a wait-and-see approach to the Blu-ray /HD DVD wars. But while Blu-ray's perceived costs have pushed some companies into the arms of the HD DVD camp, Warner Bros.' decision last week to exclusively support Blu-ray has some thinking that the end of HD DVD is nigh.
Executives in the adult-film industry spoke Wednesday during the opening day of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008, which briefly overlaps with the more mainstream Consumer Electronics Show ending Thursday.
"It could be a real sign that things will shift," Jeff Thill, director of video operations for the Hustler Video Group, said about the Warner decision. Thill said he sees no advantage of one format over the other, but is "leaning Blu-Ray" after Warner's announcement.
The Blu-ray camp, led by Sony, has been fighting Toshiba and its HD DVD format for years in a battle reminiscent of the VHS versus Betamax battle. In that fight, Betamax maker Sony's refusal to work with the porn industry helped usher in a VHS victory when the adult industry capitalized on the burgeoning popularity of VCRs and video rentals.
Hustler had some success recently with the Blu-ray release of Jenna Haze Oil Orgy, said Thill, who was on hand to showcase Hustler's latest releases at the annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo.
The company packaged the "Jenna" disc with an HD DVD and standard version in case users had trouble with Blu-ray, but has thus far not received any complaints. In March, Hustler will release its latest "Barely Legal" DVD in the Blu-ray format, he said.
Hustler has released two titles using the HD DVD format, Thill said. The company expects to release between 15 to 25 high-definition videos in 2008, most of which will probably be Blu-ray, Thill said.
Blu-ray is "a little bit of a headache" because of royalty fees, but it's "six of one, a half dozen of the other" with the format wars, he said. Blu-Ray also "sounds sexier," according to Thill, and there's "an important base in the gaming world" because the popular PlayStation 3 runs Blu-Ray while Microsoft has released an optional HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 console, Thill said.
Vivid Entertainment, home to porn star Jenna Jameson, has also released videos on Blu-ray and HD, said David Peskin, Vivid's national sales manager. It currently has two Blu-ray titles and three HD DVD titles on the shelves.
Vivid was initially "conservative" with its high-definition re-order numbers, but is "starting to stock a little heavier" since sales have been promising, Peskin said. Vivid has seen Blu-ray sell more units online while HD does better in retail stores, he said.
The company doesn't yet have a format preference. "Both have surpassed expectations," he said, though Peskin also pointed to the PlayStation 3 connection as a plus for Blu-ray.
Some companies have had to bypass Blu-ray altogether. Jackie Ramos, vice president of DVD production for Wicked Pictures, "looked to Blu-ray" when the company was first exploring high-definition about a year ago, but had trouble finding a provider that would produce Blu-ray discs for the adult industry.
Wicked has since released about a half dozen HD DVD titles, but Ramos managed to track down some porn-friendly Blu-ray producers and is now "aggressively" looking at those options.
With the Warner decision, things are "a little more serious," Ramos said, and, to him, it makes sense to examine Blu-Ray should it become the industry standard.
Ramos also had concerns about the Blu-ray price point. There's a copyright aspect you can't get around with Blu-Ray, whereas HD DVD allows you to choose whether or not you want that copyright protection, he said. "With adult industry, HD DVD was friendlier price wise."
Ramos expects to select a Blu-ray producer in the next few weeks and hopes to release Wicked's first Blu-ray title in the next few months, he said. But he was not convinced that the porn industry was driving the debate as it did with VHS and Betamax.
"What really drives it is the availability of players" and what the consumers want, Ramos said. HD capitalized on that by selling cheaper players, but now that many of the major studios have jumped on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, "we'll have to see," Ramos said.
Albert Lazarito, vice president of Silver Sinema, also believes the consumer is key to winning the DVD battle. "With the Warner Brothers decision, the market will direct the outcome," he said. Lazarito is "more than confident that it won't be the adult realm" that selects a final DVD format.
Silver Sinema has been filming in HD because Blu-ray is too expensive, Lazarito said, but his company is "ready to go depending on how the market shifts."
Pink Visual was also turned off by the cost of Blu-ray, explained director of marketing Kim Kysar. "HD DVD was affordable; it was doable. Blu-ray was too expensive," she said.
Pink Visual will release its first HD-DVD video next week.
"Everybody's going to want to have both options," Kysar said. "Blu-Ray could be the next step, but not if nobody uses it and it stays too cost prohibitive."
Source: PC Magazine
If you scroll down and read my third post, right at the end i talked about how the porn industry actually being a big decider in the format wars. Well, looks like i was thinking the right thing coz as this suggests that whichever of the formats is backed by the porn industry is more likely to win. Of course, they are still undecided but as the article suggests, Blu-ray at the moment has the edge. With its path breaking deal with Warner Bros, it will lead to other studios thinking of making deals with Sony to produce Blu-ray discs.
One thing i overlooked while commenting on the format's was the facts that obviously the technology used even while shooting is different and costs differ among the two with Blu-ray being more expensive. Sony really has a golden goose with PS3 as it doubles up as a next generation gaming console as well as Blu-ray DVD player. Why would people invest in another DVD player. Of course the PS3 has stiff competition in the gaming console market from Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii (which is a surprise hit)
IMHO (In my humble Opinion) I think Sony has a winner on its hands. Not only in the DVD format wars but also in the gaming console market. Considering the exclusive titles they have coming out this year, most prominent of them being "Metal Gear Solid IV : Guns of the Patriots" which has been a killer for the competition. Even Halo 3 has a similar effect when it was launched on the Xbox 360. People actually went and bought the console just because Halo3 was released on it. I expect a similar reaction with metal gear solid 4. I know of people who are using a Xbox 360, who are waiting the release of more titles especially metal gear solid 4 so they can pick up the PS3. Its expensive but worth the amount you are paying when u think abt the fact that its a Blu-ray DVD player built in.
Go PS3!!!! All you PS haters. No hard feelings people. I have seen the PS3 in action on a plasma. Can't say i have seen anything more awesome ever.
COMMENT PLEASE!!!!
Executives in the adult-film industry spoke Wednesday during the opening day of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo 2008, which briefly overlaps with the more mainstream Consumer Electronics Show ending Thursday.
"It could be a real sign that things will shift," Jeff Thill, director of video operations for the Hustler Video Group, said about the Warner decision. Thill said he sees no advantage of one format over the other, but is "leaning Blu-Ray" after Warner's announcement.
The Blu-ray camp, led by Sony, has been fighting Toshiba and its HD DVD format for years in a battle reminiscent of the VHS versus Betamax battle. In that fight, Betamax maker Sony's refusal to work with the porn industry helped usher in a VHS victory when the adult industry capitalized on the burgeoning popularity of VCRs and video rentals.
Hustler had some success recently with the Blu-ray release of Jenna Haze Oil Orgy, said Thill, who was on hand to showcase Hustler's latest releases at the annual AVN Adult Entertainment Expo.
The company packaged the "Jenna" disc with an HD DVD and standard version in case users had trouble with Blu-ray, but has thus far not received any complaints. In March, Hustler will release its latest "Barely Legal" DVD in the Blu-ray format, he said.
Hustler has released two titles using the HD DVD format, Thill said. The company expects to release between 15 to 25 high-definition videos in 2008, most of which will probably be Blu-ray, Thill said.
Blu-ray is "a little bit of a headache" because of royalty fees, but it's "six of one, a half dozen of the other" with the format wars, he said. Blu-Ray also "sounds sexier," according to Thill, and there's "an important base in the gaming world" because the popular PlayStation 3 runs Blu-Ray while Microsoft has released an optional HD DVD drive for its Xbox 360 console, Thill said.
Vivid Entertainment, home to porn star Jenna Jameson, has also released videos on Blu-ray and HD, said David Peskin, Vivid's national sales manager. It currently has two Blu-ray titles and three HD DVD titles on the shelves.
Vivid was initially "conservative" with its high-definition re-order numbers, but is "starting to stock a little heavier" since sales have been promising, Peskin said. Vivid has seen Blu-ray sell more units online while HD does better in retail stores, he said.
The company doesn't yet have a format preference. "Both have surpassed expectations," he said, though Peskin also pointed to the PlayStation 3 connection as a plus for Blu-ray.
Some companies have had to bypass Blu-ray altogether. Jackie Ramos, vice president of DVD production for Wicked Pictures, "looked to Blu-ray" when the company was first exploring high-definition about a year ago, but had trouble finding a provider that would produce Blu-ray discs for the adult industry.
Wicked has since released about a half dozen HD DVD titles, but Ramos managed to track down some porn-friendly Blu-ray producers and is now "aggressively" looking at those options.
With the Warner decision, things are "a little more serious," Ramos said, and, to him, it makes sense to examine Blu-Ray should it become the industry standard.
Ramos also had concerns about the Blu-ray price point. There's a copyright aspect you can't get around with Blu-Ray, whereas HD DVD allows you to choose whether or not you want that copyright protection, he said. "With adult industry, HD DVD was friendlier price wise."
Ramos expects to select a Blu-ray producer in the next few weeks and hopes to release Wicked's first Blu-ray title in the next few months, he said. But he was not convinced that the porn industry was driving the debate as it did with VHS and Betamax.
"What really drives it is the availability of players" and what the consumers want, Ramos said. HD capitalized on that by selling cheaper players, but now that many of the major studios have jumped on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, "we'll have to see," Ramos said.
Albert Lazarito, vice president of Silver Sinema, also believes the consumer is key to winning the DVD battle. "With the Warner Brothers decision, the market will direct the outcome," he said. Lazarito is "more than confident that it won't be the adult realm" that selects a final DVD format.
Silver Sinema has been filming in HD because Blu-ray is too expensive, Lazarito said, but his company is "ready to go depending on how the market shifts."
Pink Visual was also turned off by the cost of Blu-ray, explained director of marketing Kim Kysar. "HD DVD was affordable; it was doable. Blu-ray was too expensive," she said.
Pink Visual will release its first HD-DVD video next week.
"Everybody's going to want to have both options," Kysar said. "Blu-Ray could be the next step, but not if nobody uses it and it stays too cost prohibitive."
Source: PC Magazine
If you scroll down and read my third post, right at the end i talked about how the porn industry actually being a big decider in the format wars. Well, looks like i was thinking the right thing coz as this suggests that whichever of the formats is backed by the porn industry is more likely to win. Of course, they are still undecided but as the article suggests, Blu-ray at the moment has the edge. With its path breaking deal with Warner Bros, it will lead to other studios thinking of making deals with Sony to produce Blu-ray discs.
One thing i overlooked while commenting on the format's was the facts that obviously the technology used even while shooting is different and costs differ among the two with Blu-ray being more expensive. Sony really has a golden goose with PS3 as it doubles up as a next generation gaming console as well as Blu-ray DVD player. Why would people invest in another DVD player. Of course the PS3 has stiff competition in the gaming console market from Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii (which is a surprise hit)
IMHO (In my humble Opinion) I think Sony has a winner on its hands. Not only in the DVD format wars but also in the gaming console market. Considering the exclusive titles they have coming out this year, most prominent of them being "Metal Gear Solid IV : Guns of the Patriots" which has been a killer for the competition. Even Halo 3 has a similar effect when it was launched on the Xbox 360. People actually went and bought the console just because Halo3 was released on it. I expect a similar reaction with metal gear solid 4. I know of people who are using a Xbox 360, who are waiting the release of more titles especially metal gear solid 4 so they can pick up the PS3. Its expensive but worth the amount you are paying when u think abt the fact that its a Blu-ray DVD player built in.
Go PS3!!!! All you PS haters. No hard feelings people. I have seen the PS3 in action on a plasma. Can't say i have seen anything more awesome ever.
COMMENT PLEASE!!!!
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