Live telecast from my mind

ICICI Bank branches working on Sunday

2011-12-25T17:04:00.003+05:30

in Bangalore,Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata,Mumbai is available here

http://www.icicibank.com/campaigns/mailers/Sunday_mailer/landing_page.html

The new Indian Rupee symbol

2010-07-16T00:38:00.001+05:30

Komaram Puli (Telugu) A.R.Rahman

2010-07-12T19:45:00.006+05:30

I dont understand Telugu & this is not a review.
Just some thoughts on Komaram Puli.

Power star - A high voltage song for the hero.Don't know why they do a 'BLUE' again in 3:15 ! :)
Namakame - My pick from the album, a devotional melody.Reminds me of so many songs - Primarily Mettu Podu (Duet), Konja naal poru thalaiva (Aasai). I guess that's Ananda bhairavi raaga's effect.

Maham Maye - Interesting to see Suchitra in a ARR album (don't remember seeing her earlier.)
She sings with the same style as in her recent hits but ARR seems to have given it a layer of polish.

Dochey - Lady Kash'n krissy impressive in this one. 3:34 - 3:37 strikingly reminds me of another number but am unable to pin it down.

Definition link is back on Google search

2010-07-07T16:01:00.004+05:30

The definition link that google has earlier removed from the search results has now been restored!
So no need to type in the "define:" keyword to lookup dictionary meanings.

Update 9/7/2010: Just a day after bringing the feature back, Google has again taken the definition link down.
Whats happening? Is it testing?

Update 13/7/2010: Ok. A revamped dictionary is now displayed for word searches on Google.
Infact this is even better than the original definition link. The meaning is provided along with search results. Just hope this one stays.

Attachment alert in Gmail

2010-06-21T14:15:00.003+05:30

Gmail has a useful feature to alert if you have missed a attachment you meant to.
This works if there are phrased like "please find attached","see attachment", but does not work if you write "Attached herewith" or simply "Attached". May be these can be added.

How to Silence an incoming call in Samsung GURU E1080 mobile?

2010-06-11T12:16:00.002+05:30

Samsung GURU cellphones do have an option to silence an incoming call in normal profile, just like how nokia provides a 'Silence' option on screen. However, this text 'silence' is not visible in samsung guru screen and is also not documented.

To silence an incoming call just press the Down arrow key on navigation button for 2 seconds.
Next time when a call is received, the phone will ring with original volume.
You can also consecutively press the down arrow button to reduce the ringer volume of incoming call.

Story of thulli thulli

2010-06-02T00:12:00.002+05:30

Interesting to see the source of the hit song thulli thulli (Paiyya) - Apparently a girl Yuvan saw in rain :) - According to this interview of Yuvan in TOI...

Unable to minimize windows remote desktop connection?

2010-06-01T23:47:00.002+05:30

If you are stuck in a situation where you are unable to bring up the yellow bar at the top the remote desktop connection/server (MSTSC), to minimize and go back to the source machine, there are 2 solutions.
One is to log off the connection. But you will lose all session info.
The other is to hover the mouse at the top most part of the screen where the yellow bar usually appears and then middle click.This brings the yellow bar back.
Works in Windows XP/2003 servers.

Windows 7 Beta 1 Screenshot

2008-12-28T10:43:00.002+05:30

Here's a preview of what windows 7 will look like..
Screen shots from Windows 7 Beta 1(build 6.1.7000.0.081212-1400)

Microsoft link for Windows 7. Download is not active yet

Software to find CPU Info

2008-12-25T23:53:00.002+05:30

Software to find processor model name, make
CPU-Z

Software to find temperature of processor
Speed Fan

To find temperature of multi core processors specifically, core wise
Core temp

Trouble installing Google chrome?

2008-09-03T18:06:00.004+05:30

I faced a minor problem when installing Google chrome - even without any firewall running but connected to internet.Google installer failed, throwing the error no 0x80072efd- which means GoogleUpdate.exe could not connect to internet.

The solution, at least in my case, is to manually start zonealarm and then grant permission to googleupdate.exe when installing. (Earlier,I had disabled firewall from starting automatically on system startup). Without firewall, Google chrome should have installed easily,but seems to work only after firewall is started.Uh!

How to uninstall adobe flash from firefox / windows

2008-07-03T23:58:00.003+05:30

If you are facing problems after a update for flash player and need to uninstall flash player, adobe offer a separate executable to uninstall flash.

Download here

Motorola W270 / W230 Explained

2008-05-21T00:02:00.010+05:30

People seem to have a hard time figuring out how to add music to their W270 phone - its not that tough.Also, this phone does not have that many bugs/issues as one might think when initially using it. For those switching over from Nokia to Motorola, one has to learn some new ways to do the tasks.

Q. I cant find the driver for Motorola W270, Not able to add music to W270.
A. A driver is not really required if all you want to do is add mp3 music files & pics.
Open the flap & connect the cable to PC. To the question on mobile screen 'Connect as storage device?' click yes. Now the phone will be connected in storage mode & will show up in windows explorer as a removable drive - just like any other usb flash drive. Mp3 files can be added to the Music folder in the phone drive & pics to the Photos folder. After you are done use 'safely remove hardware'. This should work for W230 too.

Q. I am able to play only one song even with shuffle & 'auto repeat all' selected. How to continuously play all songs in play list.
A. If a song is selected directly only that song is played. If all songs in a play list are to be played, hit play on Music Library -> All songs

Q. How to silence the phone when the phone rings for incoming call without cutting the call?
A. This ones a little tricky. Press Up/down button on phone's side to silence the mobile.

In addition to volume adjustment,upon pressing continuously the side buttons can perform the additional function of jumping to Previous/Next song.

Q. Where is 'Reminder' / Is there 'Reminder' function at all!?
A. Yes it is there - neatly hidden! Extras -> Calendar -> Select date -> New -> Title

Q. Isn't there missed calls view?
A. Missed & received calls are both shown combined in the received calls view - the received calls marked by the adjacent tick mark & the missed calls by the absence of the tick.

Reduce MP3 file size for use with mp3 players like ipod

2008-05-18T15:53:00.003+05:30

If you need to fit more songs in to your ipod or creative zen or whatever mp3 player, mp3 file size can be reduced by reducing the bitrate of the song. After all what is the use of large > 10 MB song files encoded at 320 Kbps CBR that you are going to listen only in portable mp3 players that too at noisy places? In these players it is hard top make out much difference between 128 Kbps & 320 Kbps file.

By converting your existing mp3's to a lower bitrate - which is re-encoding additional sngs can be added. While there are a lot of free mp3 bitrate reducing softwares available on internet most make you suspicious about spyware/malware.

A good option is WINLAME which is a open source project & its free too.
Simply select the input file, select target bitrate & convert!

Recent tamil songs that are good

2008-05-06T00:37:00.004+05:30

Not been blogging much...so thought I'll at least post a list of recent Tamil songs that are good..Its a easy list since they are so few..

1 .Anbe En Anbe (Dhaam Dhoom - Harris Jeyaraj)
Begins with a melody on flute - song sounds like yuvan shankar rajas 'Enthan vanamum neethan' at first hearing - but after a few listens, I feel this song has its own merits...

2. Sakiye (Dhaam Dhoom - Harris Jeyaraj)
Another one of those Harris - Bombay jayshree combination songs but this is different too - the inro male chorus is good

3. Ka Karuppanukkum (Dasavatharam - Himesh Reshammiya)
A fast racy song sung by Shalini - you could say the style (not the tune) is akin to 'Maramkothiye'..

4. Mukundha Mukundha (Dasavatharam - Himesh Reshammiya)
A sweet melody from Sadhana sargam - (sounds like so many other songs for short durations - overall nice one)

5. Oh Ho Sanam Remix (Dasavatharam - Himesh Reshammiya)
The typical Himesh song from bollywood in tamil - enjoyable - just that figuring out the lyrics is a game :)

6. Ulaga Nayagan (Dasavatharam - Himesh Reshammiya)
Fast thumpy song - Singer Vinth has done well on this one - fresh voice.

Update on 15/5/2008

1. Thaen Thaen (Kuruvi - Vidyasagar)

2. Oru Naalukul (Yaradi nee mohini - Yuvan Shankar Raja)

Download Firefox 3 Beta 3

2008-02-14T00:24:00.000+05:30

Firefox 3 beta 3 is out for download!
Get it here

Firefox 3.0 Beta 3

2008-02-03T15:12:00.000+05:30

Looks like Firefox 3.0 beta 3 is ready to release on Monday.

To know for sure whether beta 3 is available for downloading check the Fiefox 3.0 beta 3 download page.

Cable cut & Low internet speeds

2008-02-03T14:49:00.000+05:30

With the under sea cable cut leaving internet users in the affected region with very low speeds, would ISP's take up responsibility & slash the customer's bill?

How to transfer files using bittorrent

2008-01-31T12:32:00.000+05:30

If you need to transfer large files to just one person, it is possible with bittorrent.It involves few steps though - the most important being that the file sharer's computer acts as the tracker.

Poromenos has a nice short tutorial for this in flash.
http://www.poromenos.org/tutorials/bittorrent

File transfer using bittorrent is quite easy after all!

Ariyatha Manasu interlude on keyboard

2008-01-19T16:45:00.000+05:30

Just found it catchy & easy. Made a video after a long time..

Looping songs

2008-01-12T13:18:00.000+05:30

It is not often that I listen to songs in loop, but recently I did for these two songs.

The first is Unnarugil varugayil from the movie Kaloori composed by Joshua Sridhar.

The other is Paravayin Kootil from Tamizh MA (Katrathu tamizh).The combination of Yuvan + Illayaraja really works for this one, with Yuvan's Illayaraja style soulful tune & Illayaraja's voice doing the magic for the song.

TVS Flame Road Test

2007-12-31T07:30:00.000+05:30

Finally the much awaited TVS flame road test is out in Jan 2008 issue of Overdrive.
Gotta get the copy from stands!

TVS Flame test drive reports have been slow to appear on blogs & elsewhere on net probably due to the initial Tamil Nadu only launch.Coverage should improve after the Nationwide launch in Jan 2008.

What ipod needs.. or rather i need

2007-12-02T23:03:00.000+05:30

Just realized I dont use ipod much coz I am too lazy to even transfer songs from PC.May be there should be a feature by which the most played songs from winamp should automatically get transferred to ipod -- better if thats done wireless! Seamless music transfer! :)

Billa all set to become a hit?

2007-11-21T23:15:00.000+05:30

Having seen the stills & trailer from Ajith's soon to be released 'Billa' I get a feeling its gonna be a huge hit..what with slick styling overall - Not to mention Nayanthara being given the hollywood Lara croft's Tomb Raider effect! :)

The visuals look so fresh that it makes me forget its a remake Rajnikanth's Billa.

TVS Flame launch date

2007-11-12T19:01:00.000+05:30

Looks like TVS Flame is all set to launch in December 2007 according to this article which quotes the MD.

Pachelbel Canon in D on Keyboard.....

2007-10-27T23:11:00.000+05:30

When am I gonna play Canon on the keyboard? I'm at least a year away from that..but thats atleast.No idea how long it would actually take.I just hope someday I do make it to that level.

Until then practice practice...

Elapugazhum Oruvan translation?

2007-10-27T23:07:00.000+05:30

Iam thinking if I should translate Ellapugazhum oruvan oruvanuke from ATM...

Kellamal Kayile Lyrics

2007-10-23T23:16:00.000+05:30

Kellamal Kayile
Lyrics : Thamarai
Singers : Saindhavi,Sriram Parthasarathy

f:
Kellamal kaiyile vanthaye kathale
(intro music)
Kaetu rasitha padal ondrai
meendum indru nyabagam thoonda
kaetu rasitha padal ondrai
meendum indru nyabagam thoonda

Ennai unnai enni yaaro
ezhuthiyathu polave thondra
ennai unnai enniyo
ezhuthiyathu polave thondra

m:
Kaylamal kayile
vanthaye kathale
en peril koovidum
un perum kokilam

f:
Kokilam..kokilam..kokilam
nenjile kathalin kaal thadam

Kellamal...kayile..
vanthaye kaathale..
endramal..nee enil
un kayil naan anil

(interlude 1)

m:
Innimel innimel intha naanum naan illai
poi va poi va endre enake vidaigal thanthen

f:
Melithai melithai naan irunthen
miga elithai engum nadanthen
indru unnai nenjil sumanthen
naan nadanthen nadanthathum vizhunthen

m:
Koonthal ennum A-nee arie muthamida
aasaigal undu

f:
Netri mooku uthadu endru
irangi vara padigalum undu

m:
Kellamal kaiyile
vanthayeh kathalehh
en peril koovidum
un perum kokilam

f+chorus:
Paarthum paramale
pogum nerangale (2)
etho nadakinrathe
puditha ____ (missing word)
paarthum paramale
pogum nerangale

f:
Kannai kannai simitum
nodiyil un uruvam maraiyum maraiyum
athanal imagal vendaam enben

m:
Parvai ondral unnai alli
en kannin siraiyil unnai adaipen
athil nee nirantharamai Nee Iruka
imaigal vendum enben

f:
Merku thisai nokki nadanthal iravu
konjam seekiram varumo

m:
Thoongum thevai a-thum indri
kanavugalum kaigalil vizhuma

f:
Kellamal kaiyileh vanthayeh kathale
endramal..nee enil
un kayil naan anil

m:
Kokilam kokilam kokilam
nenjile kathalin kaal thadam

f:
Kokilam kokilam kokilam
nenjile kaathalin kaal thadam

Azhagiya Tamil Magan Lyrics

2007-10-23T01:17:00.000+05:30

Azhagiya Tamizh Magan Lyrics

Ella pugazhum oruvan oruvanuke lyrics
Music : Isai puyal A.R.Rahman
Lyrics: Kavignar Vaali

chorus:
Munnal munnal munnal munnal vaada
unnal mudiyum unnal mudiyum thozha
Munnal munnal munnal munnal vaada
unnal mudiyum unnal mudiyum thozha

arr:
Ella Pugazhum oruvan oruvanuke
nee nathi poleh odi kondiru (c)
endha vervaikum vetrigal vaer vaikume
unnai ullathil oor vaikume

arr+chorus:
Ella Pugazhum oruvan oruvanuke
nee nathi pole odi kondiru
endha vervaikum vetrigal vaer vaikume
unnai ullathil oor vaikume

(interlude1)

arr:
Oh oh hey....thozha munnal vaada
unnal mudiyum

chorus:
Thala thala thalapathy nee thaan nee thaan
anbin thalaivah vetri namakay!
Azhagiya thamizh magan nee thaane! nee thane..nee thaane..

chorus:
Ella Pugazhum oruvan oruvanuke
nee nathi poleh odi kondiru
endha vervaikum vetrigal vaer vaikume
unnai ullathil oor vaikume

(interlude 2)
arr:
Naalai Naalai Naalai endru indrai ilakathey..
nee indrai ilakathey...
nee indrai ilakathey...
Indrai vithaithal naalai mulaikum
athai nee marakathey
nee athai nee marakathey
nee athai nee marakathey

Netru nadantha kaayathai enni
nyayathai vidalama?
nyayam kayam avane arivan
avanidam athai nee vittuCHELL!!!

Hey....thozha munnal vaada
unnal mudiyum !
thala thala thalapathy neethan (c)
anbin thalaivah vetri namakay
Azhagiya thamizh magan nee thaane!

Hey eya eya ohhhhhhh!

arr+chorus:
Ella Pugazhum oruvan oruvanuke
nee nathi poleh odi kondiru
endha vervaikum vetrigal vaer vaikume
unnnai ullathil oor vaikume

Munnal munnal munnal munnal vaada
unnal mudiyum unnal mudiyum thozha
Munnal munnal munnal munnal vaada
unnal mudiyum unnal mudiyum thozha

arr:
Manavan manathu vaithal...
mudiyathu enbathu illai
kadal pol malai pol
katrai pol bhoomi pol
nee perumai serada
piranthom irunthom sendrom
endra vazhvai thooki podada!

Manavan manathu vaithal...

(interlude 3)

chorus:
Ella Pugazhum oruvan oruvanuke
nee nathi poleh odi kondiru
endha vervaikum vetrigal vaer vaikume
unnai ullathil oor vaikume

arr:
Ella Pugazhum oruvan oruvanuke
nee nathi poleh odi kondiru
endha vervaikum vetrigal vaer vaikume
unnai ullathil oor vaikume

Oh Oh hey thozha! munnal vaada
unnal mudiyum..unnal mudiyum

Thozha! munnal vaada
unnal mudiyum

Thala thala thalapathy neethan
anbin thalaiva vetri namake!

Azhagiya thamizh magan nee thaane!
Manavan manathu vaithal !!

Kellamal kayile lyrics here

The Next Munbe Vaa?

2007-10-19T22:51:00.000+05:30

Just like how the preview of munbe vaa was enough to know what a great song it would be,So is the preview of Kaetu Rasithal Padal from Azhagiya Thamizh Magan (ATM).This time though Saindhavi's sweet voice blends to the melodious tune of A.R.Rahman.

This one song alone would be enough to make it a must buy CD.

Upcoming releases of A.R.Rahman in 2007

2007-10-15T00:27:00.000+05:30

To my knowledge..

Elizabeth - The Golden Age (Released - October 2007)
Azhagiya Tamizh Magan (Expected - October 19/22 2007)
Jodha Akbar (Expected - November 2007)
Sakkarakatti (Expected date - Unknown)

Kishmu & Jay's Munbe Va

2007-10-08T23:15:00.000+05:30

Kishmu & Jay of IKF play Munbe Va with near original sounds! Amazing

When buying keyboard...

2007-09-29T20:32:00.000+05:30

While there are many guides on th net for what to look for when buying keyboard, They seem to miss this...something I learned the hard way..

You'd sure check the functions,sounds demos etc.We' d even check whether the keys are ok & on same level- otherwise it would easily catch the eye right?There lies the problem.In my case the keyboard looked perfect when I saw it in the showroom. It was only after I got home & had a look at it from a distance I noticed the undulation of the keys - some were up or down - just not perfectly on same level.

It wouldn't cause any hinder when playing the keyboard, but I could do without it.

So if you are buying a keyboard, step back a few feet & see if the keys are all on the same level.

Tamil Film Songs Sheet Music

2007-09-27T23:59:00.000+05:30

There is treasure trove of tamil film songs sheet music @ http://tfmpage.com/notes/
Scores for all the instruments in a song have been included in the sheets in a neat PDF format.
Oh yes,there are sheet music for AR Rahman songs well,although not all.

Enjoy.

Akkam pakkam...

2007-09-26T00:16:00.000+05:30

Akkam pakkam (Kireedom)...A song that didn't have any big impact for the first few times - but suddenly came to haunt me from nowhere the other day & got me hooked! Its been a long time since such a effect happened to me..Earlier Rahman songs did that (I say earlier because Sivaji was instant fun :) ). Kudos GV Prakash....Keep up the tempo!

Another recent song worthy of mention is Dharan's O Nenje & Mayavi Neeya (Sivi)..totally different music without the normal structuring of a song...was like freestyle but was enjoyable.
I think the use of synthesizer sounds in these songs were important factors for appealing to the youth .Guess, we are going to see more Dharan style Synths in tamil film music in coming days.

Chennai FM station online

2007-09-04T22:10:00.000+05:30

Came to know Aaha FM is streaming their broadcast online live...
http://www.aahaafm.com/

There is a lag compared to listening through a radio set, but the quality is superior(128 Kbps).

Suryan Fm is also available online
http://www.dinakaran.com/suryanfm/
However,I could not get it to work on IE.

List of Radio Stations in Chennai (FM & AM)

India drives into Formula 1

2007-09-02T19:38:00.000+05:30

With the successfull bid of Vijay Mallya for the Spykar team, for the first time we will have an Indian team in Formula 1. We can look up to some Indian action at the F1 Circuit - Narain Karthikeyan might have a better chance now.

Resources for Learning Keyboard & Guitar Online

2007-09-02T18:23:00.001+05:30

Here's a list of sites which have a lot of info on Chords,notes,technicalities etc for Indian songs - for Electronic Keyboard & Guitar.

http://indiankeyboards.11.forumer.com/

http://www.indianguitartabs.com/

http://www.keylessonline.com/

Tutorial to learn keyboard for Indian songs
(Keyboard Basics)
http://www.ragatracks.com/keyboard1.htm

Harmonium Keyboard desi style
http://www.ragatracks.com/

Carnatic ragas
http://www.karnatik.com/

Carnatic Music Forum
http://www.rasikas.org/

Virtual piano keyboard online
http://www.pianoladynancy.com/piano/virtual_piano.htm

Sheet Music

Tamil film songs sheet music
http://tfmpage.com/notes/

Western/English songs sheet music

http://www.8notes.com/

http://www.sheetmusicdirect.us

http://www.vnlisting.com/sheetmusic.php

http://www.freehandmusic.com/

http://www.musicnotes.com/

Chord finder
http://www.telacommunications.com/nutshell/music/

Artificial Life - in 3 - 10 years

2007-09-02T18:14:00.000+05:30

Do we want it ?
Scary stuff!!

List of Nokia Phones affected by BL-5C battery recall

2007-08-15T10:02:00.000+05:30

To know the nokia phone model numbers that use BL-5C as the battery, check at Nokia's website here.

You can also check if the product identification number of the battery qualifies for replacement at that page.

ICL Launches website

2007-08-12T14:35:00.000+05:30

What BCCI has not done,the Indian Cricket League has done.It has launched their website : http://www.indiancricketleague.in

Aspiring cricketers can submit applications to ICL at the website.

Bheema - Music by Harris Jeyaraj

2007-08-11T10:07:00.000+05:30

Bheema Music Review

1. Ragasiya Kanavugal-Hariharan , Madhushree
2. Mudhal Mazhai-Prasanna, Hariharan, Mahathi
3. Oru mugamo-Krish, Naresh Iyer
4. Enadhuyirae- Chinmayi, Sadhna Sargam, Sowmya Rao, Nikhil Mathew
5. Siru paarvayalae- Karthik, Harini
6. Rangu rangamma-Vijay Yesudoss, Kailash Kher, Swarnalatha
7. Mudhal mazhai-Prasanna, Hariharan, Mahathi

Mudhal Mazhai - A feel good song sung by Hariharan & Mahathi. Mahathi's voice has been utilized well in this song.Like this one. (Just dont bother the starting sound thats strikingly similar to the Ah AAh BGM Theme music No:11)

Ragasiya Kanavugal - A soft enjoyable love song rendered clearly by Hariharan & Madhusree. Makes me think someone else with a more melodious female voice could have been chosen for female lead,especially since the hangover of her voice in Uankul naane (Pachai Killi Muthucharam) lasts.The chorus for this simple tune makes it very catchy.

Rangu Rangamma - A folk number.Nothing new in this - except that there is a liberal amount of Rahman's "Veerapandi Kotayile" (Thiruda Thiruda) in the interlude.

Siru Paarvayalae - A fast song in trademark Harris' style we are very well used to.Another thatfollows the recent trend in TFM of starting with arabic (or other weird) words.

Enadhuyirae begins with sounds that reminds of starting bits 'ti du ta du du' from 'Konjam Mainakale' - Kandukondain Kandukondain & 'Nathiye' - Rhythm.
A slow melody sung primarily by Sadhana Sargam & Nikhil Mathew (The Airtel super singer winner).The way Nikhil's voice has been used make it seem so much like Naresh Iyers' in Mayilirage (Ah Aah) .
!:40-1:55 resembles so much -> "Onna iruntha nyabagatha nejodu sethuvachu
thaniya irukom valliya mattum thaniya anibavicha" from Paakatha - (Aaru)
Didn't impress me.

Oru Mugamo sounds more of the back ground music type for Vikram.The background beats used
are too familiar.Harris could have used some newer unheard loops.

Bheema songs are not a total let down for me.Ragasiya & Mudhal Mazhai are my pick.

Copy text in Windows just like in Linux

2007-08-08T22:43:00.000+05:30

I had been searching for a software that would bring the copy style of Linux to windows - which is - any selected text gets copied to clipboard automatically without having to click another time to copy.Similarly, paste is just a click on middle button.

While I haven't found a software that has this functionality throughout windows, there is a software - a firefox add-on actually called 'Auto Copy'- that does it.

Another add-on that goes along with it is 'Copy Plain Text', that removes the formatting data that also gets copied usually when you copy something - the things like Font design,colour,font size & other annoyances. So no more using notepad to get the plain text!

Himesh Reshammiya's music for Kamal's Dasavatharam

2007-08-08T22:10:00.000+05:30

I've been keeping my fingers crossed about Himesh Reshammiya's music for Dasavatharam.He is talented alright.His music could be fresh to tamil cinema (Imagine Jhalak Dhiklaja in tamil :p).

My hopes have taken a dip after listening for his music for the Bharathiraja's Bommalattam starring Nana Patekar, Arjun and Kajal Agarwal.

After all K.S.Ravi Kumar & Kamal hassan would get it right isnt't it! Lets hope so!

When Google changes its indexing method

2007-08-05T19:17:00.000+05:30

...Traffic drops! - for popular sites. But yes,other sites would have been promoted to the top result post & would have got a boost.

But sites depending on google's traffic for existence should be ready to be taken off guard with their index method change anytime!!

Wired article

India's super power dream...

2007-08-05T19:11:00.000+05:30

Education is the primary requirement - although not the only - for India to become a super power & more importantly to hold on to that position when it does reach that.

A realistic description of Mumbai...

2007-08-05T19:00:00.000+05:30

A description of mumbai with realty ...in this IHT article..

Dirty, crowded, rich and wonderful by Suketu Mehta

(Which,I guess is a excerpt from the book Maximum City: Mumbai Lost and Found )

Reasons why we dont exercise !!!

2007-07-22T20:18:00.000+05:30

About.com has a nice list reasons "Top 10 Reasons You Don't Exercise".....
No excuses !!

A cure for fear?

2007-07-16T23:22:00.000+05:30

MIT scientists have found a way to contain the enzyme that causes fear...

Link

Tata's 1 lakh rupee car

2007-07-16T23:17:00.000+05:30

So what does Tata's Rs.1 lakh car (OLRC) look like? If the pics that have come out recently in automotive magazines are real, it looks like a Zen Estilo! Imagine, Estilo owners being asked "Is that a one lakh rupee car?". :p

Remotely access your Mac from iPhone

2007-07-11T22:40:00.000+05:30

With Google's Telekinesis

you'll be able to connect to your computer,browse files, stream music & even read docs- all on your iPhone

Pic courtesy Tonx

Download here to make your iPhone remote!

iPhone in a Blender !!

2007-07-11T21:45:00.000+05:30

funny things people do. iPhone inside a blender!!

Link : http://www.willitblend.com/

iPhone India launch date

2007-07-01T14:10:00.000+05:30

The iPhone has launched in the US alright....So when in India?
The only information we have is that it will be late next year.

There is no use sourcing one from the US as the phone will work only with AT&T plans.Absolutely useless here.Even the iPod part of the phone to play songs wouldn't work.

Illayaraja Recording a song - Video

2007-06-24T03:23:00.000+05:30

How to remember ATM Card Password / PIN

2007-06-23T10:32:00.000+05:30

How to remember the ATM Card's PIN?
No you don't.Thats the simple answer.You need to write it down!

Write?But don't all those card companies tell us "Never Write the PIN anywhere"?
Thats if all you have is one card and you have no trouble remembering it.Anything more,
its near impossible to remember the PIN's for all the cards- especially if you use the cards rarely.

What we can do is write it in a safe place (Which of course means not in a slip in the card pouch!!).

Rare interview of young A.R.Rahman

2007-06-16T13:51:00.000+05:30

Catch A rare interview of A.R.Rahman fresh after the success of roja in the early 90's which appeared in a programme called 'Surabhi'. @ www.rajshri.com

On tip off from: Bhagavathi mohan - arrahmanfans.com

Hi !

2007-06-15T01:20:00.001+05:30

Its been so long...Will be starting all over again soon! :)

Free LEGAL Hindi Movies Online !

2007-03-11T13:44:00.000+05:30

The Rajshri Production house has made available a large number of movies,songs,TV Shows online for free at their website www.rajshri.com .

It costs nothing to view them online.Costs about $4 to download.
The only requirement is a good broadband connection.

Sample of movies available:Hum Saath Saath Hain, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Maine Pyar Kya, Phir Hera Pheri...

Full list of movies here.

You may not find the latest movies, but there are lot of 90's movies and quite a not-so-old movies .

Also available are a wide variety of Songs from new movies,Documentaries,Short stories & more.

Check it out!

Realistic movies on war

2007-03-03T14:52:00.000+05:30

Some of the movies on war are just brilliantly done. The Beast of War is one such. I saw it only today on TV(It's a 1988 movie).Its a story of how a lone soviet tank fights with the locals of Afghanistan. Very thrilling. Its a must watch!

Few other movies of this kind that I liked:

Saving Private Ryan,The Thin Red Line (Dont remember much about this movie.But some of the scene on nature were breathtaking)

On problems solving

2007-03-03T14:48:00.000+05:30

Quotable Quote

Give lesser importance to lesser things.Give bigger importance to bigger things.

Seems simple isn't it?

Secure your Gmail Account

2007-02-17T23:48:00.000+05:30

Gmail In the unfortunate event that you are unable to access your Gmail account even though you think you typed the password correctly (Yes, it can happen.Some malicious virus/hack could mess things up or you just plain forgot the password),Gmail offers to email the password to the secondary email address you have given.

If you haven't already, In Gmail go to Settings -> Account -> Change Security Question -> Secondary email:

Enter your alternate email address & Save.

You may think this is trivial, but you'll be glad you have done this if there's some problem in the future.

List of Radio Stations in Chennai (FM & AM)

2007-02-03T21:10:00.001+05:30

List of FM Radio stations in Chennai

Radio City 91.1 MHz

Aahaa FM 91.9 MHz
(Kumudam Publications)

Big 92.7 92.7 MHz
(Anil Dhirubai Ambani Group)

Suryan FM 93.5 MHz
(Sun Network)

Radio One 94.3 MHz
(Mid-Day)

Radio Mirchi 98.3 MHz
(Times Group)

Gyan Vani (IGNOU) 104.2 MHz

Chennai Live 104.8 Mhz
(English Radio)

FM Gold (AIR) 105.0 MHz

Hello FM 106.4 MHz
(Malar Publications)

FM Rainbow (AIR) 107.1 MHz

Community FM Radio stations in Chennai

Anna FM 90.4 MHz
(Anna University)
~5.30 p.m - 9.30 p.m (live programs) and 6AM-10AM (repeat broadcast)~

Loyola FM 90.8 MHz
(Loyola College)

M.O.P FM 91.2 MHz
( M.O.P.Vaishnav College)
~ 6.30 a.m - 7.30 a.m and 6 p.m - 7 p.m (repeat broadcast) ~

AM Radio stations in Chennai

Chennai A 720 KHz
(Short wave 60.98m) 4920 MHz

Chennai B 1017 KHz

Chennai-Vividh Bharathi 783 KHz

Tiruchi 936 KHz

Worldspace-Satellite Radio

KL Radio Tamil Channel 105

Shruti 232

Day of Errors at Blogspot

2007-02-02T00:12:00.000+05:30

Today is certainly a day of errors at blogger - 3 different errors within a few hours that left various blogspot pages inaccessible (including this one).

Of the three, " bX-vjhbsj" error is the new one that absolutely prevented loading any page from my blogspot domain just after publishing.Thankfully the people at blogger have fixed it now.

Sachin Tendulkar - Number of 'Man of the Match' Awards (ODI)

2007-02-01T20:01:00.000+05:30

This graph was generated using data from Howstat.com.au.

The information in this chart is based on data as of 1 February 2007.

Second Life to get a Swedish Embassy?

2007-02-01T13:47:00.000+05:30

Its hard not to have come across the term 'Second Life' (SL)on the internet of late.Its suppose to be a virtual world which mimics real world with community,places etc but its not exactly a game - there are no points,winners or levels.

This virtual world has become so prominent that many real world companies have a presence in the virtual world - recently there was even a Vista launch on party in SL.

And now,Sweden is supposedly to open a embassy in SL so that they can provide info about their country & help people in SL -

May be I should try it someday just to see what's inside!

Vista launch in Second Life

More:

What is Second Life?
Second hype or second life? (BBC)

Tata Steel - From 56th largest to 5th largest steel maker

2007-01-31T14:15:00.000+05:30

With the successful takeover bid of Corus, Tata Steel becomes the 5th largest steel maker- but it was only 56th largest last year,whereas Corus was 9th largest last year!

Windows Vista books are out already!

2007-01-31T13:51:00.000+05:30

Soon after Microsoft's Vista was unveiled officially on Jan 30,a deluge of books are out in market ranging from introduction to Vista for beginners to more advanced books for programmers.

Some of them are published by Microsoft Press too.

Just note that some of the books are based on the beta version of vista released earlier.

Which is the best vista book out of these? It'll take time to find that out.

A.R.Rahman addresses fans on his birthday

2007-01-08T13:17:00.000+05:30

A pleasant surprise made possible by Gopal Srinivasan.Thanks Gops!
Of course thanks to ARR.

Happy Birthday A.R.Rahman !

2007-01-06T08:18:00.000+05:30

What a journey these 15 years (1992-2007) have been - For You & Your Fans!

On this day,I would like to thank you for the scintillating music you have given us, all these years.And,I believe the best is yet to come.God Bless.

Proud to be your fan.

News:

A.R.Rahman's Official website www.arrahman.com will soon go live.
Catch a preview of what's coming at http://www.arrahmanworld.net/

Google's Patent Search : Some Suggestions

2006-12-14T23:56:00.000+05:30

Patents. Another area Google is making it easy to search - over 7 million US Patents & they say they have just started off ! That's interesting as I expect patents from other willing countries to be included in the search.

Finding the patents for everyday devices we use will become so easy & fun.

Here's the one from the inventor of cell phone-Martin Cooper, for Radio Telephone System (Year 1973) with diagrams of the hexagonal base cells!

I understand this feature is in Beta so there are obviously ways to improve it.Here are some I think can be improved.

As of now the advanced search feature lets users specify the start and end date (of patents filed/issued) within which to search for the patents.However,I was surprised that a option to sort the result by date was not available.

For example, If I wanted to find the very first occurrence of the word "Internet" in patents ,the results quite predictably are according to the relevance. After playing around with the dates in the advanced for sometime,figured out that a patent for "Knife Grinding Machine" filed on September 1,1904 was the first patent in the US to have contained the word "Internet"!

A option to sort would have been helpful.

Sadly, the original patent that old was very hard to read as only the image was provided.Why shouldn't the digitized text be provided? That is the only way people will be able to read the patent if they are interested.

This service is called "Google Patent Search".But www.google.com/patent gives you a 404 Not found error!

And there is no indication of this new patent search when you do a search for "patents" on original Google website.

VLC Media player 0.8.6 released

2006-12-11T20:19:00.000+05:30

The videolan people have released the latest version 0.8.6 of the popular VLC media player after over 7 months of development.

This cool cross-platform media player and streaming server is available for download here. (Probably the only format it doesn't play is Real video.)

Complete features list here.
As for support,their forums are quite helpful.

The future 0.9.0 version of the VLC player, currently under development is available from the nightlies section.

Full list of changes (from VLC)

Changes between 0.8.5 and 0.8.6
--------------------------------

Playlist:
* Shoutcast TV listings support

Input:
* Support for RTSP authentication
* Support for adding subtitles on the fly
* Fixed MPEG-PS duration calculation
* ATSC support for DVB input
* Partial reading support for DVR-ms recordings
* Partial reading support for MXF and GXF fileformat
* Improved support for Flash Video files

Decoders:
* Native WMV9/VC-1 support
* WMA Speech support (through binary codecs)
* VP5/VP6 - Flash Video support
* The True Audio Lossless codec support
* WavPack support
* Improved H.264 support (interlaced, speed improvements etc)
* Fixed a problem with MPEG2 field pictures
* Fixed swapped colors on DVB subtitles

Video output:
* Additional OpenGL effects (cylinder, torus, sphere, ...)
* Experimental Direct3D 9 video output (win32). Best served on Vista :)
* Improved libcaca support

Interfaces:
* All
* New hotkeys for crop and zoom
* Support for snapshots from the HTTP interface
* Windows
* Systray support in skins
* OS X
* Support for Apple Remote control
* Fullscreen controller panel (artwork by Simon DamkjÃ¦r Andersen)
* New playmode buttons (artwork by Simon DamkjÃ¦r Andersen)
* right/ctrl-click menu in video outputs
* Main Menu uses autohide when playing videos in fullscreen mode
* Linux
* Notifications using notification-daemon

Windows port:
* Support for Unicode filenames (Windows NT and above)
Windows 9x/ME users:
- Please note that these versions of Windows are not officially supported
- Unicode support for Windows 9x/ME applications is available through the
Microsoft Layer for Unicode available from the following location:
http://www.microsoft.com.nsatc.net/globaldev/handson/dev/mslu_announce.mspx
Download the MSLU package (unicows) and extract the content into the folder
C:\Windows\System
* Fixed IPv6 support on the client side
* Fixed disable screensaver (Direct3D and DirectX video output)

Localization:
* Add Czech
* Add Slovak
* Add Malay
* Add Slovenian

Developers:
* Updates to the libvlc API
* Fixes for the mozilla and activeX plugins

Firefox 3 Alpha 1 released

2006-12-09T19:36:00.000+05:30

The alpha 1 version of Firefox 3 (code named Gran paradiso) has been released for testing purposes.Current users of mozilla firefox were warned by Mozilla not to use Gran Paradiso Alpha 1 .

This alpha 1 version named minefield is based on Gecko 1.9.

As for the UI,there isn't anything new yet - the features of Firefox 2.0 stay.

It is available for download at Mozilla's FTP.

Final version is expected in summer 2007.

Release notes

What's new

Azureus version 3.0 released

2006-12-05T02:21:00.000+05:30

Version 3.0 of the popular bittorrent client is out !

Another new webservice called Zudeo has also been launched to coincide with the launch of the client.From first look, Zudeo seems like a web platform to share independent videos (some are hi-definition) using torrents. Zudeo service has also been integrated with the latest version of azureus .

The layout could be said to resemble that of youtube - user friendly ,with a listing of the videos available under various categories complete with trailer.Only here the torrent files are given for the videos instead of a flash file..

As for their copyright policy they seem to be all for legal content with DMCA compliancy.

Yahoo ads in google adsense

2006-12-04T20:37:00.000+05:30

Browsing the net today,I was surprised to see a ad for Yahoo in Google's adsense text ad as well as a image...

Why would a competitor advertise a competitor!?

I'am yet to see a google ad on yahoo's YPN.

Kannada/Telugu singers in tamil songs

2006-12-01T20:19:00.000+05:30

Some of the Telugu / Kannada voices introduced in tamil music seem to have gone sadly
unnoticed.Not that there are many ,but they haven't been utilized by music directors other than the one who introduced them.

One such telugu singer with a very soft melody voice is Sumangali, who has sung a lot of songs in telugu films,mainly for Devi Sri Prasad's music.She has sung the hit song from Aaru "Paakatha ennai paakatha".

The other is a more recent Kannada singer Chaitra Gopinath, introduced in the tamil film "By2" for the excellent song "En Kaalgal" by Vijay Antony.

On the other hand hindi singers seem to have really caught the tamil music directors attention - Udit Narayan,Shreya Ghoshal to name a few.

I'am not against hindi singers or anything ,but I just want other talented singers to be given chances as well - instead of hearing those same famous voice over and over again in every film.

Remove Recycle bin from desktop

2006-11-26T12:39:00.000+05:30

For those who want to get rid of Recycle bin from their desktop,without messing with registry,follow these simple steps.
[Works with Windows XP]

1.Goto Start->Run. Type "Gpedit.msc" & hit "Ok".

2.In the "Group Policy" Screen that appears, navigate to to User configuration->Administrative Templates -> Desktop (Click the plus sign).

3.Now select the option "Removes Recycle Bin icon from the desktop" .Right click ->Properties-> Enabled.

4.Press OK & Close. Now refresh the desktop & the Recycle bin is gone.

The functionality of the recycle bin is still available by other methods.Only the icon is removed.

Using Firefox's session saver feature

2006-11-25T18:09:00.000+05:30

The session restore feature in Firefox 2.0 is very useful in the even of a crash - It brings back all the tabs that were open before. However,what if you want save the session voluntarily and return to it later? I was not able to find any option in firefox to do that.The new 'restore session' seems to work only in the even of a crash.

Agreed,there is a Extension particularly for this purpose called "SessionSaver".
I prefer not installing extensions,and employ a workaround - Simply hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc and kill firefox.exe. The next time you start firefox the session is back. Yes,this a rudimentary and a rather crude way of doing it - but it does the job. For full functionality there's always the add-on.

Guru fever begins !

2006-11-10T20:16:00.000+05:30

The veil has been partially lifted on Mani Ratnam's much awaited movie 'Guru'. A short trailer of the movie featuring the song "Tere Bina - Dham dhara dham" is out in the internet. It lasts only for about 30 seconds,but the song is really captivating with its soulful melody sung by A.R.Rahman himself.

Mani's visuals perfectly compliments the music as usual, shot at nightfall decorated with thousands of dazzling lights - From what i can make out this one seems to be the song reported to be shot in Madurai's famed Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal (This is the first time film shooting has been permitted there).

The music is expected to be out on November 18.Till then,Dham dhara dham dhara dhum !!

(Video source:ucanalways)

How to fix a broken Firefox 2.0

2006-10-29T15:24:00.000+05:30

My problems with Firefox started from version 1.5 . Memory leaks were there before too,but got worse with 1.5. Add to that a new problem of high CPU utilization.Within a few hours from start,firefox's CPU usage would climb to 100% before eventually crashing out or freezing the system - that would require killing firefox.exe manually.

The upgrade to version 2.0 didn't solve it either.The restore session in FF 2.0 is useful in case of crash,but when it happens 4 times in 6 hours,it is not a solution.

The Fix? Disable all the extensions. I use abut 10 extensions. Some functionality has been lost,but it has fixed the crashing & CPU problem. This isn't a discovery by any means,but a well known solution.Just wanted to let it be known that it did work very well.Firefox 2.0 is not buggy,but the extensions are.(Don't bother about FF 2.0's certification on the compatibility of the extension.It certified 7 of my 10 extensions as compatible & disabled the others.But that didn't fix the problem.Disabling did.)

Or you can try running FF in safe-mode,wherein all extensions,themes are disabled.Once you have a stable FF,you can try enabling the extensions one by one until you find the one that crashed the problems. Extensions are slowly being updated by their respective developers for compliance with FF 2.0,so it may be a while before your favourite extension works once again . Until then,rather not have the extension at all instead of a unstable browser.

However,some minor bugs are there..
Like,the first time I Middle- click/Left-click a link, doesn't open it in new tab - rather jumps to the present page top. Clicking the link for the second or third time does open it in a new tab.[This bug appears randomly but often].

Related Link:
Mozilla people answer Firefox 2.0 questions.

Subtitle in Cinema Hall

2006-10-29T01:22:00.000+05:30

Subtitle is one feature everyone likes in a DVD. Its really useful when one is not watching a movie in their first language. So why not have that facility in theatre's too? Some theatres in the US already provide subtitles for even tamil movies. Would it not help people if Chennai cinema halls provided subtitle for hindi movies? Certainly more people would watch & better business for them too.

Netru Illatha Maatram Enathu ?

2006-10-08T20:01:00.000+05:30

Lyrics from a timeless classic.

Movie : Pudhiya Mugam
Singer : Sujatha
Music : A R Rahman
Lyrics : Vairamuthu
Year : 1993

Netru illatha matram enathu
katru en kaathil etho sonathu
ithu thaan kadhal enbadha!
ilamai pongivitatha !
idhayam sindhivitatha
sol maname....

[Veena]

Kadavul illai endren...
thayai kannum varai
kanavu illai endren
aasai thondrum varai
kadhal poi endru sonnen
uNNai kannum varai.

kavithai variyin suvai
artham puriyum varai
gangai neerin suvai
kadalil serrum varai

kadhal suvai ondru thaane
kaatru veesum varai!!

Netru illatha matram enathu
katru en kaathil etho sonathu
ithu thaan kadhal enbadha!
ilamai pongivitatha !
idhayam sindhivitatha
sol maname....

Netru illatha matram enathu
katru en kaathil etho sonathu

[Flute]

Hey hey...
Hey hey...
Hey hey...
Hey hey...

Vaanam illamale boomi undagalaam
varthai ilaamale bashai undagalaam
kadhal ilamal pOnal vazhkai undaguma?
vaasam illamale vanna poo pookalam
vasal ilamale kaatru vandhadalam
nesam ilaatha vazhvil paasam undaguma?

Netru illatha matram enathu
katru en kaathil etho sonathu
ithu thaan kadhal enbadha!
ilamai pongivitatha !
idhayam sindhivitatha
sol maname.... (2)

[Veena + Flute]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Newyork Nagaram Video Starring A R Rahman

2006-09-13T19:47:00.000+05:30

Finally the video is done !

Some notes:

1.Most of the content in the video is Newyork itself,that too at night time & yea, features ARR singing!

2.Many parts of the video have been made to sync with the tamil meaning.So its better if you know the meaning of the lyrics.

3.This video is made of clips from various sources - see it & you will know from where!!

Is your PC ready for HD-DVD?

2006-09-08T01:28:00.000+05:30

Check with this software from Cyberlink.

Here's how ready one of my PC's is!
OK,the recommended processor is Core 2 Duo!!Seriously.

The Keyboard that Rahman plays

2006-09-05T23:48:00.000+05:30

Thanks to Bharath,now I know that ARR plays the Roland Fantom X series keyboard among various others in his possession . Here are some pics of the keyboard that the Boss plays (from internet)

Good chance that the beautiful Munbe Vaa rolled on this one!

Also check out this awesome song on the keyboard by a person called Darkein.
Absolute melody.

Youtube.com Statistics Snapshot

2006-09-01T21:34:00.000+05:30

Total Videos : 6.1 Million

Total Views : 1.73 billion

Net video size : 45 Terabyte = 45,000 GB

Views per day :100 million

Videos added per day : 65,000+

Registered users : 500,000 +

Employees : 50 (2006)

Total time the people of the
world spent watching YouTube
[since it started in Dec 2005 ] : 9,305 years !

Profit / Loss since inception : ????

More :
Wall Street Journal
Youtube Factsheet

WMA DRM cracked - Again !

2006-08-28T22:48:00.000+05:30

Yes thats true. A piece of software of just 220 KB in size , "FairUse4WM" has been able to strip the DRM from WMA files - albeit only files for which the user owns a license & works on Windows Media DRM 10 and 11. It has reportedly been able to work on files purchased from subscription based services like PlayForSure,Urge,Napster etc.

This is not exactly the first time it has been cracked - It was in 2005 , but Microsoft quickly patched it. It's be interesting to see how long Microsoft takes to patch this one up.

Via Slashdot

Playing Stopwatch on Aircraft

2006-08-28T18:50:00.000+05:30

During my school days (& sometimes in college too),we used to play with the stopwatch feature that was available in digital watches. It was a game played to kick off boredom,that involved stopping the 100th of a second display precisely at "00".

Just thought how people would react if someone played that game on a aircraft in today's paranoid filled world.Today anyone who can make passengers feel uncomfortable unintentionally with his clothes or beard are susceptible to be offloaded if the passengers feel so in the western world.More so,if the person happens to be a Arab/Asian.

So a game on the stopwatch with some beeps and running counter will count as "setting a bomb" in the minds of paranoia mania filled passengers and he will be arrested!

Google's website warning's

2006-08-20T22:36:00.000+05:30

The other day,I happened to click on a google search result link for a site called Asta-Killer,which is a site for cracks,serials etc .Clicking the link took me to a warning message from google about the 'malicious' nature of ths site .. Google would still let me procced to that site if I wanted.

This is good,considering that these crack sites are a source of virus/malware programs that are downloaded in the background without the knowledge of users.However,this message didnt appear for most other crack sites ,notably Astalavista.

Munbe Vaa Lyrics

2006-08-04T00:30:00.000+05:30

Below is the lyrics of Munbe Va from "~~Jillunu~~ Sillunu Oru Kadhal - written after listening to it umpteen times [If there was a fan club for Shreya Ghoshal I would certainly join! :) ]

I still couldnt figure out a few words.See if you can find out. :) [One word in the Rangoli bit,plus a stanza by Shreya]

Anyway here you go!

Song: Munbe Va
Lyrics: Kavignar Vaali
Music: Isai Puyal A.R.Rahman
Singers:Shreya Ghoshal,Naresh Iyer
Movie:Sillunu Oru Kadhal

[music ]

[ shreya ]
Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
oone va uyire va

Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
poo poovai poopom vaa

Naan naana kaytane ennai naane
naan.... neeya, nenjam sonnathey..

Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
oone va uyire va

Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
poo poovai poopom vaa

[chorus]

Rango rangoli
kollangal nee potal
kollam potava kaigal
vallayal sattham

Jal jal....

Rango rangoli
kollangal nee potal
kollam potava kaigal vazhi

Sundara maligai sandhana maligai
sithira punagai vannam intha [or enna?]

[shreya]
Ah....
Poovaithai poovaithai
nee poovai-kor poovaithai
mana poovaithu poovaitha
poovaikul thee vaithai
Ohhhh...

[ Naresh ]
Theyney nee malaiyil aada
naan maan naan nanainthen vada
en nalathil un ratham nadikul un satham
uyireah..Ho...

[shreya]
Thozhil oru sila naazhi
thaniyena aa-naal tharaiyinil meen mmm....

Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
oone va uyire va
naan naana kaytane ennai naane....

[naresh]
Naan naana kaytane ennai naane..

[shreya]
Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
poo poovai poopom vaa...

[music interlude]

[naresh]
Nilavidam vadagai vaangi
vizhi veetinil kudi vaikalama
naan vazhum veetukul
verarum vanthaley
thagumaaaa......

[shreya]

Then malai thaykathu nee thaan
unthan thozhgalil idam tharalama
naan saayum tholmel verorum saainthaley...
thagumaa...

[naresh]
Neerum sengula cherum
kalanthathu poley kalanthavar yaar...?

[shreya]
Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
oone va uyire va

Munbe Vaa En Anbe vaa
poo poovai poopom vaa..

[naresh]
Naan naana kaytane ennai naane
naan.... neeya, nenjam sonnathey
munbe vaa....

[shreya]
Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
oone va uyire va

Munbe vaa en anbe vaa
poo poovai poopom vaa....

[chorus]

Rango rangoli
kollangal nee potal
kollam potava kaigal vazhi
valaiyal sattham

Jal jal..

Rango rangoli
kollangal nee potal
kollam potava kaigal vazhi

Sundara maligai sandhana maligai
sithira punagai vannam intha

Rango rangoli
kollangal nee potal
kollam potava kaigal vazhi
valaiyal sattham

Jal jal...

Rango rangoli
kollangal nee potal
kollam potava kaigal vazhi

Sundara maligai sandhana maligai
sithira punagai vannam intha.

Click here for Newyork Nagaram Video Starring A.R.Rahman

Sillunu Oru Kadhal !

2006-08-03T15:27:00.000+05:30

After listening to the amazing songs by A R Rahman,most people seem to be in the imagination mode trying to figure out what the video is going to be like! Iam particulatly interested about "New York" & "Munbe Va" Videos.

Khalbali on Keyboard

2006-07-28T23:31:00.000+05:30

Tried playing the song "Khalbali" from Rang de basanti on my miniature keyboard...

A ban ,only makes a blog popular

2006-07-21T01:20:00.000+05:30

I decided to check out "exposingtheleft.blogspot.com" one of the blocked blogs out of curiosity .It was like any other blog, with the author's opinions .

Next I checked out that site's statistics - just see the surge in hits this week after the ban ! 98% of the visitors are first time visitors ! About 6000 people have visited the blog instead of the trivial numberwho did before the ban.

What has the ban achieved? Made that blog ~~dead~~ popular.

Blogs to be unblocked soon ??

2006-07-20T01:04:00.000+05:30

Finally some hope for the bloggers in India - Looks like the blog block in India will be gone in 48 hours if Amitabh Singhal, a spokesperson of the Internet Service Providers Association of India is to be believed.

He has acknowledged that the ISP's mistook the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) notice and blocked entire blog domains.

Here's a quote from the Rediff article :

"An advisory is being sent from ISPAI to member ISPs saying they should configure their Domain Name Servers (DNS) in such a way that they block only the sub-domains DoT wants blocked," said Singhal, adding, "It would help if, in future, DoT could also mention the mechanism by which sites should be blocked."

What ,our ISP's are saying they dont know how to block a sub-domain? These companies provide internet for 40 million Indians ! [ India is the world's fourth largest internet user btw]. Who are they trying to bluff??? Clearly all the ISPs had decided in unison to block the whole sites.

Now singhal says an advisory has been sent to ISP's to blockonly the sub-domains DoT wants blocked....

But here's the more worrying part - this is not the official reasoning - but sites were blocked on the grounds that they had articles against Sonia Gandhi & Indian Muslims........

Wow ! So If you write a article against the congress president your blog will be blocked?
India wants to emulate China on internet censorship & control ??

Thanks to Shivam Vij for his coverage.

Indian ISP's Block Blogs

2006-07-17T23:25:00.000+05:30

I assumed it was another one of blogspot.com's downtimes tonight,until I saw Rediff.com's RSS feed "Are ISP"S Blocking Blogs?".Turns out that indeed they are!

Apparently,it seems the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) , an Indian Govt body , has sent a 22 page list of sites to be blocked to ISP's & this has resulted in the blocking of blogs hosted on blogspot, typepad & even Geocities among others.

While I had noticed none of the pages hosted on geocities [ including geocities.com] were accessible for the last 15 days,It never occured to me that they were actually being blocked - Why would Geocities be blocked?

I called up the Airtel customer care & they did acknowledge that blogspot pages were blocked but couldnt comment further.As for geocities,seems like they didnt know it & asked me to run tracert,ping etc and check.

They said they would check at their server end and revert back to me....

But here's the funny part - bloggers can still post to blogspot since the posting page is @blogger.com. However the blog itself hosted on blogspot.com cannot be seen :p

The Zidane Way !

2006-07-13T06:24:00.000+05:30

A fuuny take on the zidane head butt.

A 720 Megapixel Image

2006-07-10T23:23:00.000+05:30

Came across two great images today & I have to share it!

The first is a picture of Sydney Harbour at a resolution of about 720 Megapixels!! That means you can zooooom into the pic to the point where you can see inside every one of those windows !

Below you can see the what the above pic looks like when zoomed [the area marked by arrow]

The image size is over 1 GB,but you can see it using Flash.....Link Here.

The other image is a extreme close up of Velcro .....@ 94x magnification!

The iPod Your company 'gifted' may not be yours after all.....

2006-07-05T21:25:00.000+05:30

Yes.If you are celebrating with the latest video iPod your company gifted, think again- for,it might not be 'yours' in the exact sense.Companies that reaped a good bounty these days seem to reward their employees with a ipod to everyone one of them.Employees are ofcourse only too happy to listen to it or gift it to relatives or sell it.

Bringning a jolt to those people ,National Semiconductors, a electronics giant of USA ,which had only recently 'gifted' iPods to its employees has asked those who have been laid off recently to return their iPods or pay a 'fair' market price to the company !

Earlier this year Cognizant Technologies gifted a iPod to all the employees on payroll at that time to celebrate reaching the $1bn revenue milestone.While I dont think Cognizant would do something as lame as NS ,people should be aware what companies can do.

Things people do !

2006-07-03T14:58:00.000+05:30

This one's about my neighbour.She said " The last few days have been very hectic.I've had to take him to hospital everyday.He has broken his legs when playing". They go the hospital to have a fresh band of plaster & as soon they return home,he removes it all ! He is given the medicines daily by her. The docs have said that his legs have to be operated upon.He'll be under observation for 15 days & then they will decide whether his body can withstand the operation...

If you are thinking " What is so interesting about this? " ,well the point is, the 'he' thats being referred to throughout is a Cat !

Ok. If you are the kind who says "Cats have to be taken care too .Whats wrong in it ! ", nothing wrong as such.But it puzzles me no end, why people bring upon problems to themselves like this !

Chat with your neighbour on the Internet

2006-06-29T23:50:00.000+05:30

Here's a great new tool for chat. Now you can chat with anyone who shares the same ip subnet as yours ! For eg,If my ip address is 55.120.90.120 then I can talk with anyone on the subnet 55.120.X.X using this service. Since people on the same geographic neighbourhood are assigned the same subnet , its possible to chat to the neighbours in your area - which includes most streets in your locality & might also spill over to the next locality depending on the ISP(Internet Service Provider) .

For this to work efficiently,ofcourse,it depends on how many people are logged on to the site.

No registration required . Just hit : http://jibdig.com/local

Warren Buffet stuns the world with $37 billion donation to charity

2006-06-26T13:24:00.000+05:30

The Oracle of Omaha ,Warren Buffet ,is to donate about $37bn - which is about 85 % of his personal fortune . About $31bn of that will be given to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"Buffett has pledged to gradually give 85% of his Berkshire stock to five foundations. A dominant five-sixths of the shares will go to the world's largest philanthropic organization, the $30 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose principals are close friends of Buffett's (a connection that began in 1991, when a mutual friend introduced Buffett and Bill Gates)."

Buffett's contribution will not be made all at once, but rather in 5 percent annual increments.So,
the value of the donated amount every year will depend on the current price at that time.Therefore,the actual total value is expected to be much more than the $37bn announced now.

B&MG Foundation issued a statement saying “We are awed by our friend Warren Buffett’s decision to use his fortune to address the world's most challenging inequities, and we are humbled that he has chosen to direct a large portion of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

Just for comparison ,the total market capitalisation of UNDIVIDED Reliance Industries works out to approximately $24.6 bn.[Calculation is based on this]

There is much more information out there >>

Bill & Mellinda Gates Foundation statement
Fortune article
Letters from Warren E. Buffett regarding pledges to make gifts of Berkshire stock.
Intricate working details