Raj's Reflections

Shutter Island

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 05:07:48 GMT

One guy who has read the book said that he was not able to guess the ending. But I think anyone(ok, maybe some, not all) who has seen the movie will probably be able to predict the ending, hence spoiling the experience of the whole movie. To be honest, had the movie had been directed by anybody who is not in Scorsese's league, I would have praised it. Now I can't read the book, because my roommate tells me the ending revelation in the book is same as the movie :-(.

4bia 2/Phobia 2/Ha Phraeng

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:33:09 GMT

Phobia 2 is a sequel of Thai horror anthology 4bia. 4bia was recommended to me by ashwinne & I have recommended that movie, one segment in particular (In the Middle) to all my friends. The sequel has 5 segments. Ward, Salvage and Backpackers I would say are 'standard fares'. If you go by comments on imdb, you might think 'Novice' has a boring premise and execution. That's not the case, I found 'Novice' to be a beautiful and well executed morality tale, something you might have heard from a grandmother or grandfather who loved to tell ghost stories. The loud background music and the overacting might irk some international viewers but I thought it went well with the segment's story and message.

And in the last segment 'In the End', the cast of 'In the Middle' from 4bia is back!! WITH A BANG!! These guys were superbly funny in 4bia and they are able to whip up the same kind of tomfoolery that you saw there. Joining them are the lead actress and the director of Alone, making fun of their own acting and direction in Alone. In this segment, they seem to be shooting a sequel to 'Alone' called 'Twin 2' and the actress who is playing the ghost dies and comes back as a ghost to shoot the final scene of the film!! Much hilarity and horror ensues :-).

If you haven't seen 4bia, then 'In the Middle' is the only segment I would recommend, but with 4bia2, I would recommend both 'Novice' and 'In the End'.

Rajdeep Sardesai asks some tough questions to Uddhav Thackarey

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:43:26 GMT

The New "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara"

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:54:43 GMT

Today is India's 60th Republic day, commemorating the day on which the Constitution of India came into force. Mile sur mera tumhara, as all Indians know is the national integration video that celebrates our unity in diversity. The original which used to air in Doordarshan has almost become iconic.

There are parts of this video that I really like, especially those parts showing many amazing musicians from various parts of the country. It does get really puzzling when the Bollywood stars are popping up in every alternative frame and deciding to do an 'Indian Idol' act. The previous video too had movie stars lip syncing on screen. But why the 'Idol' act now? And why are all the people from sports relegated to the final 1 1/2 mins of a 16 min video?!! Maybe I'm being unnecessarily critical!!!

PS: I'd posted the link for the new versions on youtube, but the videos are deleted. This article has the video embedded in it.

Dr. Vishnuvardhan's last movie releases

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:07:37 GMT

Its called School Master. His other movie Aptha Rakshaka (literal translation: favorite guardian) a sequel to horror thriller Aptha Mithra( dear friend) is apparently releasing too.

Dr. Vishnu was one actor that everybody in Karnataka liked, because he did all kinds of movies. I particularly liked his family-based entertainment movies like Bandhana, Suprabhata, Muthina hara and thrillers like Nishkarsha, Benki Birugali, Nishabdha(not a crowd favorite, but just a personal one). He has also starred in two of my all-time favorite Kannada movie Bhootaiyyana maga ayyu(Bhootaiyya's son ayyu), NaagaraHavu .

Although he did crowd pleasing movies which presented him in larger than life roles (this is very common in South Indian movies), he also did movies that had interesting storylines.

He will be missed by all those who loved his movies.

What ails R & D in India

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:10:13 GMT

A good article about how India is not only falling behind other countries in R & D, but its own past performance.

Link

Google announces automatic captions for youtube

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:41:13 GMT

Its a long video, but I only listened to Vint Cerf and Ken Harrenstein. I did not know that this Computer Science legend was hearing impaired. Read more about it here.

Who's the best?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:38:58 GMT

This is one poll that I never thought us geeks would top. Check this out!! I still think it is some kind of plan to increase online readership ;-).

Note: Maybe NSFW, but its just an article no pictures.

The Harley comes to India

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:36:16 GMT

Watch the video here.
Related news reports here and here.

Paisa Vasool Grisham

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:14:48 GMT

John Grisham has always been one of the few authors whose books I have always picked up without bothering to read any reviews or even the summary/gist given at the back of the novel. I'm amazed at the way he keeps even us intellectually challenged people engrossed till the end. Have you ever noticed how a John Grisham novel turned movie is a recurring presence on the movie list of many a big star of today when they were a up-and-coming star. For ex: Tom Cruise in The Firm, Denzel Washington/Julia Roberts in The Pelican Brief, Matt Damon in The Rain maker and I hear 'The Associate' may be made into a movie with Shia LaBeouf. Its probably because everybody wants to watch a good thriller, no matter what their favourite genre is, so it makes a lot of sense to star in one. Of course, the intellectually gifted who sneer even at Dan Brown and only approve of Ayn Rand or George Orwell(I cant write a name, he'll blast me :-) ), might look down upon my shameful pleasures at passing off enjoying pulp fiction as "reading is my favourite hobby". But with a Grisham novel (especially the legal thrillers) you are guaranteed entertainment. Lately he has also made it a habit to explain the legal terms that people from other parts of the world can't understand. This had made reading his books even more of a pleasure. He is very critical of lawyers, of course. But I bet even the lawyers like his novels, just like us computer folks like Dilbert or xkcd. I once read long ago( I say long ago, because I read it in a newspaper and not online. Yes that's right, that long ago!!) a quote by a Law university professor that he had many students who wanted to be lawyers as they were fascinated by the career after reading Grisham, unlike some of the people of his generation who were inspired by someone like say Atticus Finch. Now that I'm done with The Associate, I'm looking forward to reading Ford County.

Only At Tech

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:16:07 GMT

Tech here stands for Georgia Tech, of course :-). This site has a collection of quotes, small anecdotes that are supposed to happen only at Georgia Tech. But I think it can easily stand for any Engineering school. If you have been to an Engg school, esp. with the ones which have an unbalanced guys to gals ratio, check it out.

http://www.onlyattech.net/

Update: Somebody even made a video.

Avatar trailer

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 07:20:43 GMT

The James Cameron one. Really rocks!!
I have often wondered why there were no movies about human's colonizing other planets than the other way round (Remember X Files and all other movies?).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ceBgWV8io

Google Map Navigation Demo video

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:57:37 GMT

Cool!! Cool!! Cool!!

Indian Super Child, anyone?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:11:08 GMT

Have you seen Gatacca, the movie?

Check this out.

MS DL Info Sec at Georgia Tech

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:09:42 GMT

MS in Information Security is now being offered as a Distance Learning course by Georgia Tech starting Fall 2010. It is primarily aimed at working professionals and covers areas like cryptography, system, software and network security, and security policies and strategies. If you know anybody who is interested in this niche area, do pass along the message.

Bangkok Dangerous

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:41:06 GMT

See only if you haven't seen an action flick in a very long time. Frankly, its Athadu of Hollywood :-). I enjoy these movies.

Chandrayan finds water on lunar surface

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:40:48 GMT

Links
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hLBM9BvkGLquVcjYI96_y2mQs6OgD9AT9B4O1
http://news.rediff.com/report/2009/sep/24/isro-says-finding-water-on-moon-is-pathbreaking.htm

How to invert a number? Programmers having fun.

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:20:40 GMT

Check out the forum below.

http://forums.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5404590&start=0

I think there's a dearth of programming jokes.Not many agree, but programmers/IT employees have an amazing sense of humor, right next to proctologists maybe!! They kind of need to!!

Wed, 27 May 2009 05:53:20 GMT

Check it out. One of my favourite actor/comedian!!

Angels & Demons

Fri, 15 May 2009 07:54:14 GMT

Just saw the movie. I think its a better thriller than 'The Da Vinci Code'. No sexual references like in DVC ;-), which is made very clear in the beginning :-), look out for what's chopped off the sculptures.

No great performances from anyone, but Ewan Mc Gregor does well.

When is 'The Solomon Key' releasing anyway? After the movie is made?

Terror Techie

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:24:46 GMT

Although NDTV is calling Mansoor Peerbhoy the guy who sent the terror e-mails by cracking local Wi-Fi connections a whiz kid, its quite unlikely that he may be one. Undergrads do this in a lab and it rarely involves any programming from your side. You just need to know how to operate the tools.

Here Prof.Jon Giffin of Georgia Tech demonstrates how hackers can go war-driving and hack into wireless connections. The process of war driving is described too.

War Driving with Prof.Jon Giffin

Prof. Giffin teaches subjects like Network Security, Introduction to Information Security and is currently teaching Software Security this semester. His assistant in the video is also a network security expert. The software they are using is KisMAC.

I had a few (naive & idiotic) questions myself. My folks at Bangalore have a broadband connection and a desktop so I dont know. If you need a wireless router you install it yourself or can you request BSNL to do it for you? Please leave the answer in the comments. Free Pass on pointing out how much of a dud I am ;-)

PS: Disclaimer - I'm not saying that Peerbhoy went war-driving, cops are still investigating how he did it and I have no clue as to what he could have done. My intention is to show you that anybody armed with (open-source or commercially available) tools can do it.

Just google how to Secure your Wi-Fi connections and pick your choice.

How will Daddy Federar fare?

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:35:22 GMT

I was surprised to read this article on rediff as to how fatherhood affects tennis greats. Here is the article:

Baby may disturb Federer's major dreams

Is it just something to do with non-team sports because the daddies of cricket seem to be doing just fine. Both kids of Michael Schumakher were born after his winning spree began. His first kid was born in 97 and the second in 99. Schumi didnt win these years, but I doubt it has anything to do with him becoming a father.

Best Bollywood

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:06:44 GMT

I reiterate what I told to ashwinne . Koreans are making the best Bollywood movies, way better than Bollywood.
The fans of the movie 'My Sassy Girl' will probably like Windstruck more than the ones who haven't seen it.

Nothing But the Truth

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:56:32 GMT

This film tries to offer fictionalised accounts of what could have happened in the Plame Affair. Its about a journalist who publishes a story and wins a Pulitzer for it, but looses everything including her freedom in the process because she reveals the identity of a CIA agent but doesn't reveal her source.

The movie has impressive performances by Kate Beckinsale and Vera Farmiga. Matt Dillon continues to be in 'Crash' form. But everytime Friends star David Schwimmer the scenes get boring. I suppose its not possible to make a movie with 2 women protogonists without them crying about their kids in many scenes!! Other than this one thing this movie pretty gender neutral and the amount of melodrama is still less. But when it is finally revealed who the source is you might go WTF, but it still explains why Kate's character fights so much even putting her marriage and freedom at risk.

GenderAnalyzer

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:10:52 GMT

We guess http://pratibimbha.livejournal.com is written by a man (59%), however it's quite gender neutral.

via yathin

http://genderanalyzer.com/?url=pratibimbha.livejournal.com