Sunday, November 27, 2005

Looking for Interns/Co-ops in Chicago

If you or anyone you know (in Chicago) is looking for an Internship/Co-op position do send me a message with their contact details. My group is looking for Master's/Bachelor's students who can program well in C/C++. Also they should know the basics of Operating Systems and have a good working knowledge in Unix (preferably students of Computer Science/Engg or Electrical Engg.) This requirement is immediate, so if you know of someone, please send me their details. Thanks!

Monday, November 21, 2005

Rokr...Apple...Sabotage???

While I was checking out my former colleague's blog, I found out about a news link to the story behind the ROKR phone. Did Apple sabotage it? <Read More>.

This wired article is more insightful than the previous link.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Movies + Technology

My Wife's Murder (Hindi): Stars Anil Kapoor, Nandana Sen (from the Hindi movie Black), Boman Irani and the Pop singer (former) Suchitra Krishnamurthy. Reasonably thrilling and a decent movie, although it loses focus in between. Boman Irani has acted well in this movie. An alright watch.

Crash (English): Stars Brendan Fraser, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon among several others. I really liked the concept of the movie. The movie revolves around a crash and how that intertwines with the lives of the people involved in it. It addresses a lot of racism that happens in the day-to-day lives of the people involved in the crash. The movie's been directed very well, it reminds me of the spanish movie Amores Perres, which also has a similar concept. The hindi picture Yuva (Ayudha Ezhuthu in Tamil) was rumored to have been lifted from this spanish film.

Majaa (Tamil): Stars Vikram, Asin, Pasupathy, Mannivannan and Vadivel. An alright watch, the movie doesnt have a solid story nor good music - both are just average and to a certain extent predictable and so-so. Begins ok, but then drags a lot.

Back to my favorite stuff, Technology:

Xbox 360 is getting released this Tuesday in the US. It's got a solid spec. and a good amount of expectation from a lot of gamers, let's see how it fares. Hopefully the jumpstart that it's got ahead of PS3 gives it an edge. And I was so glad to find out the other day that Halo 3 is going to be released sometime next year (most likely along with PS3's release to compete with it).

DVR:
Got a DVR along with my TV and I truly feel that this is one of the best inventions in Electronics in the past decade. This unshackles you from the TV schedule and lets you record programs, at your will, that you might not usually watch because of the timings. Plus you dont have to watch the ads, you can forward them at the press of a button. And you dont have to wake up early on a weekend to watch your favorite shows. I think this will become a household item pretty soon.

Wireless Keyboard & Mouse:
I am typing this post from my wireless keyboard and using my Tv as a monitor. How's that for technological advancement?!

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Garam Masala

I went to the theater yesterday night after a while (actually seeing a desi movie after a while). Saw Garam Masala, an outstanding comedy picture. It stars Akshay, John Abraham, Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav, among others, and directed by Priyadarshan. Akshay and Paresh's acting is excellent and of course, nothing can beat Paresh's timing and dialogue delivery. I was laughing throughout the movie (so was most of the people in the theater), it's an out-and-out comedy, so dont look for a story in it. After seeing this I feel like watching Hera Pheri again to find out if this one is better than that (it's that good). John Abraham can do better. I felt that Akshay had the movie completely to himself and with Paresh's support it was a wholesome entertainer. The music is by Pritam and the songs are all peppy and disco type. I missed this movie in my previous post, but this one should be on the top. All of the songs are good with excellent picturisation.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Hot new Hindi music releases!

Home Delivery: The title song (Home Delivery) sung by Boman Irani and company which has a cool video to go with it is pretty cool. The Happy Diwali song (although not too fresh), is alright to listen to. Same with the Remix version of this song.

Neal N Nikki: Was eagerly awaiting this release, after I read that this was being directed (MD) by Salim-Sulaiman(these guys did Kaal and several Indi-Pop songs including Viva, Asmaan, Style Bhai). But after listening to it a few times, didnt like all of the songs. Just a couple of them: Halle Re is good, and so is Neal N Nikki - Naughty Mix - although the lyrics in this song is complete crap.

Shaadi No.1: Ayashi Ayashi is a cool song. Really liked the beats in that song.

Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena: Most of the songs are good disco numbers. The latest trend in bollywood seems to be remix as part of soundtracks(it's become more popular with Pritam's songs).

Dil Jo Bhi Kahey: SEL's latest, includes some good songs, including the title song and C'est La vie(has some fresh music). Others in the album are good as well.

Aashiq Banaya Aapne: Himesh's come a long way. His recent ones are more peppy and has better beats. His earlier ones used to be the same old stuff that others used to make. He's now making a very noticeable distinction.

Chocolate: Pritam's done some excellent compositions in this album. Khalish is a good listen with it's rock music base. Halka Halka Sa and the remix version is also good. And a good rendition of the all-famous Zahreeli Raatein. Mummy is a good song as well, although the lyrics doesnt make it all that good. Bheegi bheegi is a likeable song too.