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 Sunday, April 08, 2007
Indian Cricket at its worst
 In any sport win or loss is normal part and parcel of it. The matter is not that why India lost against Bangaladesh or Sri Lanka in the World Cup 2007, the matter is totally different. Its the matter of player's attitude and the management of BCCI. I was trying to resist myself from writing this article but could not stop myself.
 Biggest annoyance I feel is that politicians like pawar lead the cricket board of India. Because of his private rivalry with Dalmiya he slashed all the supporters who where with Dalmiya. Saurav was thrown out of team and removed from captainship as he was Dalmiya's favourite. One question that keeps on hitting my mind is what knowledge does Pawar has of cricket. Second wierd thing about board is the zonal selection team. Players are selected based on the region they belong to instead of their ability. We have seen players selected based on selector's and capatain's biases. Laxman was dropped from world cup squad when he was in form, whereas Sehwag was selected irrespective of his wierd form.
When India was out of the race for world cup Chappel said that what could he have done if players did not play. He was right but then he should not take any credit for any win india has registered his being coach.
All board people call up all the old captains and other cricket people to do a postmortem of Indian cricket. They sit for two days. As usual Chappel gives a wonderful presentation (for which he is famous), pawar is again impressed irrespective of the bad performance of the team. Pawar accused media in the loss of Indian team. How is media responsible for it, Was media playing cricket for India? :D.
Indian cricket should learn that we should stop fighting amongst ourselves then only we can play with other teams. In our team Sachin, Yuvraj like players think themselves to be God. Dravid seems to be a person never in control. I never see India dominating any team. There is no positive attitude in team. Players play with their insecurites. Gangualy once he returned was under presssure to perform hence he wasted many balls to just score runs. Sachin on the other hand does not make a single run in two crucial matches and gives interivew to media which shows that there is no unity in our team.
BCCI instead of counting money should sort out these differences and should take measures which TRULY improve indian cricket, instead of wierd rules passed by the board. people have short memory, and they will forget this loss in World Cup and the story will again continue. Now Ravi Shastri is made the manager. I see that once india looses more series he too would be blamed and thrown our of the team.
 We should watch Australia and South African Circket team. The commitment they show on field and the unity they have. The commitment of captain the the positive attitude of whole team is so contagious. Chappel rightly said "if we want to become like Australian cricket team we should not play like Zimbabve".
To help solve this problem Zee group came up with a plan to start a league which will help Indian Cricket team. But the insecure BCCI rejected to support this league.
Lets wait and watch what happens in days to come.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Windows Vista - OS with best security vulnerability profile
 As you can see in the article by Ryan and the chart from the report clearly shows that the new operating system has a much better security vulnerability profile than its predecessor and several other modern workstation opearting systems including Red Hat, Ubuntu, Novel and Apple products. This reminds of of people saying that Linux and Apple OS are more secure than Windows OS. What do you say Linux and Apple Users?
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Google's Book Search
I just came across an article by Thomas C. Rubin. Its titled Association of American Publishers. It has a mention about Google's Book Search Projects. In this project Google is making copy of each book ever published. it is simply scanning each book irrespective of its copyright status, Which clearly shows that google has no respect for copyright. I would like to quote some lines from the article [ Google says that it doesn’t currently intend to place ads next to book
search results, Google’s broader business model is straightforward –
attract as many users as possible to its site by providing what it
considers to be “free” content, then monetize that content by selling
ads. I think Pat Schroeder put it best when she said Google has “a hell of a
business model – they’re going to take everything you create, for free,
and sell advertising around it".] What do you think about this?
Google's new theme
I came across a blogpost where the information is given regarding google's new themes for personalized homepage. I really can't understand what is the link between "search" and giving "theme" to the search site. Do you go to a search site to see how good it looks. You only care that you get what you find. Personally I am not at all impressed with this theme thing. Google should now try to immitate something else. Maybe they can launch their own MP3 player :D There are even more stupid people who are searching for easter eggs in such themes. Com'on grow up. 
Software Piracy is Software STEALING
 I would like to start this article by asking "Will you steal a pizza from a shop?". You must be wondering what kind of question is that and why would anyone steal a Pizza from a shop. I know most of us pay for food we eat or fuel we refill in our vehicle. Then why many of the software users don't buy the software and use it illegally. Whenever I ask a person who is using pirated software. Most of the time I get the same stupid answer "The software company should reduce the price of the sofware".
I would also like to ask "Do you ask the person at the fuel station to reduce the price of the fuel or do you ask the waiter at the eating joint to reduce the price of the dish you ordered. I know you would be embarrased to do so. Then how can you use a pirated software.
Knowingly or unknowlingly software piracy has spread its root in our markets. Actually the funny part is many people are still ignorant that software needs to be purchased. Others who are aware knowingly use pirated software.
A company spends lots of money to develop a software, the software professionls spend so much time on software development. Just because software is a logical item it does not mean that it can be used without paying for it.
Remember Software piracy is stealing and stealing is crime. If you are using a pirated software please purchase it. If you feel the price of a particular software is high, please stop using it but don't justify "piracy" with high price.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Why I like Windows Vista?
 I still remember the time I saw Microsoft Windows95 for the first time, I thought it really looks cool. Then came Windows Xp which was even cooler, it made windows experience really richer. I could only say one word for Windows Vista "WoW". No, its not just another version of windows with minor changes, its a big leap in technology and surely in time to come we will feel how important this leap is.
Here I would like to share what I like about windows Vista, since I have been using Windows Vista Ultimate the information below is based on it. First thing you will notice about Vista is the new look. The user interface is so simple to use. Icons are more visually appealing and more realistic. Icons are now scalable in size up to 256x256.
 Second most important feature is Instant Search, Search box is given in the start menu, Click on the start button and no need to click in search box as soon as you start typing, windows will start searching and you can easily search for the programs, documents, e-mail, songs you are looking. Generally you will find the search Text box On the Top right corner of other window.
With tools like Windows Defender and User Account Control (UAC) You can be assured that your PC is safe. Self-Healing technology keeps your system running and provides automatic fixes.Surfing Web became more secure with Internet Explorer7. The mutiple tab browsing provides richer web experience.
Defragmentation helps your PC to give its best performanace. Automatic disk defragmentation runs in background and automatically defragments the hard disk as need arises. This new defragmenter no longer needs to completes its work in single session. It can defrag incrementally, whenever your computer is idle. Really a cool feature.
Windows ReadyBoost is one feature which surely is a great concept. You can use nonvolatile flash memory devices like USB Drives, Flash Cards etc to improve performance without having to add addtional memory. The flash memory device serves as an additional memory.
The classic Alt+Tab not only allows you to switch between applications but also see the preview of each windows. One really cool feature of Vista is the Flip 3D effect. When you press [Windows Key]+Tab Key, you will see all the windows cascaded in 3D as shown in the image.
 Windows Sidebar is a new panel on the right-hand side of the screen where you can put your gadgets. Gadgets are small applets designed for specific tasks. The standard that comes with Vista are Calculator, Clock, CPU Meter, Currency Conversion, Notes, Weather Watcher etc.
Following applications have been enchanced to serve you better:
Windows Mail, Windows Calender, Windows Contacts, Windows Meeting Space, Sound Recorder, Snipping Tool, Windows Photo Gallery (You can now see a very big preview of your photo in the explorer window itself), Windows Media Player.
Media Center has been upgraded significantly, including the changes in the user interface.
 Like other Microsoft Products Windows Vista is available in various International languages such as French, Arabic etc.
Windows Easy Transfer features helps you easily migrate from your current Windows 2000 or Windows Xp system to Windows Vista. Windows Easy Transfer will automatically transfer things like User Accounts, Files and Folders, Email message, settings and contact, photos, music, Windows Settings, program data files and settings and internet settings. All this can be done through a Easy Transfer Cable.
If you are ready to switch to Windows Vista the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor can surely help you.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
ICC Cricket World Cup 2007
The opening ceremony for the next ICC Cricket World Cup will be on March 11 2007 i.e. in about 18+ hours from now. This event is hosted by West Indies for the first time. There will be total of 51 matches played in this tournament. The Greenfield Stadium, Trelawny, Jamaica will host the Opening Ceremony. The Official Song for this World Cup is "The Game of Love and Unity" by Jamaican-born Shaggy, Barbadian entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian Faye-Ann Lyons.
 Contest is between 16 nations divided into four groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group will compete in "Super 8" format from which the semi-finalists will be selected. The Winner of Final will get the Title of "World Cup Cricket Champion" along with the beautiful cup.
Being a Mega event it would be covered by the world media. This event will be telecasted in over 200 countries and expected number of viewers are estimated to be more than two billion. This event is also expected to generate more than 100,000 unique visitors to West Indies who will travel specially to watch the tournament.
 The Mascot of the event is an orange raccoon-like creature named "Mello". The official website of this event is http://www.cricketworldcup.com/
I am really excited about this tournament and really looking forward to see how all the teams perform. Day matches will be held from 9:30 to 17:15 West Indies time. According to Indian Standard Time (IST) the matches will start at around 20:00 and will be telecasted live on SET MAX.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Is Democracy a Hypocrisy?
Democracy or Dictatorship? Most of you will choose democracy assuming that it is safe and takes care of our rights. You are absolutely right. We get to choose our own leader and can consider ourself safe compared to a dictator's rule.
Is Democracy a different kind of Dictatorship, maybe mild one. Lets see what comes along with democracy. We get to choose our leader, but do we have got any control after that. I have seen so many money and power scams happening, which means power surely corrupts. There are many leaders who have done great for the society, but there are many who have taken advantage of their position for their personal benefits.
In Dictatorship a certain faction of public might be unhappy but when we see in democracy most of the people group seems unhappy or keeps willing something else from what it has, neither people remain happy nor the leaders. Ofcourse the public and leader have their freedom to live their own life but under the rules which are framed by a set of people sitting on top. This freedom is limited freedom.
Corruption is also one of the evils which enters democracy and starts eating the base which makes a common man suffer, so is Democracy beneficial or maybe there should be something else...
I was reading today's morning paper and the quote of the day caught my attention which I am putting it down here:
"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burden unncessarily laid upon them by their Government" - (Quote by William H. Borah)
Monday, February 12, 2007
Life at the Traffic Signal
 Last week I went to see "Traffic Signal" along with my friend Rajesh. Genuinely I wasn't much interested to watch this movie, but since the promos looked promising I though lets check it out. When we entered the cinema hall we found only 5-6 people sitting, though people started coming once movie started rolling, but throughout the movie there was enough space in the theatre so that we can move around to change the seats.
This movie is the last part of Madhur Bhandarkar's trilogy after Page3 and Corporate. Main Cast included Kunal Khemu, Konkana Sen Sharma and Neetu Chandra. If you haven't heard these names don't worry they are not the top stars of Indian Cinema but surely one of the best actors.
This movie is about one of the Traffic Signal in Mumbai City. The two minute stop by a vehicle at this traffic signal becomes the livelihood of many lives living there which includes beggars (kids and adults), eunuchs, prostitues, tricksters and people selling flowers and clothes. These people have to pay "weekly protection fee" (hafta in hindi) to the manager of this area called Silsila (his father named him silsila because he liked the movie by the same name). Silsila's role is played by Kunal Khemu.
Silsila collects weekly hafta and gives to midlevel don Jaffar who reports to big don Haji Bhaijan who reports to the big don (not shown in the movie).
A young girl Rani ( played by Neetu Chandra) comes to Mumbai along with her sister and starts selling clothes there. She also has to start paying the hafta to Silsila, slowly both fall in love with each other.
Boss of Haji Bhaijan gets an assasin order of an honest civil engineer who is not approving the extension of the flyover for a contractor. Unknowinlgy Silsila becomes part of the plot where Haji Bhaijan get the honest engineer killed. Later the residents of traffic signal come to know that the engineer was the person who was against the extension of flyover which eventually will result of removal traffic signal affecting the livelihood of people residing there.
Silsila reports to police that he was the person who was unknowingly involved in the killing of Engineer, he also gives the names of the people involved.
Movie reflects on the people who are still living below poverty line and have to go through so much labor and pain to earn their livings. It also shows how some of the rich people and some corrupt politicians try to bend the rule for their own advantage.
On the scale of 5, I would give 4 to Traffic Signal. Most important of all, this movie was not copied from any of the hollywood movie which has become a trend in Indian cinema.
Hats off to Madhur Bhandarkar for making such a wonderful movie. I would recommend you to watch this movie atleast once.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Happiness Lost and Found
We all live a lifestyle. We like to eat our favourite cheese burger at favourite fast food outlet. We wear the best clothes which we can find. We like to read the best books. We keep on changing channels on our television. we like to drive in the best car that is available. You might identify with most of these above, if not you are really happy :)
what is happiness?
Is our lifestyle an very important part of our life and does it keeps us happy.Yes we are addicted with our lifestyle, but we can definately live without it. Then what is happiness, if it does not lie in material items.
It is a state of mind, which we feel when we see or feel what we like. What we like depends on the atmosphere we were brought up in and what was taught to us (or more importantly what we learnt). For me cricket is my favourite game, for some it might be the most boring thing on earth. so likes and dislikes varies from person to person and so does happiness. happiness cannot be measured in any units, we can feel it.
Most important rule is to find happiness in the smallest things like the smile of your kid, love of your mother/girlfriend/wife, try to live each and every moment of your life, as every moment of your life is important.
Technology is very important part of our life and will remain, but we need to spend atleast 30 mintues with self to search within us and we will find all answers we have been looking for.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Education System
So here is my second blog post. Its after such a long time, almost two months later.
I would like to write about education system here in India. When I was in school, I studied all the subjects like maths,science, physics, chemistry etc.. etc... Except few topics like maths, english and some others, rest of the topics I found useless which never became useful in my daily life (I doubt that they became useful to others).
No one taught human behaviour in school. Nothing was career oriented. I never cared as I always saw my career with computers, but there were many students who never thought about their future and kept on learning what was taught to them.
Another thing that I hate is teachers who become teachers for the sake of earning. They are not worried about the well being of school children. They will ask the class students to come for extra classes to their house for which they charge extra.Their job is to teach students in the class itself and not to call students seperatly. Education has lost its value and no one is concerned about it.
I request the people who design the education system that please think about the kids future have the curriculum designed accordingly. Teachers should strictly be prohibited from taking extra classes for the students whom they teach in school.
Parents should take a stand and strictly oppose this extra classes policy and should regularly monitor what the teacher is teaching to their kids.
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