Monday, November 27, 2006

10 year old director!

This 10 year old movie director seems to have more maturity and cinematic sense than any other director we have in Indian cinema today. The so-called big-shot directors should learn something from this kid and direct more sensible movies. Movies that inspire the society to do good, to make this world a better place to live, instead of showing crazy science fiction, mindless violence, and extramarital affairs.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Mmmm! Coffee

Coffee is one of my favorite drinks. I love the smell of it in coffee shops and in the coffee aisle in grocery shops. I rarely start a day without one. South Indians are big fans of rich home brewed coffee. Some are passionate about their coffee to the extent that they would shop for the perfect coffee beans every month that would be roasted at home to perfection and ground to a specific granularity. The specifications extend further to the consistency to which the coffee should be brewed and the amount of milk and sugar that is added to achieve the taste that they approve and enjoy. Author RK Narayan has written an extremely interesting essay on coffee in his collection of essays called Next Sunday.


As much as I love coffee, I am not a connoisseur of coffee. I just buy my coffee from my local grocery shop and am even ready to experiment with various types of coffee. While I do make plain old coffee at home regularly, I like to make an occasional trip to the coffee shop for the fancy concoctions they offer. One of the attractions of is the cute latte art that the baristi create in the cups. I wondered how they make these beautiful images with coffee and milk. I found this site called Coffee Geek that explains the techniques of this art. You can read more articles on latte art on this site.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

The Browser Rivals

IE and Firefox are rivals in the world of browsers. Increasing number of users taking to Firefox shook IE. It forced Microsoft to bring a new version IE7 with the tabbed browsing feature and the built-in Search bar that became popular with Firefox. IE7 released on 18th October 2006. Mozilla did not want to stay far behind and released Firefox 2 shortly after, on 24th October 2006.

It is interesting to note how Microsoft congratulated Mozilla on the release of Firefox2. Check out this cake that they sent to the Firefox team.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Welcome Firefox 2!

On 24th October 2006, Mozilla released Firefox 2. As the Firefox team says:

Firefox 2's theme and user interface have been updated to improve usability without altering the familiarity of the browsing experience.

The interface has not changed much, but there are significant changes in its functionality. The tabbed browsing feature now has some improved and appreciable features.

Better use of the tabbed browsing feature: All links that opened in a new window will now open by default in a new tab. Now that should help people get better used to the tabbed browsing mechanism.

Better navigation: While surfing the net we open several webpages on several tabs by navigating through various links. For instance, when searching on Google for some information, we open several result pages in various tabs. And maybe more web pages from the links in those result pages. In the previous versions of Firefox, closing a tab activated the tab before it. In Firefox 2 closing a tab, takes you back to the web page on which you clicked the link to this closed web page. I love this feature. I can now quickly trace how I reached a particular web page. Also, I can get back to the source web page and browse other links on the page.

Better search toolbar: Now as you type your search phrase in the Google toolbar on the browser, it shows you a list of suggestions in a drop-down list. Select the phrase that best describes what you are searching for and hit Enter to get the results. This is a great solution for people who felt quizzed by search techniques and tried hard to figure out how best to get good search results.

Built-in spellcheck: Firefox 2 now has a built-in spellcheck. When you use a web form, it marks the incorrect spellings with a red line as you type, just as in Microsoft Word. This is a useful feature not just for e-mails and blogs, but also when you type comments, make a guest book entry, or best when filling up an online job application.

I say, I am pretty impressed with the improvements in Firefox 2. This upgrade is not about giving fancy facelifts to the browser. It is really about making browsing more easy and more pleasurable.

Firefox 2
Download Firefox2

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Of Imitations and Remakes

We are all familiar with the wonder of the world, our own Taj Mahal. It is the most beautiful piece of architectural wonder I've ever laid my eyes on. It has an amazingly calming and soothing effect on the eyes and the mind. I doubt if anything in marble looked as magnificent as the Taj. Azam Shah, son of Auragzeb, vied to build for his mother, another Taj Mahal as a masoleum. Though the monument imitates very well the looks and structure of Taj Mahal, it is not even half as magnificent. This is the Bibi ka Maqbara, also known as the mini Taj or the poor man's Taj Mahal. It is located in the city of Aurangabad, in Maharashtra, India.

The Taj Mahal(left) and Bibi ka Maqbara(right)


I was reminded of this architectural imitation Taj Mahal, or should I call it a remake of the Taj Mahal, with the recent spree of remake films rolling out of Bollywood: Don, Umrao Jaan, and the soon to come Sholay. The originals are the hallmark of commercial Indian cinema. The don of Indian cinema Amitabh Bachchan's, fiery performance was what gave life and spice to films like Don. As for Sholay, it is probably a legendary film among all commercial cinema. We have grown up admiring these films and being as mesmerized by Amitabh Bachchan's power packed performance as with the beauty of the Taj Mahal. We know it is impossible to have another Amitabh Bachchan as it is to have another Taj Mahal. We therefore should accept these remakes as imitations that can never even come close resembling the originals. Shahrukh Khan may be called King Khan, but it would be unreasonable to expect him to match up to the Shehenshah Amitabh Bachchan. I personally feel that such remake films are a wastage of time, money, and energy.