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Behind Enemy Lines

2011-07-20T09:36:00.002+05:30

Behind Enemy Lines, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

A picture taken a very long time ago during the initial days of the Coffee Central madness when myself and my friends used to hang out for more than half the day playing chess and other games. Looks like I have to get back to taking pictures with my Film SLR. After getting my DSLR I've absolutely forgotten that I have another gem of a camera :(

Today also happens to be my birthday :) So yet another day in the life of martian hoping for a fun day :)

Where are my blog readers?

2011-07-16T23:01:00.001+05:30

Me: Well even though I haven't blogged that regularly I still seem to find a number of visitors visiting my blog all thanks to Google. Beyond that there hardly seem to be any regular visitors!

Myself: Once upon a time your blog had less number of visitors but many regulars who read everything you posted and offered their critics and comments.

Me: I think I finally found the reason. A blog can be considered read worthy only if it has anything new to read unless of course my blog post is a copy of the Bible. :)

Myself: So looks like you found your solution. New content is a must.

Introspection is the key to all answers :)

P.S: Watched Harry Potter 7 and looks like the saga has finally come to an end. We will all miss Hermione Granger thats for sure :D

Eating Ramen with chopsticks

2011-06-04T18:48:00.000+05:30

Long ago I bought two sets of plastic chopsticks. I have no idea why I bought them that time, but I did. Today after watching 3 hours of Japanese cuisine and Japanese food and culture I also decided to try and use a chopstick. To use that I needed some noodles or ramen as they are called in Japan. Went and got some Top Ramen from the near by local shop and two eggs. Well what I finally made out of these two wasn't a total disaster but tasted really bland though. Making the ramen wasn't difficult since all I had to do was boiling and stirring. The fun part started while eating. I decided to use a chopstick the ones which I bought ages ago. But in my life I've never used a chopstick before. So I take my plate sit in front of youtube and search for a video for using chopsticks. I did learn the basics of holding the chopsticks properly but eating with it was a totally painful experience. By the time I finished eating the ramen my hands were totally numb. Guess I need to use the chopstick more often. Next task eating rice with chopsticks.

Deactivated my facebook account :)

2011-05-30T07:08:00.000+05:30

After much thought and minimum effort I have deactivated my facebook account. Lets see how long it stays deactivated :D. People contact me by mail or mobile.

There's no certainty — only opportunity.
- V For Vendetta

What happened to the blogs

2011-05-29T11:59:00.000+05:30

Started blogging when I was in college and then eventually I have seen myself shifting from blogging to twitter, facebook etc. What happened, why this sudden change, why does everyone these days prefer the short version of everything? IPL seems more popular than the original format, twitter even with its 140 word limit seem like a expansive canvas to express and share your ideas. Facebook status messages is something thats still something I haven't understood. I remember the number of times I've promised myself to update the blog regularly. The only blogs which I see being updated regularly are tech blogs. Looks like personal blogging is on the decline taken over by the likes of twitter and facebook. Guess I have to just keep reminding myself that I still have a blog.

Posting from the droid

2011-02-23T10:39:00.001+05:30

Hey I can now blog from my android phone via the new Blogger app woo hoo :)

Peepli Live - The circus of life

2010-12-17T12:46:00.004+05:30

I loved this movie. The news we get from the media these days are mostly half truth wrapped in media masala which is what the people prefer. So I can't go about blaming media for doing what they do. But this movie is definitely a slap in their faces for sure. In this whole media circus we should not forget the real issue which is that the number of farmers in India are decreasing. Should I take up farming instead of being a software engineer? These questions trouble me. Here are a few more questions which popped up in my mind. The farmers produce a lot of things which finally ends up in our homes but the price of these produce keeps increasing in the whole logistics business. So the producer gets the least whereas the middlemen enjoy more by adding the price of the logistics to the products. As the consumer we pay a lot more than it was originally bought from the farmers. As you can see as we look at the bigger picture things get a lot more confusing. The best thing about this system is that we really can't blame anyone for anything, even though we end up blaming someone.

I would like to congratulate the director Anusha Rizvi for this wonderful creation. Guess her journalist experience helped in filming this movie. A movie with some meaning at last even though the meaning is once again covered in too much media. I think Naseeruddin Shah's role was a wasted effort. The highlight of the movie was the role of two person one was Rakesh not because it is after my name, but amongst all this he felt sorry for the farmer Hori. The other character was the farmer Hori the actual victim in the movie. The screenplay is excellent and great camera work capturing the circus of life. I would rate this movie a 4/5, it lost a point for the meaning being too subdued. Other than that it is a wonderful movie.

Photography & more

2010-11-07T20:49:00.002+05:30

Portrait at Mint Street, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Yes I have been taking lots of photographs during the past two years but I have hardly shared those pictures with anyone. Only now I got the time to upload them to flickr/facebook. So expect more pictures from me. I also got opportunity to take photos during few of my friends and relatives marriage. It was fun when I did do those photo shoots. But one thing I did learn is that I am not that great while shooting events where things move quickly. If you lose a moment it ain't coming back. So I mostly miss many of the good shots which I have seen in other photographers portfolios. But I did manage a few candid ones though. My learning in photography continues ... :)

The above picture was taken more than a year ago during one of the many Chennai Photowalk I did attend. This one was at Mint Street. In my post processing of the picture first converted the picture to Black & White using Channel Mixer. Then increased the contrast. Then added a vignette to give more focus to the portrait of the rickshawala.

Winamp for Android Beta

2010-10-24T11:03:00.007+05:30

I'm a really big fan of Winamp, primarily because of the lite version which was the best thing when I had just 256MB of RAM in my system and it still used very little of that. Now winamp has jumped on the android ship. I think by the time I actually buy my android device they would have released the final stable version. :p With this post I'm going to start posting about all the apps which I will be installing on my android phone as soon as I get one. Some of the highlights of this app

Wireless desktop sync* (requires Winamp 5.59 Beta)
Scrobbling via Last.fm app (something I was really hoping for)

Currently available for Android Version 2.1 and above.

Swype for Symbian

2010-09-01T22:01:00.005+05:30

Touted to be the next best input method (which I'm not entirely convinced yet) finally comes to Symbian S60 platform. In case you are still wondering what swype is? then please visit the swype website. It's available via Nokia betalabs. Also it's available only for Symbian S60 5th edition handsets (obviously!). I have installed it in a Nokia 5230 and seems to work pretty well. But this app definitely would be easier to use on capacitive touchscreens. I have been using it for quite a while now (30 mins) and it certainly needs some getting used to. Often while typing I got confused what I was typing especially for bigger words since I kept forgetting the key positions. Other than that it was fast. But I still can't think of it being better than the T9 dictionary mode from the old Nokia or the normal qwerty keyboard. Also this is much better to use in portrait mode than in landscape mode.

Pushpanjali

2010-07-13T21:53:00.002+05:30

Pushpanjali, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Since the time I last posted one of my pic, I have taken thousands of photos. But only a few of them are really good. This is one of them. This picture was taken at the Saibaba temple in Neelankarai, ECR road. And I haven't processed this photo much either. The colours are exactly as they came out of the camera. I might have adjusted the brightness and contrast thats all. Seriously one thing that I have learnt after taking these photos is that, you are to have your camera everywhere you go. Else you will miss these moments :)

Browsershots

2010-07-13T18:16:00.004+05:30

Today after I changed the template of my blog I wanted to see how the blog looks in different monitor resolutions since my monitor's native resolution is 1920 x 1080 :). I was actually going to ask one of my friend to see in his system which has a 1024 x 768 resolution. Then before doing that I thought of checking in google. I searched for quite some and got to browsershots.org. What the site does is, it takes screenshots of your website in different browsers. Not only that you also have five other different parameters which you can vary like the monitor resolution, colour depth, javascript, java and flash. Not only that you also get a URL where the images of your website is stored. You can check out my blog's new design in different browsers.

Give it a try :)

F5 - Time for a refresh

2010-07-13T11:13:00.004+05:30

It's been sometime since I changed my blogger template. So I have changed it. But it's not my custom design or anything. Just the one available in blogger as a template. I think I will be a little more regular in blogging. I think I have said the previous statement time and again, haven't I? The various reasons keeping me away from blogging in recent days are Office, Facebook, Google Reader, Movies, Travel and Photo editing. Hope I can do a little bit of blogging along with the above mentioned things... :)

1 4 6 2 3 5

2010-05-03T21:32:00.000+05:30

A little secret. :)

Tomoyasu Hotei

2010-04-13T09:39:00.004+05:30

Every now in a while I try listening to some new artists. Some of them are suggested by friends, others by last.fm (a great way to find out new artists) or youtube. The artist I have been listening to for the past one week is Tomoyasu Hotei. It's not ottai its hotei, I know if he were born in Tamilnadu with that name he would've been kalachified(kalachify - to make fun of) like hell. But his style of music is on a entirely different level. So far if someone were to ask me to name a few guitarist, I would have happily named the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Robert Fripp, Tom Morello. But now I would definitely include Tomoyasu Hotei's name in that list.

I listened to one of his song long time ago in one of my favourite movie Kill Bill. But I never knew who the musician was then. After a long time when I heard it again, I definitely wanted to know as to whose work it was. And now I know. Apparently Tomoyasu Hotei is a famous actor as well, has acted as villain in many Japanese movies and TV shows. It's hard find his albums. So been listening to all the live videos uploaded in youtube. Try listening to this song Battle without Honor or Humanity, thats the song which comes in Kill Bill. If you know any artists similar to Tomoyasu Hotei, tell me :).

The Blind Side

2010-04-10T20:49:00.003+05:30

Just saw this movie today, it's truly a wonderful movie. A wonderful movie for the entire family. This movie shows how a little love and affection can change a person's life. The character that really stood out in this one is that of Sandra Bullock.

Time to clean up

2010-04-10T11:00:00.004+05:30

I think I have not been treating my blog properly. I was just reading the google webmaster blog, especially this article, "Using site speed in web search ranking". The impact of the article may or may not be that huge for me. But other websites which are trying to come up in the google page ranking should definitely take notice. What the article tells you is that making a dashing website isn't that great if it takes too long to load in your browser or other browsers.

After reading this I checked my websites performance and its bad. Apparently my blog loads slower than 90% of the websites out there. Thats like just above the bottom. Reason my blog has become too image heavy. It is loading around 1MB of images every time you visit my webpage. So visitors of my website especially those who use the attractive but limited download packages, should be made aware of these things. So I have decided to axe down the number of images hence forth or at least use images which takes lesser time to load. Well the other optimization which some of the tools suggested for my site has to nothing with the content but rather the blogger's own code. Which sadly I can't change.

Lightbulb Sun

2010-04-04T23:05:00.005+05:30

I have heard this song atleast a hundred times in the past two week. But I'm still not able to stop listening to it. I think the songs got me. The song is Lightbulb Sun by Porcupine Tree. Every once in a while I get stuck to a song.

Lyrics

The sun is a light bulb
A candle's a treat
The curtains stay closed now
On my little retreat
And I'll only take medicine
If it's followed by sweets
A sickly pink liquid
That puts me to sleep

My head beats a better way
Tomorrow a better day

And I can watch TV
While I'm wrapped up in bed
And mother makes sure that
I'm watered and fed
My best friend from school will
Come over and stare
At me in my bubble
Of germified air

When I'm asleep the smoke fills me
I feel the heat
My illness leaves me

The sun is a light bulb
A candle's a treat
The curtains stay closed now
On my little retreat
But after a while
The noise from the street
Is making me wish I
Was back on my feet.

Its Spencer Plaza not Tiffany

2010-04-04T00:02:00.003+05:30

Its Spencers not Tiffany, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Well I have roamed in Spencer Plaza many times since I came to Chennai. People who come to Chennai definitely come here since it is still one of the biggest shopping mall in India and you can buy just about anything in here. But it is still the one place where I haven't taken much photos. There hardly isn't much photos of this place inside and outside. I think it is time for me to do a photowalk in and around this place. This photo was taken a long time ago, when I had gone there with aparna, ajit, avijit and niranjan. This particular shot reminds me of Audrey Hepburn's movie Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Hindu needs a better Designer

2010-03-29T23:25:00.005+05:30

I am an avid reader of The Hindu, the reason being it offers news without the extra masala and stuff. Their print medium is the best in the country. It even got a makeover by the Garcia Media in 2007. But it's not about their content I'm worried about. A good newspaper can never run out of stories or readers. But in the world where content is being digitized and brought to you right to your desktop or laptops or Ipads (from April), Hindu is doing a really bad job at maintaining their website. Well the page below is what their current website looks like.

It's been like this for a very long time. They have started a redesign of the website, a beta version of the website. I'm not sure who the designer is of the beta website, but they definitely need a better designer. You can see the picture and decide why. Well the new beta website resembles so much like the guardian.co.uk website. You can see one of the pages below.

Seriously Hindu get yourself a better designer.
A loyal reader.

My New System - II

2010-03-16T00:07:00.003+05:30

OK I thought the first post was long enough as it is, so here is the second part of my rig building process. The next component in question is the Power Supply a.k.a PSU. I never really thought I have to invest in something like a PSU. I didn't quite expect the choice of PSU to be of high importance and now after enough enlightenment from my fellow PC assemblers, I have learned to respect them. The choice of the PSU can either power your system or can blow your rig sky high or it can melt your motherboards beyond recognition.

Power Supply Unit

Corsair VX450W

My New System, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

As I was saying above the PSU is also a very important part of any rig. This wasn't the first choice that came to the mind of TE members when I asked for suggestions for PSU. The first was the Gigabyte Superb 460W and the second was Seasonic S12II-380W. Both these were really good products from what I read from reviews elsewhere. Then after assessing that the Seasonic was better than the Gigabyte product I decided to go with it. But unfortunately the place where I went to seek out this product haven't even of the name Seasonic. One guy even took and gave me a zebronics PSU. Zebronic and Seasonic does sound a lot similar don't they. Again I had to look out for alternatives. Thus I came upon the Corsair VX 450W. Well it was a bit too costly for me though. Nevertheless it is the perfect fit. Best features of this PSU are really quite fan and nylon sleeved wires for better wire management in your cabinet.

Bought this PSU for a princely sum of 4050Rs in Richie Street. Though right now its an overkill for my current config without a GPU. But it definitely is a good choice considering the fact that I would definitely get myself a GPU probably the ATI Radeon HD5770 or the 5750. Here are some reviews to help you along with your decision.

Corsair VX450W: Quiet Value PSU
Corsair VX450W power supply review

Will be continued...

Updates

2010-03-14T12:25:00.005+05:30

Just finished adding the motherboard section in the review of My New System.

Dil To Bachcha Hai Jee

2010-02-08T21:20:00.006+05:30

This is the song which I just can't seem to stop listening. I slept while hearing this and it was playing till morning :). The song lyrics are too good even though I had a hard time understanding most of the words since they don't seem to be the regular hindi words which I usually hear or some other kind of dialect, not really sure which one. But I love this song. Just this song alone has made me want to see this movie. So I'm definitely watching this movie. Also the picturization of the song is also too good plus the voice of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and the laid back nature all makes this a song a super hit. Have to thank Vishal Bharadwaj for this beautiful music.

Enjoy the song Dil To Bachcha Hai. I don't ever remember writing a post for a single song. But I haven't written about that many things either he he ...

My New System

2010-02-06T15:19:00.010+05:30

My New System, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

After nearly 9 years I have finally upgraded my system. Till now I was using a Pentium III computer which has survived well past its shelf life. I was also getting annoyed using that system since I can't watch HD video in it, I can't play some games if I get bored, I can't even multitask since it hangs if I do so. So I decided it is finally time to upgrade my system. And this is it.

I assembled the entire rig on my own. I took liberal advice from my Tech Enclave friends to decide upon the components. Here are the individual components.

Processor

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Quad Core

Image Source: bit-tech.net

I remember myself hating AMD in the early days since it was dead slow and never performed as advertised (experience from using my friends computer). But what I hadn't realized is that AMD put away all those things behind them and have started delivering better goods for cheap and is right now giving Intel a run for its money. Now my CPU i.e. the Athlon II X4 is a Quadcore processor meaning it has four processors built in one chip. This is the first Quadcore in the market that sells at around 5K. The Intel Quadcore is nearly double or more. I was initially planning on a Intel based system but was blown away by the AMD offering. Here are some reviews about this CPU.

AMD Athlon II X4 620: Quad Core For The Masses At $100
AMD Athlon II X4 620 & 630: The First $99 Quad Core CPU
AMD Athlon II X4 620 CPU Review

After reading all that review I'm sure you can imagine why I switched to AMD. I got it for 5200Rs in Chennai. The CPU doesn't get very hot so the stock CPU fan is enough for cooling it. It's totally unnecessary to waste money on CPU coolers for this CPU. The maximum temperature I have seen is around 40 degree but usually runs at around 32-34 degrees.

Motherboard

Asus M4A785TD-V EVO

Image Source: unitycorp.co.jp

Choosing the motherboard was the toughest decision I took while building my rig. For starters I had absolutely no idea about the various technologies involved. The brands, features it was mind numbing. So after hearing the first two or three suggestions from the TE gang, I started exploring those motherboards and their features. Almost all suggested the Gigabyte board, Gigabyte 785GMT-UD2H. This is a micro ATX board meaning a smaller sized board. I had decided to go with this board. When I reached Richie Street I was not able to find this board. Since I was at that time impatient I decided to go with an alternative having the exact same features. Thus I bought the Asus M4A785TD-V EVO. Well the name Asus is not new in the motherboard, infact it is among the top contenders in the market. The highlights of the board are Full ATX board supporting AM3 CPUs , DDR3, IGP (ATI HD4200), 128MB of DDR3 sideport memory, two PCI-e 2.0 slots lots of USB slots and lots more. The real plus point is that I can fit bigger GPUs in the future when I buy one. :)

This board is quite heavy and it fills your Cabinet, so make sure you buy a bigger cabinet for this one. This is also the costliest component in my Rig excluding my monitor of course. It cost me 6600Rs.

bit-tech.net Review - Asus M4A785TD-V Evo review
Overclock3D :: Review :: Asus M4A785TD-V EVO 785G ATX Preview

Read the second part of my rig building process

Trisha Mobile Wallpapers

2010-02-06T13:31:00.007+05:30

Its hard to come by wallpapers for my E51. So I have started downloading photos and making wallpapers by cropping them and editing to suit the looks. This one is actually a picture of Trisha from her upcoming movie Vinnaithandi Varuvaya. You can use this wallpaper for other Mobiles with 240 x 320 resolution too.

Good SAM

2010-02-06T12:23:00.003+05:30

Good|SAM: a short film by Anthony Pierce and Hunter Richards from Hunter H. Richards on Vimeo.

Voted Best short at the 2008 Salem Film Festival in the NW Shorts Category, winner if the The Northwest Emerging Artist Award. Good|SAM takes us to the long forgotten place of childhood innocence. This film reminds us that the ability to rise above circumstance is simply a matter of perspective.

Written and Directed by Anthony Pierce
Cinematography by Hunter Richards
www.HunterHRichards.com
Produced by Minimalist Films

Features an Original Score by Andrew Michael Kangas & Bloodworth

A really beautiful short film. I know For the last two months I haven't blogged at all. So here I am back from the so called busy life.

Pyaar Impossible

2009-11-24T01:49:00.005+05:30

I am a big time fan of movie posters, that anyone could guess seeing my many posts on movie posters. They are the first thing which either attracts/repels you to/from the movie. So far I had been posting all international movie poster. Well I guess its time to showcase some of the local talents here as well.

This poster to certain extent represents the movie's theme. We have a geeky looking Uday Chopra and an apparently ravishing Priyanka Chopra and there is this distance between the two characters, probably to suggest the difference in nature of the two characters. This movie probably takes place abroad which we can assume from the skyscrapers in the background. The butterfly and the flowers are just extras and doesn't add any meaning to the poster. I think this is my first movie poster review :).

YAY!

The poster doesn't seem to inspire me to go see the movie if it ever releases in Chennai ;). Let the movie release then we will come to know.

Burn It To the Ground

2009-11-19T10:16:00.001+05:30

Well this is the song I sometimes hear when I drive. Really gets you going :). This song is from Nickelback's 2008 Album "Darkhorse".

Trisha came home

2009-11-16T23:45:00.003+05:30

Well Trisha did come home but one small twist, it wasn't my home :(. Was browsing through Google for Trisha's photos and got this. Ok but then is there even a remote possibility that I get to meet my favourite person(not just Trisha) up close. Well as far as probability goes there is 50% chance that it will happen. I'm just waiting for that 50% and if I manage to increase that percentage even by 1% then I definitely do get to see that person. Even though probability gives me a head start of 50% the next 1% is up to my own abilities. I thought this post was about how I am going to meet Trisha, but this has turned out be something else altogether! And in case Trisha does turn up in front of my house I will definitely get a better photo of hers :).

2012 : End of the World

2009-11-15T19:44:00.002+05:30

Going to Sathyam for watching 2012. Will update its review soon :).

Happy Children's Day

2009-11-14T12:33:00.001+05:30

Well happy Children's Day to all the kids in the world and to also all the adults who are still a kid in their heart :). Children's Day on 14th November is celebrated only in India, whereas the same is celebrated in different days in different countries. Today also happens to be the birthday of one my good friend. Also woke up an Earthling and wished Happy Children's Day early in the morning :).

Jolie is back with Salt

2009-11-13T10:28:00.000+05:30

I really missed her. I expected at least one movie of hers in 2009, apparently I have to wait till July 2010 to see her on the big screen again. Angelina Jolie will be back in another action packed movie called "SALT". She will be playing the role of Evelyn Salt a CIA officer who is accused of being a Russian spy. Is she truly a Russian spy or is someone trying to set her up is what the movie is all about. Enjoy the trailer :).

Wrong Platform

2009-11-12T23:55:00.000+05:30

Waiting on the wrong platform, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

It often happens that we reach the railway station at the last minute and the train is about to leave, only after reaching the platform do we realize that it's the wrong platform :(. This is what came to my mind when I was editing this picture.

Shot this picture in Chennai Central Railway Station during the Chennai Photowalk.

Home Alone

2009-11-11T12:01:00.000+05:30

Long time since I posted a Movie Poster. So here is one, a bit old but great comedy movie. This is one movie that all the kids and grown ups will like, specially the kids. I watched this movie during my school days. This is the movie that catapulted the Child star Macaulay Culkin. The movie is about the adventures of a 10 year old boy who is left behind home alone by his family in a hurry to go to the airport. You can't help but enjoy the way the kid kicks the butts of two thieves who call themselves the Wet-Bandits. Here is the dialogue from one of the best scenes in the movie.

(The pizza boy knocks on the door)
Johnny: Who is it?
Pizza Boy: It's Little Nero, sir. I have your pizza.
Johnny: Leave it on the doorstep and get the hell outta here.
Pizza Boy: Okay. [puts down the pizza] Well, what about the money?
Johnny: What money?
Pizza Boy: Well, you'll hafta pay for your pizza, sir.
Johnny: How much do I owe you?
Pizza Boy: Uh, that'll be $11.80, sir.
(Kevin slips $12 through the hatch; the pizza boy takes it)
Johnny: Keep the change, ya filthy animal.
Pizza Boy: Cheapskate.
Johnny: Hey! I'm gonna give you to the count of ten, to get your ugly, yellow, no-good keister off my property, before I pump your guts full o' lead! 1, 2, 10! (starts firing his Tommy Gun while laughing maniacally as the Pizza Boy dodges and leaves the house)
Kevin: (comes out from the door and grabs the box) A lovely cheese pizza just for me!

The movie which Kevin(Macaulay Culkin) the boy in Home Alone watches is actually a parody made specially for Home Alone.
You can watch the entire clip Angels With Filthy Souls in youtube. This is one great comedy movie to watch during the holidays. :)

Nokia charger recall

2009-11-10T09:02:00.003+05:30

Dear Nokia Customer,
Nokia has announced an exchange program for a limited number of Nokia-branded chargers manufactured by a third party supplier. We have determined that the plastic covers of the affected chargers could come loose and separate, exposing the charger’s internal components and potentially posing an electric shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket.

The affected chargers are those manufactured by BYD between June 15, 2009 and August 9, 2009 and with the following model types:

AC - 3U
AC - 3E
AC - 4U

You can identify the model type and the model number from the chargers as shown in the image below.

As per the Nokia India's statement in today's The Hindu ad, this charger has been sold with only one Nokia phone model in India i.e. Nokia 7210. To find out if your charger is eligible for replacement do the following steps.

Steps to identify if your charger is part of this free exchange programme

Please identify your Nokia phone model number. If your phone is a Nokia 7210 Supernova purchased after June 15, 2009 then check the charger's model number printed on it.
If the charger model number is AC - 3E, kindly follow any of the steps below;
1. If you are an Indian Nokia customer please SMS CHG<space><27 digit series on the charger> and send to 55555.
  Eg. CHG 4419298272012123100;0675370 to 55555. You will get an SMS reply confirming if your charger is within the scope of this charger exchange programme.
2. Please log on to http://chargerexchange.nokia.com and enter the model type and the 27 digit series on the charger to verify if your charger is within the scope of this charger exchange programme.
3. Or kidly walk-in to your nearest Nokia Care Center or a Nokia Priority Dealership store to check if the charger is within the scope of this charger exchange programme.

How to exchange an identified charger?

If the charger is verified to be within the scope of this charger exchange programme, you can choose to exchange the identified charger either from:

Your nearest Nokia Care Centre or
Leave your contact details on http://chargerexchange.nokia.com and get the replacement charger shipped free of cost to your door step in exchange for your old one.

Nokia recommends consumers with identified chargers to stop using them and exchange them for a free replacement.

Manasanta chala chala ...

2009-11-09T00:01:00.000+05:30

This is a song that I have been hearing for the past few days. Its running in my head continously in an infinite loop :). Great song from the telugu movie Bujjigadu starring Prabhas and Trisha :D. In case you are not able to see the video click the link below.
Manasanta chala chala

P.S: I can't believe that I am blogging more frequently these days :).

It's Me Against Nature

2009-11-08T01:00:00.001+05:30

Well its still pouring outside continuously. Yesterday I booked a ticket for Inglorious Basterds today night show. But the rain does not seem in any hurry to stop. So my battle against the rains is almost similar to Calvin's. So in a contest of wills against mother nature I'm going to see a crazy movie written and directed by an equally crazy Quentin Tarantino. Hope Sathyam is still open today!

So did I make it to the movie? Watch this space for further updates :).

UPDATE: Yay! I made it to the movie. But the roads were really awful after just a days shower. I'm not really sure if the Chennai Corporation really knows WHY THEY ARE FUNCTIONING!. The movie was great but only hardcore Tarantino fans will truly love this one. My favourite characters from the movie has to be Lt. Aldo Raine played by Brad Pitt and Col. Hans Landa played by Christoph Waltz.

It's pouring in Chennai

2009-11-07T01:03:00.003+05:30

For the past few days it has been raining continuously. Though it is good to have rain in Chennai after the rainy season is over, it definitely doesn't improve anything else other than the temperature. I love to get myself soaked in rain, but hey I have to go to my office. And it really is sick to travel in a bike through the pot hole ridden roads of Chennai. When will the Chennai Corporation ever get rid of all the pot holes. Even if they take their time to lay good roads it shouldn't take more than two years to cover the whole of Chennai. So why can't they fill a few pot holes?

I often wonder why the hell am I paying all that money as tax. If it can't even fill a stupid pot hole. Except for the pot holes rain is still very much a treat to each and every Chennaitte. Rain is good!.

Enough with the complaining I guess. Now here is something to take the pot holes off your mind. A picture of Trisha with a bit of editing. Of course this has no relevance to what I am writing about. Hey WTH I'm still a Trisha fan!

Olympus E-P2 is here already!

2009-11-06T00:09:00.010+05:30

Hardly four months have passed since the launch of Olympus's first Micro Four-Thirds camera and they have already released the next Micro Four-Thirds camera Olympus E-P2. But there is hardly anything different from the original E-P1, so its not actually the next Micro Four-Thirds camera. Rather its just a minor upgrade. But its still a Olympus Pen so it still maintains its retro charm. Also the E-P2 includes an electronic viewfinder. Olympus has announced two of its upcoming Micro Four-Thirds lenses M.Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 (Wideangle) and M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 (Superzoom) which will be available in the first half of 2010 and a road-map of future Micro Four-Thirds lenses. Here are the full details.

Hamburg, 5 November 2009 – Welcome to dimension PEN, where form and function unite to deliver the power and performance of an SLR with the ease and spontaneity of a compact. This latest retro-chic digital Olympus PEN builds on EISA’s 2009/2010 “Best Camera of the Year”, an icon of style and quality. To enrich photographic potential, the new E-P2 includes an accessory port to clip on the electronic viewfinder or other accessories. It also enlivens creative impulses through two additional Art Filters and supplements ease of use with further innovative options. Cloaked in classic black, the hybrid photo and HD movie Olympus PEN boldly brings fun and simplicity back in SLR quality. It’s a legend in the making – and available from January 2010 for €949 including the electronic viewfinder.

Building on brilliance
The new generation of PEN (E-P2) boasts an enviable pedigree. It comes hot on the heels of Olympus’ award-winning first Micro Four Thirds System camera inspired by the revolutionary Maitani design of the original PEN series. This second digital model takes usability and functionality even further by incorporating diverse fresh features:

Accessory port for accessories like viewfinder and microphones
Two additional Art Filters (Diorama and Cross Process)
Colour-boosting i-Enhance function
AF tracking
Remote slideshow control (via HDMI)
HD movies in M-mode

Experience true framing freedom
Supplementing the hot shoe, a dedicated accessory port on the back of the camera extends flexibility. The first compatible device is included with the E-P2: an electronic viewfinder. Simply clip it on to enjoy bright, high-resolution depictions under all conditions and a 100% field of view. Tiltable by up to 90°, it not only is reminiscent of medium format camera viewfinders but also provides additional framing opportunities to promote shooting from unique perspectives. Of course, viewing picture information and adjustments as you go is a given. More accessory port attachments, such as an external microphone adapter for various microphone types, will also follow soon.

Click for creativity
A staggering range of imaging possibilities for almost limitless expression characterise this camera. Inspiring creativity, two new Art Filters join the six already introduced by the predecessor model. Use Diorama to create the illusion of a model world or flip colours around with Cross Process. Meanwhile, the new i-Enhance function has a decidedly human touch. Colours are enhanced to come out stronger than reality, thereby reflecting our memories more closely, which after all, are often larger than life. And so that every shot gets the fitting format, Olympus offers the choice of various aspect ratios as well as the chance to shoot multiple exposures. Also remaining on board is the level gauge, i-Auto mode, and the flattering e-Portrait option.

AF tracking joins the list of camera features, making the sharp capture of moving subjects such as playing kids or sports action easier than ever. And when it’s time to take a look at the results, just kick back and relax as high-definition slideshows and HD movies can be viewed using the remote of a TV set connected to the camera via HDMI.

A legacy of chic styling and SLR quality continues
The latest PEN inherits the inimitable looks and ultra-compact form of its critically-acclaimed sister model in addition to all its outstanding technologies. Photographers benefit from a defined high-end standard based on the Micro Four Thirds System that guarantees SLR quality results. The large pool of compatible interchangeable lenses provides tremendous versatility – from the ultra-slimline M.ZUIKO DIGITAL Pancake to the complete Four Thirds lens line-up (with adapter). Two new Micro Four Thirds lenses will also join their ranks during the first half of 2010: the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 (18-36mm*) super wide-angle zoom and M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 (28-300mm*) high-power telephoto zoom lenses. Attachment of an external flash unit, such as the retro-styled Olympus FL-14, extends the possibilities even more.

Reliably crisp images are secured through the 12.3 Megapixel Live MOS sensor combined with a dust reduction system and high-performance in-camera image stabilisation giving protection against shake to 4 EV. And at the core of this PEN is the guarantor for fast, top-quality image processing, even at up to ISO 6400: the state-of-the-art TruePic V engine. The Live Control GUI simplifies operation while the effect of functions can be monitored in real time – on both the 7.6cm/3.0” HyperCrystal LCD and the 1,440,000 dot electronic viewfinder.

HD movie magic
Capable of recording AVI format movies in 30fps 1280x720p HD resolution and boasting immaculate PCM sound quality, the PEN also lets users discover the magic of movie making. Seven minutes of footage can be recorded in a single shot. Furthermore, many still photography functions and options, including the application of Art Filters, depth of field, angle of view and AF tracking, remain operational in movie mode. Another new perk is the ability to film using the M-mode, good news for those with a creative touch. And because shooting is possible using any attached lens, a whole new world of framing potential emerges. Users can also capture high resolution still shots while filming at the touch of a button.

The Olympus E-P2 builds on its coveted predecessor’s wealth of high-performance temptations. “With the first PEN, many journalists and experts already told us that we defined a totally new camera segment. Now we decided to add superb new features like an accessory port and new Art Filters. Basically, we made an already incredible camera even greater” explains Claudia Baehr, Senior Product Manager at Olympus Imaging Europa GmbH. This retro-cool model is finished in classic black and will become available from January 2010 at a price of €949 including the electronic viewfinder. An optional, matching black leather body jacket will also be on offer.

The Olympus E-P2 – main features:

Small & stylish design

Extremely small and light-weight Micro Four Thirds System
Stylish design with black metal finish
Accessory port to clip-on electronic viewfinder and microphone adapter

SLR image quality

12.3 Megapixel Live MOS Sensor
TruePic V image processor
Built-in IS with max. 4 EV steps efficiency
Adapter for all ZUIKO DIGITAL & OM lenses

Easy operation

Live Control GUI for intuitive handling & real-time views of effects
Automatic recognition of common scenes possible with i-Auto
i-Enhance function to boost colours
Clear skin with e-Portrait
AF Tracking
Two dials for easy handling
Face Detection and Shadow Adjustment Technology
20 shooting modes (5 exposure, i-Auto, 14 scene modes)

Creativity & HD Movie

HD Movie with stereo sound featuring depth of field and Art Filters now available in M-mode
8 Art Filters, Multi-Aspect ratios
Multi Exposure function
Art Filters can be applied to previously taken RAW images in the camera and with Olympus software
Enhanced creativity with special lenses e.g. fisheye is available via Four Thirds lens adapter

Additional features of the Olympus E-P2:

Based on the Micro Four Thirds Standard
HDMI interface
Linear PCM sound recording
Level gauge
Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface
3fps with sequential shooting (max. 10 in RAW mode)
ISO 100-6400
Bracketing functions for white balance and exposure
Supersonic Wave Filter dust reduction system
Wide dynamic range in highly lit areas
Simultaneous writing of RAW and JPEG
SD memory card slot (SDHC compatible)
High-speed data writing and lossless RAW compression
7.6cm/3.0” HyperCrystal LCD
AE/AF lock functionality
Auto gradation adjustment to prevent blown highlights and
blocked-in shadows
Remote release possible via the optional remote cable RM-UC1

New accessories:

M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 9-18mm F4.0-5.6 super wide-angle zoom lens (first half of 2010)
M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 14-150mm F4.0-5.6 high-power telephoto zoom lens (first half of 2010)
Leather strap in black
Leather body jacket in black

* 35mm equivalent

Drool over more pictures of Olympus E-P2

What is the size?

2009-11-03T23:14:00.004+05:30

What is the one thing that is never enough in one's computer. Well one of them is hard disk space. No matter how many times I free my hard disk, it gets filled up. I am of those persistent few who still manage with a 40GB hard disk, which is not even available anywhere. Not even in antique shops. So I was wondering where is all that memory being eaten away, which particular folder is taking up more space on my system?

That's when I found the app called Folder Size for Windows while googling. Well the name is obvious enough I guess. It's a small program which runs as a service and you can see the folder size right in your Windows XP explorer as shown in the above picture. It's a free software released under GNU license. So feel free to share it with others. :)

Download Folder Size v2.4 32bit
Download Folder Size v2.4 64bit

A Brief History Of Internet

2009-11-02T23:09:00.009+05:30

Well I guess its been nearly 10 years since I first came online. Right from the days when the dial-up was the only option for connecting to the internet to browsing sites using my mobile in-built Wi-Fi. Times have really changed.

I thought I know a lot about the internet, not really but I do know how to go around the net and stay glued to my monitor for atleast 12 hours non-stop without so much as getting up from my chair :). Head to the guardian website to read a people's history of the internet, which talks about everything from its inception of sorts in pentagon to the internet as we know it today. Also this year marks the 40th anniversary of the internet. It truly has changed everyone's life for the better (or worse).

November 2009

2009-11-01T00:21:00.083+05:30

02NOV2009

A Brief History Of Internet

03NOV2009

What is the size?

06NOV2009

Olympus E-P2 is here already!

07NOV2009

It's pouring in Chennai

08NOV2009

It's Me Against Nature

09NOV2009

Manasanta chala chala ...

10NOV2009

Nokia charger recall

11NOV2009

Home Alone

12NOV2009

Wrong Platform

13NOV2009

Jolie is back with Salt

14NOV2009

Happy Children's Day

15NOV2009

2012 : End of the World

16NOV2009

Trisha came home

19NOV2009

Burn It To the Ground

24NOV2009

Pyaar Impossible

Gaangu leader!

2009-10-30T23:36:00.002+05:30

Today morning was watching this video and I was laughing like mad especially for the dialogue where vivek talks to himself in front of the mirror in the bathroom. Gaangu leader, hilarious don't you think especially his face expressions...

Local PCO

2009-10-25T15:46:00.002+05:30

Local PCO, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Well it's been long time since I posted a photo. So here is one I took during the special photowalk orgranized during the Madras Week. For a long time I wanted to take a photo of a yellow coloured phone. Finally took this shot at the Southern Railway headquarters. :)

2 States Vs Love

2009-10-15T10:34:00.009+05:30

Well as soon as I saw Chetan Bhagat on the cover I picked up this book in Odyssey. Well I'm a big fan of Chetan Bhagat right from his 5 Point Someone. Well another story telling a college love story between two states is what I thought as soon as I read the title. Well the synopsis of the story changed that thought. Which goes likes this.

Synopsis

Love marriages around the world are simple:
Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:
Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don’t agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. Will they make it?

I have finished the book and it's really good. Reminded me of a lot of things and one punjabi girl. Only after visiting Chetan Bhagat's Website did I come to know that the story is based on his own true life. :)

Chetan Bhagat's Official Website

AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR II

2009-10-14T09:34:00.003+05:30

NIKON’S NEW AF-S DX 85mm f/3.5 MICRO NIKKOR LENS ENABLES FURTHER CREATIVITY WITH SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN FOR CLOSE-UP PHOTOGRAPHY

Finally it's official, another new DX lens from Nikon. What was initially a rumour from the patent offices has turned out to be true. Hurray. This lens is ideal for Macro Photography and also for portraits and general photography as well. This will be available from December of this year with a price of 530USD. Which is kinda reasonable but I'm a bit disappointed about not having a f/1.8 lens. I actually thought they would build the AF-S DX Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G ED VR II. Guess Now I have decide between the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D and this lens. Waiting for the reviews :)

Nikon Press Release
AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR II Product Page

An interview with Trisha

2009-09-26T01:57:00.006+05:30

This is a very old interview which appeared in The Hindu dated June 21, 2000. Got this while searching for news and pictures of Trisha during her Miss Chennai contest. I'm not really sure if Trisha herself remembers this piece of interview. But guess its time to remind her about it.

An interview with Trisha Krishnan, a model, who has won the Miss Chennai crown and has her own show on TV.

How should a person go about preparing to enter this field?

It is necessary for people entering this profession to keep their portfolios ready as this is the first thing modeling agencies ask for when you approach them. There are photographers who offer a package deal inclusive of make up and hairstylist, but separate payments have to be made for developing and printing the photographs. Once the portfolios are ready you need to approach or send them to model coordinators who help you secure assignments. There is a fair amount of public relations needed in the industry. One has to be in constantly in touch with the coordinators because one seldom comes in direct contact with the clients. It is the model coordinators who arrange for assignments; take care of payments and other formalities.

I was interested in this profession during my higher secondary school days. I had a friend who was already in this profession and introduced me to some coordinators.

How is the fashion scene in South?

There are very good designers, coordinators, cameramen and technicians in the south. However, sometimes they shortlist models from here but then bring in a model from Mumbai for the shoot. Despite models out here getting due recognition, the opportunity factor however is not high as prevailing in a city like Mumbai.

How do you compare ramp modeling to modeling for ad shoots/films?

Ramp modeling is much more alive and you have your audience right there in front of you. The impact has to be immediate. In the case of ad campaigns however, you have time to make the audience sit up and take notice. Ramp modeling is more exciting though stressful because you have very limited time to model the whole collection, while ad shoots can even stretch to a few days and one can take things slowly. Both these forms are thrilling in their own way and personally I like doing both.

At times the crowd tends to become unruly and spoil the whole scene, has it ever happened to you?

It is generally so in school and college fashion shows that the crowd tends to be very rambunctious, but in professional shows the crowd is sober and responsive. I have done a fashion show organised by NIFT where the crowd was very appreciative.

Designer wear very often tends to be highly impractical, have you ever felt this was so?

Yes, I have often felt that many of the clothes that I model are quite impractical, and I have also questioned the designer about this. They are but, more bothered about the cut, the material, textures and design. One cannot however, categorise all the creations as outlandish as some of the designs are wearable like salwar kameezes and night-wear.

Models are used in fashion shows so that clothes can be displayed in a better way, and people can see the cut, fall and design clearly. Don't you think sometimes, this concept is lost on the audience?

The audiences are supposed to look at the clothes and the fit but more often they stare at the models. The designers are trying to show their creations through us, which will help her\him to sell the clothes. People do tend to forget this and end up praising the model instead of the clothes she is modeling.

Indians have of late become highly fashion and beauty conscious and even work out regularly. Any comments?

Indian models are making their presence felt on the international modeling scene. As a matter of fact if today a lot of people are becoming fashion and health conscious, it is all thanks to these well- known models and beauty queens. There is nothing wrong if a person wants to look good.

Modeling is perceived as a very glamorous field, can you present a clearer picture of this field?

This profession seems glamorous because there is a very high level of media exposure. What people fail to acknowledge is the hard work, which goes into each and every fashion show or an ad shoot. Not just by the models but also by the people who work in the background and without them it would be impossible to put up a show. We work under tremendous pressure with long hours of practice to put forth a successful show. It is not as easy as it looks from the outside.

However, there are people in this field who tend to act unprofessionally and exploit the models. If you are a person with a strong set of morals, have your head firmly set on your shoulders, then you will not get swayed by these people. I have not modeled for products I don't believe in nor have I worked with people who make me uncomfortable. Everyone in this field should have their own set of principles and if your foundation is strong then you cannot go wrong.

What about monetary benefits and life beyond the ramp?

An aspiring model may not be really well paid, but once you are established and make your presence felt, then you can command your price. Modelling has a very short life span. Personally, I feel it is better to have a good education so that after a career in modeling it will help you in life. Models who retire either set up grooming schools, become model coordinators or branch out into other areas of the fashion industry.

- MALINI SURYANARAYANAN

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/

The Matrix

2009-09-06T15:07:00.002+05:30

This was the movie that changed a lot of things for both the movie industry & for me. This movie has taken inspiration from lots of things like science fiction movies, cult, religion, philosophical books, anime. It's more like a mixture of everything. This movie is known for many things like the Background Score, Cinematography, Stunt Choreography, Graphic animation etc. Its after watching this movie I became a great fan of Keanu Reeves. I would rate it as one of the best science fiction movie ever to be made. It's a must watch for all science fiction lovers and for others.

Here is the famous dialogue from the movie where Morpheus explains the reality to Neo.

Morpheus: This is the construct. It's our loading program. We can load anything from clothing, to equipment, weapons, training simulations, anything we need.

Neo: Right now we're inside a computer program?

Morpheus: Is it really so hard to believe? Your clothes are different. The plugs in your arms and head are gone. Your hair is changed. Your appearance now is what we call residual self image. It is the mental projection of your digital self.

Neo: This...this isn't real?

Morpheus: What is real. How do you define real? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. This is the world that you know. The world as it was at the end of the twentieth century. It exists now only as part of a neural-interactive simulation that we call the Matrix. You've been living in a dream world, Neo. This is the world as it exists today.... Welcome to the Desert of the Real. We have only bits and pieces of information but what we know for certain is that at some point in the early twenty-first century all of mankind was united in celebration. We marveled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to AI.

Neo: AI? You mean artificial intelligence?

Morpheus: A singular consciousness that spawned an entire race of machines. We don't know who struck first, us or them. But we know that it was us that scorched the sky. At the time they were dependent on solar power and it was believed that they would be unable to survive without an energy source as abundant as the sun. Throughout human history, we have been dependent on machines to survive. Fate it seems is not without a sense of irony. The human body generates more bio-electricity than a 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTU's of body heat. Combined with a form of fusion the machines have found all the energy they would ever need. There are fields, endless fields, where human beings are no longer born, we are grown. For the longest time I wouldn't believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watch them liquefy the dead so they could be fed intravenously to the living. And standing there, facing the pure horrifying precision, I came to realize the obviousness of the truth. What is the Matrix? Control. The Matrix is a computer generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this.

Neo: No. I don't believe it. It's not possible.

Morpheus: I didn't say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/9175/neo/matrixtranscript.html

Coffee Central

2009-08-31T02:55:00.002+05:30

Icecream Delight :), originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Once upon a time we used to hang out in Spencer Plaza. That was when I was in my college first year. Then later on I started hanging out at my friend's place. It was a rented room and also an adda for all of his friends including me. Until then I had never been in a coffee shop. Somewhere around my third year or second I don't remember very well. But sometime during that period was when I first entered a coffee shop with my friends. But I didn't like them coffee shops. I thought coffee shops are a little too much, since their charges used to be really high and they still are. So us friends often stick to roadshide tea shops.

But these days I visit a coffee shop roughly once in three weeks. Well till now its been Cafe Coffee Day. But now coffee shops are mushrooming too fast to even keep track especially the Cafe Coffee Day and Barista chain. Recently my friend discovered a new place in T Nagar called the Coffee Central. Boy do I love that place. This place has the similar look and feel of any other Coffee shops from the outside. Enter the place and you will be surprised at the interiors. They have this sexy wallpaper at one corner of the wall. They have an antique clock hanging from the ceiling. Chandelier & other lighting fixtures. The interior decorator sure has done some magic in this place. This place other than usual Coffee and Food also gives you games to play or books to read. So this is my current hangout for now. But the only problem is that its a very small place. So you may not find a seat at all times. Other than that it ROCKS. :)

The above picture was shot in Coffee Central against that beautiful background which I talked about. Its a Chocolate Sundae BTW. The lighting for this shot was entirely from my flash fired straight up at the white ceiling. :)

Address

Coffee Central

No. 11, Dr. B Narasimhan Road (Old North Boag Road), Off G N Chetty Road, T.Nagar

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 600034 - India

+914428152045

+91449840111298

Location in Google Maps

Trainmen

2009-07-05T17:28:00.002+05:30

Trainmen, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Shot at Central Railway Station long time ago in the morning, when I had gone to meet my friend before she left for bangalore. This one again was shot using my Nikon FM10 with the ever sharp 50mm f/1.8.

Breakfast At Tiffany's

2009-07-05T13:30:00.006+05:30

Well this time it's my all time favourite heroine's movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. This is one of my favourite movie as well. In this movie Audrey Hepburn plays a beautiful young socialite in New York who has a cat with no name. This movie won the best song Oscar for the song Moon River performed by Audrey Hepburn herself and music by Henry Mancini and Lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It also won an Oscar for Henry Mancini's background score. I have seen this movie more than ten times and yet I'm unable to keep myself staring at the sweet, naughty & charming beauty of Holly Golightly. I recently bought a poster of Audrey Hepburn. The poster is a photo from from this movie where she is sitting in a restaurant smoking with a huge a cigarette holder wearing a black dress, which is an iconic picture.

Vodafone still loves IE

2009-06-22T22:25:00.000+05:30

In an age where people using Internet Explorer are looked upon as nuts & Firefox users are worshiped. Why in the heaven's sake does Vodafone India still prefer Internet Explorer. Please change the goddamn website so that it works in Firefox and other browsers. Because using Internet Explorer is too Taboo these days. And restricting users to a particular browser is a just bullshit. If the person or personnel responsible for the website do know anything about usability or have heard of other browsers other than Internet Explorer, then please change the goddamn site.

With Regards,
Martian

Free Quickoffice 6 upgrade for Nokia Eseries devices

2009-06-21T23:22:00.004+05:30

Well most of you who own an E-series phone would love this latest news from the folks at Quickoffice. The latest version of Quickoffice i.e. Quickoffice 6 is being offered as a free update. To download this update just go Quickmanager section of your Quickoffice app. Its just a 3.6MB download. Its awesome. I have already downloaded it and it just works great on my Nokia E51. This upgrade is being offered to almost all the Nokia E series devices, including the E51, E52, E55, E63, E71, E72, E75 and E90.

Bleach Season 10 Intro Song

2009-06-21T18:28:00.003+05:30

Well a new season a new intro. That's always been the case with anime. This time the intro song for the 10th season of bleach is by a band called Scandal. The song is called Shoujo S. For more info about the band read my previous post about The Most Powerful Japanese Girls Band. Once again its a great song :)

Scandal - Shoujo S (Anime version)

Scandal - Shoujo S (Original)

Tron

2009-06-21T11:38:00.006+05:30

One of the best science fiction movies of the 80's. This movie was released in 1982. Written and directed by Steven Lisberger. This movie was released well before I was born. Also at a time when computer usage was in the rise. The concept is really interesting. It features in many people's favourite science fiction movies. In mine too :) I will post more movie posters from here onwards. One day when I have my own house I'm going to fill it up with movies posters.

4 Japanese Girls = SCANDAL

2009-06-13T02:23:00.003+05:30

SCANDAL "The Most Powerful Japanese Girls Band", originally uploaded by g2slp.

Well its been a long time since I actually updated my blog with anything other than my photos and their descriptions, blah blah etc. So here is a music band I recently fell in love with. Well the title may mislead many, it was unintentional though :D

The four girls are from a Japanese band called Scandal. All four girls hail from Osaka, Japan. The four girls are Haruna Ono, Tomomi Ogawa, Mami Sasazaki, and Rina Suzuki. I heard them first when one of their recent song was chosen as the title song of Bleach. Its a damn good number with a mix of J-Pop and some heavy rock :). I have so far heard three of their songs. And all of them are pretty good. The best thing about the songs are that they have a catchy tune too. But apparently my taste is a little weird according to my colleagues who consider the songs I listen to as nothing more than NOISE. Too bad for them. They really are missing out on so much good music out there. I pity them ;). I wish I knew Japanese :D

Check out their videos at Youtube.
Scandal - Shojo S
Scandal - Shojo S (Anime Version)
Scandal - Space Ranger
Scandal - Koi moyou

Official Website : http://www.scandal-4.com/

Its Automatic Its Citizen

2009-06-05T12:13:00.002+05:30

Citizen Again, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

This is my fifth watch. The first & second were given to me by my dad. Both of them got repaired. The third one was presented to me by my friends which is in my shelf :). The fourth I bought after I got a job also got screwed up. For a long time I was roaming around without a watch. Using my trusty mobile as a watch. This is really a great watch. Its automatic meaning there is no battery. It moves by your physical movement. It did cost me a lot but then I don't buy a watch every other day do I...?

One more thing one can also see the inner working of the watch through the see thru glass behind the dial. Its pretty awesome. Check out the other photo of this watch.:)

Lightning in Chennai

2009-06-04T02:28:00.003+05:30

Lightning in Chennai, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Well photographing lightning ain't that easy, which I learnt after taking some 50 shots of the open sky and capturing only a few (three) shots having a streak of lighting in them. And this is the best picture in that lot. The setup is kinda simple. You simply can't do this with point and shoot unless you are extremely lucky.

Here are the basic instructions for photographing lightning which I followed.

Set the ISO to something like 200
Set the f stop to somewhere around 11-16
The exposure should be somewhere in seconds if you wanna capture it hand held. If you have a tripod you can set the exposure in minutes which will ensure some really great shots.
As for white balance set it to auto or you can try experimenting with it.
Choice of the lens absolutely depends on the surroundings. Most preferably use wide or normal lenses.
And ya make sure you cover up most of the camera with some plastic bag or else you can forget your gear :D

Thats about it. I didn't have a tripod so I used a 4 sec exposure to capture this. :) Now that the monsoons are very near I hope to see some more people showing off their pictures of Lightning in Chennai :)

Central Prison, Madras, 1837

2009-04-26T21:40:00.003+05:30

Central Prison, Madras, 1837, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Well it's been a long time since I've been ignoring my blog. I know, well its been a busy month. But from now on the coming months will be a little tough on me I guess. What with the recession, inflation, salary cuts. CRAP, looks like the world is falling apart, or is it?

I attended both Chennai photowalks which took place this month. I loved both of them. And I also got a chance to put my brand new Nikon D90 to its first street test. I've also decided to buy a new lens which will most probably be a ultra wide angle zoom lens or a prime lens. :)

Day before yesterday I met Yuvan Shankar Raja. But didn't get his autograph since I was too busy eating my noodles :)

Spencer Plaza Third Phase

2009-03-14T13:45:00.003+05:30

Spencer Plaza Third Phase, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

This is a really old photo. This comes from the second roll I shot with what was then my brand new Nikon FM10. Now its nearly a year old :) Times fly so fast.

Jerkha may sue google

2009-02-01T11:41:00.006+05:30

A few days back I was watching this movie called "Mumbai Meri Jaan". A part of this movie shows about insensitive behaviour of the media (read sensationalism). Buts that's precisely the behaviour of the media people in certain matter. Now for the past few days I have been following the Kunte Vs Jerkha Wutt affair on my google reader. The whole thing is outrageous, just to think that having an opinion can get anyone served with a legal notice is well too much. I am still under the impression that the Freedom of speech & expression is a right I can still exercise. May be now onwards I will consult my family lawyer before I post anything in my blog.

You can still read the original post Shoddy Journalism by Kunte thanks to google cache. So Google might face the wrath of Jerkha Wutt next. One of the two name has been changed to protect the identity of the individual involved in this scandalous affair.

Broken Mirror

2009-01-17T01:22:00.002+05:30

Broken Mirror, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

This mirror was lying down in my building terrace. I haven't added any texture to this photo. It is as shown in the picture. The only thing I have changed in it are the exposure, colour and contrast.

After sitting in front of the computer editing this image, I felt very negative. This is a really negative image. Photo taken with my new DSLR & the super sharp Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D:). Will definitely post a review of it. BTW the DSLR I got is a Nikon D90.

Yep I have finally got myself a DSLR. Many people I know didn't understand why I got a DSLR! Well I guess its up to me to show them as to why exactly I wanted a DSLR...

* 2009 *

2009-01-01T23:55:00.001+05:30

Happy New Year everyone :)

14th Chennai Photowalk

2008-12-27T00:16:00.002+05:30

14th Chennai Photowalk, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

The fourteenth photowalk took place on 25th December that too at Valluvarkottam. After missing the previous two photowalks I was determined to make it to this one. But apparently I didn't read Chandru's blog properly because I missed the first part of the photowalk which took place at Besant Nagar.

Finally I got a chance to take pictures at Valluvarkottam. Even though this place is just a stone throw away from my house, I have never gone by myself to take any pictures before. So I got a chance to take photo at this place. But sadly this photowalk I took lesser number of photos. I also got a chance to try a Nikon D80 with Sigma 10-20mm lens thanks to pee vee. That lens is heavy.

Intha thera mattum ellarum summa suthi suthi photo eduthanga. This is my contribution :).

Well long time back Archana a.k.a Blue Diamond had asked me as to how I got processed look in my photo. Well its nothing really, actually I thought of doing a detailed photoshop tutorial. But then I'm too lazy. So I will tell another easier method. Try the photoshop action called Urban acid available at atncentral.com. Just play the action and you will end up with a cross processed effect. I have the used that action to give the processed look in this photo. Ensoi :)

Vodafone spoils christmas :(

2008-12-25T14:37:00.001+05:30

Yesterday I got this message from Vodafone.

Hello,Frm 26Dec08,FNF(Addon) option will be@10p/min & Monthly rental Rs10/FNF. U hv 3FNF nos. To continue FNF at revised rates,sms ACT FNF to 111 before 25Dec10PM.

Today also I got the same message. Just some time back I get another message from Vodafone.

Hello,U hv 3 FNF nos.Sms ACT FNF to 111 before Dec25 to continue FNF@revised rates. FNF will be deactivated if sms is not sent or balance fr rentals is nt avlbl.

From the start I've been using Vodafone earlier Hutch. I have always been using the 295Rs Recharge option. The family and friends was listed as part of the service for that particular recharge. SO why the fuck am I supposed to pay another 30Rs as rental? Vodafone clearly is mindless about what they are doing. I'm really pissed about this.

For 295Rs recharge I get only 75Rs talktime and I was under the impression it included the FNF family and friends thingy too. I think its time I changed my service provider. Screw Vodafone!. They charge me 30Rs as of today then I will have to rethink my options about Vodafone.

Killer and its Victim

2008-12-21T22:02:00.002+05:30

Killer and its Victim, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

I actually shot this picture after I got the title in my head. Well thats totally acceptable when you see two movies in a day and both of which has a killer who is after someone. But I don't even remember what the movie titles are he he. :)

Once again the cross processed effect. I love this effect totally. ;)

Wear sunscreen

2008-12-19T00:16:00.004+05:30

I know its not summer yet, but then thats what Baz Luhrmann wants everyone to wear. I'm not sure many would have heard this song/speech. Buts its the best song to listen to when you are feeling a bit down. Click the play button below to listen to the song.

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free

Lyrics

Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99,
if I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience...
I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...

You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own...

Dance

Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen...

Bleach Season 9 Intro song

2008-12-14T14:13:00.006+05:30

I'm a big fan of anime intro songs. Most of them have a song by some Japanese rock band and usually with catchy lyrics. Well the latest inrto song of Bleach Season 9 is really nice. The song is called Velonica by a band called Aqua Timez. Ensoi :)

Velonica - Aqua Timez (Anime version)

Velonica - Aqua Timez (Original)

Chettinad House

2008-12-12T01:20:00.003+05:30

Chettinad House, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

This is the place where Ramanathan & Soundaravalli's (my best friend's) reception procession started from. Its a really old Chettinad house. Well the picture may look bleak. But the house is in much better condition. Its amazing to know that this building is nearly a century old. Though right now its a bit dusty. But if maintained properly this could become a palace. There are many such houses in Karaikudi. Well looks like the Chettiyars truly knew how to live life in style. Wish I had a place like this in my name. :D

Well the photo was post processed to remove most of the colours specially the reds because it was too bright and I wanted a old house. So I just dulled the colour to make it look old. I also added a bit a of noise which is what you see as line patterns in the image. Hope you like it.

Firefox 3.1 Beta 2!

2008-12-09T23:33:00.004+05:30

Well my previous post was about Opera 10's alpha version. This post is about the latest Firefox 3.1 Beta 2. Well clearly this shows that how seriously the people behind the browsers are working to ensure that their market share remains the same or overtakes others. Well Currently the people at Mozilla have released the Beta version of their upcoming Firefox 3.1.

What's new in Firefox 3.1 Beta 2

# This beta is now available in 54 languages - get your local version.
# Added a new Private Browsing Mode.
# Added functions to make it easy to clear recent history by time as well as remove all traces of a website.
# New support for web worker threads.
# The new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine is on by default for web content.
# Improvements to the Gecko layout engine, including speculative parsing for faster content rendering.
# Removed the new tab-switching behavior based on feedback from users
# Support for new web technologies such as the <video> and <audio> elements, the W3C Geolocation API, JavaScript query selectors, CSS 2.1 and 3 properties, SVG transforms and offline applications.

Download Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 here.

Opera 10 alpha is here

2008-12-06T18:08:00.002+05:30

Well Opera is out with the alpha version of their upcoming Opera 10. Well here are the few things thats changed in the Opera 10

Presto 2.2 rendering engine

A new rendering engine which promises faster page rendering. Well opera is known for their page rendering speed and this new engine is apparently going to improve upon that. I just started using the Opera 10. Well its really fast indeed. Well the speed has certainly improved but the rendering still has many problems. For instance the blogger website page in which I'm typing this post doesn't render like it does on Firefox or Chrome or IE. Hope they improve on this part of the engine.

Auto-Update

Finally I can live in peace, because earlier whenever I had to update the Opera browser I had to download the binary file and then install the damn thing again. This is one place where the Firefox and now the chrome really shines. Glad Opera also decided to include this feature.

Passes Acid 3 test

Better web standards support. Other features include an inline spell-checker. Better support for HTML emails using Opera mail. More support for web fonts and SVG etc. Well this is just the alpha version so we can expect lot more improvements in the final version. :)

Download Opera 10 alpha

Puppies

2008-12-06T01:45:00.002+05:30

Puppies, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Took this picture a long time ago, some time around May. Just now got time to upload this picture to flickr. :)

Nikon D3x

2008-12-01T21:50:00.004+05:30

The world is your studio

The world is your studio when you have a Nikon D3x (And loads of cash). The latest from the imaging giant Nikon. This camera will give the Medium format cameras a run for their money. If you know about the D3 of Nikon, then the only main difference will be the 24MP full frame sensor. This can churn out 50MB RAW files which can be converted to 138MB TIFF files. Mind blowing! Isn't it?

One more thing, this camera is not for lighthearted people. With a retail price of 8000$ this camera is designed only for those who require the highest quality camera (that can be said only after the production camera is out in the market). This is Nikon's costliest offering till date. Many people are not happy with the D3x. They don't feel that more pixels justify the additional 3000$ over the current Nikon flagship camera the Nikon D3. As for me, if I had enough money I will definitely buy the D3 instead of the D3x. That is, if I had money! So if anyone is thinking of getting me something for my birthday, the Nikon D3 should be your ideal choice of gift ;). Provided you also have enough money :D.

For more info visit the following links.
Official Nikon D3x page.
Nikon D3/D3x Microsite
Nikon D3x Gallery

Image Credit: Nikon.com

Terror strikes Mumbai

2008-11-28T02:07:00.002+05:30

Its been a really long day for those who were trapped in Taj Hotel. But thats only part of the nightmare. People are still stuck at Oberoi Hotel and Nariman House. In what is considered to be one of the most horrific terrorist incidents, nearly 10 places were attacked in Mumbai by armed terrorists. The attacks started on Wednesday night and is still going on. It's a really sad day for the relations and friends of all those who lost their lives during this attack. May god give them strength.

P.S: Originally I was going to write a post about the pathetic Chennai weather and how it took nearly 28 hours for the EB department to restore the electricity in my house. But I guess even worse things are happening in Mumbai.

Image Credit: IBNlive.com

Gmail's got themes now!

2008-11-21T15:40:00.006+05:30

Awesome!

I always wanted a darker version of gmail, guess my wish is fulfilled now. :) For the same thing earlier I had installed greasemonkey, but now its right within Gmail. Thank you Team Gmail. But still the old theme wasn't all that bad. It was the simplicity of the interface which made Gmail really attractive & user friendly. But having a themes is not all that bad either. And not only that all the 30 themes are really good.

Image Credit: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/

Nagercoil Junction

2008-11-20T01:18:00.003+05:30

Nagercoil Junction, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Well that's my dad's native. I stayed there for four years i.e. right from my 6th Std to 9th Std. It's not what one would call fast moving. I often feel that Chennai is a very slow paced city when compared to Mumbai. But Nagercoil is snail paced compared to Mumbai. It is not a city but a town. The one thing which will immediately strike you is the greenery and non-polluted atmosphere. The people over there speak a little differently. People from Nagercoil are often influenced by Malayalam since a lot of Malayalee's are settled here. In fact many people can speak really good Malayalam too.

As for the Image, took this one in my E51's camera so not much of details. Adding to that I have over processed the image in photoshop to give it a very dark and moody look. The noise in the image is added for the effect & the original picture was surprisingly cleaner even though taken with E51's 2 MP camera.

PLACES YOU SHOULD SEE IN NAGERCOIL
1. The Nagaraja temple
2. The Suchindram temple
3. The Kanyakumari (an hours drive from Nagercoil)

Once I get a digital SLR I would love to visit this place :). It most certainly will provide many photographic opportunities.

Avial : Nada Nada lyrics

2008-11-15T17:25:00.008+05:30

A few months ago I bought the debut album of the band Avial. The album is also of the same name. You might remember my earlier post about the band Avial is rockin. I wrote that post after hearing only song which I heard that time. That was the Nada Nada song. Many people seem to like this song, thanks to its catchy lyrics. And from the comments from the previous post I saw that many people wanted to know the lyrics. So here is the lyrics as given in the album sleeve. This is the english translation of the lyrics.

Nada Nada (English)

Please wait, thangal queuevilaanu,
there by kathirukkuga

Karimanatheaatam kandu peeli niverthiyeyathaaro
tudi kotti mazha peiyumbum kuzhaloothanathaaro
Aarayalum Aaranayalum, Ange Kombile enge kombile mayil aayalum,
Kuyil aayalaum
Nada Nada...

Kalielaki Allathalli kadaloyurum nehram
Thiramurechu valaveeshan Kudeh
poranathaaro
Aarayalum Aaranayalum, Ange Kombile
enge kombile mayil aayalum,
Kuyil aayalum
Nada Nada...

Eera vetti Kudeh orrukumbol Kude Kudenathaaro
Mulam thandil thein nerayimbol kanal orukhanathaaro
Vari neelin kadther neeti kaliaadum kaalam
Vela koiyan ariwaliye kudeh poorunathaaro
Aarayalum Aaranayalum, Ange Kombile enge kombile mayil aayalum,
Kuyil aayalaum

Thattagathil therayatum mudiyatum kaanan
noriettu chuvadu vachhe poli paadan vayo
Nari murandeh kavalerikuna mada murichupogan
Kalamande kombilerikuna ponmaane kaanan

Kadarum Kayari erangan
olimadam ketti erikan
Katuvallil adi padan

Kadarum Kayari erangan
olimadam ketti erikan
Katuvallil adi padan

Nada Nada (Meaning)

Who ruffles feathers and gets excited when the dark clouds gather rain?

Who is he that plays the flute when the skies swell and threaten to burst?
If you will, whoever you are, always remember that vanity is futile
So go take a hike

Sailing out in the stormy seas, there are only a few that brave the elements

But who joins the lowly fisherman to cast his net? And who joins me when reeds are chopped to build a nest? Who gets to share the nectar filled up in a bamboo shoot? When grains are ready, swaying in the fields, who would be my sickle to harvest it?

Come along

Lets watch tribals dance lets join in their rhythm and song

Bravely walk across to a place where wild beasts roam to watch a kingfisher on the horns of an antelope

Come hike the jungle-path

Let's build a tree-house hidden from the world and sing and dance behind creeper curtains...

UPDATE :
Thanks to my mom and with the help of Google Indic Transliteration, here is the lyrics in malayalam :).

Nada Nada (in malayalam)

കരിമാനാത്താട്ടം കണ്ട പീലി നിവര്‍ത്തിയാതാരോ
തുടികൊട്ടി മഴ പെയ്യുമ്പോ കുഴലൂതനതാരോ
ആരായാലും ആരാനായാലും
അങ്ങേ കൊമ്പില് ഇങ്ങെ കൊമ്പില്
മയിലായാലും കുയിലായാലും നട നട ....

കലിയിളകി അലതല്ലി കടലുയരും നേരം
തിര മുറിച്ച് വലവീശാന്‍് കുടേപോണതാര്
ആരായാലും ആരാനായാലും
അങ്ങേ കൊമ്പില് ഇങ്ങെ കൊമ്പില്
മയിലായാലും കുയിലായാലും നട നട ....

ഈറ വെട്ടികുടൊരുക്കുമ്പോ കൂടെ കുടണതാരോ
മുളം തണ്ടില്‍ തേന്‍ നിറയുമ്പോള്‍ കനല്‍ ഉരുക്കണതാരോ
വരിനെല്ലിന്‍ കതിര്‍ നീട്ടി കളിയാടും നേരം
വിള കൊയ്യാന്‍ അരിവാളായി കൂടെ പോരുന്നതാരോ
ആരായാലും ആരാനായാലും
അങ്ങേ കൊമ്പില് ഇങ്ങെ കൊമ്പില്
മയിലായാലും കുയിലായാലും ....

തട്ടകത്തില്‍ തിറയാട്ടം മുടിയാട്ടം കാണാന്‍
ഞൊറിയിട്ട് ചുവടു വച്ച് പൊലിപാടാന്‍ വായോ
നരി മുരണ്ട കാവളിരിക്കണ മടമുറിഞ്ഞ് പോകാന്‍
കലമാന്‍റെ കൊമ്പിലിരിക്കണ പൊന്‍മാനെക്കാണാന്‍
കാടാറും കയറിയിറങ്ങാന്‍
ഒളിമാടം കേട്ടിയിരിക്കാന്‍
കാട്ടുവള്ളിയിലാടിപാടാന്‍

E63 Qwerty for the Masses

2008-11-12T22:30:00.004+05:30

Nokia E63 has been officially released. Yesterday the blogger world was ecstatic, since a blogger was officially given the Nokia E63 to look at before even the official launch. I was green with envy. Today it's been officially launched.

This clearly shows that Nokia are very serious about their business phone division. At the price point(EUR 199) quoted by Nokia. This must be the cheapest qwerty smartphone in the market. :) This phone has got all the bells & whistles of the extremely successful E71, which I thought was the ultimate mobile office. E63 is not the successor of E71 rather its a little brother with some features missing. The main features which seem to be different from the E71 seems to be the in-built GPS & the 3.2MP camera (instead E63 has a 2MP camera). Also the E63 doesn't have the High Speed Packet Data Access i.e. HSPDA. But overall this looks like a really good phone and could in fact become a competitor to its bigger brother the E71.

But it shares the other excellent features with E71. The same excellent qwerty keyboard of the E71, except the space bar has been squashed to provide more buttons for special characters. The same 2.4 inch wide display. The same 1500mAh battery of the E71 which gives you nearly 10 hours of talktime and 18 hours of music playback. Supports upto 8GB microSDHC cards and also has an inbuilt memory of 110MB. It's got a 3.5mm jack which sounds music to me. So on the whole Nokia Engineers have really put the smartphones into the hands of the common man. OK I know EUR 199 is still a little away for common man, but this way cheaper than many of the other smartphones out there in the market. Also this seems to be in the same price range as that of the Nokia E51. :) Waiting for more detailed hands-on review.

For more detailed information head on to Nokia's official page below.
Nokia E63
Eseries with mass market appeal

Its
not

2008-11-08T23:36:00.002+05:30

At present if you use the blogger comments, you might have noticed this. Whenever you go to next line of your comment by pressing the ENTER button and publish your comment, the next line is converted into a <br> tag not a <br /> even though the Doctype of the page clearly says XHTML. In XHTML <br> is a deprecated tag.

Even the <br /> tag is deprecated in XHTML 2.0

So for the moment it would be good if the people behind the blogger would take notice of this & make changes.

Nikon FM10: Review

2008-11-07T00:28:00.002+05:30

Nikon FM10 B&W, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

This is my first camera and undoubtedly my favourite camera. Many people thought I went mad for buying a film camera in the digital era. I knew that there will be a lot of additional costs involved(like film and developing cost). Even then I didn't change my decision. I bought mine some 7-8 months back. So here is my review of Nikon FM10. I'm not an expert on cameras. This is just what I have learned from using my Nikon FM10 for more than 6 months.

Reasons for buying Nikon FM10

After I decided that I should buy a Film camera. I started searching for a cheap one even a second hand one, a camera that will not burn my pocket. So price was an extremely important part in my decision. For Rs. 8000 this was an absolute steal.

Next thing which might stun a few people is that I can operate this camera without any battery. Its a fully mechanical, manual focus camera hence doesn't require a battery. But if you want to operate the light meter you need two-SR44 (1.55V) or two A- LR44 (1.5V) batteries. Just how many digital cameras work without batteries, he he. NONE.

Viewfinder is one of the most essential part of a SLR, this camera has a good one. Compared to most of the starting & mid range digital SLR cameras, this camera has a better finder even though it has only 92% frame coverage.

Unlike digital SLR what I have is a 35mm full frame camera. What it implies is that if I use a 50mm lens the effective focal length is also 50mm. To get a digital SLR which has a similar full frame sensor you have to shell out a lot of money. Some of the recent full frame digital SLR cameras like the Nikon D700, Sony Alpha 900, Canon 5D/5D Mark II costs around 3000$.

It also came with a kit lens a 35-70mm f/3.5-f/4.8. Which is a good starting lens. I also bought a 50mm f/1.8 AF-D Nikkor. Yep you can also attach any AF-D Nikkor lenses, but you have to focus manually. :)

Is film better than digital?

Most people would love to debate over this topic. But its up to the individual to decide which is best for him/her. Both can capture the moment of your choice. Unless you are good observer in the right place at the right time you can't take good photographs with either Digital or Film SLR.

Hope this review helps. You can see the technical specification & a camera manual in the links below.

FM10 from Nikon: Nikon USA
Nikon FM10 Camera Manual

Calvin a math atheist

2008-10-31T23:33:00.004+05:30

Well this is one Calvin strip which will be appreciated by everyone who dislike Math. This strip really makes one think. If you read this strip carefully, you might wonder yourself whether Math is a science or religion. What Calvin says makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Most of the times Calvin talks about some really profound philosophy about simple stuff. You might have seen the movie Taare Zameen Par, the scenes where Ishaan thinks of the numbers as planets in his Math class came straight out of Calvin and Hobbes. So is what Calvin says here true? Its up to you to decide...

Coconut Tree

2008-10-29T17:50:00.003+05:30

Coconut Tree, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Taken with my new camera. Yep I have got another camera. Not a D-SLR though :(. Till then I will be using my new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W120. Really small really cool camera. Will post a detailed review of my new camera soon.

Gmail has put a :) on my face

2008-10-24T21:44:00.004+05:30

Well its about time. Yahoo had it for years, its something many people missed in Gmail. Well its finally available for everyone. Emoticons! :)

Yep finally gmail has added emoticons or better known as smiley. The people behind Gmail has finally agreed that a picture is worth a thousand words :). The collection of emoticons are really good. I like the squarish ones though not the regular circular ones.

Official Gmail Blog: A picture is worth a thousand words

Stargate Atlantis

2008-10-19T18:24:00.004+05:30

After Prison Break Season One was over I didn't watch any other serial. But recently I saw the mention of Stargate Atlantis somewhere. Don't quite remember where I saw that name, but I am glad that I saw it. I'm a big fan of anything Sci-Fi. Immediately after seeing the name I understood its a Science Fiction serial. I thought must be something like Star Trek. Yep it is like Star Trek but with a more modern graphics etc. Love it. Try to watch it if possible.

The story of Stargate Atlantis(Season One) is about an expedition team who finds alien technology on earth. These aliens are supposedly human like and left earth a long time ago. They are known as the Ancients. They have visited various parts of many galaxies and built a portal which allows travel between the worlds a possibility. Its nothing but a worm hole. The Ancients built these portals known as Stargates at all the places where they found human like life. The Ancients finally became extinct after the creatures called Wraith attacked them. The expedition team finds these Wraiths and are now the only ones who stand in the way of Wraith from attacking Earth.

Thats all I have seen so far. I'm yet to finish Season One.

Stargate Atlantis: Official Website

Simran Thirai

2008-10-15T22:14:00.007+05:30

For those who are already soaking in the glycerin water of the mega serials, here is a new concept called Mini-Mega serials. Its a brand new concept by Pyramid Saimira Production. Starring none other than the Lady super star "Simran". OK I know she is old now, married, but she still looks great :D. I'm also a fan of Simran ;). Here is a dialogue by Sathyan from the movie Maayavi.

Ellarum cinemava thaana moonu mani neram pappanga
Aana naan simran postareye moonu mani neram pappen

The Mini-Mega serial is an interesting concept unlike the Mega serials of out time where the story spans five to six generations and goes on and on for years, this is really short running for just a month. Meaning you get to see a new story every month and don't have to worry whether "X" is the second daughter of the X-Husband of Mrs. "Y" who is currently on the death bed. Yes all the story as you have guessed correctly revolves around our lovely Simran, that's why its called Simran Thirai. It's first episode was aired on March 3, 2008. I know I'm a little late in announcing this whole Mini-Mega serial thing, but then for someone who never watches tamil soaps its too early :).

Its aired on Jaya TV every Monday to Friday at 8:30 pm. I'm not at all a fan of Mega serials. Since this seems a little away from the Mega serial concept where the cameraman will show the leg of the hero walking up the staircase for 15 mins. Then finally when he reaches the next floor they put the "Thodarum" message. The Simran Thirai is currently airing its eighth season "Sundari Neeyum, Sundaran Naanum". I haven't watched the previous seven stories, but this ones really funny. This is the main reason why I started watching this serial. In this story Simran dons the role of an "Agrahaaram Maami". I'm planning to watch this whole month ;). Thalaivi Simran Vazhga.

Watch Simran Thirai Online

Image Credit: Pyramid Saimira

Calls to USA for 0.01$

2008-10-12T20:54:00.007+05:30

You might have seen many ads on the internet screaming similar things. This is in fact another similar advertisement. Seriously after seeing this particular article many might wonder whether I have lost my mental balance. Nope, I'm still sane enough to write my blog. You can in fact make calls to USA for as cheap as 0.01$ i.e. 1cent. You know what, I have been using this service myself for many months now. I'm really happy with the service, So that's why I'm blogging about it. :)

Yahoo Voice

Many of you might have already known about this service called Yahoo Voice, offered by Yahoo. Using this service one can make calls to any where in the world via Yahoo Messenger. Visit the yahoo site for details regarding the call rates.

The 0.01$ turns out to be roughly around 45 paise give or take a few paisa based on the current US Dollar exchage rate. That's even less than a local mobile to mobile call tariff. The actual ISD tariff for Vodafone(Chennai, assuming the the same pricing prevails in the rest of India) prepaid customers is about Rs 6.40/-. And suppose you use a World Calling card you can bring down the tariff to Rs 2.00/-. Even this rate is roughly four times costlier than what is offered by Yahoo. Guess one can do the rest of the Math to figure out exactly what you save if you used Yahoo Voice. Also the voice clarity is good. The minimum recharge option is 10.00$. And if my math is right you can use that credit to call any US number and talk for nearly 1000 minutes.

So there has to be some downside to this service. Some fine print in the bottom. Well there are a few, but these factors are very minor.

FINE PRINT :
1. You need an internet connection to use this service. In case anyone reads this blog to find out about this service then he/she already has an internet connection. And this does not include those who browse in Cybercafe.
2. You need to have a headphone with microphone. You can get a really cheap one for about Rs. 150/- by philips or even cheaper ones by lesser known brands. Anything will work.
3. You need to have a credit card to pay for this service. Well in case you don't have one, I'm sure many bank are willing to give you one. In case they are hesitant you can ask someone else to pay for you using their credit card and you can pay them in cash.
4. Unlike mobile phones you can't use this service anywhere you want and definitely won't fit in your pocket (God when will 3G come to India!). Its not exactly a very portable service.

Note: Even Skype offers a similar service, but you can compare the call rates of Skype and call rates of Yahoo voice and decide for yourself which is cheaper.

Image Credit: Yahoo.com

Wall - E

2008-10-09T18:16:00.002+05:30

Wall - E, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

I have to watch this movie(reminding myself for the nth time). Got this wall-e model from landmark. :)

Nokia E51: Review

2008-09-27T11:11:00.006+05:30

You remember that long time ago I bought the wonderful Sony Ericsson W810i. I am very sad to inform that it is no more. The reason is partly due to my handling. But I would blame some of it on the phone design. But thats of course personal. It still remains a very good phone. I think it has the best 2 MP camera in the entire lot of 2 MP camera phones. It also has a very good battery life averaging 2-3 days on a single charge, provided I didn't use the loudspeaker much.

So if it is such a good phone why didn't I buy the same phone again? Considering the fact that it is available now at 6000 Rs less than what I bought for. Well the only few things which I didn't like in W810i would be the charger & the charging contacts in the W810i (all Sony Ericsson phones in general). I feel that they are a lot exposed and it gets easily damaged. This is the main reason why I decided not to buy another Sony Ericsson. The second was the flimsy cover for the memory card. My phone stopped working because water had gone through the memory card cover and had spoilt the whole inner circuit. Also I feel that Sony Ericsson phone has too many restrictions on the features. Like I cannot have many numbers under the same contact. One more weird feature was that for me to store some one's birthday in the calendar that person has to be in my contacts. Not many softwares are available for Sony Ericsson phones. The keypads are always the weak point in Sony Ericsson phones. One thing which they need to learn from the Nokia.

Then I decided my next phone has to be a smartphone. The things I had in mind was a good Operating System, lots of additional features, multimedia(MP3 player, Radio, Video Player, Camera)lots of softwares. These were the primary things which I was looking for. Only two Operating systems satisfied all of these. One is the Symbian operating software (Nokia), or the Windows Mobile (HTC,Motorola). I had seen some of the phones from all three i.e. Nokia, HTC & Motorola. I'm a big fan of qwerty phones. Though I have never used any of them extensively myself. I do like to have a proper keypad to type. After much analysis, many reviews I finally settled on the Nokia E51. Unfortunately during the time I bought my phone the E71 was not yet announced else I would have definitely bought E71 instead of E51.

What I Like about the Nokia E51

Here are the few basic specifications of the Nokia E51.

Its a business phone. Which I guess one can guess from the "E" in the Nokia E51 meaning Enterprise.
Its the successor to the highly popular Nokia E50.
Powered by the latest Symbian Operating System V9.2 with S60 3.1.
Wi-Fi. Something that is truly amazing for a phone which sells for around 11K.
Has a really fast ARM 11, 369 MHz processor. Which is the same processor which runs in most of the latest N Series Nokia Phones.
It is 3G enabled. But thats no use in India. Not yet!
Has a higher capacity battery with 1070mAh.
Has all the regular multimedia stuff like a 2MP camera, Radio, Video Player, MP3 Player.
Comes preloaded with some office applications like Word, Excel & Powerpoint viewer. Sadly you can't edit the documents. But I don't see the point as to why one would want to edit documents in a 2inch screen.
Has Adobe reader, Flash lite 2.0, Nokia Maps though no GPS.

Karneeshwarar Temple

2008-08-21T23:53:00.003+05:30

Karneeshwarar Temple, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

This was taken during the Tenth Chennai Photowalk organized by Ravages a.k.a Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan. The photowalk started at this famous temple in Saidapet. Its located just a few hundred meters from the Saidapet railway station. Lovely Temple. More photos to follow.

Freaking Beggars

2008-08-19T23:16:00.006+05:30

Well last Sunday was the tenth edition of the Chennai Photowalk. The previous day had gone to Bachna Ae Haseeno Movie. The story is pretty ok.

Plus points of the movie.
1. Deepika Padukone.
2. Bipasha Basu.
3. Minissha Lamba.
4. All of the above three gorgeous ladies in damn sexy dresses.
5. Funny remake of DDLJ.

Negative points of the movie.
Well had a hard time deciding who was looking the sexiest among the three heroines.

I went for the night show. To my surprise the theater was fully packed. Then returned home only by 2.30am. I was afraid of sleeping off & not waking up for the Chennai Photowalk the next day at 7.30 am. Thankfully I woke up at 7.00 am and went godspeed to Saidapet's Karneeshwarar Temple. Thats the place where the Photowalk started. We spent a good deal of time inside the temple. Then myself and Mr. Balu went to the Saidapet market. Then everyone proceeded to the Little Mount Church. After the Chennai Photowalk got over at around 11 o clock while getting back home, one of the beggar commented about the Chennai Photowalkers "These idiots & good for nothing walk around showing off their cameras and taking photos, but don't even give a single Rupee to us."

I was pondering over this for a long time.

Was I wrong to not give money to the beggars?
Or are they wrong to ask money from me?

Will post the pictures from the Chennai Photowalk soon. Till then visit my Flickr Page.

Oh Jesus

2008-08-17T21:49:00.003+05:30

Oh Jesus, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

I really love this picture. One is for the light behind the statue seems to radiate from the statue. Took this picture during the Ninth Chennai Photowalk at St. Thomas Mount Church. The second reason why I love this photos is due to the silhouette of the cross & statue against the sunlight.

Here are some tidbits about St. Thomas Mount Church. It was built in 1523 by the Portuguese stands at the summit of the 300 foot high St. Thomas Mount.
St. Thomas who is one of the apostle of Christ is said to have lived in a small cave on the hill.
A shrine dedicated to "Our Lady of Expectation" was built in 1523 on top of the mount.
At the northern foot of the Mount is a gateway of four impressive arches surmounted by a cross bearing the inscribed date 1547.
A flight of 160 steps leads up to the summit of the Mount.
There are fourteen stations of the cross erected on the way to the summit.
In 1547, an excavation unearthed a stone cross with old Sassanid Pahlavi inscriptions on it. The cross, reputed to have been chiseled by the Apostle himself, became known as the 'Bleeding Cross' as it has stains resembling blood stains which reappear even after being scrubbed off. It is also supposed to 'bleed' afresh periodically.
The Festival of Our Lady of Expectation is celebrated on 18th December.
Saint Thomas day is celebrated on the 3rd of July in memory of his martyrdom.

Swatkat

2008-08-06T22:30:00.003+05:30

Swatkat, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

I was behind this guy for nearly 15 mins to get a good picture. Finally after some persuasion and some butter biscuit. This is possibly the best shot I got. Unlike the previous one this was shot with my X Sony Ericsson i.e. the W810i.

Really Wide

2008-08-04T23:18:00.002+05:30

Really Wide, originally uploaded by Rakesh Ashok.

Finally a post after a really long time. This above photo is Chennai. A view of the Kathipara Junction at Guindy from the top of St. Thomas Mount. Lovely view. Shot during the Ninth Chennai Photowalk. Yep I have made it to two Chennai Photowalks so far. Will post the other pictures from the Chennai Photowalk collection.

Flickr

2008-08-04T23:14:00.001+05:30

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Catching up with my blog

2008-06-10T23:30:00.002+05:30

The time between my posts have become months instead of days. This seems very serious indeed. So I am not going to promise to write in this blog everyday, which will be so unlike me. Instead I'll be posting certain things which will be a little different than the usual and which will require some time to come up with :). That will be my excuse for not blogging often.

Coming Up:

1. Did I go to the Chennai Photowalk?
2. Did I take any pictures with my new Nikon FM10?
3. What happened to my trustworthy SE W810i?

STAY TUNED...

Someone loves Someone

2008-04-04T22:45:00.002+05:30

Picture Source: Love is in the air by Alephunky

Flash News:

Love is in the air. I have no idea why they came up with this expression. Love is not a gas or dust particle, so how can it be in air?!

My First Camera: Nikon FM10

2008-03-01T20:45:00.003+05:30

After much consideration, research and debate I have finally bought my first camera. It's Nikon FM10. Its not exactly the best SLR camera out there. But hey I have to learn with something right. Here are some pictures of it.

Truly Kontagious

2007-12-21T22:15:00.000+05:30

Band Kontagious playing live at Landmark Spencers, Chennai

Well for the first time in my life I was singing christmas carols that too in the public at the top of my voice, all thanks to the band Kontagious. As on date the only christmas carol I knew was jingle bells even that I haven't sung fully so far. Today after a boring day at work headed to spencer for a lazy window shopping session plus my regular stroll in Landmark. After roaming for about 15 mins I heard them make an announcement didn't hear it properly thought some writer must be coming or some such stuff. After a while I heard someone playing guitar and to surprise see that there were a bunch of people preparing for a concert of some sort in Landmark. Thank god I finally get to hear a band live! Then the lead singer of the band comes up and says we are going to sing christmas carols. The only thing I know about carols is that it is usually sung by choirs in a very high pitch through out christmas. Beyond this my knowledge on them is bare minimum.

Then I sit there waiting to hear the band. They started sharply at 6:30pm, then it was roller coaster ride of sorts. The band was truly amazing mixing the carols with a good amount of rock and roll and it was truly rocking. Also their second album is out called 'Know Your Name'. Now that I have heard them live I'm definitely buying the album for sure. If you want to get a taste of the Kontagious then head to the Unwind Center, Adyar on 25th of December on Christmas at 8:00 in the morning :)

Official Site: Kontagious - Worship Expressions

Little Superstar

2007-12-21T12:55:00.000+05:30

This short clip is from rajinikanth's old movie Athisiya Piravi. This clip has also come in youtube's top 100 videos. Check out the moves of that guy. One amazing video :D

Squirrel Acrobatics

2007-12-13T23:55:00.000+05:30

Caught this picture in my Sony Ericsson w810i a long time ago. :)