WWDC

Again its that time of the year !! Ya.. Apple's conference WWDC is just round the corner. And Needless to say, the rumor mills have been going on since long. Some very ludicrous, but some screens released seem to be very authentic.

The most probable updates for iPhone will be a magnetometer, increased RAM, better camera with autofocus which are almost certain. Back-lit Apple logo is bit difficult to digest, possibly just a rumor people pulled out of nowhere. There might be a possibility for a front facing camera, but this issue is still up in the air. The pic below is seemingly the most legit one till now. If this is the new iPhone ( the name is ?? ), it is definitely a sumptuous treat with a bigger screen i suppose. And it is much slimmer than the previous ones. Slim is IN afterall.

Apart from new iPhone, Snow Leopard will also be debuted. Am pretty excited about that as well. Bcuz unlike Windows, Apple generally make a giant leap with a new OS. Leopard was just smashing. Lets wait for the Snow Leopard to unleash its paws.

That was the Apple round-up.. Coming to another Electronic Expo, the E3..

Its a gaming expo which is held every year. Three years ago, I still remember people just went crazy when they saw the concept of Nintendo Wii.. But now it looks like Microsoft has some even more bad ass shit which will make your Wii's ( yes yours !! ) pack its bags and never come back.

The new talk of the town is Microsoft's Project Natal.. It is simply jaw dropping stuff I tell you. There is no price tags or date of launch as yet, but pretty damn sure every gamer out there is counting the days.. It is the next level gaming.. No controllers, no joysticks, no nun chucks, it is all about you. You are the character, just that you are out of the screen.

Just see it to believe it..

It is such a giant step towards next gen gaming which will attract the non gamers community as well. The best thing about the video is the capability of the xbox 360 camera to distinguish between your body from the other things in the room. It also understands voice commands. Its still not complete, lot of work to be done on it, but the initial looks of it just mouth watering.

Lets wait n watch for the grand slam Monday at the WWDC.. !!

Reminiscence

Lot of thoughts bouncing in my brains from the past month, n to be very honest, there were lots of things to write and spill them here on my page, but just cudn't find the right time and the right momentum to write.

Who's the Baby

The four months of the 2009 have gone by faster than the speed " Aaj Tak " claim to have honestly.. The month of march was nice, with my sis n her baby boy visiting us. This was the first time I actually spent time with a guy, less than 2ft tall and 4 months old.

It was one of kind experience honestly. Babies are babies really. I know it was one of the lamest expressions i summed up the whole thing in, but seriously.. The word ' baby ' means something more than what we actually make out of it. Not that i went thru the whole experience of being with babies, I just skimmed thru the best part of being with babies. i.e. play with them. leaving out all the nitty gritty's for my sis n mum.

Before this, I actually didn't know how to be with babies who just cannot talk, who can just smile, pee all over only all the time, and laugh n cry for god know's what reasons. They are just full of expressions, n mind you Honest expressions. Till the time babies cannot speak, you'll just have to try and do whatever you have in your locker to make them laugh. Its like picking locks.. You just try different combinations until you find the right one. But when you pick the lock, their ingenuous smile can make your day. Their cute ( for which you made god know's how many faces ) and candid expressions are sure to bring a smile on your face, no matter what mood you are in. Its like, if a baby smiles, you'll smile for sure.

PTA

Ok, coming out of the baby topic, first i'll write the build up to what i'm going to write.. My primary school is just infront of my house. I cross its gate everyday when i goto work n sometimes i look past the gate to see how the school looks now, try to sharpen the faded images in my mind. Last week I was walking past the gate, n I saw something familiar and something which we all go thru in school life.. Parents Teacher Meeting. I saw lot of parents outside the school and there were quite a few kinds of kids in the whole bunch.
I'll write more clearly..
Kids are of several kinds which define the way they behave and react, when they come with their parents to a parents teacher meeting.

1. The nerdy ones..
These little snots have pride written all over them. They are as proud as probably vinod kambli in a least hair on head competition. They walk proudly with their parents and mind you, pride is not limited to them only, even their parents walk as if walking on a red carpet on an Oscar Night.

2. Then they are the cool dudes, who score good, who always get " Work Hard, Can do better " on their report cards and don't give a shit about the PTA meeting. They are just happy that its a holiday and want everything to get over soon.

3. Then come the first bencher females who rubbed their asses all year long to become the teacher's favorite, n end up becoming the ' Prefect ' of the class, n bullshitting your brains the next year, and you say to yourself, here we go again. One more chamchi teacher ki .

4. Then is the turn of the mean rascals who have their names in every misdeed encountered in the class. These dudes can be spotted very easily you know. Untidy hair, always something wrong with their uniforms, their parents ranting at them after the meeting. These ones just don't want to go the meeting, inspite of the fact that, they have a Red Note in their diaries " I want to see your mother at the PTA meeting " by their teacher.

The whole scene is a mixed bag of emotions I tell you. I stood there for 5-10 min and noticed some stereotypes which are n will always be there in a PTA meeting.

N am sure, everybody knows in which category one falls, So lets keep it to ourselves ;-)

Jai Ho..

Needless to say, but i've been of the hook lately and been a bit busy pulling a few strings ( as if many were waiting ) . Anyhow, i'm back.. !! It'll take some time to get myself into the rhythm and then will be frequently chipping to My Part..

Ok the big O day for India with Rahman bagging 2 oscars for his out of this world music in Slumdog Millionaire. And hats off to Dany Boyle for making such an directorial master piece. I think I havn't touched Slumdog millionare's topic up here, but anyways.. The movie was a class of its own honestly. I saw it a month n a half back and was completely bowled over by the story and everything. The most appealing part of the story was the brutal honesty captured in the lens, whether it was the scene when both the brothers locked hands, sleeping on top of a moving train, or the their search for shelter in a pouring night. It just moved everyone.. !!

 After around 30 min into the movie, you will actually get a feeling of a real life documentary n not some random movie. N maybe thats where Slumdog struck the chords inside. The real pain which goes unseen everyday in the slums, the little joy on which the poor kids feel on top of the world, and harsh truth about life which they boldly face every day. Its has all of it..

I wont go into raptures about the movie anymore. A lot has been said n done over it, particularly in the past week.. In the building up for the Oscars. I just wanted to share my opinion bcuz today morning I bumped into an article where " aam janta " has their say for the movie. And to my surprise, 2 out of 5 people actually thought it was an over hyped movie. 

I mean.. Uhh.... Was it ?

I honestly cannot believe how even people can say that. People in India ( most of them ) came to know it only when Rahman got nominated for Music at Oscars. I actually felt uneasy reading what people had to say that " a lot of better movies have been made in the past in the Hindi cinema " I honestly fail to muster up some sort of meaningful retort against this kind of brainless comments . It seems, people are still entangled in the rhetoric conundrum of Who's movie is this anyways ? Is it a British Film or Hindi film ? 

Honestly.. People need to get out of this web and acknowledge the fact what a piece of artistic talent it was. 

I don't know whether its the shallowness inside ' us ' which doesn't want us to believe that a British guy made a film in Mumbai about an Indian boy better than anybody has actually managed to make here in India itself or they actually feel its an above average movie. See, am not saying we never had awesome movies here in Bollywood. But when people turn up to columns saying that a lot of better movies have been made in the past.. I would actually want them to pen down a few which were Oscar material. Taare zamin par was one, n before that was I guess lagaan. I would actually rate 'Black' very highly as well. But honestly, Slumdog really make these movies stand in the back yard if you ask me.

There's a line Rahman used from which I was actually quite moved. 

He said : "From all the Love and Hate in my life, I chose Love.." 

He cudn't have summed it more brilliantly than this. 

So people get out of the wonted chores and laud for something which was made for everyone.

Jai Ho..

Windows 7

Quite sometime since I chipped in a post here. So almost out of words really to add on something.

Recently Windows 7 beta version was released by Microsoft. It was a straight 2.5Gb download from the site.. Damn.. Using a Mac from so long hasn't left any ounce of love really for windows honestly, but ya, i don't hate Windows. So, out of curiosity i downloaded Windows 7, just to give it a shot and see if it was a step back or a step ahead from Vista. N my word for that, the whole installation processes and most of the things went on nice and smooth. I havn't actually been that brave to install Vista myself, so I cannot compare the installation of Windows 7 from Vista, but Windows 7 was slick from the word Go.. It even detects your GMA 3100 which was out of scope for Xp.

The look and feel of Windows 7 is pretty much the same as that of Vista but the whole experience was wayy better ( thankfully ). As i said, i havn't actually used Vista so it took me sometime to figure out little its-bits in settings. But overall am actually quite impressed with it. But hey, before i forget, Windows might have copied Mac's icon tray style design but only difference is in Windows 7, the icons keep on adding up in the dock. It'll take sometime to recognize the icons bcuz i cudn't figure out some of them myself.

And just a tip. If you installing Windows 7 after Xp and by chance you formatted C drive, then you'll be st. away logged into Windows 7 bcuz oops.. you just lost the Xp bootloader.. 

But nothing to worry, Just get a free copy of EasyBcd and you might need 2 files NTDETECT.COM and ntldr which are freely available on net to get an option for booting Xp as well during start up...

Another 365 ( +1 )

Funny this time of the year, when the whole calender has gone by, when you realized how swiftly every month went and how you have evolved in 366 days (leap yr) and how much.. ?

Well, who gives a shit isn't it ??

Nah, we might not be too pensive about it, but i guess, somewhere somehow we all think the aforementioned. Neways, its been great year with galore of emotions ( as always ) n with Liverpool going into Christmas sitting on the top of the tree, am as happy as pig in shit honestly. Being a Liv supporter, i still have some doubts though about the title challenge they are going to pose come April, but i'm staying positive.

And no ways i could exclude my B'day on my blog. Well uhh, to be brutally honest, it was just another day. Just a few extra calories i guess defined the day. Nothing ecstatic in fairness.
There's something which i was holding back n didn't want to mention ,nehow i guess am over with the moaning period so i should let it out. My iPhone screen is cracked.. YES.. !! I mean NOOO.. But luckily only the front glass is cracked, the digitizer and lcd is fine.
But the pain is still just seamless i tell you.. !! And a thing which i have not failed to notice is that, MOST of the people who got to actually see the cracked screen of my iPhone, cudn't hide their grin somehow. As if it surprised me.. plss ..


Ok, everything apart, I wish everybody a merry Christmas and very happy & safe new year. N thanks for reading my blog :-)

Keep the Faith.. !!

P.S : I'm still can't write about my plans for the new year !! Let the things materialize and i'll be up for it..( IF )

4th gen # 2

Mumbai

Mumbai is shit. Thats all really I have to say for the place. Am sorry am being too blunt or too north indian to say this, but honestly, the place is not worth living. You might have heard this line so many times, that " Life in Mumbai is Fast. " Its really a rhetorical statement if you ask me. If they mean spending more than half of the day on roads stuck in jams with the ever present shit smell. Then i totally agree.. Life is indeed fast. Am not blaming anybody for this honestly, its just a personal opinion that Mumbai is not the place to live life peacefully. Dreams might come true there as most of us say, but i guess it'll be a lot better to put in an extra ounce of effort in your dreams so that they come true in a better place.

Anyways, enough battering Mumbai. I stayed there for 4 days involved nothing on my itinerary. So one day i decided to go to Juhu beach and Andheri myself. I went by a taxi which took me an hour. But it actually look as if seasons changed outside. Damn.. The place is sooo crowded, any place you go. You need some really awesome driving skills to drive in a place like mumbai. Yes .. "Awesome" is the word.. Taxi's change lanes faster than it takes you to give an indicator honestly. But one thing which i personally noticed that, people were calm. Even if you cut someone off in traffic, nobody will retort with any abuse or give some disparaging facial expressions. None.. Here in chandigarh, ok i shud zoom out a bit, lets say, in north people just can't hold off the abuse meter no matter who's fault it is. People here just love to harangue while driving here. The driving sense is obviously not one out of the text book, but Mumbai-ya driving score on the temperament part. And this is totally of what I noticed in those 4 days. Maybe i just got to the see the sober ones in those days. I really can't say.. !!

Anyways, i cudn't go to juhu as it was far off, and i was really put off after a hectic drive and roaming here n there. And hunger was also a major pt. which make my junket a bit rusty in the end. I spent 2 hours roaming in Andheri. I went to SP jain just to see the college and all. Then finally on my way back, rather just as i started, i saw Mc Donalds. I actually cannot write in words how happy i was bcuz i had been eating shit food for 3 days. First 2 days involved hospital canteen, then in house where my sis is living. After eating, another thing which really made my brain tick was the local Railway Station. Ya, you heard it.. !! I was just about to take the taxi, when i had the craziest of ideas. I thought of getting a real feel of Mumabi. And seriously, if you havn't experienced a journey in local train, you have just touched Mumbai. You didn't get into the groove of it.
Well uhhh., I no it sounds way to good..

Last Local

It was around 2 in the afternoon. First there was a a very very big line on the ticket counter. ( sort of line. ) The ticket costed me 6 bucks for the same journey which costed me 25 times more while coming. Neways. Heading to the platform, it took me several minutes to figure out on which platform i've to be on. Then i took the stairs to cross the platforms on which it seemed as if i glided to the top. No kidding.. Mind the pun.. !!

No, not what you conjured right now in your mind. It was as if, i flew with the crowd you no. Autopilot mode.. !! Only thing which have to do ( if you cud do nething else ) is to move your front foot ahead. thats it. The whole direction part will be taken care off pretty well. Just that you have to make hell lot of effort to go in different directions. Neways, waiting for sometime for the train. It finally arrived.. !! Yes.. N boy wat a huge swarm.. Every man for himself in the battle. Fighting and striding and doing whatever u can to get into the train. ( N i thought it was a foul to raise your elbow in football ) ..
N again, a funny thing happened. As it was my first time in a local train, as the train was about to stop, i couldn't decide which coach to get into. It was like calculations going in my mind, which coach had the least people hurdling and easiest to get onto. N the one i chose..??? Was all ladies.. Damn.. Seriously, in my defense, i didn't no that there was a separate coach for ladies. And as soon as i entered, it didn't me long to realize that there were awful lot of women in that coach staring at me. (And that doesn't happen too often :-) ) As if i came in a superman costume in my own wedding you know.. N i felt very awkward but suddenly one lady broke the ice with such harsh words, " this is a ladies coach ". I wasn't actually so offended, bcuz i knew something was fishy. So i got down n immediately looked for the next one. I had to hurry cuz, the train doesn't stop for long. Hardly 2 min or something. I entered another coach and obviously, there's more chance for the Indian football team to make it to the World Cup than getting a seat in the train. There are several levels of luck you know..

Very Very Lucky, --Walla... You got a seat.
Very lucky -- you get something to lean onto.
Lucky -- You get a latch to hold onto.
No Luck -- just try and keep your feet on the ground bro..

So i was Lucky and while standing, you just can sense the (un)freshness in the air. mind the "un". Seriously, there's nothing worse you can ask for than in a humid weather, men standing with one hand raised and standing right next to you. N again, mind you !! We are not talking about ONE man here. Though, the smell sensors in my nose were a bit inured after 3 days for the smell, but seriously, no sensor in the world can outsense ( if thats a word ) the smell in the local train.

Anyways, the train journey was a bit cumbersome ( a bit.. ??) but good thing was, i reached the place in 10 min which took me an hour in a taxi. So in fairness, its actually quite convenient and saves lot of time.

After saying bye bye to the baby boy, we came back to a chillier and thankfully better smelling Parwanoo.

4th Gen #1

Disclaimer - Firstly the title doesn't refer to any Apple products. ( iPods or nething ) Enough has been already said n written for Apple till now. Given that topic a break :-).

Old times

Bombay, oh sorry i mean ' Mumbai ' , i visited long back. Somewhere in 95 or something. I clearly don't remember, but it was when Essel world was one thing which had to be checked in your itinerary no matter from where you manage to squeeze time. But any ways, I have a faint memory about Bombay, ( ya bcuz it was called this when i went earlier ) Juhu beach, where i had this extremely spicy Bhel Puri, and i remember meeting Salman Khan and Karishma Kapoor.

New Times

But, i got a chance to go back to Mumbai last week , bcuz hey !! My sis became a Mum, my mum became a nani and i became a Mama. :-) I wasn't actually sooo excited about the whole thing before, maybe bcuz i didn't no how it feels you know. But when i saw the cute little, oh wait, way too little thing lying in the bed, it just took my breath away. I mean, this has to be biggest miracle known to mankind i suppose, when a human makes another human. N oh my god, how small it was. Ya i no am using " it " as an antecedent for the baby, but seriously, you just cannnot refer it with ' him ' or nething at present when its just a week old.

Anyways, going back, i mean the trip from Delhi to Mumbai n then to the hospital, before i actually met my sis and the new kid. I had a plan to go by train to Mumbai but the ticket canceled, so i went by Indigo Airlines. And to my surprise, the airlines weren't as shit as what they seem from their name. The plane journey had nothing exciting but the only thing which i cannot resist to write is that, credit crunch has affected companies so badly, that you don't get free water bottle in planes nemore. I waited and waited a bit longer if the air hostess wud bring water bottles or nething, but nah. It was freaking PAID... !!! Seriously I mean, i've never traveled before where i paid for water. Even GoAir i guess gives you 200 ml water bottles, those 5 rs ones for free. Not giving free water is actually is act of cheapness of such degree, that even the cheapest of the cheap end up saying, Damn,, now how cheap is that ?

Anyways, the flight time went by easily, but it was the time i spent in taxi to get from airport to the hospital which sucked big time. Firstly, before i enter into the taxi, i wud like to honestly pay my regards to Russell Petters bcuz what he said about the shit smell you sense as soon as you step out at the airport is soo soo true. As if airport hired people to shit and go as soon as there is an arrival.

Which century seriously ??

I took a taxi from the airport to the hospital where my sis was. And Taxi is actually the funny part here . I never knew that taxi's in Mumbai were still those stone age fiat.. Damn... !! N to top that, those taxi's still have those button doors, which you have to press to open the door. I never noticed that it had a button system, so i just went for the latch and pulled it, n tried till a cracking sound came, and the driver said, sir , you need to push the button. I might sound insane but seriously, its been ages when i actually pushed a button to open a car door. It was just a normal reflex action you know to open the door. Neways, the driver wasn't too mad about the door lock thing.

The First ride..

It took me 1 full hour to reach the hospital and it was one pathetic journey i must say. But even more pathetic ones are yet to be experienced in this journey, so wait a bit. Neways, the scenes were awful really on the road side and lots of slum areas around the city. Roads not at all wide, too much shit all over, and the inescapable smell is just something which your nose has to deal with. Regulate its meters inside or watever.


The Baby

Slowly edging through the traffic, with dust all over me and inside me probably, i reached hospital to witness the smallest human being i've ever seen in my life honestly. It was soo tiny that i cudnt even pick him , not obv bcuz they are small, just that bcuz they are soo delicate and have soft or less bones gives you a feel that they'll wobble out from your hands or something. Anyways, on the first day, i was scared to pick it up, so just spent few min playing with it. Babies are just so much full of expressions honestly. Not that elder people are not expressive, but what you get from babies is something more candid. Although right now, a week old child wont do much on the expression part. All they do is sleep and shit. n thats what made me call him " Shit machine ". Seriously. sleep n shit. !! That sums up the day for them really.

There's a bit more to the trip.. will continue..