Monday, January 31, 2011

Wataniya Phone Swap Offer At Info Connect

Are you sick of your old mobile?
Visit us at Infoconnect and get it exchanged for a new one!

Link

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sitting Next To Each Other

Rumble-Seat

Patriotism is the conviction that your country is superior to all others because you were born in it.

- George Bernard Shaw

This is exactly why it’s hard for me to swallow the PATRIOTISM pill. The concept makes absolutely no sense to me.

Hum To Yoon Apni Zindagi Se Mile

Sudarshan Faakir…

Hum to yoon apni zindagi se mile
Ajnabi jaise ajnabi se mile

Har vafaa ek jurm ho gayaa
Dost kuch aisi berukhi se mile

Phool hi phool hum ne maange the
Daag hi daag zindagi se mile

Jis tarah aap hum se milte hain
Aadmi yoon na aadmi se mile

Chinese Take Out

Chinese-Takeout

Soft Drinks Laced With Medical Marijuana

6ecb9d68ba3f87b6_canna_cola_family_www.drinkcannacola.com.preview

Commercial artist and Canna Cola entrepreneur Clay Butler has created a cola drink that contains the psychoactive marijuana ingredient THC; $10 to $15 will get drinkers a 12-ounce bottle.

In addition, he's producing Doc Weed, a spin on Dr Pepper; Sour Diesel, a lemon-lime flavor; and Orange Kush, his version of the citrus drink.

Link

Now why didn’t I think of that!

Medical Marijuana has been around for a looong time now but this is the first time I am hearing about soft drinks laced with this stuff.

Doc Weed – looks cool and loving the name.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Unstoppable

unstoppable-poster_465x682

The film runs for 98 minutes.

The last 48 minutes (or so) are fine. The first 50 minutes seemed a lot longer (to me).

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Disturbing Google Search Query

Picture 2

It’s the disturbing images part of the search query that I find disturbing. Not really sure what search results were expected but I am rather concerned about this person’s state of mind. I am also worried about the people around this person.

Probably the individual was just looking for pictures of an adult / pornographic nature. But there are easier ways to search for such things. Definitely much more obvious words / phrases are used for one of those queries. 

Girl Runs Over Cousin

Well that does sound bad, doesn’t it?

Let’s make it worse – Boy denies a girl’s FaceBook Friend Request, but accepts her cousin’s request. The cousins fight over this (??!!). One goes more cuckoo than the other and rams her minivan into her cousin – TWICE.

Giselle Penagos, 21, required emergency surgery Monday to fix a broken leg and shattered pelvis after she and her cousin Melanie Spanopoulos sparred viciously over a cyber-Casanova during a wild car ride.

…. one of the girls found out the other one was in touch with a potential love interest on Facebook.
Spanopoulos' lawyer, Dennis Lemke, said the man refused Penagos' friend request but accepted one from his client.

Link

The Green Hornet

187378,xcitefun-the-green-hornet-poster

Time pass flick. Nothing memorable or ‘must watch’ about it. In my opinion, the film SHOULD have been much better.

Not much of Cameron Diaz in the film. Which is a good thing for me, because I have a tough time tolerating her.

Seth Rogen is annoying.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

61% Off On Travel In India – Jet Airways

Book on jetairways.com on 26 Jan, enter the promo code 9WREPUBLIC11 & get 61% off on the base fare for travel in India!

Link

Google Cloud Print – Print From iPhone Or Android Browser

cloudprint

We’re rolling this feature out in U.S. English over the next few days, so if you don’t see it right away please check back.

To get started, you’ll first need to connect your printer to Google Cloud Print. For now, this step requires a Windows PC but Linux and Mac support are coming soon. Once you’re set up, just go to gmail.com from your iPhone or Android browser and choose “Print” from the dropdown menu in the top right corner. You can also print eligible email attachments (such as .pdf or .doc) by clicking the “Print” link that appears next to them.

Link

Sunday, January 23, 2011

iPhone’s Top 10 Paid Apps

If anyone needed more convincing that the damn thing is a toy, this is it!

  • Doodle Jump
  • Tap Tap Revenge 3
  • Pocket God
  • Angry Birds
  • Tap Tap Revenge 2.6
  • Bejeweled 2 + Blitz
  • Traffic Rush
  • Tap Tap Revenge Classic
  • AppBox Pro Alarm
  • Flight Control

Link

I seriously think Apple should consider renaming the iPhone to iToy.

Apni Aankhon Ke Samundar Mein Utar Jaane De

Nazeer Baqri…

Apni aankhon ke samundar mein utar jaane de 
tera mujrim hoon mujhe doob ke mar jaane de

Ai naye dost main samajhunga tujhe bhi apna 
pahle maazi ka koi zakhm to bhar jaane de

Aag duniya ki lagai hui bhuj jaayegi 
koi aansu mere daaman pe bikhar jaane de

Zakhm kitne teri chaahat se mile hain mujhko 
sochta hoon ki kahoon tujhse magar jaane de

State Dinner For China

China-State-Dinner

Friday, January 21, 2011

!!

New Picture

I have subscribed to the comments feed of Q8Nri.com and yesterday’s update had me chuckling a bit.

It was perhaps the first time I bothered to look at the way the feeds were titled. ‘Comment on Heroic auto driver foils attempted rape, gets stabbed by habi’. Who is Habi? The rapist or the stabber or the stabbing rapist?

Now I don’t know who Habi is, but I can assure you that he had nothing to do with the rape and/or stabbing incident (at least the above mentioned incident). All Habi did was comment on the news article posted on the website.

There would be no confusion about this if the feed was titled differently. A few suggestions:

  • Comment by Habi on Heroic auto driver foils attempted rape, gets stabbed.
  • Habi comments on – Heroic auto driver foils attempted rape, gets stabbed.
  • Comment on Heroic auto driver foils attempted rape, gets stabbed. (No need to put the name in the title) 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

USD 55,500 For A Watch Winder!

buben-zorweg-watch-winder-xl

Inspired by yachts and automotive classics, this nauseatingly extravagant winder has spots for either 12 or 36 watches — four of which get the spotlight treatment — as well as LED lighting, a weather station, humidor, and bar, with hand-stitched Italian leather and high-gloss walnut accents.

Link

Ok, so it’s a little more than just a watch winder - but USD 55,500! A tad bit too much, don’t you think?

Number Porting Coming To Google Voice

 

New Picture

screen-shot-2011-01-19-at-7-35-53-pm

Check under phone setting to see if "change / port" is now an option. The cost of porting is $20 and, as you may guess, it'll terminate your current service plan and probably prompt the carrier in question to charge applicable early termination fees

From Google: “We’re continually testing new features to enhance the user experience. For a limited amount of time, we’re making the Google Voice number porting process available to users. We don’t have any additional details to share at this time, but plan to offer this feature to all users in the near future.”

Link

Interesting Feature Highlighted In Samsung Manual – Make Fake Calls

 

e7KOe

You can simulate an incoming call when you want to get out of meetings or unwanted conversations.

Link

Monday, January 17, 2011

VIVA – 21.6 Mbps Internet Package

 

internet_table_neweng

German Firm Develops Internet Eraser For Photos … Huh?

BERLIN (AFP) – A German firm is poised to launch software allowing users to have photos uploaded to websites such as Facebook, MySpace and Flickr erased automatically after a certain time, its head said Wednesday.

The software should prevent the increasingly frequent occurrence of someone being refused a job or running into other embarrassing difficulties after posting a photo that maybe should have been kept private.

Before the user posts the photo, he or she drags it into the programme which assigns it an electronic key that is valid for a limited time period, said Michael Backes, founder of X-Pire.

If someone wishes to view that photo later, the server checks whether the photo has "expired" and blocks it from being displayed if its time is up.

Link

And it’s going to cost 2 Euros a month.

Err… I don’t really see the point of this software. If it were embarrassing or private – why would the user put it up on the web in the first place!

If later on the person realised the pic is potentially embarrassing – I doubt one would want to wait till a specified date for it to be removed. Wouldn’t one go and remove the pic immediately?!?

Not to mention, the software does nothing to stop others from saving a copy of the pic on their own systems (for using at a later time). Even if right-click IS disabled – there is nothing stopping them from taking a screenshot and getting the image.

Let’s just say you are THAT lazy and THAT stupid that you would rather pay 2 Euros a month for a software to delete photos for you. I suggest you have a word with your neighbour’s son who would gladly do it for you. Chances are he would be agreeable to do it for a lower cost.

If not your neighbour’s son, you could always reach out to one of those BPO’s set up in places like India. They are sure to give you a deal on this.

Given the crap people are coming up with, it’s evident they have way too much time on their hands.

Dikhaawon pe mat jaao. Apni akal ladaao.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Shameless – Season 6

 

shameless460

Now this is what I call a good show!

Anybody interested in this, please make sure you get the British series and not the American remake. There is no fucking way the Americans can get this right.

Those who don't deserve, they get the awards: Kareena

Link

As much as I hate her, I couldn’t agree more with that statement from Kareena ‘Can’t Act’ Kapoor. List of awards she has won, that she most definitely DID NOT deserve (just talking FilmFare awards):

Best New Comer – Female : Refugee (Has anyone watched her in the film??! Thuu).
Best Actress – Critics : Dev (There is a huge difference between making faces and acting).
Best Actress : Jab We Met (Absolutely horrid).
Best Actress – Critics : Omkara (Brilliant movie. Kareena was a total miscast though).

FoneSwap.com

New Picture

http://www.foneswap.com/index.php

Simple and convenient.

Recycle your old phone for cash in UAE or you can opt for a Trade In. You get an evaluation for your old handset online itself.

  • Select the make and model of your handset.
  • Specify if your phone is in working condition or not.
  • The site then gives you a valuation for your handset.
  • Walk in to the retail outlets and submit your phone with a fully charged battery (no need to bring the accessories).
  • You will receive equivalent amount shop vouchers or equivalent amount discount upon the purchase of a new handset from the participating outlets.

FoneSwap can also pick up the phone from your home (no charges) OR you can simply drop off the phone at the nearest FedEx outlet. Payment will be received in 2 working days in the form of:

  • Direct Bank Transfer OR
  • Collect Cash from UAE Exchange outlets OR
  • Gift Vouchers from major retail outlets.

Hum Par Tumhaari Chaah Ka Ilzaam Hi To Hai

Faiz Ahmed Faiz…

Hum par tumhaari chaah ka ilzaam hi to hai 
dushnaam to nahin hai ye ikaraam hi to hai

Karte hain jiss pe taa'n, koi jurm to nahin 
shauq-e-fuzuul-o-ulfat-e-nakaam hi to hai

Dil muddai ke harf-e-malaamat se shaad hai 
ae jaan-e-jaan ye harf tera naam hi to hai

Dil naa-ummid to nahin, na-kaam hi to hai 
lambi hai gham ki shaam, magar shaam hi to hai

Dast-e-falak mein, gardish-e-taqdeer to nahin 
dast-e-falak mein, gardish-e-ayyaam hi to hai

Aakhir to ek roz karegi nazar wafaa 
wo yaar-e-khush-khasaal sar-e-baam hi to hai

Bheegi hai raat 'faiz' ghazal ibtidaa karo 
waqt-e-sarod dard ka hangaam hi to hai

Palin’s Response To Shooting

Palin-Response-to-Shooting

Friday, January 14, 2011

BlackBerry ‘Dakota’ - Pictured

The pictures of the rumoured handset have been put up by BGR. Have been waiting for this, for a while now. Touch and Type BlackBerry with Bold styling.

Dakota

 

  • 2.8-inch VGA 640 x 480 capacitive screen
  • NFC
  • Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE
  • Tri-band UMTS
  • 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording, flash, and image stabilization
  • 4GB of built in storage, 768MB of RAM
  • WiFi b,g,n on 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies
  • 3G mobile hotspot
  • MicroUSB port
  • Bluetooth
  • Magnetometer and Accelerometer
  • Proximity sensor
  • 10.5mm thin
  • Launches with BlackBerry OS 6.1

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Wine Makes Super Conductors More Super and Scientists Smarter

So, a little sip of something turns out to make potential superconductors much better at their jobs. And, perhaps, scientists better at their jobs as well.

Told you. There is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking :). Clink

Yoshihiko Takano and other researchers at the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan were in the process of creating a certain kind of superconductor by putting a compound in hot water and soaking it for hours. They also soaked the compound in a mixture of water and ethanol.

It appears the process was going well, because the scientists decided to have a little party. The party included sake, whisky, various wines, shochu, and beer.

At a certain point, the researchers decided to try soaking the compound in the many, many liquors they had on hand and seeing how they compared to the more conventional soaking liquids.

…. About 15 percent of the material became a superconductor for the water mixed with ethanol, and less for the pure water. By comparison, Shochu jacked up conductivity by 23 percent and red wine managed to supercharge over 62 percent of the material.

Link

Cornell University Library

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Shameless – Season 5

shamelesss

Done with Season 5. Still hating Monica Gallagher, but the show continues to be absolutely brilliant. Enjoyed every episode so far.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Tejas – Made In India – Ahem, Not Really

I did try to find a pic of what I saw on the tele just a few minutes ago. A pic of the Tejas plane with ‘Made In India’ written across the body. Would go great with this post as I was planning to paint a big question mark on it. Guess I didn’t try hard enough.

I am sure that by now almost all of you would have heard / read the news about TEJAS, supposedly India’s indigenous LCA (In case you haven’t, click here for one such article).

Perhaps some enthusiastic individuals have tweeted and/or blogged about it and are now busy broadcasting their pride over BBm’s. 


News Flash – At best, Tejas is ASSEMBLED in India. It’s definitely NOT made in India. Not yet anyways. You see, the engine is a F404-GE-IN20 from General Electric – which clearly isn’t an Indian manufacturer (psst – GE is US Based).

I agree I don’t know much about fighter planes, but I am assuming an engine (if not the most important) – would at least qualify as one of the most important parts of the plane.

It gets EVEN better. Apparently the radar, some navigation technologies and some display systems are imported as well. Made in India – Ha!


It’s not like I was surfing the web looking for something nasty to write about this news item. Here is what happened - I was watching Star News (we do it at times, just for laughs. It’s not a NEWS channel for us. It’s a 24 hr comedy channel).

The reporter covering the story goes something like ‘Everything is Indian about Tejas except the engine’!!

At that point, I cracked up and couldn’t stop laughing. Obviously I missed the entire story and decided to Google up just how Indian is Tejas and this is what I came up with:

Picture 2

Link

Some more interesting reports:

According to NDTV, the idea for Tejas came 27 years ago. The actual work started 10 years ago! Question – What were they doing for the 17 years in between? Designing the ‘Made in India’ banner??.

Anyways, the more important question is – 27 years and INR 14,500 crore (that’s INR 145 Billion, if I am not mistaken) later – you STILL don’t have an engine for this thing? Not to mention the radar, navigation and display systems!!?

Harp on all you want, but this really isn’t something to be proud about.  Dikhaawon pe mat jaao. Apni akal ladaao.

UPDATE:

At least TOI decided to wake up and mention some reasons why this is not really a kodak moment for Indian pride. Click here for the article.

Fake LV Belt Phone (!!)

 

Link

A knock-off LV belt with a Chinese phone for the buckle. Dual SIM and the usual Chinese crap.

Where do they come up with such ideas?!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Official OS 6 for 9700

Link

Just noticed that an official OS 6 version is available from Vodafone - 6.0.0.380. If interested, you can follow the link above for user reviews.

I am currently using the leaked 6.0.0.424 and see no reason to downgrade to the official 380. But that’s just me.

Raising The Debt Ceiling

 

Raising-Debt-Ceiling

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Super Mario Rescues The Princess - Uncensored

Thanks Essam…

Hilarious!

Starbucks Drops It’s Name And The Word “Coffee” From It’s Logo

 

_50682335_010948796-1

However, some brand experts have criticised the move."I think it's nuts," said James Gregory, chief executive of brand consulting firm Core Brand.

"What's it going to be - the coffee formerly known as Starbucks?"

Link

Agreed that their products aren’t limited to just coffee. That justifies removing the word “coffee” from the logo, but WHY remove the name?

Spanair – Unexpected Luggage – Great Marketing

Passengers may dread the wait for their checked luggage, but that was not the case for passengers coming off Spanair flight JK5208 from Barcelona to Las Palmas last Christmas Eve.

190 passengers arrived shortly before midnight, effectively spending their entire Christmas Eve travelling when normally in Spain Christmas Eve is celebrated with dinners, parties, and presents.

"We had to do something to make it a special night for them," Spanair says.

So the carrier wrapped every passenger a present--selecting different presents for men and women, adults and children--placed the passenger's name on the box, and then unloaded the presents on the luggage belt as the passengers gathered to wait for the bags.

Link

VIVA Lail

  • Call your friends on any local network every night for free
  • Talk from 11pm-7am all week long*
  • Pay a flat monthly rate of KD 6

What do I need to do to get the VIVA Lail Add On?

  • Have a VIVA Postpaid or Prepaid line
  • Activate the service in one of the following ways:
    • SMS: Send 3 to 303, OR
    • Dial *303*3# and press “Send”, OR
    • Log on to www.viva.com.kw and through the Self-Care Menu:
    • Select “Manage Your Services”
    • Select “Service Activation”
    • Select “VIVA Lail”

* Fair Usage Policy applies.

Casio’s Prototype Bluetooth Watch

casiooooz 

Link

Casio has come up with this prototype that uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) system to pair up with your mobile phone and the battery is said to last for 2 years.

Once paired, it’s supposed to be able to show alerts (missed calls, sms, Email etc.) and also allow the user to silence the phone’s ringer from the watch itself. In addition to some other equally ridiculous things like syncing the time on your watch to that of your handset (or the other way around, not sure - I couldn’t care less).

Please note – At present, there are no phones in the market that support BLE (so what good does it do to come up with this prototype?)

Furthermore, even if there was a handset that did support BLE and I did happen to own it – I still wouldn’t be getting this hideous watch. In my view - the “functions/features” this watch offers are pointless.

Another reason why I don’t like it – I am NOT a 10 year old.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Alternative To Lark Up

A while back I had posted about Lark Up – Vibrating Alarm. That needed to be paired with your iPhone. Here are some alternatives to Lark Up.

ANALARM – Hate the name and I have no idea why they couldn’t put some of the numbers straight! I mean, for USD 450, I do expect a sensible design.

analarm_watches_by_industrial_facility_2


Casio Futuristic Poptone – Looks a hell lot better (in my view) and costs only USD 29 on Amazon.

41pYcgQC3uL._SL500_AA300_

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Shameless – Season 4

 

Shameless460

Done with Season 4. Still enjoying it.

Don’t like Monica Gallagher (Anabelle Apsion). Would love to see her go away.

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