Let me begin by confessing that I don't watch hindi movies unless there is overwhelming evidence that the movie is good. This generally means that everyone I know (including folks overseas) has seen the movie and recommended it. Now there are times when I cannot help it and literally have the movie played in my face, whether I like it or not. Movies played by the tour operator when travelling bom - pnq in the bus comes in this category.
So this Monday morning I was in a MSRTC bus being ferried from bom to pnq. The driver pops in the CDs for K3G (Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam) and, CD2 plays first. So I watch the movie end before it begins. Now the general story goes like this: boy meets girl and they fall in love. The boy happens to be hindu and the girl is muslim. Atleast thats the impression you get since girl calls mommy khala (others call her Daijan), lives in chandni chowk, and has a sister who gets a proper nikah.
All this is very good but suddenly girls daddy dies and guess what, he gets a hindu funeral (extras chanting Ram)! The girl also has a younger cousin called Pooja. And in the end, everyone is decidedly hindu.
Sure the movie was entertaining, but where is the attention to detail?
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Monday, June 19, 2006
Yahoo password phishing
This morning I came into work and there was this IM from an old colleague:
:) http://www.geocities.com/joke_of_the_day_3_3/ =))
Now the URL looks like its gonna give me a nice laugh and I click on it. Surprisingly I land up at a Yahoo! login page. I thought hmm, I need to login to read a joke? Oh well - the URL came from a friend it must be worth a read, here goes the login...
Wait a second, this is not the Yahoo site, its geocities! Then I realise its a really clever attempt at password phishing. My colleague was foxed into providing his login and password to a bogus website, and the attacker is using his buddy list to send the URL to even more people. Now that is clever. Next I submit a bogus username and password to the form, and I am given a message that says 'Page not found'.
So watch out guys, do not submit your passwords to random sites. If you have, change the password right away.
:) http://www.geocities.com/joke_of_the_day_3_3/ =))
Now the URL looks like its gonna give me a nice laugh and I click on it. Surprisingly I land up at a Yahoo! login page. I thought hmm, I need to login to read a joke? Oh well - the URL came from a friend it must be worth a read, here goes the login...
Wait a second, this is not the Yahoo site, its geocities! Then I realise its a really clever attempt at password phishing. My colleague was foxed into providing his login and password to a bogus website, and the attacker is using his buddy list to send the URL to even more people. Now that is clever. Next I submit a bogus username and password to the form, and I am given a message that says 'Page not found'.
So watch out guys, do not submit your passwords to random sites. If you have, change the password right away.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Fishy business
I have been bit by the aqarium bug. It sure is nice to have so many beautiful fishes swimming around in their tank. Its a challenge setting up an aquarium, its more a science then anything else. Try reading a basic howto on setting up a beginners tank and see how your mind boggles. But the rewards are worth it.
I now have some of the nicest fishes swimming around in my tank: 6 silver sharks, 4 australian rainbows, 4 black mollies, 5 sword tails, 2 kuhli loaches, 2 guppies and 1 Siamese algae eater.
The aquarium is still work in progress, i will report progress on it here occassionally.
I now have some of the nicest fishes swimming around in my tank: 6 silver sharks, 4 australian rainbows, 4 black mollies, 5 sword tails, 2 kuhli loaches, 2 guppies and 1 Siamese algae eater.
The aquarium is still work in progress, i will report progress on it here occassionally.
I am back
I returned from the US 2 months back. Of course that classifies this as the dumbest post yet.
Monday, February 27, 2006
new york new york
Yours truly is in new york these days. as with everywhere else in USA its freezing cold. And I took a nice big long walk of about 10 miles. I might be exagrating a little, but in any case I did walk from the new york youth hostel till the UN. En route I walked thru most of the interesting sites of Manhatten.
first up was central park. I entered the park at the 103 st. gate. Its a big park, took be about 1.5 hrs to walk it. There are several interesting things in CP, and I would recommend anyone in NY to take a walk thru it. Here is what I saw: a big obilisk from the 16th century BC called the cleopatras needle. Its got stuff written on it in heirographics, and the translations are written on a brass plague below it. Then there is a nice big pond and several smaller ones, a place to do boating and a ice skating rink. There is also a small arctic zoo (fitting considering the temperatures) and a children's petting zoo. you can also get horse buggy rides in CP.
Then I came out on the 5th ave. Here there are a row of buildings with all embassies. Next up is the swankiest shopping district with the biggest names in shopping - cartier, bvulgari, etc etc.
Also here is the sweetest disney store. there are all the disney characters out here - in toys, games, watches, salt an pepper shakers an what not.
Next up the rockafeller center. this place also has a nice little skating rink and i guess the 2nd tallest building in NY. The 1st being empire state ofcourse. Then I started walking to the 42 street - thats where the NY public library, grand central an the UN are. all safely captured in my camera. the snaps will get posted one day :)
an by this time it was sun down, so i took a bus to times square, had dinner here at sbarro, and then took the metro back to 103 st. to the hostel.
(This is a very rough cut post written out of a internet cafe, and i have had no time to edit. so do not complain)
first up was central park. I entered the park at the 103 st. gate. Its a big park, took be about 1.5 hrs to walk it. There are several interesting things in CP, and I would recommend anyone in NY to take a walk thru it. Here is what I saw: a big obilisk from the 16th century BC called the cleopatras needle. Its got stuff written on it in heirographics, and the translations are written on a brass plague below it. Then there is a nice big pond and several smaller ones, a place to do boating and a ice skating rink. There is also a small arctic zoo (fitting considering the temperatures) and a children's petting zoo. you can also get horse buggy rides in CP.
Then I came out on the 5th ave. Here there are a row of buildings with all embassies. Next up is the swankiest shopping district with the biggest names in shopping - cartier, bvulgari, etc etc.
Also here is the sweetest disney store. there are all the disney characters out here - in toys, games, watches, salt an pepper shakers an what not.
Next up the rockafeller center. this place also has a nice little skating rink and i guess the 2nd tallest building in NY. The 1st being empire state ofcourse. Then I started walking to the 42 street - thats where the NY public library, grand central an the UN are. all safely captured in my camera. the snaps will get posted one day :)
an by this time it was sun down, so i took a bus to times square, had dinner here at sbarro, and then took the metro back to 103 st. to the hostel.
(This is a very rough cut post written out of a internet cafe, and i have had no time to edit. so do not complain)
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Taking a walk in a 1 deg C night
Yours truly is without a car this week. So I now have to walk from the hotel to any restaurant nearby. Normally this is not a problem but this time its different since its 1 deg C outside. In simple words its icy cold. I dont need to walk more then 500 meters which I can do in 5 minutes, but that is enough to get a nice chill. At first, your ears and nose go cold. Then your head starts getting a dull headache. Then hands and legs. By this time I am generally indoors.
Kinda fun. Only not to be done too often.
Kinda fun. Only not to be done too often.
Monday, February 06, 2006
The amazing google local
So I am all alone in my hotel and wondering what to do for dinner today. The hotel does not have a restaurant or coffee shop either so I need to go out someplace - only trouble is where?
In steps google local, a short query later I have a list of restaurants near my hotel along with directions and a map. Not just this, I can also get directions to my office from the hotel and from any place to any place in general.
This is just brilliant. Can't wait till they get data in such detail for India.
In steps google local, a short query later I have a list of restaurants near my hotel along with directions and a map. Not just this, I can also get directions to my office from the hotel and from any place to any place in general.
This is just brilliant. Can't wait till they get data in such detail for India.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
San Francisco
and its fabulous golden gate bridge - which I did not get to see :((
I had planned to wake up early on saturday morning and get to the train station at 8 to catch the weekend hourly Caltrain that would come by at 0819. I finally woke up at 1100 (which is not unusual) and got ready to go by 1150 (which is a record). Not wanting to miss the next train at 1219, I took a cab from the hotel to the train station, which was a good thing I did, cos I got there just in time. Now these Caltrains are just huge. They have two decks and are over 30 feet tall. Its a very impressive sight to see them running (they can be spotted from the RH office). An hour and 15 minutes later I am at San Francisco. Only I am about a mile out of city center. So I leg it onto the 4th street till I hit market street (city center), which just like any city center is full of shopping malls, showrooms, boutiques and the like. On my cards this day was to visit the fisherman's wharf (there are sea lions to be seen here for free:) ) and the golden gate bridge.
Getting to fisherman's wharf is an experience by itself - you do this in a cable car from market street. Cable cars are a 19th century invention which are still running today (and hence are expensive to run as well). The one way fare is $5. But its the experience which counts. A cable car is not much bigger then a mini bus, it runs (quite slowly) on tracks laid on roads, is powered by underground electricity cables, and you can hang out on the footboard (much like mumbai local istyle). One half of the car has covered windows, which is a good place to sit if it rains. The ride to fisherman's wharf goes through a lot of traffic, the roads are crazy steep (like > 45 deg) and the neighborhood is a charming place to be in. I recall having seen these roads in some movie in a car chase - where the cable car speeds out of control with the villian on board and the hero following in a car. There is also that amazing strip of zigzagging road going from top of the hill to the bottom. So the cable car ride takes about 15 minutes, landing near a historic chocolate factory right next to the wharf. There are a number of piers here, and walking all of them would take forever.
The first interesting sight is pier 43 (or 41 i forget which) where there are a lot of antique ships moored and you can go on board for a price. You can also see Alcatraz which is the prison island from the movies (Pictures coming later ;)).
Then there is the Boudin's bakery which makes sourdough bread shaped like crabs and lobsters and crayfish and other crustaceans. They also serve you clam chowder soup in a sour dough bread bowl, which is very yummy. The best part is that you get to eat the bowl after you finish the soup. I tried doing this, but only managed to eat half of the bowl. I bet a lot of bread gets wasted in this manner. I also had a tuna fish sandwich which was just passable. And that was lunch.
(It starts drizzling post lunch.)
The next most important feature is Pier 39. This is where you get pure unadulterated commercialised tourism. Souvenir shops, whacky toys, cafes, the works. There is a joint here that makes movies of you riding a magic carpet. You stand on a carpet in front of a green background and act as if you are really on a magic carpet. They then mix the movie and show you flying all around the world.
The best part here are the sea lions - who are the permenant residents of pier 39. Most of them were sleeping but there were a few playing around, jumping in the water, fighting, and barking loudly. These guys definitely are fun to watch.
By now it was 1700, the sky was getting darker, the rain was falling harder and I started looking forward to getting back to the hotel. I would have loved to go see the bridge, but it was already late, I was all damp, the hotel was over 45 miles away, and I had no car. So I decided to start back home.
(This piece was written when i was in SFO, I only got a chance to edit and post it now.)
I had planned to wake up early on saturday morning and get to the train station at 8 to catch the weekend hourly Caltrain that would come by at 0819. I finally woke up at 1100 (which is not unusual) and got ready to go by 1150 (which is a record). Not wanting to miss the next train at 1219, I took a cab from the hotel to the train station, which was a good thing I did, cos I got there just in time. Now these Caltrains are just huge. They have two decks and are over 30 feet tall. Its a very impressive sight to see them running (they can be spotted from the RH office). An hour and 15 minutes later I am at San Francisco. Only I am about a mile out of city center. So I leg it onto the 4th street till I hit market street (city center), which just like any city center is full of shopping malls, showrooms, boutiques and the like. On my cards this day was to visit the fisherman's wharf (there are sea lions to be seen here for free:) ) and the golden gate bridge.
Getting to fisherman's wharf is an experience by itself - you do this in a cable car from market street. Cable cars are a 19th century invention which are still running today (and hence are expensive to run as well). The one way fare is $5. But its the experience which counts. A cable car is not much bigger then a mini bus, it runs (quite slowly) on tracks laid on roads, is powered by underground electricity cables, and you can hang out on the footboard (much like mumbai local istyle). One half of the car has covered windows, which is a good place to sit if it rains. The ride to fisherman's wharf goes through a lot of traffic, the roads are crazy steep (like > 45 deg) and the neighborhood is a charming place to be in. I recall having seen these roads in some movie in a car chase - where the cable car speeds out of control with the villian on board and the hero following in a car. There is also that amazing strip of zigzagging road going from top of the hill to the bottom. So the cable car ride takes about 15 minutes, landing near a historic chocolate factory right next to the wharf. There are a number of piers here, and walking all of them would take forever.
The first interesting sight is pier 43 (or 41 i forget which) where there are a lot of antique ships moored and you can go on board for a price. You can also see Alcatraz which is the prison island from the movies (Pictures coming later ;)).
Then there is the Boudin's bakery which makes sourdough bread shaped like crabs and lobsters and crayfish and other crustaceans. They also serve you clam chowder soup in a sour dough bread bowl, which is very yummy. The best part is that you get to eat the bowl after you finish the soup. I tried doing this, but only managed to eat half of the bowl. I bet a lot of bread gets wasted in this manner. I also had a tuna fish sandwich which was just passable. And that was lunch.
(It starts drizzling post lunch.)
The next most important feature is Pier 39. This is where you get pure unadulterated commercialised tourism. Souvenir shops, whacky toys, cafes, the works. There is a joint here that makes movies of you riding a magic carpet. You stand on a carpet in front of a green background and act as if you are really on a magic carpet. They then mix the movie and show you flying all around the world.
The best part here are the sea lions - who are the permenant residents of pier 39. Most of them were sleeping but there were a few playing around, jumping in the water, fighting, and barking loudly. These guys definitely are fun to watch.
By now it was 1700, the sky was getting darker, the rain was falling harder and I started looking forward to getting back to the hotel. I would have loved to go see the bridge, but it was already late, I was all damp, the hotel was over 45 miles away, and I had no car. So I decided to start back home.
(This piece was written when i was in SFO, I only got a chance to edit and post it now.)
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