Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Google - Plan 9 (Part -1)

Among the zillion ardent followers of Google (can it be possible, there have been only a total of 26 billion humans who have walked the earth from the time when apes realised that sharp stones are weapons to the day when we have weapons which can bring the civilization back to using sharp stones??); I humbly take the privilege to keep introducing my pack of friends to the Google Wonderland. The amazing (or rather ironic) part, though, is using Google Search itself to find more about Google.

What is Google? Tough to describe. Even tougher to predict. A Search Engine is now having command over blogging, photo publishing, desktop search, e-mail; just to name a few. And Google Labs (labs.google.com) , pegged by Google itself as "technology playground", never fails to suprise one by hosting some really cool, user-friendly and amazingly powerful tools. The key word here is USER-FRIENDLY. Does one ever stop and realise that the sidebars of Google Search, GMail and other services have ad-links. Imagine the frustration when you go to a rich content site only to find pop-up ads and a cluttered UI which make it impossible to concentrate on the content of interest.

What is "Plan 9"? The name is taken from the title of the movie "Plan 9 From Outer Space" (1959, www.imdb.com/title/tt0052077). Google is going to deliver something out of the blue and so its being called Plan 9. And example, GMail came when the media was following the "Search Wars" between Yahoo, MSN and Google. None of the popular mail services were ready for this. And Google was successful in delivering a deadly and mighty blow.

Google is gearing for something big. It is reflected in the statement - "Browser is going to be the next OS". Ponder over this. My 2 cents and 4 kilobytes on this in the next post.



Sunday, February 13, 2005

Sholay


Click thumbnail above for larger picture
Jo dar gaya samjho mar gaya.
kitne aadmi the re?

Aeonian one-liners these, by the greatest Villain Bollywood has ever seen. From unquestionably the biggest film Bollywood has ever produced.

Sholay!

Sholay, the cult classic of the 70s is basically a story of an ex-cop, Thakur Baldev Singh, who sets out to take his revenge on a dreaded dacoit - Gabbar Singh (the reference of the greatest Bollywood villain was on him). Gabbar Singh had escaped from his prison, killed his family in broad daylight, and had hacked off both his hands. The ex-cop, Thakur Baldev Singh hires two petty thieves Jai and Veeru, to get Gabbar, and settle his score.

Behind this storyline set in a rustic north Indian village, lies a few sub-plots, including the love story of Veeru and the tangewali (pony carriage driver) Basanti, the unfulfilled love story of Jai and Thakurs widowed daughter-in-law; a hilarious Hitler-impersonating Jailer played by Asrani - amongst others.

The love story, comedy and the song and dance sessions aside, the main pulse of this movie lies in the action sequences. Not that the love story or the comedy plots were not well executed - each of these sidekick plots stand out on their own, and work towards contributing to making the film what it is - but the heart and soul of Sholay lies in the pulsating action scenes.

Of all the action scenes, perhaps the finest one and the first one that comes to my mind is the train robbery scene. Purely exhilarating, this scene, is a total visual treat - made complete with a fantastic background score by R.D.Burman. Tens of dacoits riding horseback are chasing a train, and Thakur, Jai and Veeru defending it . Personally, I dont think that any amount of space-age computer wizardry or computer generated sound effects can ever match the intensity or magic of this scene.

Now I'd better not get into film-criticism mode and discuss nuances - I am sure that the finest film critics from the fourth estate have adequately done that over the last 30 years (and are still doing). This post is just a small tribute to a film - which needless to say, is one of my favourites.

Sholay still runs to packed houses in cinemas - some 30 years after its release.
Shekhar Kapur, the suave Indian born Hollywood director had once observed - "There has never been a more defining film on the Indian screen. Indian film history can be divided into Sholay BC and Sholay AD".

(as a completely useless sidenote - the lead pair of Sholay - Dharmendra and Hema, Amitabh and Jaya, were very much in love at that time)

Monday, February 07, 2005

Baam!! Thunkkk!! Kabbbb-oooommmmm!!!

Escapades of fantasy. Realization of fantasies. Triumph of good over evil. And a moral thread. They are COMICS. Every boy's most trusted world of Heroes fighting the
mighty Villains.

Discovery Channel aired a show on Top 10 Comic Heroes (including females) of all time. And true to my speculation and wishes (!!), it featured all my loved Super Heores.

Read more at http://www.fulcrumtv.com/comics.htm

Which super heroes do we love most. Those who are most gifted? Or those with whom we most identify? I guess the later is the prominent factor which drives the fan-following.

Consider Spiderman. Peter Parker is "nobody". He can't get the girl he loves. He can't get the best of the cars. He is a born loser. He isn't a Kryptonite who could lift cars even while he was in the crib. This guy gets his super-powers by accident. Something which we all wish for. One day.... we want to wake and find that we are invincible!! Parker realises this. But what does he do after attaining the powers. Save the world, trap the criminals, spread morality. No... No.. No!!!! He doesn't do any of this. He goes for prize fighting to earn money. He doesn't stop the robber who robs his bad employer.

Spiderman, at least at the beginning of the story line, represents most of the teenagers. They want power. Shameless, immoral and irresponsible; they don't care. Peter Parker turns the savior of the world only when Uncle Ben is killed. He symbolises the fraility and selfishness that we all possess. Only the greater than life heroes are born with the philanthropist bug inside them.

Another remarkable character is Tintin. He also is a usual boy-next-door. Absolutely no super-powers, is accompanied by a stupid dog (not Super-Dog!!!) and a alcoholic, abusive Captian Haddock, good-for-nothing Thompsons and a deaf-genius Prof Calculus. Yet he wins his wars and battles. He doesn't dodge bullets. He is vulnerable. At the first go, he appears to be a type of comic character rated "G" because you won't expect any voilence in the story. But, the villains die, they get battered. No super powers yet he comes victorious. Wouldn't we love to be that way.

For those, who have kept their date with Indian Hindi Comics; my all-time favorite hero is Super Commando Dhruva. Essentially human, perfects his body by Gymanastic and has an electric brain. Thats my hero!!!!