Leaning Tower

Our own version - Leaning tower of E-City.

Just study the contrast - garbage bin, MIG housing, Car and few more which I have edited out......

- Dheepak Ra

Golf

Tiger Woods here we come..........

Myself and Neeel as shot by Ashish.

- Dheepak Ra

Accident in Hosur Road

I had the privilige :-( of watching yet another accident on the Hosur Road. One of the most dangerous stretches in Bangalore.

- Dheepak Ra

Bomb Scare

Bomb Threat in Infosys
From our special correspondent



It was 00:15 when an anonymous person tipped about a possible bomb being planted in Infosys Bangalore. Infosys rapid action emergency response team took control. They evacuated all the employees of both Infosys as well as Progeon. Nearly 1500 employees were evacuated in less than 20 minutes. The individual project leads took charge, gathered their teams and took roll calls. To reduce the possible loss of man hours, structures were checked, certified and released in phased manner. Progeon with most no of employees was cleared by 1:30 itself. Normalcy was restored within a few hours.

Even though several hours were spent over a hoax call, it gave an opportunity to test the emergency preparedness. It showed the management skills of the employees who took control during an emergency as well as the efficiency of the security team who were able to clear the structure in an hour.

- Dheepak Ra

The Hindu breaches the million barrier

I just wanted to share some good news. "The Hindu" newspaper now has more than 1 million subscribers. For all my colleagues who know nothing but "Times of India", here is a gentle introduction. It is one of the oldest surviving print dailies. It has lasted 126 years and it has seen everything from India's freedom struggle, all world wars and survived till date. By avoiding commercialization to creep in, they had to forgo lot of revenue. But they have made up for it with the loyal fan following who will vouch for the integrity and authenticity of their reports. If you are looking for some interesting news/articles either pick up Times of India or some magazines. However if you want fresh, unbiased news and opinions, you will never be disappointed with this.

Link - Click here

- Dheepak Ra

More Movie Reviews

"National Treasure" is an action/adventure staring Nicolas Cage. Dont mistake me, I do like his movies. But this is one movie, you can afford to give it a skip. There are much better movies which are running currently.

"Kill Bill" - Watched it based on the recommendations in my friend's blog. Acting is wonderful, dialogues are good and music isnt bad. Hmm, Let me add like Lord of the Rings, you need to watch all the parts together for the story to complete. However its way too predictable. Usually such films offset it with some nice action sequence or atleast the director compensates by making a fast paced film. But this film lacks both. Instead of trying to bring out the emotions in the lead cast this movie just shows gruesome violence. I just lost track of the no of times there were beheadings/amputations followed by first generation graphics depicting the blood spurting out. To cut a long story short, this is another movie to be avoided.

- Dheepak Ra

Finding Never Land

This week it is the turn of "Finding Never Land". Its the portrayal of the life of the author of "Peter Pan". Its a heart wrenching true story which is sure to tug the hearts of all the viewers. Its about how the author comes in contact with a widow (Kate Winslet) and her kids for and of whom the Peter Pan is based.

If it was Leondardo De Caprio who shone in Aviator, this was the turn of Kate Winslet. But she never stood out bcoz the other characters did their roles admirably. Look out for the performance of the kid - "Peter".

There is a lot in common between Aviator and this one. Both had stars from Titanic. Both are period films which were released at the same time.

In parts this movie might be a tinge slow and sad which puts off quite a few. When I went not even half the theatre was filled :-( I know, I know. I have been giving a good rating for quite a few movies. But trust me, if you dont watch this, you will never know what you are missing out on.

Updates: I have been pinged by readers enquiring as to why I dont write about the story like other reviews. Its pretty simple - I dont want to play spoil sport by mentioned the storyline. Nope disclosing just the ending is not good enough. The virginity of the movie needs to be preserved.

- Dheepak Ra

Whatz the time?

My manager has suggested/advised/demanded that all data used in the prototype software needs to be encrypted. I guess I have taken it too personally. Even my digital wrist watch shows time in encrypted format only. I am tolerating the performance hit (It takes 1.2 seconds for manually decrypting the time). I do get some stares when my friends notice the strange time. But my colleagues assume that my watch corresponds to the on-site client's time zone.

Siblings

In quite a few households, parents will love their eldest child more but pamper the youngest. Wondering whether its the same case down here. I love this blog after all this is an extension of me. However I have to take care of the sibling blog. After all when there are 50 regular readers from around the world excluding those who follow this in Bulletin Boards and mailling list, I cant afford to miss the daily post.

Filter Coffee

When I started the SudaSudaCoffee Blog, I had mentioned that for many old timers a day starts only with The Hindu Newspaper and a cup of filter (or degree) coffee.

I have had lot of enquiries as to what is filter coffee. So for the benefit of my dear friends who know nothing but cappuccino and espresso series, I am passing the following links. Trust me, any day a good filter coffee wins hands down against Cafe Coffee Day's products.

If only these food courts could serve me, original filter coffee in those huge take away paper cups while maintaining the ambience....... Mum, if you are reading this I m sorry but u too use only electrical coffee makers :-(.

Links:
From WIKI
Nice description of filter coffee

Primary Blog

Hey I just cant believe it. When I traced the weblogs, I came to know that suda suda coffee has more visitors than the one you are currently reading.

I never knew that there were so many readers of my photoblog. And I was really amazed as to the list of people who were dropping in. By checking the IP address, I noticed people as varied from Singapore, Australia, US, ofcourse India. I was too lazy to do "whois" query for the rest of the IP addresses.

Another surprising note was the no of people coming via yahoo search. I cant figure out as to what search term they are using. If they know suda suda coffee, they must also be knowing the address. And no, "dheepak" fetches baejaar and not sudasudacoffee blog.

On 07 March 2005 alone, I had 61 page hits from exactly 50 unique visitors (IP addresses). Not bad considering the fact that people to whom I email wont check out the blog. Another fact which I came to know through my friend in China is that China's ISPs block all blogspot websites. Due to that I can only email him :-(.

Let me gather enough data (atleat a month), then I can get back with some interesting statistics.

- Dheepak Ra

Movie Reviews

Its been four days since I watched three movies. Till date I couldnt decide as to which is better. None of them was exceptional but all of them were good.

Page 3:
A welcome change from the run of the mill hindi movies. The songs failed to live up to my expectations but the movie did. To me, all the characters are new but they acted really well. I doubt whether any hindi movie this year can stand up to this except Black (Yet to see it). If you havent watched it do so now.

Aviator:
This is a true story about a millionare (though inherited) who follows his instincts and passions. Set in the 1930s, its about how he makes an epic movie on aerial warfare and his business dealings in the Airline industry. In between it is peppered with his love affairs. Eventhough there are some portion where the movie sags, all in all it is a very good movie. Particularly the scene where he defends himself during the commission's hearing is beautifully protrayed.

Leonardo de caprio - The first thing that strikes my mind is Titanic. I had assumed that he is a good looking chap who can't act. But this movie banished all those myths. Though he missed out on the Oscar (he was nominated for it), he deserves credit.

And thank the director too for this wonderful movie which won the most oscar 2005 nomination.

Coach Carter:
Its about how a basket ball coach transforms a losing, indisciplined school team into the one which storms into the finals of the championship.

This is yet to be released in India but my friend who is in US, recommended this to me. I couldnt resist my temptation to watch it in VCD. Though I am waiting for the Indian release to watch it again.

And one thing is for sure, you wont repent watching any of these three movies.

It hurts.......

As soon as my eyes rested on this building, my heart cringed. How can somebody construct a structure like this?



Initially I feel sorry for the owner of this house. I doubt whether it will last a couple of years. Just notice that the right concrete column is resting on solid ground. The left brick pillar is resting on compound wall!!! You dont need a Phd but atleast some common sense........

I was about to go and advise the owner but then restrained my urge to do so. They deserve this.

If people are ready to insist that only genuine photographers can shoot their wedding snap, can't they realize that it is the same with building construction? Initially they started ditching Civil Engineers and used Diploma holders. Now they are directly using masons for construction of their houses. If a construction costs Rs.5 lakhs (bare minimum) for 3 months, can't they employ a fresh engineer for a salary of Rs.8000 per month? Its just Rs.24k or 5% of your building cost. If you cant afford that atleast opt for an engineering student. He should be able to complete it as summer job for a stipend of Rs.3000 per month. I pray that these people look at Cost-Benefit ratio.

Yahoo lets me down........

Here was a canvas where I could paint my thoughts without giving it a second thought. Atleast it was so, till a few days back. But on March 04, 2005 (Black Friday), my mother searched and found out this site via yahoo. So here goes my privacy. I guess I dont have any choice now, so let me welcome you - mum. Anyway from hereon, I will be more careful with what I post. And for the rest of my dear blogopers, reserved posts will be emailed to you ;-)

Purpose

Nope. Its not about purpose in life, its the purpose of this blog.

Several times I stumble across incredible blogs where each and every post can be copied and pasted into some magazine. Usually they take several days for single post but they are worth the wait. There are other blogs which are specific to some domain and all the posts are targetted.

But the purpose of my blog is different. Its supposed to be an uncensored snapshot of what I think. It can be short or long, it can be cryptic or simple but it should reflect whatever occurs to my mind without being censored. I dont intend to think about a suitable topic for the blog and then start writing. After all this blog was by me, about me and meant for me.

Infact this was one of the prime reason as to why I refused to pass the address of my blog out. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have got some good avid browsers frequenting this. But I am resisting my temptation to change. I apologize if I sound rude. This blogs should reflect me and not target the audience. But I believe that even in such case, there will be some who would like it, for what it is. I am happy satisfying their curiosity alone.

- Dheepak Ra

Last 10 years

Today Yahoo celebrated its 10th birthday. When I first went online, there were just three sites worth remembering - hotmail, yahoo and google. After Microsoft acquired Hotmail, it was yahoo all the way atleast till google came up. Google is best for searches and yahoo is best for its syndication of content. The email service is a good tie between the two.

To celebrate its birthday, yahoo had a surprise for all its registerd users in select countries like US, UK, Australia etc. They were provided with online gift coupons which can be exchanged for Baskin and Robin Icecreams. Though I wonder how many will touch the icecream, when its snowing in UK and US. As expected, it isnt available in India.

Meanwhile here is a collection of some important events in the last 10 years - Netrospective

- Dheepak Ra

Happy Birthday

Lets admit it. All of us at some point in our life, has sung the "Happy Birthday" song in public. Atleast I used to in my school days which is continuing till date via colleagues birthdays.

However today I stumbled across this - Un Happy Birthday. It seems as if the Birthday song has been copyrighted. We have to take a license to sing/perform public :-(

I guess it is time, we thought of an alternative. "En iniya manamarntha pirantha naal nal valthukal" - Gave it a thought but somehow it doesnt strike the right chord.

I would like to sing the birthday song for my colleague whose birthday is fast approaching. Either compose an alternative song for me or else donate money to aid me in purchasing the required license. Please ping me, I will collect cash at your door step. And dont worry, I wont place any upper limit for accepting donations from individuals like you ;-)

Suda Suda Coffee

An update was long overdue. I havent blogged here for more than 4 days. And so here are the excuses.

To begin with, I have started another blog sudasudacoffee.blogspot.com. Even before this, I used to compose images and email them. But now, I have to double check the copyrights. Most of the images in the web cant be used in your blog, let alone modifying them. Even after you find one, it requires lot of editing to get it into some decent shape. After which I need to upload the image in a file server, followed by blog post. Finally I email them for the benefit of my colleagues who have restricted internet access during working hours. Nowadays the average turn around time for a single image is one hour.

Let me add, I am tired and sick of copyrights. So from tomorrow, you are in for a surprise. So dont forget to check out the sudasudacoffee blog.

Apart from that I had been to Chennai, my home town. I was just trying to rekindle my childhood memories. Eventhough I went with the sole intention of meeting my school teachers and classmates, I couldnt catch up with them. However lady luck smiled upon me. During my school days, there used to be a gang in my colony. They are composed of three generations. Guys in my age, those 4 years elder to me and 4 years younger to me. Yeah generation gaps did exist though the generations were just 4 years. After school days, we parted ways. Now less than 20% of them are still in my neighbourhood. But there was a pleasant surprise waiting for me. Every sunday evening, all of them regroup in the colony over a cricket match. If anybody is in Chennai, they will turn up for sure. Now I miss chennai, more than what I used to.

Need more excuse, I also have to work. I know that some of you, may not believe it. But I do. Here is proof of that.



Naa. I hate to decieve you. Let me admit, I was working on an image for the blog. This was snapped by my colleague. I was concentrating so much that I didnt even notice it. Got to know about it, much later.

- Dheepak Ra