When a stoppie on the R15 went wrong.....

Captured in Hi-Def

No bikers were harmed in the making of this image

  

 

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Why Kasab should be given a Mercedes

Last night as I was skimming through the day's paper, I was utterly shocked to find out that the Maharashtra State Public Works Department had spent a whopping Rs 5.24 crore to construct a high security cell in order to protect Ajmal Amir Kasab! Apparently, the 'anda' cell, as it is called, where Kasab is kept in solitary confinement, has a reinforced steel wall which supposedly protects the criminal from any possible attack or sabotage. What a load of waste, 5 crore on a tiny bulletproof room! Someone's not doing their homework here.

The way I see it, the authorities should have invested in a Mercedes Benz, or specifically the Guard variant of the S-Class. I think it would be more sensible to lock the bastard in the S-Guard and park it in a prison cell. For the newbie's, this is no ordinary S-Class I'm talking about, its B7 protection level here. Read that as pointing your finger at , 44 Magnum(the big ones), 7.62 armour piercing AK47 rounds, hand grenades, rifle launched projectiles, the lots. And if something really big and bad comes to jeopardize the safety of Mr. Kasab, like alien invasions, all you have to do is dab the right foot and drive away with the bastard.

And there is also an inbuilt torture mechanism (no offense Daimler) if he gets a little too demanding, just turn the heater on at full blast! The torture system in the S-Guard is highly advanced that it can individually torture THE inmate during interrogation (4-zone climate control). And I can also assure you that the roof wont leak in July or August.

So there you have it! The car costs roughly the same. Is infinitely better than an steel box and well, what do you know! After Kasab is history the government might end up richer by just auctioning the car. Trust me I'm a doctor

Check out some videos of the Mercedes-Benz Guard range of vehicles

Hastily written at moment of thought, please overlook the highly probable grammatical hitches. All votes and comments are highly appreciated. Please vote below

A camera that names the dogs in a frame!

Another day, another new piece of electronic wizardy from the land of the rising sun. What what really caught my eye in this new camera from Fujifilm is its face-detection technology. Rather than just recognizing that it is a collage of two eyes, a nose and a mouth, this Fujifilm Z700 even recognizes whose face it is!!! What is even more surprising is that, this detection works even for your four-legged friends. That's right!

You can register up to 8 people in your camera and next time you frame them the camera will bring up their name and optimize focus and other settings in favor of your registered faces. Ditto with pets, the Z700 incorporates the world's first Auto Dog / Cat Detection function, and is able to detect your dog's face from Mr. Khan's dog's face. Again optimizing focus and exposure for pet photos that will delight everyone. An auto-release function can also be selected to automatically shoot the photo when the pet is looking directly at the camera. Phew!, that brings up a doubt. What if your both your registered two-legged and four-legged friend turns up in front of the camera at the same time??

Another funny feature is the 'couple timer'. This gimmick allows you to adjust proximity settings, that clicks the picture depending on how close the two people in the frame are. The settings include “Near”, “Close Up” or “Super Close” depending on the level of intimacy you enjoy. Well well, a camera that brings couples closer!! One another question here on behalf of the LGBT community. Does this work with Adam and Adam too?

So now you have a camera that not only seeks your favorite face from the crowd but also keeps it in prime focus. Hmmm, so what are the future implications of the technology? Well... who knows maybe a few months down the line you may come across another camera with Auto- attractive body-detection and maybe even recognition!!

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Puma Formula One

Besides Lotuslah Racing from Malaysia, Borat GP from Serbia, a bunch of mechanics from España, and a container of bread toasters that is yet to arrive from the US of A let me introduce you to the latest entry into this year' s Formula One- The shoebox from Germany.

Yes that's right Puma is not going to field a Formula One team, but look what the trendsetters from Germany have got at their store in Chicago. A Formula One car made entirely out of shoe boxes! Check out the DIY video below about 'How to make a Formula One car out of shoeboxes'. Now what was the mail id of that American team......

 

This cool Formula 1 car replica was created out of recycled Puma shoe boxes by UK based Wilson Brothers-Ben, Oscar and Luke. Great job guys!!!

  

  

Now Iam toothpicking

The plain wooden toothpick, it may be argued, is among the simplest of manufactured things. It consists of a single part, made of a single material, intended for a single purpose–from which it gets its simple name. It is also among the most convenient and ready of things. It can be used directly out of the box–there being no instructions to read, no parts to assemble, and no maintenance expected. When it has served its purpose, it is simply discarded.

But what if I told you that almost 99.9% of you have overlooked a very thoughtful feature on the toothpick?

As you may have noticed that most toothpicks have a head, which is milled in a typical shape. Apart from the obvious grip that it provides while using the toothpick, the head is also serves as an indicator. If you observe table manners like most Indians don't do, then you might want to snap the head of the toothpick to indicate that it is used. Also if you wish to reuse your toothpick, the detached head also serves as a stand to rest the tip of the toothpick and to avoid it coming in contact with the table!

It amazes me, of how much thought went into making one of the simplest of things we use in our daily life.
References: Objectified by Gary Hustwit & The Toothpick by Henry Petroski

ADAM - India's ipad killer

While half the world is going gaga over Apple's ipad and the other half is anxiously waiting for Google's G-pad (Unless they decide to name it Plexus One) allow me to introduce Notion Ink's ADAM - Unequal Halves style! It's no secret that, the ipad though well flaunted does have a few missing links, and so if you are planning to buy one of those sleek Apple's, it would be worth considering the guy who actually took the bite!. What is more surprising and shocking is that ADAM is actually an Indian. You heard it right- Made in India.
I'm pretty sure you have not heard of Notion Ink either. Well, its founders are six IITans and an MBA gradate. with an average age of 24!! And they believe that India has what it takes to face off with the most innovative tech companies in the world. So do I. Take a look at why I feel the ADAM can not only take a bite but gobble the whole Apple as well. 

The 10 nails in ipad's coffin - Made in India

Nail 1:Processor - The ADAM runs on the next generation Tegra chipset from nVidia that supports 1080p full HD video capabilities unlike Apple. It also promises unimpeded browsing and media experience.

Nail 2: The Screen - Bigger than Apple's at 10" and also way better thanks to Pixel Qi. This ultra low power consuming display (200mW consumption, 10times more efficient than normal LCD screens) is designed to be readable in sunlight unlike normal screens. Under bright sunlight it automatically converts into a sort of monochrome display like that of an e-reader. Even in this mode one can watch full HD videos in ADAM. Also with this mode the ADAM's battery can last for more than 2 days. Now that's gonna be a game changer

Nail 3: Camera - While Apple is thinking about launching the ipad S version with camera next summer (and probably the ipad S pro later next year, which gives you video recording and zoom functions), Notion Ink's patented HD camera can do a lot more than taking pics for your Facebook page. Since the camera is a swivel type (as seen in some mobile phones), apart from taking pretty mug shots you can also record presentations by simply keeping  ADAM on the table in front of you and the camera pointed towards the screen. Clever stuff

Nail 4: Applications - Since the ADAM runs on Android (and also has option to run Ubuntu), you can be sure to grab a chunk of the expanding app market without taking a beating to your seemingly lightening pockets. (Since most applications will either be free or inexpensive)

Nail 5: Flash support - Watch YouTube or browse through rich Flash based web content right inside your web browser, unlike the ipad.

Nail 6: Open and Free system: Unlike the Apple iPad (and rest of the stuff of Apple genre), this is not a closed system. In the future, this device should also be able to run Google’s Chromium OS or even Ubuntu.

Nail 7: Multi- touch:  The Multi- touch is no longer an Apple exclusive, the ADAM also supports multi touch. Have ten fingers? Why not use them. Moreover the ADAM incorporates a clever trackpad on its back side, which enables you to navigate around the screen without taking your hands off !

Nail 8 : External Interaface: The ADAM boasts of  three standard USB ports in addition to an HDMI port and an SD card slot built right into its body. Just downloaded an HD clip from the internet? Hook the ADAM straight to your home theater!

Nail 9: The power of you voice.- The ADAM like the Nexus One (and the forthcoming Plexus One :-) supports Google's voice search. The world at your command

Nail 10: Beacuse ADAM has A-GPS support you can exactly pin point you location unlike the Apple which would be completely lost in the Garden of Eden.

So to wrap it up in true Apple style... 'Now we know who took the bite' - ADAM!?

All geeky comparisons at the bottom

Check out the pictures and video (below) of Notion Ink's ADAM tablet

Thanks to Technoholik

Lungi - What an idea sirji !!

According to the world's most famous encyclopedia Lungi or Mundu (in South Indian chatter) is described as a garment worn around the waist. What a load of rubbish! That's like saying, the Swiss knife is described as an instrument used to open bottles!

The truth is that the Lungi is indeed a Swiss Knife in itself. The way I see it there is no other garment ever made that even comes close to what all a lungi can do. A truly multi-purpose garment. I mean, tell me how many garments you know with these features

• Ability to adjust its length on the move within seconds! Full skirt length, mini skirt length or even micro mini sizes, you name it.
• Weapon of self defense in case you meet the bad guy down the alley. Just strangle, the bad guy and wear it back on. (Underwear, which are sold separately, may be considered appropriate for this act)
• Ability to automatically transform itself into a blanket at night, depending on body temperature.
• A handy table-cloth in case the guests drop in unannounced.
• Add health and improve potency by keeping your vegetable cool and ventilated in summers, and more importantly also prevent it from being diced due to its inherent safety features.

And this last one, I found on a trading website that exports lungi's. Found it funny. Under the facts section its written and I quote

• Foldability of the lungi is very handy for fighting villains on the street, as Mohanlal, Mammooty and other actors have demonstrated on the silver screen

       Now don't tell me that you avoid the lungi because you are paranoid that it may fall loose when someone's looking. Well mister let me tell you this 'It doesn't fall as easily as your Jockey exposing jeans do!'. And don't tell me about the lack of pockets either, because I know a man who keeps his cash, credit card, wallet, cell phone and even the bloody passport in the fold of his lungi. Beat that!



What surprises me is that even after we humans have learned to sew two pieces of cloth into one, have we been able to incorporate half the number of features that an simple un-stitched piece of cloth. a.k.a. the lungi does. Its not just a garment. Its material engineering. I think the guy who came up with this idea, must be given a Nobel prize or something!!

Know more uses for the lungi? Please feel free to post a comment.

Unless I'm very much mistaken!

I went out yesterday. Take a look at what all caught my eye
Location: Saudi Arabia

Hello! But where is the wine

But, isn't 'parking' for my car  ??

 

 They actually want you to give it a try. 'Air & See'

Mahindra speaks truth on twitter

Courtesy:  Anand Mahindra's twitter feed

To give a bit a little bit of background:  Renault India recently announced that it is thinking of restructuring the 49:51 partnership it has with Mahindra to manufacture and sell the Logan. As many of us already know, the joint venture hasn't been much profitable Mahindra Renault reported a decline of 48% in sales during FY 2008-09, the partnership also posted a loss of Rs 490.21 crore on a gross turnover of Rs 741.17 crore during 2008-09.



Renault has had problems with the Indian partner since day one regarding the Logan. A little known fact is that the Logan was virtually recalled hours after the launch, when a gentleman found that the car was not accelerating fully. The trouble was that when Mahindra took the measurements of the Logan carpet, they over looked the fact that the car had to be converted to right hand drive for India. And so the recess on the floor for the pedals were practically covered up due to the wrong measurements of the carpet! When this was told to Renault at the launch, the french were bewildered and ordered all dealerships to 'stop sales' until further notice. Mahindra eventually rectified the problem, before it leaked out to the public domain. .And so its no brainer for Renault, who has already established their brand in India to break free.

The twitter conversation between Anand Mahindra and the other person goes like this:

MrX: read a piece of news..mahindra renault JV in jeopardy..got scared abt my car logan
A Mahindra: We always stand behind our products

MrX: Yes, it would be kinda dangerous standing in FRONT of your products :))
A Mahindra: Haha true.Esp if it was a scorpio!  

lol. Just look at the irony. (The Scorpio too isn't a great product, contrary to popular belief)

No Stars in Star Singer

I am not going to beat about the bush here, but this is my thought - I detest all you viewers who hold the obscenely popular television show, Idea Star Singer in high regard. I think it is just another episode of plagiarism and tomfoolery. Allow me to rationalize.


Let me begin with expressing that I have great regard for the young talents on such music reality shows and completely agree that such gems should indeed be rewarded. But frame is focused on the scores and scores of television audience around the world glued to their idiot boxes between 8:30 to 10:00 watching what can only be described as mimicry. Don't be startled, if this isn't mimicry then what would you describe it as?


Dear people of Kerala, if you could just point to me the originality in such a show. I do not mean to sound rude, but aren't they just mimicking someone else on the stage and being judged for it? And what I fail to understand is how you all come to recognize and reward a show that isn't really creating anything, but just mimicking classics.

Valentines Day Commerce

Fresh flowers for your Valentine Rs 1699
Sinful Chocolates for your Valentine Rs 2859
Fluffy Teddy Bear for your Valentine Rs 4699

Valentines day combo pack Rs 3333

Queitly having her hand in yours.... Priceless....

There are some things in life that money can't buy. For everything else there is Valentine's day

From a commercial point of view; had Valentines Day not been there, it would have been necessary to invent one

Download YouTube videos with utter ease

Let me explain to you a clever trick to download YouTube video's without softwares and in just 2 clicks - straight from your browser, just like any other downloads.

* Download video in 2 clicks
* Download directly from web browser (Firefox / Chrome / Internet Explorer)
* No Softwares required
* Downloads video's directly in MP4 format!!

Now here is what you got to do

1. Right click on the link (the big one that begins with javascript:(funct.....) and select
a)Bookmark this location - If you are using Firefox
b)Add to Favorites - If you are using Internet Explorer

2. Save the bookmark \ favorite.

3. You're done! Now go to your favorite video on YouTube and click on the the bookmark you just created. Now you should see the direct link to download the video right on YouTube on the information pane towards the right side of the screen!! If there are multiple resolutions available, you will see them all. Eg Download standard version, Download HD etc..

Notice the Download links at the bottom of the info pane

4. Now clink on the link and save the file as you would with any download!

This is the code , just drag and drop it on your toolbar.

UPDATE: This method no longer appears to work after YouTube decided to alter their interface. But you can download the videos via KeepVID . I have found KeepVID to be simple straightforward and safe.

Speed Kills . Says Who?

Every now and then I come across ridiculous road signs and slogans related to road safety. 'Speed Kills' is probably the box office hit among these. But let me get something straight here, 'Speed doesn't kill' .

Why you ask? Well if you profess that 'Speed Kills', then let me add that 'Cigarettes Kill' and 'Knifes Kill'. If you are frowning now my friend; it's smoking that kills and stabbing with the knife that kills not knives and cigarettes.

Speed has never killed anyone, suddenly becoming stationary... That's what gets you.

A big thank you for an even bigger 'thanks'

I cannot describe how happy I am!!

I was on the road today, when the reason for me being so ecstatic arrived. It was a text message, which I must say is the preferred medium today for your boss to fire you and your friend to dump you. Now mine wasn't either of them, which explains why I am so happy. In the text was a simple and frequently used word for gratitude, a 'Thank you'. I just wanted to get off the road, head home and blog this, which is exactly what I did.

A little token of appreciation, a simple thanks for what you did, or for the love and kindness one showed goes a real long way. If you ask me I'd say that after 'love', 'gratitude' is the greatest feeling on earth. And especially today it was a real luxury. Because I never really looked out for it, I suppose that's defines luxury.

And why didn't I look out for it? Two reasons. One, because I was cent percent sure of the gratitude even If my ears didn't hear it. And second, because, life has taught me not to look out for rewards. Your rewards will come, have faith and wait....where would it go if it didn't come to you.

Thank you

Tunatic -the little big thing

It's been sometime that I have been thinking of properly naming the n number of 'Untitled' tracks performed by 'Artist' from the album 'Album',you know what I mean. I had a plethora of such artists and albums in my itunes playlists and it had been bugging me for quite some time. I first embarked on googling the lyrics of the track to find out the real name of the song. But that turned out to be a bit more difficult than I had anticipated. So I gave up, shut my laptop and tucked it away.

A few weeks ago I had a chance to toy around with my cousin's swanky Sony Ericsson phone. It had this application called TrackID, which automatically recognizes the song and provides info like the artist album etc.. In my short rendezvous with the phone this application had me completely blown away. It could tell you who is singing the song you are hearing right now on the radio, which album it was taken from and even give links to its lyrics. For me that was power. This Track ID aint a completely new thing, Sony Ericsson phones have had this feature for more than an year now. And I wasnt completely new to the feature either, I had heard about it but never knew it had this much potential.

As soon as the phone went back to its rightful owner I quickly got into research mode trying to uncover the technology and possible applications that would do the same trick on my computer. Apparently the technology is called Audio fingerprinting and just as I hoped I found 'Tunatic'. Tunatic is the computer equivalent of TrackID and I was finally all upbeat about sorting out my itunes playlist. What impressed me the most about Tunatic was its simplicity, the application had just one button! One button!! The button to find the song. And it did just that and how! Simply play the song and click recognize on Tunatic and waaalaah the info you need is right on the screen. You can play any portion of the file and tunatic will give you the result in about 30 seconds!! What more it will also give you the lyrics and other information about the artist and album if you click the small arrow in the software!

The software is extremely light and most of all free! The download file just weighs around 500kb, installs in 3 clicks and is as simple to operate as a light bulb . It recongnized 99% of my tracks, including instrumentals and even hindi songs (I never even dreamt that would be possible)


I am sure most of us will have lots of unnamed tracks or tracks with missing information, then Tunatic is the one for you. And because it is simple and light I am positive it would work like a breeze even with slower dial-up connections.

In the picture notice the sheer simplicity of Tunatic, ( the purple coloured block) also appreciate its size.

You can comment on any of my posts as anonymous, so please pen down your criticisms on the comments page. Remember an author is always fueled by ideas and criticisms. See you tomorrow

Here is the link to the Tunatic website, you can download the smart application from here:
http://www.wildbits.com/tunatic/

The Vegetarian Chicken

I came across this at supermarket. The picture is a packet of frozen Chicken burgers, which as you can see reads "100% Vegetarian Fed chicken"

Ha! like you really care if the chicken you are about to munch grew up eating meat or vegetables. Interesting piece of information when you are planning to hog the chicken.

Miss Misery

Miss Misery

During one of my late night chats, my friend very much in desperation asked me to suggest him a song for the night. He had been going through pretty tough times after losing his lady and then his job, so I probingly asked him what mood are you looking forward to. ‘Any freaking song man’ came the frustrated reply, It should be different and unlike anything my ears drums are used to, he added.

I quickly skimmed through my modest collection of music and came up with Angeles of Elliott Smith. I was positive that my friend who had his tastes in conventional music would appreciate the Angeles. My thoughts turned true when, after a while, his words appeared on my computer screen, ‘Wowwww what a song’. And before I could respond he added ‘It’s got a mystery in it’. ‘Mystery’ I thought, to me the Angeles was a simple song with a catchy guitar note. He went on describing the song’s mystery melody and this turned me on.
I wanted to end my uninspiring day on a high and this late night chat was the perfect stage. I did all I could to add fuel to this fire by eerily describing about Elliott Smith’s troubled career, personal life and his addictions. With creativity at the disposal of my fingertips I graphically described Elliott’s murder which took place in his girlfriend’s apartment on that fateful night. The singer’s death which is still to this day a mystery was my masterpiece. It turned out my friend had a good night and so did I.

To those of you who might still be wondering about Elliott Smith allow me to save a Wikipedia search for you. Elliott Smith was an American born singer who rose to prominence with his Oscar nominated performance of the song ‘Miss Misery’ from the award winning movie Good Will Hunting. Smith sung six songs for the movie including the ‘eerie’ Angeles. Smith’s voice had a distinctive vocal style characterized by his "whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery" which probably explained my friend’s feelings. In his rather short and sweet career Smith suffered from depression, alcoholism, and drug addiction. These topics often appeared in his lyrics, one of the reasons why he was and is popular among the youth. Smith released approximately five albums but his addictions towards the later part of his life, didn’t do much good to his career and also made him unpopular with the music companies. However his distinctive vocals and simple compositions, usually with just one or two instruments elevated him to fame, before his dreadful death while recording the sixth album.

The murder of Elliott may forever remain unexplained, but how a beautiful song like the Angeles was labelled eerie by my well-read mate appeared even more unexplainable to me. Or rather it remained unexplainable until I got to his place. It seems my well-read friend had downloaded the Angeles from some phoney file hosting website who tricked him to believe that it was the original. The file he downloaded was a digitally manipulated track of Smith’s Angeles.

At least something about Smith is sloved!