03.17.07
Posted in F1 2007 at 11:02 pm by soumitra
Okay, seems they listened… throwing in some tidbits of tech deets now…
i have almost no information on what exactly is happeneing, except that the gap is increased to 17. xx secs between Kimi and Hamilton(?) and another 15.xx between Hamilton and Alonso.
Meanwhile, Scott Speed is out, and these guys are not showing anything except some irrelevant scenes.
Kimi lapping Massa who’s in 10th spot!! You’re both in a Ferrari for God’s sake!
Kimi is lapping 1:26:01, i guess, the fastest lap… I need more info.. MORE INFO!! Wake up ppl!!
oh no, another break!
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Posted in F1 2007 at 10:50 pm by soumitra
Almost everyone has made a pit stop, except Massa, and Wurtz… and Button too.
Please, guys, don’t give us the obvious deets on the cars like 2.4 lit. or 7 speed txs… Slater…where art thou?
This is no NASCAR, boys… you have to know the specifics… give us the modifications to fins, or new engine improvements etc…
Okay, Button heads to the pits now…
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Posted in F1 2007 at 10:40 pm by soumitra
Oh no… they made ‘login required’ for the F1.com live timings!
What is this world coming to?
Speed TV is no good at understanding what’s going on, with what minimal commentary about the ongoing race, and pushing some other irrelevant issues, and that site not helping at all… how am i supposed to follow up? and these breaks are coming far too often…
whoa… another one of those close shaves …they seem all over in today’s race…
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Posted in F1 2007 at 10:35 pm by soumitra
Kimi still leading… with a nice 16.5 sec gap!!
Good time to do a pit stop…
… The commentators are killing it… i miss that Slater guy!
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Posted in F1 2007 at 10:24 pm by soumitra
This is amazing!
The cars are soo much faster… and so are the drivers. The rookies are as good as the more experienced ones! Seems like they’re showing it all in fast forward. And this is just the first few laps… it’s gonna get faster as the fuel load decreases, and the tires get warmer.
…
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02.07.07
Posted in Inspector Gadget at 11:13 am by soumitra
There are advantages to increasing the number of megapixels. Larger prints that require a minimum pixel count can be easier to make, and consumers can crop images to focus on just the subject matter they want.
But there are costs, too. Among the more obvious burdens: Camera image-processing chips have more data to digest; memory cards and hard drives fill up faster; and photo editing puts greater space, memory and time demands on computers.
More subtle problems also are possible. Camera image sensors rarely get larger from one generation to the next, so squeezing more megapixels out of a sensor means each pixel on the sensor is smaller. In most of the chip business, smaller electronics are dandy, but with cameras, they translate to less light per pixel.
That light difference means it’s harder to distinguish the signals produced by light from the electronic noise in the sensor. The idea of making the signal-to-noise ratio worse may sound pretty technical, but possible consequences are easily understood: Images suffer from color speckles, and cameras work poorly in dimmer conditions such as indoors.
“If you try to cram more pixels into the same amount of space, you risk getting signal degradation because you’re not getting as much light into the same pixel,” said Chris Crotty, an analyst with iSuppli.
It can be tough for consumers to understand why they might not want to snap up the most megapixels possible. “People can understand the idea of more numbers is better,” Crotty said. “But signal-to-noise, fill factors, dynamic range, blooming–these are concepts most people aren’t going to understand.”
–Stephen Shankland
… from CNet.com’s More Megapixel, better photos: Fact or fiction
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02.03.07
Posted in Internet, Paranoia at 2:14 pm by soumitra
I am paranoid.
Especially when it comes to dealing with online activities.
For a long time, I was scared to do monetary transactions on the Internet … I still am, but that attitude had to change. Internet has become a way of life these days.
Now I pay my bills, shop and bank online. Heck, I have to look up addresses and directions online before even stepping outdoors. Now, I simply cannot imagine a life off the grid.
Even then, I am still paranoid about putting up important details out there on the Internet. My fears are confirmed when I hear reports about leaked information either via stolen/ lost digital storages or some enterprising new age crooks compromising secure databases.
Conclusion: the fewer details are out there, the better the chances are that they leak out.
Not all, however, subscribe to this school of thought.
People put up elaborate profiles on social networking sites, personal resumes and contact details, even birthdays! It’s like putting up a neon sign welcoming those on the prowl for new victims.
Every now and then I get this email from birthdayalarm saying someone or the other I know wants me to enter my birth date on their website so that they can be notified when the date arrives. Right! Should I add my SSN and drivers license number as well while I am at it?
I feel like screaming “Come on guys, this is 2007 for Gods sake! Wake up!”
Then there’s online personalisation. It was good till it was only the colours, viewing panes and placement of portlets on news and content sites. Then they turned to customizing where the content was coming from, what feeds to show and stuff like that.
Now-a-days, it is at an entirely new level. “Recently browsed items”, “Search history”, “if you liked this, you might also like …”
The latest, according to this post on the Official Google Blog, is that they are taking the next big step towards world domination combining personalisation and content services.
Personally (heh!), I don’t want my search engine queries to be optimised for me, neither do I want news to be filtered based on my previously viewed/read news articles nor do I want that history to be recorded anywhere, let alone Google.
…“If you don’t want to see personalized results, just sign out of your Google Account.”
Well, to each his/her own, but I have a better idea. Why not permanently disable the personalisation? Fortunately for me (and for those of the paranoid type), there is a little advertised place to do just that.
I realise that I’ll have to change with the times and that somewhere down the line, I’ll relent.
Then I can always go and undo the unpersonalisation.
As it were, I have heard that only the paranoid survive!
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01.22.07
Posted in 70 mm, Bollywood, Hollywood at 10:05 pm by soumitra
Movies I saw this weekend on TV/DVD (for the first time).
Don (2006) :
If what they say about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery is true, Amitabh should be most flattered.
Shahrukh is not going to win any accolades for his acting if he’s compared to Big B. (maybe they will come up with a movie “Main Amitabh Bacchan Banna Chahata Hoon”)
The story, though adapted nicely to fit in today’s context, has its flaws.
Boring titles – they should have spent more on CGI.
And too many “influences” from Hollywood movies to count!
Has a couple of nice dialogues though – I had to see it twice and pay attention – w.r.t. the twist in the end.
The Marksman:
B grade movie, nothing exceptional.
Kingpin:
Something between a comedy and a farce, this one has a nice ending. That’s what I like about most of the Hollywood movies – they know how to start and end a movie.
Deep Impact:
Typical apocalypse movie, though attention to details for a “what if” scenario is pretty detailed. Téa Leoni’s acting is pretty dull – especially as a TV anchor.
Jeremiah Johnson:
A Sydney Pollack film. Not a standard fare, so don’t think it will find many takers.
Uptown Girls:
Typical B grade semi romantic “lead role on the brink of destruction finds aim and/or purpose of existence”.
Dakota Fanning is the one to watch…she’s going to be the to next sensation, me thinks.
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01.17.07
Posted in licentia poetica at 8:18 pm by soumitra
Let it form as woe befalls
And gently let it curl
Let me catch as it falls
And treasure the precious pearl
-Originally composed for one of my poem blogs that i discontinued a long time ago.
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01.14.07
Posted in 70 mm, Bollywood at 11:15 pm by soumitra
Little piece of advice: never ever (ever) read reviews of movies before watching the movie.
Pretty much most of the reviews I read for Guru are hyperbole. Not that the movie is that bad, mind you, but to suggest that the movie “fails nowhere”, as one of the reviews put it, is simply hogwash.
I admit I am hard to please. (If Oscar Wilde were to be alive right now, we would have almost exchanged high fives!)
So, coming back to the review, I won’t re-hash the plot here, for there are plenty of others doing it for you.
What I will do is what I am best at. I.e. criticize. (Today being Makar Sankranti I should not be foul mouthing too much)
Let’s start with the titles.
The Flip-book concept is really good (and amongst them too, some animations are better than others).
Aish fails to impress on her entry. She seemed unattached to the movie in her first song of the movie (Barso re). Somehow, it felt that she didn’t exactly like being there in the rain, let alone dance, and worse, it showed.
She starts involving herself more in the movie as it progresses, though.
Talking about the song, I have no idea what the cinematographer was doing while shooting that song. Probably he was too busy watching Aish (!) than do his job. Or sleeping, because I could see bright sunlight all around, and, horror-of-horrors, it felt like it gets in Aish’s eyes and she’s squinting while dancing! In the rain!
I mean, come on you guys, what’s wrong with you?
Even during Yammo Yammo, the lighting is sub par during those evening scenes.
The period era is shot better. It would have been really great if they would have been able to recreate the old Mumbai charm and shown some landmark locations.
I was just about to say that the fashion style and some scenes remind me of The Godfather and stuff, when I saw the official movie website. The director of photography says that some elements of Godfather “…inadvertently crept into our mindscape though unintentionally.” Hey buddy, I believe you.
(And what’s with MSN grabbing most of the header while hosting the site? Is it going to be taken down afterwards?)
Next topic: superimposing. Why can’t they do it right? Should it always be so bad that you can tell? I really hate it when I see that edge around the shoulders betraying the studio shoot.
I am not saying that Hollywood is perfect in that. They, too, cut slack in this department (latest I remember is Hitch).
But if you consider Jurassic Park (I) – I mean, it’s pretty hard to tell those T-Rexes aren’t really there – then it should be possible, isn’t it? Technology has got cheaper than those times, as far as I know.
I won’t talk about music because I am kind of prejudiced towards Rehman.
Let’s not talk about the storyline either.
I can’t say much about other characters because I think I won’t do them any justice.
And that brings me to the focus of the movie, Amitabh. Oh did I say Amitabh? I meant Abhishek. Ah, but there is so subtle a difference!
Truly, Mani Rathnam has managed to bring out the Big B in him. (What was that TV spot where he pays with the Big B’s card and they think he’s Big B? Well, it’s like the reality now.)
Post intermission he really brings it on. Close your eyes for a second, and you’d think it’s really Amitabh up there on the screen. The same angry young man, the same raspy voice and same dialogue delivery! (All’s missing is the ‘aainh?’ at the end!)
Tell me if you are not reminded of “Jaao pehele usse sign le kar aao …” Deewar and Agneepath… Amitabh part deux.
And what a performance!
Watch the sweet innocent smile of the first half turns into a nasty sneer by the end, or the Marlon Brando-esque drooping cheek and one lip … the perfectly imitated paralysed position of fingers…too much!
Can’t get better than this …”Waise bhi perfection ko improve karna mushkil hota hai“… to borrow Aamir’s phrase 
.
All said and done, you have to see the movie …for him!
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