Tuesday, January 17, 2006

My Take on movie “The insider (1999)”

Watched it on DVD over weekend. Quiet perfect drama.
Two great actors (Al Pacino & Russell Crowe) acted quiet brilliantly.
It is based on true story about a whistleblower who knows too much about inside of tobacco industry. Al Pacino acted as CBS 60 Minutes producer who will try to air whistleblower story on the TV at any cost. Whole movie is about these two people struggle to air the truth.
Again it is not an action movie but drama is so intense.
A good & worth watching movie.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Quotes of the Day

Justice Delayed is justice denied.

Men marry because they are tired; Women because they are curious. Finally both are disappointed.

Of there is a wrong way to do something, then someone will do it.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Lot of free photo prints

Click the following link to get nice package of free photo prints + shipping from shutterfly. https://www.shutterfly.com/secure/sign_up_childmag.jsp?http=www.shutterfly.com&re=/childmag/add_ppc_code.jsp

Use code "30UP-ROMI" to get additional 30 ( 4X6) prints.
Ordered nearly 100 photos for $10.

Monday, January 09, 2006

My take on “The Bourne Identity” movie.

This weekend both kids are sick , I stayed at home & sometimes working.
I watched The Bourne Identity and few kid’s Pooh movies. Just to give company to Dhanvi.

Coming to movie, this is a very neat and intelligent movie about a CIA agent. Everything perfect, no flaws really. Director showed Actor Matt Damon in a different dimension.
Movie starts with a body floating in sea water, with two bullets and lost memory.
As movie progresses, it is all about his past and identity and his life. Action sequences are quiet good and feel quiet natural and script is fast paced. No dull movement at all.
I regret not watch this movie so far. I heard it is good but never thought this good.
100% awesome movie for Spy/Action/Thriller fans.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

My take on Dell Inspiron 600m Laptop

Couple of weeks back, I received my new Dell inspiron laptop 600m from Dell. Configuration is bit powerful. (I took it because I have big plans for video editing. Also it has 1 GB Ram with DVD R/W burner. CPU is 1.7 GHz mobile Pentium.)

I used it & like it lot. As usual I check CNET editor/user reviews before buying any gadgets. (I don’t know any other big user community.)


As far as laptop top is concerned, it is good. I love it a lot. It is light weight, thin laptop.
Also it is inexpensive compared to any other brands for the same configuration. (I paid $650 for this little machine.) Battery life is pretty good. (Nearly 3 hours.)
Lot of people complains about this. But I am very happy for batter life. I don’t know why anyone wants more than this. It came with NEC DVD burner. It is dam good. Working flawlessly. See my other post to see how I am burning DVDs.
The only negative point I see is, bottom left part of the laptop is pretty warm after couple of hours + usage. Seems to be hard drive is getting warm. For me it is OK. It is very rare for me to open laptop for couple of hours at home with kids playing around me.
Also I need to check inbuilt wireless and its performance. Sometimes it disconnects without any error messages. I need to check with dell fourms/support on this.
Other than couple of minor issues, if you want a nice, powerful laptop with in budget, I will definitely recommend dell 600m.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Dhanvi like number “3”

Last night when mama is giving some biscuits to Dhanvi, he is insisting I want 3.
In fact I observed this for quiet some time. He is always asking for quantity 3
I got little curiosity and asked why you like number “3”
Guess his response
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

because I am 3 years old.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Free Excel viewer

Want to open,view and print Excel files?
Try the above link. It is free.

It is the best option, if MS excel software is not installed on your machine.
Again it will not allow you to author excel documents.

Crazy Barnes & noble

Couple of week back, I ordered books from Barnes & noble (http://www.bn.com/) online store. Basically some clearance is going on right now & I ordered some stuff for my kids & few books for myself. (Story books, sticker kits, activity books etc.) Most of them are $1 & $2 books

Guess what, yesterday I received 11 different boxes from bn.com via ups. I was shocked seeing so many boxes. I don’t know why they did like that. Sometimes for multiple copies of the same item, they shipped the same item in different packages. It is truly stupid. If you to go US post office to mail those packages, usps will charge more then $5 per package. My order worth is $50 + No shipping. Assume bn gets deep discount(50%) from ups, still bn pays more than $25 to shipping only. Boxes, package material, laser printer based invoices and return slips consume the rest the of $25 not considering labor costs etc. I was so amazed the way bn online store business works. Instead of selling like this, they can donate to some schools or libraries for tax write off, it is much better & profit to bn core business. I feel this not the way to run a business. What do you think?

Again Barnes & Noble is my favorite store. Every week, I will visit at least once.
My comments are about their online order process system only.
If you are books lover, buy top 100 bargains from the following link.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/saleannex/top100_cds2.asp?PID=4030&start=1&userid=yS36ilqCNH&cds2Pid=4030


Tail piece: I opened the all boxes one after the other to check the books. Dhanvi watched all the story, activity books once and put them one side and started playing with the boxes for whole two hours. (Assuming them as boats, brick etc.) One of my frind used to joke, if you take birthday gift to kids, kids play with the gift grip wrap more than the original toy. Same case with my kid too. Hoping that he will enjoy his new books, activity stuff etc.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Quotes of the Day

Idleness is sweet, and its consequences are cruel.
-John Quincy Adams (unverified)

It is better 100 guilty persons should escape than one innocent person should suffer.
-Chanakya Indian politician, strategist and writer

Since 1996 onwards I am using my e-mail.
I received so many e-mails with lot of their favorite quotes.
From here onwards, I will update my blog with all of my favorite quotes collection.
(It is huge and good collection (?).)

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

My way of DVD buring

- Rip with Shrink or Decrypter and remove any audio streams and/or subs
that I don't need
- Remove all the other crap I don't want with VobBlanker
- Fix the menus with MenuEdit if you want
- Burn with Nero
Most of the software is freeware & Nero software is available from www.download.com
(Trail version.)
I will add more links later.

Perfect & innovative movie "Memento" 2000

As I mentioned, I love movies. I always think, why not make a movie which role backs? (Again it is not flash back way of telling the story.)
Just try to tell the story for 10 mins. Then go back to another 10 minitues for what happened before and so on. This idea struck me after watching pulp fiction movie. But somebody else got the same idea & made a good thriller movie “Memento”. Plot is very simple. A revenge story. But as explained earlier, movie shows ending scene first and goes back wards. Perfect & innovative way of telling the story.

Monday, January 02, 2006

Dhanvi with santa

Dhanvi with santa.

This year santa gave lot of toys to Dhanvi.

Dhanvi in women's dress


After lot of mama's hard work, I am looking like Indian women?

Saketh as bala krishna


Saketh as Bala Krishna

dhanvi,saketh with mama


My wife always plays a lot with kids. Some times she roles, jumps like kids.
Sometimes all of them sit on the same chair. Following is an example. All are sitting in a laundry basket. Seems to be it is lot of fun. But I am always a silent watcher working with my Nikon 3700 camera.

Curious Saketh


Curious Saketh always lifts blinds to see outside. (Even in the dark.)
Only God know his findings.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Last few weeks films viewed:

(Out of 5 stars)
Batman begins (****)Best popcorn movie of this year.
Usual suspects (****) Good thriller.

I will write my take later. Too busy enjoying my vacation with kids.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Last weekend movies

Saw (2004)

It is quiet perfect thriller. (Sometimes disturbing too.)
Movie start with two men in old, abandoned, large bath room with their legs tied with a dead man in between. A note in their pocket says that you have kill the other person. It was a game played by a serial killer. Movie ends with who survived in that game.
Direction & script is very fast paced and hold you in your seat for whole two hours.
Very gripping screenplay. I watched many thrillers (silence of lambs, seven, bone collector etc) but this movie ending was awesome & stunning & twisting one.
Only negative point in this movie is, director did not explain why serial killer is doing all this. Seven, Bone collector etc shows their characters differently.
Movie ended in such a ways that there another part in is on the way.
It is very low budget movies & a big hit.
A worth watching for thriller fans.

I watched another awesome movie “Leon The professional” movie too.
I will add review later.

Chanakya (Indian politician, strategist and writer, 350 BC-275 BC) quotes

I always admire Chanakya's work.

{Right from 12 years old. Very important person in Indian history. I forgot almost all the history but not his name & his work.}


Few of his quotes


1) The biggest guru-mantra is: Never share your secrets with anybody. It will definitely destroy you.

2) There is some self-interest behind every friendship. There is no friendship without self-interests. This is a bitter truth.

3) A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people are screwed first.

4) Before you start some work, always ask yourself three questions - Why am I doing it, What the results might be and Will I be successful. Only when you think deeply and find satisfactory answers to these questions, go ahead.

5) As soon as the fear approaches near, attack and destroy it.

6) The world's biggest power is the youth and beauty of a woman.

7) Once you start a working on something, don't be afraid of failure and don't abandon it. People who work sincerely are the happiest.

8) A man is great by deeds, not by birth.

9) Treat your kid like a darling for the first five years. For the next five/ten years, scold them. By the time they turn sixteen, treat them like a friend. Your grown up children are your best friends.

10) Books are as useful to a stupid person as a mirror is useful to a blind person.

11) Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere. Education beats the beauty and the youth.

12) Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous."

I will add more later.

Friday, December 09, 2005

My take on movie "Crash" (2004)

Tag line: You think you know who you are.

Movie start with cars crash on LA suburbs.
Immediately movie goes back to last 24 hours of
people who met this crash and lives.
Movie got very smart & intelligent script showcases not only characters,
but real representation of real people.

Shot in the background of LA
(Where you will see white, black, Asian, spanic and French etc)
live together & their personalities and racist feeling w.r.t others & on the system.

Again movie has everything.
Right & brilliant script, good casting & apt locations & good photography etc.

Very worth watching. Dont miss it.