Archive for July, 2008
« Previous Entries“3 Idiots – Aamir Khan’s new movie”
Thursday, July 31st, 20083 Idiots , Rajkumar Hirani’s upcoming movie is based upon Chetan Bhagat’s novel “Five Point Someone “.
It has got an amazing star cast, starring Aamir Khan as Ryan, Kareena Kapoor as Neha Kurien, Sharman Joshi as Alok, Madhavan as Hari and Boman Irani as Professor Kurien.
To add to this star cast, we have the team which gave us the “Munna Bhai” series as the director and producer. Vidhu Vinod Chopra surely has pulled of a casting coup by convincing Aamir Khan to do this film. This will be Aamir’s next release after “Ghajini”.
Synopsis
Ryan , a handsome and adventurous young man, loves his friends more than anything else (more than his parents too). He hates being a book worm like other of his college mates, so always ends up getting low grades in his college exams. He believes in doing things his way, and ends up having five pointers as his GPA.
Hari , a shy guy by nature wants to be handsome like Ryan. He is average at studies (pretty bad/funny at viva. He falls in love with Neha Kurien (his Professor’s daughter). He always messes up when he attempts to impress Mr Kurien (his professor).
Alok is a simple boy who wants to get good grades and earn money to overcome poverty of his family.
I believe Hirani doesn’t want to give away the look of his protagonists soon, which is why the teaser doesn’t have any of the actors in it. The shoot of the film has already begun at Shimla, Ladakh, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai. The shoot is supposed to be over by December though release dates are not confirmed yet.
One thing that may go against the movie is that the book, “Five Point Someone” had its protagonists playing 18-22 year olds initially atleast. It remains to be seen if Aamir, Madhavan and gang can pull that off. I have a feeling that the movie will not be a complete adaptation of the book, instead the book will just be a base from which the screenplay will be built on
Shantanu Moitra (of Parineeta fame) is working on the music for the movie, the lyrics of which is by Swanand Kirkire .
Watch the Trailer of Karan Johar’s new movie DOSTANA
Kuselan Mp3 Songs
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
Kuselan Tamil Movie Mp3 Songs
Movie Name: Kuselan
Release Date: 01 Aug 2008
Director: P Vasu
Starring: Rajinikanth, Pasupathy, Nayantara, Meena, Mamta Mohandas, Sneha, Kushboo, Sona Vadivelu, Vijayakumar
Music: G.V Prakesh
Producer: K Balachander
Kuselan Mp3 Songs List
- Cinema Cinema – Shankar Mahadevan
- Sollamma – Hariharan, Sujatha, Baby Ranjini, Baby Pooja
- Om Zaarare – Daler Mehndi, Chitra, Sadhana Sargam
- Chaarai – Shreya Ghoshal
- Perinba – Kailash Kher, Prasanna
Download all Kuselan Mp3 Songs here
Also see Rajni’s super Animation comedy before Sultan
Women’s Health
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008Women have it tough. Not only do they have to manage the home but a career too, not to mention the kids and the family. All of this is sure to induce high stress levels and take a toll on a woman’s health. Here are some of the common problems women face and how to treat them.
Skin problems
Acne, psoriasis, varicose veins and dull, patchy skin to more serious complications such as skin cancer etc. can cause considerable damage to a woman’s self esteem. All of these skin problems are the body’s way of showing that all’s not right and that health is in jeopardy. Most often issues like acne and dull skin are on account of vitamin deficiency and high stress levels in the body. By drinking lots of water, having fresh fruits and vegetables and exercising regularly one can successfully combat such skin problems. Skin cancer is a more serious complication which necessitates a trip to the doctor. Often the biggest culprit is too many hours spent in the sun without a sunscreen. The sun’s UV rays are considered to be very harmful and can damage the deepest layers of the skin tissue. This can not only cause wrinkles and patchy skin but also cause skin cancer which can be fatal. Always make sure to keep a close watch on any changes in birthmarks or if an old scar has started to pain etc. If you notice any changes on your skin make sure to contact your doctor immediately.
Diabetes
Diabetes is another common problem that affects many women these days. Usually, the intake of junk food and sugary or starchy foods can trigger high glucose levels in the body leading to diabetes. In such cases symptoms such as excessive thirst, urination, fatigue, exhaustion and blurring of vision etc. maybe experienced. The problem with diabetes is that it is very difficult to detect symptoms as they can be very sporadic in nature. Thus, one day the person may experience excessive thirst which could also be attributed to the climate while at other instances the person may feel very tired which could be because of excess work loads. Thus, the nature of these symptoms makes diagnosis difficult. This is why a trip to the doctor is vital so that blood tests can be performed and any diabetes occurrences can be prevented or curtailed at the initial stages.
Osteoporosis and arthritis
Arthritis and osteoporosis are two common ailments that largely affect women. Women need to take more calcium per day as compared to men. In old age the body loses its capacity to produce the required amounts of calcium because of which the bones tend to become brittle. This can result in inflammation of the joints and extreme pain while walking or moving about. This condition is known as arthritis and is very common amongst older women. Osteoporosis is also another common ailment where the bones become brittle. Thus, proper posture becomes difficult to maintain and basic movements become painful. Proper exercise and required intake of calcium is a must to prevent such conditions later on.
Terminator Salvation – The Future Begins Trailer
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008The Dark Knight is breaking all box office records, recording 300 million $ in only 10 days !!. It may well go onto break Titanic’s Box Office Record of all time.
Christian Bale who played Batman has another famous role to play next year. He plays ‘John Connor‘ in the newest version of the epic “Terminator” series. Titled “Terminator Salvation“, it is scheduled to release on May 22nd 2009. But a teaser trailer was shown in theatres running the Dark Knight.
The first look is not very impressive. I am a huge fan of T2 and was very disappointed by the hugely hyped but dud T3. Although the background music sounds ok for this new movie, its nowhere compared to that of T2.
T4 also lacks the most potent and synonymous name of the Terminator series, Arnold. The Director is launching misinformation campaigns and has said you will know if Arnie is their in the movie only when you watch it.
httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=kXnELk6pZVk
The movie is set in 2018 when Skynet is already the DON of the Earth. Connor must stop Skynet or Mankind will perish. Same old story but lets see if Christian Bale lights it up.
Outbound Links
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008Outbound links are links pointing to an external site. You would generally notice less number of outbound links in e-commerce sites which sell things to keep the visitor as much as possible in their site. Outbound links must enhance the site’s existing content. They do not have a direct influence on SEO, but, too many outbound links (more than 100 in a page) is not a good SEO practice.
Outbound Link Guidelines
- The outbound links must be relevant to your web site.
- The links that are pointed to must be helpful to site visitors and thereby add quality to the site.
- Outbound links have no relation to a site’s SERP, but may affect the Site’s Google Pagerank (PR). More number of outbound links from a page can result in, less PR being circulated from that page to other internal pages. To prevent this you can use rel=”nofollow” on your outgoing links and hence not pass PR to external sites.
- Make use of appropriate keywords as anchor text of your out bound links
Outbound Links Checker
Below are my favorite outbound link tools to track outbound links for a given site. These tools also show you the PageRank of each out bound link and the number of outbound links in your site.
Four friends at a party!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008The second guy said, ‘Darn, that’s terrific! My son is also my pride and joy. He started working for a big airline, and then went to flight school to become a pilot. Eventually he became a partner in the company, where he owns the majority of its assets. He’s so rich that he gave his best friend a brand new jet for his birthday.’
The third man said: ‘Well, that’s terrific! My son studied in the best universities and became an engineer. Then he started his own construction
company and is now a multimillionaire. He also gave away something very nice and expensive to his best friend for his birthday: A 30,000 square foot mansion.’
The three friends congratulated each other just as the fourth returned from the restroom and asked: ‘What are all the congratulations for?’ One of the three said: ‘We were talking about the pride we feel for the successes of our sons. ….What about your son?’
The fourth man replied: ‘My son is gay and makes a living dancing as a stripper at a nightclub.’
The three friends said: ‘What a shame…what a disappointment.’
The fourth man replied: ‘No, I’m not ashamed. He’s my son and I love him. And he hasn’t done too badly either. His birthday was two weeks ago, and he received a beautiful 30,000 square foot mansion, a brand new jet and a top of the line Mercedes from his three boyfriends. !!!!!!
After several drinks, one of the men had to use the rest room. Those who remained talked about their kids.
The first guy said, ‘My son is my pride and joy. He started working at a successful company at the bottom of the barrel.
He studied Economics and Business Administration and soon began to climb the corporate ladder and now he’s the president of the company. He became so rich that he gave his best friend a top of the line Mercedes for his birthday.’
India’s 2008 Beijing Olympics Dreams
Tuesday, July 29th, 2008A 99 member squad is to represent India in the 2008 Beijing Olympics (8th to 24th August 2008). Saying "represent India" is playing a bit fast and loose with the word itself, unless by "represent" I mean "the number of Indians definite to land at the Beijing airport". The figure 99 consists of 57 athletes and 42 officials including Sania Mirza’s mom !!!!.
Breaking News Section
Abhinav Bindra Wins Gold at Beijing 2008 Olympics, 10 metre Air Rifle Mens Event. Read more here
Mangal Singh Champia has been Ranked 2nd in the Individual Archery Ranking Round . He was just behind Juan Rene Of Mexico (679 points). Mangal got 678 points. He will have a great chance of winning a medal as he will get a relatively easy passage through the rounds. If he keeps up his form, he may win GOLD . Pray for him [ For More Info, please refer the link Below ]
Click here for the Indian Results in Beijing
Also, Who will win the Medals Race ? CHINA VS. USA at the BEIJING GAMES
[ See the List of the 2008 Olympians from India and also the Schedule of Indian Athletic events (date) at the end of this post ].
Many questions pop up in my mind as soon as I see the squad composition. Why does India need 42 officials to manage 57 athletes? Is the Indian Olympic Association (IOA ) afraid that the athletes will not be able to find their way around China without the officials assistance? Or are these officials going to dress up as cheerleaders (like the IPL ones) and dance every time the Indian shooter takes aim or a weightlifter prepares himself for each round? I am sure that that would be a sight to behold and a huge motivation for the Indian shooters and lifters 
. Also why stop at the figure of 99? Why not 100? The figure 99 reminds me of a clothing store where everything ends with 99 (Rs. 199, Rs 599, Rs 999). Is that, then, the ulterior motive of these officials – Shopping in Beijing ? Their personal tour from our tax money. And these officials are the same one who say they will bid for the 2020 Olympic Games in Delhi. Bidding is one thing, but the corruption, the babudom and other Infrastructure related problems make it almost impossible for us to win the bid. I am looking forward to how the 2010 commonwealth games is conducted in Delhi. One more thing to watch out for is the broadcast of the 2008 Olympics in India. As of now DD Sports as the sister TV channel of Doordarshan has the default rights to air the olympics. Many be one more sports channel of DD may air it also. If you can tune CCTV (chinese channel), then you may have one more option. I hope DD Sports is professional and gives the Indian viewers something to savour. The opening ceremony will be telecast live from 5.30 PM Indian time.[ The Chinese are starting at 8.08 PM on 08/08/08 ]
A total of 28 sports! 302 events! And India is sending a contingent of just 57 (USA is sending 596, China has 639 and even tiny Estonia sends 47 ). A look at the Indian contingent and their chances, reinforces the age old, sad story about Indian Sports, the most prominent this time being the absence of India’s national sport – Hockey. For the first time in nearly 8 decades, the Indian Hockey Team , which has done the nation proud (with 8 Gold medals), failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympics. What is the cause of this dismal state of Indian Sports? We are the world’s biggest democracy, the second most populous country in the world. Then why is that in a span of 4 years, we are only able to produce 57 top athletes? ‘Outlook’ in their latest issue carried an article covering the top athletes favored to win medals at the Beijing Olympics! Not one of them was Indian! This is a matter of national shame, an aspect that the Indian Govt needs to look at closely. It is not enough to be a nuclear power, it is not enough to be an IT offshore house. To be a real super power needs more than that, to be a real super power means giving the citizens every reason to be proud of their country. I also read about Iraq’s ban from this years Olympics and their subsequent approval to compete. Dana Hussain , a Iraqi female athlete has qualified for the 100 and 200 meter sprints. The whole world’s press has praised her commitment even though Iraq is in a grip of civil war. The world’s press has not even noticed or commented at Indian Olympians this year. Deservedly so.
The Govt. should step up and do its bit to promote other sports and encourage the sportsman. Indians for example have done remarkably well in shooting; but it being an expensive sport, needs financial support from the Govt. While the Indian T20 champion team got cash rewards to the tune of lakhs, shooters like Gagan Narang (Indian Olympic Squad member) had to request the Govt. for a 40 lakhs rupees grant, which was also not to be given in entirety. Thankfully, a number of Pvt. Organizations, such as Gold Quest and others have stepped in to help out this Olympic Medal hopeful. Also incidents such as the ones where the Boxers (Akhil Kumar , Jitender Kumar and Vijender ) were handed empty envelopes at the felicitation ceremony does nothing to boost the morale of these sportsmen. Also reward money to the tune of just Rs.25,000 is not very uplifting and although it is “better than nothing” it is still a paltry sum. Billiards and snooker champion Pankaj Advani ’s resentment, Asia Cup hockey champions India getting virtually nothing for their win are more stories that illustrate the pathetic state of non-cricket sports.
Media too plays an important role in undermining the role of other sports. Crickets are seen endorsing every sort of products from hair gel to clothing brands to bikes and cars (thankfully they are not yet posing for Whisper Ads!). But do we see any other athletes in any Ads? Do we see Anju Booby George endorsing anything, do we see Sania Mirza in the Ads as much as the cricketers? An iconic figure like Vishwanathan Anand has just NIIT and recently AMD as sponsors. Why would anyone then dedicate an entire lifetime to national pride only to be shunned by the same nation?
The worst culprits are Indians who believe that all other sports are secondary to that one sport which is played only by a handful of the world’s countries. All we care for as a nation is cricket. On a day when India wins we are all ga ga over the damned cricketers, calling them heroes, rewarding them in every possible way. The next day when India loses a match, we question the same cricketers, curse them, ask for their removal. In this continuous circle of live and hatred all other sports lose out. I am sure most Indians would remember that Indian won the T20 but cannot even recollect how many medals Indian won at the 2004 Olympics or who won them ( 1 silver in Shooting by Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore ). All the efforts of these valiant athletes who overcome all sorts of odds (inferior training facilities, lack of funds, no support from the Govt.) are buried under the lack of interest of an entire nation interested only in cricket. While a series win against Bangladesh is splashed all over in huge letters in all papers, a World Championship in any other sports merit just half a page. Players like Leander Paes , Sania Mirza find more print space because of their T shirts and controversies; basically everything else other than the sports itself.
It is heartening, however, to see the efforts of certain Organizations in promoting these neglected sports in India. BCCI has already promised financial aid to the Indian Olympic contingent. ONGC has also been helping players with funds and facilities. Other noteworthy organizations are Gold Quest and also Individuals such as DSP Merryl Lynch Vice Chairman Shitin Desai, co-founder of Sify Ltd R. Ramaraj and Rakesh Khanna. Certain states too are encouraging players by rewarding them with cash. (TN announced rewards for both Sharath Kamal and Vishy) but more needs to be done. I as a person,who is not interested in cricket am left to find my allegiance with players of other countries for sports such as football or tennis. I am not proud of India for its cricketing talent or lack of it and I hence I am left with barely any other sport to be proud of. That’s why when it is Olympics time, I am excited about the prospect of Indian Sports. Even though we are sending only 57 Indian Olympians , whether we win gold or not I am immensely proud of them. The fact that they have risen above a nation which does not care much for them speaks volume of their dedication. I wish each and every one of them, the very best for their Olympic attempts.
To hear India’s National Anthem being played while the tricolor unfurls on Chinese soil would be the sweetest of all glory every Indian wishes for.
India’s Total Olympics Medal Tally:
- 8 Gold medals, 1 Silver medal and 2 Bronze medals in Hockey
- 2 Silver medals in Athletics and 1 in Shooting
- Bronze for wrestling ( Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav 1952 Helsinki)
- Bronze for tennis ( Leander Paes 1996 Atlanta)
- Bronze for weightlifting ( Karnam Malleswari 2000 Sydney)
Indian 2008 Olympics Medal Hopes:
These are the Indian participants at the 2008 Olympics to watch out for:
- Manavjit Singh – Shooting (Trap Men)
- Rajyavardhan Rathore – Shooting(Double Trap Men)
- Anju Bobby George – Athletics (Long Jump)
- Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati – Tennis (Mens Doubles)
- Dinesh Kumar – Boxing (-81 kg category)
- Akhil Kumar – Boxing (-54 kg category)
- Vijender – Boxing (-75 kg category)
The Indian Squad for Beijing Olympics 2008:
(courtesy IBNLive)
For the first time India is sending a team of swimmers to the Beijing Games. So below is the list of India athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
- Archery : Dola Banerjee, Pranitha Vardhineni, L Bombayala Devi, Mangal Singh Champia.
- Athletics : Anju Bobby George (Long Jump), Krishna Poonia (Discus), Harwant Kaur (Discus), Preeja Sreedharan (10,000m), Manjit Kaur (400m), Chitra Soman (4×400m relay), Sini Jose (4×400m relay),MR Poovamma (4×400m relay), Mandeep Kaur (4×400m relay), S Geeta (4×400m relay), K Mridula (4×400m relay), J J Shobha (Heptathlon), Sushmita Singh Roy (Heptathlon), G G Pramila (Heptathlon),Vikas Gowda (Discus), Renjith Maheswary (Triple Jump), Surender Singh (10000m).
- Badminton : Anup Sridhar, Saina Nehwal
- Boxing : Jitender (51kg), Akhil Kumar (54kg), A L Lakhra (57kg), Vijender(75kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg)
- Judo : Khumujam Tombi Devi, Divya.
- Rowing : Bajrang Lal Takhar (Single M1X), Devnder Khandwal and Manjeet Singh (Light Weight Double Scull).
- Shooting : Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Clay Pigeon Trap), Mansher Singh (Clay Pigeon Trap), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Clay Pigeon Double Trap), Gagan Narang (10m Air Rifle), Abhinav Bindra (10m AirRifle), Samresh Jung (10m Air Pistol), Sanjeev Rajput (50m Rifle 3 Position), Anjali Bhagwat (50m Rifle 3 Position), Avneet Kaur Sidhu (10m Air Rifle).
- Swimming : Virdawal Khade (50m, 100m, 200m Freestyle), Ankur Poseria (100m Butterfly), Sandeep Sejwal (100m, 200m Breaststrokes), Rehan Poncha (200m butterfly).
- Table Tennis : Achanta Sharath Kamal, Neha Aggarwal.
- Tennis : Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (doubles), Sania Mirza (singles and doubles), Sunitha Rao (doubles).
- Weightlifting : L Monika Devi (69kg) ?? may be shailaja pujari now
- Wrestling : Sushil Kumar (66 kg Freestyle), Yogeshwar Dutt (60 kg Freestyle), Rajiv Tomar (120 kg Freestyle).
- Yachting : Major NS Johal (Heavyweight Dinghy).
What can be done to Improve India’s chances of winning Olympic Medals :
This is a very interesting piece of information I came across while watching the News (cnn ibn) the other day. It said that the reason for winning more medals have nothing to do with population or the wealth of a nation. The news quoted the findings of a research carried out by two experts (Anirudh Krishna and Eric Haglund) at the Duke University – USA, Social Mobility is the key to sucesss at the Olympics.
Social Mobility is brought about by better infrastructure. The study cited the example of Portugal whose Olympic medals tally increased with the improvement of Radio Network . According to the research, better informed people perform better .
I agree with this article in its conclusion. Although, I feel that the reason cited by it is just one of a combination of factors. If we look at the history of great players like Pele or Maradona , famous NBA stars, some have a not very affluent history. Some in fact grew up in slums. The same way, there is a whole lot of talent in the Indian Villages . We need to tap into this and spot and develop these talents. Has anyone seen a village boy running or swimming in that wild river ? Well I have and I can vouch that some run like the wind and swim like a mermaid. With a little training and grooming these children can perform wonders.
Schedule of Indian Events at the Olympics
[We will post the events that Indian athletes are partcipating on a particular date. At once we will post the events of the next 4 days at a time. Enjoy the Olympics]
Click here for the Indian Team/Athletes Results in Beijing on a daily basis.
August 9th – Day 1
Archery
Team and Individual- Ranking Round Dola Banerjee, Bombayala Devi and Pranitha Vardineni
Individual- Ranking Round Mangal Singh Champia
Badminton
Women’s Singles – Saina Nehwal(IND) vs. Ella Karchakova(RUS) at 5.10 PM IST
Boxing
Men’s Middle (75kg) Round of 32 – Vijender Kumar vs Jack Badou
Men’s Light Heavy (81kg) Round of 32 – Dinesh Kumar vs AbdelHafid
Judo
The Women’s 48 kg Judo – Khumujam Tombi Devi
Shooting
Men’s 10 metre air pistol – Samaresh Jung
Men’s trap – Mansher Singh and Manavjit Singh Sandhu
Women’s 10 metre air rifle – Anjali Bhagwat and Avneet Kaur Sidhu
Swimming
Men’s 100 meter breaststroke – Sandeep Sejwal
August 10th – Day 2
Archery
Team – Final (On Qualification) Dola Banerjee, Bombayala Devi and Pranitha Vardineni
Badminton
Men’s Singles – Anup Sridhar (IND) vs. Vasconcelos (POR) at 7.30AM IST
Shooting
Men’s trap – Final (On Qualification) Mansher Singh and Manavjit Singh Sandhu
Swimming
Men’s 200 metre freestyle – Virdhawal Khade
Men’s 100 meter breaststroke – Heats (On Qualification) Sandeep Sejwal
Tennis
Matches of Tennis will start on August 10th and will be played on until August 16th.
Men’s Doubles tennis competition – Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes
Women’s Singles tennis competition – Sania Mirza vs I Benesova(Czech Republic)
Women’s Doubles tennis competition – Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao
August 11th - Day 3
Swimming
Men’s 200 metre butterfly – Rehan Poncha
Men’s 100 meter breaststroke – Finals (On Qualification) Sandeep Sejwal
Men’s 200 metre freestyle -(On Qualification) Virdhawal Khade
Shooting
Men’s 10 metre air rifle – Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang
Tennis
Depending on results of August 10th matches. [Will Update Daily as and when results come]
August 12th – Day 4
Archery
Individual- Second elimination rounds(On Qualification) Dola Banerjee, Bombayala Devi and Pranitha Vardineni
Shooting
Men’s 50 metre pistol – Samaresh Jung
Men’s double trap – Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
Swimming
Men’s 100 metre freestyle – Virdhawal Khade
Men’s 200 metre breaststroke – Sandeep Sejwal
Men’s 200 metre freestyle – (On Qualification) Virdhawal Khade
Men’s 200 metre butterfly – (On Qualification) Rehan Poncha
Tennis
Depending on result of August 11th matches. [Will Update Daily as and when results come]
[On Qualification indicates if the participant has qualified for the next round, then they have that event scheduled for that day]
Indian Olympic Updates
[ In this section we will provide updates about the events and performance of the Indian Olympians at the Beijing games]
- India’s only Weightlifting squad member Monika Devi from Manipur was dropped from the Olympic squad just ahead of it’s departure to beijing after she failed a dope test. Monika alleges that this is all politics played by Shailaja Pujari , another veteran weight lifter(both are in the 69kg category). As usual with Indian sport, a huge drama was played out in the SAI office by supporters of Monika. It remains to be seen if Shailaja will be sent to Beijing now.
- Rajyavardhan Rathore has been selected to be India’s flag bearer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.
- For all updates on the performance of India in 2008 Olympics click here
- Abhinav Bindra Wins Gold at Beijing 2008 Olympics, 10 metre Air Rifle Mens Event.
Now we come to the part in which the Indians are the best. Guessing. Rack up your Astrological insights and tell me how many will India Win ??
[poll id="7"]
Also Read
Bangalore’s Date with Terror
Monday, July 28th, 2008The French Philosopher and Enlightment writer Voltaire said “It is the danger which is least expected that soonest comes to us”. Even though Bangalore has been on the terror radar for many years because of it being a prominent IT city and a city which symbolizes India’s successes, most of us Bangaloreans seldom believed that a terror strike could happen. We would see on TV the ghastly images of death and despair in cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur etc and sympathize with those cities folk and get on with our own lives.
But on July 25th 2008 just as I had finished lunch and went on to read the papers in my office library, I heard that there was a blast some 200 meters away from my office. A few minutes later, another one just 500 meters away. News started spreading that there were many blasts all over the city.
What happened later, we all know and have seen the same images and clippings over and over again on our 24/7 news channels.[I finally got bored of the bombing's news,images,analysis etc and just stayed away from the news channels yesterday]. Thankfully the scale of terror was not similar to the one in Ahmedabad a day later or earlier in Jaipur and Hyderabad.
One question props up when you analyze the Bangalore blasts.” Why were the bombs kept in weird places like a sewer, between bushes in a park, in an empty site, near granite slabs etc. I saw the blast sites in Adugodi and in front of Mallya hospital. You can easily make out that the terrorists were not too keen to kill. If they were not, what was their intention?.
We can easily say that Ahmedabad blasts were intended to kill, but that Bangalore blasts may have some other meaning. It may be a warning that security can be easily breached anytime anywhere. It is off course for the police to investigate and catch the culprits. I also appreciate the police efforts in both Bangalore and Ahmedabad of maintaining communal harmony.
Politicians irrespective of party affiliations have no humanity left in them. They always try to score brownie points when people are faced with tragedy. Be it the BJP or the Congress, no one involved themselves in reassuring people that peace will be maintained. Instead the BJP criticized the Central Government and the State Congress blamed Yedyurappa. Both these parties need to introspect, their political fight must not create panic and hatred among citizens especially in these times of uncertainty. India needs to show a united face and try and eliminate the root cause of terrorism.
I also saw a few friends of mine, very well educated and who themselves have friends in all communities generalizing a persons or a groups action on the entire community. I would just like to tell them that all communities have problems and phases when they are in turmoil. We as Indians need to co- operate and build mutual trust. The Terrorists plan itself is to create a divide so as to plunge our country into chaos and every man from whichever community helps them achieve this goal either directly or indirectly is a traitor.
The Mecca Masjid blasts in Hyderabad clearly shows that these terrorists adhere to no faith. They are Anti- India not Anti- Hindu. There is a need to bring about a reformation in the way we all view religion in our lives.
I would like to end by quoting the writer of “The Alchemist” Paulo Coelho’s truly apt saying which I always relate to when it comes to the matters of religion.
“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation.
It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path”
Google Country Specific Search
Sunday, July 27th, 2008It is usually the case that a site with a .com TLD, whether hosted in US or outside US (UK, Australia etc), generally shows up only in Google.com SERP’s and not in Google.co.uk / Google.com.au etc
You may be Rank 1 for certain keywords in Google.com. However, in a Google Country Specific domain, you may not be found at all. Creating a website that ranks well for all localities is a major task but probably a better long-term strategy.
Important Tips for Ranking in Country Specific Search Engines may include one or more of the following;
- Get the Corresponding Country Code TLD Name like ‘.in ‘, ‘.uk’ etc.
- Getting large number of relevant back links from domains hosted in the target country in which you want to rank for like UK, Canada, Australia etc.
- Server Location that hosts your site.
- Usage of Email and Social Media Marketing can fetch you large volumes of local traffic from targeted countries.
- Use of Geo-targeting option in Google Webmasters Central
- Being listed in the appropriate regional category at Open Directory DMOZ might help.
- Having an appropriate physical address mentioned somewhere on your site, specially in the Contact page would help.
- Create a separate site to target different areas.
Java Swing JTree Tutorial
Sunday, July 27th, 2008Swing provides support for hierarchies using a tree structure implemented via the Swing class JTree. A tree is a collection of one or more nodes. Each node is the parent of zero or more children, which are also nodes. The node that is at the base of the tree is called the root.
A node with no children is a leaf. A tree may consist of many subtrees, in which each node acts as the root for its own subtree.
A tree can be expanded (expanded nodes show their children) or collapsed (children are hidden). The way in which a collapsed or expanded node is displayed depends on the Look and Feel. When a tree expansion event occurs, the method treeExpanded() is called, identifying the node that was expanded. When a tree collapse event occurs, treeCollapsed() is called instead.
A node is selected by clicking it; this click generates a TreeSelectionEvent. Likewise, expanding or collapsing a tree generates a TreeExpansionEvent. Selecting a new node causes all nodes in a previous selection to be deselected. When a tree selection event occurs, the method valueChanged() is called. Note that this method is called for both node selection and deselection.
A node’s path is represented by an object of type TreePath. A path is an array of Object components which together uniquely identify the path from the root of the tree to a specific node. The elements are stored in the array in order from the hierarchy’s root.
