The New Google Reader

The G-Reader: Old vs New

Released on October 31, 2011 , my first reaction to the look – nice and non cluttery.

But then I discovered that a couple of features which made it such a cool tool, MISSING – just vanished.

The Google Reader team made a huge mistake removing the “Recommended by friends” feature.

More than the content on my “Home Page”, I used to surf the items reco’d by people I followed – as I discovered new blogs, newer content to consume. Since most of the blogs read by my friends were common, they curated the content via the Share and recommended feature – which saved most of my time, especially when you subscribe to one-blog-an-hour-monsters like Tech-crunch/ Mashable. Google had nailed the “social” aspect of reading, which they decimated in a single stroke without a warning. And now they have an “explore” tab, where “They” show you “their” recommendations based on what you’ve subscribed – ghastly!

The funny thing is, just when this feature was removed, you had the Washington Post Social Reader launched on facebook, which had a similar functionality though naughtier– it displayed ALL that you’d read, putting an embargo “certain posts” you would’ve wanted to read. So while the erstwhile Google Reader was beautiful in that aspect, Google chose to remove the “friend-share” – this  despite be-moaning it’s lack of foresight in the “social” phenomenon !

Yaay, I can now share my posts with specific friends on my G-circles. In their wish to promote “+”, they would, of course, ignore integration with other SNS* (unless the functionality was integrated within the blog) which would be an awesome feature. YouTube is cooler that way, as it allows you to do just that. Currently, G-reader-sharing on SNSs of my choice is a pain (yes, more than 2 clicks with a copy paste from the Address Bar, is a pain!).

I’d thought the blogosphere – outbursts on the new G-reader would bring some action on bringing the trusted feature back – but no, it’s  January 2012 and there have been no changes/updates.

Let’s wait and watch

*Social Networking Sites

The Death of Macro- Blogging?

Macro vs Micro

Blogging brought out a flow of thought, each post beautifully crafted in its flow, be it a single or multiple paragraphs. A lot of thought went into each post, illustrated with appropriate quotes, pictures, references.  Since that was the only avenue to express, many newbie bloggers chose the “hard thought” route. Me-self was one such blogger.

But with the rise of the micro-blogging phenomena, I’ve realized that I’m more a witness to a stream of single-line status updates/ link-share’s with a note on how much that article was “Beautiful!”, “Amazing”, “Crazy stuff”. My reaction to these was a simple click of the button with similar adjectives. So I find myself reacting (pushing the Share/re-tweet/Like-ing), than thinking about the post, researching and writing more about it. Is it the fear that I would lose out on the NEXT big twitter trend? That I need to put in a wisecrack, a précis comment for phenomenon that would trigger a reaction and not a thought? Many of my erstwhile blogger friends, now hooked onto twitter, do not post as often as they did earlier. An occasional post on pieces that have been written for newspapers, a few comments on the links discovered.

This is a phenomenon restricted, as I said, perhaps only to the newest entrants to the Blogsphere. Who started writing too close to the twitter- era. The Old timers would still remain writers I guess. I believe Super-Bloggers (like a Vir Sanghvi / Seth Godin) do not allow the information overload to overwhelm them. They would perhaps switch off their smartphones, sip a cup of coffee, muse and start typing away.

I wonder how the scene would be in a few more years.

Add on: An article from Mashable posted today on being “un-plugged” Matrix fashion http://mashable.com/2012/01/03/block-internet-distractions-apps/

Back in the Summer of 2011…

April 2, 2011 - Photo by Ritam Banerjee/Getty Images AsiaPac

Never been much of a cricket fan. Understanding and vocabulary of the sport would be at a slightly higher level than the “gilli-danda” Lagaan team. And never cared to ask either. Silly point, mid-on/off bla bla. The scandals, the money, the undue attention of a 1 billion nation on a single sport and for a team that was as unpredictable as ours further put me off. It did not help that whenever I watched, we just lost!

April 2 2011 changed a part of the above. The air of India was charged up, with prayers, good wishes. The recorded national anthem teared and goosebumped me up. One cannot but be swayed by the emotions of so many people around you!

The odds were stacked against us – statistically. A chase for a total above 250 on home ground. It did not help that though I had my back to the televsion – Tendulkar got out pretty tamely! With that I decided to revert to the superstitious strategy of NOT watching or updating myself on the match till it was done. Amazing, the number of serendipitious actions that resulted in a wicket/ or a boundary. Some friends crossed their legs throught. Some sat on the same chair. Some refused to relieve themselves. Crazy as it felt later on, we were all unified in our thoughts – C’MON INDIA LET’S GET THAT CUP!

“6 runs and 11 balls remaining..!!” yelled one from the living room. Ok Beena. No peeking. We aren’t giving a chance to them Lankans. A small burst of fire-crackers. A few minutes later a collective shout from all sides. And I finally switched over to watch the winning innings.

One of those few moments in life when you experience magic…

It was supreme team effort yes. But one couldn’t help noticing Mahindra Singh Dhoni’s demeanour. His acknowledgement of the questions that could’ve been asked if they’d lost. His belief in his team. The way he stepped up the order to handle the pressure. God, how did he handle the pressure? His humbleness in allowing his team-mates to hog the central frame of the “Champions” pic. Excitement in the eyes, but the body language composed. How does he do it? This is Bhagvad Gita stuff! B-schools just get his appointment for your Leadership course!

Respect.

The Social Network

Where it all began – Erica dumps Mark	Scribbling the “Most Popular” Algorithm

Being on Facebook as a part of my Marketing Research, this one was a must watch!

The partial bio-pic (I say partial as they say the portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg is in a more negative light than the actual person) of the conversations, events that lead to the inception of the idea of Facebook, the creation of a website that currently garners view-time of 7 hrs in a month and whose membership is increasing, with a count of 500 million to date.

The chain of events leading to Facebook, it seems, was born out of a howcanagirldumpme-bruised ego, coding in drunken stupor, overnight. His “face-smash” caught the attention of the Winklevoss bro’s (refer W-twins) who were thinking of a Harvard connect – a mini facebook concept. While Mark liked the concept, he expanded the idea around it and created facebook without bothering to inform the W-twins. Jealous of his only friend Eduardo Saverin’s acceptance into an exclusive group in Harvard, he exploits his finances and contacts to popularize the website. Charismatic Napster founder, Sean Parker, uses his contacts to get plum-VC contacts to pump in funds to facebook, putting Saverin in the back-foot. Mark chooses to betray his friend where it hurts most, liquidating Saverin’s share of stock from 30% to a mere 0.03%. The W-twins and Saverin sue Mark Zuckerberg and get settlement . End of plot.

Mark’s character portrayal is similar to “Big Bang Theory”s Sheldon Cooper – both are obsessed with the field they are in, consider the quest for knowledge to be infinitely superior to monetary advantages, have a cocky know-it-all attitude, a tendency to show off their extended English vocabulary. Jealousy plays a role in destroying a genuine relationship. But he shows guilt and a touch of remorse, when Sean Parker taunts Saverin, and when later into the night Parker gets himself into a police-drug-bust; then you see a spark of emotion- absent in him throughout the movie.

The humor is smart, the direction slick. The cool start-up culture, with its “jacked-in” coders, work hard party harder is showcased really well here. Loved the idea of recruiting coders through the tequila shot-stop-code-shot method ! It is a culture that states brilliance is at its creative best when the subject is in a high – we’ve seen that in Swordfish; the IITians I’ve come across partied harder into the night before a toughie quiz.

Some people!

Picture sources: onlinemovieshut.com, cheri-movie.com

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- 1

Dumbeldore’s Will	The quest for cheating Death
The lovely Doe Patronus

Being an avid fan of the HP series, managed to plonk get ourselves into the 1st “night” show of the movie release. And what a ride!

The movie sticks pretty much to the book, trimming off parts which are really trivial. Except for Harry’s 17^th Birthday present piece!  The main plot revolves around Harry, his quest to find and destroy the Horcruxes which keep Voldemort alive, with the support of Ron and Hermione. The difference between this book and the rest of the books is the setting. While others were in the safety and shelter of Hogwarts, with Dumbeldore’s (shall refer to him as D in the post) death in the 6^th series, the school becomes vulnerable. As Harry tries to come to terms with the task left to him by his mentor, he realizes how little he knew about him. Anger at D, frustration and in constant danger, the limits of friendship of the trio is severely tested. Death, injury and disappearance of dear friends haunt them. It is a period that forces them to make decisions even adults would find difficult to make, emerging as true members of the brave Gryffindor house. Needling through the plot is the discovery of the Deathly Hallows, 3 in number, giving the possessor mastery over Death.

Moving at a good pace, the uncovering of mystery after mystery is well done. While people might argue that the camping scenes were a slight drag, the time given was just right – gave sufficient buildup to the “Eureka” moments and Ron’s defection. The initial chase scene from the Dudley’s to the safe house was not as well-executed as the book-description- confusing actually! The special effects are awesome – Patronuses and Dementors in action are the best! Among the actors, Rupert Grint playing Ron Weasley bested Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) in his portrayal of a loyal, but jealous-of-a-possible-Harry-Hermione-affair friend. Emma Watson’s Hermione is torn between staying with a friend versus declaring her affection for Ron, an act that is managed very well! Voldemort isn’t as menacing as the book makes him out to be :| Have felt that ever since the Goblet-of-Fire movie release. He just does not give me the creeps :| Guess the slit-eyes cant convey the look-that-chills-the-bones

Being a huge book with a number of sub-plots, there was a necessity to split the movie to stay true to the essence of the written novel. The split was well judged-Dobby’s saddeningly brave death, saving his friends; with Voldemort acquiring the Elder wand by desecrating D’s resting place.

To quote from knoxnews’s Teen review of the movie:

“For a generation of kids like us who are now entering the real world along with our three heroes, this is our story. Because when you look past the captivating magic and scenery, the essence of Harry Potter lies in the fact that the characters are so real, and this film does a perfect job of reminding us of that foundation of humanity before we are swept up into the riveting battle of good vs. evil that will at last end this adored series.”

And you end up trying a few spells as well – Expecto Patronum! Obliviate! Accio Key/Hair brush! Stupefy! Expelleramus!  Reducto!Lumos!

Wish I was a Magical Muggle 

Pictures source: www.harrypotter.com

Kindle ‘d !

(Picture Source: http://erictric.com/tag/free/)

Story of “Why did I buy it?”

Despite being an Apple hater (esp. of the iPhone!) thought would replace hubby’s current iPod with the new iPod touch 4 as an advance HappyBudday’er. But hubby would have none of it as he detests all touch-screen stuff –“Not reliable! And too sensitive!” He was particularly taken in with a Senior Manager’s review on the Kindle. So Kindle it was.

So, why did I not buy it before?

Being a book-worm (deeply buried in the sub-soil worm), I guess (1) The reluctance to part with the page turning, musty paper smell experience of holding a book in your hand and reading (2) With all the back-light exposure of the office computer, who wants to subject the eyes to that again?

The e-reader Experience!

While the Kindle with its non-backlight feature takes care of (2) but can’t recreate (1), it replaces it with a happy (3).  (3) would be portability of N number of books with size bN MB [N = 3.2GB/(b1+b2+b3…bN) ]. Light-weight, hassle free way to carry your favorite read around! Considering I spend 4 hours travelling daily this feature is a DELIGHT. An add-on (4) is that, I get to download my kinda books- English Classics- for Free from Project Gutenberg !!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!

Navigation

The Menu allows you to surf to the Beginning, End, view your footnotes/bookmarks , search for a phrase. Zooming, landscape/portrait views, inserting highlights (black with white lettering) is intuitive. Two button on either side of the device, placed thumb- ergonomically make page turning a happy exercise – imagine munching a sandwich in one hand and flipping pages of your book without giving your wrist a turn?

So buy that Kindle.

And Read Happily Ever After …

Leela Naidu- A Patchwork Life: Jerry Pinto

A face one cannot forget, once seen. Glimpsed this beautiful lady’s portrait when I came across a review of the book being written about here. The innocent, fresh look the face had, arrested me. Mummum, exclaimed, “O you do not know Leela Naidu? Have you not heard of Trikaal? She was the amongst the 10 most beautiful women along with Maharani Gayatri Devi!”

Since I have a fetish for Wiki-ing any random term, whipped up phone, Wapedia’d “Leela”. Her history had me intrigued. Enough to push “Purchase of the book” button in my brain. Especially if it’s a gift voucher (Thank you Sheeba, Nitya!)

Well who wouldn’t, especially after an intro of a Naked Russian count in her Granma’s garden; being Dali’s Madonna; experiences with Ingrid Bergman, tutored in acting by Renoir? Digging deep into the book, you picture a graceful, extremely intelligent lady, aware of her beauty, but not vain about it -“An accident of deoxyribonucleic acid!” She did more than just spend few minutes in the company of the underprivileged as a Miss India’54. Her concern and subsequent action against the injustice meted out to extras (be it even an elephant!)/staff of a movie-shooting expedition demands your respect. Her sensitiveness in Her forthrightness in refusing to cake her face, roughing it out in a village to get into the skin of a character amuses and would’ve disarmed anyone who knew her, I’m sure 

Her pithies are sweetly timed; striking one being her comments on Arundhati Roy’s behavior on the sets of Electric Moon; a fire broke out, resulting in one of the support staff getting badly burnt and Ms Roy sobbed not for him, but for her destroyed stuffed toys; or that time when Leela supported a dehydrated extra off the sets, Ms Roy’s insistence that Leela mustn’t as being a dancer the dancer “out to have a sense of balance” .  .  Leela coats her censure of Roy’s conduct in her observance of a folly most of us are guilty of – that of not empathizing with what’s in front of us, but willing to fight for an unknown mass of poverty stricken, downtrodden lot; understanding Ms Roy’s campaigns for justice of all sorts of BIGGER causes, but not the day-to-day Dalits she encounters on her non-campaign days 

As the title states the style of the book; Coffee-table’sh but not;Auto-bio but not;  A Patchwork it is. So don’t go hunting for details about why her 1^st marriage failed and how she reacted to the loss of one of her twins. No Sir. Like anyone of us, she reveals some but not all. Of course, that would reduce the juicy bits, hence the sale-ability of the book. But then when has she been a pursuer of fame, cheap publicity especially through any sort of tell-all?

It sure created a “Leela-shaped hole in my heart”  (Jerry Pinto) 

Kya/Enna? – The Linguistic Dilemma

Source: http://www.desicolours.com/mahatma-gandhi-signatures-in-7-major-languages-of-india/08/01/2010

We, the children of the 80’s are a fortunate lot. Linguistically speaking, that is. Our parents, children of the post-independence era, took wings to find a profession in the prominent Metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta. The Periyar movement saw an influx of Tam-Brams to Mumbai, the Keralites had just started the “Gelf” occupation. Hindi as the National Language asserted itself in the 80’s, with the Central syllabus schools in the South having it as the 3^rd language. With relatives in Mumbai, exposure to Bollywood, a South Indian kid could speak, read 3 languages fairly well by the 8^th standard – they being English, Hindi, the Mother tongue. This gave them easier mobility throughout the country – one could easily pick up languages of the North/South having a base. Being in a Metro, a child is exposed to a number of languages, and with friends from every community, he would soon learn a smattering of Gujarati, recognize the “O”-Bengali accent.

As a result of this Metro upbringing, we find our generation opting for inter-state partners. Language spoken by the next generation becomes an issue in the case of a South-North marriage. While the child most definitely would learn to speak Hindi, English, what about his 3^rd language, that of the South Indian parent? How would the child pick it up especially if the parents themselves communicate with each other in English/Hindi? So would this generation be a bi-lingual one? One can’t force language choices on a child else he would be confused. He would learn the 3^rd and the 4^th mother tongues (if neither of the parents have Hindi as their mother tongue) based on his interest and the family circles he moves in. 

This loss-of-language knowledge is something that could’ve been rectified. While Hindi was made the compulsory 3^rd language in the South, what of the children studying in the North? Instead of French, they could have a south Indian language so that both areas have that ease of communication and grasping a 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th language. Tamil, for instance, would’ve been apt, as it is as old as Sanskrit as a “Moola Vani” (root of all languages, esp. in South). 

Take for example my case. Mother tongue is Malayalam; can have conversations and write Hindi; Being in Tamil Nadu for engineering, can speak Tamil quite well; a smattering of Kannada, thanks to a two year stint in Bangalore; fair understanding of Bengali due to a 4 month stint in Calcutta and  being reinforced and strengthened thanks to hubby being Bongali. But then, we communicate in Hindi/English. Mostly English in fact. The Bengali tuition comes from the conversations between mum-in-law and hubby and sometimes with me. What will our kids speak? :O :O

Ah well. What does it matter? IDEA cellular hai na!

#pleasedonthitme

Do Dooni Chaar – Review

Picture 1: http://www.bollycurry.com/movie/2010/do-dooni-chaar/	Picture 2: http://www.ndtv.com/album/detail/sneak-peek-rishi-neetus-i-do-dooni-chaar-i-8185/1

After a long time you get to see a Hindi movie that all generations of a family could sit over pakodas and enjoy. Perfect “Britannia Tea time Cinema” stuff And to think it is Habib Faisal’s debut movie! Kudos to you Sir!

The story of a very middle of the middle class Dilli-Punjoo family. Head of family, Duggalji (with his singsong Helloooo) an upright (the seated posture, literally) teacher who, for nearly 2 decades, plies in and around Delhi on his humara-Bajaj scooty. Who has an understanding sweet smiling wife who doesn’t think twice before selling her sole gold bangle to save her sister-in-law’s face. Who has the ambitious, i-will-not-give-up-without-a-fight daughter Payal and a Tol-Mol-ke-bol (he knows the price, MRP of every high end product/enterprise) son Deepu, both ashamed of their limited means. The story of how they realize the worth of their father’s values in the pursuit of a material object. A car. In this quest, the Good Duggal is saved from selling his soul to the pay-for-marks Devil and All’s-well-that-ends-well.

The morning hullabaloo in a house with 3 people exiting it at the same time is captured so well. The acting is superb – the subdued fond protective smile of Duggalji when his relieved, happy sister hugs him (an expression I’ve seen on my dad’s face as well ); the sweet knowing smile of Neetu Kapoor (what-i-smile-i-say!!!) when she realizes she would have her way. The two newbies Aditi Vasudev (Payal), Archit Krishnan (Deepu) have done a good job. Aditi, as the exasperated tomboy who soooo-wishes to rebel against her father’s dictums, struck the right note – not too shrill or squeaky in her protests.

Each character is well rounded, each has a part to play. The roly-poly Urmi (Duggal’s sister) wobbling run of delight to meet her family who FINALLY arrived in the car. Farukki the hen-pecked neighbor who tries his bit to love his neighbor (Duggalji) in his wife’s wake. And how can we forget The India-TV-style sting operator- one piece showed a yellow arrow tracing the face of a villain in a vivid RED background- Good God!

What is particularly sweet about this movie is that it is not preachy about morals. It shows that even the Good are vulnerable, have their weak moments. It passes no judgments. And, in a fantastic, believable way, convinces us that if we are Good, Goodness comes back to protect us.

Rajnikanth’s Enthiran / Robot

 

So, 10-10-10 was our date with India’s finest sci-fi film made to-date.

A modern Frankenstein tale, Enthiran blew me away with Rajni in so many avatars. As one person put it, as a Robot, “He” can do anything! Be a drag queen, Star-Wars Jedi, an Anaconda (squeezing crushing people), Cobra (spitting bullet-venom), speak Mosquito (Insect-tongue), bullet-spitting-rolling sphere grenade, master-chef, interior decorator, lawyer, lover and my pet favorite- The male version of Goddess Durga to the ululations of the adoring masses. Incidentally our Puranas speak of the Gods taking female form – Brahmini, Vaishnavi, Indrani in the epic battle against Mahishasur. With Durga Pooja in the corner, that representation of the then super-hero Robo left me wide-eyed, speechless with wonder, happiness. Chitti (Rajni) gone rogue with the Red-Chip (Matrix here too) is a class-villain act. His creepy “Asur”-ic laugh, sadistic overtures to Sana ( Aishwarya Rai Bacchan), the way he disposes of his Asuric avatar. The movie belonged entirely to Chitti-the Robot. One falls in love with him in the end. His creator – Vaseegaran (means “One who attracts” –not with the negative connotations of seducer, also played by Rajni) is nothing extraordinary in terms of portrayal. One yearns to see Chitti, and scenes without him (which are few) are a definite drag!

This piece of art showcases what a double edged sword science can be. Especially if we try playing God; cloning, tinkering with genetics, or as in this case giving a machine feelings could go terribly wrong in the hands of the Bad people. And the heartbreak that goes with creating, editing and finally destroying your terrible creation. It ends sweetly, with Chitti noting that he is “happier” being a Robot than a human. Why? All it required was removing a Red-Chip to eradicate the 7 sins, unlike humans, who live their life wrestling with them.

The songs are catchy, but would not say they are Rahman’s best work. “Kilimanjaro-Mohenjodaro” struck me as unusually nice with its tribal beats. The filming was at the Machu Picchu, with some lovely Mayan-sh costumes. ALL the song-dance sets are magnificent- can’t help recalling Chitti leashing his pet Robo-lions, Aish in her Princess Leia inspired metal costume (hubby liked this bit ).

Aishwarya Rai B. Sigh. The lady gets her pick of movies, directors, events. But she can’t act. She acts as the muse (sure, a dumb pretty muse indeed)  but she sure can’t act. Like the time she was about to be assaulted by a gang of rowdies; her expression was that of the harassment one experiences when being pursued by a persistent Female Anopheles mosquito. Sigh.

We had the pleasure of watching it with a big Kozhian-gang, across 4 batches. What fun the post movie session was!

So get your gang and experience the magic that’s Chitti ( Cute name eh )

<Boom boom Robo-da Robo-da>

(Pictures courtesy: http://flashnewstoday.com/index.php/endhiran-release-centers-in-chennai/

http://aishwaryaraipic4u.blogspot.com/2010/08/aishwarya-rai-and-rajini-endhiran-movie.html )