Vikas SN » General Stuff

Test post from Wordmobi

Vikas SN — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:29:01 +0000

Word Mobi is a blogging client for WordPress on S60 Devices. Testing this client on my 5800.

2012 Trailer Out

Vikas SN — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:45:29 +0000

This trailer simply blew my mind out outright. So, another movie added to the list of “Must See Movies” i.e. 2012. It is releasing in November 2009.

Ya I know, its still long time before the film releases, but if the film is anything like the trailer, then it is definitely worth the wait.

By the way, thanks for the headsup @phanirajkvs.

A True Object of Desire

Vikas SN — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:14:03 +0000

I accept. I have been completely bowled over by this phone.. This phone is truly and completely an object of desire.

Ya! I know. I just bought Nokia 5800 recently. But still I drool over this phone. BTW whats a human being without any desire? Right?

I’m Back Finally!!!

Vikas SN — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:50:00 +0000

Finally I am back and was able to post here after a really long time, Hopefully for good.

I had been feeling so guilty for months now that I was not able to update this blog, but I could not help. All thanks to twitter and work.

So what’s new in last 5-6 months?

Well for starters,

I have started working now (Actually from past 6 months) @Capgemini as an Associate Consultant which takes up all my time now, though I am not complaining coz I have got atleast a job and a project in these times of Recession

I have also started twittering a lot now, which is also one of the main reasons I had stopped updating this blog. Somehow I had lost the patience to write long personal posts, put down my thoughts here and found 140 or lesser characters posts very easy to manage

And on the weekends, I have been attending a lot of conferences and tweetups. Yahoo Hack Day, Google Conference, Bangalore Barcamp 8 to name a few.

And on the Gadgets Front, I bought a new Lenovo Netbook, a 16GB 1G iPod Touch ( Image Credit to @Mixdev) and also I was finally able to ditch my N70 to buy a new Nokia 5800.

And Ya Finally, Since I am self confessed movie buff, I have been watching all the new Hindi and Kannada movies in my spare time.

So how have you guys been?

Can you ditch your smartphone? A Challenge

Vikas SN — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:22:00 +0000

Engadget Mobile has come up with a novel idea, rather a challenge.

The challenge is simple: Ditch your smartphone for a month and try to live with a the basic Nokia 1100.

Hmmm must say it is a very intriguing challenge in this age of Web 2.0 or atleast you would think so, but according to figures of Nokia, there are over 200 million people who are using this set and haven’t upgraded to any other smart phone. I honestly cannot think of a day without my Nokia N70 phone. Though I don’t use any of the smart phone applications but I cannot stay without listening to music and taking snaps from my phone. What do you say?

Feel free to let me know your experience if you take up the challenge. Or if you are one of my kind, do tell me what feature from your phone you cannot do without.

Dhoni Wins the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award

Vikas SN — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:06:00 +0000

Indian Cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest award conferred to a sports person. He was conferred this award for leading the Indian team to the 20/20 victory in South Africa during September last year. This has made Dhoni the second cricketer to be conferred this award after the ‘Little Master’ Sachin Tendulkar. However, an Official Announcement is still pending and will be mostly on August 20.

BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty hailed the decision. “We are happy Dhoni got it. On two occasions, we felt let down when Rahul Dravid didn’t get Khel Ratna and Yuvraj was denied the Arjuna Award. Dravid was in a good form, we had won 16 ODIs on the trot and the team was on a high but still he did not get the award.”

Shetty added “What I like most about Mahi, apart from his cricket, is the way he leads and conducts himself. He is a cool customer and never gets agitated. I’m also impressed by his clarity of thought. He speaks his mind even if it may not be seen in the right sense,”

Kudos to Dhoni on this superlative achievement!!!

VOI Winner Ishmeet Singh No More

Vikas SN — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:18:00 +0000

Ishmeet Singh, the winner of the first edition of Star Plus’s popular reality show Voice of India, died in Maldives on Tuesday evening. He drowned in the swimming pool of his hotel Chaaya Island Dhonveli in North Male.

The 19-year-old singer from Punjab had arrived at Male on the morning of June 29, to perform at a promotional event to be held on August 1. Ishmeet was the winner of Star Plus’s singing reality show “Voice Of India” in 2007 defeating another prodigy Harshit Saxena.

He was also recently seen as one of contestants of ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar’, a singing reality show on Star Plus and represented the Champions team. He was eliminated on June 20, 2008 from the contest.

Ishmeet’s death has plunged the music world into mourning. Lata Mangeshkar who gave him the trophy last year said, “I feel very sad. He’d come to meet me, sang for me, and I had nudged him to pay a little more attention to classical training. He’d told me, ‘Mein ek din aapko bahot bada ban ke dikhaoonga’ (one day I’ll make a big name for myself)”

Farah Khan, one of the judge of Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar said “He was a gentleman, never saying anything bad about any contestant. Once I was having a late dinner in the studio and he sat beside me, sharing my food. He told me, ‘You have so many fans. I’d never thought I would one day eat sitting side by side with you.’ I still can’t believe he’s dead.”

Playback singers Abhijeet and Alka Yagnik, who were judges on music reality show “Voice Of India”, have expressed shock at Ishmeet’s death. “It’s shocking. It’s a cruel thing that has happened to him. I still can’t believe it,” said Yagnik.

Harshit Saxena, The runner-up of Amul Star Voice of India, said, “He was like a brother to me. I cannot even comment on what has happened. I cannot believe that he is no longer with us.”

Gurprinder Singh Sodhi, father of Ishmeet said the event management company had informed the family that the body was expected to be brought to India today. The cremation would be performed in Ludhiana.

My heartiest condolences to him
May your soul rest in peace.

Mukhbiir Moneyback offer

Vikas SN — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:39:00 +0000

Recently I came through a news article about “Mukhbiir”, a movie to be released on Aug 1. Supposedly its producers are coming up with a unique marketing concept to attract the crowd. It said that if you do not like the movie, then they will refund your money back. Though this offer is valid only for the first 5000 tickets in the first week of the film’s release, but still I must admire the confidence, the producer must be having on the film to come up with such an unique scheme.

Explaining the motivation behind introducing this never-before customer-satisfaction scheme, the Mukhbiir producer Sudhish Rambhotla says, “When we’ve money-back guarantee for consumers in other business why not in the entertainment industry? This money-refund satisfaction-guarantee has never been done in the entertainment industry in any part of the world. Movie making is like any mass manufacturing business. So why can’t we assure quality to the consumer?”

He further adds “So far, whoever has seen Mukhbiir has been riveted. So I’m confident no one will want back their money. However, if they do, they’re most welcome to get back the money.”

Good going Mr.Producer
Hoping that more producers follow you into this scheme

Teach India

Vikas SN — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:04:00 +0000

Teach India is a new social initiative from the Times of India group that brings together children in need of education and people who can contribute a little time towards teaching them. So if you have the desire to teach, they will put you in touch with underprivileged children who are willing to learn. Teach India already has the support of sixty of India’s committed NGOs, corporates, schools and social organizations and they are now looking for selfless individuals to come forward and help change the future of a child forever, by giving just a few hours a week to Teach India.
How To Participate: The Times of India has established partnerships with several NGOs in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Anyone interested in participating can click here to visit the Teach India website and register themselves. Alternatively you can also fill out the Volunteer Registration form and submit it to The Times of India office in your city. To receive the form on email, SMS TEACH to 58888.
Time Period: Teach India is looking for volunteers who can participate in the program for 3 months. If you wish to continue teaching, the same may be made possible by the NGO you are working with through mutual discussion.
Type Of Education: A variety of programmes, including basic education, support classes and even story-telling are available. These are all very easy to teach programmes in which simple topics have to be taught to children mostly at primary school level.The teaching would be one-on-one or to small groups of children. The type of programme a volunteer is assigned to, will be decided after assessment by the NGO, keeping your location and time preference in mind.
For More Details, visit the Teach India Website
Img Courtesy: The Times of India

Funny Weather Forecast

Vikas SN — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:30:00 +0000

Just found this in one on my email forwards. Hehe! Amazing Weather Forecast I must say