Ugadi Wishes…
Here’s wishing all a very Happy & Prosperous Ugadi! Ugadi is the start of the new year for most people in South India, esp. for telugu and kannadiga people. The coming year is named Sarvajit Nama Samvatsara. I guess the Sarvajit stands for all-conquering. Hope that this coming year is an all-conquering one for all of us….
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and grab some Ugadi Pacchadi 
Australian GP Sunday Race - Kimi Wins!!!
Kimi Raikkonen finally is back unto his winning ways. After a dreary winless spell last year, the finn notched up a pole position and a victory with his very first race with Ferrari. Raikkonen won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in style as he led from start-to-finish in an exciting race. McLaren though, were the team which took away max points after double world champion Fernando Alonso came second and rookie Lewis Hamilton, on his Grand Prix debut, notched up a third place finish. Kimi’s teammate Felipe Massa could only manage 6th position after starting from the back having replaced his engine overnight.
In a race that seemed very short, the Finn led from the moment the red lights went out, setting a string of fastest laps one after another. Alonso briefly lost (more…)
Australian GP Qualifying - Kimi on Pole!
Ferrari debutant Kimi Rakkonen grabbed Pole position for the season-starting Australian Grand Prix with a stunning drive in the third quarter of Qualifyng. Now shuld I be glad that Kimi is on Pole or should be sorry that it was not in a McLaren! But anyways, McLaren weren’t too behind with debutant (McLaren debutant i.e.) Fernando Alonso came 2nd fastest and if it wasn’t for Nick Hiedfeld’s fiesty last-minute-dash, it would have been a McLaren 2-3! Rookie Lewis Hamilton taking initial 3rd only to be pipped by the BMW driver at the last possible second.
Ferrari had a mixed sorta day with their second driver Felipe Massa not starting the second Qualifying session and eventually will start 16th on the grid. Other teams too had a lacklustre day, esp. Honda who looked so faar back in pace! Toyota started miserably but picked up the pieces at the end. Even Renault had a bad day at the office with Fisichella managing only the 6th Position.
It should be an eventful race tomorrow, espescially with title-contenders Kimi and Alonso on the front row and looking to grab the early initiative! Problem is, the race starts at 7:30 AM IST 
Race reports: Formula1.com | Grandprix.com
Formula One 2007 Season Flags Off
The most-awaited sporting extravaganza of the year is starting off this weekend! Or should I say vrooming off? On Saturday, 17th or March 2007, the Formula One 2007 Season goes underway with the Australian Grand Prix Qualifying. And the actual race on Sunday would well & truly kick-start the racing. 2007 in many ways than one is a watershed year for the sport. For the first time in more than a decade, the season would not see a driver named Michael Schumacher on the starting grid. Having announced his sabbatical last year, Schumi would now be watching the races from the other side of the track. 2007 also sees the top two drivers - on form at least - move on to rival teams. Kimi Raikkonen to Ferrari and Fernando Alonso to McLaren. Ferrari has two top drivers on their ranks whereas McLaren and Renault have one rookie each partnering an experienced campaigner. So that leads me to think that this year may see the re-domination of Ferrari. (more…)
300 : Here I Come!!!
The much-acclaimed and much-awaited movie - 300 - has finally released in Hyderabad. In both English and Hindi, but thankfully not telugu! I guess that it will be relatively successful, given the hype surrounding it and also because it is releasing on a weekend that even has Monday as a holiday (on account of the telugu festival of Ugadi). I guess the name 300 is a depiction of the number of spartans who fought the war! Anyways, people have had much to say about this movie, Harsh J is totally enamored by this one whereas the reviews here and here suggest that it is a terribly exciting movie 
According to IMDB and others..
Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, “300″ concerns the 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae, where the King of Sparta led his army against the advancing Persians; the battle is said to have inspired all of Greece to band together against the Persians, and helped usher in the world’s first democracy!
Other Useful Links: IMDB | Official Site | Hollywood.com review | Funniest Review
Pirates of the Caribbean III
The Third installment of Disney’s Pirates’ Saga - Pirates of the Caribbean - is coming out this may. The third part, titled Pirates of the Caribbean - At World’s End brings the trilogy to an emphatic finale. As was seen in the second part - Dead Man’s Chest - Captain Jack Sparrow gets lost into the depths of the ocean…going down bravely while fighting the kracken. And now in this final part, the rest of the starcast must embark upon the journey - probably to the World’s End - to save him!
Captain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann must sail off the edge of the map, navigate treachery and betrayal, and make their final alliances for one last decisive battle.
The Movie also see’s Chow-Yun-Fat make an appearance, probably as an eastern warrior whom they confront while en route to the World’s End! Though the Black Pearl didn’t appeal to me as much, the Dead Man’s Chest was eminently likeable and was a far better movie IMO. Having the pirate lore as a backdrop of the movie is captivating enough and the fact that there is a high curiosity level as to how and where Capt. Jack Sparrow is holed up and how he is rescued and how the movie culminates, makes it all the more interesting and awaited. Arrr! Bringit Ahoy Matey!!!
RINBOT.N Virus - My Liesure
The recent virus attack of the worm that goes by the name of WORM_RINBOT.N is partly responsible for me getting a few hours of leisure today !!! The attack meant that most of the systems had to be isolated and quarantined. So thatz a few less machines to take care of during the course the general work-day! Don’tya ask me about where it happened coz I’m not gonna spill the beans on that one 
Anyways, this RINBOT virus is quite a low-risk thing but is capable of some high damage!
This worm propagates via network shares. It does the said routine by dropping a copy of itself in the IPC$ folder, which is a default share. If the share is password-protected, it uses a list of user names and passwords to gain access.
It also takes advantage of the SQL Server 7.0 Service Pack Password vulnerability to propagate across networks
It has backdoor capabilities. It opens random ports and waits for several commands from a remote malicious user. Once a connection is established, it executes the said commands locally, such as termination of processes and logging of keystrokes, effectively compromising the affected system.
Sounds quite a mouthful but it can be a potent scare for big corporate networks and the SysAdmins. Wonder if my friend Mr.TSA is aware of this and has taken any steps to protect him..err…his network I mean!
More Info: Trend Micro | NetVigator | Microsoft
Separated at Birth?
Some idle glancing through some Cricket magazines and the WWW led me to think how similar one of the new-on-the-block cricketer was to an actor. The cricketer in question is New Zealand’s Mark Gillespie, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Legally Blonde & My Super Ex-girlfriend actor Luke Wilson. Don’t believe me? See for yourself… (more…)
Mundane Post
Ho Hum! Stuck at work on a lazy Sunday afternoon! Nothing can be more dreadful than this….
400 posts up on the Wierd Wired World……less than a-post-a-day but who cares!
Haven’t seen any nice movie since the departed…and that was like eons ago!
*yawnnn!*
Wierd Names
During my usual jaunts back from office - which is an alarmingly long bus ride of almost 2 hours - I see around me several establishments and places which have names that seemingly sound good but have an ulterior hidden wierdness to them that makes me guffaw after I grasp it!
There’s this clinic that is named Touch Diagnostics. I sincerely hope that the practicioners do not stick to the name too literally when the do their diagnosis 
Then there’s another that calls itself Heavenly Travels. I’m sure they mean to convey that journeying with them would be a pleasant experience..but lets hope its not too heavenly n nature! The name Snips n’ Cuts may be very mundane-sounding but when I tell you that it is a hair cutting saloon, you’ll fear whether there’s gonna be only snipping or any cutting of the harmful nature. When you call your bakery by the name of Lovey Dovey, you are running the risk of people thinking that they’ll find some things that are too feathery for comfort Similarly, when you drop off your laundry at Vanish Dry Cleaners you surely don’t expect the clothes to go poof! but its the stains and spots that should.
All of these and many other that I can’t recollect now, lead me to wonder whether any thought is put into it by the people who concoct such chesy names for their establishments. Maybe they’re toeing the Shakespeare’ian line…what’s in a name? 
