In$ide The World'$ Fir$t Billion-Dollar Home

While visiting New York in 2005, Nita Ambani was in the spa at the Mandarin Oriental New York, overlooking Central Park. The contemporary Asian interiors struck her just so, and prompted her to inquire about the designer.

Nita Ambani was no ordinary tourist. She is married to Mukesh Ambani, head of Mumbai, India-based petrochemical giant Reliance Industries, and the fifth richest man in the world. ( Lakshmi Mittal, ranked fourth, is an Indian citizen, but a resident of the U.K.)

Forbes Magazine estimated Ambani's net worth at $43 billion in March. Reliance Industries was founded by Mukesh's father, Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1966, and is India's most valuable firm by market capitalization. The couple, who have three children, currently live in a 22-story Mumbai tower that the family has spent years remodeling to meet its needs.

Like many families with the means to do so, the Ambanis wanted to build a custom home. They consulted with architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles, respectively. Plans were then drawn up for what will be the world's largest and most expensive home: a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai with a cost nearing $2 billion, says Thomas Johnson, director of marketing at Hirsch Bedner Associates. The architects and designers are creating as they go, altering floor plans, design elements and concepts as the building is constructed.

The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the $70 million triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air. When the Ambani residence is finished in January, completing a four-year process, it will be 550 feet high with 400,000 square feet of interior space.

The home will cost more than a hotel or high-rise of similar size because of its custom measurements and fittings: A hotel or condominium has a common layout, replicated on every floor, and uses the same materials throughout the building (such as door handles, floors, lamps and window treatments).

The Ambani home, called Antilla, differs in that no two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. At the request of Nita Ambani, say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal is part of the ninth-floor design, it shouldn't be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements sospaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition.

Antilla's shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the buildingby strategically placing materials, rooms and objects.

Pricey Pad
Atop six stories of parking lots, Antilla's living quarters begin at a lobby with nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges. Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax.

Ambani plans to occasionally use the residence for corporate entertainment, and the family wants the look and feel of the home's interior to be distinctly Indian; 85% of the materials and labor will come from outside the U.S., most of it from India.

Where possible, the designers say, whether it's for the silver railings, crystal chandeliers, woven area rugs or steel support beams, the Ambanis are using Indian companies, contractors, craftsmen and materials firms. Elements of Indian culture juxtapose newer designs. For example, the sinks in a lounge extending off the entertainment level, which features a movie theater and wine room, are shaped like ginkgo leaves (native to India) with the stem extending to the faucet to guide the water into the basin.

On the health level, local plants decorate the outdoor patio near the swimming pool and yoga studio. The floor also features an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries.

For more temperate days, the family will enjoy a four-story open garden. In profile, the rebar-enforced beams form a "W" shape that supports the upper two-thirds of the building while creating an open-air atrium of gardens, flowers and lawns. Gardens, whether hanging hydroponic plants, or fixed trees, are a critical part of the building's exterior adornment but also serve a purpose: The plants act as an energy-saving device by absorbing sunlight, thus deflecting it from the living spaces and making it easier to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. An internal core space on the garden level contains entertaining rooms and balconies that clear the tree line and offer views of downtown Mumbai.

The top floors of entertaining space, where Ambani plans to host business guests (or just relax) offer panoramic views of the Arabian Sea.

What do you think of Ambani's home? Weigh in. Add your Comments below.

Wrong Turn - Lost Tribe Revealed in Brazil

Dramatic images of an isolated Brazilian tribe believed never to have had contact with the outside world were published by officials Friday to draw attention to threats posed to their way of life.

The pictures, released by the Brazilian government's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), showed alarmed natives pointing bows and arrows at the aircraft carrying photographers.

Apparently the foundation had known of the existence of the tribe for years -- located in thick rainforest near the Peruvian border -- and many photos had been taken. This time, they decided to reveal the material to prove that there are Indians living in complete isolation, and to call attention to a serious problem that exists, which is the threat of interlopers from the Peruvian side.

The pictures were taken from several flights over the apparently sedentary tribe's thatched-roof village in the remote Brazilian state of Acre.

Survival International, a British group lobbying on behalf of indigenous people around the world, said on its Web site there were fears illegal logging in Peru could endanger the Brazilian tribe's habitat, by forcing displaced Peruvian tribes into contact with it.

It said there were an estimated 500 isolated Indians living on the Brazilian side of the border.

"The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct," Survival International director Stephen Corry said.

His group said there were more than 100 uncontacted indigenous tribes worldwide.

Earthquake hits Philippines

A magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit the Pacific Ocean off the northern Philippines Sunday morning and was felt as far as southeastern Taiwan.

The epicenter was about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Basco, the capital of the Batan Islands in the Philippines and about 340 miles (550 kilometers) south of Taipei, Taiwan.

No injuries, deaths or damage were immediately reported (thank the Lord) by the National Disaster Coordinating Center in Manila, Philippines. The center put the earthquake at a 6.3 magnitude.

"Indiana Jones" unearths more gold at the box office

The massively hyped "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" movie whipped up an impressive $56 million in its first two days of release across North America but will struggle to break industry records during the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the fourth film in the adventure series to hit the big screen (after 19 years), earned an estimated $31 million on Friday, according to Paramount Pictures.

"Indiana Jones" reuniting actor Harrison Ford as the eponymous archeologist, director Steven Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas, also opened in 61 foreign countries on the heels of its glitzy world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last Sunday.

In North America, industry observers expect "Indiana Jones" to earn more than $150 million in its first five days.

Comparisons with the record-holder for the Memorial Day weekend, last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, are a little difficult. The third film in the swashbuckler franchise also opened on a Thursday -- but in the evening, whereas "Indiana Jones" screened for a full day. Ticket prices have also risen since then. Still, "Pirates" also managed to earn $56 million for the two-day period, on its way to $153 million for the five days through Monday. The five-day record is held by Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, which opened to $173 million in 2005, a week before the Memorial Day holiday in 2005.

"Indiana Jones" siphoned off some of the audience from last week's leader, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which opened to a disappointing $55 million last weekend.

The superhero smash Iron Man, which kicked off the summer in fine style three weeks ago, was No. 3 on Friday with $5.3 million, off about 39 percent. The total for the Marvel Entertainment Inc production, also distributed by Paramount, rose to $237 million.

Well, regardless of paradigm reviews & box office collections, I'm eagerly awaiting it's release here in India this Fri, May 30. I've got the champagne & a pair of Gold Class tickets, now all I need to find me is a "pair of Double Ds" with a taste in Crystal Skulls ;-)

Oh! & here's a look at the official trailer (I'm guessin' you haven't seen this version).

Indiana Jones 4 - Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Official Trailer

Playing GOD !?!

This week, 400 of around 600 kangaroos on the outskirts of the city of Canberra, Australia are being killed by lethal injection. Their crime? Living and thriving.

According to officials, this part of Australia has (or had) three times as many kangaroos as human inhabitants. They say the iconic down-under animals have overgrazed grasslands and put other species in jeopardy. These include the Golden Sun Moth and the Grassland Earless Dragon, one of the world's rarest lizards.

Grassland Earless Dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla)

Resettlement had been considered for the kangaroos, but that was deemed too expensive and too risky, since the marsupials could multiply elsewhere, they said.

Come to think about it, kangaroos aren't the only ones to blame. Studies indicate the worst drought to hit Australia in a century has changed the region, leaving grasslands dry, bare and scarred. Australian Aborigines also used to inhabit the land and were sensitive to ecosystem sustainability issues. Now urbanization and intensive agricultural practices have fragmented the landscape and changed natural water distribution patterns.

Kangaroos are smart and fairly adaptable in their native environment. Like pigeons, they can coexist in areas of high development, taking advantage of human-made food and water sources, such as those set out for farm animals.

Kangaroos grazing at a military site in Canberra.

I honestly wish city officials in Oz would put more effort into developing an effective birth control method for the kangaroos. Someone there apparently had that bright idea but it needs further development, in my opinion. While even that option is risky and rather invasive, I think it beats cutting the lives short of so many innocent creatures. It looks like most researchers support the kangaroo killing, however, to save the other threatened species.

Coldplay, Pussycat Dolls Set To Perform At 2008 MTV Movie Awards

From Jason Bourne to Juno MacGuff, the 2008 MTV Movie Awards are about celebrating the best names in film — but it wouldn't be MTV if some of the biggest names in music didn't get their chance to shine as well.

Set your "Clocks" for June 1, when Coldplay will take the stage live at the Gibson Amphitheatre to perform the single "Violet Hill" from their first new album in three years, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Released April 29, the song was downloaded more than 2 million times from the Coldplay Web site.

Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow (Chris Martin to his friends) and the rest of the band will no doubt be hoping to follow in the footsteps of already-classic MTV Movie Awards performances like the ones from Rihanna and Amy Winehouse at last year's telecast.

They'll have plenty of friendly competition from their fellow performers, the Pussycat Dolls, who will also hit the stage during the irreverent awards show, broadcast live this year on Sunday, June 1. The girls will grab the mic from host Mike Myers to perform "When I Grow Up" from their upcoming second album.

Only time will tell whether Coldplay and PCD will shine brighter than the other mega-watt stars in attendance, particularly those who find themselves vying for the coveted Golden Popcorn. This year, expect to see stars from movies like "Superbad" (which led all films with five nominations) and "Juno" (which came in a close second with four) — not to mention actors from films like "Enchanted," "Transformers," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and "Knocked Up" which were right behind the leaders with three nominations each.

FYI voting closes on May 23, so any of you fans interested in voting for your favorites visit MovieAwards.MTV.com now coz you don't have much time.

And in spirit of the upcoming movie awards, how about getting warmed up with a look at Fergie & Cameron Diaz sizzle the already 'Red Carpet' at last year's movie awards !?!

The Sexiest Woman on the Planet

Gentlemen, prepare for a "transforming" experience. FHM Online has revealed its "100 Sexiest Women in the World for 2008," and 'Transformers' babe MEGAN FOX sits atop the list!

I'm sure you'd agree with me when I say there’s not a woman alive who looks better bent over a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro in a denim miniskirt. With a sultry glower, capricious pout and six tattoos, she’s the junior Angelina Jolie (but without the orphan addiction).

I think I'm in love :-)

FAA Accepts Blame for Air Traffic Errors

Anne Whiteman has had some particularly bad days on the job helping to man Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's air traffic control system. Whiteman said she has seen air traffic controllers playing a game of chicken with airplanes. She even recalled one day when the system had a dozen or so operational errors in an hour's time frame -- so many that pilots calling to complain were being put on hold.

She said two colleagues once played a trick on her by putting two planes on a collision course. Distracted by the ruse, one of the men forgot to monitor his aircraft and the plane flew past the airport.

"I thought two aircraft were going to collide, and I didn't have anyone in my corner, and I was scared," Whiteman recalled Thursday. "I was scared not just for me but for everyone else."

Something happened every shift, she said, "where somebody would do something outside the boundaries of normalcy."

US alleges baby-selling in Vietnam

Vietnam has failed to police its adoption system, allowing corruption,
fraud and baby-selling to flourish, the U.S. Embassy says in a new
report obtained by The Associated Press.

The nine-page document describes brokers scouring villages for babies, hospitals selling infants whose mothers cannot pay their bills, and a grandmother giving away her grandchild — without telling the child's mother.

"I'm shocked and deeply troubled by the worst of the worst cases," said Jonathan Aloisi, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.

Vietnam's top adoption official called the concerns "groundless." Bribery of orphanage officials may occur, but serious offenses such as baby-selling or kidnapping are not a problem, said Vu Duc Long, director of the Department of International Adoptions.

The dispute comes amid a boom in adoptions from Vietnam. Americans — including actress Angelina Jolie — adopted more than 1,200 Vietnamese children over the 18 months ending March 31. In 2007, adoptions surged more than 400 percent from a year earlier, with 828 Vietnamese children adopted by American families.

While China remains the most popular overseas country for adoptions, a growing number of Americans are looking to Vietnam, which has fewer restrictions. The wait for adoption approval has also gotten longer in China after authorities there tightened rules.

U.S. adoption agencies active in Vietnam said that despite some cases of wrongdoing, most adoptions in the country are ethical.

"Our experience has been a good one," said Susan Cox, vice president of public policy with Holt International Children's Services, based in Eugene, Ore., which has operated in Vietnam since the 1970s. "We are concerned about any unethical practices, but I would not agree that these cases are indicative of adoptions in Vietnam."

Another adoption agency, Families Thru International Adoption, of Evansville, Ind., said that corruption exists everywhere and it is up to the adoption agencies to screen who they work with in Vietnam and other countries.

read the rest of the article here

"Jack The Ripper" returns

For those of you that do not know who "Jack The Ripper" was... firstly I gotta say "ignorance is bliss" (in this case at least)... secondly here's a quick lesson in history for ya...

Jack the Ripper terrorized the impoverished Whitechapel area of Victorian London during the latter half of 1888, and murdered at least five women working as prostitutes: Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. Some Ripperologists believe the killer may have been responsible for as many as thirteen other murders in the area, leaving a wake of headless torsos and butchered women up through 1891. There are many theories about the identity of Jack the Ripper. Was he nobility, a physician, a butcher, or a woman? We will probably never know. During the time of the brutal killings, thousands of letters were received claiming to be from the notorious murderer, but only a handful are considered authentic.

Personally, I've always been captivated by the legend of "Jack The Ripper". Oh! & not just me, "Jack The Ripper" has even been an inspiration to Hollywood Directors Albert & Allen Hughes who directed "From Hell (2001)" starring the can-do-anything Johnny Depp as Inspector Frederick George Abberline and a red-headed Heather Graham as Mary Kelly (loosely based on Maria Kelly, the fifth and final Ripper murder victim).

Though this serial killer has been long gone, Jack the Ripper is about to return to the part of London he made his own private killing ground in one of history's most infamous unsolved crimes. The return of the 19th century prostitute killer is in the form of an exhibition looking at the era, the area, the victims and the possible perpetrators of the crimes that shocked the nation and have since become a rich seam of popular fiction.

The exhibition, which opens in London's Museum in Docklands on May 15 and runs to November 2, also peels away some of the myths surrounding the murderer whose identity remains to this day a topic of heated speculation. The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of lectures and talks and guided walks down the streets where the Ripper committed his bloody deeds 120 years ago.

Now that's what I call an exhibition !!!

And The OSCAR Goes To...

No film ran away with the night, however, as Hollywood -- home to the 80th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday Feb 24, gave a bruised movie industry a chance to refocus its ever-inward gaze on laurels instead of labor strife.

"No Country For Old Men" won the Oscar for best film and its makers, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, were named best directors on Sunday, giving the bleak crime drama four of the world's top movie awards.

Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored a wide range of movies, actors and actresses from several countries.

Britain's Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for best actor as a sadistic oil prospector in the early 20th century whose rise to wealth and power comes at a deep cost to his soul.






France's Marion Cotillard was named best actress, Britain's Tilda Swinton took supporting actress and Spain's Javier Bardem won supporting actor. Cotillard earned her Academy Award portraying singer Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose" and became the first French actress to win the Oscar in that category since 1960.

"I'm speechless now," Cotillard said on stage, visibly surprised and overjoyed. "Thank you life, thank you love. It is true there (are) some angels in this city." Swinton won supporting actress playing an ethically challenged corporate lawyer in the thriller "Michael Clayton" and Bardem was given his award for portraying a sadistic killer in "No Country For Old Men."

The fourth Oscar for "No Country For Old Men" also went to the Coen brothers for best adapted screenplay by basing their movie on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name.

To read more about the events of this prestigious night, just visit www.oscar.com

Japan Launches Communications Satellite 'KIZUNA', Designed to Enable Super High-Speed Data Transmission

Granted, most of us here in India would turn our noses up at receiving in-home broadband via satellite -- after all, Cable and Broadband seem to be treating most of us quite alright. However, Japan is hoping to provide access to more regions in Asia-Pacific with its recently launched Kizuna. The experimental satellite is not yet intended for commercial use, but if all goes well, it will enable data transmissions of up to "1.2 gigabytes per second", at a low cost across Japan and 19 other locales in Southeast Asia. (Oh! Pleeeease let that also include India)

Unfortunately, we've no idea when it will escape the bondage of testing and actually be put to good use. Until such time we shall continue to communicate, the primitive way :_(

One Step For Man, One Giant Search For GOOGLE!

First it conquered cyberspace. Now, Google is setting its sights on outer space. Leave it to innovators to push the envelope… all the way to the MOON!

The company on Thursday announced the first 10 teams of competitors in its $30 million contest to send a spacecraft back to the moon to gain greater insights into the solar system and to find new sources of clean energy.

The Google Lunar X-Prize contest requires each team -- largely composed of scientists and business people -- to build a robotic craft that can roam across the moon's surface, beam video, images and data back to Earth and even tap into natural resources.

Google isn't paying the costs for the teams to develop the rockets; it's simply holding out the carrot of a top prize of $20 million to the team that builds a vessel that can land on the moon and accomplish its mission. Each team has to raise the money to construct a spacecraft on its own.

The contest, announced last fall, is being co-sponsored by the X Prize Foundation, a nonprofit organization that administers competitions to spur the development of technologies that aspire to solve dire problems around the world.

Google's contest might get a spacecraft on the moon before the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration does. The company said it will award a cash prize of $20 million by the end of 2012 to the contestant that lands a privately funded craft on the moon, roams the lunar surface for at least 50 meters (164 feet) and transmits a specified set of images and data back to Earth. By contrast, NASA has a deadline of 2020 to get another craft to the moon.

In addition to the first-place prize, Google will award $5 million to a runner-up. The company also plans to dole out another $5 million in "bonus prizes," likely spread among several entrants.

If my memory serves me correctly, the last spacecraft to land on the Moon was NASA's Apollo 12 mission, nearly 40 years ago. It's now time to re-create that historic moment.

The interest in space travel is back and in my opinion it is in the right hands. Big budgets that governments bring to the table are sometimes necessary to create technology and perform research. Now the ball is in the hands of the entrepreneurs and they have all the data and technology they need.

Science has had a bad marketing campaign and this is the perfect way to reignite the fire and wonder that we once held for man’s final frontier. This is an exciting time in our history and I simply can’t wait to see what happens next. I’m on the edge of my seat and I hope you’re with me !?!

Gmail goes Multi-Lingual

As of Feb 13 2008, the Gmail team has begun rolling out a new version of Gmail that will now be available in 37 languages (& to think I was considered cool coz I could speak 4 languages). This version, available for IE7 and Firefox 2, has an entirely new code base, which allows the team to add new features more rapidly and share components with other Google applications (you will notice that they use the same rich text editor as Groups and Page Creator, and the contact manager can be seen in several Google apps). So if you were using English, you can now change your default language from the Settings menu to take advantage of a bunch of features that have recently launched in the preferred language, including:

* Colored labels
* Group chat
* Rich emoticons
* A new contact manager with a three-pane layout
* A number of smaller features, such as new shortcut keys and the ability to bookmark individual emails with your browser

One tiny side effect of this change is that it may disrupt some third-party Gmail extensions -- unsupported scripts that directly modify Gmail's code. If you don't use them, you don't need to worry about this.

Few of us will still have to wait in queue as the newest version of Gmail is not yet available for Croatian, Icelandic, Hebrew or Arabic, but you can continue using the older version in these languages. The newest version also is not yet available for Google Apps for your domain.

Hurry up Gmail !@#$

Jodha Akbar: Looming Controversy?

Quite contrary to my statement about the movie in my earlier blog, Jodha Akbar has made it to the headlines, but for all the wrong reasons.

Jodha Akbar, Ashutosh Gowariker’s latest directorial venture, released on 15th February 2008. Since the past couple of months, we have been hearing a controversy that the historical facts depicted in the movie are not correct. The film, starring Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is said to be full of historical inaccuracies. Noted historians have claimed that the whole base of the movie, of the relationship between Jodha and Akbar, is completely faulty and incorrect. The Rajput groups of India are arguing that the name Jodha has been the name of wife of Jehangir who was son of Akbar (Jehangir was also called Salim).The Rajput Sabha chief has filed a case against the director of movie Jodha Akbar, Ashutosh Gowarikar, over presenting historical events in a twisted way.

They have cited books to point out that Jodha Bai was not the wife of Akbar, rather she was his daughter-in-law. In other words, Jodha Bai was the wife of Jehangir, aka Salim. Incensed by the distortion of the facts, the Rajput community of Rajasthan has threatened to not only boycott Jodha Akbar, but also stall its release in the state. As per the historical evidences, it was Jehangir who was married to the House of Jodhpur. The princess he thus married later came to be known as Jodhabai.

The Real Story
Historians claim that Akbar did forge an alliance with the Rajput family, when he married the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber. However, there is no evidence to suggest that she was called Jodhabai. Rather, she was later titled ‘Maryam Rahmani’ or ‘Mother of Rulers of the Universe’. Infact, Gowariker has himself claimed that there is some confusion regarding the name of the Rajput wife of Akbar. Nonetheless, he claims to have taken permission from the Royal Family of Jaipur to use the name Jodha Bai.

The Bottom Line (coz the Great One said so)
In the end, there is still no respite from the controversy into which Jodha Akbar has been drawn. If one goes strictly by the history books and evidences, the Rajput community seems to right in creating a fuss. The problem is that the issue has been raised too late. Had it been raised while the film was still being made, it would have made much more sense. Whether Jodha Akbar makes it to the box office or not and if it does, whether people accept it or not, is a question that only time can answer.

Shades of "ARMAGEDDON"

Every night I watch a movie on dvd before hitting the bed. That way I have something to discuss with my buddies at work the next day. Last night, I was running through my ol' dvd collection (considering the fact that I was done watching all the new ones... damn! that reminds me, I need to hit the dvd store this weekend) wondering which one do I watch on Valentine's eve & finally decided on Armageddon. And call it coincidence or divine intervention - the fact that I wake up next morning to read the papers & imagine my plight when I happened to come across this article.

"Pentagon is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March"

U.S. officials said Thursday that the option preferred by the Bush administration will be to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth's atmosphere. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the options will not be publicly discussed until a later Pentagon briefing. The costs involved in this operation range could be anywhere between $40 - $60 million. The missile itself cost $10 million. The disabled satellite is expected to hit the Earth the first week of March. Officials said the Navy would likely shoot it down before then, using a special missile modified for the task. Other details about the missile and the targeting were not immediately available. But the decision involves several U.S. agencies, including the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. Shooting down a satellite is particularly sensitive because of the controversy surrounding China's anti-satellite test last year, when Beijing shot down one of its defunct weather satellites, drawing immediate criticism from the United States and other countries.

A key concern at that time was the debris created by the Chinese satellite's destruction -- and that will also be a focus now, as the United States determines exactly when and under what circumstances to shoot down its errant satellite. The military will have to choose a time and a location that will avoid to the greatest degree any damage to other satellites in the sky. Also, there is the possibility that large pieces could remain, and either stay in orbit where they can collide with other satellites or possibly fall to Earth. It is not known where the satellite will hit. But officials familiar with the situation say about half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft is expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and will scatter debris -- some of it potentially hazardous -- over several hundred miles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. The satellite is outfitted with thrusters -- small engines used to position it in space. They contain the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine, which can cause harm to anyone who comes into contact with it.
Russia, in the meanwhile, claim that this is just a ploy for US to test their missile.

Bruce Willis, on the other hand, I heard has temporarily disconnected his cell phone service ;-)

JODHAA AKBAR: India's door to Hollywood

I always wonder... why can't we have more such films that showcase the Indian culture. After all, we are a culturally rich country with a legacy to be proud of. Instead all our Bollywood directors can ever think of is - boy meets girl, falls in love, sing a song or two & then the climax is the face off with the bad guyz who's brain cells only pale in comparison to that of the director.

As I was saying...
providing a window to the effervescent and rich tradition of culture of a country can best be done by the medium of cinema, as it is the walking and talking exposition of the vibrancy that a country has. China has been able to do this through multitude of films being made on a large scale by turning out one leaf of history or the other and using the grandeur of cinema to tell the world about the mystique called China. It was done by four films, which told the world what China was all about and the films that achieved the same include CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, HOUSEOF FLYING DRAGONS, HERO and THE PROMISE. These four films became epochal, as they were able to attain a synergy by choosing the aesthetics of Hollywood and combining it with Chinese culture, tradition and heritage.

For India also this epochal moment seems to have arrived with the release of JODHAA AKBAR.

It is the sheer grandeur of the film and the choice of the subject that provides the confidence that the film would be able to make a definite mark at the international level. This would also pave the way for more historical films emanating from the drawing board of the Hindi film industry to tell to the world the richness of culture that India possess.

The portents are auspicious as UTV, which is the producer of the film, has as its CEO Ronnie Screwvala who has already been featured on the cover of the Newsweek as being one of the stars from the sub-continent who would be going to change the course of world cinema. JODHAA AKBAR may just do the same.

The confidence arises from the grandeur of the scale on which the film has been mounted. It has one of the most recognizable faces at the international level in the form of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan.

It is the sheer grandeur of the historical films, which make them a hit among the audience, as the grandeur is able to hark back the audience to the memories of the past. It has been done successfully in various Hollywood films, and has rekindled the interest in history after the films were received. The most recent example is that of THE GLADIATOR. Number of Shakespearean plays could become successful and get new converts only on account of various screen adaptations from time to time. In India also the same interest in Bhagat Singh was evinced after two films in succession based on the life of Bhagat Singh were released.

Another positive feature in case of JODHAA AKBAR is about the choice of character which is one of the least controversial characters in the history and which has had fan following across all generations, caste and creed. Being a popular character, there is very miniscule chance of it being associated with any controversy.

It is owing to the way JODHAA AKBAR has shaped up that more and more filmmakers in India are turning their focus to history to pick out characters and give them a new lease of life through celluloid drama.

With 1000s of movies being produced every year, only few of them manage to truly captivate the audience be it for its sheer ingenuity or in this case reliving the history of our country.

Happy Chinese New year folks!!

This is the year of the rat...like me..so i hope its gonna be my year...God that was so lame...start over? Never mind..

Also, Google has a great new logo for the Chinese New Year ( Rat Year ). We have a logo with rats and a chinse symbol ( Wu Zi ). Yes, starting today, 7 February 2008 we are in the Rat Year, 2008. See the Google Logo below! It’s nice!!

if you wanna see it here's the URL: www.google.cn

2 New Worms 'Play Hard To Get' This Valentine's!

PandaLabs, Panda Security's laboratory for detecting and analyzing malware, has detected 2 new worms, Nuwar.OL and Valentin.E, which use the topic of St. Valentine's Day to spread.

Nuwar.OL arrives on computers by email with subjects like "I Love You Soo Much", "Inside My Heart" or "You In My Dreams". The text of the email includes a link to a website that downloads the malicious code. The page is very simple and looks like a romantic greeting card, with a large pink heart.

Once it has infected a computer, the worm sends out a large amount of emails to the infected user's contacts, in order to spread. This also creates a heavy load on networks and slows down the computer.

Valentin.E is very similar to this. Like the Nuwar worm, it spreads by email in messages with subjects like "Searching for true Love" or "True Love" and an attached file called "friends4u". If the targeted user opens the file, a copy of the worm gets downloaded on the user's computer.

The malicious code installs on the computer as a file with the .scr extension. If the user runs it, Valentin.E shows a new desktop background to trick them, while it makes several copies of itself on the computer. Then, the worm sends out emails with copies of itself from the infected computer to spread and infect more users.

Providing tips to avoid falling victim to one of these malicious codes, PandaLabs suggests users not to open any emails or run attached files that come from unknown sources. They also advise not to click any links included in email messages, even though they may come from reliable sources. Instead, they recommend type out the link in the address bar.


Well I personally recommend staying on alert for files that claim to be Valentine's greeting cards, romantic videos, etc. and also having an effective security solution installed on your computer, capable of detecting both known and new malware worms.

Arise, it's SIR SACHIN !!!

Sachin Tendulkar: India's little maestro could be in line for the ultimate gong – and just reward for one of cricket's all-time greats. 'The little maestro remains one of the best the game has seen in a nation where cricket is a passion.'

On his visit to India last week, English Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a meeting with the Indian Premier that he would like to propose the name of Sachin Tendulkar for the top British honour, a knighthood.

If acknowledged by the awards panel, Tendulkar would be the first Indian sportsman to be knighted. It's an interesting topic of debate. There are those who say it brings humiliation to a nation once ruled by the British. At a point of time when we have celebrated 60 years of Indian independence it would be odd if we consider such a trivial issue. Indians have in the past accepted honours from Pakistan. Would such an argument hold there, too?

The honour would be a gesture of respect and admiration for Tendulkar's goodwill and contribution to cricket – the little maestro remains one of the best the game has seen in a nation where cricket is a passion. There is nothing wrong in Sachin accepting the honour. He is arguably the best batsman the world has seen. It was only a matter of time before such a reward arrived. Maybe Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar will be candidates in the future.

It's just the sport and the sportsman being honoured for his or her contribution – nothing else,. So let’s move on and let the individual in question decide upon what he feels is the right thing to do if the knighthood is offered.

Should Sachin accept a knighthood if offered?
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First man on Everest, Sir 'Ed', passes away

Sir Edmund Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest to win renown as one of the 20th century's greatest adventurers, died on Friday January 11, New Zealand's prime minister announced. He was 88.

The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be called "Ed" and considering himself just an ordinary man.

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest abilities," Prime Minister Helen Clark said in a statement. "In reality, he was a colossus. He was a heroic figure who not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity."

"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.

Hillary died at Auckland Hospital at 9 am on Friday (01:30 IST), of a heart attack, the Auckland District Health Board said in a statement. He had been ailing for several years.

Hillary's life was marked by grand achievements, high adventure, discovery, excitement -- and by his personal humility. Humble to the point that he only admitted being the first man atop Everest long after the death of Tenzing Norgay, the mountain guide with whom he stood arm in arm on the summit on May 29, 1953.

He had pride in his feats. Returning to base camp as the man who took the first step onto the top of the world's highest peak, he declared, "We knocked the bastard off."

The accomplishment as part of a British climbing expedition even added luster to the coronation of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II four days later.

She knighted the angular, self-deprecating Hillary, who was just 33, as one of her first acts.

But he was more proud of is decades-long campaign to set up schools and health clinics in Nepal, Norgay's homeland.

He wrote of the pair's final ascent to the top of the world: "Another few weary steps and there was nothing above us but the sky. There was no false cornice, no final pinnacle. We were standing together on the summit. There was enough space for about six people. We had conquered Everest.

"Awe, wonder, humility, pride, exaltation – these surely ought to be the confused emotions of the first men to stand on the highest peak on Earth, after so many others had failed," Hillary noted.

"But my dominant reactions were relief and surprise. Relief because the long grind was over and the unattainable had been attained. And surprise, because it had happened to me, old Ed Hillary, the beekeeper, once the star pupil of the Tuakau District School, but no great shakes at Auckland Grammar (high school) and a no-hoper at university, first to the top of Everest. I just didn't believe it."

The pair spent just 15 minutes on the summit, taking photographs as evidence of their achievement, before starting the arduous descent.

Hillary's philosophy of life was simple, "Adventuring can be for the ordinary person with ordinary qualities, such as I regard myself," he said in a 1975 interview.

Close friends described him as having unbounded enthusiasm for both life and adventure.

"We all have dreams -- but Ed has dreams, then he's got this incredible drive, and goes ahead and does it," long-time friend Jim Wilson said in 1993.

Australia loses, Bollywood box office wins

England fast bowling duo Sajid Mahmood and Simon Jones are among several Test cricketers set for on-screen roles in a new Bollywood movie about cricket.

'Victory' is a film which charts the story of a boy fulfiling his dream of playing for India.

Shooting will start this month in Australia, during the ongoing Australia-India series and will feature several current and retired international cricketers from around the world.

"I was quite surprised when approached to be involved, but it's a great opportunity to do something very different," said Lancashire quickee Mahmood.

Mahmood will fly to Sydney on January 9 to film his scenes before returning on January 15. He will then continue to train with Lancashire before flying to India in February to take part in a specialist bowling camp run by England fast bowling coach Kevin Shine.

"I don't have a big role in the movie: I just play myself and bowl - that can't be too difficult."

Australians Brett Lee, Allan Border, Mike Hussey and Jason Gillespie as well as New Zealanders Craig McMillan, Daryl Tuffey, Nathan Astle and Martin Crowe, plus members of the current India team are also set to feature in 'Victory'.

Several top Indian players, including Harbhajan Singh, who was suspended for three matches after allegedly calling Andrew Symonds a monkey, would be filmed, either in Australia or India.

And the controversy would do no harm to the box-office success of the movie, which will arrive in Sydney with sub-titles later this year and is expected to generate worldwide receipts many times its budget of between $7 million and $8 million.

No release date has yet been announced for 'Victory'. This will not be the first time a Bollywood film has had a cricket theme. In 2001 the climax of 'Lagaan', set in the late 19th century, featured a cricket match between Indian villagers and British Army officers. It received an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film.

Oops! now Britney's lost her car

LOS ANGELES - It was just another night on the town Monday, and then another headline in the tabloids on Tuesday, for Britney Spears after the pop star had her car towed away and her visit to a high-end hotel triggered a scuffle between a photographer and a security guard.

The scuffle resulted in police being called to the Four Seasons Hotel near Beverly Hills about 90 minutes after they had a private towing company haul Spears' car away. But Officer Karen Smith said the pop star wasn't to blame for the Four Seasons dust-up.

"She was leaving the hotel when one of the paparazzi and a security guard at the hotel had a scuffle," Smith said.

Police took a battery report but the photographer had left the hotel by the time officers arrived and no one was arrested. The hotel's head of security did not respond to a message for comment.

Police said Spears left her 2008 Mercedes-Benz on busy Sunset Boulevard, near the University of California, Los Angeles campus, about 8 p.m. Monday because of a flat tire.

"She left it unattended and it was blocking traffic, so it was towed," Smith said.

It was unlikely Spears would be ticketed because the car was disabled, but police said she would have to pay a towing and impound fee to get it back. The vehicle was taken to Quicksilver Towing, where an employee who answered the phone Tuesday said he didn't know if it was still there.

"We had several Mercedes towed last night," he said, adding storage charges are $35.20 a day.

According to the celebrity Web site TMZ.com, Spears caught a ride home from a member of the horde of paparazzi who follow her everywhere. Then it was off to the Four Seasons.

The car and hotel incidents were only minor bumps in the road for Spears, who is involved in a bitter, public custody dispute with ex-husband Kevin Federline over the couple's sons, 1-year-old Jayden James and 2-year-old Sean Preston.

Spears was hospitalized last week after an hours-long standoff at her home that was triggered by the custody battle. The next day, a court commissioner gave sole physical and legal custody of the boys to Federline and suspended Spears' visitation rights.