Technology Blog of Vikas SN

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.

Effective from a few hours before, Rapidshare has banned all the IP's of BSNL, India. When a user tries to load the rapidshare page, an error is being displayed saying "Massive RapidShare hack attempts detected. IP block 59.90.0.0 - 59.99.255.255 blocked. Please call your internet provider."

There is no idea as to when Rapidshare will unban the IP's. Will update you on the situation ASAP. Keep watching this space.

Update 1: Rapidshare has banned all MTNL IP's also.

Update 2: Rapidshare is back!!!

iTunes 7.7 is now available over Apple Software Update. If you have not installed iTunes then download it from here

"Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home - a free download from the App Store." Awesome ain't it!!!

An Applications item will appear in the left-hand pane of the iTunes window. Click it. Initially, the main pane may appear blank (this is the screen that will show any applications you've downloaded). If so, click the Get More Applications item in the lower right-hand corner to see the full App Store. According to Apple, about 25 percent of the 500 applications available at launch are free.

When you click on an app's icon, you get details about it - its cost, the size of the file, whether it works on both the iPhone or iPod Touch. Some apps may only work on the iPhone 3G, such as those that require true GPS. At the moment, you can download all the apps you like, but until the 2.0 software is available for the older iPhones and the iPod Touch, it won't do you much good. Some of the sample applications are as shown below,

iPhone 2.0 software can be downloaded from this page. But be cautious. To install the software after it has downloaded, remove the .zip file extension and hit the option key while asking iTunes to look for iPhone updates. And the software will erase all data on your phone. Apple says they will create a one-time media backup of the data.

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 :)

In Pingdom, you can check your site load time in one click.

Pingdom is actually a popular performance monitoring service for checking the uptime of websites and servers. It also provides a free load time test for web pages. The full page test loads a complete HTML page including all objects present int the websites (i.e.images, CSS, JavaScripts, RSS, Flash, Widgets and frames/iframes) and displays the load time of all the objects visually with time bars serially. You can also see various other data like the total number of objects present in the website, total load time of the site, and size of the pages including all objects.

Simply enter your url below and check the detailed graph on how each element present in the site, loads on your webpage, from connection to the complete load and it will help you identify any issues which are slowing down your website like scripts or widgets, so that you can fix them.

W902 PhoneThis phone is a higher end phone. This phone features 8GB Memory Stick Micro which allows storing of over 8000 songs at anytime. It also sports a great video quality. The phone also consists of a 5 MP Camera with 16x digital zoom. It has a bright and clear 2.2" display and available in 3 colours namely Volcanic Black, Wine Red and Earth Green. To check more details about the phone, click here.

W595 Phone
This is a mid range phone consisting of a 2GB memory stick which can store 1900 songs in eAAC+ encoded format. It also has a 3.2MP camera. The W595 Walkman is a UMTS/HSDPA 2100 and EDGE/GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 phone that will be available in selected markets Q4 of 2008. It will be available in 4 colours namely Active Blue, Cosmopolitan White, Jungle Grey and Ruby Black. To check more details about the phone, click here.

W302 PhoneThis phone is an affordable no-compromise slim handset but still packed with impressive features which includes a 512MB memory stick micro, a 2MP camera, FM Radio and TrackID functions. The W302 Walkman is an EDGE/GSM/GPRS 850/900/1800/1900 phone that will be available in selected markets in Q4 of 2008. It will be available in 2 colours namely Midnight Black and Sparkling White. To check more details about the phone, click here.

Sony Ericsson also unveiled three new sets of speakers, the MBS-200, MBS-400 and MPS-100, and three stereo headphones, HBH-IS800, HPM-88 and HPM-66 for for music lovers.

Source: Sony Ericsson Website

Last month, a very critical hole was discovered in the Firefox source code which affected both Firefox 3 and Firefox 2.x.x and the point of concern for all the users was that it could allow a hacker to execute commands remotely on a machine. Therefore to fix this, Mozilla has released a minor update to Firefox 3 i.e. Firefox 3.0.1. Firefox 3.0.1 fixes three critical security vulnerabilities, improves stability and resolves a handful of other small bugs. The Security improvements in Firefox 3 means that it's no longer vulnerable to some of the Firefox 2 variants of the command-line multiple tab exploit but it can still be compromised by combining the attack with a script injection flaw. The non-security fixes include an issue where the phishing and malware database did not update on first launch and a problem that could cause Firefox to not save the security certificate exceptions list properly. To know more on the details of the updates/fixes it has provided, you can check the Firefox 3.0.1 Release Notes and the new version can be downloaded from the Mozilla website. Persons already using Firefox 3 can get it via Automatic updates tab built into the browser (Go to Help -> Check for updates in the topmost bar, that should do the job).

Jaane Tu… was probably one of the most awaited movie on my list, Firstly because it was an Aamir Khan Production, Secondly the music was awesome which was rendered by the maestro AR Rehman himself and Thirdly, (though it is more of a personal reason) that Genelia was starring in it.

So I had gone to see the movie with a lot of expectations and expectedly I was not let down. The movie is simply mindblowing. Though it is a usual love story but it is the presentation that takes you aback. The movie appears so closer to life that sometimes you feel it is a story of your own college days. The movie will take you through the various faces of human relationship i.e. make you laugh, make you a little sad etc. Finally when the movie ends, you are thoroughly entertained. Imran and Genelia are simply mindblowing in their acting. There is not even a single dull moment in the whole movie. Not to forget all the other people in the gang who pitch in with a remarkable performance taking the movie to a whole new level. A special mention must be made of Prateik Babbar who plays the brooding brother of Genelia in the movie.

The movie especially the song "Nazrein Milaana" brought back some memories from my own college days. We too had a group and we used to generally hang out every other day then. And yeah, we’ve taken a ride in the bullock cart too and not to forget we too had a couple in our gang alike Imran and Manjari Phadnis who behaved exactly like them :)

What the movie is about :
Well the movie revolves around a group of college buddies i.e. Jai Singh Rathore (Imran Khan), Aditi (Genelia), Jignesh Patel (Nirav Mehta), Sandhya (Aliskha Varde), Shaleen (Sughanda) and Rotlu (Karan) who are there for each other and enjoying every moment of LIFE as the gang of friends. Tired of everyone misunderstanding their strictly platonic friendship for love, Jai and Aditi decide they must find each other suitable romantic partners who aren't threatened by the closeness the two of them share. Little do they realise that what they feel for each other is indeed love, a reality that dawns upon them in the later part of the movie when they are with different partners and then the film culminates with the Imran proposing to Genelia in a typically filmi style at an airport.

Music :
What to say about the music other than saying that it is done by the Genius AR Rehman itself. All the songs are extremely catchy and will be on the lips of the people for a long time. A special mention must be made of the songs "Kabhi Kabhi Aditi" , "Pappu Can't Dance" and "Nazrein Milaana" song which are simply out of this world.

Acting :
Ratna Pathak Shah is excellent as Jai's Mother. Prateik Babbar is good as the brooding brother of Genelia. Manjari Phadnis also make a mark as Jai's love interest. But the USP of the movie has to be Imran Khan and Genelia's Chemistry and their spontaneous acting. I must say that Imran Khan is the best actor that has come out among the batch of the new actors. Other people in the gang also come up with a remarkable performance.

Abbas Tyrewala definitely needs a pat on the back for giving us a such a delightful movie.So people please make time and watch this movie coz this is a definite "must not miss" movie.

Ratings :
My ratings for this movie is 4/5. Please if you have time, watch this movie and if you do not have time, make some time and watch this movie.

For anyone still interested, here goes the review.
The movie kicks off in present day Adeleide where Karan (Harman Baweja) falls head over heels in love with Sanaa (Priyanka Chopra) on seeing her chasing butterflies in a park. The movie then proceeds in the expected manner i.e. guy wooing the girl, doing stupid stunts to make her happy etc. Harman Baweja hams through out the film and tries to ape hrithik in almost every still of the movie, the most used dialogue being "I don't need luck, I have love". After a lot of unbearable childish wooing and many songs later she returns the sentiment, then a trip to his uncle, Uncle Ya's house is also made who is researching on inventing a time machine and like in a normal bollywood movie she dies, gets killed by a speeding truck when she is crossing the road.

Then again a whining session of Harman Baweja starts. In the next scene we realise that Miss Sana had 'rightly' corrected genius Uncle Ya's equation (Alpha to infinity) , thus enabling the proper functioning of his 'Time Machine'. So unable to bear up with his whinings, they take off for a trip to future. For some strange reason they're convinced Sanaa is alive and is in Mumbai 2050. This is where the intermission break was given and I'm sure I heard every person in the multiplex was overjoyed to hear the Intermission bell.

Next, we are transported to the world of flying cars, virtual maids and robot sidekicks, Sana is Zeisha now and a famous international popstar. Karan tracks her down and stalks her everywhere like an obsessed teenager right from her mid air concert to her talk show on TV and also her ridiculously strange Xbox gaming Session and suddenly the modern day sci-fi theme takes an ancient Bollywood turn with the reincarnation theme where he tries to rekindle memories of her past life with just one song and succedes in bringing her to the present day.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, there is also a archetypal villain (who chooses to keep his face covered with a mask for reasons very well known) who is after the scientist's time machine and won't give up until the protagonists are chased through out the specially created futuristic city.

Performances: Harman Baweja is on of the biggest blows of the movie who is so busy to look, dance and act like Hrithik Roshan that we forget that it is not a Hrithik's duplicate who is acting but Harman Baweja. Priyanka Chopra tries to give justice to her performance but fails to evoke any emotion of sympathy or affection. Quality actors like Boman Irani etc are simply wasted by the director in the movie. Though the special effects manage to salvage some pride but still is not enough to save the movie from being a disaster.

Therefore my Ratings for the movie would be 1/5 which is solely for the special effects in the movie.

P.S. Interestingly if you observe the background score in the later parts of the movie, it is highly inspired from Avast! antivirus virus detection tone :)

Fujitsu's new F706i waterproof phone is exactly what one needs if you are a water baby and also a mobile freak.
The F706i is a slim clam shell flip phone that weighs in at 137g. It's equipped with a large 2.7-inch display that swivels to landscape style viewing. It features a 1Seg TV tuner. It also has a 2 megapixel camera and support for microSD cards for memory expansion. The handset is also capable of HSDPA connectivity speeds with a full web browser. It also comes with a multimedia player that’s said to read quite a few of the more popular AV formats. But the USP of the phone is that it’s usable up to 6 meters underwater. Hmm... Very Interesting, isn't it?

The little wonder is available in four colors, and features a new LED panel on its front end that provides important information regarding the phones operation (time, lock...) and displays a nice pattern (design figures with 50 different colors), the 2in1 phone option (you can have two telephone numbers on one device), 3G WorldRing (can be used overseas), the DCMXiD (electronic wallet), PC web browser (a real internet browser).

There’s no word on the availability and pricing of the F706i yet so stay tuned .

Its official now!!!Firefox 3 has managed to set a Guinness World Record for the "Most Software Downloads in 24 hours". The final figure is 8,002,530 downloads.Congrats Mozilla on this feat.
Source: Spread Firefox.com