We have moved! This domain is closed!

Finally, after two weeks of tweaking, setting and updating, we have moved to a new domain mariouana.com. No more activity on mariouana.wordpress.com. Please make the move.

What are the new features:

* Revamped with a new logo, favicon, tagline and feel ;-)
* Added more categories especially the renowned Mario's PJ Time and Marioism.
* Better theme navigation, and social share buttons
* Blog Slider to view all the recent happenings at a glance!
* Better content, more style, more posting ;-)

Please move your subscriptions to mariouana.com and hope you stay addicted there too. No 'springs' attached ;-)

Mariouana on Revival!

 

First of all, apologies for not posting for almost a week. I was off town for some work and after I returned, it was time to go for a revival, a revamp! As I said in my August 2010  Round-Up, we’re in for a change and to change for the better. If everything goes as planned, then here are the changes that you will see within the next two to three days!

• We’re moving to a new self-hosted domain space :-)
• A new theme; fresher look
• Enabled Rating for posts and comments
• Mariouana Polls will be a new feature
• Mario’s PJ Time and Marioism will be added to the blog. You will love these! :-)
• A Gush of awesome posts coming your way… trust me!

Thanks to all of you for your patience and support. Thanks to for the free domain… won two contests in a month ;-) Surprisingly our RSS subscribers have increased during the past two weeks! Once the newer version of Mariouana is setup we’ll be back in business! Please do wait a while until then. Thank you.

Favourite Screen Icons: Hansa Bhabhi

This is my 5th revelation of My Top 25 Favourite Screen Icons ever and its… its… it is a Hansa Bhabhi. Yes… this is a Hansa and she is a good. She not know Englees that much that much but still… she is a awesome! How many of you have watched Khichdi ? – The Hindi TV Series that used to come on Star Plus. It also had a second season called Instant Khichdi which was even more funnier, dumber and crazier!

Hansa Bhabhi is without doubt my favourite character in Khichdi and one of my Top 25. I’m sure she’s a favourite of many of you as well. She’s crazy, dumb, stupid, idiot, “duh”, and you can add as many more foolish adjectives that you want, but still they won’t be enough to even reach Hansa’s level of foolishness. She’s immensely happily married to Praful who’s another complete Do-Do!! These two are easily the dumbest pair that ever existed on or off screen in the history of the universe!!! Note: I’ve saved her character as Hansa Bhabhi and not as Hansa Parekh because she’s fondly known as the former more. Thanks to Supriya Pathak for making Hansa so lovable.

After two smash-hit seasons of Khichdi, its coming back again… in a whole new movie! Wooohoo!! Check out the super-funny trailer here:

If you are not a Khichdi fan (or even if you are) you might want to know some differences in character between the original series and the upcoming movie:

• Some actors have been replaced the most prominent being the character of Jayshree played by Nimisha Vakharia instead of the original and inimitable Vandhana Pathak. Jayshree defining traits are her gossip on the cordless phone, indifference to her father-in-laws feelings and an evil plan always lurking in her mind. When she gets her plan ready, she has this default “Snap” which only look on Vandhana Pathak. You can notice in the trailer Nimisha doing the “snap” and I so wish that Vandhana was wearing Jayshree’s saree! :-(
• Also, Jayshree’s children Chucky and Jacky also have been replaced; may be to show the character’s growth by age. So basically, Jayshree’s entire family have new actors. And from the trailer it does not seem that the character of Baavesh Kumar is anywhere in the story. But I don’t think this will make much of a difference. Just missing Vandhana :-(

Now coming to Hansa Bhabhi, I have to mention some of her super-hit dialogues:

• “Hello… How are… Khana Khaake Jaana haan…”
• “Hi. I am a Hansa. This is a Jayshree and this is a Himanshu”
• Eh… Praful… What is?? :-(
• I’m not a…
• Mein tho Thak Gayi Bhaishaab!

LOL. I have a very storing feeling that this movie is going to be a super-hit and has enough potential to make a mark among India’s best comedy movies ever, of the range of Andaz Apna Apna. For me, Khichdi so far is an Indian Television masterpiece, just like how Friends is to the world. Unique characters, crazy story, fun dialogues and an amazingly script and brilliant actors! I’m going to for the first day first show! You better too!

Meet all your Khichdi characters on Facebook with their own profile accounts (from left to right)

• Tulsidas Parekh (Babuji)
• Praful Parekh
• Hansa Parekh
• Himanshu Seth
• Jayshree Parekh
• The Parekh Family

Read their profile info! You’ll have a hearty laugh! Lol I can’t wait for the release!! :D I just wish that Friends also comes up with their movie soon :-)

Check out other Favourite Screen Icons or If you've liked this post, click here for free updates. .

The New Twitter: A Cooler Facebook?

There was always a thing with the loyal Facebook users that Facebook rocks and Twitter Sucks. The fact is that Facebook and Twitter are totally different things and you cannot compare them. Facebook is for social networking with multimedia etc., while twitter was for micro-blogging and status updates only (even though dependent multimedia is allowed).
But with the New Twitter can we call them the same again? I think yes. Twitter has just released the preview of the New Twitter which has a complete social networking framework now. First, check out the official video for the New Twitter Preview (This promo alone is pretty cool… would love to direct something like this myself)

The ‘new’ things that will make you stick to twitter (if you aren’t using it yet):

• I love the top vertical bar that we used to find in desktop applications till now. With the new twitter I think its time to bid farewell to all our desktop-twitter-clients.
• The main tweet stream is smooth, faster and very flexible. Not only that, the right hand column is not locked anymore and with just spanning your tweet stream with the cursor, you can watch/view your twitpics, videos and other media files too!
• Now, it’s easy to see embedded photos and videos directly on Twitter, thanks to partnerships with Dailybooth, DeviantArt, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, Twitvid, USTREAM, Vimeo, Yfrog, and YouTube. THAT’s one point which will make the New Twitter like a ‘Fast-Facebook’.
• I don’t think I will be needing Firefox addons like Power Twitter any more. New Twitter will be a big blow to most twitter addons that are presently breathing easily. Echofon, Lu.ly and Yoono are sure to lose worth.
• You can easily follow the related tweets, or the history of the conversation-tweets just by clicking on a tweet and viewing its info in the right column. The flexibility and smoothness added to the left and right columns together makes it more better.

If you aren’t on twitter yet, then please get on board! If you have thoughts in your mind that Twitter isn’t like Facebook, well then your rite. It isn’t! Once new twitter rolls out, Twitter will probably be better than facebook, as far as ‘staying in touch’ is concerned. I’m not saying that Facebook is sad, it rocks and will be so forever! But do join twitter… it’s a whole new social networking experience and c’mon… Facebook and Twitter are the stone-age-basic recognitions that you need to have on the web today.

The New Twitter rolls out in a few weeks :-) I can’t wait. Please join Twitter at least when the new version rolls out. Click here for updates.

Christopher Nolan Slips down in IMDB Top 10!

I was just checking the IMDB Top 250 List today and found that Christopher Nolan’s recent Masterpieces that have made their mark in the top list have slipped down this week from the Top 10. Not sure whether the slip was before that, but then a slip is a slip.

 

So, the summer blockbuster, Inception slips from 3rd spot to be currently in 4th Spot. According to IMDB, it is down 40% Popularity this week. Also Nolan’s former hit, The Dark Knight which was also a tremendous box-office success, has lost its spot in the Top 10, just slipping by a whisker to 11th spot.
I don’t think The Dark Knight should slip down there because Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back is rated the same with about half the votes! So basically The Dark Knight is only holding its ground and the IM“DB” needs to be updated!
The Godfather and its Part II hold the second and third place now while The Shawshank Redemption still stands tall as the IMDB Best Movie ever by far… according to user rating. Wonder which will be the next movie that will break into the Top 10.

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Mtv’s VJ Anusha…TILTED!

I don’t have to give any introduction to Mtv India’s hot and sexy VJ Anusha… not to forget, stylish! Best known for her style, fashion sense and also her show Mtv StyleCheck. She has also acted in a few Hindi films the best of which was the Amitabh Bachchan starrer  Viruddh... Family Comes First. The Australian born VJ Anusha is an extremely popular face amidst Indian Youth and the glitz and glamour of Bollywood.

You can follow her on Twitter @VJAnusha. When I checked her twitter account, I found some photos recently posted by herself. In all of them… Anusha… was tilted! Lol I know this may sound weird and stupid but check it out yourself. Can’t the Indo-Aussie Diva strike another pose??? I have chosen only five pics. Notice the constant TILT! Lol

 @VJAnusha: Posing pretty with the lovely Neha Dhupia!

Notice the TILT!

 

 

 

 

@VJAnusha: (From Right to Left) Bipasha Basu, Yuvraj Singh, Priyanka Chopra, VJ Anusha and… the TILT!

 

 

 

 

 

@VJAnusha: Fashion Designer, Rocky S with VJ Anusha and the TILT!

 

 

 

 

 

@VJAnusha: Sitting in the new Mtv makeup room in her Juicy Couture short track, super comfy to wear to work!

Notice the Hot Legs and the… TILT!

 

 

 

 

An finally in her current Twitter Profile Pic… she is showing of her beauty, her eyes, her charisma and the TILT!

From the soon to be launched Mario’s PJ Time:

What’s common between the Earth and VJ Anusha?
Ans: Both have a 23^{1/2 o} TILT!!!  :D

 

 

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Tech Review: Microsoft LifeCam With 1080p HD Sensor

I don’t know why I end up giving only Microsoft Tech Reviews but I just can’t help it. I will surely be writing more variety soon. But for now, behold the Microsoft LifeCam. The name will do justice to itself if Microsoft’s claims come true.

This Webcam's main feature is the sharp high-definition (HD) video with a true 1080p sensor and LifeCam Studio is the perfect HD video calling companion for Windows Live Messenger 2011. It will offer HD video calling in a 16:9 widescreen. Microsoft claims that LifeCam Studio delivers the closest thing to life, as if one is there at that moment itself, and hence the name. With the technology used here, the camera adjusts itself perfectly to very sunny, very dark or even any unusual condition!

As I have already told many times before, and even in my previous Tech Reviews, the first thing for me whether is gadgets or cars or bikes is… Good Looks! And oh my god does this one look good or not!! It looks, pretty cool an casual, but professional at the same time! Well here are other amazing features of this beauty:

• 360-degree view range, which means that users can easily point the camera at themselves or around the room.
• Elongated hood modeled after a high-end camera to help protect the lens from stray light to avoid washed-out colors.
• As I told above, TrueColor Technology automatically adjusts itself to any lighting conditions. Now that’s not needed so much for me, because I don’t carry my laptop in the sun or anywhere unusual! But this webcam offers detailing to the deepest extent possible, even in low light!
• Improved Auto Focus and high-precision glass lens for outstanding clarity.

LifeCam Studio will be available exclusively at Best Buy stores later this month for the estimated retail price of $99.95 and is already available on BestBuy.com starting today for just $71.99 i.e. about `3300. Microsoft backs this product with a worldwide three-year limited hardware warranty. More information about these and other Microsoft Hardware products can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/hardware. Click here to know more about Microsoft LifeCam.

4 Stars for the best Webcam I’ve ever seen!

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How to Rock your Interview?

 Also read How to Crack your Campus Placements and How to get that Amazing Resume?

During my campus placement season I saw many people who eased out during their aptitude tests however tough it was but just could not make it through the interview process. They completely changed colour when it came down to the interviews. Why is it so…? Is it their personal fear for being judged by someone across the table? Is it the fear of being rejected? Or are there any other factors?
Here, I put forth the most important points to help you Rock your Interview.

Why do I feel nervous as the Interview approaches?

• Why shouldn’t you feel nervous? Cmon! Your job is being decided there… so its obvious you are going to feel nervous. So chill… BEING NERVOUS IS NORMAL. Please remember that!
• Its better and very healthy if you are a little nervous. If you are not nervous at all, even one bit, then there must be something wrong with you!
• Some people who are used to public speaking, hosting shows and events, don’t get nervous for such occasions. Its normal for them. They may not look nervous at all, but deep down they still always have that feeling of “What if something goes wrong?”
• If such people are near you, don’t feel bad or defeated that they may get the job but not you. Don’t try to imitate them either. They are used to being that way and you may be comfortable this way. Please don’t compare yourself to anybody.
• If you have a friend along, talk to him/her. Ask him about what probable questions they may ask. Crack a few jokes. Take each others dummy interview. Encourage each other and spend your time.

How do I come prepared for the Interview?

• Remember, the point of the above section is to keep yourself true to yourself. Don’t fake your personality.
• Don’t put on a fake accent, don’t try out a new hairstyle just for that day, don’t wear jing-bang clothes, ultra-special shoes and what not!!
• Guys, wear a simple, ironed full sleeve shirt, formal trouser, with a nice belt, neatly polished shoes and a clean pair of socks. Comb your hair and keep it simple. Remove any stubble. If your beard is mature, keep a nice moustache or Frenchie. If you’re beard is not mature, then please go for a clean shave!
• Girls, wear a nice salwar, or an office suit whatever you’re comfortable with. Be as formal as possible. Look your best, but keep it simple at the same time.
• Hair, nails, shoes and the folder with your resume and other files should be neat… both guys and girls.
• Have a good breakfast, lunch or snack before your interview on that day. In fact, have good food everyday!! Please get at least 7 hours of sleep the day before your interview.
• Carry your resume, all your required certificates, ID proofs, photographs an other slips or documents that is required of you. Please don’t keep ANYTHING for the last minute. This is your career and job we’re talking about here.

Prepare a day before for typical questions:

- Tell us something about yourself
- Why do you think we should hire you?
- What value will you add to our company?
- What are your weak points?
- Which is favourite/worst subject?
- Why are you choosing this company?
- What do you know about our company?
- Tell us more about your Hobbies
- Tell us more about your Project (particular project)
Please ask your placement officer, teachers or seniors for more questions and situations if you really think you need a good practice. Otherwise just prepare for these, be confident, believe in yourself and you’ll be fine.

Its Interview Time!

• Ok. Take a deep breath. Take God’s name and enter with enough confidence.
• When you open the door, on your way to the chair, if you find a book, pen or anything fallen down, pick it up and gently keep it on the table.
• When you reach the chair, wish the panel or the solo interviewer good morning, afternoon or evening. Don’t say ‘Hello’ and ‘Hi’
• Shake your hand only if they approach first and sit on the chair only if they ask you to. Follow the same when you leave.
• Remember to keep a natural eye contact. Don’t look down all the time and also don’t stare at their face!
• As they ask you questions, take your time, think properly and answer them slowly. Don’t hurry and rush! This is not a quiz competition! They will be happy if you think and answer slowly. It also shows that you are a careful person and they won’t like you if you are ‘rushy’ and unsure.
• If you don’t know an answer to a question, then there’s no harm in saying a polite “I’m sorry, I don’t know” or  “I’m not so sure”. Don’t be ever ready to say “NO!!” Give it a thought, think, and only if you really don’t know it, then say that you don’t know. Try to give them alternate answer for example, “I’ve heard about it, but never got the chance to use it” or something like that based on what they ask you.
• When you know a partial answer to a question, then be wise and give them such an answer that they will ask the next question based on that. Try to turn their attention to the things you know… rather than those you don’t know!

Remember the two Golden Rules: An Interview is just a conversation. You are someone new and they just want to know you better. So just talk, have a chat, show them your good points… That’s it! And the second Golden Rule which can work wonders for you is: Keep Your Smile. Especially when you don’t know what to answer ;-)
So chill, relax… you’ll be fine. All the best for your placements and career.

Also read How to Crack your Campus Placements and How to get that Amazing Resume?

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How to get that Amazing Resume?

Also read How to Crack your Campus Placements and How to Rock your Interview?

Having a good interview with a superb resume is vital for a sure campus placement. Now apart from the many things that a good interview needs, first step is that you got to build that amazing and neat resume.

Step 1: Remember and record all your achievements

• Resume should not only make the interviewer feel good about yourself, but you yourself should feel good when you look at your resume. Its not just about giving those 2-3 printed pages to your employer and expecting them to feel impressed!
• Collect each and every certificate, marks card, conduct report, medal, award, trophy that you received since 1st standard till date. From whatever you have, arrange all of them in chronological order, or if you are a multi talented person, then arrange them chronologically according to categories like academic awards, sports, singing, etc.
• Remember this part is very important. All this is your resume itself… only difference is that its not on paper yet! Make sure you have your academic, co-curricular, extra-curricular and other certificates and awards, all organised well.
• If you have lost some certificates, then forget it. Only if you had won some REALLY important awards or prizes, remember them properly, then write the exact name and description of that on a sheet of paper with the date, place and any other details and save that paper as your substitute for those missed out certificates.
• Check again whether all your certificates are arranged neatly. Make sure the creases (if any) are not very visible. Remove folded corners (dogs ears) and make them look neat. Keep the awards and prizes section separate and all your marks cards separate. Keep your 10th, 12th, graduation/post graduation marks cards safely.
• Make sure all these are arranged neatly in a file or files, with proper separation and easy access. Preferably use the files with those thin transparent plastic cover insulations to keep certificates (or at least the important ones) inside them.
• That’s it. Your resume is done! Now you only have to type it all on paper.

Step 2: Choosing a format for your Resume

• This may vary from person to person. But anyone can follow a general format and change only a few sections in it depending on your achievements and for which company or post you are applying for.
• Note the difference between Resume, Curriculum Vitae (CV) and Biodata:
  Resume: A summary of your academic and work history, your achievements, projects, etc.
  CV:        A summary of your academic and work history mainly. Focusing on your ‘curriculum’
  Biodata:  A summary of your personal details. Your family relationships, education etc.
• Biodata’s are best suited for marriage proposals, CV’s for internships or to get company funded school/college projects, and Resume is what’s needed for getting jobs and for career.
• Here’s the format in DOC and PDF. You can add certain categories suited to you. For example if you are a sports person, you might have won many awards in sports only. So you can include a section ‘Sports Achievements’. You can ignore any section if you don’t have big achievements in it or just write few lines. If its only one and two which are very minor, better you skip that section.
• Add all this information to your resume based on Step 1. Keep a chronological order in each section.
• Again balance all your sections. Some have good academic record, some in sports, some in music. So highlight your major sections well. Make a mention of these in your ‘Hobbies’ which is in the first page so that the interviewer will get an idea of your interests, at first glance itself.

Step 3: Do the MARIO-SCAN-SPAN

The MARIO-SCAN-SPAN is an algorithm devised by me which will scan for every minute error and span the entire resume. After you add all the data and finished writing everything, do the MARIO-SCAN-SPAN throughout your resume. This may make you a bit crazy, but remember this is your first proof to the employer to show your true personality. The MARIO-SCAN-SPAN will surely make your resume perfect to 100%!!! Here’s the algorithm for The MARIO-SCAN-SPAN:

1. Read your resume letter by letter, word by word. Correct each and every spelling and grammar mistake, punctuation, unwanted spaces from the heading till the end. Remember the ”,” (comma) comes soon after the word and then give space. Not the other way round!!
2. Repeat Step 1.
3. Repeat Step 1 again.
4. Check whether each section is completely within a page. Do not put the heading of a section in one page and start with the data in the other page. If this happens, add extra blank lines and adjust the spacing.
5. Use “Justify” for the alignment of each section and paragraph (not headings).
6. Check whether all headings, sections, paragraphs follow their respective margins.
7. Repeat Steps 3 to 5.
8. Check whether fonts and font sizes for different texts are proper. Bold, Italics and Underline what is necessary only! Don’t do too much of this. It will look like bad make up on Paris Hilton’s face.
9. Check the line spacing, paragraph spacing. Delete unwanted blank lines unless really necessary.
10. Repeat Step 3 and then go to Step 10.
11. Your photograph, end name and signature must stick to the right side margin. Everything else must begin from the left side margin.
12. Admire your resume.

Step 4: Follow some Tips

• NEVER LIE IN YOUR RESUME. Write only THE TRUTH.
• Write your resume thinking form the interviewers point of view too!
• Keep it strictly within 3 pages.
• Don’t write References of people you don’t know.
• Don’t blindly copy the Objective. Write your heart out there.
• Please know, understand and believe whatever you have written in your resume. Don’t just copy paste!
• Remember to put your photo and sign at the end.

That’s it. Your 100% Perfect Resume is ready! Admire it as many times you want and be proud of yourself. Don’t be over-confident. You’ll do good and your resume will impress the interviewer. Also read How to Crack your Campus Placements and How to Rock your Interview?

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How to Crack your Campus Placements?

Also read How to get that Amazing Resume? and How to Rock your Interview?

I just finished my Engineering in Computer Science this June and was placed in my last semester in January this year. Now, for those who are still not placed and the current batch who are trying for placements might find this article useful. I’m writing this post, after I received many doubts and questions on how one can crack campus placements. There are many points of view to this.
Note: I will not mention any individual names of people and companies for company policy reasons.

Campus Placements is definitely an easier way of getting a job and starting your career, than off-campus. The companies come to the doorstep of your college, give their presentations and introductions, and in some colleges, students can even choose which company they would like to join, rather than the companies choosing them.

This article is just a useful road-map on how you can prepare yourself to do your best. Now, here’s how you can go about it. As you read on,  apply the situation to your current scenario, your college placement-conditions and any other factors that you are involved in. Only then, you can jot down a nice plan and go ahead smoothly. So here we go:

1. What do you want? Be sure of what you want and what you need. Are you going for campus placements just because there is a chance to? Are you planning for higher studies first? I asked many people, whether working first is better, or finishing studies. To be honest, again its up to your situation. You can decide to finish all your studies now, and then only concentrate on work; or you can work for a few years, and pursue your higher studies with a loan from your company, etc. Whatever may be your choice, please go through the campus placement process, because if you are placed, then the choice becomes harder, but at least you are secure and now you can choose between two options of work and study.
2. Criteria and Filtration: This is what the companies and your college are going to do to you. All you have to do is see where you fall into. They will filter the eligible candidates based on percentages, aggregates, etc. Hopefully all your past and present grades are good and you will be eligible. There’s nothing much you can do about this. But, once the criteria is set by the college and by every company that visits, make sure to know the criteria of every company. Compare companies by their info, salary, reputation, probable work location, and other factors. Ask your seniors who are already working in those companies for first hand info. Don’t ignore ANY company unless you are already placed in a good company. Plan your options well here. Planning is always very important. Take care of certain restrictions that your college may impose like, answering only limited placement tests, dream company, etc. One important point, don’t compare companies of the same level based on salary. That’s not a wise thing to do.
3. Aptitude Tests: Well, these tests may vary from company to company. Some may ask simple math, some only logical reasoning, some both, some along with English too. Don’t waste much time on English unless you are really weak in it. Practice your aptitude thoroughly. Reasoning and math aptitude books by R. S. Agarwal are good to start with. CAT and other MBA entrance books are also very helpful. If you have a few particular companies that you are targeting, then focus your full attention on them and their test patterns, but also do a general study for other aptitude tests as well.
4. Interview: For now, just remember one thing. The interview fever is all in the mind, that’s all. Remove it! Any interview is nothing but a conversation to know you better. That’s all. Don’t think that if you make a mistake they are going to grill you, and punish you or anything. You are the only person who can keep up your confidence, so just don’t worry. Someone across the table is having a formal chat with you, so just answer politely. That’s all. If you don’t know the answer to a question, there’s no harm in saying a polite ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know’. Your resume is what counts here. Do read How to get that Amazing Resume? and my post on Interviews which will be published soon.
5. What else should I do? Research, Plan and Grab. Keep surfing the net for info about the companies that are coming to your college, ask your seniors about their experiences in those companies etc. Plan out how you are going to answer the placement tests, how many tests, which company’s tests, etc. Grab any opportunity that comes your way, whether it’s a placement in your college or neighbouring colleges. Once your placed, take your steps carefully, and keep the bird in hand than jumping for two in the bush.

Finally, remember these last three important points.

• BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. If you think you cannot get placed, then I guarantee you will NOT get placed. If you believe in yourself and have the confidence that you will get placed, then if you have given it your best, YOU WILL SURELY BE PLACED.
• BEING NERVOUS IS NORMAL.You may be nervous during this entire process, but so are everyone. Some may show the nervousness on their face, some many not; but even the company officials know, that all of you will be nervous. This is not MTV Roadies. So being nervous is no problem at all. Just be yourself and be cool.
• CAMPUS PLACEMENT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. Its just the first step to get a job. If you don’t make it here, there are still a LOT of other chances. I can give you a list of names of my friends who did not even qualify for the placement tests but now are placed in better companies! That’s only because they followed these three points.

Do well and all the best. You success is in your hands. My definition of Luck: “God’s interference when you don’t expect him to” and so keep praying. Only if you do your best, God will do his best, otherwise, its luck. Cheers.
Also read How to get that Amazing Resume? and How to Rock your Interview?

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Way to go!

 

With not even two months done, I am enjoying blogging and more so in this week when yesterday, I won my first prize in blogging which is the third place in IndiBlogger’s My Demand Contest. This is the winning post… Pee for Petrol… which was a sensation when it was conceived in college and even now, when it has created such a craze on YouTube, my blog and even on facebook. There are a lot of people to thank and I’m dedicating this post as a small sign of gratitude to all of them.

• First of all, thanks to Pramod Kamath, who is the true inventor of this crazy-but-great idea. It was only after this thought was born in his innovative mind, that we both built-up on this and finally gave form to this marvellous conception.
• I thank all  my friends and fellow bloggers on IndiBlogger who read my post and voted for it. I irritated many along the way and some tagged me as spammer as well… but I’m damn sure that whoever read the post surely loved it :-) I’m still very new here and its better I make mistakes now, than later. Learnt a lot from this experience.
• Special thanks to two people: Karthik Kastury and Vinayak Nagri whose blogging efforts were the reason I started blogging in the first place and still continue to do so. These are very inspiring people and you have to know more about them. I have included them in my special Inspirers series of posts, which they truly deserve.
• I thank all my friends on Facebook and Twitter, most of whom, even without having a blog or without knowing anything about blogging, tried so much to help me and shared my post, building the publicity. Trust me, that helped the most! Thanks for all the shares, re-tweets and mentions!
• Thanks to all my blog readers, visitors, and those who left back lovely comments, helpful suggestions and criticisms which helped me better my posts, my writing, my content style and my blog overall.
• Thanks to IndiBlogger, Renie Ravin and HP Printers for opening this lovely opportunity for me and for all bloggers to showcase their creativity and win these amazing prizes. Can’t wait for my printer :-)

With just more than one month gone, I still have a LOT to learn for good blogging. Mistakes made have taught me more and I continue to learn, become a better writer and reach out to as many as possible. Thanks again and please continue to show your support. Will do the best I can.
[Prize badge placed in the Showcase]

“The truth takes its own sweet time to reveal itself... blogging makes that faster” – Mario D'Cunha
#Marioism… Coming soon… :-)

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Movie Review: Dabangg

Cast: Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonu Sood
Director: Abhinav Kashyap

Gist: Set in Uttar Pradesh, Dabangg is the story of a not-so-corrupt police officer played by Salman Khan and highlights the flaws and loopholes in the system. The film primarily deals with the unlawful practices in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

First of all, this film is a Bollywood Brilliance! Not-so-typical Bollywood, but yes… very entertaining, masaledaar and total paisa wasool! I’m saying ‘not-so-typical’ because this is not like, hero comes, saves the heroine, kills the villain and they lived happily ever after. It’s a bit different, nice story, and again… total entertainment for a weekend! Brilliant acting by the entire cast including the small roles which actually show such importance in the script and story. The big people in these small roles are Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia and Anupam Kher who have added more flavour to this film.

‘Salman Khan was am-aaa-zing’ is an understatement! If you had complaints in the past about Salman’s crazy and weird behavior in his previous films, then here, you will only be wanting more!!! The role of Chulbul Pandey is perfectly tailored to Salman’s style, charisma, physique and mass appeal. He’s just too good in this role opposite the new Indian beauty in town, Sonakshi Sinha. She is so calm and pleasingly beautiful that will not believe she’s Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter!! For me, she’s one of the most beautiful ‘Indian’ lady onscreen ever! Produced by his brother Arbaaz, who also plays his brother onscreen, this film has got everything you need; Super hit dialogues which are gonna stay on in people’s minds, superb guest appearances especially Malaika Arora Khan’s hot and sizzling item number, fantastic music, entertaining story and just the right amount of comedy balanced with fun and action! As a dance enthusiast, this is the first time I can compliment Salman on his monkey moves, because its just meant for Chulbul Pandey!

Everyone from Salman to Malaika to Sonu Sood look amazing in the movie with respect to costumes, style and body. A perfect treat for a weekend and a must watch if you want to have a good time with family and friends. Go watch it in the theatre soon. After you watch it, you will know that Chulbul Pandey is the new Robin-Hood-cum-Chuck-Norris for India!! :D

3 Stars

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Movie Review: We Are Family

Gist: Aleya, Ankush and Anjali, the three children of Maya (Kajol) and Aman (Arjun Rampal), have to cope with the fact that their parents are divorced and that there is a new woman in their father's life: Shreya (Kareena Kapoor), a successful fashion designer, who’s in love with photographer, Aman. She does her best to treat the kids in a way that makes them still feel at home when being with their dad, but also loves her work and does not plan to give it up. But Maya, a full-time mother, regards Shreya’s efforts as only for the sake of it. She can't understand that work can be important to her as well as the kids. The conflict between them is deepened by the sudden diagnose of cancer, which may be deadly for Maya. They all have to learn a little in order to grow together.

Now. I will give the review in two ways… one, compared to the the true Hollywood classic Stepmom and the other independently Bollywood.

Compared to Stepmom: (ignore this part, if you haven’t watched Stepmom because there may be spoilers)

• In the opening credits, they write that it’s “based on” Stepmom… duh! It’s a complete copy! The story, the characters, turn of events are exactly the same! In certain important scenes, even the dialogues are the EXACT translation in Hindi. So basically, this is not any adaptation… this is a ditto!
• There are few changes that did not make ANY difference or impact to the movie. First is the shuffle of the sequence of events. Stepmom was more clearer… here, things just happen!
• In Stepmom, Julia Roberts was the photographer and the pampered little kid was Ben, the magician. In We Are Family the Arjun Rampal is the photographer who works with a fashion designer, played by Kareena and the little fairy princess, Anjali was the pampered one. The real mom’s (Susan Sarandon or Kajol) profession is just not told in both the versions! Lol.
• Susan undergoes Chemotherapy whereas Kajol undergoes Radiotherapy. Both don’t lose hair in the movie. Hmmm but they show Kajol loosing a handful of it while combing… yet, she looked perfect after that. Brand Ambassador of Olay Total Effects… that’s why??
• The biggest difference was that in Stepmom, the stepmom gets to know about the cancer first. In We Are Family she gets to know about it last. Did not make ANY difference! There are other small differences surrounding this part too… don’t make a difference!
• To be honest, We Are Family is nothing compared to Stepmom. The kids in We Are Family who are important characters are so cardboard-like. All in all, if you have watched Stepmom you will be bored to watch this one.

As an independent movie:

• Bad acting by the kids in the movie who are very important characters to the story. Typical dialogues given to them and even sometimes to Kajol and Kareena too!
• In certain scenes, the movie looks like a Pepsodent or a Life Insurance Company ad, where we see “happy family” and “all smiles” and “yaay”s everywhere! Urrrgh!!
• Horrible background music… sorry Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy. A touchy moment is going on, Kajol is going to cry, and Brraaaeeaaamm goes the electric guitar!!
• My BIGGEST disappointment with the movie is that they copied the classic Jailhouse Rock by the legendary Elvis Presley. Copying is fine and they took the rights as well… but they ruined it!! Bad lyrics, bad video, bad dancing! It turned out too Bollywood-ish!!! There was Bhangra in between too!! Only Daler Mehndi and Falguni Pathak were missing!!!
• For the good parts: Nice acting by Kajol, Kareena and Arjun. Both the ladies look stunning! Good overall appeal by the movie as a whole.
• If you have no idea about Stepmom then you will not love, but you’ll surely like this movie. It’s a good watch if you haven’t watched Stepmom.

Looking from an independent point of view too, I’m giving this 3 Stars. Removing half for ruining Jailhouse Rock!!

2^1/2 Stars

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What is wrong with Rahman’s CWG Anthem?

Ok there are many points to look upon here and also many which can actually be ignored. First of all this whole story of pointing fingers at one of India’s greatest musicians began with respected people from the Indian Music Industry, Bollywood and others raising their voices in public, criticizing A. R. Rahman’s Commonwealth Games Theme song. Not only them, even the “wise” politicians and many fans too!

Now here are my main points about this issue:

• Anyone can criticize. But these famous faces from the music industry shouldn’t have come out in public to say these things, after all the mess CWG has been in already. After all it’s the song for the people to enjoy, and not for a music competition. By making statements like this in public, forces the common man to re-think on what he’s listening… unnecessarily.
• Many say that Rahman has been over confident and that’s what led to this not-so-great song. Well, whoever said that are losers! Just like how Bishen Singh Bedi questioned Muralitharan’s talent, in the same way these “judgy” musicians should take a hike! Commenting in public against Rahman won’t win them an Oscar! You can give your valid criticism about the technicalities or texture of the music… that’s fine. But please don’t just say things like over-confident, show-off and all that… Cmon!! What u think Rahman composed this song for time-pass?
• So what should we do about it? Nothing!!! A song is made, we can hear, lets enjoy it! We need not worry about who said what. We can judge for ourselves. What about the `5 Crores spent just for this one song? Cmon! This is CWG… so much money is already being wasted for other things… let Rahman take the rest at least! Lol.

Let’s take a peek into the “music” of the song:

• Everyone did this as soon as they heard the song… and that is compare it with Shakira’s Waka Waka and Knaan’s Waving Flag. Fine… comparison is natural. The only difference I found among these two songs and the CWG theme is that, CWG Theme is not catchy! Almost the entire song of Waka Waka is catchy. So is the “and then it goes back” of Waving Flag. There’s nothing like that here. It should’ve had something like the Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo of the Kolkata Knight Riders Theme.
• I don’t like the lyrics so much either. Things like “Play o jiyo heyo let’s go” are umm… not… so… nice…. Now the song is called Swagatham but there isn’t a mention of that word literally in the song. So… I dunno…?!
• The song for me, is very slow for a Sports Anthem. It starts out slow and nice… but then it still remains slow and suddenly goes to a rock version with electric guitar and all! I love the last part, the Bhangra beat… just love it. I just wish the entire song had things like that. Dandiya, Marathi beats will not only pull us, but even the non-Indians as well.
• Many say that this is not very ‘Indian’. I don’t think Waving Flag or Waka Waka were completely African??! They had some pure African parts and so does the CWG Theme with an Indian touch of course! The theme must be International… that it is…
• The song is perfect for a music video. If the song was released for the first time in a video, like Waka Waka people would’ve liked it more. Don’t you agree?

So what’s my verdict? Hmmm… I don’t like the song so much actually… except the last Bhangra part. I was expecting something better, given the amazing work Rahman showed in the recently released Raavan. To tell you the truth, I hum the tune all the time now… I think even though it’s not so catchy, it will somehow catch us with time. Just missing a real good music video for this one and the feel of CWG was already saddening with all the controversy. All in all, it’s a nice song, not his best works (Jai Ho wasn’t either)… but nice.

P.S.: Waka Waka is not the original song. It’s the new adaptation of the original Cameroonian Zangalewa. Interesting to see how Cameroon and Columbia have got the world dancing to Waka Waka.

What are your views on the CWG Theme?

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My Experiences with Spamming

It has been a month and two weeks now since I started blogging regularly. I had recently posted my first month’s Roundup for August 2010 and things were going pretty good. As another opportunity, I came across IndiBlogger which is a home to many Indian and foreign bloggers as well and a great place to help you blog. IndiBlogger hosted the My Demand Contest which will be closing in a few days… and I found it a great chance to take part in.

The My Demand Contest expected us to write about one technology that was as crazy as possible and the top 2 posts with the most votes on IndiBlogger wins HP Laser Printers worth 15-20grand!. What better idea than the acclaimed Pee for Petrol! I gave my entry and in the first few days itself, the post was well appreciated and received many votes! But the votes weren’t enough for me to reach the top 2. I used all social media like Facebook, Twitter and my blog to promote my post and it did get promoted a lot!

But then, it still wasn’t enough! I was in the 4th or 5th position. I had to reach the top 2. That was when I received many messages from some bloggers asking me to vote for their posts. I thought to myself, if I can ask enough bloggers in the same way, I may get enough votes to win! So I scrapped my usual routine and took to SPAMMING! I sent messages with my vote link to as many IndiBloggers as possible on twitter, facebook and commented in their blogs and posts whether I knew them or not. I went to my competitors vote bank, saw who voted for them and tried to get them to vote for me too!

This was going out of control and bloggers all over were getting irritated. But guess what… I became third on the list. Now I just couldn’t stop. I had to win! I went on an even more crazy spam spree! Now many bloggers just lost it and began tagging me as spam! Some yelled back, some ignored and some reported! Finally I was getting frustrated! I couldn’t do anymore… I got irritated with this whole new habit and it wasn’t worth ruining my regular routine… plus, I was still on third place! That’s it… I gave up! Now why exactly did I take into spamming, what were the pros and cons?

Why did I go for Spamming?

• First of all, I thought that my post was THE best when compared to any of the other posts entered in the contest and therefore it had to win! I still think so. But this is subjective and you can judge for yourself.
• A 20 grand HP Laser Printer was at stake!
• Others sent me spam messages first! So why should I sit back and watch them steal votes, that too when my post is quite better than theirs? Even some “good” bloggers asked me to vote for them just because they voted for me. After that I started the same pattern on others as well!

What was the Negative side of it?

• I ruined my blogging ethics, ruined my usual healthy routine, wasted time on my computer!
• Irritated many bloggers and upset them. Their disgust may take time to cool off me…
• My post may have been the most deserving based on content, style etc… but then again, even good politicians have to fight the election and then only win rite?

What was the Positive side of it?

• I got so many views to my blog in no time! Got hundreds of views everyday! Any publicity is good publicity!
• Even when messaging many unknown bloggers, I found in them some cool people who have now become good friends with me on facebook and twitter. I thank them and I know they will be laughing at this post :p
• Got me many many votes to keep me in third place. The best part was that many people actually told me “I am not voting because you asked me to vote. I am voting because your post is damn good!” :-)

So why did I Stop Spamming?

• The contest is still in progress and if I had spammed for a few more days I probably would’ve won it! But I got tired… my whole day was being eaten up by running behind unknown people!
• Some people gave me lame excuses of not voting! Those excuses were so mind-numbingly discouraging! They could have either yelled at me, or just ignored!
• Whatever I did and how much ever I spammed, it did not allow me to elevate from third place. Whoever voted for me, voted for others too! So what’s the point!!!
• With suggestions and cautions from friends I suddenly realized that spamming was a terrible thing to do and there are far more important things in life at the moment than a 20k printer for which I may have to pay 30% gift tax!

So finally things are back on track now. I’ve stated my feelings on the IndiBlogger Forum (this link may be deleted)and have decided to blog fair and healthy always. Web reputation is prime and nothing else. Thanks to all those who honestly and genuinely liked my post and voted for it. Thanks to those who just simply voted for it. And a special thanks to those who corrected me on this bad habit, especially the seniors on IndiBlogger. Apologies to everyone!

This is the superhit post which started it all. You can still vote :-) and please vote if you like it and share it with others too :-)
Now this is not spam… why? coz I own this blog!!!

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Return…

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 14; the fourteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and does not bear any resemblance to any person living or dead. Any resemblance is purely co-incidental.

 

 

It was time when Jacob’s mother could finally celebrate her son’s wedding in their hometown Mangalore. The hesitant and shy Jacob was captured in love with the woman of his dreams… Laura. Fortunately for both families, belonged to the Catholic Church, of whom both were God-fearing children. The long awaited day dawned, Jacob and Laura were now lawfully wedded with God and family as witnesses… and they lived happily ever after… or did they…?

 

Jacob and his family kept his excessive drinking habit a secret because otherwise, Laura, or for that matter any girl would never agree to marry him. Jacob was a addicted-drinker… but still was in his limits initially. Although Jacob lost control of his senses, he was manageable because even with his addiction, he had one thing which many in the family did not… his big heart. He was the most loving man Laura could ever find… and that’s what made her stand by him… come what may.

 

Laura with all the love that she gained and poured over Jacob, had her limits too. As days went by, Laura could not bear her husband creating a scene at home and around the neighborhood whenever he returned drunk. She did not bear the office-bar-home-sleep routine. She was in a prison of her own. She had to get out. When opportunity struck, she instigated Jacob to take up the new job in Dubai and the couple moved away from jeering neighbours.

 

Was Dubai any different for them… or for Laura at least? No… and Laura knew it! She knew that there was nothing to stop Jacob from making married life hell for her, so she chose to use him instead, than cursing herself for marrying him. Although he unleashed his fury when drunk, Jacob was still deeply in love with Laura. He never asked for accounts, never doubted her or never even questioned her integrity. He got abusive and physical when drunk. But Laura took that more to her heart, than penetrating into the depth of his love.

Laura rose to the occasion like a politician… with love, sympathy and crocodile tears, she forced Jacob into getting her siblings and other family members to Dubai too. Laura too took a job of her own to at least manage herself financially, if not for Jacob. Through him, she managed to settle her siblings and others to their content.

Jacob did not care for the marriage, but still loved Laura. Laura was using the marriage, but overlooked the love…

 

As clever months passed by for Laura, and her ‘plan’ turned out to be successful… she was convinced that now she could well manage herself and she no longer needed Jacob. To rid herself from the final hurdle that Jacob stood, she took a divorce! Jacob, with no strength to bear the deceit and dis-trust agreed to let go off Laura! Little that Jacob know that whatever he did would never let him forget Laura…

 

With an attempt to destroy all memories of Dubai… Jacob returned to Mangalore. Due to drinking, even more excessive now, he lost his job, he lost his friends… and most importantly his self. All he had was that one bottle of alcohol from dawn to dusk. With every gulp of the addiction, Jacob drank his sorrowing life, which was destroyed already and slowly destroying him little by little.

 

Fourteen years later, Laura lived happily re-married… with a good husband, and two beautiful sons of 9 and 12 years of age. One fine day, Laura got a call from Mangalore from Jacob’s weak Mother, with news that Jacob is living his last few weeks on the hospital bed, with all his internal organs finally torn apart by the liquor.

Although it was an era passed now, Laura felt the love that Jacob actually had for her, and for humanity sake, Laura was determined to see Jacob for the last time before he went away. She took a day off from work, told her family that she’d be back in a day or two, and hurried with the first flight to Mangalore.

 

Call it karma or fate, but Laura unfortunately boarded the Air India flight that crash-landed at the Mangalore Airport killing everyone aboard. Jacob unknowingly, is slowly drifting away to meet her in heaven, still waiting on earth for Laura to return…

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Movie Review: Piranhas 3D

Just came back from watching Piranhas (in 2D) and I’m feeling sick! This movie is completely meant ONLY for adults because even some adults may find it too much to handle! So all below 18 don’t watch this, and all below 15 don’t read this review!

Gist: After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area's new razor-toothed residents!

First things first! This movie is made for 3D. So please watch it in 3D if possible. Some people watch movies in 2D first and then it 3D, but trust me, most of you may not want to watch this movie again!!! BUT, that doesn’t mean this movie is bad… confused?? Let me give you the clear idea.

As I said, this is an adult movie. From the start of the movie till almost the end, you will see boobies, bikini’s and babes (hunks for the girls too)! But you won’t be drooling all along, may be only for the first 20-30 min. Once the Piranhas make their gross presence felt, the film goes into GORE mode. There’s flesh, meat, blood, human organs all around the place as the deadly fish bring havoc with their teeth of destruction! Now, judging from an adult, gore and thrilling genre, this film is good!!
Note: Christopher Lloyd makes a special guest appearance in the movie. If you remember he played Uncle Fester from the 1993 Addams Family.

So what is so bad about this film then? The biggest thing that hit me is that the fish look like some kind of robot-of-sorts, but fish nonetheless. Needed better editing and the characters other than the main leads were somewhat cardboard figures. Also, when some (especially girls) may say that this film is bad, they mean to say that this film is good! This is gore movie, and it is supposed to make you feel bad and sick!

Should you watch it? Yep! If you’re a Biology student, you won’t have a problem :-) You may also take your girlfriend along with you. Ya… I’m serious! She’ll be hugging you all throughout the movie while the film freaks her out! Just hope that she’s not a bio-student! Having said all this, the ‘gore’ness of Piranhas is nothing compared to that of Saw!A neat ‘gore’ movie, simple story, sexy and a nice thriller. Watch it in theatres ONLY, especially try for 3D! I will give an extra half-star for the added effect in 3D. 

3^1/2 Stars

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Will Historious eat Delicious?

As a response to my previous post on Web Bookmarks Delicious is Tasty! Historious is boring! the historious team had replied to me long back and after waiting and testing, I think I’m beginning to like Historious more than Delicious! In my previous post, I said that Historious was boring, non-responsive and it is not arranged or sorted! If you check the comments on that post, Stavros from the Historious Team itself had contacted me and requested me to state any complaints. I did and they fixed the bookmarklet within days! Since then, I have been trying and testing Historious and its working fine! Here’s why I think Historious is on in process to eat up Delicious soon:

• No Addon needed: No need for installing any addon at all and is totally irrespective of your web browser! Just drag and drop the Historious Bookmarklet onto your browser bar anywhere and your done! You better also add a FireFox Historious Search bar with just one click. Just click here and your ready!
• Least effort: If your bookmarking your site, all you need to do is just click the Bookmarklet button! That’s it! :-) Your page gets saved in Historious and you thus create your own custom Google-Like Search world… a search world with only pages you want! All with just one click!

• Tag or Publish: You can also add tags to your bookmarked page or even publish it. Since this creates a search world of its own, you wont be needing tags. But if you are like me and want everything arranged perfectly, then yes, tags will help you out. You can publish, delete or view the cached version of that page as well.
• Easy Search: With your custom search world created you can search your bookmarks on either the Historious site or use the search bar like how I do. Either way everything is simpler.
• Import and Bookmark in Bulk: You can historify sites in bulk by just adding their URLs to the site. Click here to see how. You can also import all the bookmarks from your browser by uploading the browser bookmark file.

So will Historious eat Delicious? At the moment no. Why? When you historify a site, even though its just a click of a  button, you need to go to the Historious site and then tag them! That’s the same with Delicious (with or without the addon!) Also with Historious you can bookmark only 3000 sites!

Historious offers a free account and a paid account with just $19 or `900 subscription per year. This paid account lets you add your own tags in the first click itself! Now THIS is when Historious automates everything!!! Plus, the number of pages that can be bookmarked is unlimited! You can also filter by date, check RSS feeds, PDFs and more. If Historious can at least add the on-click-tagging feature in the free account, then it will undoubtedly be the best Bookmarking mechanism ever!

Historious is the innovative concept brought by a Stochastic technologies project. By their site and Twitter account they seem to be quite new! I congratulate them for coming up with simple and cool innovations like this and wish them good luck.

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