Bollywood Movie New York Review

Director : Kabir Khan
Producer : Aditya Chopra, Yash Chopra
Starring : John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irfaan Khan

Omar (Neil) is picked up by the FBI and detained for arms found in his owned taxi. Basically it’s a well planned set up by FBI officer Roshan (Irrfan) and his boss to get Omar agreeing on to work as an undercover agent for them and infiltrate the family the life of Samir (John) and Maya (Katrina) who were Omar’s college friends 7-8 years back. Roshan suspects Samir of running a sleeper terrorism cell and he wants to nab him red handed. Omar is left with no option but to comply with Roshan’s orders but he agrees on one condition that the FBI won’t kill Samir if he agrees to surrender. Years back when in college Omar, Maya and Samir were thick buddies and Omar silently loved Maya but when she expressed her love for Samir, Omar had gone away from them. What truth Omar uncovers when he meets Samir and Maya both now a married couple with a small kid Danielle and what it all leads to forms the rest of the film.

New York can easily be considered the best film to come out of the Yash Raj stable after Chak De India. Shot entirely in the US, the film not only is on par with the best of the Hollywood films made in this genre but is a completely different experience which the Bollywood audience is not used to. You are completely hooked from the first scene of the film when Neil is arrested by FBI and the interrogation that follows by Irrfan of Neil’s. The first half is extremely well narrated and keeps you constantly guessing as to what will happen next. The interval point is a shocker and you look forward to an exciting second half. But then the pace of the second half somehow doesn’t match up that of the first half and there are some predictable things in store. But nonetheless it is packed with some really great moments. The whole frisking episode of Katrina Kaif by a cop on the road late at night and the sequences that follow it linger on your mind for long. The climax though a bit word heavy is superbly shot as well. The torture scenes shown immediately post the interval send a shiver down your spine. Pritam’s music is easy on the ears and there are no lip sync songs to hamper the proceedings.

New York scores high in the acting department with each single actor delivering his/her best. John Abraham often termed as an expressionless actor has delivered his career’s finest performance. Katrina Kaif has finally got the meatiest role of her career and she has taken full advantage of it. She is very good in emotional scenes as well. Neil in a difficult part shines. Irrfan Khan never disappoints and here again he is in great form. His scenes with Neil and also his senior officer have turned out well.

New York takes up a topical theme and perfectly exposes the wily ways of the American FBI to which over hundreds of innocent Muslim people had fallen prey to post 9/11. It is a must watch for many reasons so just don’t miss it.

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Naadodigal Tamil Movie Review

Starring: Sasikumar, Vijay, Bharani, Ananya, Niveda, Abhinaya, Shanthini, Ganja Karuppu
Direction: Samuthirakani
Music: Sundar C babu
Production: Global Infotainment Pvt Ltd

Samuthirakani’s Naadodigal falls in the new genre created by the upsurge of neo-realistic films in Tamil cinema, of late, if not for a few glitches. Actually so few they are it wouldn’t be surprising if you missed them along the way. Nadodigal has an uncomplicated story line, told in a very neat fashion that strikes the chord at the right place. It is straightforward, raw and touching, without going overboard on the sentiments part. There is love, betrayal and all sorts of other emotions with the main relationship in focus being friendship.

Sasikumar, Vijay, Kanja Karuppu and Bharani are friends who epitomize the kind of friendship you get to see in street corners – who don’t think even once to sacrifice their well-being for the sake of friendship. They help a friend in love to get married when the girl’s parents oppose the affair - by abducting the girl from her home and marrying her off to the friend secretly at the cost of their body parts and even love. The act doesn’t go well with the influential parents of the girl whose henchmen thrash the friends.

After what they have gone through to see them together, the friends are shocked to learn that the couple is after all splitting owing to differences. And most of all, the couple is not even in the least remorseful of their friends’ sacrifices that has literally gone down the drain. This irks the four friends who plot to kidnap them in an effort to teach them that love is not meant to be unserious and that sacrifices of friends are meant to be valued.

If the straightforward story plays the backbone, the actors, with their natural charm and antics do the movie tonnes of good. Sasikumar is at his natural best as the infuriated friend who is equally exasperated at the frivolity with which his friend dealt his hard-earned marriage. His bush-beard look fits the role and his prodding, tiny eyes talk more than he emotes. Bharani and Kanja Karuppu keep their comic juices flowing lightening up a few moments while Vijay does a satisfactory job.

Of the women, Ananya gets the most footage and manages to squeeze in as much acting she could in whatever she is assigned. The real life speech impaired Abhinaya, who plays Sasikumar’s sister, does a stunning job of lip-syncing.

The other aspects, including music by the Kathala Kannala man Sundar C Babu and camerawork are strictly ok. Besides, there are few scenes that are made to fit into the story – like the quintessential pelvic thrust number gyrated by a bombshell – to appease the front benchers. Thankfully they are tolerable and largely excusable since they don’t go overboard with their liberties.

Director Samuthirakani treats the story carefully like it’s not to be overdone or laden with clichés. As a result, we get a no-nonsense presentation with very less emotional package. That’s not to say the movie is emotionally barren, those scenes are treated beautifully and they appear as they happened in your friend’s life; the success of story-telling.

Naadodigal is intense, yet it has its light moments. Those are best enjoyed when seen with a group of friends. And yes, don’t forget to take home the message – love is dignified, it’s not child’s play. Pardon us for the cliche by the way

Verdict: Take your friends along!

Songs of this movie can be downloaded here: Click Here

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Terminator Salvation 2009 Movie Review

'Terminator Salvation' Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anton Yelchin; Director: MCG; Rating

'Terminator' The fourth installment of 'Terminator' series has hit the screens but without Arnold Schwarzenegger - though he makes a blink-or-miss appearance towards the end of the movie.

Set in the future, the film is about man fighting with machines to save the world from the grip of an enemy called Skynet, which is trying to wipe out every trace of humankind from earth.

What happens when man wages a war against machines? There is the clink of metal against metal, gun shots and explosions. Director MCG has packed enough thrilling stunts to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. There are a few scenes that actually make you jump up as the filmmaker doesn't give you enough time to think or absorb the turn of events.

The film is devoid of colour, but the director has created space for emotions with the help of Bryce Dallas Howard, who plays the hero John Connor's (Christian Bale) pregnant wife, and Moon Bloodgood, who falls in love with a machine. However, he has ensured that the emotional scenes are not too many.

While Schwarzenegger played the saviour in the first three series, Christain Bale takes the responsibility to save humankind as the leader of human resistance in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles in the fourth installment.

The film opens with circa 2003 -- where we see Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) donating his body to Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter). The film then takes a leap and lands in 2018 where Los Angeles has turned into a junkyard, with no sign of human civilisation but only debris, dead bodies and a chilling stillness

Connor is all the while trying hard to resist his superiors from bombing Skynet station because he wants to save all those who are imprisoned inside.

Meanwhile, Marcus emerges from nowhere and reaches Los Angeles and it takes him a while to understand the situation.

Marcus is the only one who can help Connor in his mission to destroy Skynet base but the latter is not ready to trust him because Marcus is half human and half machine.

When James Cameron's original was released in 1984, it became one of the greatest action films of the decade. 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day', which came in 1991, managed to keep the interest alive. 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' came in 2003 and the fourth installment takes the story forward.

With a spate of action thrillers coming to theaters, 'Terminator Salvation' might not have anything extraordinary to showcase, but its a good watch for action-lovers.

Christian Bale does a decent job, while Sam Worthington remains expressionless in most of the scenes ... just like a machine. Bloodgood, Carter and Howard pass muster.

Watch the film if you are a die hard fan.

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End Of International POP SuperStar Michael Jackson

The international pop superstar Michael has died following a heart attack in Los Angeles. Cardiac arrest is an abnormal heart rhythm that stops the heart from pumping blood to the body. It can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems. The singer had a history of health problems and was busy with preparations for a series of 50 concerts in London.The concerts were meant as a farewell to a glittering pop career in which Jackson topped the charts around the world.Medics were called to the singer's Beverly Hills home on Thursday after he stopped breathing.His brother Jermaine Jackson gave a statement saying he was believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest, an autoposy will follow. The concerts in London were dues to start on July 13. Jermaine said doctors tried to resuscitate the star for more than an hour without success. He added: "The family request that the media please respect our privacy during this tough time.There were stories at the beginning of the month in different media that Jackson was unwell, he was reported to weigh less than 57 kilos and he had recently been diagnosed with skin cancer.As a child Michael Jackson was a member of the Jackson 5 - together with his brothers he had hits such as, I Want You Back, ABC and I'll be There. In the eighties and nineties Jackson was the biggest pop star in the world with hits such as Thriller and Beat It. The album Thriller is still the best selling album ever.There were reports at the beginning of the month in different media that Jackson was unwell, he was reported to weigh less than 57 kilos and he had recently been diagnosed with skin cancer.As a child Michael Jackson was a member of the Jackson 5 - together with his brothers he had hits such as, I Want You Back, ABC and I'll be There. In the eighties and nineties Jackson was the biggest pop star in the world with hits such as Thriller and Beat It. The album Thriller is still the best selling album ever.But it proved difficult for Jackson to repeat this success in the years that followed. And accusations of child abuse overshadowed the later years of his career and in 2005 following a controversial trial he was cleared of these allegations. But his career was then in a nosedive and Jackson's debts started to mount - his behavior became increasingly eccentric.Musicians from around the world have expressing their shock at the news of Jackson's death. Madonna said: "music has lost one the greats."And Quincy Jones, the man who helped Jackson produce the album Thriller, said: "I have lost a little brother today and a part of my soul has gone with him.

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RSS Feed Creation

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or it's sometimes referred to as Rich Site Summary. It's an XML-based content format for distributing news, headlines, content, etc. Most popular sites provide RSS feeds these days... especially news-related sites.

To Create RSS Feed All you need is a feed reader and you can download the feeds from any site that offers the feeds.

Feed readers come in all shapes and sizes these days. Firefox has one built in to the browser, Google, Yahoo and Live all have a way for you to collect your favorite feeds - so the choice is up to you.

You can also create feeds for your own website so your audience can subscribe to them. If done right, you can drive more traffic to your site on a regular basis.

Advantages of Creating RSS Feeds

More Traffic

For webmasters this is an excellent way to bring repeat traffic to your site. Think about it....every time a web surfer opens their RSS reader to get the headlines for all the sites they monitor, they'll also see your site's updates.
Instead of relying on them to bookmark your site and return at a later date, their RSS reader keeps your site fresh in their minds.
So when they open their reader to check the headlines for CNN, Yahoo or any other feeds they subscribe to, they'll also get the latest updates from you!

Avoid Email Spam Filters

Many webmasters are now dumping their newsletters and switching to this method of content distribution because you don't have to worry about dodging the spam filters.
I don't think that RSS will completely replace email newsletters, but I can see them definitely being used as an alternative more and more.
When you send an email newsletter more than 40-50% of the people won't even receive it due to spam filters or because of the fact it gets lost in all the junk mail your subscribers receive.
With RSS feeds, you don't have to worry about that because you're not sending an email, your simply sending out a news feed for all the readers to pick up.

Export Your RSS Feed

The cool thing about these feeds is that other people can use them as content on their site. So if you have a feed that is of particular interest to another webmaster, they can post your content on their site with a simple javascript code. This is another great traffic opportunity!

How to Create an RSS Feed

First you need to build your feeds. I would suggest using some type of software unless you like writing XML by hand. (Yuck!)
I use www.feedforall.com. They have an easy-to-use feed builder that lets you create and manage all your feeds in one place.
Then once you've created your feed you have to upload the XML file to your web server. FeedForAll.com will automatically convert your feed into the XML format so you don't need to worry about additional formatting or coding.
The URL will be something like http://www.yoursite.com/yourfeed.xml. This is the link to your RSS/XML feed, and the one you'll be advertising so people can subscribe.
So any time you add a new article to your feed, that XML file is updated.
FeedForAll also has a built-in upload feature so you can upload the XML file right to your web server with their software, assuming your web host has FTP access.

Use a Blog Instead

If you don't want to buy extra software to create your RSS feed, there is another way to create one for free.
You can create a free blog at Blogger.com and the RSS feed URL is automatically generated for you. This is the easiest way to go. So every time you post to your blog, the feed is updated instantly.
WordPress is another site that offers a free blog equipped with and RSS feeds. Read about creating your own blog here.

Announcing Your Feeds on Your Website

One of the easiest ways to announce your feed on your site is to use FeedBurner.com. They provide a redirect URL (address) for your feed that your audience subscribes to.
The benefit is that if you move your blog and your RSS feed URL changes, you don't have to worry about losing your subscribers because the redirect URL they provide stays the same.
FeedBurner provides several methods of announcing your RSS feeds. You can display a traditional RSS button, rotate your feeds in banner-style on your web pages, etc

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Ways To Increase Your Alexa Ranking

What is the Alexa Rank?
Put simply, the Alexa Rank is a ranking system which bases its ranking schema on the level of traffic each website receives from the number of people who visit a website with the Alexa toolbar installed.
See Alexa’s definition of the AlexaTrafficRank for more definition.
20 Ways to Increase your Alexa Rank

Here is a collection of methods you can use to boost your Alexa Rank. Most of these tips are derived from several fellow webmasters I know who claimed to have derived positive results through their experiments with the Alexa Rankings.

Some of the other tips were derived articles and sources, which I have duly referenced at the end of this post.

Do these tips work? According to some, yes they definitely do work. But do note that most of them require active effort of some sort and hence, they will work as long as long as you are consistently performing specific actions.

To increase your Alexa rank in the long run, I would highly recommended that one focus on developing quality content which attracts and maintains a large audience instead of purely focusing on artificially increasing your Alexa Rank.

Great link-worthy content will leads to an natural increase in site traffic and is an excellent way to passively increase your Alexa rank.

It is important to emphasize that you should devote most of your efforts in growing your site audience alongside integrated implementation of any of the following tips below.

1. Install the Alexa toolbar or Firefox’s SearchStatus extension and set your blog as your homepage. This is the most basic step.

2. Put up an Alexa rank widget on your website. I did this a few days ago and receive a fair amount of clicks every day. According to some, each click counts as a visit even if the toolbar is not used by the visitor.

3. Encourage others to use the Alexa toolbar. This includes friends, fellow webmasters as well as site visitors/blog readers. Be sure to link to Alexa’s full explanation of their toolbar and tracking system so your readers know what installing the toolbar or extension entails.

4. Work in an Office or own a company? Get the Alexa toolbar or SS Firefox extension installed on all computers and set your website as the homepage for all browsers. Perhaps it will be useful to note that this may work only when dynamic or different IPs are used.

5. Get friends to review and rate your Alexa website profile. Not entirely sure of its impact on rankings but it might help in some way.

6. Write or Blog about Alexa. Webmaster and bloggers love to hear about ways to increase their Alexa rank. They’ll link to you and send you targeted traffic (i.e. visitors with the toolbar already installed). This gradually has effects on your Alexa ranking.

7. Flaunt your URL in webmaster forums. Webmasters usually have the toolbar installed. You’ll get webmasters to visit your website and offer useful feedback. It’s also a good way to give back to the community if you have useful articles to share with others.

8.Write content that is related to webmasters. This can fall in the category of domaining and SEO, two fields in which most webmasters will have the Alexa toolbar installed. Promote your content on social networking websites and webmaster forums.

9.Use Alexa redirects on your website URL. Try this: http://redirect.alexa.com/redirect?www.doshdosh.com . Replace doshdosh.com with the URL for your website. Leave this redirected URL in blog comments as well as forum signatures. This redirect will count a unique IP address once a day so clicking it multiple times won’t help. There is no official proof that redirects positively benefit your Alexa Rank, so use with caution.

10. Post in Asian social networking websites or forums. Some webmasters have suggested that East Asian web users are big Alexa toolbar fans, judging by the presence of several Asia-based websites in the Alexa Top 500. I suggest trying this only if you have the time or capacity to do so.

11. Create a webmaster tools section on your website. This is a magnet for webmasters who will often revisit your website to gain access to the tools. Aaron Wall’s webpage on SEOTools is a very good example.

12. Get Digg or Stumbled. This usually brings massive numbers of visitors to your website and the sheer amount will have a positive impact on your Alexa Rank. Naturally, you’ll need to develop link worthy material.

13. Use PayperClick Campaigns. Buying advertisements on search engines such as Google or Exact Seek will help bring in Traffic. Doubly useful when your ad is highly relevant to webmasters.

14. Create an Alexa category on your blog and use it to include any articles or news about Alexa. This acts as an easily accessible resource for webmasters or casual search visitors while helping you rank in the search engines.

15. Optimize your popular posts. Got a popular post that consistently receives traffic from the search engines? Include a widget/graph at the bottom of the post, link to your Alexa post or use Alexa redirection on your internal URLs.

16. Buy banners and links for traffic from webmaster forums and websites. A prominent and well displayed ad will drive lots of webmaster traffic to your website, which can significantly boost your rank.

17. Hire forum posters to pimp your website. Either buy signatures in webmaster forums or promote specific articles or material in your website on a regular basis. You can easily find posters for hire in Digital Point and other webmaster forums.

18. Pay Cybercafe owners to install the Alexa toolbar and set your website as the homepage for all their computers. This might be difficult to arrange and isn’t really a viable solution for most. I’m keeping this one in because some have suggested that it does work.

19. Use MySpace . This is a little shady so I don’t recommended it unless you’re really interested in artificially inflating your Alexa Rank. Use visually attractive pictures or banners and link them to your redirected Alexa URL. This will be most effective if your website has content that is actually relevant to the MySpace Crowd.

20. Try Alexa auto-surfs. Do they work? Maybe for brand new sites. I think they are mostly suitable for new websites with a very poor Alexa rank. Note that there be problems when you try to use auto surfs alongside contextual ads like Adsense. They aren’t also long term solutions to improving your Alexa Rank so I suggest using with caution.

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Nokia 6600i Latest Mobile

The Nokia 6600 was undoubtedly one of Nokia's most popular smartphones. Ever since it was launched back in 2004, it has sold millions of units and even now, we come across people using the phone, albeit as a backup phone.Having said that, anything that shares a similar name with the erstwhile king of smart phones, deserves attention. That attention was given to the brand new Nokia 6600i which has been announced by the Finnish handset maker a few days ago. Whoever hearing the 6600 lineage would have thought of the phone to be a smartphone- or at least share the lineage in the form of a similar form factor. Sadly, that is not the case. Nokia seems to have forgotten the good old 6600 completely as the latest iteration of the phone happens to be a slider phone - and it's not even a smartphone!

Meet the brand new 6600i, the latest Series 40 release from Nokia. The 6600i is a decently spec-ed device sporting a 5 megapixel camera, a 1GB micro SD card and the Nokia stereo headset WH-203 with FM radio. On the design front, this one might just turn the occasional heads, thanks to its "brushed steel covers and chrome center key which constitute both understated elegance as well as visual simplicity" as Nokia puts it.

This, as it turns out, it might just be another S40 phone from the company with nothing revolutionary to offer. Nokia could have done better than this, at least by not naming it after the 6600, which inspite of having been termed an "oyster egg" by detractors during its heydays, was a kick-ass phone.It will be made available in select markets in Q3 2009 at an expected price of Rs. 13,000

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AIEEE 2009 Engineering Colleges

All India Engineering Entrance Examination 2009 is scheduled for April 26, 2009.Some 36 colleges are under AIEEE. All colleges are very well know and reputed colleges. All information about AIEEE can be found at www.aieee.nic.in
. All India Engineering Entrance Examination 2009 is scheduled for April 26, 2009.

List of Engineering Colleges for AIEEE
* IIIT Hyderabad
* NSIT Delhi
* DCE Delhi
* NIT Trichy
* NIT Warangal
* NIT Surathkal * NIT Nagpur * MNNIT Allahabad * NIT Calicut * NIT Kurukshetra
* MNIT Jaipur
* IIIT Allahabad
* KITS Bhubaneswar * NIT Bhopal
* NIT Surat
* BIT Ranchi
* NIT Jalandhar * NIT Rourkela
* NIT Raipur
* NIT Jamshedpur * ABV IITM, Gwalior * NIT Durgapur * SASTRA Thanjavur * NIT Hamirpur
* PDPM IIIT, Jabalpur
* NIT Silchar * NIT Srinagar * NIT Patna * Assam University, Silchar

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EAMCET RESULTS 2009

Eamcet results will be released on Monday at 6 pm. The results will be declared by minister for technical education M V Ramana Rao at Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education, Masab Tank.

Ironically, at the eleventh hour, officials discovered that 11 questions in the physics section of engineering stream were repeated in the medicine one, giving an edge to over 1,200 CBSE students who sat for the career-making test.

CBSE Class XII students (MBPC) will stand to gain as they are eligible to apply for both streams. With only 2,500 medical seats, 11 questions, which roughly translates into 11 marks, might send ranks into a tail spin.

Question number 83 of engineering stream (SET A) was repeated as question number 83 in the medicine stream. Question numbers 92, 94, 97, 105, 108, 110, 118 and 119 in the engineering stream (Set A) were repeated under the same serial numbers in the BPC stream. Question number 102 in the MPC stream was repeated as question number 100 in the BPC stream.

Results will be available at :

www.apeamcet.org
http:www.schools9.com
http://www.studyshared.com
http://www.manabadi.com
http://www.manabadi.co.in
http://www.results.manabadi.co.in
http://www.vidyavision.com’

from 6pm onwards on June 1st 2009

Results will also be available through automated voice response system. Students can access results through IVRS on Airtel, Aircel, Vodafne, Idea, BSNL, Tata and Reliance by calling 5054242, 5052828, 1255510/14/24/64 and 540406. BSNL customers can SMS EAMCET Roll.no and Send it to 56666, 56505, 55352 and 56300. To get results though any BSNL landline or Cell call 1255560 or 12630099. The EAMCET results would be available on the website in the following format. For the students of engineering stream- Hallticket number, Name, father’s name, gender, category, local area, mathematics, physics, chemistry, total and result would be available and the same format would be applied for students who appeared for medical stream. (Mathematics would be replaced by biology marks).

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