My New Home Theatre System

Just bought and installed my latest spanking new Home Theater System.

Although technically speaking this is not a home theatre system as it does not have a separate AVR (Audio Video Receiver).

What's In The Box

• Package Contents Speakers: 4 satellites, 1 center channel, 1 subwoofer
• 6-channel direct cable
• Digital SoundTouch™ control center
• Wireless remote control, batteries included
• User's manual
• 2 year limited warranty

Technical Specifications

• Total FTC power: 505 watts RMS
  Sub-woofer: 188 watts RMS (into 8 ohms, @ 100Hz, @ 10% THD)
  Satellites:
  Left/Right: 62 watts RMS x 2 (into 8 ohms, @ 1khz, @ 10% THD)
  Center: 69 watts RMS (into 8 ohms, @ 1kHz, @ 10% THD)
  Rear Left & Right: 62 watts RMS x 2 (into 8 ohms, @ 1kHz, @ 10% THD)
• Total Peak power: 1010 watts
• Maximum SPL: >115 dB
• Frequency response: 33 Hz — 20 kHz
• Amplifier: Ultra-linear, high-capacity analog
• Signal to noise ratio: >93.5 dB, typical 100
• Input impedance: 8,000 ohms
• Compatibility:
  PC/Mac
  CD
  MP3
  DVD
  PlayStation®
  Xbox®

My current Setup

• 32 inch Panasonic Viera LCD (am looking to upgrade to LED soon)
• Philips DVD Player
• Logitech Z 5500 5.1 speaker set

Moving on in Life

Yesterday life stood still for me! I thought, i evaluated! Yes, I was nervous, angry, hurt, indecisive for quite a while! Then i thought and thought hard and for long! I evaluated the pros and cons my shortcomings as a person and a lot of other things as well. This was when the indecisiveness started dissipating as if it were smoke and suddenly a gentle breeze started. I could suddenly see a light among the all encompassing darkness.

After all the thinking what happened is that i understood that my life has become too complicated and i started thinking in terms of simplifying my life. And as of where i stand today, i've decided to move on! Nothing is as grim as we think it to be! So all's well..moving on in life inspite and despite the consequences!

Indian Hackers..Did they do Right or Wrong?

I am sure that most know about the fact that on 26^th November 2010 a group of hackers who like to call themselves the ‘Indian Cyber Army’ hacked into a server that was hosting over 40 government of Paksitan websites including the ones related to defense. They went on to deface these sites. The reason cited was that it is an indication and a response to the terrorist event that occurred on 26^th November a year back and in common parlance referred to as 26/11.

I was contemplating whether this was good or was it bad.

My heart says ‘Yes’ it was bloody (please excuse me for using expletives but this is coming straight from my heart) damn good.

My brain says know. An eye for an eye will only blind the whole world and this might not be the most rational thing to do. There are some forums which I read and read a lot, if I may say. The popular notion there is that the response of the Indian Hackers ‘Indian Cyber Army’ is great and is something that the Indian government failed to did.

I am still undecided. But I pray for peace!

Secrets of Success in Corporate World Revealed - Must Look (in Hindi)

PS: I hope i am not doing any copyright violation. I got this email as a forward. I liked it and decided to upload it here. If there is anything wrong please let me know!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - (Millennium Trilogy Book 1)

A Review

Author: Stieg Larsson

608 pages

List Price: Rs. 350

My review of this book is right on. But before I shed more light on the same here is some background info on the author.

Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) was a Swedish writer and journalist who passed away in 2004. Prior to his death he finished three novels (Genre: detective novels) in his trilogy "The Millenium-series" all of which were published posthumously. They are:

1. "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo",
2. "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and
3. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest"

You can read more about the author here: http://www.stieglarsson.com/

Moving back to the book, I’d say that reading it is worth every penny invested in buying it.

The very first page will enchant you with the unsolved mystery of the flowers being sent to an old man for more than past 30 years of the days & times of the novel.

If you are already hooked on and you move on to the next couple of pages you will hear the story of a certain ‘Mikael Blomkvist’ who is one of the main characters of the novel. He is a financial journalist who is about to loose a case against a giant industrial conglomerate and is about to be sentenced to jail for libel.

As if this were not enough, the author throws another parallel story of a thin almost anorexic lady who is struggling to be sociable.

Then comes the show stopper an offer to investigate the disappearance of a young girl from a small island in Sweden more than 30 years back in history, a case police till date had not solved.

The simple yet nice way in which the stories became entangled to form a complex and then the appearance of the ‘Dragon Tattoo’.

From here on the story becomes so enchanting that keeping the book down will feel like it hurts. Trust me, I hated the idea of not having been able to finish the book in a weekend and then waking up to find a lot of pages left still and the clock showing Monday morning; absolutely hated the idea of going to office.

The only thing that I did not like was the unfolding of the final moments of the plot. It seemed kind of abrupt and was not at all subtle.

You read you decide! My rating 4.5 on 5.

Arundhati-citis

This is a brilliant post by the 'comic project'. I absolutely loved it and so am adding it to my blog. All credits to the original poster, i have not done any value addition here and have posted it here simply for the love of it. You can read the original post here: http://thecomicproject.blogspot.com/2010/10/arundhati-citis.html

Drinks and Personality

I got this in an email as a forward (hope am not flouting any copyright rules) liked it so posting the same here:

Before you order a drink in public, you should read this! Seven New York City bartenders were asked if they could ‘nail’ a woman’s personality based on what she drinks. Though interviewed separately, they concurred on almost all counts. The results:

WOMEN-DRINKS, WHO THEY ARE!

Drink: Beer
Personality: Causal, low-maintenance; down to earth.
Your Approach: Challenge her to a game of pool.

Drink: Blender Drinks
Personality: Flaky, whiny, annoying; a pain in the ass.
Your Approach: Avoid her, unless you want to be her cabana boy.

Drink: Mixed Drinks
Personality: Older, more refined, high maintenance, has very picky taste; knows EXACTLY what she wants.
Your Approach: You won’t have to approach her. If she’s interested, she’ll send YOU a drink…

Drink: Wine (does not include White Zinfandel)
Personality: Conservative and classy; sophisticated yet giggles.
Your Approach: Tell her you love to travel and spend quiet evenings with my friends.

Drink: White Zinfandel
Personality: Easy; thinks she is classy and sophisticated, actually, she has NO clue.
Your Approach: Make her feel smarter than she is…this should be an easy target.

Drink: Shots
Personality: Likes to hang with pals and looking to get totally drunk… and naked.
Your Approach: Easiest hit in the joint. You have been blessed. Nothing to do but wait, however, be careful not to make her mad!

Drink: Tequila
No explanations required – everyone just KNOWS what happens there.

MAN-DRINKS & WHO THE MEN ARE!

THEN, there is the MALE addendum — The deal with guys is, as always, very simple and clear cut:

Domestic Beer: He’s poor and wants to get laid.

Imported Beer: He likes good beer and wants to get laid.

Wine: He is hoping that the wine will give him a sophisticated image to help him get laid.

Whiskey: He doesn’t give a damn about anything but getting laid.

Tequila: He is thinking he has a chance with the toothless waitress.

White Zinfandel: He’s gay

The Immortals of Meluha - A Review

Author: Amish Tripathi

Publisher: Prakash Books India Pvt Ltd

Price: INR 295

Pages: 398

This is a book that landed up with me when I read about the same on a small HT feature page way back in March or April 2010. I loved the concept and lapped it up with enthusiasm. This book was my first online buy from the website www.flipkart.com. The entire package; right from the cover page to the first chapter are very alluring and trust me you will not let go till you’ve read the last page. And once you’ve read the last page you will start looking for more. You will start asking about the release dates of the next two books of the sequel. At least, I did. J

Moving on to my views and excerpts:

‘The IMMORTALS OF MELUHA’ is the first book in a trilogy. The other two books in the series are:

Book 2: "The Secret of the Nagas"

Book 3: "The Oath of the Vayuputras"

It is the story of the simple man, whom legend turned into a God. The book is set in 1900 BC, in Meluha a near perfect empire created many centuries earlier by Lord Ram. We commonly refer to this era as the Indus Valley Civilisation.

The proud empire of Suryavanshi rulers faces severe perils as its primary river, the revered Saraswati whose water is used to make Somras or ambrosia is slowly drying to extinction. Suryavanshi’s are surrounded by enemies in the form of the evil Nagas and Chandravanshis.

The only hope for the Suryavanshis is an ancient legend which says that ‘when evil reaches epic proportions, when all seems lost, when it appears that your enemies have triumphed, a hero will emerge’. This person is called Shiva – the Neelkanth.

I will not describe more about the book here and spoil your experience of reading the same. Here is the official link to the first chapter here: http://shivatrilogy.com/books/1st_chapter.pdf and indulge yourself.

If you like then please go forward and but the book - "The Immortals of Meluha" from here: http://shivatrilogy.com/buyonline.html.

Well done Amish, I look forward to the next two books. I absolutely love the fact that people are taking the Indian folklore to fiction and the same is doing it well. As a matter of fact this book has been in the Top 10 fiction list in India right from the time of its launch to till date. Kudos to Amish and eagerly awaiting the other books.

Indian Grand Prix

October 2011, will signal the start of the first Indian Grand Prix at a state-of-the-art, brand spanking-new race track in Greater Noida near New Delhi.

TRACK FACTS

• 5.14 km track to be ready by June 2010, in time for FIA inspection
• Track designed by Herman Tilke
• Total cost of the track around USD 350 million
• Fastest speed expected from an F1car — 318 kph
• Average speed — 210 kph
• Slowest corner— 93 kph
• World-class motorcycling events to come to the track
• Four layers of ticketing for the inaugural race
• Feedback from current racing drivers used in finalising track design
• Karting circuit and racing institute planned
• Bernie Ecclestone influenced the track design
• Grandstand alone will handle 30,000 people
• 140 marshals will be trained and the rest of them chosen from abroad
• No night race to begin with — but possible in the future
• One of the top three fastest circuits in the world
• Site part of the special development zone

What remains to be seen is whether India can pull its act together unlike the Common wealth games and build a great track on time and also if the race can draw enough enthusiasts to make it a profitable model.

I for starters am going to Delhi in October 2011 for sure :) :)