Trust the Japanese to come up with weird gizmos. Today I read in Economic Times about an electronic kettle that sends an email twice a day to the relatives that the elder person who the kettle belongs to “made tea today”! This vaguely sounded like baby monitors – sort of confirming what is said about old age being the second childhood.

But what was disquieting about this was the confirmation that though the technology is progressing by leaps and bounds humans are getting lonelier. :-(

It will be interesting to see how Dan Brown has chosen to end his "Angels and Demons".

I liked Clive Cussler's "Atlantis Found" - but when I finished reading it I couldnt help but feel that he had ended it like one of those mutated-creature horror flicks. When everyone is busy rejoicing,hugging, congratulating and back-slapping each other, there is always a small creature or eggs left some place as a provision for a sequel.....:-)))

666666

No, no....I haven't turned into a devil worshipper. Those who saw yesterday's Twenty20 match between India and England won't take long to understand the reference. For those who came in late, this refers to the 6 sixes that Youvraj hit in one of English bowler Broad's over.

If I have to borrow from Mastercard....

The price of watching India bat first - high probability of suffering a cardiac arrest.

The expression on the faces of Broad and English captain Collingwood after the 5th six was hit - PRICELESS.

Irrespective of what happens in the next match for India - it was payback time for England yesterday (and I aint talking about Pound). Dimitri Mascarenhas, are you listening??

Research on body odor

You will never know what scientists will uncover. Yesterday I read that some research has discovered that a single gene is responsible for how we perceive body ordor. I dont have any objection to that.

But what I read next completely amazed me. It said that due to this gene the same person's body odor can smell like vanilla to one person, like urine to another one and someone else might say that the person does not have body odor at all!! huh? come again?

I am not sure the researchers have come up smelling like roses this time around :-)

Vanishings

“Oh, another story about UFOs or alien abduction” I said to myself as the title “Vanishings” flashed at the beginning of the program. It turned out to be a story of a Cessna aircraft vanishing along with its 20-year old pilot somewhere over the Bass Strait near Australia in the 70s. Before disappearing the pilot had reported a strange metallic capsule like object tailing his aircraft – so another UFO story. But still I watched it. Such is the fascination to find out if there is another life form anywhere else in the galaxy.

Though I am an ardent fan of Captain Kirk and his crew that “boldly went where no man had gone before”, I have always laughed at the human-like appearance of Klingons and vulcans. But then even the creatures from Species series and other sci-fi movies like “The war of the worlds” also seem unrealistic. So I guess we won’t know for sure what these aliens look like (if at all they exist) unless they are absolutely hanging over our heads like “The sword of Damocles” – as in The Independence Day!

This program was a bit different as it did not attempt to offer any scientific explanation for the vanishing except for some theories about aircraft malfunction and possible crash into the seas. Few years later another pilot did see remains of an aircraft at the bottom of the sea but that claim was refuted. Interestingly, a few people who had been standing on top of a hill nearby Bass Strait reported that they had seen a metallic looking object chasing a small aircraft over the sea. But they did so after 12 years! So the jury is still out on the disappearance of the little Cessna aircraft and its 20-year old pilot.

You know what? When yesterday I saw the picture of a mother in Iraq holding the body of her 6-year old son who was hit by a sniper, I seriously wished that a huge alien craft descend from the clouds. Somehow that seems to be the only way to band all humans together – irrespective of our castes, creeds, religions and the kind of God we believe in (if at all we do).

Watch what you speak

The following appeared as a clarification in yesterday's Economic Times:

"A news report published in ET on September 14, 2007, titled Tata Indicom Launches Samsung Explore, stated that the new handset Samsung Explore offered average Internet access speed of 415 kbps. This was based on a senior company executive’s statement at a press conference in New Delhi.

The company has now clarified that the Internet access speed on its new handset is in the range of 40-60 kbps."

Speaks volumes about the senior company executive as well as the reporter covering the conference, doesn't it? :-))

World’s richest Muslim entrepreneur

I was more angry than amused by The Wall Street Journal mentioning Azim Premji as the world’s richest Muslim entrepreneur (‘How a Muslim Billionaire Thrives in Hindu India’ by Yaroslav Trofimov, 11th September, 2007).

What is the need to point out that he is Muslim? Ok, Muslims are a minority in India but does that make India a “Hindu” country? Don’t they realize that by making such references they are in a way fostering “us-versus-them” mindset in impressionable minds?

The Colleseum

I have seen Gladiator and from whatever I have read I know that the Colleseum was a place where a lot of blood was shed. But I was shocked to read that castrations and gang-rapes of women also happened there!! Is this entertainment or horrortainment?

A true love story

This one made me do a double take. I wouldn’t have believed it possible hadn’t I read about it myself in the paper.

It took place in Kozikode in Indian state of Kerala. The lead characters – a hindu girl and a muslim boy. They fell in love but of course marriage was out of question. Both refused to marry anyone else. Then at the age of 34 the guy died in an accident.

This real life story takes a twist here from the predictable end – the guy’s mother met the girl and asked her to start living with them so she could treat her like a daughter-in-law. The girl accepted this. The mother also gave her full responsibility of the school that her son was looking after. The girl has been taking care of it ever since – she is in her 60s now.

What’s more, when the guy was alive they had met only once - their love survived and flourished through letters and letters alone.

I was stunned when I read this. If this is not true love I don’t know what is.

National Treasure re-visited

I had enjoyed this movie starring Nicolas Cage immensely. But couldn’t help feel that the thread running from pyramid and all-seeing eye on the dollar bill to the Masons was pretty thin at best.

Now Dan Brown's book talks about the same things – the Masons are back along with the Illuminati. Oh Boy!!

Twenty20 and me

It is called the “Fast food of cricket” but I loved the idea of a match that got over in 3 hours flat. You get to watch a game and don’t end up postponing important things.

But after India’s loss against the Kiwis I am not sure I have more stomach for this. I wouldn’t have minded if they had lost by 40-50 runs but losing by mere 10 runs hurts like hell……