Guys... the blog has moved!!... i am now blogging on my own domain...
you can access the blog from http://www.anubhavsethi.com
or directly at http://blog.anubhavsethi.com
The blog is still called WygiWys.
Thank you!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
U2 3D, Slumdog Millionaire and the Palm Pre
A post after a long time. And its probably going to be a long one.
So this one is about three things that have had me drooling over... literally.
Lets start with U2 3D. Im sure everybody has heard them, most of us have liked tham, and a few like me have almost worshipped them (yeah, probably 2nd place to Floyd, but the Edge does rock!!). U2 have always done wierd stuff (and by wierd i mean different... unconventional...).. stuff that people would be given ideas of, but they would reject them straight out. But U2 have been very very experimentative. So then, when one bloke came up with the idea of recording a (actually several) live concert(s) of theirs in 3D, they totally jumped on the bandwagon.
Now u see, this is no conventional 3D shit. This was "recorded" in 3D, rather than rendered. And yeah, to do something like this, there are apparantly 8 such cameras in the world (and yes, they did use all of them).
So, the result is totally unrealistic (actually its very realistic, if u know what i mean)... probably the best cinematic experience u would ever have. Everytime ive been for it, i have actually had to tell my body that "im not in the real thing!! this is a theatre!! cant get up and jump with the crowd!!". The way the thing has been shot is truly awesome. U actually feel you are on the stage with the band... in the crowd sometimes...or just floating over Larry Mullen Jrs. drums. The effect is totally amazing.
Just makes me wonder, how technology has moved ahead in such a short period of time. When i was a kid (and im not that old now) we had black and white TV's that needed a daily adjustment of the rooftop antenna to get a decent image in which we could recognize people... and just a decade and a few years later, we have technology like this in which you can watch LIVE stuff in 3D in theatres... its not gonna be long before it enters are homes, and the way we entertain ourselves changes forever.
I heard that they are going to now telecast sporting events Live...yes.. LIVE in 3d across theatres. Imagine watching Wimbledon like that... or a F1 race!
Yeah... ive seen U2 3D 5 times already.. and wouldnt want watching it again... and probably will....
And that brings me to another movie that i saw recently, and have seen it twice already. Slumdog Millionaire. The store of a mumbai Chaiwala becoming a millionaire. Funny in parts. Extremely realistic. And after seeing this, i really wouldnt be surprised if someone like that actually turns up in one of these shows and wins it. From the way i looked at the movie, it just tells us what education is. As in, most of us if not all, have studied in so and so school and so and so college, but what have we actually gained from that? A few yellowed out papers and probably a job. But... the essence of it... the knowledge that was thrust into our brains... how many of us actually use that to earn our livelyhood?
What i liked about the movie, very specifically was that it shows us that what we know is what we experience. Not what we learn. Or are tought. Experiences. What we go through in life. That is what can make it for us or break it for us. Not a Harvard degree.... and yeah... i forgot to mention, a lot of luck too... that is an essential ingredient.
And that is so very true. Look it all the gazzilionaires around us. Specifically the ones who built there own empires... how many of them had proper formal education till the end? most of them have been college/school dropouts... or have been plain and simply uneducated. But yes, they did go through experiences in life that most people did not go through. That was their learning. And yeah, being at the right place, at the right time and doing the right thing (in other words, a lot of Luck) - thats what made them.
And this is exactly what the movie according to me is all about. You could be a professor or whatever, but, that does not mean you could win a contest... you would lose, because you remember what you experience. Not what you learn.
And talking about learning brings me to this company called Palm... who over the last few years had a lot of learning to do. A little bit of history first = Palm was once upon a time was one of the best handheld manufacturers. They were the ones who introduced the concept of handheld devices to take care of all your computing needs while you were on the go. And then they introduced to the world the concept of smartphones, by integrating their handheld technology with mobile technology... and that churned out wonders for palm... I swear by my Palm Treo.. its the best phone i have ever had... and the best part about it is The OS... it rocks. But then Palm started having troubles... on the OS development front... and they started using Windows OS on teir phones (something that a Palm OS user like me totally detests)... and started making people go in for better WinMobile options (like the HTC's and O2's) And then they went into hibernation.
They did not manage to introduce anything new for the last quite a few years. Everybody thought Palm was dead. nada. the end.
But. Behind the closed doors, Palm probably went on a learning mode. Learning what the Iphones and the HTC's were managing to pull off, and why. And then they created something totally awesome. Im actually drooling as i type this. Just check out https://www.palm.com
They introduced the Palm Pre. It looks drop dead gorgeous. And they have crammed everything they knew... everything they had learnt over the years into one small-little-drop-dead-gorgeous thing. Its got everything. Trust me. Name a feature on any other phone. It has it. And much much more.
Two things that totally take the cake away for me -
1. The new Palm WebOS. Palm OS was always known for its speed and memory management. It was awesome. Fast, easy, intuitive and very vey good looking. But this one is one big leap. Firstly, it is completely web based. That is, everything... i mean everything... is either written in HTML, Java, PHP etc. A beautiful concept.. must say. So, if you have a basic knowledge of any of the gibberish mentioned inthe previous sentence, you could, effectively write personalized applications for it! And if you dont have any knowledge of the above, dont worry, some other blokes on the net would!
2. Wireless Charging. This one is straight out of Starship Enterprise!. Yes, this phone has wireless charging (an optional accessory though). It comes with this so called "Touchstone charging dock" which looks damn cool.The image is on your left.. and all you have to do to charge your phone is to place your phone on it. And then some magnets inside the thingie align the phone and some witchcraft happens and the phone starts charging!!! Awesome. I love it.
That leaves me waiting. Desperately waiting for its release (yes, it has only be 'introduced' not 'released'). And it is going to be my next phone, from the day someone starts to sell it.
PS: I was joking about witchcraft :-) Its actually Magnetic Induction. ;-)
So this one is about three things that have had me drooling over... literally.
Lets start with U2 3D. Im sure everybody has heard them, most of us have liked tham, and a few like me have almost worshipped them (yeah, probably 2nd place to Floyd, but the Edge does rock!!). U2 have always done wierd stuff (and by wierd i mean different... unconventional...).. stuff that people would be given ideas of, but they would reject them straight out. But U2 have been very very experimentative. So then, when one bloke came up with the idea of recording a (actually several) live concert(s) of theirs in 3D, they totally jumped on the bandwagon.
Now u see, this is no conventional 3D shit. This was "recorded" in 3D, rather than rendered. And yeah, to do something like this, there are apparantly 8 such cameras in the world (and yes, they did use all of them).
So, the result is totally unrealistic (actually its very realistic, if u know what i mean)... probably the best cinematic experience u would ever have. Everytime ive been for it, i have actually had to tell my body that "im not in the real thing!! this is a theatre!! cant get up and jump with the crowd!!". The way the thing has been shot is truly awesome. U actually feel you are on the stage with the band... in the crowd sometimes...or just floating over Larry Mullen Jrs. drums. The effect is totally amazing.Just makes me wonder, how technology has moved ahead in such a short period of time. When i was a kid (and im not that old now) we had black and white TV's that needed a daily adjustment of the rooftop antenna to get a decent image in which we could recognize people... and just a decade and a few years later, we have technology like this in which you can watch LIVE stuff in 3D in theatres... its not gonna be long before it enters are homes, and the way we entertain ourselves changes forever.
I heard that they are going to now telecast sporting events Live...yes.. LIVE in 3d across theatres. Imagine watching Wimbledon like that... or a F1 race!
Yeah... ive seen U2 3D 5 times already.. and wouldnt want watching it again... and probably will....
And that brings me to another movie that i saw recently, and have seen it twice already. Slumdog Millionaire. The store of a mumbai Chaiwala becoming a millionaire. Funny in parts. Extremely realistic. And after seeing this, i really wouldnt be surprised if someone like that actually turns up in one of these shows and wins it. From the way i looked at the movie, it just tells us what education is. As in, most of us if not all, have studied in so and so school and so and so college, but what have we actually gained from that? A few yellowed out papers and probably a job. But... the essence of it... the knowledge that was thrust into our brains... how many of us actually use that to earn our livelyhood?
What i liked about the movie, very specifically was that it shows us that what we know is what we experience. Not what we learn. Or are tought. Experiences. What we go through in life. That is what can make it for us or break it for us. Not a Harvard degree.... and yeah... i forgot to mention, a lot of luck too... that is an essential ingredient. And that is so very true. Look it all the gazzilionaires around us. Specifically the ones who built there own empires... how many of them had proper formal education till the end? most of them have been college/school dropouts... or have been plain and simply uneducated. But yes, they did go through experiences in life that most people did not go through. That was their learning. And yeah, being at the right place, at the right time and doing the right thing (in other words, a lot of Luck) - thats what made them.
And this is exactly what the movie according to me is all about. You could be a professor or whatever, but, that does not mean you could win a contest... you would lose, because you remember what you experience. Not what you learn.
And talking about learning brings me to this company called Palm... who over the last few years had a lot of learning to do. A little bit of history first = Palm was once upon a time was one of the best handheld manufacturers. They were the ones who introduced the concept of handheld devices to take care of all your computing needs while you were on the go. And then they introduced to the world the concept of smartphones, by integrating their handheld technology with mobile technology... and that churned out wonders for palm... I swear by my Palm Treo.. its the best phone i have ever had... and the best part about it is The OS... it rocks. But then Palm started having troubles... on the OS development front... and they started using Windows OS on teir phones (something that a Palm OS user like me totally detests)... and started making people go in for better WinMobile options (like the HTC's and O2's) And then they went into hibernation.
They did not manage to introduce anything new for the last quite a few years. Everybody thought Palm was dead. nada. the end.But. Behind the closed doors, Palm probably went on a learning mode. Learning what the Iphones and the HTC's were managing to pull off, and why. And then they created something totally awesome. Im actually drooling as i type this. Just check out https://www.palm.com
They introduced the Palm Pre. It looks drop dead gorgeous. And they have crammed everything they knew... everything they had learnt over the years into one small-little-drop-dead-gorgeous thing. Its got everything. Trust me. Name a feature on any other phone. It has it. And much much more.
Two things that totally take the cake away for me -
1. The new Palm WebOS. Palm OS was always known for its speed and memory management. It was awesome. Fast, easy, intuitive and very vey good looking. But this one is one big leap. Firstly, it is completely web based. That is, everything... i mean everything... is either written in HTML, Java, PHP etc. A beautiful concept.. must say. So, if you have a basic knowledge of any of the gibberish mentioned inthe previous sentence, you could, effectively write personalized applications for it! And if you dont have any knowledge of the above, dont worry, some other blokes on the net would!
That leaves me waiting. Desperately waiting for its release (yes, it has only be 'introduced' not 'released'). And it is going to be my next phone, from the day someone starts to sell it.
PS: I was joking about witchcraft :-) Its actually Magnetic Induction. ;-)
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