Today in NYC, Jeff Bezon (CEO Amazon) unvelied the impressive Kindle product line.
Kindle (4th gen) - $79
Kindle Touch - $99
Kindle Touch 3G - $149
Kindle Fire (tablet) - $199 (7-inch IPS display, dual-core processor, 14.6 ounces). Fire ships November 15th and you can pre-order it today.
This could be a game changer as Kindle Fire will compete neck to neck with Apple's iPad. Amazon has released their first tablet computer at an astonishing price of $199 and this could ignite the fierce competition. Another big day for Android, as Kindle Fire will get all its fire from the open source OS and I am sure that will leave an lasting impression on the consumers. I really need to see Amazon Silk in action. This is the new browing platform based on the powerful EC2 (elastic cloud) technology offered by Amazon and it functions on the principle of dynamic split browsing another thing which makes me curious on its functionality.
See Kindle Fire in action:
Well done Amazon. Tablet war on its peak and all eyes are now on the October 4th event, when Apple will release the much talked about iPhone 5.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Movie Review: Moneyball
I wanted to watch “Moneyball” since I saw the trailer sometime back. “Moneyball” rocks and I loved it. Both Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill have done an excellent job. The movie is based on the book (Moneyball) by Michael Lewis. The screenplay is written by none other than Steve Zaillan and Aaron Sorkin, the team that gave us “The Social Network” last year.
It does not matter if you are a baseball fan or not, “Moneyball” will keep you entertained till the very last moment. On the other hand “Moneyball” is a full 2 hour lesson in the amazing field of sports management or rather any management. If you are a manager or planning to be one in the near future, watch “Moneyball” and I am sure you will like it and learn a lot from watching it.
Another good movie which I am pretty sure will make it to the Oscars next year.
It does not matter if you are a baseball fan or not, “Moneyball” will keep you entertained till the very last moment. On the other hand “Moneyball” is a full 2 hour lesson in the amazing field of sports management or rather any management. If you are a manager or planning to be one in the near future, watch “Moneyball” and I am sure you will like it and learn a lot from watching it.
Another good movie which I am pretty sure will make it to the Oscars next year.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Winner: Innovation challenge
It gives me an immense pleasure to write this on my blog that I along with my fellow co-worker who also happened to be my friend and mentor were declared the winners of the innovation challenge held at my company. This was the first ever event that took place at my place of work and our 2 man team won undisputedly. We took part in 2 innovative challenges and to my surprise we won both of them. In both the challenges the competition was fierce but we beat our competitors by being superior in our design and in our method of exceution.
Our team won $200 ($100 per challenge). I know the price money was not that great. Moreover we took those innovation challenges to tinker our brain cells and it is not for the money. The best part is me and my friend have decided to donate the prize money ($200) to charity. Hope our efforts will make someone smile.
Well done me.
Our team won $200 ($100 per challenge). I know the price money was not that great. Moreover we took those innovation challenges to tinker our brain cells and it is not for the money. The best part is me and my friend have decided to donate the prize money ($200) to charity. Hope our efforts will make someone smile.
Well done me.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Movie Review: Warrior
Watched “Warrior” last weekend and I liked it very much. The movie is based on the championship fight called Sparta where various athletes demonstrate their fighting skills in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). The story revolves around 2 brothers and the roles were played by Tom Hardy & Joel Edgerton. I must say that both of these actors have played their roles to perfection. Tom Hardy was one of my favorites. I liked his role in Inception and now he is playing the bad guy (Bane) in the upcoming Batman movie. In “Warrior” Tom Hardy represents flawless raw emotions and I must say that his acting skills have improved a lot. I just can’t imagine how hard he had worked in shaping up his physique for this role and the role of Bane.
Though the movie revolved around the story of these two brothers and how they face each other in the ring to fight for the championship title, but to me the best part of this movie was the performance of Nick Nolte. I simply got smitten by Nick’s acting and I must say that he deserves an Oscar for this performance. I recommend watching “Warrior” not for the kicks and the MMA fighting sequences but for the superb acting and the story that weaves the movie and all its characters together.
Last year “The Fighter” did a great job at the Oscars and I wish that “Warrior” could do the same. I was planning to watch “Contagion” but my mind got changed at the last moment. After watching “Warrior” I have no regrets for the last minute change of plans and I am happy I got to see something totally awesome.
Though the movie revolved around the story of these two brothers and how they face each other in the ring to fight for the championship title, but to me the best part of this movie was the performance of Nick Nolte. I simply got smitten by Nick’s acting and I must say that he deserves an Oscar for this performance. I recommend watching “Warrior” not for the kicks and the MMA fighting sequences but for the superb acting and the story that weaves the movie and all its characters together.
Last year “The Fighter” did a great job at the Oscars and I wish that “Warrior” could do the same. I was planning to watch “Contagion” but my mind got changed at the last moment. After watching “Warrior” I have no regrets for the last minute change of plans and I am happy I got to see something totally awesome.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Yahoo fired CEO Carol Bartz....
...over the phone.
This is what Carol wrote to Yahoo employees (from her ipad).
To all,
I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.
Carol
Sent from my iPad
Will this be the turning point for Yahoo? Well if someone can acquire Yahoo then things will get changed. The question is who will come forward and take the risk of buying Yahoo, specially when it is not performing well. Another chance for Microsoft to come forward, but I guess that won't happen.
This is what Carol wrote to Yahoo employees (from her ipad).
To all,
I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board. It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.
Carol
Sent from my iPad
Will this be the turning point for Yahoo? Well if someone can acquire Yahoo then things will get changed. The question is who will come forward and take the risk of buying Yahoo, specially when it is not performing well. Another chance for Microsoft to come forward, but I guess that won't happen.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
August Rush
So far, the month of August by all means was the most volatile month of this year. In order to publish my yearly event log I am compiling the list of all the important events that took place in a month. I know we still have almost 4 months left in this year but here I am presenting you with the events that took place in the month of August. Thanks to globalization, I am sure we all get impacted by these events in some way or the other.
Here goes the list.
Aug 4th – Dow loses 512.76 point (4.31% down), NASDAQ loses 136.68 points (5.08% down), S&P500 loses 60.27 points (4.78% down) – Worst day for the market since Dec 2008
Aug 5th – S&P downgraded the US debt rating to AA+ from AAA
Aug 8th – S&P downgraded the debt rating for mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to AA+
Aug 8th - Dow loses 634.76 point (5.55% down), NASDAQ loses 174.72 points (6.09% down), S&P500 loses 79.92 points (6.66% down) – Another very bad day for the market since Dec 2008
Aug 9th – Apple overtakes Exxon Mobil for the first time to become the most valuable public company (in any field of business).
Aug 10th – And another bad day for the market. DOW sheds 519.83 point, NASDAQ loses 101.47 point and S&P loses 51.77 point.
Aug 10th – At the close of the market, Apple ahead of Exxon Mobil for the first time ever and became the most valuable company in the world.
Aug 15th - Google decided to acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion.
Aug 18th – HP decided to abandon Touchpad & WebOS, and confirm its plan to spin off PC business.
Aug 24th – Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple’s CEO. Tim Cook became new Apple CEO
Aug 25th – Linux OS turned 20
Though, I might have missed tons of other things that have happened during the month of August, but the events mentioned above were significant enough to get hold of my attention and hence they turned out to be the part of my yearly event log and on this blog.
Here goes the list.
Aug 4th – Dow loses 512.76 point (4.31% down), NASDAQ loses 136.68 points (5.08% down), S&P500 loses 60.27 points (4.78% down) – Worst day for the market since Dec 2008
Aug 5th – S&P downgraded the US debt rating to AA+ from AAA
Aug 8th – S&P downgraded the debt rating for mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to AA+
Aug 8th - Dow loses 634.76 point (5.55% down), NASDAQ loses 174.72 points (6.09% down), S&P500 loses 79.92 points (6.66% down) – Another very bad day for the market since Dec 2008
Aug 9th – Apple overtakes Exxon Mobil for the first time to become the most valuable public company (in any field of business).
Aug 10th – And another bad day for the market. DOW sheds 519.83 point, NASDAQ loses 101.47 point and S&P loses 51.77 point.
Aug 10th – At the close of the market, Apple ahead of Exxon Mobil for the first time ever and became the most valuable company in the world.
Aug 15th - Google decided to acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion.
Aug 18th – HP decided to abandon Touchpad & WebOS, and confirm its plan to spin off PC business.
Aug 24th – Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple’s CEO. Tim Cook became new Apple CEO
Aug 25th – Linux OS turned 20
Though, I might have missed tons of other things that have happened during the month of August, but the events mentioned above were significant enough to get hold of my attention and hence they turned out to be the part of my yearly event log and on this blog.
Why you must watch "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
I decided to watch “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” the moment I came to know that Weta Digital will be associated with this movie. My decision was not wrong and I am glad that I stick to it. We will come back to Weta in a moment but first let me tell you that “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is not the movie to be missed. It is an excellent film with an eye opening message. This movie is not about some crazy bunch of Apes trying to bring chaos and destruction to the city of San Francisco, but this movie is about crazy human beings who can go to any extent to prove what they are doing is correct and whatever harsh decisions they are taking will proliferate man kind and eradicate some of the most dangerous and incurable diseases from the face of our planet. Well this issue is debatable and I am sure there will be no end to it.
Watch “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” for its excellent direction, heart touching story and superb performaces by all the actors, specially Andy Serkis. Now if any of you don’t know who Andy Serkis is then it is completely fine. Andy Serkis is the man who hides his face behind the CGI and has played some of the very unforgettable characters. Andy was the one who played Gollum in “Lord of the Rings”, he also played the role of the mighty “King Kong” (Peter Jackson’s version) and in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” he played the role of Caesar. I guess both Weta Digital and Andy did an outstanding job by creating Caesar. You won’t be able to make out that Caesar is the creation of the magical motion captured CGI. The CGI effects are simply flawless and very neatly done. The expressions given by Andy Serkis were superb and heart touching. I am wondering if Academy will consider Andy’s role (as Caesar) and will nominate him in any of the best actors category. Hope after watching that you will feel the same.
Watch out this behind the scenes video to see how Weta and Andy created Caesar.
Now coming back to Weta Digital, it is one of the best CGI makers in the business of film making. Peter Jackson founded the company way back in 1999 and I recommed checking the wiki page to get more details on that. Based in Wellington (New Zealand), Weta brings in world renowned talent in the art of CGI and related effects under one roof. The team at Weta was responsible for creating some awe-inspiring CGI and bringing in some historical achievements in this elite field of film making. Lord of the Rings, Avatar, District 9 and King Kong were among the very best of Weta’s projects. For more movie projects of Weta, visit this link.
Go watch “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and I am pretty sure you’ll like it. The movie does question your inner conscious about animal cruelty by repeatedly asking you these questions – are we doing justice to these innocent creatures, for the sake of experimentation are we using them as petri dish, will there be any alternative solution to test new drugs? Well as I have mentioned all these questions are debatable.
To me “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was the best summer film for this year. Though it got released 4 weeks back, it continued to be among the top 5 grossers in the US. Go watch this movie and see how "Evolution becomes Revolution" (which is also the tagline of this movie).
Watch “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” for its excellent direction, heart touching story and superb performaces by all the actors, specially Andy Serkis. Now if any of you don’t know who Andy Serkis is then it is completely fine. Andy Serkis is the man who hides his face behind the CGI and has played some of the very unforgettable characters. Andy was the one who played Gollum in “Lord of the Rings”, he also played the role of the mighty “King Kong” (Peter Jackson’s version) and in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” he played the role of Caesar. I guess both Weta Digital and Andy did an outstanding job by creating Caesar. You won’t be able to make out that Caesar is the creation of the magical motion captured CGI. The CGI effects are simply flawless and very neatly done. The expressions given by Andy Serkis were superb and heart touching. I am wondering if Academy will consider Andy’s role (as Caesar) and will nominate him in any of the best actors category. Hope after watching that you will feel the same.
Watch out this behind the scenes video to see how Weta and Andy created Caesar.
Now coming back to Weta Digital, it is one of the best CGI makers in the business of film making. Peter Jackson founded the company way back in 1999 and I recommed checking the wiki page to get more details on that. Based in Wellington (New Zealand), Weta brings in world renowned talent in the art of CGI and related effects under one roof. The team at Weta was responsible for creating some awe-inspiring CGI and bringing in some historical achievements in this elite field of film making. Lord of the Rings, Avatar, District 9 and King Kong were among the very best of Weta’s projects. For more movie projects of Weta, visit this link.
Go watch “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and I am pretty sure you’ll like it. The movie does question your inner conscious about animal cruelty by repeatedly asking you these questions – are we doing justice to these innocent creatures, for the sake of experimentation are we using them as petri dish, will there be any alternative solution to test new drugs? Well as I have mentioned all these questions are debatable.
To me “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was the best summer film for this year. Though it got released 4 weeks back, it continued to be among the top 5 grossers in the US. Go watch this movie and see how "Evolution becomes Revolution" (which is also the tagline of this movie).
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