Random thoughts

OK, what made me going "hmmmm" today? Well, I read in the papers that Tamilnadu is all out to stop pirating of movies (VCD and DVD piracy). The Government has decided that video piracy (and people watching pirated movies) would be dealt with under an act that is used to deal with hooligans / troublemakers. The news item goes on to say that the producers and directors of the Tamil film industry are cheering the Government's decision and rubbing their hands in glee as they anticipate the crowds that will now rush back to the theatres.

I'm wondering why is it that producers don't wake up and start smelling the coffee (this is j2deep's favorite expression, I think?). Video piracy is rampant not because people want to pay less for watching new movies. Video piracy exists because people are buying into the convenience of watching movies at a time and place of their choice (and getting it cheaper in the process).

Confession - I hardly ever go to the theatres these days. I watch movies on DVD and on TV. My reasoning is that its just too cumbersome (even with Internet booking). Ofcourse a special occassion may warrant the trouble but trying to go to the theatres every weekend (putting up with the traffic, noise, pollution and what not) is just too beyond me.

So what the pirate market does is to really provide a convenient means of watching the latest movies from the comfort of one's home (or wherever you choose to watch it).

Why can't the movie producers do that? Why this fixation with the theatres (and trying to go back to the good old days?). Why can't producers release DVDs of the latest movie as soon as it hits the theatres? With digital delivery here (even for many theatres in India) it should be far easier to do than imagined. Release the digital version via the satellites that beam them direct to the theatres and at the same time release it for the home market via DVDs.

I'm sure that will not only kill video piracy immediately but will also mean that the viewer gets to enjoy the movie in the medium of their choice (and not how the producer wants them to watch it). And one day if we all get 2mbps broadband connections to our homes they may even choose to stream the movie down the Internet to our flat panel 40" LCD displays eliminating the DVD altogether.

In other interesting news - I switched broadband providers this week and got myself a broadband connection from Iqara Broadband. The deal gives me unlimited time and unlimited bandwidth (no cap) access to the Internet - and freedom from using the Sify Broadband connection which bills me by the minute (and forces me to install McAfee ViruScan which now gives me wierd errors such as saying I am no longer entitled to get virus updates). The Iqara connection is pretty fast (9kbps or more on a link that is rated 64kbps) - which is good by Indian standards.

Countdown to Sony Vaio V505 - 1 day.

AudioFeast

Here's a portable audio download site which is sort of like audible.com

AudioFeast

Guilty as charged

Yes, I am guilty of not blogging for over ten days now. I guess the mundane world is swallowing me up. What happened to the promised land of long one sentence paragraphs, ramblings and other such things? Well, they took a backseat while I went about putting out one fire after the other (figuratively, not literally).

But I guess I can now afford to look back and say that every problem is a blessing in disguise. Here's something I learnt - if there's a problem looming (not necessarily for you but even for someone else), go right ahead and get into the thick of it and solve it. You'll earn the admiration and respect of all involved. And when the time comes someone will help you out of yours.

I have this crazy feeling I can sense the thoughts and experiences of other people. Just one of those wierd things that I keep thinking about. Sometimes even without anyone telling me anything I seem to "know" how they feel or what they are going through or what they intend to say.

Countdown to Sony V505 (yes I am finally going to get one) - 4 days to go.

The past two weekends I saw "Munnabhai MBBS" and "Lakshya". Both are good. Munnabhai MBBS was pretty hilarious and at the same time thought provoking (especially when it comes to the thought of caring for others).

I watched "Ayutha Ezhuthu" today. I liked it a lot, though that couldn't be said for some others (especially my Dad) who saw the movie with me. Mani Ratnam is the best director around (in my humble opinion) and he is not afraid to experiment with new formats when it comes to presenting a movie. This movie goes back and forth in time while it chronicles the events in the lives of 3 persons (sort of like "Alaipayuthey" - another good movie from Mani Ratnam). I will watch it again, especially to understand the elements that went into making the film (editing, direction, photography, sound, screenplay, etc).

By the way, we host the Ayutha Ezhuthu website (as well as other Mani Ratnam movie websites like Kannathil Muthamittal etc).

Sometimes I feel that seperations are inevitable so why should one be afraid or disappointed by them? Which is why perhaps now seperations are not so hard to handle (regardless of which aspect of my lifeit affects).

I am thinking if I should change the overall layout of my blog. I've had some people (like j2deep - who wants me to help him redesign his blog) tell me they get inspired by my blog layout and elements in this page. So perhaps its time to raise the bar a bit. :)

I stumbled upon this site called StumbleUpon. Check it out - its pretty interesting if you have a lot of time on your hands. :)

More downloadable audio

I was sitting up late debugging a MovableType installation for a friend (diagnosis: the Berkeley DB which stores the blog data seems corrupted).

In the process I was browsing the links from IT Conversations site (see previous post) and got more downloadable audio sites. Here they are:

BOPRadio
CIO Radio
Dr Dobb's TechNetCast
Massive Change
Technology Bytes
WebTalkGuys

Goodie! :)

IT Conversations - new ideas through your headphones

This is audio Mecca - IT Conversations. I discovered this site while reading Jon Udell's blog. There is tons of audio content (of a technical nature) that could be streamed or downloaded as MP3. My Zen Xtra will soon be filled up. ;)

Gmail invites galore

I have 6 more Gmail invites to give away. If anyone needs them please leave a comment here. And please include your email address so that I can send the invite! If required you can munge the email address so that bots can't pick it up (e.g. myname_at_hotmail_dot_com).

Downloadable audio books

After searching far and wide the only alternative I could find for audible.com was the payperlisten.com website from audiobooks.com. Though it isn't half as comprehensive compared to audible.com, it will have to do for now. I bought a Spanish vocabulary audio book from that site today to help me with my Spanish (which I've been trying hard to learn for some time now, by the way). And if anyone knows of a good downloadable audio service do send me a comment or email.

De nuevo a mi Espanol. :)

Goodies galore!

Thanks to Ram, I was finally able to lay my hands on the Creative Zen Xtra mp3 player. I admit its not so cool as the iPod but its extremely functional (and I seem to be leaning a bit to the side of function than form, perhaps for the first time). The sound quality is awesome (though I haven't listened to the iPod to do a proper comparison). Plus when coupled with the Creative Travelsound (yes, got this as well) it is completely out of this world. The Travelsound packs a mighty punch in a very small space. I am impressed - I'd give a 8/10 to the Zen Xtra+Travelsound combo.

BTW if you plan on getting any of Creative's mp3 players - junk the Creative MediaSource software that comes with it. Instead do this - update to the latest driver from Creative's website. Then go and get Notmad Explorer. It costs $25 but it is worth every penny, plus it is much better compared to the clunky MediaSource that comes with the player. I'd give this software a 9/10 (and I think that recommendation would get bumped up to 10/10 once I use it some more). I did try using Windows Media Player 10 to sync my audio but it doesn't work with the Zen Xtra (as yet or maybe not permanently?).

I was disappointed to find that audible.com doesn't support the Zen Xtra yet. A reply from Audible tech support indicates that support for the Zen Xtra is in the pipeline but no date has been fixed. If anyone knows a good audio service (like audible.com) please drop me a mail or post a comment to this blog.

And to round off all this I also got a Concord 3040AF digital camera - nothing fancy, but a pretty good deal ($63) with 3 mega pixels, 4x digital zoom, SD/MMC card slot and video recording. I'm going to try and post a photo I took with the 3040AF using HelloBlogger as a preview of my photography skills. :)

There's more in the goodies bag - I plan on getting a new laptop. I'm debating with myself on whether that would be a Sony, Acer, Thinkpad, or Toshiba. Stay tuned.

My first photoblog - featuring the Zen Xtra and Travelsound. I used the Concord 3040-AF to take this pic.