Blogdom

Answers to MK's Quiz

2008-12-18T00:19:00.007+05:30

The ANSWERS are as follows:

1. Bose Corporation

2. Avram Grant; X=Chelsea

3. Advertisements of United Colours of Benetton

4. Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Annadurai on making hindi the national language(anti-hindi protests)

5. Pinchbeck

6. Ad jingles of Vodafone/ Hutch. Dandy Warhols’ song “Bohemian like you” was played in Vodafone ad Campaigns, and Joseph sang the famous jingle “You and I, in this beautiful world.”

7. Marcus Trescothik. He won the William Hill sports book prize.(guess googling gave many of u guys caroline leavitt :P that was not the answer i was expecting. i have not awarded marks for caroline leavitt) :)

8. Koobface

9. Natalie du Toit

10.Since the Guns n Roses Album “Chinese Democracy” had been in making for 14 yeards, Dr Pepper promised to offer a free can of Dr Pepper to everyone in America—excluding former Guns N' Roses guitarists Buckethead and Slash—if the band released Chinese Democracy in 2008. But the album was released and Dr Pepper failed to live up to its promise. The person in picure B is Axl Rose of GnR who completed this album recently.

11. Peak Oil theory

12. Erin Brockovich

13. A1 and A2 pictures are the pictures of the fossil LUCY(Australopithecus Afranensis). The other picture is of "The Beatles". It was nicknamed Lucy, after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which was being played loudly and repeatedly on a tape recorder in the camp during excavation.( Only person to get this right was Sandeep Ramdev)

14. Knol

15. Tasmanian Devil

16. Pic A is Chris Gardner. B is Will Smith who played the role of Chris gardner in Pursuit of Happyness.

17. Anaconda

18. Stephen Hawking

19. Charles Darwin

20. Rhodes scholarship

Thanks for visiting people. Leave in your comments.

MK's QUIZ

2008-12-09T16:23:00.026+05:30

MK’s QUIZ

1. With which company will you associate the following proprietary technologies:TrueSpace Technology , Electromagnetic Suspension System for Automobiles andDirect/Reflecting Technology?

2. “I have lived in the shadow of Auschwitz all my life. It's a shadow which my father dragged all his life with him. Today I lead a team like X , 65 years after those horrors ended, and I feel this is my personal triumph.” Who said these words in near mid-2008? Also tell me who or what X is?

3. Connect these 3 campaigns:

"If we had to accept the principle of numerical superiority while selecting our national bird, the choice would have fallen not on the peacock but on the common crow." Who said these words and in which context?

_______ is a form of Brass, an alloy of Copper and Zinc and resembles gold. Invented by Christopher _______ in 1700s, it is also known as Fools gold. Fill in the blanks.

6. Connect :

B. The Band "Dandy Warhols"

C. Joseph of the band “Them Clones”

7. Who is the author of “Coming back to me”? Why was it in news recently?

8. What is the name of the worm which was first detected on Facebook and Myspace in July 2008 by Kaspersky Lab and has surfaced again in a new avatar which is menacing Facebook users with spammed links to malicious Web sites that appear to come from friends?

9. X is best known for the gold medals she won at the 2004 Paralympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. She qualified to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, becoming the first female amputee swimmer ever to qualify for the Olympics. Identify this great personality X.

10. Identify C. Also connect the three pictures.

11.A sitter. Hubbert Peak Theory states that for a given geographical area, the rate of petroleum production tends to follow a bell shaped curve. This theory illustrates which concept/ idea?

12.

Her story is the topic of a feature film. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing in a Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. She herself had a cameo role as a waitress named Julia in the movie. Identify her.

13. My favourite question. Identify the fossil in A1 and A2(both are the same). Connect it with the picture B.

A1.

A2.

14. What according to Google is the unit of knowledge?

15. Identify this creature

16. Another one. Connect:

17. This word possibly has its origins from Tamil aanai kondan meaning elephant killer although most dictionaries give origin from Sinhalese henakaňdayā, "whipsnake". Which word am I talking about?

18. He has played himself in several episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama. When he was portrayed on episodes of Family Guy, the voice was actually done by a speech synthesizer on a Macintosh computer. He has also appeared in an episode of the Dilbert cartoon. His actual synthesiser voice was used on parts of the Pink Floyd song "Keep Talking" from the 1994 album The Division Bell. Who is he?

19. In September 2008, the Church of England issued an article saying that the 200th anniversary of his birth was a fitting time to apologise to him "…for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still…" Who was the apology tendered to?

20. Another sitter to end with :) The people who are awarded this have their names prefixed by “Rho” or the equivalent Greek symbol. Some of them to have been awarded with this are Sagarika Ghose-Sardesai, Girish Karnad, and Bobby Jindal. What am I talking about?

Please email your answers to emailmkarthik@yahoo.com only and please give me your feedback regarding this quiz. I am looking forward to you feedback and comments.

Liked the quiz?? The go ahead and click the ads above! Didn’t like it? Never mind. You can still click the ads you see! :P :D

Varanam Aayiram- Movie review

2008-11-16T00:09:00.004+05:30

Vaaranam Aayiram.

As the trailer indicates, the movie is indeed a celebration of life. The life of Surya s/o Krishna, Surya(son) being the narrator for most of the story. The movie begins with the death of the father Krishna and thats the moment when the memories of his whole life flash before Suryas eyes. The countless emotions he had with his father being the crux of the story. I really don’t want to divulge much of the story in this review as it has to be seen for the emotions to be understood. The movie is a biopic of sorts and journeys across all stages of Suryas life. The film has flashes of brilliance thanks to Gautham Menon, especially in the scenes involving Sameera and the chase in the second half. Suryas performance is mind blowing and Sameera is awesome too. Damn good! Surya-Sameera chemistry is terrific which stands out in particular in the train scene :) The immense amount of effort put in by Surya is seen all through the movie and he stands out.

The lines before the song Adiye Kolluthey wherein Surya says “The 90 days I spent with her, I seem to have forgotten Ilayarajas music! Its just rock now!” Then begins the song with the heavy guitar!

Its a movie with a strong message and it is inspirational in parts too. About our quest and purpose for existence. An inner energy that often goes unexplored. A movie about an ordinary guy who believes he can change his destiny and put things in place. No punch dialogues and no super hero stunts. Another highlight of the movie is Harris Jayaraj’s music. Its kick ass. He has still managed to reserve is best for Gautham. (Its really sad to note that they have decided to part ways.)

But unfortunately, the movie’s script lacks pace in most parts and it’s a bit too long at 3 hrs. I went out there expecting to see another Kaaka Kaaka but this definitely didn’t happen to be one. It is good in patches but not Gautham’s best. Im sure he will bounce back bigger and better. That’s coz hes brilliant and hes one of the best in business and no one can take that away from him. Go ahead and watch the movie in a movie hall. Say a big no to pirated prints.

PS: Gautham appears in this movie too as a person covering his face with a white cloth. Make sure you recognize him with his eyes and voice :)

One rupee wonder...

2008-09-15T22:11:00.004+05:30

Till now, a circular plate of Ferratic Stainless Steel weighing 4.85 gms and a circumference of 25 mm would have, in all probability, been the most common defense for most of us against a person pleading for alms. This one rupee coin somehow or the other remains an inseparable entity. Its with us almost always. Till the time it ultimately gets onto your forehead :P (courtesy: Tamil saavukoothu)

Recently I got to know and did this and I and found it pretty interesting and i wanted to share it with you. I've not seen anybody do it before (personification of a genius ;) ) but im not entirely sure if you've done it or not. Here how to make a 1 Rupee coin give you infinite value (Yes! infinite value theoretically.) Nevertheless, I take solace in those in those beautifully constructed words used by our advertisers which puts me beyond the purview of any scrutiny. "CONDITIONS APPLY". Read on...

The next time you go to a railway station you'll notice it. The ubiquitous weighing machine with an insatiable appetite for 1 Rupee coins eagerly awaits you. The moment you get on the scale, there is a disc with stripes spiralling outwards which starts moving. One any normal day, the force with which you get on the scale causes the disc to spin fast and oscillate owing to the spring action. To avoid this oscillation, with some gingerly footwork, get on the scale. And in this process start counting the number of stripes of the disc gone by from a fixed point and make a note of it. Drop the coin and get your weight checked. The weight calculated is indirectly an indication of the number of stripes surpassed in the rotating disc. Rest, as you know is peanuts!! Ask the next friend of yours in queue to get on the scale in the same manner and count the number of stripes gone by. By simple rule of proportions, the problem is solved! If this implies for two people here, the same goes without saying to infinity too.

There it was. The logic and magic of a rupee. Never knew hitherto that the Indian rupee was this powerful! :P Like I mentioned earlier, "CONDITIONS APPLY."

Thanks for the read people.

The Great Indian "Accent"ophilia gene

2008-08-20T00:34:00.002+05:30

I am proud to be an indian. Well, I guess most of us are. When superstar Rajinikanth famously uttered in his movie Velaikkaran- " I can talk english, walk english, laugh english...", he created a distinction of his own. Well, do we realize that we have our own influences? Here's a tongue-in-cheek look at us with our regional winds blowing. (Grrrrr... it may include me too.) Its called the Indian "accent"ophilia gene.

A person can come and tell you "I run". But this doesn't necessarily mean he runs on a regular basis! What this person from the northern belt of UP and Haryana etc. wished to say was "Iron". A pronunciation that has rusted!!
Likewise, the hirsute surd will in all probability write with a 'pan' rather than a 'pen'!
Haryana, being my homestate for the past 4 years has left me wanting more of it :P They take a lot of pains in ensuring that each word they utter is carefully bitten n broken. The result is a language as mellifuous as the neighbourhood Yezdi struggling to start!! Marwaris, oh my goodness, they are really good and brilliant "bijnessmen"!

Recently, there was this Marathi who wanted my friend to "feel" the form! My friend, taken by surprise, didnt know how to react! Only later it was known that she had to "fill" the form and not "feel" it!!

The omnipresent mallu on the other hand might just simblee cross the road without any sinister indentions (intentions). They love playing all "Boll"(ball) games. In Andhra Pradesh, the entire gulti ocean seems to be obsessed with the sound 'oo'! They along with the kannadigas love "sleepingU" and "talkingU". But the gulti, wanting to have his own niche, loves going to the "dheatre" and not the "theatre" to watch the most colourful movies mankind has ever seen with robotic dance moves!

The tamils on the other hand like to "read-a" and-a "ride-a" and-a "sleep-a". Did you ever know that a major chunk of the mobile phone users in Tamil Nadu subscribe to "Yairtel" and "Yaircel" and not "Airtel" and "Aircel" ! While people in Bihar specifically come across " High Bholatage Transmission lines" and Bengalis make "bhery bhery tashtee milk sweets". And a gujrati friend of mine goes to the "baenk" (bank) to pay his "beels"(bills)!! To top it, the creme de la creme, my chum from assam says he drinks "dude" instead of "doodh"!

That was it people. I have missed on many aspects of us i know. But its humanly impossible to do it! Diverse yet United. Thats how we are. Thats how we wish to be. Happy "indian" speaking!

DISCLAIMER: The author was at his deranged peak while writing this. So, kindly excuse him! No offence intended :)

PS: Im posting after a long time because of the severe internet crunch i faced last month. Hope to get regular.

Two to Tango!

2008-06-19T15:57:00.003+05:30

To know the value of a millisecond, ask an athlete who got a silver medal in the olympics. To know the value of a few hours(which translates into time zones), read this! Go on...

Arunachal Pradesh is the land of the rising sun in India. Each summer, its residents face an unnoticed problem. They see the sun rising at 4 a.m. With hours to go before India’s workday begins, they wait in bed for the westward-moving sun to wake up the rest of India. It turns out to be forced procrastination ( well, i would love to one among them!). With a sizeable portion of daylight wasted, there are big losses to eastern India’s productivity. We also face an alarming power crisis especially during the peak hours. The peak hour power shortages as we know are due to excessive demands of power during these hours predominantly due to the busy lifestyle of people. The solution to both problems could lie in another re-partitioning of India. Naah! Nothing much to worry. No more battles to be won or lost. It is the partitioning this time into two time zones.

In 1884, for the then two biggest presidencies, it was decided that India would have two time zones, with Calcutta using the 90th east meridian and Bombay the 75° E meridian. This was done to reduce the confusion caused by all Indian cities running to their own local time. During Independence, ironically, when the nation was split, the time zones were unified! The Central observatory was moved from Chennai to a location near Mirzapur, so that it would be as close to UTC +5:30 as possible.

The concept of two time zones is interesting and it has its share of pros and cons. With two time zones stepping in, the peak hours will be different during different hours in various parts of the nation. With a centralized national grid, in place this can also facilitate the transmission of power from one region to another. This means that if the eastern states switche on its heaters and and other high-load appliances an hour before the west, it will also switch them off earlier. Thus the peakhours between these regions do not clash. This, obviously is sweet music to the nations ears as the unused power canbe transferred by means of the grid. Moreover, workers seem to put in more effort when it is broas daylight rather than by looking at their time-pieces. Another school of thought says that, the administrative costs involved are way too much to even give this idea a second thought.

All that is clear is that there is the need for conservation of energy. So, we must get down to watching Captian Planet. We can contribute to our environment by conserving energy and not releasing forms of pungent smelling "wind" energy from our posterior orifices :P

Thanks for reading...

PS: This is an interesting yet not-so familiar concept that has been making rounds...i found it interesting do i am sharing it with u here :)

Frozen in Time!

2008-06-06T12:13:00.001+05:30

To do nothing at all is the most difficult thing in the world, the most difficult and the most intellectual.---Oscar Wilde

It has been a very long time(dont exactly remember how long) since the idea struck me that- "hey! even this person named Karthik to some and MK to some can actually come up with something in his posts." And yeah guess what? This person i'm referring to actually happens to be a person i know since long! All these days I've always wanted to maintain a blog and update it regularly inspite of my hectic schedule. By the way I am really sorry to inform you blog readers i am suffering from a chronic disorder. It has been gripping me for a quite some time now and the possibility of treatment and cure just seems to be a dimming light and there seems to be no ray of hope. Like its known, the light at the end of the tunnel is that of an incoming freight train. I somehow manage to cope up with this disorder which seamlessly integrates all fellow countrymen and indians and has not spared the likes of males and the fairer of any age group whatsoever. Another classical example of "Unity in Diversity". Coming to this, it still remains a largely mythical concept among our population. Though it still and will continue to exist theoritically in our NCERT history text books!! :D

And yeah, before i wrap up my off-the-cuff first blog entry, i would like to share the names of some of my fellow diseased friends which also includes a fictional list of Rip-van-winkle and J. Wellington Wimpy(of Popeye fame...) who refuse to budge or displace their posterior under any circumstance and have dedicated existance to laziness. Well, that holds good for me too. Or even you. That was the crippling disorder we have no qualms against. So there ends my first blog entry and hopefully marks the beginning of the "Blog rule"- The BLOGDOM.