Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Here's hoping this coming year is happier and healthier for us all... The Num Num
 3:49 PM | »
Sunday, October 26, 2008
..."I have an iPhone" at least on Harry Enfield's show he says that. Yep finally took the plunge and got one. I know its a bad time to get
one, but frankly I just wanted to try it. If they release the god phone
in Feb, who cares. I will stick with that I have until a time when I
need another. A driving factor in my plunge was that my battery on the Sony Ericsson
P1i was less than good, and it had a terrible habit of 'crashing' half
way through me typing up blog entries or emails. I lived with it for a
while, but then figured 'bah humbug'. And 50 quid down the drain on a
8gb iphone. The iphone battery, not as great as the p1i battery and i miss the
keyboard already. /moan Otherwise its fine... Xmas decorations are going up in shops already. Fab. --
tnn
11:41 AM | »
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
*Australia succumbed to only a second Test defeat since the 2005 Ashes as India took just 18.4 overs on the final day to win the second Test by 320 runs. Sometimes its nice for the underdog to win, no?
* --
tnn
7:26 AM | »
Friday, October 17, 2008
India's Sachin Tendulkar has set a new record for the most runs scored by a batsman in Test cricket, overtaking the mark set by West Indies' Brian Lara.
Tendulkar, 35, scored the 15 extra runs he needed to overtake Lara's aggregate of 11,953 on day one of the second Test against Australia in Mohali.
Already the holder of a record 39 centuries in 151 Tests, Tendulkar hit the landmark runs off Peter Siddle.
A rapturous but sparse crowd in the Punjabi city stood to applaud him.
Afterwards, having been dismissed for 88 - and becoming the first man to 12,000 runs - he said: "It's definitely the biggest milestone because it's taken me 19 years to get - it's not something that can happen overnight.
"The journey has been fantastic. There have been ups and downs. So many times there have been stones thrown and you have to turn them into milestones.
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"I knew I was 14 runs short [when Friday's innings started]. I have just been trying to focus on the game but whoever I see in front of me they have an opportunity to remind me.
"I decided to keep it simple and keep watching the ball."
Tendulkar insisted he had no plans to end his career in the immediate future.
"As long as I'm enjoying it I will play. I don't need X, Y or Z to tell me when I should stop or continue. When I started playing nobody told me that. So nobody need to tell me now either," he added.
He spent the tea interval on 13 not out, just one run away from Lara's record. But after the 20-minute break he hit his first ball for three down to third man and saluted the crowd before the Australian fielders went to shake his hand.
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Tendulkar celebrates record achievement
Fireworks were set off around the ground.
India's President Pratibha Patil later said Tendulkar had "given joy to millions of Indians", while the country's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, described the batsman as a genius.
"I congratulate Sachin Tendulkar on becoming the highest run-scorer in Test cricket," said Singh.
"Sachin is truly worthy of the mantle of the greatest run-scorer in Tests. I have been following his cricket and there is no doubt that he is a genius."
Former India captain Kapil Dev says his compatriot is a hero to a cricket-loving nation and admire the way he has dealt with the adoration.
"I think he is one of the finest batsmen the world has ever seen," said Dev, who was once the world's leading wicket-taker.
"Millions of people in this country love him. Every kid wants to be come Sachin Tendulkar.
"He has set a standard for those young people to follow him. The country needs heroes like him.
"It is not easy to play for 19 years with the pressure he has had throughout his career. People love him. He can't go out, do the things he wants to do.
LEADING TEST RUN-SCORERS
SR Tendulkar (India): 12,027
BC Lara (ICC/W Indies): 11,953
AR Border (Aus): 11,174
SR Waugh (Aus): 10,927
R Dravid (ICC/India): 10,302
RT Ponting (Aus): 10,239
SM Gavaskar (India): 10,122
India and Australia dominate the table.
"Every simple thing he does in his life, people notice. Hats off to him for still coming forward to play cricket."
It was fitting that Tendulkar established the new mark against Australia, the overwhelmingly dominant team of his era - and a side against whom he has achieved distinguished success.
A prodigy as a youth, his century as a 19-year old on an ultra-fast wicket in Perth is often regarded one of the best innings ever to have been played in Australia.
He was only 16 when he made his Test debut, in 1989 and scored his first Test hundred, a match-saving one against England at Old Trafford, a year later.
Tendulkar was regarded by the late Sir Don Bradman as the one batsman of the modern era who most reminded him of himself.
A tremendous performer in the one-day arena, Tendulkar is also the highest scorer and century-maker in that format.
Former England batsman Geoff Boycott , who became the first Englishman to score more than 8,000 Test runs, breaking West Indies all-rounder Sir Garry Sobers' batting record in the process, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Tendulkar will hold the record for years to come.
But the 67-year-old still regards Bradman as the greatest batsman the game has seen, saying: "There's none of us who have come near him."
"Tendulkar's handled publicity very well. In India where they're mad on cricket it'd be easy to get sucked into it, but he's managed to keep a private life and kept that at arms length from his public life and it's nice for him," said Boycott.
"There'll always be people who break records because nowadays they play more Test matches than ever, more one-day internationals.
"It was inevitable that people like Lara and Tendulkar - two of the great players of the last few years - would break records of some distinction almost every other year or two.
"I broke Garry Sobers' record and I said at the time that if you play enough Test matches and you're pretty good at what you do then you'll break records.
"But it didn't make me a better player than Garry Sobers and it won't make Tendulkar a better player than Bradman, a genius - the best batsmen of the lot."
Former England batsman Allan Lamb paid tribute to Tendulkar's feat, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "He's very classical. He's a batter who keeps very still at the wicket. That's something that every youngster is told to do.
"He's got all the shots in the book. He can play all round the wicket and he's got a lot of time to play his shots, and that's what makes him such a great player.
"Lara got his runs in 131 Test matches, so you've got to say that's an incredible achievement.
-- tnn
6:39 PM | »
Monday, October 13, 2008
If there ever was an excuse for issues and bad planning it is an autumn leaf timetable for trains. Wtf Tnn
[mobile]
7:28 AM | »
Saturday, October 11, 2008
We embark on another marathon of 24. This time, it is series 4, here we go... --
tnn
6:21 PM | »
Saturday, October 04, 2008
After my harping on about how eBooks might be quite a good idea for those who have little space but a voracious appetite for reading and re-reading stuff, gladly I find amazon releasing Kindle 2.
Now to wait for a UK version...amazon, be my bookshelf please!
From cnet...
After rumors surfaced on the Web a few months back that a new Kindle
might be on the way, Amazon.com did its best to shoot them down, saying
a new Kindle was not coming this year. Well, Boy Genius Report has
gotten ahold of some photos
<http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/10/03/amazon-kindle-2-ebooks-its-way-to-bgr/#more-5941>
that appear to be the Kindle 2, so we're curious what Amazon has to say
now. From the looks of the new device, Amazon has tried to address some of
the criticisms of the Kindle
<http://reviews.cnet.com/e-book-readers/amazon-kindle/4505-3508_7-32751890.html>,
most of which revolve around its somewhat homely design and a few poorly
placed buttons. The shape has been modified to make the new Kindle more
attractive, but it appears Amazon is sticking with the same off-white
color scheme--for better or worse. Old back versus new back. (Credit: Boy Genius Report <http://www.boygeniusreport.com/>) The Boy Genius Report's mole or "ninja," has some comments about the new
Kindle. First, ninja says the device is basically the same size as the
older model, but is thinner and has "a slightly heavier feel, and it
feels much sturdier." The source indicates the new model uses the same
cellular EV-DO network for downloads (it's Sprint's network in the
current model) and a metal back is visible in some of the pictures. I
particularly appreciated the look of the new leather carrying pouch for
the device since I don't like the existing Kindle's protective case.
There are more photos here
<http://www.boygeniusreport.com/gallery/devices/amazon-kindle-2/>. Boy Genius Report also notes: As far as buttons go, on the right side, the bottoms from top to
bottom are: Home, Next Page, Menu, a joystick, and Undo. On the left
side, there's Previous, Page, and Next Page. We're told the buttons
are significantly smaller to avoid accidental page turning. The
joystick takes the place of the scroll wheel and it "takes a little
getting used to." As far as the redesigned keyboard...it "has a good
layout, but lettering on the keys could be darker." Continuing our
tour around the unit, next to the sliding sleep button, there's the
headphone jack, and on the right side edge you've got the volume
up/down buttons. What's interesting (and you can see this in the
photos) is that the backside of the unit is mostly metal with the
speakers at the bottom pf the back. One more plus? They've finally
ditched their own charger. The Kindle 2 is able to be charged with a
miniUSB cable. No word on when the next-generation Kindle will arrive, whether there
will be a European model, or how much it will cost. However, I have a
feeling we'll soon get an announcement from Amazon--if indeed this turns
out to be a real product that will go up against the upcoming Sony
Reader, the PRS-700 <http://reviews.cnet.com/8300-18438_7-82.html>,
which features a touch-screen display and will hit stores next month in
time for the holiday buying season.
--
tnn
4:48 PM | »
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Sat on train and the person next to me is reading a story about mass immigration even though there is crisis. Rather she read the bit about sharon wanting to inject her son with botox. Hide pls. Tnn
[mobile]
7:09 AM | »
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Adrenalin starts to flow, You're thrashing all around, Acting like a maniac. Whiplash
[mobile]
7:40 AM | »
Netbook < http://blog.wired.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/26/netbook.jpg> You may not know it yet, but the next computer you buy is going to be a
netbook. The numbers say so. Despite their compromised feature sets and puny screens, netbooks have
pulled an all-out coup d'état on the portable PC market. Currently, nine
out of the top 10 best-selling laptops on Amazon are netbooks
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/ultra-mobile-de.html>. Over 2008,
manufacturers shipped 10 million netbooks. And looking farther ahead,
ABI Research forecasts that manufacturers will ship 200 million
ultra-mobile devices, including netbooks
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/ultra-mobile-de.html> by 2013 --
which is about the same anticipated size as the entire laptop market
worldwide. Who could have guessed that low prices and ultra portability would have
struck such a chord with consumers? People are going gaga over these pared-down devices, and manufacturers
are keenly aware of that fact. Most of the big PC makers, including
Toshiba, Dell, Fujitsu, Siemens and Samsung, have recently introduced
their first netbooks to this rapidly expanding market. It's somewhat ironic that netbooks are shaping up to be the computers of
the future: They're hardly revolutionary; they're essentially a smaller,
dumbed-down version of standard notebooks. "You're going to start seeing netbooks become more mainstream, as [top
manufacturers such as] Dell and HP begin to include more features in
these devices," said Vijay Rakesh, a ThinkPanmure analyst. Rakesh said that the relatively low price point of netbooks -- they
range from $300 to $500 -- is their primary driving factor, especially
in light of a troubled economy. He added that other key factors
attracting consumers are their mobility and weight: Most netbooks weigh
no more than three pounds and measure about an inch thick. Netbooks are only going to get more attractive and successful as they
expand their feature sets, Rakesh said. And many companies are already
taking aim on delivering a full computing experience to these miniature
devices, with new chips, batteries and power-saving methods on the horizon. At the 2008 Intel Developer Forum, Intel officials announced
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/08/intel-shows-off.html> their focus
on empowering the netbook universe. The company is developing Moorestown
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/09/the-iphone-is-o.html>, a platform
due in 2009 that Intel promises will be exponentially more powerful and
more power efficient <http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=40040>
than the current Silverthorne (Intel Atom) platform. Meanwhile, netbook software also promises to evolve. Phoenix
Technologies, the company responsible for the BIOS (Basic Input/Output
System) that boots many Windows computers, is developing a low-power
mobile computing operating system it calls PC 3.0. Running parallel to
Windows, the instant-on environment will allow netbooks to perform
several internet-centric functions without actually booting into
Windows. Functions promised in PC 3.0 include multimedia players,
browsers, internet telephony, e-mail and IM. The most important issue Phoenix's concept would address is battery
life, explains Woody Hobbs, CEO of Phoenix Technologies. If you want to
deliver mobile performance, you have to ensure a netbook can even handle
it without running out of juice. "You can give up and say 'It's a trade-off; you can't have all that
power and solve all those problems,'" Hobbs told Wired.com. "But it's
not true: Technology is capable of addressing the problems. We just have
to address them smartly." And if Phoenix's PC 3.0 environment isn't enough, Toshiba has the bases
covered with batteries, too. Toshiba recently unveiled its Super Charge
Ion Batteries
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/toshibas-super.html> (SCiB) in
Japan -- which take a bit over ten minutes to charge and will last
longer than current lithium-ion batteries. A challenge manufacturers will face is keeping the price point low as
they cram more features into these puny devices, Rakesh said. He noted
that Apple has yet to step into the netbook world -- and consumers
should have high expectations from the company that revolutionized the
mobile phone. Not much has been said about what Apple has in store. The rumor mill has
been churning about a special event announcing a revision of the
extremely successful MacBook, and many have speculated the next release
will be Apple's netbook: Perhaps the fabled "Brick
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/apples-brick-a.html>" or the
MacBook Touch
<http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/07/rumor-apple-to.html>, which would
essentially be a larger, more powerful version of the iPhone. Whatever direction manufacturers decide to take, it's clear netbooks are
getting closer to fulfilling the vision of Alan Kay, the former Xerox
PARC researcher who first drew the concept of the mobile, personal
computer back when computers were still eating punch cards. In his
concept, dubbed "Dynabook," Kay assessed that a portable computer must
weigh no more than two pounds, sport a display containing at least 1
million pixels, and be extremely thin in one of its dimensions. And most
importantly, a Dynabook would have to be "an amplifier for human
(especially child) endeavors." "I'd like to think that [netbooks] are finding a form factor and weight
that fits human beings better," Kay said, "but I'm presuming that it is
because many people use only a small part of what they could do on their
larger machines, and much of what they do use computers for can be done
through a browser or a few simple apps." --
tnn
6:20 AM | »
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Weekly musings from a confused mind. This blog, and all posts within it, are just ramblings. They are in no way affiliated with any past, current or future employers. Neither do they represent my deep felt views, or those of my friends or family. Really, its just a blog, which is a new thing, and has new dimensions. So please, dont take anything seriously. If you do, contact me via a comment, and I will get back to you to resolve the situation. Seriously, enjoy life, ignore this blog, and views within it.
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