New Technology Information

Tampilkan postingan dengan label Movies. Tampilkan semua postingan

Home » Posts filed under Movies

MMX

The year in blogging & other stuff.

Posts: 35
Comments: 574
Most commented – 225 comments: New Adsl prices: -Rs 100 & My.T: Speed DOUBLE!!!

According to Google Analytics:
Visits: 212,217
Pageviews: 323,177
OS – Windows: 91.4%, Mac: 4.5%, Linux: 1.42%
Browsers – Firefox: 45.6%, IE: 26.6%, Chrome: 18.1%

2010 wasn't a great year due to a massive drop in posts. Well, doing the last year at UOM & having to devote time to final year project, that was to be expected.

Reviews

The most significant thing for me was indeed the reviews. What’s the use of being a blogger if all your “reviews” are based on other reviews & crappy YouTube videos. Well, in 2010, that finally changed. I became a proper tech blogger. I had my first hands-on with some trial hardware. & not just any hardware. Smartphones!
So big thanks to WOMWorld Nokia for the devices & gifts. Special thanks to @Rwishi for introducing me & some other Mauritian tweeps/bloggers to WOMWorld.
The devices were the resistive touchscreen Qwerty slider the Nokia N97, the portrait Qwerty Swiss knife Nokia E72 & the megapixel monster, the Nokia N8.

Nokia N97:

Nokia E72:

Nokia N8:

What remains of the N8 review - gaming & the camera. I still haven’t been able to trial the dream device I’ve coveted for so long – the N900. & mind you, these were completely honest reviews – I have been extremely critical of these devices. Not sure I’ll get more Nokia devices now… Hopefully, other manufacturers will step up. Unbelievable that I still haven't used any Android device!

Nikon L20

The best thing that happened to me in 2010? That's quite easy - I got my digital camera - the Nikon L20!
Managed to snag it from Rapidshare's reward program by converting my earned points (uploading mostly Top Gear!). I was lucky because just afterwards they closed down the rewards (& went downhill ever since).
After being "camera-less" since Oct 2008, it was an enthralling experience to discover photography all over again. Furthermore, it allowed me to accomplish something I've always wanted to do – open a photo blog.
109 posts & 305 comments. Very positive response. Here are the most popular posts:

As for the Nikon L20, I initially thought it was worse than my previous HP 635. I was obviously proven wrong, but even I have been amazed by what the cheapest of all Nikon cameras can do. Low-light performance aside, I think it's worth every cent... or rather every minute I spent "uploading" files.
I should single out the PAPM (Photographes Amateurs et Pros Mauriciens) Facebook group for having contributed towards sharpening my photographic skills. The sharing of photos with the accompanying critiques is much more valuable than any photography book.

First Bloggers Meeting

Once again, the L20 proved its versatility for my very first Black River Gorges National Park trek with fellow Mauritian bloggers. High fives to Yashvin, Tushal, Sun & everyone else for making this a success!
Some of the prominent bloggers present were active bloggers while others have already been ~~extinct~~ dormant for a while. The Mauritian blogosphere remains very vibrant with new blogs cropping up, especially with a rise in photoblogs & tumblrs... Let's hope for a bigger party at the next Mauritian Bloggers Meeting.

Prior to that there was the Caudan tweetup organised by @sjdvda & co. Was nice meeting @rrikesh, @yurit0s & some other tweeps!
The tweetup/Shootup was repeated in early November where even a larger cohorts of tweeps came for a lively get-together at Shooters.
Meeting all these lovely people is definitely an experience all other Mauritian tweeps should try!

Orange Mauritius

There was a speed double this year. But only for My.T+TV subscribers. The most faithful subscribers were left in the cold. ADSL users had a Rs 100 decrease & My.T (no TV) had nothing. As it stands, I won't be getting any 1Mbps connection. & every time I download something on my 512kbps, I'm painfully reminded of the knife firmly stuck in my back...

Infotech 2010

An absolute turn-off as there was really no innovative products there. 3D TV still remains a gimmick – although Orange is pushing it a lot (bet they’ll launch a 3D channel!). Android devices were invisible & the iPad was only on display only for some Face Time, no hands-on...
Oh, & let's not talk of the Electronic & Technology show...

Inception

I went to the cinema only three times this year - Avatar 2D, Iron Man 2 & Inception. Only one of them was mind-blowing. Christopher Nolan has yet to disappoint me. & that's why he's my favourite director of all time. The background score, the action, the plot. It was sublime. Double paisa vasool as some would say.
Still 2 years to go before we have Nolan's next magnum opus, The Dark Knight Rises.
In the meantime, next year will be the year when ~~Android~~ robots will explode on your screen with Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

A Thousand Suns

A die-hard LP fan, I knew that the only way to listen to this album was to listen it as a whole in one go. It was only several months later that I got my chance with the N8. It's not the best LP album of all time, but it's great. Nu-metal era is over, but I like these new experiments...

Man Utd

I seriously don't know what positives to extract from this 2010-2011 season. Yes, we are top of the league. Yes, we are the only unbeaten team. Yet, last Tuesday's yet-another-draw-snatched-from-the-jaws-of-victory brought everyone back down to earth. In 2010, we had 40-year-old Van Der Sar guarding the goal, Vidic rocking the back, Rafael bombing on the right, Anderson controlling the middle, Nani stepping up the assists, Park showing his mettle & Berbatov having the season of his life! Yet everything was shadowed by Mr Ambition’s saga. Notice how he hasn’t scored a goal ever since. Cursed, I believe he is.
However, I believe the problem is that the squad lacks depth & loses concentration when playing away. Remember the defeat against West Ham. The signing of Javier Hernandez is a mystery. He’s the fastest player in the EPL & is the most talented young player, yet no one gives him through balls. Someone should read this ZonalMarking post on the offside goal!
This season will be a tough one. Even while United aren’t playing at 100%, we are top. Here's my best goal of the year. Watch & learn...

World Cup 2010

2010-fifa-world-cup-south-africa-artwork-wallpaper

Of course it crossed the line you dimwit! One man missed what a billion other people saw. We need technology. Sadly, the most despotic organisation in the world absolutely refuses to listen. & instead pretends that the most expensive auction of all time is a vote.
These controversies aside, Spain got their due & South Africa reveled in what was a great world cup. It was nearly the time for Africa as Ghana faltered on the doorstep of History.

Top Gear

Top Gear - The Three Wise Men Special. It wasn’t the best Special (Vietnam/Bolivia is much better), but the level of entertainment was classic Top Gear! Jokes, challenges, unforgettable quotes & the usual bantering, everything was there! James May’s non-serious head injury means that the Top Gear orangutan is the only who hasn’t had an accident yet! Now that everyone knows who The Stig is, I couldn’t think of any way Top Gear could re-introduce The Stig without over-doing it. Fortunately, they nailed it perfectly in that last scene! That was effing awesome! Bring on S16 on 23rd Jan! :D

That was it. I’ll end here on these photos, taken today. The last sunset of 2010.
Happy New Year 2011!

PS. Don’t forget to change your blog footer to 2011! ;)

More about → MMX

Inception

Mind-blowing

Both literally & figuratively.

Spoiler warning: If you haven't watched Inception, don't read any further. ;)

The Plot

Inception's plot can be described as a Penrose staircase - no matter how much you keep climbing, you still end up at the same place.

Inception is a typical heist film, where the mind is the scene of crime. The PASIV (Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous) device is a machine which allows people to share their dreams in the Dream-Share while they are sedated with a substance called somnacin. Once the Extractor enters someone’s dream, he can extract any information from that person’s mind. The reverse is adding information, essentially planting an idea, i.e. inception.

The story starts in a dream, follows the assembly of the dream-infiltrators team, the planning of the job, then the multi-dimensional act of inception & ends with the wake-up. But does it really end? No one knows...
At the end of the film, all viewers ask themselves the same question - am I dreaming?

I couldn’t have imagined that Nolan could pull the same trick twice. A film more convoluted than Memento, Inception initially appears to be mind-boggling. It will require more than one viewing, but once you grasp the plot, you realise that Inception is a great film - an original story that really captivates your mind.

The Cast

Di Caprio finally has a film where he can be proud of his stand-out performance. After Blood Diamond, The Aviator & The Departed, & now Inception, one can safely say he will no longer be remembered only for his role in Titanic.
In fact, the entire cast of stars have brilliantly performed their roles - Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the Point Man, the beautiful Marion Cotillard as the Shade, the cute Ellen Page as the Architect, Tom Hardy as the Forger, Dileep Rao as the Chemist & Ken Watanabe as the Tourist. Not to forget Michael Caine in his usual Alfred role. :)

The Score

Although I resent that Mind Heist wasn't included in the film, Hans Zimmer masterfully crafts an extra-dimension to Inception with his compositions. Some subtle hints of TDK, & that spine-chilling trombone - an absolutely brilliant score. Definitely an Oscar-contender.

The Visuals

Imagine a world of dreams, where buildings & landscapes are created & manipulated by sheer thinking. That's the work of the Architect. Inception's dreams are similar to reality for a very specific reason – any manipulation of the laws of nature causes the projections of the subconscious to attack the intruder(s).

However that didn’t prevent Nolan from dreaming up of those fantastic action scenes, including the most impressive one with shifting gravity involving Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Awe-inspiring stuff.

Verdict

Rubbish.
That's what most other films I've seen in 2010 (excluding 3 Idiots) feel like after watching Inception.
Christopher Nolan has a knack for delivering the goods. Each of his films never fails to amaze, mystify & entertain the audience. With every non-Batman release, there is a trend that each is designed in such a way to reflect its plot & the title. Memento had a non-linear flashback. The Prestige kept its secret until the very end. Inception did not stray from this rule. Inception keeps you guessing even after the film has ended… so much that it can give you headaches.

When I first watched the film, I didn’t comprehend what I had just seen. It was like having a mental overload with all the possibilities devised by the film. A second viewing (in English) helped in clearing the mist & convinced me beyond doubt that this is a masterpiece. Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus.

Rating – 9.5/10

PS. The non-batman one at least, because the final film in the Batman trilogy is coming in 2012. :)

Related:

More about → Inception

MMIX

A review of 2009.

Blogging
For the first half of this year, my blogging frequency was pretty constant. But as soon as UOM resumed, the post count started dwindling down & this blog was almost threatened with extinction... I had to make a choice between ~~Twitter~~ studies & blogging. Instead, I came up with a compromise - at least 1 post per month, & I'm barely clinging to that resolution.
This state of blogging lethargy is expected to persist for the next 2 years. :(

Total posts: 313
Total comments: 2207
Most commented – 110 comments: Orange ADSL & My.T prices decrease on 1st March 2009!
Only 1 post did not have a comment – Nokia N86 8MP ;)
According to Google Analytics:
Total visits: 411,300
Total pageviews: 628,800
OS – Windows: 92.45%, Mac: 4.38%, Linux: 1.49%
Browsers – Firefox: 51.99%, IE: 31.87%, Chrome: 7.24%

Orange Mauritius

On the 1st of March 2009, Orange doubled the internet connection speed while maintaining the same price… & the same slowness - unusable between 6pm & 11pm. My 512kbps connection drops to 100kbps. It gets worst during holidays when speed drops during the day.
The only positive thing is that existing My.T users were given the choice not to pay for the additional TV channels.

A new fibre cable, LION landed in Mauritius, interconnecting Reunion & Madagascar for the time being, before extending to Mombasa in the future.
The good news is that the network of fibre-connected DSLAMs is already being laid by both Orange & Emtel. But there is no backbone to exploit its full potential - Eassy & SEACOM cables are expected to be connected to Mauritius next year.

28th September 2009 - Disaster. @OrangeMauritius joins Twitter & becomes massively unpopular. Check out some of the kind tweets that mention @OrangeMauritius.
In the wake of @OrangeMauritius's arrival on Twitter, a new Twitter meme was born. Following @OrangeMauritius is like ... manz mine bouille dans dipain. & so on...
& a hashtag as well, which has been used by almost all Mauritian tweeps - #orangemauritiusfail

Freebies

In 2009, I received tons of freebies.
On the 1st of January, I won several Rapidshare accounts & gave away one of them. (No, I won’t be organising any contest next year. Sorry.)

My good fortune vanished on Friday the 13th of March, & I had my PC power supply fried by a lightning bolt.

In April, I received a USB-powered plasma ball from Rapidshare. A really stupid choice because that thing is utterly useless to me. :|

In May, I got the chance to participate to the Microsoft’s Qui Veut Gagner Un PC competition. I managed to clear the first round & was among the 10 finalists. I did pretty well in the semi-final until the last question. A simple binary to decimal conversion stood between me & a laptop. & my brain failed me. :(
All I got was a Microsoft wireless keyboard & mouse. (& Sun got a PC!)

On Twitter, I won a domain from @NameCheap & a T-shirt from @District_Lines.
I thought 2009 would be very lucky for me, but my personal record of loserness remains untarnished - I still haven't won any major contest, competition or giveaway. o_O

Movies

My top 10 movies of 2009:
0. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
1. District 9
2. Gran Torino
3. Star Trek
4. Up
5. 2012
6. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
7. Public Enemies
8. Fanboys
9. Watchmen
10. X-men Origins: Wolverine

I had a mind-blowing experience watching Transformers 2 at the cinema - awesome CGI, massive explosions & ~~Megan Fox~~ gargantuan robots. But I have to admit that it had huge plot holes. That's why District 9 is the no. 1 film of 2009 for me. Star Trek fans will obviously disagree but D9 was the better sci-fi movie.

This list is quite constrained because I haven't had time to watch movies such as HP6, GI Joe, The Hangover, etc. & Avatar has neither been released in Mauritius, nor is there any decent rip on the web.

My track record with Hindi films is getting worst each year. I watched only 3 films this year!!

Music

The king of Pop, Michael Jackson died from an overdose of prescription drugs. A reminder of how not to live your life.
Linkin Park released a great song, New Divide, as Transformers 2 theme track & Atif Aslam sung his way yet again to the top of the charts with Tu Jaane Na & Tera Hone Laga Hoon from Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

Lance Armstrong & Michael Schumacher

The great Lance Armstrong was back in the Tour de France after a 3-year absence. Nevertheless, he still managed to finish 3rd, which means that next year's Grande Boucle will be a showdown between Armstrong & Alberto Contador.
The big news of 2009 - The Stig will be back in 2010! While he was unsuccessful in making a comeback for Ferrari as a replacement for injure Felipe Massa, Michael Schumacher will be racing under Ross Brawn for Mercedes. I can't wait for the 2010 F1 season to start! :D

Manchester United

2009 was definitely not a great year for Man Utd. While the team defended the Champions League title up to the final, the better team, Barcelona won it.

We lost Ronaldo to Real Madrid (bastardos!), Tevez to City (losers!) & bought Antonio Valencia & Gabriel Obertan. & the biggest surprise - of all strikers United could have bought, it was Michael Owen who joined on a free transfer.

The 2009-2010 EPL season hasn't been good so far. Only 1 defender, Patrice Evra (our best player this season), was not injured. With key midfielders turning into central-backs, United's performance has been mediocre. Hopefully, the January transfer window will bring in some much needed reinforcements. But given the inflationary prices, I doubt we'll be able to purchase the crucial creative midfielder.
The only consolation of 2009 - we won an 18th EPL title! (Which means that other club can no longer pretend to have won the most EPL titles, back in 1728.)

My top 3 goals of 2009:

Macheda vs Aston Villa

Ronaldo vs Porto

Michael Owen vs Manchester City

Climate Change

At the start of 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the US president. Big promises were made, some have already been fulfilled. In October, Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, for reasons that are oblivious to most of us.
& at the Copenhagen UN Climate Change Conference, he demonstrated his sheer incompetence at convincing world leaders for a united stand towards tackling global warming with drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. You could say that he had his hands tied by powerful lobbies & senators back in the US. But if Obama cannot lead the world by example, who can? For me, the epic fail of the year is Barack Obama. No, he couldn't.
In Mauritius, we have our PM happily proclaiming how he got more money at COP15 from the rich countries. Will that money save Mauritius from sinking? Fighting global warming seems to be a lost cause...

Supercars

There were several supercars announced this year – the Aston Martin One-77, the Ferrari 458 Italia, the McLaren MP4-12C, the Lexus LF-A & the already available Lamborghini Murciélago LP-670-4 SuperVeloce & the Lamborghini Gallardo LP-550-2 Valentino Balboni. Best of the lot? No doubt the Ferrari 458 Italia. :P

Top Gear

Series 13 of Top Gear was pretty under-par compared to previous series, despite the unveiling of The Stig, Luckily S14 was much better & it was topped off by the best Top Gear episode ever, better than even Vietnam, Botswana & the Polar special.

The Bolivia Special was truly epic. An incredible journey throughout the Amazon jungle, the Death Road, one of the highest roads in the world at 5000m & one of the driest place on Earth, the Atacama desert (where the smallest living thing was Richard Hammond).

I did not even miss The Stig's South American cousin. Just one word - Wow! 10/10.

Windows 7

The best Windows OS of all time launched in 2009. Speed, reliability & usability were the main focus areas, not to mention the little tweaks & add-ons like DirectX 11, Virtual WiFi, XP mode, etc. that paves the way for future improvements.
Although I have yet to install Windows 7 RTM, I've been using many such apps/hacks that make Windows 7 a powerhouse. The best one is Microsoft Security Essentials, a lightweight & free antivirus solution. I'll surely write a post on that next year. For the time being, there’s my review of the Beta 1:
- Windows 7 Beta 1 Review: Part I – The Performance
- Windows 7 Beta 1 Review: Part II – The UI
- Windows 7 Beta 1 Review: Part III – The Bugs

H1N1

After the H5N1 bird flu virus, we had the H1N1 swine flu in 2009. Fortunately, the effects of this virus was no worse than seasonal flu. But the most worrying fact is that once a virus reaches pandemic levels, it becomes unstoppable. Even if you’re on an island in the middle of the ocean, you still can be affected. Now imagine if we have a deadly virus spread… :S

Mauritius - C'est un plaisir

Hey, Mauritius is the World's Leading Island Destination, & this is what they came up with!? Whether we like it or not, it's done now. We'll have to live with it. :|

Twitter

What can I say? 2009 was the year when I transformed from a mild-mannered helpful tweep into a Jeremy Clarkson-inspired noob-&-twoob-bashing vicious Twilight-hating @orangemauritius-thrashing ruthless twat. Wow!

The Mauritian Pyramids

Arguably one of the most entertaining posts I’ve ever written. Quoting:

- This is a freemansory invention to bring mauritian people to a false religion and these pyramid are use for satanic ritual...
- Some spheres in Mauritius is now comparing the Great "Sphinx" of Egypt with the "LION Mountain" of Mauritius.
There is also the Amazing/famous Spiritual Park in Mauritius, which is near Pte Lascar.
The unbeileuvable "Energy Vortex" at Surinam.( which is now internationally recognised.)
- Let me also point out that Mauritius has high energetic spots. It has been clearly pointed out of the Energy Vortex at Riambel, pt lascar spiritual park, we got the grand bassin, pieter both mountain as well as corps de garde, among other points.
- I can't miss to add concerning the 2012 phenomena. Its the date for a global ascension and i could see that Mauritius contains lot of these spots to help us for Ascension.
- we do have a phoenician past. just because we dont have documents does this imply that the phoenicians were never here..
- ..and let me add that the existence of portals/stargates are reported to exist round the planet...so y not one here?? mauritius is a mythical and mystical place, this is what i believe..

Read more on these 2 posts:
- The Mauritian Pyramids
- The Mauritian Pyramids II: More Than Meets The Eye

I’ll end this post with this EPIC Xkcd comic & a Happy New Year to all readers, bloggers, twitter followers, well… everyone! xD

More about → MMIX

District 9

Aliens are stranded on Earth, living as … refugees.

Spoiler warning: If you haven't watched District 9, don't read any further. ;)

Before District 9, 90% of alien movies consisted of aliens invading Earth (Transformers, War of the Worlds, Independence Day) or saving humanity (Transformers, Knowing, The Day The Earth Stood Still).
District 9 takes a unique approach towards aliens by depicting them as refugees, racially prejudiced & mistreated by humans. If you're a movie buff, then District 9 is like an oasis in the desert of remakes, sequels, adaptations & all the stereotypical movies.

The Story

An alien ship runs out of fuel & stations over Johannesburg in 1982. With nowhere to go, the aliens are initially given refugee status, allowing them to live in a secluded slum, District 9. However, with growing public discontent & fear of the aliens, the South African government decides to relocate them. In the process, a human, Wikus van der Merwe, is contaminated with alien DNA which triggers his transformation into an alien…

The Prawns

Prawn is the racist term used for the aliens, which look nothing like your common aliens. The closest creature resembling it is the Cloverfield monster. The aliens were initially welcomed, but once the humans discovered that the alien technologies, especially the advanced weaponry, used a DNA-based identification, they were quickly segregated.
Without their leaders, the alien community falls apart & each is left to fend for itself. The inevitable comparison with the apartheid system is in fact correct - aliens are subdued, rationed & extorted (against cat food).
This depiction of alien xenophobia is what makes District 9 so different from other movies.

Christopher Johnson - that's the actual name of an alien. As the story unravels, your disgust of the aliens gradually gives way to empathy. But ask yourself this - don't we treat other humans likewise?

The main character Wikus van de Merwe is brilliantly portrayed by Sharlto Copley. The only drawback was his heavy South African accent, but I've heard worse than that.
District 9 is an action movie filmed like a documentary. Once Wikus starts his transformation, the action is non-stop. But most amazing are the plot twists - you're lured to think that this is the end of it, but instead you're caught off-guard as another action sequence begins.

In terms of special effects, District 9 excels (not that we would expect less from WETA). The aliens are life-like (some wear shirts!) & there are enough explosions to satisfy even Michael Bay. The details on the alien mothership are staggering. The greatest achievement was of course the mech battlesuit. Who'd think the prawns were that intelligent?
People who don't like gore should stay away from District 9 because it contains footage of exploding body parts (both human & alien).

While & after watching District 9, you're submerged with questions - how? why? That's because so many plot details were never explained.
Why did the aliens run out of fuel? Why are they so submissive? How can a human understand alien-speak (essentially clicks & grunts). Is that where a sequel or prequel will come in? Neill Blomkamp said he would make a sequel only if the movie is successful enough…

Verdict

When I first read that District 9 is being produced by Peter Jackson, I suspected this was going to be a nice film. I was wrong. District 9 is AWESOME!
The documentary-styled narration with action, special effects & a unique scenario makes District 9 not only the best sci-fi movie of 2009 (~~I have yet to watch Star Trek~~ Yes, D-9 >> Star Trek!!!), but also one of the best movies of the year. :D
Rating - 8/10

More about → District 9