How crazy are we about iPhone???

Well, i almost fell off my chair when i saw this below item for sale!. Some seller selling unlocked iPhone for whopping Rs 59,990 (around $1460) at rediff shopping website and apparently this seller claims that it's retail value is around $1950. Recently, Apple has reduced the cost of iPhone with 8gb memory from $599 to $399 and here is the guy selling it at the cost of a laptop with decent spec!. Well, so much for unlocked version, specially when we can get free software hack from iUnlock Reloaded and others.

I don't understand why people think its worth a fortune and are crazy about it, when it is just a fashion phone as noted by Elder Murtazin in his excellent unbiased review1 and review2. I think some people are just influenced by glitter & hype created by a product. I personally prefer features of LG's KU990 (Viewty) or Samsung F700 over an iPhone.

Now, we have to see if we have any desperate & foolish buyers here in India for a phone which costs around $1460+ (with illegal unlock & which is yet to be tested on Indian carriers) and also which provides only 10 to 15 days vendor warranty?. Do they care that with any new firmware update, iPhone will be locked again???.

MIM's Insolent Aggression

Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen(MIM) party MLAs disregarded their stature of being law makers, they shamelessly attacked & hurled disgusting abuses at Taslima Nasreen with the help from their party activists. When journalist and organisers intervened, even they were attacked and press club property was damaged. MIM floor leader of the state assembly, Mr. Akbaruddin Owaisi declared that he is very proud of his MLAs & activists for attacking an unarmed lady for their perceived insult to islam. Being peoples representatives, They clearly demonstrated that they are no good to represent people of their constituency and have no respect for the constitution, which they took oath to protect and serve. Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi clearly states that his muslim identity is more important to him than being a legislator:

"We are not bothered about our MLA status. We are Muslims first. And its our responsibility to test those who have said anything against Islam in which ever way possible".

Even after that statement, MIM MLAs didn't resign as mark of respect to the chair, instead MIM President Sultan Salauddin Owaisi praised assailants and said that his party is ready for bigger sacrifices!. Akbaruddin Owaisi has said that anyone who commits blasphemy against islam deserved to be beheaded. MLA, Mr. Muqtada Afasr Khan has said that they would kill Taslima Nasreen, if she comes to city again!

Anyways, Such people should not hold office in our pluralistic and secular society. MIM always treated old city as its private domain and it hindered other political parties from serving people there with its intimidation & aggression. Presence of our own police force in the old city is considered as intrusion and recently, they were not even allowed to patrol the rioting areas. Such is the influence MIM sways in the old city. Below are the few images concerning MIM's MP Mr. Asaduddain Owaisi (s/o MIM Leader Mr. Sultan Salauddin Owaisi):

Owaisi argues with south zone Deputy Commissioner of Police(DCP) to leave the place. Later, DCP was transfered.

Owaisi and MIM party activists ban police entry.

Owaisi with the commander hasan hubullah of shiite terrorist organization, hezbollah.
The above photos are courtesy of Hyderabadonline

Legislators who doesn't respect law of the land and who associate with terrorist organization in the foreign land should not be allowed to serve the public but MIM being ally of ruling government and also being skilled in using minority tag, it would be wishful thinking to expect any substantial action. This is evident from the reluctance of police to file earnest charges against the MLAs despite the evidence and demands from the reporters to file attempt to murder charges. In spite of this, MLAs were given bail on the same day of their arrests. Defiance shown by the perpetrators and lack of indignation from the so-called secularist only reveals the true nature of secularism in this country!.

Update: Last few days, local urdu newspapers are fuming over MIM's missed opportunity to murder Taslima and none are finding such writings outrageous!. Even after MLAs blatantly threatened Taslima's life, Police are hesitant in registering cases against MIM MLAs under section 307 of IPC and the Chief Minister is conspicuously silent.

Farce Declaration Of Montevideo

In recently concluded conference on Kashmir in Montevideo (Uruguay), Participants had adopted 8 point declaration, which mainly reiterates pakistani rhetoric on Kashmir. This declaration gives emphasis to self determination of kashmiri people but the conference participants fail to condemn pakistan for not granting the said rights of kashmiris, since it was pakistan, that prevented the implementation of UN resolution for plebiscite. On the other hand:

Ambassador of Pakistan Neemullah Khan Yusufzia that Pakistan has always supported the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir. He said that we are concerned with the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Statement of Mr.Ambassador exposes pakistan's lies on self-determination and reveals their hypocrisy over their concerns on human rights violations of kashmiri people. India has conducted free and fair elections in its state of Jammu and Kashmir, but same is not true for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). Moreover, people of POK are greatly exploited by Pakistan's government. By allowing participation of appointed Prime Minister of POK, has revealed that the conference is farce and its just a PR campaign. It is more than incidental, that most of the participants are either pakistani sympathizers or pakistanis themselves!.

Why do we need jadeja?

It seems NDTV have no qualms in employing services of Ajay Jadeja for commentating on cricket in their channel. Even though Delhi high court has lifted his 5 years ban imposed by BCCI after their internal inquiry, it is apparent from the CBI report that jadeja had close relations with bookies. Though, his guilt was not proven due to the nature of the inquiry but he is controversial, since azharuddin himself has mentioned jadeja's involvement during his questioning by CBI. Why would NDTV wish to have such a controversial figure to comment on cricket on their channel? Perhaps because of his royal blood? or is it due to NDTV not adhering to ethics?. It is becoming disgusting just to watch him comment on cricket, specially when he speculated bookie's angle in Bob woolmer's death!.

Unanticipated BM Meeting

Priyank informed me that some of the old members of Bhumi and Bharat Uday Mission(BM) are meeting this evening at our usual hangout and asked whether i would be interested in joining them and i said yes. I'm not involved in bhumi activities these days, its been a while since i met any of them and also having made wonderful friends during my time in bhumi, therefore i decided to go. I called my friend Arvind, who was also involved with bhumi but left due to some issues with the organization, initially he was reluctant to join but i literally dragged him with me for the sake of company.

We three were the first to arrive. When i inquired priyank about this meeting, he said that he is also not sure about the agenda and he suspected that they may discuss about forming a new organization but it turned out that it is about how they should revitalize BM Hyderabad chapter activities(previously Bhumi was separated from BM). None of us expected this to be a official meeting of BM, i never liked BM before, initially because of one of their IIT founder, Mr Gopal Krishna's senseless views which he advocated, like, one shouldn't get married because of prevalent evil in our society! and later, with BM's inability to function effectively and to impact the society in a way, which deserves ones patronage. However, Since those times, BM has changed.

After waiting for some time Bony joined us, he used to be Bhumi's executive board member. He is an intelligent speaker and good at articulating his views, perhaps more matured & eldest among us. We started to discuss issues which we had with bhumi and he shared his information on social work being carried out by others in the city. As more people arrived topic shifted to core agenda, BM revitalization. Instead of clearing misunderstanding and walking away, we calmly observed proceedings, being bit dazed with happenings. Bony took the initiative and started the proceedings. When everyone was engrossed in discussion, mujeeb(president of bhumi) came to wards us, since the place we all sat is their regular meeting place and he supposed to meet rakesh today. There was this uneasiness and awkwardness in few people's eyes but rest of us were cool and we shook hands & exchanged greetings. It was so hilarious that i couldn't control my laughter. Later, mujeeb went away and sat few feet away from us.
As people started to discuss about the new structure of the chapter and kind of work that we need to get involved, i got this deja vu, that what being proposed may lead to same old things that dissuaded us from bhumi but with added good intent and promised transparency, which i think in long-run sure to be exploited in one way or other. Everyone had their own ideas and Arvind proposed that we should discuss all our ideas at least for a month before even we consider what we wish to do. Bony supported and rest agreed.

During the discussion, i just got carried away at some instances and suddenly realized that i've no intention to contribute, therefore contained myself without finishing what i intend to say. Anyways, i stated that voluntary social organization should give emphasis on collective responsibility towards projects than building a hierarchy. (Dr)Tanvir informed me that this is not only social organization but one which also has political aspirations, that is true i forgot that BM is a political organization, which intend to realize its goals through social work. She continued, that she wants to bring a change in the system & the society and she is not here for social service and further added that she can do that being a medical student, just then, i wanted to remind her that few minutes before, she has expressed her dissatisfaction against the state government's rule which makes it mandatory for medical students, who wish to do their PG to serve stipulated period of time in the rural area, where there is not much money but only service. She even wished, that if at all it is to be implemented then it would be nice if they enforce it after she finishes her studies. With this and also Dr Arvind's own admission in the past that most doctors are unscrupulous when it comes to money, as they spend fortune to get their degree. After spending so much of money, it is hard to believe that one can do honest service, specially after expressing apprehension over mandatory rural service but i don't want to start a trivial debate at inappropriate time. I told her, that change is a general term and asked her to clarify on what kind of change she intend to bring and how?, she said that like eradicating corruption and said that we need to ponder on how we can accomplish it!. She also said that social service is for the people who wish to derive personal satisfaction from it and i need to concede to her its true in my case and i prefer service where one teaches others how to fish. Anyhow, everyone does something for their own satisfaction and not for others and same is true with this "change" that people hope to bring, no matter how bigger connotation this "change" has but one gets motivated for their own gratification. Thats the basic truth!.

I think, most youth organizations are full of enthusiasm and less on thought & experience. Combination of youth and experienced people are key to success of any voluntary organization, as it combines energy with ideas. I'm sadden to see plans of recruitment is mostly focused on youth. In my personal opinion, politics and social service will not gel well in the long run. I think the person who proposed this idea doesn't have foresight of the complex problems that may arise or he/she didn't have true conviction, that one day BM would evolve to an political organization, where it could seriously contend against already existing political parties.

In the end, it is always delight to meet and interact with the wonderful people who wish to do something for the society in their capacity!.

Old Rockets Carry Bacteria to the Stars

Space.com reports, that the old rocket stages that propelled four NASA spacecraft contains bacteria from earth. Spacecrafts were sterilized but not the rocket stages. This bacteria was emplaced by the hands and breath of the engineers who built the upper stages of Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Pioneer 10 and New Horizons.

Given the sheer expanse of time that lies ahead of the four discarded rockets, at least one is likely to eventually encounter a planet. But even if that planet's environment is conducive to life, the long dormant bacteria will not just gently plop into some exotic ocean. No soft landing can be expected.

Odds of this bacteria reaching a conducive planet in another solar system and colonizing it is very very slim but slightest possibility of such scenario makes this thought quite fascinating!.

Apocalypto

Last week, I watched apocalypto with my friends. Well, the movie was very interesting and particularly i liked it's direction but it gives gloomy impression of Mayan Civilization and also contains some inaccuracies. It has excessive violence, perhaps to assist audience to overcome any limitations with their imagination in visualizing gruesomeness of events and to empathize with the victims ;). Overall at the end of the movie, one gets the feeling, that this great and advance civilization's collapse was for the good!.

I'm a big fan of Mel Gibson as a fine actor and director but this movie makes me ponder, whether there is any subtle message to it, which is of course disturbing!.

Where are you Sofia?

I've been waiting for a decent 5 megapixel camera phone for sometime now. Last year, LG has introduced KG920, but its camera is slow and also i don't like it's design. Last month Nokia has introduced N95, which runs on symbian. It's design is excellent and has all connectivity options that one can consider (USB, Infrared, Bluetooth, GSM, WCDMA, HSDPA, WLAN) & also integrated GPS. It prides of using Carl Zeiss Optics, but the quality of the pictures & videos are okay and not exceptional, at times it produces pictures with purple hue, and also it has poor battery. This leaves me with Sony Ericsson's K850i(code named Sofia). However, SE has not even acknowledged Sofia's existence till date. I and others like me, hoped that Sofia will be unveiled at CeBit 2007 but that was not the case and now rumors are going around, that it might be announced in the middle of April and available in June/July. Let us hope this may be the actual date, if not, then i've to prolong this wait with dejection!!!. After using K750i, I've reason to believe that Sofia's camera might be the best when compared to other phones, and also below 3rd photo supposedly taken with Sofia looks promising. However, Sofia may not be a smartphone like N95 but that is not my consideration. Moreover SE phones are slightly faster than Nokia and have better battery life.

Sofia's photoshop Pic Courtesy of deuxani and thecoolsha

According to Nielsen Media Research, some groups are more attracted to certain brands than others:

• Nokia : Family-minded / Middle aged managers / Balance seekers / Health conscious.
  

• Motorola : Fashion conscious / Under 24 / Fun seekers / Individualistic.
  

• Sony Ericsson : Ambitious young men / Professionals / Success driven / Individualistic.
  

• LG : Favourite of mums / Stay-at-home parents / Success driven / Harmony seekers.

• Samsung : Young women / Career focused / Success driven / Fun seekers.
  

Samjhauta Express Bombing

It takes a gruesome bomb blast to expose the kind of security arrangements made for samjhauta express. In the past, samjhauta express was used for fake currency smuggling and also at times ISI sponsored terrorists used it as means to enter the country, in spite of this, on 19th no baggage checking was conducted and only 6 security personals were present for 14 coach train!. Question that needs to be asked is why is samjhauta express allowed to run without adequate security on our end after it was halted following the parliament attack?. In our anxiety to implement CBMs, how can we ignore our security needs!.

It is amazing to see people believe that this incident may effect so-called peace process but if they follow policies of Indian establishment then one can be sure that no amount of terrorism will hinder peace process, unless it is directed towards prominent politicians or their family members or when terrorists use nuclear weapon(s) on Indian soil.

My sincere condolence to those who had died!.

Let us remain steadfast in ignoring terrorism?

In a press conference Musharraf has said that:

"There will be obstacles and we have to be steadfast against all that they (militants) do," he said adding "that is why I say we should bold enough."

Since the beginning of terrorism in the valley it has been pakistan's government desire to absolve themselves from all actions of their state sponsored terrorists. Now that India has started this peace process without putting much emphasis on pakistan government's accountability for their support to the terrorists, therefore it will only exonerate their actions. And this is what musharraf states as if terrorists are distinct entities from the pakistan's government agencies like ISI. If Indian government choose to ignore pakistan's involvement without taking pragmatic stand for the sake of so-called peace dialog then the word PEACE doesn't signify anything.

He further says that:

"all shades of Kashmiris" should be taken on board except those who believe that militancy is the only option to resolve the issue.

I suppose all shades means those Hurriyat people who claim to be true representatives of people of J&K without any mandate. Anyways, his statement coincides or does it? with the statement of Mirwaiz, which he issued few days ago after returning from pakistan.

On other hand, BBC reports that musharraf has admitted that pakistan's border security forces have been letting the Taliban into Afghanistan!. American generals are frustrated enough with musharraf's brilliant game of duplicity of co-operation in the war against terror and perhaps the evidence from NATO, UK and afghan forces is too much to ignore, so much so that it made musharraf to acknowledge it publicly but with some spin.

After receiving millions of dollars in aid and military hardware from USA to fight Indian Army Taliban, Musharraf resigns over the situation and says:

it would be difficult for two border guards on a typical check post on the Afghan border when they are faced with a group of "20 well-armed, well-trained and well-motivated people challenging them".

and goes further to complain that:

His country was being made "a scapegoat" for the resurgence of Taleban-led militants.

There we go, therefore let us not blame pakistan's government and ignore ISI activities in Quetta!.