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Toll Free Numbers in India

hey you guys here are the toll free numbers to a diverse range of companies/services, all in one place. Havnt tried all the numbers, but hopefully they are correct. Any corrections please lemme know !!!

Airlines
Indian Airlines - 1800 180 1407
Jet Airways - 1800 22 5522
SpiceJet - 1800 180 3333
Air India -- 1800 22 7722
KingFisher - 1800 180 0101

Banks
ABN AMRO - 1800 11 2224
Canara Bank - 1800 44 6000
Citibank - 1800 44 2265
Corporatin Bank - 1800 443 555
Development Credit Bank - 1800 22 5769
HDFC Bank - 1800 227 227
ICICI Bank - 1800 333 499
ICICI Bank NRI - 1800 22 4848
IDBI Bank - 1800 11 6999
Indian Bank - 1800 425 1400
ING Vysya - 1800 44 9900
Kotak Mahindra Bank - 1800 22 6022
Lord Krishna Bank - 1800 11 2300
Punjab National Bank - 1800 122 222
State Bank of India - 1800 44 1955
Syndicate Bank - 1800 44 6655

Automobiles
Mahindra Scorpio - 1800 22 6006
Maruti - 1800 111 515
Tata Motors - 1800 22 5552
Windshield Experts - 1800 11 3636


Computers/IT
Adrenalin - 1800 444 445
AMD - 1800 425 6664
Apple Computers - 1800 444 683
Canon - 1800 333 366
Cisco Systems - 1800 221 777
Compaq - HP - 1800 444 999
Data One Broadband - 1800 424 1800
Dell - 1800 444 026
Epson - 1800 44 0011
eSys - 3970 0011
Genesis Tally Academy - 1800 444 888
HCL - 1800 180 8080
IBM - 1800 443 333
Lexmark - 1800 22 4477
Marshal's Point - 1800 33 4488
Microsoft - 1800 111 100
Microsoft Virus Update - 1901 333 334
Seagate - 1800 180 1104
Symantec - 1800 44 5533
TVS Electronics - 1800 444 566
WeP Peripherals - 1800 44 6446
Wipro - 1800 333 312
xerox - 1800 180 1225
Zenith - 1800 222 004


Indian Railway
Indian Railway General Enquiry 131
Indian Railway Central Enquiry 131
Indian Railway Reservation 131
Indian Railway Railway Reservation Enquiry 1345 ,1335,1330
Indian Railway Centralised Railway Enquiry 1330/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9


Couriers/Packers & Movers
ABT Courier - 1800 44 8585
AFL Wizz - 1800 22 9696
Agarwal Packers & Movers - 1800 11 4321
Associated Packers P Ltd - 1800 21 4560
DHL - 1800 111 345
FedEx - 1800 22 6161
Goel Packers & Movers - 1800 11 3456
UPS - 1800 22 7171

Home Appliances
Aiwa/Sony - 1800 11 1188
Anchor Switches - 1800 22 7979
Blue Star - 1800 22 2200
Bose Audio - 1800 11 2673
Bru Coffee Vending Machines - 1800 44 7171
Daikin Air Conditioners - 1800 444 222
DishTV - 1800 12 3474
Faber Chimneys - 1800 21 4595
Godrej - 1800 22 5511
Grundfos Pumps - 1800 33 4555
LG - 1901 180 9999
Philips - 1800 22 4422
Samsung - 1800 113 444
Sanyo - 1800 11 0101
Tata Sky - 1860 425 6633
Voltas - 1800 33 4546
WorldSpace Satellite Radio - 1800 44 5432

Investments/ Finance
CAMS - 1800 44 2267
Chola Mutual Fund - 1800 22 2300
Easy IPO's - 3030 5757
Fidelity Investments - 1800 180 8000
Franklin Templeton Fund - 1800 425 4255
J M Morgan Stanley - 1800 22 0004
Kotak Mutual Fund - 1800 222 626
LIC Housing Finance - 1800 44 0005
SBI Mutual Fund - 1800 22 3040
Sharekhan - 1800 22 7500
Tata Mutual Fund - 1800 22 0101

Travel
Club Mahindra Holidays - 1800 33 4539
Cox & Kings - 1800 22 1235
God TV Tours - 1800 442 777
Kerala Tourism - 1800 444 747
Kumarakom Lake Resort - 1800 44 5030
Raj Travels & Tours - 1800 22 9900
Sita Tours - 1800 111 911
SOTC Tours - 1800 22 3344

Healthcare
Best on Health - 1800 11 8899
Dr Batras - 1800 11 6767
GlaxoSmithKline - 1800 22 8797
Johnson & Johnson - 1800 22 8111
Kaya Skin Clinic - 1800 22 5292
LifeCell - 1800 44 5323
Manmar Technologies - 1800 33 4420
Pfizer - 1800 442 442
Roche Accu-Chek - 1800 11 45 46
Rudraksha - 1800 21 4708
Varilux Lenses - 1800 44 8383
VLCC - 1800 33 1262


Insurance
AMP Sanmar - 1800 44 2200
Aviva - 1800 33 2244
Bajaj Allianz - 1800 22 5858
Chola MS General Insurance - 1800 44 5544
HDFC Standard Life - 1800 227 227
LIC - 1800 33 4433
Max New York Life - 1800 33 5577
Royal Sundaram - 1800 33 8899
SBI Life Insurance - 1800 22 9090

Hotel Reservations
GRT Grand - 1800 44 5500
InterContinental Hotels Group - 1800 111 000
Marriott - 1800 22 0044
Sarovar Park Plaza - 1800 111 222
Taj Holidays - 1800 111 825

Teleshoppin
Asian Sky Shop - 1800 22 1800
Jaipan Teleshoppe - 1800 11 5225
Tele Brands - 1800 11 8000
VMI Teleshopping - 1800 447 777
WWS Teleshopping - 1800 220 777

Others
Domino's Pizza - 1800 111 123
MacDonalds - 66000666

Cell Phones
BenQ - 1800 22 08 08
Bird CellPhones - 1800 11 7700
Motorola MotoAssist - 1800 11 1211
Nokia - 3030 3838
Sony Ericsson - 3901 1111

INDIA WINS T20 WORLD CUP !!!!

Yuvraj's 6 sixes !!!

Here's Yuvraj's Singh's 6 sixes in Stuart Broad's over at the T20 World Cup !!!

Yuvraj scores a perfect "6" but India in no position to beat South Africa!

After having watched yesterday's performance every Indian was ecstatic. Yuvraj's timely perfect score gave our T20 team a huge total to defend. The win was a welcome relief but England had lost all its matches in the group. So there is nothing to feel overly ecstatic. We could have won by a bigger margin yesterday, but bygone is bygone.

We got off with a great start with Sehwag and Gambhir just like against NZ, but both Sehwag and Gambhir conveniently got out after having scored 50 runs a piece. I say they will not last in today's match against the SA's bowling attack because even they are great strikers of the ball(on paper) they lack the frame of mind needed to stay on the pitch for long . Once these duo are gone, we might be in a situation just like against NZ or even worse.

Then comes Uthappa, I had high hopes for this dude. I thought he would have been an asset to the current team. But he got out in the most clumsy way that anyone can imagine. I wouldn rely on this guy. Dhoni has not been playing the way we would want him to from the world cup and with the added weight of captaincy there is no surety that he'll not disappoint us. But I would like to trust him today but may be not too much. If he stays on the field long enough he can snatch us a win. And Karthik was someone I was looking forward to be a delight to watch. I don expect anything more than twenty odd runs from him today. And Yuvraj...hmmmm. I would have hoped he would play for India today rather than to prove Flintoff a point. But neways as long as he puts a huge total on board I don give a damn. He and dhoni are the only ones who can save us today in batting.

About the bowlers, I love Pathan & Bhaji. I think they are bowling well as of now but they have to be top notch today if we want to go any further. As for R.P Singh I don have any opinion, I haven't seen him play much. Other bowlers depends on whom Dhoni will pick. I think he should give Agarkar another chance. I know he has been expensive but i have this gut feeling he might fire today. As for fielding I think there is something hereditary, we just love to allow balls pass by us.

Please dont be mistaken by my tone, I am an ardent Indian team supporter but there are some things one cant ignore for a big game like today. Score board doesn't say it all,it is the team that matters in the end. And I really dont think that India has put forward an excellent team even compared to Pakistan or New Zealand.

Snakes & Ladders

Do you remember your favourite childhood game - i bet it was snakes & ladders. Well mine surely was. And i found a website that lets you play online. Only single player though but it still is fun !!!

Click Here To Check It Out


So go ahead, refresh those childhood memories !!!

Nokia Prism Collection - 7500 & 7900

The Nokia Prism Collection consists of the Nokia 7500 Prism and the Nokia 7900 Prism, handsets which combine striking design, individual style with state-of-the-art technology and are aimed at the fashion conscious user.

NOKIA 7900



1) The Nokia 7900 Prism is the top of the range model in the Prism Collection. It comes with glossy front and an aluminium back cover, which is coin-stamped and laser-etched in Nokia Prism's signature diamond-cut design.

2) The screen on the Nokia 7900 is a little different from most, as it uses an 240x320 pixel OLED (Organic LED) display rather than the traditional TFT LCD. The 7900 Prism is one of the first phones by Nokia to feature an OLED screen. OLED uses much less power than TFT LCDs and has a greater contrast and colour range.

3) A 2-megapixel camera is built in with 8x digital zoom and flash. The camera is capable of recording DVD-quality video (H.264). The phone has a multi-format music player, FM stereo radio and 1GB of internal memory.

Nokia 7900 Prism Key Features

• Cutting-edge design with anodized, diamond-cut patterns on an aluminum back cover
• Fascinating light effects – customizable with 49 different colors – when phone is turned on and off, or in idle mode
• Marvel at a living wallpaper that animates new, dazzling patterns unique to each phone
• Enjoy fast web browsing, quick downloads, and 6 bands of coverage with 3G capabilities
• Capture stylish photos or videos on a 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom and flash
• Store more pictures, videos and music on 1 GB of internal memory
• Synchronize data and contacts with PC applications using high speed USB connection or Bluetooth
• Experience peerless color clarity and brightness with the 16 million color OLED display

NOKIA 7500

1) The Nokia 7500 Prism is described as the ' quirky sibling' to the Nokia 7900 Prism. The 7500 Prism comes with a few less features than its older sibling but is equally as stylish.

2) The Nokia 7500 Prism is one of the most striking phones on the market with bold geometric patterns and distinctive triangular keys. It comes with 3 'colour accents' - plastic coloured trims for the side of the phone which can be easily changed to suit your mood.

3) The 7500 prism comes with a Music player with support for MP3/AAC/eAAC+/WMA formats with skins and album art Nokia Prism, headphones and pouchsupport. It boasts a playback time of up to 9 hours and iscompatitble with Windows Media Player. The phone comes with 30MB internal storage but comes with a Micro SD memory card slot capable of taking upto 2Gb memory cards, enough foraround 1500 tracks.

Nokia 7500 Prism Key Features

• Cutting-edge design with bold geometric patterns and distinctive details
• Capture life's great moments in still photos and stunning video quality on a 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom
• Capture memorable moments in black and white, sepia, and solarize color modes
• Exchangeable accent colors
• Enjoy your favorite tracks on the music player that allows you to change the skin to match your mood
• Store more music, high quality videos, and photos with expandable memory of up to 2 GB
• Share your latest images and videos via email
• Extend your internet browsing experience with Widsets, Yahoo Go, and Opera Mini
• Share more of your memorable moments using Nokia Sensor, the social network application
• Send voice messages to friends and family

The NOKIA PRISM COLLECTION




THE NOKIA PRISM AD

Twenty 20 World Cup

So Twenty 20 World Cup is here - the next generation of cricket. It seems to be promising. The most important thing for me is that no side is a weak side in this competition. This is evident from the games of Aus v/s Zim & even Ban v/s WI. This makes it even better for all teams participating. Everyone is at par.

Twenty 20 cricket for me is 50 over cricket without the middle 30 overs. Heres how it goes - First 10 overs the batsman try to make use of the powerplay & smash the ball all around the park & the last 10 overs is a slog fest trying to acquire as many runs as possible. The middle 30 overs seem a bit boring.

Well this Twenty 20 World Cup has got my attention indeed. Who wouldnt want to see good teams lose to minnows (unless its your team). For the neutrals its a damn good way to spend your time when you have nothing else to do !!!

Rest Assured - Entertainment Guaranteed. For all those who dont know or like cricket Cheer for boundaries & wickets coz you'll get to see pretty ladies dance on platforms !!! :) Hehehehehheheh !!!

The Concept Of GRE !!!

Here's something to give some thought to. The GRE exam held worldwide - can it really judge a person. I'm saying this cause of things i have noticed recently.

2 websites - ORKUT & BLOGSPOT - playing a huge role.

Firstly with the help of communities on orkut, people are sharing vital information about tests with each other. There are threads everywhere with quantitative & analytical questions from previous tests. Every month has its own thread, with those who have given the tests in tht month posting in the questions - this constitutes the month "database".

The same concept is on blogspot. People have made blogs for every month, separate ones for quant & verb & even question wise.

So heres the trick - Take a date towards the end of the month. Keep a close watch on these commmunities & blogs throughout the month. Make sure to solve all problems in quant from these "databases" & learn all the words that appear there. I'm pretty sure you'll end with a score above 1300.

Now can GRE actually judge a person from this??

GRE is here !!!

Yup, My GRE is coming near (2nd week of Sept), & because of this, the frequency of posts has gone down as well. As soon as i gave my exam, posting will return to normal. for now, its only words & words are all i got to get some good marksssssss...... :) !!!

Captain Dhoni - For Better or For Worse

The Indian Team was announced for the Twenty20 World Cup - and no surprises Dhoni named captain after being the vice captain in England. Well it does seem which way India is heading as far as the captain of the future is considered. Dhoni seems to be the man of the moment.

All the talks about Yuvraj Singh or even Kaif as captain in the past are now all forgotten. To make matters worse for Kaif, he wasnt even selected for the Twenty20 team. where has all the talk about Kaif for the future gone (during tht menmorable vin in Lords in the Natwest Final game). Is that the only memory of Kaif as we see it.

Seems Irfans getting a place back in the team - and dats a good thing for Irfan as well as team India. Well with all this going around, everyone is forgetting about the fact that team India still doesnt have a coach. Mebbe its good... India can still win without one. But then, is there anyone who wants the position of Indian coach - with all the Chappell Controversy.

Its a shame wat the state of Indian cricket is - mere politics fillled to the lowest level !!!

The new Alpenliebe ad with Kajol - animal rights anyone?

Have you seen the new alpenliebe ad featuring bollywood actress Kajol? It enrages me so much I could hit the person, who thought of this idea, with a cricket bat!

This asinine advertisement depicts Kajol feeding a crocodile or an alligator(really don't know the difference) with an alpenliebe toffee & the poor reptile follows her everywhere because he liked it & wants some more! How ridiculous & ignorant that is! Hasn't anyone who was part of the creative team of this ad ever been to a zoo!

We aren't supposed to feed animals any processed foods. Toffees like Alpenliebe are very high in salt & sugar content which cannot be digested by animals. They can be fatal too!
This advertisement is promoting quite the opposite - " Just feed poor animals some sweet toffees!"
You know how outrageous that is! What if common people actually imitate this? what impact would it have? And children have such impressionable minds, they would think won't it be cool to do a Kajol when next time they visit the zoo?
There already exist people who indulge in such nonsense & we don't need a stupid advertisement to encourage people to do so.

Also plastics can be deathly for animals. What if someone doesn't remove the wrapper off alpenliebe & feeds animals at the zoo?

Most disappointing fact about this whole thing is nobody bothers protesting! People are more interested in moral policing. Remember the Lux cozy ad which was recently banned? Isn't animal rights a good enough moral for the Shiv Sena? Or take Maneka Gandhi for instance! She raised such a hue & cry about using horses for a scene in Rang De Basanti. Is she gone in hibernation now? Or was it just a cheap & desperate way to get publicity just like the Sena. And hello does the PETA exist in India?

I might not know the difference between a alligator & a crocodile. But I do know one thing that this ad is going to have a great impact on the already deteriorating condition of Indian zoos. So start creating awareness about this idiotic ad or even better stop eating alpenliebe till the company pulls off this ad from national television!

Microsoft's copy protection cracked... again !!!

Microfost is once again on the defensve against hackers after the launch of a new program that gives average PC users tools to unlock copy-protected digital music & movies.

The lates version of this program, FairUse4M, which can crack Microsoft's digital rights management (DRM) system for Windows Media audio & video files, was published online. FairUse4M has a simple drag & drop interface and PC users can turn the protected music files they bought online into DRM - free tunes that can be copied and shared, or converted into MP3 files.

"We knew at the start that no DRM technology is going to be impervious to circumvention," said Jonathan usher, a director in Microsoft's consumer media technology group. He did not say ow many songs have bee stripped of copy protection, or how long it will take for Microsoft to combat the hack again.

But the music industry is aware of Microsoft's technology, he said, and added that he does not expect record labels to lose patience with the process. While Usher said Microsoft will remain committed to copy protection, attitudes around the industry are tarting to shift.
Apple's chief, Steve Jobs, for one, has started calling for end to digital music-locking earlier this year. In fact, Apple, as well as Web retailer Amazon.com, have already jumped on the DRM-free bandwagon.

We're All Out Of Africa

An analysis of thousands of skulls shows modern humans originated from a single point in Africa and finally lays to rest the idea of multiple origins, British scientists confirmed.

Most researchers agree that mankin spread out of Africa starting about 50000 years ago, quickly establishing Ston Age cultures throughout Europe, Asia & Australia. But a minority have argued, using skull data that divergent populations evovled independently in different areas.

The "multiple origins" school points out that human skulls from around the world have clearly different characteristics, and argues that this proves our species evolved in slightly different forms, more or less simultaneously.

The generic evidence, however, has always strongly supported the single origin theory, and now, results from a study of more than 6000 skulls held around the world in academic collections support this case.

"We have combined our genetic data with new measurements of a large sample of skulls to show definitively that modern humans originated from a single area in Sub-Saharan Africa," said Andrea Manica of the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology.

Manica & her colleagues wrote in the journal Nature that variations in skull size and shape decreased the further a skull was away from Africa, just like variations in DNA. The decrease reflects the fact that, while the original African population was stable and varied, only a small number of people embarked on each stage of the multi-step migration out of Africa. This effectively created a series of "bottlenecks", which reduced diversity. The highest level of variation was seen in South-eastern Africa the generaly accepted cradle of mankind.

Indian Cricket League

The Indian Cricket League's latest signing Brian Lara has got quite a few heads turning in their direction. What promises to increase the talent pool in Indian Cricket might just become a tough foe for the BCCI (The Ruler Of Indian Cricket). The way BCCI is currently running Indian Cricket is surely making the public look forward to ICL.


ICL promises to be for India, what county cricket is for the UK. The format for ICL is as follows -

2 International Players
2 Indian Seniors
7 Young Players

The ICL is planning to launch its league with 6 teams playing 20 - 20 initially. It plans to grow to 16 teams playing ODIs.

The BCCI is doing its best to oppose this strong competition and break it down before it even starts. It seems BCCI will not allow players who join ICL to participate in the BCCI cricket team, in whatsoever manner. the Kapil Dev incident is a good example regarding this. BCCI has even approached the other international players to stop their players from playing in the ICL. Its evident that the BCCI will not even allow the ICL to use its stadiums.

However the launch of ICL is sure a good way to stop the monopoly of BCCI in Indian Cricket. The politics in BCCI is one thing that is leading to its downfall. Lets just hope that ICL can do a better job.

ICL is on its way to sign several international players like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Stephen Fleming for the time being. The ICL is one great way to expose the young players who are unknown untill they make it to the Indian Team.

Good luck to the ICL !!!

The World's Top Earning Models

Forbes announced the 2007 world's top earning models. The 15 models on the Forbes list were ranked primarily according to estimated earnings over the past 12 months. Where necessary, the "relevancy" of the model--determined by recent campaigns, editorials, fashion magazine covers and the opinion of those in the industry-- were taken into account.

1) Gisele Bundchen - $33 Million

The highest-paid model in the world had two high-profile breakups last year: First she split with boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio and then with longtime client Victoria's Secret. But shed no tears for the Brazilian bombshell: The 26-year-old still commands more money and more contracts than any other model on the planet, gracing ads for Apple, Dolce & Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli. Her line of sandals, Ipanema by Gisele, is expanding into the U.S. and Europe. Her latest paramour is New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

2) Kate Moss - $9 million

The 33-year-old superwaif continued her comeback from last year's cocaine scandal: She's the new face of Stella McCartney and Italian sportswear company Belstaff. She also recently launched a clothing line for British retailer Topshop (carried in the U.S. at Barneys New York). Moss has also managed to hang onto modeling gigs with Rimmel, Burberry and Dior. Her relationship with drug-addled British rocker Pete Doherty keeps her in the tabloids.

3) Heidi Klum - $8 million

The 34-year-old model and mother of three (hubby is singer Seal) renewed her Victoria's Secret contract and still helms the hit Bravo reality show Project Runway. She also hosted Germany's version of America's Next Top Model. In her "spare" time, she designs and markets a line of jewelry through Mouawad.

4) Adriana Lima - $6 million

The 26-year-old Victoria's Secret model is probably the most famous Brazilian babe since Gisele Bundchen. She's also the face of Maybelline and Italian phone company Telecom Italia. Her April 2006 GQ cover was the highest-selling issue of the year.

5) Alessandra Ambrosio - $6 million

This olive-skinned beauty, 26, confidently stakes her turf among the Victoria's Secret Brazilian trinity, which is rounded out by former roommate Gisele Bundchen and Adriana Lima. She also models for Armani Exchange and Next U.K.

6) Carolyn Murphy - $5 million

This native Floridian, 31, is ubiquitous. As the main face of Estée Lauder (a title she took over from Elizabeth Hurley in 2001), she peers down at beauty counters all over the world. She can also be seen in campaigns for Jantzen swimwear, Missoni, Versace, Anne Klein and Tiffany and Co.

7) Natalia Vodianova - $4.5 million

The Russia-born Vodianova, 25, has been a Calvin Klein muse for longer than any other model, including Kate Moss. She also poses for David Yurman jewelry (as does Moss). Vodianova, active in speaking out against eating disorders within the modeling industry, just gave birth to her third child with husband the Honorable Justin Portman, a British real estate heir. So far this year, she's the only model to have the cover of Vogue to herself.

8) Karolina Kurkova - $3.5 million

The 23-year-old Czech model reigns next to Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio as one of the highest-ranking angels in the Victoria's Secret roster. At 16, Kurkova appeared on the February 2001 cover of American Vogue, making her one of the youngest models ever to do so. She can be seen in the upcoming movie My Sexiest Year, starring Harvey Keitel and Frankie Muniz, in which she plays--what else?--a supermodel.

9) Daria Werbowy - $3.5 million

Werbowy's name may not be familiar, but unless you've been living underground, you've seen this 22-year-old Canadian, who is the face of Lancome. She also models for Louis Vuitton, Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Chanel, Valentino, H&M, Missoni and David Yurman.

10) Gemma Ward - $3 million

The Australian model doesn't yet have an American multiyear cosmetic contract, but give her time. The 19-year-old models for Valentino, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Karl Lagerfeld, Swarovski and Louis Vuitton. Her Kewpie-doll look inspired a new rage in the industry and makes her especially popular in Japan, where she's the face of the enormous Kose cosmetics and skincare line.

11) Liya Kebede - $2.5 million

As the first black model in Estée Lauder's history, the 29-year-old Ethiopian beauty is hailed as a ground-breaker. She also models for H&M, the Gap, Anne Taylor and Givenchy.

12) Hilary Rhoda - $2 million

At 20, Rhoda is being hailed as the new face of fashion. With her heavy eyebrows (a la Brooke Shields) and "heavy" (for the modeling industry) athletic body, she's a throwback to the days of the supermodel. After becoming a favorite in the pages of Vogue and modeling for Donna Karan, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Valentino, she bagged a prized Estée Lauder contract.

13) Shalom Harlow - $2 million

At 33, Harlow is a legendary veteran of the modeling world; she is making a comeback this year with new contracts with Chanel and Tiffany & Co.

14) Doutzen Kroes - $1.5 million

The Dutch model, 22, rapidly rose through the pages of Vogue, where she's been featured in the last three issues (including the May cover). She's also bagged contracts with Calvin Klein's Eternity fragrance and L'Oreal.

15) Jessica Stam - $1.5 million

Stam, 21, was discovered by photographer Steven Meisel. In May, the Canadian was featured on the cover of Vogue as one of the hottest new faces in fashion. You may not know her name, but her face should be familiar: She's modeled for DKNY, Dior, Lanvin and Bulgari.

10 Richest People In Tech

Source - Mashable.com

Ah, the memories. Bill Gates, known for so many years to be (by far) the wealthiest person in the world, now has to settle for second place, because a Mexican tycoon came in first (and not by a small margin; Carlos Slim Helú beats him by over $8 billion).

Is this a sign that IT is yesterday’s news? Actually, no: Carlos himself is a telecommunications magnate, and while the top 10 list isn’t dominated by tech people, the top 100 still has its fair share of geeks. With the web growing at a miraculous pace, we’re hoping to see the Google founders eventually joined by more web-based entrepreneurs, although the desktop paradigm will likely remain strong for years to come. Let’s take a look at the current list of top 10 wealthiest people in IT.

Carlos Slim Helú

Net worth: $67.8 billion
Company: Telmex, América Móvil, Grupo Carso

What? Telecommunications are IT. The fact that Carlos Slim may not be as known worldwide as some other people on this list doesn’t mean he doesn’t pack 67.8 billion dollars. Add Rupert Murdoch’s wealth to that of Bill Gates and they still barely overtake Carlos, and that says a lot. If you wonder how he got here so fast, it’s due to his company América Móvil’s stock jumping a whopping 27% in the second quarter of 2007.

2. William H. Gates III

Net Worth: $59.2 billion
Company: Microsoft

Now you’re sorry you gave all that money to charity, eh Bill? Being number two kinda sucks, but don’t worry, Microsoft’s long term online strategy will…oh, wait. In any case, Bill Gates has been numero uno for so long we were kinda used to him in this spot. Frankly, we expected him to be overtaken by those two kids from Google, but the telecoms magnate instead reigned supreme. Bill is actually focused on giving away his fortune to good causes from now on, and has said previously that he doesn’t care much for being the richest man in the world.

3. Lawrence Ellison

Net Worth: $21.5 billion
Company: Oracle

Oracle? Bo-ring. Ellison has been able to lurk near the top 10 overall for quite some time now, and although he’s slowly slipping the ranks (at one point in time in 2000, he was the richest man in the world), he’s still doing really, really well. Well, what can you do: databases are always in fashion.

4. Paul Allen

Net Worth: $18.0 billion
Company: Microsoft

There was a time when Paul and Bill were both in the overall top 10 list of billionaires, but this was a long, long time ago. Now, Paul is at the 19th place overall and only fourth in IT, with the Google guys breathing down his neck. His ties with Microsoft aren’t so strong, and he sold some 68 million shares of the company, which left him with a meager sum of 138 million shares. He likes to invest in anything and anyone: real estate, sports, even space programs. He’s also known for owning the Octopus, the world’s fifth biggest yacht, as well as a couple of smaller ones.

5 & 6. Sergey Brin & Larry Page

Net Worth: $16.6 billion (each)
Company: Google

We’ve put these two rascals together because their huge wallets are the exact same size. Combine their wealth, and they jump to number 3; I hope you guys realize why it’s bad to have a co-founder? If you must have one, at least stab them in the back and get rid of ‘em before you get wealthy, so you don’t have to share. But, we digress. The fact that these sheer billions originate from an algorithm and an almost blank white web page with a colorful logo and a single form is still astonishing.

7. Michael Dell

Net Worth: $15.8 billion
Company: Dell

When you count all the problems that Dell (the company) had, it’s a wonder that it still manages to be the number one hardware company in the world (or, if you ask HP, the number two company). Michael is currently struggling to retain this position as he took control of the company once again, replacing Kevin Rollins at the beginning of this year, and the situation is not too cheery at the moment, so you can expect Michael to drop a position on this list real soon.

8. Steven Ballmer

Net Worth: $15.0 billion
Company: Microsoft

Developers developers developers! Laugh all you like (heck, take a look at that dancing video on YouTube again if you must), but he’s got 15 billion dollars, and you have to choose between the iPhone and food for a month. Oh yeah, although he has money to burn, Steve has an office smaller than my bathroom. Go figure.

9. Naguib Sawiris

Net Worth: $10.0 billion
Company: Orascom Telecom Holding

Naguib Sawiris is the chairman and CEO of Egypt’s Orascom Telecom, a multinational GSM mobile phone operating in the emerging markets of Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. As a good indicator of just how fast these markets grow, just look at Naguib’s last year position on Forbes’ list: 278.

10. Sunil Mittal

Net Worth: $9.5 billion
Company: Bharti Telecom

More proof that if you want to be a multi-billionaire, the telecoms industry is where it’s at. Sunil Mittal is the chairman and managing director of Bharti group, which runs India’s largest GSM mobile phone service. Although Sunil has nearly $9.5 billion dollars, he’s only the 6th richest Indian in the world. Talk about fierce competition.

Hansika Motwani Websites

For all you Hansika Motwani fans - Here is a list of her fansites. So go ahead enjoy.


www.hansikamotwaniwow.com

www.hansikamotwani.net

www.hansikamotwani.com

www.hansikaworld.com

www.hansikamotwani.info

www.hansika.info

www.hansika-motwani.net

Thats it for now. A message for other fansites not listed here. Do give us your address and we will list your site here.

Steve Job - A Powergeek !!!

Steve Job topped the list of the 25 most influential people in Web music by US Music Magazine "Blender". Steve Job, also known as the Father of the iPod, does indeed deserve this title. The Apple iPod has managed to find itself in the hands of millions of music fans all over the world.


The magazine's "Powergeek 25" list was compiled to show the behind-scenes-players reshaping the way people listen to, buy and watch music. "Music fans spend much of their day, if not their life, sitting in front of their computer, discovering and downloading music," Blender's editor-in-chief Craig Marks said in a statement. He said Jobs, who co-founded Apple Inc. and is chief executive of the company, had proved to be a technology trendsetter.

The following is the complete list -


1. Steve Jobs: Apple Inc.

2. Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe: MySpace

3. Chad Hurley and Steve Chen: YouTube

4. Doug Morris: Universal Music Group

5. Ryan Schreiber: Pitchfork (Web magazine)

6. Ian Rogers: Yahoo! Music (music portal)

7. Martin Stiksel and Felix Miller: Last.FM (music community site)

8. Greg Bildson: LimeWire (file-sharing program)

(no photo) 9. Christian Schmid: RapidShare (file-hosting service)

10. Coran Capshaw: MusicToday (online ticketer and merchandiser)

PSP TV !!!

Some good news for all you psp fans. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is bringing mobile digital TV to its second-generation PlayStation Portable.

The new PSP model is set to launch in Japan on September 20th. A week before it debuts the company will also start selling a plug-in digital TV tuner for Japan's "OneSeg" format mobile digital TV broadcasts. OneSeg broadcasts are already available in much of Japan and are becoming a popular feature on cell phones. The broadcasts send a QVGA resolution (320 pixel by 240 pixel) resolution video signal that can be easily processed by portable gadgets such as the PSP. As the new PSP features a video-out connector it will also be possible to hook-up the device to a TV to watch programs although as the same channels are available on conventional TV at higher quality there would be little to gain.


The new PSP will be available in six colors in Japan: black, white, silver, pink. purple and blue. The new PSP is being launched to help push up poor sales of the handheld console. The device hasn't lived up to Sony's expectations and the company has revised down sales estimates. It sold 8.4 million PSPs in the fiscal year from April 2006 to March 2007, which was down from 14.1 million in the prior 12-month period. This year it hopes to sell 9 million of the devices.

Source - Yahoo! News

Finance Minister P Chidambaram announces launch of biometric PAN Cards.

Looks like the government has finally found a solution to the duplicate PAN cards scam. It is going to launch biometric PAN cards. I think it is a totally cool move. If done systematically the will the government will not have to worry about scamsters who make duplicate PAN cards for a mere 100 bucks.

This is what out finance minster has recently announced "The process of eliminating about 13 lakh duplicate PAN cards is in last mile. Once that process is completed shortly, then we will set a date, after which all new PAN cards will only be biometric,".

Now i know what all recent real PAN cards must be thinking. Will your normal ones be valid or no? Yes they will be. But a word of advice from the FM "they(present PAN card holders)
will be persuaded to switch over to biometric PAN cards in their own interest. Earlier PAN cards will, of course, remain valid."

Now the new biometric PAN cards will have Finger prints as well as iris identifications making it hard for anybody to duplicate considering each human being has unique characteristics.

Not only this the FM is also looking to fully computerise the I-T department. Hopefully the work will be done faster but 3 cheers for the Tech savvy FM.

And i know everyone must be thinking this is like a dream & will never be implemented, but seeing Chidambaram this will most certainly get done. It might cost the government but i think its worth it . I'm ready through the procedure of making my PAN card again the biometric way, even if it means a little bit of trouble. Its our responsibility to support the government when it is making such a strong move, rather than whining about the government being irresponsible & that they should have thought about it long before the duplicate PAN cards thing happened.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2211277.cms

Hollywood v/s Bollywood

Recently i have stopped watching Bollywood movies ( in the theater at least - i do watch at home on tv). But I'm more inclined towards watching Hollywood flicks either in theaters or on television.

The reason being, I'm sick of those romantic love triangle movies that Karan Johar keeps on bringing or the low budget "Underworld" or gangster flicks. Its too predictable for me.

Well i dont think its only me who is more inclined to watch Hollywood blockbusters. i read recently in the papers that the ticket sales for Hollywood flicks was way too much than our bollywood ones. For that matter the Rajnikant starrer "Sivaji" earned more at the box office. There have been hits like "Spiderman 3", "Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End" & most recently "Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix." to hit the screens and do tremendously well in India.

Probably these films are more appealing to the modern literate crowd than the sorry old bollywood ones. Literate meaning college goers like me :). Well i donno wat bollywood can do to improve their standards & copying stories from hollywood flicks is no means of doing that, but they are surely losing out on the race at the Indian box office to Hollywood ones.

News Channels in India

As usual when theres nothing good to watch on television, i'm surfing through all of the channels one after the other. Whats pathetic to watch is some news channel or the other has some breaking news or the other. I donno whether the news channels themselves plant the news or they juss hang around somewhere the whole time to get the coverage first.

Furthermore when there's a huge event going on, all the news channels are flashing the same news over and over again for hours, even after the event. Let me give you an example -

take the Abhishek - Aishwarya wedding a month or so back. All the news channels were constantly focused on their homes & outside the place of the wedding. These channels had their scroll bars flashing "Breaking News" like "Abhishek has just left his place", "Abhishek has arrived at the mandap". What was even more frustrating is to watch each n every news channel do this.

I was surprised that DD NEWS was the only channel which wasnt broadcasting this. DD NEWS was broadcasting a sports programmed awaiting the list of the Indian team for the bangladesh series held a fmonth back". I remember that the declaration of the team news was delayed & i dont see any other reason than that the selectors themselves were watching the "Abhi - Ash" fiasco on their television."

Another thing that i hated the most was watching "Sunita Williams" coming back on earth.
News channels had headlines like "Ghar aao Sunita" (come back home Sunita) and other wierd ones. They even had countdown clocks ticking on till the time of landing. What was amusing for me was tht the landing was delayed each time & they had to reset their countdown timers to the new timings. Now that was funny". By the time the space shuttle landed, the whole excitement had died down.


One more thing i have noticed about these news channels is the viewers opinion via SMS's. Whatever happens, each of the news channel wants the viewers to send in their opinions or greetings via smses. And then there viewers dumb enough to believe that "someone" to whom these opinions are pointed out is actually gonna read them. Wake up people u are just wasting your money in those stupid smses. Only the news channels are gaining "financially" from them. You turn out to be the "loser". Dumb enough to do what they want you to do.

All in all, to conclude these news channels are commercializing the art of free press for their own profits !!!

Nymphadora Tonks - The Beauty in Purple!

The thing that caught my eye the most in the latest Harry Potter flick -"The Order of the Phoenix" was the look of Natalia Tena who played Nymphadora Tonks or should i say just Tonks !!!


She looked absolutely stunning & weird in a good way off course. i wish i could get to see more of her in the movie but alas - the movie is about Harry Potter.

Her looks somewhat suits the look of a witch. but she makes it look even more elegant & beautiful. Thats what got my attention when i first saw her wallpaper (above) on the harry potter website. Nothing compared to wat i had imagined when i had read about her in the book. She looks totally cool & awesome. Wish she had more part to play in the movies :) hehehehehe !!!

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows !!!

I watched the movie on Friday and as always awed in wonder in response to the visual effects & the whole "bringing to life" concept. Its was truly stunning; especially the dueling at the ministry of magic! It was way to fast & furious. Which off course makes me miss many things from the books.

I know theres nothing any1 can do about it, cause movies have to last for 2 & a half hours or max 3 hours. if some1 tries to portray everything from the books, the movie mite go on for 9 hours or so. i know many of the fans will be more than willing to watch a potter flick for a long stretch, but financially its very difficult to make such a long movie :( !!!

Anyways one exciting part of July is over & we all wait for the next one & to an extent the final exciting part of the Harry Potter series - The 7th Book - Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows. I know i have pre-ordered a copy & am glad 21st is a Saturday, which means I'll be more than free to read the book uninterrupted.

Quite a few things i'm waiting for to be answered, not amongst the usual ones, like horcruxes & who'll survive and stuff. but minute details like Sirius's motorbike, role of grawp, Harry's Eyes, Aberfoth Dumbledore & the role of house elves.


Well to say the least - my excitement is on the rise once again & will not settle down till i read the final book. I guess there'll be many more like me.

So lets keep our fingers crossed that Deathly Hallows lives to our expectations & that JK Rowling doesn't end it all by saying "... & Harry woke up startled from the dream. He checked his forehead & there was no scar."

Sleuth - Detective RPG

All you mystery lovers out there. If you wanna step into those detective shoes and solve a few mysteries this is the place for you -


Juss enter a detective name, password & email id... pick your detective photo & skilss and you are off. Dont forget to start with the beginner totorial.

Thereafter your on your own. There are plenty of free mysteries... and you want more u have to subscribe by paying some money.

So go ahead and scratch your brains off in solving some cool mysteries.

Piracy In India

As the title suggests its a huge business in India - Piracy may it be VCDs, DVDs, Softwares or Games.

A simple PS2 game dvd costs over 1000 bucks if u go to buy from a authentic store & if u want a pirated dvd, u can get one at as low as 50 bucks. Now thats very cheap. And these dvds are available at local computer stores, toy stores & even stationary stores. Obviously its not on display, but all you have to do is ask. I have seen a few ppl sellling them on the railway station as well.

Even the so called rich people who can afford to buy the expensive game consoles for their children, prefer to buy the pirated dvds. Obviously its very light on the pocket compared to the original ones. And i guess everyone will agree we'll obviously go for the cheaper stuff.

Movie VCDS, DVDS are priced at over 200 bucks. But now Moserbaer has come upt with VCDs & DVDs for as low as 35 & 50 bucks. Now thats a definite way to cut down on piracy. This obviously has led to their competitors to reduce their prices as well. All said n done, the customer is a happy man. He wants stuff cheap & hes getting it.

I dont think there are many who do actually buy audio cds, people can just d'load it off the internet.

So the problem is with game cds. If piracy has to be stopped, then price of game cds n dvds have to be brought down. thats the only way. And i dont see tht coming as of now...

Hansika Motwani - "Dalda Ka Dabba"

So the whole of india is crazy behind the so called "Blockbuster" & "Superhit" movie "Aap Ka Suroor" starring the very well knowned nasal singer - Himesh Reshammiya & the hottie "child artist" - Hansika Motwani.

Just the other day i was watching a news channel & this film critic was reviewing "Aap Ka Suroor" - i was shocked n surprised to hear him call Hansika Motwani a "Dalda ka Dabba". I donno whether that was a compliment - but i sure do owe her a lot. She is the reason why this blog has so many daily visitors. All coming from various seaerch results with keywords "Hansika Motwani". So this article is dedicated to her (lol) !!!

Well i'm not a great fan of hindi movies, myself neither have i watched this movie nor am i going to !!! From wat i have read in the papers... this movie is doing very well all over india & is claimed to do well abroad as well.


I guess theres a huge fan following for Himesh - no need to mention tht. But the success of this movie (i believe) is more due to this femme fatale Hansika. Huge fan following for her as well.


In the end u have to ask the mystery question "How did she grow so fast?" - Well the answer according to me is - "Come on guys shes a girl 16 years old... this is her growing age !!!"

Orkut Banned !!!

So have u guys faced this situation. You tried opening orkut & ur IE shuts down u get a devilish laugh !!! well its a virus &u can remoev it manually .
The instructions are given below -

1) Open ur task manager & find a process named "svchost.exe" with username - "Your computer name"
2) end this process.
3) go to start menu > run.
4) type c:/heap41a
5) a folder shud open up with some files in it.
6) delete the contents of the folder & the folder itself & u have cleaned the virus !!

The worm w32.USBWorm is responsible for this & spreads thru usb & flash drives. Dont forget to format your usb/flash drives to stop the spreading.

Bartoli ruins Henin's chances for her only Wimbledon win!

This was one of the biggest upsets of Wimbledon 07. The 22 year old Marion Bartoli from France beat World no 1 Justin Henin in 3 sets 1-6 , 7-5 , 6-1. I didnt even watch the 1st two sets of the match. I thought Henin would have a comfortable victory. When i saw the 3rd set I was shocked Bartoli was making Henin run through entire breadth of the court.

Bartoli's game is uncoventional. She hits with both her hands, her wrist movement on service is different. She plays a very slow game I think & she doesnt even have those big shots like Henin. But she's a thinking player. If you have seen her game you will understand what I mean.

Henin must have been really upset because she was playing a great game. I thought I would have been upset too because I'm a fan of hers. But i couldnt stop from applauding for Bartoli. It was her first time playing in centre court. In her after match interview she said that Pierce Brosnan,who was present during the match acted like a lucky charm for her. She said she loved the actor & if she plays well may be she'll be able to impress him. Also she hopes that it would be great if he turns up for the finals against Venus as well. For someone who has never been past the quarterlies in a grand slam this is a big achievement. Todays final match would be an interesting spectacle, with Venus being in top form & Bartoli looking like "nothing can go wrong" !