iPhone buyers are idiots...

..or at least that's what Apple thinks.

Look at these spec's for iPhone 5s and tell me if you don't agree with me.

I mean where is the upgrade part?

Apple, have you even seen the specs on other phones in the market? When even a Windows phone is beating an iPhone, I think it says something about the company's direction and their "innovation". And I am sure there will still be a few brainwashed fanbois who'd like to tell me that iphone is (still) the king! Jeez!

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - all models
		CDMA 800 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - A1533 (CDMA), A1453
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - A1533 (GSM), A1453
		CDMA2000 1xEV-DO - A1533 (CDMA), A1453 HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - A1457, A1530
	4G Network	LTE- all models
	SIM	Nano-SIM
	Announced	2013, September
	Status	Available. Released 2013, September

BODY	Dimensions	123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm (4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 in)
	Weight	112 g (3.95 oz)
		- Fingerprint sensor (Touch ID)

DISPLAY	Type	LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	640 x 1136 pixels, 4.0 inches (~326 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass, oleophobic coating

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, proprietary ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	No
	Internal	16/32/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM DDR3

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	DC-HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, LTE, 100 Mbps; EV-DO Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 with A2DP
	USB	Yes, v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED (True Tone) flash, check quality
	Features	1/3'' sensor size, 1.5 µm pixel size, simultaneous HD video and image recording, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, HDR panorama, HDR photo
	Video	Yes, 1080p@30fps, 720p@120fps, advanced video stabilization, check quality
	Secondary	Yes, 1.2 MP, 720p@30fps, face detection, FaceTime over Wi-Fi or Cellular

FEATURES	OS	iOS 7, upgradable to iOS 7.0.3
	Chipset	Apple A7
	CPU	Dual-core 1.3 GHz Cyclone (ARM v8-based)
	GPU	PowerVR G6430 (quad-core graphics)
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
	Messaging	iMessage, SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email
	Browser	HTML (Safari)
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS
	Java	No
	Colors	Space Gray, White/Silver, Gold
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - AirDrop file sharing - Siri natural language commands and dictation - iCloud cloud service - iCloud Keychain - Twitter and Facebook integration - TV-out - Maps - iBooks PDF reader - Audio/video player/editor - Organizer - Document viewer/editor ((Word, Excel, PowerPoint) - Image viewer/editor - Voice memo/dial/command - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Po 1560 mAh battery (5.92 Wh)
	Stand-by	Up to 250 h (2G) / Up to 250 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 10 h (2G) / Up to 10 h (3G)
	Music play	Up to 40 h

MISC	SAR US	1.12 W/kg (head)     1.18 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	1.00 W/kg (head)     0.80 W/kg (body)
	Price group

TESTS	Display	Contrast ratio: 1219:1 (nominal) / 3.565:1 (sunlight)
	Loudspeaker	Voice 68dB / Noise 66dB / Ring 69dB
	Audio quality	Noise -93.6dB / Crosstalk -90.3dB
	Camera	Photo / Video
	Battery life	Endurance rating 54h

Tech specs source: http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5s-5685.php

Kapil Sharma Press Conference

Even his press conferences are fun to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGYNMmXMypI

One Sher and meaning

Hazaron saal nargis apni benoori pe roti hai,
Badi mushkil se hota hai chaman mein deeda_var paida.

हजारों साल नर्गिस अपनी बेनूरी पे रोती है
बड़ी मुश्किल से होता है चमन में दीदावर पैदा
                                                                                            - अल्लामा इक़बाल


Nargis, I am given to understand, is a rare flower that blooms once in many, many years. And even that flower has to mourn its woeful fate for thousands of years before an appreciator of its beauty is born.

It's a deep sher with multiple layers in its meaning and obviously multiple ways to interpret it.

I take it that a thing of beauty created by the creator is without value unless there is someone there to appreciate it and admire it for what it really is. In my view there is a moral here to be nice to those who love us and admire us instead of being too proud of our beauty, our status or our accomplishments.

There are many Hindi film qawwalis on this debate, one sher that I am remembering right now is:
Nazrein jo na hoteeN to nazaaraa bhi na hota,
Duniya mein haseenoN ka guzaaraa bhi na hota.
Nazron ne banaya hai inhein buut bhi khuda bhi,
Nazron ne sikhayee hai inhein shokhee bhi adaa bhi. 

Legendary Actor Pran Passes Away

He was an amazing actor and definitely one who left his mark on the Hindi cinema. He will always be remembered in the history of Indian cinema.

My favourite dialogue from Tezzab

Movie - Jab Tak Hai Jaan - Initial Rant

I have just started watching it, in parts while I cook and do the dishes, so these are only my initial grumbling complaints with it, there will be more I am very sure.

First scene - Shahrukh Khan is diffusing a bomb. His colleague who has been working on it for 2 hours cannot find the receiver in the bomb. But SRK finds it in a matter of minutes, without any hesitation. Okay, maybe so because he's really smart. But here's my problem, he tells the other guys that the terrorists had hidden the receiver inside the RDX and put lead around so it wasn't showing in X-ray scan as well. If a terrorist is smart enough to build a radio-signal controlled bomb, would he be so stupid as to put the receiver inside a lead box? 

Lead, I should explain, has a very dense atomic structure, so dense that even X-ray cannot go through it. Similarly, radio waves also cannot go through lead! So, any receiver stuffed inside a lead box will not receive any signal from any remote! Wtf is going on here?

Next issue - Anushka Sharma reading SRK's diary in which he mentions that he was 25 on this day when his life started. Flashback starts. 25? SRK? If he's 25 I am not even born yet! Not only does he not pass for 25, or even for 35 in any way, they have not even made an effort to disguise his age by changing clothes, hairstyle etc. He looks the same except for the beard. So, we are just supposed to believe he's 25 because the writer wrote it so?

Guitar scenes - Both SRK and Katrina are shown playing guitar in the movie. Neither of them bother to move their left hand while pretending to play guitar. To be honest, this is something that bugs me in most TV shows and movies. But having done guitar scenes in my own films, I also know how difficult it is to get a non-guitarist actor to put the left hand on the fretboard in any convincing manner.

Only that much for now. I'll add more to it later or create new posts and more things bug me about this movie.

Movie Review - Liberal Arts - Finally some Awesomeness from Hollywood

"An education in Liberal Arts will solve all your problems."

I have a very ego-centric way of judging books. If I feel like I could write something like this with some research and patience I don't get that impressed. I like it, I am impressed but not that much. The same goes for movies.  If I could make something like this with a big budget and a good team, I enjoy it but I am not blown away.

Liberal Arts is in the second category. I feel like I could not write something like this in a hundred years! It combines the two - it's an amazingly well-written story which has been shot in just the right way and the output is truly mind-blowing!

The story in itself is very simple, one protagonist coming to terms with the process of growing up. That's it in a nutshell.

I am going to try and make this review very short as I like everything about the movie - everything! So I could gush over it for hours but I would try not to.

The two things that I loved most about it is characters and dialogue. Characters are mostly real-world but still they have a depth to them and a twist of some sort. And dialogues, oh my god! Every movie, even the worst ones, usually have one or two lines that make it worthwhile. This movie has lots of them. There are so many profound, thought-provoking dialogues that you want to just pause it and ponder each one for a while.

Another thing I liked was Josh Radnor. He is my favourite character and actor in the TV show "How I Met Your Mother" and he is just perfect for this role! Absolutely perfect! I love his acting on the whole but he has shined in this film. Bravo!

The other characters are also well-cast be it Elizabeth Olsen as the intellectual and sweet 19 year old co-ed, or Allison Janney as the cynical Romantics professor. And all the actors have done a great job, no complaints from any of them.

There is one character that I must mention. Nat - the guy in the park, who acts like a combination of a hippie and a saint. Extremely well performed by Zac Efron.

The events are there, things happen, but not huge, dramatic things, just simple things that happen in real life with real people. But each event has dialogue and I felt almost holding my breath to listen to each line carefully. I don't do that very often!

I don't want to give too much away but I can't help but mention one dialogue which I found very funny, especially as delivered by Radnor.

Jesse (Josh Radnor): I am taking you off post-modernists.
Dean (John Magaro): What are you prescribing?
Jess: There are these...vampire books. Kids love them. They will empty your mind like anything!

There are a couple of elements which I love because of my personal bias. There are references to classical music and a lot of references to reading books. Love both!

The climax doesn't feel like the climax but the whole movie is more like a cloud of thought that enters your mind with a gentle breeze from one side and floats on exiting on the other side without any thunderclaps.

Finally, the feel of the movie. The overall feel of the movie is very positive, amusing and thought-provoking. The final message is very life-affirming and optimistic. God knows we need more such in today's world!

Conclusion: You should watch it if, and here I am going to sound like a snob but, if you can understand a movie about ideas and not about events. 

A story from our shoot - Magnum Opus

http://g7films.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/sabse-badi-daulat-magnum-opus-story.html

Random Sher - Mirrors

इन्हें तोड़ दो ये आईने मेरे काम के नहीं हैं 

मेरे पास जब नहीं तुम भला क्या सिंगार करना।

WakeupIndia: Story - The Real Story

I have decided to write a series of short stories on this topic. I wanted to write so much on this topic but I found that every time I started to blog about it or even planned a post I felt that onrush of frustration, rage and sorrow that I had felt when I read that Nirbhaya died. I was unable to write at all.

After a lot of thought I decided that instead of writing a post which is "real" I could write a story which would be "fiction" thus allowing me the distance I need in order to be able to write without giving up in despair.

These stories are not meant to be literary masterpieces but simply meant to illustrate a point or allow me to vent my frustration at the current system in which a girl is India is blamed for being a girl.

I have some other initiatives in mind as well, which I will tell you about as they take shape. Right now, I am planning and organizing.

For now, here's the first story in the series. You are welcome to share your thoughts.

The Real Story

Inspector Kiran Prakash entered the police station with a civilian in tow. The civilian was carrying a notepad and pen and looked generally like the stereotype of a journalist.

“Actually, reporter babu,” said the Inspector, “your news is little bit true. There are really many cases of rape reported in this area.”

Journalist Jyotiramaya nodded, encouraging the other to talk, which he did.

“But they are not real rapes.” said the inspector.

“They are not?” the journalist asked in his usual alert manner.

“No, no, not even half of them. Most of these cases are reported by prostitutes.”

“Prostitutes?” the reporter was genuinely puzzled now.

“It’s not so strange as you think, sir. These prostitutes carry on their illegal trade, and when a customer does not pay them, they cry ‘Rape!’ to involve the police and harass the poor guy.”

The inspector took a seat behind his desk, inviting the journalist to sit in front of him with a gesture.

Jyotirmaya sat down and asked “How many of these cases are registered by these prostitutes?”

Inspector said with contempt “Arre all of them, yaar! I know these girls. Bloody whores! They think they can fool the police!”

Hawaldar Jagtap Singh approached the inspector’s desk “Jai hind, saab ji!”

Inspector nodded “Haan jai hind. Jagtap, this is journalist Jyoti babu. He is writing an article on rape situation in India. Send someone to bring 2 coca-cola. And bring today’s cases.”

Jagtap left and came back with bottles and a file.

He placed the bottles on the table and handed the file to Kiran Prakash, “Saab ji, main case is only one, a girl has come to report a rape.”

The Inspector looked at Jyotirmaya, “Your lucky day! You will see with your own eyes how I do ‘justice’ to these cases in 2 minutes.”

Jyotirmaya only nodded, with his pen poised over his notepad.

The inspector faced the Hawaldar again, “What is the case?”

“You know our MLA saab’s elder son Bunty...this girl is saying he kidnapped her from her college and raped her in his father’s house.”

The inspector turned to give his comments to the journalist again, “Bunty is a bit naughty, but I don’t believe this girl at all.”

The journalist, against his habit, commented with astonishment, “But you haven’t even heard her story yet!”

Inspector Kiran Prakash took a sip of his Coke and gave a derisive grin, “Oh, Sir ji, I don’t need to hear her story. I know the real story. Just one of those whores I was telling you about.”

Jagtap contributed readily, “Reporter babu, our saab ji is fully right. I knew it as soon as I saw her. She is beautiful but characterless!” Then he turned to his superior, “Sir ji, I have put her in the lockup with the other prostitutes. Imagine her nerve! Accusing the MLA’s son, hain ji?”

The inspector looked at the journalist as if to convince him, “You will see yourself, sir ji. Jagtap, le ke aa saali ko. Bring her in!”

Jagtap left and re-entered a minute later, herding in front of him a girl that had clearly gone through a violent and traumatic experience. Her face and clothes were all dirty and damaged but her eyes held a grim determination.

Inspector Kiran Prakash’s chair collapsed on the floor as he got out of it explosively, his eyes wide as he looked at the girl.

The single word came out of his hoarse throat in a mixture of horror and disbelief. ”Rashmi!!”

The girl looked up at his voice and tears ran down her cheeks in streaks, “Bhaiya!” (Brother!)

We ALL need to take action!

"‎Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, 

than that good men should look on and do nothing." 

- John Stuart Mill, 

Inaugural Address: 

Delivered to

 the University of St. Andrews, 

Feb. 1st 1867

Wake up India

The recent 16th December incident has shaken me, not just by its brutality but also by the facts that have come out to show how prevalent this evil is in our country.

As a common man, there is not a lot in my power, but one thing is well within my power and that is to raise my voice against the current state of affairs and demand a change! I was sorry that I was not in India to partake in the protests that followed the outrageous incident but it occurs to me that there are more ways than one to take part in a revolution.

I may be less than a drop in the ocean but drops have a habit of joining together and becoming the flood that cannot be stopped. To that end I am starting this series on my blog tagged as "Wake up India".

And I am reminded of the old expression from pre-Independence India -

खींचो न कमानों को न तलवार निकालो
जब तोप मुकाबिल हो, अखबार निकालो

[Do not bend the bows nor unsheath the sword.
When faced with the cannon, use the printed word.]

ReBlog: Dress code and rape

I am finding this blogger very well-spoken and coherent in his reasoning. The following post is on a topic that I have always felt strongly about. Give it a read.

http://subhabratadasgupta.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/when-the-length-of-the-skirt-is-inversely-proportional-to-the-chances-of-rape/

Initiatives for Nirbhaya

After having shared my innermost thoughts on the topic I was not planning to write any more on this topic but the two posts below convinced me that I should, I must write more. You will be hearing from me. Meanwhile, please read the two posts:

http://www.purba-ray.com/2013/01/dont-confuse-this-as-battle-of-sexes.html

http://subhabratadasgupta.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/voices-for-damini-my-humble-initiative/