Ye Meri Life Hai – Chirag Mehta – Page 108

Page 108 of 133

Google blocked in China

The Google.com search engine has been blocked in most parts of China, as Beijing steps up its efforts to restrict the publicâ€™s access to information, a Paris-based media watchdog said. Internet users in many major Chinese cities have had difficulty connecting to the uncensored international version of Google for the past week, Reporters Without Borders said in a statement received on Wednesday.

Aside from the Google.com search engine, Reporters Without Borders said the blocking was being gradually extended to the Google News and Google Mail services. â€œGoogle has just definitively joined the club of western companies that comply with online censorship in China,â€? Reporters Without Borders said. â€œIt is deplorable that Chinese Internet users are forced to wage a technological war against censorship in order to access banned content.â€? Random attempts to access Google.com in Beijing confirmed that the international version of the search engine was unavailable.

Six Indians in Silicon Valleyâ€™s top 100

June 8, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 0 Comments

The San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News, on Monday, have independently listed six Indians among Silicon Valleyâ€™s 100 highest-paid executives.

Leading the group is Abhijit Talwalkar, President and CEO of LSI Logic, who earned a phenomenal $22.235 million in 2005.

Even at that compensation level, Talwalkar is only at No 10 on the list, which is led by Yahooâ€™s CEO Terry Semel, who earned $56 million in salary, bonuses and stock options. Following Talwalkar in the Desi list is Shantanu Narayen, president and COO of Adobe Systems, maker of the popular Photoshop and Acrobat Reader software. His earnings were $11 million for the financial year 2005. He comes in at No 33.

Close on his heels at No 35 is HPâ€™s quiet achiever Vyomesh Joshi, who was once tipped to replace Carly Fiorina as the tech giantâ€™s CEO after she was unceremoniously sacked by the Board. His earnings for the year were $10.8 million. Joshi is Executive Vice-President of the most profitable division at HP â€” the Imaging and Printing Group.

Rajiv Dutta, who is Internet auctioneer eBayâ€™s executive vice-president and chief financial officer is ranked at No 38, with total earnings of $10.6 million. A distant No 84 is Sanjay Mehrotra, who pocketed a cool $7 million. Mehrotra, who is currently executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Sandisk, actually had a 36 per cent drop over his last yearâ€™s earnings, the report said.

Google Spreadsheets Sneak Peek

June 7, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 1 Comment

Google tests Web-based spreadsheet
Google Inc. is going back to the future by reinventing the spreadsheet as a Web-based application, seeking a simpler on-ramp for consumers to input data into databases, the company said on Monday.

The Web search leader started a limited trial on Tuesday of the classic software application defined by its grid of rows and columns and simple calculating capabilities that allow users to enter and organise information in structured form.

Features
Create basic spreadsheets from scratch.
Upload your spreadsheet files.
Familiar desktop feel makes editing a breeze.

Choose who can access your spreadsheets.
Share documents instantly.
Edit with others in real time.

Edit from anywhere.
Never lose your work.
Easily save and export copies.

Ack :- DNA Evolutions

How men kiss on Mumbai streets

June 7, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 0 Comments

What do you do if you want to call your friend standing across the street? If youâ€™re a true Mumbaikar, youâ€™d just… kiss.

C Senthilnathan

What I have been trying to convey so far may not sound what it is supposed to. I am talking about kissing sounds which people use to communicate with each other, standing more than 10 feet away. This art has been mastered by all Mumbaikars and their ears are sharp enough to catch the one meant for their ears.

Picture this. You are in a train and your friend is standing about 10 metres away. There are about 20 people between the two of you. How do you call him? A non-Mumbaikar would probably call his friend’s name aloud. But no. That’s not how it’s done in the city. You just make a kissing sound. Twenty-one people turn and look at you. Twenty of them will realise that the sound was not meant for them and will look away. No offence taken. Now your friend and you can start communicating.

I was discussing this with a friend and when I made ‘the sound’ to show him what I meant, at least five people looked around and then resumed what they were doing as though nothing happened.

Proud to be an Indian

June 7, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 2 Comments

Gita an Indian is studying in america!!!A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is an American.She asks her students to raise their hands if they were American too.

Not really knowing why but wanting to be like their teacher,they all rised their hands.But there is, however, one exception.A girl named Gita has not gone along with the crowd.The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different.

“Because I am not an American.” replied Gita.”Then”, asks the teacher, “What are you?”

“I’m a proud Indian,” boasts the little girl.The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Gita why she is an Indian.”Well”, my mom and dad are Indians, “so I’m an Indian too.”

The teacher is now angry. “That’s no reason”,she says loudly “if your mom was an idiot,and your dad was an idiot, what would you be then?”

A pause, and a smile.
“Then” says Gita, “I’d be an American.”

Finally, one Gujarat theatre to screen Fanaa

June 6, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 1 Comment

After the Supreme Court issued directions to the Gujarat government to provide police protection to cinemas screening Fanaa, a theatre in Jamnagar has decided to release Aamir Khan-Kajol starrer movie.

“On the demand of the people of Jamnagar, we have decided to release Fanaa on Tuesday and will screen three shows daily,” Mansur Sheikh, the manager of the Ambar theatre, said over phone from Jamnagar.

“After Supreme Court’s order on Monday, we had asked for police protection and the administration has provided us with it,” Sheikh said.

Mumbai street kids fall prey to drugs

June 6, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 0 Comments

A large number of street kids in Mumbai are heavily into dope, by chasing, snorting, smoking and injecting.

Many of these children stay doped through the day to hide from the daily run of the city. They have been addicts for years, and some started as early as at the age of eight.

Mumbai Kids Prey to Drugs

“I take charas, inject myself, and smell the toner solution,” an addict said.

“I get a high after taking drugs. I do all sorts of drugs including ‘chasing’. I then feel I am in heaven,” said another.

MS Dhoni …..Spirit

June 6, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 1 Comment

India declared their second innings on 521 for six after a controversy surrounding M S Dhoni’s dismissal.

Dhoni, who played like a man possessed, smashed three consecutive sixes off Dave Mohammad. He then smashed a fourth, but was caught by Daren Ganga on the ropes.It was unclear to both the field umpires and third umpire whether Ganga had taken the catch cleanly as he claimed or had he stepped on the rope.

A consultation followed, holding up the game and West Indies captain Brian Lara was not happy when the umpires decided in Dhoni’s favour. Indian skipper Rahul Dravid then signalled for the declaration and Dhoni and Mohammad Kaif walked off the ground.

Dhoni finally ended the controversy by accepting Ganga’s version and was pronounced out caught Ganga bowled Mohammad for 69 runs that came off just 52 balls and included six sixes and four fours.

Trivia
MS Dhoni is the only batsman in the history of ODI cricket, amongst the batsmen with a minimum of 1000 runs, to have maintained an average of 50 (52.76) as well as maintained a strike rate of 100 (103.00)

SC allows `Blue Lady’ to drop anchor

June 5, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 0 Comments

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed a former cruise liner that environmental activists say contains toxic asbestos to enter Indian waters, but said it could only be scrapped once it was declared safe.

Greenpeace and other groups say the 46,000-tonne Blue Lady, which is sailing for the Alang shipbreaking yard in Gujarat to be dismantled, contains more than 900 tonnes of asbestos.

Activists say Indian yards lack the modern technology to safely handle such waste, putting the health of workers at risk.

While refusing to ban the ship, the court said customs and port authorities would verify the amount of contaminants on board and report their findings to it.

A decision would then be made on whether work on scrapping the vessel could be carried out safely at the Indian yard.

SC dismisses petition on Fanaa screening

June 5, 2006 / Chirag Mehta / 1 Comment

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by film maker Mahesh Bhatt seeking a direction for the Gujarat government for the peaceful screening of the Aamir Khan starrer ‘Fanaa’ in the state.

A vacation bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice C K Thakker, however, said if theatre owners in Gujarat like to exhibit the movie, they can seek police protection for the same.

Meanwhile, theatre owners in Gujarat are unwilling to screen Aamir Khan starrer `Fanaa’ in the state, despite the Supreme Court saying on Monday that they could seek police protection to exhibit the movie.

“We have just heard of the Supreme Court decision. However, we maintain our stand of not screening `Fanaa’ as Aamir Khan has not yet apologised to the people of Gujarat for his anti-Narmada dam stand,” Manubhai Patel, President of Multiplex Owners Association told PTI.