The Shifting Goalpost

- Quicksilver: Application Launcher and much more
- Adium: Instant messaging with support for Yahoo!, MSN, GTalk, and even Lotus Sametime (simultaneous login)
- TextWrangler: Programmer’s Text Editor
- Cyberduck: FTP Client
- HandBrake: DVD to MPEG-4 Converter
- Quinn: Tetris-like/Brick Game
- VLC: Media player and much more that supports all sorts of audio/video formats
- MacTheRipper: DVD Ripper
- Thunderbird: E-mail client
- Fickr Uploadr: Photo uploader for Flickr
- NeoOffice: Office Suite
- Gimp: Photo editing/manipulation

All the above are freeware and many are open-source. But the power, finish, and quality of these applications are absent even in many commercial applications.

Being an avid movie collector, I would like to include one application that is not a freeware but is definitely essential -
- Delicious Library: DVDs and Books Catalogue

While exploring the new wave of Web 2.0 sites on Go2Web20.net, I came across this interesting breed of ‘Online Project Management and Collaboration Tools’. There are too many similarities with each other and it is difficult to judge who was the original. All of them are completely hosted applications and that might be a deterrent to some enterprises in adopting these tools. None of the tools talk about being compatible with Project Management methods or standards like PRINCE2 and PMP.

Here is the list -
- Teamwork Project Manager
- DeskAway
- Project Spaces
- Actionize.com
- Goplan
- huddle
- cyn.in
- Project 360
- 5pm

I got a message from Milind Ukey as a comment on my earlier post about the fantastic Marathi novel “Shala” by Milind Bokil (on which the movie is based) asking for comments on the trailer of “Humne Jeena Seekh Liya”. Milind Ukey is the director of the film. And now I am free to say that I received an unsolicited personal message from a Bollywood movie director (Thanks to blogging).

I think the 10 minute promo is too long and gives away too much about the film and should have been shorter. I would definitely like to watch the movie, but not sure whether the film will be able to carry the burden of expectations (from those who have read the original novel) successfully? The novel itself had an extraordinary style of telling an ordinary story about an ordinary school kid (just like the most of us). Whereas from the promo, the film does look like a typical Bollywood effort to tell an extraordinary story about extraordinary people.

I am sorry to say that many of the the school-going kids in the movie do not seem like school-going kids but college students. Of course, if we could accept Amir Khan as a college student in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ and ‘Rang De Basanti’, then what’s wrong with that? (By the way, I loved both those movies and definitely those two films would not have been the same without Amir.) Also, I am sure HJSL will have some influences of DCH and RDB.

I think the novel has been adapted to make the movie palatable for the typical Bollywood audience so that it works out good, commercially. But if it does not succeed commercially, then I and many others would say that it would have been better if it was made with more justice to the original novel.

I hope all of us get to watch HJSL soon. In the meanwhile, enjoy the promo.

Asok, the IITian, who works with Dilbert and had died on Friday, has reincarnated again on Monday. Ah… the world of Dilbert.

is the company (or the sister company) which produces Amar Chitra Katha. Though a bit basic for a media company, their website looks good and developing, but more importantly they have an online shop where you can buy comics and collections including Tinkle.

I was introduced to the wonderful world of comics by my cousin, Vibhav. Amar Chitra Katha was not on the top of the list, Indrajal Comics was. Each of the Indrajal Comics characters had their own world and of course the biggest was Phantom. But Rip Kirbey, Mandrake, Flash Gordon and our own Bahadur were also the favourites. Of course, the graduation to DC and Marvel Comics did not take a long time - Superman, Spider-man but the favourite was always the Dark Knight, Batman (I think he was the favourite because he didn’t have any special powers) and there were so many others - Green Arrow, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk.

Indian comics had their own charm and USP and I think Amar Chitra Katha with their comics based on Mahabharata and Ramayana were the best. Diamond Comics, with their flagship character Chacha Chaudhary, were also very entertaining.

Surprisingly, I never read Tintin and Asterix in my school years but caught up with them later.

Sometime back I came across the adult comics world in 100 Bullets and also cases where I have never read the comics but watching the movies Sin City and 300 was very much a comics world experience as opposed to some other movies inspired from other well-known comics.

The photo album is evolving and includes pictures of some beautiful ladies.

Asok, the IITian, who works with Dilbert died on Friday. Hindustan Times has published an obituary.

I don’t know when they were announced but the winner and nominee list gives some interesting sites to surf.