USPS: Delivery time to Maldives ...

Hello.

I've been ordering some stuff from Unites States lately. Every time I tell someone that I've placed an order, they ask me about the shipping methods I go with and delivery time frame.

Since shipping charges will very much depend on what you order and shipping weight, the delivery time remains almost the same for most of my orders. I do not use Fedex or DHL. I use the cheapest shipping available, that is United States Postal Service.

I mostly shop on Amazon.com but I'm sure most of the online shops would let you choose if you want USPS Express Mail service, or the standard Priority Mail International Parcels. I have tried out both of them and I share the details below:

Service Type: USPS Express Mail International Parcels

• Delivered, November 28, 2011, 1:59 pm, MALDIVES
• Addressee not available - Will attempt delivery on next working day, November 27, 2011, 3:45 pm, MALE, MALDIVES
• Arrival at Post Office, November 27, 2011, 1:29 pm, MALDIVES
• Customs clearance processing complete, November 27, 2011, 1:25 pm, MALDIVES
• Customs Clearance, November 27, 2011, 1:18 pm, MALDIVES
• Processed Through Sort Facility, November 27, 2011, 11:15 am, MALDIVES
• Processed Through Sort Facility, November 23, 2011, 11:16 pm, ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)
• Arrived at Sort Facility, November 23, 2011, 11:15 pm, ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)
• Shipment Accepted, November 22, 2011, 8:53 pm, BROOKLYN, NY 11256
• Electronic Shipping Info Received, November 22, 2011

Service Type: USPS Priority Mail International Parcels

• Delivered, January 8, 2012, 10:59 am, MALDIVES
• Addressee not available - Will attempt delivery on next working day, January 05, 2012, 9:59 am, MALDIVES
• Arrival at Post Office, January 04, 2012, 10:23 am, MALDIVES
• Customs clearance processing complete, January 04, 2012, 10:23 am, MALDIVES
• Customs Clearance, January 04, 2012, 10:21 am, MALDIVES
• Processed Through Sort Facility, January 04, 2012, 10:20 am, MALDIVES
• Processed Through Sort Facility, December 29, 2011, 6:10 am, FOREIGN CENTERJERSEY CITY NJ 099
• Arrived at Sort Facility, December 29, 2011, 6:09 am, FOREIGN CENTERJERSEY CITY NJ 099
• Depart USPS Sort Facility, December 14, 2011, KEARNY, NJ 07032
• Processed through USPS Sort Facility, December 14, 2011, 5:53 am, KEARNY, NJ 07032
• Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility, December 14, 2011, 2:56 am, POUGHKEEPSIE, NY 12603
• Accepted at USPS Origin Sort Facility, December 14, 2011, 2:55 am, POUGHKEEPSIE, NY 12603
• Electronic Shipping Info Received, December 14, 2011

Express Mail costs only around USD 5/- more than Priority Mail but as you can see above, it is way more faster.

Hope this help you make an informed decision when choosing a shipping method for your orders from the United States to Maldives. Needless to say, these details are for shipments for myself in recent months. Your mileage may vary, but I guess, not by much.

Laterx.

Kiefer Sutherland's The Confession ...

Hello.

Saw a Web Series a few days ago. It was good. Let me tell you a bit about it.


The Confession is an online-only series. Each episode of The Confession is five to seven minutes long. The whole series is just 10 short episodes.

The series stars Kiefer Sutherland (Jack Bauer from 24? What? How can you ever forget 24?) as a very-good-at-what-he-does Hitman and John Hurt as an old priest with conflicting beliefs.

On a snowy Christmas eve, the Hitman visits a Priest at his church and explains to the priest that he has a kill order for later that night but forces the priest to listen to his confession by telling the priest that he will start killing the people in the church if the Priest does not listen to his full confession.

The story features flashbacks of the hitman showing what he does best while telling the priest how he came to visit him, climaxing with a pretty good twist!

Its a brilliantly scripted series and its amazing how engaing the short series turned out to be. It was really good.

I've shared the complete series here so you can download it easily.

Check it out. I think you'll like it.

Laterx.

Twicca: The best Twitter app on Android ...

Hello.

What Twitter app do you use on your phone?

Everyone has their preferences when it comes to apps they use on their portable devices. Its quite natural that you've your own set of reasons to use a particular app for doing something on your phones or tablets. There are thousands of apps on the market and they pretty much do the same thing. So, I think, it all boils down to just personal preference. Nothing more.

When I had my Nokia E71, I swore that Gravity was the best twitter client for the Symbian OS. It had its shortcomings but it was the best I ever got to use. I even coughed a bit of my hard earned green to buy it. That must have been the only app I ever bough the whole time I had a Nokia.

Since I got my Google Nexus S in January this year, I've tried almost all popular twitter apps available for Android OS. I've tried the official Twitter app. Tried Seesmic, TweetCaster, TweetDeck and even Plume. I didn't like any of them. Then I stumbled upon Twicca,

Twicca is a full featured twitter client for Android phones. It is highly customizable and has very good plug-in support. I love how I can set color labels to specific people and view most photos in-line. Also, The user interface is beautifully simple, and I kind of like the dark theme. Its nice.

If you have an Android phone, check out Twicca. Its a pretty neat twitter app. I'm sure you'll like it, just give it a go. Its free!

Laterx.

Google Music Beta: Sign-up from outside US ...

Hello.

I just signed up for Google Music Beta and have been using it for a few days. Its awesome and works fine outside US. Its a neat idea to have all your music available to you where ever when ever you want to enjoy your music.

So what really is Google Music Beta? Well, in their own words:

Music Beta is a new service from Google that gives you instant access to your personal music collection without the hassle of wires or syncing. Add your music collection and listen on the web or any compatible Android device.

You can upload your own music collection, that is music you have on your computer to Google (up to 20,000 songs) and listen to your songs on any computer or Android device. Now you can take your music where ever you go! Sounds nice, right? Feel like checking it out? Thought so.

As with most new Google services, Music is in Beta testing, by invitation and available for US residents only. That's not good news for us living outside US. So, lets see how we can get around that for now.

There are few ways to dupe Google to think that you are in the US. You can us an American VPN like Hotspot Shield or a Free Web Proxy like Hide My Ass.

I used a different approach. I headed over to proxy list website to find an American Proxy and temporarily reconfigured my Firefox proxy settings. You  may have to try a few proxies out before you find a working American proxy which supports all HTTP standards.

On Windows you can change Firefox proxy setting by going to Tools > Options > Options > Options > Advanced > Network > Settings.

If you are using Firefox on a mac, go to Preferences > Advanced" > Network" > Configure how Firefox connects to the internet > Settings.

I used the above proxy to sign up to Google Music Beta.

It's a good idea to check if you have an American IP address before trying to request or sign up for Google Music Beta. You can check your IP address easily by visiting www.whatismyip.com.

Now, using the proxy server to pass off that you are in US, head over to music.google.com, sign in and request an invite.

It may take a few days, but when you do get the invitation email from Google (or if a friend invites you) make sure that you complete the sign-up process while masquerading that you are in US. If you don't, your sign up will fail.

When you are done with sign-up, you are set. You don't need the proxies anymore. You can utilize the service like any other regular web service.

I have 6 more invites left for Google Music Beta. Comment in your email address if you want an invite.

Enjoy Google Music Beta! It's free, for now.

Laterx.

Outlander: A terribly underrated movie ... ?!?

Hello.

Seen any good movies lately? What are some good movies you've watched recently? Its been ages since I've watched anything recent that was worth blogging about.

I've actually started watching movies that came out few years back. It seems re-watching a movie a few years or even months later can totally change the view you held of a movie. You might end up truly liking a movie that you didn't enjoy before. Its weird, but it does happen sometimes, especially if you watch a decent copy of a movie.

I remember watching Outlander when it came out back in 2008. I didn't think much of it then. Am not saying I hated it, just that I didn't think it was a really good movie then.

I watched it again a few days back, in full HD glory, and it turned out to be a brilliant movie. Kind of makes me think why I didn't like it the first time I watched it. I don't know.

The film begins with a spaceship crashing in to Norway, in the year 709 A.D, the era of Vikings. The lone survivor of the crash, Kainan, is taken prisoner by the Vikings. Soon, mysterious disappearances and brutal deaths take place around the Viking settlement and Kainan, tell them an alien creature called the Moorwen is responsible. Initially and understandably so, the Vikings seem hesitant to believe his story, but soon the intergalactic space traveller join forces with the vicious Viking sword fighters to trap and kill the beast.

The movie sports a great cast. James Caviezel as Kainan the space traveler from a far-off world, Sophia Myles as Freya the daughter of the king and Kainan's love interest. It also stars Jack Huston as Wulfric, the young short-tempered Viking warrior, Ron Perlman as Gunnar, the burly leader of the enemy Viking warriors and John Hurt as Rothgar, the king.

James Caviezel was perfect as spaceman adjusting to Viking way of life and Sophia Myles was beautiful and graceful even as a Viking. I remember she was amazing in Hallam Foe, another movie you might want to check out if you haven't seen it yet.

I don't know why Outlander did so poorly in the box office, but I really liked the movie. I think its a very good movie, and is terribly underrated by most movie critics.

Have you seen Outlander? I would like hear your thoughts in the comments.

Laterx.

Minus: An impressive file storage service ...

Hello.

Heard about Minus, yet?

I'm big on backing-up my files. I've had hard drives die on me before, I've had a few hard drives fail on me without any kind of warning. I hope it hasn't happened to you yet, but I'm sure you have heard these stories before from your friends. Its not a pleasant experience to have your hard drives fail, nor is it any fun to lose your precious data. Since my last hard drive suddenly died on my a couple of months back, I've been backing-up my files online as fast as my limited internet connection allows me.

So why back-up online you may ask? Well, redundancy! First, I think big name companies offering "could storage" can do a better job of keeping data safe than you or me can ever think of doing. Also, there are other factors to consider, like offsite data storage, security, reliability, easy setup, process of backing up, automation and the list goes on. I don't know about you, but I seriously don't think I can ever keep on top of all these. I want to spend more time creating my data and less time backing-up and safe guarding my data, so personally, I think online storage is the way to go. I hear people saying, the future is in the cloud, and slowly but surely, I'm beginning to see their way of thinking.

The most important aspect of online storage for me is access to my data from anywhere in the world, at home, at office, while away on vacation, a business trip or even on the cell phone! The ability to access my data and the comforting thought of having it just a few keystrokes away, eliminates a lot of hassles, problems, and delays. You never know when you would be asked for a copy of that document. When you would want to show someone that picture. When you might need a copy of your identity card or passport to submit with that form you need to fill out.

I have previously written about Upload Robots and Dropbox. Now, let me introduce you to a relative newcomer on the cloud storage and file sharing scene, Minus.

So, with so many companies to choose from why Minus.com? What sold me was individual file size (2GB) and bigger free space when you sign up. You get 10GB of free space to start with when you sigh up, compared to 2GB from Dropbox and 4GB from Upload Robots.

Minus may be a new, but I like what they have done so far. They have made uploading as easy as drag and drop. Their user interface is simple, intuitive and very user friendly.

Also, they have this new social feature so you can "follow" your friends on Minus, letting you know if they have shared or uploaded anything. I think it's pretty nice.

Give Minus a try, It only takes a few seconds to sign up and start uploading files. If you sign up using my referral link, we both will get 1GB of bonus space for free.

And remember, back-up, back-up, back-up! I'll go now and try practicing what I preach.

Laterx.

The Lincoln Lawyer …

Hello.

Most of you may have already read some of Michael Connelly's work, he is quite famous. But I have to admit that, even though I have heard about him before, I have never read any of his books previously. Not one.

The Lincoln Lawyer is a legal action thriller. The story's protagonist is Michael "Mickey" Haller, a Los Angeles Defense Attorney who works out of the back seat of a Lincoln car. He is quite well known in his circle, mostly because of his list of unusual clients, ranging from motorcycle gangs to drug addicts. It is implied that he will defend anyone if he gets paid right. Most of his clients claim they're not guilty, but Haller is never sure he has ever seen a client who is truly innocent.

While working on a few other cases, Haller gets called on by a rich real estate family to defend Louis Ross Roulet, who has been arrested for badly beating up a girl he met in a bar. Haller gladly takes the big-money case, knowing fully well that a rich client can be a difficult client. To make it worse, Roulet's mother and her lawyer keeps a close eye on Haller.

Haller soon realizes that Roulet's case is not only risky but dangerous as well, and Haller soon finds himself in a deadly game that he doesn not want to play.

The story is gripping, fast and well paced. Also, you learn a bit about the law and a lot about how prosecutors and defense attorneys work the law. It is almost educational.

If you like Grisham's work, you will love Michael Connelly, and this is supposed to be one of his best books. I used to be fan on Grisham, that is before I got tired of style and stories. Connelly offers a refreshing change.

When I started the listening to the audiobook of The Lincoln Lawyer, I did not know that this was the first of a series. Caught a lucky break there. Now, I can continue with the other books in the series easily. I have grown to like Haller as a character I can relate to.

This book proved so good, that they are making a movie based on the book. You can see the movie trailer here on youtube.

Soon, I'll find the time and listen to the rest of Haller series.

Laterx.

The all new Blue Bloods …

Hello.

Several days ago, a friend introduced to me to Blue Bloods. Not the book, but the TV show. I have watched the first few episodes, and I have grown to like it very much.

Blue Bloods is a bit different from other police procedurals I have seen lately. It does not have over the top technology or animated laboratory works. It does not have dialogue scripted with seldom used police jargons to attempt a sense of reality. What is does have however, is a good cast headed by Tom Selleck, hard grit and a good amount of valor.

The show revolves around the Reagan family. Dad, Tom Selleck is Police Commissioner of New York. His sons Danny is an NYPD detective and Jamie is a rookie police officer fresh out of the academy. Daughter Erin is an Assistant District Attorney. Together they work to make a difference and put the bad guys away, while trying make sense at the dinner table, which does not always go as planned.

As this is the start of the show, a few plots are being set up across the season. While the family is mourning the loss of their brother in an undercover operation, FBI wants to recruit Jamie to investigate a secret club in the Police Force called the Blue Templar. Apparently, the some of the Reagan family are members of the club. Erin is going through a hard divorce and learning the ropes as a single parent. Their grandfather, who was the former police commissioner, now retired, watches over the family and advices them based on his numerous decades of service to the fine city of New York.

Danny does not always stick to the book or rules, but his heart seems to be in the right place. He walks a fine line. His talk, routines, and "enhanced interrogation" techniques makes me think about Jack Bauer. A little too much, actually.

It is a good show. A fresh police drama with a good cast, good dialogue and  a few good action scenes. Recommended.

Laterx.

Big One: Dexter season 5 finale ...

Hello.

It seems like only a few days ago that I wrote here, all excited, about Dexter season 5 was about to begin. Last night I watched the "Big One" season finale. It was a amazing and gripping season. Season 5 was great, I really liked it.

Dexter was great, juggling the role of single parent and knife-wielding vigilante serial killer. The way he protected a victimized girl, the way he opened up for her, spilling all his secrets, and later taught her the secrets of the trade and teamed up with her was great. I liked them as team. Too bad that did not last. Guess this vigilante is not getting a sidekick, and is destined to roam the world alone. I did not like Dexter evolving, starting to show normal human emotions. He is supposed to psychopath, disconnected from all human emotions. That is what rationalize his "activities". It will be hard to root for a normal human serial killer, no matter who he kills.

I admit I was not fan of Julia stiles, but that may be changing. She was spectacular playing the the victimized girl, Lumen. I am guessing this is her frost TV role, I may be wrong. I liked how Lumen starts broken bad, but manages to pick herself up, learned the ropes fast, to take revenge on people who hurt her. Something like a modern day avenging angel. Her relationship with Dexter was like healing process for his wife'e brutal murder. And I think it worked out great, too bad Lumen had to leave. I think she deserves her Golden Globe Award nomination for this.

Johnny Lee Miller was creepy as hell as Jordan Chase. It was a good performance. I have not seen Johnny Lee Miller since Aeon Flux and he always reminds me of the movie Hackers. Though the tick-tock thing went a bit far, I liked him giving all those life lessons even at the last moment. He is no Trinity killer, not by a long shot, but he was OK.

So does Deb know about Dexter and what he does? What was she saying to Dexter when she said "all is over for you"? I personally do not think she knows what Dexter is up to, thought in the novels she knows very early on.

This was good season of Dexter. It was shot, but a good ride. Cant wait for season 6.

Laterx.

Woopra: Realtime visitor/traffic information …

Hello.

Anyone who owns a blog or a website will want to know more about heir readers. Nothing personal, just enough information about the readers to help make the blog more appealing and useful to the readers.

As with most online services, there are several choices. There is a dizzying array of web analytics tools available, with Google Analytics being one of the well known. I have been using Google Analytics for years now. Google Analytics is an enterprise level tool, very powerful, and provides a wealth of information about the visitors to a website. The information is presented in an easy to read format, and one can drill down quite far to find the required information. Its a good service and its completely free to use.

Let me introduce one more. Woopra.

Woopra is a fairly new entrant to the market. Woopra is loaded with features; features not found in most analytic tools. Unlike other analytic tools, Woopra can give you analytic information from a standalone Java program on your system (same information can also be accessed online if you want, but the interface is a bit different). The standalone program maybe the first among the traffic analytic tools and the user interface is really very nice and extremely quick.

One of the most appreciated feature of Woopra is its live tracking. Woopra can give you real time tracking information, telling you what is happening on your website as it happens. Most online analytic tools including Google Analytics need time to process the data, delaying the information by almost 24hours at times.

Woopra also has a chat feature that can be used to chat with visitors to a website. I do not know how useful this can be to a blogger or website owner. Its a little bit on the creepy side. As for me, I do not want to interact with my readers while they are on my blog reading my article. If readers wants to say something, they are more than welcome to leave a comment. I also do not want a blogger trying chat me up while I am on their blog.

I signed up for Woopra when the service was invite only back in 2008. But I have to admit I did not find it all that appealing back then, and I almost forgot about it until a few weeks back, until a friend re-introduced me to the service. Woopra has come a long way, and I now use the service regularly to track visitor to my webistes and blogs.

If you have not tried Woopra yet, it is totally worth checking out. The basic account is free.

Laterx.

The world according to Clarkson ...

Hello.

The World According to Clarkson is a collection of articles written by Jeremy Clarkson for the Sunday Times, spanning 2001 to 2003.

I just finished listening to the AudioBook. I liked most of his aggressively opinionated but erudite observations. He comes out as seasoned traveler, and discusses topics ranging from restaurant food, environmental protection, urban development, the European Union, and political diplomacy among other everyday topics.

It is about the life in the 21st century. Clarkson certainly does not take himself too seriously and his writing is fairly light. He takes a cynical approach and often goes off on a tangent with an entertaining style. I could personally relate to most of the topics he covered. It was hilarious.

I especially like when he points out the pompous, the ridiculous, the absurd and the downright idiotic ideas of Governments and Unions. Occasionally, he does talk about eccentric, the clever and the sheer brilliance of institutions. You will laugh.

Clarkson does not hide the fact he is not too keen about Mr. Tony Blair or his policies and keeps referring to him as His Tony-ness. Weird.

The book is read by Jeremy Clarkson himself and his accent was a bit too British for my liking. I have nothing against Britons, but I got the feeling that it takes a bit more effort to talk with a British accent. They talk slow. Maybe I felt that way because Hollywood and American TV has made American accent a bit more universal.

Anyway, it was a good listen.

Laterx.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo …

Hello.

Months ago, I read a book called The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and weeks later managed to watch the movie based on the book. The book was really good. The movie was okay. The novel is a few years old and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the book has now become an international phenomenon and has climbed to the top of most best-seller lists in the world.

The book starts with two story lines, going back and forth, one about Mikael Blomkvist and the other about Lisbeth Salander. Both are struggling with personal demons, both wants the truth, both wants justice, but one wants revenge!

Mikael Blomkvist, a crusading journalist falsely convicted of using forged evidence to libel a businessman is sentenced to three months in jail and forced to resign from Millennium, the magazine he founded with his friend and occasional lover, Erika Berger.

Blomkvist has six months before he serves his sentence and in the meantime  he is hired by a wealthy magnate Henrik Vanger, who wants to get to know more about the forty-year-old disappearance and possible murder of his niece Harriet. The Vanger family is full of dark secrets, and Henrik thinks one of them is responsible.

Young, pierced and tattooed, Lisbeth Salander is an interesting character and a brilliant computer hacker. She is fierce, antisocial, and very direct. She does not trust many people, and there appears to be trauma in her past.

Lisbeth is first hired to investigate Blomkvist, but ends up helping him with his case instead.

I enjoyed reading the book very much. A girl murdered, unspeakable family secrets, contractual obligations, corporate warfare. What's not to like, right? It was suspenseful, intense, violent and sometimes very graphic, I zipped through the pages in no time.

The book has been criticized for violence against women. I do not think that is the case here. Generational statement on sexual violence against women and society's acceptance was tackled realistically and in the end "justice" served.

This is the first book of a trilogy often known as the Millennium Trilogy and was written by the Swedish Author Stieg Larsson. The second book is The Girl Who Played With Fire, which I am reading now (kindle version) after watching the movie few days back. The third is The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.

Stieg Larsson was a journalist and a politician, and wrote the novels in his spare time. Some say he never planned to publish the novels but later changed his mind. We would never know, as Larsson passed away a year after this book was published. He never saw his other books published, nor did he see any of his books taking the world by storm.

It is worth noting that, Stieg Larsson also became the first author to sell more than a million e-books on Amazon.com.

It seems Hollywood is making a remake of these Swedish movies, and Daniel Craig has been cast in the role of Mikael Blomkvist. Some people are not comfortable with this, as Hollywood has a tendency to mess up remakes. Time will tell.

If you like contained murder mysteries, you will definitely enjoy this book. Highly recommended.

Laterx.

!important! … do *not* buy 32gb pen drives …

Hello ...
A friend calls ... invites me for a coffee ...
I go meet him ... and he asks me to give him some movies ...
He threw across a pen drive ... I caught it and had a look ...
God damn it ... it was small 32GB pen drive ... a SONY ...
Compared to the 8GB cruzer that i carry around ...
The 32GB pen was like enormous ... capacity wise ... hehe ...
I was impressed ... and wanted to ask him for more details ...
But i didn't get time ... i had to leave ...
Later ... i come home ... copy some movies on to the SONY ...
On the way to return the pen I meet this techie buddy of mine ...
I show him the 32Gb pen ... hoping he would be impressed too ...
Feeling sorry that I had that pen ... he explained ...
The 32Gb pen was a serious piece of crap ...
You can apparently see files being copied to it ...
But the files are corrupted and cant be used ...
I didn't believe him ... and checked it out ...
Holy shit ... he was right ... I couldn't open any files ...
It said something like data corrupted ... or truncated ...
Sulking ... I fired up my HEX editor ...
I'll be damned ... just a bunch of zero's ...
The pen wasn't writing any data on to it ...
It was just writing a shit load of zero's that can't be used ...
I called up my friend and let him know what I've learned ...
All he wanted to do was call the seller and ask for a refund ...
So guys ... I know there are some cheap 32GB pens going around ...
Don't fall for it ... check it out really well ...
Before you cough up your hard earned cash ...
Laterx ...

Just watched … The Triangle …

Hello …
Fasting month has settled in …
I don't get so hungry or thirsty anymore …
That's a good sign I guess … hehe …
Just finished watching the complete run of The Triangle …
Starring Sam Neill, Catherine Bell and Lou Diamond Phillips ...
Its an SyFy channel minis series … about the Bermuda Triangle …
The show was good, intriguing and exciting …
The characters were very believable …
Story was OK, special effects was OK too …
The ending could've been improved …
Catherine Bell was hot … in a weird kinda way …
More good TV series, please … hehe …
Laterx …

Mr. Nice by Howard Marks …

Hello …
As I wrote here …
I was reading "The Third Twin" by Ken Follet …
It was a very good book …
A little dragging at the beginning …
But once the characters are properly introduced …
The book starts rolling on … with enough gusto …
Good story telling … a bit predictable plot line …
However … an immensely enjoyable read …
Now that I've to stay indoors …
For extended periods of time … each day …
Due to this unrelenting damp weather …
I've picked up another book …
Its called Mr. Nice and is by Howard Marks …
This guy is amazing … used to smuggle cannabis …
Had forty-three aliases and eighty-nine phone lines …
And he owned twenty-five companies …
He had strong connections with …
MI6, the CIA, the IRA, and the Mafia …
He was busted and sentenced to 25 years …
The book was a best seller …
And the tag line promises we'll like him …
Lets see if we do … hehe …
Thaathi, thanks for lending me this book …
Laterx ...

Got Myself A HDD Player …

Hello ...
Happy Independence day to all ...
Lots going on in Male' ...
Everyone seems to be enjoying it ...
The lights ... the shows ... the crowds ...
Stayed home most of the time ...
Catching up on some movies ...
Got myself an Sarotech HDD player ...
It plays all kinda video, audio and shows Jpegs ...
The best part is ... it can play VOB files ...
So i can just rip the DVD and see it later ...
No conversion or codecs necessary ...
Very handy unit ... well worth the price ...
Also discovered that my TV doesn't have an S-video ...
That sucks ... but i guess it can't be that bad ...
Laterx ...

24 day 5 … finale …

Hello …
as i wrote here … i was into watching this show …
Just saw the finale of 24 day 5 …
It was well worth it … the show rocks …
Good cast … good acting … lotsa action …
Whenever I hear the impending clock …
The count to 60 … I drop my shoulders …
And anticipate the download of the next episode …
I've never waited for a show as much as this …
Not since ninja turtles … and may be thundercats …
But that was when we were kids … eh? Hehe …
Here are some things I noticed about 24 …
1) Jack Bauer is indestructible and indispensable …
He is a true super hero in every sense imaginable…
Great guy …
2) It says, that our sulky Chloe …
has a Bachelor of Science, Computer Science …
From University of California (Davis) …
I say if anyone else of her academic equivalents …
Can do stuff that she does … I'll be damned …
3) Chloe can do almost anything by opening a protocol …
or messing with a protocol from division …
4) L.A. is the epicenter of all terrorist activity …
relating to planet earth … I dunno why …
5) L.A. is not much larger a city than Malé …
Jack can be anywhere in L.A. in just a few minutes …
6) The President of the United States (POTUS) …
is seldom in the Whitehouse … he is very busy …
7) Every screen we ever see has an overly kewl interface …
Ultra-modern or may be futuristic … I like it …
Available satellites are of abundance to CTU …
They can have a satellite to allow jack thru a door …
Or to tailgate a car … that's not very comforting … hehe …
9) Jack needs everybody to trust him …
I don't have time explain it to you right now…
please trust me … I need you to trust me …
10) He doesn't have much time either … none whatsoever …
- I don't have time for this right now…
- 10 seconds is too late … I want it done *now*…
11) Jack's cell phone has no off button …
he is available any minute any hour …
12) Jack doesn't need food or drinks …
I've never seen him having a meal or enjoying a drink …
And in spite of all those I have written above ..
I have sat thru 5 seasons of the show …
Each and every action packed minute of it …
To put that in perspective …
That's five whole days of TV …
And I think I qualify to be called a fan …
And to have the CTU ringtone on my cell … hehe …
It's a great show … really entertaining stuff …
Cant wait till January next year …
When Jack will be back to kick some bad ass …
Season six is gonna be awesome !!!
Laterx ...

The da vinci code …

Hello ...
the code ... decode ...
i wanted to watch this movie for 3 reasons ..
one - i've read the book ... survived the hype ...
two - it had a good cast ... except Alfred Molina ...
three - it was touted as summer blockbuster ...
just finished watching the movie ...
The Da Vinci Code ... good name, eh ???
and i want to say this ...
"for us ... people who insist that ...
the movie is never as good as the book ...
our case just got stronger..."
its not a bad movie ...
but here are somethings i noticed ...
- lotsa changes compared to the book ...
- no chemistry between the two leads ...
- its too damn long ...
- Paul Bettany as Silas is really good ...
- Tom Hank's hair is funny ... hehehe ...
if you haven't watched the movie ... watch it ...
it might help if you read the book before watching ...
yeah one more thing ...
as you may have noticed ...
i've made it a point not to write about ...
all the movies that i manage to see ...
but for this movie ...
i had to bend that rule a bit ...
seek the truth ...
and learn to respect the ladies ... : P
the fairer gender deserves it ...
hope this post has not spoiled it ...
for the lot who has not watched it yet ...
cant wait to see MI-3 ... hehehe ...
Laterx ...

Prison Broken ...

Hello ...
Escape is just the beginning …
:: Here be spoilers ::
Well …  I just saw the last 2 episodes of Prison Break …
Very tense … very taut …  very thrilling …
Especially the last episode with so many twists …
Well … they have finally gotten out of prison …
But apparently that's not all they have to do …
I was under the impression that …
This was a one season show …
Guess I was wrong …
Coz there are too many unanswered questions …
And loose ends …  frayed ends as well …
So I surfed to the official site of Fox …
It said … new season returns fall 2006 …
So I guess studios cant let us go …
Not with the kind of rating prison break was enjoying …
Not with the money the ads were bringing in …
So we gotta hang on for a coupla months …
And we will I guess …
Coz we need to know what happens …
When people break outta prison …
I read on wikipedia that …
In the second season …
The story will focus on the breakout team as fugitives …
And will continue to explore the conspiracy …
That put Lincoln in jail …
It also said …  the show may be renamed …
Prison Break: Manhunt …
This is gonna be good …  eh ?
Laterx ...

The IT crowd …

Hello ...
Started watching another show again …
This time it's a British show …  hehe …
Its called "The IT crowd" … very kewl show …
Its basically about 3 people …
Two nerds …  Moss and Roy …
And their new boss …  Jen …
Who doesn't know anything about computers …
They make the IT department …
Of the Reynholm Industries …
They operate out of the basement …
Really funny guys …  funny situations …
Good for a laugh …  hehe …
You might have heard some of the jokes before …
But still very watchable …
If you need to relax a bit …
And have 20 mins …  watch this show …
The down side is …
Season one is only 6 episodes …
And no news of season 2 yet …
Sheesh …
Thanks to Inn again for giving this to me …
Quotes:
“…Have you tried turning it off and on again … ???”
“FIRE! *exclamation mark* FIRE! *exclamation mark*”
Laterx ...