For All Ye Googlophiles...

Ever wondered how Google looked like the very first time, it was ever launched? (I had'nt even heard about Google in 1998 !). Well, wonder no further. Follow the link, and feast your eyes.

Google Junior

Now, a feast is incomplete, without dessert, aint it?

A link to what I believe is the actual Google project. The ridiculous 'Google' in the page, could only have been created by two geeky students, whose focus was more on functionality than aesthetics (which I can wholly identify with. My HTML and ASP instructors would vouch for me :-| )

And, you also get to see, the complete credits for this project. Also to my delight, found a desi faculty (glowing with desi pride, *blow the trumpets*)who was among the people who guided Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Baby Google

Am I dreaming, or did Australia really lose?

Is it possible? Was I dreaming when I the unthinkable happened? An absolute shocker of a news, but a pleasing one as well. And I'm sure, a lot of cricket lovers will share the same feeling.

Speaking for myself, the shock (or smug look to be precise), is more of Australia losing, than England beating Australia. Yes, ofcourse, the Anglo Australian rivalry in cricket, is as old (if not older), and carries the same emotions for both nations, as an Indo Pakistan encounter in the field.

But what makes this English victory sweeter, is that, there was absolutely no doubt about who played a better game today. Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainities, and though painful as they are, its the uncertainities that bring so much charm and excitement to this game. And, today, there were no such issues of wrong decisions, the side batting first suffering more, due to the early pitch and weather conditions, and what not.

It was pure exhilarating cricket, played the old fashion way.

Mike Atherton, said in this column, that the best way to beat Australia, is to forget about the early blitzkrieg in the first 15 overs (which has almost become the norm nowadays), and concentrate on maintaining their wickets, for until much later, and let the Man with the Midas Touch - Andy Flintoff, take England to a fighting total.

What really happened was almost similar to what Atherton suggested, but Vaughn and Trescothick kicked it up a notch. Driving, and pulling Brett Lee and McGrath, I'm sure it was a sight to behold.

I did not regret as much, when I didnt see the India - Pakistan match on Sunday, as I'm regretting missing out on this great match today.

It was a well earned victory, and England, now, is my favorite to win the Champions Trophy, even if neighbor Pakistan makes it to the final. England has been on a long overdue roll now, thanks in large part to Harmison and Flintoff, and they will remain my favorites for the single reason that they beat the undisputed world champions of cricket, in a very convincing fashion.

Which brings me to my question. What would be the mental state of the Aussie squad now? They have soared so high, decimating opponents with their aggressive brand of cricket, which I admire and enjoy a lot, that, this team, has almost forgotten how to lose. Would this defeat rankle them up so much that we can hope to see Australia lose a few more matches (more importantly because, they tour India in a month !) ?

But knowing how the Aussies play their cricket, and the professionalism and commitment they bring to the game, this defeat would sadly be a wake up call, much to the Men in Blue's discomfort.

The Last Crusade....

Sonics CC Vs Jaguars - A Sonics Cricket Club Column

It is with a heavy heart that I write this final blog. I am sad that the 2004 season has finally come to an end, and even more sad, that I may not be around to play for Sonics next season.

Playing club cricket, has not been just a pastime for me, but an opportunity to bring my fantasy to real life.

Having said all this, I wish, I had attended more cricket coaching classes during my school days. I attended one, while I was in my 6th grade I think, and I was so young, that all the techniques, the coach tried to teach us, never went into my head. When the coach would say, that the body weight should transfer forward while playing a forward defense and the head should be still, the question in my mind was 'Why?'.

The match started with Jaguars batting first, and my good friend Amit Jain of Jaguars, opened the innings with R.P Singh. Amit and R.P, started confidently, and were scoring quite fluently. Amit, in a short while, went on to score 24. R.P Singh, stood rock solid, and was feeding off our bowlers.

In the end, our bowlers ended up with slightly expensive figures. Hasan ended up with 4 wickets, Adnan- 1, Shakir - 2, and Vinay with 1 respectively. Considering it was our last match of the season, Rehan Khan, who has never bowled in his life, got a chance to roll his arm in the last over. And he did a pretty decent job for a final over.

We had a bad day at the field, dropped quite a few catches. All the dropped chances, helped Jaguars post a healthy 209, which for a 40 overs game, is a fighting total.

During lunch, I was harboring thoughts of opening our innings. This was a role, that I had failed miserably this season, save for one or two matches, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do the job required of me at this tough position. Atif, seemed to read my thoughts, and suggested that I open with Ashok, without even me asking for it.

I, knew what my role was, and was playing my game, and Ashok, was playing confidently, striking hard. But hardly into the 3rd over, I placed the ball, between mid on and mid wicket, called Ashok for a run, and started running hard, as I was running to the danger end. Ashok apparently (which I learned much later), was asking me to stay, but I didnt hear him. Eventually, he started late, and was run out. Sorry Ashok, I didnt hear you, nor see you. My eye was on the ball, when I went for the run.

Shakti came in and joined me at the crease, and we played well, and sensibly, not losing a wicket, until break. Shakti played a very good innings, running hard, and smacking a few boundaries. By the 14th over, I was beginning to get exhausted, and my left hamstring started giving me trouble, after a sliding crash trying to make my crease for a run. Ashok, came on as my by- runner, and he was my by- runner, until break time.

After break, Shakti was beginning to cut loose and swung at every ball, and I was trying to give him as much strike as possible. Finally, he perished, to a well made 36.

Qadeer came in next, and since I was the set batsman, decided to attack, and let Qadeer rotate the strike. But sadly, Qadeer, couldnt last long. Atif came in next, but he was unlucky, given caught behind, when the ball didnt even touch his bat.

Rehan came in next, and I decided to give him the strike, and play the sheet anchor role. But a few balls later, I realised that I needed to attack as well, as our required rate was climbing.

I got out, trying to attack, to a ball that shouldnt have gotten my wicket. That's what makes me feel even more lousy. Getting out to a good ball is one thing, but trying to pull a ball, that was pitched short, and outside the offside, to midwicket, is asking for trouble, and I paid for it, with a top edge. I ended with 30 runs,my highest ever in my short two year cricket life.

Rehan was joined by Vinay, and they both played well. Rehan, by now was beginning to tire out, yet played some great shots.

Vinay, perished to a ball that kept surprisingly low that knocked his stumps. Adnan, joined Rehan, and Rehna got out soon after, caught in the deep. Muzzafar joined Adnan, and our hopes went high when he knocked a brilliant six. But, it was just pure bad luck, when Adnan called Muzzafar for a run that wasnt there, and Muzaffar was out, for 12.

After that it was, just playing to delay the inevitable without losing any wickets, which Adnan and Hasan saw through.

We lost our final match of the season.

But post-match, we had our own small awards ceremony, Sonics CC management deciding to give away awards, for both the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Here are the awards.....


Best Batsman - Muzaffar Ahmed
Best Bowler - Shakeir
Best Fielder - Yours Truly.
Catch of the Season - Adnan Khan for a catch he took against Suburban CC, running in from mid off, and finally diving forward to take it.

All round excellence awards
Hassan Khan
Atif Ahmed
Kush Shah
Vinay Cherian.

Sonics Man of the Match against Jaguars- Rehan Khan for a hard hitting 41.

Management Excellence - Musheer Ahmed, who was been absolutely great in arranging our practice sessions, and also bringing us a lot of food and snacks when we needed 'em :)

and finally, the Sonics Player of Season 2004 - Mohammed Shakeir, for his excellent bowling this season.

This season seems surprisingly short, and atleast a few of us feel like we are good for another few games, but the season has ended. We have performed much better than last season, having won twice as many matches, and coming close to winning a few more.

Hopefully, next season, our performance will be much better, and we will make it to the playoffs.

I've had so much fun playing cricket with my team, that playing cricket elsewhere will just not feel the same. Hopefully, I will still be around next season. :)

Matchmaker Cabbie & Oprah's surprise ....

Within the last week, I've read two very interesting stories. One is regarding a cab driver in New York City, and the other regarding, arguably the richest person in show business.

Ahmed Ibrahim, an Egyptian cabbie in New York City, doesnt just drive a cab. He plays matchmaker. Ahmed, drives around with a small digital camcorder, and when a ride of his, is looking for a mate, promptly, captures him/her on cam, and jots down their telephone number. When he has a ' suitable match' ride, he shows him/her the shot of that person in cam, calls the person in cam for permission to give number to new ride with x,y,z qualities, and hooks them up.

And he screens his beneficiaries. Old men, looking for young women, are considered creeps and screened out !

The big deal about all this? He doesnt charge a dime for his services - matchmaking ones that is !

If you are in NYC around Christmas time, and you get into a cab, that has cotton glued around the inside to depict snow, and smells of perfume inside, you could very well have stepped into The MatchMaker's cab.

In another part of this huge country, my town to be precise, Oprah, gave out 276, fully loaded Pontiac G6's to a shrieking and hysterical audience, for free. Well, technically speaking, it was a GM giveaway. GM took the tab for the whole thing, a reported market value of $7.6 million.

It's a marketing coup to say the least. Every talk show host, every news headlines, and radio jockey is talking about it, with GM's Pontiac G6 hogging the limelight along with Oprah.

Talk about launching a product with a bang, not to mention a new season for the Queen of Telly.

*****************

Bubba called his attorney and asked, "Is it true they're suing the cigarette companies for causing people to get cancer?"

"Yes, Bubba, sure is true." responded the lawyer.

"And now someone is suing the fast food restaurants for making them fat and clogging their arteries with all them burgers and fries, is that true mister lawyer?

"Sure is Bubba. But why are you asking?

"Cause what I wanna know is, I was thinkin', "can I sue Budweiser for all the ugly women I've slept with ?"

women I've slept with ?"

Angels & Demons, Deception Point and Dan Brown...

Call this a bounty if you may, but in a week, I got to read two more of Dan Brown's work - Deception Point and Angels & Demons.

If you didn't already know, Angels & Demons is considered a prequel to The Da Vinci Code. And it contains the same factual wonders as you would find in The Da Vinci Code - secret societies, and what not. Anyway, its a great book, and well written, but The Da Vinci Code still ranks top on my list. I guess its the sheer shock value of the facts in it (aka The Holy Grail), and Dan Brown's explicit explanation of art work through the characters that makes me feel that way.

Deception Point, is a completely different work. No secret societies here, but just a scheming Senator who's close to becoming POTUS, and NASA's apparent shocking discovery, here on earth.

But one part annoyed me a bit here. Two civilians outwitting/outmaneuvering a Delta Force team of 3? And Angels & Demons has a similar hard to swallow bogus scene as well, where Robert Langdon, survives a jump without a parachute, from a chopper, way up above in the sky.
Dan Brown, what were you thinking?


I wont give the story away here, so will stop here. Two good books and all of them box office material, especially The Da Vinci Code. I'd be surprised if somebody hasnt already started working on it. This book has been a runaway success. Anybody know any details about The Da Vinci Code's screen version(if it's being made that is)?

And I'm quite happy to know that, Dan Brown is currently working on a sequel to The Da Vinci Code. Woo Hoo. Can't wait.
I've only one more book to read of Dan Brown's. Digital Fortress, here I come....

Gmail Ripoff !!!!!

Two days ago, after exhausting my earlier invites (which had been lying with me for more than a month), I saw a nice and bountiful offer of 6 invites from Gmail. This morning, thought I'll send the invitation over to one of my friends, and lo behold, the invitation's gone !!!

I have been cheated :(( This week's been in hell. Actually, the last one year has been, but the last week in particular, including a pretty major setback last evening). And to cap it further, Gmail, rips my invites off??

Does my time get any worse than this or what?

Anybody had a similar Gmail ripoff?

Hip Hop and Dum Maro Dum?

Thats precisely what you will get when you hear Method Man's track "What's Happening".

Thanks to LaunchCast, the Hip Hop Channel runs almost continuously on my Yahoo Messenger, and what do I hear a few days back? A Hip Hop track, with the unmistakable tune of R.D Burman's "Dum Maro Dum" somewhere in the background.

Now, I know, there are some who are totally against remixes (I on the other hand, enjoy remixes, if they are done well. There are plenty others, who actually make me wince), and an R.D track being used in another track might be sacrilege to them. But nevertheless, it pleased me a lot to see, some desi music being used in the background, in an English song.

Copyright afficionadoes may rest easy, as according to Mid-day all the copyrights have been acquired for this song, and apparently due credits have even been mentioned in the album cover.

As to how the song is, I think its good, but I havent really heard it well. When I hear the R.D track in the background, I half expect Asha Bhosle to go 'Dum Maro Dum' :|