http://spaceblog.xprize.org/

Forgot to include this link...

Its the blog of Anousheh Ansari, the world's first female space tourist. Some readers might find this an interesting read.

The Coca-Cola wars

It was heavily embarassing hearing of the demonstrations, strikes and fighting in India's 100% literate state due to reports that an international softdrink company had excessively high amounts of pesticide ingredients in its products. It was embarassing to watch grown men throwing punches at each other and shouting taunts as they picked sides on who was right and wrong.

Makes you wonder whether its really a good idea to proudly state that we're 100% literate. The directors at Coca-cola must be canning themselves at the way the 'literate' people in Kerala are handling the issue.

I don't understand why the growth of a multi-national company would stunt the fortunes of the ordinary citizen. The benifits of freedom of choice should surely outweigh extra weight in a few politicians' pockets? And on the question of pesticides - there have been more that plenty of forwards stating the acidic properties of coke (bad for teeth, toilet cleaner etc.). Ok, so we've heard of it. Now give us freedom as citizens of a democratic country to exercise our rights to the choices we make. Surely, 'literate' citizens would be able to make an accountable decision?

Who says we've progressed since 1947?




On a lighter note, check out this cool video on YouTube. Its all the intros (run to couches) of the Simpsons cartoon series (16th/17th season).

Joburg youth onam 2006 - more pics

Thiruvaathira about to begin.


Group song - 'keralam manoharam'


Athum

Youth Onam 2006 - Blairgowrie, Johannesburg

Our 5th annual youth onam was celebrated on the 3rd of this month in grand style. The programs went well and the food was just too good...

Not bad, considering the whole function was planned by and for the youth of Gauteng. A coupla pics from the day:


First sitting. The females are served by the males.

The second seating. Males getting served by the Females.

BMT and Aussie cricket

It was entertaining following the latest cricket match between Australia and the West Indies in the DFL cup in Malaysia. The match was relayed online via text commentary through www.cricinfo.com. Work was a bit lax today, and I spent most of the afternoon following the match through the Internet.

In the previous encounter between the teams, the Windies were cruising with Chanderpaul and Gayle blasting their way to the target. Then a sensational collapse where 7 wkts fell for around 30 runs let to the Aussies taking the game away from them. A similar situation almost befell the Indian team with 5 wkts down with the score in the 30s.

I've always been a keen follower of international cricket; and one aspect that still holds my respect is the way team Australia handles pressure situations (big match temperament). I don't think there are any other cricket teams that can handle pressure as well as they do (and choke off an opposition as often as they do).

Experience on the field has taught me that its on that rare occasion that a team gets to pull themselves out a high pressure situation where all the tables are turned against them. Its sometimes a 'hero of the day' that comes around that changes the result of the game - but never seen a team do that.

Its this aspect of Aussie cricket that any avid supporter (no matter which team you support) would have to sit up and take note of. Its not luck. Not when it happens time and time again. There have been many occasions where just the slight glimmer of a win has prompted the whole team to drive a successful result (as was the case in the last match, and almost the case in todays).

So whats the secret? Perhaps developing strategies on how to handle situations such as these? Or perhaps the team's motivation jumps exponentially during these pressure situations? Maybe its individuals in the team that motivate each other? Or maybe special courses in BMT?

Whatever the reason, its still highly entertaining to watch the Aussies in action - especially when they look down and out of the game. Its never over till the fat lady waltzes.

Survivor - SA style

South Africa's only pay-for-view TV station, Multichoice (part of the Naspers group of companies), has embarked on a SA version of the popular Survivor reality series. The first series is currently showing on TV and has, apparantly, a growing fan base. The series is set in one of the uninhabited islands in Panama (a la the CBS version). I've not had a chance to watch an episode yet, but its highly recommended by the people around me (well, so was Prison Break, and Lost... maybe I shouldn't take much from this) :)

The joke going around these days among friends is that Survivor series should have rather been set in Hillbrow or Mamelodi or Diepsloot or, or, or... the list is rather large. These suburbs in and around Joburg have the notorious image of the highest crime rates (in the world). I've never been to Hillbrow though its about 10kms from where I consult to. Driving through the streets of Hillbrow is apparantly a huge adrenalin rush, 'cause you'd never know what to expect.

The joke is that contestants should be placed around Hillbrow with cameras focused on them, and entertainment would be provided through their 'survival' techniques. Instead of alliances between contestants, it would rather be with the local gang leaders or the corrupt police official. The little Survivor challenges should include 'dodge the bullet' or 'falling TVs' or 'sell the most drugs'. The Immunity idol would be a personal bodyguard. Examples of rewards would include bullet-proof vests, pepper-sprays, or security fences.

Perhaps Mark Burnett should consider this form of reality TV...? Should lead to some rather interesting dinner topics.

I found this interesting site on a day in the life of a crime fighter in Joburg.

Movie of the week - The Rock

Director Michael Bay has been credited for being the youngest billionare director in Hollywood. His collaboration with the genius (and extremely wealthy) producer Jerry Bruckheimer has seen many hits such as Bad Boys I & II, Armageddon and Pearl Harbour. He has been widely acclaimed for his control of action-packed movies such as the ones mentioned before. I've always been a big fan of his use of the camera on characters, as well as his fast editing sequences.

The Rock is still one of my favourite English movies. It had a 'different' plot, controlled acting, punchy dialogues, fast-paced action and creative cinematography. The shot of the F18s whizzing past a kneeling Nicholas Cage with Hans Zimmer's climatic music still creates one of my classic climaxes of all movies so far.

Credit should to to the director for setting the pace of the movie while giving time to the established actors to get their characters into motion. Hans Zimmer is one of Hollywood's better composers whose accomplishments include The Lion King and Gladiator. The theme to Black Hawk Down is still one of my beloved themes. I've always been a huge admirer of his compositions, and the background score to The Rock does not fail to impress.

The highlight of Michael Bay's movie is the use of the cameras and fast editing to create an atmosphere of action and pace during the action scenes. His use of slow-motions and dolce orchestral music during these sequences show some of his really innovative film-making techniques that I've hardly ever seen before in another director's movie.

Some of the 'easter eggs' that are characteristic of a Michael Bay movie include the slow-motion high angle spiral shot of an actor (usually the main character) as he/she picks himself off the ground. Look out for it - its... different.

I don't like cricket... I luv it!

Cricket season is upon us again... yeah! The washed-out tournament between India, SL & SA had high expectations but failed due to the persistent bad weather. What a disappointment? I was really looking forward to some action between 3 formidable teams for the next world cup.

My current predictions for the best 4 performing teams in next year's WC are Sri Lanka, India, South Africa & Australia (I tried hard not to put the last one, but reality is, in effect, a percentage game).

SL are my current 'stars' of cricket. What a performance against the English a couple of months ago? I've always been a keen observer of Mahela Jayawardene, the last few months have been a real revelation. He was never the sublime player; an odd couple of 50s in ODIs before the SL captaincy was handed over to him. He's really taken on the role superbly, playing out of his normal game while displaying some polished leadership skills on the field (totally against the modern trend where captaincy equals loss of form). My players to watch out for are Mahela, Dilshan & Sangakkara.

My patriotism to Indian cricket still continues. Rahul 'the wall' Dravid is still my favourite cricketer. I've not seen sparks of genious from his leadership, but his consistent form and dogmatic attitude should be interesting to watch. Looking forward to some innovative moves (that brings out positive results!). Sachin's back for his last WC - the player of the tournament in the last WC has the uncanny ability to bring about form when required. I have my sights set on all players in the team. Looking forward to seeing them raise the WC next year :)

I was never a big fan of SA cricket. I have always been a fan of Herchelle Gibbs, and this was cemented in the incredible 438 in that last Aus-SA match in the Wanderers. What a brilliant match?! I've got a highlights copy of the game and have watched it often, but it still stuns me how well the run chase was orchestrated. Captain Greame Smith and the enegmatic Andre Nel will be players to look out for this season.

The Aussies will surely be the team that other nations will benchmark themselves against. A popular saying around here among cricket commentators is that the best way to check if you as a player are in form is to determine whether you can make the Aussie ODI team. It will be interesting to see which teams will dethrone the current champions. I get the feeling Pakistan's the most likely to do this... if everything comes together.

This season's gonna be a rocker! Can't wait for the WC. And there's a faint chance I could make some of the matches of the WC in the Carribean ('touch wood'). "Eeee maan.. toss me dat bottla Jamaikan rum".

I'm 25!

Its been a rather nostalgic day. I'm 25 yrs today but don't feel very happy about it. A quarter century shouldn't mean anything, but in terms of time frames and the average age, third of my life is gone.

I'm still not sure how to deal with this day... Was looking forward to it a few days ago, but now it feels like a deja vu. Maybe its a mood thing.

To the next 25 years...

Onaashamsakal!

Hearty onam greetings to all of you!

I received this SMS early this morning. Really cool! Here it goes - "Niraparayum... Nilavilakum... pinne orupidi thumpapoovum manasil nirachu orupadu snehavumayi... orayirum ONASAMSAKAL..." This really made my day.

Hope you have a splendid one too...

Movie of the week - Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

Work was chillaxed on Wednesday, so I decided to take the afternoon off and go watch the much publicised KANK at one of the only two theatres that show Hindi movies in Johannesburg. Before this I had heard (after futile attempts to block opinions on a film) that the movie generated a lot of controversy through its positive protrayal of extra-marital relationships. There was also comments on the local Indian radio channel that the movie is adult-oriented and should not be viewed by children, and that someone from Mumbai had murdered his wife after watching the movie. Blah blah...

There have been a few really good movies on extra-marital relationships. The Malayalam movie Meghamalhar is an excellent example on how such a topic is handled. The director took great care in creating a story on film without placing an opinion on whether embarking on such a path is good or bad. A little thread was left at the end of the film from which the viewer is left to hang on to, to decide for themselves whether the path taken by the main characters was good or bad. This movie was a classic example of the quality of scripting and movie-making by the Malayalam film industry (not being biased - watch it and decide for yourself!).

I thought the Karan Johar crew was brave to venture into unchartered territory in an attempt to explore this theme. The movie is littered with little sub-plots (as is characteristic of a Karan Johar movie) with loose ends (like Dev's mother and son, or Rishi's life, or (sic) Black Beast), but the story around Shah Rukh Khan & Rani Mukherjis' characters was handled well, I thought. In my opinion, the movie was handled well. The theme may not be everyone's cup of tea, but that should not lead to any blindfolding just because its considered 'wrong'.

The plot gets my thumbs-up. The acting was pretty good. Abhishek Bachchan was stylish and funny (a marked improvement). Priety Zinta was glamorous as ever. Rani Mukherji carried on from her excellent acting in Black. King Khan and the Big B flowed in their characters.

The music and cinematography were my 'stars' from the movie. The songs (esp. 'Mitwa') were melodious and were coupled effectively with the visuals. Almost every frame seemed picture-perfect. I forgot to mention the artwork and the detail given to the costumes and sets - dazzling.

Direction was as good as ever. The slick editing between the tension-filled scenes played a large part in getting the story going.

The length of the film though was real big let down. Ok, so its value for money in theatres in India, but really! I thought a shorter version would have helped the slow pace in the 2nd half.

I don't think the film should be shot down because of its theme. That just shoots down the reason films are popular. Another medium of art to express one's opinions. Us viewers should be educated enough to take in the maker's understanding of a topic, and be able to make a judgement on its affects (I liken this to the Da Vinci code). In the end, we should be able to realise that the movie was... different. A change from the masalas that get churned out on such regular basis.

Musical composers in the Hindi film industry

I watched Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, and was really moved by the scores and songs in the fim. The trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are definitely my current favourite 'band' of composers. Their first real hit was the classy Dil Chahta Hai (Farhan Akthar). The songs were melodious and suited the film well (loved the didjeridu intro for the song set in Australia). 'Koi Kehe' is still a fav (danced to a minute of this song in my varsity days).

The trio has created musical magic ever since - each movie that they've composed for have had their tunes following the flow of the movie, like the aussie instrument in DCH, or the heart-beats for Kal Ho Na Ho. Another favourite is the (brave) attempt at macabre music in Kyun... Ho Gaya Naa. Their music has made my movie experience a whole lot better.

Another 'Hindi' composer I admire is AR Rehman. Though most of his Hindi work is a rehash of hits in Tamil, they seem to have that special variety that keeps listeners hooked. I'll post some thoughts on the Tamil music industry at a later stage.

A composer I've tried to follow after listening to a few hits is Sandeep Chowta. He worked on a few films by Ram Gopal Varma like Mast, Company (maybe more, I stand to be corrected). Its the background score that is real quality - quite necessary for some of the suspense-filled stuff from the South Indian director. I also enjoyed his work in Bollywood Hollywood.

Another up and coming composer is Pritham (Dhoom, Kaal, Garam Masala). Some really catchy numbers.

My big negative in the composing arena in Bollywood is Anu Malik aka Mr Xerox. Maybe he was creative in his young days, but now (at least since I've started listening to his music) he seems to have lost it all, and relies on popular work from other composers (especially English songs) to make his hits. He has thrown a few surprises during the course of his work like the theme from Ashoka, and songs from Refugee, but in general, his composition really shows a lack of creativity. Maybe its just me.

I'm sure I've missed many, but on a whole, the Hindi music industry has displayed a lot of innovation and creativity lately. I'm really optimistic of the kind of work that will be produced in the future.

Btw - have you listened carefully to the string-filled background music while viewing Desperate Housewives? Just love the stocatto and pizzicato notes...

An interesting link on how to play the didgeridu - http://www.aboriginalart.com.au/didgeridoo/dig_background.html

Madam & Eve comic strips

I'm a big fan of the Madam & Eve cartoons by Dugmore, Francis & Rico. Its a satirical and creative depiction of life in South Africa as protrayed by the 2 central characters - Gwen Anderson (Madam) and her loyal maid Eve Sisulu ('bless you!').

The comic strip first started a few years before the new democratic government came into being in 1994. The charming way life was depicted during those times as well as currently is sure to bring some nostalgic memories (I know I had quite a few of those moments while reading through the collections for the first time). The cartoonist, Rico, should be complemented for suceeding to bring out the classic expressions of the primary and secondary characters (especially Thandi, Gwen's son's Zulu girlfriend's baby sister - mixed relationships, just one of the many themes that get touched on).

My favourite week of cartoons (and there are many - this one happened to pop up at this moment) was the head-hunters going after the latest black graduates for top positions in BEE companies. The way the the graduates deal with their hostage negotiators still cracks me up.

Go ahead. Browse through the cartoons on the site. Even if you are not living in South Africa, you'll be able to relate to the stabs they creators take at international events.

The cartoons spawned a TV sitcom (a let-down from the cartoon) and many international prints. The cartoon has a large fan base, and many of their publications are a hit at the local libraries. One columnist even suggested that every coffee table in SA should have a copy of Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom and a copy of a Madam & Eve collection. I agree.

Here are a couple of cartoons, courtesy the Madam & Eve site, that I found hilarious.

Movie of the week - Tsotsi

South Africans were on a high earlier this year when the announcement that the home-grown, 'proudly SA' production of 'Tsotsi' had won the Oscar this year for best foreign film. It was the first time that a SA film (or African - I could be wrong) has won an award at the Oscars. As is typically the case, all the problems of crime and corruption were forgotten for some time and the focus was rather on a significant achievement. Example instances of such phases have been the winning of the 1995 Rugby WC and 1996 African Cup of Nations, breaking the 400 run barrier (again) to chase down the highest cricket score in history, winning the right to host the 2010 Football WC.

As you can see, most are sports-related. Going beyond the fields and arenas to the cinema world was a significant leap for the SA film industry. Only Charlize Theron's Oscar for best actress (in Monster) had ever put SA on the international film stage.

Ok, back to the movie. I watched Gavin Hood's Tsotsi ('thug' in street language) after the awards were announced, so it was with a bit of anticipation (always a bad start - especially when I watch Hindi movies). The result was a provoking, and thoroughly enjoyable work of art. I think the film made more relevance to me as I could relate to most of what was being relayed by the production. At the time, the SA film industry had hardly any reputation for producing quality movies - this one was a pleasant surprise.

The movie is based on Athol Fugard's play by the same name, but adapted from the 80s to make more relevance to life in SA today. It tells the story of the life of Tsotsi, a faceless teenage criminal who, through events in his life, evolves towards an ordinary citizen. It touches on a number of themes close to the heart of someone living here - Aids, domestic violence, crime, the growing divide between classes of black families, etc..

The soundtrack was a major highlight. The mixing of SA-style Kwaito music (at the right places) really gave that authentic, downtown feel. Cinematography was excellent. I enjoyed the creativity of shots in establishing a scene as well as during the portrayal of the emotions of a character (especially Tsotsi's at the climax). The screenplay will also get my thumbs-up for its adaptation, dialogues and the all-important climax.

But its the excellent role of Tsotsi and the actor that played it (Presley Chweneyagae) that gripped my attention till the end. The way that the character is peeled away from the image of a hardcore gangster to a ordinary human being with feeling was a real treat to watch. Towards the end I was hoping (spoiler warning!) Tsotsi would not get shot (apparently he does get shot, but only after the end credits have rolled).

Well done to Gavin Hood and his cast & crew for bring out a real and passionate film without falling for the temptation of commercial filming. I enjoyed the fact that the focus fell entirely on the slumlife in SA without a hint of the visual extravaganza of modern Johannesburg. The movie is now the highest grossing SA film ever, and apparently inspired real-life gangsters to turn a new leaf (don't ask! :) ). Presley Chweneyagae became a star overnight and has featured in a couple of commercials since. New film cities have been planned in Cape Town (SA's cultural capital).


Pros: the kwaito soundtracks, Presley Chweneyagae, theme, the climax
Cons: very few. I could possibly mention the additional characters that failed to add to the central plot (like the disabled homeless guy on the wheelchair).

Sound editing basics

I've been assigned the role of the sound engineer for our skit for the onam function in a couple of weeks time. Most of the work entails the recording of sounds from popular Malayalam comedy shows. If you are a regular viewer of these shows, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I've not really played around with sound editing software mostly because the previous PC I had couldn't handle most apps. In fact, I recall using the computer just for work and the occasion music through winamp (old versions). The work done in the open-source world has kept me interested ever since I started working. After a few searches for audio ripping software, I came across Audacity.

Its a really cool software for sound editing and mixing. It was quite easy to understand the functionality available, and after a couple of minutes of messing around I think I've got the hang of it. Love the little effects available. I managed to download and install the LAME encoder for conversion to mp3 formats. The only problem was that the software (in true open-source fashion) only supported non-propriatory encoders/decoders. Since almost all malayalam videos come in VCD and DVD format, the ripping wasn't really possible at this stage.

After a bit of searching this morning I came across a shareware software called Alpeak AudiMovie Express. Really neat. I managed to test it on a VCD format, and the output (mp3 format) was perfect. Its got a trial period, but serves me well at this stage. I've been using mplayer for Windows for a long time now to play movies (compressed and non). Apparantly its possible to rip audio from VCDs through this software as well - I haven't yet tried it out.

Another recommended software was virtualdub.

Open-source's the coolest thing since ice cubes!

Thinking of buying a car...? Think again, you middle-class citizen...

While surfing around for information regarding potential cars in SA, I came across the following site: http://www.broadband.co.za/tracy/car_table.html (courtesy MoneyWeb).

Yesterday a controversial, yet informative consumer advice program on MNet called Carte Blanche mentioned that owning a car in SA is the worst possible investment someone living here could do. Most cars averaged a 30% drop in value after its first year of use, while the Citroen's figured really badly. The comparison was conducted against other 'luxury' fixed assets such as boats, planes and cattle (?). Interestingly, the Nguni cattle (a local bovine) scored highly, thus owning such a farm provides the best return on investment.

A car is an essential if you want to survive in the Johannesburg urban jungle. Public transport is dismally poor (the government is apparently on course for a public transport rejuvenation through taxi & bus upgrades & the development of a new train service as part of prepping for 2010), and the local taxi's and trains are only recommended for thrill seekers with well-covered life insurances.

The motor industry segment in SA is one of the most profitable of all industries. Cars apparently costs 30% less in countries like New Zealand. Still, its a major status symbol among the up and coming Bluppies (non-derogatory term given to the fast growing black executives (yuppies) in SA) in Jozi (nee Joburg). Research by a weekly Sunday newspaper revealed that SA has one of the fastest growing number of millionaires in the world (other countries in the top 4 include South Korea and India).

SA has great potential, but I fear, unless government does something to curb the growing divide between the rich and poor, the bubble is going to burst. The regular industrial strikes that has made the news lately is testament to that.

*

Movie of the week - Anniyan

The Tamil movie left me dumbstruck the first time I watched it. During one of the occasional visits to Fordsburg (the 'Indian' area in Joburg), I spotted the DVD while dancing my way through the obstacle course of little stalls in the square. This was around 6 months ago. The humour of the week amongst my friends were the various stunts that the viewer had to endure when watching a Rajnikanth ("naanda Rajnikanth... naan lateaate sollaathe, stylee sollee...") movie. One of the classic that I can remember was the scene where there's Rajni and two villains plus Rajni's one gun with one bullet. How does he kill his attackers? Simple - he puts a knife's sharp end next to the barrel of the gun and fires. The bullet splits and hits both of his attackers. All in a day's work...

The DVD had Rajni's latest offering, Chandramukhi (an adaptation of Fazil's Manichithrathazhu - a far better outing that the Tamil version, but that's another debate), as well as 2 unknowns that I had never heard of - Anniyan & Sachien. I bought the DVD thinking I'll get my fair share of laughter through Rajni's stunts. My experience in Tamil movies was very limited. The only other movies I had seen were Minnale and Kkaka Kkaka. I enjoyed both immensely, and have been an avid fan of the director since.

After the first half an hour of Rajni's entrance and stunts, as well as a couple of minutes of the pretty Nayantara, I got bored and decided to surf the other movies. Sachien looked the typical romantic drama, so I gave that a miss. The other movie I had never heard of - not even about the main actors or the director.

The story took some time to start taking shape, but once hooked, the story started to grip me. The plot was unique, the characters were realistic, and the actors brilliant, particularly the main actor Vikram. I was impressed by the quick character-changes by the main actor between the various personalities towards the end of the movie. The direction and slick editing helped further enhance the viewing experience. It was pure exhilaration watching the Matrix-style action sequences. Vikram seemed to flow with the action and never looked awkward (credit again to the action team and the video edits). It was a change to see familiar Malayalam faces like Mani, Nedumudi Venu & Cochin Haneefa in this movie.

The highlight of the movie was definitely the gripping soundtrack (the composer is an established Harris Jayaraj who composed earlier hits for movies like Kkaka Kkaka), and the strong portrayal of the character Anniyan. The credits for the latter goes to the combined team effort of the actor, director, composer and last but definitely not least, the script writing team. Its a classic example of how a well-worked character (hero, in most cases) will drive the outcome of a movie. Other excellent examples of this include Tom Hank's Forrest Gump, Russel Crowe's Maximus Meridius, and Mel Gibson's William Wallace. A Malayalam movie hero that stand out include Mohanlal's character in Kireedam.

I enjoy watching movies where a clear evolution of a character can be seen. Usually, a difficult character reversal protrayed to perfection, sticks to my mind like butter on bread. This movie was highly entertaining and real visual head-rush. Loved it!

Pros - acting, direction, gripping plot, entertaining soundtrack.
Cons - the songs may have been forcefully entered into the movie; Prakash Raj seemed to have been wasted - his character was a bit unreal.

The movie was apparantly one of the biggest hit of the year in the Tamil film industry. Kudos to the tamil film community and audiences.

Dead, but not buried?

After a couple of years as a consultant in the field of information security, it looks probable that I might be moving away from this field in a couple of months time. Its been serendipitous experience for me in this area of work. The only prior knowledge I've had in this field had been a couple of information security courses at varsity.

It was with high expectation that I started working in this field, but that was dashed quite quickly when I began to realise that most of the interesting work was done already, or was being done by specialist computer scientists. All I had to do was to use the work they did to prove to others that they were indeed right (if u know wot i mean). Anyway, that phase is almost done, and I might be moving to another side of engineering pretty soon.

Now might be an apt time to share some of my experiences in this field:

1. Security is one of the last items in the list of priorities amongst the clients I've worked with. Some of my best work has been broken down because the client did not understand the importance of change (and why should they? "if its working fine, why mess around with it?"). I've often compared IS consulting to flogging a dead donkey. Yea, yea - so its my responsibility to educate them? Screw that - I'm an engineer, not a primary school teacher...

2. The 'sensational' part of security is the cool tools and techniques to demonstrate a hack eg. breaking an XP password, or surfing the internet when other cannot, or messing around with someone else's machine. These little tricks earned a lot of respect amongst friends and colleagues.

3. Anyone can be an expert in this field. All you need is some experience working with OSs and Cisco products, and a keenness to play around with open-source security software.

4. Very few keep up to date with the latest hacks. Its unlikely a minion company may be affected by an attack because of the effort and skills required.

5. Having said all this, the glorified role of a IS consultant is still an essential to many major organisations like banks because, like every aspect of modern business, bad news can have serious negative implications on the services offered by an organisation. When the sh!t hits the fan, everyone gets to feel it. I've not heard of any such news in my years in this role, but, like 9/11, anythings possible. In my opinion, the information security field is a dying field, as safer options for performing essential functions will begin to appear - and the role of a hacker will begin to diminish.

Its that time of the year again.. yeah!

The skit for our onam festivities is progressing steadily after the lengthy 7hrs spent working on it on Saturday and the couple of hours yesterday. The scriptwriting team usually starts off with a toast (the meeting should really be sponsored by Heineken considering the rate at which beer is polished off) and a few thara jokes. The alcohol's supposed to be the catalyst that inspires our creative genius; I think its just a really good excuse to get sloshed.

The script is peppered with dialogues from those classic mallu movies like Paandipada and Killukkam, some good ol' character and actor bashing, and some (hopefully slick and funny) soundtracks. The plan is to incorporate a few other item numbers into the play such as the thiruvaathira kali (a traditional south Indian dance characterised by sari-clad pennengal with slow but sure hand and foot tapping movements. I know, there's a lot more - please excuse my lame definition).

The highlight of onam for me is the sadhya. I just love the variety of items on store in a sadhya. Ahhhh... Can't wait for it.. :)

I've spent a few onams in Kerala a long time ago, and I remember all the traditions and activities that were in store when the festival time arrived. School festivals, flower arrangement competitions, atham, vellamkali... the list is endless. I hope to one day spend time in Kerala during the Onam festival week and relive those moments again. And I would highly recommend this to any tourist visiting India during this time. Its just the place to be.

Back to reality. The date for the function here is set for the 3rd of next month. We're doing good for time. Looking forward to pulling this off as well as we have being doing in the last couple of years. Now how about that round of beer...?

My Indian yatra pics

I've posted the link to pics from the visit to India at the end of last year.

Had a blast with my cousin & her husband... Hope to do it again sometime soon.