Partha Srinivasan: 6/1/08

Friday, June 6, 2008

You turn 21 only once....

And it goes by very fast!!!!

So we were all 21 once upon a time, whats the big deal!! Hell, even I was 21 once upon a time. but for Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), this is one milestone he will not forget in a hurry. A graduate from MIT, he hopes, one day, to be a part of The Harvard Medical School. But he has no money for that. Based on his aptitude, his math teacher in MIT, sees profitable potential in making him part of a well-organised blackjack team that is designed to win everytime.

The movie starts slightly tamely but builds the momentum thoroughly and holds the viewer in awe of the fact that 'Numbers are fun'!! Any college kid can identify with the problems faced by the lead act in this movie. But not everyone gets the chance to be a high roller at the age of 20. Being a boy of dreams and limited resources, he is dragged into being part of an illegal card counting team who rig blackjack games to win. Jill (Kate Bosworth) is desperate to bring back some sanity into Ben after he loses control and is sucked into the entire high roller system when he gets used to the good life; and Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey) gets his revenge on Ben, who degrades Mickey in front of the team, takes away the future he had so well-planned along with the money which was saved during his stint at being a high roller at Vegas

The movie nicely slides through the training; sharing with us a few tricks on beating the dealer at Blackjack (remind me when I go to Vegas, baby!!). I mean who knew counting could be so profitable. The movie is seemingly researched well, and traverses well through the motions of many levels for the lead actors.

Not having read the book is a disadvantage, but after seeing the movie, it is pretty certain that the movie and the book will see tremendous success here in the Indian market especially in the college / mid – late 20’s audience. The music is very well placed and does not overpower the movie.

See the trailer and my favorite scene below.

The official website is here whereas the Wiki site is here

My sincerest thanks to Sony Pictures for inviting me among other bloggers for this exclusive preview of the movie prior to its lauch in the Indian Market.

My prediction is that this movie will go well with the younger generation of college goers and young adults.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Are Social Networks making enough to sustain themselves??

So we are all part of some or the other Social Networking website like Facebook, Pownce, Twitter, Myspace, etc. But have you ever wondered how they are able to sustain themselves - I mean they are delivering world class content to your inbox. How do they pay for it??

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Plurk takes on Twitter, Pownce

Plurk is what happens when Twitter fails to innovate. Plurk, Pownce and Twitter are all focussing on sharing info, and updates!! But Plurk makes it more fun. What happens eventually is that one will find stark differences in the pros and cons, but will share the same contacts across the board.

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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

What is Plurk?

It is a fun social IM system - read the article - and it will give you the story in a nutshell

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LinkNotes: Incredible Levitation Effects

According to calculations done by physicists of the University of St Andrews the normally attractive Casimir force between two surfaces can be made repulsive. The repulsive force may even be strong enough to levitate a tiny mirror. In theory the discovery could be used to levitate bigger objects too.

clipped from www.st-andrews.ac.uk

Scientist float levitation theory

St Andrews scientists have discovered a new way of levitating tiny objects - paving the way for future applications in nanotechnology.

Theoretical physicists at the University of St Andrews have created `incredible levitation effects' by engineering the force of nature which normally causes objects to stick together by quantum force. By reversing this phenomenon, known as `Casimir force', the scientists hope to solve the problem of tiny objects sticking together in existing novel nanomachines.

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk

Physicists have 'solved' mystery of levitation

In theory the discovery could be used to levitate a person

clipped from en.wikipedia.org

Casimir effect

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Casimir forces on parallel plates.

Radiohead's Pre-Rainbows Catalog Now on iTunes

Radiohead have long expressed reluctance at the prospect of offering their music for download via iTunes, apparently stemming from concern over folks downloading individual tracks in lieu of listening to the band's albums in their full, glorious entireties. Well, so much for that.

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