Lord of the Web

These days, even a new born baby is expected to have a web site of its own. Establishing one’s web presence through web sites — be it for personal purposes or business related purposes — has become a necessity. While the domain name real estate battle goes on in one side, there is also the challenge of finding the right web host to go with the hard fought for domain!

As the demand for websites grows, so does the number of web site hosting providers. Some good, some not so good at all. There is definitely no dearth of web hosts. The real difficulty is in finding the right web host satisfying your requirements, and perhaps more importantly, your budget.

While some hosts are suitable for static HTML pages, they may not be so for dynamic pages (PHP, ASP, etc). Your website may only work with Windows hosting and not Linux Hosting. The cost of the web host may not be justified for your needs. Sometimes you just want to host a blog. Sometimes you want to host your own ECommerce solution with all the bells and whistles. A web host suitable for a situation may be a very bad choice in another.

It is always better to begin with a web hosting review site, providing a list of web hosting providers in various categories and budgets. Your search for the right host should begin, and hopefully end, at such review sites. Catch you on the web!

ThoughtWorks India is organizing the first ever Ruby Conf in India. Scheduled for the 20th and 21st of March 2010, it will take place in Bangalore, the IT capital of the country.

Ruby Conf India 2010 will feature talks from Chad Fowler (author of The Passionate Programmer), Ola Bini (contributor to the JRuby project) and others from the Ruby community.

Over the 2 days, RubyConf India 2010 promises to offer Ruby enthusiasts with an opportunity to meet the key people in the Ruby community and learn about the latest technology changes first-hand. It is definitely an exciting opportunity to brainstorm, network and share information on the latest trends and developments in Ruby.

Don’t miss it!

We all know how easy it really is to be caught in the “debt web”. Debt leads to loss of freedom, time, credit and opportunities and it is this word that instills nightmares in many of us.

The effects of debt can be quite drastic. Having debts is like being put up in a cage. For example, there is every possibility that a person in debt can lose his home because he wasn’t able to pay back the loan. Just the thought that he could be losing his home limits the persons actions and leads to worser conditions. See, debt is a vicious sircle. If you cannot pay them off, since you cannot pay them off, it becomes even more difficult to pay them off…

Those who have various small loans should look at debt consolidation. With proper planning, it can be ensured that the actual interest payed is reduced. To reduce monthly repayments, one can look at debt management services, but it usually means you pay for a longer term. The kind of solution you need depends on the situation you are in. Weigh all aspects of your debt situation before making a decision. And there is no lack of companies providing such services.

Debt web is not as scary it seems!

I started playing Mass Effect without any expectation. I only bought it because I got it at a good price off eBay. Playing the game proved to be a great experience indeed and I started loving Mass Effect as I progressed through it. Spending time on the interactive dialogues with the NPCs, leveling up my team and others small but enjoyable things had me hooked to the game.

Predictably, I approached Mass Effect 2 with very high expectations. And that made me uncomfortable as well, since many a times high expectations may ruin our perception of the game even if it had only minor glitches.

Thankfully, Mass Effect 2 has proved to be a worthy sequels and has even surpassed my expectations. There have been so many tweaks to the game and almost all the weaknesses of it predecessors are gone. Small additions like the “Mission Complete” screen are mighty welcome. Experience points are now given at end of missions and not midway as in Mass Effect, where you had to scramble to the squad menu and level up, partway through a mission.

The third-person shooting is vastly improved and gives a better sense of speedy action. The balance between action and role playing has been well struck. Shield and health regenerate and ammo can also be picked up. These features are commonly found in many games, but were badly missed in the first game.

A very good game, followed up with a better sequel. That does raise my expectations way way high for Mass Effect 3!

 Loading ...

After seeing its world premiere in London in a gala event on the 19th of December, the much hyped songs of Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya are out at last. With these songs coming after the successful Oscar exploits of maestro A.R.Rahman, the hype and buzz surrounding the songs of the movie is understandable. Add to this the fact that Gautham Menon and A.R.Rahman are working together for the first time, the excitement is almost palpable.

Omana Penne
Singers: Benny Dayal, Kalyani Menon
Malayalam Lyrics: Kalyani Menon

The percussion in this song stands out right from the start. The kind of rythmic song that is soothing to the ears. Well suited for Benny Dayal and he has excelled as usual. The nadaswaram bit, heard on and off in the background, takes the song to another level towards the end. Unfortunately, the music masks the lyrics at places, thereby reducing the pleasure to some extent, but with such lovely music, the complaints wont be loud.

Anbil Avan
Singers: Devan Ekambaram, Chinmayi

A peppy number if you can call it. The initial segment sets up the song very well. Devan has done a commendable job. Chinmayi adds a soulful effect to the song and has backed up Devan very well. The chorus has done as good a job as the lead singers. The traditional marriage music that comes in the middle of the song offers splendid transition.

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa
Singers: Karthik

Another song comprising of amazing guitar scores, with Karthik’s voice competing with the amazing music through all the changes in pitch. The music is loud at places and the voice of the singer is subdued at places, something that is predominant in this album. The lyrics becomes clear only after a few listenings, which is a shame since Thamari continues to out do herself in the lyrics department time and again. Despite these foibles, the short song packs a punch and is a good title song.

Hosanna
Singers: Vijay Prakash, Suzanne, Blaaze
English Rap Lyrics: Blaaze

This has to be the most popular song of the album. Amazing music, singing and lyrics combine to create this masterpiece that is bound to be wildly popular with the crowd. What begins as a melody with soothing music and soulful female chorus parts transitions beautifully into rap and then back to melody. Vijay Prakash has beautifully captured the mood of the song . Suzzane, with her excellent singing culminating in a mesmerizing humming has made the song better, if that is even possible. Blaaze is good with what he does, as usual.

Kannukkul Kannai
Singers: Naresh Iyer

While one was thinking that the guitar has been the favorite of Rahman in this album comes this number with fantastic violin interludes. Awesome westernized music with amazing tamil lyrics from Thamarai truly symbolizes the position that tamil culture should be in - embracing the western world while holding on to, and spreading, its roots. Naresh Iyer does the song with finesse and his uttering of the words does justice to the lyrics.

Mannipaaya
Singers: A.R.Rahman, Shreya Ghoshal

Shreya and Rahman. Awesome combination. Throw in Thirukkural and we get a magical song. The keyboard really owns this song and the flute makes an appearance making the album even more varied. Shreya is really the highlight of the song, with the music vying to catch the listeners attention. Dont miss the kural rendered in amazing chorus with the flute in the background.

Aaoromale
Singers: Alphonse
Malayalam Lyrics: Kaithapram

A song that starts slow, goes on to pick speed slightly and makes you say Wow after listening to it. Thats Aaromale! With amazing guitar scores that give you the feel of country music, and invigorating malayalam lyrics, this song will be quickly liked by the music aficionados. This song’s popularity will be like the song itself -slow, but will start to rise once people have listened to it a few times. This is a true fusion of western and south Indian music, something that Rahman always wanted to capture. My personal favorite.

While Hosanna will be popular with the crowd, Mannipaaya and Aaromale bring in variety to the album. While it is slightly saddening that the amazing lyrics get masked at times by the music, it can still be ignored. Like any Rahman album, the songs will take some time to pickup ( apart from Hosanna that is!) but will last long, satisfying every kind of music lover. Time and again, Rahman manages to wow us.

Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya Songs Lyrics