A DARPA funded project has found an allegedly benign way to fight sleep deprivation. Cant get em loved ones to sleep? No problem…Just tell em you love em and mix a little Orexin with the morning coffee…

Oh! and make sure you got it labelled properly so you donot mix it with Sugar or Salt (or Cooking Soda).

Its the Year end and Thank you notes are in the air. Suddenly, the whole world feels like Paris.

I donot know if I have said this before (and I donot think I say it enough) but…

Thank You for being such wonderful readers. Your continued audience(ship) is why we write and your feedback means a lot to us. Not head over the heels lot but a little-smile-with-morning-coffee lot :). Yes, your votes, comments and email do cheer us up…sometimes even make our ‘the bad days’ better.

On the word of Thanks, Apple is thanking God for Japan while American stock markets seems to be thanking God for Steve Jobs’ continual love saga with his half-eaten fruit.

The Year end is here. You know what to expect

You must be getting tired of going through all those lists being published. Both the mainstream media and the blogosphere take their own pleasure in sifting through the year using some crazy new list.

Here is a nice list on the most influential webbies that Forbes did, which I liked.

The www is ever changing and ever growing. You would think fame on such a fast changing system is short lived. well, guess again !

The Forbes list says nearly half of 2006 toppers did not make it to this one. Well, I am surprised that even the other half made it :). The list is relevant too. However, it might be interesting to know what the criterion for the list is.

Do they use Google Trends or some sort of a people search engine ?

yes ,one person who looked like taking pakistan out of its mess is now gone .

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/55114/benazir-shot-deat-at-rally-pak-erupts-in-violence.html

years of flirting with terrorism and perpetrators of terror is now being felt hard .
sadly it is the people who are feeling it than the people in power as civilian security and democracy keeps dipping down .

Michael of Tativille posted a nice list of the Ten best movies of each year starting from 1930 to 2006.

Michael is a rare Ph.D. in the history of Art and film studies and, needless to say, a lovable film buff. Do drop him a line if you like his work.

Here is his list for 2006:

• 1. Private Fears in Public Places (Alain Resnais, France/Italy)
• 2. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/
  France/Austria)
• 3. Still Life (Jia Zhangke, China/Hong Kong)
• 4. Climates (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/France)
• 5. Kodak (Tacita Dean, United Kingdom/France/United States)
• 6. Longing (Valeska Grisebach, Germany)
• 7. I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France/
  Austria)
• 8. Opera Jawa (Garin Nugroho, Indonesia/Austria)
• 9. Volver (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain)
• 10. Colossal Youth (Pedro Costa, Portugal/France/Switzerland)

If you look at the whole list, it is pretty dominated by American and European (Italian and French) Cinema.

p.s: It is interesting to note that India has a small contribution to the list as well - around 23 movies out of the 760. But that pales in comparison to the number of movies we make in India every year !

The inauguration of Antha Sai Album, a devotional Album composed by the upcoming Telugu film Music Director Sri Krishna and written by established lyricists Varada Raju and Smt. Lalitha Trinadh, got off to an auspicious start at 7PM on 6th December 2007 in Sanathana Dharma Kendra, Sunnyvale, California.

The simple ceremony, hosted by Shabdalayam LLC (shabdalayam.com) and attended by special invitees and Sai Devotees, started with the Jyothi Prajvalana, a simple prayer to Sai Baba and inauguration of the first Song (a slokam from Sai Sachcharitha) by Joshiji, the head priest of Sanathana Dharma Kendra, a multi-theistic Hindu temple in the heart of the Silicon Valley that is quickly gaining popularity.

The presence of Sri Komati Jayaram, Vice President (President Elect) of Telugu Association of North America (TANA) as the Chief Guest of the evening added a special grace to the simple occassion. Sri Jayaram Komati, who received the first copy of the Album prior to the ocassion, wished the Album his best and inaugurated the second Song in the Album - ‘Gaganana’, a heartful rendition by Madhu Balakrishnan, a celebrity Malayam Singer who recently started lended his voice to some popular Telugu Devotional hits like ‘Ramadasu’.

In his opening speech for the third Song - ‘Antha Sai Mayam’ (sung by Padmasri S.P. Balasubramanyam), Sri Anand Kuchibhotla, Chairman and Founder of Silicon Andhra, who received the second pilot copy prior to the release, congratulated the founders of Shabdalayam on their music venture, introduced them to the audience and said he liked the songs very much for their lyrical values as well as the singers chosen to render them.

The Vice Chariman of Silicon Andhra, Dilip Kondiparthy, inaugurated the fourth Song - ‘Dhyaname’, another heartful rendition by Madhu Balakrishnan, wished the Album his best, received his copy on stage and enjoyed the preview of the song on stage.

The fifth song - ‘Gajjala Ghallu’, a powerful, fast rendition by Padmasri S.P. Balasubramanyam, was inaugurated by Surya Vakkalanka, founder of the first Telugu Band in United States, Avakai (also known in Hindi/English as Drumstix). Surya spoke on the ocassion and said he liked the Songs for offering a combination of modernity and Divinity.

Smt. Vijaya Asuri, the Cultural Queen of Bay Area Telugu Association (BATA) and a popular Bay Area patron for various Telugu Cultural Events and Celebrities ranging from Telugu Movie Stars to upcoming Artists, inaugurated the sixth song - “Shiridi Puramuna”, rendered by Nitya Santoshini. Vijaya Asuri spoke on the ocassion and said she liked the Album for presenting the devotion to Sai Baba in a very contemporary music style and wished it her best.

The seventh Song in the Album was a new interpretation to Sai Baba Harathi. The popular SareGama 2005 finalist Hemachandra rendered his best in this song, which was inaugurated by the duo of Umakanth Uppalapati and Sastry , popular patrons of Telugu Cinema in the Bay area and known as ’serial entrepreneurs’ in the bay area Telugu Community.

The eigth song - ‘Nirguna Nirmala’, rendered by the music director Sri Krishna himself was released by Veeru Vuppala, Regional Vice President of West Coast for TANA, a good friend of Jayaram Komati garu himself, a friendly co-host to many Telugu community events and a man who never says No when asked for help.

The program ended with a rendition of the songs after the release and best wishes from Sai Devotees and the guests who attended the function. The Album was received very well and sold well on its release day. The album is available for samples and purchases at http://www.shabdalayam.com/sai.