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Originally uploaded by abyjain

And the backside… wish I had taken a close-up. The rear window is a window the the huge engine casing inside. WOW!

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Originally uploaded by abyjain

And here is another view of my favourite!!

Office Parking Lot

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Originally uploaded by abyjain

Porsche, Ferrari and Porsche… these are three cars parked together in our office parking lot. Otherwise… there are Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Corvettes and ton of Prados and Mercs and Lexuses… Good eye candy early in the morning… all the more fun when you also get to hear the engines rumbling into the parking slots. 🙂

F1: Spyker to be called Force India in 2008

Originally uploaded by abyjain

And one more “Happy to be an Indian” moment has just come in for me, thanks to Vijay Mallya, who incidentally was also my host for the 2006-2007 New Years eve bash at his palacial residence in Goa.

As per the latest news, emanating from Brazil, Vijay Mallya wants to rename the Spyker team Force India in 2008. That is so amazing. I also wonder, that alongside his party/glamour side which seems to have taken Vijay Mallya into F1, it might even turn out to be a phenomenal money spinner for the beer man. The obvious thing is, there is so much ad-money available in India looking for suitable avenues to spend it on. Now with the whole India concept coming in to F1, with the track in Delhi coming on as well at the end of the decade, this will be a huge opportunity for advertisers.

On top of all this, if the team/Mallya can secure enough money and talent to make it one of the leading teams in F1 (I’d agree that the chances are remote), then I am willing to contend that F1 will only be second to cricket in terms of commercial success in India. The more I think, the more I am inclined to equate this whole operation with genius. It’s creating an opportunity of a lifetime out of nothing to start with. Well done Mr. Mallya – can I have some super VIP passes for your team-truck?

The original article where I got to read this news is available here.

Live Internet Streaming, India Vs. Australia

For some reason, I’m not seeing a good stream coming off Sopcast for the final one day match today. The best thing to do, with a “new” technology, is to just go to livecbn.com and watch the cricket.

Please note, this supports IE only. I tried on Mozilla and it did not work. 😦

My first Butter Chicken

my first butter chicken

Originally uploaded by abyjain

This photo was taken some time in early 2005, perhaps January or February when I was just getting into the whole cooking thing. This is what the butter chicken turned out looking like. Honestly, it was the best gravy I had ever had, but the chicken could have been a little better done as it was the first attempt at a Tandoori chicken being made at home as well.

All in all, making butter chicken the genuine way IS a little hard for home cooking unless you take some short cuts, but I guess thats what makes it so special. 🙂

Its been a long journey since then. Moving beyond the omelettes into Dal, Pooris, Aloo, and dozens of varieties of Mutton, Chicken, Biryanis and Prawns. Mmmm…. its been quite “fulfilling”…. 🙂

The falling dollar etc.

Originally uploaded by abyjain

The falling dollar seems to be doing a lot of good to a number of people. The most obvious are the students or tourists from India who have incomes in Rupees and need to spend in Dollars. Of course, the effect is more because of the falling dollar than the rising rupee. It is mighty interesting and convoluted the way the currency changes impact everything and it all keeps going round and round. From incoming Foreign investment to the competitiveness of Exports (Imports) and on to the long term impacts on all our living standards, these are definitely interesting times.

Some interesting articles on the fall of the dollar and the Chinese connection as well as some impact on India can be found on these links below…

From Oct 2007:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4186041

From Aug 2003:
http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/crisis/2003/07gpfdollar.htm

From Jan 2007:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6195198.stm

From Oct 2007:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/334575_dollaroutsource08.html

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Live streaming cricket on the Internet, India vs. Australia

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Go here – Live TV links – for updated and current links.

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Edit on 26 June 2008:

To Watch the ASIA CUP, find the link in the TV links tab close to the top of this page….

Edit on 13th April w.r.t the India – SA test matches

I am now making my link entries on a new tab on this website called Live TV links.

Please go there on the link in the above line to find the latest links for online streaming cricket and other sports.

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This is a new page which will hold updated links (when possible for live transmissions on the web of the sports I like to watch.

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Edit on 2nd March w.r.t the India – Australia finals for the CB Series:

These are the links from where I found a direct working link that pulls the TV stream straight into your installed sopcast SW.

http://googly-cricket.blogspot.com/2008/03/india-vs-australia-cb-series-first.html

http://chronicleforever.blogspot.com/2008/03/india-vs-australia.html

Update on Jan 16 2008 for the Third Test Match between India and Australia:

There is a working SOPCAST on http://acricket.com/sop8.htm

Remember to install SOPCAST software and open this in Internet Explorer only.

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It’s amazing how some times a big leap can be so satisfying. The same is happening currently for me with the whole thing around SOPCASTS and TVU. For the uninitiated, these are the new methods available online to help video broadcasts on the internet. It started for me with the Twenty20 world cup and now into the India Australia one day series in India. Basically, what happens is that the broadcaster user your upload bandwidth to pass the same thing on to another user. So, not only do you use a lot of download bandwidth, you also use a lot more of your upload bandwidth. I’m wondering when these people are going to block these ports etc. in offices as well.

Anyway, in the mean time, there are lots of guides available on what to do if you want to see live cricket, or live movies, or hundreds of channels live on the internet. I think it is most useful for people outside of native countries who have a lot of bandwidth but not the local programming that they would want. For example all us expats in Singapore or Dubai wanting to watch all the cricket.

Just to start people off, you can go to www.sopcast.com, and for installs:

Download Sopcast and TVU PLayer

Also, some of the links working at the time of posting to watch India vs. Australia live are here (please note, have the sopcast player installed before you click on these links)

** SopCast Link 1

** SopCast Link 2

** SopCast Link 3

** SopCast Link 4

** SopCast Link 5

** RSA V PAK 2nd Test

Most of the info for now came from this blog (to give due credits)

Here is a sample of how the sopcast player looks, with a screenshot of Tendulkar playing in the 3rd one-day against Australia at Chandigarh. Let’s see who wins…

The other sweet and simple way to just have all the instructions and easily watch cricket live online is to go to the Live Cricket Broadcasting Network Site @ http://www.livecbn.com

Edit on February 8th 2008:

There are more links that people have added in the comments section. Please check it out if you’re hvaing trouble finding the links/channels where online TV is available.

Citizen Journalism & the auto-wallahs of Delhi

There is a new site up, called Purdafash, started by someone from IIMC. Of course, we all agree that citizen Journalism is a good thing and helps to weed out a lot of protected and hidden flaws of society, but does it really help if these are issues that we all know about. I went to the site, and read a couple of articles there. One was about the fare charging policies of the Delhi auto-wallahs and the other about a traffic cop taking a bribe. Forget knowing about it, I’m sure, just about anyone in Delhi has undergone both of these experiences themselves. So we’re not really uncovering something new here. What is required for these issues is “execution” and “punishment”, not exposure. They’re exposed enough. Though, I definitely might be striking a wrong chord. I appreciate these efforts, and sincerely hope that as more and more people take to these media, the quality as well as the effects of these sites and operations would start coming into view. Why can’t we just have one head of government who is, for just this once, obsessive about rooting out corruption. Just one such person, and I’m sure so much of a difference can flow from the top.

And, on the point of the auto-wallahs, one recipe did come to mind. What if the passengers always approach the auto with a mobile-camera or any other camera in recording mode, with the number plate scanned and then ask the auto-wallah on video to go wherever they want to go. If the auto-wallah plays smart, he could be shown the evidence and threatened with some action, whatever be it. Possibly some of them might melt. And possibly some others may have to face some legal sanction… what think?