Making Sense of Day Light Savings Time

Folks in US would have gotten an extra hour of sleep today as the country rolled back the clock by an hour 2:00 AM last night ending the daylight savings time. I have heard many explanations for this bi-annual ritual, but none really made sense.

To add to the mystery, US congress has decided to extend the Daylight Savings by a month from next year, by commencing early and ending in November, past the Halloween weekend. So, in 2007 Daylight Savings Times will begin on March 11 and end November 4 (as compared to April 2 and October 29 in 2006)

Till I was in US, this change never really affected me, but now that I am in India, I am feeling the impact of this switch. Actually, I will start feeling the impact of this switch from tomorrow as I start taking my regular conference calls with my colleagues in US, which will stretch one more hour in to the night.

Generally, most of my calls with US colleagues are done between 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM ET which was 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM till Friday and now it is 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM. Now here is another challenge we run in to.. trying to find a suitable time zone for conference calls with folks in India & US. I hear you saying.. Welcome to the flat world..!!!!

Smart Cards for NRIs

Do you have a job offer from a foreign country but are unable to fly out because of passport/visa/immigration problems? Come August Union Ministry of NRI Affairs is launching Smart Cards. The smart cards are meant to deal with the 'job and relocation problems' faced by Indians seeking employment in foreign countries, especially in the Gulf nations.

The smart card will:

• Be the equivalent of your passport and visa.
• Be mandatory for those travelling abroad and working with foreign companies.
• Carry all essential details of the person, his contact address back home, the sponsor and job contract and an insurance coverage attached to it.
• Be a valid document to claim compensation and other privileges from the foreign companies you are working in.
• Have the details of the job sponsor.
• Allow user to use it as a master card.
• Help speed up embassy-related clearances.
• Be the ultimate document for all legal requirements.

The smart cards are planned to be issued only for new immigrants, but in longer run the cards will be provided to all NRIs.

Anniyan!...

Shankar's long time post production work may shake the producer on recovering Anniyan's 26.38 crores.

Anniyan is still on the lines of Gentleman, Indian and Mudhalvan with social theme and spicing it with pure commerciality. Responsibility is the key and it is being told along with MPD(Multiple Personality Disorder). The technical crew has performed to their excellence. Harris Jeyaraj doesn't dis-appoint but gives a feel ARR will be the best combo for Shankar. Shankar should come out and think other aspects as the film seems to be a repeative one. I am not going to spoil the fun those who haven't seen the movie, but here are the positives and negatives of the movie, so you can decide whether to watch or not.

• Vikram's acting. Especially the climax!
• Camera work dring fights/action sequences (Though a lot of it reminds of Matrix)
• Vivek's Comedy (First half of the movie rocks!)
• Art Direction

• Sadha.
• Script (Has too many logical flaws)

Rediff has a review of Anniyan.

A.R.Rehman's Upcoming Shows...

'Netru Indru Nalai' - This show is performed by A.R.Rehman with Kollywood artists for the cause of The Banyan. This function will be held at Koyambedu Krishna Gardens. The man behind the show is none other than our Maniratnam. It is postponed from June to August 2005. You can call Banyan on August Ist to book the tickets.

A.R.Rehman is performing a live show in UK on July 30th 2005. UK guys can book your tickets from here.

Yahoo Photo Mail...

Yahoo's all new Photomail (IE5.5 or above reqd.). Yahoo! has introduced yet another good service, Photomail. This requires IE (internet Explorer) 5.5 or above in order to work.

All you have to do is to install a 1.11 mb file from Yahoo Photomail.Then, it will be easy to send and recieve photos through Yahoo Mail.

After a long silence...

After 2 weeks back home from US, few tit bits to chew...

• Google gets Personalized page.
• YIM beta version targets internet phone with VoIP.
• Nayakan appears in 'All-Time Top 100 Movies' list, proud of Maniratnam and Nayakan himself.
• Roja appears in the best sound track in 'All-Time Movies' list. Again the credit goes to Mani and A.R.Rehman.
  
• Anniyan confirmed for June 10th, has released the trailers.
• Kana Kandaen worth to watch and spend time. The film has message, romance, science, camera, good music and fascinating direction by K.V.Anand. Prithiviraj proves his excellence.

Google labs...

Google labs innovates more...

• My Search History - A long waited easy access to search history from any computer. Need Google accounts to login.
  
• Google Ride Finder - Find a taxi, limousine or shuttle using real time position of vehicles.
• Google UK Local - Finally Google reaches locals of UK.
• Web Definitions - Know the web definitions of any word or phrase using Google.