Life Etc Etc

2016 has been a banner year for social media apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram each trumping the other with exciting innovations to wow their respective user bases. As someone who dabbles in mobile apps here are 5 trends which I believe will revolutionize the world we live in the years going forward. Btw, I hope you like salt because you can only take the trends below with a pinch (Nah! I believe you need a bucket) of salt.  1. Facebook Stars : Move away Film Stars as Facebook Stars take center stage. In cricket, an all-rounder is someone with career stats of more than 2000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches. Similarly, a Facebook Star is someone with more than 1000 friends, whose every update receives a minimum of 300 likes and 100 comments. Facebook Stars are the traffic constables of the social media world, when they post something everything stops and even people who are fast asleep wake up to respond. What talent! What power! Wha...

New Year is upon us and this holiday season is the perfect time to sit back and relax with some exciting movies. Steven Spielberg's   Duel  is one such movie which can pump some life into a sagging evening or a drowsy afternoon. The Plot  Mild mannered and middle aged salesman David Mann ( Dennis Weaver ) is driving on a freeway in the California desert for a business trip. David is essentially non-combative and even his wife complains against his pacifist approach when he doesn't react after one of his acquaintances misbehaves with her. With a sensitive personal situation on hand, all David wants to do is finish the trip and get back home as early as possible. That's until he runs into the Truck. On a narrow two lane freeway the truck completely halts David's momentum. Recognizing that time is running out, David overtakes the truck only for the truck to overtake him again. The cycle repeats and soon the game of overtaking takes a nasty turn when the truck runs ...

Number 22 and I go a long way. Make no mistake I don't believe in either lucky numbers or numerology but several important events happened in my life on the 22nd and just when I make up my mind to dismiss all of it as a coincidence, 22 pops up out of nowhere to once again remind me of it's significance. But this blog is not about my affinity to or my experiences with number 22. September, 2016 was a tough month. I was saddled with multiple projects and really didn't have much of a breathing space. It was during the time that my sister nominated me for the 22 Day Push-up Challenge . I don't believe in taking up more than what I can chew but when your little sister pushes you forward for a noble cause, you don't have much of a choice. I was initially surprised that number 22 found it's way into my life again but was disturbed when I found that on average 22 war veterans were committing suicide in US everyday. Having lost some good friends to the malady of...

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the fifth largest city in India - Hyderabad lies KBR (Kasu Brahmananda Reddy) National Park . It's difficult to imagine a natural habitat in the center of a concrete jungle but that's exactly what KBR park is - an oasis in middle of an urban desert . One of Hyderabad's prized tourist attractions which in my opinion doesn't get the attention it deserves. The Entrance <Courtesy: Andhra Aroma > I don't remember when I first noticed the park but it soon became a sight which I couldn't miss during the course of my everyday commute to work. I always wondered what lay beyond the entrance but never found the time to check it out for myself until last year. But let me back up a bit, there's a back story to my first visit to the park. In my ' Count Your Blessings ' post, I talked about how a walk around my office building started a positive change in my life. That incident made ' walking ' ...

The Plot Stephen Glass ( Hayden Christensen ) is a star reporter at ' The New Republic '. Glass is famous for his entertaining articles and is extremely popular among the 'The New Republic' workforce for his genial and sensitive nature. Sky seems to be the limit for the young Glass who's preparing for a career in law when the first cracks appear . Glass' " Hack Heaven " article attracts an investigation from Forbes  prompting Glass' boss (the Lead Editor of the 'The New Republic')  Charles Lane ( Peter Sarsgaard ) to step in and verify the facts. Lane having been the editor for only a short while has the complex task of unraveling the truth by going after the highly popular Glass. What is the truth? Is Lane after the truth or after Glass? Who wins? Will Lane be able to save the reputation of the magazine? Watch Shattered Glass today to answer all these questions. Shattered Glass 2003 starring Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaar...

It's been a month since my birthday and I've had plenty of time since then to relax and reminisce. I even took a break from blogging which was quite wonderful considering the fact it gave some much needed rest to my over worked brain. While I was relaxing thus, the topic for my next blog came to me like a bolt out of the blue . Suddenly the urge to write was there and my mind went back a couple of years when yours truly had hit rock bottom. It was a couple of weeks after an utterly forgetful birthday. I was all alone in my bed room and unable to sleep. The darkness in the room was nothing compared to the darkness inside my heart. My professional career was going nowhere and my personal life was diving faster than an airplane which had lost both it's engines. Unable to sleep I desperately wished for a miracle to rejuvenate my life but nothing happened that night . In the morning I dragged myself to work. I was drowsy, disturbed and disheveled and had no business workin...

The Plot On a cold January morning in 2009, Capt. Chesley " Sully " Sullenberger ( Tom Hanks ) commanding US Airways flight 1549 makes an emergency landing on the Hudson River, when the plane he's flying develops sudden engine trouble. The landing saves the lives of all the passengers ( 155 in total ) on board and is hailed as a miracle by the public and media but not everyone is convinced about Sully's tactics. The National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB ) opens up an investigation on Sully and his first officer Jeff Skiles ( Aaron Eckhart ) to probe whether Sully actually considered the alternatives before taking the risk of landing on water. With mounting technical evidence against his decision, will Sully be able to vindicate himself in time before NTSB's judgement ends his career? Is Sully a real genius or someone who is way beyond his prime? Will the miracle of the Hudson River prove to be a major botch? Who is Sully? For the answers to all these que...