Dilwale

Boman Irani – A talented actor yet again wasted in a shit film.

Kriti Sanon – Unnecessary inclusion (just like 90% of the cast). Wouldn’t matter even if her role didn’t make it to the final cut.

Varun Dhawan – Annoying/idiotic/irrelevant role.

Well… I could go on about the cast but that would be just as pointless as the film.

In my view, Dilwale is just an excuse for SRK and Kajol to dress up and walk around. Kajol actually manages to look good in a scene or two, but that hardly compensates for having to put up with that shrill voice of hers (Not to mention, the idiotic film).

SRK’s antics (especially the scenes where he is trying to impress Kajol) make him look girl-ish/gay-ish/Karan Johar-ish.

The song Gerua is good to listen to but the picturisation is an overkill (laughable). The theme score is fine and even hummable. Emotion and Tukur-Tukur tracks are precisely the sort of crap that makes me hate the present day Bollywood music scene.

The film is a waste of time.

Is There ANYTHING On Android That ‘Just Works’!?

I am sure there are about a MILLION app suggestions that would address my need. It’s even plausible that some of them actually manage to work without ads all over the screen. BUT… I can’t possibly be the only one who finds it annoying that a bloody Android Handset is absolutely useless out of the box. Bells and whistles be damned.

I was going to give this shit OS till Thursday… but… this has gone too far already. At least with the Hub, Universal Search and the Physical Keyboard, I was able to hang in for 4 full days.

Stupid piece of shit, good for nothing, toy. I have significantly more important things to do with my time as opposed to go APP HUNTING for basic functionality on a handset. Half of the time is spent searching or downloading APPS to perform rather basic functions and the other half is spent updating the apps that were previously downloaded.

Not a total waste of money though. At least now I know that I did give this shit OS a fair run and it’s simply NOT for me. Makes a rather stylish paper-weight. I am sure I could put the screen to some use.

Back to the BlackBerry Classic. It WORKS.

…

Yet to find anything ‘good’ to say about the Android. Found plenty of negatives though.

Try this one for starts. The stock photo album APP (beginning to hate that word even more) doesn’t support nested albums. As someone who would like to avoid 3rd party apps as much as possible, I wasn’t particularly happy to go look for one that would support nested albums. Honestly, it felt stupid.

But it felt even worse when the 3rd party apps with their idiotic ads in the interface STILL did not support nested albums! Found one which DID have this as a feature but one would have to PAY to activate the feature (seriously… how the fuck do users put up with an Android device?? And worse still… sing praises of this crap?).

I mentioned yesterday that I found the Android to be messy, cluttered and untidy. I would like to add ‘unorganised’ to that list. Even stuff which IS organised becomes unorganised with this bloody OS.

BlackBerry Venice (Priv)

Just got this (as a secondary phone).

 

Wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Besides, some individuals (who I take seriously) insisted that a plausible reason for me not being comfortable with the Android OS could be that I haven’t spent enough time with a good quality Android handset. I did point out that I had used the Notes (a few of them, can’t recall which ones) for a few hours and it wasn’t just the bloody Huwaei (my previous secondary phone) that ticked me off with the Android.

 

Anyway, got the Venice. Used it. Here is what I feel:

 

Android users (in my view) would welcome the Hub, Universal Search and the physical keyboard (amazing, just like any BB Keyboard).

 

For me… however the Android experience is just as annoying as it was with my previous attempts with the OS. I DO NOT want to download APPS for basic functionality. IF I am being forced to download an app, THE LEAST these fucks could do is NOT put up ads within the APP.

 

I honestly don’t see WHY I have to be forced to download an APP for something as basic as a FILE MANAGER and then be told to BUY the app to get rid of the bloody ads. It’s ridiculous.

 

Android is too cluttered for me. Too much of redundancy. Untidy. The Contacts module adds contact accounts whether I want them or not (I have 7 email accounts but use only 2 for contact syncing and those are the only ones that I want to show in the Contacts module).

 

For some idiotic reason, best known to BlackBerry, Android and Whatsapp, Whatsapp notifications will NOT integrate with the hub. Also, there is no option to save Whatsapp media to the SD card.

 

I DO NOT find it either intuitive OR user friendly (perhaps I need to spend more time with it and then it may feel intuitive and friendly).

 

There is nothing that I can NOT put up with. Of course I can put up with the minor annoyances and then get used to it. I just don’t WANT to and so far, don’t see any compelling reason why I should.

 

Update:

A new update for the APPS now allows Whatsapp notifications in the hub. Rather messy, but better than no integration.

Elementary

Started off with the series. Currently watching the 2012 Season 1 (almost done).

It’s… tolerable. SOME of the episodes are in fact interesting and fun to watch. The one liners could’ve been better but thankfully, they aren’t too idiotic.

Jonny Lee Miller is just passable as Holmes.

Lucy Liu is annoying. Doesn’t add much to the show.

It isn’t great… but so far it’s watchable.

Cyrstal Reports Not Exporting To PDF

Encountered this issue the other day. The report ‘exports’ and the PDF created is 0 bytes (in other words… not exported).

Spent some time Exiting the application and starting it off again, restarting the PC (unfortunately have to use Windows at the office), Uninstaling and Reinstaling Acrobat, and then thinking what else could be causing the conflict. Turns out it was caused by a Windows Update patch.

KB3102429 – That’s the idiotic patch from Windows that caused the issue. Uninstal the patch and everything is back to normal.

Google Blogger 0Auth2.0

Well whatever the fuck that is, it has happened again and now WLW won’t work with the Google Blogger account.

Pretty annoying. Gets more annoying when I have to go back to Blogger on the webpage to add the tags to the post. Hate blogger’s web interface.

Switched to Open Live Writer as a work around, but OLW itself is a work in progress.

Odd-Even Nonsense

Pollution Problem in Delhi. Here are some plausible solutions/suggestions:

- Sort out your public transportation system. That will take time, right? Well, how about making sure that the public transport vehicles have the emissions in check. THAT will have a considerable effect right away. Inspect the vehicles and fix the ones that can be fixed, and replace the ones that can not be fixed.

Private cars se zyaada dhuaan tumhaare public transport ke vehicles se aate hain? Dikhta nahin kya? In addition to being stupid, these politicians seem to be blind as well.

- You don't want people to take out their private cars, right? Then how about starting off with a directive to government offices/establishments/colleges/schools to have their own government sponsored fleet(s) of busses. Make it mandatory for their staff/employees/students to use these busses for their commute to office/school. If MANDATORY is an overkill, then at least make it optional. Surely there will be some improvement EVEN if this is just optional.

In addition to a reduction in pollution and traffic, there is also a chance that it will have an effect on the punctuality of the employees/students.

Like Crazywal wants to try his Odd-Even Chutiyagiri for 15 days; try the above suggestion for 15 days. If this works, expand/improve it.

Kharcha hoga na… hone do. Since the government (both centre and state) are so SERIOUS and CONCERNED about the problem and willing to cooperate on the issue, I am sure they wouldn't mind the expense. It's a much better use of state's budget and/or taxpayers' money as opposed to say… err… erecting more statues or having a Yoga day? Kyon maadarchod? Itna bhi nahin soch sakte? Sab ka saath sab ka vikaas aur ye sab bakwaas?

You want cooperation from the people… abbey thoda bahut tum bhi cooperate kar lo na jaahilo!

'There is a problem. Something needs to be done. This is something. Let's do it.'

For some reason, people just can't seem to get away from the above stated idiotic approach. A recent example being the Odd-even formula that crazywal has suggested to tackle to problem of pollution in Delhi.

Since it was announced, several changes (to the 'scheme') have been suggested. Some by Crazywal himself. The latest among those being - The exemptions for women.

Rajnath Singh and Crazywal have a talk and Chutiya Singh is concerned that the scheme may be MISUSED by the 'rich' who can afford more than one vehicle.

Being able to afford more than one car is all it takes to be categorised as RICH? Ye kab hua??

More importantly - What the fuck do these idiots mean by 'misuse'? Saale gaandu, log ghar pe baithe rahenge kya? Kaam pe tera baap jaayega? If one can avoid being transported as a cattle, why shouldn't they avoid it? Why would you want to call that MISUSE of the 'scheme'? Duffer ki aulaad… akal hai ke nahin?!

It's not as if there is NO OTHER OPTION. I have highlighted some in the beginning of this post itself and I have done so intentionally because just about ANYONE can point out what's WRONG with the situation/proposal. What we need is not just definition of the problem but also a WORKABLE solution.

Coming up with those options did not require a research study / degree / establishment of an inter-departmental committee / an election to a public office / an infringement of the rights of the residents.

Surely with all those advisors/experts/consultants that the central and state governments have on their payroll, they could come up with MUCH BETTER alternatives.

Bachche, solutions tou bahut hain. Bas tum haraamzaadon mein thodi si akal hoti tou shaayad desh ka kuchch ho saktaa tha.

Maadarchod-jaahil-kutte ke bachche-phatte condom ki paidaaish. Thuu.

Laaanat hai

…

Suggestion To BBC Radio

Can you please NOT have Matthew Bannister interview anyone?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with his diction or his questions (mostly). The problem is with the tone and the way he asks those questions.

Bannister's tone is more suited for a quiz show or something along those lines. When it comes to interviews however, he is completely rubbish.

The tone makes it seem like the questions were framed AFTER the responses were recorded independently. More often than not, Bannister himself voices out a good part of the respondent's story himself, usually starting off with 'Isn't it true that….' OR 'Tell me about the time when…' and that's usually followed by pretty much a detailed description of the event (by Bannister himself), often leaving very little for the respondent to add.

Bannister reporting the news is fine. Hosting a quiz show would be brilliant. But… a question/answer interview… err… pretty annoying.

If he MUST do the interviews, perhaps he should take a few pointers from Jo Fidgen.

Talvar

*Applause.

Excellent! I have no way to conclude how close it is to the actual events but the film is well made.

Every actor has put in a brilliant performance for this film.

Kis Kisko Pyar Karun

Watchable. Nothing great but tolerable time pass.

Anusual - Anu Aggarwal

Not what I was expecting. Not even close.

In my humble view, it's a very badly written book. Sloppy. Referring to herself in third person every few paragraphs does become annoying for the reader but that's not the only thing bad about the book.

It is only on Page 45 that she decides to mention that Suma Varghese came up with the term 'anusual'. The term which she is using as the title of her memoir! Surely this should be acknowledged somewhere in the beginning, right?

For someone who claims to have attained clarity through selective Sanyas and attempts at Yoga, she sure seems to talk WAY too much about money (dollars, pounds, rupees), designer labels, insists on informing the readers that she shared a drive with some big shot in a merc and later in the book, which car she was driving when she had her accident (which doesn't really add anything to the story).

Same goes for the references to the men in her life. In my view, even mentioning the names wasn't necessary. She could have just put up her nicknames for them (like she uses 'swamiglee' or 'bade swamiglee' and a bunch of other nicks for the people).

But, if you Do want to mention the names, there is absolutely no need for us to know what these individuals did… is there? One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out the precise reason why Anu decided to include that majority of them were big-shots.

The end of her relationship with Rick is pretty confusing. At one point it's mentioned that it was because he asked for access to one of her international accounts. A few lines later, the book states that Rick believed the tabloid reports and that caused the end of the relationship. Later on, Anu states that the relationship ended because Rick got tired of waiting for her to say 'Yes' for marriage. Anu also states at that point that she kept saying 'No' because Rick wasn't making decent money.

Then there is the over the top self-praise. Anu was/is born with the model/ramp walk. Anu was/is a wonderful actress. Anu was hounded by international talent management companies to sign up with them. Anu managed to transform the lives of men who came in contact with her. Anu was a brilliant yoga student. As per Anu's account of some firang yoga student's dabbling in numerology - Anu also shared A LOT of traits with the Dalai Lama. Also, Anu's birthday coincided with the day that her swamiglee attained some form of enlightenment/awareness/fuck knows what.

Ahem… a bit too much, don't you think?

From what I read… Anu Aggarwal's own description of her life effectively portrays her as a delusional cunt.