Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Padma Lakshmi: More Than Gorgeous
Padma Lakshmi is just a day away from turning forty. Just look at her – drop dead gorgeous, dynamic and successful. She now has an Emmy tucked under her belt for the reality cookery show she hosts on TV, ‘Top Chef’.
For women, 40 is a fabulous age.
At the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, Padma Lakshmi looked radiant in a strapless navy chiffon Carolina Herrera gown. Complementing the gown was a somewhat unusual necklace for a red carpet appearance. The statement piece is from her eponymous jewelery collection.
The Padma Jewelry Collection by Padma Lakshmi.
The Indian American TV host, author, actor, model and mom looks set to rock the forties. A novelty in the glamour world, Padma Lakshmi is among the few Indian models to have had a career in Paris, Milan and New York. Top designers such as Emanuel Ungaro, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti have featured her.
Padma Lakshmi has worked in films and a music video. She’s the author of two cookbooks. Her first cookbook ‘Easy Exotic’ was awarded Best First Book at the 1999 World Cookbook Awards.
A single mom, Padma Lakshmi overcame a delicate pregnancy to give birth to a daughter Krishna in February this year. But not before the public ruckus which broke out over her decision not to name the father of her baby. We now know the father is venture capitalist Adam Dell.
What baffles me is that even successful dynamic women continue to be judged by some strange puritanical thought process over single parenting and other inconsequential tabloid ‘news’ bytes.
Oh and I hate the term ‘yummy mummies’ too. Let’s look at these women in the eye, shall we.
Endhiran: Rajni returns to Chennai
Truly Eye 'Popping': Rajinikanth Matches Aishwarya!
Gushes Ash in an inter phew chat, "Working with Rajinikanth was a larger than life experience. His enthusiasm, passion and inclination to learn something new is simply commendable." Interestingly, Ash too has picked up the rudiments of this dance form for the maiden time.
A stunned Remo expresses admiration in a media quote stating, "The energy and finesse that both Rajinikanth and Ash have brought to this song number is something to eagerly look forward to. I simply loved choreographing this number."
Monday, August 30, 2010
Avatar technology powers Rajnikant in Robot
South superstar Rajinikant reportedly charged a whopping 45 crore for the sci-fi thriller Robot (Enthiran). The actor plays a scientist who makes a robot who is his own replica. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan falls in love with the robot. Before the film went on floors, director Shankar and Rajinikant spent two weeks in Los Angeles to prepare the mould for the robot's body with the latest technology. "The first step was scanning Rajinikant's entire body to create a prototype. Using this prototype, Hollywood technicians created a robot that everyone said was literally like his double," says a source from the production house.
Shankar collaborated with Hollywood's Stan Winston for visual effects and make-up. Almost 40 percent of the 150-crore budget was spent on special effects and animatronics. Hollywood experts were called in and the technology used in films like Avatar and The Curious Case of Benajamin Button was also employed in Robot.
The film has a futuristic look, and it is also the first in the world to be shot in Machu Picchu in Peru, which was voted as one of the new Wonders Of The World in an online poll in 2007. Earlier, permission for shooting at this location was denied even to The Quantum Of Solace. Rajinikant and Aishwarya will be seen romancing on the sparkling white sands here.
"Interestingly, Shankar had earlier shot at all the erstwhile seven wonders of the world for his film Jeans in the late '90s, which was also one of the costliest films of its time!" informed the source.
In the making for over two years, Robot has also been shot in Brazil and the US, with a foreign crew that included the famous costume designer E Vogt, who is designing clothes for Men In Black III, and Yuen Woo Ping, one of the most successful Chinese martial art choreographers and film directors.
This science-fiction entertainer is said to be the costliest Indian film ever, but Shankar says that the budget is justified considering that it is a complete entertainer with the most advanced special effects seen so far on the Indian screen. Robot releases in September.
Shankar collaborated with Hollywood's Stan Winston for visual effects and make-up. Almost 40 percent of the 150-crore budget was spent on special effects and animatronics. Hollywood experts were called in and the technology used in films like Avatar and The Curious Case of Benajamin Button was also employed in Robot.
The film has a futuristic look, and it is also the first in the world to be shot in Machu Picchu in Peru, which was voted as one of the new Wonders Of The World in an online poll in 2007. Earlier, permission for shooting at this location was denied even to The Quantum Of Solace. Rajinikant and Aishwarya will be seen romancing on the sparkling white sands here.
"Interestingly, Shankar had earlier shot at all the erstwhile seven wonders of the world for his film Jeans in the late '90s, which was also one of the costliest films of its time!" informed the source.
In the making for over two years, Robot has also been shot in Brazil and the US, with a foreign crew that included the famous costume designer E Vogt, who is designing clothes for Men In Black III, and Yuen Woo Ping, one of the most successful Chinese martial art choreographers and film directors.
This science-fiction entertainer is said to be the costliest Indian film ever, but Shankar says that the budget is justified considering that it is a complete entertainer with the most advanced special effects seen so far on the Indian screen. Robot releases in September.
Monday, August 23, 2010
BlackBerry standoff: Some questions and answers
While India's 800,000 BlackBerry users struggle to figure out what the government wants and what its Canadian developer Research in Motion (RIM) has featured in these devices, here are some answers:
Q: What are BlackBerry services? Which aren't?
A: Mobile push-email and messenger. RIM delivers these two services through mobile operators, such as Airtel and Reliance Communications. All other services you use on your BlackBerry handset, such as SMS, internet access or phone calls, are directly from the mobile operator, and are not BlackBerry services. Push email is so called because mail is pushed out to your handset as soon as it is received without your needing to download email periodically.
Q: What does India's government want?
A: To intercept email and instant messages sent via BlackBerry, just as it can tap a phone. When it suspects someone of perpetrating a crime, it wants to be able to read, armed with a specific written order, any encrypted email sent on BlackBerry. The government can order interception of messages, under Section 5 of the Indian Telegraph Act,1885, only with a written order, granted only when required to prevent a major offense involving national security or terrorism. Economic offenses were once covered, but withdrawn in 1999 by a Supreme Court order.
Q: Why is BlackBerry mail encrypted?
A: Most email systems, including Gmail, use encryption. Enterprises don't trust public email systems for business data; so they use their own secure, firewalled systems. Now, when they need to use a mobile push-email system, they want to be certain that no third party can read the mail, not even the email provider. That is BlackBerry's USP: Mail so secure that RIM itself cannot read it.
Q: What's BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) and does the government have access to it?
A: BIS is the lighter flavour of RIM's two email services. Meant for individuals, it uses weaker encryption. BIS users buy convenience more than ironclad security. Airtel or Vodafone 'pipes' the encrypted mail from your handset to RIM, which then decrypts it and sends it out, to the recipient. So RIM 'can' let investigative agencies read such mail, and India now has an agreement for BIS access.
Q: Is BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) then the only problem? Can RIM really not 'access' that?
A: BES is RIM's flagship product, designed to be so secure that not even RIM can read mail on it. It requires BES server software in the user company's network. Email is encrypted on the BlackBerry, using a generated key shared only between the handset and the BES server. Such mail goes out via, say, Airtel, to RIM in Canada, and back to the company's BES, staying encrypted all the way with a key that only that enterprise knows. Then it's decrypted, within the enterprise, and moved to the email server. If the mail is to someone outside the company, it is sent out - decrypted - by the company's mailserver. RIM itself does not have the key to 'crack open' BES encrypted mail. That is the published design. Does RIM have a secret backdoor? One really does not know.
Q: Then how can government agencies access such mail, on a terror threat?
A: By going to the enterprise where the suspected terrorist is working. That company, which runs the BES, does not even need to decrypt the mail...for all mail is sitting within its own servers, or in its backups.
Q: Is the BlackBerry a terrorist's choice of communication tool?
A: No. The BES-user is working in a company. Any mail he sends is not only traceable, but also stored and backed up. As for BIS, that is in RIM's control: so access is easier for government agencies. The smarter terrorist would go to a cybercafe, and use a Gmail or Yahoo mail account. He'd simply read and save mail in draft mode without sending mail. So there's nothing to intercept. Then there's fileshare: sites like YouSendIt, where he can keep encrypted files - leaving almost no trace, unlike with a BES mail.
Q: How about Messenger?
A: BlackBerry popular instant messenger uses a weaker encryption than BES. And RIM has access to the keys used -- which is why it can promise Saudi Arabia and India access. And while BlackBerry Messenger can indeed be used for real-time chat during a terror attack, so can regular, cheap cellphones, as they were during 26/11. The answer to both is part of anti-terror standard operating procedure: Cellphone jammers.
Q: Is such strong encryption legally allowed? Doesn't India have any restrictions?
A: A creaky old law says you can't use encryption greater than 40 bits in India without special permission, which includes depositing the key with the authorities. Now, the weakest encryption possible in a modern web browser is 40 bits and 128-bit is the most common. But then, way back in 2001, the Reserve Bank of BI recommended 128-bit encryption as the 'minimum level of security' for online transactions. The recent 3G auctions were conducted using 3,000-bit technology. All in violation of Indian law!
Author --> Prasanto K. Roy is the chief editor at CyberMedia, publishers of 15 specialty titles. He can be found on twitter and web and at PKR@CyberMedia.co.in)
Q: What are BlackBerry services? Which aren't?
A: Mobile push-email and messenger. RIM delivers these two services through mobile operators, such as Airtel and Reliance Communications. All other services you use on your BlackBerry handset, such as SMS, internet access or phone calls, are directly from the mobile operator, and are not BlackBerry services. Push email is so called because mail is pushed out to your handset as soon as it is received without your needing to download email periodically.
Q: What does India's government want?
A: To intercept email and instant messages sent via BlackBerry, just as it can tap a phone. When it suspects someone of perpetrating a crime, it wants to be able to read, armed with a specific written order, any encrypted email sent on BlackBerry. The government can order interception of messages, under Section 5 of the Indian Telegraph Act,1885, only with a written order, granted only when required to prevent a major offense involving national security or terrorism. Economic offenses were once covered, but withdrawn in 1999 by a Supreme Court order.
Q: Why is BlackBerry mail encrypted?
A: Most email systems, including Gmail, use encryption. Enterprises don't trust public email systems for business data; so they use their own secure, firewalled systems. Now, when they need to use a mobile push-email system, they want to be certain that no third party can read the mail, not even the email provider. That is BlackBerry's USP: Mail so secure that RIM itself cannot read it.
Q: What's BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) and does the government have access to it?
A: BIS is the lighter flavour of RIM's two email services. Meant for individuals, it uses weaker encryption. BIS users buy convenience more than ironclad security. Airtel or Vodafone 'pipes' the encrypted mail from your handset to RIM, which then decrypts it and sends it out, to the recipient. So RIM 'can' let investigative agencies read such mail, and India now has an agreement for BIS access.
Q: Is BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) then the only problem? Can RIM really not 'access' that?
A: BES is RIM's flagship product, designed to be so secure that not even RIM can read mail on it. It requires BES server software in the user company's network. Email is encrypted on the BlackBerry, using a generated key shared only between the handset and the BES server. Such mail goes out via, say, Airtel, to RIM in Canada, and back to the company's BES, staying encrypted all the way with a key that only that enterprise knows. Then it's decrypted, within the enterprise, and moved to the email server. If the mail is to someone outside the company, it is sent out - decrypted - by the company's mailserver. RIM itself does not have the key to 'crack open' BES encrypted mail. That is the published design. Does RIM have a secret backdoor? One really does not know.
Q: Then how can government agencies access such mail, on a terror threat?
A: By going to the enterprise where the suspected terrorist is working. That company, which runs the BES, does not even need to decrypt the mail...for all mail is sitting within its own servers, or in its backups.
Q: Is the BlackBerry a terrorist's choice of communication tool?
A: No. The BES-user is working in a company. Any mail he sends is not only traceable, but also stored and backed up. As for BIS, that is in RIM's control: so access is easier for government agencies. The smarter terrorist would go to a cybercafe, and use a Gmail or Yahoo mail account. He'd simply read and save mail in draft mode without sending mail. So there's nothing to intercept. Then there's fileshare: sites like YouSendIt, where he can keep encrypted files - leaving almost no trace, unlike with a BES mail.
Q: How about Messenger?
A: BlackBerry popular instant messenger uses a weaker encryption than BES. And RIM has access to the keys used -- which is why it can promise Saudi Arabia and India access. And while BlackBerry Messenger can indeed be used for real-time chat during a terror attack, so can regular, cheap cellphones, as they were during 26/11. The answer to both is part of anti-terror standard operating procedure: Cellphone jammers.
Q: Is such strong encryption legally allowed? Doesn't India have any restrictions?
A: A creaky old law says you can't use encryption greater than 40 bits in India without special permission, which includes depositing the key with the authorities. Now, the weakest encryption possible in a modern web browser is 40 bits and 128-bit is the most common. But then, way back in 2001, the Reserve Bank of BI recommended 128-bit encryption as the 'minimum level of security' for online transactions. The recent 3G auctions were conducted using 3,000-bit technology. All in violation of Indian law!
Author --> Prasanto K. Roy is the chief editor at CyberMedia, publishers of 15 specialty titles. He can be found on twitter and web and at PKR@CyberMedia.co.in)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Muslim-born Miss USA is against Ground Zero mosque
Click Here -> GreenVizag.Com
New York, Aug 21 (ANI): Reigning Miss USA Rima Fakih has spoken out against the Ground Zero mosque.
Fakih, 24, is the first Muslim winner of the Miss USA contest and is preparing for the Miss Universe Pageant, scheduled for August 23 in Las Vegas. "I totally agree with President Obama with the statement on Constitutional rights of freedom of religion," the New York Post quoted Fakih as telling Inside Edition during an interview. "I also agree that it shouldn't be so close to the World Trade Center. We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion," she added. (ANI)
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