Once again, a good film gets mixed reviews from certain critics who ridicule its “story”…Well its Transformers…robots who apparently are sentient life forms…what else do you want?

Here are 5 reasons to see this film…..And you better….

Reason 5: Another film which proposes the “Ancient ET contact” theory

I always found this to be cool. Our ancestors…nothing but hunters and savages…meeting or encountering technologically superior beings from outer space who either destroy them or help them to evolve or advance faster. The film begins with one such scene and so I like it. Also one of the pyramid is supposed to house an ancient technological wonder. Watch and find out.

Reason 4: Fantastic music and score

Whats a film without good music and a moving score. ROTF does not disappoint. Steve Jablonsky does not let the fans down with another brilliant collection of compositions. Listen to the score on the official site, youtube or dload it officially from Amazon.

Reason 3: Megan Fox

Megan Fox sizzles and burns red hot in this film. And she has some acting skills too. Its a pleasure to watch her character in the film especially that pose on the motorcycle at the beginning of  the film. And I am sure many guys were envious of the little deception turned autobot wheelie who got to “hump” her boots.

Reason 2: Very good detailed robot fights which take place all over the world.

In the first film, most of the action is fast paced and you keep wondering whats going on. But this time, the action is well laid out with closeups of the robots. And the fight scenes take place not just in the US but Egypt and France have been thrown in for good measure. And not to mention a cool destruction scene of an aircraft carrier.The action in the film rocks and can be called a redeeming factor.

Reason 1: Optimus Prime like you have never seen him before

This is the best and top reason to watch ROTF. Optimus Prime shines like never before. The leader of the autobots gets more exposure this time around and that means more actions scenes and more dialouge. He even gets a death scene and also a dramatic resurrection. Watch the film to find out. And once he comes back to life, watch how an unlikely old friend sacarifices something to make him “Super Optimus Prime”…..The defining scene of the film which is guaranteed to give long lasting goose bumps.

Its a known fact that 80% of the people who came out from seeing this film kept repeating “I am Optimus Prime” for days together.

Finally the much touted and expected Safari 4 is here and Apple hasn’t disappointed us.

I just installed the browser and it seems to be just awesome in terms of page loads. But lets see what are some of the main features of this browser which may help it beat IE and Google Chrome.

Nitro JavaScript engine:

Runs JavaScript upto 6 times faster than traditional browsers like IE 8. This means Microsoft has been completely burned away right at this point. And this engine runs JavaScript in bytecode format. Now thats advanced and thats FAST!

First and only browser to pass ACID3:

So what is ACID3? It is a set of rigorous tests which in other words is called a “benchmark” made specifically for web browsers. ACID 3 has specific tests to see whether browsers are capable to render new and emerging web technologies which will be used in next-generation websites. These consist mainly of updated CSS, JavaScript, XML, and SVG.

So Safari 4 has broken the ACID3 barrier for the first time.

HTML 5  Support for developers with database support:

Developers can now build web applications and store them locally and use those application even without an internet connection. In other words, offline usage of web applications. Whats more? You can store the data too. In a traditional database with full SQL support. Wow!

First web browser to support CSS canvass:

CSS canvass is a new form of CSS which is used to position canvas elements anywhere in an image.

Other features include:

• Advanced Navigation
• Advanced Bookmarking facilities
• Advanced options for developers including JavaScript debugging and database support with query execution
• Advanced and robust security features like anti phishing and malware detection.
• Totally Apple touts 150 new features!!!

Above all it is SUPER FAST!!! and has set a record with 11 million downloads so far!!!

So what are you waiting for? Go grab the latest version of Safari 4 from the link below.

http://www.apple.com/safari/

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Well most of you folks must have heard that this film sucked and it was not worth the wait blah blah…But the film does have its redeeming qualities and is worth one watch at least in the big screens. Dont catch it on DVD later on and rue the fact that you missed out on one of the best action films in the recent past.

REASON 3:

Sam Worthington: This guy actually steals the thunder from right below Chritistian Bale. While all that Bale could manage was to cuss and abuse a crew member, Sam walks away with good reviews for his perfomance as the reluctant terminator prototype Marcus Wright

REASON 2:

Unbelievable and breath taking action scenes: See it to believe it. Awesome chase scenes, awesome fights, huge explosions and lots of firepower. Typical of a terminator film but this one takes it a little higher. Also cool to see many newer Terminator models, the T-600, Mototerminators and huge gigantic terminators as well.

REASON 1:

The special surprise of the film. The T-800 model 101 terminator with Arnie’s face!!! Guys if you haven’t seen this, this scene alone is enough to redeem whatever misgivings you had about the film. Its cool to see this terminator battle John Connor in the climax.

Granted the film has many loopholes in its plot and Christian Bale’s character is a let down, but the rest of the crew rises up to the occasion and delivers well.

Also among the highlights are the numerous references and tributes to the previous terminator films. Thank you McG!!!

Looks like this is gonna be Palm inc’s last chance to beat the Iphone and win back market share from Apple.  Its also gonna be crucial for Sprint to win back customers from AT&T and Verizon.

Most stores today are doing brisk business with the Pre. Though lines are not as huge as those seen when the IPhone was launched, the Pre is definitely generating a lot of hype and excitement among the consumers.

PRICE:

The Pre costs $199.99, after a $100 rebate, for customers who sign a two-year service contract. It is priced in line with the $199 smaller-capacity iPhone. Pre’s monthly service fees start at $69.99, including unlimited text messaging, lower than the cost of iPhone service plans with similar features.

PICS:

UPDATE: The Palm Pre has sold out in most Sprint stores and is expected to be restocked soon!

From http://infotech.indiatimes.com/Enterprise-IT/Software–Services/How-IBM-is-hurting-TCS-Infy-Wipro/articleshow/msid-4385374,curpg-1.cms

International Business Machines Corp is expanding in India and grabbing enough customers to take the top spot in the country’s domesti
c information technology market from local rivals.

While Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Technologies have won over US companies with cheaper labor and low capital costs, IBM snapped up contracts with some of India’s largest companies, such as wireless carrier Bharti Airtel.
The strategy will yield dividends for IBM over time as India’s economy thrives, Kaufman Bros.’s Karl Keirstead said.

“They’ve beaten their competition relatively handily,” said the New York-based analyst, who pointed to IBM’s brand name and experience as draws for potential clients. “There’s a cachet in using IBM.”

IBM has hired more than 70,000 employees in India, taking advantage of the “hyper-growth” there by helping domestic companies develop infrastructure, said Sandip Patel, managing partner for services in the country. IBM also may attract new customers from India’s Satyam Computer Services, embroiled in the nation’s largest accounting scandal.

The writing is on the wall now for these companies. IBM has tasted blood now and it will go for the final kill. The ultimate form of revenge by American companies who lost jobs to Indian companies and now are playing the same game to give them a taste of their own medicine

Xen Server

2009 is said to be the year of Virtualization.

The old rivals Citrix and VMWare are at it again and this time Citrix has one-upped VMWare by offering Xen Server for free!!! Thats right folks. Thats a huge sucker punch to VMWare and also Citrix and tightened up its association with Microsoft.

See this for a review of how Xen Server matches up with its competitors.
http://virtualizationreview.com/features/article.aspx?editorialsid=2641

So in essence, Microsoft and Citrix have ganged up against current market leader VMWare. Also Citrix believes that its suite of applications called “Citrix essentials” will bring home the business as Xen Server is made free.

So even you can download the latest Xen Sevrer Enterprise edition and try it out for free!!!!
try it out here…

Its been a while since I last blogged. In any case its sad to see all the rumors floating along about Microsoft’s plan to lay off a large number of employees. Some put the “headcount” as high as 15000. As a software professional myself, its depressing to see this happen in a company widely regarded and respected as the biggest software company in the world. The layoffs here will be symbolic of the terrible economic conditions the IT industry is going through.

Though as per Steve Ballmer, the company’s CEO…the layoffs might not be so huge after all. In any case lets wait and watch.

Muahahaha

Courtesy: NDTV

Microsoft says it will slash 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months as it reported an 11 percent drop in second-quarter profit.

The software giant said Thursday the moves were driven by deteriorating global economic conditions and lower client revenue, resulting from weakness in the PC market and a shift to lower-priced notebook models.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company says profit slipped to $4.17 billion, or 47 cents per share, from year-ago earnings of $4.71 billion, or 50 cents per share.

It says total revenue edged up 2 percent to $16.63 billion, as server, tools and entertainment sales helped offset an 8 percent drop in client revenue.

The results missed Wall Street’s forecast for earnings of 49 cents per share on sales of $17.08 billion.

Microsoft Corp. says the job cuts will reduce operating costs by $1.5 billion as it prepares for lower revenue and earnings in the second half of the year.

The company says it is unable to offer profit and revenue guidance for the rest of the year, due to market volatility.

This is a hard to find list on the internet.

These are the top IT companies of India as per NASSCOM for 2007-08
Sonata Software had an awesome year to force itself into the top 20.

So these are the companies that make up what is finally the Indian IT and software powerhouse.

1     Tata Consultancy Services
2     Infosys Technologies
3     Wipro Technologies
4     Satyam Computer Services
5     HCL Technologies
6     Tech Mahindra
7     Patni Computer Systems
8     I-flex Solutions
9     Mphasis
10     Laser & Toubro Infotech
11     CSC in India
12     Aricent
13     Syntel
14     Prithvi Information Solutions
15     Hexaware Technologies
16     Polaris Software Lab
17     NIIT Technologies
18     Sonata Software
19     Mastek
20     Genpack India

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS IF THIS HELPED. THANKS!
I recently had this horrible Trojan attack my work computer.  It has been on the loose for quite some time now. It is part of the new generation of trojans which are more difficult to remove thanks to their cloning important system files and also attacking the Boot records themselves and having multiple copies in the registry.

SAV was unable to remove the trojan though it did detect the Trojan’s presence. Spybot Search and destroy helps to a certain extent.

Here is Symantec’s threat assessment of this creepy Trojan!!!

The scary part is that this Trojan is also designed to transmit personal info from our computers to its masters. Though am not sure if it is also a  keylogger like the formidable trojan “Sinowal” which will be described in a blog post of its own since I ran into it also recently.

So if you annoying pop-ups and if your system behaves slowly or weirdly(freezes from time to time), then you have the Vundo. Congratulations!!! These pop-ups may ask you to buy some anti malware programs. DO NOT BUY!!! ITS A FREAKING SCAM!!!!

Also this trojan affects Win XP more seriously than Vista. So there…Vista users finally have something good to say about Vista!!!!

So how to remove this??

Steps:

1. Update the Java JRE ASAP. Vundo alias Virtumonde targets vulnerabilities present in Java JRE 1.4. The latest version is Java JRE 1.6 version 11(as of the date of this blog)

2. Download the special fix for Vundo from Symantec!!!

3. Save the file in an easily accessible location like your desktop or C drive.

4. Reboot your computer and get into safe mode. This can be done by pressing F8 when the computer starts up and selecting “Safe mode” from the list of options. Select “Safe mode with networking” if you are logging into a network domain like I had to.

5. After Windows boots up, locate the fix vundo exe and click it. Let it run. The scan takes a while to complete depending on the number of files. If you are lucky, it will detect the troublemaking files. If it asks you for further confirmation, say yes and kick out Vundo from your computer. Now thats truly Good Riddance.

6. You should see the following screen which will make you smile just as it did to me.

Get lost you dirty vundo creeps!!!

P.s: Forgive me for that cluttered desktop but thats how I usually am!!!

6. Boot up normally this time and run the scan again.

IMPORTANT: While running this scan in safe mode/normal mode, disconnect yourself from the Internet and don’t run any other programs.

The worst thing you can do is surfing while the scan is progressing!!!

7. You should now be free of Vundo.

8. There is also another acclaimed tool for Vundo removal by “Atribune”. Its called VundoFix!!!

Also to prevent Vundo attacks in future, update your antivirus and stay clear of suspicious mails and links. Also try to invest in a good malware detection/removal tool.

For any comments/help…feel free to drop me a comment for this post. Thanks!!!!

Just minutes after my last rant about not having Gmail themes, I got them!!!

The guys at Google must be reading my blog!!!!