My take on media antics today

Before I go into my full on bashing mode let me just say that the media does do some good work. these just some things that bother me or things that are worth praise.

1. First of all, we should be happy that we have been gifted the Freedom of Speech. I know it's a basic right but still... Thank God that it exists in our country.

2. What I hate about channels like NDTV is that they're also serving roles of MTV and V by showing trailers. When I turn on a news channel I expect to see news and good coverage on that. Not the latest trailer or song. Not an infinite amount of ad's. That's what Zoom and Mtv are for. I think they might as well create a channel for Ad's and keep the rest minimal.

3. What is the first thing you learn about report writing in school? You the tell the news AS IT IS. YOU DO NOT EXPRESS YOUR OPINION. This is exactly what channels like Aaj tak and Zee News aren't doing. They make everything so negative. It's as if the channel itself has a point of view "The country is fucked". I'm sorry, that's for the viewer's to decide, NOT YOU. Compare a news story on NDTV and Aaj Tak. I think NDTV does a great job of delivering it professionally. Aaj Tak on the other hand, exaggerates it's with it's dramatising (and somewhat undertrained) reporters and overly critical statements. It's not story telling.

4. I appreciate the Media following up on Jessica Lal, Nitish Kataria and other such cases. It is commendable and heart warming to know that justice has been given but I agree more with the judiciary view that they don't need to pressurize the case. When they report cases of rape, abuse where the victim has stood up for herself., that's good journalism. On some level it provides insight, comfort and maybe even courage for those who are going through the same thing. They don't need to bark and howl at the judges, lawyers. You should do your job and let others do theirs.

What the TV industry really needs is it's own Oprah Winfrey show which will tell those stories of courage. It will create awareness on sex education, Aids, verbal and mental abuse etc. And there will be people who will definitely relate to it and maybe even come out of their misery. I think when people hear real experiences it's hits that part of the brain where they become more aware and cautious of their surrounding. Today, it's no use pretending to be blind and just not paying attention to these issues. The world has changed and so should we.

Christmas/Birthday wishlist

Did I ever mention that I LOVE to dream? Now, I don't see myself possessing any of the items below in near future, no, for a reeeeaaaallllly long time. But there's no harm in jotting it down, right?

1. 80Gb Video iPod. Who wouldn't want this? Black iPods are the sexiest things.
2. Mac Book. A nice white one with 1Gb RAM and 160 Gb hard drive memory.
3. Drawing Tablet. I seriously need one. My scanner has been taken by my Dad because it's of more use in his office. But I haven't been able to paint any of my drawings using Photoshop. I think a tablet would be really cool. I can just draw whenever I feel like it!
4. F.R.I.E.N.D.S dvd set for all 10 seasons. I love re-runs. :)
5. A watch. Sounds pathetic, I know. But I really need a shiny new watch.

My imperfections astound me

I not good at accepting situations the way they are. I'm also not good at handling failure. I go down that dark path and it just gets deeper and deeper. It's like injuring yourself. I cut myself with the blame and guilt until there's nothing left to feel about it. I've dealt with this a lot in the past year and I've realized it's very painful for me. My whole attitude and nature changes. I'm whiny, more demanding, a real pain in the ass. I can never seem to move forward. The more I dwell on it, the more it hurts.
I've experienced the consequences of this too. It's like an endless cycle. I've tried very hard to break away from it.
I've almost been successful. I don't want to go there again. I just don't. I want a change.

I've turned over to the dark side: Converting XP theme to Vista

After browsing through millions of screenshots, I couldn't resist. I customized my XP to mimic the Vista theme. And it looks glassy, gorgeous and a hell lot better than the luna theme.

I wanted to use kol's theme (from deviantart) but apparently, his theme was so popular, microsoft asked from to remove it. WTF Bill? That's like banning fanfiction or fan art. Imagine that!

So how did I achieve this task?

1. Before you experiment with anything of this magnitude, you better setup a restore point.
Go to Accessories > System Tools > System Restore and just follow the wizard and set up a point. This will ensure that if there's any crisis situation, you can revert back to the point and undo the damage. It's basically a key which will erase most actions carried out after you've set up the point.
2. You need to download a Vista theme first. These are unofficial themes made by generous Photoshopers. (what would I do without you guys!) You can go around Deviant Art, Win Customize and similar sites to download one of your choice. I got mine here and it's pretty awesome! Follow the instructions from Tech recipes and I'm sure it'll work just fine.
3. The .theme files should go in C:/WINDOWS/Resources/Themes.
4. When changing system files, you get a pop up about file protection. As per download instructions, ignore and close the window.

Most themes do cause some delay in the computer's performance. I haven't encountered anything like that yet so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The Bengal Tiger is back!

Ganguly is going to be back on the team for the test series! That is such great news. The circumstances under which he was dropped from the team were so puzzling and the whole incident had more drama than a top rated soap. But now he's gonna be back!
Call me lame, but I actually felt bad for him in his 'Ooh aah India' commercial. And we didn't have much to ohh-aah about either. The Indian team was on the top of it's game when Ganguly was the captain. We went upto the World cup finals for heaven's sake! For better or for worse, it will be good to see some change. I'm tried of the newbies' who play well in one game but are completely unreliable in the next.

I've lost hope for the team. There's not much that might be achieved in the WC 2007. I'll always hope for the best but I think the chances are slim.