Koilakatti

Koilakatti

FACTS

Moscow weathermen can be fined for inaccurate weather forecasting!

More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes.

One out of three U.S. women owns a gun! (Mr. Anniyan be careful)

For beer commercials, they add liquid detergent to the beer to make it foam more.

All major league baseball umpires must wear black underwear while on the job!

Pokiri review

Did any body saw either Pokiri or Aalwar?

me and ottu saw Pokiri.. was ok, too much violence...

Vadivelu comedy was not as expected and not upto his standard.

Asin telugu padam over ah nadichu , Sowendariya range ikku adi vaangitaa. Sombu romba adi vaangiduchu paaa !! (seekaram kushpoo maatere aagiduvaa ! ) .. nothing to worry though.....good treat to all the eyes.

Prakash raj konjam kalakal, konjam same old style (chellam...chellam nu..not that interesting...repeated way too much !!)

Songs ellam sumaar thaan..also romba double meaning. more like how it use to be in pre-Kaathaluku Mariyathai Vijay movies... (with sangavi, swathi and others...., maanga, thaynga.. athu ethu nu...)

Asin & Vadivelu duet is the best ...oraaa Uppumaa thaan ponga...!!!

Mudivu pani padam paka kelambita, appuram neenay unnai kaapaathika mudiyathu..

But compared to the 'other' dubaakur movies around, this is as usual with all the masalas..so go and enjoy a evening with Pokiri..


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-= Ethuvum Plan pannamaa pana pidaathu -=-=-==-=-==-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

World's Second Richest Man

Some facts about Warren Buffet - Second Richest Man ...................

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1)He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!
2)He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.
3)He still lives in the same small 3 bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.
4) He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.
5)He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.
6)His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.
7) He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
8)He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch television.
9) Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
10)Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.
11)His advice to young people: Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself.

Amazing individual indeed!

FACTS

In Athens, Greece, a driver's license can be taken away by law if the driver is deemed either unbathed or poorly dressed.

While humans and most species are divided into only two sexes, mushrooms contain over 36,000 sexes!

The word Tips is actually an acronym standing for 'To Insure Prompt Service'.

Apples are actually part of the rose family.

King Kong was Adolf Hitler's favorite movie.

Value yourself and Value your time

Until you value yourself, you will not value your time.
Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.

-M. Scott Peck

APPRAISAL LETTER

Dear Manager (HR),

Vivek, my assistant programmer, can always be found

hard at work in his cubicle. Vivek works independently, without

wasting company time talking to colleagues. Vivek never

thinks twice about assisting fellow employees, and he always

finishes given assignments on time. Often Vivek takes extended

measures to complete his work, sometimes skipping coffee

breaks. Vivek is a dedicated individual who has absolutely no

vanity in spite of his high accomplishments and profound

knowledge in his field. I firmly believe that Vivek can be

classed as a high-calibre employee, the type which cannot be

dispensed with. Consequently, I duly recommend that Vivek be

promoted to executive management, and a proposal will be

sent away as soon as possible.



Signed - Project Leader

NB: That stupid idiot was reading over my shoulder when I wrote the report sent to you earlier today. Kindly read only the odd lines (1, 3, 5, 7, 9,11, 13) for my true assessment of him.

MR AND MRS DHAYALAN (NO JEALOUSY)

FACTS

Marlboro cigarettes sold in New York contain more tar and nicotine than those sold in all other states!

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice, in the movie 'Hercules', was dubbed.

All babies are color blind when they are born.

Baskin Robbins once made ketchup ice cream.

In Pakistan, goats are often sacrificed to improve the performance of the stock market.

Here is Alwar's thirai vimarsanam.....

I am back to my normal senses after two days of thalai vali after

watching

our very own ultimate star ajithkumar's AALWAR....!! super padam...is an

understatement !! me and malai only went for the movie...there was so

much

crowd for the first day that we got tickets in the counter itself..!!

when

the movie started there were hardly 4 ppl per row...appove slight'ah

doubt

vanthuchi !! ajith entry vantha udane doubt confirm aiduchu..appove

malai

veetukku poiralamnu sonnan...naan thaan kekkale !!

antha mathiri oru entry namma captain vijayakanth kuda yosichirukka

mattaru

!! aiyoooooooooo......and the entry cud easily be the funnies part in

the

movie !! 3 ppl will be killed ...and there will be a witness as

well..when

the witness is questioned about how the murderer looked like...he

answers

"ram (vishnu's avatharam) thaan kolai pannaru..naan nalla pathen raam

thaan

kolai pannaru"..and zoooooommmm ....there is ajith standing in RAM

getup....with bow in one hand and pistol in another with blue paint all

over

his body !!! (there is a huge sound in the theatre ...it didnt sound

like

claps..etho transformer vedicha mathiri irunthuthu ...patha ajith fans

ellarum spot'le gali)

Oru rendu nimisham onnume theriyale...orre irutta irunthuthu enakku

...!!!!

ajith next krishna getup ..narakasuran getup ellam pottutu poi kolai

pannuvaru...vishnu getup thaan super... pullangulal in one hand and

pistol

in another...wow...!! whenever they show asin u can b rest assured that

there will b a mokkai song in a few minutes !! vivek comedy athukku mela

mokkai !! The story is extraordinary..!! The villain destroys hero's

family...and hero takes revenge (Yaaaawnn !!!!) yaarume ithukku munnadi

intha mathiri oru story yosichirukka mattaanga !!

Finally the movie ends (appada...god saved me) with the dialogue "enakku

nadantha kodumai yaarukkumey nadakka kudathu"...I was really moved by

the

dialogue ...whcih is the only reason why i am sending out this

mail...enakku

nadantha kodumai yaarukkumey nadakka kudathu..thayavu seidhu aalwar

poster

kuda pathudatheenga !!!!!!

Wi-Fi , Blue tooth, VOIP

Many of us have mobiles with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth...how many know what it is all about... just a simple review on these technologies..:



WiFi

Most agree that wireless networking represent the future of computer and Internet connectivity worldwide. Wi-Fi ("Wireless-Fidelity") continues to be the pre-eminent technology for building general-purpose wireless networks.

Wi-Fi is a brand originally licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the underlying technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications.
It was developed to be used for mobile computing devices, such as laptops, in LANs, but is now increasingly used for more services, including Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and basic connectivity of consumer electronics such as televisions and DVD players, or digital cameras.

More standards are in development that will allow Wi-Fi to be used by cars in highways in support of an Intelligent Transportation System to increase safety, gather statistics, and enable mobile commerce (see IEEE 802.11p). Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo are registered trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance - the trade organization that tests and certifies equipment compliance with the 802.11x standards.


Bluetooth Wireless Technology

Bluetooth is a specification for using low-power radio technology to link phones and computers over short distances without wires. Learn about Bluetooth technology to network cell phones, PDAs, and computer peripherals.
The name "Bluetooth" is borrowed from Harald Bluetooth, a king in Denmark more than 1,000 years ago.
Bluetooth networks feature a dynamic topology called a piconet or PAN. Piconets contain a minimum of two and a maximum of eight Bluetooth peer devices.

Devices communicate using protocols that are part of the Bluetooth Specification. Definitions for multiple versions of the Bluetooth specification exist including versions 1.1, 1.2 and 2.0.

WiFi Vs Bluetooth:

Although the Bluetooth standard utilizes the same 2.4 Ghz range as 802.11b and 802.11g, Bluetooth technology is not a suitable Wi-Fi replacement.
Compared to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth networking is much slower, a bit more limited in range, and supports many fewer devices. As is true for Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies today, concerns with Bluetooth technology include security and interoperability with other networking standards. Bluetooth was ratified as IEEE 802.15.1.


VOIP

Voice over Internet Protocol, also called VoIP, Internet telephony, is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network.

Companies providing VoIP service are commonly referred to as providers, and protocols which are used to carry voice signals over the IP network are commonly referred to as Voice over IP or VoIP protocols. They may be viewed as commercial realizations of the experimental Network Voice Protocol (1973) invented for the ARPANET providers. Some cost savings are due to utilizing a single network to carry voice and data, especially where users have existing underutilized network capacity that can carry VoIP at no additional cost. VoIP to VoIP phone calls are sometimes free, while VoIP to PSTN(Public swithced telephonic network) may have a cost that's borne by the VoIP user.

VoIP can facilitate tasks that may be more difficult to achieve using traditional networks:

* Incoming phone calls can be automatically routed to your VoIP phone, regardless of where you are connected to the network. Take your VoIP phone with you on a trip, and wherever you connect to the Internet, you can receive incoming calls.
* Free phone numbers for use with VoIP are available in the USA, UK and other countries from organizations such as VoIP User.
* Call center agents using VoIP phones can work from anywhere with a sufficiently fast and stable Internet connection.
* Many VoIP packages include PSTN features that most telcos (telecommunication companies) normally charge extra for, or may be unavailable from your local telco, such as 3-way calling, call forwarding, automatic redial, and caller ID.

[edit] Mobility

VoIP allows users to travel anywhere in the world and still make and receive phone calls:

* Subscribers of phone-line replacement services can make and receive local phone calls regardless of their location. For example, if a user has a New York City phone number and is traveling in Europe and someone calls the phone number, it will ring in Europe. Conversely, if a call is made from Europe to New York City, it will be treated as a local call. Of course, there must be a connection to the Internet e.g. WiFi to make all of this possible.
* Users of Instant Messenger based VoIP services can also travel anywhere in the world and make and receive phone calls.
* VoIP phones can integrate with other services available over the Internet, including video conversation, message or data file exchange in parallel with the conversation, audio conferencing, managing address books and passing information about whether others (e.g. friends or colleagues) are available online to interested parties.

Facts

A zebra is white with black stripes.

All the planets in our solar system rotate anticlockwise, except Venus. It is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

Hummingbirds are the only bird that can also fly backwards.

Insects do not make noises with their voices. The noise of bees, mosquitoes and other buzzing insects is caused by rapidly moving their wings.

The cockroach is the fastest animal on 6 legs covering a meter a second.

The word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent".

The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot.

Happy Cow Pongal

-- S.Saravanan

The word 'set' has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

Cellophane is not made of plastic. It is made from a plant fiber, cellulose, which has been shredded and aged.

Unlike dogs, pigs, and some other mammals, humans cannot taste water. They taste only the chemicals and impurities in the water.

To sell your home faster, and for more money, paint it yellow.

When a person dies, hearing is usually the last sense to go.

Wish u a Happy Pongal.
- S.Saravanan

ClassicXI: Amazing Cricket Moments

ClassicXI: Amazing Cricket Moments

Amazing Cricket Moments

Gilma Facts

During the female orgasm, endorphines are released, which are powerful painkillers. So headaches are in fact a bad excuse not to have sex.

During World War II, condoms were used to cover rifle barrels from being damaged by salt water as the soldiers swam to shore.

Impotence is grounds for divorce in 26 U.S. states.

Sex burns about 70-120 calories for a 130 pound woman, and 77 to 155 calories for a 170 pound man every hour.

The sperm count of an average American male compared to thirty years ago is down thirty percent.

Facts

The most pushups ever performed in one day was 46,001.

In what country will you find the most Universities?
Ans. India.

There are no rental cars in Bermuda.

The earth is .02 degrees hotter during a full moon.

An American urologist once bought Napoleon's penis for $40,000.

Word of the Day - 12/1/07

Sentence

The president did not call for bowdlerizing all entertainment, but stressed keeping unsuitable material away from the eyes of children.

Meanings

Bowdlerizing – To remove or modify the parts (of a book, for example)
Considered offensive.
Stressed - Importance, significance, or emphasis placed on something

Cricket Collections - Summary of the year 2006

Guys,

This mail is meant for all cricket lovers. This mail is slightly lengthy but has pretty interesting facts and events in cricket during the year 2006. Read through the mail in leisure.

Best Test innings: In a year where pitches cussed out the good from the great, two performances stand out. When Karachi decided to become 1980s Headingley one January morning, Kamran Akmal stroked, from the wreckage of 39 for 6, one of the finest counter-attacking hundreds seen in Pakistan. Then, in Jamaica in July, India and West Indies were confronted with a pitch so strange, nobody could figure it out. Except, of course, Rahul Dravid, whose two immaculately conceived fifties led to a famous win.

India could not have thought they could lose after having Pakistan at 39 for 6 on the first morning, but Kamran Akmal ensured that they did... by 341

Best Test bowling performance: Mohammad Asif's 11 for 71 at Kandy in April 2006 began with a ten-over spell on the first morning where he dismissed Tharanga, Jayasuriya and Jayawardene conceding only 21 runs. The ball moved both ways off the seam to give him his first-five wicket haul on day one and his second on day two. Pakistan won by eight wickets.

Best ODI Innings: You have to chase 435 at over eight an over against the world's best attack. And Mick Lewis. What do you do? If you're Herschelle Gibbs, you plunder 175 from 111 balls. Not that he knew how it happened: "I don't know where that innings came from; I don't think I've played better." Ricky Ponting thought it so "amazing", he handed over his share of the match award, which is saying something from a man who made a trifling 164 off 105 balls himself.

Best ODI bowling performance: Makhaya Ntini had a sparkling year but few moments were as bright as his annihilation of Australia at Cape Town. Chasing 290, the world's leading team was reduced to 7 for 4, halfway through the 10th over, Ntini's pace, bounce, angle and relentless energy accounting for Adam Gilchrist, Phil Jaques and Damien Martyn. He ended with six from less than ten overs, Australia crashing to 93 all out, only the fourth time they have been dismissed for under 100 in an ODI.

Best Test match: Sri Lanka's one-wicket victory against South Africa at Colombo, involving the sixth-highest run chase in Test history. At lunch on Day 5, South Africa smelt a chance to level when Jayawardene fell at 341 for 7 and the eighth wicket fell five overs later. Sri Lanka needed four runs to win and Murali scored two of them before being bowled by Andrew Hall. Eventually Lanka scrambled home, defying predictions of a tied Test. Other great matches include Australia's Ashes run-chase at Adelaide completed with just three overs left.

Best Test series: England v Sri Lanka: At the end of day two of the first test, Sri Lanka were 91 for 6 trailing by 460 runs and it looked like a series lost. Jayawardene led the fightback with a second consecutive century at Lord's. Murali's ten wickets in the second test and Michael Vandort's second-innings century couldn't overshadow Pietersen's 142 and England were safely up 1-0. But the third Test was the wonder - a 134 run win for Sri Lanka riding on Murali's 8 for 70 in the second innings with England needing 325. In his last Test in England Murali got Sri Lanka a first-ever series draw (played two Tests or more) in the country

Best ODI match: Like overloading on chocolate, the run-scoring bordered on the sick (even Graeme Smith called the win "a bit sick") and sure the pitch was flatter than last New Year's bubbly, but can you argue against a game in which 434 is successfully chased (the highest chase ever in any international by the way, Test or ODI), with only a ball and a wicket to spare. To decide an ODI series that stood at 2-2? We think not.

With the series poised at 2-2 any type of game would have been an exciting decider. This one was just sick
Best ODI series: Ingredients required -a D/L Win, a great fast bowling performance, Makhaya Ntini's 6/21, a captain's redemption song (Graeme Smith's first-match hundred), a comeback from 2-0 down, a moderate-scoring, last-over one-wicket win and an unbelievably high-scoring, last-over one-wicket win. To decide the series 3-2. And a Pro20 international decided by 2 runs to start it all off. Just reading that should give you goosebumps.

Catch of the year: Old age and a lifetime bowling fast make good fielders not? Clearly Shaun Pollock never heard the adage. When MS Dhoni slapped a drive on the second morning of the first Test at Johannesburg, naturally most eyes were already on the boundary hoardings. They should have been on Pollock, who flung himself to his left at mid-off, full-stretch, to snatch and hold the ball in his left hand, despite a heavy landing.

Run-out of the year: Ricky Ponting running out Geraint Jones on the final day at Perth neatly encapsulated the difference between the two sides. Jones attempted a sweep, ball struck pad and as he froze, Australians appealed. Except Ponting, who pounced in a flash with an underarm flick from silly point, catching Jones outside the crease. He sprinted to midwicket celebrating, Jones ambled back contemplating the final act of his career. Over to The Guardian who anointed the moment thus: "So there, in the blink of an eye, we saw the haplessness of one side and the brilliant opportunism of the other."

Most thrilling shot-making: Could Brian Lara have been the greatest dancer the world has ever seen, had he not been one of its greatest batsmen? What might have been was glimpsed at Multan, when he twinkled, jigged, waltzed and tangoed in taking 26 runs off one Danish Kaneria over: three consecutive sixes between long-off and midwicket sandwiched between two fours. Kaneria bamboozled others, Lara just grooved, at one stage, taking 60 runs from 29 Kaneria balls.

Best finish: Note to Mashrafe Mortaza: Do not attempt a yorker off the last ball of the match when a boundary is needed. Chetan Sharma did it and failed, Steve Waugh did it and failed and Dion Nash did it and failed. With five needed, he did it anyway and duly failed, Brendon Taylor emulating Javed Miandad, Asif Mujtaba and Lance Klusener before him to decide the match with a last-ball six.

Hottest streak of the year: The anguish of losing out on a potential contract with Gillette out of the way, Mohammad Yousuf embarked on a year of run-making unlike any other cricket has known. Pitches flat and lively, attacks insipid and inspired, home or away mattered not a jot as Yousuf glided to a record nine hundreds for the year (in 11 Tests) and a record-breaking 1788 Test runs. Streaks don't come hotter.

Best comeback: At the start of the year, putting money on Saddam Hussein coming back as President of Iraq was wiser investment than Sourav Ganguly returning to the Indian side so fractious was the fall-out from his axing. But so wretched was India's top-order that no choice remained after a series of collapses in South Africa. Reviled and revered equally, Ganguly was recalled, responding with 83 in a warm-up and then a plucky, unbeaten 51 in the first Test. Despite a duck in the second Test, he ended his year in considerably better spirit than Saddam.

No one expected Dada back, probably not even him while mouthing badly-written dialogues for soft-drink commercials. Yeah, we're listening...

Mismatch of the year: The Ashes.
Almost Famous: Can you drop history, like you can a World Cup? Ask Mashrafe Mortaza. Australia needed 24 runs to win the first Test against Bangladesh, but only had three wickets when Mortaza dropped Ricky Ponting, thus denying Test cricket its greatest upset. The skipper's hundred led them home but what a fantastic scare. Shahriar Nafees, who had bludgeoned an audacious 138 on the opening day (Bangladesh blasted 355 runs) and Mohammad Rafique, who took nine wickets, deserved better.

Most unlikely hero: "Who wouldn't want to bowl at 90-plus miles an hour? But not everyone is blessed with that talent. I just worked with what I had." So said Ian Bradshaw, the most unassuming fast-medium bowler since New Zealand's 1992 World Cup dobblers. Over the year, there were few better ODI bowlers; economical (went for over five an over only six times in 26 games, but under four 14 times) and forthcoming with wickets (36). What he had, clearly, was enough. And then some.

Most poignant moment: Tears at the Wanderers when South Africa finally threw the last, knockout punch of the 872-run slogathon against Australia. You didn't know the hardened South Africans could actually cry, did you? Then again, maybe they'd just run out of beer...

Newcomer of the year: If he had done nothing but sport his patka, bowl left-arm lollipops and appear for England, he would've been a contender but by dint of actually being quite good, Monty Panesar was a shoo-in. Right from the illustrious first wicket, through five-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, occasional comedy in the field and a belated but joyous Ashes debut, this has been the year of Monty. Mind you, his coach might disagree.

Best act of sportsmanship: Nothing to match Flintoff and Lee, so we turn to something offbeat: Australia's quartet of retirements at the end of the year, giving England crumbs of comfort for the 2009 Ashes. Warney, Marto, Pidge and "Alfie" Langer - take a bow.

Best effort in a losing game: Forty-two of Ricky Ponting's 53 international hundreds are winning ones but one of the few that isn't was also one of his best, a violent, slog-free 164, off only 105 balls in that freaky ODI at the Wanderers. In making 100 off 71 balls, he hit nine sixes, evoking memories of his World Cup final blast on the same ground three years earlier. Any other match, any other year, it would've been the innings. On this day, it ended barely second-best.

Drop of the year: Remember when the Ashes were still alive? Early December, England bounce back from a first Test hammering to declare at 551. Australia fall to 78 for three, series breathes. Then Ponting pulls to deep square leg, when 35, and Ashley Giles drops a clanger. Lucky for him, he was too far away to hear Ponting echo Waugh's "you've just dropped the..." It was later confirmed that yes Giles was picked ahead of Monty for his better fielding. To quote Homer Simpson: 'Duh'.

Riposte of the year: Sledging back at him doesn't work, staring him down doesn't do it and ignoring him hasn't done the trick so how do you shut up Andre Nel's annoying, mouthy, harrying? You break-dance back at him. It helps, if like Sreesanth, you can break-dance. Oh, and it helps especially that having been sledged for backing away, you smack the next ball straight down the park for six. Touche, sir.

Advice to young bowler going overseas: Get wickets, hit a fast bowler for six as retaliation to sledging and then break (into a ) dance

Butter-fingered performances of the year - When Sri Lanka were out for 192 at lunch on the third day at Lord's, they were still over 350 runs behind England, in need of some grit, some fortune and generosity. They got all three, courtesy Mahela Jayawardene's century and England's fielders. England shelled nine chances through the Test, including Jayawardene in the second innings on 58. Had they held onto them, they might have won the Test twice over. Imran Farhat almost outdid them through the year, dropping only a few catches less than the runs he scored.

Best wicket-taking celebrations of the year - Monty Panesar's awkward bhangra meets jive meets rave celebrations were fun, but nobody could outdo the celebrations of the coolest man in cricket, Chris Gayle. He had variety: one minute, he stood absolutely still, arms folded, stroking chin while manic team-mates engulfed him, and then walked away bewildered. The next, he did a little jig to the left, then to the right and kept at it. He also gave his take on Ronaldo's superbly bizarre 'arm crossed against forehead'. There was still time for the ol' windmilling of the arm; wickets falling were just no fun until Gayle was taking them.

idest wides of the year:Take your pick between Steve Harmison and, err...Steve Harmison. The first came at Trafford against Pakistan, where instead of bowling to Imran Farhat, he bowled one straight to second slip. Four months and a continent made little difference: he opened the Ashes by giving Andrew Flintoff at second slip some catching practice, though as Freddie laconically observed later, "I'd rather it had come off the edge."

Short-lived retirement of the year: Sanath Jayasuriya's was pretty short, stepping away from Tests - or being pushed, according to the chairman of selectors - for merely a month and a half over the summer. But as in the battle for the fastest ODI hundred, he had to be content with second place, behind Shahid Afridi, who retired from Tests for all of 15 days and didn't actually miss a Test, thereby maintaining a glorious Pakistani tradition of not knowing when to go. Or indeed whether to go at all.

Mass exodus of the year: Over three Tests, Australia said goodbye to Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Justin Langer; for most teams that constitutes losing a spine. Australia though still have the likes of Hussey and Clark to fall back on, so evoking 1983, when Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee all called time at once and sparked a sharp decline, may prove a little hasty. Still, that is a sudden loss of 438 Tests' worth of experience, 15780 runs and 1265 wickets. Ouch.

With Langer, Warne, McGrath and Martyn exiting, Australia will look at Hussey and Clark to fulfill roles of senior players

Quietest retirements of the year: Steve Harmison did what England as a team wish they could do: bid adieu entirely to ODIs. Not that it is likely to make much of a difference: though he picked up 14 wickets in eight matches this year, he gave away near six runs an over and almost 60 runs in wides and no-balls. Particularly memorable was conceding 97 from ten overs against Sri Lanka and what is now his last ODI: 4.5-0-45-1. Apparently, not even holding an ODI in his backyard in Ashington will lure him back.

Folly of the year: In August, Duncan Fletcher called Monty Panesar the best finger-spinner in the world. By November, he wasn't even the best finger-spinner in England, losing his place for the first Ashes Test to Ashley Giles, match-less for a year, because of his weaker batting and fielding. In two Tests, Giles took three wickets at 87. He scored 74 runs, took one catch and dropped a critical one. By popular demand Panesar returned for the third Test and snared eight wickets in the graveyard of spin that is Perth. Rearrange: Egg. Fletcher. Face. On.

Biggest u-turn of the year: Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif test positive for steroids. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif get banned for testing positive. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif have their bans for testing positive completely overturned, pleading ignorance. That is no defence anywhere in the world, apart from the PCB's anti-doping policy. Incidentally, the man who exonerated them, Justice Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, also cleared Salim Malik of all match-fixing charges initially. Clearly, all kosher there.

Worst umpiring decision: Only proponents of technology in sport could be happy with the year umpires have had. For one, Hawkeye would never have done what Darrell Hair did in August with a tap of the shoulder and a flick of the bails. Or been as pig-headed about its decision. By penalising Pakistan for ball-tampering, he played with the pride of a country. But by overseeing the forfeit of a Test, he did worse: he offended cricket's traditionalists. Never have two decisions correct in law been so calamitously wrong in spirit.

Brinkmanship of the year: Modi v ICC. Media rights and the Members' Participation Agreement had the BCCI challenging the ICC's authority and quoting quotable quotes. Final result - India signed the MPA and withdrew its bid for media rights for the World Cup 2011. But the board flexed enough muscle that anyone planning to take it on would think twice and be guaranteed one solid headache.

Dramatic near-fallout: Shane Warne nearly decapitated Kevin Pietersen when throwing the ball back in frustration during the Adelaide Test, as Australia reverted to macho type, having touchy-feely-ed their way through 2005. Nightclub owners around the world shivered at the prospect of the duo splitting, in a way they hadn't since Sonny and Cher fell out. Which cricketer will now frequent our establishments, they fretted? Once best mates, Warne was, in classic schoolboy-confrontation tactics, now called "a dickhead." Thankfully, mature men that they are both "chatted at the end of the Test and got over it." Thus was guaranteed another chapter in their new autobiographies titled, imaginatively, 'KP' and 'Warney'.

Best running battle of a series: Mohammad Asif versus KP through late summer, Shane Warne versus KP through the Ashes and Murali versus KP at Edgbaston - basically being Kevin Pietersen this year meant being targeted. But he's not a lone ranger, no. Perish the thought.

Spectacular fall from grace: Irfan Pathan took a hat-trick in the first over of a Test to start the year. He then had a personality crisis: was he an opening bowler or first change, an Akram or a Vaas, a batting allrounder or a bowling one, was he an allrounder at all or just a one-down who occasionally bowls? By the end, he was none, sent back home from South Africa, having received more 'advice' than a patient in therapy.

Comic dismissals: Inzamam-ul-Haq is a funny man in most situations; running, fielding, press conferences. This year he was funny getting out too. First, he immaculately patted back a throw from a fielder trying to run him out. Given out obstructing the field, Inzi first pleaded ignorance, "I don't understand the rules and am not sure why I was given out," before sagely concluding Indo-Pak relations might suffer as a result of "poor sportsmanship." Then, in August, trying to sweep Monty Panesar, he overbalanced and fell over, trying gamely to avoid the stumps. That he couldn't quite get his leg over (guffaw) wasn't entirely accurate (it was actually his belly). Chris Read narrowly avoided injury though poor Inzi had to have x-rays on a bruised chest. None, we trust, were needed for the ego.

Who moved the stumps? Inzamam made this year a good one of comedy in cricket

Partnership of the year: KP and Jessica whatsit from whatsit X were in contention, but ultimately who could deny Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's gi-normous 624-run stand against South Africa in July? They came in at peril, their side 14 for 2 in the fourth over of their innings, but then didn't separate for over ten hours and 157 overs. It was the highest partnership in first-class cricket by a distance and Jayawardene's 374 was the highest Test score by a right-handed batsman. The icing on a hefty cake was that they are best mates too.

Best sledge of the year: Shane Warne calling the mousy, almost-ginger Ian Bell 'The Shermanator', in reference to the geeky, really-ginger 'American Pie' geek. Bell retorted that he'd heard worse, though really he should've questioned Warne's surprisingly highbrow cinematic taste. Alas, it was a poor year for clever sledges, Warne also telling Paul Collingwood, imaginatively, that he was "no good" and that Geraint Jones was a "club pro." Shahid Afridi, earlier in the year, was merciless with Irfan Pathan, though involving as it did body parts and balls, we can't actually publish it.

Cruelest cut of the year: Imagine scoring a maiden double hundred, taking three for 11, being voted man of the match and player of the series and not making it to the line-up for your country's next Test. Jason Gillespie could scarcely have done more to redeem himself in the eyes of Australia after a horrific 2005 Ashes series. He even cut his mullet for chrissake and yet when time came for the Ashes, Dizzy was nowhere to be seen.

Technolgoy Update 10-01-2007

WiMax
*******
Latest buzz around Internet / Telecom industry is WiMax !! Check out more about it in the following site..

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wimax.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiMAX
http://www.wimax.com/education/wimax/wimax_overview
http://www.convergenceplus.com/oct06%20mobility%2001.html

To compare with this new technology take our Sify Broadband through a Fixed Wireless in Urappakkam. Not exactly the same technology but getting internet through a Fixed Wireless equipment in our home and drawing signal from near by Sify Base station to get online is a cool thing !! Am not sure how reliable it is in our area, please update me with any information..

-Sarav

Anti-Smoking 10-01-2007

DEEP BREATHING

• PERHAPS THE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT TECHNIQUE Every time you want a cigarette, do the following. Do it three times.
  
  Inhale the deepest lung-full of air you can, and then, very slowly, exhale. Purse your lips so that the air must come out slowly.
  
  As you exhale, close your eyes, and let your chin gradually sink over onto your chest. Visualize all the tension leaving your body, slowly draining out of your fingers and toes, just flowing on out.
  
  This is a variation of an ancient yoga technique from India, and is VERY centering and relaxing. If you practice this, you'll be able to use it for any future stressful situation you find yourself in. And it will be your greatest weapon during the strong cravings sure to assault you over the first few days.
  
  This deep breathing technique will be a vital help to you. Reread this point now, and as you do, try it for the first time. Inhale and exhale three times. See for yourself!

The first few days, drink LOTS of water and fluids to help flush out the nicotine and other poisons from your body.

Anti-Smoking 11-01-2007

The most important step to take is the first step --
admitting you have an addiction.

When asked why you smoke, you might have said, "I just like to smoke!" or "It's my choice to smoke."

The tobacco companies have promoted the idea that smoking is a matter of personal choice. As I see it, there really isn't as much choice as they have suggested to their customers.

Ask yourself, and be totally honest: Am I addicted to tobacco? Am I truly making a freely made choice when I smoke?

You might consider that you need to have a cigarette. Studies have shown that nicotine addiction is as hard to break as heroin or cocaine addiction.

Admitting that you're smoking more out of addiction than choice will help motivate you to go on to the next steps -- taking control of yourself and becoming a nonsmoker.

This admission will further serve you by helping you stay smokefree later. In the months and years after you quit, when temptations to smoke occasionally overpower you -- and they will -- remind yourself, "I have an addiction and I'm powerless over tobacco." Saying this to yourself in overwhelmed moments of desire will help give you the strength to say no to "just one" cigarette.

If you can make it for just five minutes without giving in, the urge to smoke be controllable or disappear. In this way, you'll be able to stay smokefree for life.

-Rama

Market watch 11-01-2007

Dear Guys,

If your interested in stock market. These are the some stocks which are outperformers in the market for the past 10 Years.

Unitech is a infrastructure company, which is giving more than 100% returns every year.

Now this stock is trading at 425.00.

Company	TSR Rank	TSR (%)	Mkt Cap in1996
Unitech	1	34196%	73.74
Matrix Laboratories	2	29910%	3.16
Phoenix Mills	3	28935%	5.26
Donear Industries	4	28533%	3.96
Vimta Labs	5	27799%	1.16
Pantaloon Retail	6	20412%	3.55
Infosys Technologies	7	19583%	751.82
Mercator Lines	8	19545%	3.84
Wipro	9	17319%	580.89
Patel Engineering	10	17075%	7.45
Satyam Computers	11	16942%	137.80
Financial Technologies	12	16342%	2.73
Havells India	13	15928%	7.22
Lakshmi Energy & Foods	14	12586%	6.01
Arrow Webtex	15	12281%	2.62
Panoramic Universal	16	11587%	0.88
Prime Prop. Devp. Corpn.	17	11518%	0.94
Aban Offshore	18	10592%	32.49
Amtek Auto	19	10590%	10.62
Jetking Infotrain	20	9557%	0.50

Srijith