Jukeboxtube - a jukebox for youtube

Looking for a jukebox for Youtube? Check out jukeboxtube. It provides a simple way on the right pane to run a search on youtube for songs/videos you may be looking for and then click on the '+' button to add it to the jukebox on the left pane. I like the simple interface, and practicality of the site.

I also used to look up some old tennis videos on youtube - I ran searches for Rod Laver vs. Borg, Connors, etc.



Youtube is turning out to be such a gold mine. This video of Rod Laver vs. Tony Roche 1969 Australian Open SF. Laver (in white hat) when begins his journey to the Grand Slam is incredible.



Playing with wooden rackets, you see Laver strike unbelievable volleys, backhand winners and passing shots. The serve and volley game is powerful and intense - don't miss this one to see Laver at close to his best. To me, its a sad reminder of how the game has gotten dull these days with a lot baseline grinding.

Fireflies Festival of Music 2008 and Fes, Morocco

I will go to Morocco someday. I just dont know when.

I cant quite describe what mysterious forces seem to draw me there. Stories of Casablanca and the famous Mediterranean beaches. The legendary street food. Sepia tinted images of tea cups and swirls of smoke from a hookah. And the Fes Festival of Sacred Music.

It likely is the Fireflies festival. Over the last couple of years, I've been fortunate to have caught the 2006 and 2007 dusk to dawn Fireflies Festival of Music hosted near Bangalore in Kaggalipura village, where Baul, Qawwali, Hindustani, Carnatic and Folk singers from across India perform in an open air natural amphitheater under a banyan tree.



(Picture above: Courtesy Jace, Fireflies 2007. See if you can spot two familiar faces!)

This year, the festival which was previously held in April is happening today (Feb 23rd) night. Unfortunately, I am several thousand miles away in Brussels and cant make it this year, and I cant quite describe how much I'll miss being there.

The nostalgia that draws me like a moth to a flame, whipping up a flurry of emotions when I remember Oikyotaan's performance (see YouTube video below)




(Video: Oikyotaan Promo)

Fireflies organizers - why did you have to move it from April to Feb!!

While we are on the topic of Morocco, here are a few blog posts about the 2007 festival in Fes:

• "Fes Festival of Sacred Music 2007"
• "The view from Fez - A royal opening night"
• "Le Festival de Fes des Musiques Sacrees du Monde"

And here's the website of the 2007 festival itself. The site for the 2008 festival does not seem to be fully up yet, but I found a program brochure which lists performers from Norway, India, Greece, Lebanon, France, Mali, Senegal, Vietnam and several other countries.



(Video: Fes Music Festival 2007)

It sounds like a dream.

Well, the festival is from June 6th-14th this year and since we've already done our share of traveling this year, its more likely I'll end up at Opus, Bangalore than Fes, Morocco. But I will make it out to Morocco. Someday. Until then, I'll just need to wait until next year's Fireflies festival in Bangalore.

Who is Alex Goggins

Alex Goggins is a seven year old girl who was shot seven times in trying to defend her mother (also in picture).

"Alexis' mother, Seliethia Parker, was being threatened at gunpoint on Dec. 2 by a former boyfriend in a sport utility vehicle when her daughter jumped into her arms, police said. Bullets struck Alexis' right eye, chin and jaw. She now is blind in that eye and had several surgeries before her release."

She has lost her right eye and is still recovering from the multiple surgeries she has had to go through.

It surprises me that we havent heard too much about her story in the news.

Saturday Post - Inaugural edition in Chennai!!!!

I am very happy and proud to share some great news. On Saturday, Feb 9th 2008, Vanchi Publications, launched the first edition of the Saturday Post, a community paper that caters to the Chennai suburbs.

Vanchi Publications is a print media startup founded by my father, K.V. Krishnaswamy who is also the Editor of Saturday Post. Incidentally, he has spent more than four decades as a journalist, leaving The Hindu as Deputy Editor after 27 years of service. Currently, he is associated with Industrial Economist as consulting editor. He is also a founding member of the think tank Centre for Security Analysis, Chennai.

Our objective is to start a free circulation weekly community newspaper in the triangular region in south Chennai bordered by Adyar in the north, ECR on the east and OMR in the west. Although this market segment already has established publications like Adyar Times and Appollo Times, we believe that there is an opportunity to gain a substantial market share through focus on quality content and elegant layouts anchored on the four decades of journalistic experience of the editor. For the increasing number of discerning readers in the region, this will be one aspect in which our weekly will be vitally different from the others. With the growth of the IT parks in the vicinity, there are more readers in the area with greater exposure who will appreciate community news, who are likely to be early adopters. The paper will derive its revenue solely from advertising and will be distributed through regular channels every Saturday morning.

The first edition has opened to a fabulous reception, and the response from advertisers has been very positive. The feedback about the content and quality of the paper has been very positive, and several people have requested delivery in their neighborhood.

Ultimately, as is with any community newspaper, the goal is to serve the neighborhood community and to provide readers with useful news that might not be covered by a mainstream daily. In other words, a traffic accident on East Coast Road is more important from a coverage perspective than Obama vs. Clinton. I think its a fabulous way to give back to society, and I am proud of my dad for having been able to pull this off amidst everything else he is already involved in.

Which DSLR to buy?

So far, I've always had a point and shoot digicam. While I havent suddenly been bit by the shutterbug, I've increasingly been interested in learning more about photography and have been considering buying a DSLR for a while now. After doing some amount of research, here are two options I am considering:

1. Canon Digital Rebel XT


Product summary CNET's Editor's Choice

The good: The Canon Digital Rebel XT's image quality leads its class; competitive price; ultrafast start-up time; very responsive.

The bad: The Canon Rebel XT's lightweight plastic body isn't ergonomically satisfying; no spot meter; limited continuous-shooting mode, unimpressive kit lens; 1.6X lens-conversion factor.

The bottom line: The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT is an exceptionally small and lightweight camera designed for amateur digital SLR photographers, but it delivers the responsiveness and image quality you'd expect from a semipro model.

Specs: Digital camera type: SLR; Resolution: 8 megapixels; Display type: 1.8 in LCD display See full specs >>

Price range: $409.00 - $539.99


2. Nikon D80



Product summary CNET's Editor's Choice

The good: Excellent color rendition and noise levels; large feature set; highly customizable; lightning-fast performance.

The bad: Full raw editor costs extra; flash sync of 1/200 second.

The bottom line: Nikon scores big with the D80, its new 10-megapixel, sub-$1,000 dSLR.

Specs: Digital camera type: SLR; Resolution: 10.2 megapixels; Display type: 2.5 in LCD display See full specs >>

Price range: $765.00 - $899.99

In order to get some more data on the popular cameras used by the consumers globally, I also checked out Flickr's list of most popular cameras in their community. Not surprisingly, the Canon and Nikon were high on the list.

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT Nikon D80 Nikon D50 Nikon D40

In all honestly, I'm happy with a camera with 8-10 megapixels. I dont need a 12MP monster which would suck up a lot of storage. I definitely want a camera that is a) reasonably priced, b) easy to use, c) high light sensitivity since I often taken pictures in dim light or on the move.

I've scoured the net, and found a lot of interesting articles in response to the search query 'What DSLR to buy?'. But of all of them, Philip Greenspun stands out - read it.

I'm leaning towards the Canon since I think it fits my needs sufficiently and is reasonably priced. If you own either of the two and have some advice for me on buying it in India, please let me know.

If you could have dinner with any person

Question: If you could have dinner with any person, from any part of the world and from any point in time (past, present or future), a) who would that person be and b) what would you say?


A friend of mine posed this, and it intrigued me so much I thought I'd post it and get your thoughts on it. Whom would you choose, and what would you say?