13/10

Bermuda were all out for 13 and then lost the game in 4 balls.

South Africa 15 for 0 beat Bermuda 13 (Loubser 6-3) by ten wickets. Here's the scorecard.

Wonder if the specatators got their money back.

The games we play

As kids we were pretty creative in making our own games. I remember playing “cricket” with a dirty rag rolled into a ball and an old notebook or exam pad used as bat. Then there was box cricket, Chinese cricket etc. Another favorite pastime was playing “tennis” on the road with old chappals as the “net”, while our hands served as a “racket” to hit an MRI ball across. Fun times.
Nowadays, kids are playing different kinds of games. Apparently some kids are playing the “choking game" in which they try to experience a fleeting "high" by cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain. U.S. says 82 youths have died in "choking game".

The report, the first effort to track this nationwide, identified the deaths of 82 people ages 6 to 19 from 1995 to 2007 that appear to have been caused by the choking game. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the report likely underestimates the toll. Boys accounted for 87 percent of the deaths in 31 states, the CDC said, with the greatest number of deaths among boys ages 11 to 16.

It also is known as the "blackout game," "passout game," "scarf game" and "space monkey," the CDC said. The CDC does not think publicity caused by the report will lead to more children trying the practice, Toblin said. "We chose to go ahead with the report because we think it's critical that parents, educators and health care providers become aware of this phenomenon so they can look for the warning signs of it."

Warning signs that a child may be trying the practice include bloodshot eyes, marks on the neck, severe headaches, the presence of ropes, scarves or belts tied to bedroom furniture or doorknobs or found knotted on the floor, or the unexplained presence of dog leashes or choke collars.

What would be interesting is to find out what is influencing the kids to play this game? Is it because of the perverse crap they see/read on the internet? How do you educate such kids and prevent this from happening? And more importantly, how do you teach someone not to kill themselves?

Doesn’t anyone play ball anymore?

Got money? Buy "new" iPhone.

Apple Adds More Memory To iPhone, iPod Touch

Apple Inc. launched a 16-gigabyte iPhone and a 32-gigabyte iPod Touch Tuesday, doubling the maximum memory previously available in each device. The technology giant's newest devices will sell for $499 each, $100 more than the prior highest-capacity models for each line.

What's surprising is that Apple did not announce the memory upgrade earlier, which means many consumers are stuck with their "older" iPhones. Apple does have a hold on their customers though. Every few months they will relaunch the same product in a new color or some slight enhancements for an increased price. The customers grumble, and then reach for their wallets.

Please tell me you won’t buy it? Not without 3G, GPS and unlocking capabilities? Not until they drop the price? Not until Google launches their phone?

Here is my previous take on the iPhone.

We love Wii

Read: Wii could top record-holding PS2

The Wii has outsold Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 monthly since its November launch, helped by its relatively affordable $250 price tag and a motion-sensing controller that can be swung like a bat, for instance. Instead of offering lifelike graphics to appeal to hard-core gamers, who are mostly men, Nintendo has appealed to an audience including women and the elderly with innovative but easy-to-play games.

I hope Sony hits back with better games and cheaper consoles. We love Wii, but we love the PS2 too.

No coffee for you!

After years of controversy and a protest mounted by one of China's most popular TV personalities Starbucks has finally closed its doors in Beijing's imperial palace. Read: Starbucks out of China's Forbidden City.

Quid Pro Quo

According to this story, Chinese food inspectors banned meat products from seven U.S. companies. The ban comes weeks after U.S. FDA bans Chinese seafood imports.

The suspension of meat imports from the American companies -- including Tyson Foods -- comes just weeks after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would hold all farm-raised catfish, basa, shrimp, dace and eel shipments arriving from China until they are tested for residues from drugs not approved by the U.S. for use in farm-raised fish. Xinhua quoted the head of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine calling the FDA action "unacceptable," and warning that "China, too, detects many substandard food products from the U.S."

In that case, I wonder why the China never detected any substandard food products from the US before the ban. All I can say is this is good for the average consumer. The stricter the inspection, the less chances we have of wolfing mercury for dinner. On a separate note read: Chinese tonight?

Timing is everything

Miss NJ Revealed Alleged Blackmail Photos showing her “not in a ladylike manner.” Poor girl was probably being haunted by her conscience. Or Donald Trump. In any case, the pictures were hardly obscene. Not that it matters, because you see, timing is everything. You get famous and then leak a sex tape.

Chinese tonight?

According to this story on CNN, chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood.

The next time you say “this food tastes like cardboard” you might just be right. Which reminds me, you also have to stop saying “this coffee tastes like piss.” Careful what you wish for. And on a separate note – no green tea for me, thank you.

The Wimbledon Final and the small matter of a shaving cream

We are fortunate enough to witness a terrific rivalry between Federer-Nadal which can only get more interesting in the days to come. Federer looked relieved after the match which could have gone either way. But then champions have this uncanny knack of stepping it up when it matters the most – which was exemplified by the way Federer fought back twice when down 15-40 on his own serve in the 5th set to elope with the trophy. But all was well as Bjon Borg pretended to be happy for Federer just like the Duke pretended to be genuinely interested in the private lives of the ball boys and girls.

But as far as I am concerned, Wimbledon 2007 will not be remembered for the high quality of tennis on display. It will be remembered for the Gillette ad featuring Tiger Woods, Thierry Henry and Roger Federer. Is it just me or was this commercial a little gay? (Not that there is anything wrong with it – Seinfeld). I think the media is getting carried away with this Woods-Federer friendship. I mean, here are two champions, dominating their sports like nobody’s business and instead of understanding and appreciating their friendship and respect towards each other, we have some interviewer asking Federer after the semifinals whether he bought Tiger a gift! WTF! It’s like they are lovers or something. Maybe in the next commercial we can have Federer shaving Tiger's head.

Shaving creams apart, I consider myself extremely lucky to have watched Sachin Tendulkar play cricket, Pete Sampras play tennis, Maradona play soccer, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan play basketball, and Tiger Woods play golf. I think Roger Federer is well into this group now and I sincerely think he could be the best tennis player ever. Unless of course he decides to promote Gillette Venus.

The Magnificent Seven

Here is the list of the new 7 wonders of the world.

Great Wall of China

The 4,160-mile barricade in northern China is the longest man-made structure in the world. The fortification, which largely dates from the 7th through the 4th century BC, was built to protect the dynasties from the Huns, Mongols, Turks and other nomadic tribes.

Colosseum, Italy

The 50,000-seat amphitheater in Rome was inaugurated in AD 80 by the Emperor Titus in a ceremony of games lasting 100 days. The Colosseum, which has influenced the design of modern sports stadiums, was an arena where thousands of gladiators dueled to the death.

Taj Mahal, India

The white marble-domed mausoleum in Agra was built by Mogul Emperor Shah Jahan from 1632 to 1654 to honor his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth.

Petra, Jordan

The ancient city of Petra in southwestern Jordan, built on a terrace around the Valley of Moses, is famous for its water tunnels and stone structures carved in rock.

Christ the Redeemer Statue, Brazil

The 125-foot-tall statue of Christ the Redeemer with outstretched arms overlooks Rio de Janeiro from atop Mt. Corcovado. The statue, which weighs more than 1,000 tons, was built by Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski in pieces in France starting in 1926, then shipped to Brazil.

Machu Picchu, Peru

Built by the Inca Empire in the 15th century, the giant walls, palaces, temples and dwellings of the Machu Picchu sanctuary are perched in the clouds at nearly 8,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains.

Pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico

The majestic step-pyramid surmounted by a temple is one of several structures in the city, one of the greatest Maya centers on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. The pyramid is built according to the solar calendar so shadows cast at the fall and spring equinoxes appear like a snake crawling down its steps.

For more info, check http://www.new7wonders.com/index.php

Women don't talk more than men…

…just more often.
…just more nonsense.

…it just feels that way.

…they bitch more.
…but who is listening?

Oh, I could go on, but can’t really risk it with all the women in my life. Jokes apart, the verdict is in: Women don't really talk more.

Pennebaker and colleagues analyzed recorded conversations of 396 university students ages 18-29 in the USA and Mexico, including 210 women and 186 men. The study didn't look at vocabulary or word use, but rather word count via an electronically activated recorder that researchers developed and refined during the study, conducted between 1998 and 2004. He says two-thirds of participants spoke 11,000 to 25,000 words a day, with the average for both sexes about 16,000.

For the new research, study participants spent an average 17 waking hours wearing a lapel microphone attached to a cord linking it to the recording device, generally hidden underneath their clothes. Initial data collection used a tape recorder, then as technology progressed, a digital recorder, and finally a pocket PC no bigger than a cellphone. Participants typically wore the recorders for designated periods that lasted anywhere from two to 10 days. The recorder was programmed to record for 30 seconds every 12.5 minutes, so users didn't know when it was on or off and they could not control.

Dilip Sardesai

Former India Test batsman Dilip Sardesai died in Mumbai after suffering a multiple organ failure. He was 66. For a warm tribute to this great player read: Playing with head and heart

Dilip Sardesai's peers paid glowing tributes

Incidentally read Faroukh Engineer’s "tribute"

He was a very defensive batsman, though technically correct than me. But he would always ask me how I could manage to hit boundaries and sixes. I would get sometimes frustrated at his inability to rotate the strike as he couldn't drop the bat and take the single which I did. He would sort of plead, "I'm trying". But he was a lovely opening partner, and just like my other opening partner Sunil Gavaskar, he had tremendous confidence and patience.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Faroukh’s verbal diarrhea doesn’t exactly sound like a tribute to Dilip Sardesai. Is it that difficult to say a couple of nice things about a guy who has passed on? Is it that difficult to focus on somebody else for a minute? Maybe Faroukh was excited on getting a call from a reporter.

Rest in peace Dilip Sardesai.

Bald eagle soars off endangered list

Bald eagle soars off endangered list. Also read: Bald Eagles No Longer Endangered, U.S. Says

Today there are nearly 10,000 bald eagles in the contiguous 48 states, compared to a documented 417 in 1963 when the bird was on the verge of extinction everywhere except in Alaska and Canada where it has continued to thrive.

The eagle is my favorite bird. I am extraordinarily fascinated by them. Look at these pics. Aren’t they magnificent?

All pics are from www.baldeagleinfo.com.

Here is some interesting info:
The bald eagle was chosen June 20, 1782 as the emblem of the United States of American, because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks, and also because it was then believed to exist only on this continent. Incidentally, while the eagle has been officially recognized as America's national bird, there have been dissenters who feel the bird was the wrong choice. Benjamin Franklin wrote:

I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly, you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk, and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from him.... Besides he is a rank coward; the little kingbird, not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest. . . of America.. . . For a truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America . . . a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on.

The TURKEY? Just so that we are on the same page, and there is absolutely no room for error, this is the bird Benjamin Franklin is talking about.

Sigh...

For more pictures and info on the Bald Eagle check this link.

Bong hits 4 Jesus

Anybody follow the Bong hits 4 Jesus case?
The Supreme Court ruled against a former high school student Monday in the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner case -- a split decision that limits students' free speech rights. Joseph Frederick was 18 when he unveiled the 14-foot paper sign on a public sidewalk outside his Juneau, Alaska, high school in 2002. Principal Deborah Morse confiscated it and suspended Frederick. He sued, taking his case all the way to the nation's highest court. The justices ruled that Frederick's free speech rights were not violated by his suspension over what the majority's written opinion called a "sophomoric" banner.

What I find funny is that this incident happened in 2002. Frederick is halfway across the globe, teaching English to students in China. Now 24, he told reporters in March that he displayed the banner in a deliberate attempt to provoke a response from principal Morse, by whom he had been disciplined previously. But Frederick claimed his message of free speech is very important to him, even if the wording of the infamous banner itself was not. "I find it absurdly funny," he said. "I was not promoting drugs. ... I assumed most people would take it as a joke."

Yeah, well you shouldn’t have sued then.

Feeling Blue

JetBlue Airways founder and Chairman David Neeleman admitted Tuesday that he wasn't pleased when his company's board forced him to give up the CEO spot in May, and said he believes he'd still have the job if not for the ice storm and service meltdown that hit the airline in February

Strange are the boardroom machinations. I do understand such decisions are taken in the ‘best interests of the stockholders’ and considering the competitiveness of the corporate world, the decision may be right. What bothers me is that he is the founder of the company. For me, it’s like saying, “Thanks for designing and building this wonderful vehicle that we are all riding in. We just don’t want you driving it anymore.”

Aint no sunshine when she’s gone…

I am always perplexed by the amount of print space Paris Hilton occupies. Anyway, this is what Smoke Signals has to say about the whole charade of sending her to prison and the unnecessary media attention.

CNN—the most trusted name in news noise—covers CNN covering Paris Hilton— who was thrown in jail for being a drunk, then released after just five days inside because the LA county sheriff ‘feared for her condition’. News, clearly, of such paramount importance, that CNN decided to dump an interview with Michael Moore, maker of a movie on the American health industry, to make room for the ditz with more money than sense.

The iPhone and all that jazz

Are you ready for the iPhone launch? Check out the cost associated with owning an iPhone. And here is a hilarious document that AT&T is circulating.

Can’t wait to get your hands on one? For $100 to $300, you can pay someone to stand in line for you outside a local Apple or AT&T retail store.

The reviews raise some expected complaints. Surfing the Web on AT&T's Edge network is sloooooow, and its cell phone service is unreliable. (Pogue: "If Verizon's slogan is, "Can you hear me now?" AT&T's should be, "I'm losing you.") USA Today's Edward Baig, attempting to demonstrate the iPhone live on CNBC, couldn't get Internet access. The iPhone is also missing some features, such as voice dialing and voice recognition. And although it has a built-in camera, you can't send pictures to other cell phones. (You can send it via e-mail, but only if the other cell phone can receive e-mail and photo attachments.)

Market challenges you ask?

Further, the phone's starting price tag of $499 is also a deterrent, especially considering the features that consumers typically look for in cell phone. In fact, only 1 percent, or 2.6 million of mobile phone subscribers said their next cell would have to have e-mail access, Internet, and the ability to play music and video, according to a survey conducted last year by Forrester Research Inc.

Another potential hindrance is Apple's exclusive carrier agreement with AT&T. In order to get the phone, customers who use other service providers will have to either shell out money to break a contract or pay for more than one contract. In a survey of 465 people conducted by IDC, 60 percent of respondents said they were interested in the iPhone but were not likely to buy one in the near future because of its price tag and the costs associated with switching carriers.

And while the iPhone is expected to be popular in the consumer market, it faces serious challenges in the corporate world - at least initially.For security purposes, companies have so far been hesitant to outfit the phone with the software that allows other devices like the BlackBerry and Treo to sync with corporate e-mail systems. Apple is expected at some point to release a business version of the iPhone, but it's not clear when that would be available.

There are always other options.

If you're ready to spend at least $500 for a cell phone, what else should you consider? In the $500 to $800 price range is the Prada-branded cell phone from LG and the HTC Touch; both also feature a touch screen. German says the Nokia N95 is a "really powerful smart phone" with a 5-megapixel built-in camera (the iPhone's camera is 2 megapixels); it also has a music player, e-mail capabilities and "other productivity applications." And if what you want is a phone that does double-duty as an mp3 player, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia all have phones that fit the bill.

I would rather wait for the second generation phone, when the bugs are resolved, the competitors have launched their versions, and the prices have been slashed.

Riding the coaster?

For all you grown ups looking for reasons to stick to the kiddie rides when in Six Flags, here is an unfortunate incident you can cite to justify your fear - Girl horribly injured on Six Flags ride

Story Highlights:
• Injured girl in stable condition in Nashville, Tennessee, hospital family says

• Girl's feet were severed on ride at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville

• Authorities, hospital declined to say whether her feet were reattached

• Family says no one from park has contacted them; park disputes that account

FYI - there were more than 15,000 amusement ride-related injuries in 2005 in the U.S. From 1987 to 2000, there were an estimated 4.5 amusement ride-related deaths per year.

For the curious few, here is a report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Apologies to all.

Rushdie was knighted by the Queen for his services to literature. When I think of knights, I think of armored warriors on majestic stallions with weapons a little mightier than the pen. Anyway, I would think with this knighthood, his fans would be happy, his critics would congratulate him while cleverly slipping in some snide comments, the Queen would ask her PR guy - again - what is it that Rushdie did exactly before commending him on his achievements and knighting him, Rushdie would be “thrilled and humbled,” and change his business cards to read Sir Salman Rushdie, people like me who don’t give a rat’s tailed behind would read about it and move on to the sports section.

If only life were this easy. Apparently the knighthood scratched some itchy areas. Pakistan and Iran condemned the British knighthood, there were diplomatic and political protests, anger, fatwas, death threats, burning of effigies (this never gets old), well you get the picture.

Here is the scary part though. Pakistan’s Religious Affairs Minister Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq said that the knighthood could be used to justify suicide bombings!

Religious Affairs Minister Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq again said his comments on Monday, that the knighthood could be used to justify suicide bombings, were not meant to incite violence. But he said it was a fact that the honor could motivate potential suicide bombers, and added that the knighthood should be withdrawn and Britain should apologize to all Muslims.

I don’t know about the UK, but I apologize to Mohammad Ejaz-ul-Haq, and all the Muslims in the world for anything I may or may not have done.

Why Emburey?

Mukul Kesavan couldn’t have done a better job of summing it up for all the perplexed individuals like me.

It's your way of saying to the team: "You're so slavishly fixated on the idea of a foreign coach that you'd pick a lamp post over over an Indian. So here's your lamp post."

Dileep Premchandran calls this a no-contest.

On the surface, it's as unequal a contest as Mike Tyson against Carl "The Truth" Williams. One man with 16 Test wins and eight losses (five of them to that team under the Southern Cross) pitted against another who failed to hack it as county coach. Saturday's meeting should be a formality then? Not quite. This is India, and the team could still end up saddled with a coach who's the cricketing equivalent or worse of Steve McClaren.