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WRAP UP
Think of anything basic and then think of options on what you can do with it. As Vimi Singh, city-based lifestyle couturer, puts it “Gifting indeed is all about innovation. People are sick of crockery, the health conscious ones are sick of mithai, and there is an overkill of wall paintings, so how about trying something new?” Vimi goes for home décor and refurbishing options. “If your friend doesn’t have a good décor sense, this season you can gift them an option to refurbish their home,” she says. Dining table linen set, with two trays, dinning sheets, six napkins made in brocade for Rs 2,000, a set of trays done in brocade Rs 2,000, light bed spreads, tea coasters can make for a nice gift this festival season. “Gifts have become personalised, I wouldn’t mind gifting or getting something like an embroidered wall hanging with glitters, showcasing some opulence. Also, while gifting something for home décor, we need to understand the taste and requirement of that person. Anything that has a long-lasting value can make for a good gift,” she says. The catch is, rake your brains and come up with ideas on what could be a good gift. It needn’t be anything unusual or expensive—just straight from the heart. Agrees Rubina Goel, an interior designer from Ambala, who is into customised furniture. “I don’t believe in expensive gifts, anything wrapped with feelings is a gift,” says Rubina. She comes straight to what should not be gifted, “No kitchen items, they are never a perfect gift. Either it should be completely traditional like swaroski diyas or candles packaged in a smart way or anything that is electrical that depicts light can make for a gift.” The bottom line, however, remains the same—creativity. “Packaging makes all the difference, and it should be done in a manner that one cannot resist opening it,” she adds. Geetika Goyal, creative director of Special Ocassionz in Gurgoan and Panchkula, on the other hand draws a line between expensive gifts that are generally called camouflage gifts given to in-laws and bosses and creative items presented to friends. “There is no harm in presenting cutlery, but one can always make it look attractive by packing in cloth wrapping sheet with nice pearl or crystal motif,” puts in Geetika, who sees no point in gifting a silver item looking at how expensive the metal is. “Silver is Rs 35,000 a kg, instead of blowing money here, small idols of gods in 99.2 silver make for a better bet,” she says. Now, who is worried about what to gift! Just be at your creative best, pack it in style. There you are, ready to win over your friend and foe too! jasmine@tribunemail.com
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Brown-ie point
It all started with a little pencil, a tiny hut, a rabbit et al; cut to present and artist Revati Mann is out to cross boundaries using photography, paper, paint and found objects producing extraordinary and engaging forms. She recalls, “I always wanted to be an artist, though I wasn’t very clear as to what kind but art for me is a way you can understand the world around you.” Perhaps, which is why after completing graduation from GCG-11, she convinced her parents for a foundation course in art in the UK. The rest, as they say, is history. Armed with the prestigious Adrain Carruthers Award and just before her first solo exhibition Brown in the city, there’s an apprehension anyway. “I am afraid people might not relate to it. There’s no canvas, only wall paintings, screen painted posters, water colours, acrylic on wood, 16mm film projection and so on.” The mixed media, nevertheless, stands interrelated through a chain of thoughts running through them. There’s a little dusty rainbow that points to the letters Phoenix, photograph of a dead sparrow. That’s about it for a preview. “It took me one-and-a-half months to work on the pieces which excludes the ideation phase. And excluding the film that I made in London in May.” She adds, “I have a flair for materials, colours, I like to work with my hands. Even as a child I’d work on a lot of ceramics, as a hobby. “As an artist, I’m not afraid of making a mess. Had been making collage with papers…” Perhaps, precisely what fetched her the award at Slade School of Fine Art, out of seventy plus students competing for it. “They give this award to someone they feel is promising as an artist. I worked on the mixed media itself, there was a big orange, a weather balloon…” but nothing restricted through a common theme. “I don’t work in themes as it limits your thought process.” An artist is inseparable from his inspiration, many a times as good as his muse. “It depends. On whatever I’m experiencing at that point of time, right now I’ve returned from the UK, so this entire homecoming thing is what’s on my mind and might reflect in my works too.” Post a solo in the UK, a couple of group shows in Athens, Frankfurt and China, what’s on the cards is yet again some more shows. “I have a couple of exhibitions in London. Besides, I’m interested in rural Punjab, the old countryside of it. Certainly some more projection films are on.” Anything she’s passionate about and the commercial part not included. “I really enjoy making and exhibiting my work, it’s an opportunity to think, express and share feelings.” manpriya@tribunmail.com
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Go West
Planning higher studies abroad? How about a quick airport pick up, a city map on the best places to eat, shop and party in addition to the scholarships and best available courses in universities abroad?
If you thought being an international student meant shocking surprises, hidden expenses, cheating agents and loads of struggles, then here’s a breather. Istudyabroad, a global student recruitment company announced its launch in the city, the first venture in India as well. Promising better standards of education, student assistance and due representation, Istudyabroad gives you options that are not easy to ignore. “Students movement business is a big business. They are the most growing population and the most mislead too. Their problems haven’t been identified as yet and so the ground realities are a lot different once you land up in the other country. That’s when we come into the picture,” informs Deepak Luthra, the managing director, Istudyabroad, India. With an international base of selected partners through Europe, North America, New Zealand, Australia and Asia, Istudyabroad team not only will aid the students in career counseling and admission procedures but also the culture, course details, living expenses of the destination country. But do we actually need a representation? “Why not? I agree that international students don’t need much assistance most of the times, but what if something goes wrong? We give them a local representation, without any cost issues,” says Padraig Berry, chairman and CEO, Istudyabroad. It has already collaborations with Griffith College, Dublin, Ireland and Beckett College, London, UK. While most ‘student movement’ towards West happens from Asia, safety and quality education are still a problem for them. “Misrepresentation by the university agents is the biggest problem here. There is a huge gap in what they promise and what they deliver. We are here to bridge that gap,” says Deepak. But the question remains, is this a strategy to attract more potential students for West? “There is surely a need for international students in foreign universities. But there is another way of looking at it too. Its an opportunity for students to exploit the best resources Western education system provides,” says Berry. Though a new venture, Istudyabroad has recruited over 1000 students in last eight years for globally recognised educational institutions. Currently their focus is on Ireland and UK universities and they plan to expand functions in major Indian cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune. No act of charity this, the ultimate goal is to help the students. “Its all about the right guidance,” says
Berry. nehawalia@tribunemail.com |
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It’s suicidal...
Overdose of everything is bad. Whether it is tip tapping at discotheques till wee hours, guzzling down drinks, hogging pizzas the whole day or even clicking the mouse for ever…to cut it short, excess of everything is bad! The same goes for the virtual world.
First thing in the morning that most people do these days is change their Facebook status or add something new and the last thing they do while hitting the bed, tell the world where they are. Uff! This is too much of the virtual world, and now we are nearing a time when people want to step back and take a small break from the networking world. A Dutch company has developed software, which can destroy all posts and personal information from your Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter accounts. The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine takes just 52 minutes to finish the task, instead of 10 hours it would have taken to do the job manually, reports the Daily Mail. Some 3,000 people have already used the free programme with another 90,000 on the waiting list. You hand over your passwords and watch as your Tweets and Facebook friends disappear until there's just an empty screen. While some heave a sigh of relief on this, there are others who wouldn't let go their lifeline. Siddharth Kapoor a web developer with D-Design does find the world going over board with networking sites. "Forget about the breach of privacy, people don't shy away from saying whatever they want. They don't seem to move an inch without telling the entire universe what they are doing or intend to do." We have taken the obsession too seriously and for once it seems impossible to move away from it. "Break ups or associations, office or personal matter, pictures or video, networking sites flaunt it all. There is nothing personal," says Simrandeep Mann, training to be a commercial pilot. "Two of my friends found their life partners through networking sites. The virtual world is such an addiction. If you are not on any networking sites, 'You don't exist' is what the popular opinion is," he adds. "Now, we don't have to get back home to log in to our account. Mobile phones are equally equipped to keep us hooked." Last month, one of the country's most eminent brain scientists warned that an obsession with social networking sites and computer games may be changing the way people's minds work. And with the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine there would be news of getting a breather from the virtual world. This is if we want it to happen! Correct us if we are exaggerating. Nearly 800-10,000 friends on the friend list to acknowledge and entertain. How do we keep pace with it? Isn't it getting too virtual? How about returning to the real for a while. "Sure," Pragati Sharma, working as a PR wants to be the first one to step back a little from the social networking world. "I want to meet friends in person, send greeting cards to my friends, come out from the virtual trap. I would love to take a break, I guess in times to come most people would want to do the
same." jasmine@tribunemail.com |
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Play it safe
Carding is a term used for a process to verify the validity of stolen card data. The thief presents the card information on a website that has real-time transaction processing. If the card is processed successfully, the thief knows that the card is still good. The specific item purchased is immaterial, and the thief does not need to purchase an actual product; a website subscription or charitable donation would be sufficient. The purchase is usually for a mall monetary amount, both to avoid using the card's credit limit, and also to avoid attracting the card issuer's attention. A website known to be susceptible to carding is known as a cardable website. According to Anti-Hacking Anticipation Society (HANS) in the past, people used computer programmes called "generators" to produce a sequence of credit card numbers, and then test them to see which were valid accounts. Another variation would be to take false card numbers to a location that does not immediately process card numbers, such as a trade show or a special event. However, this process is no longer viable due to widespread requirement by Internet credit card processing systems for additional data such as the billing address, the three to four digit card security code and/or the card's expiration date, as well as the more prevalent use of wireless card scanners that can process transactions right away. Nowadays, carding is more typically used to verify credit card data obtained directly from the victims by skimming or phishing. Here's how it works
How to prevent
Courtesy: HANS |
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Language no bar
This multi lingual handset Lava KKT 15 has been powered with 12 Indian languages Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Punjabi, Telugu, Gujarati, Kannada, Urdu, Malayalam, Oriya, and Assamese. This phone with the theme "Power for India" will help each and every Indian to communicate in their own language. The model KKT-15 is a multi lingual handset, which comes with 12 languages that would allow users to enjoy the display in regional languages with Hindi and English inputs. This would remove the hassle with English language for mobile users as they will be able to use the phone in their regional language.Apart from these exclusive features this handset also comes with other functionalities which makes it a best buy. Its big battery of 1800MAH would allow customers to talk continuously for 10 hours. The add-on features like FM along with recording, FM Alarm, Mobile tracker, Indian calendar, Twin Led Torch, digital camera, privacy protection and USB Support in just in Rs 2,899 makes it the best buy. With attractive colored body and its smooth curves, the candy bar-style makes a great first impression. Its striking features like Schedule
SMS, Quality video playback and recording and big speakers in this economical range would wow the Indian consumers. According to Sunil
Raina, product head, Lava International shares "We understand the need of a large segment of people who would love to communicate in their own language. We thought of a phone with 12 languages, which will empower Indians by increasing the ease of communication."
— TNS |
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E for easy learning
As e-learning increases in popularity and reach, more people are taking online courses. Some years ago most e-learning projects were research projects and proofs-of-concept that focused on various aspects such as integrating multimedia components, synchronous communication or content management. In order to explore the feasibility of these aspects, security was not relevant.
Today, however, e-learning systems are production systems used by many people. It is becoming more and more popular as organisations strive to cut costs and reach larger audiences. Considering the huge costs involved in creating and maintaining courses, it is surprising that security has not yet been considered as an important issue. Protecting the digital content from copying, printing and distribution should become an integral part of content generation, especially when you are relying on revenue generation for your work. Protection of both the information and the way it is presented is of equal importance. As more and more companies take to Internet to publish their training course material a secure method of protecting it must be found. As e-learning increases in popularity and reach, the need to understand security and content piracy has also increased. A number of people consider security is a technology that increases the complexity of processes and makes everyone's life harder. Actually speaking security and anti-piracy technology is an enabler and it is extremely relevant as e-learning systems are introduced as projects and all projects have security and piracy risks. The entire systems or process in e-learning systems need to be secured as the addition of new electronic systems adds new threats. In addition, it is also important for service providers to have an anti-piracy and licensing security system in place. SafeNet, a global leader in information security, protecting data at rest, data in motion, data in use, software and license management with the broadest range of security solutions in the world provides security, anti-piracy and licensing solutions for the e-learning space as well. According to Rana Gupta, Business Head - India and SAARC, SafeNet said these days' content provider (eLearning) companies confront revenue leakage due to their customers and partners reporting lower content usages. He further states that today eLearning companies in India and around the world solve the content piracy problem with Sentinel HASP and in turn increase their revenue by reaching new market".
— Agency |
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Get brighter
Bright Telecom is creating waves in the dual sim market with its latest handset G-Fone 468. Besides being loaded with superior features the G-468 also comes packed with musical entertainment traits.
The new model not only comes with Dual-SIM capabilities, it also comes with 1200mAh Battery. It can take up to 450 SMS in its phone memory and 1000 contacts in its phone book. Other features include blue-tooth,GPRS, schedule Fm recording, Data security, Mobile Tracker, conversation Recorder, black list. The devise looks stylish and has a appealing and large 2" TFT Screen that guarantees a good picture quality with 176 *220 pixels resolution. The phone sports a digital camera which can click shots up to 640 *480 pixels and can play video files in 3GP, MP4 formats. So get bright, with the new G- Fone 468, and ask for all the new range of mobiles from G-Fone, which is especially made to suit your style and your budget.
— TNS |
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The Bollywood actor started the Twitter craze by being one of the first celebrities to join the microblogging site. Now she has gone a step further to make her presence felt in the online world. The 28-year-old signed an agreement with UTV Interactive to launch her voice blog, voice chats and an official YouTube channel. "I think it's high time that I became confident enough to say that this is me and see if you want to. People have just seen me on the big screen, but there I'm playing a character, I'm never myself. But here, it's me, it's everything that I am as a person," Priyanka said. "I can talk about stuff that happened behind the scenes, on the sets, backstage or at my place, just talking about things that I find interesting. It's a way of making people know the real me," she added. However, she stresses she will blog only about things she wants to say and not about her relationships and love life. "I won't reveal everything about myself. That's the most amazing part about interacting. I can say what I want to say, but one thing that I haven't done and never will is talking about my personal life. That is something I don't believe in talking about," Priyanka maintained. And any fear of rude or vulgar responses? "If someone is being rude or vulgar, I can block him. But if it's criticism, I'm very open to it. As actors, we are constantly in a place surrounded by people who just praise you; so it's lovely to have people around to give you a reality check," Priyanka, has films like Saat Khoon Maaf, Don 2 and Silence lined up for release. — IANS
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Duke has earlier wielded the megaphone for movies like Not Easily Broken, Hoodlum, A Rage in Harlem, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit and The Cemetry Club to name a few. "Because the lead actor The Driver will be acting with a range of Hollywood stars I wanted to cast an Indian actor with talent, range, experience and ability to improvise, I chose Gulshan Grover over many because he has what I wanted," Duke said in a statement. A story about hope, the movie shows Gulshan's character as a rank-and-file accountant, who is doing what's expected of him, until he finally decides to risk all and drags his wife (Salma Hayek) with him on a journey to go after his dreams. Along the way, he encounters numerous people and situations who inspire and often horrify him, sometimes even pushing and shoving him into giving it all before he could reach his destiny. Various Hollywood stars like Will Smith, Janet Jackson, Whoopie Goldberg and Queen Latifa, NBA player Kobe Bryant and many famous comedians will play themselves in guest roles in the movie. Gulshan is also set to feature in Hollywood movies Prisoners of the Sun and Nephilim, British picture Honour Killing and an Indo-French collaboration with participation from Unicef titled I Am Kalam. He has earlier worked in foreign projects and collaborations like Tibetan film We're No Monks, Italian movie Les Mysteres de Sadjurah, Blind Ambition, Sweet Amerika and My Bollywood Bride, to name a few. — IANS
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If you have trouble remembering, you can ask your folks or those representative of a time when everything was simple; as simple as gifting a desi ghee ki mithai, or an assorted dry fruit box on the festival season. It became a little complicated when a company decided to give people an option of ‘Kuch mitha ho jai’. It became tougher when many other companies decided to stock the market with fancy wine bottles dolled up in satin ribbons, with cakes in all shapes and sizes, with stylish Bohemian glass to Chinese items to a world to gifting options. While the choices were getting wider, some creative souls, termed as ‘designers’ (in bigger and smaller spectrum) thought there was something amiss! So, they laced and decorated their creativity, giving an all-new look to the gifting possibilities. Cut to the present situation—umpteen gifting options. No need to scout the market for one, think about something wacky and nice that could qualify as a gift, there you are. Wrap it, jazz it up and pass on the parcel!
Have you experienced "carding" fraud? This was a touchy question. Touchy, because first, no one wants to admit he or she is a victim of fraud and second no one wants to attract more fraud by talking about it.
Lava Mobiles unveils KKT - 15, India's first ever mobile phone with 12 regional languages, keeping in mind a large segment of Indians who feel comfortable to communicate in their own language.
After following her on Twitter, Priyanka Chopra's fans can now get a sneak peek into her world through a voice blog, voice chats and an official YouTube channel, but no 'personal" talk please, the actor says and adds she is looking forward to constructive criticism of her work and style.
Bollywood badman Gulshan Grover has been roped in as the lead opposite Mexican beauty Salma Hayek in Hollywood director Bill Duke's next film The Driver."I was in LA (Los Angeles) and Bill Duke saw me at a charity event. Later on a meeting was fixed and we met where I read the script, liked it and signed it on," Gulshan said.