Sandra Bullock’s ‘The Blind Side’ Breaks Records

February 16th, 2010 admin

Sandra Bullock’s “The Blind Side” is breaking the records. It is the first movie with a female lead to exceed the $200 million mark at the box office, which it made in its seventh week. On weekend, it succeeded in making the business of $208.5 million and according to Dan Fellman, Warner Brothers president of domestic distribution said that Blind Side has the capability to get another $30 million.

“The Blind Side” is a drama sports film which is both written and directed by John Lee Hancock. It’s a powerful football themed film with a motivating message.

“Erin Brockovich” starring Julia Roberts was the highest grossing movie which made a total of $125.6 million until Sandra’s “The Blind Side” came.

It is also the report of actress’s set to present her ‘The Proposal’ co-star Betty White with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award during the 16th Annual Screen Actor’s Guild Awards which aired live on TNT and TBS on Jan 23.

Strangely enough the only other film that made its mark was “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” which was released in 2002 and made a record of $200 million. “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” starring Nia Vardalos marked her career remarkably.

It was a very lucky year for Bullock because not only “The Blind Side” made a success but also her romantic comedy “The Proposal ” brought in $ 164 million domestically.

FX Turns Blue for ‘Avatar

February 16th, 2010 admin

If you are watching “Avatar” and you think your screen has some color setting problems then don’t be alarmed. Don’t adjust your set’s settings.

Avatar is new blockbuster that has hit the box office and is making new records. According to Variety, FX has a got its hands on the rights of this movie which is currently doing great in box office. The cannel is also expected to broadcast the 2D version of this smash hit by the mid 2012.  The deal cost FX an estimated amount of $25 million – $35 million.

Although, FX has acquired all the rights of first airing of this film but HBO will still air “Avatar” on TV on pay cable. For Twilight’s franchise rights, it was announced in November that FX has acquired that as well. According to Hollywood reporter, FX network has obtained the rights to broadcast all the four movie series of Twilight.

It is anticipated that FX will air Twilight in 2011. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” will be aired in soon after the premier of “Twilight”. And “Eclipse” will be aired in 2013 by FX, which will be released in June 30 in theaters. And as for the fourth one in the series, it is still waiting for the green signal to start production.

Free Multiplayer Android Games [3 of the Best]

February 15th, 2010 admin

Nexus One and Motorola Droid’s processing power has encouraged game developers to make multiplayer games for Android. We have chosen some of the free social gaming for Android. Check these out!

Sketch Online

Sketch Online is a game in which you draw. Here you draw a picture hoping others would guess what have you made and vice versa.

You can enter by creating your screen name and adding your photo. There are many rooms in it with different categories. Select the room and start playing the game by quickly giving the answers. When someone draws some image, you have to guess it as quickly as possible. If you guess it right, you gain a point otherwise your incorrect guess would appear I chat window.

You will also get the chance to draw a sketch, turn by turn. For sketching, you can alter your brush size; can choose a color, eraser, can even clear the board to start all over again. Sweep your finger to draw on canvas. You can skip the word if it’s too hard for others to guess.

Sketch Online can be played on 3G but it’s recommended that you use WiFi.

Cestos

It is a multiplayer game. Players in it control multiple marbles and decide which directions to take and velocity on their turn. Once all is set, players start to play. All the marbles are set free simultaneously. Basically the goal of every player is to avoid the hidden land mines and falling on pits.

The game is easy and fun to play but also involves some strategic knowledge or skills to foresee where your opponent might bombard and / or how to avoid its shooting.

You can change your marble settings in it as well.  It has lots of online fans and its fun and challenging to compete with them.

Parallel Kingdom

Parallel kingdom is available for Android and iPhone and is a multiplayer game.

The game is placed on the top of a real time view of Google Maps. Your position is found out by your GPS or your mobile signal. And your battles and bumping into monsters are all played in real time at your location.

You get a small radius within which your character can take risks. But if you want to go out that radius and meet other players, you physically need to move. The game has lot to offer and explore for its players. You can collect items and claim territories. It’s a mobile MMORPG with a touch of augmented reality.

Forget the Nexus One; We Want the Coke-Powered Phone

February 15th, 2010 admin

Can a phone be powered by soda?  Impossible? Well, Chinese designer Daizi Zheng thinks it’s possible. He has given a conceptual model of a soda powered phone for Nokia. It would run on bio battery, via use of carbohydrates enzymes to generate electricity. So that means you only need a soda to charge your cell phone.

Dezeen has some thoughts on it. He says that phone batteries are expensive to make, consumes lots of valuable resources when manufactured, has a disposal issues and thus harmful for environment. Therefore, Daizi’s idea is to present something as an alternative to this harmful thing.

This bio battery is Eco-friendly that generates energy from carbohydrates and uses its enzymes as catalyst.  It needs a pack of soda to work and as a reaction in its dying process, it generates water and oxygen. It has the potential to operate three to four time times on a single charge as compared to usual lithium batteries and is biodegradable too.

3 Ways Educators Are Embracing Social Technology

February 15th, 2010 admin

Modern American schools are facing many challenges like maintaining constantly increasing class size with low budgets, keeping up with dull students and fighting a war against distracting new technology. In reaction to these problems, innovative educationalists are adopting social media and technology to fight all these problems. Technologies like Twitter and Skype are helping them offer a team-based education system which is both creative and inexpensive.

Many Schools are experimenting with this idea to produce good results. Below are success stories of some schools which embraced this social media to use in educating the children.

Skype and Language Learning

At Marquette University, Spanish students are using Skype to increase their language skills by talking with their English learning equals in South America. And students are loving this interactive learning program. Professor Janet Banhidi which gave the idea of using Skype told that in a class teacher’s attention is divided among all students and every student gets a little share of this attention while learning in a class. However, students using Skype get their own personal teacher and hence get full attention resulting in achieving better results.

Not only this, another benefit student get is that they make a new digital pen pal. This also motivates them not only to excel in class but some also go for a major in that language fascinated by their wonderful experience in that language.

Mobile Phones

Many educators think and declare a war against using cell phones during school time but Wiregrass High School took an opposite path in this regard. Students text their teachers to get answers to their questions and can browse class blogs for more info. They can also take a quick trade notes and next lecture’s plan.

Like any other tool can be misused, this tech can be misused too.

Twitter

Many universities offer students an email account of university’s domain but keeping up with it may be an unpleasant task. To solve this problem and engage the students with school activities, Leicester University in the UK is making use of Twitter. They hope that this social networking website will encourage students to collaborate outside the class. Students are given with iPod touch and instructional material and are expected to make few academic related tweets a day. As soon as they tweet, people follow them by their replies and activity starts. This study technique has become an unexpected benefit for the university.

Conclusion

As with everything or technology, it has positive as well as negative aspects. But wise act would be using some annoying or distracting technology for our own good like schools and universities are using social media to expand the learning skills of their students. In this era of economic crisis, this approach is not only free but also very innovative and interactive.

Pakistan cricket team’s manager for the forthcoming

February 14th, 2010 admin

We are the T-20 champions and I strongly feel that we have edge over England and we are making good preparations to beat them at the off shore venue”, he said, adding “But it will not be that simple for us, obviously we have to demonstrate a higher level of the game.

Pakistan cricket team’s manager for the forthcoming two T20 matches against England in Dubai Yawar Saeed has said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has issued a stern warning to players against any indiscipline.I am against of players power off the field, rather they should use it inside the ground to give their best to lift the overall performance of the team,” The Nation quoted Saeed, as saying.The message has been conveyed by Saeed to interim captain Shoaib Malik and the regular Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi when he met them on the sidelines of a inquiry committee hearing.Saeed said the PCB has given him full authority to send back players who violates the code of conduct during the upcoming series.In the recent days, Pakistan cricket has witnessed much severe verbal volleys being shared among players and the sports administrators.Captain Mohammed Yousuf had accused his teammates Shoaib Malik and Akmal bothers, Kamran and Umar for ruining the dressing room’s atmosphere.Saeed expressed hope that Pakistan would display better performance in the Dubai T20 series.The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had formed an enquiry committee to probe reasons behind the team’s humiliating defeat Down Under.In reply, Malik has hit back at his skipper, saying he would reply to him very soon and expose him publicly.Saeed also urged players to focus on their game in the field, rather than being involved in petty politics.

My Name is Khan Review

February 14th, 2010 admin

It’s about cricket.For Nakim Uddin, who incurred a loss with the Ram Gopal Varma directed and Bollywood titan Amitabh Bachchan-starrer “Rann” as well as Salman Khan starrer “Veer”, “My Name Is Khan” could be a profit-making venture.The new Bollywood blockbuster with Aamir Khan, “3 Idiots”, has been Nakim Uddin’s biggest profitable venture so far and is still being screened in his cinema halls.Nakim Uddin, who owns Jai Nepal and Kumari, the two best multiplexes in the capital, and a third in Bhaktapur with a fourth coming up, feels the review of the film by Bollywood Hungama – that has given the film a good rating – will push up viewership.The furore surrounding it in India may whet the theatregoer’s interest further.Besides Kathmandu, “My Name Is Khan” will also be screened at Pokhara, Birtamod, Damak, Biratnagar, Dharan, Raj Biraj, Birgunj, Narayanghat, Butwal and Nepalgunj.

However, unlike in India, where the Shiv Sena has trained its sights on the film due to Shah Rukh Khan defending Pakistan’s cricket players, in Nepal, the Sena’s sister organisation, the Nepal Shiv Sena, is unlikely to go on the warpath.It’s a film meant for the upper classes and will do well in the metropolis,” he predicts.Karan Johar’s earlier film “Kal Ho Naa Ho” did fairly well in Nepal, though his marital drama “Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna” bombed.The Nepal screenings will not be affected,” the film’s Nepal distributor Nakim Uddin.Many of these towns are close to the Indian border and have a large percentage of Indian expatriates as well as visitors from India.Directed by Karan Johar, “My Name Is Khan”, that has Kajol in the female lead, is scheduled to be screened in four multiplexes in Kathmandu along with smaller theatres in nearly a dozen towns outside Kathmandu valley from Friday when it releases worldwide.My Name is Khan Review, Mnik Review, “The Shiv Sena protest in India is not about the film.

“My Name Is Khan”to Exhibited Across Pakistan

February 14th, 2010 admin

Police arrested the protesters however they were released later on.Bollywood movie “My name is Khan” starring Shah Rukh Khan has been granted permission to be exhibited in cinemas across Pakistan.My name is Khan is being released across India today however Shiv Sena, has pledged to disrupt the premiere of the film.The protesters demanded for the release of the movie in Mumbai and across Maharashtra without any hurdles.

The film has faced difficulty in release across India due to threats from Shiv Sena however in Pakistan the full board recommended the exhibition of the movie since Shah Rukh Khan supported the Pakistani players inclusion in IPL Hundreds of activist staged a protest outside Shiv Sena office in Mumbai.The local Police assured that at least 21,000 police officers would be deputed for the safety of the cinemas exhibiting the movie.Protesters held placards and chanted slogans against Shiv Sena.The protest was held by NGO named “Awami Bahrat”.

My Name is Khan Review, Twitter Shahrukh Khan

February 14th, 2010 admin

Their decision came despite pleas from the chief minister of Maharashtra for people to see the film and police reassurances that security will be tight.Police this week arrested more than 1,800 Shiv Sena members, mainly as a preventative measure, after sporadic violence outside cinemas.Some single-screen theatres decided not to show “My Name Is Khan” at all, while some multiplex cinemas opted to limit or cancel showings of the movie.Multiplex chains Fun Cinemas and TVR said the film would be released but with limited screenings, while Cinemax India and INOX have decided to postpone showings and assess the situation, sources told AFP.We are happy and this is certainly a success of the party’s protest,” lawmaker Sanjay Raut was quoted as saying the Press Trust of India news agency.Full-page advertisements for “My Name Is Khan” were also in daily newspapers while the head of distributors Fox Star Studios insisted the release would go ahead.My Name is Khan Review, Twitter Shahrukh Khan, Cinemas in the Indian city of Mumbai scaled back the release Friday of top actor Shah Rukh Khan’s new film, in the face of violent threats from right-wing Hindus locked in a row with the Bollywood star.While Mumbai was the focus of the anti-Khan protests, posters of the film and its star were defaced or burned outside cinemas in other major cities like New Delhi, Kolkata and the Gujarat state capital Ahmedabad.We will only show the film if adequate safety and security is guaranteed by the police,” Rawal said.The Times of India gave it five stars, describing it as “one of the most meaningful and moving films to be rolled out of the Bollywood mills in recent times”.Activists from the ultra-nationalist Shiv Sena party said they would disrupt the film’s release because of the actor’s comments regretting the absence of Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League tournament.Another owner of a single screen cinema near the party’s central Mumbai headquarters also decided not to show the film, which in part tackles the treatment of Muslims in the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks.It also sees itself as a guardian of traditional Hindu values and pushes a strong anti-Muslim, anti-Pakistan rhetoric.Commentators have accused the Shiv Sena of playing identity politics and said the row is a publicity stunt to bolster flagging support after a poor showing at recent elections.Khan, a New Delhi-born Muslim whose parents came from what is now Pakistan, has refused to apologise for his comments and denied claims that he was unpatriotic.Why should I take chances?Shiv Sainiks tore the screen at Maratha Mandir (cinema) even before the release of the film.

The Shiv Sena has long claimed to champion the rights of people from western Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, over “outsiders”, often backing up its stance with violence.Its reviewer said it sent a message “that tolerance is the indispensable virtue for the 21st century which can have no place for (fundamentalists), regionalists, communalists, casteists, gender, class and cultural chauvinists”.At the moment we are not sure if we will be able to screen the movie,” said Yatin Rawal, owner of single screen Apsara theatre in Ahmedabad.

The 44-year-old star part-owns IPL outfit the Kolkata Knight Riders.In fact the decision should have been taken by the government earlier.Meanwhile, “My Name Is Khan” received mixed reviews in the English-language press.Manoj Desai, who owns a number of single-screen theatres in the city.They could be outside its theatre.Sivanandhan.The Hindustan Times, which gave it three stars, said: “We know the villains in the movie.Shiv Sena leaders said the decision to scale back screenings vindicated their stance.Hundreds of men have been deployed in plain clothes and in uniform to see that everything goes well,” said Mumbai police commissioner D.

I Regret Having Hurt so many: Shah Rukh

February 14th, 2010 admin

I love Mumbai & Mumbaikers & once again reiterate I sincerely from the bottom of heart regret having hurt so many.He further adds, “Today I feel I will stand by with even more strength for all that stands for being Indian & my country.Protest continues in Ahemdabad while in Orissa and Kolkata SRK support MNIK amidst slight protest.It has been reported that SRK fans and MNIK supporters burnt Thackeray’s effigy in Kolkota while in Jharkhand Congress workers welcomed movie buffs with roses at cinema halls screening the movie.Being happy about the support of his fans and the response that his film has been receiving, SRK says, “I just want to tell everyone that I feel more patriotic than ever before.Shah Rukh Khan can’t stop thanking his fans for showering their love on him.Despite sena attack on his film, SRK fans are thronging the theatres to watch My Name Is Khan.

MNIK released in Mumbai and several other cities in India.He says, “As the film releases, and reports pour in praising Karan’s work I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has gone to see the film.It has received mixed reactions in the country; in Mumbai the film has got good response.I love India & Indians.

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