July 2009 - Posts - Play Things

July 2009 - Posts

Cryptic crosswords for dummies

Posted by Sidin Vadukut at 
A recent update from the blog of that new-fangled search-computation-engine Wolfram Alpha: Does today’s crossword have you puzzled? You could continue to fret, and fight the urge to check the full solution, or you could consult Wolfram|Alpha , which has the tools you need to solve the sneakiest constructions. Wolfram|Alpha can find words matching a...

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My shady online credit card life

Posted by Sidin Vadukut at 
How many times have you seen that perfect gift on Ebay or Amazaon but decided to skip the purchase just because of credit card safety concerns? Or ached to subscribe to the New Yorker or the wonderful BBC History Magazine only to cower with fear when the online payment portal pops open? Well maybe my little secret will perk you up and help you take...

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The Ramayana Remixes: Krishna vs Kula Shaker

Posted by Krish Raghav at 
Watching this , one wonders why no one thought of it before: the stunningly psychedelic special effects of erstwhile mythological TV serials, mashed with stunning psychedelic rock. The internet, of course, leaves no meme possibility unturned, and Vinayak Razdan, who blogs at At the Edge , has taken up the mantle of filling this important online void...

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Blasts from the Past

Posted by Krish Raghav at 
Only two distinct vestiges of my childhood pop culture education seem to have survived into the Web era. The first, rather disturbingly, is the business of Arranged Matrimony : moving with almost seamless ease from the pervasive classified ads of yore to the swanky, spiffy websites of today. The second, surprisingly, is children's magazines. Late...

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Become a model for Facebook. Or not.

Posted by Sidin Vadukut at 
A curious thing happened a few days ago when Cheryl Smith's husband was browsing through Facebook. He suddenly saw one of those dating ads they show you on the website. You know the type. "This hottie wants you right now! And we are not thinking platonic! Wink! Nudge! Ok click now." You know how it is. But the only catch was the hottie...

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Import that office directory into your Blackberry

Posted by Sidin Vadukut at 
Two days ago one of our very resourceful admin staff emailed out a mammoth excel sheet with contact details of everyone in the national Mint network. It had names, extensions and mobile numbers. And I don’t have to tell you how, in a newsroom environment, this sort of thing is pretty helpful. When you MUST have a quote from that someone in Kolkatta...

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The curious case of Nandan Nilekani's Twitter account

Posted by Sidin Vadukut at 
On 2 July Bangalore Mirror reported that an impostor had been operating Nandan Nilekani's Twitter account: Talk about IDs! Well, the Unique ID Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani’s ID on Twitter is not his ID. Those updates on the Twitter site are from someone who is pretending to be Nandan Nilekani. When asked about updates on the social...

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India's got Super Mario talent

Posted by Sidin Vadukut at 
I fire up Youtube.com and what do I see but a clip from that new India's Got Talent show with a bunch of students aged 18-28 (PhD I assume) doing a cool, clever spoof of a Super Mario game using good old dark stage special effects, easily recognizable music from the iconic game series and plenty of enthusiasm. The performance was pretty special...

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Google's India strategy for the Chrome OS: One idea

Posted by Sidin Vadukut at 
Ever since Google announce the Chrome OS via blogpost a few days ago the web has been agog with speculation, projection and assumption about how Chrome OS could change the OS game. Some say that the OS will be a serious contender to Microsoft's WIndows hegemony while others think that the Chrome OS, like the Chrome browser, will be all noise and...

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The Return of Monkey Island

Posted by Krish Raghav at 
One of gaming's most beloved series' returns this week, prompting, as per usual in this line of work, both squees of gleeful joy and horrified screams of 'Leave it alone!' Monkey Island is sacred in a way few games are: a shining beacon of hilarious writing, clever puzzle design and visionary use of limited hardware that remains, nearly...

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