IBLOG SPACE

Chip Camden outlines several instances in which outsourcing some of your IT consulting responsibilities might be good decision. ——————————————————————————————— Independent consultants have to get used to being responsible for every part of their business, or they won’t stay in business long. Those who are really cut out for the job cherish their independence and take pride in their ability to do it all on their own. Perhaps they also have trouble trusting others to do the job right — but that attitude can be taken to ridiculous extremes. Sometimes it makes more sense to let somebody else handle it. As an extreme example, think about Internet access. We all use it, and we all rely on someone else to provide it: telephone, cable, or some other network company. Even if you have the technical expertise to build your own end-run around your ISP, it wouldn’t make sense; you’d spend all your time insuring that your network was up, secure, and handling the load. So, instead of relieving you

What are the security concerns about Google’s new social networking service, Google Buzz? In case you have not heard the news yet, Google has decided the world needs another social networking site. Perhaps the Internet search giant was emboldened by the success of Gmail. It certainly has not been dissuaded by the poor showing of its Friendster clone, Orkut. This time, Google is going after Facebook’s niche, which Facebook itself wrested from the control of MySpace. There seems to be a lot of excitement surrounding Buzz, but not all of it is good. Pete Cashmore seems to be on both sides. He criticizes the concept in the first sentence of an article about Google Buzz: Google Buzz, Google’s new social networking service announced this week, isn’t particularly original. On the other hand, the article is titled, “ Why Gooble Buzz will be a hit .” His point is that ultimately the key to the success of “the most generic ’social sharing’ service launched to date” is the way Google h

For the longest time I have been less than a fan of KDE 4. From the initial release, up until about 4.3.0 I was, well, less than impressed. It was buggy, it felt unstable at all points. And what was worse, for any new user who made the mistake of using a distribution with KDE 4, it gave the Linux operating system a bad name. No one wanted to use a desktop that might crash at any given moment, suck up 100% of a system CPU, or lose data. It simply wasn’t worth the effort. But this morning I decided to give the latest iteration of KDE (4.3.5) a try and see what it had to offer. Could it make stable what had previously been so lacking in stability. And, more importantly, could it make me think KDE was once again a viable desktop for every day use. Let’s take a look and see. Installation You might want to know just how to get 4.3.5 installed, so you can test this new release yourself. I installed on a Ubuntu 9.10 desktop that already had a previous KDE 4.3.x install. In order to install

What drives storage performance? Is it the iSCSI/Fiber Channel choice? The answer might surprise you. Scott Lowe provides insight into IOPS. ———————————————————————————————- When it comes to measuring a storage system’s overall performance, Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) is still the most common metric in use. There are a number of factors that go into calculating the IOPS capability of an individual storage system. In this article, I provide introductory information that goes into calculations that will help you figure out what your system can do. Specifically, I explain how individual storage components affect overall IOPS capability. I do not go into seriously convoluted mathematical formulas, but I do provide you with practical guidance and some formulas that might help you in your planning. Here are three notes to keep in mind when reading the article: Published IOPS calculations aren’t the end-all be-all of storage characteristics. Vendors often measure IOPS under

Now that I’ve tested the Palm Pre Plus it’s time to share my thoughts about it from a business and IT perspective. As usual, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of the device and where it fits in for business. The original Palm Pre was one of the most widely-anticipated technology products of 2009. Palm had spent almost two years redesigning its mobile operating system, the webOS, as well as the new hardware for the Pre. However, after making a big splash at CES 2009, the Palm Pre launch six months later in June was only a moderate success. Part of the problem was the quality of the new Palm hardware and part of it was that the Pre was limited to the Sprint network. Palm is now trying to up its game with the Palm Pre Plus on Verizon. Of course, there’s a lot of competition in the smartphone market with the iPhone, Android phones, and BlackBerry. So, let’s take a quick look at the best features as well as the drawbacks of the Palm Pre Plus and see how it measures up from a business persp

Apple, a company that is the most envied of the consumer electronics industry for its brand loyalty, seems to be formulating its current business strategy based on the guiding philosophy of the most isolationist nation in the world. Kim Il-Sung , the late leader of North Korea called it Juche (pronounced Yu-Che). In English, the term is loosely translated as “spirit of self-Reliance”. Since its inception in the 1950s, Juche Sasang (The Juche Idea) is the foundation that has provided the base ideology and tenets by which the rogue and isolationist nation has behaved, conducted itself on the international stage and controlled its own people in a never to be questioned iron grip dominated by a culture of leader worship. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more. Kim Il-Sung, “The Great Leader” and founder of Juche Sasang may have died in 1994, but he is still revered as a god and considered the de-facto “Eternal President” of that country, even though his so

In the same week that it introduced its new switchable graphics mobile platform Optimus , Nvidia revealed that it’s mulling an external graphics solution to boost the graphics capabilities of laptops. An Nvidia exec told X-bit Labs that it was a “big opportunity,” but that the company hadn’t decided if it would take the form of an adapter or a GPU docking station. If the concept sounds familiar, it may be because AMD/ATI has already cleared this path with an adapter that was released in Europe as the Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Graphics Booster. But the product was never released in the U.S., and might have served as a warning sign to its competitor that the concept faces a number of difficulties. Nonetheless, Nvidia seems to think it’s just a matter of hitting the right price point with the device for it to succeed. It is an intriguing possibility for people who mostly keep their laptops plugged into their desktop and only occasionally travel with them, and could be especially attractiv

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is holding a press event on Monday at Mobile World Congress 2010 . I’d like to see Ballmer announce two things, but I’m betting that neither of these things will materialize. Brand new Internet Explorer “Mobile Edition” Internet Explorer on the Windows Mobile platform is a total and utter joke. It was a joke five years ago and in the face of competition from Safari on the iPhone, the Opera Mobile/Mini, the Android Browser and Firefox Mobile, it stands as proof that Microsoft’s commitment to its mobile platform to date has been lacking in focus and effective management. Unless Ballmer unveils a brand new for Windows Mobile on Monday, it’s game over for Windows Mobile. There’s no way that any company can have a credible mobile platform without a decent, feature-rich browser capable of delivering a well-rounded web experience. App Store Windows Mobile desperately needs an app store. A one-click repository where users can buy and download applications for t

Ever since questions about how safe your personal information is with Google Buzz started to pop up, it’s pretty much all that people talk about on the subject. That, and how to disable it that is. This release of Google Buzz has started off badly, and when that happens, the barrier to adoption is significantly raised. The service may be cool, or useful, but all that people think about now is how unsafe it is, and make decisions based on those feelings. Google has already taken some steps to make it better in reaction to what has happened, but I’m not sure anything they do is really going to help. Their best bet would be to take down the service, step back and analyze what has happened, and do a re-launch. Are there any good things about Buzz though? Yeah, it’s integrated with a lot of things that people already use — posting pictures, video, or sharing items from your Google Reader is really simple — and some people will embrace it. Unfortunately, I think the negative press aroun

This year’s featured presentations here at Macworld Expo 2010 were the crowning glory of the event. Excellent in every way, they dramatically exceeded all my expectations. Just when I thought that nothing could top David Pogue’s Thursday presentation featuring LeVar Burton and The Gregory Brothers (and auto-tune Steve Jobs) Friday’s Leonote was equally impressive. Billed as Macworld Live! the talk show format presentation featured comedienne Heather Gold , Roger McGuinn , founder of The Byrds, Adam Savage , co-host Discovery Channel’s MythBusters and a performance by Warp 11 , America’s premier sci-fi rock band. McGuinn performed a mind-blowing, acoustic version of Eight Miles High (video to follow.) A photo gallery is here .

Today’s logo on Google was not meant to be tasteless I’m sure, but some people thought it was. It was actually a beautiful looking logo with a luger in place of the first logo. However, some people think Google’s logo was published too soon after the death of Olympian, Nodar Kumaritashvili, during his last practice luge run before the opening ceremonies in Vancouver. The new logo is a snowboarder, and is much more appropriate for today.

Here at the SuperBowl of Macdom, Macworld Expo 2010 , the buzz was palpable and the feature presentations were more than worth the trip. Here’s a quick gallery of 41 photos from Day 2 of the Expo (Friday) from Leo Laporte’s feature presentation, Macworld Live! Leo’s presentation included Heather Gold , Roger McGuinn , Adam Savage and Vulcan 11 . That’s Leo and Roger in the screenshot above.

Google’s Buzz application has unleashed editorials and flame wars around the U.S amid privacy concerns. At least it picked a name appropriate for the current backlash. Google however may wind up regretting how it launched Buzz, with significant legal and ethical concerns on the horizon. Google also faces severe criticism on how it deals with customer privacy that may tarnish that image that will require considerable repair. The U.S. government may also have to act. As this product launch unfolded, the buzz turned ugly very quickly. Google may have few if any options but get hung out to dry and wind up being monitored with big brother oversight over how it manages and processes privacy practices. To be fair, Google no doubt figured this is cool collaboration and sharing tool like Twitter is. Hundreds of applications have or are being developed for cross threading information from one platform to another. Google’s approach seemed straight forward and designed to make it easy to post i

They get scorn for selling systems that costs thousands, but even in this “great recession” many boutique PC builders have done a lot better than you might expect. Digital Storm has one of the best reputations among this clique (which includes Falcon Northwest, Maingear, and several others), and with its new Black|Ops desktop series, it’s promising extreme performance starting at a relatively modest price. You can grab a Black|Ops system for as low as $1,549 if you choose an AMD Phenom II X4 955 CPU, or $1,709 if you select an Intel i5-750 processor. Both base configs comes with 4GB of DDR3 RAM and 500GB hard drive, but the AMD one comes with a new ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics card, while the Intel PC includes an Nvidia GeForce GTX 275. (If you already have a graphics board you like, you can also buy the system sans card to save more.) If you want to jump from the “Performance” model to the “Enthusiast” one, you’ll pony up at least $2,104 for an Intel i7-920, 6GB of RAM, and a GeForce

The Gulbarga University has selected Dada Saheb Phalke award winner ace cameraman V K Murthy and actor cum politician Mukya Mantri Chandru for honorary doctorate degrees and the decision as approved by the Karnataka Governor Hansaraj Bharadwaj on Friday. The wife of Dr Vishnuvaradhan and top actress of yesteryears in Kannada, Hindi, and Tamil films Smt Bharathi Vishnuvaradhan has also been recommended for the honorary doctorate by Karnataka Open University, Mysore. The clearance is awaited. The Gulbarga University function is taking place on 17th of this month. It was the wish expressed by Dr Vishnuvaradhan that Bharthi his wife is long due to get many awards. He disclosed this to the media when he invited them for lunch at the time of release of ‘Ballari Naga’

Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan , who left a trail of fans swooning at the red carpet premiere of 'My Name is Khan' at the Berlin International Film Festival, says self-mockingly he keeps getting better looking and he would soon 'look like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise'. Mimicking his character Rizwan Khan in the film, he said: 'There's something in my genes. I keep getting better looking - and I just can't control it. Soon I'm going to look like Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. But beyond that I've no problems.' German fans from Berlin, Hannover, Hamburg and Munich thronged the streets even as it snowed for a glimpse of actors Shah Rukh, Kajol and filmmaker Karan Johar at the Friday night premiere, where the film received a thunderous ovation. 'I have never understood the love of my German fans or why Germans love Bollywood so much, but I am very thankful for it. Germany has genuinely opened a window for Indians to Western cinema. I am her

Film: 'Kedi'; Cast: Nagarjuna , Mamta Mohandas, Anushka (special role), Brahmanandam, Shaji Shinde, Harshavardhan and others; Producer: D. Shivaprasad Reddy; Writer-Director: Kiran; Music Director: Sandeep Chowta ; Camera: Sarvesh Murari; Rating; ** 1/2 Kiran's directorial debut 'Kedi' is weak in its content and strong on visuals. The story does not have any freshness and the screenplay is neither path-breaking nor has any elements of novelty. The film has less commercial elements. The first thought that comes to mind after coming from the theatre is how a seasoned actor like Nagarjuna agreed to do this kind of film. To be fair to Nagarjuna, he really tries to salvage the film on his own. He is the backbone of the film. His looks, style and dialogue delivery appeals. Nagarjuna, who turned 50 last year, looks so charming on screen that it is not surprising that he enjoys such a huge female fan following. Other major highlight is Sarvesh Murari's cin

Director Karan Johar , who returns here Sunday from Berlin, plans to visit multiplexes here to see the audience response to his film 'My Name Is Khan'. 'Karan Johar will go to Fun Republic in Andheri West at 2.45 p.m. and then he will visit Cinemax,' said a source close to Johar. He was in Berlin with his lead actors Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol for the red carpet premiere of 'My Name is Khan' at the Berlinale Palast. The film got into trouble when Shiv Sena launched a protest against it after Shah Rukh Khan's pro-Pakistan stance and tried to disrupt the screening in Mumbai and other parts of the country as well. But Shah Rukh fans gave the thumbs down to the Shiv Sena by thronging cinema halls across India Friday to see 'My Name is Khan'.

Kate Winslet will star in a five-hour "Mildred Pierce" miniseries for HBO, it has emerged. This is the same role that won Joan Crawford an Oscar in 1945. Just like the film, the series will be based on James M. Cain's classic noir novel about Pierce. Pierce is a proud single mother struggling to earn her daughter's love during the Great Depression, reports The New York Post. Todd Haynes will direct the miniseries. Winslet has earned six Oscar nominations in addition to her win last year for "The Reader."

Ashton Kutcher says he botched his proposal to Demi Moore. The day he planned to ask her to marry him, he wanted to video the magic moment but it went wrong - and he was forced to do it the next day, which turned out to be April Fool's Day. The 32-year-old wed the Hollywood beauty, 47, in 2005 after two years of dating, but Kutcher admits the day he decided to pop the question didn't run smoothly and he had to delay the proposal by 24 hours. 'I planned to video the moment I proposed so that years later I could play it back to her and say, 'See, you did say yes to being my wife.' But just as I was going to propose, I realised I had run out of film. So I stumbled round all day with this ring burning a hole in my pocket. She kept asking, 'What's wrong, sweetie?' and I couldn't tell her. It was a little goofy. So I had to put it off until the next day,' Imdb.com quoted Kutcher as saying. But Kutcher feared his future wife wouldn't take hi

Lead pair of upcoming Bollywood film "To Baat Pakki", Tabu and Sharman Joshi promoted their upcoming flick here on Saturday. The film, produced by Ramesh S Taurani and directed by Kedar Shinde, also stars Uvika Chaudhary, Vatsal Sheth, Ayub Khan, Sharat Saxena and Himani Shivpuri. Interacting with the media Tabu said that the film had lot of messages. "It's a simple entertaining film but still I would say that we are talking about marriages, not taking dowry, independence of women, and if you watch the film you will take these messages with you to your home," said Tabu. Sharman Joshi, who recently starred in one of the highest grosser film '3 Idiots', said that the film had some great songs. "Tips Music is known for quality music. The music of this film is great and there are four songs and one of these is doing good and we are happy for this," said Joshi. The lyrics of the film are penned by Mayur Pur, Sayeed Qadri and Shabbir Ahmed

Members of Russia's Bolshoi Ballet danced in Cuba for the first time in 30 years on Saturday in a joint performance with the Cuban National Ballet at Havana's Karl Marx theatre. The show coincided with a visit to Cuba by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as the two Cold War allies strengthen ties that frayed after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. To the applause of an appreciative audience in dance-crazy Cuba, six Bolshoi dancers performed some of the famous company's classic numbers from ballets such as "Swan Lake" and "Giselle." They alternated dances with member of the Cuban National Ballet, which is directed by ballet legend Alicia Alonso, 89. Alonso said the return of the Bolshoi, which last performed in Cuba in 1980, was an important occasion for the communist-run island. "We are all very happy because there is nothing more beautiful for a country than the union of artists. This is the beginning of a good friendship,&quo

Actress Holly Robinson Peete has been left 'disgusted and offended' after reading John Mayer's 'racially charged' comments in an interview with Playboy magazine. The rocker has been mired in controversy following publication of the interview, in which he used the 'N' word when talking about his African-American fanbase, and revealed lurid details about his relationship with ex-girlfriend Jessica Simpson. Contactmusic.com reports that Mayer also used the interview to single out Robinson Peete for praise, calling her 'gorgeous', and the TV star was initially flattered when she found out about the musician's crush. She told E! Online: 'I'm levitating. John Mayer thinks I'm hot.' But she has since read the full article and is fuming about Mayer's 'racially charged' comments. '(Mayer's comments about me) went from a compliment to being an insult. I foolishly and impulsively commented on a sound bite fr

Pop star Madonna is teaming up with British funnyman Ricky Gervais in the upcoming small screen series 'The Marriage Ref' about domestic disputes. The show is being produced by Jerry Seinfeld and will see a panel of celebrities judge the winner of domestic disputes between feuding couples. Madonna is listed alongside Gervais as one of the panellists due to film an episode in New York next week, reports contactmusic.com. 'Jerry's doing a new show about marriage guidance and he wants me to be involved. I pointed out that my ambition was to one day be nearly as good as him. It was amazing,' said Geravis The show is also expected to feature guest appearances from stars including Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey and 'Desperate Housewives' actress Eva Longoria Parker. The series debuts in America on Feb 28.

Jamaican supermodel Naomi Campbell's "Fashion for Relief" runway show to help raise money for earthquake-ravaged Haiti is said to have involved many bigwigs. The show, which had taken place in Bryant Park on February 12, saw Chris Brown, Kelly Osbourne, Donna Karan and Helena Christensen all walk the catwalk for the charity event, which will raise funds for CARE. The show, styled by Rachel Zoe and hosted by Campbell and Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, follows the model's first "Fashion for Relief" event in 2005, which raised 1 million dollars for Katrina victims. Before the show, supermodel Selita Ebanks, actress and model Malin Ackerman, Christensen and punk legend Patti Smith were spotted prepping. And while Alan Cumming and "The City" star Olivia Palermo milled around, Campbell was not seen until the last minute. "Naomi didn't show for her interviews earlier in the day, and she got ready at another venue away from the tents, but sh

Danish director Thomas Vinterberg says his latest film, about two down-and-out brothers haunted by a tragic childhood, is his toughest yet but carries a message of hope. Vinterberg told Reuters that Submarino, about ex-convict Nick who tries to reconnect with his brother, a struggling single father and heroin addict, showed people trying to care for one other even when they have sunk to the bottom of society. "It is the toughest movie I have done because it starts really dark and then goes down from that," Vinterberg said before the film's world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. "These are people who do not have anything left and are trying to keep reaching the surface." The title of the film, based on a novel by young Danish writer Jonas T. Bengtsson, refers to a torture method in which someone's head is kept under water. Vinterberg, 40, who together with Lars von Trier and two other directors founded the Dogma 95 movement which advocates ba

Gareth Wigan, a London-born talent agent, film producer and studio executive credited with steering the success of such films as "Star Wars," died on Saturday in his home at Los Angeles at the age of 78 after a brief illness. Tributes from Hollywood heavyweights from Barbra Streisand to George Lucas and Martin Scorsese poured in for the Oxford graduate, who began his career as an agent in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and then moved to California in the 1970s where he served in various high-profile Hollywood studio executive positions until his death, Sony Pictures said. Wigan is widely regarded as a pioneer in the growth of global cinema by championing acclaimed filmmakers such as Ang Lee, Stephen Chow, Zhang Yimou, Guy Ritchie, Matthew Vaughn, and Feng Xiao Gong. Early in his career as an agent in the United Kingdom, Wigan represented directors John Schlesinger and Richard Lester, among many others. In the mid-1960s, he formed the own agency Gregson & Wigan

A mayor of a Brazilian town has banned Carnival revellers from playing funk or rap music during the traditionally free-wheeling celebrations that kick off around the country on Friday. Mayor Jose Neto of Sao Lourenco in southeastern Minas Gerais state told Globo television he was banning songs that incite violence and disrespect authority and wanted to protect more traditional Carnival music, such as samba. Anyone caught listening to Brazilian funk -- a pounding beat often with sexual lyrics that grew out of Rio de Janeiro's slums -- or rap during the Carnival period would have to turn it off or face arrest and up to six months in prison, he reportedly said. "They are mass gatherings that demand better coordination, control and security that a public festival like Carnival doesn't allow us to adopt," Neto told Globo TV. Brazilian funk music, which is different from the U.S. genre of the same name, has long been frowned upon by police and city authorities in Rio

Actress Tannishtha Chatterjee has not only sung in Dev Benegal's forthcoming film 'Road, Movie' but also composed a song inspired by Rajasthani construction workers. 'I have sung in my films before, but this was some kind of special thing. It wasn't meant to be...it wasn't there in the script as I remember. There was a dance and I was dancing on it but since Dev knew me from my girl band (days), he asked me to sing,' Tannishtha said after the first look of 'Road, Movie' here. 'The best part of it is I didn't record the song and lip-synced in front of the camera. I sang the song live while shooting for that sequence,' she said. Tannishtha, who earned international acclaim with 'Brick Lane', says she was able to compose the song borrowing tunes from some Rajasthani folk music she had heard in her childhood that still lingers in her mind. 'When I was a child I used to hear these songs sung by Rajasthani construction w

The child prodigy Master Chiranjeevi just of nine years studying in 5th standard in Embassy International Public School did four get ups of 0, 35, 45 and 65 in ‘Ekameva’. He is the only character in the film. For this remarkable feat the young actor entering the Guinness Book like Master Kishen who directed the film ‘Care of Foot Path’ at the age of 11 besides appearing in the lead role. The film was flagged off on Friday morning at Kanteerava studios by Bangalore City Police Commissioner Shanker Bidri and MLA Na La Narendra Babu. Dr Baraguru Ramachandrappa in the past made ‘Shanthi’ starring only actress Bhavana in it. The UN peace foundation recognized this ‘Shanthi’ film for the peace message it propagated. For ‘Ekameva’ the little boy Chiranjeevi will be given the four different looks by make up man for Hema Malini – Sameer Jakoor. He is coming from Mumbai to do the make up for Master Chiranjeevi. Master Chiranjeevi has acted in 40 plus films and televisions serials as child ac

Bhavana has acted in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. And what could obviously be her next destination? Yes, the actress makes a full circle in south Indian film industry by bagging an offer from Kannada. She will soon play the heroine in a Kannada film titled 'Jackie', which has top actor Puneet Rajakumar in the lead role. Directed by Suri, the movie is a commercial entertainer, sources in the know say. An elated Bhavana says, "Now that I have been roped in for a Kannada film, I feel a sense of completeness. Though I haven’t watched any of Puneet Rajakumar films, I have heard about him a lot. Am eagerly looking forward to working with him." Heaping praises on Bhavana, director Suri says, "I have watched her films like 'Chithiram Pesuthadi' and 'Veyil' and admired Bhavana's performance a lot. She is a brilliant actress who is too good at delivering right expressions."

‘Devaru Kotta Thangi’ meaning the ‘God given Sister’ has been a costly shave of Rs.2 crore plus for director cum producer Om Saiprakash. The God has not given, but he has snatched “four sites I have made and one house I have constructed” – The loss is over Rs.2 crores from this ‘DKT’ starring Shivarajakumar, Meera Jasmine, Monica in the music direction of Hamsalekha says director Om Saiprakash. Om Saiprakash is also producer of this film ‘DKT’. I do not blame anyone but only myself. I have been given good support by my family members. That is the courage for me. That is keeping me running today said an emotional Saiprakash. I am in sorrow is sure. If I have to produce a cinema again I should get permission from my wife. I have not come to the streets. That much is the blessing. I would continue to direct in future say Saiprakash who has directed 88 films in over two decades.

The first film of power star Puneet Rajakumar this year has completed 50 days in 25 centers and in 65 centers at an average of four shows a day – 260 shows a day in all is great. This is the debut film of national award winning actress Priyamani with power star Puneet Rajakumar. A remake of Telugu flick ‘Ready’ the Kannada improved version ‘Ram’ by director Madesh has earned over Rs.20 crores in 50 days according to industry sources. Puneet Rajakumar’s previous film ‘Raj The Showman’ under the direction of hat trick director Prem earned Rs.25 crores according to distributor Jayanna. The No 1 position of Puneet Rajakumar is unshakable. He has returned from Jordon finishing 10 days schedule for his next film ‘Prithvi’ with Parvathi Menon. It is with Parvathi Menon, ‘Milana’ of Puneet Rajkumar run for one year in 2008-2009. Another film at the fag end of last year crossing 60 days is Golden star Ganesh’s home production ‘Maleyali Jotheyali’. The collection of ‘Porkhi’ is also steady.

The third series of IPL T-20 cricket occupying nearly 50 theatres in Bangalore is against the law of the Karnataka Cinematography Regulations and harmful to film industry says Dr Jayamala, President of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. The Kannada Film Producers Association President KCN Chandrasekhar has also raised objection to screening of IPL cricket matches in theatres. Only censored films should be screened in the cinema halls and nothing else Dr Jayamala points to the regulation. The third IPL T-20 series organizers have come to an agreement with UFO Movies, Cinemax, Inox and Multiplex in this regard and the cricket tournament starts from March 12. The collection of cinema will be affected in nine states of the country in nearly 550 cinema halls. In Bangalore alone 50 cinema halls have reached an agreement to screen T-20 Cricket. The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce and Kannada Film Producers Association jointly met the Karnataka Home Minister and Bangalore City Police Com

While he is patiently waiting for his debut film ‘Leader’ this Feb 19th, Rana Daggubati is looking forward to his second venture, interestingly which is going to be in Hindi. Titled ‘Dum Maaro Dum’, the film will feature three male lead including Abhishek Bachchan, Prateek Babbar, besides Rana. And here our budding hero plays the role of a Goan Musician and will get to share the screen space with Bollywood’s sizzling beauty Bipasha Basu as his love interest. Directed by Rohan Sippy, the film revolves around the drug racket in Goa and the story of the film is said to be inspired from a Hollywood film, ‘Traffic’.

Striking actor Sai Kiran has bagged an interesting film which will be based on a treasure hunt. Tilted ‘Plan’, Sai Kiran will romance hottie Mamta in this. The film will be produced and directed by Naresh Kumar Gupta. Bannered under N K G Productions, the film also has Rami Reddy, Jackie, Kondavalasa, Ragini and Glory. ‘Plan’ is expected to unfold on big screens in March.

Two days before the release of his stylish Kedi, Akkineni Nagarjuna has received a backset. The Airport Authority of India has put a spanner in his idea to build a mega entertainment complex in the premises of Annapurna Studios. The reason cited by the AAI is that Nag cannot build structures that are 30 metres in height, which is not permitted in Banjara Hills, where the Studios is located. In fact, structures only of half the height are allowed in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills areas. As Nag wanted to build structures of 30 metres height, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation sought AAI's clearance, which the latter rejected on the grounds that buildings belonging to high-rise category cannot be allowed in the area. In fact, it is reported that permission to build 15 metres high structures may not be allowed too, as the town planning officials are averse to sanctioning a permission.

Jagapathi Babu, one of the most loved actors of the 1990s, is still going good guns, even 20 years later. The actor is bagging film after film, each different from the previous one. A case in point is Pravarakhyudu, which was world apart from Siddham and his forthcoming film Sadhyam. It is highly appropriate to say that if Jagapathi looks macho in powerful characters like that of an encounter specialist, he looks equally ordinary in roles like that of a middle-class man (example, Kathanayakudu). He has got appreciation from the likes of Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh in the past, but what is unique about him is that when he was almost written off after the third generationers made their way in to films, he is still getting critical appreciation for roles like Raksha, Homam and Siddham. This year, he has a big release. That's the sequel to his blockbuster movie Gayam - Gayam2. Frankly, he must be keeping his fingers crossed. His well-wishers and critics reviewing him often say tha

Maro Charithra starring the tall and handsome Varun Sandesh and cute Anitha will hit the screens on 26th of March. ‘Dil’ Raju ‘s new banner Matinee Entertainment is producing this movie directed by new comer Ravi Yadav. The other heroine acting in the movie is Shraddha Das. The cast includes experienced actors like Pratap Pothan, Kota Srinivas Rao, Urvashi, Naresh, Thalaivasal Vijay and others like Yami Gautam, Sandhya Janak and Aadarsh. According to sources, in order to coincide with Valentine’s Day, the producers have decided to launch the audio of the movie on the 14th of February. The makers feel that the music by Happy Days sensation Mickey J Meyer will be a super hit. We all know Kamal Haasan’s ‘Maro Charitra’ was a superhit but it is made maro saari with a new look and new feel with young actors. Lets wait and watch if the formula works.

Mammootty and Padmapriya have been selected as the best in the acting departments at the Vanitha -Nippon awards announced yesterday. While Mohanlal was selected as the popular actor. Veteran actor Madhu was named for Lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the industry. While Mammootty was selected as the best for his roles in ‘Loudspeaker’, ‘Palery Manickyam’ and ‘Pazhassi Raja’, Padmapriya was named the best for her performance in ‘Pazhassi Raja’. The popular actor award went to Lal for his roles in ‘Bhramaram’ and ‘Ividum Swargam Aanu’. ‘Pazhassi Raja’ was selected as the best film. While Sarathkumar bagged the award for the best supporting actor for his role in the movie, Renjith was selected the best director for ‘Palery Manickyam’. The other important awards include that for Shwetha Menon (Best supporting actress), Jagathy Sreekumar (best villain), Suraj Venjaramoodu (best comedy actor) Vayalar Sharath (best Lyricist) and Vidyasagar (best Music). The awards will b

Just like in 2009, when she had big hits in ‘Robinhood’, ‘Twenty: 20’ and ‘Sagar Alias Jackey’, beautiful Bhavana is quite happy to start the new year with an consecutive hits. Her first release of the year, the multistarrer ‘Happy Husbands’ has already been announced as a big hit. She now enjoys a double dhamaka as her new Tamil movie with Ajith, ‘Asal’ has already taken a good opening. The box office fairing of ‘Asal’ was something that the actress had been eagerly waiting for. This was the first time she was paired with a big star in Tamil. Now that the movie has opened to big initials, Bhavana will happily move on to her next projects. As per her schedules, she will start shooting for her new Telugu movie soon.

Veteran actor Thilakan who is presently engaged in a verbal war with the top people in Malayalam film industry, lodged a complaint with the Alappuzha South about a threatening call he received. Citing his life to be under threat, the actor says that an anonymous person called him repeatedly and threatened him that he will be killed in a week. The voice in the phone is also reported to have asked Thilakan who was he to find faults with the superstar Mammootty. Thilakan, who was at that time having dinner at a restaurant in Alappuzha, immediately lodged a complaint at the nearby police station. With the threatening calls coming up, the issue between Thilakan and association of stars and technicians is taking a new turn. This is for the first time that such an issue has gone public to the extent of threatening calls. The present fight started with Thilakan and a group of actors like Mala Aravindan, Sphadikam George and Captain Raju joining the sets of director Vinayan’s new movie ‘Yak

Meera Jasmine who is back in Mollywood after a short gap states that acting in Malayalam is like taking the final board exams. ''You definitely need an elaborate preparation before attempting a character in Malayalam”, said Meera in an interview. The actress who is currently shooting for Rajeev Anchal's film 'Pattinte Palazhi' adds that she is not much bothered about preparations while doing other language films. But while coming to Malayalam films, you cannot take things for granted. Meera who was last seen in ‘Rathrimazha’ and ‘Minnaminnikkoottam’, pins much of her hope on ‘Pattinte Palazhi’. The actress who is playing a singer in the new heroine centric movie will be shown in three different get ups, as her character Veena passes through three different stages of life. Manoj K Jayan, Jagadheesh and Jagathy Sreekumar are also there in ‘Pattinte Palazhi’, which will be a mid summer release.