Sankaranand Balaradjou

Month: May 2007

  • Sivaji The boss – Trailer

    The most anticipated film of south Indians called Sivaji, the boss is estimated to be the most expensive Indian film till date. This sudden post is about the awesome trailer which was recently released in IBN-CNN website. As usual the sound scoring is given by our music legend A.R Rahman. Wow, there is a special curiosity among the public for Mr.RajniKanth sir’s film who is known to be the “SUPERSTAR” of south indian films. I vote him as superstar too and no one can perform styles like he does. I love to watch his films since childhood especially his dialogues and styles which are not only attractive but inspirational and thought provoking.

    This film Sivaji is getting a very high fame not only because of its cost, but the mixture of three great minds, RajniKanth who is starring, Shankar who is one of a famous director and our legend A.R Rahman.

    Thanks for the trailer, I hope you all enjoy it.

    Links: Watch | Download.

  • Creating a simple web 2.0 favicon – Tutorial

    Inspired with the favicon design of web 2.0 sites like Tech Crunch, Lifehacker, Technorati, etc? Well follow this simple tutorial for creating web 2.0 fav icon using Photoshop. All you need is just Adobe Photoshop software installed.

    favicon1.giffavicon2.giffavicon3.gif

    Ok let’s get started!

    Open a new project in Photoshop either by navigating to File > New or just press Ctrl + N.

    pic1.gif

    Now make sure the width and height its 400px so that you can get a square shaped fav icon with the background color as white.

    Now select the desired background color you want to use for your fav icon by clicking set foreground color as show in the figure. Choose a nice web 2.0 color from the Color library.

    pic2.gif

    pic4.gif

    After selecting the BG color to be used, in the tool box of the Photoshop select Gradient tool or just press (G).

    Now below the menu bar you will get a gradient color option, which looks similar to the screenshot posted below, click it and select foreground to transparent palette.pic5.gif

    After selecting, drag your mouse from the outermost top of the project to its extreme end via +y to –y axis and leave down to get a color background. While dragging if you seem to have white color over the bottom then press ctrl + z to re-drag and this time drag it out of the bottom extreme to make the white color disappear,

    After getting desired web2.0 background for the fav icon, select the horizontal text tool from the tool box and type the first name of your website or added two different layers of text if you need two initials in your fav icon.

    After typing your desired initial, select a color for the text which matches the background perfectly or your website theme. (Basically both the background and foreground should match the website theme color). But if you add two initials in the fav icon make sure you give two different colors then.

    Now the next part is the optional part of adding 3-d effect. If you satisfy with the current design you can skip this step otherwise add a bevel or emboss effect to the text by right clicking the text and selecting the blending option.

    pic7.gif

    That’s it now the next process is exporting the created project as jpeg image by navigating to File > Save as > and selecting jpeg as format and click save.

    The exported jpeg can be easily converted to .ico favicon by visiting this website.

    Please forgive me if you have expected more about the design coz I have already mentioned the title as how to design a “SIMPLE” web 2.0 icon which made my tutorial concise after all this is my first tutorial. I have uploaded the .PSD files and made available for download which you can modify according to your wish.

    Last but not least, I am expecting your comments and suggestions…

    Download: Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 (PSD Format).

    [update]: Sample 2,3 are live at Technical Blog & BlogTalkz please don’t inherit the same design.

  • Free Internet all over India?

    freeintindia.png

    Last week while attending our college magazine function, an officer from Planning commission has been invited as Chief Guest. He was giving several lectures about the recent developments in science and technology based on India and so on. Well the shocking or surprising news to share with all of you is that Government of India has plans to give “Free Internet All over India” within few months. Does that sound great? Also he added that the highest revenue is from the field of Information and Technology, lol I am studying for that… but the reality is that everyone is focusing towards the same field so in order to divert the minds and bring new opportunities in other field; the government has implemented many schemes for R&D (Research and Development Sector), especially R&D in biotechnology.

    Ok I am going off the topic, I myself still cannot believe the news of free internet during that time when all of a sudden a guy raised a question asking that India is still lacking in giving high bandwidth to their consumers where other countries get a whooping mbps for a normal rate while this is happening in India how are they able to give free internet?

    The guest thought for a while and answered that India is a largest country with millions of population, there are villages which still don’t even get telephone connections but we are using Internet vastly especially the traffic contribution from India is really high, how is it possible ?

    This is another reason why we still lack in advancement of communication but our scientist have recently able to transfer date rate up to a terabyte per second (not sure about it but he added this). Even India produced three super computers which we might have not heard or it might be kept confidential. But the plans of Free Internet Connection seem to be on progress and will be launched in quite few months. When thinking from a positive angle there is no surprise or obstacle to believe this thing, since the recent advancements had made the internet and its technology a whooping success.

    Lets wait and watch beside ….

  • Start your own mobile company – no kidding its true!

    sonologo.png

    Who said you need blocks of investment for starting your mobile company? No investments, no risks, just a few clicks can make you start your very own Virtual mobile company. Still don’t believe me chill out your snooping and read carefully.sonopialan.png

    Sonopia a website dedicated in new kind of mobile marketing allows a user to create his own mobile company by choosing a Sonopia profile which allows to customize your company name, logo, plans you want to sell including mobile content and webpage (just like a reseller) with high end themes.

    “Our mission is to provide every organization, group or club with the opportunity to create branded mobile service and build a unique mobile and web community of supporters and members. “- Sonopia

    You can either host the page in their server or create your own and start marketing so you get a percentage amount of the telephone bill paid by your customers. You tend to get commissions for selling plans and mobile phones. The drawback is that Sonopia allows only US residents to create a profile where International users still have to wait for to include mobile plans for your country.

    Still waiting for a good time? Start creating your own mobile now!

    Links: Sonopia | Create your own Company |

  • Grand Theft Auto 4 (GTA IV) – Screenshots

    gtaiv_logo.png

    You all might be eagerly waiting for the official release of Grand Theft Auto IV the latest version of GTA Series which is extended till October but few days before the official site has released some screenshots of the Game and its insight.

    gtaiv-0525-04.pngFor those who don’t know the early news here is a short info that GTA IV is the upcoming version of GTA which is official to be released on October 16, 2007. More than 150 developers are working with 4. As per the sources only trailer is available till last week but now the site has released some screenshots of the game which gives us a clear insight about the game environment.

    Even pre-orders have been accepted for Xbox 360 and Play station 3 console modes. Last week GTA announced a special edition

    Sale for GTA IV which is packed in a customized metal safe deposit box which includes the following

    • ARockstar keychain for the safe deposit box keys,
    • Rockstar duffel bag,
    • Never-before-seen production artwork from GTA IV,
    • The Soundtrack CD of GTA IV
    • A specially packaged version of the game for either PS3 and XBOX 360.
    • This limited version package is only USD $89.00 (not sure if available in India).

    Links: Screenshots | Trailer.

  • Just Upgraded to Photoshop CS3 Extended

    pscs3.pngIt has been weeks since Adobe Photoshop CS3 released I still haven’t upgraded, so now i got time for it and finished the process of upgrading from CS 2 to CS3 just. Well the ultimate mistake I made is that I upgraded to CS3 extended instead of just CS3. Since Extended version contains more features that are really not worth for a graphic designer but for professional motion editors, animators etc while the Photoshop store itself suggest CS3 is enough for graphic designers.

    For those who are confused about what I am talking, I want to say that the new Photoshop CS3 is available in two different versions, the ordinary and the other with a Extended Tag.

    After installing CS3, I found it incredibly faster than CS2. I thanked god for not equipping Image ready with it but it contained an alternative called Adobe Stock Photos CS3. Also I wish to reveal out some cool resources and information for Photoshop users that i found out.

    For dudes who wanna try the Trial version of Photoshop CS3, you can download from Adobe labs.

  • Sony Ericsson S500i the Nature’s Inspiration – [preview]

    sonys500i.jpgAfter the w830i I thought of posting about another cool gadget from Sony Ericsson that is yet to launch. Ok here comes the nature’s inspiration phone the Sony Ericsson S500i a slimmest kit contained with full of surprises as phrased by Sony. Rumors say that desktop menu and themes of this phone automatically change to nature’s condition or either by day or night difference matching the perfect situation but I am not sure about it.

    A 240×320 pixel screen which is comparatively ok for a medium powered phone supporting various ranges of network like GSM 850,900,1800,1900 and EDGE. Not only a slim series but it weighs only 94 grams (3.3oz) that will be available in two different flavors of Mysterious Green and Spring Yellow.

    Talking about the feature the camera is powered with 2 megapixels with 4x digital zoom including new picture blogging technology. General connectivity like Bluetooth, USB and modem are added. New (or I may have not noticed) feature is equipped with this phone called “Flight mode” by which you can use the phone while traveling on the plane safely by disconnecting transmitter and radio receiver.

    The con about this phone is of its internal memory which is not more than 12mb until you buy a Memory Stick Microâ„¢ (M2â„¢) and turbo charge it. Hope to get more news and screenshots about this trendy gadget. Also no native Walkmanâ„¢ experience but instead it contains Mega Bassâ„¢.

  • Microsoft Popfly – Want to try?

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    Microsoft again took another step to compete Google’s Page Creator, with its new Popfly which is still in alpha stage. According to Ms, Popfly is the fun, easy way to build and share mashups, gadgets, Web pages, and applications.

    Ok let’s pop in what this pop fly contains…..

    Popfly is classified into two parts as a online webpage and mash up creator tool and an online community for hosting, sharing, rating etc. At present it gives a storage limit of 25mb per user (Microsoft is always limited and lacking in storage space).

    You want to know more then watch the 15 min screen cast or visit their official site. For buddies who are waiting eagerly for tryout just request an invite.

    *Microsoft and Popfly is the registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

  • PC World top product list

    When people always deserve to search for best, PC World aims in giving the top best products by deep review, research and all other factors. So they have introduced releasing the top 100 products every year which is very useful for seekers. The PC world tech log has just posted the top 100 products out of which we are goanna see some.

    Based on Ranking, the top 10 products are

    pcworldtop.gif

     

     

    Google Apps Premier Edition:

    I don’t know why PC world selected GAFYD as top product of year but you will know the answers when you ask the office folks who have been powered by Google. Some say this as “Office killer” as said by PC world. Integrated service like Gmail, Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, Google Talk etc made this a turbo package for companies. Surely if you thought of trying Google Apps, you can ping me since I am also using Google Apps for my company, I would provide you a tryout account there.

    Intel Core 2 Duo Processor:

    Wow, the fastest running pc is certainly equipped with the new Intel Core 2 duo processor which is one of my wish list. My brother promised to buy me a core 2 duo processor within 3 months which I hope he will be. Pc world says that Intel core 2 duo processors run fast in their test which impressed the experts a lot.

    “Core 2 Duo processor line ranges from the 1.86-GHz E6300 chip ($183) with 2MB of cache to the 2.93-GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 chip ($999) with 4MB of cache; all have a 1066-MHz system bus. “ A snippet from PC world says.

    Nintendo Wii

    PC world says Wii has a crowd pleasing controller but do you actually think will that controller suits gaming? I accept the fact that Wii is very compact comparing to Xbox and Play station 3 but when it comes to power gaming no one can override PS3 or Xbox (My personal suggestion).

    The other products are Verizon FiOS, RIM Blackberry 8800, Parallels Desktop, Pioneer Elite 1080p PRO-FHD1, Infrant Technologies ReadyNAS NV, Apple Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” and Adobe Premiere Elements 3.

    Source: PCWORLD.