Last.FM

If you're someone who likes to discover new music & is sick of listening to your same old playlist again and again for the billionth time. Then check out www.last.fm a good music site which recommends songs & different new artists to listen to based on the type of music that you currently listen to.

Now how it works is that you create an account on Last.fm, which takes a couple of minutes.
Then download the Last.fm Scrobbler software which links to your Windows Media Player, Winamp, iTunes.

What this does it records information of what all songs you have heard, how frequently you listen to certain songs of certain artists, what genre of music you prefer etc. Based on this information it uploads to the Last.FM website it gives a list of recommendations of songs & other artists to listen to.


This is an incredible website to find new & good music that suits your particular music taste.

Though an important warning the radio service & other functions are subscription based, which means you have to pay for these services & hence I would recommend staying clear of them.

Enjoy & hopefully this information has been useful.

GTA V News

Well its 2013 already & one THE most anticipated games GTA V ( Grand Theft Auto 5) is said to be released sometime in the second quarter of this year. Five extremely long years it has been since the release of GTA 4 which has gone down as one of the most successful games in recent history, having sold 3.6 million  copies of the game on the very first day & has since gone on to sell more than 25 million copies worldwide & has been rated by some critics as one of the best console game of all time. So the new game in the highly successful albeit controversial video game series by developers Rockstar is definitely the most anticipated game this year.

It doesn't matter if you're an avid gamer or someone who on occasion might decide to play a video game, the GTA series has been able to attract all kinds of gamers. From stealing cars, to shooting, racing, driving boats, airplanes, helicopters etc there is so much that can be done when not following the main story line missions (which are incredibly well written). Almost everything in these games is done well from the environments to the gameplay mechanics to even the soundtrack.

So whats new in GTA V??

Well apart from a huge improvement in graphics from GTA 4, quite a lot. A highly detailed motion capture which was used in another of Rockstar's game LA Noire has been incorporated in GTA 5 and shows greater detail of facial expressions of characters. Now for the first time instead of one protagonist there are 3, which the player can switch from during certain missions, also when not on a mission the player can switch to any one of these characters. The setting for this game is a city called Los Santos, which is basically Los Angeles. The game includes more vehicles than any other GTA with the reintroduction of airplanes back to the series with fighter jet & other such aircrafts, also with submarines, bikes, helicopters, jet skis, ATV's & more number of cars, this should keep a lot of fans of the series happy. The driving mechanics have been significantly improved from GTA 4, & said to be more like a racing game rather than its predecessor. Also Fighting mechanics have improved & a new feature where the player can "flip-off" people has been added to the game ( which is pretty interesting). Also each protagonist has their own hobbies such as base jumping, jet skiing, yoga, triathlons,tennis, scuba diving or even going to the gym. Animals have also been introduced into the game, which is a first in the series such as dogs & sharks.

GTA V's single-player story is told through three player-controlled protagonists. They are Michael, Trevor and Franklin, criminals whose stories interconnect as they complete missions together. During story missions, the player can switch between the protagonists as they work together to accomplish an objective; in one such mission, Michael rappels down the side of a building, Franklin provides covering fire with a sniper rifle, and Trevor controls the getaway helicopter.


Premise of the game

The narrative of the game follows three characters with interconnected stories. Michael is a retired former bank robber in his early forties who lives with hisdysfunctional family on the proceeds of his former life in the upper-class suburb of Rockford Hills, based on Beverly Hills. Trevor Phillips, his former partner, lives alone in a trailer in the desert of Blaine County, his reckless and psychopathic behaviours being fuelled by a drug addiction. Franklin makes a living in Vespucci Beach — based on Venice Beach — as a repo man for an unscrupulous Armenian car dealership. The three acquaintances are drawn into Los Santos' criminal underworld "in the pursuit of the almighty American dollar". According to Dan Houser (writer of the GTA series), each of the protagonists is unlike any primary character that has appeared in a Grand Theft Auto title to date: Michael represents a protagonist who "won" and is now trying to adjust to life after his story has come to an end; Trevor is styled after a supporting character who has been re-cast in the role of protagonist; and Franklin is someone who has had no real exposure to a life of crime until the events of the game.


Though there is some terribly bad news for PC gamers, there has been NO news of a GTA V for the PC. Only a PS3 & Xbox 360 version is said to be released this spring.
GTA 5 trailer #2..Enjoy

So Long 2012!!!

Well the end of the year is upon us, time to recap on all the major events that took place over the year. From Box-Office blockbusters like the highly anticipated Avengers movie & The Dark Knight Rises to the London Olympics ( where the fastest man on the planet - Usain Bolt broke his own record & Micheal Phelps became the most decorated olympic athelete of all time ). The reigning European & World champions the Spanish national football team retaining their European title to Manchester City winning the Barclays Premier League in such dramatic fashion in extra time to Felix Baumgartner's stratosphere jump. On the national side FDI in Multi Brand Retail bill was passed by parliament & Starbucks entered the Indian markets. Guns N'Roses, Megadeth, Children Of Bodom, Slayer all played in India in 2012. Disney acquired Lucas Films which has led some to speculate over a seventh Star Wars film being in production (which I sincerely hope is not true). Gangnam Style by Korean superstar Psy became the most watched clip on YouTube with more than One Billion Views. Obama was re-elected & the Mayan Apocalypse which was supposed to happen on the 21st of December, never happened.


There was a lot of terrible things which also happened this year such as the National shame with the recent events in Delhi.Top Banks around the world being involved in money laundering rackets for drug dealers,terrorist organizations etc. Lance Armstrong's doping scandal & the death of the original moon walker Neil Armstrong.

Here's hoping that 2013 turns out better than 2012, enjoy the clips below which recap some of the most popular events of 2012.

 A recap of the year by the folks at JibJab. They make pretty good satirical cartoons depicting some of the most popular events of the year.

YouTube made its own annual recap video of all the videos which went viral this year.

And for all you movie buffs the picture below shows the release dates of some of the biggest blockbusters releasing next year.

Here's to wishing you'll a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!& the hope that 2013 turns out better than 2012.

A Christmas to Remember

Well it is just 2 more days to Christmas, so I thought this post would be fitting. I know Christmas has been heavily commercialized over the past many years & the priorities of people have changed over the years. This festival & season is meant to be the season of joy & giving, where we can embrace that better side of us  & be more generous, forgiving, caring than we have been all year long. It’s something about this time of year that does this, maybe it’s because it’s the end of the year that we tend to look back & reflect on what we have done & try make up for what we've done all year long. Well anyway nowadays people would rather get the new iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy 3 & other such materialistic things that we tend to lose focus on what I would consider more important human values like generosity or putting aside petty differences etc.

Christmas 1914

This story is about the Christmas of 1914, back during the First World War. It was in the first year of the Great War in the trenches in Europe, Where this incredible story takes place. On Christmas Eve during the frigid cold winter in the region of Ypres, Belgium, German soldiers began decorating their trenches to celebrate the festival after months of fierce & bloody fighting; this was done to improve morale amongst soldiers in the freezing cold trenches. The story goes on that the German soldiers began placing candles on their trenches & decorated Christmas trees & started singing carols. Upon hearing this, the British responded by singing as well. Greetings were exchanged across the trenches from one side to another & an unofficial cease fire took place.

illustration of the truce

The guns & artillery had fallen silent in many sectors across Europe, in some places the cease fire lasted till the New Year. It was said that on that Christmas in 1914, German & British soldiers exchanged gifts of whatever they had on them like food rations, tobacco & alcohol in No Man’s Land. Also there was a friendly game of football between the two sides.

German & British soldiers playing football

The whole point of this story was to highlight the fact the incredible nature of the Human spirit & the good that can happen even during one of the darkest times in human history. And maybe we can find that little bit of good in us, set aside petty differences we have with certain people, forgive those who have wronged us or be generous.

Anyway I hope you’ll liked the story, I didn’t mean to sound too preachy.

Hope you’ll have a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!!!

Top 10 lead guitarist cliches

This is a brilliant article from - www.ultimate-guitar.com of some of funny but true cliched things that lead guitarist of some of the biggest rock bands of all time are known for.

Angus Young (AC/DC)

 

                      Slash (Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver)        Pete Townshend (The Who)

Here are the Top Ten Lead Guitarist Cliches -

10. Leather Trousers

Always wear leather. Leather is the world's hardest-rocking material. And leather doesn't have to be washed often, which works great on tour.

9. Sunglasses Everywhere

Whether you're indoors/outside, whether it's day/night or whether it's hot/cold, sunglasses must always be worn.

8. Multi-Neck Guitars

We don't need these most of the time, but we play the because they look cool. People will disagree and say that they are extremely useful, but ask yourself this question: How many songs do I know that require you to shift from a regular 6-string to a 12-string in a second or two? None.

7. Wall Of Marshall Amplifiers

It doesn't have to be Marshalls, but a wall of amps or at least 5 or 6 is essential. NO COMBO AMPS!

6. Odd Head-Wear

Everyone has had some sort of strange head-wear at one stage or another. Guitarists such as Slash, Angus Young and Jimmy Page are no strangers to odd head-wear.

5. The Trophy Wife

You gotta get a nice beautiful wife to go with your beautiful guitars.

4. Signature/Vandalised Gear

You either got signature gear or you have gear that you've vandalised so much it sort of is signature gear. (Kurt Cobain and his legendary sticker on his strat: Vandalism; beautiful as a rock in a cop's face.)

3. Signature Stage Moves

Chuck Berry and Angus Young's "Duckwalk". Pete Townshend's "Windmill", the list goes on. But you need to make your own moves, and do them so often that every time you do it, everyone loves it.

2. Drug/Alcohol Habits

This doesn't apply to everyone but it certainly is very common. Everyone has got to know that you've done some sort of drug or had a lot of alcohol at some stages in your life.

1. Always Smoking

Again, this doesn't apply to everyone, but if you look at people like Slash, they smoke in EVERY music video, concert, CD artwork, etc. And they smoke so often the cigarette becomes a part of their body, and it makes it weird to see them without a cigarette in their mouth.

Funny Stand-Up Comic Acts

Now i know almost everyone has seen most or atleast all the funny Russell Peters or Jeff Dunham stand-up shows. But here are some funny scenes from some other stand-up show that I think you'll will enjoy.
Viewer discretion is advised. Bad language, adult themes all the usual stuff..lol.

1. Louis CK - "Why?"

2. Pablo Francisco - All about the movie previews guy

3. Chris Rock - Defending Rap Music

4. Rodney Dangerfield ( Now this may be pretty old, but classic)

Hope you'll enjoy it & if you have seen any other funny stand-up acts, please feel free to share in the comments section.

Crazy & Creative Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns

Now according to Wikipedia (since it is THE most reliable source of information, I decided to quote it), Guerrilla Marketing is " an advertising strategy in which low-cost unconventional means (graffiti, sticker bombing, flash mobs) are utilized, often in a localized fashion or large network of individual cells, to convey or promote a product or an idea. The term guerrilla marketing is easily traced to guerrilla warfare which utilizes atypical tactics to achieve a goal in a competitive and unforgiving environment."

Anyways, here's a list of 25 Guerrilla Marketing campaigns which I came across & thought were inventive, different & pretty cool.

1. 3M Security Glass

I doubt they put real money in there.

2.  A Rock Radio station promoting itself by giving away free air guitars

I wonder if I can play Stairway To Heaven on it.

3. BMW vs Audi

BMW won this round with Audi

4. A local community trying to combat drunk driving

5. A Fitness company's promo in the local buses

I can bench press around 240. what about you? 

6. Frontline flea & tick spray 

Damn fleas

7. Global Warming awareness campaign

8. Grazia

Damn Paparazzi

9. National Treasure movie promo by Star Movies

10. Kung Fu Panda movie promo

Po can kick through posters

11. Lost TV show promo

Wheres John Locke???

12. Mercedes Benz test driving promo

13. Nivea

14. Sony PSP

Wow!! This game is so realistic.

15. Ratatouille movie promo

16. National Geographic Shark Week

Jaws just claimed another victim

17. Smart Cars

Truly a 'SMART' use of ad space

18. The Sopranos TV show promo

-There's a dead body in the trunk!!! Forgeddabout it

19. Spiderman 2 movie promo

20. Superette Shorts

Thats gotta hurt.

21. True Blood TV show promo

22. Big Pilot's Watches

23. Weeds TV show promo

24. Vijay Sales Barbeque

25. Axe Deodorants

Maybe old, but still funny

Hope you'll enjoyed this list. If you do have any other creative & funny examples of Guerrilla marketing please post in the comment section below.

How Guns N' Roses rocked Bombay

GN'& f*ckin R came to Bombay Dec 9th 2012, played a three hour set & blew our minds. Ever since 1st Feb 2008, when Iron Maiden hit the stage at the MMRDA grounds in Bombay, I have waited so painfully long for the next big rock/metal act to rock the city. And the new look GN’R did exactly that.

One of the most controversial bands in music history known for living the rock n roll lifestyle to the fullest finally arrived. The concert kick-started at about 6 in the evening, with local Indian metal band “Goddess Gagged”. The band was decent, however technical difficulties such as the volume of the singers mike was not adjusted properly & was not properly audible at times. Credit has to be given to the fans waiting for GN’R to patiently endure as opposed to what happened during the Iron Maiden gig when the crowd was abusing the opening acts.

The new line-up of GnR-

Axl Rose – lead vocals (1985–present)

Dizzy Reed – keyboards, piano, percussion, backing vocals (1990–present)

Tommy Stinson – bass, backing vocals (1998–present)

Chris Pitman – keyboards, backing vocals (1998–present)

Richard Fortus – rhythm guitar (2002–present)

Frank Ferrer – drums (2006–present)

Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal – lead guitar (2006–present)

DJ Ashba – lead guitar (2009–present)

                                         

I did during the concert(while the opening band was playing) get to speak to one of the members of the organizing committee & asked him so when are GN’R taking the stage. The reply I got was – “the rest of the band was backstage, been there for more than an hour, but Axl hasn’t even left his hotel room”. I was thinking it’s so typical of Axl & his rocker like attitude turning up when he feels like. But when they turned up at 7 in the evening, they created Rock history in Mumbai. Opening with Chinese Democracy, lead guitarist DJ Ashba standing on the left of the stage with the spotlight focussed on him, rocked the opening riff with Axl bursting from the back with his typically out of this world vocals.

The other members of the new GN’R were quite solid as musicians, highly talented & extremely good. Lead Guitarist DJ Ashba broke his strings twice during the concert but made good recoveries both occasions that musically it was not noticeable.

The set list was incredible included a number of covers done very well.

Set list –

·         Chinese Democracy

·         Welcome to the Jungle

·         It’s So Easy

·         Mr. Brownstone

·         Estranged

·         Rocket Queen

·         Richard Fortus Guitar Solo (Blacklight Jesus of Transylvania)

·         Live and Let Die (Wings cover)

·         This I Love

·         Better

·         Motivation (Tommy Stinson on lead vocals, with band introductions)

·         Dizzy Reed Piano Solo (No Quarter by Led Zeppelin)

·         Catcher in the Rye

·         Street of Dreams

·         There Was a Time

·         You Could Be Mine

·         DJ Ashba Guitar Solo (Ballad of Death)

·         Sweet Child O’ Mine

·         Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 (Pink Floyd cover, with Axl on piano)

·         November Rain

·         Objectify (Bumblefoot on lead vocals)

·         Don’t Cry

·         The Seeker (The Who cover)

·         Civil War

·         Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)

·         Nightrain

Encore:

·         Don’t Let It Bring You Down (Neil Young cover)

·         Patience

·         Paradise City

Axl Rose also dedicated Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door to one of his idols Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. Also during the middle of November Rain just before the main solo, the crowd was urging Lead guitarist ‘Bumblefoot’ to stand on top of the grand piano which Axl was playing. Axl stopped to take an Aspirin claiming he had a headache. But the true reason was that was a signature Slash like behaviour, who he personally hates & hence that didn’t happen & and he continued the song after that.

There was a couple of disappointing things; there was a bit of a technical glitch where Axl’s mike was not as loud as it should have been with respect to the other instruments. Also age has seemed to have caught up with him & it could be seen in his voice, but he still pulled of an incredible set.

The show ended with a big finish with Paradise City, at the end of which did something I never expected any band to do. Axl threw his microphone into the audience & gave a word of advice after thanking the crowd & saying how the band have wanted to come to India for so long (25 years) and that was to stay away from the Po-Po(Police).

After this incredible show, I just wonder how incredible were the original Guns N’ Roses with Slash, Duff & Izzy.

Nokia maps versus Google Maps

Well over the past few years when we have think of maps for mobile phone users, Google Maps has been miles ahead of the competition. However the new look Nokia maps does look like it can give Google a run for its money.

Nokia as we all know once upon a time used to dominate the mobile handset market, but with the advent of the Open Source Android OS & the Apple iOS, the old Symbian OS which Nokia used looked almost prehistoric compared to its new rivals. But the new revamped Nokia incorporating the radically new Windows 8, it seems like Nokia is getting ready to make a comeback

.

As part of the new revamping of Nokia, the new Nokia maps which used to be called Ovi Maps earlier do have more features than Google or Apple maps. Nokia also has a larger database of countries than any other rival. But the most exciting feature is the Augmented Reality feature which is software that gives dynamic information about users' surroundings. It also has free of charge turn-by-turn voice guided navigation, which can also be used without internet connection using preloaded maps.

Screenshot of Nokia City Lens

The biggest advantage that Nokia maps have over its rivals is that entire country or city maps can be downloaded & the user can use them without requiring a data connection (GPRS connection) while using them, whereas Google maps do have a small cache of data during offline mode but not enough to cover an entire city & Apple maps just can’t operate without a data connection.

The below table is collective data comparing NOKIA, GOOGLE & APPLE maps.

	NOKIA MAPS	GOOGLE MAPS	APPLE MAPS
Works without data connection (offline mode)	YES	No	No
Turn By Turn Navigation	110+ countries	39 countries	56 countries
Public Transport	500+ Cities/Urban Areas	500+ Cities/ Urban Areas	0 Cities/Urban Areas
3D	Nokia City lens	Google Earth	Flyovers
Orientation	Augmented Reality	Google Street View	No
Venue Maps	38 Countries	4 Countries	0 Countries

However Google Maps do link quite well with some of the apps that Google has to offer such as Google goggles, which is Google’s answer for Nokia’s City lens. Currently Google Maps is the number 1 mobile map application, however with the numerous features Nokia Maps have to offer the competition is heating up in this space.

Starbucks India's Report Card..so far

Well Starbucks is finally here in India, the first Starbucks cafe opened in Mumbai this October followed quickly by 2 other cafes in the city. To be quite frank & honest, I honestly didn't think Starbucks would be able to find it's place in the Indian market, as the average Indian palette has a greater inclination towards tea rather than coffee. Not only that, the price of your average Starbucks coffee is ridiculously over-priced in most countries, if you consider PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) of money in these countries in which Starbucks is present in.

But all these initial apprehensions seem to have been answered quite brilliantly by the Starbucks management. If you consider where the cafes have been setup, they all are in locations in which the local residents have greater amounts of disposable income, especially in south Mumbai, so close to causeway & the Taj hotel has to be a brilliant location for Starbucks to cater for its target market of Foreign citizens, High level executives & rich brats. The ambiance provided by Starbucks also gives you the real feel like you are in a proper Cafe that we are so used to see in movies & TV shows, its very calming & very relaxing. Pricing seems to be similar to Barista (which is struggling), Costa Coffee & Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. So its pretty safe to say that they are not wasting time on a mass market strategy & only looking at the niche market.

Now from my personal experience the coffee & frappucinos were pretty diluted, granted the quantity was value for money, even the smallest frappucino is pretty filling. The food products like muffins, sandwiches etc are pretty good, though slightly pricey(starting at around Rs. 100) are still value for money. 

Starbucks Mumbai

Another thing I found a little stupid was the size variations that Starbucks offers are - Tall, Grande & Venti (instead of Small, Medium & Large). All of them are synonyms for large, guess its a strategy to make their customer feel like they are getting more value than they actually are.

All in all the decisions the Starbucks top management made while entering Indian markets seemed to have been spot on, including entering India through a Joint Venture with Tata Tea was also a brilliant idea.

One of the concerns I heard from an American visiting India a couple months ago was that if Starbucks takes over the Indian markets, like it has abroad. What would happen to the local "chai-wallas"??  I honestly feel that both can co-exist as the target market segments for both are very different. In fact the possibility of overlapping customers just does not seem possible. Lets see what the future has in store for Starbucks in India as of now with the huge queues waiting outside their cafes, it seems their initial steps in India have been very successful.