Pic of the Day - 25th May

In this photo taken on Tuesday, May 18, 2010, a Buddhist monk prays at Kyeikhtiyoe Pagoda in Kyeikhto, about 200 kilometers northeast of Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo: AP)

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Leaf Phone Bendable Mobile Concept With Eco Charging Ability

This is another mobile phone concept named as Leaf that has been especially designed with eco charging ability. It is an inspiration of Photosynthesis and it is one of the bendable cell phones. At the same time, it can be easily wearable by the user and it can be charged through solar cells that have been placed in front of it.

Moreover, other than solar charging facility, you can charge this mobile via electricity if you want the mobile to be charged during nighttime or cloudy day.

In addition, the key objective of this concept is to bring an awareness about their contribution to energy efficient while using an innovative, at the same time more with a smart look. The names of the designer of the Leaf mobile phone concept are Seungkyun Woo and Junyi Heo.

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Install 59 Essential Software For Windows With Just A Click

Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7? Well, it’s going to take you years if you were to download dozens of essential software like Firefox, Windows Live Messenger and WinRAR to your fresh Windows build. This is when Ninite comes in really handy.

Dubbed as “the easiest way to get apps”, this simple but very useful tool allows Windows users to bulk download and install up to 59 popular PC applications with just one double-click.

To start, simply head to Ninite and select the apps you want by checking the boxes, download the Ninite installer, then enjoy a cup of espresso while it does all the work for you. The service installs apps with default settings and say “no” to browser toolbars and other junk. It frequently updates the list with the latest versions of the apps to ensure what you get is not outdated.

Currently, there are 59 apps listed on Ninite. Basically, I can find all the essential software I need on the site, be it web browsers (Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera), messaging clients (Skype, Windows Messenger), media players (iTunes, VLC, Spotify), imaging software (Picasa, GIMP), document readers (Office, OpenOffice, Adobe Reader), anti-virus software (AVG), and many more.

The folks there plan to to offer business accounts with premium features like local download caching, network share download caching, and a silent mode.

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10 Tips and Tricks to Make Your Computer Faster

Is your computer not running at the same speed that it used to run when you first had it? It's probably way slower now that when you first used it and it takes a while to start which tests your patience. There are a lot of reasons for this to occur, so lets try fixing some of these up on your slow computer.

Here are 10 tips and tricks to make your computer faster:

Slow Start Up
There can be a number of reasons to Windows loading very slowly when starting up. What you want to do is to go to Run, type "msconfig" and hit enter. A new window should appear and under the ‘Start Up’ tab, you need to uncheck the unwanted programs and press OK. Once you've rebooted Windows you should notice things will run a bit smoother.

Oh yeah, another program I thought will be very useful to speed up your computer is StartUp Delayer which will help in setting after how much time programs should be loaded after Windows boots. For example, you could set your instant messenger program to load 50 seconds after Windows starts up so that not all the programs try to start at the same time.

Slow Loading Start Menu
If the Start Menu items are loading slowly, which it normally is when everything else it slow, you can open the Registry Editor by typing in the Run menu ‘regedit.exe’ and pressing Enter. Next, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Find "MenuShowDelay", and double click to edit the value. The lower the number specified, the faster the Start Menu will load - the faster your computer will perform.

Slow Right Click Context Menu
Your Right Click menu on your computer is probably loading slow because too many programs have added unwanted entries there. What you need to do is just download this program called Mmm, install it and then modify your context menu to remove unwanted items which will speed it up.

Slow Send To Menu
When the Send To menu loads slowly, you can type ’sendto’ in the Run Dialog, and remove any unwanted items in the Explorer Window that appears. This should add some speed to it and speed up your computer.

Slow loading My Computer Window
If the My Computer Window loads slowly, in the Explorer Window, go to Tools > Folder Options > View. A new window should appear and you want to uncheck ‘Automatically search for network folders and printers” This should speed it up.

Slow loading Add or Remove Programs Applet
This really is one of the most ANNOYING piece of programs present in Windows, it takes ages to load when you have a considerable number of programs installed on your computer. You can either use the all-in-one CCleaner for this purpose, or get MyUninstaller that comes as a speedy replacement for Add or Remove Programs. If you download any of those two programs, you won't really need to go to Add or Remove Programs as it can all be done with CCleaner and MyUninstaller. This should speed up the process.

Slow Defragmentation
The Windows Defragmenter can’t get any slower, can it? You want to have an alternative to the Windows Defragmenter, and Defraggler is just one of the best ones available in the market. It’s free, and works like a charm which can speed up defragmentation manifold.

Slow Ending of Unresponsive Programs
If you’ve clicked on ‘End Task’ if any program is running unresponsive, you might have noticed that the program is not shut down straightaway, rather it takes time. You can change this by going to Run > regedit.exe > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\ and change this value to 1000 which means it will shut it down faster, thus speeding your computer up.

Disable Animations and Appearance Overhauls to maximize performance
If you don't really mind that your Windows isn't very eye catching then this is great for you. Go to System Properties in the Control Panel. Click on ‘Advanced’, then ‘Performance’ and click ‘Adjust for best performance’. This will boost your PC’s performance up a bit - depending on your current settings of course.

Tips:
- Don’t keep installing software. Install a program only if it really serves you a purpose.
- Keep as less programs as possible running on the System Tray. This essentially means reducing the number of programs that start during Windows start up.
- If your computer boots slow, i suggest using Bootvis to speed it up.

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Monica Bellucci gives birth to baby girl

Italian actress Monica Belluci has become a mother again after giving birth to a baby girl named Leonie.

The 45-year-old Matrix star and her French actor husband Vincent Cassel, already have a five-year-old daughter Deva, reported Daily Star online.

Leonie was born in Rome on Friday, Belluci announced on the Italian edition of Vanity Fair website. "She has arrived, a pretty little brunette. It was a natural birth and the labour lasted two and a half hours," said Belucci.

Leonie weighed 3.2 kilogrammes, said the new mother who has been married to Cassel, 43, since 1999. In a recent issue of Vanity Fair Italy, which included a photograph of the glamorous actress during her pregnancy, Bellucci commented on giving birth in her forties.

She said it took "courage to have children late because of the risks for yourself and for the child".
But she added that she considered herself "very lucky" to have had a healthy first child "by natural birth like a peasant woman from Umbria", the region of Italy where the actress was born.

Bellucci, a former model, has appeared in Hollywood films such as The Matrix, The Brothers Grimm and Don't Look Back.

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Orlando Bloom to play villain in The Three Musketeers

Pirates of the Caribbean star Orlando Bloom is all set to play the main villain, the Duke of Buckingham, in The Three Musketeers.

The British star, who shot to global fame playing fantasy characters in Lord of the Ring and Caribbean franchise, will play a villain "so cool that you can chop him into cubes and serve with vodka", Ace Showbiz reported.

The 33-year-old star will play the arch-nemesis to the Musketeers in the film, which is basedon Alexandre Dumas' novel of the same name. The film is being directed by Paul W S Anderson.

Other names who have been previously reported among the cast ensemble are Christoph Waltz as Cardinal Richelieu, Logan Lerman as D'Artagnan, Matthew MacFadyen as Athos, Ray Stevenson as Porthos, Luke Evans as Aramis, Milla Jovovich as M'lady De Winter and Mads Mikkelsen as Rochefort. As for the depicter of Queen Anne, Empire Online claims Juno Temple is in talks to take the role.

The 3-D action adventure movie is scheduled to start shooting later this summer for a summer 2011 release.

"We are definitely modernising The Three Musketeers without compromising the fun of shooting a period piece. But in our film, corsets and feathered hats don't take center stage. Our version is rich in eye-popping action, romance and adventure," the director had said about the project.

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The Back-Up Plan - Review

Story: Jennifer Lopez needs a change in her life. She gives up her high profile corporate job, opens a pet shop, finds a sperm donor, goes in for artificial insemination and is all ready for single motherhood, until she meets Alex O'Loughlin, the cheese farmer with loads of charisma. Has she got the order wrong by becoming pregnant first and finding the man of her dreams later? Tough dilemma!

Movie Review: Sweet, sentimental and harmless fun, this rom-com gently cruises along the usual path of candle-lit romance, bedroom encounters, lover's brawls, passionate re-unions and some humour too, with a support group of single mothers trying to have fun in no-man's land.

Jennifer Lopez thinks she's got her life all neatly planned out with her pet shop, her disabled pet (an adorable dog), her spunky nana and her decision to be a single mother who buys a sperm off the shelf simply because she believes there are no perfect men left. Little does she know that life ain't exactly a bundle of neat plans. All the order in her life goes for a toss when she meets the hunky cheese farmer who sells goat cheese at a neighbourhood farmer's market and proposes to set up shops that sell local food only. Dream man, yes. But would he be ready to play daddy too? Specially when he isn't too sure that he likes kids and the friendly neighbourhood dad describes fatherhood as mostly an awful experience interspersed with some incredible moments.

It may be nothing to rave about, yet, The Back-Up Plan is good while it lasts, with Jennifer Lopez managing to hold your attention with her attempt at motherhood.

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Shrek Forever After - Review

Story: Shrek is bored with domesticity. He hates changing diapers, celebrating his kids' birthdays and settling down to a happily-ever-after life with wife Fiona and his family of three little ogres. So, he decides to go back to his carefree ogre days and signs a contract, bartering away his present life for a picture perfect past, with the evil Rumplestiltskin. But he soon begins to miss his family and wants to get back to the present. Is there a way back....

Movie Review: Midlife crisis, Shrek (Mike Myers)? Yup. Specially when you are forced to rise and shine everyday with the cheery cackle of your brood; when you must burp and feed them and dabble with ogre shit relentlessly; when you must parrot `Ever After' each time wife Fiona (Cameron Diaz) mumbles `Happily' on the dinner table; when you can't snooze in your favourite chair because high-spirited friends, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss (Antonio Banderas) want to spent some quality buddy time with you. And more importantly, when you are denied that one single pleasure of yours due to pressing house work: a relaxed mud bath, while the Carpenters blare their popular `Top of the World' number.

So what does our friendly neighbourhood ogre do to get back his roar and stop being a jolly green joke? He signs a contract with the wicked character from the Brothers Grimm, Rumplestiltskin, turns his back to his friends and family, yells on wife Fiona and returns to a time when he wasn't born. This being a time when Donkey was a slave to the witches, Puss was an overweight domestic cat and Fiona was leading a band of rebel ogres to free Far, Far Away land from the misrule of Rumplestiltskin. But it doesn't take long before the green ogre realises he has ended up with a raw deal. Since he hasn't actually been born, the day will end with his end too and he will never be able to return to his family unless he manages to snatch one true kiss with Fiona. Now that ain't an easy task because Fiona is in militant feminist form, too involved in insurgency to focus on romance. How does he convince her about the happily-ever-after that lies ahead....

The popular franchise that made a hero of an anti-hero still retains its quintessential charm, even though an element of deja vu has begun to set in. The voice-overs by Hollywood biggies, Myers, Diaz, Murphy and Banderas, is top class and the 3D immensely electrifying. More than the lead characters, it is Donkey and Puss who fill you with delight and end up as the more colourful characters. Of course Dreamworks' animation is as usual splendid and kaleidoscopic.

Go watch your favourite ogre live out the ugly-is-beautiful revisionist tale, once again. And make you feel good about it

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Remember Me - Review

Story: Robert Pattinson is a rebellious NYU student who's walked out on his rich daddy (Pierce Brosnan) after a family tragedy. He is able to connect only with his younger sister and his roomie and generally drifts through his daily routine, until he meets Emilie de Ravin, another grief-stricken girl who has her own ways with coping with personal loss. Romance blooms, albeit in a bitter sweet way....

Movie Review: Robert Pattinson fans, don't miss this one. The vampire truly comes of age and showcases a bite that doesn't necessarily spring from his fangs. No, this time, it's his tingling portrait of an angst-ridden young New Yorker, who prefers to slum it out rather than live with his rich, successful, yet insensitive dad (Pierce Brosnan) which creates an impact. Gone is Edward Cullen's mere beefcake appeal which is replaced by a moody, enigmatic charisma of a twenty-one year old who's still looking for meaning and motive to anchor his life.

And strangely, he shares a better chemistry here with co-brooder Emilie de Ravin than he does with his human girl friend (Kristen Stewart) in the Twilight series. What begins as a revenge relationship -- Pattinson befriends de Ravin to avenge her cop dad (Chris Cooper) -- gradually transmutes into something infinitely tender and gossamer-like. The duo discover each other slowly, through sundry strange encounters, in the dimly lit streets of New York and the crummy interiors of Pattinson's student apartment. It doesn't take them long to realise that grief and a troubled past isn't the only thing that binds them together. Gradually, they end up soothing out the rough edges in each others lives and rebuild broken bridges with estranged family. If Pattinson manages to re-connect with his abrasive lawyer dad, then de Ravin returns to her overbearing dad (Chris Cooper) who hasn't been able to forgive himself for having failed to protect his wife from a bunch of subway muggers. And then comes the climax!

Set against 9/11, Remember Me is an immensely watchable romance, even as it paints a touching picture of loss and redemption against a violence-scarred backdrop. Raise a toast for RPatz.

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IRON Man 2 - Review

Story: Tony Stark returns as the clangy hero who wants to usher in world peace with his ultimate weapon: the Iron Man armoury (read suit). But things aren't quite right. Our hero's not only got a medical condition, he's also got a new business rival, Sam Rockwell, who wants to steal his copyright and a vengeful Russian scientist, Mickey Rourke, who brandishes Star War-like sabres. Can the girls -- Gwyneth and Scarlett -- help him through this ferrous battle for power?

Movie Review: If Iron Man was introspective, interspersed with high octane action sequences, then Iron Man 2 is completely over the top and no apologies for that. And that's what makes it such great fun. Tony Stark, the eponymous hero, isn't the only person on the edge in this two-hour dhoom-dhadaka. You too seem to be sliding dangerously close to the periphery as you try and keep pace with the mad melee exploding in your face. Oh yes, we know it's totally wild; it's totally make-believe; it's Hollywood hungama unleashed....And that's what it's meant to be. So what the heck! Just sit back and see Mickey Rourke make chutney of all the fast cars in the Grand Prix or Tony Stark create chaos with his special skills in unbridled megalomaniacal shows where he fights entire armies of rival clones. And if that's not enough, there's the delightful Ms Johansson, the new aide in the Stark empire, don the leather suit and do some Keanu Reeves antics, airlifted from The Matrix series. Total paisa vasool stuff!

But please, please don't even bother about plot and credibility. Doesn't matter, even though Ms Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), the new CEO of Stark industries, does try to infuse some order in the chaos and pin down the blabbering Iron Man who seems to be hell bent on an I-Me-Myself mission. The story is just incidental. The action is incremental, as Iron Man 2 gets even more edgy than Robert Downey Jr himself. Although, we do wish Mickey Rourke had more to do than just appear menacing as the maverick Russian who loves his birdie and hates Iron Man more than anything in the world. Also, the Paltrow and Iron Man romance tends to take a back seat in the sequel with the entry of the new femme fatale: the mask-like and mysterious Scarlett Johansson. But once again, this track too doesn't reach its sizzling heights as the new lady remains impervious to Iron Man's charms. Tch Tch!

Nevertheless, the sequel is one hellish and hungama-filled ride into the world of high-octane drama. It may lack the finesse of the first film, but there's enough to keep the adrenalin pumping. Go, join the headbanger's ball!

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I'm single says Emma Watson

Harry Potter star Emma Watson has dismissed reports she's dating Spanish rocker Rafael Cebrian, telling fans she is currently single.

The actress was linked to drummer Cebrian after her split from long-term partner Jay Barrymore in March but the 20-year-old, who is currently studying at the Brown University in Rhode Island, insists Cebrian is just a friend she met at London's Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art (RADA) years ago, reports News of the world.

"I would like to clear it up. Rafael is not my boyfriend. He is a friend. We met at RADA a couple of years ago and he has showed me around university," she said.

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