Microsoft sells 4 million Windows 8 upgrades in 3 days

 
Yesterday at Build, Microsoft’s annual developer conference, the company announced that it had already sold four million Windows 8 upgrade licenses in just three days. While the number may sound quite extreme, it should also be noted that Apple was not far behind with its OS X Mountain Lion upgrades, which totaled to three million in four days.
When one takes into account the gargantuan difference in user base between Windows and OS X, then frankly the numbers look meek. Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer has made a bold claim saying that it will sell 400 million new Windows 8 licenses in a year, but this claim does not seem far-fetched considering the new reduced price of a Windows 8 upgrade.
Additionally, the company claimed that it has already sold tens of millions of OEM licenses for Windows 8. While this is all an attempt to woo the developers at Build to pump the app ecosystem for Win RT apps on Windows 8 and Windows RT, the fact remains every PC that will ship will be running Windows 8 and it’s hard to fathom Microsoft not reaching that 400 million target, especially at the pace it has begun.

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Why popping pills is dangerous for you

 
Scene 1: My annoying headache refuses to go away, so I’ll just take an extra painkiller – after all what harm could one tablet cause? 
Scene 2: Nowadays I don’t have time to eat a proper meal, so I should start having more multivitamin and supplement capsules.
Scene 3: Tomorrow’s big exam requires a night-out, so let me try the magic tablets that increase a person’s focus and learning speed.
Scene 4: I am very nervous about the presentation tomorrow, should I consider taking an anti-anxiety medication to calm my nerves?
Scene 5: Its 1 am and sleep is nowhere in sight, perhaps a couple of sleeping pills will do the trick.
Have you experienced any or all of the above scenarios? Individually, each circumstance can lead to the harmful slippery slope of random over-medication and combined these situations may have dangerous results.

The term “popping pills” refers to the accidental or intentional intake of more-than-recommended dose of a drug. A drug is a chemical substance that changes the way a body functions and is used for medical (treat diseases), performance enhancing (modify physical features) or recreational (alter mental behavior) purpose. The most frequently overused or abused drugs include over-the-counter or prescribed painkillers, anti-depressants, vitamins, supplements, weight loss aids and performance enhancing drugs. 

Why is over-medication a problem?
 A person’s ability to “handle” any medication depends on his or her weight and health status as well as the strength of the drug. All medications have a limit in terms of the amounts in which they can be consumed over a given period of time. Overdosing occurs when a person takes one or more drugs in quantities that the body is unable to process and may lead to fatal disruption in the functioning of the brain or heart and other side effects.
Accidental medication overdose in children is tragic and often preventable.
The table below outlines commonly over-used drugs and their serious side-effects.

Type of Drug/Medication	Overdose Symptoms
Painkillers (acetaminophen, hydrocodone)	High-level drowsiness, unable to concentrate, low energy, cold and clammy skin, constricted pupils, constipation, nausea, trouble in breathing, convulsions
Antidepressants (sedatives, anti-anxiety drugs, sleeping-inducing pills popularly known as ‘sleeping pills’)	Slow breathing, low blood pressure, vomiting, irregular heart rate, confusion, lethargy, seizures, loss of consciousness, shock, death
Narcotics (popularly known as ‘drugs’ e.g. opiates such as heroin, morphine, codeine)	Pinpoint pupils, sleepiness, low blood pressure, reduced heart rate and breathing
Vitamins and Supplements	Specific to the vitamin or supplement, for example, bleeding (vitamin E), diarrhoea (vitamin C, zinc), nausea, blurred vision, dizziness (vitamin A), hair loss, nerve damage (selenium)
Psychostimulants (used to treat attention deficit disorders e.g. Ritalin)	Abdominal cramps, aggressiveness, confusion, depression, fatigue, hallucinations, high fever, irregular blood pressure and heartbeat, nausea, panic, rapid breathing, restlessness, diarrhoea, vomiting, tremor, convulsions or coma
Performance enhancing drugs (steroids, growth hormones, creatine)	Severe dehydration, abnormal physical growth, emotional instability, liver damage, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke
Diet Pills	Tremors, convulsions, confusion, hallucinations, breathing problems, kidney failure, heart attack
Birth control pills or oral contraceptives (prescription medicines to prevent pregnancy)	Tenderness in the breast, change in urine color, sleepiness, extreme vaginal bleeding, headache, disturbed mind, nausea and rashes.

If you notice any of the aforementioned symptoms stop taking the pills and immediately contact a medical care professional.

How is drug over-dosage diagnosed?
Diagnosis involves a careful evaluation of the patient’s medical and personal history in terms of health conditions, list of medications, diet and lifestyle habits. Often medications taken in combination with alcohol or certain foods increase the level of damage. Blood and screening tests are performed to determine the level of drugs present in the body, changes in critical elements such as calcium and potassium as well as the extent of injury to the liver and kidney.

How is drug over-dosage treated?
Immediate course of treatment includes removing the drug from the patient’s body. Vomiting is induced – only in a conscious patient – to eliminate remaining drug from the stomach. Activated charcoal may be applied to soak-up the left over drug. The patient’s stomach may be “pumped”, that is, the contents are removed via a tube and the stomach is rinsed with salt water. Faster clearance of the drug from the body is aided by inducing urination or defecation.
Other emergency actions include restoring breathing and blood pressure. Intravenous (IV) fluids such as saline (salt water), dextrose (sugar water) and electrolytes (sodium, potassium, and bicarbonate solution) are given to re-establish the body’s fluid and mineral balance. Hemodialysis, filtering of the blood through a machine, may be performed to remove drugs from the blood – especially if there is extensive damage to the kidneys.
Antidotes, medications that neutralize or reduce effects of the overdosed drug, are specific to the overdosed drugs. Some examples of antidotes are N-acetylcysteine for acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose and Naloxone for narcotic (heroin, morphine, codeine) poisoning.
The patient also requires a psychological assessment to determine underlying mental conditions that may have resulted in excessive use of medications.
Community-based awareness and education programs are essential in the prevention of (accidental or intentional) medication overdose. Overuse of medications and supplements can be stopped by building an understanding of how drugs affect the body plus safe approaches to increasing mental and physical well-being.

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Midnight’s Children movie review: A stunning achievement!

Cineswami feels Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children is a film South Asians will love although its initial reviews in the West were not positive

To even attempt filming a book that was widely considered impossible to film is praiseworthy in itself. And to tackle a much-loved book that carries the burden of so much acclaim, not to mention winning the Booker and Booker of Bookers is worth some kudos. But for Deepa Mehta to have pulled off the feat of translating Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children to celluloid and managing to make it for the most part engaging cinema is deserving of the highest praise.
The film is essentially the story of Saleem Sinai, a boy born on the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, that precise, joyous moment when India gained independence from the colonial yoke. Saleem is actually not born into the wealthy Sinai family. He is in fact the bastard child of an eccentric Englishman, William Methwold and Vanita, the wife of the itinerant accordionist Wee Willie Winkie. However, hospital nurse Mary Pereira, in a fit of revolutionary fervour decides to give a rich baby a poor life and vice versa. So she switches Vanita’s baby, born at the exact same time as Saleem with that of Mrs Sinai. Thus the real Sinai heir is brought up as Shiva, a glowering child, simmering with rage at his poverty, reduced to barking in time with his accordionist father’s off-key rendition of ‘How much is that doggie in the window’. Meanwhile, a repentant Mary quits her job at the hospital and joins the Sinai household as Saleem’s ayah. As Saleem grows, he discovers that he can telepathically communicate with hundreds of children who have been born in the hour after midnight on August 15 and he alone has the power to unite them. Each of these children has a special power and is meant for a great calling. Amongst these is Parvati, who has magical powers. The destinies of Saleem, Shiva and Parvati are inextricably linked in the tumultuous years following India’s independence, as events like wars with Pakistan, the formation of Bangladesh and the Emergency unfold.
Rushdie’s novel is dense, layered, complex and magic realist and the author has done a commendable job of condensing it into a screenplay, his debut in the format. It helps that significant passages are told in voice-over, in Rushdie’s own distinctive voice. Inevitably, transposing a 446-page book into a 146-minute movie means some sacrifices and therefore some characters and events have had to be excised, but the film is none the poorer for it.
Mehta’s career has lurched from the sublime (1947: Earth) to the ridiculous (Bollywood Hollywood) and though Water earned her an Oscar nomination and was stunning to look at, it was badly let down by the casting of the ever-wooden John Abraham in a central role. In Midnight’s Children, Mehta gets the casting mostly right. Debutant Satya Bhabha passes muster in the central role of Saleem, but it is Siddharth who has the most commanding screen presence as Saleem’s nemesis Shiva. After failing abjectly in her last international film The Other End Of The Line, Shriya Saran is luminous as Parvati. Other standouts include the ever-reliable Shahana Goswami as Saleem’s mother Amina, Seema Biswas as Mary, and Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Picture Singh, a gnarled snake charmer. And Ronit Roy reprises his glowering father from Udaan. Shabana Azmi plays herself, a shrew, and the stiff Rahul Bose is perfectly cast as a stiff army man. But there are missteps too. Soha Ali Khan is woefully miscast as Saleem’s sister Jamila. Her character is based on the nightingale of Pakistan, Noor Jehan, and casting Soha is as insulting as Veena Malik playing Lata Mangeshkar in a biopic. Try as she might, Soha looks like her brother Saif Ali Khan in drag, during his younger, more feminine looking days. Clearly none of the Sharmila Tagore acting genes has been transferred to her.
But these are minor quibbles in a film, a grand spectacle that takes in the sweep of sub-continental history in a flourish thanks to Mehta’s confident direction, Giles Nuttgens’s lavish cinematography and Nitin Sawhney’s outstanding score. It’s all the more remarkable for the fact that, thanks to her experience with fundamentalists during Water, Mehta chose to film in Sri Lanka and has managed to recreate India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the island country with nary a seam showing.
However, many overseas critics have been left cold by Mehta’s vivid film and reviews have not been great. They can be forgiven as only audiences with beating South Asian hearts for whom our history is embedded in our DNA will truly be immersed in the film, and immersive it is, without a trace of ennui. It is sad that if Indian audiences do get to see the film, it will be a censored version as, like the book, the movie is heavily critical of the Emergency and Indira Gandhi’s role in it. And, since we live in the world’s largest democracy, freedom of expression is not allowed. Pity, because the film is an allegory for India’s progress or lack thereof in the 40-odd years after independence, as exemplified by the titular midnight’s children, all of whom are supposed to attain greatness, but don’t.

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TALAASH music review: Slick and groovy!

The Aamir Khan-Rani Mukerji-Kareena Kapoor starrer Talaash directed by Reema Kagti is a thriller; obviously there is not much scope for music at the script level. Ram Sampath, who has become Aamir’s favourite music director now, has been roped in to create a soundtrack that can support the genre the movie belongs to.
First up is the song Muskaanein jhooti hain. Indie artist Suman Sridhar uses her husky voice effectively in this silky smooth number. It’s as lilting as her quirky Hawa hawai from Shaitan. It’s definitely in the zone of Kaisi paheli from Parineeta, but slightly more eerie and haunting than Parineeta’s sweetly seductive track.
Certain portions of Jeele zara will probably be running through the film as part of the background score and should prove to be effective. Vishal Dadlani sings about the growing distance between two lovers in this song as Javed Akhtar writes Phir dil se dil ke pul kyun toote hain. It’s not really a unique melody, but Vishal instills enough passion into the track to keep you hooked.
The next song Jeeya lage na is virtually a jam session between Sona Mohapatra and Ravindra Upadhyay. This electro-folk fusion – techno beats, tabla and break beat samples – is a great attempt to bring new sounds into mainstream Bollywood music. The lyrics are very simple: Jeeya lage na tum bin mora, kya jaane kyun hai, kya jaane kaisi andhekhi si dor. The combination of Sona and Ravindra’s voices and the merging of various sounds makes Jeeya lage na unique.
Lakh duniya kahe starts with a piano piece and Ram Sampath’s soft voice. It’s a straightforward composition with easy lines. The orchestration and arrangement are what lift the track a notch higher.
Hona kya hai has the Aaj ki raat (from Don) hangover, except this one’s heavier. It’s a groovy number packed with beats, but not on par with the rest of the tracks.
Talaash’s soundtrack is slick, groovy and situational, and will work best in the context of the film.

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Is Katrina Kaif the perfect Bond girl for Shahrukh Khan?

As soon as the Baadshah revealed his desire to play the 007 spy, we set out on a hunt to find the perfect Bond girl for him. And here’s what we discovered!

Shahrukh Khan revealed that playing the role of James Bond rules his wish list. Remember his tweet-confession? And it might continue to be just a ‘wish’ till Daniel Craig steps back and the Bond-makers decide to advertise a vacancy. But we’re not the ones to patiently twiddle our thumbs while waiting for the international hunks to make way for our desi dude. So we decided to make good use of our roving eye and begin the search for the quintessential desi Bond Girl.

So who could it be, we wondered aloud. And carefully picked six B-town babes – Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, Kangna Ranaut, Anushka Sharma and Chitrangda Singh – who, we thought, could fit into the spiked stilettos of their international counterparts really well.

And do you know who according to our readers suited the role really well? Katrina Kaif! Yup, the lady who’s experimented with action in Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger and who will also be seen whipping the heroes of Dhoom:3 into place with her stunts (pssst…we’ve heard she has more action sequences to her credit than Aamir Khan!).
But that doesn’t mean Kat’s contenders – Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone – were ignored. Hell, no! While the Barbie doll ruled the poll with 36.26 percent votes, Dippy with 30.18 percent and Piggy Chops with 29.49 percent followed close behind.

So there, BollywoodLifers – you have chosen the perfect Bond Girl for Shahrukh Khan. Now over to you, SRK – do you agree with us?

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Honda Brio ships to South Africa

First batch of export includes 390 cars, to go on sale in South Africa in December.

Honda India has finally flagged off the first consignment of cars for the South African market. The first model to leave India's port is the Brio, which is planned to reach Honda South Africa's showrooms by December this year. 

The Brio exported from India is similar to the one we have in the market here, but with a few market dependent changes. Both Manual and Automatic versions of the small car are planned to be exported. The first consignment has a total of 390 cars, while they target to export around 1600 cars by March 2013.

Apart from announcing this significant move Honda India in presence of Mr. Hironori Kanayama, President and CEO of Honda Cars India Limited made a few other announcements too:

First, none of the current generation cars will get diesel power plants, which could only mean that a new car is on it's way. Don't even think that Honda's not bringing a diesel engine, because they have learnt about Indians' love for diesel the hard way and that's a lesson they will never forget.

Honda plans to bring the Brio sedan in the next fiscal year i.e. after March 2013. And like most of you must have guessed till now, the Brio based sedan will be the first car to get a Honda diesel engine in India. 

Honda also mentioned that only one engine will come to India, which means they might end up doing what Renault's doing with the 1.5dCI unit.

Unfortunately that's all we know at the moment. We shall update you soon on further developments.

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Walking for weight loss

 

If there were a question as to which is the most common and non-fussy way of exercise people prefer then there’d be only one answer – walking. While walking is primarily a cardio exercise, many of us resort to it for weight loss as well. But hold your horses for a minute and think – is the way you walk really helping you lose anything except energy?
We attribute pain and injuries to the fact that we haven’t walked in a long time so it’ll obviously hurt a little but be cautious because the real reason may be that you are not striding the right way. Here are a few tips to take into account:

• Smaller steps: Subconsciously we start taking big steps which is almost like lunging ahead so that we can cover more distance but this is a bad idea because it causes a lot of strain on your feet and shins. Instead, take smaller steps – you can quicken your pace though. You can also keep a moderate pace and walk for half an hour to 60 minutes.
• Increase the distance: The more you walk, the more you stand a chance of a better workout. Increase your distance every day by half a kilometre – small enough to be easy. For those who have just begun walking, this will help build your leg muscles.
• Stretch: Before you commence your walk, remember to stretch amply in order to loosen up those muscles – and not just your legs but your entire body. This helps avoid the sore pain the next day. Stretching should also be done after a walk.
• Watch your pace: How quick is quick, you might be wondering. To begin with, don’t stroll. Walk fast enough so that you can still talk but your breathing is harder than usual.  Increase your pace as the week passes because you are stronger now.
• Limb movements: Don’t walk like a robot – let your shoulders move naturally and swing your arms in a natural motion; don’t try to keep them tight by your side. Keep your elbows close to your body. Don’t look down when you walk – keep your chin parallel to the ground.
• Take a break: Don’t push yourself up to walking every single day – your body needs rest so take a break once in a week. If you have to exercise, opt for upper body workouts.
• Watch what you eat: If you are going to exercise, you need to keep an eye on your food intake as well, specifically calories. For women, 1200 calories and for men or active women 1500-1600 calories is the upper limit.
• Track your progress: Get yourself some digital assistance to progress how well you are really doing. A pedometer can help you track your distances and time so that you know how far you’ve walked on any given day.
• Mix it up: If you want some variety in your walking schedule, revise your workout a little. One day you can walk slow but longer distance, the next you can walk fast for a shorter distance. This helps stave off boredom too.
• Go easy on the post-walk eating: Of course you’ve walked a long way and obviously you are hungry – you could probably eat for two tonight – don’t. For the first few days it’ll be difficult ignoring the hunger pangs you get after you’ve begun walking regularly but instead of heavy dinner (if you are an evening walker, that is), have a fruit instead or a salad.

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about walking the right way:

• Do I need special shoes?

No, because walking doesn’t need shock absorbents like running shoes do. But if you have had any past foot or knee injuries it’s best to consult your doctor in case you need some special support on your ankle. Apart from that all you need to see is that the shoe fits snugly and not tight or loose. Try walking in them and judge whether they are right for you. Needless to say, flip flops or open sandals aren’t the right footwear.

• Can I jog in intervals instead of walking continuously?

Yes. Warm up with a short walk and break into a slow jog or a run, whichever you like. If you walk for 15 minutes, you can run for 5 mins. However, once you are done jogging, start walking immediately to avoid your legs from tiring. If you take a break, it becomes difficult to run the next time.

• I listen to music while walking – is that ok?

Why not? Find yourself some peppy numbers and be on your way. It’s a great way from keeping walks dull and is a good motivating tool. Very important, however, that you make sure you pay attention to passersby and vehicles.

• Company is good, right?

Not always. While it’s good moral support to have someone along with you, you also need to make sure you don’t dawdle or that your brisk walk turns into a stroll while you gossip. Also don’t be so dependent on your companion that if they can’t walk, you have a ready excuse not to.

• Does walking on tar roads harm my knees?

A lot of experts have said that running on tarred roads does, at least over an extended period of time. This is because of the hardness of the surface the shock of which the knee can’t tolerate. It’s better to be cautious even if you are just walking, especially if you are older. Find a park or any non-tar surface to walk on. If you can find yourself a beach – great! Having a treadmill at home is also a good option but nothing beats the fresh air of outdoors.

• What if I have had a knee operation or any other kind of lower limb surgery/injury?

This cannot be stressed enough: if you have had any kind of injury, however minimal, please don’t push yourself into a walking regimen without consulting a doctor. For all you know, you’ll make it worse. Even if you’ve had a surgery, get a doctor’s opinion (and a second opinion) to make sure you are fit enough to walk. And of course, try to find a soft surface to walk on.
Walking is a great exercise option – no fuss no muss and you can go whenever you want, there’s no equipment or special workout dress code you need to follow – but walking the right way is just as important if you are looking for a weight loss option. Stick by these tips and you’ll see the difference for yourself!

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