January 31, 2006


Frey's Fall
You all know by now that James Frey has fallen, like those dictator statues fall: stiffly, clumsily, with plenty of applause from the same mob that cheered him until the tide turned.
Also read: Author essay

January 30, 2006


So You Wanna Be a Sportstar
Mario Garcia continues his march around the globe, unveiling the remade Sportstar, a sports weekly published in Chennai by The Hindu. It has been redesigned and converted from a magazine to tabloid format.
BBC launches educational site for children
The BBC has launched Jam, aimed at 5 to 16 year olds, offering educational activities, video games, audio and animation.
VNU snaps up the Inquirer
VNU Business Publications has bought technology news site The Inquirer for an undisclosed sum.

India in a quandary over Iran vote
India's quest for energy security may have shifted gears with the removal over the weekend of Mani Shankar Aiyar as petroleum minister and the installation of what the newspapers are calling, "the American-friendly'' Murli Deora.

January 28, 2006

And the most important trait in a mate is...
When it comes to romance, women prefer someone who tickles their funny bone while men opt for those who catch their eye.
India Is Darling of World Economic Forum
In the hot seat at Saturday's breakfast were key Indian policymakers, who came to the annual gathering with the country's top business executives for the first time to promote the nation's rising economic star.
Russians: British spied using fake rock
Intelligence agency accused four diplomats of spying -- using electronic equipment hidden inside a fake rock in a park.
No booze or jokes for Googlers in China
Search engine not only censors many Web sites that question the Chinese government, but it goes further than similar services from Microsoft and Yahoo by targeting teen pregnancy, homosexuality, dating, beer and jokes.
Exposé, statements, rebuttals
India TV & STAR India slug it out over KBC2.

January 23, 2006

And now, the News
We're taking Google News out of beta!

January 22, 2006

An oldie but goodie
The AFX news agency reported this week that Swisscom in Zurich plans to oursource its Telex business. Telex? Yes, Telex!
Kandivli Marathon
18,000... or was it 25,000 people who ran the Mumbai Marathon 2006? Don't know... don't care. If marathon's could accomplish anything Mumbai would have been a different city today.

January 18, 2006

Independent News and Media to expand in SA?
The Irish media group has hinted it may launch an Indian language newspaper in South Africa. The company owns a 26% equity share in Jagran Prakashan Ltd, the third largest newspaper publisher in India.

January 17, 2006

Newspapers should be designed for readers, not judges
SND-award-winning, world-class design will not save a newspaper.

January 13, 2006

Pardon, your dress is singing
Think those mix tapes are passé? More like haute couture.

January 11, 2006








Sharon in India
Photographs from the Internet of the Israeli prime minister.


The Man Who Would Succeed Sharon
Ehud Olmert, the stricken Prime Minister's faithful deputy, faces a tough task convincing voters that he's Sharon's political heir.

Big news at Dow Jones
When a business story breaks, you usually read all about it in the Wall Street Journal. But when the first major business story of the year broke on January 3, the paper whiffed.
Why I Hate the Internet
Two thousand years of progress and the pinnacle of mankind's achievement online is a website with photos of Paris Hilton looking like she was beaten by a former boyfriend.


Stephen Cole leaves Click Online
After nearly six years at the helm, Stephen Cole is Clicking Online for the last time, as he bows out in the final programme of 2005.
Journalists need permission to blog
Staff at The Washington Times who wish to blog must ask for permission, says editor in chief Wesley Pruden in a memo.
Headliner
First they came for the journalists
Filmmaker Rakesh Sharma sues New York
Police stopped him from shooting for a film on taxi drivers in May 2005.
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2006
All of the more than 2,000 participants, including presidents and prime ministers, will be asked to provide at least one posting for a blog.

January 10, 2006




Anatomy of a picture
British Prime Minister Tony Blair posed for the portrait in the drawing room at Chequers.

January 09, 2006

Paris Mayor: Free Internet for all
Bertrand Delanoë believes in giving free access to the Internet and wants to push development of a city wide telecom network.
Google Pack is an embarrassing mess
Paul Thurrott has reviewed the Google Pack software bundle (Windows only), and is not impressed. It's obviously a ragbag of applications, but some of them are out of date, and it doesn't deliver the claimed convenience.
Yahoo v/s Google
Google may be the darling innovator of the world, but its Yahoo which is actually doing the useful stuff, albeit without much noise and bells.

January 06, 2006

Prashant Chandra wins PC design contest
The main prize of $50,000 was won by the Indian born designer. Chandra's design might best be described as a 'clam-shell' tablet PC, designed around the idea of a backpack.


Deepend Plate
This amazing saucer combines a double walled glass plate which retains heat. Its recessed compartment allows you to keep things like sauce and honey into the plate without mixing them with the other stuff.


TimeTrax's PopCatcher
Hang on to your briefs, Hollywood. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas today, TimeTrax announced the PopCatcher, a device that lets you record over-the-air FM radio, capture songs as MP3s, and create a free music library.
Washington Post to go 'on the air'
The paper is set to begin broadcasting its content on its own radio station in March.


Lips and squeeze
Hate squeezing that last bit of toothpaste? Not to worry, our Lip-o-suction Toothpaste Squeezer will squeeze out every last bit of toothpaste for you.
Sanjeev Bhaskar turns detective
A brand new comedy is coming to BBC One this month. Chopra Town was written specifically with the actor in mind and is being produced by Hat Trick, the company behind Kumars at No 42.

January 05, 2006

Cell phones tied to family tension
The round-the-clock availability that cell phones and pagers have brought to people's lives may be taking a toll on family life, a new study suggests.