Friday, June 29, 2007

iPhone is here!

After iPod, the much hyped iPhone by Apple Inc. is set for release today. As the name suggests its a phone plus iPod and a device to access internet. So, whats special with this latest gizmo from Apple? It is completely touch screen operated and has all the dream options that user can think of.
Apple’s revolutionary iPhone™ will go on sale today, June 29 at 6:00 p.m. California time at Apple® retail stores nationwide. All 164 Apple retail stores in the US will stay open until midnight, and customers can purchase up to two iPhones on a first come, first served basis. Beginning Saturday morning, iPhone owners can learn how to get the most out of their new iPhone with free, in-depth workshops offered throughout the day at all Apple retail stores. Every Apple retail store will offer free support for iPhone at the Genius Bar and personal training through Apple’s new One to One program.
Apple’s online store will be taking orders for iPhone beginning at 6:00 p.m. PDT. iPhone will be available in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US).
iPhone features the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse. It’s an entirely new interface based on a large multi-touch display and innovative new software that lets you control everything using only your fingers. So you can glide through albums with Cover Flow, flip through photos and email them with a touch, or zoom in and out on a section of a web page — all by simply using iPhone’s multi-touch display.
Technical Specifications:

Capacity: 4GB or 8GB flash drive

Display: 3.5-inch (diagonal) widescreen multi-touch display 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 160 dpi Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Operating system: OS X GSM:Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

Wireless data: Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR

Camera: 2.0 megapixels

Audio: Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz Audio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

Video: Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats.

Input and output: iPhone 30-pin dock connector, 3.5-mm stereo headphone, minijack, iPhone Dock, Dock connector

Power and battery: Built-in rechargeable lithium ion battery
Talk time: Up to 8 hours
Standby time: Up to 250 hours
Internet use: Up to 6 hours
Video playback: Up to 7 hours
Audio playback: Up to 24 hours
I liked the features of the phone and loved the way it works, is anyone hearing? ;-). You can check out the iPhone guided tour here.
So, is iPhone is here to stay? Let us wait and see!!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Amul - Complete Reference

*Click on the pictures to have a closer look






Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Saying The Right Thing While Drunk -- PRICELESS

Rohit wakes up at home with a huge hangover. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass of water on the side table. He sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed.

Rohit looks around the room and sees that it isin perfect order, spotless, clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table. "Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go shopping. Love You!" So he goes to the kitchen and sure enough there is a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper.

His son is also at the table, eating. Rohit asks, "Son, what happened last night?" His son says, "Well, you came home around 3 AM, drunk and delirious. Broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and gave yourself a black eye when you stumbled into the door". Confused, Rohit asks, "So, why is everything in order and so clean, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me? I should expect a big quarrel with her!"

His son replies, "Oh, that! Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your clothes n shoes off, you said, "Lady leave me alone! I'm married!"

Moral:

Self-induced hangover -- Rs. 2000.00

Broken furniture -- Rs. 20,000.00

Breakfast -- Rs. 100.00

Saying The Right Thing While Drunk -- PRICELESS

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Have you Googled it?

This is the question most people ask now a days if you ask them something. It has become a slang which is most popular these days. You can search of anything from Cooking recipes to Photos, White papers, Code, Downloads, News, Books, Universities, Blogs :-) ..Tips on anything....and more........and more.

To brief up you can search for absolutely anything under the Sun!! Ooops, that is wrong. You can search for anything under anything. This has become so popular that the word "Googled" was added to Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and Merriam-Webster in 2006. The meaning they gave for Googled is "to use the Google search engine to seek online information".

Google is the best self help that have happened to us. So if you dont know anything, just Google it!! You want to know for what company Bharani Surineni became youngest CEO. Just Google it!!...Kidding..........!!!!

Below are few of the Search options you have from Google:

Blog Search - Find blogs on your favorite topics

Book Search - Search the full text of books

Directory - Browse the web by topic

Images - Search for images on the web

Scholar - Search scholarly papers

Specialized Searches - Search within specific topics

University Search - Search a specific school's website

One thing you have to learn is giving right key words while Googling. This has to come by practice and as we keep on Googling we will come to know how to refine our key words. So, what are you waiting for? Happy Googling!!!


Monday, June 25, 2007

Honorable MEN

Must Read for Every Man and of course Woman (to understand man)

If a female is reading this article then just realize the value of a man; and if it's a male then feel proud of after reading it!

"One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above ariver, his axe fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?"

The woodcutter replied that his axe has fallen into water, and he needed the axe to make his living.

The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

The woodcutter replied, "No."

The Lord again went down and came up with a silver Axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

Again, the woodcutter replied, "No."

The Lord went down again and came up with an iron Axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.

The woodcutter replied, "Yes."

The Lord was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all three axes to keep, and the woodcutter went home happy.

Some time later the woodcutter was walking with his wife along ther iver bank, and his wife fell into the river.

When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?" "Oh Lord, my wife has fallen into the water!"

The Lord went down into the water and came up with ANGELINA JOLIE "Is this your wife?" the Lord asked.

"Yes," cried the woodcutter.

The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"

The woodcutter replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding.

You see, if I had said 'no' to ANGELINA JOLIE, You would have come upwith CAMERON DIAZ. Then if I said 'no' to her, you would have come upwith my wife. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I am a poor man, and am not able to take care of all three wives, so THAT'S why I said yes to ANGELINA JOLIE."

The moral of this story is: Whenever a man lies, it is for a good and honorable reason, and for the benefit of others.

That's our story, and we're sticking to it! - "WE ARE HONORABLE MEN!!!!!!"

Friday, June 22, 2007

B's ultimate guide for driving a two wheeler on a rainy day in Hyderabad

Like I always tell, it is very difficult for a average person to drive through Hyderabad roads on a normal day. Imagine on a rainy day...!! Ha ha ha.... I know, all Hyderabadi's know that we can't even imagine what's it like. It will be a wild west out there!!


So here are some suggestions/tips/recommendations for you guys when you are driving a two wheeler in Hyderabad, when it is raining.

First of all you can't see the road because there will be water up to one feet on the road. Thanks to the Excellent drainage system by M.C.H(Municipal Cooperation of Hyderabad). Just in case if you get to a road where there is no water, then also you cannot see the road properly. Thanks to the Electricity Department which will cut the power off at the very first drop of rain. So make sure that your vehicles light is set to low beam and have the light adjusted so that it illuminates the road ahead, not the persons face who is coming in the opposite direction like most of the vehicle lights in Hyderabad do.

If you are a kind of a person who would like to feel the rain drops crawl through your hair and clean your sweat pores, I recommend you to prepare for certain things before hitting the wet roads. Rain is directly proportional to water logging on the roads and traffic on the road. So, you should have lot of patience to navigate through the traffic avoiding the vehicles which can turn in any direction, without looking at the vehicle in the rear to avoid potholes/Manholes/creators/water.

Talking about Manholes/potholes, remember one thing that there is no standard shape/size or a pattern for these. They can be in the middle of the road, to left, over to the right anywhere so beware of them. Making it worse is the water on the road which will make it difficult to judge where the manhole is or weather it is open, half open or closed or what not. Only one thing you can look for on the water logged roads is for whirlpools, seeing which we can identify where the manhole is. I know what you are thinking......Welcome to Hyderabad.!!

If you are a kind of a person who wants to keep your clothes/shoes neat and away from dirt, forget it. Even if you wait till the rain stops you cannot manage to reach home neat. I see some people folding their trousers up to knees, wearing plastic sheets to avoid getting wet, taking the legs off their bikes way up to the handle to avoid water splashes and doing all kinds of stunts. Believe me guys, its all waste. In spite of trying your best to avoid murky water, at some point or the other a four/six wheeler will leave you with a splash while overtaking you. If you are too cautious to and save your self from these biggies, a fellow two wheeler can mess you up. When following another two wheeler on a wet road, the two wheeler in front will be spilling the dirt right across your face over your shirt/jacket from its rear tyre. (I am sure all the two wheeler drivers might have experienced this. I also, got to taste the dirt in this way many times)

So, even the next day when you are driving for work a fellow two wheeler can spoil your appearance as the roads will be still wet. So, if you want to enjoy the ride and the rain, forget about your clothes, shoes etc. and just drive on!!

One thing I surely recommend is to carry a plastic cover to put in your wallet/papers/cell phone and any electronic device, even if you are carrying a bag. Just dump all your belongings in a plastic cover and put it in your bag because we never know how long it will take for you to reach home and your bag might give up and soak in.

One very important thing we should take care of is not to apply sudden breaks. 'Cause we never know when our bikes gonna slip or lose control. Especially if your bike has a disc break. And also wear a helmet(obviously with the visor up) so that your eyes are protected from being hit by rain drops.

So just keep these tips in mind and drive on....and enjoy the rain.

I did the same yesterday evening going through all the hardships I have mentioned above. But I loved riding in the rain and never got bored in traffic. How can one get bored when Linkin Park, Metallica and Chemical Brothers are playing in your blue tooth headset and wonderful rain from above?

This is what I was like when I reached home after one hour drive in heavy rain:



Me reaching home after 1 hour of drench

If you are a a bit careless on a rainy day in Hyderabad, you can end up like this(The persons face is blurred for security reasons) ;-)


Thursday, June 21, 2007

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

A Life Revealed

Left: The picture that appeared in the National Geographic Magazine(1985) Right: Present


Her eyes have captivated the world since she appeared on the cover of National Geographic Magazine in 1985. Now we can tell her story.

Names have power, so let us speak of hers. Her name is Sharbat Gula, and she is Pashtun, that most warlike of Afghan tribes. It is said of the Pashtun that they are only at peace when they are at war, and her eyes—then and now—burn with ferocity. She is 28, perhaps 29, or even 30. No one, not even she, knows for sure. Stories shift like sand in a place where no records exist. Time and hardship have erased her youth. Her skin looks like leather. The geometry of her jaw has softened. The eyes still glare; that has not softened.

“She’s had a hard life,” said McCurry. “So many here share her story.” Consider the numbers. Twenty-three years of war, 1.5 million killed, 3.5 million refugees: This is the story of Afghanistan in the past quarter century.

Now, consider this photograph of a young girl with sea green eyes. Her eyes challenge ours. Most of all, they disturb. We cannot turn away.

“There is not one family that has not eaten the bitterness of war,” a young Afghan merchant said in the 1985 National Geographic story that appeared with Sharbat’s photograph on the cover. She was a child when her country was caught in the jaws of the Soviet invasion. A carpet of destruction smothered countless villages like hers. She was perhaps six when Soviet bombing killed her parents. By day the sky bled terror. At night the dead were buried. And always, the sound of planes, stabbing her with dread.

“We left Afghanistan because of the fighting,” said her brother, Kashar Khan, filling in the narrative of her life. He is a straight line of a man with a raptor face and piercing eyes. “The Russians were everywhere. They were killing people. We had no choice.”

Shepherded by their grandmother, he and his four sisters walked to Pakistan. For a week they moved through mountains covered in snow, begging for blankets to keep warm.
“You never knew when the planes would come,” he recalled. “We hid in caves.”
The journey that began with the loss of their parents and a trek across mountains by foot ended in a refugee camp tent living with strangers.

“Rural people like Sharbat find it difficult to live in the cramped surroundings of a refugee camp,” explained Rahimullah Yusufzai, a respected Pakistani journalist who acted as interpreter for McCurry and the television crew. “There is no privacy. You live at the mercy of other people.” More than that, you live at the mercy of the politics of other countries. “The Russian invasion destroyed our lives,” her brother said.

It is the ongoing tragedy of Afghanistan. Invasion. Resistance. Invasion. Will it ever end? “Each change of government brings hope,” said Yusufzai. “Each time, the Afghan people have found themselves betrayed by their leaders and by outsiders professing to be their friends and saviors.”

In the mid-1990s, during a lull in the fighting, Sharbat Gula went home to her village in the foothills of mountains veiled by snow. To live in this earthen-colored village at the end of a thread of path means to scratch out an existence, nothing more. There are terraces planted with corn, wheat, and rice, some walnut trees, a stream that spills down the mountain (except in times of drought), but no school, clinic, roads or running water.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Happy birthday(29'th) Garfield - June 19, 1978

Today is my favorite cat's birthday. So I wish Garfield, Many Many Happy returns of the day. And friends below are 29 memorable Garfield's birthday strips.

Have fun!!



























Monday, June 18, 2007

Friday, June 15, 2007

Freaky Weekends

If I think back on how did the weekends go from past few weeks, I have nothing but dissapointment. I mean almost nothing fell into place.

I have been missing our weekly photography expeditions and not much luck with my third eye at home either. Also, one thing which has been constantly going bad on weekends is my bike. It started with a screw, later it was the leaking Valve and today it was a small nail which had my tyre flat. Today is the third weekend in a row where I had to push my bike to the work shop.

When such things happen I think, did monsoons bring with them some dark clouds for me too? Naahh...I am a person who does not believe in luck. I just believe in smart and hard work. Also one thing that I strongly believe is "Karma" i.e., what you give is what you get.

Keeping all these things apart what I feel is, I need a break. I mean, come on!! I cannot think and talk things like an evangelist or someone who has seen most of the life and just waiting for it to end. I have more than half of my life to live and no time to waste.

What I need right now is some pump up of adrenalin into my blood. So I will be on that and think some ways to get it going over this weekend.

Happy Week End to you all!!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

I feared...

I feared being alone
until I learned to like myself.

I feared failure
until I realized that I only fail when I don't try.

I feared success
until I realized that I had to try in order to be happy with myself.

I feared rejection
until I learned to have faith in myself.

I feared pain
until I learned that it's necessary for growth.

I feared the truth
until I saw the ugliness in lies.

I feared life
until I experienced its beauty.

I feared death
until I realized that it's not an end, but a beginning.

I feared my destiny
until I realized that I had the power to change my life.

I feared hate
until I saw that it was nothing more than ignorance.

I feared love
until it touched my heart, making the darkness fade into endless sunny days.

I feared ridicule
until I learned how to laugh at myself.

I feared growing old
until I realized that I gained wisdom every day.

I feared the future
until I realized that life just kept getting better.

I feared the past
until I realized that it could no longer hurt me.

I feared the dark
until I saw the beauty of the starlight.

I feared the light
until I learned that the truth would give me strength.

I feared change
until I saw that even the most beautiful butterfly had to undergo a metamorphosis before it could fly.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Impossible is nothing!!

Please give some time for streaming and make sure you have the volume turned on.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

People - Some who care and some who think who cares?

I guess I have mentioned couple of times that I would have to travel 17 Kilometers from home to reach work. No.No..this time its not the traffic which made my mind tickle(I guess I got used to it).

During this daily journey of one hour plus duration, I get to see various characters/instances and situations.

Yesterday when I was waiting for the signal to turn green at Ameerpet cross roads, I saw a physically handicapped person on the other side of the road having a hard time to cross the road. Poor guy! Most of the times, it is very difficult for a physically normal person to cross the road in Hyderabad. I couldn’t even imagine the plight of that guy.

At that moment a traffic cop, like god he came to the rescue. He stopped the traffic, which other wise would not stop even seeing such person in difficulty. He made the man cross till half the way and then handed the responsibility of making the man cross the other half to a traffic constable while this cop controlled the traffic. While these two "God's" were helping the man I could see the affection, willingness to help and selfless act of humanity. I could see a perfect execution of duty and humanity.

I was very much pleased with the visual delight I had. One thing that came to my mind is what are we doing? Working day and night for MNC's, getting fat salaries. What are we giving to the society? If not balance, are we even doing a little bit that we can to make this world a better place?

Today on my journey to work, I experienced totally opposite feelings to what I got yesterday. As usual I was stuck in a traffic jam, suddenly I herd a siren and when I looked back it was a ambulance.

No one was bothered to give way to the ambulance. Everyone were just looking for gaps to shove in their vehicles so that they can reach their destinations quicker. At that moment I got a strong aversion towards these people who have hearts of stone. I wished I had a power to kick ass all these people and give way to the ambulance. How does it matter if one drives a Mercedes/BMW/ fancy bike in the matter of fact anything, if he does not have feelings for the other person in distress?

Will these people do the same is someone they know or his/her parents or their wife/husband is in such situation? No they will not!! Because they care. They will panic and throw tantrums on public who come in their way. So my question is, why we act differently to some others feelings? the other person is also someone's father/mother/wife/husband/brother/sister.

I guess at least if we educated people do something, I mean take initiative to help, some will follow seeing someone. Some will follow thinking, if I do not do others may think bad of me, some may follow by the guilt arising in their heart and most of the people will be waiting for someone to take initiative.

Our mission is to help, no matter how people feel. So if there is some one to take an initiative the rest will follow. So people from next time onwards we should be the ones who will take an initiative.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Dubai Seenu in Hyderabad

Starring: Ravi Teja,Nayanatara
Director: Seenu Vytla
Music: Devi Sri Prasad

Dubai Seenu is the latest movie that hit the theaters last week. If not for Ravi Teja, no other hero could have pulled this plot off. Hero Ravi Teja’s dialogue delivery and casual acting style are the two things which keep the audiences tied throughout the film.

As we can expect from the title, this is a story of a group of friends who dream to go to Dubai and earn big. Their dreams are shattered when a guy ?(venu Madhav) cheats the gang and leaves them clueless in Mumbai. Patnaik (Krishna Bhagavan) comes to their rescue and inspires the guys to set up business. So, why Patnaik gives them money and what he makes these guys do is a track that audience can enjoy.

Mean while Madhu (Nayana Tara) is a RJ in Radio Mirchi, a FM Radio Station. Why Madhu comes to Mumbai? Why Seenu helps Madhu? And what's the relation between the heroine, hero and the bad man is a story that goes through few serious twists.

One thing that is steady and entertaining in the movie is the comedy tracks which come one after another. Some scenes will remind us of Anandam and Venkey, but the director tried his very best to show them differently. Dharmavarapu Subramanyam's role as Radio Station head and MS Narayana as Film Star "Salman Raju" were good.

When it comes to the songs, they were not much appealing. But one or two are worth an ear. One thing that the director tried different in this movie is to include the characters of the story in few of the songs. Small stint by Sunil in the title song is awesome.

Sushant Singh as bad Guy did an exceptional work. After the interval couple of twists will twist you but the comedy track jumping back now and then will relieve us from the stress of the twists. Not to mention we get to see some other actors from the industry in some roles, I mean in between the twists. It's better you see them on screen itself.

Casual dialogues, much more ease of delivery of dialogues by Ravi Teja and comedy tracks right from the start till the end are major plus for the movie.

Overall I can say I feel this is an above average movie and if you want to have some fun and laugh heartily, give it a shot.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Typoglycemia

Don't stop because the word looks weird. Believe it or not you can read it .....

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to a rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses andyou can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed erveylteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia.

Amzanig huh? And yuo awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt !!!!(Teachers are you reading this?)

Thursday, June 7, 2007

News Channels or Crappy Channels!!

I rarely get time watch TV during the weekdays, I will be at work and during the weekends I will not be at home. But somehow last week I got to sit in front of this idiot box accidentally at my friends place. One my friends eye(who is a diet enthusiast) caught something on a popular Telugu News Channel.

There was information scrolling at the bottom of the screen saying that "Know how a popular Hindi singer lost 100 Kgs and a popular Telugu actor lost 30 kgs". At the time we saw the information, there was 2 more hours left for the program to be aired.

So my friend was doing his work for 2 hours and when it was time for the program, he got glued to the box. Me being there physically, couldn't help - I was also glued (The truth is, I though I might well get some tips to reduce weight :-)).

Finally the program starts, Just check out the sequence of events that happen on the show, below:

  • As every other program in the world starts, the program also started off with a jingle playing in the background while videos and pictures of Obese people were shown.

  • An anchor comes, talks about Obesity and asks us to stay glued to know how a popular Hindi singer lost 100 Kgs and a popular Telugu actor lost 30 kgs.

  • Again pictures and videos of Obese people are shown with the Jingle playing in the background.

  • Time For Advertisements

  • Again pictures and videos of Obese people are shown with the Jingle playing in the background(Please note that everytime its the same Jingle, before /after videos & pictures).

  • Anchor comes again and tells the name of the singer who lost 100 kgs in 1 year. ...BHAM..random clippings from the singers music videos are shown for 7 minutes or so.

  • Again the anchor comes and tells the name of the telugu actor who lost 30 Kgs in 2 monhs...Bham Bham BHAM....for 10 minutes clippings of this actors movies and songs are shown.

  • Not so fast..time for Advertisements

  • Again pictures and videos of Obese people are shown with the Jingle playing in the background.

  • Anchor comes again...and says do you what to see how they look after shedding their weight?.I guess you might have caught up with this...Bham Bham....shows the videos/clipping of these both guys after losing weight.

  • Yet again the anchor comes and says "Do you want to know how they have reduced their weight so drastically?"

  • Guys come on, not so soon. Advertisements time.

  • Yet again and again pictures and videos of Obese people are shown with the Jingle playing in the background.I am reminding you again, every time its the same Jingle, before/after videos & pictures.

  • Now the anchor comes says a word Liposuction and videos of the procedure (I guess mostly downloaded from net) are shown. A local doctor talks about the procedure , not much informative.

  • They talk about another procedure in which they stitch the stomach to make it small so that people will eat less and thus lose weight. Some pictures related to this procedure this time and again a local doctor talks about it. As you guessed, not informative!!

  • Again some crappy before/after videos and pictures.

  • The program ends and again for the gods sake the Jingle comes back for the N'th time.

So, if you want you can read the sequence of events once again, go ahead. These are only the things they showed in that programme. I am sure that I have missed the jingle in the sequence here and there. I bet it came up more times than I have mentioned.

Aren't these news channels getting any quality news? Do they have nothing of quality to telecast? Why can't they telecast something which is useful for common man? Why do they keep telecasting the same news 100 times a day?!!(literally). And, why these news channels dramatize and reshoot the crime sequences and telecast? Are they some kind of training classes for would be criminals. Don't we have better things to watch?

I am sick of these news channels!!!!!!!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

June 6, 1944(D- Day) - The Battle of Normandy

The build-up of Omaha Beach: reinforcements of men and equipment moving inland.

The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between Nazi Germany in Western Europe and the invading Allied forces as part of the larger conflict of World War II.

You can correlate better if I talk about the 1998 Academy-Award-winning film Saving Private Ryan directed by Steven Spielberg. The opening 25 minutes of the film depicts the Omaha beachhead assault of June 6, 1944. Now you can imagine how the D-day would have been!!
(P.S: By any chance if you have not seen Saving Private Ryan, get a DVD today and watch it without delay. 'cause you have missed a gem of a movie and a piece in world history)

Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of northwest Europe, which began on June 6, 1944, and ended on August 19, 1944, when the Allies crossed the River Seine. Over sixty years later, the Normandy invasion still remains the largest sea borne invasion in history, involving almost three million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy.
Its mission, to gain a foothold on the continent, started on June 6, 1944 (most commonly known by the name D-Day) and ended on June 30, 1944.

The primary Allied formations that saw combat in Normandy came from the United States of America, United Kingdom and Canada. Substantial Free French and Polish forces also participated in the battle after the assault phase, and there were also contingents from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway.

The Normandy invasion began with overnight parachute and glider landings, massive air attacks, naval bombardments, and an early morning amphibious phase began on June 6. The “D-Day” forces deployed from bases along the south coast of England, the most important of these being Portsmouth. The battle for Normandy continued for more than two months, with campaigns to establish, expand, and eventually break out of the Allied beachheads, and concluded with the liberation of Paris and the fall of the Falaise pocket in late August 1944.

The Normandy landings were the first successful opposed landings across the English Channel for nine centuries. They were costly in terms of men, but the defeat inflicted on the Germans was one of the largest of the war. Strategically, the campaign led to the loss of the German position in most of France and the secure establishment of a major new front.

Till date Battle of Normandy was depicted in many movies such as The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan, D-Day, the Sixth of June and also in the famous TV show Band of Brothers. Even today the Omaha Beach invasion is dramatised in Computer Games such as Call of Duty, Company of Heroes and Commandos 3: Destination Berlin.

Complete information on Battle of Normandy @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Normandy