Digvijay and Ridhima's blog

Paranormal Activity 3

October 23rd, 2011 by Ridhima Suri

**Post has spoilers**

Paranormal Activity 3 opened this weekend. In the past three days the movie has already raked in close to $80 million, $54 million being in the United States.

For me it was a much anticipated movie as I am big fan of the franchise. You can read my review of Paranormal Activity 1 here. I could never really muster any courage to write about part 2.

Part 3 of the Paranormal Activity movie series was great. It is a prequel, so you may want to see the first two movies to make the connection. The child actresses have done a great job in this movie.

 

If you want to be scared, this movie scares you. I liked the narrative and acting in this movie but I was also able to appreciate the direction of the movie. They (the production crew) have developed a formula and it works. It really works!

1. They build up slowly and pinnacle to a great end.
2. Silence works. Deafening silence in the still of the night definitely keeps the audience engaged. Small thud, big thud, low flutter, silence, more silence, nothing..it all gets to you!

Tags: Movie Reviews, Movies, paranormal activity

Posted in Movies | 1 Comment »

Dear Mr. Jobs, we will miss you

October 6th, 2011 by Ridhima Suri

Today Steve Jobs died. He does not need an introduction but let’s just say he was the eyes, ears, brains, and blood of Apple. He was suffering from Pancreatic Cancer for several years. He was 56.

The man will be remembered as a visionary, a legend, a technologist. Books, journals, and scholarly papers have been written on the ‘King of Apple’ for creating what I will call ‘iMagic’. It is difficult to state how dramatically he changed the life of millions of consumers and quite frankly, it is beyond the scope of this blog or for that matter any news report that you will see on the web from here on.

Why I feel so bad? My first memory of Mr. Jobs

It is tough to explain how a person you have never met can touch your life in such a great way. It is tougher to explain why I am feeling so bad!

Tags: Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs tribute

Posted in Technology | 1 Comment »

Tangled : Movie Review

September 25th, 2011 by Ridhima Suri

When I was a little girl, my Mom bought me a book of Fairy Tales. I was always in awe of Cinderella’s beauty, Snow White’s perseverance but I clearly remember Rapunzel’s golden hair! I saw ‘Tangled’ and really liked it.  The movie brought back old memories of the paper back fairy tale and added life to my book. You’d say that it’s a regular ’princess-waiting-for-her-prince-charming’ movie, but it’s really well done. Walt Disney managed to do a great job.

Watch Tangled trailer here

Here is a snapshot of why I liked the movie.

1. The animation was excellent.
2. Rapunzel has really long hair and in a few shots I could see her hair move so beautifully! She uses her hair to hold things, climb, run, fly, rescue and she does this artfully!
3. Flynn Rider does the narrative and his crude sense of humor makes me laugh. He is funny and handsome.
4. Maximus the horse was amazing! His expressions made me laugh, laugh, and laugh. Pasquel, Rapunzel’s little chameleon was also very cute.
5. The songs were nice and I am not a big ‘musical’ fan. Full marks to Alan Menken and his team.

Tags: Movie Reviews, Movies, Tangled, Walt Disney

Posted in Movies | 1 Comment »

Beans and flatulence : How to deal with it?

September 14th, 2011 by Ridhima Suri

Beans: Noo!

Ever thought of getting a Chipotle wrap and thinking of how the beans would mess with your system? Ever think of filling your plate with rajmas (a popular red kidney beans Indian curry) at a party and hesitating just before the second helping?

Most people think that beans cause a lot of gas in the digestive tract leading to discomfort and well, excessive passing of gas!

I am a big fan of Garbanzo beans and red kidney beans. Often, I have seen myself shying from making rajmas or cholas (Garbanzo beans curry) as I do not want to experience any discomfort or embarrassing moments!

I talked to my mom about this and lo and behold!! she had a solution for me. I have experimented with the solution on three different types of beans and it worked.

She said,” Any food that contains carbohydrates causes gas. In order to reduce flatulence, you have to take away the carbs from your beans.”

Made sense. It sounded like a lot of work but once I saw results, I thought,”why not try it?”

Precursors to how I cook beans

1. I usually prepare Indian curries and also use boiled beans over salads.

Tags: beans and gas

Posted in Opinions | 1 Comment »

Dear Mr. Jobs,

August 27th, 2011 by Ridhima Suri

Dear Mr. Jobs,

My Facebook feed is full of sad posts by people who will miss you.

My Google news feed is full of speculation about Apple stock and musings of people who are likely to lose a lot of money.

While I am sad and I may have lost some money as well, I am very happy for you. The last time I saw you on T.V. you were pitching pictures of the new Apple campus to the Cupertino Council. The pictures impressed me. Your speech impressed me but I was worried about your health.

You have done a lot for the industry. I remember listening to the Walkman as a kid and the day I held the IPod (the classic 60 GB one) I said to myself,”Wow! This is so cool!” Moving forward, I have used every model of the IPod. It’s also my favorite gift for people I love the most.

Thank you for all the cool changes you have brought to the technology industry!

Thank you for being such an inspiration to many!

Our hopes and prayers are with you! Yes I speak for a lot of family and friends who are ‘iFans‘…:-) We wish you a speedy recovery Mr. Steve Jobs ! Get well soon!

Tags: Steve Jobs

Posted in Computer Science, Technology | No Comments »