Legal & Full-length movies on YouTube

Did you know, YouTube hosts scores of full-length movies & award-winning documentaries that you can watch online for free? There are movies from around the world in over a dozen genres. There are also a good number of Bollywood flicks there although you may not find your favorite ones.

Jennifer informs that there are also other places like Archive.org where you can find good entertaining stuff.

There is news that the upcoming Bollywood movie "3 Idiots" will be available online for free after 12 weeks of it's release.

Also see:
Free print version of Newspapers

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Book Review: Cancer Has Its Privileges

We have put a man on the moon decades ago, but it's sad that science doesn't have a solution yet to wipe out the scourge of Cancer which has been there for centuries. The Big C is a devastating illness that cripples it's victims physically, monetarily & more than that, mentally as it affects their loved ones as well.

Cancer Has Its Privileges: Stories of Hope and Laughter is a poignant compilation of thoughts, anecdotes, poems and "chicken soup for the soul" type of experiences by brave cancer survivors & their loved ones. This is the fourth book of the author Christine Clifford, a cancer survivor & founder of The Cancer Club, who believes in the therapeutic value of positive thinking & humor.

The book has tips for cancer patients, their family & friends on coping with the dreaded illness. Sometimes well-meaning well-wishers of a patient get disconnected not knowing how to help. There is a chapter on how friends & family can help. Some ways of showing care & support to the afflicted is by spending time together, accompanying them on their visits to the hospital, offering to help with daily chores, preparing meals, being a "nap nanny", gifting them their favorite books & music and complimenting them on their positive changes.

This is a good book for anyone whose life has been touched directly or indirectly by cancer.

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Humor is dying. Preserve MAD

There is news that after 55 years as a monthly publication, MAD magazine will become a quarterly.

It is, of course, a sign of the times, if ever their were one, a sign that the magazine is continuing to struggle at the hands of newer forms of media, seven years after finally caving and including advertisements in its printed form. It’s also a sign, Jaffee adds, half jokingly, that “humor is dying.”

Reviewing Mad’s 500th issue which has a spoof on Google, Wired magazine has this to say about MAD -

Now well into its emerald anniversary, the spoof-filled magazine founded by William Gaines in 1952 has left an immeasurable stamp on global entertainment. Mad served as a comedy Bible to Monty Python auteur Terry Gilliam, taught Roger Ebert how to write film reviews and peddled parody to the masses. According to Patti Smith, it more or less replaced drugs altogether.

It is a consolation that there is a DVD compilation of over 600 issues of Mad Magazines from 1952 to 2006 - Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years available for around 30 bucks. I bought my copy a few months ago and being a amateur cartoonist I'm thrilled going through the artwork & creativity of my favorite artists, David Berg and Al Jaffee over the years.



Related:
Al Jaffee's Mad Fold-Ins in Flash

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Geniuses

In the Forbes article "How to be a Genius", Scott Berkun mentions two personal attributes among two others that aspiring geniuses can take note of -

• Be obsessed with work
• Don't strive for fame in your own lifetime

An aggrieved reader sarcastically pointed out if being male should also be a criterion as no female names were mentioned in the article.

One of my all-time favorite scientists Marie Curie transcended superficial barriers of gender, language and country in pursuit of knowledge to make discoveries of far-reaching effect for mankind.

The New York Times obituary titled "Mme. Curie Is Dead; Martyr to Science" described Marie Curie thus:

Few persons contributed more to the general welfare of mankind and to the advancement of science than the modest, self-effacing woman whom the world knew as Mme. Curie. Her epoch-making discoveries of polonium and radium, the subsequent honors that were bestowed upon her--she was the only person to receive two Nobel prizes--and the fortunes that could have been hers had she wanted them did not change her mode of life. She remained a worker in the cause of science, preferring her laboratory to a great social place in the sun. The road which she and her husband had chosen she followed throughout her life, disdaining all pomp. And thus she not only conquered great secrets of science but the hearts of the people the world over.

Did you know she is the ONLY person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields, Physics (1903) and Chemistry (1911)?

I also find the works of Asimov and polymath Benjamin Franklin stupendous & very inspiring.

Dear Reader, whom do you consider a Genius?

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2 months of BigFlix

Here is my feedback on BigFlix, India's version of NetFlix, after subscribing to it for 2 months -

1. It's nice that DVDs are home delivered generally in a day.
2. You can place a pick-up request by phone or their website. Their Call Center initially used to work from 10:30 AM to 9 PM but now stays open between 10:30 AM to 7 PM. If you are using their website, you have to place a pick-up request before 7 AM the next day to get a DVD delivered next day.
3. The movies you set with the highest priority may not be the ones you will receive. They have now modified the Queue page to show estimated waiting time.
4. The quality of DVDs may not always be good. Popular movies prior to 2005 may not play well.

These are the movies from the BigFlix collection that I liked and recommend -

1. Thank You For Smoking - A comedy about a much hated Tobacco lobbyist in America grappling with a divorce and job challenges. He goes on to impress his young son and salvage his career.
2. The Pacifier - In this Disney movie, Vin Diesel is a Navy SEAL who solves a mystery while on an assignment to baby sit for naughty rebellious kids and also finally wins their affection.
3. The Gods Must be Crazy - An unusual comedy set in Africa. I watched the trailer of the movie as a child and finally got to see the movie on DVD
4. Kung Fu Panda - An animated family entertainer with a simple message & a lovable Kung Fu loving Panda.
5. Manorama Six Feet Under - An unusual, gripping Bollywood thriller starring Abhay Deol, Sarika, Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
6. Bend It Like Beckham - An optimistic story of how a British Indian Punjabi girl balances her love for football while withholding conservative family traditions.
7. Planet Earth is a five part series on Nature that reveals many hidden secrets with some breath-taking footage. David Attenborough's charismatic narration makes this documentary even more engaging. A must for Nature lovers.
8. Sacred Planet - This Disney documentary on Nature with some superb photography makes for great viewing. The commentary is insipid when compared to Planet Earth
9. Mee Shreyobhilashi - Most Telugu movies thrive on escapism and vulgar dialogue. This movie tells a story well and delivers a universal message.
10. Hyderabad Blues - An Indian Andhra NRI bachelor feels like a fish out of water after arriving in Hyderabad, his home city after 12 years but ends up getting married unexpectedly. Although amateurishly shot, Nagesh Kuknoor's trilingual film (English, Hindi and Telugu) is endearing as it sincerely tells a good story and breaks new ground for Indian cinema.

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Book Review: Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal

It's comforting to know that food can also be preventive medicine. Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal - An A-Z Guide to Safe and Healthy Eating beautifully explains the benefits & drawbacks of various vegetables, fruits & food sources. Written by experts and full of relevant images, this colorful book makes for interesting reading. Common diseases and the effects of various types of food on them are also discussed. All the topics are arranged alphabetically. This makes it great to use for future reference.

The book has been written for an American audience. Although this does not diminish the value of the book's contents, I wish it was written in more general terms to suit a global audience.

Being a vegetarian & foodie, I did not know about the health value & drawbacks of the food I've been eating all these years. I loved reading this book for all the practical knowledge it contained and highly recommend it to others.

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India Stats

India Today published a special issue titled "Transforming India Great Ideas.Great Minds" in October. It has thought provoking articles by India's best minds on ideas than can transform India and how they can be implemented.

The articles contained some statistics about India - some interesting, some extremely shocking. Sample this -

• 72 was India’s rank in the 2007 transparency international’s global corruption perception index.
  
• Rs 883 cr - the amount of bribes paid by poor families in 2007 to access 11 public services, says a TII-CMS report.
  
• 69 per cent is the reservation in educational institutions in Tamil Nadu, the highest among all Indian states.
  
• 120 MPs in the Lok Sabha face criminal charges, though the law says that anyone sentenced to two years or more in jail is disqualified from contesting elections.
  
• 126 policemen per 1 lakh population. That is India’s manpower deficit compared to western ratios of 250-500 per 1 lakh.
  
• 8 - is the number of communal riots independent India has seen in which more than 500 people have been killed.
  
• 2 per cent of the country’s population is covered under pension benefits, compared to 21.1 per cent in China.
  
• 25% of the world's total skilled work force will be Indians by 2020.
  
• 9.1 is the percentage of women national legislators in India; compared to a global average of 18 per cent.
  
• $45 billion is what India spends on research and development, a patch of China's expenditure of $216 billion.
  
• 302 - number of individual and team gold medals on offer at the Beijing Olympics. India won just one.
  
• 300 mn the number of Indians who don’t have access to safe drinking water. Yet an average of 1,000 cubic metres is used by every Indian per year.
  
• 1.6 per cent of Indian wage earners invest in mutual funds, while less then 10 per cent of households have insurance.
  
• India has 4600 large dams built across the country. But not more than 6 to 15 per cent of agricultural land in each state is irrigated by any of these projects.
  
• 1.2 million  - the number of NGOs in India, though less than 1 per cent of them have professional fund-raisers
  
• 31,000 graduates are produced every year by India’s 271 medical institutions.
  
• 19 per cent of the gross budgetary expenditure has been earmarked for education in the 11th five year plan, up from 7.7% in the 10th plan.
  
• 39,600 vehicles have gone off the road after phase one of the Delhi metro, saving Rs 288 cr on maintaining roads and managing traffic.
  

Numbers tell a story.

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