A BYTE OF LIFE Tuesday, July 28, 2009

05
BUSINESS READY
Micro-blogging rage Twitter to add
some money churning tactics

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 141

Corporate canteens are now catering oil-free tiffins, herbal juices,

dates, sundals and every other kind of health food in keeping trend with
the fitness demands of their employees, reports Liffy Thomas.
» PAGE 03
02 NAMMA CHENNAI
A still from Ploning
Filipino fest
The Embassy of Philippines, New Delhi,
Consulate General, Republic of
Philippines, Chennai and the Indo Cine
Appreciation Foundation is organising a
Filipino Film Festival from July 31 to
August 2.
Six films will be screened at the South
Indian Film Chamber Theatre, 606, Anna
Salai.
After the inauguration on July 31 at
6.30 p.m. Crying Ladies will be screened.
The movie is a whimsical comedy about
three women who cry at funerals,
professionally.
On August 1, three movies – In the
navel of the sea, Himala and Weighed
but found wanting will be screened.
On August 2, Kasal, Kasali, Kasale and
Ploning will be shown.
For details call 98401 51956.
ERGO Tuesday, July 28, 2009
It’s karaoke Tuesday
Bike and Barrel is organising a ‘Western Karaoke Nite’ today. It
promises to be an evening of fun and music. Swapna Abraham
will host the English karaoke night, from 9 p.m. onwards. For
details call 2815 6363.
Cook like a man
There are a few
guys who don’t
mind donning
the chef’s hat
at their home
sweet home
DEEPA VENKATRAMAN
I
ngredients scattered all over
the place; vessels that have
not been washed in ages; and
a stench that is hardly appe-
tising: the tell-tale signs of a
kitchen that has been ‘man han-
dled’.
But there are a few men in
Namma Chennai with a chef cap
on, who love cooking and do it in
a clean and organised way.
His kitchen has been Kottiva-
kam resident Harish Vijayku-
mar’s (30) favourite room since
he was twelve years old ever since
his mother left one day to take
care of her sick mother. “I made
some puris and I enjoyed the
whole process. I went on to make
new dishes and my specialties in-
clude caramel dosai and marinat-
ed fish curry deep fried. I even
learnt barta, gulab jamun, paneer
butter masala and some micro-
wave oven dishes from my moth-
er. In my own interest, I also Busy cooking: Kaushal Sanghvi. Photo: R.Ravindran
searched for recipes from the in-
ternet.” ed to experiment with butter The common thread is the
Twenty-seven-year-old Kaush- beans curry, and my neighbour home chefs love to cook for their
al Sanghvi and Adyar resident liked it. This gave me a high and near and dear ones. Having mas-
Manu Karan started to cook out motivated me to make all Indian tered the art of making multi cui-
of necessity when they went to gravy curry and even deserts,” sine dishes like paneer butter
for studies in the USA. Eventually says Manu who has a sweet tooth. masala, Manchurian, biryani,
the necessity turned into a hob- Kaushal has created several pastas, Harish enjoys pampering
by. “My first dish was tomato ra- new recipes with tofu, pizza, his wife and friends to a full
sam and though it was not broccoli ever since his work days course meal at any occasion. He
palatable I didn’t give up. I start- in Seattle. “I got my own kitche- says, “My wife likes it a lot when I
nette when I started to work and pamper her with her favourite
friends used to come home every vegetable fried rice and Man-
■ Harish can cook a whole weekend to try my dishes. We al- churian especially after a late
meal for a group of 30 so used to have cooking competi- day’s work.”
tions and I remember winning a They have a huge bank of reci-
■ Kaushal has won cooking prize for my exotic tofu dish “Ever pes sourced from the internet
contest amongst his friends
Green Ciatel” comprising wheat amongst their own creations. At
in USA
noodles with peanuts, baby broc- the end of the day, cooking for
■ Manu’s speciality is all coli and asparagus, green capsi- these men is a real stress buster
Indian gravy curries cum blended with green thai and all of them are passionate
curry paste. about their preparations■
 Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Your lunch break
just got healthier
S. Ganesh (right) of Srishtee explains about the health foods offered to corporates.
PHOTOS: R. RAVINDRAN
LIFFY THOMAS
liffythomas@goergo.in
A
sparagus soup, diced veg-
etables, 100 gms of rice,
two phulkas, pulses and a
bowl of cut fruit. Rama
Devi Thottathil’s afternoon
meals these days have become
more wholesome. “I don’t feel
drowsy after lunch, plus the
food gives me more vigour to
carry on my remaining day’s du-
ties,” says the location HR head
with UST Global about the ‘Pow-
er Lunch’ introduced in their
canteen on an “experimental
basis” a month ago.
Over 100 employees of the
company will agree with her.
They have all switched over
from the traditional thali/birya-
ni/Chinese food to the well-bal-
anced menu. And nobody seems
to be complaining, at least for
A few years ago keera kootu was not
welcomed on the menu. It was considered
a cheap village food and there were complaints
when it was served. Also, two varieties of sweets
was the demand as desserts
now. The caterer, who started by
serving 15 packs for some
health-conscious professionals,
today provides lunch for over a
100 of the 600 employees din-
ning in the canteen. The queue
is certainly increasing, say em-
ployees and the caterer.
Welcome to the new corpo-
rate menu where puris and va-
das are replaced with oil-free
tiffins, coffee/tea with herbal
juices, savouries made of ghee
with dates and fresh fruits and
evening snacks with sundal. You
are wrong if you thought the tak-
ers for these health or diet foods,
which are low in calories, fat,
sugar and cholesterol, are those
who are diabetic, obese or with
heart ailments.
Munch on
If previously it was caterers
who went around boasting
Old for new
Titan is back with its exchange offer. Customers can bring in any old watch
of any make and in any condition, and receive a flat 20 per cent discount
on purchase of a new watch from Titan. The offer is valid till August 23 at
all Titan outlets. As a green initiative, Titan is also offering a free sapling
with every watch exchanged.
about the food spread and hy-
giene, nowadays it is the HR
team asking them to innovate –
make food both convenient and
healthy.
“A few years ago keera kootu
was not welcomed on the menu.
It was considered a cheap village
food and there were complaints
when it was served. Also, two
varieties of sweets was
the demand as des-
serts,” recalls S. In-
dira Kumar,
Director of A
Diet Ex-
press.
Oil-free tiffins, herbal juices,
dates, sundals… cafeterias seem
to be endorsing health food
without much of a complaint
“Now, we have companies that
are more forthcoming. They
want us to incorporate greens in
some form or the other and cut
down on sweets.”
The numbers speak for the in-
creasing demand for low-calorie
food. If A Diet Express receives
around 500 walk-ins for the tra-
ditional thali meals, then anoth-
er 300 opt for health food.
Covansys, apparently, has 650 of
the 900 employees opting for the
‘power lunch’, says R. Tamil Ku-
mar, HR of Chennai Foods.
Rajesh Kuppu Reddy of Senn-
thur, a food joint on Club House
Road, who has been the caterer
for ABN-AMRO’s BPO wing in
Raheja Towers, says the mid-
night breakfast, served between
3 a.m. and 7 a.m., has also been
made light and nutritious in
keeping with the work profile of
the graveyard shift. Bread and
jam, green salads, sundal,
steamed food … all this as
breakfast you might either gorge
upon or skip.
Know what you eat
Keeping employees enlight-
ened are the periodic health
checks and workshops where
nutritionists are invited to talk.
But you can’t have an army of
associates en-
dors-
03
ing health foods so easily. Ajuba
Solutions, for example, had in-
troduced the ‘Power Food’ con-
cept, only for it to be voted out
by the employees. Many cafete-
rias are serving both health and
traditional food side by side.
“People going for health food
say they are hungry within three
hours, but they don’t complaint
of fatigue after having my food,”
says S. Ganesh of Srishtee. His
company started by serving
‘Power lunch and dinner’ in a
small way to some employees of
CSS. Today, Ganesh claims to
provide 750 lunches and dinner
per day, of which around 450
opt for health food. “I now sup-
ply to the seven units of CSS. It is
purely through word-of-mouth
that I get more customers en-
dorsing health food. But I have
more takers for dinner than
lunch.”
Those above 35 have been
more receptive towards protein
foods. How are the youngsters
made to take up the healthy
diet? Aval biryani garnished with
cashews, wheat bun with chan-
na masala, soya vegetable ooth-
appam, wheat kichidi instead of
rava kichidi, raagi sevai… the
menu keeps changing all days of
the month. ■
04 TECHNORAMA ERGO Tuesday, July 28, 2009

‘‘
A more effective way of reaching these young folks
... is to use their social networks as influencers, rather
than bombarding them with ads
Ed Moran, director of product innovation for Deloitte

Nettops as an alternative
to desktop PC Nettops are
ultimately
attractive to users
who want to surf

A
nettop PC - a small, mini
desktop computer - can
function as an alternative
to the classic desktop PC.
These devices are compact and
inexpensive, making them well
suited for use as a simple work-
station.
They also consume relatively
little power.
A nettop, like a netbook, is an
inexpensive PC intended pri-
marily for accessing the inter-
net, explains Christof Windeck
from the German computer
magazine c’t.
“That essentially means
they’re perfectly suited for us-
ing as a web browser, an e-mail
client, and perhaps a simple
photo editor for uploading im-
ages,” says Windeck.
Designing these computers
for light-duty work keeps them
inexpensive and thrifty, yet also
compact and quite reliable.
Nettops typically sell for
A nettop re- The devices
quires approxi- the Internet groan under
mately 30 to 40 conveniently and the strain of
watts, while a running 3D
standard PC re- affordably, as well computer
The Aspire quires 100 to as those looking games or high-
EL1600 Nettop 120 watts, er-end photo
on display. Schmelzle ex-
for a computer editing soft-
PHOTO: ASHOKE plains. that’s not a ware. Nettops
CHAKRABARTY Because they power hog are also under-
are less power- powered when
ful than mod- it comes to
around 300 dollars, says Mi- Devices that come with Win- ern PCs, nettop high-resolution
chael Schmelzle from Germa- dows preinstalled typically fea- computers are best suited for Internet videos.
ny’s PC-Welt magazine. They ture a special version of simple tasks. These include “The playback is choppy and
tend to pack less processing Windows XP Home Edition. word processing, data backup, HD video off Blu-Rau discs
power than standard PCs, but Vista comes with higher system or internet surfing, explains usually doesn’t work at all,”
are much more energy efficient requirements, making it ill suit- Joerg Wissing, product manag- says Wissing. Those deter-
and quieter that their bigger ed for nettops. er at hardware maker Asus. mined to run 3D software on a
cousins. One major plus for nettop Those requiring more power nettop are advised to look for a
The hardware at work in PCs is their low power con- for complicated office software, unit with the Nvidia Ion chip-
these little machines also per- sumption. The Atom processor accounting, or 3D and graphics set. Looks play a role alongside
mits more compact case de- and graphic unit integrated into applications are better served the price, too, Wissing says. Af-
signs. That includes the “1-litre the chipset require between with a classic desktop PC. ter all, the nettop can do more
PC” category, with models like one tenth and one thirtieth of Passionate gamers and photo than just save energy. It looks
the Acer Aspire R3600 Revo and the energy of standard desktop retouchers will also find the good in the process. ■
the Asus EEE Box. processors. nettop experience frustrating. DPA

MICROSOFT CLOSES 9 SECURITY HOLES ON

“Patch Tuesday”
M
icrosoft released six security updates on its
most recently monthly “Patch Tuesday.”
The patches close up nine security holes
in all, indicates the German Federal Agen-
cy for Security in Information Technology (BSI).
The holes can be found in Windows, Internet
Explorer, and in the desktop publishing program
Publisher, among others.
They are in some cases being actively exploited
by cybercrooks looking to smuggle malicious soft-
ware onto the computers of unsuspecting users.
Those who have not used the automatic update
function in Windows can find the patches at the
Microsoft Update site (http://update.micro-
soft.com/microsoftupdate). ■
DPA
 Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Prevent eye and neck strain
Monitor position is important to prevent eye and neck strain. Position your computer monitor right in front of you
rather than off to the side. The top edge of the display should be roughly at eye level, not lower and not higher. Your
monitor should also be high enough to encourage you to sit up straight, with your head tilted gently downward.
News Corp sees MySpace
as place for videogames
Sagging social
networking site
set for major
revamp
N
ews Corp hopes to trans-
form MySpace, which has
been losing users to Face-
book, into a stronger on-
line videogaming platform as it
works to reposition the six-year-
old site as an entertainment
destination.
At the Fortune Brainstorm:
TECH conference in Pasadena,
California, Jonathan Miller, News
Corp digital head said he saw op-
portunities to make MySpace’s
gaming platform better geared to
videogame suppliers who then
will want to launch their products
on the site and employ its user
data to better develop games.
“MySpace is and will be more
in the future a gaming platform, a
space for people to meet and play
games,” Miller said.
Twitter to pitch add-on tools to businesses
T
witter plans a marketing
campaign starting in the
next few days to educate us-
ers, individual and corpo-
rate, about ways to make money
off the popular micro-blogging
site.
Co-founder Biz Stone said the
company is not interested in ac-
quisition talks with Google or any
other company.
Documents that were posted
on TechCrunch revealed that
Twitter had been in discussions
with Google, about some form of
search tie-up.
“We have ongoing discussions
with a lot of companies. One of
the ways we look at Twitter, and
the landscape in general, is not as
a zero-sum game but how we can
reduce a lot of friction between a
lot of companies,” Stone said.
Analysts have been doubtful on
MySpace’s entertainment drive,
given that Google’s YouTube
dominates the user-generated
video content space, while pro-
fessional video is led by Hulu.
That leaves gaming. A focus on
videogames could help MySpace
revitalise itself and better com-
"In other words, we see our-
selves as complementary to big
social networks, to search en-
gines, to big commercial sites,"
he said.
The documents included a
company forecast Twitter would
take in $4 million by the fourth
quarter of 2009, and grow to 5,200
employees and 1 billion users by
the end of 2013.
Stone called the documents
notes from meetings, out of date
and not necessarily accurate.
“The key takeaway there is that
we’re thinking big and we’re in it
for the long haul,” Stone said.
While the site has skyrocketed
in usage and prominence, Stone
said it had yet to make any signif-
icant revenue.
Stone said Twitter is in it for
“the long haul,” which is why it is
pete against Facebook, which re-
cently surpassed 200 million
active users and has vaulted
ahead of MySpace.
Facebook had more than 307
million unique visitors in April,
while MySpace had less than 125
million, according to comScore.
Last month, Facebook sur-
developing ways to generate rev-
enue, creating a company culture
and doing other things internally
that “you just don’t do if you’re
interested in
being acquired.”
Stone said, the company is roll-
passed Myspace’s peak number
of unique monthly users in the
United States, 76.3 million, set in
October 2008, according to the
research house.
MySpace already has a portal
where users can play videogames
with friends online. Facebook
hosts a number of casual games,
from Scrabble to chess.
But Miller described video-
games as an opportunity for ex-
pansion not only for MySpace,
but for owner News Corp, which
has the Fox network and movie
studio and other media
companies.
“None of the traditional media
conglomerates are also signifi-
cant video game players, so to
speak, and I think that that’s the
missing piece of the equation,
particularly when you see how
much time is spent playing
games online,” Miller said.
But with MySpace losing
ground to Facebook and Twitter,
News Corp recently ousted MyS-
pace co-founder and CEO Chris
DeWolfe and installed its own
management team.
ing out the first phase - an educa-
tional push - of an effort to
generate revenue through vari-
ous add-on tools and services for
the business and professional us-
ers of Twitter.
Stone said the company will
05
At the conference, Miller was
asked during an on-stage session
to talk about News Corp chief ex-
ecutive Rupert Murdoch’s recent
assessment that MySpace should
become an “entertainment
portal”.
“You must focus, and in our
case we are focusing on music,
games, video, things like that,”
Miller said.
It was not clear if MySpace
would leverage more entertain-
ment content from parent com-
pany News Corp and its
television and movie divisions.
Miller told Reuters that while
MySpace will not become prima-
rily a gaming destination, it will
be a crucial theme.
“If you look at the big activities
online, games right now is num-
ber three," he said. “Communica-
tions, search, games. So it’s
clearly going to be a major focus.”
He added that News Corp
could possibly make acquisitions
to bolster MySpace’s videogame
platform, though he had no spe-
cific targets in mind. ■
Reuters
work to educate companies, in-
cluding mom and pop shops, on
how they can use Twitter for their
business.
The company expects that the
second phase with the add-on
services, which could include ac-
count certification, will come lat-
er this year, likely in the fall.
Another possible way to generate
revenue would be through the
data that Twitter collects about
its users, Stone said.
In general, the company will
work to position the product as a
communication network and less
of a social network.
“We started out by creating this
very simple status updating sys-
tem. And that’s not what Twitter
is. It evolved into something
else,” Stone said. ■
Reuters
06 VILLAGE ERGO Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Postcard surprise
Stunned Eleanor Boucher received a holiday postcard from her relatives –
featuring a picture of her taken at a seaside resort 17 years ago.

Man jailed over lunchtime lunacy Wheel falls off

An Australian who set fire to his Melbourne home
because his wife was late making him lunch was jailed Australian jet
for four years. Australian airline Virgin
The court was told that Rajah Theiveneraeas, 54, knew Blue has checked its fleet
his wife and daughters were inside when he poured of Boeing 737s after a
petrol on a staircase and set the house alight. wheel fell off a plane as it
They escaped through the flames, suffering only minor prepared for take-off,
burns. The house was extensively damaged. officials said.
Judge John Nixon said Theiveneraeas was out of control Nobody was hurt in the
but not psychiatrically disturbed at the time of the arson incident on a Sydney-
attack. bound plane, which was
DPA taxiing towards the runway
at Melbourne airport, the
Australian Transport Safety
Bureau said.
Pals reunite 27 years later after “The axle between the two wheels has fractured and
that’s caused the right front wheel to separate,” a bureau
living as next-door neighbours spokesman said. “I understand that as a precaution Virgin
In a case of entangled destinies, two men came face to Blue has inspected their fleet.”
face with each other at a street party and found they were The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association said
boyhood best friends. the incident, which is being probed by safety investigators,
Solicitor Jonathan Webb and financial expert Simon could have been catastrophic.
McGregor, who had not seen each other for 27 years, had “In this case, we were lucky that the failure occurred on
been living next door to each-other in Wandsworth, south the ground. The release of the wheel assembly in-flight
London. could have seen a loss of aircraft,” association secretary
The 47-year-olds Steve Purvinashe said.
attended one of AFP
the Big Lunch
series of street
parties around the
country, reports
The Daily Express. Coffee is good for brain
The two even A German health organisation has issued a brochure with new
crossed each conclusions about the effects of coffee on human health, saying
other’s paths in the that it is good for the brain and the liver.
street but had no Germany’s Green Cross said coffee speeds up digestion and protects
idea of the people from age-related diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cirrhosis of the
connection until liver.
they began talking. Coffee has a preponderance of positive influences on health and
Webb said: “I am well-being.
still reeling from Caffeine plays an important role not only by improving the ability
the shock, a really to concentrate, but also by decreasing the risk of liver cirrhosis by
pleasant shock.” up to 80 per cent among people who drink at least four cups a day.
ANI DPA

Woman rescued from overly playful dolphin

A
woman swimmer in
New Zealand had to
be rescued from the
sea after an excessive-
ly playful dolphin refused to
let her return to shore, ac-
cording to a news report.
The exhausted woman
was clinging to a buoy off-
shore from the beach at Ma-
hia on the east coast of the
North Island as the dolphin
swam around her and pre-
vented her returning to
shore, the Gisborne Herald
reported.
But the woman, who did
not want to be named, said
there was nothing sinister
about the behaviour of the
dolphin named Moko,
which has become a local
celebrity since taking up res-
idence at the beach more
than two years ago.
The dolphin regularly
seeks out swimmers and
people in boats to play with.
“I’ve spent quite a bit of
time swimming with Moko
and I’m a strong swimmer,
so I wasn’t worried at first,”
she said.
“We were playing around
for a while but then when I
wanted to go back in, he just
wanted to keep playing. I be-
came exhausted and started
to panic.
“The reality set in that I
was out in the ocean with a
wild animal and no people
around, so I felt quite
vulnerable.”
People on the beach heard
the woman screaming and
took a row boat out to rescue
her.
“When we got out there
she had wrapped herself
around the buoy and was
absolutely freezing, she was
freezing to death,” local bar PHOTO: AFP
manager Juanita Symes said
of the woman.
“She was completely ex-
hausted. If we had left her
any longer, she would have
run out of energy.” ■
AFP
 Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Websites of the day
Songs, styles and history of the pop music girl groups of
the early 1960s: http://www.girl-groups.com/
Information on the past, present and future of electro
music. Includes artist profiles, discographies, audio samples,
lyrics, articles and photos: http://www.electroempire.com/
Swiss Army knife morphs with age
A
century and a quarter
after a master cutler
set out to supply Swiss
soldiers with a survival
tool, the iconic Swiss Army
knife still adjusts gun sights,
cuts cheese and opens cans.
But deep in Switzerland’s
rural Alpine heartland, Karl
Elsener’s descendants at
Victorinox, the last firm in
the country that still makes
the pocket knives, have been
forced to adapt to the urban
jungle.
Apart from the hallmark
blades, the corkscrew - origi-
nally sold to officers only -
tweezers, and screwdrivers,
the nowadays 100-strong
range includes a “cyber tool”
to fix computers, a USB key
and a blunt-tipped chil-
dren’s knife.
Former rival and now sub-
sidiary Wenger recently add-
ed the folding nail clipper to
the nail file, while London’s
Bond Street, New York’s So-
ho and Tokyo’s Ginza rival
army barracks around the
world as outlets.
Victorinox president Carl
Elsener is eyeing a Blue-
tooth-equipped remote con-
troller for business
presentations next, and even
fingerprint ID to secure data
stored on the computer
memory key.
“We always try to be very
close to the market and get
new ideas,” said Elsener ju-
nior, great-grandson of the
company’s founder.
Although the modern dis-
course is imbued with mar-
keting speak, Elsener says
the family firm has poured
“a lot of soul” for more than
125 years into developing
the legendary red tool.
“Powerful Presidents have
been using the Swiss Army
knife as a gift for their vis-
itors to the White House,” he
added, also recalling that it
was once used to perform an
in-flight emergency trache-
otomy high above the Philip-
pines.
An exhibition at the Swiss
National Museum in
Schwyz, near the firm’s
headquarters, retraces the
evolution of pocket knives
“from tool to icon”, reveal-
ing the far more rural flavour
of the early models.
Modern Swiss Army Knifes line up under the portrait of founder Karl Elsener at
an exhibition in Schwyz. PHOTOS: AFP
CEO of Swiss knife maker
Victorinox Carl Elsener Jr. poses
with the 125th Anniversary
edition of the iconic Swiss knife.
07
Blinging bread van
Two friends crossed a Citroen 2CV with
a Ferrari - and produced a bread van
which can do a staggering 180mph.
The devout Karl Elsener
was motivated by more ear-
thy, practical values and the
kind of business acumen
that seems to run in the fam-
ily.
After learning his trade in
Switzerland, France and
Germany, he set up his cut-
lery and knife workshop in
the village of Ibach in 1884.
Just as his great-grandson
is today trying to fend off
cheap competition from the
Far East, Victorinox’s foun-
der was irritated by the mil-
itary’s bid to turn to
Germany’s steel industry for
mass production.
So he convinced local cut-
lers like himself to club to-
gether and jointly
manufacture the pocket
knife in Switzerland by 1891.
“The knife was a bit bulky
and heavy so my grandfather
decided to develop a lighter
more elegant knife with ad-
ditional functions. One of
them, of course, was the
corkscrew,” he explained.
“The history begins with
the soldier’s knife for the
Swiss Army,” explained exhi-
bition organiser Pia Schu-
biger.
“But the cult came with
the officer’s knife.”
“Pronouncing ’Schweize-
roffiziersmesser’ was too dif-
ficult so they just called it the
Swiss Army knife,” said El-
sener.
But the growing diversity
of the device is also down to
a battle for economic surviv-
al. “Swiss Army” is nowadays
a commercial trademark.
Eight years ago, interna-
tional sales dipped after
pocket knives were banned
from airliner cabins in the
aftermath of the September
The Swiss Army knife 11, 2001 attacks, adding to
the pressure from competi-
became the reliable tion and new multipurpose
portable tools.
companion for many “September 11 was our
expeditions, to the North worst moment because
practically from one day to
Pole, the South Pole, in the the next our output dropped
Amazon, to Mount Everest, 30 per cent,” said Elsener.
In 2005 Victorinox took
even official equipment of over its last Swiss rival, Wen-
ger, which was sliding into
the space shuttle crews financial trouble. The
brands still trade indepen-
dently. ■
AFP
08 SPORT ERGO Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Lampard passes Ashes tickets

Star England footballer Frank Lampard was among the celebrities who got tickets for the Ashes
Test at Lord’s but the Chelsea defender passed them to a “couple of East End geezers” leaving
the MCC fuming. An irate MCC has complained to Lampard for “abuse of the club’s hospitality
during the second Test match at Lord’s” last week.

Bhullar in top-10
His maiden Asian Tour title at the Indonesia President

Point of concern
Invitational has propelled young Indian golfer
Gaganjeet Bhullar into the top-10 of the Order of
Merit, which
continues to be
led by Thai
Thongchai Jaidee.
The 20-year-old
clinched the title
with an emphatic More players could go the Flintoff way: Kirsten
two-stroke victory
over Australia’s
Adam Blyth at the
Damai Indah Golf
Bumi Serpong
Damai course

I
yesterday. ndia coach Gary Kirsten has
“I’ve been waiting for this for the past two years. I warned that a lot of players
played really well today and I had a very good finish could go the Andrew Flintoff
with a good score,” said Bhullar. Victory was worth way and quit Tests to prolong
USD 63,400, moving the Indian up to the 10th place on their one-day and Twenty20 ca-
the Order of Merit. Bhullar said the morale-boosting reer as it assures them of more
win has also given him the belief that he can establish money for less cricket. “It’s a nat-
himself on the world stage like illustrated compatriot ural progression that the guys
and reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Jeev are then going to say ‘I’m not
Milkha Singh. “I’ve won three times on the Indian interested in bowling 25 overs in
circuit this year and my goal a few months back was to a day when I can bowl four overs
win on the Asian Tour. This victory will get me into all in a six-week period and earn
the co-sanctioned events now and will give me a lot of three times as much’,” Kirtsen
confidence in my coming years,” said Bhullar. said.
PTI Flintoff will quit Test cricket
after the ongoing Ashes and
the 31-year-old blamed the
decision on his injury-rav-
Massa’s condition improving aged body. Kirsten said
Injured Formula One driver Felipe Massa can now Flintoff’s decision
communicate “actively” and is able to move his hands could influence a lot
and legs, a Hungarian Defence Ministry spokesman said of other players.
on Monday. Brazilian Massa, who fractured his skull in “The worrying side
an accident during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand that I’m seeing is
Prix on Saturday, is waking up from sedation more and that a guy like An-
more frequently. Spokesman Istvan Bocskai told drew Flintoff, a
Hungarian television that Massa, whose wife is high profile cricket-
expecting their first child, spent the night calmly and an er, has now made
ultrasound examination carried out in the past hours the decision to leave
was “reassuring”. Test cricket, because he
Massa would also have another brain scan, Bocskai feels that he can get more out of
added. “He’s woken up (from sedation) more and more his body and earn much more
often now and he’s able to communicate actively, that money by moving away from
is, he reacts when he’s talked to. We are optimistic, in Test cricket and playing ODIs and
our hope a slow recovery is beginning.” Bocskai said Twenty20 cricket. He’s perfectly
Massa could move his hands and legs, signs that his right in his decision. Why not?”
brain likely suffered no particular damage, but doctors he said.
were not at the stage where they could be totally sure The former South African
of that. Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo will fly coach said ODI games should be
to Hungary on Monday to be at the Massa’s bedside. lessened and Twenty20 games
Last year’s championship runner-up was flown to increased to strike the right bal-
hospital after being hit on the head by a bouncing ance. “India plays six Tests this
spring, weighing almost a kilo, that broke free from year. Is that sufficient or are
compatriot Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn car. there other priorities? I don’t
Reuters know. It’s quite interesting that
we’ve got a Twenty20 World
Cup in April next year in the
West Indies and Team India
don’t play one Twenty20 game
until that tournament starts.
What should be happening is
that we should be going on tour
and playing six Twenty20 games
and one or two 50-over games. I
think that’s going to happen. It’s
just a matter of time,” he said. ■
PTI
 Tuesday, July 28, 2009
09

‘‘
I think his contribution and overall play of a game is definitely suited to us. (He’s) very cool in
the last third of the field. He knows when to run and when to hold his runs. The criteria for
giving the number seven jersey are quite clear. It’s a jersey that has been worn by some high-profile
players and I think we have that in Michael Owen.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson

Sania tosses Coin

Sania Mirza beats higher-ranked
American to win Lexington Challenger
ERGO CORRESPONDENT
feedback@goergo.in
finding herself down 5-3 before win-
ning two straight games and split-
ting the next two to move to the

B
uoyed by a boisterous crowd
far away in the U.K., Sania Mir-
za on Sunday pocketed her
first WTA singles title of the
season, winning the Lexington Chal-
lenger with relative ease.
The second-seeded Indian got the
better of American top-seed Julie
Coin in straight sets, winning the fi-
nal 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 at the Hilary J.
Boone Tennis Complex.
“It’s great,” Sania said. “They pull
you through. It’s a great support to
have, especially when you’re not at
home. It’s very good and I hope they
come back next year.”
Sania, ranked 83rd in the world,
got off to a good start early in each
set but fell back each time before re-
gaining her composure again. The
first set was a marathon, with Sania
tiebreaker.
“You just kind of have to dig deep
and you know she’s a great player,”
Sania said of Coin, ranked No. 63 in
the world. “She was coming out with
some big shots here and there.”
In the second set, it was the Indian
who worked her way to a 5-3 ad-
vantage. But Coin responded, win-
ning the next game before Sania put
her away. “I knew she was going to
be really good and she was going to
have some bigger weapons than all
the other girls I’ve played during this
tournament. I just had to obviously
raise my game. As every match went
by I kept on improving. I’m glad I
came out on top today,” she said.
Halfway through the second set,
trainers tended to Coin, stretching
out her leg as she grimaced. But she
was able to continue, but just win-
ning one more game. After the
match, though, Coin assured eve-
ryone she felt fine. “She (Sania) was
hitting too hard,” the American
joked.
Sania next heads off to Stanford
for the Bank of the West Classic as
she made the qualifying round after
reaching the final of the Lexington
Challenger. Her win Sunday night al-
so helped climb the ranking chart, as
she climbed up three places to be
ranked 80 in the latest WTA rankings
released on Monday. ■
10 FLICK ERGO Tuesday, July 28, 2009

‘MJ wrote Billie Jean in 3mins’

It took Michael Jackson just three minutes to write the lyrics to No. 1 hit ‘Billie
Jean’, according to a pal. Dr Steven Hoefflin has claimed that the inspiration
behind the 1983 single was a beautiful female fan he spotted outside his family
home. The singer was in a car with two of his brothers when he wrote it.
ANI

Lopez not signing up

‘American Idol’
S inger-actor Jennifer Lopez has denied reports that she
was in the run to replace American Idol judge Paula
Abdul.
Abdul had recently hinted that she was not too keen to
return to the show and had not signed a contract with Idol
producers to
return for season 8
of the Fox hit
singing
competition,
fuelling reports
that Lopez was to
replace her, People
online reported.
But the ‘Waiting
for Tonight’ hit-
maker, who
recently wrapped
up her latest
movie, The Backup
Plan, in New York,
has termed the
reports “false”.
“The rumour of
Jennifer Lopez
throwing herself in
the ring to take
over for Paula Abdul is completely false. Jennifer loves Idol
but just as a fan. She just wrapped the feature film The
Backup Plan, due out January 2010, and will release an
album then as well,” a representative for Lopez said. ■
PTI

‘Where am I?’
B eyonce Knowles has been left so confused by her
gruelling world tour schedule that she even forgets
where she is.
Just over three months into her tour, the singer was
recently unable to tell exactly where she was in
America.

What Gere didn’t

She could only say that she was in an American city
beginning with the letter S, but she was not sure which
one.
“Where am I?” the Daily Telegraph quoted Knowles
as saying, when asked by Insider, before hitting the

gear up for
stage for the 51st show of her 87-date world tour..
“I’m in San Francisco,
I think. No, San Diego?
Oh, Sacramento…
That’s terrible. I just
got here, just got off

R
ichard Gere was mobbed by a group bus. We are from Monaco. Hello, Richard!’ of the bus, so I haven’t
of trespassing women who had trav- They had gone past six ‘Do Not Enter’ seen anything but the
elled to his hotel from Monaco just signs,” Gere told W magazine. venue,” she added.
to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood “They were the ladies’ garden tour from Her world tour is one
star. Gere has been inundated by fans des- Monaco and they wanted pictures. I said, of the biggest ever,
perate to catch a glimpse of him since he ‘Get down from there!’ We’re trying to in- having grossed more
renovated and started running a luxury vent something else... I’ll be doing the than $37.5 million in
hotel with his wife Carey Lowell earlier this room service,” he added. ticket sales so far.
year. However, the couple are unsure how She’s due in Australia
On one occasion, Richard was forced to much longer they will work on the eight- in September to play
confront a team of women who were side- bedroom guest house, despite making it seven shows, booking
stepping along a high stone wall near the an instant success. two performances at
Bedford Post Inn, New York, in a bid to be Lowell said: “We do still sometimes have Sydney’s Acer Arena on
close to him. those conversations where we say, ‘Can we September 18 and 19.
“They just kept walking toward me, sell it now and move on? Is it over yet?’” ■ ■
waving and saying, ‘We’ve come on zee IANS ANI
 Tuesday, July 28, 2009
11
Jolie’s daughter Shiloh loves brother’s cast-offs
Angelina Jolie’s three-year-old daughter Shiloh is obsessed with wearing her older brother
Maddox’s cast-offs, including old football boots. The 34-year-old actress, who raises six
children with partner Brad Pitt, has tried everything to persuade three-year-old Shiloh to
wear other clothes, but she refuses to don anything that doesn’t belong to seven-year-old
Maddox, reports contactmusic.com

A
fter Keira Knightley, British actor Orlando Bloom is
the next in line to quit the Pirates of the Caribbean
film franchise.
While Knightley announced she will not be return-
ing to shoot another movie with Bloom and Johnny Depp
insisting her “pirating days are over”, sources close to
Bloom say he wants to walk out of the franchise as produc-
ers wish to concentrate on Depp’s character in the film,
reports contactmusic.com.
“Orlando loved the films, but thinks it’s time to bow out
because they tied up nicely for his character Will Turner.
The producers are okay with that because they want to
concentrate on the new adventures of Depp’s (character)
Captain Jack Sparrow,” said a source. ■
IANS

Cine City

Arya pairs up Ash gets

with Nayan older
Actor Arya, who makes his Former Miss World
foray into Malayalam films, Aishwarya Rai
will be paired with Nayanthara Bachchan is turning
in his first project. The Sarvam old with grey hair and
star has been roped in to play wrinkled skin. Hang
the lead role in director on, that’s only for the
Shyamaprasad’s yet-to-be-titled reel world. Ash is
project. Nayanthara, who playing the role of an
made her debut in Malayalam old woman in director
and later shifted to Kollywood, Vipul Shah’s Action
was last scene in a cameo in Replay, where she is
Dileep’s Twenty20 last year. paired with Akshay
Her full-fledged role in Kumar. The director
Bodyguard, again with Dileep, has roped in a make-
is yet to be released. Director up artiste from
Shyamaprasad is known best Hollywood to make
for Prithivraj-starring Akale Aishwarya look old.
and Mammootty-starring Ore Ash is doing a
Kadal. historical character.
12 ERGO Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Deepak from Cognizant Talent Management Team, CTS has nominated Murugaboopathy from Information Dynamics, Elnet Software City has
his friends as Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked during their team nominated his friends Micheal, Satheesh, Murugaboopathy, Gnanam,
outing at Chennai Harbour. Ramkumar as Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked at Queens Land.

Afroze Anis Nawaz from R.R. Donnelley, Anna Nagar has nominated his Shanmuga from Tata Consultancy Services has nominated his team as
friends as Partners in Crime. This picture was taken at a collegue’s house Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked during their team outing at
in Velachery. INDeco hotels in Mahabalipuram.

Joebert from PayPal has nominated his friends as Partners in Crime. This Swaminathan from Accenture has nominated his team as Partners in
picture was clicked with their Senior Manager Ranga Ganapathy and Crime. This Pic was clicked inside their office campus
reporting leads.
 Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Dhinesh Kumar Jayapalan from
Wipro Technologies, Chennai has
been nominated as Office Angel
by Debit QA team.
Dhinesh, our Project Lead is a
very good coordinator, propagator
and very friendly person. Very strong
in Technical and People
Management. He handles all the
problems in a pre-planned and
proactive manner. Because of his
support and guidance, we have
received so many appreciations from
our clients. All the Best to our
’Thalai’
D - Dazzling
H - Honest
I - Intelligent
N - Noble
E - Efficient
S - Simply Superb
H - Hero
Gayathri
Pattamsetty
from
Tata Consltancy
Services doodled
this.
)Friend1: Naan ethu senjalum en wife kurukka nikkira.
Friend2: Car otti paren!
2) Frogs: Sardars r fools.
Sardar: We r not fools.
Frog: Its waste to talk to u (frog jumps into water)
Sardar: idhula suicide panradhuku enna erukku?
Sweety, STG
■ Dear Mukund,
Wishing you happy returns of the
day. May this new year bring you
closer to all your friends. Miss all the
happy memories and wonderful
moments. Keep on rolling dude!!
Happy Birthday.....
Your Sam Anderson,
Allsec Technologies
■ Dear sis Khushi,
Wishing u many more happy returns
of the day. May this birthday be filled
with happy memories, wonderful
moments and shining dreamz!
All the best on ur delightful journey.
keep rocking!!
Happy Birthday sis with lots of love.
Your Bhai,
Allsec Technologies
■ Dear MARCIA,
Many More Happy Returns Of The
Day ! May this year bring with it all
the success and fulfillment your heart
desires. Wishing u all the great things
in life, hope this day will bring you
an extra share of all that makes you
happiest.
Greets, ITC team, Verizon
■ Dear & lovable Prabhu
Padmanaban & Prasath
Padmanaban (*TwinStars*):
Let the GOD decorate each GOLDEN
RAY OF THE SUN reaching u with
wishes of Success, Happiness and
prosperity 4 U, Wish you a super
duper happy birthday.
We all wish you both dual creature a
dual happiness &
prosperity every where in your life.
Huma Shankar VJ (British telcom (UK),
Prathyoosh mohan, Prabhu D & Muthu
(TCS), Rakesh (Infy)
■ HI, # include# include #define
DEAR_UNIX_KING
"GuruAt25July2009" int main() {int}
Guru = strcmp(DEAR_UNIX_KING,
"GuruAt25July2009");if (Guru == 0)
{pri}ntf ("**Wish you belated happy
birthday wishes!!!** \n");
printf ("**Wish u a great success in ur
personal n professional career** \n");
printf ("**Wish you become a
Technical Architect soon!!! :)** \n");
printf ("**Wish you get married to an
auditor soon!!! :-) \n"); return 0;
With Love, Alcatel 5620,
Team Wipro Technologies.
■ Hi Rekha,
Growing old is like being increasingly
penalized for a crime,
u hav not committed. On ur birthday,
sGo for a beautiful dream.
Pick out some wishes, no matter how
far, or how hard to reach, they may
seem. Cherish some hopes that are
13
dear to ur heart.
And as a new year comes in view,
treasure and keep them and knw
from the start that this year u can
make them come true!
Happy birthday.
with loads of love from ,
Gajju, Ashok & Sheela, TCS
■ Dear Bhala,
Wish You A Very Happy Birthday!
May this year bring you all the
happiness, good health and success.
Have a great blast!
Let all your dreams come true.
Cheers!
Best Regards Hari,
Thomas & Faiz and GTF Team.
PSI DATA Systems
■ Dear ERGO,
We are going to miss you lot.
Your tabloid deserves a wonderful
appreciation for making our free
time useful one.
We came to know about lots of
interesting news and updated
ourselves from our workstation
itself. All the best ventures!!!
Cheers!!!
Shankar Manokaran
■ Dear Nantha,
Many more returns of the day.
May god resolve the conflict in your
endeavor and set a baseline version
this year.
From Logis Air dev.
Team and friends.
Belated Wishes
■ Hi Harish Kumar
May this special day be filled with
sweet memories and happy hours.
Wishing you all the fun and
excitement that only birthdays can
bring!
With Cheers, Human Resources,
Coastal Training Technologies
India (P) Ltd
■ Dear Sameullha Shariff,
A Wish that is felt deep in the heart
all year long. This is a wish from all
of us that wishes for all the joy and
good things to always come ur way!!!
May your life be brighter as each
birthday comes and goes,
With new happiness unfolding like
the petal of a rose! Hav a wonderful
day and a fabulous year!
Have a blast dear Sami
Sorry for the Belated Wishes.
With Love n Care,
Your Everloving Friends, Ayub,
Karthik, Anand, Rathina, Bala,
Sumesh Shyam, Parthiban,
Selvaraj, Justin & Senthil; Nittany
14 TRAFFIC JAM ERGO Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Lourdes given back brace

Doctors have given Madonna’s 12-year-old daughter
Lourdes a back brace to help correct a spinal problem.
Lourdes prompted concern when she was photographed
recently sporting a body brace around her waist.

sudoku

Hari Krishna
Naripeddi from
TCS shot this
picture at
Adyar
Childrens Park
using Sony
DSC-T30
camera.
Hobbies:
Electronic
gadgets, UFOs,
movies, cricket,
photography &
videography

So you think you would make a terrific photographer but never really had the
KAKURO
platform? Mail us your best work and we’ll publish it in this space, with credit.
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(Editor responsible for selection of news under
the PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553
 Tuesday, July 28, 2009
15
Popular dog Word’s worth
An Alsatian has become a hit with locals in a Chinese Ignoscency (ig-noh-sun-see) a rare and obsolete
city, after he was spotted on several occasions sporting word meaning ‘forgiveness.’ From a Latin word
a pair of sunglasses meaning ‘to take no notice of.’

B.C

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

The first half of the day seems interesting. You will
be working on new money generating ideas. In the
later part of the day, you will be busy implementing
those ideas. Ganesha finds you full of vigour
throughout the day.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

You may feel as if you are in a bind with your
computer, do not worry, it’s just for a day. As soon
as you are done with work, you may want to rush
home. A hectic day at work may motivate you to
attend recreational activities, feels Ganesha.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

You may be in mood of ‘self-development’ today.
BORN LOSER You may get inspired by someone or may try to
improve your skills at work. On the relationship
front, if you want affection and love in return, you
should be considerate and understanding.
CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20
You may not have too much work at office hence
you will continue doing your routine work. Ganesha
warns you against wasting time as work pressure
may build up during the later part of the day. In
the evening you may entertain your beloved.
LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20
Sentiments and emotions might drench you in the
morning, regardless of what you are dealing with.
Interestingly, the noon may appear contradictory.
Ganesha feels you will be more practical towards
your final objective later during the day.
VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20
Ganesha finds you behaving very politely with
FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT colleagues and superiors. You will succeed in
putting your point across at official meetings. Love
life will be flooded with sweet conversations and
enduring moments.
LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20
Your memory will be very sharp today. Hence you
seem to be good with digits and integers and your
calculations will be perfect. Also, this sharp memory
will help in rectifying previous errors related to
work.
SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20
To err is human and to rectify is smart. If you
realise that you are working in the wrong direction,
stop immediately and change the direction. In love
life you may happen to be judgemental and
analytical. There is no need for you to do that.
SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20
You may try to be friendly with your colleagues at
office today. Apart from your routine work, you may
want to do some research and development on
work related topics. Ganesha advises you to work
according to your priorities.
CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20
The day favours a combination of creativity and
technology. Ganesha feels you should also work on
finalising designs of products and softwares. If
finished now, the product is expected to be
admirable.
AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20
PREVIOUS Philosophical and practical thinking go hand in hand
today. Your advice given to others might just go in
ISSUE’S vain today. You seem to be in a religious mood and
hence you might try to establish a spiritual
SOLUTIONS connection with your beloved.
PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20
It is advisable to clear the back log at office.
Ganesha feels, pending work might bother you
today. However, with a little more effort from your
side and little bit of help from someone, you will be
able to clear up everything.
Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni
16 ! ERGO Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Kevin Kowalski comes off the top of the ramp during Converse Coastal Carnage
skateboard event as part of the 2009 Hurley US Open of Surfing in Huntington
Beach, California. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES/AFP

Some 1,000 musicians play the traditional Gu Zheng during the first Beijing
International Zheng music festival at the national stadium in Beijing. PHOTO: AFP

A sailor kisses his girlfriend before he boards

the German frigate "Bremen" in the northern
German city of Wilhelmshaven. The frigate is
taking part in the European Union-led anti-
pirate operations off the Horn of Africa.
PHOTO: AFP

Actress Shilpa Shetty is blessed as she attends

the Naga Panchami Maha Pooja festival at the
Suvarna Temple in Mumbai. PHOTO: AFP