Sparsh Dec06: Transcending generations full blogger version

Dear Friend,

It was an eventful year at MeraSnap.com. It feels good that we could bring cheer to your loved ones through prints of your precious moments. We hope to deliver more memories in the new year. Here's wishing you the best.

In this issue.. know about turning your digi camera into a measuring tape, preventing identity theft, a tragi-comic article from The Economist on Afghanistan and some light stuff.

Warmly,
Team MeraSnap

	Gulzar's oeuvre: Transcending generations What is a poet doing in a rant about changing patterns in personal communication? Is it the timelessness
of his poetry? Or his adaptability to new media and short attention spans?

Starting with Mera gora ang lai le (Bandini) to Dham dham dhadam in Omkara (and last year's anthem - Kajra re kajra re!) Gulzar has successfully and consistently resonated with multiple generations. His biography.

For those of us who grew up on the lethal combo of Gulzar & R D Burman, this blog by Dipta touches a chord. Can any ode be complete without a tribute to the duo's (+ Asha) poignant pièce de résistance - Mera kuch saaman from Ijaazat? Read Finally, don't miss Gulzar's obit on RD.


Turn your camera into an 'Electronic Measuring Tape'

iPhotoMEASURE transforms any digital camera into an "electronic measuring tape." The user simply places a small DigiTarget in the room and takes a picture. The photo is then transferred to a computer where the software measures everything in the photo-doors, windows, walls, built-ins-with 99.5 percent accuracy. More

Preventing Identity Theft

19th century cryptographer Auguste Kerckhoffs first observed the weakness of security through obscurity, prompting Bruce Schneier to routinely demand that security systems "recover gracefully" from compromised secrets. More. Credits: David Cowan

Democratized opinions! Kabul Express Clip It's set in 2001 - and it's some sort of space odyssey... Review by Bhardwaj Rangan. Forget the movie. This scholarly article from The Economist bares the tragi-comic truth in Afghanistan. Sample this "...There are infinite ways to slight a Pushtun's nang (honour), but most involve zar, zan or zamin: gold, women or land."		Raakhi (Tel) Clip The basic theme is based on sister sentiment... More. Poi (Tam) Clip K. Balachander's. Only a man who is over 100 films old can dare. More. From IndiaGlitz. Kalaralli Hoovagi (Kan) ...delectably made historical film laced with love. Perhaps no one has so far handled the Chitradurga in the camera so beautifully. More
You are welcome to contribute or suggest whacky/ irreverent/ intelligent blog reviews.

Testimonials

Moments of Joy. Printed & Delivered !!! TRUE... they are delivered, Thanks a million... - Ravindra Annapareddy, Dec 18 '06

Thanks for the snaps.. appreciate your service.. hope to utilise your service with bigger print sizes soon - Hemal Patel, Dec 14, '06

THANK YOU. Awesome service. - Saugato Seal, Dec 08, '06

MeraSnap Team,

You did outstanding job in delivering my photos. Keep up the good work. I atleast recommended dozen of my friends. - Pavan

First of all, thank you very much for the quick response. I have to be honest and admit I was not expecting one. This is great service. I appreciate the notice. This is going to be my preferred method of sending pictures of my family to my family in India. I am also going to suggest Merasnap.com to my friends. - Umesh Jayamohan, Nov 6, '06

More

TIP
To ensure that our responses to your queries legitimately land in your inbox (so that they don't get junked into your bulk mail folder), add support@merasnap.com to your address book and safe list. Learn how


Recreating the
Alive Escape Route

One of 20th century's greatest survival epics: A Fairchild 571 crashes high in the Andes.

Three survivors embark on a make-or-break journey to find help. An ordeal that spurred the book and film Alive.

Ricardo Peña & James Vlahos retrace the escape trek. Enter Gallery. Credits: National Geographic. More



10 important parenting resolutions
How about adding a few resolutions that can help make you a more effective parent?

Here are some to help your child lead a healthy and happy life. By Kanchan Maslekar from Rediff. More

Sparsh Nov06: The morphing of the hand-wrtten letter full blogger version

Greetings from MeraSnap.com.

Sparsh is our monthly bak-bak on how technology impacts personal communication - for good and bad. Like the old jungle saying, we may or may not like the transition. But can we afford to ignore it?

So, here we go. It takes 3 mins wonly.

Warmly,
Team MeraSnap

	The morphing of hand-written letters into Email, IM, SMS and what not… As humans, we like to communicate and connect. We thought our email inbox was
intimidating enough, a recent article by Martha Irvine says teens already see email as old school!

The generation born between 1979 and 1994 (known by marketers as "millennials") have practically grown up with the Internet. In the India-specific sense, it's the mobile phone. Email is largely being replaced by instant messaging, blogs and social networking sites.

So, where does that leave the art of letter writing? It is a pleasure to receive letters and worth the effort to write them. How else can one convey sincerity and layers of emotions?
This article by Megan Bode rues the lack personal touch in an email

	Democratized opinions! You are welcome to contribute or suggest whacky/irreverent/intelligent blog reviews.
	Vivah Clip Nikhat Kazmi's TOI review says it smells of Savlon. Goelji's review reads - "It is Sooraj Barjatya's Disneyland-ish utopia where everyone is innocent and pure."

	Tananam Tananam (Kan) Expectations were high from the new Kavitha Lankesh film. Based on a classic story by Kalki, it tells the tale of Shankar, a veena student so devout he stays in his teacher house. More from Rediff
	Sainikudu set for release on Nov 30 Clip Sainikudu is from the stable of the duo that gave us the delightful hit Okkadu. Indeed, it is Guna Sekhar
and the Prince of Tollywood, Mahesh Babu. Official website

	Varalaaru (Tam) Clip …wholesome entertainment. It has mother sentiment, father sentiment, brother sentiment, girlfriend-
boyfriend sentiment, angry, murder, love, romance, sadness, tears, etc. More. By Anu Russel. But Balaji's review is sensible.
	Classmates (Mal) Clip Well, the story is about a group of students in the Chemistry batch of 1991 in a campus that incorporates
active and violent student politics. More. By Sreejith Kumar

Testimonials
Very good service. Keep going - Inaganti Srini, Nov 8, '06

Thanks for your pro-active email. It makes me want to use your service again. - Sami Hoda, Nov 3, '06

I checked up and it looks like they have got the photos. Thanks for the follow-up. Great customer service. - Manoj, Oct 31, '06

Photos have reached in good condition. Thank you for checking up. - Rajesh M, Oct 30, '06
More

Q&A
a) I want to send some photos to a rural area in Andhra Pradesh where there is no courier service. Do you deliver to such places too?

b) Am based in Bongaigaon, Assam. Will you deliver to my address? Pl confirm.

Actually we deliver to any place in India - any village, any town, any city. It's simple - if our courier service doesn't go there, we reach by Indian post.

More

TIP
To ensure that our responses to your queries legitimately land in your inbox (so that they don't get junked into your bulk mail folder), add support@merasnap.com to your address book and safe list. Learn how


Kashmir on a Royal Enfield!

Matthew Power's ride through the Kashmir valley and on the world's highest motorable road.

"You get into a rhythm where your instincts are connected to the machine," says Power. Courtesy: National Geographic. Enter the gallery


Keeping your baby Occupied

Babies get bored really easily, and mothers are constantly facing the challenge as to how to keep them occupied so they can get some work done. More Courtesy: Indiaparenting.com


The Digital Photography Book, by Scott Kelby


It's not a book full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts; it's a book of which button to push, which setting to use, when to use them, and nearly two hundred "tricks of the trade" to get readers sharper, more colorful, professional-looking photos

Scott Kelby is Prez of the National Asso of Photoshop Professionals and Editor-in-Chief of Photoshop User and Layers magazines. More

Sparsh Oct 06: The lore of the dak runner full blogger version

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Sparsh.

Coming from MeraSnap.com, Sparsh is a random 3-minute scan of the world going by. About changing times and how technology continues to alter personal communication - from the intimacy of a quaint hand-written letter to a college kid's rapid-fire ease with SMS. It's bewildering!

Here's wishing you and family a very happy Diwali and Eid. Spread cheer!

Warmly,
Team MeraSnap

	The lore of the Dak runner The Dak runner or mail runner was intrinsic to the Indian postal system when mail was transported from village to village on foot, through jungles, terrains and deserts. The runner went from one station to the next,
passing the letters to the next runner who would continue.

It was a 24-hour service and the runners braved wild animals, bandits, swollen rivers and natural calamities. Dressed in colourful attire, they carried spears with jingling bells for self-defence. The runners seldom shrunk from their duty.

Even today, inaccessible regions in Himachal Pradesh are reached by dak runners. The runner's tinkling bell sets off a commotion, breaking the monotony of everyday life in the high mountains.
Credits: The Hindu (Shalini Umachandran), The Tribune & BBC

Jim Corbett as a Dak runner
Jim once famously impersonated a mail runner, complete with lantern, spear and bundle of letters, while tracking down a man-eater that had carried off quite a few runners.

Democratization of opinion! Blogs today offer the most reliable measure of a film's worthiness - far away from the newspaper types. If you come across interesting & smart alecky blog reviews, do let us know.

	Stalin ....then he comes face-to-face with the home minister where the story starts. The best scene is with Prakash Raj when he warns him “Oka amma ki oka abba ki puttina vadayithey…..” More. By Rajesh Segu
Meanwhile, enjoy these YouTube bits - the jing bang title sequence and a song clip

	Lage Raho Munnabhai One must admire Rajkumar Hirani's guts in attempting to turn a completely whacko thought into a charming
movie. And how it works! Shiv Visvanathan, a socialogist has an equally interesting take on the film. More

Vettayadu Vilayadu
....but it is neither a tale of mind-games, nor in-your-face. The storyteller takes his time to let the desired effect sink in. More. By Vijay Krishna

	K A N K If Kabhi Alvida...is a mélange of 1s and 0s, Gaurav Pahuja has got it all right. Sample this - *ShahRukhKhan* and *RaniMukherjee* are emotionally overloaded and go into an infinite weeping loop
every 60 milliseconds. More

Q&A
1. a) I want to send some photos to a rural area in Andhra Pradesh where there is no courier service. Do you deliver to such places too?

b) Am based in Bongaigaon, Assam. Will you deliver to my address? Pl confirm.

Actually we deliver to any place in India - any village, any town, any city. It's simple - if our courier service doesn't go there, we reach by Indian post.

More

Trust Hans Hendriksen to capture the state's dazzling kaleidoscope of colors, textures, contrasts and those vast, desolate sandscapes.

It's a visual documentary. A co-existence of the pretty and not-so-pretty. More



Why parents must read to their children


Reading aloud to children has many benefits. One, it's the best way to introduce them to the world of books.

Regular read-aloud sessions stimulate brain development of pre-schoolers and help foster a lifelong love of reading and learning. More


What exactly is 128 bit encryption?


It is the highest level of encryption available that guarantees safe and secure payment over net.

128-bit encryption offers 2-to-the-power-of-88 times as many possible combinations as 40-bit encryption. That's over a trillion times a trillion times stronger! More.