A Frozen Wonder

Ever wanted to taste the essence of paradise when you’re still alive? Ever imagined what a real spiritual experience would be like? Then the place you’re looking for is the ice hotel in the village Jukkasjärvi, 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden. Yes, a hotel totally made of ‘ICE’…. The only thing you get there unlimited. You think it’s a fantasy? Then stop thinking… for it does exist. And if you’re unsure of why it’s even more special is that it is constructed each year…but very different like chalk and cheese.

The ice hotel was first constructed in the late 1980’s. Every winter, the work begins at the start of November and terminates by the end of December. The work cannot fire up until the temperature has dropped down up to -10 to -5 degrees and the time between November to December is the most ideal one. Once its time the effort begins. To build any elfin structure, a support is a must and thus the constructors erect arched frames and then the concrete has to be used….concrete? Yes, concrete with the blend of water as air. Confused? This is how it is made. Hundreds of liters of water is pumped and then is fired under high pressure, and when the water is mixed with air this concrete which looks like snow is formed… they call this snice. Subsequently the snice is left to settle and take shape of the frame.

With light less than 5 hours a day, the constructors have no choice but continue the work before the deadline if not all their efforts would go wasted. Thus with no time to waste the work continues. After all the hard work luck too matters a lot. If the weather turns warm then the construction is wrecked. Once the snice is settled the frames have to be removed and that is the most tricky part. If the snice is not set enough then the structure will collapse. The builder’s team should also be sure that the snice is not even weakened. Here the experience of the builders counts. The frames are removed one at a time.

Once the Arch is completed, ice blocks are made to erect columns. And the secret ingredient to join beach block is….any guesses? Its ‘water’! Ice walls are made to separate the atrium and each room. Every year a mystical chapel is also constructed. Any plans of getting married in a place that you want to cherish all your life? Don’t give a second thought…this is where you belong.

The moment the exterior is done… the work on the interior begins. The ice artists begin to create their master pieces. Each room is decorated in a very different way. Everything is unique and different every year, except for one – the chandelier on the atrium, which epitomizes the ice hotel. The whole hotel tends to be a large living piece of art. A piece of art that is born, breathes for a while and then its gone…. It gives a spiritual experience, an experience where you can feel the existence of yourself and nature and then…..it goes back to nature. It lives and perishes every year giving a hope for a new incarnation… the next year.

Beat the odds - $100 PC

Are you planning to buy yourself a PC but wanna go easy on those pockets? Then here’s your chance. Go grab the new Nova NetPC introduced by Chennai based company Novatium Solutions. The NetPC was launched this month in New Delhi in tie-ups with the MTNL.

The PC consists of a keyboard, a monitor, mouse and USB ports. It uses a central network server to run software applications and store data. The NetPC works on a technology called “thin client” and is very simple. You will just have to switch it on and it automatically gets connected to the main server. The NetPC does not include local hard disks and no built in softwares. You are provided with 300MB storage from the server and incase you want more storage you’re free to buy it. You get access to the soft wares through the server. The PC supports Operating Softwares such as Microsoft Windows, Linux or Sun Solaris. It supports applications based on voice, streaming video, data and graphics.

The Nova NetPC is supposed to be priced at $100. The Nova NetPC home user package is available for Rs.1, 999 (plus taxes) without the monitor (monitor available at an extra cost of Rs.3000/-) in addition to a monthly subscription starting at Rs.399, including a 30 hour Internet access. Thus the basic cost will come up to Rs.6000 – 7000. May be that’s what you call user friendly.

You could go on and by the NetPC for the reason that it won’t give you a hard blow on your pocket and that itself is the best part of it. Technology like NetPC has made computers affordable for people who don’t have much money to spend. Apart from this the other positive elements of the NetPC could be that it uses a totally new hardware design that lowers the cost of acquisition and it also uses less electricity compared to the other desktop computers.

Talking about the darker side the data security is the matter to worry about. Unless the company guarantees full data security the users are not out of risk. The problem also lies in the internet connection where a country like India has great problem in connectivity, specially the rural areas. And though the PC is available in $100 the user will still have to pay the internet charges every month if not he would have to allow dust to settle on his PC.

The concept of Thin Client too is not very new because there are already such company who have thought of the concept like the Enjay Network Solutions who have introduced the Enjay ThinClient Version 2L, Enjay ThinClient Version 2ica. We also have a French company who started MINITEL. But we still never knew how great The Nova NetPC will prove to be. It’s time to see how successfully it runs in the market. And for implementing a rare concept… cheers to Novatium Solutions.

Blast from the past!

India… Pakistan… India… Pakistan… India… Pakistan…This was the rhythm of the heart beats of millions of people watching the final match of the Twenty 20 World Cup. One small mistake by one team would lead to the victory of another. It was just a narrow line. Just then Pakistani batsman Misbah-ul-Haq scooped the ball bowled by Indian bowler Joginder Sharma high up in the air and the spectators almost lost a heart beat...and their mouths all wide open to watch where the ball lands… The gravity of the earth pulled the ball towards it and ……….it landed in the hands of the Indian fielder Sreesanth. Pakistan – 152, all out and the roars of victory began to linger all over. India beat Pakistan by 5 runs and was declared the first Champion of the Twenty 20 World cup.

The match was really an un-predictable match. Both the teams had equal chance for winning, but India turned out to be lucky. Pakistan needed just 13 runs from the last over out of which the first ball was a wide and Misbah had also managed to hit a six. This is when the situation became more tensed and the winning chances had become 50-50. But Pakistan proved to be on the unlucky side. But though Pakistan didn’t get the Championship they have nothing to lose. They have won the hearts of millions of people all around the world. Irfan Pathan was awarded as the man of the match for his wonderful 3 wickets. The Pakistani player Shahid Afridi was awarded as the man of the tournament.

The Twenty 20 Indian team succeeded in getting India a new championship after a very long time. And Dhoni – he’s the man behind all success. His quick and clever decisions and his wonderful support to the other players have given a chance for all of them to embrace the trophy. For all the hard work the BCCI showered $2 million on the team and also Rs.1 cr. to Yuvraj Singh. The Karnataka CM has offered 5lakhs to Robin Uttappa and the same to Venktesh Prasad for guiding the boys in bowling. Sahara India has offered all of them a flat each. R.P Singh is also been awarded with Rs.10 lakhs by the U.P govt. for his performance.

The Twenty 20 team consisted of all players from small cities and the team was a fresh one and no people had any hopes. Their expectation was very low. But the team proved everyone wrong and there they were on the field standing victorious and raising the banners of India. Now the scene has change – the Indians are all waiting to welcome the team home to celebrate the blast and every Indian today has just two words to say… “CHAK DE INDIA”.

Escape from truth

Truth is often attended with danger; and this proved to be true in the case of four Mid-Day journalists who were sentenced four months of imprisonment this Friday for publishing news reports that were against the former Chief Justice of India Y K Sabharwal.

The Division bench that included Justice R S Sodhi and Justice B N Chaturvedi of the Delhi High Court regarded the journalists guilty of contempt of court for “tarnishing the image of the Supreme Court” and publishing scandalous articles against the Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal. The Mid-day carried news articles that stated that the orders issued by the bench headed by Y.K Sabharwal was in favor of his son who had tie ups with many developers. The Division convicted the journalists of crossing the “Laxman Rekha” (borders) and sentenced them four months imprisonment.

The journalists who were found guilty are MK Tayal the City editor, S.K. Akhtar, the Publisher, Vitusha Oberoi the Resident Editor, and Irfan Khan the Cartoonist. The court ordered the journalists to furnish a personal bond of Rs.10,000 each and two sureties of the same amount for bail. Vitusha Oberoi said that they were pleading not guilty and that truth is their defence.

The deepest truths are best read between the lines, and, for the most part, refuse to be written and when we come across truth, it’s hard to digest and so we try to ignore it. If what the journalists have published is true then the court, instead of just cutting the bud should go to the roots and find out who the real pest is and try to analyze it. The truth must reach the public if it is for the public good and in case it is hidden then that itself is a crime. We live in a democratic country and the very essence of democracy is the right to know what’s happening in our own nation. Instead of just choking the voice of the journalists which they claim is true, why don’t we go out and have an investigation of what the matter really is. This would prove and solve everything. Instead of encouraging the fire why don’t we try to stop it? At this time what we have to keep in mind is the famous quote from the Bible “but above all things truth is victor”.