Mayank's Blog

Download the Remote Keyboard service for you Windows Phone app. You will need administrator privileges on your PC to run the app. NOTE: 1. Supported OSes are Windows 7 and Windows 8. 2. Your firewall must not be blocking connection to local IP addresses.

If you are going to watch a Mission Impossible movie for emotions, story and nice little subtleties then, and I hate to break this to you, you are at the wrong party! For the past 15 years, people go to theatres to watch Ethan Hunt do stuff that’s not humanly possible. Ethan not only does it but does it in style. As with other MI movies, Impossible Mission Force (IMF) main agent Ethan Hunt is entrusted with the task of saving the world. The only little twist in the story is the initiation of Ghost protocol, effectively ending any support to Ethan and his gang. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Ethan eventually succeeds. But don’t blame yourself if you still get the chills when Ethan cries out, “Mission Accomplished!”. MI4 is full of action sequences, one better than the other. My favorite scene is when Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt) jumps down the Burj Khalifa with little more than a fire hose to support him. The looming sandstorm in the background, in all its IMAX glory, makes...

When I first came to Hyderabad, I did all the touristy things that one is supposed to do when visiting a new city. I was fascinated by the old city charm that Hyderabad exudes but never had I thought that I would ever be living in this city. Strangely enough, here I am writing this, after spending more that six months living here. Like with yours truly, you have to spend some time with this city to begin liking it. Me being a nerd, the first thing that stood out as a beacon of hope during the initial dark days here was the internet connection provided by Beam Telecom. I have lived in quite a few cities of India and believe me nowhere you will get such blazing fast internet speeds at such affordable prices. It’s a pity that Beam is just limited to Hyderabad. Next thing that deserves a mention here is the Rajnikant -style driving practiced here. Crossing a road, travelling in an auto-rickshaw, driving a car/bike, everything here gives you an adrenaline rush! You just don’t mess with...

There are some movies that take themselves seriously and then there are some that make a fool of themselves (think Dabangg) . Rockstar falls into neither of these categories and thus despite being a movie which could have a lot of potential finally ends up making a mess of itself. At a running time of nearly 3 hours, I have a lot to nitpick about the movie but  to be fair let’s list down some good things first. The music by A.R. Rahman is fabulous and fresh as ever. The songs reflect the pain, anguish and rebellious nature of a true rock star. Secondly, I was glad to see Ranbir Kapoor come out of his shell and really give the performance of his acting life till date. The (supposed) pain in his eyes looked as real as it could ever be. Now that niceties are over, lets get down to business. Despite sporting pouty lips and great body, Nargis Fakhri ended up being the biggest disappointment. Frankly, a mannequin would have acted better than her. She is such a disaster that in so...

Kinect is an amazing piece of technology. Not only for gaming, it can be used for variety of uses ranging from Healthcare, Security, IT etc. Starting with coding for Kinect seems daunting at first, mainly due to lack of knowledge and starting material. This article documents my first attempt at coding for Kinect. So basically it’s a beginner level article which introduces us to Kinect. Before you begin, you must ensure that the following pre-requisites have been met. Kinect for Xbox 360 – You should have the retail version of Kinect hardware. Kinect for Windows SDK should be installed on your system. Coding4Fun Kinect Toolkit should be installed on your system. After you install the Kinect for Windows SDK, plug-in your Kinect to your PC via the USB port and some device drivers should automatically get installed. Finally you should be able to see this screen. Now that you have all set up, fire up Visual Studio and create a new WPF project. Add a ...

Some experiences mark the end of one phase of your life and beginning of another. The signals for this change might be approaching for quite sometime but either you didn’t understand them or chose to ignore them. Like I did when MTV Roadies slipped through my important to-do things on a weekend. Or when Channel V Dare to Date stopped being hilarious and started being cruel and mean. Or when Love Kiya Toh Darna Kya seemed like a stupid show where ignorant kids ruin not only their reputation but also that of their families. I guess I was going through “Being a cynical asshole” phase. You're Getting Old Tags: SOUTH PARK Stan Marsh , Randy Marsh , more... These signals turned into a full-blown experience when I saw Delhi Belly yesterday. I know that we are supposed to rave about how hilarious and awesome the movie is but I didn't find it so. There are only a finite number of times when visuals of ass-cracks or loud noises of farting tickle your funny bone. T...

Boy, what an year 2010 was! It was an year riddled with scams; so many of them that we have to invent a new search engine to just wade through them. Then there was Obama’s visit, Sarkozy’s visit, Hu Jintao’s visit. But that’s not all to the past year. It was also the year when I decided that I have had enough of the comfortable environs of Pune and that it was now time to brave the icy winds of Delhi. Delhi hasn’t let me down. Every morning it sends a chill down my bones when I get out of my warm and cosy bed. It is said that some people in Delhi don’t feel any cold. I had heard and read about them in magazines and movies but never quite believed it. But its true! Delhi girls don’t feel any cold. They have waxed off their goose bumps and apparently live and die by the tagline “ Jitna kam pehnoge, utna hot dikhoge ”. They are a burning topic (no pun intended) for scientific study to find out what kind of heat insulating/generating system they have which helps them wade through chilly w...