iGoogle

Ever heard of iGoogle? Browse to google.com and have a look on the top right hand corner, you'll probably see a link that plainly reads 'iGoogle'.

iGoogle which was previously known as 'Personalized google homepage' is a way to customise your google page with all sorts of information that you frequently access on the net (by clicking on 'personalised home' once in iGoogle). From your mail, news, sport and even weather; all these can be added in the form of 'gadgets' to your personal iGoogle. You'll have to sign in with your gmail login (whats that... you don't have a gmail account?! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN all this time! Tsk tsk) and then you can search from hundreds (probably thousands of gadgets). Probably a good idea to save your login details (if you're using a private connection) and set your iGoogle as your homepage :)

Go ahead, try it out if you haven't already done so and if you're a regular on the net then you'll surely find it worthwhile.

Zamzar???

Zamzar is a free online file conversion site... and its brilliant. No need to register on the site, no cost involved and its legal; its plain, simple to use and very handy indeed!

Convert document, image, audio or video files (up to a size of 100MB) to another format. For example you can convert a Microsoft Word document (including the new 'docx' MS Word 2007 format) to 'pdf'; or a '3gp' (popular cellphone recording format) file to 'mpg' format. See the full list of available conversion formats here.

New Indian cricket kit on sale now...

The latest ODI kit for the 2007/08 season of team India by Nike is available on Amazon for $99 and from Cricshop (by cricinfo) for 40 pounds.

How safe is your car ???

Ever wondered how safe you and your loved ones would be in the event of a motor accident. Do various makes of vehicles offer various levels of safety and if so is the difference really tangible? The short answer to this question is YES! In fact, its so important there's an institute whose sole purpose is to assess the safety of new cars. You might have heard of it, Euro NCAP (thats pronounced 'n~cap'), based in Brussels, Belgium. They've come up with a system of rating cars according to how safe they are. There are various tests conducted (for example a frontal head on collision into a cement block at 64 km/h), more detail on this as well as test results for specific car models are available at www.euroncap.com. Oh, also note that your car's model (ie year of manufacture) will most likely have a different rating to a different generation of the same make (as in when a new model is introduced with a new shape this car's safety rating will usually be different to the previous model) with safety standards improving with newer models generally. So make sure you check the correct period of your model.

Presenting...

I've had an idea... my next goal is to create informative posts that YOU might be interested in, things that you're not really sure about, perhaps don't know where to look... well I'll try give u a map :)

Yawn... Is it over yet... CWC 2007

Hmmm... So its finally done... actually it was over a while back, just didn't bother to report on it.

The final was a sad tale which will be remembered for all the wrong reasons, which is unfortunate as both sides who contested it clearly deserved a grand showdown. The first of the disruptions was the weather, the taps were opened and showers rained down and resulted in a much delayed start and a shortening of the match to 38 overs a side.

Hardly an ideal start, but Adam Gilchrist didn't seem to care; he set about destroying the SL bowling attack and managed a blistering century (he really seems to be the guy for the big occasion, he's played in the last 3 world cup finals and has been resoundingly successful on each occasion), there were other noteworthy contributions from the Aussie top order including Mattie Hayden and Ricky Ponting. None of the SL bowlers had any figures of credibility.

The Sri Lankans faced with a mammoth target of 282 in 38 overs had to be aggressive from the start, after an early loss there was a phase when SL were still in the chase while Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara were together, but when that partnership was broken one felt the game slipped out of reach for SL. This combined with other factors such as rain, bad light, pathetic umpiring made the latter stages of this game a sad affair.

Eventually after a few incidents that I'd rather not mention and the second innings being further shortened to 36 overs Australia came out victors by 50 odd runs. The presentation and closing ceremony were conducted in the dark with makeshift spot lights and all that can be said is that the competition should have ended much earlier.

Player of the Tournament was Glenn McGrath, one of the legends who went out in style. Perhaps its worthwhile dwelling on the fact that this tournament presented an opportunity to see many of the retiring greats, complete their ODI careers. So thanks to McGrath, Lara, Kumble and Inzamam-ul-Haq as well as the late Bob Woolmer for their part in making the modern game what it is today.

Oh... and I know I won't forget Leverock’s stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Robin Uthappa, just about Bermuda’s only memorable performance during a pitiful World Cup campaign. India showed just who was boss with a 257-run walloping. It was the largest margin in one-day history.


[Information source: cricinfo.com]

Brave Cricket... My foot!

A fine line between bravery and stupidity; thats a lesson the Proteas will take back from this latest semi-final embarrassment. Looking to erase the 'chokers' tag applied to them SA managed a feat not seen thus far, their lowest world cup score.

South Africa's top order crumbled to a poultry 27-5 thanks mainly to unnecessary rash shots early on; Smith charging down the wicket only to be beaten by a swinging delivery which had him bowled and Kallis uncharacteristically swinging at a widish one managed to find the edge. (See graphic, content obtained from www.cricinfo.com)
Australia needing just 153 runs for victory never looked in trouble despite losing Gilchrist early. Micheal Clarke played a fine knock of 60 odd to see his side through, the Aussie tail has yet to bat in this world cup!to go

Cricket update

And South Africa have continued their below par performance on the field, going down to New Zealand by 5 wickets; later Greame Smith attributed the loss to the toss and the pitch conditions early on... tsk tsk. He might have had a point, I'm sure Kallis (see adjacent graphic) would agree... but that was no excuse for Gibbs (fabulous dive, but the catch didn't stick) and co. to put a below par display in the outfield.

The Irish have hit back, beating Bangladesh comprehensively by 67 runs. Bangladesh once again batted with their do-or-die, now-or-never attitude and lost wickets going for aggressive strokes when they weren't really called for. If it all works on the day they can take on the top sides but if it doesn't they appear very amateur indeed. With experience they should become a more accomplished force, time will tell. Credit to the Irish (players and fans) who have a passion for the game and their country and aren't intimidated by the fact that they're playing amongst the top sides in the world.

[Images source - www.cricinfo.com]

World Car of the Year 2007

And the winner is... the hush is as profound as the sound (or lack of for that matter) of the running engine of the luxurious Lexus LS460.




The flagship Lexus model was chosen by a panel of 45 journalist-judges from around the world.

The World Car of the Year assessment process considered the requirements of consumers the world over and began with individual jurors evaluating and rating the contestants against a variety of standardised categories. Such attributes as styling, build quality, safety and performance were assessed to form a top ten shortlist in January.



The LS460 impressed the panel of judges with such world firsts as its automatic parking system and 8-speed automatic transmission as well as its peerless build quality and capable performance.

[Selected content attributed to http://www.cartoday.com/]

Who would have guessed!

The biggest upset thus far has been pulled off again by Bangladesh who beat South Africa (currently ranked no. 1 ODI team in the world) by 67 runs yesterday. The Bangladeshi side who were largely responsible for Team India's exit it the first round of the competition appeared to have lost their touch with a couple of very average performances to follow up in the beginning of the Super 8; but they found their super form again with a sterling performance against SA, it was their first victory against the south african side in 9 encounters. Their care free attitude of play showed once again that if luck's on their side they can outplay the very best teams in the world.