PROFILE OVERVIEW
Theatrical Release: Friday, November 6, 2009 (Wide; 3,683 theaters)
Starring:
* Jim Carrey
* Cary Elwes
* Colin Firth
* Bob Hoskins
* Robin Wright Penn
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Genres: Comedy Family Animation Holiday
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
SYNOPSIS
"Disney's A Christmas Carol", a multi-sensory thrill ride re-envisioned by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, captures the fantastical essence of the classic Dickens tale in a groundbreaking 3-D motion picture event. Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) begins the Christmas holiday with his usual miserly contempt, barking at his faithful clerk (Gary Oldman) and his cheery nephew (Colin Firth). But when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come take him on an eye-opening journey revealing truths Old Scrooge is reluctant to face, he must open his heart to undo years of ill will before it’s too late.
If you were trying to think of the ideal role for craggy-faced British thespian Gary Oldman, then Tiny Tim, the limping little cherub from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, would probably appear somewhere near the bottom of any compiled list. But, thanks to the digital hocus-pocus offered by Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis’s continuing experiments in 3D motion capture cinema, this November will see the erstwhile Commissioner Jim Gordon being given the, surely once-in-a-lifetime, chance to play a sickly child in Victorian London. Starring in this latest of countless movie versions of Dickens’ classic tale is Jim Carrey, who not only tackles the lead of Ebeneezer Scrooge but also plays all three of the Ghosts who visit the curmudgeonly miser on a fateful Christmas Eve. As noted, Oldman is Tiny Tim, and he is also playing that character’s father Bob Cratchit, as well as Scrooge’s deceased business partner Jacob Marley.
Disney's A Christmas Carol Movie Trailer
Disney's A Christmas Carol Movie
Sri Lanka - National Emblem
Sri Lanka used the British emblem when it was a British Crown Colony and this continued after gaining independence in 1948. According to the recommendation of a select committee appointed to devise a state emblem more suitable for Sri Lanka (Ceylon) we opted for a new state emblem. It had a lion with sword in its right fore paw encircled with a 'Palapethi' design atop. Below there was a strip carrying the country's name in Sinhala, Tamil and English. A new Republican emblem was chosen after the country was declared a Republic on May 22nd, 1972. In addition to the lion with sword and the 'Palapethi' design it portrays the punkalasa, dhammachakka, sun, moon and two sheaves of paddy.
The coat of arms features a gold lion passant, holding a sword in its right fore paw (the same lion from the flag of Sri Lanka) in the centre on a maroon background surrounded by golden petals of a Blue Lotus the national flower of the country. This is placed on top of a traditional grain vase that sprouts sheaves of rice grains that circle the border reflecting prosperity.
The crest is the Dharmacakra, symbolizing the country's foremost place for Buddhism and just rule. Traditional Sinhalese heraldic symbols for the sun and the moon form the supporters.
Coat of arms of The Dominion of Ceylon (1952-1972)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Hi ; Twilight LoverZ
The subject of second version of Twilight is;
After Bella recovers from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life, she looks to celebrate her birthday with Edward and his family. However, a minor accident during the festivities results in Bella’s blood being shed, a sight that proves too intense for the Cullens, who decide to leave the town of Forks, Washington for Bella and Edward’s sake. Initially heartbroken, Bella finds a form of comfort in reckless living, as well as an even-closer friendship with Jacob Black. Danger in different forms awaits.
At Bella’s 18th birthday party at the Cullens’ house, she gets a paper cut, and Jasper attempts to attack her. The Cullens decide it would be better for Bella’s safety if they left, so they get away from Forks, leaving Bella heartbroken. She finds solace in family friend Jacob Black, who incidentally is a werewolf. But before Edward left, he made Bella promise she wouldn’t do anything reckless or stupid but, as he’d already broken his promise to ‘be there for as long as she wanted him’, she decides to break her promise. She goes cliff-diving, which makes Edward think she has killed herself, although it was purely for recreational purposes. So Edward travels to Italy, to provoke the Volturi so they will kill him. Alice finds Bella, and they begin a race to the Italian city of Volterra to stop him
Sri Lanka - National Flag
National Flag
National Flag of Sri Lanka is the lion flag. A lion holding a sword in his right hand is depicted in gold on red background with a yellow border. Four Bo leaves inwards are at the four corners. Two vertical bands of green and orange at the mast end represent the minority ethnic groups. It is an adaptation of the standard of the last king of Sri Lanka.
The first Prime Minister of independent Sri Lanka, D.S.Senanayake, appointed a committee to advice the government on the design of a new national flag. The design approved by the committee in February 1950 retained the symbol of the lion with the sword and the bo-leaves from the civil standard of the last king of Sri Lanka, with the inclusion of two verticle stripes green and orange in color. the significance of each symbol of the national flag is as follows:
* The lion in the flag represents the Sinhala race.
* The sword of the lion represents the sovereignty of the country.
* The noble eight fold path of Buddhism is signified by the lion's tail.
* Curly hair on the lion's head indicates religious observance, wisdom and meditation.
* The beard denotes purity of words.
* The handle of the sword highlights the elements of water, fire, air and earth.
* The nose indicates intelligence.
* The two front paws purport to purity in handling wealth.
* The verticle stripe of orange represent the minority Tamil race and the green verticle stripe the minority Muslim race.
* The four virtues of kindness: KINDNESS, FRIENDLINESS, HAPPINESS, EQUANIMITY are also represented in the flag.
* The border round the flag, which is yellow in color, represents other minor races.
* The bo-leaves at the four corners of the flag represent Buddhism and it's influence on the nation. They also stand for the four virtues - Kindness, Friendliness, Happiness and Equanimity.
* The maroon colored portion of the flag manifests the other minor religions.
The national flag was hoisted for the first time on March 3, 1950.
iPod Touch 2nd Gen
Apple has also released the 2nd gen iPod Touch. Yes similar to iPhone 3G. Slimmer, lighter and has a back chrome aluminum case. Wow, that looks nicer than the iPhone 3G back case.
ImprovementBuilt-in speaker ~ lets you hear the music, dialogue, and action without headphones, perfect for casual listening.
Volume controlVolume buttons are built into the left side of iPod touch, giving you easy access to the most frequently used controls.
Longer battery lifeProvides up to 36 hours of audio playback or 6 hours of video playback
Rock ’n’ run with Nike+.iPod touch now includes built-in Nike + iPod support. Just slip the Nike + iPod Sensor (available separately) into your Nike+ shoe and start your run. The sensor communicates wirelessly with your iPod touch, tracking your time, distance, and calories burned. It even gives you voice feedback on your progress.
The new iPod Touch is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB and priced at $229, $299 and $399 respectively.
Video and pictures after the break.
Nokia 7705 Twist
The Nokia 7705 Twist is a cute swivel QWERTY phone. It comes with 3-megapixel camera, 2.4-inch, 262K TFT QVGA screen, EV-DO Rev. 0, 2.5 mm headset jack, Bluetooth, HTML browser, built-in mirror, “Post to Blogs” feature and Compatible with services including VZ NavigatorSM, V CAST Music with Rhapsody, V CAST Video, Visual Voice Mail, Mobile Broadband Connect and Corporate Email. It is available through Verizon Wireless at $99.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.
Cucumber and Ruby on Rails (Part 7) My learning materials
Now lets see a scenario to go through the links and how the cucumber deals with that scenario.
Before write the scenario lets look at the scree shots and what could be the scenario.
1 Step:- I am on the “List of products” page and I can see
Titled = Ruby on Rails
Description = Model View Architecture
Image url = ror.jpg
Price = 22
2 Step:- Now I click on “New Product” link.
3 Step:- Now click on “Back” link again. Then I am again on “List of Products”.
4 Step:- Now click on “Show” link and then I can see
5 Step: like wise we can navigate through the links
Now lets see how this scenario can be written. Before that look at these step definitions. You can find them in webrat_steps.rb file.
When /^I press "([^\"]*)"$/ do |button|
click_button(button)
end
This can be used for when we click on button
When /^I follow "([^\"]*)"$/ do |link|
click_link(link)
end
When /^I follow "([^\"]*)" within "([^\"]*)"$/ do |link, parent|
click_link_within(parent, link)
end
These two can be used when we navigate through the links.
Now lets see the scenario.
Scenario: Go Through Links
Given I have products titled Ruby on Rails, description Model View Architecture, Image url ror.jpg, Price 22
When I go to the list of Products
Then I should see "Ruby on Rails"
And I should see "Model View Architecture"
And I should see "ror.jpg"
And I should see "22"
When I follow "New Product"
And I follow "Back"
And I am on the list of Products
Then I should see "Ruby on Rails"
And I should see "Model View Architecture"
And I should see "ror.jpg"
And I should see "22"
When I follow "Show"
Then I should see "Ruby on Rails"
And I should see "Model View Architecture"
And I should see "ror.jpg"
And I should see "22"
When I follow "Back"
And I am on the list of Products
Then I should see "Ruby on Rails"
And I should see "Model View Architecture"
And I should see "ror.jpg"
And I should see "22"
When I follow "Edit"
And I follow "Back"
And I am on the list of Products
Then I should see "Java"
And I should see "Platform Independent"
And I should see "java.jpg"
And I should see "20"
save this scenario as go_through_links.feature and run the cucumber features/go_through_links.feature
Then you can see the following screen shot.
Why this scenario failed. Look at these steps.
When I follow "Edit"
And I follow "Back"
And I am on the list of Products
Then I should see "Java"
And I should see "Platform Independent"
And I should see "java.jpg"
And I should see "20"
These steps are wrong. They should be as follows.
When I follow "Edit"
And I follow "Back"
And I am on the list of Products
Then I should see "Ruby on Rails"
And I should see "Model View Architecture"
And I should see "ror.jpg"
And I should see "22"
Edit the feature file and run again cucumber features/go_through_links.feature. Now you can get the all the steps are passed massage.
This is how the cucumber work with the navigation scenario.
Window Phone : Blow Your Cell Phone to Write A Text Message
The Window Phone is a concept mobile phone that is able to transform its appearance like a window as per the weather. The phone is designed as a thin, clear and transparent plastic sheet, which remains clear during a sunny day, becomes humid during a rainy day and takes a dump outlook during a snowy day. The user can write text messages or draw pictures on the phone in different weather conditions which will later transform and show as SMS characters. The screen features sensitive interaction with the user and comprises the state of a window in differentweather conditions.
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day
Theatrical Release:Friday, October 30, 2009 (Limited; 65 theaters)
Starring:
* Billy Connolly
* David Della Rocco
* Brian Mahoney
* Clifton Collins
* JoJo Rhama
Directed by: * Troy Duffy
Genres:Drama Action Sequel Thriller Crime
SYNOPSIS
The film is the continuation of writer/director Troy Duffy's tough, stylized cutting edge saga of the MacManus brothers (Norman Reedus, Sean Patrick Flanery). The two have been in deep hiding with their father, Il Duce (Billy Connolly), in the quiet valleys of Ireland, far removed from their former vigilante lives. When word comes that a beloved priest has been killed by sinister forces from deep within the mob, the brothers return to Boston to mount a violent and bloody crusade to bring justice to those responsible. With a new partner in crime (Clifton Collins Jr., Star Trek) and a sexy FBI operative (Julie Benz) hot on their trail...the Saints are back!
Tablet Mac Computer Concept
There are lots of good options available on the web for a sleek, stylish and elegant laptop. But if you wish to have something unique that you can show off, then Other World Computing has come up with a future trend of computers for you, which is known as “Tablet Mac Computer”. This laptop doesn’t need a keyboard and extremely practical for business professionals, artists and technology leaders. The most appealing part in this 13.3 inch widescreen LCD is that it will enable one to inscribe on the screen with true pen and Handwriting recognition. This sleek laptop will hit the market with all essential features such as internal CD/DVD combo drive, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi capabilities and Global Positioning System.
Futuristic Landstorm Concept Vehicle for The Year 2058
Landstorm concept is a vehicle that is designed for future, when airborne vehicles will not be much effective to reach a particular area because of frequent natural disasters which is the result of future global warming. This vehicle has been designed as an all terrain vehicle that is equipped with a collection of hidden gadgets or compartments and the ability to interchange the pods located on its back. There is a variety of Pods that can be enclosed with the vehicle before it is sent to a particular location. These pods have been designed considering scouting missions, food and water transportation to a disaster affected area, medical pods that can treat 2 patients simultaneously, excavation pods that can work as a robust crane to remove large pieces of wreckage, and fire rescue pod where the tank can hold 750 gallons of water and can drain water from lakes with outboard pumps.
Futuristic RollTop Foldable Notebook with 17-inch OLED Display and Full Fledged Keyboard
The RollTop is a flexible notebook concept that can be folded like a roll of paper allowing the user ultimate convenience of carrying and storing it even in a congested place. It features a 17” flat-screen OLED display when fully rolled out with the multi-touch facility that will offer the ease and functionality of that of an iPhone. Also, when required, it can be folded into a 13” smart tablet pc. Aside from the touch-screen controlling, it features full fledged keyboard like conventional notebooks with which convenient typing can be performed. When folded, this compact notebook takes the size of a water carrier and can easily be hanged over the shoulder with a hanging belt.
Tribons Is A Vision of Future Computer System Technology by FrogDesign
Tribons concept is a vision of future technology to be influence and shape ideas of community and tribalism, self-awareness and education, trust and global citizenship. The idea of Tribons concept is based on a lightweight and powerful computer system that connects kids with their friends and family, thus providing emotional support to those who are living anonymously in different cities because of the recent mobility.
Clover Eco-Sensitive Mobile Phone Grows Old With You
The Clover is an eco-friendly mobile phone concept that has been designed to grow old with the user. This phone features four module interfaces; sound, sensor, vision and location, allowing the user to customize the phone according to their need and taste. Moreover, users can add quite a few numbers of additional modules to make the phone even more functional and attractive. The sleek black touchscreen offers different way of checking out the functions and a user-friendly operating environment. The phone is branded under the name of Samsung and is a great physical device that can develop and share environmental awareness through a built-in collaborative social network name “eco-map”.
Introduction to Design Patterns
What are Design Patterns?
Creational -
Creational patterns are ones that create objects for you, rather than having you instantiate objects directly. This gives your program more flexibility in deciding which objects need to be created for a given case.
Structural -
Structural patterns help you compose groups of objects into larger structures, such as complex user interfaces or accounting data.
Behavioral -
Behavioral patterns help you define the communication between objects in your system and how the flow is controlled in a complex program
Creational Design Patterns:Read More...
Singleton - Ensure that only one instance of a class is created and Provide a global access point to the object.
Factory(Simplified version of Factory Method) - Creates objects without exposing the instantiation logic to the client and Refers to the newly created object through a common interface.
Factory Method - Defines an interface for creating objects, but let subclasses to decide which class to instantiate and Refers to the newly created object through a common interface.
Abstract Factory - Offers the interface for creating a family of related objects, without explicitly specifying their classes.
Builder - Defines an instance for creating an object but letting subclasses decide which class to instantiate and Allows a finer control over the construction process.
Prototype - Specify the kinds of objects to create using a prototypical instance, and create new objects by copying this prototype.
Object Pool - reuses and shares objects that are expensive to create..
Behavioral Design Patterns:Read More...
Chain of Responsibility - It avoids attaching the sender of a request to its receiver, giving this way other objects the possibility of handling the request too.
Command - Encapsulate a request in an object, Allows the parametrization of clients with different requests and Allows saving the requests in a queue.
Interpreter - Given a language, define a representation for its grammar along with an interpreter that uses the representation to interpret sentences in the language / Map a domain to a language, the language to a grammar, and the grammar to a hierarchical object-oriented design
Iterator - Provide a way to access the elements of an aggregate object sequentially without exposing its underlying representation.
Mediator - Define an object that encapsulates how a set of objects interact. Mediator promotes loose coupling by keeping objects from referring to each other explicitly, and it lets you vary their interaction independently.
Observer - Define a one-to-many dependency between objects so that when one object changes state, all its dependents are notified and updated automatically.
Strategy - Define a family of algorithms, encapsulate each one, and make them interchangeable. Strategy lets the algorithm vary independently from clients that use it.
Template Method - Define the skeleton of an algorithm in an operation, deferring some steps to subclasses / Template Method lets subclasses redefine certain steps of an algorithm without letting them to change the algorithm's structure.
Visitor - Represents an operation to be performed on the elements of an object structure / Visitor lets you define a new operation without changing the classes of the elements on which it operates.
Null Object - Provide an object as a surrogate for the lack of an object of a given type. / The Null Object Pattern provides intelligent do nothing behavior, hiding the details from its collaborators.
Structural Design Patterns:Read More...
Adapter - Convert the interface of a class into another interface clients expect. / Adapter lets classes work together, that could not otherwise because of incompatible interfaces.
Bridge - Compose objects into tree structures to represent part-whole hierarchies. / Composite lets clients treat individual objects and compositions of objects uniformly.
Composite - Compose objects into tree structures to represent part-whole hierarchies. / Composite lets clients treat individual objects and compositions of objects uniformly.
Decorator - add additional responsibilities dynamically to an object.
Flyweight - use sharing to support a large number of objects that have part of their internal state in common where the other part of state can vary.
Memento - capture the internal state of an object without violating encapsulation and thus providing a mean for restoring the object into initial state when needed.
Proxy - provide a “Placeholder” for an object to control references to it.
Advantages And Disadvantages
Advantages:
1. A standard solution to a common programming problem
2. Enable large scale reuse of S/W
3. Helps in improve developer communication
4. Capture expert knowledge and design trade-offs and make expertise widely available
5. A technique for making code more flexible by making it meet certain criteria
6. A design or implementation structure that achieves a particular purpose
7. Speed up the development process by providing tested, proven development paradigms.
8. Reusing design patterns helps to prevent subtle issues that can cause major problems, and it also improves code readability for coders and architects who are familiar with the patterns.
9. Design patterns provide general solutions, documented in a format that doesn't require specifics tied to a particular problem.
10. In addition, patterns allow developers to communicate using well-known, well understood names for software interactions. Common design patterns can be improved over time, making them more robust than ad-hoc designs
Disadvantages:
1. Do not lead to direct code reuse
2. Complex in nature
3. They are deceptively simple
4. Design patterns may increase or decrease the understandability of a design or implementation. They can decrease understandability by adding indirection or increasing the amount of code.
5. They are validated by experience and discussion
First X-Men Origins Game
See the screenshot , that’s the first in-game pic of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the videogame, NOT the movie. As you can tell, it looks like not only does the game use the likeness of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, but the graphics will be extremely detailed and very close to the real deal.
According to 1-Up and EGM, who got the exclusive cover-story blow-out on the game, say that it is not only very violent (in keeping with the Wolverine of the comics, I hope) but also more along the lines of Ninja Gaiden II than a “standard” action game. Players will get to take the role of Logan and experience the tormented origins of Wolverine, from his escape of the Weapon X facility to the jungles of Africa and beyond. Here is the official description of the game:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an epic action-adventure featuring a true-to-character Wolverine gameplay experience that takes gamers through and beyond the movie’s storyline. Set in a variety of vivid real-world locales, the title challenges players to hone their animal instinct as they uncover hidden dangers, hunt and destroy enemies, and take on seemingly insurmountable situations while discovering the truth about Wolverine’s tragic past. With razor-sharp adamantium claws unsheathed, the future X-Man enacts lightning-quick combat, evasive maneuvers, in-depth combo attacks, and an array of brutal finishing moves. Wolverine doesn’t just deliver massive damage, either — he also takes it, thanks to his mutant regenerative power that heals him in real time right before the player’s eyes.
Developed by Raven Software (makers of X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance), the game will feature a “simple but elegant” and accessible combat system, cool boss fights including an initial one against a Sentinal robot (YES!), seamless cinematic cut-scenes that will bridge the gameplay bits and lots more.
The game will launch alongside the global release of the film in May of 2009 for Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC, Wii, DS, and PSP game systems.
Michael Jackson's This Is It
Theatrical Release:Wednesday, October 28, 2009 (Wide; 3,400 theaters)
Directed by: Kenny Ortega
Genres: Documentary Music
Distributor:Sony Pictures
SYNOPSIS
Michael Jackson's "This Is It" will offer Jackson fans and music lovers worldwide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts that would have taken place beginning this summer in London's O2 Arena. Chronicling the months from March through June, 2009, the film is produced with the full support of the Estate of Michael Jackson and drawn from more than one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Jackson rehearsing a number of his songs for the show. Audiences will be given a privileged and private look at Jackson as he has never been seen before. In raw and candid detail, Michael Jackson's "This Is It" captures the singer, dancer, filmmaker, architect, creative genius, and great artist at work as he creates and perfects his final show.
