Here is further proof (and some shamelessly blatant self-advertisement :P) that the new design doesn't work very effectively for writers on MS - My revu on the 2002 Honda Civic Si has been made review of the day.

Getting R O T D means the review got more readership and the writer became more 'well-known' to other new members and writers on the site - A classic example of intelligent social networking based on creativity, intelligence and skills!

In the earlier design by this time, anyone whose review is made Review of the day (R O T D) would have been wished by many people. However, with the R O T D being demoted to the bottom of the page in the footer section, the writers will be bereft of the associated "feel-good" factor as they socialise and network with friends by exchange of wishes! The only reason I knew the Civic revu has been made ROTD is because Surya008 rated my revu and I thought the only reason anyone wd rate it is if its ROTD and my hunch was correct!

In the new design, there is no mention of the writer or the review title - something that the earlier design scored heavily on - In the new one there is just a picture of a car - which is a Honda, but not the one I reviewed! My car is a sexy 3 door hatchback dressed in black! (see the pic!)

I request a few changes, Mr. Faisal.

1) Please mention the reviewer's name on revus and on ROTD's
2) If the reviewer has attached pics of the product, those pics can be used in the ROTDs - my pic of the Civic is more sexy than the one used by MS, dont you agree? :-))
3) How about re-locating the ROTD to someplace more prominent - this should not be too difficult if the focus is indeed on reviews and is not changing too much (as Smita mentioned in my last post after she had an exchange with you.)
4) Not related to new changes but another suggestion - can we add our own products to MS? Sometimes movies are released on weekends, but we find them to be not ready to be reviewed on MS. This makes MS lose hits and eyeballs and sometimes the writer cannot write the review later!

If MS is indeed a review site with 'enhanced social networking', please dont lose the flavour of it being a review site while trying to repackage my MS - our MS!

!! Spike !!

PS: I forgot to mention in my Civic revu that the car has very good roll-on-acceleration! What this means is - if someone is trying to race you while the car is already cruising, you dont have to waste time down-shifting gears - just floor the accelerator and the Civic Si will be ready to take on the challenger and depending on ur skills and the speed and the current gear, you will soon leave 'em in ur dust!

I love to use this and sometimes I 'play' while driving - instead of up-shifting gears, I tap the accelerator - similar to revvving the engine at a stop light - except, in the Civic Si, you can do it while in motion as the engine is very "revvvv happy"! The car leaps ahead like a muscular predator! My favourite gear for doing this is 3rd! Co-incidentally, sometimes I also start from a dead stop in 3rd (mostly by accident) and surprisingly, its less jerky that in 2nd! Its not recommended though - not good for the clutch, but the Civic doesn't seem to mind :-)

I read many takes on the new look of MS and while replying to them, my left hand said to my right - why should I be left.

As hands are an integral part of my anatomy, and because I do most of my talking with my hands rather than my mouth, I asked the right one to not make his counterpart feel left!

It is almost unanimous that the new look is 'confusing' many people and has gone down as nicely with members (writers) as a bottle of 'karela' juice (bitter gourd) . The question that remains to be asked is - was it necessary for MS to become just another social networking site?

People who write for MS (we) were already networking here via reviews before MS had a virtual "diar(y)iohha" (I forget the writer who introduced this term - as witty as it is - it had to have been introduced by FE or Doc) - while people were still recovering from its symptoms, they were hit by another wave of change.

The message sent out by this change was - more focus on social networking and less on product reviews. Product reviews is the very reason members (writers) liked coming to MS. The social networking that followed was a healthy by-product on MS - but one that was liked by its members - because it was not 'mindless networking' as on facebook or 'groupism' as on orkut (where most people had to know each other prior to being accepted as friends)! This networking on MS was different - it had intelligence associated with it! Members (writers) networked with wit because they first had to write good to make other members (writers) notice them. In the days of writing revus, it was even better, because one really had to think hard to be able to review something as mundane as a water filter or a can of cockroach killing spray, and yet make it presentable, readable, convincing and sometimes, funny!

Alas, with the new changes, all that seems to be lost! Which is why the members (writers) are showing so much resistance in swallowing the bitter pill of change this time around!

The focus is more on gifting and M2M exchanges (notice how these 2 are in bold on your dashboard?). Fake profiles of semi-clad good looking woman (or men) will be prone to getting more hits than members who have wit as their USP! But this change was being perpetrated since a long time ....... remember the (in)famous m2m from Faisal - people who don't have a profile pic will not be trusted by me - I for one was appalled and offended by this message from the CEO of a website that had so many intelligent people amongst its writers - because I thought the underlying message portrayed by that statement was shallow! While the writers wrote of equality and justice and freedom, the CEO was shifting focus on looks! - that was the vibe given out by that statement.

Enough digression - thwack thwack - getting back to the topic at hand (there is a word limit, remember!) Is the new transformation necessary for MS to be more successful? or more importantly - will it make MS more successful?

Here is a thought - the new MS is a facebook, orkut, ebay, etc combined in one. These sites - individually - are banned in most offices (office is a place where most of MS's intelligent writers login to MS from) because these sites are for social networking they are all banned (ebay is an exception, but still is banned for being a market place website where ppl have to bid for things). By being ALL of these, I feel MS is only giving more ammo to the network admins of offices to ban MS from offices. But if thats what MS wants, it has done a great job in ousting the current members to make way for an entirely new clientèle.

The good news is - I always use MS from home - I'm unaffected by it directly - but not being a hunk - I need people who appreciate the little intelligence that I have to be someone who is 'passable' enough to interact with - and most of the people I interact with will be affected by this change adversely!

Note: The speed of the improved version of MS is indeed fast! Thanks Faisal!

And 'hole' is still not a bad word!

There is a bus with 7 girls.
Each girl has 7 bags.
In each bag, there are 7 big cats
Each big cat has 7 little cats.
Each cat has 4 legs.

Question: How many legs are present in bus?



Post your answers below ONLY if you have solved the riddle after reading this post.

In case you already know it from an email thats going around, kindly say "I already know it" and please allow others to continue in the fun...

And yes, please dont discuss or share your logic in the comments as it will act like a hint to others. However, quirky answers will be rewarded with eccentricity in equal or more measure :P

Prizes shall be awarded depending on the number of folks that answer correctly and current levels of inflation in MS. As always - be honest to yourself.

All the best!

When its your favorite team sandwiching the team of your country, who do you root for?

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the Monaco GP that saw Adrian Sutil (of the first Indian Formula1 team) get all the way up to 4th position and was behind Felipe Massa and ahead of last year's (controversial) World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, also in a Ferrari!

What is amazing about this is - Ferrari is the No. 1 team in F1 and Force India is No. 10 - second from last in the sport comprised of 11 teams!

Also, the race was happening at Monaco, which is THE MOST glamorous race in the entire F1 season! Being held on the narrow streets of the island town, which is essentially a rock on the edge of the sea, the circuit always manages to bring surprising results. And this weekend's race had the rain Gods throwing another twist in the high-glamour high-drama race which was a nail-biter till lap 69.

Of course, Ferrari is my favorite team in F1 - but I was rooting for Adrian Sutil, not because the team is from my country - although that was a factor - but mainly because I love rooting for the underdog. To start the race all the way in the back in 21st position, but a good race strategy and a fantastic drive saw Adrian Sutil reach 4th position and that too in Monaco, a circuit where it is next to impossible to overtake, how could  I NOT root for him!


Kimi is an idiot! Having filled the shoes of one of F1's most winningest, most record holding driver, who still holds a legendary reputation and a cult following by his fans - I'm talking about Michael Schumacher and not Kimi. In this race, he was penalized due to a rare goof up by Team Ferrari before the race begun, but teammates are humans and mistakes happen - being part of a team means that - should a mistake happen, you either try to capitalize on it or you try harder on the field. Not Kimi! He preferred to sulk and drove 2 seconds-a-lap slower than his team-mate. On Lap 28, he misses a turn and damages the front wing of his car - gets the 1st nose change - but the big mistake is made on lap 69 - with about 10 minutes remaining - seeing a driver in a "lesser" car in front of him, he gets greedy for a few more points, loses his cool and overambitiously runs into the back of Adrian Sutil - the result?
1) The rear suspension on Sutil's car is damaged and he has to drop out
2) The front wing of Kimi's car is damaged - a second time - and when he dives into the pit for a change, he joins back in 9th position and is out of the points!
3) For no fault of his, a back-marker is denied a hard fought 4th place after a fabulous drive
4) Force India team loses millions of dollars in TV royalty for next year (for each point scored in the current year, the team gets millions of dollars from the television sponsorship money earned by the sport)

For Ferrari, this is a drop in the bucket as they are a very rich team and already have many points in their kitty, but for a new team like Force India with a not-so-grand-budget - 5 points mean a lot! Those could be the ONLY points they could have scored in the entire season! All this is ruined for the driver and for the team because the driver who fills the shoes of the legendary Michael Schumacher at Ferrari is an idiot!

A question to the Ferrari team president, Luca di Montezemolo, who on October 22, 2007 - hailed Kimi Raikkonen's Formula One title as a product of team spirit - "What were you thinking when you ushered Michael Schumacher out of the door to make way for a naive Kimi?"!!!!!!!!!

PS: Kimi is the same guy who when asked last year "Where were you when Michael was receiving an award" replied on International Television "I was taking a dump!" - Good for you Kimi, perhaps you should stick to doing just that! And at the end of the 2008 F1 season, if you are still battling for the title, I hope you miss it by a margin of 4 points - the same number you could have got in the 2008 Monaco GP, but didn't - when you denied Adrian Sutil his 5!

Incidentally, Force India gets the engines for their cars from Ferrari!

....Quotes follow!

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.
 -Martin Luther

Marriage is the perfection of what love aimed at, ignorant of what it sought.
 -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I always cry at weddings, especially my own.
 -Humphrey Bogart

Two souls with but a single thought,
Two hearts that beat as one.
 -Friedrich Halm

One should believe in marriage as in the immortality of the soul.
 -Honore de Balzac

Now join hands, and with your hands your hearts.
 -William Shakespeare

There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends.
 -Homer

Two such as you with such a master speed cannot be parted nor be swept away from one another once you are agreed that life is only life forevermore together wing to wing and oar to oar.
 -Robert Frost

To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.
 -Lao Tzu

To keep your marriage brimming, with love in the wedding cup, whenever you're wrong, admit it; whenever you're right, shut up.
 -Ogden Nash

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.
 -Germaine Greer

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
  -Aristotle
__________________________
____________

A man in love is incomplete until he is married.  Then he's finished.
-Zsa Zsa Gabor

I love being married.  It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
-Rita Rudner

Marriage--a book of which the first chapter is written in poetry and the remaining chapters written in prose.
-Beverly Nichols


Quotes from "Unknown"

Marriage requires a person to prepare 4 types of "Rings": Engagement Ring Wedding Ring, Suffering, Enduring

They have come up with a perfect understanding. He won't try to run her life, and he won't try to run his, either.

You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find a handsome prince.

Marriage is like a hot bath. Once you get used to it, it's not so hot.

He early on let her know who is the boss. He looked her right in the eye and clearly said, "You're the boss."

Marriage is the only war in which you sleep with the enemy.

The woman cries before the wedding; the man afterward.

Marriage is like a violin. After the music is over, you still have the strings.

Every mother generally hopes that her daughter will snag a better husband than she managed to do...but she's certain that her boy will never get as great a wife as his father did.

Compromise: An amiable arrangement between husband and wife whereby they agree to let her have her own way.
_______________________________
_

Our dear friend Angel25 is getting married today. I hope some of us can attend it in India.

Please spare a moment or two to wish her on her wedding day... She'll be pleasantly surprised when she comes back on MS.

NAGPUR: In an effort to bring down accidents in the rural parts of the district, the Nagpur rural police are experimenting with Vaastu Shastra, to reduce the 'negative energy' in accident prone zones. Vaastu pyramids have reportedly been installed at 12 such places across the district to improve 'vibes'.

The cops are monitoring the results to find out more about this phenomenon. As an immediate effect, though, cops say no accidents have taken place in these accident-prone spots in the past six months!

The number of deaths due to these accidents was currently standing at around 500 per year. Also, the number of new vehicles coming on to the road each day had risen to 98 in recent times.  The alarming figures had driven the rural police to turn to various measures to reduce accidents. Several Vaastu experts are said to have taken the initiative to implement Vaastu Shastra and try to solve the problem, and expert Sushil Fatehpuria was consulted for this effort by the police.

Several accident-prone spots were identified on the two national highways and four state highways in the district. It was deemed that the negative energy in and around these spots was the chief cause of the accidents. So, 12 spots were chosen for installation of certain Vaastu devices that would dispel the 'negative vibes' and bring in more positive energy to these places.

Yadav clarified that this was only an experiment, and there was no scientific basis behind it. "However, since the pyramids were installed six months ago, no accidents have taken place in any of the 12 accident-prone zones," he added. "We will watch these spots over the next six months to one year, and only then will we draw any conclusions. If the experiment succeeds, it will be extended to other accident-prone areas of the district," he said.

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X+Y+Z. X is work, Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut." - Albert Einstein

!! Spike !!

Here is the much anticipated answer and the much more anticipated prize announcement.

For those who don't know that this prize announcement is for, check out this post....

http://www.mouthshut.com/di
ary/readpost.php?postid=2030>
You may wanna put your answer there before you read ahead and know what it is.


Before we announce the winners, a word from our sponsor (that will be me, myself and I) - It was noticed by the judges (again me) that many "regulars" were missing from the competition. Also, some came to the post, but did not give an answer... The organizers (me again) request you to please give it a shot. You never know you might be the winner.....

And without any further ado..... here are the results !


The most interesting set of answers were given by none other than Mr.Mohanlal of MS - Mr. Paul (Paulsb02). *cheers and applause* He gets a special prize for sheer variety in creative thinking!
Mr. Paul gets a Golf Club as the game requires the golfer to take various parameters into account and think various possibilities before playing the shot.


However, the first correct and expected answer was given by Doc! (Sudipto33) and he walks away with the prize winning trophy. *cheers, applause and cat-calls from the ladies*
He gets a cool men's watch with the hands pointing to "ten" and "ten" which was part of the question in the riddle.


Ms. Vibes grabs the early bird prize as she was the first one to attempt answering the question.
She gets a football to exercise her feat and gear up for the next competition.


People who also got the correct answer are flyingelephant,enidhi, silky.shah and madhuriesingh.  *applause*
They all get consolation prize for the correct answer because they put on their thinking caps.


Nitesh1104 knew the answer beforehand, but he was a good sportsman and didn't disclose the answer to anyone or in the post.
He gets a special prize for being cool - a cowboy hat!


Thanks to everyone who took part in the quiz! You will not go home empty handed - Both Smita and nidhi will get a prize too for trying! - chocolates.

bildebej, thakurman, coolwater and aaryesdee need to atleast try answering in the next competition! They would have got a gift, but the management (again me) had a budget deficit :D

Until next time.... Thanks and bye !

!! Spike !!

A man wanted to enter an exclusive club but did not know the password that was required. He waited by the door and listened.

    

A club member knocked on the door and the doorman said, "twelve." The member replied, "six" and was let in.

    

A second member came to the door and the doorman said, "six." The member replied, "three" and was let in.

   

The man thought he had heard enough and walked up to the door. The doorman said,"ten" and the man replied, "five."

 

But he was not let in.  What should have he said?


PS: If you know the answer from somewhere else, please don't post it. Those who really use their brain and solve it here will get a gift from me.

Be honest to yourself and dont cheat.

I hate history - not because its boring, but because it is history itself that has thought us that mankind has not learned anything good from it.

All religion teach the message of peace, yet we fight most in the name of religion.

We know war does not solve anything, but yet we fight to fulfill our ulterior motives.

We divided the land and made countries, then we fight to keep our territory - did we forget that we all live on the same planet. We have divided the land, but what about the air and water? How do we divide that?

We have amassed weapons that can blow up the planet ten times over - don't we know that once is enough?