No Yahooing ?

After the board of director's decided to fire Carol Bartz(left) the board decided to put Yahoo! on sale. Well technically they didn't come right out and say we want to sell the company they did say that yahoo is ready for sale to the right bidder. I guess they did put a "on sale" sign after all. Now, it will be interesting to see if Microsoft is willing to bid again to buy Yahoo!. If you remember Yahoo tried to see itself before as well and Microsoft was ready to shell out $44.6 billion.

It seems that yahoo has lost its way. It has forgotten its core competencies and its strengths and have tried to spread itself too thin by trying to expand into various markets. They have tried to take on being a search engine, news source, they are into social media etc. I guess the board didn't think getting a new CEO will help the company at all. Well since websites such as FaceBook and Twitter has taken away the social game and Google dominating the search engines and E-mail services like a tyrant king, there wasn't much left of the plate for Yahoo! I guess we won't be Yahooing anymore.
UPDATE: Well apparently Carol Bartz is getting an awesome deal out of this. She is getting around $10 million compensation for getting fired without just cause. That includes Yahoo shares so if in future the share value goes up she will make even more, not bad for the ex-CEO who got fired over the phone.

The Office: James Spader as the new boss

I love the show "The Office" it has awesome characters and great cast, yes even creed has his awesome moments. The show has made me laugh so hard at times that its unreal and I am not one of those people who laugh out loud on every stupid joke, so for me to laugh out loud is a big thing. I casually started watching the show only to find out that I fell in love with the cast and the script. I waited impatiently for new episodes to release so I could have my fix of the funnies. Alas all good things come to an end, though the series is not done but one of its integral part is. Steve Carell who played the role of Michael Scott took his very emotional leave from the show after being with the show for seven seasons. It was one of the best ways the writers could have sent of Steve, its not easy to say goodbye to the star character in a show but the team of The Office managed it so well that in the end I said to myself, "you have a nice life with Holly Michael, you deserve to be happy".

Now James Spader (from Boston Legal fame) who was called in for one episode for The Office is reportedly being hired as the new manager for the Dunder Mifflin Scranton. James Spader's character in that one episode was entirely different than what Steve Carell portrayed as a boss, but may be this change will be good and will add a new twist to the show. I am sure lot of people will compare him to Steve Carell and how different they both are and that Spader will not working for the show, but I guess that is to be expected. Spader is not trying to be the new Michael Scott, that is what people have to keep in mind. Don't get me wrong things don't always workout the way you want. May be Spader will not be a good fit, if so then I hope the studio really try to get Ricky Gervais to consider for the position, you know the Michael Scott from UK the co-creator of The Office...come on don't tell me you didn't know that.

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Batman Arkham Asylum was an awesome game. It had all the right elements that are needed for a games success, such as great captivating story, interesting characters, good graphics, easy yet challenging puzzles, awesome combat system and last but not the least a great cast of talented voice actors. When I played the game I never wanted it to end as the game play was so fun, I would often lose track of time and get into the story and the challenge mode was great as well and since I have a PS3 playing as Joker in challenge mode was even more fun. So now here we are at the threshold of the sequel to the a great game. This time however the game is five times bigger than previous installment and has that many times more villains to beat. Anyways the game looks great and seem to be on track for its dated release. The video below shows the game play graphics and all the craziness this game has in store for its players. I wish had a job as a game tester get to play these games that are epic but that's just wishful thinking....for now. Arkham City will be on store shelves on October 18th 2011 in North America be sure to grab one.

Amy Winehouse: A Great Talent Lost Forever !

Amy Winehouse was pronounced dead at her London home last evening back. According to the police officials the reason for her death is still unexplained but her autopsy is due on Sunday so we will know more. However, the Internet is buzzing with speculations that her death could very well be because of her substance abuse issues.

Amy Winehouse is multiple time Grammy Awards winner, with much promise and talent; however, all that ended when Amy took a wrong turn in late 2004-05 to substance abuse. She publicly admitted of having a problem with drugs. After her grandmother died in mid 2006 things took the turn for the worst for this talented singer/song writer. She had to cancel numerous tours and shows and was hospitalized due to overdosing on heroine, cocaine, alcohol, ecstasy and other drugs. 

She soon had issue with her weight and mood swings. She was constantly battling with her drug addiction by going into rehab. However, multiple times she would relapse back into old addictions. In October 2010 she said she has over come her issues with substance abuse and was going towards good health. 

On July 23rd BST ambulances were called to Amy Winehouse's home in Camden, London. Shortly, after the police and ambulances arrived Amy Winehouse was pronounced dead. It is a great loss for the music industry and for her fans. She truly had a soul of a tortured artist. May she find peace now.

Captain America: Review

Going to see Captain America today stay tuned for my review.

So I have just returned from watching Captain America: The First Avengers. So lets get straight to my review, don't worry I will avoid spoilers to the best of my ability. It was a good movie overall, now let me tell you my definition of good. It was a good story and the way movie ends definitely makes room for a sequel, now did you really think that their won't be any sequel. It's Hollywood, there ought to be sequel, no matter how good or bad the first movie was. Any how as I was saying, the story was good, it started a bit slow, but that was to familiarize audience with the character and his back story a bit. Then comes the transformation and Captain America himself. This movie was slightly different than other Marvel movies, first of all the story takes place in 1942 era, why wouldn't it this is the first Captain America movie and any comic book reader will know that Captain America was born or shall I say created in the Nazi time, but the movie doesn't bore you the surrounding don't look very outdated and you will still get to see some really innovative technology thanks to a scientist, innovator and entrepreneur extraordinaire who shall remain nameless. 

The movie has good up's and downs and does a good job of introducing our newly beloved Captain; however, I felt the movie needed more serious action sequences. As much as I hate mindless action, where everything on the screen is blowing, Joe Johnston could have added a little more action scenes in the movie to make things more exciting. Chris Evans did a fair enough job playing Captain America, but I like him more as Johnny Storm, Human Torch from Fantastic Four
. Overall, it worth a watch. Oh by the way if you are a 3D fanatic then there is nothing special for you here the movies special effects weren't captivating and unlike other 3D movies I have seen, where there is this one scene that totally trips you out with its 3Dness, this movie didn't have that, but don't let that stop you from watching this movie. Hopefully, the sequel would be awesome. PS: Look out for The Avengers next summer if you want your fix of The Captain. 

The Beaches

It's summer how can I not talk about beaches, its awesome and bountiful offerings make you feel like you are in heaven, well granted you are in the right place. Now I am not complaining but Canada isn't known for it beaches so from time to time even though I am on my homeland's beaches I try to pretend that I am on one of those exotic beaches you see on televisions or on the web, while Googling. Of course my day dream is often broken by a kid yelling for no reason on the top of his voice, while the mother chases after him. Alas I still come home oddly satisfied and happy. Then I start my mental preparations for a -30 winter that will soon hit us and will seem like eternity. Okay, I am going off topic now, lets get back to track and talk about awesome beaches. Fair warning, even though I would love to say I have seen these beaches or I travel a lot, I will not say it as I don't travel much but I will (yes I said I will) visit all the beaches I am about to mention and may be many more that I am about to miss putting on this blog. So without further rambling let me introduce few beaches in no particular order that I will visit.

Boracay - Philippines

Now this gorgeous beach makes me want to roll in the sand like a two year old and run like crazy. It so beautiful, with that white sand, very blue sky and water that it makes me almost depressed that I haven't been here. The first time I saw pictures of this beach first that came out of my mouth was are you kidding me with this. Oh well after few odd minutes being in denial and argument on how this picture was Photoshopped to look this awesome, I finally accepted that places as such do exist. Oh well I really look forward to going visiting this place. Now everyone knows Philippines is loaded with beautiful beaches and isolated islands, I can only imagine what those isolated islands have in store.

Churashima Beach - Okinawa, Japan

 Anyone in my family and friends will tell you about my love for the great nation of Japan. I have been in love with their culture from samurai to their awesome technological advance age, not to mention Japanese girls are so kawaii. Okay back to topic, Okinawa Prefecture is has a very rich culture, it will very different from the glam shams of Tokyo. I guess that's why its so perfect to have a beach here to just relax and enjoy the kawaii...ahem i mean beautiful scenery. Not to mention that Okinawa boasts one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the world, there are even whole islands formed by coral reefs. I am so going to this place.

Monuriki Island - Fiji Islands

 Ahh Fiji Islands how you tease me with your breath taking islands. Part of Mamanuca Islands, Monuriki according to me is the most beautiful island there. Its tiny and uninhabited island where I would love to relax with no cellphone in my hand. I wanna feel like I was castaway here by a storm and now I will have to survive in this beautiful blue hell, oh poor me. By the way the movie "Cast Away", starring Tom Hanks was filmed here as well. This island is home to beautiful Fiji Crested Iguana's a very critically endangered species.

Sun Island - Maldives

I heard about Maldives when I think I was 14 or 15, when one of my friends visited the place and I think later her family relocated their (red with jealousy at the moment), now at that moment I didn't know what Maldives was and how it looked. So I was like awesome a beachy area good for you to the friend thinking the beaches looked like what I have previously visited. Had I known this is what she meant I would have asked her parents to adopt me. Oh well that boat has sailed, but I wouldn't mind boating a long distance to reach this Sun island that looks absolutely beautiful. Look at the water, look at it, don't you wanna just jump right in. Maldives is a very small island located in the Indian Ocean and a fair warning if you choose to Google it make sure you don't fall head over heals for this place, unless you have the finances for it, then just book a ticket and let me know about your trip.

Phi Phi Leh Island - Thailand

It's the beach !!! get it ? NO ? This is where the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio "The Beach" was shot at. This beach is breath taking and in addition to the sun, sand and water it has a huge lush forest to explore and I believe somewhere inside that forest is a gorgeous waterfall. I have a friend who recently visited this place and she couldn't stop talking about it, seriously she was so excited to see this place and was talking without a slightest regard of how I was feeling at that moment. I was crying hearing all those stories about sun and sand, the beautiful view, the relaxation. While at the same moment what my window offered was a scenic view of snow storm that was going to delay my bus ride to an very very early class. Oh well everyone has their days one day I will be here and I will make sure to call someone who is stuck in a not so awesome place. Needless to say this place is one of my favorite places to go.

Finally, I am done this post. Don't get me wrong it was in a way pleasure to write it because mentally I got to actually plan some of my trips but at the same time it was a little depressing seeing how I still have few years before I can actually bring these plans to fruition. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing about it. Hopefully, this will help you to plan your get away trip to somewhere, do mention it here so that I could be jealous of you. Take care folks (hoping anyone reads my blogs lol)