Arnold Schwarzenegger could return to movies?

Arnold Schwarzenegger is willing to consider a return to the movies, he said in an interview to mark his departure from the post of governor of California on Monday.
Schwarzenegger told Variety magazine [paywall] he had not yet decided what to do with his future, but confirmed that acting was on the list of possibilities. The Austrian-born former bodybuilder recently took a cameo in the Sylvester Stallone action movie The Expendables, further signalling, perhaps, his willingness to return to the big screen following seven years in political office.
"The list is a long list of things I can do, but nothing I can concentrate on until I am literally, totally out of office," Schwarzenegger said. "For me the joy of life is not to know, and you get into it and you kind of figure it out. I love that. I don't like safety nets. I am not a believer in that … So you go in there with an open mind and you have to learn very quickly."

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South Super Star Rajinikanth to return to Bollywood?

Bollywood director Rohit Shetty, fresh from his success with Golmaal 3, is reportedly eying Southern superstar Rajinikanth for his next movie.

If reports are to be believed, Rohit is in talks with close aides of Rajini to convince the Robot star to make a return to Bollywood.

Rajinikanth appeared in Bollywood blockbusters Hum and Chaalbaaz and his last Hindi film was Bulandi in 2000 co-starring Anil Kapoor. Recent Tamil films Sivaji and Endhiran have been dubbed in Hindi.

Rajinikanth made an appearance on the silver screen in 2010's Endhiran three years after his previous release, Sivaji.

Endhiran went on to break box office records and if the superstar does decide to try his hand at comedy in Rohit Shetty's next, it's going to be a great start to the current decade for all Rajinikanth fans

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20110165649&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=bollywood&nid=77286&cp

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Happy Birthday to Allah Rakha Rahman

Indian music maestro Allah Rakha Rahman celebrates his birthday today (Thursday, January 06, 2011). The double Academy Winner turns 45.

He was born in 1966 as A S Dileep Kumar to a musically affluent Mudaliar Tamil family. His career started in 1992 with Mani Ratnam's Tamil film ‘Roja,’ which marked the start of his reign in Indian Film Industry. Since then he has bagged fourteen Filmfare Awards, eleven Filmfare Awards South, four National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe. Recently, he has been has been nominated for the Golden Globe Award for the Hollywood flick ‘127 Hours,’ which hit the screens in UK yesterday.

16reels wishes this Music Storm a very Happy Birthday.


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South Africa can't overtake India at the top of the rankings: SMITH

Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, believes that India are the team with a point to prove going into the three-Test series starting in Centurion on Thursday. "If you're going to be No. 1 in the world you have to be convincing all around the world and beat people in their own backyards. That's what Australia did consistently. The pressure will be on India," Smith said at a press conference in Centurion on Wednesday.

Although Corrie van Zyl, South Africa's coach, and some of the other players have talked down the importance of the rankings, Smith echoed the thoughts of many who believe that India have to win in South Africa to justify their label as the world's top-ranked Test team. Smith believes South Africa are in an ideal space to challenge India. "We've been touching the No. 1 and 2 spot for the past two-and-a-half-years and we've played some good cricket around the world. We pride ourselves on big series like this one." Unless they sweep the series, South Africa can't overtake India at the top of the rankings, but they're more interested in asserting their dominance than the label itself.

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No Windows 8 announcement says Microsoft

UPDATE 10:38 p.m. ET: Angiulo makes it official: He shows a demo of the next version of Windows to highlight new hardware features from Microsoft's production partners. But it's rendered in the current Windows interface because Microsoft isn't discussing details of what's eventually expected to be Windows 8. Microsoft's keynote has come in with much less ambition than had been expected.
UPDATE 10:24 p.m. ET: "There's one more product I want to talk about tonight, and that's the Windows PC," Ballmer says. So probably no Windows TV tonight. Windows Vice President Mike Angiulo comes on and is recapping the announcements the company made this afternoon.
UPDATE 10:15 p.m. ET: Ballmer says Kinect is proving to be far more popular than expected; 8 million consoles were sold during the holiday season, 60 percent above projections. Now he's moved on to Windows Phone 7. There's much applause at word that cut and paste is coming soon.

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Bird census in Tuticorin and Nellai

TIRUNELVELI: Here is good news for students and others, particularly those who are very much interested in watching the birds, as a bird census in large scale is going to be conducted in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts for the first time during the third week of January.
The Bangalore-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) in association with the Department of Forest's Tirunelveli Division made extensive arrangements for launching a waterfowl count in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts on January 21 and 22. The districts of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin lie in a semi-arid landscape. However, the perennial river of Tamirabharani and its tributaries flowing from the Agasthyamalai Hills and traverses for about 175 km made these two districts the ‘Rice Bowl' of southern Tamil Nadu and being an important shelter for birds, especially waterfowls, in the entire country. The perpetual river not only supports human population and culture but also a large number of wetland birds as its water is being diverted to hundreds of systemised irrigation tanks in both the districts. The popular Koonthankulam birds' sanctuary too gets water from the Tamirabharani.

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Egg price increased in Namakkal

The intensive cold wave in northern parts of the country that has resulted in increased egg consumption scaled up the price of egg to Rs.2.91 at Namakkal on Wednesday, the highest ever in the egg production hub.

Sources from the National National Egg Co-Ordination Committee (NECC) said that the previous highest price was around 288 and 289 paise about six months ago.

President of the Tamil Nadu Poultry Farmers Association R. Nalla Thambi said that the consumption of the north Indian States has increased by an average five per cent from the usual 10 to 15 percent to 20 percent of the district's daily production of three crore eggs, since the third week of December.

Noting that Tamil Nadu was no exception to escape the cold wave, he said that the prevailing weather has brought down the production by five percent (more than 15 lakh eggs a day) over the last three weeks.

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Our Nation population reaches 25.1 million: TEXAS

Texas zipped past the 25 million mark as it topped the national growth chart for the last decade by adding 4,293,741 residents, according to 2010 Census figures released Tuesday.
The Lone Star State's population swelled to 25,145,561, a 20.6 percent increase since 2000, Census Director Robert Groves announced at a news conference in Washington, D.C.
By comparison, the United States population grew to 308,745,538, up 9.7 percent since 2000, the slowest growth rate since the Great Depression, Groves said.
Texas' numbers add up to one word for Texas demographer Steve Murdock: "Phenomenal."
"I was a little bit surprised about how large the change was," said Murdock, a Rice University professor and former U.S. Census director. "I thought it would be about 25 million, but that 4.2 million increase is unprecedented in Texas history."
By percentage, Texas' growth was the fifth-highest, trailing Nevada (35.1 percent), Arizona (24.1 percent), Utah (23.8 percent) and Idaho (21.1 percent).
"That percentage growth is really surprising. It's striking because size typically brings down rates," said Karl Eschbach, director of population research at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

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Strongest storm yet could bring flooding in Southern California

Authorities and residents were bracing for flooding, thunderstorms, hail, tidal surges and even small tornadoes Wednesday as the worst of a seven-day series of storms was expected to sweep into Southern California.

Wednesday's storm was projected to be the most intense of the week, the result of a powerful, cold storm from the Gulf of Alaska colliding with a river of subtropical moisture from the western Pacific Ocean.



"When you get the very cold air mixing in with the very warm air, it can be quite volatile," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. Forecasters said the system could produce lightning and possibly waterspouts offshore and small tornadoes on land.

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Ranatunga said Sachin never treated the game as source of income

NEW DELHI: The glamour and glitz of Twenty20 has had its adverse affect on Test cricket and only someone of Sachin Tendulkar's stature can help restore the waning popularity of the traditional form of the game, feels former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

The Lankan captain lavished praise on Sachin for not treating the game as a source of income.

"Sachin is an iconic figure. We need cricketers like him to save Test cricket. As long as Sachin is playing,

I am sure Test cricket is safe," Rantunga said from Colombo while congratulating the champion batsman on his 50th Test century. 

"He has been playing for more than 20 years now. I think he is a rare cricketer who does not consider cricket as a source of income. This is the secret of his longevity and phenomenal success as well," the cricketer turned politician said.

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A 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit the southern part of Japan

Tokyo – A 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit the southern part of Japan Wednesday, according to the United States Geological Survey. Several nearby islands were also affected and people are ordered to evacuate as the earthquake caused tsunamis that are a foot high.

There were no reports of casualties or injuries after the quake hit the islands. It was not immediately clear also if there were property damages on the affected areas of the country.

Residents near the coast of the island, known as the Ogasawara islands among locals, were ordered to evacuate immediately and seek higher grounds as the United States Geological Survey warned of possible tsunamis to hit the archipelago.

Later however, local officials lowered the alert level and issued warnings of smaller waves in the island.

Twenty minutes after the major earthquake hit, it was then followed by two aftershocks. The first aftershock was 5.6-magnitude and the other was 5.4-magnitude. The aftershocks were about one minute apart.

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Universal Star Kamal Hassan promotes Manmadhan Ambu

South Indian superstar Kamal Hassan promoted Tamil film Manmadhan Ambu (cupid love) here over the weekend.

The film is written by Kamal Hassan and produced and directed by Udhayanidhi Stalin and K.S Ravikumar. Besides Kamal Hassan, the film stars R. Madhvan and Trisha Krishnan among others.

"Let's hope. I know you all have been kind to me. I am not asking you to be kinder, just maintain your kindness and we will try to do our level best every time we come to you," said Kamal Hassan.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100164119&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=regional&nid=74286&cp

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South Indian Tamil film industry lines up for Rahul Gandhi

 Chennai:  Rahul Gandhi is in Tamil Nadu for a two-day visit as the state starts prepping for elections - it votes early next year.

He met with Youth Congress workers this morning in Vanagram, about 45 minutes from Chennai.  The Congress General Secretary urged the gathering to help build the party from scratch and from "grass-root level" in the state. He also suggested, "In some years, we will have a Chief Minister from this gathering."

Several leading members of the Tamil Nadu film industry will meet with Gandhi at what's being described as an interaction with "intellectuals" later today.  Expected to attend the session at the Taj Hotel in Chennai: actors Revathi, Nasser, Jayam Ravi; movie producer Ramanarayanan; and social activists including Nithyanand Jayaraman.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/tamil-film-industry-lines-up-for-rahul-gandhi-74157?cp

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Philadelphia Authorities are offering a $30,000 reward for informing Serial Killer

(CNN) -- DNA has linked the slayings of three women, Philadelphia police said Tuesday night in announcing they are looking for a serial killer.
Authorities are offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in recent homicides and assaults on women.
"We now know that this predator is responsible for three murders in this area," task force Capt. James Clark said at a news conference.
The reward offer comes as police and federal agents petition neighborhood residents for information in their joint investigation of the three killings and three other attacks on women in the Kensington area of Philadelphia.
The partially clothed body of the latest victim, Casey Mahoney, 27, was discovered December 15, according to police spokeswoman Jillian Russell. Mahoney had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
Police say Elaine Goldberg, 21, and Nicole Piacentini, 35, were killed in strangulation attacks in November.
Analysis showed the three were killed by the same assailant, Clark said.
Previously, DNA from the scene of the two earlier homicides was found to be from a single person, police spokesman Ray Evers said.


Authorities believe the attacker likely is still in the 10-block radius where the attacks occurred.
"We have detectives working day and night, following every tip," Clark said.
"It's time to bring this offender to justice," said Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey. "Help us stop this brutal violence from occurring in the future."
The location, the similar nature of the attacks and the descriptions of the attacker led police to suspect they are connected. The victims all were choked, police said

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Food-safety bill backed in the House

The House passed a measure to overhaul the nation's food-safety laws by a vote of 215 to 144 Tuesday afternoon, and President Obama is expected to sign it into law as soon as Wednesday.
The vote marked the final hurdle for a bill that cleared an unusual number of obstacles, despite enjoying bipartisan support and backing from a wide array of groups across the political spectrum, from the Consumers Union to the Chamber of Commerce.
"This is a big victory for consumers that finally brings food-safety laws into the 21st century," said Jean Halloran of Consumers Union. "This win is a powerful testament to the people across the country who came to Washington to tell their lawmakers how contaminated food had killed their loved ones or left them horribly sick. This win is for them and all Americans."
But some critics said the new legislation will expand the reach of the federal government without making food safer. "The federal food bureaucracy needs to get smarter and better coordinated, not more omnipotent," said Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.).
The proposal survived filibuster threats in the Senate, constitutional confusion and tensions between big agricultural companies and the burgeoning local food movement.
The setbacks repeatedly sent the bill back to both chambers, where new challenges arose. In the end, the House voted on it three times and the Senate twice.
The legislation will affect all whole and processed foods except meat, poultry and some egg products, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
It is the first major change to the nation's food safety laws since 1938, and comes after a series of national outbreaks of food-borne illnesses linked to a wide varietyof foods, including spinach, peanuts and eggs.
"I beg you, the safety of your constituents is at stake," Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) said during debate on the House floor.

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lunar eclipse: Its Very Rare.

The moon offered a rare light show in the very early hours of Tuesday that was more spectacular than even the most elaborate holiday light displays.

A total eclipse of the moon occurred for 72 minutes starting at 2:40 a.m. Tuesday. A total eclipse occurs when the Earth casts its shadow on the full moon, blocking the sun's rays, which otherwise reflect off the moon's surface. The result was that an incredibly bright white moon slipped into shadow and cast a coppery-orange glow.

The eclipse was extra special because it happened on the winter solstice. The last time both happened on the same day was on Dec. 21, 1638, according to the Geoff Chester with the U.S. Naval Observatory. The solstice is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the official start of the winter season.

The next time both will occur on the same day is Dec. 21, 2094. The next lunar eclipse will be in June but will not be visible in the Northern Hemispher


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Apple updates iPhoto '11 to 9.1.1

Apple this afternoon updated its photo-organizing and editing app iPhoto '11, part of the iLife '11 suite, to v9.1.1 -- adding new themes to its built-in e-mail options and restoring both a preference to allow photos to be e-mailed using external mail applications and the option to size photo attachments as Small, Medium or Large. The update also addresses a number of issues and improves overall stability.
While users could always email photos from iPhoto '11 by simply dragging a photo directly from iPhoto to a mail program's icon on the dock, the option to do so automatically was missing from preferences until now. Also missing was the ability for the user to pick from a preset of resolutions to avoid sending large photos when not necessary.

The update also addresses a number of issues with ratings, including having the scrolling overly now correctly display ratings when photos are sorted by ratings, and fixing the sort when a rating is changed and photos are sorted by rating. Other bugs addressed include preserving the sort order of Events after upgrading a library, Event titles in Photo view can now be edited, a fix for occasional duplicate photos when uploading to a MobileMe album, removing a bug in the calendar text editing controls and improving the reliability of upgrading a library from an earlier version of iPhoto.

The update is available now through Software Update for iPhoto '11 owners and is recommended for all users. It requires Mac OS X 10.6.3 or higher. The update comes in at around 65MB.

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Microsoft windows Phone 7 Needs to Keep Improving

News Analysis: Microsoft says its partners have shipped 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 devices. But a closer look at that number reveals why Microsoft’s mobile operating system isn’t really challenging Apple’s iOS or Google Android.

 

 

 

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Shipments Fail to Impress: 10 Reasons Why
( Page 1 of 2 )

  

Microsoft mobile device partners shipped 1.5 million Windows Phone 7 units to carriers during the first six weeks of its availability, according to Microsoft officials. At first glance, that might not seem like a figure to scoff at. After all, there are few products in the tech space that gain that level of popularity.

But a closer inspection of the numbers show why these early results are not as impressive as they look. For one, it doesn’t represent actual sales to consumers and enterprise customers. Moreover, it’s estimated that more than mobile carriers are activating 300,000 Google Android phones activated each and every single day. That means that in just five days, it can match a figure Microsoft took six weeks to reach. 

Simply put, Windows Phone 7 can’t compete. And here’s why: 

1. The sales aren’t impressive

  

First and foremost, Windows Phone 7 sales just aren’t all that impressive. Yes, Microsoft might be happy to see 1.5 million devices shipped to carriers, but its excitement seems rather premature. As noted, 300,000 Android phones are activated by customers each day. Until Microsoft can even come close to that figure, it will have extreme difficulty gaining ground on Google or Apple. 

2. Windows Mobile ruined everything

An important reason for Windows Phone 7’s inability to compete is its predecessor. As soon as Apple offered up the iPhone and Google came out with Android, it became clear that Microsoft didn’t have a single competitor that mattered. Windows Mobile looked old, and consumers and enterprise customers forgot about it. As the software company’s sales figures show now, it’s having trouble overcoming the disappointment consumers felt from its old OS. 

3. Android is more readily available 

Over time, it is possible that Microsoft might be able build up Windows Phone 7’s momentum. However, that will be extremely unlikely unless it can find a way to achieve the same level of ubiquity that Android enjoys in the mobile market. Right now, several Android devices are available on all major carriers. Consumers have nothing but options, and they appreciate that. Windows Phone 7 handset options are limited, to say the least. 

4. There isn’t an iPhone competitor 

Speaking of those options, it’s important to point out that, at least so far, there isn’t a single Windows Phone 7-based device that can compete on any level with Apple’s iPhone. That’s a significant problem for Microsoft. The iPhone sets the standard by which all other smartphones are judged. Until Microsoft’s vendor partners can come up with something that comes even close to the iPhone’s features, Windows Phone 7 will have a hard time appealing to consumers. 

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Ajith Kumar Next Movie is the Remake of Nagavalli Film?

Venkatesh latest movie Nagavalli that was released a couple of days ago has got mixed reviews but is doing good business at the box office. Although we can’t say whether it is a hit or not at this moment, the makers of Nagavalli are happy with the initial response at the ticket windows.

Meanwhile director P. Vasu is busily moving cards to do Tamil remake of this film. If the buzz is to be believed, Tamil actor Ajith Kumar is likely to do Tamil remake of Nagavalli which itself is a remake of Kannada hit Aptha Rakshaka. Nagavalli has chances to grab Tamil audience attention as it is a sequel to blockbuster Chandramukhi.

P. Vasu has reportedly arranged a special show of Nagavalli to Rajinikanth and the superstar is impressed with it. However, Rajinikanth is not willing to star in Tamil remake of Nagavalli for reasons best known to him.


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South Korea will hold its largest land and air winter drills

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea will hold its largest land and air winter drills Thursday in an area adjacent to North Korea, the South Korean army said Wednesday.
The drills are planned as tensions between the two countries remain high. But these drills were scheduled in 2009, well before the November shelling of a South Korean island by North Korea, army officials said.
More than 800 military personnel will take place in the exercise in Pocheon, roughly 15 miles away from North Korea, and it will begin at 2 p.m., a media officer from the South Korean army said. There will also be six fighter jets, anti-tank missiles, and will involve more than 100 types of weapons, the army said.
South Korea's navy also opened regular exercises in the East Sea on Wednesday that will run for four days.
South Korea also held live-fire military exercises earlier this week, a move that North Korea said could ignite a war.
Both Koreas have traded tough talk and conducted military drills in the weeks after the North shelling of the South Korean island.
The attack killed two marines and two civilians.
North Korea said through its state news agency KCNA that it will not respond to South Korea's naval drills around the island of Yeonpyeong held two days ago, but the military and the Seoul government have not ruled out the possibility of unforeseen provocations occurring in border areas and possibly on large civilian gatherings.
Despite the recent tensions, South Korean government never considered canceling the drills, according to South Korea's Office of the President.
South Korea frequently has drills, which are a part of South Korean life, the president's office said.

Canceling them could be seen as bending to North Korea's will, the office said.

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