Cutting the Chai: February 2008

Friday, February 29, 2008

Harley-Davidson: Live By It

Having relaxed emission norms for import of Harley Davidson motorcycles, India has informed the US that it cannot cut duties but will allow the American cult bike to be sold through dealers network.

This is partially good news.

"After all, the bike is going to be imported by rich people. Let them pay duty," the official said.

I want to own a Harley, but 'rich' I'm not. To fulfill this desire I'll have to pool in my life's savings for just the downpayment, the rest would have to be financed by some company, with me shelling out the EMI.

India imposes 60 per cent duty on import of motorcycles.

Now that makes it beyond my reach. Seems like I'll have to settle for some desi variant (provided I don't get myself a Nano).

But I can atleast enjoy The Creed Film (the government doesn't impose any taxes on this).

To share/embed this video click here
Download video [00:02:21 FLV 2.8 MB]
Download for mobile [00:02:21 3GP 2.37 KB]

Makes you feel like owning one.

Click here for the complete post...

So long, Stage6

The news had been circulation on the online world for some time and finally the day arrived.

This is what you get to read on visiting the much loved website:

I'm Tom (aka Spinner), a Stage6 user and an employee of DivX, Inc., the company behind the service. I'm writing this message today to inform you that we plan to shut down Stage6 on February 28, 2008. Upload functionality has already been turned off, and you'll be able to view and download videos until Thursday.

I know this news will come as a shock and disappointment to many Stage6 users, and I'd like to take a few moments to explain the reasons behind our decision.

We created Stage6 with the mission of empowering content creators and viewers to discover a new kind of video experience. Stage6 began as an experiment, and we always knew there was a chance that it might not succeed.

In many ways, though, the service did succeed, beyond even our own initial expectations. Stage6 became very popular very quickly. We helped gain exposure for some talented filmmakers who brought great videos to the attention of an engaged community. We helped prove that it's possible to distribute true high definition video on the Internet. And we helped broaden the Internet video experience by offering content that is compatible with DVD players, mobile devices and other products beyond the PC.

So why are we shutting the service down? Well, the short answer is that the continued operation of Stage6 is a very expensive enterprise that requires an enormous amount of attention and resources that we are not in a position to continue to provide. There are a lot of other details involved, but at the end of the day it's really as simple as that...

Sometimes, popularity has a hefty price tag attached.

Update: Stage6 is promoting Veoh as the place where Stage6-ers can move to.

Stage6 is introducing Veoh Networks Inc. as a site that promises to offer our users a smooth transition. Millions of people use Veoh each month and we feel it is a great fit for our users.

Veoh enables you to upload, download, and watch high quality videos, including any DivX file.

...and this is Veoh's welcome message for disheartened Stage6 loyalists:

Veoh is pleased to welcome Stage6 users and publishers.

Veoh already has many of the features you have grown to love on Stage6, and we are constantly expanding our feature set.

Veoh lets you:

* Upload videos of any length (including DivX)
* Download videos to your PC and watch later (including DivX)
* Watch millions of videos from TV networks to independent publishers
* Communicate with over 23 million monthly users

We hope that you enjoy using Veoh, and welcome :-)

Click here for the complete post...

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

TOI Story on e-Ticketing: A Distorted Perspective

Yesterday, The Union Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav tabled a populist Railway Budget for the next financial year in the Parliament and this morning the papers (expectedly) were full of reports on that. Some adulatory, some critical and a quite a few cynical.

Amidst the melee of reports, most of which I just glanced through, I found one on page two of The Times of India (Delhi edition) which made me think. Not because it was an intriguing write-up but because it was an example of present-day standards of journalism (I too am a part of this).

The report headlined "E-ticketing yet to net passengers" doesn't carry a by-line, it is attributed to Times News Network.

I too am one of those who don't buy in whole the Great Indian Railways Turnaround Story, but this is not the manner in which I would like to package my argument.

The report says:

However, at present, a measly 27 per cent of all bookings are done through the internet.

By what standards can someone term 27 per cent of the millions of bookings done by the Indian Railways as "measly." 27 per cent is more than a quarter, and one-fourth of all reservations done online in a country like India with limited internet penetration is not "measly," it is an achievement.

It goes on further:

But in Delhi alone, the seven ticket vending machines in place now can be used only to procure platform tickets. In addition, thanks to improper maintenance, most of them are lying defunct.

I agree with the "lying defunct" part having experienced that first hand. But who ever filed this story doesn't perhaps understand the fact that the "seven ticket vending machines," are meant to deliver platform tickets only. Not that it is designed to deliver all kinds of tickets and is presently delivering only platform tickets.

Moreover, common sense tells us that since they are coin operated, you cannot book a sleeper class ticket to Bhopal inserting three hundred rupee coins or one-fifty two-rupee coins (or a combination of both as it doesn't perhaps accept five-rupee coins).

Regarding the first ATM ticket counter it says:

...one has to be registered with the IRCTC

Like it or not, registration is a necessary evil because it helps both - the user and the service providers - to track the transactions made and in case something goes wrong there is an identification procedure to track that.

The story ends with a quote:

"Unless we manage to include all banks under this service, it is going to be difficult to involve all passengers in this scheme. The railways at the moment is happy earning the royalty after lending out prime space to this bank. They are planning similar ATM counters at all important stations in Delhi. Sadly, scant regard is being paid to the profile of the passengers, many of whom have never operated an ATM or a computer in their entire life."

But it isn't attributed to anyone. Should I, as a reader, interpret this as said by one Sashi Kumar who was quoted two paragraphs before? If yes, I shouldn't.

The few places I worked in and the few stories that I filed while working there, my editors never let a single quote story go live (or to print) unless it was an exclusive or the story itself is wound around that quote. This doesn't seem to be the case here.

And to top it all, actually it was what caught my eye first, the image and the caption.

The image is of a self-operated platform ticket vending machine and the caption reads:

RARELY USED: Only 27% of all bookings are done through the Internet

This is a revelation. A platform ticket vending machine is a representative of the Internet and online ticket reservation.

And interestingly, there's a story on The Times of India website dated, January 31, 2007 (quite recent) that says:

Good response to rlys' e-ticketing facility

PATNA: The railways have been earning good revenue ever since e-ticketing facility was introduced by it across the country from January 1 last year. In fact, the facility has received good response in metropolitan and several other big cities, including Patna.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation website (irctc.co.in) - the one which e-ticketing is routed through - is listed at No. 26 on Alexa's list of the most popular websites in India while The Indian Railways Website (indianrail.gov.in) is at No. 34 at the time of posting this.

Click here for the complete post...

Monday, February 25, 2008

Blogger Hack: Make Original Images Open in Popup Window

This is just an additional little feature that looks and feels a little better than the existing.

All you bloggers on blogspot would have surely noticed that when you upload any image to Blogger, it gives you three size options to display the image in - large, medium and small - and at the same time the original sized image is accessible to users when they click on the image displayed on a post. But then it opens in the same window and thereby navigates your reader away from your blog.

And easy way would be to use the attribute target="_blank" within the anchor tag, so that when clicked the image would open in a new window. But why not add a little frill and make the image open in a popup window.

I'm doing this on this blog, for the want of a better alternative (tried using Lightbox but the results were not satisfactory on slow connections).

Here's how:

This blob of HTML might look a little different if you're using Internet Explorer. But that doesn't make any difference to our process.

All you need to do is insert this bit of script:

target="_blank" onclick="window.open(this.href, 'popupwindow', 'width=420, height=350, resizable=no, scrollbars=yes, menubar=no, toolbar=no, status=no'); return false;"

after the closing double quotes enclosing the url of the original image, but before the > tag. The result will look something like this:

Now let me explain the elements:

the target="_blank" makes the link open in a new window

width=520, height=520 defines the size of the pop-up window. Ideally you should keep this greater (by 10 to 20 pixels) than the original image dimensions so that it displays properly across browsers.

resizable=no, scrollbars=yes, menubar=no, toolbar=no, status=no are optional attributes, you can change their values to yes or no according to your needs and fancies.

For a demo click on the accompanying Blogger logo.

For others who might need yet more cusromisation, you can add the attributes top= and left= to define the position of the pop-up window.

Here's an example:

target="_blank" onclick="window.open(this.href, 'popupwindow', 'width=420, height=350, resizable=no, scrollbars=yes, menubar=no, toolbar=no, status=no, top=20, left=20,'); return false;"

This would make the window open with a displacement of 20 pixels from the top and left of the screen. The numerical value can be changed to suit individual requirements.

Since I'm a novice when it comes to these things and would like more able members of the blogging community to further develop the idea.

Click here for the complete post...

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Banned - Jodhaa Akbar

Ban - the word invokes both interest and anger. Interest because anything that is banned has definitely rubbed someone the wrong way and we the curious masses always want to know why. And the very idea of not letting someone else see/hear/read something because you (or an accumulation of people of your kind) think so, atleast in a modern democracy (with pretensions of progressiveness) like India tickles my annoyance.

Jodhaa Akbar banned in Madhya Pradesh

...and in parts of Haryana in addition to Rajasthan where it wasn't released.

Historians and certain communities might not all agree with the story that the makers of the movie presented in 70mm. That Jodhaa depicted as Akbar's queen was - according to certain versions - actually his daughter-in-law. Right. Everyone has a right to protest. If the film is indeed offensive, they should have called for a voluntary boycott. If the halls are empty, distributors will themselves take it off.

But then no one wants to gauge the sentiment of the general public; rather it is much easier to threaten violence. And the administration, which is supposed to uphold the rule of law, falls prey to blackmail (and political considerations).

Though I didn't like the movie much, I would at best give Ashutosh Gowarikar's latest directorial venture a three star rating (out of five). The film tried to mount two horses at once - history and romance - and in the process fell of both.

Hrithik nevertheless delivered a commendable performance and looked his role while Aishwariya fitted in nicely only when she wasn't talking and moving. As for the royal intrigues, Santosh Sivan packaged it much better in Asoka.

Coming back to bans. In the long run a boycott would work better than a ban. Because a ban, as mentioned in opening sentence of this post invokes interest and would go against the purpose of the ban in places where the film (or whatever) is not banned. Whereas a successful voluntary boycott would dissuade habitual controversy seekers, as it would hit them where it hurts the most - their bank balances. Moreover, in this e-era do bans really work?

If tomorrow, a section of the population disgusted by the goings on in any of the state assemblies threaten to burn it down (they actually did in Manipur, while in Meghalaya it was reduced to ashes by accident). Will the state administration, relying on intelligence inputs, ban future session in the assembly?

Click here for the complete post...

Thursday, February 21, 2008

CNN Fires Producer Over Personal Blog

"CNN has fired one of its producers because of his personal blog. Chez Paziena, the ex-producer, has stated that he started the blog 'mostly to pass the time, hone my writing skills, resurrect my voice a little, and keep my mind sharp following the [brain tumor] surgery.' After a few months, CNN found out about it and ended up letting him go because his 'name was "attached to some, uh, 'opinionated' blog posts" circulating around the internet.'"

Thank god for blogger bosses.

Some random excerpts from his post on The Hufington Post:

Last Monday afternoon, I got a call from my boss, Ed Litvak

They hammered home a single line in the CNN employee handbook which states that any writing done for a "non-CNN outlet" must be run through the network's standards and practices department

I let them know exactly what I had thought when I read the rule, namely that it was staggeringly vague and couldn't possibly apply to something as innocuous as a blog. (I didn't realize until later that CNN had canned a 29-year-old intern for having the temerity to write about her work experiences - her positive work experiences - in a password-protected online journal a year earlier.)

I told both my boss and HR representative that a network which prides itself on being so internet savvy - or promotes itself as such, ad nauseam - should probably specify blogging and online networking restrictions in its handbook. I said that they can't possibly expect CNN employees, en masse, to not engage in something as popular and timely as blogging if they don't make themselves perfectly clear.

My HR rep's response: "Well, as far as we know, you're the only CNN employee who's blogging under his own name."

When I asked, just out of curiosity, who came across my blog and/or the columns in the Huffington Post, the woman from HR answered, "We have people within the company whose job is specifically to research this kind of thing in regard to employees."

A few minutes later, I was off the phone and out of a job. No severance. No warning (which would've been a much smarter proposition for CNN as it would've put the ball effectively in my court and forced me to decide between my job or the blog). No nothing. Just, go away.

I'm dead sure though that my superiors never concerned themselves with my ability or inability to remain objective at work, given my strong opinions; they worried only about an appearance of bias (specifically, a liberal bias), and apparently they worried about it more than any potential fallout from firing a popular blogger with an audience that was already large and was sure to grow much larger when news of his firing put him in the national spotlight.

As far as CNN (and to be fair, the mainstream TV press in general) believes, it still sits comfortably at the top of the food chain, unthreatened by any possibility of a major paradigm shift being brought to bear by a horde of little people with laptops and opinions. Although the big networks recognize the need to appeal to bloggers, they don't fear them - and that means that they don't respect them. Corporate-think dictates that the mainstream television press as a monstrous multi-headed hydra is the ultimate news authority and therefore is in possession of the one and only hotline to the ghosts of Murrow and Sevareid. Sure those bloggers are entertaining, but in the end they're really just insects who either feed off the carcasses of news items vetted through various networks or, when they do break stories, want nothing more than to see themselves granted an audience by the kingmakers on television.

CNN fired me, and did it without even a thought to the power that I might wield as an average person with a brain, a computer, and an audience. The mainstream media doesn't believe that new media can embarrass them, hurt them or generally hold them accountable in any way, and they've never been more wrong.

I'm suddenly in a position to do all three, and I know now that this is what I've been working toward the last few years of my career.

Click here for the complete post...

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Sushmita Before

Everyone has seen the after. Here's Sushmita Sen before the (alleged) nose and boob job (though you can't verify the latter from the image).

The world adores her
She adores Mohini Knitwears
Sushmita's Choice
Designed by Charlie of Italy
Winter showroom only at Hotel Janpath, New Delhi

The original is possibly from Sush's pre-Miss Universe/Miss India days, reworked after she gained fame.

[Added a new feature. Now if you click on an image - from the previous post onwards - the original would open in a pop-up window.]

Click here for the complete post...

Vintage PCs from 1996

1996 was only 12 years back. The adverb 'only' doesn't exactly fit in right here. It was only the year before that the Indian public got access to the internet. As for me, I was still in school and a very few friends (whose parents could afford it) had a computer that they could call personal.

Though we were taught BASIC as a part of an optional computer course (additional computers fee was charged) and I along with a friend would also visit the city campus of the university in order to expose ourselves to this newly emerging world, I don't remember much from what I did or learned then (apart from GOTO 10) Things have changed so much.

Chanced upon a few interesting bits from those days of shell accounts and 8 MB of RAM. What is interesting is not the advances made in technology (that is expected) but the drastic fall in prices.

VSNL's rates for internet service in 1995:

All prices are flat annual rates (in Rs). Professionals only get shell accounts, the others can choose SLIP or PPP. Dial up users have a total of 250 hours to use up in a year and 512 kb disk space. Leased line rates only include what VSNL charges for bandwidth - the physical link will have to be paid for to the telecom provider - the DoT. These costs are typically 10% of VSNL's corporate rates, for distances up to 50 kilometres (30 miles). [Source]

And some PCs sold in 1996 (Click on images for a better view). Wondering what I can get for Rs 120,945 today.

[From Gladrags, February 1996]

OLIVETTI PCS42P
PRICE: Rs 74,195
FEATURES 208Mb hard disk, 8Mb RAM, five slots, Media, Vision soundcard BEST FOR Reasonably well-specified for the price and is a nippy performer. An enormous box, but with no real advantage in terms of card or drive installation space. Poor socket labelling and an oldfashioned looking monitor don't do it any favours either. The bundle of programs provided is comprehensive, with everything from Works to a typing tutor, atlas, encyclopaedia, zoological reference work and games including Star Wars, Zork, and chess. For audiophiles there's the "pocket mixer" utility which combines outputs from CDs, a microphone, digitised sound sources and Midi instrument files and the Pocket CD player which lets you program favourite music tracks.
Unfortunately, the speakers are a bit ropey.
CHANCES OF YOU GETTING ANY WORK DONE Good. It's a bit too lumpy to enjoy playing games on.

AMSTRAD PC9486
PRICE Rs 78,210
FEATURES 64 hard disk, 4Mb RAM, four expansion slots, MediaVision soundcard
BEST FOR Games and simple business applications. You should be able to run business software, garnes, and creativity packages and with the right video hardware can also run movies from CD-V discs. Once you have a multimedia PC you never have to move from your seat again and the Arnstrad is one of the cheapest on the market. Its soundcard, CD-ROM drive an.d speaker system work well. Other software provided includes a comprehensive business suite, games including the legendary Doorn, and an interactive encyclopaedia on CD- ROM.
CHANCES OF YOU GETTING ANY WORK DONE High. Not enough entertainment value to distract you.

IBM APTIVA 941
PRICE Rs 120,945
FEATURES 850Mb hard disk, 8Mb RAM, Pentium processor, Soundblaster sound card, quad speed CD-ROM
BEST FOR People who drink bottled beer with a slice of lime. IBM clearly intends to make the multimedia PC as familar in the home as a hi-fi or microwave oven. The latest Aptiva designs overcome most of the shortcomings of earlier versions, offering better ergonomics and specifications. Also new is a software system including Personal Desktop, which allows several users to arrange the Windows Program Manager in their own favourite way, and Rapid Resume, which saves all your default settings and powers the machine down to save energy when it's not in use. An optional extra is MWave, a card which serves as a fax modern, answer machine interface and sound care. The price may be a bit steep, butin terms of features, they have done the business.
CHANCES OF YOU GETTING ANY WORK DONE More of a lifestyle statement than a workhorse.

COMPAQ PRESARIO CDS290
PRICE Rs 98,890
FEATURES 411Mb hard disk, 8Mb RAM five slots, Compaq soundcard, integrated modem
BEST FOR Small businesses. The Presario comes with a good preinstalled software bundle, though the compression system means it takes half-an-hour to decompress the software and get going. The built-in modem means e-mail, compufax and Internet services are close at hand, and the computer will even function as a telephone answering machine. Business applications include Works, and instead of the usual Windows Program Manager there's TabWorks, a singlepage indexing system grouping programs by category. But the speakers are crap.
CHANCES OF YOU GETTING ANY WORK DONE High.

VALE PRESTIGE PC1486DX-66
PRICE Rs 83,930
FEATURES 333Mb hard disk, 8Mb RAM, four slots, Creative Labs SoundBlaster 16-sound card
BEST FOR Anything you fancy. As reliable as any PC you could hope for, with plenty of expansion slots and memory making up for the relatively small hard drive. The Prestige comes with pre-loaded software including Works, Microsoft Money, Encarta, Golf, Dangerous Creatures and a pack of other games. The SoundBlaster 16-sound card is the industry standard, and the speakers are decent too, so try one if you're a big games-player or like the idea of playing CDs on your computer while you're working.
CHANCES OF YOU GETTING ANY WORK DONE How's your will power?

AST ADVANTAGE ADVENTURE 6066D
PRICE Rs 76,945
FEATURES 264Mb hard disk, 8Mb RAM, two slots, Creative Labs SoundBlaster sound card BEST FOR Sophisticated games, education. With its generous 8Mb memory, the Adventure is beefy enough to run the most demanding programs, though the hard drive might not be big enough for storing large graphics files. The software bundle includes Microsoft Works., an accounts program, organiser, fax facility, Encarta, the movie database Cinemania, and a 3D golf game which will lure you away from work again and again. Only the piddly speakers stop this from being a package - dump them and plug the soundcard output straight in your hi-fi if you want real entertainment.
CHANCES OF YOU GETTING ANY WORK DONE Fair. A better soundsystem would be more likely to tempt you away from work.

Click here for the complete post...

Friday, February 15, 2008

More Yana

Finally, the second set of Yana's photographs landed on my inbox. And obviously, I couldn't help posting them here.

Click here for the complete post...

Thursday, February 14, 2008

An Ad and 47 Songs

Here's an ad for Valentine's Day:

November 14th
Have no surprises for children's day.
"Happy Valentine's Day"
Durex

And a potpourri of 47 songs, that I had compiled together (with considerable effort) last year. Since good things can always be rehashed, here's the video again. The value add this time is a download link for the video in 3GP format, so that lovey-dovies can download and Bluetooth to the objects of their affection. [Original post]

To share/embed this video click here
Download video [00:14:52 FLV 24.2 MB]
Download for mobile [00:14:52 3GP 16.3 MB]

Click here for the complete post...

Hot Ad for India's Hottest

A hot promo for Channel [V]'s show [V] India's Hottest. The show is hosted by VJs Bruna Abdulah and Aditya Roy Kapoor (both featured in the promo).

I've included a (clickable) slideshow of snapshots from the video for extra viewing pleasure. Enjoy! (oops... that was MTV)

To share/embed this video click here
Download video [00:00:29 FLV 834 KB]
Download for mobile [00:00:29 3GP 679 KB]

Snapshot Slideshow

Click on image for original jpegs

Click here for the complete post...

Friday, February 08, 2008

MOTOFONE Suhaag Raat Ad

I don't remember seeing this ad on TV. Maybe because I watch very little on the television these days. The idea of posting this ad came when a friend discussed the noisy nocturnal adventures of the couple next door. But then what the ears suggest can often get obliterated by what the eyes would see.

To share/embed this video click here
Download video [00:00:29 FLV 795 KB]
Download for mobile [00:00:29 3GP 902 KB]

Click here for the complete post...

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Kamasutra: The Adventures of Rani Bonkeshwari

This ad is the result of the creative efforts of Calcutta-born 22-year old National Institute of Design student Rohit Iyer.

"The script was written by an MTV writer named KM Ayappa. I did all the animation myself, starting from the designs and rough storyboard to final composite. The process comprised of creating artwork in Adobe Photoshop which was then animated and composited in Adobe After Effects. The whole spot took about a month to animate."

To share/embed this video click here
Download video [00:00:55 FLV 1.29 MB]
Download for mobile [00:00:55 3GP 1.10 MB]

Voice over:

Long long ago
There was an empress
An empress on the outside
But a temptress on the inside
"Make love, not war"
Her bold conquests took place on the battlefield
And off it
Armed with glow-in-the-dark condoms
With the goodness of brahmi and banana extracts
She had crossed the deepest ravines of her kingdom
Going where no woman had gone before
And doing what no woman had done before
Bravely attempting to create 92 new creative Kamasutra positions
Alas, the sex machine came to a grinding halt
Rani Bonkeshawri's dying wish?
To be buried in the royal grave's ... men's section
--
Kama Sutra
For the pleasure of making love
KS Smooth

MTV

Click here for the complete post...

Desi Girls Climb Up AskMen.com's Top 99 Ladder

The much discussed (and drooled after) AskMen.com's Top 99 Women 2008 Edition is out. Browsing through the seemingly unending list (I know there are only 99 listed there) I found three women of Indian origin on the list of the 'Most Desirable Women of 2008.'.

#27 Aishwarya Rai (Bachchan) - Mrs Junior B climed up 13 steps from #40 in 2007

The most beautiful woman to come out of Bollywood, Aishwarya Rai slowly but surely made her mark on American audiences in 2007. She flashed those trademark blue-green eyes in films like Guru and The Last Legion, and signed on to costar in the Steve Martin-helmed Pink Panther 2 (2009). And it doesn't seem like her getting hitched this year mattered much to her fans, who ranked her the No. 27 Most Desirable Woman of 2008.

Sexiness: Her full, luscious lips, sexy curves and ultra-feminine mannerisms give her top marks in this category.

#66 Padma Lakshmi - Ex Mrs Rushdie wasn't even on the list last year.

Padma Lakshmi sure knows how to turn the heat up in the kitchen. This Indian-American beauty is best known for her hosting gig on Top Chef, making men throughout the country take an interest in the culinary arts for one hour every week. And while our No. 66 Most Desirable Woman spent 2007 with a starring role in most of your fantasies, she also appeared on the cover of Industry magazine and released her second cookbook, Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet. Upon hearing of her place on this list, Padma said, "Thanks to all those who voted for me!"

Sexiness: ...a body so exquisite it makes you want to navigate it like the Ganges River.

#67 Mallika Sherawat - Reema Lamba has become more desirable by 11 degrees. She was #78 in the 2007 list

We can’t help but admire Mallika Sherawat’s dedication and perseverance, and there’s little doubt that her hard work is paying off - not many Bollywood actresses can say they’ve costarred alongside someone as world-renowned as Jackie Chan. In 2007, Mallika Sherawat wowed her fans with performances in Guru, Aap Kaa Surroor: The Moviee - The Real Luv Story and Welcome. She is a legend in her home country of India, and judging by her upcoming roles in 2008's Ugly Aur Pagli and Fun in the Army, there are only more good things to come for this beauty.

Sexiness: ...the very definition of an exotic beauty, and it’s not difficult to see why she’s become such a notorious sex icon in her native India.

By the way, Katherine Heigl is at the top.

In case you are too lazy to browse through the complete list here's quickie:

99. Blake Lively
98. Jenna Fischer
97. Vanessa Minnillo
96. Giada de Laurentis
95. Lindsay Lohan
94. Zhang Ziyi
93. Ashlee Simpson
92. Ali Larter
91. Mary Elizabeth Winstead
90. Milla Jovovich
89. Kerry Washington
88. Jessica Chobot
87. Marion Cotillard
86. Sophia Bush
85. Rachel Weisz
84. Ivanka Trump
83. Olivia Munn
82. Naomi Watts
81. Hilary Duff
80. Alyssa Milano
79. Ana de la Reguera
78. Nadine Velazquez
77. Rashida Jones
76. Jennifer Love Hewitt
75. April Scott
74. Maria Sharapova
73. Ana Ivanovic
72. Dita Von Teese
71. Cate Blanchett
70. Federica Ridolfi
69. Lucy Pinder
68. Leona Lewis
67. Mallika Sherawat
66. Padma Lakshmi
65. Michelle Marsh
64. Nelly Furtado
63. Anne Hathaway
62. Cassie
61. Vanessa Hudgens
60. Malin Akerman
59. Kristen Bell
58. Kate Moss
57. Rose McGowan
56. Sara Varone
55. Gwen Stefani
54. Sienna Miller
53. Michelle Lombardo
52. Salma Hayek
51. Hayden Panttiere
50. Reon Kandena
49. Danna Garcia
48. Nicole Scherzinger
47. Jessica Simpson
46. Gemma Atkinson
45. Sofia Vergara
44. Jamie Pressley
43. Katharine McPhee
42. Elin Nordergren
41. Petra Nemcova
40. Emmanuelle Chriqui
39. Kiera Knightley
38. Shakira
37. Rachel McAdams
36. Christina Aguilera
35. Angelina Jolie
34. Kelly Brook
33. Layla Kayleigh
32. Brooke Burke
31. Bianca Beauchamp
30. Alicia Keys
29. Eva Longoria
28. Kim Kardashian
27. Aishwarya Rai
26. Penelope Cruz
25. Heidi Klum
24. Elisha Cuthbert
23. Carrie Underwood
22. Monica Bellucci
21. Hallie Berry
20. Bar Refaeli
19. Miranda Kerr
18. Cheryl Tweedy
17. Maggie Q
16. Gisele Bundchen
15. Natalie Portman
14. Beyonce
13. Keeley Hazell
12. Megan Fox
11. Maria Menounos
10. Adriana Lima
9. MarisaMiller
8. Rihanna
7. Jessica Biel
6. Scarlett Johansson
5. Jessica Alba
4. Eva Mendes
3. Kate Beckinsale
2. Alessandra Ambrosio
1. Katherine Heigl

[List compiled with a little help from here]

Click here for the complete post...

The Most Controversial Ads in Fashion History

Please note: images and links within this article may not be safe for work.

Sex and fashion have long been intertwined. Sex and advertising – even longer. But, every now and again, someone in the fashion world causes a stir. We’ve uncovered seven of the most controversial ads ever released by the fashion industry. Enjoy.

Click here for the complete post...

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)