Attack at Mumbai

A series of ten terrorist attacks that occurred across Mumbai, India's financial capital and largest city, on 26 November 2008. The main targets of the attack appeared to be Americans, Britons and Jews, but most of the casualties were locals and foreign tourists caught in the gunfire. At least 125 people including at least six foreign nationals have been confirmed dead, and at least 327 have been injured. All except one of the attacks took place in South Mumbai; at the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station; at two five-star hotels: the Oberoi Trident at Nariman Point, and Taj Mahal Palace & Tower near the Gateway of India; at the Leopold Café, a popular tourist restaurant in Colaba; at the Cama Hospital; and at the police headquarters where at least three high-level officers, including chief of the Anti Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra, were killed by gunfire. Between fifty and sixty terrorists have been involved in the attacks.

A previously unknown organization identifying itself as the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility by email sent to news organizations. Due to the apparent targeting of Britons, Americans, and Jews, the number of militants involved, the amount of equipment they used, and the pattern of co-ordinated attacks, several reporters and media analysts speculate that non-Indian Islamic terrorists may have been responsible. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the attacks probably had “external linkages,” believing that the attack could not have occurred without help. The Indian Mujahideen terrorist group threatened in September 2008 to carry out bombings on sites in Mumbai.According to some news reports, a terrorist holding hostages at the Oberoi told an Indian TV channel that they wanted all 'Mujahideen' in Indian prisons released before they released their hostages. He also indicated that there were seven terrorists holding hostages at that location.Other reports indicate that this demand was made through a hostage at Nariman House, in a call to the Israeli consulate in New Delhi.

At least 125 people have been killed in the attacks and 327 wounded.Seven Britons, three Americans, two Australians, and two Canadians were among those injured.Among the dead are 81 Indian civilians, 14 policemen and six foreigners, including one Japanese, one Australian, one Briton, one Canadian, one Italian, and one German.In addition, nine terrorists were killed and nine more were arrested. According to British High Commissioner in India, Sir Richard Stagg, seven Britons have been injured in the terror strikes and one dead.Andreas Liveras, a British yachting tycoon, was among those confirmed killed.Eleven other foreigners of different nationalities were injured in the terror strikes and were admitted to the Bombay Hospital. Hospital sources said the injured foreigners are from Australia, USA, Norway, Spain, Canada and Singapore.However, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that no Singaporean has been injured in the attacks.Three Americans and two Australians are reported amongst the injured.
According to Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, fourteen policemen have been killed in total, including the following high profile officers:
Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare,who headed the team investigating the politically sensitive 2006 Malegaon blasts. Karkare had also been receiving death threats recently,including a threat to bomb his residence,but it is unclear if these were related to his death.
Additional Commissioner of Police: Ashok Kamte
Encounter specialist: Vijay Salaskar
Senior inspector Shashank Shinde,who had recently been involved in investigating many of India's recent bombings.
Three railway officials of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus also have been killed in the terror strikes.
The Government of Maharashtra announced Rs. 5 lakh (about 10,000 USD) compensation to the kin of those killed in the terror attacks and Rs. 50,000 (about 1,000 USD) to the seriously injured.
At least one media source (Press Trust of India, posted to NDTV.com) was reporting a death toll of more than 280 as of 27 November.

Nokia's Phone Testing Revealed

We all been wondering how the bigwings of the cellular industry test their phones to assure quality to the customers. Recently Nokia answered that question by releasing a video of how they "torture" their products. From the dropping scenario to the Artic Circle simulation. All possible torture to your phone was accounted for. This may be part of Nokia's marketing stint but hey, we all love some hardware torture. video after jump.

American Jailed for being Lolicon

An American was jailed for possessing a shitload of lolicon (lolita complex) manga. Epic fail for this guy. Read on

An Iowa manga enthusiast has been charged with possession of obscene materials, based on the allegation that of his collection of over a thousand volumes, a handful depict underage participants; he faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years if convicted under the PROTECT Act.
A free speech legal defence fund, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, has leapt to his defence, claiming the law is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment rights Americans enjoy to free speech; the CBLDF is scathing:
“The government is prosecuting a private collector for the possession of art. In the past, CBLDF has had to defend the First Amendment rights of retailers and artists, but never before have we experienced the federal government attempting to strip a citizen of his freedom because he owned comic books.”
The CBLDF is most unhappy about the assault on freedom of expression, and is now also concerned that the move represents an unprecedented extension in scope of a law previously targeting chiefly dealers of pornography:
“In the lengthy time in which I have represented CBLDF and its clients, I have never encountered a situation where criminal prosecution was brought against a private consumer for possession of material for personal use in his own home.
This prosecution has profound implications in limiting the First Amendment for art and artists, and comics in particular that are on the cutting edge of creativity. It misunderstands the nature of avant-garde art in its historical perspective and is a perversion of anti-obscenity laws.”
The PROTECT Act being used as a basis for the charges has already taken a beating in courts, with portions being ruled unconstitutional, but sections still retain validity.
In particular, for a guilty verdict to be rendered the jury will have to decide that the material concerned is “obscene”, which involves applying the so-called Miller test to allow the material to be stripped of First Admendment protection:
• Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
• Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law.
• Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. (This is also known as the (S)LAPS test- [Serious] Literary, Artistic, Political, Scientific).
In the past, application of these criteria has proven complex and highly controversial, so it remains to be seen what kind of decision the manga in question will prompt.
The PROTECT Act, an act containing a diverse jumble of “child protection” measurres, itself has been the subject of much legal action, and it is still not clear to what extent it maintains the ability to target artistic or “virtual” maeterial depicting underage participants.
We do not hear how the unfortunate individual in question came to the attention of authorities.

T-Mobile G1: The Google Iphone

You read it right guys, Google is now everywhere, even on your smart phone! Google recently announced their partnership with T-Mobile that integrates their "Google technology" on T-Mobile's G1 phone.


Armed with the new "Android" operating system which promises full customization from users, G1 is packed with anything Google. From YouTube to Google Talk, G1 offers the services of Google right at your fingertips. The phone is equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard, a 3 meg camera, 3G and WiFi connectivity. a touchscreen, a multimedia player, all the features that would make iPhone cry for daddy Steve Jobs. I know I've been waiting for Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1 but I could have a change of heart

Will debut on October 22, 2008 and costs around $179

Elmo Live!

After the success of Tickle Me Elmo last year, Fisher Price launched a new Elmo for the whole family. This new breed of Elmo, Elmo Live!, hailed as the "most innovative and engaging Elmo toy ever," will officially hit store shelves today (October 14th) for $59.99, though we suspect the first batch will be snapped up in no time flat. Of course, those of you intent on retaining your sanity probably pre-ordered a few months back, but for everyone else, your battle to get one of this year's hottest holiday gifts starts in under 24 hours. For those wondering what's so special about this fellow, he supposedly tells jokes and makes movements that "give kids the feeling that Elmo is alive in their own homes."

Here is a review by Mike Mozart

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music.. Another Iphone Killer

The trend of creating a smartphone is upon us. Thanks to Apple's iPhone, many company created their own cash cow that would make iPhone cry in envy. We all know that iPhone is all about hype and the emerging smartphones can prove to that. The Philippine community bought an iPhone becuase of the hype, they don't care if the interface is so-so. Anyway, on with the new Nokia 5800 Xpress Music.

This baby boast a 3.2" inch touchscreen and two cameras, a 3.2 snapper and a VGA front camera. The usual features like 3G,HSDPA and Wifi connectivity are present. It comes with a 8GB microSD straight from the box which really helps a lot.What concerns me is the S60 OS which is different from the usual Windows Mobile 6.1 of the other smartphones coming out of the market. Whether Nokia's faith on the Symbian OS be successful or not depends on the reaction of the users who will use it. All we can do is wait and see.