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06 June 2012

A day with htc rhyme...

Any change from the routine will take some time to get used to. Same thing has happpened to me on tuesday when I spent a day without my xperia and had the chance to test and load the new htc rhyme with some apps.
At first look, the rhyme looks beautiful. The phone feels solid when holding and makes us feel good. Even the xperia x10 mini has a very good design for a phone of its size, and htc has done a good job of fitting all the features in a thin frame, but the user interface (of htc sense 3.5 skin over android 2.3.5) looks little confusing initially. The Xperia on the other hand felt very easy to use with shortcuts at the right places and despite its size, they have managed to create a fantastic and practical UI. No wonder they have won the european design prize when it was launched in 2010. HTC Rhyme on the other hand has a very different UI, which can be modified by using external launchers like Go Launcher.
Changing from a 2.55 inch screen to a 3.7 inch screen will not be so seamless. I miss the comfort of controlling the complete phone with just one hand and others wouldnt even know that I have a phone in my palms! It can easily be hidden from others! Anyway, having a large screen phone will have these adjustments to be made initially, but later on we get accustomed to it.
On the user interface front, I just hope HTC Sense is a bit clearer and straight forward. There was no lag because of the Sense UI, but accessing and creating some important shortcuts was not easy. On the xperia, it was so easy, all I had to do is add a widget to the home screen and just touch the icons. Forexample, its just one touch to change the phone to vibrating to silent mode, thanks to a very useful power control widget. But this is not so easy on the HTC Rhyme. Anyway, this can be changed by using GO Launcher or some other launchers.

And regarding the options before I finalized on HTC Rhyme, I had a look at the Sony Xperia U as a potential alternative, but it misses some key features that I need: no expandable memory. Talking about sony phones, I really dont understand why dont sony use its successfull brands like Walkman, playstation, cybershot all in one single device! It would be a fantastic phone if it can give the complete experience of sony's technologies within a reasonable and justified price. Another complaint is about the updates which were a case of too less and too late. My Xperia 10 mini is unfortunately stuck on 2.1 and I dont think 2.3 would be posible for a phone with 800MHz, and 128MB internal memory. Other phones like galaxy y which have similar features received 2.3 update long back and they do work well.
May be its got to do with the heavy skin of sony ericcson(Timescape UI, etc..).

With love.. Anil

01 May 2012

Creative Kit: Enhancements at your tips!

Today, I have used the Creative Kit feature of Google Plus to great effect. Though I knew about this feature a few months back, its only today that the complete features of this online tool came to the fore!
Basically, using this tool, you can add really nice little edits, effects, decorations and text to your images!
The best part of it is that you don't need to download anything to do all this editing! So for those who feel that they don't have Photoshop to touch up the photos, they can check out this tool!
And the performance is also very smooth with not much waiting. This brings to the fore the complete strengths of HTML5 and javascript. Amazing!

With love.. Anil

20 April 2012

Drenched...(memories of 2007 rains!)

Recently two days back there was a gentle rain in Bangalore and I was travelling at that time. In the fresh scent of earth, it brought back the memories of the rain in Mumbai in 2007 and the poem I wrote then! Here is that poem:

Drenched...

A billion drops of a dream in each,
Countless thunders of roaring desires,
Infinite energy of gushing streams,
Titillating music of splashing water drops,
Drenched I was in all the above.

In the genesis of invigorating scent of earth,
of melliferous feel of nature's spa,
of swinging in a spell of scenic beauty,
of getting lost in a flood of eternal serenity,
Drenched, I was...

Chilling winds that can even soften a martinet,
Lightening that mocks a photoshoot by rain God,
A melange of elements so pure and spontaneous...
I was drenched in all the above...

Streamed live from heaven's height,
The show did take a temporary break,
But the extravaganza still continues to haunt.
Yes, got drenched, got inspired!!!

Anil Reddy

07 April 2012

A Narnian Morning!

This morning, after a walk, I watched Narnia(part1), that never stops amusing me! It takes us to another dream world that everyone can enjoy! For me, nothing can match watching a Narnia or a Lord of Rings or a Spiderman or an Avatar on a projector with 5000:1 contrast ratio with sony or a bose home theater system! That has been and remains one of the things I desire for!
Another movie that made my day was "superman returns" whose action scenes are incredible even after watching several times!

With love.. Anil

03 April 2012

Irritant Indian Railway website..

We all know how important it is to have a proper customer care.
But these days, having a fast and well-designed website is even more important!
If you look at the stat of the Indian railway website, it fails to handle the traffic during the evenings and we have to agonizingly wait for lots of time to book the tickets. And for some, this could be very crucial.
When the railway minister hiked the charges, we all hoped that he is being sincere and will improve the state of infrastructure of railways(and website is an important part of its infrastructure). But alas, again the ugly head of politics came into effect and most of the charges were brought down to the previous level. When a website so crucial like railways doesn't work well, all hell breaks loose. Its pathetic to say the least.
Being the taxpayers who pay towards the development of the nation, we expect certain level of service from the most popular forms of transport like railways, which is not to be. Another year goes by and the same thing will repeat again. Someone else comes, makes hay for his/her state in railways and dumps the quality aside. Until a huge reform is done, nothing is going to change. We will keep complaining, we fight a little and after a few days get used to the system....

.. Anil

01 April 2012

The comedy show!


Its been 3 days since the show and KBC's kannada version(kotyaadhipathi) has turned out to be a comedy show!
On one of the celebrity episode of the show, there was unlimited comedy that refues to be forgotten!
When actress Ramya kept using lifelines one after the other for a question on Ramayanam, it was funny to say the least for people with a good sense of humour and outrageous for others!
How can any Indian, especially a Hindu not know about the question of Ramyanam that goes like this?: "In Ramayanam, who convinced Kaikeyi to send Lord Rama to the forest?".
And her first option for an answer: Dashrath. Since she wasnt sure, she took the 50-50 and that option went off(Thank God, she used the lifeline!). But more comedy was in store: She took another life line(audience poll) to decide between the 2 remaining options: Bharath and Mandara. The audience gave 6% for Bharath and 94% for Mandara. And after all the drama she played out on screen, she was still not sure after the poll and was tense!
At the end of the question, it was the best comic experience to remember for a tv show! Did we remember the line "Beauty without brains??"! yeahh!!



With love.. Anil

31 March 2012

The lonely journey

Yesterday evening's journey back home was a long and lonely one despite so many people around. Felt like a stranger lost in a new city! Has the monday blues already struck me?
For more than a year, my world only included a cab(sumo, qualis and indica), office, system, canteen, then again the cab on the way back home. From monday(2Apr2012), thats going to change.
Looking back at the project, initially, the project was only trial and error and it involved lots of iterations. To withstand the initial trials and tribulations and to survive all those was in itself a no mean task. Later, a process oriented approach has been defined and put into place which greatly helped us in streamlining the whole work.
Got up to a rainy morning today to find that the webmail has been disabled(as expected).


With love.. Anil

30 March 2012

The melange of feelings..

Sometimes in life we feel different things at the same time. We feel lonely, yet at the same time we feel being part of the larger picture! We feel anxiety and yet feel excited to welcome a new world of possibilities.
We look back at the journey and we also look ahead of the path we take in the future.
Such is the mixture thats within right now at the time of leaving an organization that has given so much for the past 1.5 years!


With love.. Anil

28 January 2012

Some of my Graphic Designs

Below are some of my graphic designs..Lot more coming up..
1. Adobe Photoshop Works:
The logo and first look of a short film by my Animaster batchmates, designed by me:
Moral Mohan: The concept of a short film
Moral Mohan: The concept of a short film.

An image showing the importance of quality check! Caption:"Dont let the QC man come back to you!"

Spiderman Quality Check Doc
Poster and first look of an animated video, rendered in Maya 2009 and Edited in Adobe Photoshop:

One of the frames of a 3D Video(cross-eyed view) created in Autodesk Maya 2009:
Stereoscopic 3D of anilmation logo in motion without glasses(cross eyed view)


A model created in ZBrush software and rendered in Autodesk Maya:
A model created with ZBrush clay modelling tool

Rendering of Creative Cruisers logo in Maya 2009:
One of the "Creative Cruisers" Team Logo designed by me.

2. Adobe Illustrator works:
Below is the art created on the occassion of Valentine's Day, using Adobe Illustrator(vector art):

An abstract art created using Illustrator
Created on the occasion of Women's Day, the blue spirals in the background of the image below stand for the turmoils faced in today's lives and the stars and the leaves denote the fresh energies and achievements that women bring into our lives:


Some of the Graphic Designs for "Maven: Knowledge, Fun, Entertain":


Maven magazine logo



Logo Creation for BioSquare Biotechnologies:
The green gradient indicates life, biotechnology and freshness. The blue shape in the background and the clear font indicates fluency and professionalism.The colours used for the letter "Q" indicates a square with creation embedded within it.
Biosquare Biotechnologies logo designed by me using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator


New Anilmation logo created using photoshop and pixlr. It signifies simplicity, elegance, clarity and consistency. Anilmation is the brand name that I use to publish any creative work, whether it is writings, graphics, music or videos on various platforms like Blogger, Loudly, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Youtube, etc:



Plain design for the Amazon Kindle book: "Avanthika: The Maahishmathi Saga": The design needed to be plain to match the mood of the story and the mystery inside it.

Cover art of "Avanthika : The Maahishmathi Saga"

Fan Art of "Spiderman: No Way Home", inspired by the peacock, Spiderman's eyes and Doctor Strange's New York Sanctum symbol: Created using hand drawing and adding colors using Google's "Snapseed" app:


Spiderman: No Way Home Fan Art


Dookudu movie's(A Telugu movie that was released in 2011) alternate logo, created completely using Autodesk Maya 2008:


A recreation of the apex flying creature of the movie Avatar(2009), created using Autodesk Maya 2009:

Avatar art


Cover art of Anilmation's first book published on Amazon Kindle platform, titled "iDonkey":


iDonkey cover art





With love.. Anil

27 November 2011

Bandham - The Bond (English)


*** Bandham ***
*** The Bond ***
కోయిల కూసిన వేళలో చూస్తే వచ్చింది మంగళగిరి,
Koyila kuusina velalo chuusthe vachhindi Mangalagiri,
"At the time the cuckoo sang, came Mangalagiri(town),"
ఆశీస్సులు అందిస్తున్నట్లు చూస్తున్న ఆ గాలి గోపురం,
aasiissulu andistunnatlu chuustunna aa gaali gopuram,
"The tall tower of Mangalagiri Temple looks like it is giving blessings"
పచ్చని పైరుల అందాలలో తడిసి ముద్దైన విజ్ఞాన విహారం,
pachhani pairula andaalalo tadisi muddaina vijnaana vihaaram,
"the Vijnana Vihaara School is washed in the beauty of lush green crops spread all around it,"
ప్రయాణంలో కనిపించిన అప్పుడే నిద్ర లెగిసిన నూతక్కి గ్రామం,
prayaanamlo kanipinchina appude legisina nutakki graamam,
"The Nutakki village is waking up just when I was travelling across it"
చెలిని త్వరగా కలవాలంటూ తహతహలాడుతున్న హృదయం,
chelini twaragaa kalavaalantuu tahatahalaadutunna hrudayam,
"The heart is anxiously awaiting to see the bride soon."
నింగికి ఎర్రని రంగు పూస్తున్న సూర్యుని కిరణాలలో,
ningiki errani rangu puustunna suuryuni kiranaalalo,
"In the sun's rays which painted the sky red,"
కళ్ళ ముందుకు వచ్చేసింది పెళ్ళికి ముస్తాబైన పాలెం లోని నిలయం!
kalla munduku vachhesindi pelliki mustaabaina paalemloni nilayam!
"came before my eyes my ancestral home in Ramachandrapalem village!"
ఆ ముందు రోజు దసరా తెచ్చిన సంబరాల వేల,
aa mundu roju dasara techhina sambaraala vela,
"In the time of celebrations that Dussehra brought the day before,"
ఏడడుగుల ప్రయాణం ఒక జీవిత కాలపు ప్రాయం అయిన వేల,
edadugula prayaanam oka jeevitha kaalapu praayam ayina vela,
"The seven steps which turned into life-long love"
అతిథుల ఆశీస్సులు శ్రీ రామరక్ష అయిన వేల,
atithula aaseessulu Srii Raamaraksha aina vela,
"When the elders' blessings turned into Lord Sri Rama's care,"
విద్యుత్తు కాంతుల రూపంలో సూర్యుడు  దీవించగా,
vidyuttu kaanthula roopamlo suuryudu deevinchagaa,
"The sun's blessings came in the form of the night's lighting"
పారాణి పూసిన రంగులలో, కళ్యాణ తిలకం తీసుకొచ్చిన అందంలో,
paaraani poosina rangulalo, kalyaana tilakam teesukochhina andamlo,
"In the colours that paaraani and the beauty that wedding vermillion brought"
ప్రియ సఖిగా వచ్చిన కొత్త పెళ్లి కూతురి అడుగులలో,
priya sakhigaa vachhina kotta pelli kuuturi adugulalo,
"In the steps of the sweet heart bride"
వధువు పెట్టుకున్న సిగ్గు తోటలోని పూలలొ,
vadhuvu pettukunna siggu thotaloni puulalo,
"In the flowers that bride put from her garden of shyness"
నా వధువు మొదటిసారి సిగ్గుతో కళ్ళు పైకెత్తి చూసిన వేల,
naa vadhuvu modatisaari siggutho kallu paiketti chuusina vela,
"when my blushing bride looked up for the first time"
చివరి అడుగు వరకూ వదలనన్న చెయ్యి తో కట్టిన మాంగల్యం,
chivari adugu varakuu vadalananna cheyyitho kattina maangalyam,
"The yellow thread that was tied to stay together till life's final step,"
నా మరదళ్ళు, చెల్లెళ్ళ ఆట పట్టింపులతో
naa maradallu, chellella aata pattimpulatho
"In the teasings of my cousins and sisters,"
నా వధూమణికి వాళ్ళు పెట్టిన చక్కలిగిలిలో,
naa vadhuumaniki vaallu pettina chakkaligililo,
"In the tickles that they gave to my cute bride,"
ఎప్పటికీ ఈ నవ్వులు ఆగకూడదని ఆడిన ఆట,
eppatikii ee navvulu aagakuudadani aadina aata,
"In the games that we played to desire these smiles life-long,"
దసరా సంబరాల్ని మరిపించే ఆ సమయంలో,
dasaraa sambaraalni maripinche aa samayamlo,
"In the celebrations that made us forget the dussehra festival"
ముడి పడింది వివాహ బంధం! 
mudi padindi vivaaha bandham!
"a marital bond was created"
విందు భోజనాల ఆహ్లాదకర రుచులలో,
vindhu bhojanaala aahlaadakara ruchulalo,
"In the tastes of wedding dishes"
ముడి పడింది ఒక ప్రేమ బంధం.
mudi padindi oka prema bandham.
"a love bond was created"
నింగిన విరిసిన మల్లె పువ్వుల చుక్కల పందిరిలో,
ningina virisina malle puvvula chukkala pandirilo,
"In the jasmines that spread like stars in the sky"
అనంత లోకాలలోని అరుంధతి నక్షత్రం మమ్మల్ని దీవించిన వేల,
anantha lokaalaloni arundhati nakshatram mammalni deevinchina vela,
"when the celestial far away Arundhati star blessed us"
పెళ్లి కూతురు జడలోని మల్లె పూల పరిమలంలోని ఆహ్లాదంలో,
pelli kuuturu jadaloni malle puula parimalamloni aahlaadamlo,
"In the jasmines of bride's plaited hair"
ముడి పడింది ఒక జీవిత కాలపు ప్రేమ బంధం!
mudi padindi oka jeevitha kaalapu prema bandham!
"a life-long love bond was created"
తుది శ్వాస వరకూ కలిపి వుంచే ఆ విడదీయలేని బంధం!
thudi swaasa varakuu kalipi vunche aa vidadeeyaleni bandham!
"the bond which keeps us together till the last breath"

With love.. Anil