Thank god for Christopher Nolan. Had it not been for him and his layered interpretation of the caped crusader Batman, we wouldn’t have ever known that superhero films are something more than an excuse to give the comic book fans of the world a chance to see all their favorite action figures, life size and in full form. Gavin Hood’s interpretation of the Marvel comic superhero Wolverine, however, has no such intentions. It’s essentially a technical exercise that dwells in the perfunctory. For as much mayhem that takes place in the film, there’s very little tension going on beneath the surface for any of it to register as anything more than expensive CGI effects. The titular character of the troubled mutant that was carefully nurtured in the previous films serves as little more than justification for destruction-focused action scenes in the film. X Men Origins is not about the hero’s journey of self discovery, it’s actually about cars being blown to pieces and metal blocks being shredded to slivers. It has no passion, no connection to where we are now, and in a series whose stories have heretofore spoken dark truths about American intolerance, that matters.

The year is 1845, Wolverine is a young boy from Northwest Canada who is not aware of his mutant power. In a fit of rage he kills his father and runs away from home. His half brother Victor (Live Schreiber) escapes with him and together they take an oath of protecting each other forever. Their mutant powers ensure that they do not age like other human beings so we have an extensive title sequence where the two are shown fighting in numerous wars like American Civil War, World War I and II and Vietnam. Victor’s thirst for power achieves monstrous proportions and soon he is killing for pleasure. Wolverine is disillusioned with this and decides to become a Canadian lumberjack and settle with his girlfriend. All, however, is not well because Victor stages a violent comeback in his life by killing his girlfriend. Thereon the film is all about Wolverine tracking Victor down and leaving a trail of destruction behind

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T20 BIG FIGHT sunday ..


At last the time came for the big show T20 final match between pakistan and srilanka sunday here at ENGLAND at lords . This was an emotional meet for the both teams after the terror attack on Srilanka at pakistan home.The both teams looks strong in their both batting & bowling line...In the pakistan team we can find the dangerous bowler UMAR GUL who can swing the ball tightly towards the batsmen . The srilanka had a very good bowling line up than pakistan .
AJANTHA MENDIS a carrom ball spinner with a slight magical spin can trouble the opposition batsmen with his spin. Beside his the spin mantra MURALIDHARAN supports him with his dangerous spin that can trouble the batsmens.while LASITH MALINGA can bowl yorkers good that can frustate the batsmen . so the match at LORDS can be very intresting . hope u will watch the match and u will enjoy that match...

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ASIN injured....


Actress Asin Thottumkal got injured during a 'Kalari' fight practice session for her yet to be launched 19 Steps in which Kamal Hassan plays a crucial role. Directed by Bharat Bala and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the film will be launched soon in Chennai. Japanese actor Tadano Asano is playing the male lead role. In 19th Step, Asin plays the role of a princess who is expert in Kalaripayattu, the Kerala form of Martial Arts.

Now the actress is busy practicing the arts in proper manner. An expert from Kerala is teachingthe art to the actress in Chennai. During one of her recent practice sessions, she accidentally slipped and fell while trying to jump from a certain height injuring her leg in the process. But she hopes to be back in action soon and resume practice. According to the sources, the shooting of the movie will be begins at the second week of July in Chennai.

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The next generation of Super CCD sensor that Fujifilm announced last September, the Super CCD sensor makes its debut this month in the FinePix F200EXR compact point-and-shoot. The sensor technologically weds Fujifilm's older Super CCD HR (high resolution) and Super CCD SR (more sensitive) in a single chip with 12 million photosites. It can generate 12-megapixel images by using the data from each site individually, or 6-megapixel images by combining adjacent same-color sites. Although the latter technique, known as binning, isn't new, Fujifilm claims it does it better job because it doubles up the adjacent same-color pixels.

The F200EXR's implementation will offer shooters access to these capabilities via three different modes: a standard 12-megapixel mode; a 6-megapixel Pixel Fusion mode, which bins the pixels to increase light sensitivity for theoretically better low-light photos; and a 6-megapixel Dual Capture mode, which combines two simultaneous exposures where every other pixel captures either shadow or highlight detail. All in all, a pretty intriguing idea. The camera will also have an EXR Auto mode, which uses scene detection to automatically choose which of those three modes to use.

The rest of the camera seems like pretty typical fare. It has a 5X 28-140mm lens and 3-inch LCD, and incorporates sensor-shift image stabilization. Though the company states a maximum sensitivity of ISO 12,800, that's at 3 megapixels; it does ISO 3200 at full resolution and ISO 6400 at 6 megapixels. It includes all the standard Fujifilm features, like film-style simulations, flash output compensation for shooting in macro, and dual-shot (with and without flash), plus category standards like enhanced face detection. And--yay!-- this model will take SD cards in addition to the company's albatross xD-Picture Cards.

It's slated to ship this month for $399.95.

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Viru can Miss C'trophy...


The daring and dashing opener for INDIA VIRU can miss champions trophy in september.as he recovers from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the ICC World Twenty20. Sehwag underwent surgery on June 11 after a lesion was identified in his shoulder, and is expected to be out of action for around 12 to 16 weeks.

The Indian team physio Nitin Patel will monitor Sehwag's rehabilitation process and his stint at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. Sehwag has to wear a sling for at least four weeks, and the lesion is expected to heal in six weeks. His shoulder will also be evaluated ten weeks after the operation to check whether he can throw a ball.

The Champions Trophy, which starts on September 24, is India's next scheduled assignment after the upcoming short trip to the Caribbean.

Sehwag had picked up the injury during the latter stages of the IPL, and there had been intense speculation over his fitness during the build-up to the World Twenty20. The uncertainty over his injury led to reports of a rift between him and the captain MS Dhoni, which prompted the team to make a dramaticpublic show of unity.....

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The bowlers of the srilankan team MATHEWS pick up his first wicket at the 2nd ball of the 2nd innings of the T20 semifinal . He got first three wickets in his first over.. That was a very big blow to westindian team members sitting at the dugout. chris gayle stood up for his till the end . None of the team members of the westindian didn't supported their captain . gayle fighted for the victory till the end , but the fruit slipped from their hands and the srilanka caught the fruit ,....Every run counts in Twenty20, especially when Gayle's at the crease. And so Chamara Silva produced Sri Lanka's second stunning innovation in the outfield, to all but save a certain boundary. When these two teams met in the group stages at Trent Bridge, Angelo Mathews had rescued a six from Ramnaresh Sarwan by patting the ball back into play while leaping in mid-air. This time it was all about the groundwork as Silva slid round beneath the scoreboard, kicked out a boot as he crashed into the rope, then in a bunny-hop movement, slapped the ball with his fingertips as he threw himself back into play. A four was given in the end, but not through lack of effort.
In consecutive innings at the top of West Indies' order, Andre Fletcher made a second-ball duck against India, a fifth-ball duck against South Africa, and a third-ball duck against England. Today, apparently, he didn't make the starting line-up. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to tell for sure. Apparently Marshall stood in as his replacement, but whoever it was, he came and went for a first-ball duck, bowled by Mathews to spark that manic first over.

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Srilanka in T20 FINAL


srilanka kept their foot in FINAL vs pakistan on sunday .

Dilshan a talented srilankan batsmen strikes again on west Indies at Oval Sees .. Tillakaratne Dilshan's performances that today's masterclass was arguably the most frill-free innings he has produced thus far in the tournament. The scoop shot barely needed to be unfurled - the closest he got was the over-the-shoulder dispatching of a Jerome Taylor full-toss - because his touch was so magisterial that regulation cricket shots were all he needed. West Indies fed him far too many full-tosses, but the glee with which he dispatched the lot revealed a cricketer whose stock has never been higher. By the time he had cracked 96 not out from 57 balls in a total of 158, he briefly held the record for the highest percentage of team runs in any t20 championship..




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Sony is looking to build out its larger strategy surrounding the company's high-definition disc products.
At a small press event here Thursday, the company introduced a new feature of BD-Live and a new piece of Blu-ray hardware.
MovieIQ will be included on some high-profile releases from Sony starting in September. It's essentially IMDb live--while a movie is playing, facts about casting, directors, production, and actors' filmographies pop up onscreen. It's powered not by IMDb, but by Gracenote, creators of CDDB, which sony purchased Sony is looking to build out its larger strategy surrounding the company's high-definition disc products.
At a small press event here Thursday, the company introduced a new feature of BD-Live and a new piece of Blu-ray hardware.
MovieIQ will be included on some high-profile releases from Sony starting in September. It's essentially IMDb live--while a movie is playing, facts about casting, directors, production, and actors' filmographies pop up onscreen. It's powered not by IMDb, but by Gracenote, creators of CDDB, which still have long way to go "BD-Live is complementary to Blu-ray," he said Thursday. "It was never meant to compete with the Web, it's not a VOD (video on demand) play. We're still building the foundation."
Part of building that foundation is bringing down the cost of Blu-ray players. While the playstation 3 is still generally regarded as the best deal on a Blu-ray player from a top-tier electronics company, other brands sell players for as low as $99 or $199 these days. But Sony is also pushing Blu-ray drives in notebooks. While Dell, Sony, Acer, and Asus have dutifully jumped in offering the drives, Sony says the prices are still too high.
So Thursday, the company introduced its Vaio NW series notebook, which starts at $879 with Blu-ray inside, but is $799 without it. It's considered a budget notebook for Sony--it's not the cheapest Blu-ray-enabled notebook out there, but it is for Sony. Some features of the NW Series include a 15.4-inch screen, an HDMI port, and a quick-start Splashtop button for booting directly to the Web if the computer is turned off. It will go on sale later this month.

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APPLE'S iphone 3gs



The iPhone 3GS! By now you’re probably familiar with the device and the name, (S stands for SPEED!). But in case you had a few questions regarding OS 3.0 or the new device I’ve got it covered.
The biggest question on most peoples mind is what the major differences are. First of all it should be pointed out that the latest update to the hardware is under the hood. The only difference in terms of visual design between the iPhone 3G and the 3GS is the name on the back of the device. But under the hood is where the real work has been done. Instead of reinventing the most popular smartphone on the market, Apple has decided to do the subtle thing and improve it. These improvements come in the form of a better processor (up from 412MHz to a rumored 600MHz). The camera has been bumped up a megapixel to 3.0 and comes with video recording and auto focus, although there still is no flash option. A hardware compass has also been included.
On the software front, OS 3.0 now comes with push notification, better MMS, tethering, the long awaited cut and paste as well as a proper GPS navigation solution. Spotlight has finally made its way to the iphone which promises to allow users to do system wide searches. Rounding up the major features for OS 3.0 is Voice Control and stereo bluetooth

options.

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Leading Wicket takers in T20




NAME COUNTRY MATCHES PLAYED WICKETS

1. UMAR GUL PAKISTAN 6 12



2. SAEED AJMAL PAKISTAN 6 12



3. LASITH MALINGA SRILANKA 5 11



4. AJANTHA MENDIS SRILANKA 5 10



5. SHAHID AFRIDI SRILANKA 6 10

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T20 Semi final Fever at OVAL SEES






Friday's match at the Oval sees two exciting sides up against one another and, while Sri Lanka will start favourites, the West Indies have shown that they are not to under-estimated.Sri Lanka, who have an admirably well balanced side for cricket's shortest format, have yet to lose a match at this tournament.In Sanath Jayasuriya, the man for whom the phrase 'explosive opener' might have been created, and the inventive Tillekaratne Dilshan, who every time he plays the 'Dilscoop' delights spectators and infuriates opponents in equal measure, they have a first-wicket partnership that can score rapidly.Behind them come the likes of captain and wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, a pair of class batsmen.But it is their bowling attack which has really proved a problem for most of their opponents at this tournament.For years now batsmen around the world have found that scoring quickly against off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan is easier said than done. But he has now been joined by Ajantha Mendis, a spinner who flicks the ball out of his fingers in a way not seen in international cricket since Australia's John Gleeson in the early 1970s and whose 'carrom ball' has left countless batsmen bemused. "Murali can turn the ball on any surface," Jayawardene said of the star off-spinner, who is the world's highest wicket-taker in both Tests and one-day cricket. "And if Ajantha sticks to his plans, we have a fairly good chance of going all the way."That bowlers are restricted to four overs each in this tournament works in Mendis's favour in that by the time batsmen have evolved some sort of plan to combat him, his spell is over.He took three for nine against New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Tuesday in a match Sri Lanka won by 48 runs to secure their last four spot."Ajantha was brilliant," said Sangakkara. "He is very difficult to read and he has an attacking mindset. It's a great ability to have."But it was at the Oval, a happy hunting ground for West Indies down the decades, that the men from the Caribbean beat Australia by seven wickets in their tournament opener.That victory owed much to a quite brilliant 88 from West Indies captain Chris Gayle, the left-handed opener striking some of the biggest sixes ever seen at the south London venue.




Gayle has yet to hit such heights again at this competition but the knowledge of what he can do is enough to make most opponents pause for thought, although Sri Lanka's unorthodox Lasith Malinga is unlikely to be as easy to 'tee off' against on a bouncy pitch as was Australia fast bowler Brett Lee.In the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, West Indies have batsmen capable of plugging the gap if Gayle fails, while Dwayne Bravo is a talented all-rounder and the leader in the field of a team capable of taking some spectacular catches. No wonder Gayle said after his side's five-wicket Super Eights win over England at the Oval, a victory which took them into the last four: "To be honest with you, a lot of teams fear us

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Womens T20 Semifinal result



NOTTINGHAM, England (AFP) — Skipper Aimee Watkins led New Zealand into the final of the women's World Twenty20 with a rousing 52-run win over India here on Thursday.
Watkins, who won the toss and elected to bat at Trent Bridge, smashed an unbeaten 89 off 58 balls as the White Ferns scored 145-5 and then restricted India to 93-9 at Trent Bridge.
The New Zealand captain's score was higher than the men's best of 88 by West Indian captain Chris Gayle against Australia in their ongoing World Twenty20.
India, hoping to make up for the absence of the men's team from the semi-finals, managed just four runs more than Watkins' own contribution as wickets tumbled at regular intervals.
Amita Sharma top-scored for the Indians with 24 off 27 balls, hitting the only six of the innings, while opener Mithali Raj made 20.
Eight Indians failed to reach double figures as Sian Ruck and Amy Satterthwaite picked up two wickets each.
Watkins plundered 10 boundaries and two sixes even as none of her team-mates managed to reach 20.
Watkins and Sophie Devine (14 not out) added 25 runs from the last 12 balls, including a six by Watkins off the final delivery of the innings by Rumeli Dhar.
Asked if Thursday's effort was her best batting performance, Watkins replied: "I've played some good innings, so I can't really say. But this would be one of my best."
India captain Jhulan Goswami said: "Aimee Watkins played superbly and 145 was a good performance. We tried to restrict them to less than 130 but the openers didn?t give us a good start."
Team manager Diana Edulji said there was much to work on for the future.
"Our fielding is on the weaker side but we took some good catches and there was a good run-out today. We have learned a lot from this experience and will take plenty of positives out of the tournament."
New Zealand, who had also entered the final of the 50-overs-a-side World Cup in Australia in March where they lost to England, have won all their four matches so far.
They await the winner of Friday's second semi-final between Australia and England at the Oval in Sunday's final at Lord's.

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Corrupted Cricket ...



The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) on Thursday "excluded" its general secretary V Chamundeshwaranath, manager of the Indian team for the Twenty20 World Cup, from discharging his duties."The Executive Committee of the ACA today unanimously decided to exclude him from discharging his duties following allegations of corruption and favoritism in team selection," ACA President G Gangaraju said over phone from Vijayawada.




The ACA has sent a communication to the BCCI over its decision to "exclude" Chamundeswaranath, he said.Chamundeshwaranath faces allegations of corruption in the purchase of chairs for an IPL match which was planned to be organised in Visakhapatnam, Gangaraju said.He is also alleged to have shown favouritism in the selection of players for the Under-19 and women's team, he said.Chamundeshwaranath would be asked to clear the charges at the General Body Meeting of the Association scheduled to take place next month.Chamundeswaranath, besides being the general secretary ACA, is also a member of couple of BCCI committees....




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BOOOOM BOOOM Afridi......



Afridi was a runaway man-of-the-match but it's just not his qucikfire 51 runs and two for 16 spell alone, he mattered when Pakistan were tottering at 28 for two in the third over while batting and hopelessly watching South Africa coast to 40 for no loss in the sixth over in the second half.
He repaid the faith of selectors and cricket fans with interest at Trent Bridge on Friday.
Afridi's is a saga needs to be told in full.
This is his first half century in any form of cricket after 18 months.
He shunned opening, where all his big innings have materialised and preferred middle order, only to complain that he wasn't getting enough overs to bat!
Just for good measure, keeping in tune with his mercurial ways, he averred to be treated as a bowler alone and any runs while batting was a mere bonus.
But Pakistan wasn't going to give up on him in a hurry.
They realised that for all his fault, he still was the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2007 edition of ICC World Twenty20, that he still has the fastest hundred off mere 37 balls in one-day cricket; that the 18 balls he took for his half century once is only one ball off the fastest ever; that he has 249 sixes from 276 matches; that he has been one of the leading bowlers in ODIs for the last two successive years.
Pakistan remembered all this even as Afridi hit a new bottom every day.
But at Trent Bridge, faith once again was put on his strong shoulders and Pakistan chose him as its' best man when a crisis was brewing. Another wicket at that stage and Pakistan were as good as gone. South Africa, like a shark, had tasted blood and were circling in the pool menacingly.
For Pakistan, Afridi was the man for the moment, notwithstanding his dislike for the new ball or that South Africa possessed possibly the most potent new-ball pair in the tournament.
Soon Pakistan were up and away. Afridi swung his bat in an arc but the bat lift had clearly been cut down. Instead of aiming ambitious sixes over extra cover, Afridi was only chipping it over the fielder.
It must be the only fifty in Afridi's career where he did not hit a single six and still took just 34 balls to reach the half century.
South Africa fell to the raw genius of Afridi whom the team loves to call the "lala" and on Friday, the team had a feeling as rich as the name suggests
......

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