Planning a Party? The Web Comes To Your Rescue!

Last week I was trying to plan a party for my nephew, who's a great batman fan, and after scouting stores like Party City and partners, I wasn't feeling motivated enough! Its like I needed something fascinating, some ideas and themes that would click, a one-stop-shop for all my party planning needs. So the techie that I am, I turned to the power of world wide web to come to my rescue, and it sure did!

Party Pro is an online portal for all your party needs. Over 60,000 supplies to choose from, I found this to be a perfect place for my discount party supplies. It has everything for any theme party, be it birthdays, anniversaries, bachelorette parties, sweet sixteen or super bowl, you are sure to find whatever you seek, and that too at discounted rates. Their prices seemed more affordable than a lot of others I compared online. What I really liked was that they have separate space based on themes as well as colors. So when I was looking for something "red", in just two simple clicks I had found what I wanted. Similarly, searching for batman supplies was a piece of cake as their birthday party supplies page has tonnes of options to choose from, whether it's batman or barbie! The shipping rates were decent too, and they have wholesale rates for bulk orders, which is an added bonus!

When the web offers such a convenient option, why would anyone drive all the way to a store?? I think I found a perfect place for my party supplies, and my nephew is going to be really happy with this "batman birthday"!! Check them out and see for yourself!

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Tata Nano (World's Cheapest Car) - An Innovation that Fuels the Indian Dream

The US economy might not be in its best times, but the growth and revolutions in emerging markets like India are breaking all barriers! The latest to hit the ever-growing Asian and European markets is the sensational Tata Nano - the no-fuss, fuel-efficient energy car that has fueled every Indian's dream to own a car. Anywhere else, a new car may have received some acclaim for what it's worth, but in india, things are different. Advertised as "the world’s cheapest car", the Nano is a no-frills automobile designed by Tata to be affordable to millions who commute on 2-wheelers carrying a family of 4-6!! The impact is huge, and everyone is excited at the prospect of owning a car that is only 1 lakh rupees ($2500). But whether it stands the tests of time, and whether it creates more problems than solutions is yet to be seen.

Termed as a "People's Car", it is a cute (or maybe not!!), compact car designed to appeal to first-time car buyers in one of the world’s fastest growing car markets. The car is the culmination of about five years of research and input from designers across the world. But it is definitely a step ahead in innovation, right from using aerospace adhesives instead of welding, a clean and efficient fuel-burning technology to the concept, distribution strategy and marketing, and has succeeded in catching the attention of the world.

Designed to look sleek and compact, about the size of a BMW Mini Cooper, and styled to enable aerodynamics, this concept car is not for those seeking class. The four-door Nano is a little over 10 feet long and nearly 5 feet wide. It is powered by a 623cc two-cylinder engine at the back of the car. With 33 horsepower, the Nano is capable of 65 miles an hour. There's a singel wind-shield wiper, and no A/C (though a high-end version will also be out sooon) Its four small wheels are at the absolute corners of the car to improve handling. There is a small trunk, big enough for a duffel bag, but on the whole, it does give tough competition to the current favorite Maruti-800.

But a look at the side effects of this revolution is in order here. As everyone knows, India is densely-populated, and the current road conditions, narrow lanes, and lack of traffic control, and the dearth of parking structures may be on a rise if the streets get flooded with these cars!! On the other hand, neccessity is the mother of invention, so this might give rise to more infrastructure opportunities and new businesses! It will surely be a safer bet for those families of 6 who risk their lives travelling long distances on a motor-bike!!

But saying all this, whether the Tata Nano succeeds in revolutionalising the automotive industry is yet to be seen. If it delivers all that it has promised, it may surely be seen in every low-middle-class household in a short span of time. Check out more videos and pics here, and tell us what you think about this Mini Car Revolution.

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O'Neil's H4 Campback - Integrated Video Camera in your Backpack!

There's no dirth of adventurous people in this world, and I'm sure all of them would be truly happy if there was a small device that captured all of their wonderful moments so they could revel in the glory later when they share those memories with family and friends! Well, it seems like with O'Neil's new product, this might not be a dream anymore, nor would you have to pay extra for getting a video while you are diving from a plane or engaged in paragliding or para-sailing. An external camera for video taping extreme sports is nothing new. But this new product takes it one level further by integrating it with a backack, yes, the one thing you usually would carry on such adventures, and also adding a whole lot of new features to their earlier version!

O’Neill, the sports manufacturer famous for wetsuits and clothing lines, have now upgraded it’s Campack (backpack) with a portable media player/recorder and external camera lens. Snowboarders, skier’s, and anyone who is addicted to getting the rush of extreme sports can use the H4 Campack to record their relentless pursuit of cheating death. What makes the H4 system so cool isn’t the external camera lens that attaches to a head or goggles, but the fact that recording is completely controllable through the backpack itself. Control buttons, large enough for ski gloves to press them, are located on the shoulder strap. Stop, start and record are easily accessible in this fashion. The drawback ? you lose the iPod and Bluetooth connectivity as well as a solar charging option which were a part of the H2 system.

The player sports a media 2.4-inch 240k color LCD, and stores video on either it’s 512MB of internal memory or up to 2GB in SD card storage. The camera allows for about 2 hours of 320 x 240 pixel @ 25fps recordings. A button panel on the shoulder strap controls the recordings which can be dumped back to the PC via the player's USB jack or SD card reader. However, you'll ahve to live with the fact that you will have to stop and change SD cards after only about 2 hours of YouTube quality PAL video. A bit uncomfortable, but not a show-stopper!

And now for the vital question. What's the cost of capturing your moments of thrill on a lens?? Well, it is estimated to be around $400 USD and would be available during the hoilday season, starting December. That seems to be comparable to a regular Handy cam or portable video recording device. but only time will tell whether this baby makes a mark or not...I do like the idea of providing easier control ad not being dependent on other to shoot you live in action, so maybe this just might find a place with some people. What do you think??

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Cars that Change Colors on the press of a button!!

My old car is going busted, and it's time for us to seriously start thinking about buying a new car. So as we were browsing through some models online, we saw that the sleek-looking blacks or graphites and the metallic blues added a dent of another 1000 dollars to our pockets which are already falling apart!! And unfortunately, those are the only colors that catch your eyes, not the stark whites, right?? So I sat there wondering how much fun it would be if we could make cars that changed colors on our whim?? Pop-press a button, and my car turns grey; come sweltering summer and I'd press the button again to turn it into a soothing white...or much better, I can have a modern double-colored car with streaks - such that I've seen and dreamt about in 2 fast 2 Furious!!!

Looks like God wanted me to revel my dream, and at least be happy with the thought that something like my crazy idea could actually exist. Yup, Nissan, the renowned car-maker who's trying hard to revamp it's image and restore it's lost glory is coming out with new ideas that would appeal to the nerdy and young crowd (like me and my readers!!) They were the ones who dreamed up the concept of "self-healing paint" some two years back, which was supposedly scratch-resistant, and they are now talking about "a paramagnetic concoction", which enables motorists to change the color of their ride at the press of a button.

Is this just an idea, because we all have a lot of ideas...or is it for real?? Well, looks like it is real and the secret behind this is a special polymer containing paramagnetic iron oxide particles, which is applied to the car's exterior. Then, by applying an electric current, the spacing of small crystals within the iron oxide particles can be adjusted, therefore affecting their ability to reflect light and change color. The catch (yeah, there's always a catch!) once your engine is turned off, and there's no current running, the charge is lost and the car turns to a default color (maybe white, maybe something else, it's for them to decide)

If all goes well, Nissan expects to roll out these vehicles by early 2010. Though the concept is fascinating, and truly an innovation, I wonder what would happen when all parked/turned off Nissan cars would turn to the same default color...how do you identify your car? especially for people like my husband who never bother to memorize the number plate?? well, it sure will be more work for cops chasing people, as the latter could keep flipping their car colors at the whim of a button and confuse the cops!!! sounds funny, huh?!! The case of the color-changing Chameleon Car - wow, I sure am a born writer:)

So what say you? Does this sound interesting, disturbing, rubbish, stylish or hoax??

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