Avengers - Age Of Ultron Review(Spoilers)

The new Joss Whedon sequel to his 2012 hit, The Avengers, is out in the open and has been rocking the box office. There are mixed feelings about the film amongst the crowd: some people worship it, and some don’t care for it.

Mr. Whedon made the Avengers in 2012, setting the bar up high, and gave the crowd a message that the sequel will be as enthralling as the first one, probably even more. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. For others. I’ll say I liked the movie quite a lot, and though I found faults in the movie, the overall effect was enough to neglect them.

The movie had quite a lot to offer, and the way all the little sub-plots were introduced was well done. It did seem quite crammed, and particularly un-necessary times in the movie like the Thor and lake scene, as well as the Hawk-eye romantic attachment, did increase the duration of the movie. Not saying that these weren’t important, but yes, they could have been made much more concise (Hawk-eye’s extended appearance can be justified as he most probably isn’t getting a movie anytime soon). The origin of Natasha Romanoff and the chaotic Asgard were a good way of teasing further movies.  With there being ‘okay’ balance between all characters, I would say Joss Whedon has done a good job in giving everybody their fair share of screen time.

The movie is 153 minutes long, and that is less time for portrayal of a huge plot like in the movie. This is one complaint many people are having, that the movie is long. And I agree. With there being so much in the movie, it does get the non-enthusiastic comic book based movie watchers waiting and staring at their watch (completely justifiable). But, this should also be taken into consideration that the movie does make full efforts to bind and tie everything in a neat little bow. Though the bow is tied, it’s not as neat as it is supposed to be. Though there’s a lot, the movie doesn’t fail to take you out from the narrative.

If you’re into CGI and cool effects, go watch this technologic spectacle. The SFX is amazing. From the Quick-Silver blur, to the Scarlet Witch orbs, to the Ultron eyes, it was all well done. Not going into much of details(because I don’t get effects), I personally found the effects awesome and one of the biggest positives  of the movie.

Joss Whedon has managed to make it ‘his’ movie, with the little bits of humour and fun alive throughout the whole 2.5 hours. From the beginning to the end, there are these laughable moments which keep the interest, along with the booming action and wow moments.

Though the marvel fans will adore the movie, there will be the uninterested group of people who will just stare and hate the movie. 

Want to blog? Here's how I do it.

Everybody has this desire to take a peek, leer while a blogger smashes the mouse, making a click sound and getting people from around the globe to read his post. Well, I’m nobody famous, but I also write a blog. Here’s what you can do, if you want to get into writing a blog.

Step 1 – Feeling to write something: This is the first and form-most step, to blogging. Wanting to write. May it be for whatever reasons, whether it’s an assignment to submit, or maybe even a chore you would like to get on with, perhaps even if you’re bored(I suggest don’t do that, great stuff isn’t the outcome). If you feel like it, do it. That’s what I do.

Step 2 – What do I write: This is an essential, huge essential. The essentials of essentials (enough of it, right?). Well, it is. If you don’t write about something interesting, happening, fun, people will not read it, resulting in no views. It may be anything you are going to spread on your canvas called the keyboard and MS word, a polite poem, an angry argumentative, a soft story, or even a descriptive piece. Whatever. If you’re a teenager/school-going young human, try to edit and work on the topics you write on at school, and come home, and go for it. I do this most of the times, whatever I find in my notebook which I’ve written, I sit with a pencil to cut, edit, polish, and then paste it on my blog spot. If you get nothing interesting in school, use the internet to your advantage, and Google on topics, story starters, situations, be it anything. Just be prepared to write, and write.

Step 3 – Savour the moment: Don’t hurry with this, be calm, and keep your language composed. Even if you can’t use very complex and language, which has extreme potential to perplex the reader, just remember – not everybody can understand very confusing and mind-boggling language. Improve on it, as time flies. I’m not saying take it lightly, don’t be very late and irregular at posting your posts. One week one or two posts, as you like it. It can even be more, but don’t miss posts. If you want to indulge in projects like daily blogs, just remember that they aren’t easy to manage, and if you aren’t consistent, followers may drop down like leaves drop down the pine tree during the windy season of winter. Take up challenges, but don’t overdo it, your posts might not be able to reflect your talent, because you’ll be doing it for the sakes.

Step 4 – Use social networking wisely: Once you’ve got some reading material up and ready to be read, don’t just wait for it to be discovered. Give others the chance to discover it. You may have 789 friends on FaceBook to your advantage. Update your timeline with the link to your blog, tweet about your new hobby, and post about it on Google plus. Tell your friends and family about your site, tell your relatives to spread the word If they liked it, do all this – helps. It’ll take time, this process. Don’t be let down, no worries. It’ll take time.

It’ll take some work, it’ll take effort. Input provides output. Just be determined, and do what you want, write whatever you want to. Nobody can actually stop you, you know that right? If you don’t believe in that, you may want to start. 

All alone.

Walking down the busy, happening avenue, people spurned at me, seeming to disregard me this morning with the glistening sun shining on the first day of the year. All around me the world was everybody, but nobody for me. I was all alone, everybody from my life vanished in front of me. Since the past decades, nobody was with me. “2015. What’s so happy about this year?” My wife, my son, my daughter. All I had left was me, this drooping skin, grey hair, and solitude.

“Can you tell …” I interrupted myself, after realizing that the debonair looking man, donning the posh black tuxedo sauntered past me with an undecorated face, ignoring my call. “The world is so cruel, brushing aside and being oblivious.” A little kid pranced along the road, hitting me on the way and de-gripping the box from my weak, bony hands. “Hey, come back here! What about the box!” I screamed faintly. Nobody seemed to hear me. I was not cared for, not loved by any soul. I wanted only one thing before I tried to end myself, and that was some sign of care for me. All I wished for. I saw a gravestone with my name on it, and kicked it away. People were rude to me my whole life, I did nothing to them. I decided to end this sadness, once and for all. I decided to end myself. I went on to the crossing, patiently waited for the blinking light to blink the red death, the danger signal, and invite me above. The signal turned red, and I stood at the black and white path, waiting for my death. Nobody around me seemed to react, it was as if this daily happened. A car came bolted towards me, and I closed my eyes; I couldn’t see the next and final two seconds of my life. 1. 2.

I opened my eyes, and found myself standing right there, the yellow Mitsubishi driving away, ahead the road. I was confused, and realised that another attempt had failed. I sat down on the shiny, wooden bench, reached out for my ink bottle and quill in the pocket of my grey, sack coat, and made note of the fact. Again. I said to myself in disappointment, “January 1^st. My 286^th birthday. Ruined. “

It.

“Congratulations, It Is a girl!” said the Doctor with joy, filling up the eyes of the new mother. A smile lit her face up, and her husband came rushing in with happiness. As the mother held the baby girl, she knew everything was going to be fine, even though it was a problematic past. She always felt this presence, this ‘thing’, behind her. Wherever she went, whatever she did, the presence was stuck to her like the two opposite poles of a magnet. She always heard quiet murmurs around her, all saying the same thing – ‘First her, than you’. Her husband was too stubborn to believe her ‘crazy, unbelievable’ story, refusing to help her and asking her to forget it. This left her alone, with it.

The happy couple pranced their way to their apartment. They had finally found contentment in living here, in this new place, which first was seeming like an issue. They kept the baby girl in her cradle, swinging her to sleep. The baby girl closed her eyes, and the couple went to do their daily chores.

The mother worked at home at night, where she took and made calls for her friends’ business organisation, earning a satisfactory amount. As always she was attending calls. “First her. Then you. “Said a deep, eerie, gravelly voice, leaving the mother scared with shock. She banged the phone down, and dashed her way through the wooden, creaky staircase to check on her sleeping toddler. She banged open her door. The window was open, and the cradle was empty.

The couple searched the whole canvas for her, but the girl was nowhere to be found. Tears of sadness rolled down the mothers eyes. “I told you its true. You refused to believe. Now see what’s happened!” she yelled at her life partner. The husband had donned a baffled expression. “What did the voice say to you?” asked the husband. “First her. Then you.” “Don’t worry. We’ve searched enough here. We’ll find our baby. I’m calling the police, you sleep. I’ll call your mom to come here. You, lie down. “

The mother lay down, in the puddle of her own tears. The closet made a loud creek. The mother woke up with a startle. At that instant, the windows shook with the violent wind hushing through, and the closet door flew open. There stood a figure, a shadow like structure. The shadow jumped on her, and pierced its sharp, long, rotting nails into her chest, with its bush like long, greyish – black hair falling on her face. She tried to get the figure away from her. But she couldn’t budge the object even a little. The last thing she remembered seeing was her alarm clock flashing; it read 12:07.

She woke up with an instant, in the same bed she lay, before the gruesome nightmare. She let out a sigh of relief. She took a glance at the alarm clock flashing. It read 12:06:59. “Tick!” said the alarm clock. The closet made a loud creek. 

Abhay Sriwastava, Amitesh Das - Google 2.0

All the technological fanatics have noticed a change in Google, and it’s quite a big one. Yes, the latest arrival of the new Nexus handsets and the latest Android Update has put Google in a completely different stage of the market.

Google is trying to get itself out there, alongside the other flagships. Yes, Google has now got into Flagship phones. The launch of the new 6” Nexus 6 smartphone, which is not only a flagship, but also better than its predecessor. For example, the new Nexus 6 has got the screen bumped up, with a brilliant resolution, which is found in good flagships. It evens out  the hardware and processing packages found with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, which is really good. Components of the phone like the camera and screen has made it another potential contender in the flagship business. For example, the new Nexus 6 camera, can capture 30 frames per second full resolution frames. This is a message from Google to the consumer market for flagships that they are in the market now. The Motorola Google Nexus 6 is a whooping Rs.44000/-. One thing Google hasn't changed about it, is that all Google Products are completely worth its price.

A phone has to have a slick software to accompany it and make it the perfect choice. Google has done exactly that. The arrival of the new android version 5.0, Lollipop, has shaken the market and consumers. Google has taken a new step to change itself, be different and bring itself out there. In my views, it has. The new android version has changed a lot, and its a good change. Material Design has been included, which is a designing language by Google which improves the user experience by focusing on things like responsive animation, padding and depth details like shadows and lighting. Apart from that, it has also focused on a major issue, battery, with project Volta. In the new Android version, the phone has taken up the issue of battery, by making it run long with minimal amount of charging time. I like the fact how other important components like Run-time, Performance and Media have been improved upon, majorly. There are x4 performance improvements, which mark a major change. The use of a new android run-time, ART, has been implied which gives better responses by applications and better performance also. The new tablet by Google, Nexus 9, features CPU desktop performance, in a tablet.

Google has done a lot to get into the flagship market, and according to me, it has done a magnificent job. If Google continues producing such products, other flagship brands will have a very strong contender.

Here I have just given a short glimpse of the change in Google. My whole review of Android 5.0 and the new Nexus lineup is soon to come. Along with more fun tech stuff with Abhay Sriwastawa.

Abandoned.

“Give me your hand!”

I barely heard her over the din of the shopkeepers, but my fingers effortlessly found the comfortable, warm, and secure hand of my mother. We had just entered the Market Avenue, the most famous market in Kansas City.

Needless to say, I was excited. I had been repeatedly assured that I would love the city. But, I’d barely been allowed to set forth outside the house since we moved here. In our old city, my dad would usually take us out. But, he was travelling on business, and I wished he was here to experience Kansas with me.

“Stay close. Keep holding my hand,” mum alerted. It was a busy market, and I was amazed by the hustle and bustle before my eyes. Mum’s grip tightened. “Stay with me,” she said, her command tinged with concern and worry. I nodded.

The market was new to me, and was I to it. I could hear the booming voices of various salesmen, calling out bargains and offers; but, given my height, all I could see were pairs of legs directly in front of me. We walked forward, but kept getting squished by others, their smelly sweat acting as a lubricant for smooth go through. Stinky body odour disgusted me, but I could also smell the intoxicating aromas of food roasting nearby.

Feeling hungry, I slowly turned towards my mother, calling out “Ma…”. I couldn't finish the sentence, an icy shiver running down my spine. “Mom! Mom!” I shouted. I scanned the faces of everybody around me, retracing steps to the best of my ability, all in vain. Was I lost?

Tears were now rolling down my cheeks. But nobody came forward to wipe them. I frantically circled the areas we had passed, searching for the familiar yellow dress. I kept it up for an hour, losing hope, and desperation increasing by the minute. I sat on the footpath, bawling. People passed by, but nobody heard me. But then, almost on instinct, I looked up, and saw the familiar yellow dress down the road. Ecstatic with joy, I started to run towards her, but she stared right through me, turned around, and walked away, becoming one with the crowd.

4 Top Excuses For Not Submitting Your Homework/Assignment

Many students have a whole thesis on steps to prevent scoldings on not doing your home assignment. To be honest, even I have used these 4, and actually more. But, here are my 4 in ascending order. Excuses for not submitting your homework.

Number 4 - I had a headache/I was sick.  -  This is actually a lame one, but does actually make sense. If you are sick, and you are good enough at convincing at making up genuine and believable stories, you most probably be excused. Because Headaches are kind of easy to fake, another way to get away from giving your homework assignment is to fake an headache and sit for some 15 minutes - 20 minutes there. But, it's not that simple. First, you need to build up before time. Start with telling your close friends. Exaggerate about it, but not a lot. Then, tell the people whom you are not that close to, like the cool guys if you don't hang out with the people who get girls ; and you tell the nerd gang if you have a girl. Simultaneously, you also have to act weird, act like your actually sick, keep your head down etc. And three, you tell the teacher the 'truth'.

Number 3 - I didn't understand it. - I feel this is really cool arrow in the quiver. If the homework was meant to be done in a day, you will be 90% safe. If it was even 1 or 2 days homework not done, there's a 30% chance. Why? Because, if you learnt the topic just some hours ago and you didn't understand it, you cannot do your homework. Homework is just things done in school, again at home, right? However, if the homework has a due date of day after tomorrow, you had one whole day in school to ask the teacher or your friends how to do the question, which will lower your chances of survival. One way to fake this is to pretend as if you did not understand anything in the class being taught. If you can do that, you can not do tomorrow's homework, and probably get away with it. One way that I use occasionally is to just make a blank face, and when teacher says "did you understand?", damn right you're saying no. She will explain, still keep a blank face, even if you've got it. In case you forget, you're acting skills should help you set up your flee right away.

Number 2 - I was absent. - I think this is more of a global excuse to not doing homework. Though it's kind of a lame excuse, it does work if you're convincing enough. This has a 60% - 40% chance, which means that you may get away with it. But, if you get away with it, which you should, will get you a free pass to an extra class as well as watching others being tormented with the Shornado(Shouting Tornado). One great way to build this up is to genuinely be absent. Just kidding. All you need to do is 2 things. One - don't be an attention seeker. Don't even try to catch the attention of your teacher, which means she will not remember you being there, unless she has photographic memory, in which case your screwed. Try to be on the last bench if you can, will help. And the second one requires your close friends, and only them. None should know about this. You tell the teacher that he did not tell me, and point fingers at any two friends. But not any. It should seem like any. You have to carefully plan these events. Be sure to not catch attention generally, as others will still see you. Be with the class, just be in such a way that people don't know you're there. Which is hard. But, it can save you, has a good chance.

Number 1 - I forgot/lost my notebook/textbook.  - Another global excuse. This has a huge chance of working every time, and is my number 1 excuse. The good thing about this excuse is that it's easy to make up. But, if you say you don't have the book, you shouldn't. By chance if the teacher finds out that the book is in your bag, you are dead. Now remember what I said. Don't keep it with YOU. All you need is a good friend(probably someone who has done his homework{if he's your best friend, force him to do his homework}). One way to execute this trick is to tell the friend to keep your notebook in his bag, so that when the teacher asks you to show your bag, you will not have to be worried(low chance of teacher finding out. Don't tell the world). You may get some kind of note, but hey, at least no scoldings. If you want no kind of scolding, either do your homework, or tell the teacher I lost my notebook. And then say, you found it. But that's only a one time excuse. To make it even more realistic, tell your friend to say this: "Ma'am, I did see a notebook lying on the teachers table yesterday, but as I was in a real hurry because 'insert excuse', I could not pick it up." It will most likely work.

According to me, using all these are a thought which should come in your mind only when you genuinely forgot about your projects/assignments. Do your assignments, it will do you good, not the teacher. This is no encouragement write up, this is just for entertainment, and if you really are stuck up because you have no other choice. The best thing to do is to be honest. Be a good person. Do the right thing.

Sources - Experience and years of training.

Statutory Warning - All the above stunts are very well planned and should be done under expert guidance. Not all may work at any given point. Can cause injuries, also death. Thanks for your time!