Now each and every country on the planet earth has their reasons to celebrate this day.  From the French comes the theory that France changed its calendar new year from around April (Julian calendar) to January 1(Georgian Calendar) in 1500s or so, which was not accepted as smoothly as it was expected by the people. Those people who didn’t accept this became victims of some April fool’s jokes, hence the day. While Romans celebrated ‘Hilaria’ Latin: hilaris, “hilarious” to honor Cybele.

‘April fool’ was also the codename for the undercover agent who worked as an diplomat when America was trying to catch Saddam Hussein. According to General Tommy Franks, the commander of the U.S. military in the 2003 Iraq conflict, this agent sold false information to Iraqi intelligence agencies and mislead Iraqi military in deploying military forces in Northern and Western Iraq due to the fear of attacks from Turkey and Jordan. This led to weakening of defense capacity of Iraq thus rendering attacks from Kuwait and Southeast leading to American stronghold in Iraq. And this is not the reason why April fool’s day is celebrated.

In any case, the spirit of April fool’s day is fading. And it makes us sad, sadder than the movie “The Notebook” and “The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants”. As at emagzin it is our constant endeavor to save  what’s good on the planet, here is a list of some pranks you could pull off all day in order to save yourself from the predicament of not being able to fool anyone on the April fool’s day.

Happy April Fool’s Day.

Some links to practical jokes you can pull off:

April Fools’ Practical Jokes & Pranks

Practical Jokes

April Fools Pranks

oogle’s new and much talked about Privacy Policy came into effect on the 1^st of March, stirring up a lot of concern all over the web. Some of us are still in the dark about this new unified privacy policy, and how it is going to affect us. We’ve been hitting the ‘x’ on the message on Google and Gmail and every other Google product where the privacy policy announcement popped up. So what is this new privacy policy all about?

The redesigned privacy policy condenses more than 60 former privacy policies across Google products such as Gmail, Picasa, Google+ and YouTube and so on into one single privacy policy.

The crux of it is that Google will stop profiling users separately on each Google site like Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, etc, and instead, will put all that information into one single profile specific to the user. This will be similar to what is found on Google’s dashboard page. Your YouTube search results can now affect everything from the advertisements you see to the results you get on a random search on Google.

1. From Gmail, click your name on the top-right of the page, then select “Privacy.”

2. Scroll to the bottom and click “Sign in to Dashboard.” Then, enter your username and password.

3. From your Dashboard, scroll to the bottom and select “Manage privacy settings” under the YouTube section.

4. Then, once again, click the link to your name in the top-right and find “History” from the scrolling menu on the lift. Click it.

5. Visit both the “History” and “Search History” tabs to either clear all viewing/search history or to pause it.

Google Play Store

Most of us are familiar with Apple’s iTunes store. It features a comprehensive list of music, movies, games, and applications. Google’s Android Market, however, till a few days ago, just featured applications and games. Google has now renamed it the Google Play Store, making it more of a so-called ecosystem, quite on the lines of the iTunes store. It now features music, books, movies, apps, and games, all in one place that’s accessible from the Web and any Android device. With over 450,000 applications, millions of songs and books, thousands of movies, everybody will find loads of stuff of their interest here.

What is more interesting about Google Play is the cloud and the sync features. The books, movies and music you buy on from your Android tablet can be accessed from your desktop right away, without you having to sync anything.  Nothing is lost and nothing needs to be moved from here to there. It’s all online. You can also pin your favorites to your mobile device for offline playback. And as it is with everything on the internet today, all it takes to share something with someone is one click.

Play anywhere!

his is going to be my shortest post ever!! That is because I am so engrossed in the subject of my article that, I don’t think I can write more than 500 words today. I found a world full of shoes and for those who know me, that’s my point of no return.

The Quote

Well here’s the deal, On 7th march 2012, the creator of popular fashion websites Yoox and The Corner, Federico Marchetti launched an exclusive shoe shopping destination online www.shoescribe.com.  There are more than enough reasons to fall in love with the man, besides the fact that he is the man responsible for getting good fashion at our fingertips. He says ,“I love to buy shoes for my girlfriend, To me, they are like sculptural objects.” (Side note: This man’s girlfriend is never going to leave him and they shall have a happy life till the time he keeps thinking this way, and even if they do break up she will only have happy memories to share with the world, about him.)

"The Man"

Coming back to the site, it stocks a mind-boggling number of luxury shoe brands, more than a 100 brands to be specific. This site aims to touch new levels in terms of personalised service. Users can browse shoes by designer,occasion, category, size and heel size. Then there are picks by guest curators like Arianne Phillips (Hollywood costume designer and stylist). The site has various interesting features like the shoe valet section that offers advice to take care of your precious buys and gives quick fix solutions to all your shoe disasters. They also recommend cobblers in major cities. Also  they curates some amazing inspiration boards, like this one, called “The Muses of Woody Allen.” You can turn to Ms. Suzie Scribe for all your shoe related dilemmas, followed by the best feature of them all, “Cinderella for a Day,” which gives subscribers, half off any pair on your birthday (can you believe that!?!! and that they launched a day after my birthday!)

The Fancy Features

I agree that it’s too high on the pocket and that the most you can do is ogle at those spectacular beauties. But for what it’s worth, it’s a brilliant world to get lost in. In comparison to Yoox.com, which sells past-season shoes at discounted prices, Shoescribe has current shoes mostly, being sold for full price. But instead of getting disappointed I will urge you to go check the site for  new shoe trends for the season and for the other exciting features the site has to offer.

And finally The Beauty

And there I hit 457, told ya its going to be shorter than ever. go-go-go shoe shopping! they have drool worthy stuff (my excitement is immeasurable)

Useful Resources:

The Bible

Glamour

Photo Credits:

Pinboard

Shoescribe

• Dressing down is not an option anymore, I found myself in a world where everyday fashion was serious business
• You need to shed your inhibitions to pursue fashion in its truest forms; fear of being judged has no place here.

I have come across a lot of trends, styles and fad in college and in the past five months since I last wrote (Kate Middleton’s  wedding gown being my last) the one trend that has me going gaga (literally and figuratively)is that of the colored denims and trousers.

Make a statement

plum is the color for the season

A pop of color on the lower half of the body is one of the most exciting trends of 2011.the perfect blend to banish the winter blues. It is one of those trends from the spring that have made a natural transition in the fall. Nothing can be more mood uplifting than a dash of color on your denims or trousers. The trend has been around since 2010 but was mostly adorned by the likes of Kim Kardashian, Cameron Diaz, Hillary Duff and other celebrities. But it is this year where it has become a complete must have.

celebrities-coloured-denim

They can be worn as a part of your casual day outfit and can be just the right thing to wear to glam up your nights. And the best part about them is that they are available in variety of fits and styles so can be worn by people with different body types.

The best way to pull of the colored denims trend is too team it up with nude colors and neutral shades like beiges, browns, grays, blacks and whites.

colored jeans with nudes

And if you are one of those who like doing things to the extremes then you can incorporate color blocking; it makes the necessary statement. The entire look can be accessorized in a variety of ways.

color blocking

Vibrant hues are popping up at almost every runway show during Fashion Week. Cobalt blue, tangerine, coral, chartreuse, emerald, canary yellow, cherry red and honeysuckle were all featured, bright as can be from various runway shows from Jil Sander to Carolina Herrera.

fall-2011-fashion-trends-bright-pants

Various brands are selling these in different colors and styles namely Zara, J brand, Jill Stuart and are available in high street shops too. As far as I am concerned I am lusting for this orange one and beautiful turquoise denim. They are priced around $59 at zara to $298 at jill sanders.

Vogue's Fashion Writer, Chioma Nnadi

turquoise blue jeans

Go paint the town red, ermm orange, blue, green whatever your color maybe.

Useful Resources:

Vouge editor

Bold Trousers

Color Blocking

Bright Bottoms

One such simple way of understanding a concept and making it easier for our magnificent mind to interpret is by making what is called a moodboard.
As the name suggests and how the spelling goes, moodboards are used to depict a certain kind of theme that a person has in mind and wants to either help him/herself understand it better or for a separate persons benefit.

Consider moodboards to be a utility tool and unlike other tools this can be applied to vast variety of disciplines ranging from:
- Interior Designing
- Advertising
- Fashion Designing
- Graphic Designing
- Photography
- Music
- Movies
- Game Designing
And so many more! You get the basic drift don’t ya!

Moodboards are nifty when it comes to explaining a project to some client before actually starting work on it. This really comes handy for graphic designers as they can easily portray their thoughts before getting their hands dirty with the real stuff thus saving everyone time and money!

There are no particular types of moodboards that are defined or any templates out there to help you. It’s basically up to the creativity of the person making them. The ultimate aim being to understand the underlying theme on the canvas.

Having said this, the most basic moodboard can be made in the form of a collage! With images spattered here and there and text embodied where necessary.
Eg:

Collage Mood-Board

To become a little more formal with the moodboards would mean to categorize the content in your moodboard with a little more detail.
Eg:

Formal Mood-Board

So, now you’re looking for some really inspiring moodboards? I’d suggest you google them and you’ll get plenty!

If you’re on a tablet and you have an itch to be creative on the move, you should try out these apps for your Android and Apple techy souls:

Apple iPad:  Moodboard by A Tiny Tribe llc.

Android tablets :  Adobe Collage by Adobe Systems

I guess I’ve done my bit here in enlightening you guys on the topic of moodboards? If you still have some specific questions, be sure to leave them in the comments and we can talk about them!

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The drive to Srinagar is quite unremarkable and offers little by way of road trip highs. It is perhaps this pleasing sight of the valley after Banihal that makes the journey from Udhampur somewhat worth your while. The road trip could just as well begin at Srinagar…

The celebrated beauty of Kashmir begins to work it’s magic on you as soon as you hit alpine Sonamarg. Never mind that you lose time to road sanitizing for army convoys. Hot tea and the surroundings keep you busy enough. This image has been taken after crossing over the Zoji La (about 9kms from Sonamarg) at 11578 feet.

Considered the second coldest inhabited place in the world, this image was taken at Drass, the scene of heavy combat during the Kargil war. This village was abandoned during the period, its residents moved to safety.

Kargil, as viewed from a plateau manned by the Indian Army, a heartwarming presence amongst a warm, welcoming local populace. A windfall visit, to the last but one post to the LOC, served as yet another reason to salute the soldier and his family… You really wouldn’t want to exchange places with him, despite the bone-rattling road trip that brought you there.

This moonscape makes its presence felt around the Fotu La, the highest point at 13,478 feet, on the Srinagar-Leh highway, and continues through Ladakh. In spite of a great reduction in colour in nature’s palette, the terrain lends itself to much drama. Usually played out by Azure skies, snowy clouds and barren wastelands…

First sight of Leh. A green oasis offering plenty succour to hue-deprived eyes! God knows, you will begin to miss colour even as you take in the endless desolation around you.

Even loftier passes await you on the Leh-Manali highway. The first one being the Tanglang La at 17,582 feet. This image is that of the Zanskar range, taken midway, with the pass lost somewhere in the snowy peaks.

Still ascending! Almost two weeks into the road trip, we continued to be awestruck by the glory of nature. Almost at Tanglang La, I glanced back to capture this view.

Hearing or reading about the Morey plains of Pang does not quite prepare you for their actual character, leaving you quite speechless at their vastness. They are home to mainly shepherds and Kiang, the Tibetan wild ass.

This canyon suddenly looms up as you take a turn to descend to Pang, an army transit camp. Stop-gap dhabas in tents double over as havens for the stranded. Night stops at this height, I heard, can be very very uncomfortable.

Fortunately, our road trip that day ended safely at this camp in Sarchu, at an acceptable height of roughly 14500 feet! While breathing is easy, the howling winds can be a tad overwhelming.

The ascent to the oh-so-unpredictable Baralacha La snakes gently along the Bhaga river, seen here, soon after crossing Bharatpur City: roughly four colourful tents offering food, shelter and souvenirs!

The Bhaga river as it appears closer to the Baralacha Top. A gentle drizzle, wafting mist and angry clouds. It doesn’t get better than this…

Or so we thought! Descending from the pass, you soon recognize tarred surfaces, almost forgotten in the past weeks. The road loops downwards to the Suraj-Vishal Lake nestled snugly between you and the mountainside. It is named after the pilots who perished in a crash at the site. Ironically it is one of the most beautiful spots on this stretch.

Soon after you go past Darcha, the northernmost permanent settlement in Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh, the landscape turns verdant almost instantly. Terraced fields, waterfalls and meadows covered in wild flowers were, once again, par for the course. This image was taken at Koksar, short of Rohtang Pass, the last hurdle in what could otherwise be a dream road trip for all.

Liu Xiaobo was born on 28 December 1955, in Jilin province of China in an intellectual family and graduated from Jilin  University in 1982 and earned a Ph.D in 1988. He went on to establish himself as a luxuriant and scholarly critic, rising to great prominence in 1986 with his examination of modern Chinese literature. He was only interested in literature, writing poems and reading western philosophy. He came to be known as the “black horse” of China’s literary scene when in 1986, he wrote an article condemning Chinese writers dependence on the state and their inability to think for themselves. In late 1980s his challenging ideas attracted the attention of the literati and he was invited to deliver lectures in China and abroad. He was a visiting scholar atColumbiaUniversityinNew York,University of Oslo and several others.

He did not take part in the pro-democracy movement of late 1970s but came to public prominence in 1989, during the suppression of protestors inBeijing’sTiananmen Square. He returned to his home fromUnited Statesto be a part of the movement and take part in the demonstrations. On the eve of the blood bath, he launched a hunger strike to protest the impending repression by the People’s Liberation Army. He also negotiated a peaceful evacuation of theTiananmen Squarewith the army but this did not save him from the authorities. He was labeled as a “black hand” behind the movement and spent nearly two years at the Qincheng jail inBeijing. All his publications were banned and he too was banned from teaching in any of the state institutions.

Protest against the detention of Liu Xiaobo

After his release from prison in 1991, he was a changed man. He resumed his writings but did not write literature anymore, he published articles criticizing the Chinese government and organized petitions to anathematize human rights violation. He wrote extensively on human rights and political issues though he was banned from publishing any of his writings in mainland China. The massacre had greatly changed his outlook and his views about the ordinary Chinese people. He believed that the most effectual weapon against the government was “living in truth”. “To refuse to lie in public life represents the most effective force to undermine tyranny,” he said. He was again put in jail in 1996 for speaking about China’s one- party political system. He continued to discuss many forbidden subjects including China’s treatment of Tibetans. He also published an article in 2004, supportingUnited Stateswar on Iraq and also defended US policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has been under the watchful eyes of the police but this hasn’t prevented him from acting in accordance with his ideals and his principles. He has organized petitions against the arrest of writers imprisoned for posting on the internet and has also defended the rights of migrant workers. The viscosity of his ideas and his courage over the last two decades has impressed many in China.

In 2008, Liu Xiaobo actively participated in drafting Charter 08, a 19 point program that called for greater political freedom in Chinaand concluded with the signature of more than 300 academicians and intellectuals. The manifesto was to be released on the 60^thanniversary of the adoption of  the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As of September 2010, the Charter has collected over 10,000 signatures. Two days before the official release of the Charter, Liu was taken away by the police and detained in solitary confinement. He was not allowed to meet his lawyer or his family. In 2009. the government approved his arrest on charges of “suspicion of inciting subversion of state power,” a crime under Article 105 of China’s Criminal Law. Following his trial in December 2009. he was sentenced to eleven years imprisonment and two years deprivation of political rights. The wife of jailed Liu Xiaobo and her family are being held as hostages in Beijing.

Liu Xiaobo with his wife

Liu Xiaobo’s case has sparked International condemnation. Countries are particularly alarmed at the treatment of his wife who has never been accused of any crime. Campaigners for human rights in China have appealed to the President of USA to urge the Chinese government to release Liu. His arrest only reflects the government anxiety about unrest inspired by uprisings in theMiddle East. International writers, including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood have called for Liu’s release. United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, Navanethem Pillay has also expressed his concern over the deterioration of human rights inChina.

In 2010, the Nobel Committee awarded Liu the prize “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights inChina”. The news of award was immediately censored in China. His wife was placed under house arrest and prominent intellectuals were harassed. The Chinese government called him a criminal and said he didn’t deserve the prize.

Empty chair reserved for Liu Xiaobo

The situation in China clearly shows how the idea of real democracy is growing. People from all walks of life have admired Liu Xiaobo and subversion is the least suitable description of his activities. The truth is he is under arrest because his ideas differ from those of the powers that be.

 “I dedicate this prize to all those lost souls who have sacrificed their lives in non-violent struggle for peace, democracy and freedom.” – Liu Xiaobo, upon learning in prison that he was to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

USEFUL RESOURCES

Liu Xiaobo: 20 years of activism 

Wife of jailed Chinese Nobel peace prize laureate ‘is a hostage’ 

Chinese dissident jailed for 10 years 

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