The Shining - Book Review

The Shining by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The Shining" is Creepy and Unsettling, it gets in your head and under your skin. With well realized characters and great writing. The scariest part is that Stephen King almost makes it believable. The Thrills and the Suspense that it provides is hard to match.

It is more than just a Horror story, it is a story about Family struggles and the horrific effects of alcoholism on Family and Marriage.

No gimmicks, nothing in "The Shining" is done without purpose or for mere shock value, it simply is a great book which tells a compelling story with well realized characters, each having their unique voice and feel to them. Simply put, "The Shining" is a Masterpiece in Horror / Suspense / Thriller Lit.

View all my reviews

My Food Photography

So recently I came across this question in Quora and decided to respond with my photographs :):

What is the most amazing food photograph you have ever taken?

 

Shantanu Mukherjee, lives in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India says:

I love to take pictures of my food and I love to eat! Being a Bangaloreian I go to a new restaurant every week and the food is amazing! Especially continental stuff. Here are Few of my favorite food pics that I've taken :

 

 

 

 

 

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THEM :)

Here is a link to the Quora Answer page: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-amazing-food-photograph-you-have-ever-taken/answer/Shantanu-Mukherjee-18?__filter__=all&__nsrc__=1&__snid3__=717818565

My favorite movies of 2016 (Ranked)

Almost a month too late...but here they are! My favorite movies of 2016 (Ranked): 

Honorable Mention: Doctor Strange and Star Trek: Beyond.
 
20. The Witch
19. Green Room
18. 10 Cloverfield Lane
17. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
16. The Lobster
15. Moonlight
14. The Neon Demon
13. Don't Breathe
12. The Conjuring 2
11. Zootopia
10. Captain America: Civil War
9.   Swiss Army Man
8.   Hacksaw Ridge
7.   Silence
6.   Arrival
5.   Nocturnal Animals
4.   Manchester By The Sea
3.   Hell or High Water
2.   La La Land
1.   The Nice Guys

My Dream Cast for The Dark Tower

Roland Deschain - Josh Holloway
Young Roland - Chandler Riggs
The Man in Black - Benedict Cumberbatch
Eddie Dean - Aaron Paul
Jake Chambers - Issac hempstead wright
Susannah - Naomie Harris
Oy - Andy Serkis
THE CRIMSON KING - Christoph Waltz
Mordred Deschain - Evan Peters
Dandelo - Al Pacino
Mia - Rose Byrne
John Farson - Matthew McConoughay
Arthur Eld - Mads Mikkelsen
Susan Delgado - Nataliya Dyer
Cordelia Delgado - Phyllis Logan
Blaine The Mono - Hugho Weaving (Voice)
Rhea of Coos - Maggie Smith
Sayre - Gary Oldman
Gabrielle Deschain - Jennifer Connoly
Steven Deschain - Clint Eastwood
Cort - Kevin Spacey
Sheemie Ruiz - Paul Dano
Jack Mort - Ben Foster
Allie of Tull - Evan Rachael Wood
Pere Callahan - Stephen Lang
Gasher - John C Riley
The Tick Tock Man - Triple H
Henry Dean - Ethan Hawke
Enrico Balzaar - Ron Perlman
Jack Andolini - Mahershala Ali
Cuttherbert - Logan Lerman
Alain - Tom Felton
Eldred Jonas - Josh Brolin
Depapu - Tim Roth
Clay Reynolds - Colin Farell
Herkimer Avery - Nick Offerman
Andy the Messenger Robot (Many Other Functions) - Anthony Hopkins
Stephen King - Himself
Ted Brautigan - Morgan Freeman
Dinky Earnshaw -Sam Rockwell
Moses Carver - Samuel L Jackson
Henchik the Manni - Sir Ian Macallen

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien : A Review

My Rating: 5/5
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - Gandalf

Though it is less descriptive and has a tighter story than The Lord of The Rings, sometimes that works to its benefit. An amazing fantasy adventure journey with great characters and a lush fantasy world with great fantasy elements. Though aimed at children there is loads of fun to be had by adult readers as well.

Tolkien is a master and his writing really shines here, you get the feeling he had as much joy writing it as we have while reading it.

And it is not just a story or a fantasy adventure, deep down it is so much more. It teaches us the value of friendship, the importance of good company. It shows us how greed of man for money and gold is often his downfall. It tells us that no matter how small or great we are in life, even the smallest person can change the world. And it tells us not to be afraid of leaving our comfort zone, not to live just for the sake of living but to put ourselves out there just like the little Hobbit left all the comforts of his home to go on an adventure of a lifetime because he knew that he might not get this opportunity again. So it tells us that life is short, put yourself out there and do not care for what people think or say, live your life to the fullest.

And yes, I absolutely completely terrifyingly loved SMAUG!

"Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To claim our long-forgotten gold."

The Deep Web

So, this has been a topic of interest for me since a few months now. The Deep Web. What exactly is the Deep Web? Now, we all use the internet, we cannot imagine our lives without it, we totally depend on the internet. Can you imagine life without Google? Or Wikipedia? No! But what if I told you that whatever we browse on the internet is merely just 4% of it. What if I told you that what we are browsing is merely called the 'Surface Web' and it is basically the websites that search engines can find or index. So now the questions that arise are: then what does the remaining 96% contain? And how does one access it?

The remaining 96% of the web is known as the Deep Web, which simply means a collection of websites or the part of the internet that has not been indexed or cataloged by search engines. Now having said that, since the Deep Web is kind of off limits, it has become a place known for criminal activities. The Deep Web has been known for numerous activities that are illegal and some of them are absolutely disturbing. Things like stolen credit card numbers, selling of drugs and weapons, prostitution, hackers and hit-men for hire and disturbing videos are often associated with the Deep Web. I know I sound negative here but this what most part of the Deep Web has to offer as of now.

Most of the pages in the Deep Web have the .Onion extension and are browsed using a special browser called TOR or The Onion Router. Various security measures, precautions like proxy servers are also used to maintain anonymity or else things can get pretty serious and even the FBI and other agencies can get involved. The Deep Web has its own EBay called The Silk Road which is currently not functional but it is one of the major sites there that was responsible for the sale of drugs and weapons. Another interesting thing about The Deep Web is that it has its own currency known as BitCoins, all transactions are completed with the exchange of BitCoins and the spending cannot be traced back to the buyers or sellers.

So just take a moment to think about what has been happening under our nose, on the internet for all these years. Researchers and scientists have been trying to find usefulness of the Deep Web and working on ways to make it more secure and legitimate. Now only time will tell what is the next step for the Deep Web. Thank you for reading and yes if you want to go off on an adventure to the Deep Web I recommend you to do some more research, be safe and make sure you do not get into trouble!

Windows 8.1 Just an Update or a significant Overhaul

Many of us know that Windows 8.1 (codenamed Windows Blue) is an update for Windows 8 and Windows RT. Windows 8.1 tries to fix issues and annoyances which many Windows 8 users are facing such as missing Start button, annoying hot corners, inability to customize Metro stuff, etc.

Windows 8 is considered as a 2-in-1 OS which was made for Desktops as well as touch-enabled devices such as Tablets. Windows 8 seems one of the best OS for Tablets but it failed to attract and satisfy Desktop and Laptop users. The new touch-oriented features such as Start Screen, hot corners, Metro apps, etc don't seem to work perfectly on computers.

Also the removal of Start button and a few other classic components disappointed many Windows users and new users found it difficult to operate Windows 8 computers.

But since when Microsoft started posting about Windows 8.1 features, it seems that Windows 8.1 will help Microsoft in making Windows 8 a perfect OS for both Desktops as well as Tablets. Following is the  list all known features present in Windows 8.1 :-


    The Start button appears: One of the most confusing changes in Windows 8 was the removal of the Start menu. In fact, the Start button was completely gone, although there was an invisible clickable area where it used to be. Windows 8.1 brings back the Start button, but stops short of resurrecting the menu. Clicking on the button opens the Windows 8.1 Start screen, but a right click does give you access to some common functions like the control panel, task manager and the ability to shut down or restart the computer.

    Boot to Desktop: Users that don’t use touchscreens with Windows weren’t too pleased with Windows 8’s insistence on booting into the revamped, tile-based Start screen UI. In 8.1 Microsoft has offered a compromise of sorts. You will have the option to boot directly to the desktop.

Lockscreen :
    More Lock screen and Start screen options: Microsoft already had picture passwords, but now that feature has been expanded to allow multiple images to be pulled from the local storage or SkyDrive galleries. This effectively makes the Lock screen into a digital photo frame. You’ll also be able to capture pictures with the device’s camera, or answer Skype calls, without unlocking first. The Start screen now has more tile sizes and background colors, as well.

    Refreshed Xbox Music: One of the neat but under-appreciated features of Windows 8 is the Xbox Music integration. It allows users to stream over 30 million tracks for free. The only problem was the app’s confusing interface. In 8.1, Xbox Music is more user-friendly and supports custom playlists.

    Better search: For whatever reason, Microsoft didn’t include true universal search in Windows 8. In Windows 8.1, searching the device will pull up apps, local and SkyDrive files, and settings. Previously it only found apps. Overall, the entire search and All Apps view experience has been significantly rejigged to help out mouse-and-keyboard users.

    SnapSnap Views and better multi-monitor: Some of the Modern/Metro UI apps look cool, but the modal single app usage could be annoying. In 8.1, users can run multiple apps in the foreground with Snap. If you have a 2,560×1,440 resolution or higher monitor, you can have four apps up at once. lower than that, and only three apps can be snapped in. These figures hold for each monitor, so you can have eight Modern UI apps up across two high-resolution monitors, for example.

    The Windows Store: The new Windows Store UI is cleaner and has larger images of the apps. Currently installed apps can also auto-update in the background. Hopefully this get developers more excited about making things for Windows 8.

    Extensive SkyDrive integration: Perhaps the biggest and best change in Windows 8.1 is extensive, all-inclusive SkyDrive integration. Now, when you set up Windows 8.1, you will be prompted to turn on SkyDrive — and by doing so, SkyDrive will be integrated right into Explorer. Accessing your SkyDrive documents from the Desktop is very easy and surprisingly slick. More files and settings will now be synced/backed up by default, too.

    Souped up Metro Control Panel: For touchscreen users, one of the biggest changes in Windows 8.1 is a massively beefed up Metro Control Panel. No longer will you have to fall back to the Desktop Control Panel to change a large number of system settings!

    3D printing support: In a rare example of Microsoft being cool, Windows 8.1 now has a 3D printing API, allowing you to print directly to 3D printers from the Charms bar.

    Miracast streaming: Windows 8.1 supports Miracast, an open industry standard alternative to Apple’s AirPlay that uses WiFi Direct to stream content to nearby Miracast-enabled TVs.