Cheryl's Burthday Puzzle - Solution

Hello people, 

At first, after reading the statements by Albert and Bernard, I found it funny and I thought 'how on earth!? Then I should know it too'. 

Before solving this, lets see what do we have. We have 3 people - actually 4 - Cheryl, Albert, Bernard and fourth being anyone who is looking to solve this problem. Let's take the fourth one as 'ME' and imagine if the 4 friends were trying to figure this out.  

Cheryl being the one who put forward the question should be voted out of the group me says!So we are 3 now, Albert who knows the month, Bernard who knows the date and me who knows nothing and is just looking at the question and thinking what are Albert and Bernard thinking! Suddenly when we are just talking about 'why didnt she just say the bloody thing straight forward', Albert comes up with this   Albert: "I don't know when is Cheryl's birthday, but I know that Bernard does not know too."

Now you guys, think about the predicament that me and Bernard are in. 

Me:"How can you say that?"

Bernard was thinking the same and more.

Bernard: "How could you possibly know what I know and dont know? How can you say I don't know the birthday for sure?" .
"All you have is a month!".  

Me: "Ok, lets take the months one by one".   

Bernard: "Fine."

"Lets take May first. You are saying I dont know the birthday for sure are you? Ok, If she said May to you, she has a choice of 3 dates to say to me."  

Me: "So Albert, you have to be so sure that Bernard will not be able to find the birthday from ALL 3 of those dates." 

Bernard: "If she had said 15 to me, I would not possibly find the answer as there is an August 15 as well." 

Me: "If its 16, there is a June 16, so Bernard wouldn't know. So far so good." 

Bernard: "If its 19, yeah Albert, I would find out that the birthday is May 19 if she had said 19 to me and May to you." 

Me: "So its not the case that Bernard is not able to find the birthday from ALL 3 of those dates in May" 

Bernard: "So its not May which she said to you is it, because if it was you would not be so sure of me not finding the answer". 

Now, Albert is just wearing that worrying smile there. 

Me: "This is good, lets now take June." 

Bernard: "Ok, June has 2 dates - 17 and 18." 

Me: " Albert - same logic applies - if Cheryl said June to you, then you should be sure that Bernard would not be able to find the birthday from both 17 and 18. 

Bernard: "If she had said 17 to me, I would not be able to find it as there is an August 17 as well " 

Me: "But if she had said 18 to me, Bernard would know that June 18 is her birthday." 

Bernard: " So its not June too, is it Albert? If it was June, you would not be so sure that I cannot find the answer from both 17 and 18." 

Me: " This is very good Bernard, lets take July now which has dates 14 and 16." 

Bernard: " If  it was 14 there is an August 14 to. I would not know it its July or August." 

Me: " If it was 16 then there is a May 16 as said earlier. So you wouldn't find it Bernard." 

Bernard: " Ok, so there is a chance that she said July to him as I cant find the birthday from both 14 and 16."  Me: "Hold on, there is August too."

Bernard is smiling now and Albert's smile is just fading. 

Bernard: "Ok, August has 3 dates - 14, 15, 17". 

Me: " So Albert has to be sure that, you, Bernard would not be able to find the birthday from ALL of these three dates."   Bernard: " If its 14, then there is a July 14 as well. So I can't possibly find out." 

Me: " If its 15, then there is a May 15 too. At the time of him saying that you dont know, we had not yet known that its not May which she said to him. So you couldn't have found out if it was 15.
"If it was 17, then the same case, there is a June 17 and you couldn't possibly have found out as we didn't know at the time he said that it was not June. " 
 Bernard: " So Albert, there is a chance that she said August to you as well as I would not have been able to find out the birthday from ALL 3 of those dates."

But I had a feeling that Bernard was just playing with us. Albert had a vexed posture. Suddenly, Bernard came up with this.

Bernard: "At first I didn't know when Cheryl's birthday is but I know now." 

I was stunned. Bernard who was thinking with me has just gone a step ahead and said he knows! How could he? Albert was smiling now too! So I had no choice but to ask Albert, 

Me: " Albert, why are you smiling"? 

Albert: "Come on, now let's think this together." 

Me: "Yeah, but how could he know? We only found out two possible months. July or August." 

Albert: " He knew the date you silly. Now lets take the dates. 14, 15, 16 and 17." 

I was feeling smart earlier, deciphering Albert's statement, but now here he was helping me! But it helped and I was getting onto something. 

Me: " There is only one date which is repeating - 14. So if she had said 14 to Bernard, he couldn't have still found out as it could have been July or August 14." 

Albert: " Yeah, So it has to be either one of  Aug 15, July 16 or  Aug 17."

And, suddenly, as I was thinking it through, 

Albert: " Then I also know when Cheryl's birthday is."

I had a sinking feeling. Now they were both laughing and would be impressing Cheryl. I had to find this out.

Me: " Albert, there are 3 options now for you. July 16, Aug 15 or Aug 17. You only know the month. So to find out the answer by yourself, out of these three options the non repeating month has to be the one which you know." 

Albert: " If it was Aug, then I would still not know if it was 15 or 17." 

Me: " But as its July you know its 16..."  

"So its JULY 16, isn't it you two? That's when her birthday is!" 

So we had a 'brainstorming' session there and we finally found out the answer. We could call Cheryl back into the group now and probably a party was in store.


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When is Cheryl's birthday?

Hello people,

Last Friday, as I was just wrapping up my work at office and happily anticipating yet another weekend was when I found this interesting question -When is Cheryl's birthday - which was asked in a 5th grade exam for 10 year old in Singapore[!] - which later became the question for 14 year olds and then eventually the question which was asked in an Olympiad exam - and the news said it went viral.

So I was intrigued, naturally, and I looked it up. But as I had to get out of office quickly and catch by train home, all I could do was take a snapshot on my phone. I thought I had a 3 hour train journey and what better thing to do.

So this is the 'viral' question:

So, when is Cheryl's Birthday?

Now, I have figured it out this way, it would be great to know how you people thought it through, rather than the answer and the logic. To know the thought processes would be good. Hope you will share...


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A Twist In The Tale by Jeffrey Archer

Hello people,

A Twist In The Tale by Jeffrey Archer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Twist in the Tale is a collection of short but riveting stories with a 'twist' in there around somewhere. Although most of them were pretty good and holds you, I found a couple of them really good.

One is of a male chess player, who thinks he is good in the game, drooling for a female chess player. He just makes a pass and its shown as if she falls for it and goes home with him. he challenges her for chess games and the bet is she removes one of her apparel. In return if he loses he suggests an amount, which he doubles after every game. He thinks things are going his way when he 'wins' a couple of games. But he is in for a surprise in the end.

The second one is a wine tasting expert and his friend having dinner at a common friends place with a vaunter. The braggart businessman taunts the wine taster for every comment he makes about wines and finally challenges him for a tasting at his place. He even says that the wine taster wont be able to identify even one of the brands/make. So the friends accept the challenge and surprisingly wine taster fails in all three tests. But as the book title says, there is a twist in store in the end.

All in all if you are trying to read after a break, then this book might help you bring back the habit.

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Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway

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Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
 

I think after reading this, first book which I read written by Hemingway was Death in the Afternoon, I have lost some/much of the respect that I had of Hemingway as a person. In Death in the Afternoon he atleast sympathises with the poor animals and does not physically get involved in killing any even though he tries his hand at bullfighting at a lower level. But as a writer, he still holds high with this. This book basically describes his adventures( is that the apt word? I dont

know) along with some natives of Africa in big game hunting. The book is full of hunting and white supremacy. The only interesting part [or the part which you dont feel disgusted] is when Hemingway talks about writers, specifically American writers. Apart from that he describes how he tracks animals, he tries to assert/assume white supremacy only to find natives being superior, and tries to show/shows[!] he is honest here, camps at different places and kill innocent animals. He even compares the size of the animals he killed with that of the poor souls killed by another white. Basically this book just describes how colonialists destroyed Africa, economically as well as naturally.

I just got bored and it was getting more and more disgusting to read of animals getting killed. Hemingway at one point even justifies with a statement that 'every living thing has to die' and so he doesnt feel guilty. He feels guilty/frustrated that he let a 'kudu' go even after hitting him.He says he lives a damn good life. But when you have the money and the colonial power over a nation and you just do whatever ridiculous thing you feel like doing and you call it a 'damn good life', its just stupid and deplorable.

He also tries to describe the African landscape, but just seems to forget it in his bragging talk.

I doubt in todays world anyone would be interested in reading this. This is basically for those historic, colonialistic racist group of people who take pride when they kill a wild animal with a gun shot and feel proud or feel to have done something great when they praise a native or be friend a native.

I have given 2 rating points just for the way Hemingway plays with the words and switches the situations.
   

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Hardy Boys - The Shore Road Mystery by Franklin W Dixon

Hello people,

The Shore Road Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I am an avid reader of Hardy Boys since I was, well as far as I can remember. I still remember crying when in Delhi during a vacation to get a copy ;P, when along with my cousins I was just strolling around outside.

So I decided to give this a go just to relax a bit. the story starts with a friend,Jack, of Hardy Boys asking them to help out in a family mystery to find a treasure. Meantime cars are being stolen in Bayport and interestingly the evidence is pointing to Jack and his father. the suddenly one day Jack and his father are kidnapped.

The story is how the boys solve the mystery and also trap the car thieves.

My purpose was served. ;) Just a stroll through 210 pages!


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Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer

Hello people,


Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let me start by saying that I had read, Sons of Fortune from the same author before reading Kane and Abel. But Kane and Abel was the book which brought the fame to the author and Sons of Fortune came after that.

Kane and Abel is the story of two men who were born in very different circumstances, but end up in America with Kane taking up his family banking business and Abel becoming a hotelier and because of a misunderstanding is intent on destroying Kane.

But before all this there is an excellent narrative of Abel's life which runs from being adopted by a baron in Poland, whose name he later takes up and whom he considers his father, to being jailed in his own bungalow by Germans and then taken top the concentration camps by Russians. he eventually escapes from the camp with the help of a doctor who himself was in the camp for 15 years, but helps Abel to escape by using the plan he himself had planned in 15 years. Abel reaches Moscow in a train in which he is helped by a woman who tries to adopt him on reaching Moscow. But her husband objects and he sends him to Turkey. He is rescued from a barbaric punishment in Turkey by the British embassy officials and sent to the Polish embassy from where he travels to the US. This part of the book is really riveting and grips you and holds on to you tight.

On reaching America the two characters develop in parallel, and this is where the 'Sons of Fortune' comes into picture. Then you get the feeling of a cliche where everything feels the same in both the books. Though Kane and Abel has to be credited as it was the first book written and 'Sons of Fortune' is the repetition.

They get a family, they have children, who are well set to continue the success story. Abel is trying his best to destroy Kane with help from Kane's former but brief step father. They suddenly join the army to fight the Germans. They are into politics suddenly, and all in all Jeffrey Archer thrills you, provided you have not read 'Sons of Fortune'.

There is a twist at last, a some what obvious one, and just before Kane dies, both realise their folly. Kane's son marries Abel's daughter and it is that daughter that Archer writes about in the 'Prodigal Daughter.

All in all an entertainer. But as I said, provided you have not read 'Sons of Fortune' first!


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Online Shopping - My first encounter.

Hello people,

I have been seeing this ad about Flipkart.com and how easy it is to buy stuff online. They were trying to erase doubts and reservations about online buying. I had never done that before though ebay and amazon are famous as anything. The thing being I dont want to transfer money online, let alone wait for the stuff to arrive after transfer! Yes, may be I am old school.

But these guys had a FREE home delivery option and PAY AFTER DELIVERY option which really hooked me in. I thought I would give it a try and ordered To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee . The book was fantastic though it has nothing to do with Flipkart.

But the thing that was fantastic about Flipkart was that you just had to order and do nothing else. Not even bother to create an account, verify through e-mail blah blah.

These are the simple steps to buy...

1) Search for the thing and click "buy now".

 2)click "Place Order"

 3)Enter Your E-mail and click "Continue"

 4)Enter Your Adress and click "Save and Continue".

5)Just verify and continue

 6) Check the payment options and select appropriate one.

Its Done!

They will call you and confirm the order. They will mail you and update you about it. And within 3 days you will get your stuff, cheap and tension free!

I used this to surprise my sister with a b'day present!


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Honour Among Thieves by Jeffrey Archer

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Honour Among Thieves by Jeffrey Archer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have had exposure to Jeffrey Archer before, though not much, and have found his works very fast moving and riveting. This one has a woman spy, Hannah Kopec- a model- ,who suffered from Iraq war, working for MOSSAD as a trainee aiming to assassinate Saddam Hussein. Another one is a professor,Scott Bradley[whose father suffered professional embarrassment], at Yale who is working for the CIA.

The plot starts with Iraq's deputy ambassador, Al Obayadi to the UN hiring a lawyer firm [ the Cavalli group] who work for criminals in New York through a shadow firm under their lawyer title. The aim is to steal the American declaration of independence and hand over to Saddam to embarrass Bill Clinton internationally.

For this the Cavallis hire criminals and an out of favour actor who will be made to look like Clinton and by visiting the national Archives, steal the declaration. They kidnap and leading plastic surgeons daughter to force the doctor work on the actor and eventually kill the whole family. They also hire an Oscar winning, but now out of work and once convicted director and by fooling the people and authorities alike by shooting a film, steal the declaration.

Meanwhile Scott Bradley is set to work for the first time in the field for CIA and is following the MOSSAD girl Kopec to check on her. But they end up falling n love first and then on the orders of her head commander, she ends up poisoning Bradley. But Bradley survives which Kopec is unaware of and heart broken , firmly decides to cut ties with the outer world with only aim to kill Saddam.

The CIA gets to know the operation and are wondering what to do next. Bradley suggests to take over from MOSSAD the plot of assassination and use change that to recovering the declaration. Bradley, Kopecs head commander and a couple of others are nominated for the operation in Baghad. They "hire" the same forger who worked for the Cavallis and create a duplicate of the declaration and plan to switch that with the original, the same way the Cavallis did it. the copy is to have the spelling of 'Brittish' "misspelt" as 'British'!

The operation is really incomprehensible in realistic scenarios and is dragging a bit. May be not one of Archers best works. Finally though only Bradley and Kopec survive with a small twist that the Declaration was actually with the Cavalli the father who is shown to be patriotic and does not want the history of his nation to go to Saddam. Thus the title 'Honour Among thieves'!

I have another Archer this weak with Kane and Abel...


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Keys to Crime by John Creasy

Hello people,

Keys to Crime by John Creasy
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I came across 2 books last week. Both were crime investigation. ;). One of them was Keys to Crime by John Creasy.

I had no idea about this book or the author. I searched for any info online, though I dont like to get prejudiced before reading a book. But NO INFO is what prompted me to search and guess what! I got no info even after searching google for Keys to Crime by John Creasy , except for some info about the author and his other works.

Hmm.. Nevertheless I opened and found a not too simple a start. Howard Kenyon, an actor, though not revealed at the start, who wanted to take a break from stardom [LOL!] was at London his home, in a hotel suite, which was cancelled by a pianist named Towari. Well into his sleep he hears someone at the piano with an incomplete note! At midnight "helps" the pianist to complete the note after which the pianist gets shocked and goes into the details. Thus we have our heroine, named Lucy Hale, a budding singer and a protege of Towari,  and hero.

The PR man, Girtie of the Towri group sets up a story which makes Kenyon and Hale lovers and they set straight for a vacation trip to a distant village inspite of the group having a concert a week later. Meanwhile Towari and his secretary Matt are not yet in London and our PR agent does a coup again and says that Towari is suffering from memory loss. Well, anything for publicity?

Things take an interesting turn when the couple are attacked on their way back and Kenyon is almost kidnapped. But luckily some fans come to his rescue and he arrives safely with his new fiancee now, to the hotel. Towari is still missing and a chief inspector named Wingold gets hold of the attempted kidnapping case  as well as the Towari case. Things take an ugly turn as a fan who rescued Kenyon gets killed when he followed the kidnappers in a sports car.

One night a phone call claims Towari is indeed kidnapped and they want money in return. Matt should deliver the money or else no more Towari. Matt is supposed to arrive with instruction that night and instead of him arrives, a finger which everyone is sure is of being Towaris.

A full scale investigation starts with police suspecting everyone in the hotel! One more character dies after cheif inspector is found tied up inside a dressing room during the first night of the concert and Hale's real lover boy, James who had arrived earlier takes the dead woman's [Sarah] place. Towari is still missing and Girtie claims he made a deal with the kidnappers and has even transferred the money and is in procession of a slip which says Towari will be arriving next morning. The police traces out the owner of the finger which turns out to be a dead body. But as everyone else believed Towari didnt arrive as Girtie was fooled.

Finally police sets up a trap into which Lucy Hales lover boy James walks into and the reason of the crime was that he was rejected by Towari as a budding young singer! Sarah was as usual blackmailed to be a part of the kidnapping plan and all is well in the end!

I just struggled to finish all 200+ pages and needless to say what a lame plot! No wonder google returned zilch on searching this. My second novel turned out to be a bit more interesting.



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Water Like a Stone by Deborah Crombie

Hello people,



Water Like a Stone by Deborah Crombie
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The second one was "Water Like a Stone" by Deborah Crombie. This too was an unfamiliar author and I took the books as I just didnt want to waste time searching for a "good" book.

This atleast gave me search results and the author has infact published a series of investigation stories.






Scotland Yard officer, Duncan Kincaid takes his colleague and partner Gemma and her son Toby along with his son Kit to his parents in a country town. All of them have problems which Kincaid hopes this trip will solve. Gemma is nervous about her relationship with Kincaid and after the death of their child is doubtful, how his parents will take her in. Kit has nightmares about his mother dying but does not inform anyone. There are worries at the other side too. Kincaids sister Juliet is in a strained relation with her husband because of his partner and leaves their firm to do independent construction contract work which she loves. Her daughter Lally is into dangerous habits and far apart from this a woman named Annie Lebow or Constantine [because of yet another strained marriage!] is wandering on her boat through Londons beautiful canals, which are described in great detail.

Only ones with no worry are two kids Toby and Juliet's younger son Sam. To add to all this, Juliet finds a body of a child mortared in a wall at her site the night Kincaid arrives. A week after this, Annie Lebow is found dead less than a mile from this site outside of her boat! Lebow was a drop-out-from-a-rich-family social worker. She was unsettled as a kid whom she 'rescued' from his drug addict parents is killed by his foster parents. She then decides to live on a boat, ironically a luxurious one, and meets another family which she had to deal with in her professional life. She had rescued the family from the law as the parents where said to act saying their son had frequent fixes, for publicity.

But Annie Lebow, on her boat The lost Horizon finds that the mother is dying and she contacts a civil doctor she knows to help the family despite the resistance from the father fearing police digging up their past life. Meanwhile Juliet had begun to suspect that Piers, her husband Caspar's professional partner, with his high life style might be crooked. Piers, aware of her suspicions, has planted doubts in Casper’s mind about Juliet’s fidelity.

Kit sort of starts liking Lally and follows her around as she goes off to have a smoke with Piers' son. There is a background story of a young psychic boy going on which gets no where. Kincaid, Gemma learn that the family on the boat is responsible for the infant in the barn. But they also come to know of the cicumstances which forced them to do this.

Piers turns out to be a fraud and his son turns out to be Lebows killer [and assuming, he also is the psycho in the background].

The story is filled with emotion, sympathy, suspense and complicated relationship. The ending is also a happy one as in films. And I found thats the problems. This book feels like it was written for a film as is the case with most of modern fiction! I found it rather passive and recommend it only for those who really love crime fiction and for a description of Londons canals!

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Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Hello people,

Kim by Rudyard Kipling
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have read Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book [ as I suppose almost everyone has] and hoped of something similar in this book. This book is also number 78 in the Modern Library listing of the 100 great English novels of the 20th century. Very well.


I started reading it and it seemed to be a simple story of a boy called Kimbal O'Hara or Kim. He was the son of an Irish soldier, but now an orphan living in Lahore. A Buddhist lama comes in search of enlightenment and meets Kim who becomes his 'chela' and they start their journey together. Kim also was in search of the 'Red Bull' of his dreams which would solve all of his problems.

Then as I thought this was going to be an adventure of their journey, 'The Great Game' comes in and confuses me much more. I think some one who is not aware of the history of India or India itself will get a lot confused at what is happening. I was not aware of the great game in detail apart from the fact that it was some sort of a battle between two colonialist powers Russia and Britain.

They continue their journey south east, north to the mountains and on trains by foot, on horse carts etc etc.
Kim meets his Red Bull which is the symbol on the flag of the Irish regiment and they take Kim in. The Lama continues his journey while paying for Kim's education.

Kim becomes a 'White man', a 'Babu' and a 'Chela' at once. All these terms are related to Indian history and you wont have a clue of what it means unless you know about India.
Kim plays his part in the Game and the lama realizes that the River he was in search of is in the plains and not in the mountains. He is told have found it in the end and Kim's fate is left for the reader to decide. Three possibilities I found were Kim becomes a proper 'Babu' playing the 'Game' or a 'Buddhist' or a combination of 'White Man', 'Babu' and 'Chela' depending on the situation.

It was a confusing story which, for me, never highlighted India as it truly was nor was a complete adventure story and neither was a simple childrens tale. may be it was too hard for me to digest!

You can buy the book at Flikpart.com, which is really easy and interesting! I will blogging about buying from Flipkart next time.

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FIFA 12 PC Review

Hello people,

FIFA 12 generated a lot of expectations as it was supposed to match the console versions this time around. FIFA 11 was brilliant in game play and graphics, but with a fair share of ridiculous bugs. But as I generally concentrate on manager mode, that version was the best version of FIFA series for me. So lets see what FIFA 12 is all about.

System Requirements

Surprisingly and happily I found out that the system requirements for FIFA 12 is same as the previous version. Thats a big big plus as most of the games today, require mind boggling requirements which make it hard for non-professional and especially Indian gaming enthusiasts.

Recommended system requirements: 

• CPU with dual-core processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or faster). Intel Core2Duo @ 2.4 Ghz
•  Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7. 
• 2 GB of RAM. 
• DirectX ® 9.0c compatible 256 MB video card with 3D acceleration or equivalent (support for Shader Model 3.0 or higher). 

Features

All new Menu

It has all the basic features and as promised from the word go, that is from the new look menus, I could sense that this is different from the previous PC versions and would match the console versions. I found myself in the two player kick about arena which was introduced in FIFA 11, but after less than a second the match was fully loaded and a prompt appeared to press the start button. Ian Jarvis (FIFA 12, PC Producer) claims that the game will run at 60 fps during gameplay and 30 fps when shifting to cut-scenes, which is obviously great.  

There are a whole lot of new additions that you would find, like the "be a pro goalkeeper". There is the "Ultimate team" option as well added this time to the PC version.


Most important thing and improvement from FIFA 11 is that you can configure PC controls easily. Its a sigh of relief. Whats more, you can change the controls in the middle of a game too!

Be a pro offers you to create your own player or use an existing player. Then you will need to grow your potential and possibly be involved in a lot of transfer offers and switch clubs if you like etc. Be a goal keeper is terribly difficult first time for the PC users as we will be playing it for the first time. Most of the times you will be caught on the opposite side while the cross pass is made and they bang it into your net! You also have the option in "be a pro player" to control the whole squad or just you.

Let me jump straight into the manager mode which is my favorite. This time its in the career option, where again the menu is superb and it allows you to be a "player", Player-manager" or a 'Manager'. 

Player Interaction

I confess that i was just astounded by the whole new manager mode. The transfer options are just splendid and this time its not one time approach. You should , like in real life, approach the club with an offer first and then on their approval, you can talk to the player for his weekly wages. For selling too you just accept the offer from another club regarding the transfer fee, but whether to go or not to go, depends on the player. But on loaning out the player simply goes. One thing that dissappointed [but it is good] is that the fees are astronomical. For buying Messi you will need to shell out 171 million! So you have to be realistic while picking up players and you should be able to manage your budget [this is also a new feature] to divide the transfer fees and the wage budget percentages.

Career Home 

But all that beats this is the news reports about the players, the teams and other happenings. There is also a "talk to the press" option! Just about when these 2 features made my jaw drop, I was stuck with another splendid feature - "Transfer deadline day". It is divided into hour slots and your are virtually made to sweat deciding on selling and buying your players and targets. There is player interaction with you too. For me Pato said, he wanted to be out of the club, I unwillingly put him in the transfer list. Rejected some substandard bids and also got a message from the board urging me to sell him ASAP. I didn't and on transfer deadline day they sold him for what ever they got. I was fortunate enough to get Higuain for less that what Pato went. I can hear you saying "I just want to get this thing"! The most important thing though is that the Career Mode homepage now feels and acts like a command centre for everything you accomplish as a manger. 

A major plus point with transfers though is that the CPU will now make offers for players not transfer listed by you consistently. And when they do want one of your star players they can be ferocious in their attempts to sign them. I am glad that there is no such stupid thing as rival teams cant buy/sell.

 It’s key to point out that the scouting system is for unknown youth players only and not players already present in the FIFA 12 database. It’s about unearthing a hidden gem and not finding out whether Xavi has a pass accuracy rating of 84 or 85. You need to hire a scout first and more the money you are splashing out, better the scout will be. It's also not an immediate addition and the scout takes few days to join your club, just like a player. I dont know whether he can reject you as well. Then you need to send him to different parts of the world and he will find you your selection of positions with a projected overall. Of course once you've signed a youth player they will be added to your Youth Academy, and from there you can track their development and when the time is right, give them some game time.

Here is one negative. I didn't ,frankly, like the commentary. Although this time there are 2 pairs[Martin Tyler and Alan Smith and Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend] of them randomly chosen for a match. You have the option for choosing them too. They also talk about your new signings and current events like injuries etc. But a sort of passion or vigor is lacking. 

Graphically, there i not much change according to me and honestly I would go for FIFA 11 graphics rather than FIFA 12. 

lastly they have taken out the LAN play and added more into the online version. Now there is an international league where you can contribute points by selecting your personal team and you can know all about this in the initial demo video in the game.

Gameplay

Now, this is the most important feature of the game for me and to say it short "I am happy and disappointed". To say it long, they have introduced 2 things. One is precision dribbling and the other is tactical defending. 

• Precision dribbling: This feature is absolutely great and you can show off some ridiculous skill and skip pass players with ease. You will really be satisfied with your performance sometimes and just sit and admire yourselves!
• Tactical defending: This is the feature which disappoints me. I cant say its just terribly bad. May be its just that you will take time to accommodate it. But while you are getting used to it, I am sure you will get badly angry. The defenders just stand there and jockey. You need to tackle manually and even if you do succeed most cases the ball ends up with the attackers. In FIFA 11 you could not compete with the defenders on forced running, but with the Precision feature dribbling above defending is a disaster in FIFA 12. But may be after you get used to it, you will enjoy it. But as of now, its more like basketball where its an end to end game and less counter attacking in the mid field.

They have also added, PRO PLAYER INTELLIGENCE,TRUE INJURIES,PLAYER IMPACT ENGINE.

Overall the game play is wonderful with you doing a lot of skills and some really magnificent curly shots. Defending is really difficult and initially you will feel its a disaster. 

Verdict

I found out some bugs too. I think when you pass the ball to the winger a bit too close to the line, he just runs forward and completely misses the ball. New physical impact engine causes some players bumping into each other and falling for fun. you will feel 'Yuck' when you are just about to pass to an attacker and while running he falls bumping into a defender. Most of the times  short passes while defending just  are glued to the attacker even if you are giving directions to co-player on his side. So just clear the ball! In some cases even some through balls are intercepted easily by the opposition. The power of the shots and passes has been reduced considerably. You will need to use finesse shots for beautiful shots.

But overall the game play is wonderful and it demands more skills from you which you will take time getting used to. Until then you will feel off the ball defending is a disaster and attacking is magnificent.

Some tips

• Use finesse shots more.
• Dribble more
• Defend by jockeying and tackle only just around the 18 yard square. 
• Use wing play more
• try to make use of counter attacks and look to finish those 90%
• Use set pieces efficiently.
• Use less through balls and use them at the right position at the right time. 
• Importantly look to hold the ball more reduce simple give-aways.

I cant rate it as of now as I am yet to master tactical defending though I have made some progress. While at it i feel terribly angry sometimes as the defenders are like helpless. 

I would still give it a 3.5/5 rating.

Just go Buy it, is what I would say!

Its a really long review, but please go through it and hope its helpful. Feel free to comment on anything extra.

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Snehaveedu

Hello people,

Theater: Pankaj, Alappuzha
Language: Malayalam
Capacity: 1100-1200
Status : 65%
Show   : First Show [ 6.15 PM]
Date   :1st Oct, 2011
Ratings  : 3/5




Director   : Sathyan Anthikad
Cast        : Mohan Lal, Sheela, Innocent, KPAC Lalitha, Biju Menon, Lena, Rahul Pilla

Snehaveedu is a typical Sathyan Anthikad movie. A simple setting in a beautiful village. The cast is Sathyan's usual group of versatile actors. To add to it Mohan Lal also teams up with Anthikad after a while. This makes the movie more watchable.

The story is simple with Mohan Lal a successful businessman having had success in various cities around the country, returns to his native village to live with his mother [Sheela] the rest of his life. He has some business ventures there too and has settled onto his peaceful life. The neighbourhood has a usual Anthikad  touch to it, with Karingannan Mathai [Innocent] stealing the show. Biju Menon plays a police officer and a friend of Mohan Lal, who marries a christian woman[ played by Lena] whose father is Innocent. There is a funny tension portrayed between the two. Sheela plays her role with ease without any complications.

Then one day a young boy arrives claiming to be Mohan Lals son. Mohan Lal is sure that he is lying and tries many tricks to gt rid of him. He teams up with Innocent and Biju Menon and fails. His boasting about his past also doesn't help him.

Movie finally concludes by making us realizing the simplicity or naivety of life and sums up the title significantly.

The cinematography is really good. Only thing lacking is perhaps the music, where but for one song sung by Hariharan, Ilayaraja fails to impress. Acting has been brilliant as is expected from the cast and even the new boy doesn't disappoint. Comic elements has also been placed brilliantly and doesn't feel artificial. Overall, a film which you feel satisfied after watching.

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Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway

Hello people,

Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Recommended for: Bull Fight Enthusiasts.


Honestly I took up this book going by the title and thought it to be some murder mystery! ;) But it turned out to be somewhat similar , but not as I thought. There was murder and there was thrill. But the book was non-fictional and an exhaustive explanation and view on famous or notorious Spanish Bullfighting.

I am reading Hemingway after a long time and I couldn't recollect what kind of an author he was. He seems to be somewhat interested a bit too much in himself or his writing. But I have to admit he is a passionate and serious follower of bull fights. He points out most delicate points intrusively and even knows a detailed schedule of bull fights, not only across Spain, but in other countries like Mexico and France as well.

He has given in detail the techniques and genius' of some great bull fighters he has seen, such as Joselito, El Gallo, Juan Belmonte etc. He sees bull fighting as a tragedy and not as a sport. But he acknowledges the bravery of both the bull and the 'Matador'. He gives an apt description about the supporting cast, the 'picadors, 'banderillos'. He also has apparently tried a hand at being a 'matador', but unsuccesfully. But he learnt about how the bulls are groomed since they are born to become fit for the 'toros'.

Hemingway also despises modern bull fighting where he feels the picadors merely prepare the bull for the matadors to kill. He compares original bull fighting with art and music. He writes

"Bullfighting is the only art I which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor."

He also compares it to playing a mouth organ.

But I have little interest in bull fighting and I didnt find the book interesting even though it was hugely informative. Standard-wise book should deserve at least a 3.5 as its volume of information is not in question. It has also pictures in it to show a 'veronica' and 'cornada'. Leave alone some silly interaction with a fictional or imaginary old woman the book is presented well.


View all my reviews

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