Ultra Music Festival extends its global reach

MIAMI: Once a humble beach party, Miami’s mega-hip Ultra Music Festival is expanding to Asia after a sellout, three-day rave this past weekend that left revelers nursing a nasty hangover on Monday.

Salman Khan becomes brand ambassador of IIFA Charity Initiative

As testament to its mission of integration and building bridges between countries, IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) will spearhead a charity initiative in Sri Lanka as a part of the IIFA Weekend and Award celebrations in Colombo. Recognizing the magnitude of the recent conflict in Sri Lanka, the IIFA Charity Initiative, in conjunction with the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, Habitat for Humanity and UNICEF, aims to positively impact those afflicted in the country. Identifying with the aims of the initiative, Indian cinema star, Salman Khan has agreed to be the brand ambassador of the IIFA Charity Initiative.

After the success of IIFA in Macau, Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh and Boman Irani will once again don their roles to play hosts for the IIFA Awards 2010. Both, Lara and Boman will play hosts for the fourth time at the Awards, while this is Riteish’s third time teaming up with funny man Boman Irani.

Through the efforts of IIFA, the UNICEF and the Sri Lanka Cricket Board, contributions in lieu of financial resources are being made to the “Cricket for Change” project wherein former child-soldiers are being rehabilitated. These child soldiers, who have borne the scars of war, are being educated, cricket-trained and will also get an opportunity to participate as volunteers. The charity cricket match between Indian celebrities and Sri Lankan cricketers is scheduled to take place on the 2nd day of the IIFA Weekend.

As a symbol of solidarity with the Sri Lankan people, IIFA in partnership with Habitat for Humanity will adopt and rebuild a village in for refugees, with the proceeds of the cricket match being donated to this cause. Habitat for Humanity is an organization initiated by US President Jimmy Carter that is already doing considerable work in the region.

IIFA Advisory Board member, Mr. Ramesh Sippy, said, “On behalf of the IIFA Advisory Board, we are very pleased to bring the IIFA experience to our hospitable neighbour Sri Lanka. As a member of the film industry, I look forward to another luminous decade, as IIFA journeys forth, sharing the Indian cinematic movement, one country at a time.”

Speaking on his association with the IIFA Charity Initiative, Salman Khan said, “I support IIFA’s initiative that aims to give back to the Sri Lankan people, due to the recent hardships they have faced. I am happy to be an ‘Ambassador of Change’ and believe that it is crucial to make a difference and contribute to this worthy cause. IIFA has successfully built bridges between countries over the last decade, and I hope this initiative will do the same for Sri Lanka.”

Mr. Tony Senewiratne, National Director – Sri Lanka, Habitat for Humanity said, “The invitation from IIFA to Habitat for Humanity – Sri Lanka is an exciting opportunity. This union will join our efforts to bring a significant change to the lives of many families. We plan to make a major difference by providing a community with a decent house and a better quality of life. This is indeed a generous and significant act by IIFA.”

Hon. Dep Minister of Economic Development, Sri Lanka- Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena said, “With the dawn of the new era in our island, Sri Lanka which is renowned as the “Pearl of the Indian Ocean”, has great potential in expanding its vistas in Investment, Tourism, Agriculture and other sectors that will immensely contribute towards the rapid development drive initiated by the Government. IIFA will play a vital role in further strengthening the mutual cooperation of the two nations.”

Identifying Sri Lanka as an obvious choice to commence the second decade of IIFA, owing to its natural beauty and diversity of its culture and people, Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft said, “IIFA is proud to be associated with the UNICEF and Habitat for Humanity as a mark of our support and hope for the people of Sri Lanka. IIFA will be adopting a village for refugees and have received nothing but warmth and enthusiasm from the Sri Lankan people and anticipate another successful IIFA.”

Gul stands up for the Girl Child cause

Gul Panag isn’t just all talk no action. The lady that talks bikes and speed is also one who will go out and crusade against injustice when the moment demands. The founder member of the NGO Shamsher Singh Foundation, Gul has signed up the Memorandum of Understanding of Chandigarh to work in the direction of eradicating social evils like female foeticide and drug addiction in that area.

The roles have been well briefed to Gul and other officials involved. They have to monitor the Ultra Sound centres to prevent sex determination tests as well as volunteering as decoy clients to conduct raids. They are also supposed to encourage people to celebrate the birth of girl child as a moment of celebration also they are to identify drug addicts and help them shun the habit. Gul, who has done many films on social causes like Dor, Dhoop is one for the betterment of society and we at Bollywood Hungama appreciate the good work.

Live Chat: Jiah Khan today at 1800 hrs IST

She is someone whose heat quotient can make even the sun melt like a cube of ice! We are indeed talking about the ultra gorgeous Jiah Khan, who, after making an impressive debut in Nishabd, has now become the talk and the toast of the town, with her every passing film.

And if the promos of her forthcoming film Housefull are any indications of what to expect of this bombshell, then, folks be ready for some real fireworks much before Diwali. Bollywood Hungama brings to you an opportunity like never before to get up, close and personal with this lady in Celebrity Chat today (April 26) at 1800 hrs IST. Be there.

Gmail Launches Undo Send Feature

All those who tend to get themselves into unpleasant email “situations” every now and then can finally relax, thanks to an “undo send” feature launched by Gmail.

Any user can enable the new feature in ”Gmail Labs” under ”Settings’.

If a user feels that the email he just sent should be stopped, he or she should hit the ‘undo send’ button.

However, the user intending to stop the mail from being sent would get only five seconds to hit the button, reports the New York Daily News.

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Gmail Launches Undo Send Feature was first posted on March 21, 2009 at 12:03 pm.

Cricket Nokia 3606 Phone Launched

Cricket Communications has rolled out Nokia 3606 flip phone that comes packed with a wide array of fun applications and features.

The phone, which comes with a user-friendly interface, sports a clamshell design.

Moreover, it has a 128 x 128 x 262k TFT external display and 176 x 220 x 262k color TFT internal display to view pictures and text.

The HAC compliant Nokia 3606 features is an ideal choice for music buffs as it features MP3 music, stereo Bluetooth and FM radio too.

The music keys are placed on the exterior, which light up when the music option is selected, and lets users to access their desired songs at once.

Ian Laing, vice president of Nokia North America Sales said, “The 3606 is a natural fit for Cricket’s services. The form factor is compelling and the phone’s core features make it a music powerhouse and a stylish communications device.”

The ultra-thin and stylish Nokia 3606 phone supports microSD card slot up to 8GB to store loads of music files, videos as well as pics. The phone includes BREW 3.1.5 with 15MB user memory too.

For pictures and video, the phone also has a 1.3 megapixel camera with LED flash located at the back of the phone.

Vice president of marketing for Cricket Jeff Toig stated, “The Nokia 3606 is an extremely attractive device that will be popular with customers who are looking for a handset with a sophisticated design and a high end feature set. The features are ideal for music lovers, with an MP3 player and stereo Bluetooth, which compliments Cricket’s Mobile Music offering.”

The Cricket branded Nokia 3606 flip additionally comprises of SMS/MMS with predictive text and stereo Bluetooth.

The phone, which offers up to 3.5 hours of talk time together with up to 10 days of standby time from a full battery ad can be purchased at a price of $179.99 from Cricket retail stores and dealers.

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Cricket Nokia 3606 Phone Launched was first posted on March 22, 2009 at 12:36 pm.

WGA Notifications updated For Windows XP Professional

Microsoft this week is preparing to update Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) Notifications for Windows XP. The new version includes the usual updates to validation that improve WGA’s ability to detect invalid product keys and other attempts to circumvent product activation.

Since Windows XP Professional is the most often counterfeited version of XP, Microsoft has focused on including the latest validation information, such as recently stolen or misused product keys, for the Professional edition. Customers who installed the last update will simply have their validation information updated without needing to go through the install process again.

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WGA Notifications updated For Windows XP Professional was first posted on March 26, 2009 at 4:06 pm.

Samsung Launches S8300 UltraTouch Smart Phone in India

It’s the world’s first AMOLED touch screen phone; it’s an ultra-slim 12.7mm full-touch slider phone; it’s the phone featuring 8 mp camera; well, it’s Samsung S8300 UltraTouch smart-phone, which was launched by Samsung India on Wednesday.

The Samsung S8300 UltraTouch smart-phone, in its brushed metal frame, features a 7.2 cm wide AMOLED scratch resistant touch-screen, 8 mega pixel camera features with dual power LED flash and smile shot mode, a 3