Seven Rules to Beat Stress

Bring your ‘being’ in:
Personal is the new professional. You spend 12-16 hours at office. Your work is your identity. Leaving any facet of yours out of the office will fragment you. Be yourself. Take personal calls. Put up pictures of your baby. This helps you give all of yourself to work too.

More rules = more stress:
Do you need that cup of tea, made just that way, at just that time of day? Self-imposed rules enhance stress levels. When you don’t get that cuppa at that time or get it too hot, you stress out. The lesser rules you bind yourself by, the lesser the stress.

Stop looking for similarity:
If you look for like-minded people, you get stressed. There will always be people who won’t agree, who do things differently yet are as efficient. Respect differences and your stress will go down by volumes. Keep looking for likeminded people and resistance will be persistent, as will stress.

Forget focus:
The 21st century is not for the focused. It belongs to the spontaneous, who go with the flow and change gears with ever changing whims of the team, hour or boss! Spontaneity spells success. Being focused gets you more stressed. Some things are always beyond your control.

Perfection is a tragic flaw:
Celebrate your mistakes. Flawed people who accept their mistakes and are willing to improve constantly are valued much more than perfectionists who insist on everything going in a streamlined way. Being a perfectionist will only add to your stress. Being flawed and knowing it will set you free.

Adventure is the game:
Most stress stems from doing the same thing over and over again. Playing safe? More like recycling garbage! Do different things everyday. Without the stress of doing it ‘just’ right, you can let yourself goof up and actually have fun! Start from trying another dish at your favorite restaurant.

Stop using the S-word:
For a lover, stress is the anticipation of meeting his lover. For an athlete, stress is the much needed adrenalin rush. For many, stress is a much-abused word. Sometimes we are plain busy, fatigued or irritated but we call ourselves ‘stressed’. And when we believe we’re stressed, we actually are! Seven rules of survivors.

Playstation 3 has landed

The much anticipated and tardy PlayStation 3 (PS3) was a sell-out hit yesterday as Sony finally launched the new console to long queues across Japan’s capital in a much-needed boost to its faltering recovery. From boys in baggy pants to teenage girls, suited businessmen and even some grey-haired seniors, thousands of bleary eyed game fans braved the cold Tokyo night in the hope of getting their hands on one of the prized new machines.

With, what for some was a paltry, 100,000 PS3s available on day one in Japan due to production problems with the high-definition DVD player, many people were left disappointed. Akihiro Okawa, 25, was first in a very long line outside the capital’s mammoth Yodobashi Camera store in the discount electronics district of Akihabara when the store opened at 7am. “I came right before the doors closed last night. When Sony announced the PS3 for the first time I immediately thought I wanted to buy it,” he said. “Now that it’s fully sinking in that I bought the PS3, I’m very happy. I don’t quite know what’s going on in my head right now. Once I get back home I’m going to play it immediately for a little while, then go back to sleep.”

He was joined in his excitement and lack of sleep by Tomohiro Shimokawa, a 24-year-old company worker who waited for about ten hours for his PS3. “I’m very excited at this moment. I didn’t sleep at all so I read magazines and talked with other people,” he said, his long wait finally over. Sony has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the PS3 and its success is considered vital to the iconic company’s future following a series of setbacks including recalls of millions of faulty computer batteries.

“There’s lot riding on it for Sony right now,” said Standard and Poor’s equity analyst John Yang. “If the PS3 fails, I think markets are going to start questioning Sony’s credibility in the next few years,” he added. However, although the sell-out launch in Japan will provide some much-needed cheer for Sony investors analysts say the electronics giant still faces a bumpy path to profitability in its games division amid fierce competition from rivals.

Not that it mattered for the thousands more would-be buyers who were turned away empty handed even before stores opened, as clerks with loud hailers and uniformed police shepherded people into long snaking queues. “We started turning people away at three in the morning,” said Yodobashi Camera store manager Shinichi Adachi. “They went away with disappointed faces because they braved the cold and spent time waiting in line,” he added.

His store sold 1,980 PS3 consoles as stocks quickly ran out. “The PS3 is an extremely popular product. Even if we had over 4,000 consoles, they would have been snapped up today,” he said, adding, “I don’t know when the next delivery date is.” It was a similar scene in the skyscraper district of Shinjuku where by midnight about one thousand anxious PlayStation fans were already camped out in the chilly autumn night.

First in line there was 22-year-old hair designer Todoroki Hirotaka and his friend Xu Minrui, a 23-year-old student, who both arrived at 6pm on Friday. “I love the PlayStation,” said Xu. “It’s a bit expensive but I’m going to buy it anyway. The games are the best,” he said. Meanwhile, Sony Gulf said that the UAE was gearing up for the March 2007 launch date of the PS3. “Anticipation is building ahead of the official arrival of PS3 in the region,” said Tim Stokes, sales and marketing director, PlayStation Division – Sony Gulf,

“And rightly so. The lucky few people who have managed to try it first hand are raving about its features and the quality of graphics making it one of the most eagerly awaited consumer product launches of all time,” he added. However, if the PS3 is to be a success, either here or elsewhere, it is going to have to flight off the competition provided by the likes of Nintendo and Microsoft. Below 7DAYS takes a look at the PS3 and its two rivals.

SONY’S ‘PLAYSTATION 3’

The sleek, black PS3 is described by Sony as a ‘super computer’ for entertainment. At its heart is the ‘Cell’ processor developed jointly with IBM and Toshiba which Sony says is 40 times faster than the chip that runs PlayStation 2.

The PS3 comes with a 20-gigabyte or 60-gigabyte hard disc and incorporates Sony’s Blu-ray high-definition new DVD player. Users can browse the Internet, chat to friends, listen to music and store photos as well as download content and access online games.

Five games will be available at the launch but more are coming soon. Games for the PlayStation and PS2 will also be compatible.

NINTENDO’S ‘WII’

The video game pioneer is on a quest for market dominance again with the Wii which launches in the US on November 19 for $249.99, almost half the price of the PS3. Nintendo caused a stir last year when it unveiled a one-handed wireless controller similar to a television remote and equipped with motion sensors.

By waving or swinging the controller, it can serve as a tennis racket, car steering wheel or weapon. It also includes a speaker and rumble feature. Nintendo is promoting the Wii as a family-friendly machine, allowing users to view news and weather information, look at digital photos, browse the internet and to post messages to other family members.

MICROSOFT’S ‘XBOX 360’

The US computer software giant launched the Xbox 360 in November last year, a whole year ahead of the PS3, seeking revenge for the mediocre debut of the original XBox which flopped in Japan.

In October Microsoft said it had sold six million Xbox 360s worldwide.

The new version is equipped with a DVD player capable of handling CDs and digital photographs through a built-in Windows Media Center – the same bundle of applications found in Microsoft’s Windows XP PC operating system.

The console has an Ethernet port to enable high-speed internet connections for the popular ‘Xbox Live’ subscription service, and other ports to hook up digital cameras or MP3 players.

Microsoft will soon launch a service that allows users to download movies.

Aishwarya Rai...Still India's Most Beautiful

Aishwarya Rai was born in the south Indian state of Karnataka in Mangalore on 1st Nov 1973. She was younger of the two siblings, her brother being 3 yrs elder. When she was about 4 years old her family moved to Bombay permanently. Her father worked as a merchant navy officer. Aishwarya did her schooling at Arya Vidya Mandir, Santacruz. Academically, she did very well and earned her position as the head girl of her school. Ash chose the science stream while at DG Ruparel College, her favorite subject being Zoology. Aishwarya wanted to do medicine, but circumstances didn't let her. Instead she chose Architecture and passed the interview at Raheja College with flying colors. By this time, Aishwarya had started getting modelling assignments. She then decided to take a break from architecture and concentrate on modelling. From that point there was no looking back. Ash became a household name with the pepsi ad campaign. She was crowned Miss Femina World and went on to win the Miss world title at Sun City in 1994. Ash had now joined the Bollywood film industry and working under many prestigious banners.

Her film debut in Mani Rathnam’s ‘Iruvar’ (1997) received critical acclaim and her performance in Rahul Rawail’s ‘…Aur Paar Ho Gaya’ (1997) garnered her the Best Female Debutante Award. In 2000 she was awarded Best Actress by FilmFare and Zee Cine for her work in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”, in that same year, nominated for Best SUPPORTING Actress for her special appearance in Aditya Chopra’s MOHABBATEIN. In 2001 Ash was nominated for FilmFare’s Best Actress Award for Satish Kaushik’s “Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai”.

Ash’s star continued to rise in 2002 working again with Sajay Leela Bhansali in ‘Devdas’. ‘Devdas’ is the most ambitious and most successful film in Bollywood history. It became the first Bollywood picture to ever receive a special screening at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and broke box-office records in India and the United States. Daily Variety’s (06/12/02) Derek Elley describes ‘Devdas’ as “…some of the most sumptuous production values in Bollywood history…” Elley describes Ash as “almost Audrey Hepburn-like”, Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann says “I loved her in Devdas” and Julia Roberts calls her “the world’s most beautiful woman”.

Some of her new films to be released in 2007:

# Singularity (2006/I) (in production)

# Bhopal Movie (2007) (in production)

# Chaos (2007) (in production)

# The Rebel (2007) (announced)

# Sarkar 2 (2007) (pre-production)

# Jodha-Akbar (2007) (filming)

# The Heart of India (2006) (filming)

# Guru (2006/I) (post-production)

# Dhoom 2 (2006) (post-production)

# The Last Legion (2007) (completed)

Casino Royale Stunt Sets World Record

While ‘Casino Royale’ has yet to make its world premiere, it has already broken a Guinness World Record. The James Bond production team staged a dramatic car crash that saw 007’s Aston Martin roll seven times - a Guinness World Record for a single take.

The scene, which features in the movie, is performed by stunt double Adam Kirley in the Bond Aston Martin. It beat the previous record of six rolls performed by BBC’s
Top Gear stunt man last year.

Casino Royale’s stunt coordinator Gary Powell, designed the manoeuvre for the film. In his initial attempt Powell decided to raise the ramp to just under two feet in the end, but the car just literally took off in the air, levelled pretty much, and landed on all four wheels. The car had no chance of rolling whatsoever because of the stability of the car.

Eventually the special effects guys decided to use cannon which sits just behind the driver’s seat. It has a cylinder that, as you press a button, releases a load of air which punches the cylinder into the road which then, in turn, turns the car over. “We rehearsed the stunt several times driving test cars, which were a similar weight to the Aston Martin, at 80mph towards a 10in ramp. That worked very well, causing the cars to flip over at least five times in rehearsal,” Press Association quoted him as saying.

“But we knew, due to the design and suspension of the Aston Martin DBS, it would probably level itself out in mid-air. When we came to filming the stunt on the night, as suspected, the Aston Martin DBS levelled itself out in mid-air refusing to flip over,” he said. “Adam, the stunt driver, had to drive the cannon fitted Aston at high speed and hit the release at exactly the right moment, resulting in the record breaking stunt. We are thrilled to have broken the Guinness World Record,” he added.
The movie sees Daniel Craig driving off the road in order to avoid Vesper Lynd, who is lying in the middle of the road.