Simply Red bids farewell as we're holding back the years

"No one has to tell me when to leave a party", was what Simon Cowell quoted when leaving American Idol. Perhaps it could be the same for Simply Red as they prepare to quit after 25 years long journey with music, another great English band.

We're going to witness to an end of one of the greatest soul, pop bands of our time and it's sad to say them go this way but perhaps it could be the most cleaver decision they've made considering their recent success as a band.

Mick Hucknell, the lead vocalist has decided to persuade a solo career when they disband later this year.

'Holding back the years' was their first memorable single I've heard. I could still remember how the day looked like when I first heard it. Music and life aren't two different things but one since it has become part of my life and in everything I do. Just like we feel the breeze, I feel the music in my day to day life and it has its own footprint in its own way.... in my past..

Irrespective of the situation I've been thru, music has always been there and so the music of Simply Red. Their 'a new flame' album was one of such albums which hooked up in some of my personal experiences. It was an album which connected to me in the right substances and essence.

In my personal opinion, that's their BEST album to date. I've been listening to this album for 15 years and still love it and the music sounds very much current and the lyrics.. Love lays its tune, You've got it and More are  some of my favorites.



With the release of 'stars' they started receiving much appreciation from general public, and recognition which was followed by commercial success. But started to drift away in terms of quality. No matter how far they've drifted away from what they were, their music always carried their magic touch.

For the last time in their long journey, Simply Red is playing for the very last time this year and this has been labeled as the 'Farewell Tour' and playing in Brisbane on 1st of October at the convention and exhibition center. I didn't hesitate to buy a premium ticket to witness another sad farewell of one of the greatest bands in our time. Mick and Simply Red, thank you for the music and its inspiration which at times helped us to loosen the loads we carry and cherish life..

AMD Quad Core N 930 (mobile) Experience

We've complained about overheat problems on AMD notebook processors, well now it's all history. With the introduction of their new 'vision platform' processors, I believe they may have just turned the tables. :-)

AMD introduced a bunch of multicore processors to prevent a possible extinction from mobile processor market. Looking at the processor specs and what was seen on forums, I was just curious to see what they look like. I very much wanted to buy HP DV 6 3050 with N930 but sadly it's not available in Australia. However, I managed to buy a machine with AMD N 930 Quad Core 2 GHz processor.

What surprised me was the processor temperature, which never crossed 57 C mark, when running multiple heavy applications, stressing the processor. Such as compiling the kernel while running two JBoss instances, eclipse ide, MySQL, PostgreSQL along other default servers and services. The cooling fan doesn't spin like a wild donkey causing an irritating buzz but very very quite. Take my word on this ;-)

I've been using this laptop for almost a week now and truly impressed with the power it offers. This is well ahead when compared with Intel processors in terms of power for wattage + value for money. The processor performs really well when you run applications which utilise all four cores.

I've had a few Intel C2D laptops. A Core2Duo 1.86 GHz, another Core2Duo 2.2 GHz C2D (T7500) with 4MB cache per each core. All suffered overheat problems. The only success I've had with Intel was with Lenovo T 61, the same T7500 processor.

Most laptop manufacturers integrate AMD processors in their low end range. These low budget laptops come with a poor built quality resulting overheat due to lack of ventilation and bad design. As a matter of fact, AMD processors suffered down the line than what was due. I have seen both Intel and AMD suffering from this and what was given above was a perfect example.

I have used  over 10 laptops during the last 3-4 years. All I could say is, AMD has finally delivered a good laptop for for the hard core developers... ;-)

Uruguay down under ?

I've been watching/following Uruguay since their FIFA 2010 qualifying campaign. They don't have stars.... big names .. media isn't pushing them up the way they do on crappy Brazil team but they play as a single unit.

The team spirit is high, the motivation is just there as they inching towards the moment of glory. Two times worldcup champions, I'm really impressed how they've been playing so far. Even though the things look very much written for Uruguay, their ride towards worlcup quarter finals wasn't that easy.

I would like to recall their last qualifying game for the FIFA 2010, Uruguay vs Argentina at Motevideo. It was a tense game and Argentina was in a must win situation to book a slot for the FIFA 2010 in South Africa. I'm an Argentine fan, not because my 'ex' is an Argentine but I lover their soccer. ;-)

Argentina hadn't won a match against Uruguay in Motevideo for 36 years. But they did it in style, winning the match 0-1, thanks to Bolatti's classic goal; which was an outcome of a free kick at the 83rd minute.  Martin Caceres of Uruguay was sent out as a result of that foul.

Argentina won the match and qualified for the FIFA 2010. Overjoyed Maradona spoke to media, "this victory doesn't belong to one group, that's the local media. now come and suck my cock. we've done it, the media didn't speak any good of me or my team. they condemn us".

Now, Uruguay had to play two matches against Costa Rica to book a slot in FIFA 2010. They won the away match 0-1 and drew the home game 1-1 . So they made it :-). Thanks to Forlan (FWD), Suarez(FWD) and Perez (MID). Forlan, without him, they wouldn't have made it at all.


The Forlan factor
Apart from Messi, Forlan is the only other player I truly like to watch. He's indeed a class act, an ambassador for the game, who's playing for the team leaving his individual ambitions aside. He's a genuine gentleman for the game compared to the wild beasts of Brazil and Ghana teams. Forlan, a tennis player changed his direction towards soccer is undoubtedly a class act. Besides his classic playing, what truly impressed me was his attitudes.

Forlan is getting a good support from Suarez, the guy who got a red card on his debut game against Columbia and also from Perez. Ah Perez, the hard core dynamo.. who continued to play with a bleeding eyebrow when they played Mexico. After beating Ghana, now they have to play Holland. The absence of Suarez would surely have an impact on this game. I don't know how far they could go.... how much they could stress Forlan and Perez.

I can't comment on the upcoming game, Holland vs Uruguay. Holland is playing some good soccer. However, no matter what the outcome would be... Uruguay and their FIFA 2010 journey will be remembered in the years to come.. and Forlan... he'd remain not as a star, but a good player with great humanely qualities in all our hearts...