Let it be said upfront: Ganesh Natarajan is not John Dvorak. Neither is he David Coursey. However, the former Aptech CEO and current vice-chairman and managing director of the Pune-based Zensar Technologies is a writer with informed opinions. As one of the most vocal leaders of the IT revolution of the mid-90s and later, Ganesh has been, in a manner of speaking, leadin from the front.
With this book, he reports from that very front. A collection of his columns from a magazine, these writings reflect his deep-thinking abilities. He goes from personality profiles to events to industry trends to the state of the nation with the alacrity of an Olympian medley swimmer switching from backstroke to freestyle to butterfly—smooth and confident.
His writing style is chatty and jargon-free, making it accessible to non-techies. This is mainly because he writes from his experiences, and because he does not sermonise.
He does fall into the trap of gazing into the crystal ball, though. It is an affliction of most columnists, but Ganesh does not go overboard here.
For instance, his views on the future of computer education and how the current teaching infrastructure would have to be killed, border on the radical, and did raise a few eyebrows when he wrote it. His rationale to do this, though, is foolproof, and it only takes around 400 words of his writing to convince any reader that he means well.
Winds of Change makes for a quick, yet intellectually stimulating read. It is a reflection of the progress the author himself has made in his career.
Winds Of Change
Publisher Ameya Prakashan, Pune
Author Ganesh Natarajan
E-mail Ulhas_latkar@rediffmail.com
Price Rs 225
Manhunt
Manhunt is a grotesquely vicious third-person shooter. The game follows the spiralling decline of James Earl Cash into malevolent cold-hearted brutality. Manhunt is spread over 20 stages or scenes; each requiring you to fulfill certain objectives. In order to achieve this you must sneak, battle, bludgeon and sprint your way through armies of lunatics.
There’s a limited variety of weapons in Manhunt. In the initial scenes, all you get are rudimentary weapons such as a baseball bat, or a knife.
Cash has to use shadows to camouflage himself while making a kill, or to hide when being chased. Stealth is of prime importance, because enemies are too tough to face openly. Overall, this game is by far one of the toughest this reviewer has played in recent times.
Character animations have been well done, and the game runs smoothly throughout. The sound effects are detailed. Manhunt has expletive language, almost all of it involving f***. Overall, Manhunt is great if you have the capacity for intense gore. Courtesy SKOAR!
Manhunt
Publisher Rockstar Games
Developer Rockstar North
Web site www.rockstargames.com/manhunt
System requirements 1 GHz CPU, 192 MB RAM, video card with 32 MB RAM, 2,300 MB free space
Price Rs 1,299
Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban
Harry Potter is a wizard in his third year of schooling at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. He learns that a dangerous criminal called Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, but what Harry doesn’t know is that Sirius betrayed Harry’s parents to Voldemort and he’s now looking for Harry.
You start the game on the Hogwarts Express, which serves as a tutorial level. After reaching Hogwarts, Harry and his friends get caught up in classes, in which they have to complete a spell challenge, which is a dungeon-like level. The levels are fun to begin with, but get repetitive and boring.
After completing a challenge, you are whisked off either to another challenge or a mini-game. On completing your school challenges, you’re whisked off to finish the entire storyline. The graphics are smooth and polished. If you liked the first two games, HP3 is a game you must try.
Courtesy SKOAR!
Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban
Publisher EA Games Developer EA Games
Web site www.harrypotter.ea.com
System Requirements 600 MHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, 32 MB graphics card, 820 MB free space, DirectX 9.0
Price $ 29.99 (Rs 1,370)