500000 and Counting

Yes. 500000 is the current count of visitors to the blog. Thanks to everyone for making this happen. More to come from my end. 

BrandTags Express Edition #20 :: Microsoft's New Logo

Shifting our attention from the Olympics 2012 which have been a fair success for London, we now move on to another landmark event in the history of one of the IT giants.

On 23rd August 2012, Microsoft unveiled a new Logo. Year 1987 was the last time when Microsoft had modified its logo and this one has come after nearly 25 years which is a significant time for any organization. Its believed that the change in the logo comes in the anticipation of one of the biggest launches for Microsoft in recent times - The Launch of Windows 8 in October 2012. The primary aim of this logo is to provide a common theme across the new launches which the company is planning. 

The new logo is shown below:

Segoe is the font using which the word "Microsoft" is written in the logo. The four colored square boxes represent the portfolio of products which are supported by Microsoft. The tagline of Microsoft remains the same - "Your Potential, Our Passion"

The tech community globally is not too happy with this new logo. There have been mixed view on the logo and people say that with this logo Microsoft has shown once again the bias towards Windows. Truly speaking it really does not represent the entire product line of Microsoft along with the fact that its very contemporary and dull. 

BrandTags Express Edition # 19 :: Olympic Trivia 2

1. During London 2012, Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian with a record haul of 22 medals in the history of Olympics. His tally of 22 medals includes, 18 Golds, 2 Silvers and 2 Bronze medals. While achieving this feat, he surpassed Larisa Latynina, belonging to erstwhile USSR, who won 18 Medals including 8 Golds as a Gymnast way back in 1964.

2.  Usain Bolt, aptly names as the World's Fastest Human Being, defended his 100m and 200m titles at London 2012. With the London 2012, He is the first man in the history of sprinting to have six gold medals in his pocket. 

3. India delivered its best ever performance at Olympics by winning 6 medals which comprised of 4 Bronze and 2 Silver medals. Gagan Narang was the first Indian to win a medal at London 2012. Saina Nehwal became the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at Olympics. Following were the other medal winners for India: Vijay Kumar (Silver Medal in 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol Event), Mary Kom (Bronze in the Fly Weight category of Boxing), Yogeshwar Dutt (Bronze in 60 KG freestyle Wrestling), Sushil Kumar (Silver 66 KG Freestyle wrestling)

4. USA topped the medals tally, followed by China and in the third place we had the host nation Britain. 

5. First Gold Medal of London 2012 was won by China's Yi Siling in 10 m Air Rifle event at Royal Barracks. 

6. London is also going to host the Paralympic games starting from 29 Aug. The name Paralympic signifies a competition which is happening at par or parallel to the Olympics. The world Paralympic was quoted as part of the Summer Olympics of 1988 held in Seoul.

7. Unlike the symbol of Olympics which signifies the five continents, the Symbol for Paralympics is composed of three agitos colored red, blue and green. Agito as in Latin refers to "I Move". Below is the logo for the 2012 Paralympic games. The tagline for this is: Inspire a Generation

 

BrandTags Express Edition #18 :: Olympic Trivia

With the greatest sporting event of this year round the corner, it makes perfect sense to include some information relating to that as part of this blog. So here I am with some cool Olympic Trivia for all the readers to enjoy:

1. The opening ceremony of London 2012 Olympics was termed "Isles of Wonder"

2. London has hosted Olympics more number of times than any other city in the world. The 2012 edition was the third time, London has hosted Olympics. 

3. Danny Boyle, Fame director of The Slumdog Millionaire, was the "Artistic Director" of the opening ceremony of the games. 

4. The main theme of the Opening ceremony was "This is for Everyone"

5. To avoid any controversy around lighting of the Cauldron, Britain choose seven young atheletes who were nominated by Britain's Greatest Olympians. The names of those lucky individuals are : Callum Airlie, Jordan Duckitt, Desiree Henry, Katie Kirk, Cameron McRitchie, Aidan Reynolds and Adelle Tracey

6. David Beckham was the Olympic Ambassador for London 2012. 

7. 204 Nations are currently participating in the London 2012 Olympics across 26 sports. 

More Trivia to continue in next editions of BEE. 

BrandTags Express Edition #17 :: Hashim Amla and Cricket Stats

A few minutes while I was thinking of what should go next in the blog, I came across the news on Hashim Amla who became the first South African cricketer to score a triple hundred. This is quite an illustrious feat by the South African who has been touted as a captain for quite sometime.

Amla surpassed the score set by AB D Villiers' of 278 while achieving this feat. The most interesting stat is that the triple century in England has come after more than 22 years when Graham Gooch hit 333 against India at Lords.

The Highest Test score is held by veteran Brian Lara who has a magical figure of 400 followed by Hayden and again followed by Lara. Virender Sehwag is the only Indian in the list who features twice with scores of 319 and 309. 

BrandTags Express Edition # 16 :: Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Ever heard of these terms:

Paraskevidekatriaphobia 

or

Friggatriskaidekaphobia 

or

Triskaidekaphobia

Definitely all of them relate to a certain phobia but the common thread running across the three words is No 13 which is considered to be inauspicious in the western world. It derives its negativity from the Apollo 13 mission. 

Triskaidekaphobia refers to "Fear of No 13"

Friggatriskaidekaphobia and Paraskevidekatriaphobia refer to "Fear of Friday the 13"

2012 is one such year where we have three Fridays coming on 13th. 

BrandTags Express Edition #15 :: Olympics 2012 and Beyond

All of us are quite well aware by now that London is the host city for 2012 Olympics. But do we know the host city beyond 2012 ??

So here is a brief compendium of Summer Olympics which will happen beyond 2012

2016: Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. This edition is special as its the first edition of Olympics to happen in South America. Dubbed as Rio 2016, this is one of the first olympics to happen in the southern hemisphere barring the two in Australia. 

2020: The finalist Cities are: Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid. On 7th Sep 2013, in the 125th IOC convention, the host city will be picked up in Buenos Aires. 

Here is the logo of Rio 2016. Its a real beauty and reflects the spirit of Olympics perfectly. 

                                                

BrandTags Express Edition # 14 :: ROLEX

Talk about Wimbledon and you cannot ignore ROLEX

ROLEX is the official timekeeper for Wimbledon. It has a very catch tagline which goes like this:

A Crown for Every Achievement

The origin of ROLEX is credited to Hans Wildrof who thought for the first time a wrist watch instead of a pocket watch. There are also certain stories which explain how the name ROLEX came to be. Its akin to the French Phrase horlogerie exquise which means "Horological Excellence". Another story relates to the fact that ROLEX word is derived from the words ROLLS ROYCE and TIMEX, each of which is a hallmark of technology and precision. 

ROLEX has three watch lines Oyster Perpetual, Professional and Cellini.

Amongst other things, ROLEX has to its credit, first ever water proof watch named Oyster. 

There is tone down version of ROLEX which is available in the emerging markets primarily. Its called as TUDOR. 

Long Hiatus

I am back from a long hiatus. It has been longer than a normal break, I would take. There have been quite a few changes out there which need to get into this blog. As I struggle through my relocation and new work environment, I will continue to update this blog at regular intervals. This blog is now open for sponsorships and ad spaces and interested people can contact me at my official email address: yashasvi.arun@gmail.com for enquiries. For the moment here is a message from our sponsor