Mehzeb Rahman Chowdhury
James Bond, also known as 007, is a fictional British spy introduced by writer Ian Fleming in his 1953 novel “Casino Royale”. Fleming wrote numerous novels and short stories based upon the character and, after his death in 1964, further literary adventures were written by Kingsley Amis, John Pearson, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, and Charlie Higson. In addition, Christopher Wood wrote two screenplays, and other authors have also written various unofficial permutations of the character.
James Bond is best known for the EON Productions film series. Twenty official and two unofficial films have been made of this character. Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman produced most of the official films up until 1974. His daughter, Barbara Broccoli, and his stepson, Michael G. Wilson, carried on the production duties since 1995. To date, Bond has been portrayed in the official series by Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan.
The history of the character is actually quite fascinating. Here are some unknown facts about Agent 007 that you may not know.
James Bond is the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, both of whom died in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rogues, when Bond was 11 years old. James went to live with his Aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in Kent. Bond left school when he was 17 years old and joined the Ministry of Defence. He briefly 
attended Eton College starting at the age of 12, but was expelled after two halves when a scandal with one of his maids came to light. After Eton, Bond attended and continued his education in the prestigious Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Bond joined the British Royal Navy's Volunteer Reserve, from which he emerged with the rank of Commander before joining MI6.
Ian Fleming often described James Bond's physical resemblance to singer Hoagy Carmichael. Actor Timothy Dalton is also said to most closely resemble this description. In the novels, Bond's physical description has generally been consistent: a three-inch, vertical scar on his left cheek (a fact that has been erased from the movies), blue-grey eyes, short-cut dark hair - a shadow of which falls on his forehead, and a faint scar on the back of one of his hands. Although licensed to kill, Bond dislikes killing. He resorts to flippant jokes and off-hand remarks when it comes to violence. Nonetheless, James Bond kills when needed, and commits acts that may be murder in some circumstances. Bond is famous for drinking vodka martinis, and is an expert gambler. Fleming named James Bond after an ornithologist of the same name who had written “A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies”. Fleming, a keen birdwatcher, was in Jamaica with a copy of Bond's field guide when he chose the name for the lead character. Fleming drew inspiration for the Bond character from his personal life. The author was known for his glamorous and licentious lifestyle. He was also inspired by his contemporaries in British Intelligence during World War II, specifically events that were purported to have taken place at the Estoril Casino in Portugal where spies of warring regimes mingled with European royalty. The atmosphere inspired Fleming's imagination and set the scene for his very first Bond novel, Casino Royale.
In the 1990's, Sony Pictures in joint collaboration with Columbia Pictures decided to make a serious adaptation of Casino Royale and had also announced plans to produce its own Bond series, but these plans were abandoned when Sony signed an agreement with MGM in 1999, giving up its rights to the James Bond character. Included in the settlement Sony traded the rights to Casino Royale for MGM's partial-rights to Spider-Man. After MGM's acquisition of the film's rights there was speculation that a movie version would be produced. Quite recently, EON Productions, has officially announced that the next 007 movie will be Casino Royale. Martin Campbell (GoldenEye) will direct the film and the screenplay has been composed by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. David Arnold will be composing the film's soundtrack, as he has done for the last three Bond films.
After one of the most publicized casting processes in film history, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Eon Productions formally announced that, as early reports suggested, English actor Daniel Craig has been cast as the sixth big-screen James Bond. Daniel Craig's screen credits include Layer Cake, Road to Perdition, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Sylvia and Enduring Love. Meanwhile Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover has been cast as one of the villains of the movie, and Angelina Jolie is said to have landed the role of Bond girl Vesper Lynd. The film will be produced by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson. Casino Royale is due for release worldwide on November 17, 2006. It will be filmed in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the UK.
The original storyline:
In “Casino Royale”, Russian spy, Le Chiffre, needs an exorbitant 50 million francs to restore KGB funds, which he had lost through an ill-advised investment in a chain of brothels. Agent 007 lives an intensely hard lifestyle, and he's known to be the best gambler in the Service. He's therefore assigned to play with Le Chiffre at the baccarat tables of the Casino Royale, in the French Riviera, and stop him from winning the 50 million francs.
James Bond must face Le Chiffre alone at the baccarat table, but he has his own team of assistants: Rene' Mathis of the French branch, American CIA agent Felix Leiter, and the beautiful Vesper Lynd of the S branch of British Intelligence. Vesper is officially the very first Bond girl - and she utterly mesmerizes our master spy. Vesper's an intriguing Bond Girl, though. Her fateful role exacts a twisted surprise ending, which inevitably sets the tone and atmosphere of Bond's future relationships with women. This is perhaps the only story of the series wherein Bond takes a good, hard look at the moral portents of his profession. This story does not own any of the qualities that could easily be made into a movie. But there's plenty of tension, an array of action, and quite a lot of romance. However the tension is mainly in the climatic card game. The action is definitely intense as well. One segment includes a harrowing torture scene which should not be witnessed by the squeamish. All in all, Casino Royale is the perfect beginning to the James Bond legend, and it should make an excellent movie, if, Daniel Craig, and the rest of his co-stars can shine.
B 13
Review by Gokhraa
Have you heard of Parkour? It's a French art of basically running about and jumping on things in a pseudo Jackie Chan-Jet Li combo way. You won't believe how cool it looks until you actually see it. The people who do this are amazingly dexterous leaping through windows, running across walls, jumping over bad guys, swinging from ropes and whatnot.
Now have you heard of Banlieue 13? It's a French movie recently found in DVD stores all over the city. It's better known as B13. It's an action flick revolving around the concept of Parkour. If you don't know French you would have to read the subtitles to keep up with the super fast flow and might end up missing a few lines here and there. Does reading subs sound dull? This movie makes it worth it.
The plot:
It has touches of 'Escape from New York' beginning with a scrolling type informing us that this is Paris, 2010. The government has erected concrete barriers around the hard-to-handle suburbs near Paris ("banlieue" is the French word for 'burb).
For no apparent reason other than the fact that it is the proper thing to do, local cool dude 
Leito is busy destroying 20 kilos of heroin in the bathtub of his tower-block apartment. Unfortunately the ones who own the drug sent very armed, very menacing goons to get it back. The kingpin is a insane nutjob called Taha. Leito (David Belle) escapes in a thrilling series of muscular stunts that call for him and his shock-absorbing knees to treat high-rise concrete structures and rooftops like well-placed trampolines. The whole chase is a delightful treat for the eyes.
In retaliation, Taha sends his baddies to kidnap Leito's feisty sister, Lola (Dany Verissimo). Leito escapes with his sister but in the last moment everything is foiled and she is back in the clutche of evil bad man Taha. Lola is soon strung out on heroin and kept on a dog leash at Tahas feet while Leito rots in prison.
Meanwhile, in a terrific prolonged set piece, undercover cop Damien (martial arts ace Cyril Raffaelli) captures a sleazy Latino crime boss and shuts down his illicit casino, against very stacked odds. His next mission is to penetrate notorious Suburb 13 and stop the accidentally triggered countdown on a deadly bomb that was hijacked by Taha. And to get in he has to get Leito out without whose help he is a dead man. And on that thin plot the 
whole movie hangs not precariously but with a firm grip. You see, you don't really notice the plot as much as you stare in awe at the action sequences.
The verdict:
B13 is so slick it makes you wish it was a video game. It follows a path of pure action and excitement. The action sequences in the movie are well done, superior than the stuff you see in any recent American action film.
Light on plot, heavy on action, Banilieu 13 delivers in a big way. It's enormously entertaining, completely mindless and very innovative in the use of parkour to the otherwise generic action movie department. The story is as ridiculous as you might imagine but the action is all real. And in the end that's what really amazes. Jackie Chan flicks are still better as they have heavy doses of humour but trust me, with B13 you won't be disappointed.
A DJ on a Mission?
by Shoaib Alam
First, imagine a DJ. Now complete the picture with tattoos, hairdos, a piercing or two and maybe even two horns on top of his head. Add any other bizarre stuff that you can think of. Done? Now flush that entire image out of your brain. Let me introduce you to a DJ who's married. Nothing wrong with that, is there? How about a DJ who doesn't drink? Now that's a little hard to believe. What if this DJ went all over the world dispelling myths about the entire DJ culture? Okay, that's it. Who let this guy into RS??
Wait! If you find my descriptions hard to believe, then you should meet DJ Eddie Stats - who, well, doesn't really look like a DJ...until you hear his music. This is one person who has none of the traits typically associated with the folks of his business.
The bio:
Born in 1973, Eddie grew up in Detroit (also home to Eminem) and began DJing seriously in his sophomore year at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. Five years of a weekly radio mix-show led to club gigs under the name DJ Static. He later shortened his name to 'Stats'.
Till date, he has performed at a number of prestigious events (like the Levi's after-party for the Video Music Awards) and his busy schedule at some of New York's largest clubs has 
earned him the reputation of being able to bring diverse sounds to the mix. 'DJing isn't only about keeping things smooth and the party going: its also about bringing in new sounds,' he says. Married to an Indian, he has also earned special recognition for his success in breaking international sounds like Bhangra, Bollywood and Reggaeton.
A contributing editor to Fader and Trace magazines, his interviews with artists like Sean Paul have helped bring the dancehall genre and its artists into the limelight. His musical knowledge has also earned him a regular place in many different forums.
What's he doing here??
He was in town recently, on invitation of the U.S. State Dept. as a representative of the American DJ culture. Many people all over the world have misconceptions about the music business in America, he says. And the way American culture is exported, through movies, music videos and MTV doesn't really help in improving that picture.
This is where Eddie comes in he has been to different countries as an ambassador for DJs, dispelling myths and misconceptions that lead youngsters to believe that the music business is all about drugs and dancing and has no place for honest, hard work. He recalls his recent trip to Armenia where he found that teenagers had a distorted idea of what the entire American culture is like. They had lots of questions, he says.
The thing about DJ Stats is that he likes to answer those questions. He hopes that wherever he goes, his interactions with young people will give them an insight into what DJs 
really do. It was in Armenia where he was invited to come to Dhaka. Stats says that he really enjoyed the city and finds it a colorful and lively place.
He performed at BRAC University last Wednesday. Another performance at NSU got cancelled because of the hartal but he did manage to visit several private universities as well as St. Joseph School, where he participated in a question answer session with the students. During his stay he also met up with the leading DJs and musicians of the country.
In conclusion
We all have a fixed notion about DJs their entire lifestyle on the fast lane, how all they ever do is just party around.
No wonder so many teens want to become one nowadays DJing for a living is no longer frowned upon, not even in our country (at least not as much as it was). More often than not, we tend to underestimate the amount of effort and creativity that goes into making that one successful mix. After all, it's not that easy making people want to throw themselves unto the dance floor. Hopefully, Eddie Stats visit will help some people realize that.
Man attempts to photograph the whole planet
doiop.com/PhotoEarth
A man is slowly photographing every part of the earth, while travelling. He has come a long way. A more personal approach than Google earth, I say. Will he ever succeed?
All the earth's lights at night
doiop.com/EarthNight
This is an awesome high-res (2400x1200) composite photo of the earth at night, showing all the cities illuminated. Very cool. Link points to a big jpg file. Use a download accelerator.
Optical Illusions
scientificpsychic.com/graphics
This site over here has some of the craziest optical illusions ever conceived. After this, head over to illusionsetc.blogspot.com, which is a blog dedicated to optical illusions. Cool stuff. More at doiop.com/illusions2
Coolest USB gadget ever!
doiop.com/USBdarts
USB Darts that you can control the aim and firing mechanism from your computer mouse when hooked to your standard USB port. Is this the coolest gadget ever or what? Too bad it missed the USB gadgets article. (If you liked the article, you might want to check out everythingusb.com, which is a blog about you guessed it USB gadgets and peripherals.
SoundTransmit
soundtransit.nl
This collaborative centre dedicated to field recording and phonography features a huge collection of far-out sounds. Clicking around the catalogue at random, you can find percussive chants from a Hindu ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, lively strumming from street buskers in Berlin, some deeply unsettling bomb concussions from the invasion of Baghdad. With the transit map, you can sample sounds by geography, and there's even a nifty travel feature that encourages you to book "sonic journeys" from one country to another. So tune in and turn on.
Fly through the clouds in your browser
doiop.com/FlySky
Just a must see! It's beautiful. You can control the speed and angle of the fly.
What if Fox News had been around Through History?
doiop.com/Foxy
An interesting look at how the 'fair and balanced' folks at Fox news may have represented a few historical details a little differently... worth a look and. Hilarious? Scary? Find out for yourself.
What Was The Most Expensive Internet Domain Name?
doiop.com/ExpensiveDomain
It was finally sold at $7.5 million. Any guesses? Check it out.
Ctrl+Alt+Del: The animated series
cad-animation.com
This is big news for the fans of the popular web comic. Ctrl+Alt+Del is getting its own animated series. A trailer is available in it's official site at cad-animation.com/QT_medium.php. The first episode will debut in February. But it will cost $2.99 per 4-5 minute episode, so that he can pay the professional animation studio and voice actors who make this happen. The comics will continue as normal. Don't know about Ctrl+Alt+Del? You're missing out. Check out cad-comic.com
Top 10 Bush Quotes
doiop.com/Bushisms
These are the 10 most curious things said by President Bush. (Some are pretty funny). Least you forget about his heightened state of intelligence… More at doiop.com/MrBush
Gallery of Bizarre Street Signs
swanksigns.org
Webpage that Solves Calculus Problems for You.
Are you stuck in the middle of calculus homework? Are you deeply worried about your graded homework for your calculus class? Here's an easy to way to check answer & solve calculus problems. (Both Differentiation and Integration!)
Http://www.hostsrv.com/webmab/app1/MSP/quickmath/02/pageGenerate?site=quickmath&s1=calculus&s2=differentiate&s3=basic
Beyond the Petabyte
Http://guymal.com/techCorner/powers.shtml
Cool site detailing all the byte sizes from one bit through the yottabyte.
