Yellow Screen of Death

Any Microsoft Windows user would have definitely seen his computer crashing with a blue screen containing a cryptic error message as above. Such a screen has been termed as Screens of Death, as they indicate some serious problem in the Hardware/Software. Rebooting the system may restore to normalcy. But, even after rebooting, if the problem persists, the only solution is to reinstall the Operating System or fix the hardware.

Later, the Screens of Death were not only referred to the Operating Systems, but also to the applications being used. While browsing some websites, we would see a small, yellow triangle popping at the right bottom of the Status Bar in Internet Explorer (from Microsoft :-)). This is called as the Yellow Triangle of Death and it indicates a JavaScript error (Website developers would know the real pain of fixing such errors). When I view my blog, I get this error and didn't know to fix it.

Two days back, one of my colleagues asked me to check whether the salary has been credited or not. So, I visited the Axis Bank site and soon after clicking the Login button, I was taken to the below page. I was a bit shocked to see the URL pointing to localhost. This is called as the Yellow Screen of Death (unhandled errors in ASP.NET web applications). The next day, I checked the site and it was fixed. I am sure the entire maintenance team would have been taken to task.

I had a similar experience when Hutch was officially rebranded as Vodafone. Unfortunately, I didn't blog then and didn't take a screenshot.

12 Angry Men

A few weeks back, one of my cousins told me to watch 12 Angry Men. I hadn't heard of this movie and I totally forgot. Yesterday, my brother had watched this movie and asked me to watch it. He said the whole movie was shot in a single room. I got curious and today, I googled and downloaded the movie(Thanks! to Rapidshare).

This movie released in 1957 is about a jury of 12 men [only men, no women in the movie too :-( ], whose verdict will decide the future of a boy who has been accused of murdering his father. The judge requests the jury to provide a unanimous verdict(all 12 men should give the same vote). If the jury gives a guilty verdict then the boy will be given a mandatory death sentence (the electric chair).

The 12 men leave the courtroom and assemble inside the jury room where they are locked on an extremely hot day with a fan that isn’t working. An initial vote is taken and the 11 jurors vote guilty. The Protagonist, Henry Fonda votes not guilty and tries to convince the rest of them. The movie becomes very interesting when all the jurors gradually join him and vote not guilty. Only one of the jurors remains adamant and votes guilty. And finally the last juror after a long confrontation breaks down after glancing at and furiously tearing up a picture of him and his son. It is understood that this juror has not seen his son in two years, and his rage had made him to vote guilty. The final vote is unanimous for acquittal. All jurors leave and the defendant is found not guilty off-screen.

It seems the filming was completed after a short but rigorous rehearsal schedule in less than three weeks on a budget of about $350,000. Though the movie is not a suspense thriller, it needs appreciation for holding all the audience in a single room for 96 minutes.