The worm turns

Mobile menace

As if protecting your PC from the constant onslaught of computer viruses was not enough. The latest technological menace happens to be a worm which infects — hold it — your mobile phone! Known as Cabir, the worm is programmed to infect phones running on the Symbian operating system. Every time an infected phone is switched on, the worm launches itself and makes its presence felt by spelling out “Caribe” on the screen. Besides, it scans a radius of 30m for other phones it can infect, and promptly sends a copy of itself to any it can find. The good news, however, is the advent of the worm is preceded by a warning message. Anti-virus experts claim the worm is not malicious, but paves the way for more of its kind to follow. Imagine waking up one morning to find your address book cleared...

Divine drumbeats

It’s pipped calypso to the top spot on popularity charts in Trinidad and Tobago. And when they belt out the numbers, it’s like a whiff of moist Indian earth. Chutney music, brought to the Caribbean over a hundred years ago by indentured labourers from India, is currently the rage there. It’s a mish-mash of different musical trends — funky dholak beats and a liberal sprinkling of Bihari folk tunes topped with just a dash of calypso. At times, even film music and devotional tunes find their way into the chutney gharana. For many on the island — over one-third of its population is of Indian origin — the tunes are the only means of connecting with a homeland they have never seen. Many don’t even understand the lyrics, but it doesn’t stop them from singing along. The popularity is now making waves in India. Rikki Jai, a Trinidadian chutney singer, hit the capital music scene this year with his repertoire of hits.

Here’s one on the hidden virtues of bikinis. Halle Berry uses it to not only look sexy, but also to keep a tab on her weight. Every few months, she tries on her favourite orange bikini from the Bond flick to check if she’s put on any. May she never grow out of it.

Gettin’ jiggy with the Jag

Automobile engineering students at Wrexham in Wales have a new plaything to look forward to. A £30,000, V6 Jaguar will soon be at their disposal for frequent dressing down and re-assembling. This is to give entrants an insight into automotive electronics. As for a test drive, officials have slammed the brakes early. There’s no driving this Jag crazy, they say.

A work of wonder

The Ring rules

It’s official: Middle Earth reigns supreme in the UK. In a poll conducted by the BBC series The Big Read, J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings received a whopping three quarter of a million votes to be declared the UK’s best-loved book. In the process, the novel — which narrates the adventures of Frodo Baggins and his friends against the dark powers in Middle Earth — surged ahead of some of its highly esteemed competitors like Pride and Prejudice (second), To Kill a Mockingbird (sixth), Nineteen Eighty-Four (eighth), The Catcher in the Rye (15th) and Great Expectations (17th) in the Top 21 rankings. Now, didn’t someone say there was a child in every one of us?

AWARD OF THE WEEK

Goes to 27-year-old Nilanjan Neil Lahiri, whose film Focus — based on the emotional journey of a rape victim — won the silver award in the 31st Annual Student Academy Awards, given away recently by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.