Express yourself… through Express UNO! By Prachi Mane

If you’ve seen the denizens of the third floor seated in a circle, shaking with laugh-ter, you’ve probably caught a glimpse of their post-lunch Express UNO game! Those who have experienced the fun will surely vouch for the enthusiasm brought on by a simple game of Express-UNO, our own modified version of regular UNO.

We even have an Express UNO Manifesto of rules and Player Profiles for the regular attendees (these are available on request!)! Some players have now mas-tered the art of explaining the rules to novices. The scheming, planning and con-spiracy involved in the game, together with the luck factor totally refreshes your mind to get on with your work for the rest of the day.

Did You Know By Vir Amar Dasmahapatra

Cigarettes aren’t just bad for our lungs, they take a toll on mental health too. Recently, scientists from the University of Navarra, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the Harvard School of Public Health set out to determine the relationship between tobacco use and depression. They tracked 8,556 subjects during the course of the study and found that the risk of suffering depres-sion increases a whopping 41 percent in smokers, in comparison with non-smokers.

somras Your Monday morning cuppa HFI buzz! Mumbai, 28 APR 2008

Image of the Week

While taking a break from UTs, Sudhir takes a little time to shop for olives, one of his favorite foods. Apparently, Ku-wait has a cornucopia of options for the olive aficionado – different sizes, colors, flavors, preservation methods and what have you!

somras Your Monday morning cuppa HFI buzz! Mumbai, 28 APR 2008

To contribute news stories or for feedback / comments… Contact: somras@humanfactors.com

Mobile Musings... By Rameshwar Soni

Driving to Pune was so easy with the help of Google Maps on my cell phone. Being a ‘not-so-good’ navigator, I downloaded the new Google Maps application for mobiles, just to be careful.

I started Google Maps when I hit the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road, and that’s where the fun began! With its 'My Location' feature, it told me where I was at any point of time. I knew exactly which turns to take, and where the expressway started and ended. The result was I reached Pune without stopping to ask for directions even once :). You will NEVER get lost again with Google maps on your mobile. The ‘My Location’ feature even works on handsets/ systems that are not GPS enabled. On push-ing a button, (in most handsets "0") you will know where you are on the map. It refreshes itself and works with GPRS activated on your cell phone.

Foodie Watch... By Vir Amar Dasmahapatra

If you like Chinese food, you have GOT to try China Gate, one of Ban-dra’s most popular restaurants.

Located on Waterfield Road, the res-taurant is packed with people who just keep going back for more. One of the

best things about it is the range of dishes that balances veg and non-veg items. Burnt Garlic Pot Rice with Bud-dha’s delight (mixed veggies in an aromatic sauce) is one of my favorite combos. Popular non-veg dishes in-clude bacon wrapped prawns, double cooked chicken, dim-sums and lots more! For the sweet toothed ones, I recommend the honey noodles served with of vanilla ice-cream!

Learn more about China Gate on www.burrp.com

Somras is delighted to announce its first ever photography contest… Snap!

Seeing the enthusiasm with which people have been contributing images for Somras, we felt it would be great to let the shutterbugs battle for supremacy with their cameras. There is so much talent in this office, the Snap! contest will be a great way to give it more visibility.

The objective of the contest is to take candid pictures of anything around the office. People, objects, situations…anything at all. It is important that the subjects of the pictures are NOT artificially set up. We’re looking for natural expressions, poses etc.

Contestants can submit a maximum of 10 pictures taken between April 28 to May 2, 2008. All pictures should be black and white and submitted in jpeg format. The deadline for submissions is May 7, 2008. The contest is limited to a total of 7 participants accepted is on a first-come-first-serve basis. If you would like to register or want a copy of the official rules, write to us at somras@humanfactors.com immediately.

The Somras committee will announce the winner within 10 days of receiving the images. Winning images will be printed for display in the office and the winning photographers will receive exciting prizes!