Buzz On The Net

Nuclear subs collide in Atlantic

2009-02-16T05:42:00.000-08:00

A Royal Navy nuclear submarine was involved in a collision with a French nuclear sub in the middle of the Atlantic, the MoD has confirmed.

HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant were badly damaged in the crash in heavy seas earlier this month.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Jonathon Band said the submarines came into contact at low speed and no injuries were reported.

Both the UK and France insisted nuclear security had not been compromised.

BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt said the incident was "incredibly embarrassing" for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

She said HMS Vanguard, with "very visible dents and scrapes", had to be towed back into its home base at Faslane on the Firth of Clyde.

The submarines are equipped with sonar to detect other vessels nearby but our correspondent said it might the case that the anti-sonar devices, meant to hide the submarines from enemies, were "too effective".

"This is clearly a one-in-a-million chance when you think about how big the Atlantic is," she said.

via

Space crash called "catastrophic," lots of debris

2009-02-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

The crash of two satellites has generated an estimated tens of thousands of pieces of space junk that could circle Earth and threaten other satellites for the next 10,000 years, space experts said Friday.

One called the collision "a catastrophic event" that he hoped would force the new U.S. administration to address the issue of debris in space.

Russian Mission Control chief Vladimir Solovyov said Tuesday's smashup of a derelict Russian military satellite and a working U.S. Iridium commercial satellite occurred in the busiest part of near-Earth space — some 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth.

"800 kilometers is a very popular orbit which is used by Earth-tracking and communications satellites," Solovyov told reporters Friday. "The clouds of debris pose a serious danger to them."

Solovyov said debris from the collision could stay in orbit for up to 10,000 years and even tiny fragments threaten spacecraft because both travel at such a high orbiting speed.

James Oberg, a NASA veteran who is now space consultant, described the crash over northern Siberia as "catastrophic event." NASA said it was the first-ever high-speed impact between two intact spacecraft — with the Iridium craft weighing 1,235 pounds (560 kilograms) and the Russian craft nearly a ton.

"At physical contact at orbital speeds, a hypersonic shock wave bursts outwards through the structures," Oberg said in e-mailed comments. "It literally shreds the material into confetti and detonates any fuels."

Most fragments are concentrated near the collision course, but Maj.-Gen. Alexander Yakushin, chief of staff of the Russian military's Space Forces, said some debris was thrown into other orbits, ranging from 300 to 800 miles (500-1,300 kilometers) above Earth.

David Wright at the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security said the collision had possibly generated tens of thousands of particles larger than 1 centimeter (half an inch), any of which could significantly damage or even destroy a satellite.

Wright, in a posting on the group's Web site, said the two large debris clouds from Tuesday's crash will spread over time, forming a shell around Earth. He likened the debris to "a shotgun blast that threatens other satellites in the region."

Meanwhile, there's no global air traffic control system that tracks the position of all satellites.

The U.S. military tracks some 17,000 pieces of space debris larger than 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters), along with some 900 active satellites. But its main job is protecting the international space station and other manned spacecraft, and it lacks the resources to warn all satellite operators of every possible close call.

"With the amount of spacecraft and debris in orbit, the probability of collisions is going up more rapidly," said John Higginbotham, chief executive of Integral Systems Inc., a Lanham, Maryland-based company that runs ground support systems for satellites.

Oberg said the limited accuracy of tracking data and computer calculations makes it impossible to predict collisions, only their probability. He said most satellites also have little fuel to escape what most likely would be a false alarm.

"The collision offers a literally heaven-sent opportunity for the Obama administration to take forceful, visible and long-overdo measures to address a long-ignored issue of 'space debris,'" Oberg said.

In January 2007, China destroyed one of its own defunct satellites with a ballistic missile at an altitude close to that of Tuesday's collision, creating thousands of pieces of debris which threatened other spacecraft.

Both NASA and Russia's Roscosmos agencies said there was little risk to the international space station, which orbits 230 miles (370 kilometers) above Earth, far below the collision point. An unmanned Russian cargo ship docked smoothly Friday at the station, delivering water, food, fuel, oxygen and other supplies as well as a new Russian spacesuit for space walks.

American astronauts Michael Fincke and Sandra Magnus are aboard the station along with Russian Yuri Lonchakov. The crew size will be doubled to six members later this year.

AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson in New York and AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

via

Google Users Get Bogus Warning On Site Searches

2009-01-31T22:33:00.000-08:00

Computer users doing Google searches during a nearly one-hour period Saturday morning were greeted with disturbing but erroneous messages that every site turned up in the results might be harmful.

The company blamed the mistake on human error and apologized for any inconvenience caused to users and site owners whose pages were incorrectly labeled.

The glitch occurred between 9:30 a.m. EST and 10:25 a.m. EST, Google Inc. said in an explanation on its company blog. Anyone who did a Google search during that time likely saw the message "This site may harm your computer" accompanying every search result, the company said.

Google said it routinely flags any search results with that message if the site is known to install malicious software in the background or otherwise surreptitiously, a practice aimed at protecting its users. Google said it maintains a list of suspicious sites based on criteria developed with StopBadware.org, a nonprofit project headed by legal scholars at Harvard and Oxford universities who research consumer complaints.

Saturday's error happened when Google erroneously applied one of its periodic list updates in such a way that the warning would apply to all URLs, the company said in a statement.

The glitch was caught by on-call staff and the file was quickly fixed, Google said. Since the updates are applied in a staggered and rolling fashion, the errors began appearing at 9:27 a.m. EST and disappeared no later than 10:25 a.m. EST, with the duration for any particular user approximately 40 minutes, it said.

"We will carefully investigate this incident and put more robust file checks in to prevent it from happening again," said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience, in the statement.

via

Indian govt. comes up with Rs 500($10) laptop

2009-01-31T00:17:00.000-08:00

Indian govt. comes up with Rs 500 laptop. When three days from now Indian Minister for Human Resources Development Arjun Singh launches National Mission on Education through Information and Communication in the holy city of Tirupati it will write a new chapter in India’s quest for entering technology age.

National Mission on Education through Information and Communication is probably India’s ruling alliance United Progressive Alliance’s most ambitious plan in its five year tenure. Its decision to make available Rs 500 laptop to students and educational institutions is simply unbelievable.

The government has decided to produce rupees five hundred laptop on mass scale that has been developed by several top technical institutions in the country including Indian Institute of Technology Chennai as Vellore Institute of Technology besides a few other institutions.

As a rebuff to MIT's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, the $10 laptop from National Mission on Education will be introduced. The basic mindset behind the introduction of the low-cost gadget is to extend computer infrastructure and connectivity to over 18,000 colleges in the country.

Apart from questioning the technology of $100 laptops, the main reason for HRD ministry's resistance to MIT's Nicholas Negroponte's OLPC project was the high and the hidden cost that worked out to be $200, report The Economic Times. The ministry has entered into an agreement with four publishers, Macmillan, Tata McGraw Hill, Prentice-Hall and Vikas Publishing to upload their textbooks on 'Sakshat', a government online portal. With an 11th plan outlay of Rs.4,612 crore, the government would give Rs.2.5 lakh per institution for 10 Kbps connection and subsidize 25 percent of costs for private and state government colleges.

Google GDrive : Desktop Killer ?

2009-01-26T03:46:00.000-08:00

Rumors as it that mighty Google is planing a service called "GDrive", which could very end the era of Desktop PC.

GDrive service would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection which could mean the end of desktop computers that rely on hard-drives. The service would require users to put their personal files on Google's own server which can be accessed via internet.

According to report published on Guardian,

The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as "the most anticipated Google product so far". It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world's computers, in favour of "cloud computing", where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres.

Google refused to confirm the GDrive, but acknowledged the growing demand for cloud computing. Dave Armstrong, head of product and marketing for Google Enterprise, said: "There's a clear direction ... away from people thinking, 'This is my PC, this is my hard drive,' to 'This is how I interact with information, this is how I interact with the web.'"

Buzz Video

2008-08-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

How to Keep Your Job in Hard Times

2008-08-05T10:56:00.001-07:00

Don't let the economy push you to the land of rolled-back prices. Avoid a Wal-mart cashier job by following these clever suggestions.

read more | digg story

24 Ways to Achieve a Deep, Uninterrupted Sleep

2008-01-26T06:16:00.001-08:00

*#23* Spend 10 minutes journaling the day's events or feelings after tucking yourself into bed. This "data dump" will help turn off the repeating tape of our day that often plays in our minds, keeping us from falling asleep.

read more | digg story

Marion Jones pleads guilty, admits lying about steroids

2007-10-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

Marion Jones, also known as Marion Jones-Thompson (born October 12, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is a former American athlete in track and field. She was the winner of five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She holds dual citizenship from the USA and Belize (her mother's home country). Jones is a 1997 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In October of 2007 Jones admitted to having taken steroids before the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics. This may result in the loss of her three gold and two bronze 2000 Olympic medals. On October 5, 2007, she pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators in the BALCO steroid investigation in the U.S. District Court. She announced her retirement the same day.

Russia tests superstrength bomb: military

2007-10-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Russia has tested the world's most powerful vacuum bomb, which unleashes a destructive shockwave with the power of a nuclear blast, the military said on Tuesday, dubbing it the "father of all bombs".

The bomb is the latest in a series of new Russian weapons and policy moves as President Vladimir Putin tries to reassert Moscow's role on the international stage.

"Test results of the new airborne weapon have shown that its efficiency and power is commensurate with a nuclear weapon," Alexander Rukshin, Russian deputy armed forces chief of staff, told Russia's state ORT First Channel television. The same report was later shown on the state-sponsored Vesti channel.

"You will now see it in action, the bomb which has no match in the world is being tested at a military site."

It showed a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber dropping the bomb over a testing ground. A large explosion followed.

Pictures showed what looked like a flattened multi-storey block of flats surrounded by scorched soil and boulders. "The soil looks like a lunar landscape," the report said.

"The defense ministry stresses this military invention does not contradict a single international treaty. Russia is not unleashing a new arms race."

Such devices generally detonate in two stages. First a small blast disperses a main load of explosive material into a cloud, which then either spontaneously ignites in air or is set off by a second charge...

Read full story on Reuters

Indians in UK more British than whites ': Survey

2007-10-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

t's a black and white report -- nine out of ten people of Indian origin are among the Asians and the Blacks who are more British than whites.

Yes, a survey by the United Kingdom government has found that the minorities living in Britain feel stronger ties to the country than whites do.

According to the survey, ninety per cent of people of Indian origin and Bangladeshis feel strongly that they belong to Britain. So do 87 per cent of Pakistani people and 85 per cent of Black Caribbeans.

But only 84 per cent of whites said the same, that is around one in six white people have only a slender attachment to their own country.

"Britain has a great deal to be proud of. This survey shows our commitment to fairness, fair play and civic duty hold true and we live in a society where the overwhelming majority of people get on well together.

"The fact that so many people feel such a strong connection to Britain is evidence that there remains more uniting us than dividing us," the 'Daily Mail' reported on Friday, quoting British Communities Secretary Hazel Blears as saying.

The survey also found that whites are more likely than those from ethnic minorities to believe that race prejudice and discrimination are getting worse. And they are less likely to think they can influence events as well as decisions in their own neighbourhood.

The survey was conducted among nearly 10,000 people chosen to be representative of the country as a whole, and another 5,000 from ethnic minorities.

via

Nokia battery problem in India & People Reacting to It

2007-08-19T11:05:00.000-07:00

People using Nokia batteries are much in confusion and crowding in front of the Nokia Offices. The product advisory by Nokia issued for 46 million Nokia BL-5C batteries manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd in the batch released during December 2005 to November 2006 gives the warning that the model 6620, 3120, 6682, 2610, 6085, 6030 and 6670 can get overheated on charging and result in short circuit.
According to Nokia company the battery should be looked for the identification number .A battery will have a Nokia and BL -5C printed on it and reverse of it you can get the 26-character battery identification number. The users can either make a call to the company or visit the website of the company to get the information related to their mobile numbers. The number of your mobile if comes under the defective batch list on the website of Nokia; it can be replaced with a new battery provided by the company free of cost.

Read more on techwhack

Chinese-Made Toys Recalled - Mattel

2007-08-19T11:03:00.001-07:00

Details of the latest recall were not immediately available, but one of the three people said the toy is being recalled because its paint may contain excessive amounts of lead. Less than two weeks after Mattel Inc. recalled 1.5 million Chinese-made toys because of lead paint, the toy industry is bracing for another blow.

read more | digg story

Google's Business Referral Representative

2007-08-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

As a Google Business Referral Representative, you'll visit local businesses to collect information (such as hours of operation, types of payment accepted, etc.) for Google Maps, and tell them about Google Maps and Google AdWords. You'll also take a few digital photos of the business that will appear on the Google Maps listing along with the business information. After the visit, you submit the business' info and photo(s) to Google through your Local Business Referrals Center, and we'll pay you up to $10 for each listing that is approved by Google and verified by the business.

Read more on Google Business Referral Representative

Gphone: Google's Latest Play for Global Domination?

2007-08-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

After Apple's iPhone, what about the Googlephone?

The search engine company has been secretly developing prototype mobile phones and testing a host of new software and mobile services, with some estimates putting its investment in the project at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Google is being increasingly open about its desire to crack the market for mobile phones, but speculation still swirls about whether it will develop its own handsets or just work to have its search software pre-installed in other phones. It is also mulling a bid for parts of the radio spectrum in the US, which could turn it into a mobile phone operator in its own right.

MIT Researchers Test More Efficient Engine: Reduces fuel consumption by 25%

2007-08-03T10:50:00.001-07:00

A new version of the internal combustion engine, which could significantly cut gas consumption, might be surprisingly practical and easy to deploy, according to recent findings by researchers at MIT. Tests on a prototype based on the technology, which allows engines to switch between conventional technology and the new gas-saving type of combustion, show that it does not require a special fuel, and engines using the technology can be cheaply made out of conventional auto parts.

The gas-saving technology, called homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI, uses a form of combustion that is much more efficient than conventional spark ignition. Under some conditions, it can reduce fuel consumption by 25 percent, says William Green, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT who was coauthor of the new study. That's very similar to the efficiency of a diesel engine, which also achieves combustion by compression rather than a spark. But unlike diesel engines, HCCI results in a more uniform combustion and is thus much cleaner. A system that combines HCCI with conventional combustion could improve fuel economy by a few miles per gallon on average, Green says.

read more | digg story

Google in Danger from Wikipedia

2007-07-30T10:20:00.001-07:00

Monopoly of google as the largest search engine in the world is under severe threat by the plan of Wikipedia to launch community based search engine.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said on Friday he is putting the building blocks in place for a community-developed Web search service that would rival search engines such as Google or Yahoo.

read more | digg story

Is this the new iMac keyboard? (Possible Leaked Photos)

2007-07-27T09:35:00.001-07:00

That's the rumored, "super slim," brushed aluminum keyboard said to be accompanying Apple's new iMac computer. A forum jockey over at the Rhapsody Apple forum in Hong Kong will sell you the keyboard (s/he has more than one) for 1,200 of the local stuff or about $153.40.

read more | digg story

Microsoft to provide advertising for Digg

2007-07-27T08:53:00.001-07:00

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it reached an agreement to be the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising on Digg.com, a Web site that lets readers recommend articles to others.Microsoft replaces Google Inc. as Digg's provider of display ads, boosting the world's largest software maker's efforts to gain a stronger footing in the growing online advertising market.

read more | digg story

Top 10 GMail Tweaks

2007-07-25T10:42:00.001-07:00

Here are the 10 most impressive GMail plugins and tweaks. There's plenty more to choose from but these in particular will make your life easier and enhance your GMail experience.

read more | digg story

10 Ways to Become a Self-Taught Master

2007-07-25T10:41:00.001-07:00

Whether you've gone to college or not, you can learn just about anything these days on your own. Want to learn about the classics? Carpentry and home maintenance? Philosophy or cooking? Chess or computer programming? It's all online, and with a little bit of excitement, you can motivate yourself to learn a subject in a growing number of ways.

read more | digg story

Are ISPs modifying your web pages?

2007-07-25T10:39:00.001-07:00

Last month we learned that some ISPs are inserting ads into web pages requested by their end users. Have you wondered how often this is happening, and whether it's happened to you? This web site is designed by the University of Washington and ICSI to answer these questions. Visit it to see if your ISP is modifying your web pages in flight!

read more | digg story

Burj Dubai - Tallest Man-Made Structure

2007-07-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Burj Dubai is a supertall skyscraper currently under construction in the "New Downtown" of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Although not yet complete, it is currently the tallest high-rise building in the world. Upon its completion, it will be the tallest man-made structure, of any kind, in the world by a wide margin. Projected to be completed and occupied by 2009, the building is part of a huge development located at the "First Interchange" (aka "Defense round-about") along Sheikh Zayed Road at Doha Street. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM) of Chicago is the lead architect, structural engineer and mechanical engineer of the Burj. George Efstathiou of SOM is the Managing Partner on the project, while Adrian Smith, formerly of SOM, was the Design Partner. Third Party Peer Review has been performed by CBM Engineers Inc..

As of July 21, 2007, the tower's height is reported by its developers to be 512.1 metres (1,680.1 feet), totaling 141 completed floors, indicating that the Burj Dubai has surpassed Taipei 101 (509 m (1,670 ft)) becoming the tallest high-rise building in the world.

The Projected Final Height of the Burj Dubai is officially being kept a secret due to competition; however, figures released by a contractor on the project have suggested a height of around 808 m (2,651 ft). Based on this height, the total number of habitable floors is expected to be around 162. However, on the project's official website, an interior graphic of an elevator panel shows not know the origin of that figure, and confirmed only that the height would be greater than 200 m (656 ft). When pressed for a more precise figure, he merely repeated that he was able only to guarantee that the final height would be higher than 700 m (2,297 ft), and it would be the world's tallest free-standing structure when completed. In fact, at more than 700 m (2,297 ft) the Burj Dubai would be the tallest land-based structure of any kind to have ever been built.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Review

2007-07-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

So, here it is at last: The final confrontation between Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, the "symbol of hope" for both the Wizard and Muggle worlds, and Lord Voldemort, He Who Must Not Be Named, the nefarious leader of the Death Eaters and would-be ruler of all. Good versus Evil. Love versus Hate. The Seeker versus the Dark Lord.

Read Full Review Here
New York Times

What Harry Potter And Deathly Hallow Spoiler Claims To Reveal
(No Spoiler In This Post)

Following is the link which have posted Harry Potter 7 (Deathly Hallow) Spoiler. I am not sure if it is true or not, so recommend die hard Harry Potter fan to stay away from this.

Harry Potter 7 Spoiler

This spoiler claims to reveals following questions. With all that rumor going on the net these could be true.

Why did snape kill Dumbledore?
What notable cameos are there?
Who has the sword of Godoric Gryffindor?
What are the horcruxes in this story?
How does the book end?
What happens to Harry Potter ? Does Harry Potter Die ?
Is snape evil?
What are the deathly hallows
Who dies in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ?

J.K. Rowling's Live Reading from 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'

Bloomsbury Publishing announced that Harry Potter fans will be able to watch J.K. Rowling read from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in a live webstream from the Natural History Museum in London at the precise moment it is published - 12.01am British Standard Time on Saturday, July 21st, 2007.

Ten years after publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone the publication of this, the final book in the series, returns to where it all began: with a book, the author and her readers.

The Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows launch event is completely oversubscribed and no further tickets will be issued but Bloomsbury encourages fans to log on to the webstream to join in the experience. The streaming will be available for a further two weeks on Bloomsbury's website.

Digitized New Harry Potter Book Leaked Online

2007-07-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

Days before its release, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the anticipated final novel in J.K. Rowling's series, has appeared on file-sharing networks and some websites in the form of digital photographs taken of the book's more than 700 pages.

View Full Story On "dmwmedia.com"

Harry Potter Ending Leaks and Spoiler

2007-07-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, scans of the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows started popping up online. Apparently, one could also download a torrent that contained .jpg photographs of the entire book. This led to the sprouting up of spoilers everywhere including detailed answers to looming questions about deaths and horcruxes. To ruin the book.....

See full story on "The Movie Blog"

To answer your questions

who dies in last harry potter ?
harry potter spoiler dies ?
harry potter ending leak ?
how does harry potter die ?

visit this spoiler link

Harry Potter 7 Spoiler

This spoiler claims to reveals following questions. With all that rumor going on the net these could be true.

Why did snape kill Dumbledore?
What notable cameos are there?
Who has the sword of Godoric Gryffindor?
What are the horcruxes in this story?
How does the book end?
What happens to Harry Potter ? Does Harry Potter Die ?
Is snape evil?
What are the deathly hallows
Who dies in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ?

Oscar Pistorius - "Worlds Fastest Man On No Legs"

2007-07-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

Double-Amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius "World's Fastest Man On No Legs", who races on carbon fiber blades attached below his knees, prepares to race in able-bodied sprint for the first time, due to take place in Rome on Friday(July 13th, 2007).

But the focus of this race will be more on "how he races" rather than who crosses the finish line first.

Scientists working for the world's sports governing body will be analysing Pistorius to see whether his carbon-fibre limbs are giving him an unfair edge that allows him to perform beyond his natural ability. Essentially, they want to know if he's cheating.

And their conclusions could make or break Pistorius's dreams of competing in the Olympics , and set the future boundaries for disabled athletes around the world.

"We have to really verify what is the advantage, or not, of this technological tool that he's using," said Elio Locatelli, who will lead the video analysis in Rome on behalf of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

The IAAF also wants to know whether Pistorius' speed varies like normal athletes, who peak in the race and then grow tired.

"Only when we've done the research and we can prove -- prove strongly -- that he's getting an advantage should we be talking about bans. Until then, innocent until proven guilty." said IAAF spokesman Nick Davies.

Pistorius, 20, was born without either calf bone and was already on prosthetic limbs before he really learned to walk.But learning to run really, really fast came much later, in 2003, after his coach pulled him from rugby after an injury.

Pistorius has a personal best in the 400 metres that is still just shy of the 45.9 seconds he needs to qualify for the Olympics, but he hopes to meet that target this year. The world record stands at 43.18.

In the meantime, he is trying to keep focused on running. On Sunday he will take on world and Olympic 400 metres champion Jeremy Wariner at an IAAF meeting in Sheffield, England.

"I just hope by running against guys who are faster than me it will push me to run quicker times as well," he said.

The following are three time comparisons between Pistorius' times and the Olympic winning times over the same distance:

400m
44.00 - 2004 Olympic gold (men)
46.56 - Pistorius
47.8 - 1928 Olympic gold (men)
49.41 - 2004 Olympic gold (women)

200m
19.79 - 2004 Olympic gold (men)
21.58 - Pistorius - (April 5, 2007)
22.0 - 1920 Olympic gold (men)
22.05 - 2004 Olympic gold (women)

100m
9.85 - 2004 Olympic gold (men)
10.91 - Pistorius - (April 4, 2007)
10.93 - 2004 Olympic gold (women)
11.2 - 1906 Olympic gold (men)

P.S. : If you have time please vote on poll "Should Oscar Pistorius Be Allowed To Compete With Able-Bodied Athletes?" (on right column of this blog)

New Seven Wonders Of The World - Winners

2007-07-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

Date 7-7-7(7th July 2007) : Ladies and Gents the winners of "New Seven Wonders Of The World Are "

1.The Taj Mahal Agra, India.

The Taj Mahal (sometimes called "the Taj") is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar part of the monument, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 when it was described as a "universally admired masterpiece of the world's heritage.

2. Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Christ the Redeemer is a large Art Deco-style statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The statue stands 32 m (105 feet) tall, weighs 1000 tons and is located at the peak of the 710-m (2330-foot) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park, overlooking the city.
As well as being a potent symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of the city.

3. The Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is a giant amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It was built on a site just east of the Roman Forum, with construction starting between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian. The amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire, was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign.

4. Great Wall Of China, China

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC, the most famous being the one built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. That wall was much further north than the current wall, built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains.

The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. This is the only man made structure visible from space.

5. Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico.

Chichen Itza (from Yucatec Maya chich'en itza', "At the mouth of the well of the Itza") is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site, an ancient city built by the Maya civilization, located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, present-day Mexico.Chich'en Itza was a major regional center in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles.

6. Petra, Jordan

Petra is an archaeological site in Jordan, lying in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is famous for having many stone structures carved into the rock. The long-hidden site was revealed to the Western world by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812. It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate prize-winning sonnet by John William Burgon. Burgon had not actually visited Petra, which remained accessible only to Europeans accompanied by local guides with armed escorts, until after World War I.

7. Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Perú

Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian city created by the Inca. It is located at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) on a mountain ridge. Machu Picchu is located above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, about 70 km (44 mi) northwest of Cusco. Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, although not by locals, it was brought back to international attention by archaeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911, who made the first scientific confirmation of the site and wrote a best-selling work about it. Peru is pursuing legal efforts to retrieve thousands of artifacts that Bingham removed from the site.

Other than these 7 Pyramids Of Giza, Egypt will retain its title of wonder.. beeing the only surviving wonder of ancients time(Not sure will they call it 8th wonder or what)

Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (Already Selected)

The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located some eight kilometres (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 kilometres (12.5 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre.

This Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre , and the relatively modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure , along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids, and most noticeably the Great Sphinx. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Associated with these royal monuments are the tombs of high officials and much later burials and monuments (from the New Kingdom onwards), signifying the reverence to those buried in the necropolis.

List Of All 21 Finalists

New 7 Wonders Of The World - Finalists

2007-07-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

The "New Open World Foundation" will announce New Seven Wonders of the World election on 7-7-7 (i.e 7/7/2007) . The winners will replace "Old Seven Wonders Of The World" , of which only the Great Pyramid of Giza still exist(Which is assured of the place in new 7 wonders). The Contestants for "New Seven Wonders Of The World Are " (Low resolution images for faster download)

Winners Declared - Click Here To See The Winners

1.The Taj Mahal Agra, India.

The Taj Mahal (sometimes called "the Taj") is generally considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements of Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar part of the monument, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 when it was described as a "universally admired masterpiece of the world's heritage.

2. The Acropolis of Athens, Greece.

The Acropolis of Athens is the best known acropolis (high city, The "Sacred Rock") in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on the 26th of March, 2007. The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock which rises 150 m (512 ft) above sea level in the city of Athens. It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Kekrops or Cecrops, the first Athenian king.

3. The Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

The Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of Granada, in southern Spain (known as Al-Andalus when the fortress was constructed), occupying a hilly terrace on the south-eastern border of the city of Granada. It was the residence of the Muslim kings of Granada and their court, but is currently a museum exhibiting exquisite Islamic architecture. A Renaissance palace was also inserted by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

4. The Temple Of Angkor Wat In Cambodia.

Angkor Wat (or Angkor Vat) is a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built for King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century as his state temple and capital city. The largest and best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained since its foundation as a significant religious centre — first Hindu, dedicated to Vishnu, then Buddhist. The temple is the epitome of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

5. Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico.

Chichen Itza (from Yucatec Maya chich'en itza', "At the mouth of the well of the Itza") is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site, an ancient city built by the Maya civilization, located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, present-day Mexico.Chich'en Itza was a major regional center in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles.

6. Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Christ the Redeemer is a large Art Deco-style statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The statue stands 32 m (105 feet) tall, weighs 1000 tons and is located at the peak of the 710-m (2330-foot) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park, overlooking the city.
As well as being a potent symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of the city.

7. The Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

The Colosseum or Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is a giant amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Originally capable of seating around 50,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. It was built on a site just east of the Roman Forum, with construction starting between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian. The amphitheatre, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire, was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign.

8. Easter Island Moais, Easter Island, Chile

Moai are statues carved from compressed volcanic ash on Rapa Nui, Easter Island, Chile. The statues are all monolithic, that is, carved in one piece. The largest moai erected, "Paro", was almost 10 metres (33 feet) high and weighed 75 tonnes (74 Imperial tons, 83 American tons).[1] One unfinished sculpture has been found that would have been 21 metres (69 ft) tall and would have weighed about 270 tons.

9. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

The Eiffel Tower is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the River Seine in Paris, France.It is the tallest structure in Paris and one of the most recognized monuments in the world.[1Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, it is the most visited monument in the world; 6,719,200 people visited the tower in 2006[2] and more than 200,000,000 since its construction. Including the 24 m (79 ft) antenna, the structure is 324 m (1,063 ft) high (since 2000), which is equivalent to about 81 levels in a conventional building.

10. Great Wall Of China, China

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC, the most famous being the one built between 220 BC and 200 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. That wall was much further north than the current wall, built during the Ming Dynasty, and little of it remains.

The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass. This is the only man made structure visible from space.

11. Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey

Hagia Sophia Greek is a former patriarchal basilica and mosque, now a museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

The building was originally constructed as a Church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site (the previous two had both been destroyed by riots). It was designed by two architects, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The Church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 50-foot silver iconostasis. It was the patriarchal church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focus point of the Orthodox Byzantine Empire for nearly 1000 years

12. Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan

Kiyomizu-dera refers to several Buddhist temples but most commonly to Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera in Eastern Kyoto, one of the best known sights of the city. The temple dates back to 798, but the present buildings were constructed in 1633. The temple takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizu literally means pure water or limpid water.

The main hall of Kiyomizu-dera is notable for its vast veranda, supported by hundreds of pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. The expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive jumping from the stage, one's wish would be granted.

13. Saint Basil's Cathedral, Moscow, Russia

The Cathedral of Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat is a multi-tented church on the Red Square in Moscow that also features distinctive onion domes. The cathedral is traditionally perceived as symbolic of the unique position of Russia between Europe and Asia.

The cathedral was commissioned by Ivan IV (also known as Ivan the Terrible) and built between 1555 and 1561 in Moscow to commemorate the capture of the Khanate of Kazan. In 1588 Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had a chapel added on the eastern side above the grave of Basil Fool for Christ (yurodivy Vassily Blazhenny), a Russian Orthodox saint after whom the cathedral was popularly named.

14. Neuschwanstein Castle, Füssen, Germany

Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th century Bavarian castle. Located in Germany, near Hohenschwangau and Füssen in southwest Bavaria, the castle was built by Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner, the King's inspiring muse. It is the most photographed building in Germany, although photography of the interior is not permitted,and is one of Germany's most popular tourist destinations.

15. Statue of Liberty, New York City, United States

Liberty Enlightening the World , known more commonly as the Statue of Liberty , is a large statue that was presented to the United States by France in 1886, standing at Liberty Island, New York in the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor as a welcome to all visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans. The copper-clad statue, dedicated on October 28, 1886, commemorates the centennial of the United States and is a gesture of friendship from France to America. The sculptor was Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, and Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the Eiffel Tower, engineered the internal structure. Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was responsible for the choice of copper in the statue's construction and adoption of the Repoussé technique.

16. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt (Already Selected)

The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located some eight kilometres (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 kilometres (12.5 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre.

This Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre , and the relatively modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure , along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids, and most noticeably the Great Sphinx. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Associated with these royal monuments are the tombs of high officials and much later burials and monuments (from the New Kingdom onwards), signifying the reverence to those buried in the necropolis.

17. Stonehenge, Amesbury, United Kingdom

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. Archaeologists believe the standing stones were erected around 3200 BC and the surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury henge monument, and it is also a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge itself is owned and managed by English Heritage while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.

18. Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia

The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as appointed on 28 June 2007.[1] It is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world. Situated on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, with parkland to its south and close to the equally famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, the building and its surroundings form an iconic Australian image.

19. Petra, Jordan

Petra is an archaeological site in Jordan, lying in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is famous for having many stone structures carved into the rock. The long-hidden site was revealed to the Western world by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812. It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate prize-winning sonnet by John William Burgon. Burgon had not actually visited Petra, which remained accessible only to Europeans accompanied by local guides with armed escorts, until after World War I.

20. Timbuktu, Mali

Timbuktu is a city in Tombouctou Region, Mali. It is home to the prestigious Qur'anic Sankore University and other madrasas, and was an intellectual and spiritual capital and centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahya, recall Timbuktu's golden age. Although continuously restored, these monuments are today under threat from desertification.

21. Machu Picchu, Cuzco, Perú

Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian city created by the Inca. It is located at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) on a mountain ridge. Machu Picchu is located above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, about 70 km (44 mi) northwest of Cusco. Forgotten for centuries by the outside world, although not by locals, it was brought back to international attention by archaeologist Hiram Bingham in 1911, who made the first scientific confirmation of the site and wrote a best-selling work about it. Peru is pursuing legal efforts to retrieve thousands of artifacts that Bingham removed from the site.

[Video] iPhone First Unpacking

2007-06-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Specification Of Apple iPhone

iGot iPhone - iHappy

2007-06-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

If getting latest Apple iPhone make you feel like this .

Then you might be interested in knowing following information.

What's The Hype

iPhone is a soon to be launched state of the art mobile phone created by Apple. iPhone combines an iPod music/video player, a cell phone, and an internet web and email client into one device. iPhone is intended to compete in the "smartphone" market. Two models will be sold for $499 (with 4 GB of storage) or $599 (for 8 GB of storage).

Apple's CEO Steve Jobs has such confidence in the new iPhone that he has said he wants to sell over 10 million of them by 2008. I think he's setting his sights a little low, and project that Apple will sell over 10 million iPhones in less than 6 months. With the following that Apple has, and the fact that this device has been rumored about and anticipated for almost four years now, it shouldn't be too far out of the realm of possiblity.

Technical Specs Of Apple iPhone

iPhone's Dimension
4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches (115 x 61 x 11.6mm)

Weight
4.8 ounces (135 grams)

Camera Resolution
2.0 megapixels

Screen Size
3.5" across the diagonal.

Connectivity
iPhone uses a Dock connector and USB 2.0.

Battery Life
Talk Time Up to 8 hours
Standby Up to 250 hours
Internet Use Up to 6 hours
Video Playback Up to 7 hours
Audio playback Up to 24 hours

Wireless
WiFi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0

Features Of iPhone

Instead of a standard keypad, the iPhone uses a patented Apple technology called "multi-touch".It doesn't use a stylus, has "multi-finger gestures" and claims to ignore unintended touches. Jobs compared it to two other revolutionary Apple UIs - the mouse on the Macintosh and the click wheel on the iPod.
3.5 inch touchscreen with a virtual keyboard.
iPhone runs OS X, Apple's standard operating system; according to Engadget's superb coverage: "It let us create desktop class applications and networking, not the cripled stuff you find on most phones, these are real desktop applications."
Syncs with iTunes: "iTunes is going to sync all your media to your iPhone -- but also a ton of data. Contacts, calendars, photos, notes, bookmarks, email accounts..."
2 megapixel camera built in
Outstanding media features - scroll through your music, widescreen video, album art, built-in speaker...
Sync your iPhone with your PC or Mac (for contacts etc)
Standard phone features - SMS, calendar, photos, etc. With photos there is a motion sensor that rotates photos when you turn the phone.
Visual voicemail
Rich HTML emails - works with any IMAP or POP3 email service. This spells trouble for Blackberry!
The Safari browser runs on iPhone
Google Maps
Widgets that connect to Internet seamlessly (via WiFi and EDGE)
Free "push" IMAP email from Yahoo

Feature Missing On iPhone

No voice dialing on a phone .
No picture messages.
No chat program.
No video.

Vodafone technology enhances web-page viewing

2007-06-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

A key feature of Vodafone’s newly launched Mobile Internet Service is its ability to accurately
render web-pages designed for computers on the much smaller screens of mobile devices.

Vodafone claims that its technology provides a new way of handling content on its network which will make most sites viewable on almost all its handsets.

Customers will therefore be able to comfortably replicate on their handsets everything they normally do on a computer such as sending emails, updating a MySpace profile and buying and selling goods on eBay.

According to Vodafone, it has worked with its suppliers such as Novarra, to develop technology which understands how the web page is put together and repurposes it to display on a mobile.

Vodafone has also worked with sites such as MySpace and YouTube to develop mobile-friendly versions of their content.

Novarra’s technology is able to detect which handset is being used to access the content. Vodafone claims that around 150 models (96% of its handsets) will be able to use the technology because they all have a GPRS radio.

The new process involves compressing the content to just a tenth of its original size, providing lower data usage and higher download speeds. However some Flash sites may still not display as intended.

Microsoft's Surface Computer

2007-06-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

Microsoft have come up with a amazing new coffee table shaped computer. Have a look at following video to see what it can do. It is tooo cool.

Solar-Powered Mobile

2007-06-09T02:55:00.000-07:00

Hi-tech wealth, a well-known telecommunication products supplier in China has claimed to have developed the world's first solar-powered mobile phone that uses sun's energy to recharge itself.

The company says a scale-like solar panel on the top side of the clamshell-designed phone can also be recharged by light from other sources including candles.

It can provide 40 minutes of talk-time after sitting in the Sun for an hour.

Company claimed that the lifespan of the battery in the new phone is 2.5 times longer than that of traditional batteries. The cost of the solar-powered mobile phone was not provided.

The company plans to put six of its light energy mobile phones on the market this year, and another 30 next year, the report said.

WiTricity

2007-06-09T00:11:00.000-07:00

Say goodbye to power cables and plugs.. Wireless power is here.

The possibility of wireless power transfer came much closer this week when a team of scientists at MIT's Department of Physics, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) has experimentally demonstrated an important step toward accomplishing this vision of the future.They named it WiTricity.

The team members are Andre Kurs, Aristeidis Karalis, Robert Moffatt, Prof. Peter Fisher, and Prof. John Joannopoulos (Francis Wright Davis Chair and director of ISN), led by Prof. Marin Soljacic.

Realizing their recent theoretical prediction, they were able to light a 60W light bulb from a power source 7ft (more than two meters) away; there was no physical connection between the source and the appliance. The MIT team refers to its concept as "WiTricity" (as in wireless electricity). The work will be reported in the June 7 issue of Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science.

The experimental setup consisted of two 60cm (2ft) diameter copper coils, a transmitter attached to a power source and a receiver placed 2m (7ft) away and attached to a light bulb.

Researchers measured the energy transfer as 40 per cent efficient across the gap.

Mozilla Firefox Cheat Sheet

2007-05-31T07:11:00.000-07:00

Click on following image to view full image. Image contains the listing of short cut keys which can be used with mozilla firefox.

Making Money With Google-Adsense

2007-05-31T04:07:00.000-07:00

Google AdSense is an ad serving program run by Google. Website or Blog owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image and, more recently, video advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis. Google is also currently beta-testing a cost-per-action based service.

Keep in mind that participation in AdSense requires you to have a website. If you don't have one, you can sign up for a free blog at www.blogger.com or create and publish useful, attractive web pages using Google Page Creator, at pages.google.com.

Many sites use AdSense to monetize their content and some webmasters work hard to maximize their own AdSense income. They do this in three ways:

They use a wide range of traffic generating techniques including but not limited to online advertising.
They build valuable content on their sites which attracts AdSense ads which pay out the most when they get clicked.
They use copy on their websites that encourage clicks on ads. Note that Google prohibits people from using phrases like "Click on my AdSense ads" to increase click rates. Phrases accepted are "Sponsored Links" and "Advertisements".

Signup for your own Google Adsense account .

<script type="text/javascript">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script>

Search Engine Optimization

2007-05-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks," the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As a marketing strategy for increasing a site's relevancy, SEO considers how search algorithms work and what people search for. SEO efforts may involve a site's coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully spidering a site. Other, more noticeable efforts may include adding unique content to a site, and making sure that the content is easily indexed by search engines and also appeals to human visitors.

The acronym "SEO" can also refer to "search engine optimizers," a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into web site development and design. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe web site designs, menus, content management systems and shopping carts that are easy to optimize.

Getting listings

The leading search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, use crawlers to find pages for their algorithmic search results. Pages that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted because they are found automatically. Some search engines, notably Yahoo!, operate a paid submission service that guarantee crawling for either a set fee or cost per click. Such programs usually guarantee inclusion in the database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search results.Yahoo's paid inclusion program has drawn criticism from advertisers and competitors.Two major directories, the Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory Project both require manual submission and human editorial review. Google offers Google Sitemaps, for which an XML type feed can be created and submitted for free to ensure that all pages are found, especially pages that aren't discoverable by automatically following links.

Search engine crawlers may look at a number of different factors when crawling a site. Not every page is indexed by the search engines. Distance of pages from the root directory of a site may also be a factor in whether or not pages get crawled.

Preventing listings

To avoid undesirable search listings, webmasters can instruct spiders not to crawl certain files or directories through the standard robots.txt file in the root directory of the domain. Additionally, a page can be explicitly excluded from a search engine's database by using a meta tag specific to robots. When a search engine visits a site, the robots.txt located in the root directory is the first file crawled. The robots.txt file is then parsed, and will instruct the robot as to which pages are not to be crawled. As a search engine crawler may keep a cached copy of this file, it may on occasion crawl pages a webmaster does not wish crawled. Pages typically prevented from being crawled include login specific pages such as shopping carts and user-specific content such as search results from internal searches. In March 2007, Google warned webmasters that they should prevent indexing of internal search results because those pages are considered search spam.

White hat versus black hat

SEO techniques are classified by some into two broad categories: techniques that search engines recommend as part of good design, and those techniques that search engines do not approve of and attempt to minimize the effect of, referred to as spamdexing. Some industry commentators classify these methods, and the practitioners who utilize them, as either white hat SEO, or black hat SEO. Different hat colors do not necessarily imply differences in ethics as much as differences in business models. White hats tend to produce results that last a long time, whereas black hats anticipate that their sites will eventually be banned once the search engines discover what they are doing.

An SEO tactic, technique or method is considered white hat if it conforms to the search engines' guidelines and involves no deception. As the search engine guidelines are not written as a series of rules or commandments, this is an important distinction to note. White hat SEO is not just about following guidelines, but is about ensuring that the content a search engine indexes and subsequently ranks is the same content a user will see.

White hat advice is generally summed up as creating content for users, not for search engines, and then making that content easily accessible to the spiders, rather than attempting to game the algorithm. White hat SEO is in many ways similar to web development that promotes accessibility, although the two are not identical.

Black hat SEO attempts to improve rankings in ways that are disapproved of by the search engines, or involve deception. One black hat technique uses text that is hidden, either as text colored similar to the background, in an invisible div, or positioned off screen. Another method redirects users from a page that is built for search engines to one that is more human friendly. A method that sends a user to a page that was different from the page the search engined ranked is black hat as a rule. The black hat practice of serving one version of a page to search engine spiders and another version to human visitors is called cloaking.

Search engines may penalize sites they discover using black hat methods, either by reducing their rankings or eliminating their listings from their databases altogether. Such penalties can be applied either automatically by the search engines' algorithms, or by a manual site review.

One infamous example was the February 2006 Google removal of both BMW Germany and Ricoh Germany for use of deceptive practices. Both companies, however, quickly apologized, fixed the offending pages, and were restored to Google's list.

Global Warming - Its now or never

2007-05-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

The global warming climate change is a big issue, since we all start to witness more and more extreme weather and frequent natural disasters, and many of the old generation will tell you that they never experienced a warmer summer, a colder winter and a rainier season we all start to comprehend that what started 20 years or more as a small group of scientists started making noise about the greenhouse effects and global warming was not something scientific at all, it is very much a part of our every day life and may turn into a very important consideration in the near future.

An increase in global temperatures can in turn cause other changes, including sea level rise, and changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation resulting in floods and drought. There may also be changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, though it is difficult to connect specific events to global warming. Other effects may include changes in agricultural yields, glacier retreat, reduced summer streamflows, species extinctions and increases in the ranges of disease vectors.

How You Can Help In Reducing Global Warming ?

Each and every individual can help in reducing Global Warming ... Small habit changes can make a big difference. So join me in this noble cause by observing following rules

Reduce your energy usage (Great way to save money too!) : This can be achieved in many ways for eg. "Replace your regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs" , "choose energy efficient appliances", "If it is cold, try putting on an extra layer of clothes rather than using heaters", "Bring your own bags to the grocery store instead of relying on plastic bags", "Whenever possible, wash clothes in cold, rather than hot water, and wash dishes by hand" etc
Reduce car emissions (Anaother way to save money ;) ) : This can be achieved in following ways ::: "whenever possible Walk or bike it, instead of drive" , "Take public transport rather than drive" , " use Carpool" , "opt for a more fuel efficient vehicles" etc
Plant More Trees : "Plant native trees wherever you can" , "Support reforestation programs"
Educate : Educate your family members and friends in this drive . Spread the awareness.
Cut down other greenhouse gases : Methane is another gas which contributes to global warming. By reducing, or cutting out, your reliance on animal-derived products, you can help to slow global warming.

P.S. : If you want to ignore this than "Happy End Of The World"