Yes, We can Change

Live Kalaignar TV Tamil

2012-02-28T07:48:00.001-08:00

Live Siripoli Tamil Comdey Show

2012-02-26T12:40:00.007-08:00

Live Tamil Tv show (24 hours x 7 days)

2012-02-26T12:25:00.003-08:00

We'll pay your mortgage

2012-02-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

When they saw the house on El Dorado Drive in this Los Angeles suburb being painted a startling orange and green and giant billboards hung on the outside, Scott and Beth Hostetler's neighbours were initially angry and confused. Some even considered calling the police.

But what they witnessed on Friday was not an offensive redecoration decision by the Hostetlers, but rather the debut of one of the more unusual schemes to arise from the housing crisis. In return for allowing the front of their four-bedroom house to become a garish advertisement, the Hostetlers are getting their nearly $2,000 (£1,268) monthly mortgage paid by the marketing company behind the project, Brainiacs From Mars.

In a residential neighbourhood without heavy traffic, cars passing by the house slowed and drivers gawked at the vivid colors and a giant Brainiacs From Mars billboard.Romeo Mendoza, the company's founder and CEO, told Reuters that his ultimate goal is to turn 1,000 homes across the United States into giant advertisements for his marketing firm.And in each case struggling homeowners will get their mortgage paid, for up to a year."If we roll it out to scale and impact the foreclosure crisis, that would be amazing," Mendoza, 42, said.

Mendoza said he chose the Hostetlers because they are nice people and he wants to choose the most deserving cases rather than homes on the busiest streets.Since he advertised the scheme on his website in April 2011, Mendoza says he has had 38,000 applications, from as far afield as Russia and Japan.

The Hostetlers, who are both deaf, were one of those applications and were informed three months ago that their home had been chosen to launch the scheme.There are a number of issues that could prevent the idea from gaining traction, namely zoning laws and other city codes that limit where advertising can be placed and sometimes regulate other aspects of a home's appearance.

But Mendoza says the idea could help struggling homeowners who face being evicted from their homes through foreclosure, although the Hostetlers say they are going to use the money to pay down credit card debt.Most of the 38,000 applicants have come from California, Nevada and Florida - the three US states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis triggered by the collapse in housing prices after the 2008 financial crash.

Mendoza's plan is to advertise his company's name and its social media marketing tools on the front of people's homes. In return, he hopes the quirkiness of the scheme will convince companies to hire Brainiacs From Mars to run their advertising campaigns.

He says he is already negotiating deals with some big firms. The payments to homeowners for the initial experiments are being funded by profits from some of his company's other projects.The reaction of the Buena Park city council, and some of the Hostetlers' neighbours, suggests that Mendoza could face a bumpy ride.The Hostetlers' neighbours have been told that the house will only be a giant advertisement for a month.
In fact Mr Hostetler says he would like it to stay that way for six months.
Neighbour Vivian Largent said:

"If it's for a month, I'm OK with it. But no longer."Echoing that sentiment, another neighbour, 80-year-old Bob Pancoast, said: "All the neighbours were a little upset at first. We thought they had gone off their rocker. But I guess it's a good idea for them."Mendoza said he had checked and that there are no restrictions in Buena Park on the colours homeowners can paint their houses. "They can paint them multi-colours if they like," Mendoza said.Fred Smith, who sits on the Buena Park city council, was surprised when told about the scheme - and not at all happy.

The colour scheme was fine, he said. But the advertisements were another matter."This does not follow with the city codes," he said. "They are going to be in trouble. They need to go some place else."Charles Mclaughlin, a finance expert in the housing industry, said: "I don't think the programme will be a success. It will be akin to graffiti - that's how people are going to look at it. They are going to run into zoning problems everywhere.

"Mendoza said: "There are definitely zoning issues in some cities, and we realise that."But we have really hit a nerve, and we can't let that stop us. Once people start seeing how it works, once they get it, the moment they realise it is paying people's mortgages, they are always on our side, because of this economy."

British tourist killed in bee attack

2012-02-13T18:21:00.000-08:00

A British man was stung to death by a swarm of bees while he was on holiday with his wife in Africa, it has emerged.Mick Bryan, 61, and Jacqueline, 43, were exploring Tanzania when the killer bees launched an attack on the Cambridgeshire couple at a remote campsite.

The father-of-three attempted to drive off after the attack but collapsed and later died in hospital. His wife was also stung but survived.Speaking to The Sun, a family member said: “They were out in the middle of nowhere getting ready to have some lunch when they heard a buzzing noise. Mick shouted to Jacqueline to run.

“He was covered in bees. He tried to drive off but it all happened too quickly. Jacqueline couldn't get any phone reception so she had to run to the main road for help.”
His sister Louise Adam, 64, is also quoted as saying: “He was a wonderful man. He'd do anything for anyone.”A Foreign Office spokesman said:
“We are aware of the death of a British National in Tanzania and are in contact with the family, providing consular assistance.”

World's fattest man is British (58 stone)

2012-02-13T18:19:00.001-08:00

The world’s fattest man weighs in at 58 stone and is British.Keith Martin, of Harlesden, North-West London, has been bed-ridden for a decade and took the dubious accolade from Mexican Manuel Uribe who lost 60 stone to hit 31 stone after dieting.

The round-the-clock care Mr Martin needs is to be shown in a documentary which will be screened later this month. Because his health is so fragile he has a team of 18 people looking after him - including his sisters, nurses and ambulance staff.
With a 6ft waist the former warehouseman, 42, is now wider than his 5ft 9in height. Mr Martin’s daily diet includes eight hotdogs and ham sandwiches for breakfast, a selection of chocolate bars and biscuits for lunch and two roast dinners with a whole bag of oven chips, the Daily Mail reports.

He spends the day watching TV leaving his bed only for vital health check-ups.Mr Martin is one of a million Britons who have developed the lethal condition which was triggered following the death of his mother.Mr Martin told Channel 5: “My mother died when I was 16 and I didn’t care about anything after that and I couldn’t care less about what happened to me – I ate anything and everything,” the Mail quoted him as saying.“I blame myself. It was my fault and I hate what I have done to myself.”

Amazing ‘tsunami cloud’ hits Florida coastline

2012-02-13T18:17:00.000-08:00

At first glance, it looks as though a tsunami wave is about to crash into a swathe of high-rise tower blocks.But for beachgoers and surfers alike along Panama City Beach, Florida, there was no need to panic, the giant wave was just a curious illusion caused by harmless sea fog rolling off the Gulf of Mexico.

So what’s the science behind the captivating photograph taken from a helicopter earlier this month?

This ‘tsunami cloud’ effect is believed to be caused by a phenomenon known as the ‘Kelvin–Helmholtz instability’ that can occur in both air and water.

This is when a fast-moving layer of fluid or air washes over a slower, thicker layer – creating the wispy wave effect.According to helicopter pilot JR Hott, the clouds appear a few times a year but normally further down the coast.Mr Hott wrote: "When the temperature, humidity and winds are just right, we'll get this fog that forms on the high rise condos on the beach.”He added: “The event, while it can form quickly, moves gently and slowly. It isn't something that happens with more than a gentle breeze.”

Diamond Jubilee: Queen celebrating 60-year reign

2012-02-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

The Queen has visited a school in Norfolk as she marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.
Earlier she said she was dedicating herself "anew to your service" and that
she was "deeply moved" by support for the Diamond Jubilee.
The Queen was met by crowds at King's Lynn Town Hall before going to
Dersingham Infant and Nursery School.

Gun salutes were held around the UK, including in London and Edinburgh.
The main celebrations for her anniversary will be in June.
The Queen, 85, usually spends Accession Day - the day her father, George VI,
died in 1952 - privately but this year has the two engagements in Norfolk.
Two official photographs were released and a 41-gun salute was held in Hyde
Park, London, followed by a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London.

There was also a 21-gun Royal Salute at Edinburgh Castle
at noon.
At the end of the Queen's tour, pupils at Dersingham Infants gathered in the
school hall for a musical performance where she was the guest of honour.
Head teacher Gayle Platt said the visit had been "incredible" and she felt
"very, very privileged".
"We've made the day a big occasion for the children that will continue now
the Queen's gone," she said.

During her reign, Queen Elizabeth II has seen 11 UK prime ministers come and
go, with David Cameron her 12th.
Mr Cameron praised the "magnificent service" given by the Queen and called
her a "source of wisdom and continuity".
"With experience, dignity and quiet authority she has guided and united our
nation and the Commonwealth over six varied decades," he said.
Among the crowds waiting for the Queen in King's Lynn was Laura Skrzynski,
who travelled from London.
She said: "I love that the monarchy is above politics and feel that the Queen
represents that best of all.

"She stands for integrity and respect and I am inspired by her faith. She has
been a constant through all our lives."
Members of the Church of England General Synod, its national assembly, stood
to sing the first verse of the National Anthem before giving unanimous approval
to a loyal address marking the Queen's 60 years on the throne.
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams said the Queen's position was "not
a secular office but a Christian one".

Heavy snow falling across much of UK

2012-02-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

Heavy snow is falling across much of
the UK, disrupting flights and leading to calls for drivers to take more
care.
Snow hit southern Scotland and parts of Wales before moving south-east
through England.

Met Office severe weather warnings remain in place across the UK.
Forecasters expect 5-10cm (2-4in) to fall in central, eastern and southern
England, leaving icy roads on Sunday.
Luton airport in Beds has closed its runway due to snow while Heathrow is
cancelling some Sunday flights.
Heathrow operator BAA said one-third of Sunday's approximate 1,200 flights
would be cancelled.

There were some delays on Saturday night due to
visibility problems.
On the roads, police said as many as 100 vehicles were stationary on the M40
between Junction 4 High Wycombe and Junction 9 Bicester for several hours,
however traffic is now starting to clear as the snow is easing off.
Traffic is slow moving on the M25 between J18 Chorleywood and J19 Watford
because of snow.

In other developments on Saturday:
North West Ambulance Service asked
people to stay indoors following an increase in fall-related 999 calls
There were warnings of icy roads after 5cm of snow fell in parts of
Scotland
In Wales, treacherous driving conditions were reported
in the Brecon Beacons and heads of valleys
Transport for London prepared
gritters to put more than 10,000 tonnes of salt on the capital's roads
Saturday's football programme was badly
disrupted
The sea froze in places, including Dorset's
Sandbanks resort
The AA warned motorists to
pack shovels, warm clothes, snacks and fully charged phones
Heathrow's chief operating officer Normand Boivin said the decision to
introduce a revised flight schedule before snow had fallen was taken in an
effort to minimise disruption to passengers.

Richard Scott, from BAA, later said because Heathrow runs at capacity, there
was no slack in the system to deal with the reduced number of flights that can
take off and land in bad weather.
He added: "If you can imagine you're driving, you have to drive slower, leave
more space for the car in front in fog, strong winds, snow. It's the same with
aircraft.
"If we don't proactively cancel flights, the delays build and build and build
and it's much worse for passengers."
Flights have been diverted from Luton airport and three departing flights
have been cancelled.
Stansted airport in Essex closed on Saturday night for a period to clear snow
from its runway while Birmingham Airport said it was clearing snow from the
airfield and runway.
Leeds Bradford Airport remains open but has warned of delays or
cancellations.
On the London Underground, the weather caused the entire Jubilee Line to be
suspended and parts of the Metropolitan, Northern and Piccadilly lines were
suspended.

Apple launches e-textbook tools with new iBooks

2012-01-22T01:39:00.000-08:00

Apple aims to drive the use of electronic textbooks in the classroom by making it easier for publishers to create interactive titles.

The company has announced a range of new tools and services which it claims will "reinvent the textbook".
Leading names in educational resources are involved, including the world's biggest, UK-based Pearson Publishing.

Apple will compete with existing offerings from Amazon's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook device.
Roger Rosner, Apple's vice president of productivity applications, demonstrated the books, some of which are now available to download, at an event in New York.

Also on display was iBooks Author, a free program that will allow educators and authors to make their own interactive books for the iPad.

Apple has also said it has enhanced iTunes U - the educational section of its iTunes store - to allow a wider breadth of university level resources.
'Huge challenge'
The company's senior vice-president, Philip Schiller, said books aimed at high school students would be priced at $14.99 (£10) or below.

Louise Robinson, president of the Girls' Schools Association, said e-textbooks could bring education to life "in a way we've not had before".

"Having movies and videos embedded; being able to search; look up a glossary; write your own notes and then going to exam questions... just tying it all together on one device is a magical experience I think for the the children."

However, she warned that UK schools were still some way from being able to fully utilise such technologies.
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2012-01-22T01:22:00.000-08:00

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UK inflation rate falls to 4.2% in December

2012-01-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

Inflation fell sharply in December on
the back of lower fuel and clothing prices.
Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation in the UK fell to 4.2% in December,
down from 4.8% in November, according to the Office for National Statistics
(ONS).
Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation - including mortgage interest payments -
fell to 4.8% from 5.2%.
It backs Bank of England predictions that inflation will be 2% by late
2012.

The drop in the CPI rate was the biggest monthly fall since April 2009, and
the lowest rate since June 2011.
The figures reflected a 2.8% drop in the price of clothing and footwear as
retailers cut prices to attract customers in the run-up to Christmas.
Fuel prices fell 0.6% on the month, although this month's gas and electricity
cuts by the main suppliers have yet to take effect.
However, food prices rose by 1.4%, despite recent fierce competition between
the main supermarket chains.

Nanban (vijay) Tamil Film review

2012-01-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

Release date: 13 January 2012
Running time: 188 mins
Director: S. Shankar
Starring: Vijay, Jeeva, Srikanth, Ileana D'Cruz, Sathyan,
Sathyaraj

Vijay leads an all-star cast in this Tamil remake of the Bollywood comedy
blockbuster '3 Idiots'.

Venkatramakrishnan (Srikanth), Sevalkodi Senthil (Jeeva) and Panchavan
Parivendan (Vijay) are a trio of engineering students who share a room.
Venkatramakrishnan is studying not because engineering is his vocation, but to
appease his father. Sevalkodi Senthil wants to get his family out of poverty.
Panchavan Parivendan has a genuine passion for the subject and considerable
skill at problem solving.

Unfortunately, this brings him into conflict with the pompous dean, Virumandi Santhanam, aka Virus (Sathyaraj). Matters are further complicated when he falls for Virus's daughter, Riya (Ileana D'Cruz). Adapted from Chetan Bhagrat's bestseller 'Five Point Someone' and told in the form of a series of flashbacks from the present day, '3 Idiots' was a Bollywood box office
record-breaker back in 2009. This Tamil remake from the director of 'Enthiran'
recaptures its magic for a new audience with an impressive ensemble cast.

Screenplay: S. Shankar, Madhan Karky
You should see it because: This is big-hearted, hugely
enjoyable fun with a great cast and a proven track record.

Seagate & Western Digital cut hard-drive warranties

2011-12-16T19:12:00.000-08:00

On Friday, both companies confirmed the move, which they had previously communicated to their distributors. Seagate is reducing warranties to as short as one year, while Western Digital will now guarantee its Caviar Blue, Caviar Green and Scorpio Blue drives for two years, as opposed to three.
"Seagate is standardising its warranty terms to be more consistent with those commonly applied throughout the consumer electronics and technology industries," the company said in a statement.

"The new warranty periods apply to some of Seagate's internal hard drives designed for laptops, desktops and consumer electronics devices. There is no warranty change to mission-critical enterprise drives or Seagate-branded external solutions," it added.

Western Digital is buying Hitachi Global Storage Technologies — one of its main competitors — while Seagate recently acquired Samsung's disk-drive division. With this consolidation, the hard-drive industry is increasingly led by its two key players: Seagate and Western Digital.
'Reduced competition'
"The bottom line is that this is the result of reduced competitive pressure in the market place," Daniel Bizo, a research analyst in IDC's European Storage Group, told ZDNet UK. "Basically, what you see is the increased concentration of players and market shares... Changing the warranty enables them to instantly increase their top line [profits]."

"This is something they can get away with because there is reduced competition," he added.
Though Western Digital's manufacturing capacity took a huge hit from Thailand's severe floods, a spokesman for the company said the warranty changes are independent of its recovery from the disaster.

However, Bizo believes the loss in profits from the flooding could have put pressure on the company to cut costs. "These manufacturers — they were hit hard by the floods, and because they are publicly traded, they have massive pressure on them to recover lost profits," he said. "Getting back the warranty is going to help your top line and in the long run lower your costs — so it's a double win for them."

New warranties
Western Digital's new warranties take effect from 2 January, while Seagate's come in on 31 December. For Western Digital, only the Caviar Blue, Caviar Green and Scorpio Blue models are affected.

For Seagate, its nearline drives now have warranty periods of three years, down from five years. Its desktop drives now have one year of protection, apart from the Barracuda XT series, which has gone down from five years to three years. Laptop drives, some of which carried five-year guarantees, are now protected for a year, apart from the Momentus XT, which has three years of protection. Drives for consumer electronics devices now have a two-year warranty, compared with as much as five years previously.

Bizo noted that hard-disk drives, being highly mechanical, have a limited lifetime depending on their workloads and temperatures. For enterprises, a change in warranty terms could have a significant impact, he said.

"In the case of bigger installations with storage arrays using hundreds or thousands of disks, you can have an issue every couple of weeks," he said. "If those pieces are failing beyond their warranty, that means substantial replacement cost."

Over a quarter of UK Internets watching TV online

2011-12-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

UK consumers are increasingly seeing the Internet as a resource for obtaining all manner of goods and services, according to the latest market survey by communications regulator Ofcom.

The survey found that more than a quarter (27%) of UK Internet users watch TV online every week, an increase of three percentage points from one year earlier, and higher than any of the other countries surveyed (France, Germany, Italy, US, Canada, Japan, Australia, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Brazil, Russia, India and China).

The UK also saw the largest growth in digital video recorder (DVR) take-up out of the countries surveyed, with over a third (36%) of homes now owning a DVR - a four percentage increase from 2009.

Among the six countries surveyed, the UK is now second only to the US in terms of DVR ownership.Overall TV viewing in the UK increased by 7.6% in 2010 compared to 2009, with the average person watching just over four hours of TV per day (242 minutes).

This was the highest year-on-year increase out of all the countries surveyed, and 31 minutes more than the average of 211 minutes per person.Despite the economic downturn, communications revenues were found to have increased across all 17 countries covered in the report last year, with the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) generating the strongest growth.

Total retail telecoms revenues generated in the 17 countries surveyed reached GB£ 594bn in 2010, up 1.9% year-on-year, while TV revenues increased 7.7% by the same comparison to reach GB£ 239bn.

The UK's communications regulator used its latest market report to talk up the country's broadband scene, stating that overall availability of high-speed fixed broadband in the UK compares favourably to other European countries. By June 2011, 59% of UK households had access to Virgin Media's fibre network or BT's super-fast service.

However, actual take-up of high-speed services by UK households remains low: just 4% of UK households were subscribing to super-fast broadband services in June 2011, compared to 40% in Japan and 10% in the US.

This is however higher than Germany (3%), Spain (2.2%) and Italy (1.5%).Super-fast mobile broadband services based on LTE technology are expected to launch in the UK in 2013, following the 4G spectrum auction in the second half of 2012. Some countries such as Sweden have however already launched 4G services, offering speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

Smartphone ownership nearly doubled in the UK between February 2010 and August 2011, from 24% to 46%, and take-up of these devices was higher in the UK than among the other European Countries surveyed (France: 35 per cent, Germany: 32 per cent, Italy: 40 per cent and Spain: 45 per cent). Nearly half (46%) of UK Internet users employed their phones to go online in October 2011, according to the report - a higher proportion than all the other countries surveyed.

A quarter of UK mobile users also accessed new content on their mobiles - a "significantly higher" proportion than in other European countries, due in part to higher smartphone take-up, and the greater likelihood of UK newspapers to have mobile-specific websites.The communications watchdog also gave itself a glowing report for the current price of communications services in the UK.

The cheapest price for a typical family "basket" of communications services (consisting of a fixed-line phone with high use, four mobile phones with varying use, a fixed broadband connection and a basic pay TV subscription) available to consumers in the UK was found to be GB£ 114 (US$ 177) per month, second only to France (GB£ 79). Prices for this basket in the UK increased by 10 per cent between 2010 and 2011, due largely to increases in the prices of the low-use mobile phone services.

Social networking sites proved a predictable hit in the latest market report, with over three-quarters of consumers in the markets surveyed reporting that they have visited a social networking site, and the majority saying that they visit on a daily basis. This trend is however much higher among 18-24 year olds.

Social networking sites were found to be most popular in Italy, with 91% of Italian respondents stating they have visited a social networking site and a quarter visiting over five times a day, compared to 79% of UK respondents having ever visited, and one in five visiting over five times a day.UK consumers are believed to be more likely to access social networking on a mobile phone than other countries, with 43% of those with social network profiles saying they do so, compared to just 30% in the US.

Italian social networkers were found to have the most "friends" with 216, compared to 198 for US social networkers, 168 for Brits, 137 for Germans and 108 for the French.Finally, Ofcom found that eight in ten UK Internet users reported that they had ordered goods or services online in 2010 - higher than any other European country, with just 27% of consumers in Italy claiming to have done so.

UK internet users were also more likely to visit retail websites online than other countries, with nine in ten (89 per cent) claiming to do so in 2011.

Apple launches iTunes Match service in the UK

2011-12-16T18:54:00.001-08:00

The cloud system allows users to pay a fee and have their music libraries scanned by Apple, who then replace songs with higher quality versions which can be accessed from other Apple devices such as iPods.

The service, which will seemingly allow Apple to make a profit from illegal downloads, was launched in the US in November but was only made available in the UK yesterday (December 15). Users must pay £21.99 per year to use iTunes Match, but in return will be able to replace any illicit downloads or songs ripped from CDs with better quality tracks.

Figures within the music industry have welcome the launch, with Universal Music UK director of digital music Paul Smernicki telling the BBC:

Explaining why Apple had been able to launch the service and gain permission from record labels so quickly, meanwhile,

independent digital analyst Mark Mulligan said:

"The reason why this can happen is because Apple essentially owns the music industry’s most valuable customers – the ones spending the lion’s share in the digital marketplace."The major record labels are more willing to do things in Apple’s ecosystem than they would elsewhere.

"In November this year, The Who's Peter Townshend described Apple as a "digital vampire". The guitarist claimed that the technology giant was "destroying copyright as we know it" and was damaging the growth of new music.

2011-12-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

The co-pilot of an RAF helicopter that crashed during a "jolly", killing the pilot and two others, has avoided jail.
Ex-Flt Lt Robert Hamilton was on board the Puma when it crashed at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, in 2007.

Hamilton, 29, who was left paraplegic, pleaded guilty at an earlier court martial to neglect in flying likely to cause loss of life or bodily injury.
Vice Judge Advocate General Michael Hunter imposed a sentence of 16 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years.

A further charge of wilful neglect was left on file. Cockpit recorder The pilot, Flt Lt David Sale, 28, from Norton, near Stockton-on-Tees, crew man Sgt Phillip Burfoot, 27, from Cardiff, and Army recruit Pte Sean Tait, 17, from Glasgow, who was serving with the Royal Regiment of Scotland, all died.
The helicopter, which was on a trooping exercise, had three RAF personnel and nine soldiers on board.
The hearing listened to extracts from the two-hour cockpit voice recording, during which the Johnny Cash song Ring of Fire could be heard over the aircraft's speaker system.

The crew could also be heard laughing and joking minutes before the crash.
Hours earlier the helicopter almost hit the ground and all those on board agreed not to report it, the court martial heard.
Hamilton had also had three near accidents of his own in helicopters near Salisbury just days before the fatal crash.

'Broken down'
Dr Michael Powers QC, prosecuting, told the court martial that the recording was indicative of the "totally unprofessional behaviour" of the aircraft's crew.

"During that period the common sense, professionalism and self awareness seems to have broken down," he said.
He added: "The Crown say it was a lot more than a jolly, unfortunately a fatal one."
Dr Powers said it was not the Crown's case that Hamilton caused the accident, but by his guilty plea he was accepting he was negligent.

Hamilton, who is originally from Northern Ireland, was serving with 33 Squadron based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire.
He left the RAF after the incident and now works in the aircraft industry, and has to use a wheelchair.'Duty of care'
The judge told Hamilton: "It will be no surprise to you that the officers on this board are shocked at the lack of professional standards displayed by those responsible for the aircraft.
"We take fully into account that you have pleaded guilty on the basis that you were not responsible for those very dangerous manoeuvres but you, with others, contributed to create a very dangerous situation on that aircraft.

"You personally had a duty of care to those passengers and you had a duty to ensure they were as safe as possible."
Sentencing Hamilton to 16 months, Judge Hunter added: "However, in the exceptional circumstances of this case, namely that you have been rendered paraplegic by the incident and you were not directly responsible, we feel able to suspend that sentence for two years."
The £20m Puma helicopter crashed in a field on 8 August 2007.
The sentence was decided by the judge and a five-person RAF panel. The earlier court martial was held at Bulford in Wiltshire.

Colonel Nagulan killed while in military custody

2011-11-29T07:32:00.001-08:00

Sinnathambi Kanapathipillai Shivamurhty alias Colonel Nagulan, who was taken into custody by the military intelligence units during the latter part of 2009 from Trincomalee, has been killed by the military in a secret camp in Minneriya where he was being held, reliable sources told Lanka News Web.

After the LTTE was militarily defeated on May 18, 2009, Colonel Nagulan became the leader of one of the two remaining groups of the organization. A resident of Jaffna, Colonel Nagulan was the Commanding Officer of the Charles Anthony brigade.

The official Defence Ministry website, defence.lk reported 8.6.2007 that Colonel Nagulan who was appointed as the leader of the Batticaloa area after the LTTE lost control of Batticaloa in 2007 was killed during a confrontation with the Sri Lanka Army. The new report stated that an identity card belonging to Colonel Nagulan had been found near the body of a slain LTTE cadre.

The military intelligence units arrested Colonel Nagulan after tracking the signals of his satellite phone following information received by the other leader of the remaining LTTE group, Colonel Ram, who was arrested in 2009.

Colonel Nagulan’s arrest was kept quiet since any media publicity would have proven the Defence Ministry story of his death taking place in 2007 to be false.

The other reason to keep the arrest a secret was the close relationship Colonel Nagulan maintained with the Tamil Diaspora. Many attempts by the military intelligence units to gather information about the Tamil Diaspora from Colonel Nagulan had failed until his murder.

While Colonel Ram has become a puppet of the military, Colonel Nagulan had defied the military and had therefore been tortured for not revealing any information. The military intelligence units after realizing Colonel Nagulan was not going to serve any purpose had then killed him following orders received from a higher office.

Several other former LTTE leaders are held in the secret camp in Minneriya where Colonel Nagulan was held. Colonel Ram has been assigned the task of getting their support for the government.

KP paid $850m to save his life?

2011-11-29T07:31:00.001-08:00

A powerful minister of the Sri Lankan government currently on tour outside Sri Lanka has revealed to Lankaleaks the amazing details behind the sudden ups and downs of the Sri Lankan stock market that took place during the last two years.According to this minister a huge ransom of US $ 850.00 Million paid by KP to save his life was invested in the Sri Lankan stock market.

Dhammika Perera & Nimal Perera, Ashok Pathirage, Dilith Jayaweera and Raynor Silva, thereby creating a huge artifical boom in the stock market.The idea had been not to profit through the stock market but to launder the dirty money. Recently they withdrew the money, giving legitimacy to the dirty money but creating this slump in the market.

Criminals who steal personal details should face jail, say MPs

2011-10-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

Criminals who break data protection laws and obtain personal details by deception should face jail, MPs said today.
The Commons justice select committee backed calls from the information commissioner, Christopher Graham, for tougher sentences, claiming fines of about £150 were an "inadequate" deterrent compared with the financial rewards on offer.

The MPs also welcomed the government's commitment to ban referral fees in personal injury cases, stating that an outright ban along with jail sentences would "increase the deterrent and reduce the financial incentives for such offences".

In September the government announced it wanted to help stem rising insurance costs by banning referral fees in personal injury claim cases. The fees, highlighted by former Labour cabinet minister Jack Straw in June, are paid to claims management companies, garages and insurance companies that provide details of accidents – often car crashes – to personal injury lawyers.

The business is estimated to be worth £3bn a year, and successful claims are paid in most cases by insurance policies. Insurers have covered the cost by passing it on to policyholders in the form of higher premiums.

In reviewing the proposed ban, the Commons committee said it was struck by "the range of illegal behaviour that referral fees can reward", from individuals stealing data, to companies breaching the Data Protection Act, and the sending of spam text messages to mobile phones. "Clearly, a system which makes criminality so profitable needs to be changed," the committee's report stated.

The MPs also called for the commissioner to be given greater powers to compel private sector organisations to undergo information audits, saying such moves might have helped tackle the issues around the payment of referral fees sooner.

"We are concerned that the information commissioner's lack of inspection power is limiting his ability to investigate, identify problems and prevent breaches of the Data Protection Act, particularly in the insurance and healthcare sectors," the committee said.

A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said: "People who break data protection laws can currently face an unlimited fine. If they have also committed other offences, such as fraud or unlawfully intercepting communications, they could also face a lengthy prison sentence.

"We are aware the information commissioner has called for prison sentences to be made available for data protection breaches. The government is keeping this issue under review, and we will look at the justice committee's report with interest."

The government's proposals will be debated in the Commons next week and, if successfully passed, will be added to the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of offenders bill which is currently on its way through parliament.

Turkey earthquake: Deaths rise to 523

2011-10-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

The number of people known to have been killed in Sunday's earthquake in Turkey's south-east has risen to 523.

Officials say 1,650 people were injured in the 7.2-magnitude quake which had its epicentre in Van province - 185 people have been rescued alive.
Rain and snow are hindering the rescue effort and worsening conditions for the thousands of people made homeless.

Tents and other aid supplies are being delivered after some initial criticism that the response was too slow.

Hundreds of people are still missing under collapsed buildings.

Rescuers in some places are continuing to search for those buried in the rubble, but at other sites they have stopped work and attention is turning to the needs of the survivors.
People in the hardest-hit town, Ercis, have formed long queues to try to get hold of tents but many have been told there are none left.
"Everyone is getting sick and wet," said Fetih Zengin, a 38-year-old whose house was badly damaged.

"We have been waiting in line for four days and still nothing."

"We slept under a piece of plastic erected on some wooden boards we found. We have 10 children in our family," he told the Reuters news agency.
Another survivor, Zeki Yatkin, lost his father in the quake.
"They say we will get prefabricated houses in one-and-a-half months," he said, in an interview with Reuters.

"We can't tolerate the cold, but what else can we do?"Gripped by fear
Some survivors have accused Turkey's governing AK party of handing out aid preferentially to the families of public servants and policemen, ignoring ordinary people.

The governor of Van province, Munir Karaloglu, has denied this.
He says 20,000 tents have already been distributed and he blamed fear for exacerbating the problems.

"Because of the psychology and the aftershocks, they don't use their undamaged house and ask for a tent" he said.
"This is why we have a problem."

South-eastern Turkey was hit by another strong aftershock on Thursday of magnitude 5.2, but there are no reports of any further casualties.
Seismologists say the epicentre was located near the border between Turkey and Iraq, south of Van province.

The Turkish government had initially said it did not need any help from abroad, but later changed its mind.

Ankara accepted an offer of clothes, blankets and other supplies from Israel, despite the recent deterioration in their relationship.

Reports say prefabricated homes from Israel are currently on their way to Van province.
"Three more planes loaded with aid supplies will come to Turkey within two days," an official from the Israeli embassy in Ankara told the Anatolia news agency.
Aid from several other countries is starting to arrive in Turkey too.

The United Nations says it is sending thousands of tents as well as blankets and mattresses.

Apple 'CEO' Steve Jobs dies

2011-10-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

"In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family," they said, requesting privacy and thanking those who had "shared their wishes and prayers" during his final year.

Apple said the company had "lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being".

Tim Cook, who was made Apple's CEO after Mr Jobs stood down in August, said his predecessor had left behind "a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple".

Flags are being flown at half mast outside the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, while fans of the company have left tributes outside Apple shops around the world.

"What he's done for us as a culture, it resonates uniquely in every person," said Cory Moll, an Apple employee in San Francisco.

"Even if they never use an Apple product, the impact they have had is so far-reaching."

At the company's Shanghai shop, customer Jin Yi said Mr Jobs had created gadgets which had "changed people's perceptions of machines".

Life of Steve Jobs

Born in San Francisco in Feb 1955 to students Joanne Schieble and Syrian-born Abdulfattah Jandali - adopted by a Californian working class couple
Had a summer job at Hewlett-Packard while at school - later worked at Atari
Dropped out of college after six months and went travelling in India, where he became a Buddhist
Launched Apple with school friend Steve Wozniak in 1976 - first Apple computer sold the same year
Left Apple amid disputes in 1985 but returned in 1996 and became CEO in 1997
Bought Pixar animation company in 1986 for $10m
Married in a Buddhist ceremony in 1991 - has three children with his wife and a daughter from a previous relationship
Had a personal wealth estimated at $8.3bn (£5.4bn) in 2010
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, and after three periods of sickness leave, resigns as Apple CEO in August 2011

iPhone

In 2003 Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, rejecting the idea of surgery, set about finding alternative therapy, including a special diet.

He finally underwent surgery in 2004 having kept his illness secret from all but a small handful of Apple insiders.

In 2005 Disney paid $7 billion worth of stock to buy Pixar from Jobs who, as a result, became the Walt Disney Company's biggest shareholder.

Two years later, at yet another much hyped launch, Jobs introduced the iPhone to a legion of customers, many of whom had queued for hours at their local Apple store.

In 2008 the ultra thin Macbook Air was launched with Jobs doing his usual stage presentation dressed in his habitual black turtle neck jumper and faded jeans.

His thin and somewhat gaunt appearance fuelled speculation that his illness had returned and it was announced, in early 2009, that he was taking a six month break to cope with what was described as a "hormonal imbalance."

In April of that year he underwent a liver transplant, with his doctors announcing that the prognosis was "excellent."

However, in Jan 2011, Apple announced that Jobs would taking a leave of absence for health reasons.

Unlike his contemporary, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Steve Jobs showed little inclination to use his personal wealth for philanthropic purposes.

And, strangely for a self-professed Buddhist, he did not embrace environmental concerns, with Apple coming under fire from Greenpeace for its reluctance to produce easily recyclable products.

Steve Jobs was a one off; a man who had total belief in his own abilities and a shortage of patience for anyone who failed to agree with him.

His great gifts were an ability to second guess the market and an eye for well designed and innovative products that everyone would buy.

"You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them," he once said. "By the time you get it built, they'll want something new."

How to Hack Facebook Account

2011-10-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

Now a days Facebook becomes the number#1 social networking portal that touches every one’s life. People are now a days looking for hacking of Facebook account to steal someones’ personal life. 60% people are looking for control over their girlfriends Facebook account ..!!.

A lot of people contact me about suspecting their boyfriend/girlfriend of cheating, They ask for a Tutorial for hacking Facebook Account passwords. There are many websites that give guarantee to hack Facebook account and try to sell video that demonstrate hacking of Facebook. also many websites are try to sell products by marketing slogan like”hack Facebook account for free”.

I personally interested in Facebook hack to reveal my few fellow guys,I looked for various Facebook methods taken on web about hacking Facebook here i am going to share my experience of search for Facebook account hack. I am going to expose whole my search on that topic and I don’t want people to ask this to me again and again. My goal is to explain the whole process of how to hack facebook account Username and Password

Different Ways to Hack Facebook Account

Facebook account can be hack from one of following ways.

Facebook Phishing
By use of Key logger
Facebook Account hack with get control on Primary email address

Facebook Phishing Attack :

This is one of the most popular methods to hack Facebook account online.also it is the one of the best popular and favorite method for Facebook hackers. Phishing not only allows you to hack Facebook but also can be used to hack any email account. You have to only get the trick used to make a phisher, which i think is very easy. Phishing is one of the easiest methods to foll someone and get Facebook account password. I mention the process for educational purpose only.I will go explaing in details on my next article on How to hack Facebook password.

Use Key logger to hack Facebook passwords

Installing key-logger on victims machine and later read key logs to gain access to hack facebook account for free. To Install keylogger, you should have a physical access to victim’s computer.in case, you don’t have , then you can install key-logger remotely.

What a key-logger does is it stores the keystrokes into a text log file and then these logs can be used to get required Facebook password and you can hack Facebook Account.

Continue next blog......

Thai PM Twitter account is hacked

2011-10-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

The Twitter account of Thailand's new Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been hacked and used to post questions about her competence.

The false tweets accused her of cronyism and various failures.

The final post read: "If she can't even protect her own Twitter account, how can she protect the country?"

Ms Yingluck won a clear victory in July, but is accused by her critics of being a puppet of her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Thaksin - whose populist policies won him the support of much of the rural and urban poor - was thrown out of office in a 2006 military coup.

Now living in exile in Dubai, he is still seen as the de facto leader of his sister's Pheu Thai party - although the party insists his role is purely advisory.

have plagued the country since her brother was ousted.

Ms Yingluck - Thailand's first female prime minister - has no previous political experience but has won support with her pledge to heal the divisions that

But, in one of the hacked Tweets, her government is accused of failure in its response to floods that have hit large parts of the country.

Another questioned her promise to give tablet computers to school children, suggesting she concentrate on education reform instead.

"This country is a business. We work for our allies, not for the Thai people. We work for those who support us, not those who differ with us," another read.

The government confirmed that the prime minister's account - PouYingluck - had been hacked and the Information and Communication Technology Ministry is investigating.

Google+ Launches Gaming Channel

2011-08-13T04:35:00.000-07:00

Ever since the launch of Google Plus, the search giant has been trying to convince the world that Facebook is old news. One of the ways it's attempting to do this? By showing off how it's able to do all the things Facebook was able to do, albeit with a cleaner, more minimalist interface. With the rise of "Farmville," gaming has become a big part of Facebook, and, starting today, it's now a big part of Google Plus. Gaming, I mean...not "Farmville." Yet.

Google Plus Games is a free service available to anyone with a Google Plus account. At present, there are 16 games, many of which have already made a splash on Facebook. Familiar titles like "Bejeweled Blitz" and "Zynga Poker" are joined by the Google Plus-compatible versions of "Angry Birds" and "Diamond Dash."

As with Facebook, users need to grant games access to their profiles before playing them. This usually amounts to giving those games access to friends lists, but automatic updates on profile pages can be deactivated if you'd rather not constantly bug your friends with the success of your digital moon base.

"Angry Birds" takes social a step further, introducing a new series of levels called Teamwork. Having more friends playing "Angry Birds" through Google Plus will allow you to unlock more levels. The game also tracks the total number of stars your friends have earned, as a means of unlocking even more content.

It'll be interesting to see just how far Google is going to go with its gaming initiatives. Right now it seems like it's more following the pack than blazing its own trail, but that could change drastically as Google Plus Games matures.

UK police arrest over 200 as London riots continue

2011-08-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

Violence and looting spread to new areas of London on Monday — and to a second major British city — as police and politicians struggled to contain the disorder during a third day of rioting in the capital, which will host next summer's Olympic Games.

The worst unrest in London in decades saw buildings, cars and garbage dumbs set ablaze and police officers pelted with bottles and fireworks, as groups of young people and police clashed in neighborhoods across the capital.

In the nation's central city of Birmingham, dozens of people attacked stores in a main retail district — spreading the chaos beyond London for the first time since violence broke out on Saturday night.

As authorities struggled to keep pace with the unrest, Prime Minister David Cameron's office said he would cut short his summer vacation and convene a meeting of the government's crisis committee on Tuesday to lead the response to the escalating violence.

The violence began late Saturday in London's northern Tottenham district when a peaceful protest over the police's shooting of a suspect turned violent, leaving parts of the high street charred and its shops looted. But some have blamed the unrest on unemployment, insensitive policing and frustration across Britain over the government's austerity budget, which will bring deep cuts to social services and welfare payments.

On Monday evening, the rioting spread to at least four new areas of London.

In the Hackney area of east London, hundreds of youths attacked shops and set fire to cars. Thick smoke billowed from a main street in the Peckham district of south London, where a building was set ablaze along with a bus — which was not carrying passengers. Lines of cars were torched in nearby Lewisham and a building in Croydon, while police advised stores to close early in dozens of other neighborhoods.

"There is significant disorder breaking out in a number of our communities across London," Tim Godwin, the acting London police commissioner said in response to the spiraling violence — amid some demands for police to deploy water cannons to scatter the rioters.

Godwin urged communities to help clear the streets of people, and called on families to contact their children and ensure that they were not involved in the chaos.

Home Secretary Theresa May, the Cabinet minister responsible for policing, and London Mayor Boris Johnson also cut short summer vacations in an attempt to deal with the crisis — while police confirmed they had made more than 200 arrests in London.

The rioting followed the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four, who was gunned down in disputed circumstances Thursday in Tottenham.

Many residents claimed that the looting was the work of greedy youths, aided by instant communication through SMS texts and instant messaging.

"It's nothing to do with the man who was shot, is it?" said 37-year-old Marcia Simmons, who has lived in the diverse and gritty north London neighborhood all her life. "A lot of youths ... heard there was a protest and joined in. Others used it as an opportunity to kit themselves out, didn't they, with shoes and T-shirts and everything."

Godwin said he had heard "lots of debate about what the various issues are that are making people commit these acts — but what I have seen is pure violence, pure gratuitous violence."

Tottenham's main shopping street remained cordoned off Monday, with steam still rising from burned-out buildings, two days after violence broke out when a peaceful demonstration outside Tottenham police station turned ugly as several hundred people threw bottles filled with gasoline at police lines and confronted officers with baseball bats and bars.

Two police cars and a double-decker bus were set alight, stores were looted and several buildings along Tottenham's main street — five miles (eight kilometers) from the site of the 2012 Olympics — were reduced to smoldering shells.

Police condemned the "copycat criminal" violence that began Saturday night and hit areas including the leafy suburb of Enfield, a few miles (kilometers) further north; Walthamstow in northeast London, where police said 30 youths vandalized and looted shops; and the busy shopping and tourist district at Oxford Circus, where about 50 people damaged property.

Duggan's partner, Semone Wilson, told Channel 4 News that her fiance was not connected to gang violence and urged police to offer more information about his death. But she said the riots appeared to be no longer linked to the initial protests. "It got out of hand. It's not connected to this any more. This is out of control," she said.

May said 215 people had been arrested and 27 charged so far, including an 11-year-old boy accused of burglary. About 100 of those arrested were 21 or younger and 35 police officers had been injured in the violence, police said.

In the city of Birmingham, 120 miles (195 kilometers) north of London, police confirmed that officers were dealing with disorder across the city center, where shops were being vandalized.

London police issued an apology Monday over their handling of aspects of Duggan's death, acknowledging that they had failed to inform his parents — instead dealing with two other family members. "It is clear that there are lessons that can be learned," the police department said in a statement.

However, the rioting had "changed from a local issue into organized criminality" police deputy assistant commissioner Steve Kavanagh said Monday as he promised a "momentous investigation" to track down the perpetrators.

They were relatively small groups of youths — their heads and faces covered — who used social media such as Twitter, mobile phone text messages and instant messaging on BlackBerry cell phones to organize and keep a step ahead of police. One BlackBerry message Sunday, whose authenticity could not be verified, urged young people from across London to converge on Oxford Circus for "pure terror and havoc & free stuff."

Once the preserve of businesspeople, BlackBerry handsets are popular with teenagers, thanks to their free, fast instant messaging system. Blackberry's manufacturer, Research in Motion, said in a statement: "We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can."

Police said they would be monitoring Twitter feeds and those who incited violence could face arrest.

In the south London neighborhood of Brixton — the scene of riots in the 1980s and 1990s — youths smashed windows, attacked a police car, set fire to garbage bins and stole video games, sportswear and other goods from stores on Sunday night.

Like Brixton, Tottenham is an impoverished area with an ethnically diverse population, a large black community and a history of unrest.

Tottenham was the site of the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots, a series of clashes that led to the fatal stabbing of a police officer and the wounding of nearly 60 others — and underscored tensions between London police and the capital's black community.

Since then police have made concerted, and fairly successful, efforts to build better relations with London's ethnic communities. But mistrust still lingers, and the shooting of Duggan — a popular figure in the community — has stirred old animosities.

Few details of Duggan's death have been released, and in the void rumors have swirled.

Police say Duggan was shot dead when police from Operation Trident — the unit that investigates gun crime in the black community — stopped a cab he was riding in.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the shooting, said a "non-police firearm" was recovered at the scene, and media reports said a bullet had been found in an officer's radio.

But the Guardian newspaper reported that the bullet in the radio was police-issue, indicating Duggan may not have fired at the officer.

There are signs of rising social tensions in Britain as the government slashes 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) from public spending by 2015 to reduce the huge deficit, swollen after the country spent billions bailing out its foundering banks.

The past year has seen mass protests against the tripling of student tuition fees and cuts to public sector pensions. In November, December and March, small groups broke away from large marches in London to loot. In the most notorious episode, rioters attacked a Rolls-Royce carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla to a charity concert.

The full impact of spending cuts has yet to be felt, however, and the unemployment rate is stable — although it highest among youth, especially in areas like Tottenham.

Many locals dismissed socio-economic explanations for the riots.

"We are going to get people blaming the economy and what happened last week but that's not the real reason this happened," said Brixton resident Marilyn Moseley, 49. "It's just an excuse for the young ones to come and rob shops."

Mayor Johnson condemned the "utterly appalling" destruction. "People have lost their homes, businesses and livelihoods through mindless violence," he said in a statement.

For civic leaders and Olympic organizers, the violence was an unwelcome reminder of London's volatility, less than a year before the city hosts the 2012 Games.

The International Olympic Committee said it had confidence in British authorities.

"Security at the Olympic Games is a top priority for the IOC," spokesman Mark Adams said. "It is, however, directly handled by the local authorities, as they know best what is appropriate and proportionate. We are confident they will do a good job in this domain."

Images of buildings and vehicles in flames broadcast around the world were poor publicity for the city as it prepares to host the games.

"You can imagine how stretched the police would be if this were to occur during the Olympics," said Tony Travers, a local government expert at the London School of Economics. "So I think this will create a worry within City Hall and the Home Office."

The World Wide Web turns 20

2011-08-06T03:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the World Wide Web becoming a publicly available service on the internet.

While many people use the terms web and internet interchangeably, they are in fact different services.

On August 6 1991, Tim Berners-Lee (now Sir), posted a short summary of the World Wide Web project on the alt.hypertext newsgroup.

The message read: "The WWW project aims to allow all links to be made to any information anywhere."

Previously the web was used to allow physicists at the CERN physics laboratory to share data, news and documentation, but Berners-Lee's post released the technology to the general public.

By making the web openly available and royalty free, it quickly advanced to a globally used service, no longer the secret of the technologically minded.

In the 20 years that followed, the web has become a daily part of modern life.

The late 1990s and 2000s saw the boom and subsequent bust of dot-com businesses.

Sites such as Amazon and eBay were some of the few to survive.

Since then, the web has grown further and is now included on most new phones and televisions.

The ability to access email and other web services through mobile phones has proved unbelievably successful, with many now addicted to their smart phones.

In 2008 mobile access to the web exceeded desktop-computer-based access for the first time.

Professor John Domingue of the Open University predicted the future of the web when speaking to Sky News: "I see a number of trends and influences in the future of the web.

"Five billion people are on the web on mobile devices, the dominant device will be the smart phone rather than the laptop."

Professor Domingue also warned of the dangers in the fast advancing web services: "One problem that may arise in the future of the web will be privacy.

"This is already a problem for a number of sites that will only worsen as technology advances."

However, the consensus appears to be that the only way forward for the web is upwards.

Sir Berners-Lee may never have guessed what would become of the message he posted on a forum 20 years ago but there is no doubt that the web will continue to expand beyond any expectations in the next 20.

Sri Lanka condemned over aid workers' deaths

2011-08-06T03:38:00.000-07:00

Human Rights Watch has accused the Sri Lankan government of lacking the will to prosecute the security forces for the killings of 17 aid workers in 2006.

There was widespread revulsion following the murders of the 16 Tamils and one Muslim in the north-eastern town of Muttur during the civil war.

European monitors were convinced government troops were responsible, but officials blamed Tamil Tiger rebels.

The government has since ruled out reopening an inquiry into the murders.

"The Sri Lankan government is no closer to prosecuting those responsible," said James Ross, HRW's legal and policy director.

"The Rajapaksa government is not just unwilling to uncover the truth, it appears afraid of the truth."

HRW says that the government has a poor record of investigating serious human rights abuses, and "impunity has been a persistent problem".

"Despite a backlog of cases of enforced disappearances and unlawful killings going back two decades that run to the tens of thousands, there have been only a small number of prosecutions," it said in a statement.

"Past efforts to address violations by creating ad hoc mechanisms in Sri Lanka have produced few results, either in providing information or leading to prosecutions."

'Afraid of the truth'

Those killed on 4 August 2006 included four women. They were all employed by the French agency, Action Against Hunger (ACF), and had been involved in tsunami relief work.

The bodies of 15 of them were found lying with bullet marks in their heads; two other bodies were later discovered in a vehicle nearby.

At the time there was heavy fighting in Muttur between the government and the Tamil Tigers, and the killers' identities have never been pinpointed.

European monitors overseeing an ill-fated ceasefire blamed the security forces - but they have denied the charge.

In 2008, a Sri Lankan group, University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), said it believed two police constables and a police home guardsman killed the aid workers.

But a year later a presidential inquiry into this and other cases was reported to have exonerated the army and navy - though its report was never published.

A senior defence official, Lakshman Hulugalle, told the BBC that because the official inquiry had cleared the army and security forces, the case was closed and there was no need for another investigation.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says that there has recently been considerable international pressure on the government over atrocities alleged to have been committed by the army towards the end of the war.

But on Monday, the government came out with a detailed response saying the blame for civilian deaths lay overwhelmingly with the Tamil Tigers.

Afghan helicopter crash kills 31 US troops

2011-08-06T03:37:00.000-07:00

A US helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan has killed 31 US special forces and seven Afghan soldiers, President Hamid Karzai's office says.

The helicopter was taking the personnel back to their base after an operation.

It is not clear how the crash happened but the Taliban have said they shot the helicopter down.

The incident is believed to be the biggest single loss of life for US forces in Afghanistan since they began operations in 2001.

The helicopter went down overnight in Wardak province, the statement from President Karzai's office said.

It was returning from an operation against the Taliban in which eight insurgents are believed to have been killed.

"The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan expresses his sympathy and deep condolences to US President Barack Obama and the family of the victims," the statement said.

The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force has confirmed the helicopter crash but has not released details of casualties or the cause.

Nato said it was mounting an operation to recover the helicopter and find out why it crashed.

A Taliban spokesman said insurgents brought down the helicopter with a rocket, Associated Press news agency said.

A Wardak government spokesman quoted by AFP news agency agreed with this, saying the helicopter was hit as it was taking off.

It is believed the helicopter was a Chinook, commonly used by coalition forces in Afghanistan to ferry troops in and out of combat.

Suspicious bag prompts evacuations at Oslo station

2011-07-27T05:31:00.000-07:00

OSLO, Norway — A spokesman for the Norwegian Railway Authority says parts of Oslo's central station have been evacuated as police investigate an abandoned suitcase. Olav Nordli says the suitcase was found in the area where buses depart for Oslo's airport. Police have sealed off the area and are examining the abaondoned luggage.

The city is on high alert in the wake of Friday's bombing and youth camp shooting that killed 68 people.

The first Cabinet ministers were to return to their offices Wednesday after a car bomb exploded in the government district of the Norwegian capital.

Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian, has confessed to the attacks, according to police and his lawyer, but pleaded not guilty.

Changes to student visa rules are now in force - uk

2011-07-12T02:44:00.000-07:00

Significant changes to the Tier 4 student route of the points-based system have come into effect today.

We have revised the Immigration Rules relating to Tier 4 in order to:

restrict work entitlements, by only allowing students sponsored by higher education institutions (HEIs) and publicly funded further education colleges to work part-time during term time and full-time during vacations;
restrict sponsorship of dependants to those of students sponsored by HEIs on postgraduate courses lasting 12 months or longer, and of government-sponsored students on courses lasting longer than 6 months
require institutions to confirm that courses represent genuine academic progression from any previous courses studied by the student in the UK; and
create a streamlined application process for low-risk nationals sponsored by Highly Trusted sponsors.

These changes are aimed at delivering a strong migration system which tackles immigration abuse while allowing genuine students to study at genuine colleges.

We have also revised the application forms for Tier 4 (General), Tier 4 (child) and dependants under the points-based system. The new versions of these forms should be used with immediate effect.

The changes to the Immigration Rules were laid in Parliament on 13 June. A previous news story gives full details of all the changes and associated amendments that come into force today.

The latest revisions follow the Home Secretary's statement to Parliament about student visas, and the publication of a statement of intent, in March.

Srilanka asylum seekers not welcome in NewZealand

2011-07-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

The Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key says 85 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who have been detained on their way to New Zealand are “not welcome”.

The asylum seekers were detained by Indonesian police and have been anchored in the waters of Tanjung Pinang since Saturday. They are reportedly refusing to abandon ship.
Passengers on board the ship have been photographed holding signs reading “We like to go to New Zealand”, “Our future life is in New Zealand” and “We need New Zealand”.

John Key said that he was aware of the asylum seekers’ situation, but that New Zealand would not be helping. “I understand that some of those asylum seekers are holding flags or signs that say they might want to come to New Zealand, and our very simple message to them is they are not welcome”.

They claim that they are not illegal immigrants but refugees who need New Zealand’s help, and have also requested the assistance of the United Nations.

Microsoft will reach Skype

2011-07-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

I’m excited to announce that Skype and Microsoft have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Microsoft will acquire Skype for $8.5 billion US. It is an exciting day for all of us at Skype – we’ve taken a significant step towards realising our vision of making the world a better, more connected place.

I believe this acquisition is the very best way to extend Skype’s reach and will allow us to bring real-time video and voice communications to more people around the world than ever before. The combination of Skype and Microsoft will directly benefit all of you who use Skype by ushering in a new era of generative ways for everyone to communicate.

What I love most about this company are the people. Not only the team here at Skype and our partners, but everyone like you who uses Skype every day – you are the people who have made Skype what it is.

Subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, Skype will operate as a new business division of Microsoft, and I look forward to working with the team as president of Microsoft Skype to write the next chapter of the Skype story. Onwards!

Facebook Now Second To Google In UK Traffic

2011-06-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Facebook is now the second most popular web destination behind Google according to data collected by online research firm UKOM/Nielsen and released earlier today.

The social networking website revealed last week that it had reached more than 750 million users and it clocked 26.8 million visits last month from UK members with a growing proportion coming from so-called silver surfers with their numbers almost doubling since 2009.

What's even more surprising is that UKOM/Nielen calculates the overall website visitors; Facebook has only one major online property while Microsoft and Google has dozens, from Gmail, Google Maps, Bing, Windows Live, MSN, Windows etc.

Google is still far ahead of Facebook or Microsoft with a whopping 33.87m UK visitors for the month of May alone, around half of the country's population.

The UKOM/Nielsen data also showed that Linkedin is gradually catching on Twitter with the business networking website clocking nearly 18 million US visitors in May up by nearly 70 per cent over the last year while Twitter hit 23.6 million.

Also, it looks like the rumours of a premature Facebook death might have been exaggerated as the social networking website grew significantly since 2010 both in the UK and in the US grabbing a jaw dropping 14 million new visitors in May 2011 compared to the same month in 2010.

Fuel prices to be increased - Colombo

2011-06-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

The main opposition UNP today alleged that fuel prices are to be increased once again in the coming weeks.

Party Spokesman and Member of Parliament Gayantha Karunathilaka told a news conference today that the decision to allow Lanka India Oil Company (LIOC) and the repeated statements made by the subject Minister Susil Premajayantha that the CPC is running at a loss are clear indications of a price hike in the future.

I know where the money is - KP exclusive interview

2011-06-26T04:22:00.000-07:00

Kumaran Pathmanathan, the self-proclaimed successor of slain LTTE chief V Prabakaran, has said that he knows where the large haul of cash of the group is being kept and with whom following Tigers' defeat in 2009.

"I know who is having the large sums of money belonging to the LTTE. I know this will be a difficult job but I will try to find that money in order to help Tamil people," he was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Pathmanathan, better known as KP, announced himself the LTTE chief immediately after Prabakaran was killed by the Sri Lankan forces on May 19, 2009.

Three months later KP was arrested by Sri Lankan agents in Malaysia and brought to Colombo. Since then he has been living under government detention. He has expressed his desire to cooperate in rehabilitation and reconstruction of war-hit areas in the north and east regions of the country.

Under government escort, KP had visited the former battle regions heading his North Eastern Rehabilitation and Development Organisation (NERDO) and has expressed his desire to work with the Tamil diaspora to develop the regions.

KP told BBC that he was trying to secure the release of thousands of former LTTE cadres held by the government.

Pathmanathan was once Prabakaran's most trusted confidante and was overlooking the group's international arms purchases during the height of the conflict. He said the slowness in administrative procedures and the influence from both Sinhala and Tamil extremist elements have hampered the process to secure the release of the former LTTE men and women.

KP said he had played a lead role in forming the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam while residing in Malaysia. "Now it is a different situation. What is important now is to create a better future for the Tamils", he added.

Dubai to buy into Colombo Galadari

2011-06-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

The United Arab Emirates- based Galadari family of business magnates, has entered into an agreement with the government of Dubai to sell 29 percent of its shareholdings in Colombo’s Galadari Hotel for a value of Rs 2.08 billion.

The company has a total issued capital of 180 million shares and with the 29 percent stake to be sold to the Dubai government amounting to 52.2 million shares, which will be at Rs 40 each, the value of the transaction would be Rs 2.08 billion.

Top international market sources from Dubai said the first tranche of this transaction was expected to take place in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) within a short period of time.

As a result of this proposed transfer of Galadari Hotel shares by the Galadari family the top shareholdings will be shared between Galadari family, government of Dubai and the Employees Provident Fund of Sri Lanka (EPF).

The Dubai government is expected to purchase these shares under a company named Unicorn. Transaction is expected to be carried out at a price of Rs 40 per share by TKS Securities, the newly formed stock brokering company owned by Malaysian politician Tiong King Sing.

TKS Securities CEO Hussain Ghani said it was premature and more details of the transaction will be disclosed later.

The Galadari Hotel incorporated in 1980 and listed on the Main Board of the Colombo Stock Exchange, has 428 rooms in 17 floors and situated on a three acre block of land.

The government of Dubai being a shareholder of Sri Lanka’s Galadari Hotel was the latest milestone of the Galadari brothers which came in 2008.

sri-lanka war video - exclusive

2011-06-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

Srilanka Killing fields

More videos

Microsoft must pay $290m fine

2011-06-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

The US Supreme Court has denied an appeal by Microsoft against a $290m verdict for infringing a small Canadian company's patent.

The company, i4i, sued Microsoft in 2007, saying it owned the technology behind a text manipulation tool used in Microsoft's Word application.

The technology gave Word 2003 and Word 2007 users an improved way of using a document's contents.

Lower courts had said Microsoft wilfully breached the patent.

They ordered the world's biggest software maker to pay up, and to stop selling versions of Word containing the infringing technology.

'Clear and convincing'

Microsoft claimed a judge used the wrong standard in instructing the jury that decided on the award, and said the judgement should be overturned.

It pushed for a lower standard of proof of infringement to be used instead, arguing that the level of proof usually required to overturn a patent in the US was too high.

Defendants in US patent suits are required to show that 70-80% of the "clear and convincing" evidence supports their case.

Microsoft argued that they should only need to show a "preponderance" of the evidence - more than 50% - was in its favour.

However, the Supreme Court said the "clear and convincing" standard was the correct one.

Prior to the decision, President Obama's administration had called for the court to uphold the higher standard of proof.

Microsoft said in a statement: "While the outcome is not what we had hoped for, we will continue to advocate for changes to the law that will prevent abuse of the patent system and protect inventors who hold patents representing true innovation."

Microsoft now sells versions of Word that do not contain the technology in question.

Loudon Owen, chairman of i4i, welcomed the outcome: "Microsoft tried to gut the value of patents by introducing a lower standard for invalidating patents.

"It is now 100% clear that you can only invalidate a patent based on 'clear and convincing' evidence."

Fatal floods hit southern China

2011-06-07T02:39:00.000-07:00

At least 14 people have been killed in raging flood waters that have swept through south-western Guizhou province.

Scores of people are missing, and tens of thousands have left their homes ahead of more flooding.

Roads, bridges and hundreds of homes and cars have been destroyed in the onslaught.

The floods toll, reported by the state news agency Xinhua, comes after months of crop-destroying drought in the centre and north of the country.

The provincial civil affairs office in Guizhou said that floods have hit 11 cities and counties since 3 June.

At least 270,000 people have been affected, 45,000 evacuated and 3,000 stranded, said Xinhua.

Before the deluge

Some areas along the Yangtze River have suffered their worst drought in half a century.

Even with the rain - and more is forecast in the coming days - officials have warned that the crop shortages and dislocation caused by drought will remain severe.

Large swathes of China have had almost no rain since October, affecting millions of hectares of crops and leaving many short of drinking water.

Analysts say crop shortages in China could affect prices around the world.

The country's central bank is offering emergency loans for drought-relief projects in northern, central and eastern areas.

Officials are trying to calm fears over shortages, saying the country has enough in reserve to meet demand.

But food prices have been rising quickly in China for months.

Mobiles 'may cause brain cancer'

2011-05-31T13:58:00.000-07:00

The World Health Organization's cancer research agency says mobile phones are "possibly carcinogenic".

A review of evidence suggests an increased risk of a malignant type of brain cancer cannot be ruled out.

However, any link is not certain - they concluded that it was "not clearly established that it does cause cancer in humans".

A cancer charity said the evidence was too weak to draw strong conclusions from.

A group of 31 experts has been meeting in Lyon, France, to review human evidence coming from epidemiological studies.

They said they looked at all relevant human studies of people using mobile phones and exposure to electromagnetic fields in their workplace.

The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) can give mobile phones one of five scientific labels: carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, possibly carcinogenic, not classifiable or not carcinogenic.

It concluded that mobiles should be rated as "possibly carcinogenic" because of a possible link with a type of brain cancer - glioma.

Ed Yong, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: "The WHO's verdict means that there is some evidence linking mobile phones to cancer but it is too weak to draw strong conclusions from.

"The vast majority of existing studies have not found a link between phones and cancer, and if such a link exists, it is unlikely to be a large one.

"The risk of brain cancer is similar in people who use mobile phones compared to those who don't, and rates of this cancer have not gone up in recent years despite a dramatic rise in phone use during the 1980s.

"However, not enough is known to totally rule out a risk, and there has been very little research on the long-term effects of using phones."

The WHO estimated that there are five billion mobile phone subscriptions globally.

Christopher Wild, director of the IARC, said: "Given the potential consequences for public health of this classification and findings it is important that additional research be conducted into the long term, heavy use of mobile phones.

"Pending the availability of such information, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure such as hands free devices or texting."

51599003109965b5767e50b2df24ed21.html

2011-05-30T13:31:00.001-07:00

51599003109965b5767e50b2df24ed21-ktsarangan

http://kts-news.blogspot.com/51599003109965b5767e50b2df24ed21.html

Live - England v Sri Lanka

2011-05-27T08:22:00.000-07:00

Live video scorecard with TMS commentary - England v Sri Lanka (NB video scorecard only available to UK users, TMS commentary available worldwide)

Click here to Live Cricket

Live - England v Sri Lanka, first Test day two

Japan's death toll climbs to nearly 7,000

2011-03-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

Japan documented more deaths Friday as Prime Minister Naoto Kan sought to reassure a nation reeling from disaster, saying that he is committed to taking firm control of a "grave" situation.

Japanese paused at the one-week mark following the monster earthquake and ensuing tsunami as the death toll continued its steady climb to 6,911, the National Police Agency reported. Another 10,316 people are missing.

Kan said the disaster has been a "great test for all of the people of Japan," but he was confident of the resolve of his people.

Amid a raised crisis level at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant from a 4 to 5 -- putting it on par with the 1979 incident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island -- Kan told his compatriots to bury their pessimism.

"With a tsunami and earthquake we don't have any room to be pessimistic," he said. "We are going to create Japan again from scratch. We should face this challenge together."

Kan acknowledged the situation at the Fukushima plant remains "very grave" and said his government has disclosed all that it knows to both the Japanese people and the international community.

"The police, fire department and self defense forces are all working together, putting their lives on the line, in an attempt to resolve the situation," he said.

Search teams continued Friday to comb through the rubble and residents of decimated towns sifted through twisted metal and broken wood beams, looking for remnants of the lives they lost. Rescuers planted red flags where they found dead bodies.

"I have no words to express my feelings. I lost my mind. We will have to start from zero," Hidemitsu Ichikawa said, taking a break from shoveling mud outside his home.

In Miyagi Prefecture, officials observed a moment of silence Friday to mark the one-week anniversary of the quake.

Schools had become impromptu morgues, with names of the dead posted on the doors, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

Long lines snaked around supermarkets as survivors stocked up on supplies.

In the hardest-hit parts of the country, thousands of people, many of them frail and elderly, settled into shelters not knowing when they might be able to leave.

Japanese media have reported difficult living conditions, including kerosene shortages that make it hard to heat the shelters.

Some 380,000 people are staying at 2,200 facilities, Kyodo News reported.

"With all possible measures I'm determined, as part of the government, to improve their living conditions as much as possible," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters Friday.

NHK reported that 25 of the nearly 10,000 evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture have died in shelters.

Twenty of them were elderly people forced to evacuate from nursing homes and a hospital after problems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Several died as they rode without adequate medical care on a bus on the way to the high school shelter, Fukushima Prefecture government officials said.

Volunteers tried to care for hundreds of patients in the school's unheated athletic building. They sent out radio messages asking people to bring in any fuel they could spare, Koyo High School principal Masaaki Tashiro said, choking up as he recounted the struggle.

"It was so far beyond anything we had ever experienced that we were doing our very best, just trying to cope with what was in front of us, he said.

"People are exhausted from the earthquake, tsunami, and now the fear of radiation," he said.

Japan's nuclear safety agency described the situation at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Friday as a "Level 5" incident , a rating based on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, with 1 being least and 7 being most severe.

Workers resumed efforts to douse a spent fuel pond outside a nuclear reactor at the Daiichi plant Friday, with its owner saying that earlier attempts had been "somewhat effective" in addressing radiation concerns.

Conditions at the plant itself remain dangerous. Radiation levels Thursday hit 20 millisieverts per hour at an annex building where workers have been trying to re-establish electrical power, "the highest registered (at that building) so far," a Tokyo Electric official told reporters.

By comparison, the typical resident of a developed country is naturally exposed to 3 millisieverts per year.

The top priority for officials is the nuclear facility's No. 3 reactor -- the sole damaged unit that contains plutonium along with the uranium in its fuel rods, Edano said.

On Thursday, helicopters, fire trucks and police water cannons dumped or shot water on that unit, aiming to cool down the reactor's spent fuel pool. Experts believe that vapors rising from that pool, which has at least partially exposed fuel rods, may be releasing radiation into the atmosphere.

Significant amounts of radiation have been released since the earthquake hit on March 11, followed by a tsunami that swept away diesel generators needed to keep water pumping over the fuel rods. The disasters spurred several hydrogen explosions at the nuclear plant.

But Japanese government spokesman Noriyuki Shikata tried to allay fears of an imminent meltdown.

"We have not seen a major breach of containment" at any of the plant's troubled nuclear reactors, he said Thursday.

A meltdown occurs when nuclear fuel rods cannot be cooled and the nuclear core melts. In the worst-case scenario, the fuel can rupture the containment unit spilling out radioactivity through the air and water. That, public health officials say, can cause both immediate and long-term health problems, including radiation poisoning and cancer.

The government has ordered the evacuation of about 200,000 people living in a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) area around the plant, and told people living between 20 kilometers and 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the plant to remain indoors.

"Evacuees, and that can be said of myself as well, are feeling anxious since we are not getting the needed information from the government in a timely manner," said Seiji Sato, a spokesman for the government of Tamura City, about 20 kilometers from the nuclear facility.

One group of 21 people evacuated from a town near the plant made it to a shelter in Shinjo-shi, 300 kilometers (186 miles) away.

They told officials there that they drove as far away as possible, until they ran out of gas.

CNN

Tsunami; 20 countries warned

2011-03-11T07:51:00.000-08:00

A tsunami warning has been issued for at least 20 countries and numerous Pacific islands, including Japan, coastal Russia and the Marcus Islands, the Northern Marianas, Wake Island, Taiwan and Guam after a massive earthquake struck off the coast of Japan.

People along coastal areas are urged to evacuate, emergency officials warned.
The tsunami could cause damage "along coastlines of all islands in the state of Hawaii," warned the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in a bulletin issued at 9:31 p.m. Thursday local Hawaiian time. "Urgent action should be taken to protect lives and property."

Waves are expected to hit Hawaii around 3 a.m. Friday local time.

Tsunamis are a series of long ocean waves that can last five to 15 minutes and cause extensive flooding in coastal areas. A succession of waves can hit -- often the highest not being the first, said CNN International meteorologist Ivan Cabrera.

A tsunami is sweeping across the Pacific Ocean after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the northeastern coast of Honshu Island, Japan. Japan's NHK showed footage of cars, boats and buildings -- some of them ablaze -- being swept inland in Miyagi Prefecture.
The temblor is the largest earthquake since the 9.0 earthquake struck the Banda Aceh area of Indonesia on December 26, 2004, causing a massive tsunami that killed tens of thousands in more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean.

Tsunami waves can travel at speeds of 800 kilometers (497 miles) per hour. The earthquake, initially reported as a 7.8 earthquake, was upgraded to an 8.8 quake. The epicenter was 373 kilometers (231 miles) away from the capital, Tokyo, the United States Geological Survey said, and 24 kilometers deep -- a relatively shallow depth.

"When you jump a magnitude from 7 to 8, it's not 10 times stronger, it's a 1000 times stronger," said Cabrera. "With an 8.8 earthquake that shallow, that close to shore, there will be more than one tsunami."

The quake struck about 2:40 p.m. local time Friday in Tokyo, interrupting a sunny spring afternoon.

"You could tell this was different, instantly ... you literally couldn't stand on your feet the ground was shaking so hard," said Matt Alt, who lives on the west side of Tokyo. "We have earthquakes from time to time, but we never feel anything like the literal magnitude of this quake."

Fires were reported around Tokyo, and a large fire at a Chiba Prefecture oil refinery northeast of Tokyo sent billowing black smoke into the sky, NHK reported.
Indian Ocean tsunami killed about 250,000 people in 14 countries. That tsunami, which washed away entire communities, caused nearly $10 billion in damage and more casualties than any other tsunami in history, according to the United Nations. (CNN)

Why the iPad 2 Wins The Tablet War

2011-03-04T15:06:00.000-08:00

The iPad 2 is off to a great start. It hasn’t even shipped yet and it’s getting rave reviews — applauded as “phenomenal” and clearly outpacing the competition. Yours truly just declared the iPad 2 a “winner.”

Yet, as always, there have been voices from the other side of the fence. A common theme among critics is that the iPad 2 does not sport enough new features — that it is too much of an “incremental” upgrade. It needed to do better to compete with other tablets. A CNET News column took the the iPad 2 to task for its lack of a Retina Display, SD card slot, Near Field Communications technology, and more. TMO’s John Martellero, while recognizing the ultimate success of the iPad 2, concluded that its specs were a “disappointment.” Even my own prior column noted that “I expected more…By themselves, features such as slightly thinner and lighter don’t make a compelling case for why you should trade-in your old iPad for a new one.”

How does one respond to such criticisms?

The easy glib answer is: “For some people, it’s never enough. If Apple added 10 more features to the iPad 2, some blogger would still complain that you can’t use it to toast frozen waffles. Give it a rest. Have you noticed how many iPads Apple is selling? It’s not like they’re in trouble. The iPad 2 is a fine upgrade. It’s more than good enough.”

A different, more thoughtful, reply would point out that the success of the iPad 2 depends on more than the sum of its specs. It’s the overall experience of the iPad — hardware and software — that matters. At this level, the iPad 2 already has a commanding lead — and is poised to maintain it. John Gruber and Joshua Topolsky both offered riffs on this “post-PC” viewpoint.

And yet…is there anything of interest to be gleaned by a closer look at the “incremental iPad 2” criticism? Assuming that Apple actually considered some of the hoped-for features, why might they have ultimately been given the axe?

After posting my prior article, I reflected on this question. I believe the answer a simple one. It all comes down to price. As Steve Jobs gleefully pointed out at Wednesday’s iPad 2 unveiling, with a base price of $499, five out six of the iPad 2 models are cheaper than the $799 base price for a Motorola Xoom. Currently, competitors simply can’t compete on price. Samsung executives are already scratching their heads, worried about the relatively high price of their Galaxy tab — as well as expressing concern about matching the iPad 2’s thinner body.

It’s hard to overstate the value of a lower price in the marketplace. Too often, Apple has been on the losing end of this metric — trying to defend why its products are worth a premium. In the case of the Mac, this has been considered a major factor in its failure to gain market share years ago. Now Apple is selling the cheapest tablet in the land — without any sacrifice in Apple’s legendary quality and design. No wonder competitors are scrambling.

Let’s get back to those sought-after “missing” features. Sure, they would be great to have. But doing so would inevitably mean that Apple would need to spend more to make an iPad 2. Apple would either have to accept less of a profit margin or increase the price of the iPad.

As it is, the iPad 2 is not a trivial upgrade. The cameras and extra speed of the A5 chip are a big deal. The competition continues to struggle to catch up. Why risk the huge advantage of the iPad’s low price to add features that likely won’t make a difference to the product’s success? It makes no sense. And that’s why those features are missing-in-action from the new iPad.

A time may come when Apple feels increased pressure to compete on features. If so (and that time may never come), I’m confident Apple will respond quickly without any danger of losing its momentum. Apple is pacing itself for the marathon they see ahead, not the 100 yard dash of the next six months.

Still, there remains a part of me that wonders what an iPad 2 might have looked like if Steve Jobs had taken inspiration from Al Capone in The Untouchables — and shouted to his staff:

“I want you to get these crap tablets where they breathe! I want an iPad that will take on the Motorola Xoom and leave it DEAD! I want every other tablet that resembles a competitor DEAD! I want them so bankrupt that they have to burn their factories to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna PISS ON THEIR ASHES!”

That would have been an iPad 2 to see.

There’s another part of me that believes we’re in fact about to see that iPad 2. It goes on sale March 11. I’ll be getting one.

Google Mail is becoming Gmail in the UK

2010-05-06T05:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Gmail! As of May 3, 2010, Google's email service is changing its name to Gmail in the United Kingdom. From now on, anybody who signs up for a new Gmail account in the UK will get an @gmail.com address instead of @googlemail.com.

The good news is that "gmail" is 50% fewer characters than "googlemail," and with so much emailing going on these days, we estimate this name change will save something like 60 million keystrokes a day. At approximately 217 microjoules per keystroke, that's about the energy of 20 bonbons saved every day!

If you already use Google Mail and would prefer an @gmail.com address, you have the option to change to the matching @gmail.com username.

If you make this address swap, it only affects your address; your account settings, contacts, and existing mail won't change, and any mail sent to your old @googlemail.com address will automatically redirect to your new address.

If you're in the UK and would like to change your @googlemail.com address to @gmail.com, just click "switch to @gmail.com" in the "Accounts" tab under Gmail Settings (this link will only show up if you're eligible to change your address).

The good news is that "gmail" is 50% fewer characters than "googlemail," and with so much emailing going on these days, we estimate this name change will save something like 60 million keystrokes a day. At approximately 217 microjoules per keystroke, that's about the energy of 20 bonbons saved every day!

If you already use Google Mail and would prefer an @gmail.com address, you have the option to change to the matching @gmail.com username. If you make this address swap, it only affects your address; your account settings, contacts, and existing mail won't change, and any mail sent to your old @googlemail.com address will automatically redirect to your new address.

New volcanic ash cloud

2010-05-05T05:08:00.000-07:00

Airports in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland have been closed because of risks from volcanic ash, the Civil Aviation Authority has said.

Glasgow, Prestwick and Derry are likely to be closed all day, Inverness shut in the morning and Edinburgh and Belfast are expecting to close in the afternoon.

Last month, volcanic ash from an Icelandic volcano grounded flights for six days.

BBC News website readers have been sending their own experiences of the airspace closure.

3DTV swiched on in Britain

2010-04-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

The first 3D television set has gone on sale in the UK today, but consumers who rush to buy one may end up disappointed, experts have warned.

John Lewis is selling 40-inch Samsung models from its flagship stores for £1,799. The sets will be available in other John Lewis branches and Curry’s and Comet over the next week. Panasonic is expected to launch its version next week, with Sony following in June.

However, viewers will not be able to enjoy the full effect of the new technology until later this year with the launch of Sky’s 3D channel, which will show football, documentaries and films. There is only one Blu-ray film available in 3D at the moment, Monsters Vs. Aliens.

Samsung says that the new hardware will add depth to the picture of normal brodcasts and Blu-ray films.

John Kempner, a spokesman for John Lewis, said: “We’ve had flatscreen TVs and high definition, and now 3D is the next big thing. I think it’s what everybody is going to be talking about, and with the success of 3D in the cinema, this is bringing that level of enjoyment and type of experience into people’s homes.”

In order to benefit from the 3D technology, viewers will need a Blu-ray player, as no 3D TV is currently broadcast, as well as a pair of “Active Shutter” 3D glasses with a battery and an infrared sensor on the bridge, which picks up signals from the television. A pair of the glasses, plus the necessary cable to connect the television set, costs an extra £200.

The current Sky+ HD box is already fully compatible with 3D technology. Sky began screening selected Premier League football matches in 3D in over 1,000 pubs and clubs around the country in January. Although FIFA is filming some World Cup games in 3D, they will not show any England games until at least the quarter finals. The BBC and ITV have not yet announced plans for 3D.

Ben Stevens of Which? magazine says the launch is an exciting development however, consumers should be aware of the extra costs. "The new Samsung set is good quality and consumers will get a quality 2D television but will pay quite a premium for the new 3D technology, which they will not be able to take full advantage of for months if not years.

"The glasses for this type of 3D TV are also expensive at about £100 a pair, which may put off those who want to watch a football match in 3D with a group of friends. An alternative is to wait until the summer when LG will launch its passive 3D TV set, which comes with the type of cheap 3D glasses given out at the cinema. LG has said it will issue these glasses free."

Passive 3D television sets do not offer full high-definition, but Mr Stevens says: "Only purists will notice a difference."

Ash cloud chaos: Recriminations over Europe flight ban

2010-04-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

There have been bitter recriminations over the almost week-long closure of large parts of European airspace because of volcanic ash from Iceland.

Airlines are seeking compensation from governments over the unprecedented shutdown, which they say cost them $1.7bn (£1.1bn).

But scientists have said regulators had few options beyond flight bans.

The air traffic agency Eurocontrol says it expects European flights to be back to "almost 100%" on Thursday.

A Eurocontrol spokeswoman said nearly all of the continent's 28,000 scheduled flights, including more than 300 flights on transatlantic routes, were expected to proceed. On Wednesday, about 80% of flights took place.

Airlines are clearing the backlog of uncompleted journeys, but thousands of travellers remain stranded around the world.

Six days after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland triggered the first airspace closures, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) criticised the bans.

"For an industry that lost $9.4bn last year and was forecast to lose a further $2.8bn in 2010, this crisis is devastating," IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani said.

"Airspace was being closed based on theoretical models, not on facts."

Mr Bisignani said the situation had been exacerbated by "poor decision-making" from governments and called on them to compensate airlines, something which the European Commission has said it is considering.

"I am the first one to say that this industry does not want or need bailouts. But this crisis is not the result of running our business badly," he added.

'Absurd'

Some airlines are also demanding changes to EU passenger compensation rules, which require them to provide accommodation for those prevented from flying.

Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of the low-cost carrier Ryanair, had said it was "absurd" that his firm had to spend thousands of euros on someone whose ticket might have cost only a few euros.

How to be Popular at Work...

2010-01-05T07:12:00.001-08:00

Power, money and fame are definitely the top three things that can make a person popular at work? If not, read on to find out how to be everyone's favorite buddy at work:

Be friendly: Do your colleagues think you're a real snob? Do they have to think twice before talking to you? Do you always get to hear negative comments about you in office? If your answers to all these questions are yes, how can you expect your colleagues to be fond of you? First learn to be friendly with them. Feel free and communicate with your colleagues. Enter office with a smile on your face and make an effort to greet people cheerfully once you reach office. Try and adopt a friendly mindset. The more time you spend with your work mates the better they'll get to know you.

Show empathy: Your empathy reflects your capacity to see things from another person's point of view and to experience his/her feelings. When you connect with someone's feelings, and they believe you're with them, it really makes a lot of differences.

Don't gossip or complain: If you know all the office gossip, please keep it to yourself or don't open your mouth you're sure about anything. Watching a colleague progress in the firm is always the number one topic for gossip. There are people in every office, who fuel the gossip fire and tell you stories about what they think he/she has done to achieve success. But remember it's best to take such rumors with a pinch of salt and never repeat them to anyone. If you do, it'll harm your own reputation. So, just stay away from gossip and gossip mongers.

Drop a compliment: Tell your boss that you like the new ad campaign s/he came up with. Genuine flattery goes a long way. In fact even if your boss or a colleague is looking good you can always compliment them but, at a proper time and occasion. There's no harm in saying, 'You are looking gorgeous today or what a cool bag where did you get it from?' Your colleagues will simply love you for this.

Be a funny person: Laughter is the best medicine. If you have a great sense of humor you can make your colleagues laugh, nothing like it. Your workmates will love you for your humor and you will always be remembered as a funny character.

Be there for your colleagues: If you colleague is disturbed about something, don't leave him/her alone. Try talking to your colleague and find out what's the matter? Ask if there is anything you can do to help him/her out. If you manage to help your colleague, you will always be admired for being there in times of trouble.

Be an attention seeker: If you want people in your office to like you, learn to gain attention. You also need to be a little unique from the rest of the people in your office. The way you dress and the way you speak has to have a charisma to pull them towards you.

Enjoy being the butt of jokes: If your colleagues often crack jokes on you, don't take it too seriously. It simply means that people like you and enjoy pulling your leg. This also means that you are being noticed. If you take it too personally, you may come across as a sensitive person and your workmates may shun you for good the next time you join them.

One must have the following qualities to be popular in office:

1. Good networking skills.
2. Leadership qualities.
3. A positive body language.
4. Politeness.

7 Ways to Make a Good Impressions

2010-01-02T20:06:00.001-08:00

7 Ways to Make a Good Impressions

Impressions are important: They leave an initial taste in people's mouths that can remain prevalent for the entire relationship. If you are paranoid about what kind of impression you make, run through these seven list items and see if you are consistent with them; if you are, then you will probably expose the best of yourself. If not, then work to meet these standards.

1. Dress: The absolute first impression you will make on someone will be through your clothing, because that is what is seen from a distance, and cannot change throughout your meeting. Make sure to dress according to the situation-don' t over or under dress-and maintain within the limits of good taste. If you aren't sure if what you're wearing looks good, ask people for an honest opinion. One last thought: always, and I mean always, pull up your pants

2. Hygiene: Take a shower! Shave! Brush your teeth! You must be fully bathed and groomed before you meet with someone for the first time, because scruffy looking people generally don't seem as neat and mature. Pay attention to the little elements like breath: keep a pack of mint gum with you wherever you go, and periodically check to make sure you aren't killing bugs every time you breathe out. If you sweat heavily, keep a small stick of deodorant/anti- perspirant close, and if you notice you're stinking you can freshen up. People notice the minutiae!

3. Manners: At the table and with other people be civilized, polite and respectful: keep your elbows off of the table, open doors for people and address everyone-initially, at least-by their formal title. This will make an especially good impression on senior citizens, because you will prove that you aren't one of those "new fangled punks."

4. Speech: Have clean, clear diction and speak sans "like" or "you know." It is important to be articulate because that inspires a feeling of intelligence and education in the person you are meeting with. Always leave out profanity, and whatever you do, make sure to speak loud enough for all to hear, because conversationalists are easily agitated if you force them say "excuse me?" more than a few times.

5. Discretion: Choose what to share about yourself: forget to tell everyone about that time you went camping and ruptured your appendix, then fell face first into a pile of bug infested leaves-it is rude and will alienate you from the group. Try to withhold from conversations on personal subjects like religion or more disgusting topics like personal medical care. Before you speak, think about the possible impact of what you might say, then imagine its implications in the long run.

6. Humor: Humor can be your most powerful tool or your doom, because everyone has a slightly different sense of humor. What might be hilarious to you might seem disgusting to another, or vice versa. Try to withhold from any jokes that aren't family or dinner table friendly; you can tell those later.

7. Start and End with a Bang: Whoever you are meeting with will remember how you greet them, and then in what manner you left them. If you feel you have trouble with this, practice a few different phrases in the mirror, and introduce elements like: "pleased to meet you," or "honored to make your acquaintance. " Ignore the antiquity of these phrases; it often makes them more memorable.

Making a good impression will set any relationship off on a good foot. If you are in a situation where you need to be judged at face value-such as a job interview or date-then make sure to go through this list and make sure you are within bounds of reason and good taste on all of your decisions.

Tips To Be A Better Mom

2009-11-28T20:02:00.001-08:00

It goes without saying that mothers have an important role to play in their children's lives. Here are a few tips on how you can be a better parent to your child:

Respect and value your child:

Always respect your children -- respect and listen to their views and values, their opinions. Give them your complete attention when they want to talk to you. Put whatever activity you are engaged in on hold, and if that's not possible, set a time for when you can chat, and make sure to stick to it.

Encourage your children every opportunity you get. Make them feel special and express your love for them often. Hug them, kiss them and say 'I love you' everyday, not just when they are young but also as they grow older. Let them feel your love and affection as often as you can.

Talk to your kids:

Conversing with children is the best way to influence their ability and love for learning. Children who are spoken to often as infants will understand more words when they are toddlers and pre-schoolers than others. Communication also strengthens the mother-child bond and eases out the communication barriers, even as kids grow older.

Have fun with them:

Mothers are so busy with their day-to-day routines that they forget to have fun with their children. Take out one-on-one time to enjoy with your child. Do something that both of you like -- indulge in outdoor games, art and craft, board games, go for a walk, chat, cook -- do anything at all that makes you feel good. Laugh together, tickle each other, dance, sing songs, just have FUN!

Read to your little ones:

Reading to your children is the best way to inculcate a reading habit in them, which leads to a love of learning as they grow older. Reading also creates an emotional bond between parent and the child, whether it's lap-time reading, bedtime reading or any other way of doing it that you both enjoy. Moreover, it develops their imagination, creativity, vocabulary and communication skills.

Keep your children safe:

All parents want to keep their kids safe. Remember to take the necessary precautions, whether it is making them sit in the backseat of the car while driving, or making sure that there is someone responsible with them at all times. Make sure your home is childproof, with electrical outlets out of reach, furniture edges rounded off, glass items out of the way etc.

Teach your children values:

Make sure to impart good values to your kids -- it's the best gift you'll ever give them. Values are the foundation of a child's character. Teach your children values through everyday interactions, stories and by the way you conduct yourself. While story-telling, however, make sure you don't connect the story to the child. If, for example, you want to teach your little one about honesty, tell him/ her interesting stories related to it. Do not say, "You should behave in the same manner as so-and-so did and always tell the truth" -- the message will not sink in. To a youngster, this feels like nagging and moralizing, which will go in one ear and out the other.

Be a good role model:

Remember that your kids are watching you all the time and want to ape you in every possible way. Even very young children take in and listen to everything their parents say and do, so remain aware of your actions and behavior around them. For example, if you talk rudely to the domestic help, you will not be very successful in teaching your children the value of politeness. Model the behavior that you want them to develop.

Keep your kids healthy, but allow them their personal likes and dislikes when it comes to food:

Provide nutritious meals for your children, but allow them to make their own choices about what they like or don't like. As long as you are providing them with nutritious options and not junk food, they will almost always make the right choices. With young children, try and be creative with their meals, so that it's fun for them. If, for instance, there is cooked vegetable and chapattis for dinner, fold some cooked veggies into each chapatti so that the kids can enjoy it as a roll.

Set rules and limits:

A good mother is firm and flexible. Don't leave discipline only to a child's father. Set reasonable rules and limits and discuss them with your kids beforehand. Follow through with the consequences whenever applicable. However, there are times when you have to be flexible and ease the rules; times when youngsters are tired, sleepy, hungry or not well.

Be just and fair:

Treat all your children in the same manner. However, don't try to be overly fair, as it will get in the way -- for example, if you are out shopping and spot a book that one of your kids needs for a reference project, you do not necessarily have to buy something for the other child. Similarly, bring the other child what he/ she requires when it's needed. As long as you are providing for both of them equally, they will understand and not make an issue. When you try to be overly fair, children tend to find faults with every little thing you do.

Don't interfere in your children's fights unless it's necessary:

Allow your kids to settle issues on their own. As long as there is no bullying or physical violence, do not get involved in their fights. When you try to resolve their disputes, you will be required to take sides and this will not go down well with one of them. It is better to allow children to handle their own problems as far as possible. If they are not able to do it, or you feel like the situation is getting to you, ask them to play separately till they are able to be civil to each other and find a solution. You will be doing them a favor by teaching them the values of co-operation, problem-solving and compromise in the process.

Honor their father:

One of the best things a mother can do is Honor her children's father in front of them. Even if you are separated or divorced, never speak ill about your spouse in front of your children. Talk about him with respect and teach your children to respect him too.

Get the kids to interact with extended family:

Get your children to bond with extended family -- uncles, aunts, cousins. Make an effort so that they interact with both the maternal and paternal sides. Even if you don't get along with your in-laws, teach your children to respect their grandparents. They will hold you in higher esteem for doing that.

Keep your self-respect intact:

Always expect to be treated with respect by others in the presence of your kids and by your kids themselves. Do not allow anyone to cross a line. Maintain your dignity under all circumstances; be honest and keep your integrity intact always.

Take care of yourself:

Sleep well and take out time for yourself. Keep yourself in good health. Remember, a happy, relaxed mother can give more of herself to her children and family than an overworked, tense parent.

Secrets of Love

2009-11-20T23:30:00.001-08:00

This should be made a compulsory poster in every school and college these days...

Will surely benefit those lovelorn, lovetorn, love thorn...etc...kids of present times...

You must have also heard a lot of girls saying "how can I marry someone I don't love". Now who will make them understand that love comprises of all that has been explained here and that comes with time..living together with these tenets..

Secrets of Love

The First Secret - The Power of Thought

Love begins with our thoughts. We become what we think about. Loving thoughts create loving experiences and loving relationships. Affirmations can change our beliefs and thoughts about others and ourselves. If we want to love someone, we need to consider their needs and desires. Thinking about your ideal partner will help you recognize her when you meet her.

The Second Secret - The Power of Respect

You cannot love anyone or anything unless you first respect them. The first person you need to respect is yourself. To begin to gain self-respect asks yourself, "What do I respect about myself?" To gain respect for others, even those you may dislike, ask yourself "What do I respect about them?"

The Third Secret - The Power of Giving

If you want to receive love, all you have to do is give it! The more love you give, the more you will receive. To love is to give yourself freely and unconditionally. Practice random acts of kindness. Before committing to a relationship ask not what the other person will be able to give to you, but rather what will you be able to give them. The secret formula of a happy, lifelong, loving relationship is to always focus on what you can give instead of what you can take.

The Fourth Secret - The Power of Friendship

To find a true love, you must first find a true friend. Love does not consist of gazing into each other's eyes, but rather looking outward together in the same direction. To love someone completely you must love them for who they are, not what they look like. Friendship is the soil through which love's seeds grow. If you want to bring love into a relationship, you must first bring friendship.

The Fifth Secret - The Power of Touch

Touch is one of the most powerful expressions of love, breaking down barriers and bonding relationships. Touch changes our physical and emotional states and makes us more receptive to love.

The Sixth Secret - The Power of Letting Go

If you love something, let it free. If it comes back to you it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was. Even in a loving relationship, people need their own space. If we want to learn to love, we must first learn to forgive and let go of past hurts and grievances. Love means letting go of our fears, prejudices, egos and conditions. "Today I let go of all my fears, the past has no power over me - today is the beginning of a new life."

The Seventh Secret - The Power of Communication

When we learn to communicate openly and honestly, life changes. To love someone is to communicate with them. Let the people you love know that you love them and appreciate them. Never be afraid to say those three magic words: "I Love you." Never let an opportunity pass to praise someone. Always leave someone you love with a loving word - it could be the last time you see them. If you were about to die but could make telephone calls to the people you loved, who would you call, what would you say and.. Why are you waiting?

The Eighth Secret - The Power Of Commitment

If you want to have love in abundance, you must be committed to it, and that commitment will be reflected in your thoughts and actions. Commitment is the true test of love. If you want to have loving relationships, you must be committed to loving relationships. When you are committed to someone or something, quitting is never an option. Commitment distinguishes a fragile relationship from a strong one.

The Ninth Secret - The Power Of Passion

Passion ignites love and keeps it alive. Lasting passion does not come through physical attraction alone; it comes from deep commitment, enthusiasm, interest and excitement. Passion can be recreated by recreating past experiences when you felt passionate. Spontaneity and surprises produce passion. The essence of love and happiness are the same; all we need to do is to live each day with passion.

The Tenth Secret - The Power Of Trust

Trust is essential in all loving relationships. Without it one person becomes suspicious, anxious and fearful and the other person feels wrapped and emotionally suffocated. You cannot love someone completely unless you trust them completely. Act as if your relationship with the person you love will never end. One of the ways you can tell whether a person is right for you is to ask yourself, "Do I trust them completely and unreservedly?" If the answer is "no", think carefully before making a commitment.

Google new & different logos

2009-11-18T04:10:00.001-08:00

Google Incomplete without OOs on Halloween

New exam pattern based on IPL rules

2009-11-17T00:52:00.001-08:00

Cricket has reached exciting levels with IPL.... Infusing the same thing into exams, some suggestions: -

1. Reduce exam duration to 1 hr and marks to 50.

2. Introduce strategic break after 30 minutes.

3. Give free hit, that is a chance for students to frame their own questions and write answers.

4. 1st 15 minutes power play, that is no invigilator in the exam hall. (Wow…!!! I will love this....!!!)

5. Introduce fair play awards.

6. Cheer girls to cheer for every correct answer written....!!

Tips to Search better in Google

2009-11-06T09:12:00.001-08:00

This is an old one, but very important: Put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. If you put quotes around "electric curtains," Google won't waste your time finding one set of Web pages containing the word "electric" and another set containing the word "curtains."

Similarly, put a hyphen right before any word you want screened out. If you're looking up dolphins, for example, you'll have to wade through a million Miami Dolphins pages unless you search for "dolphins - Miami."

Google is a global White Pages and Yellow Pages. Search for "phonebook:home depot norwalk , ct," Google instantly produces the address and phone number of the Norwalk Home Depot. This works with names ("phonebook: robert jones las vegas, NV") as well as businesses.

Don't put any space after "phonebook." And in all of the following examples, don't type the quotes I'm showing you here.

Google is a package tracker. Type a FedEx or UPS package number (just the digits); when you click Search, Google offers a link to its tracking information.
Google is a calculator. Type in an equation ("32+2345*3- 234=").

Google is a units-of-measuremen t converter. Type " teaspoons in a g allon," for example, or "centimeters in a foot."

Google is a stock ticker. Type in AAPL or MSFT, for example, to see a link to the current Apple or Microsoft stock price, graphs, financial news and so on.

Google is an atlas. Type in an area code, like 212, to see a Mapquest map of the area.

Google is Wal-Mart's computer. Type in a UPC bar code number, such as "036000250015, " to see the description of the product you've just "scanned in." (Thanks to the Google Blog, http://google. blogspace. com , for this tip and the next couple.)

G oogle is an aviation buff. Type in a flight number like "United 22" for a link to a map of that flight's progress in the air. Or type in the tail number you see on an airplane for the full registration form for that plane.

Google is the Department of Motor Vehicles. Type in a VIN (vehicle identification number, which is etched onto a plate, usually on the door frame, of every car), like "JH4NA1157MT001832, " to find out the car's year, make and model.

For hours of rainy-day entertainment, visit http://labs. google.com . Here, you'll find links to new, half-finished Google experiments- like Google Voice, in which you call (650) 623-6706, speak the words you want to search for and then open your browser to view the results. Disclaimer: It wasn't working when I tried it. (Ditto a lot of these experiments. )

20 Great Ways to Find More Free Time

2009-10-30T06:10:00.001-07:00

Are there a hundred different things you wish you could do with your life someday — anything from exercising to meditation or yoga to writing that novel you always wished you could write to reading more to relaxing and watching the sunrise? But perhaps you never have the time, like most people.

The truth is, we all have the same amount of time, and its finite and in great demand. But some of us have made the time for doing the things we love doing, and others have allowed the constant demands and pressures and responsibilities of life to dictate their days.

Its time to move from the second group back into the first. Reclaim your time. Create the life you want and make the most of the free time you lay claim to. Its not hard, though it does take a little bit of effort and diligence.

Not all of these will be applicable to your life choose the ones you can apply and give them a try:

1. Take a time out. Freeing up your time starts with taking a step back to take a good look at your life. You need to block off at least an hour. Several hours or half a day is better. A whole day would be awesome. A weekend would be even more ideal, though not necessary practical for many folks. With this block of time, take a look at your life with some perspective. Is it what youve always wanted? How would you get to where youve always wanted to be? What do you enjoy doing, but dont have enough time to do? What things actually fill up your day? Are there things you could drop or minimize to make more time? Well look at some of these things in the following items, but it starts with taking a time out to think and plan.

2. Find your essentials. What is it that you love to do? Make a short list of 4-5 things. These are the things you want to make room for.

3. Find your time-wasters. What do you spend a lot of your time on that isnt on your essential list? Take a close look at these things and really think about whether theyre necessary, or if there are ways to reduce, minimize or eliminate these things. Sometimes you do things because you assume theyre necessary, but if you give it some thought you can find ways to drop them from your life. Figure out what you do simply to waste time maybe surfing certain sites, watching TV, talking a lot at the water cooler, etc. Youre going to want to minimize these time-wasters to make room for the more important stuff, the stuff that makes you happy and that you love to do.

4. Schedule the time. As you sit down and think about your life and what you want to do, versus what you actually do, you will be looking at ways to free up time. Its crucial that you take a blank weekly schedule (you can just write it out on a piece of paper, or use your calendar) and assign blocks for the things you love the stuff on your essentials list. If you want to exercise, for example, when will you do it? Put the blocks of time on your schedule, and make these blocks the most important appointments of your week. Schedule the rest of your life around these blocks.

5. Consolidate. There are many things you do, scattered throughout your day or your week, that you might be able to consolidate in order to save time. A good example is errands instead of running one or two a day, do them all in one day to save time and gas. Another example is email, or any kind of communication batch process your email instead of checking and reading and responding throughout the day. Same thing with meetings, paperwork, anything that you do regularly.

6. Cut out meetings. This isnt possible for everyone, but in my experience meetings take up a lot of time to get across a little information, or to make easy decisions that could be made via email or phone. As much as you can, minimize the number of meetings you hold and attend. In some cases this might mean talking to your boss and telling her that you have other priorities, and asking to be excused. In other cases this might mean asking the people holding the meeting if you can get the info in other ways. If so, youve saved yourself an hour or so per meeting (sometimes more).

7. De clutter your schedule. If you have a heavily packed schedule, full of meetings and errands and tasks and projects and appointments, youre going to want to weed it out so that its not so jam-packed. Find the stuff thats not so essential and cancel them. Postpone other stuff. Leave big blank spaces in your schedule.

8. Re-think your routine. Often we get stuck in a routine thats anything but what we really want our days to be like. Is there a better way of doing things? Youre the creator of your life make a new routine thats more pleasant, more optimal, more filled with things you love.

9. Cut back on email. I mentioned email in an earlier point above, regarding consolidating, but its such a major part of most peoples lives that it deserves special attention. How often do you check email? How much time do you spend composing emails? If you spend a major part of your work day on email, as many people do (and as I once did), you can free up a lot of time by reducing the time you spend in email. Now, this wont work for everyone, but it can work for many people: choose 2-3 key times during the day to process your inbox to empty, and keep your responses to 5 sentences.

10. Learn to say "NO". If you say yes to every request, you will never have any free time. Get super protective about your time, and say no to everything but the essential requests.

11. Keep your list to 3. When you make out your daily to-do list, just list the three Most Important Tasks you want to accomplish today. Dont make a laundry list of tasks, or youll fill up all your free time. By keeping your task list small, but populated only by important tasks, you ensure that you are getting the important stuff done but not overloading yourself.

12. Do your Biggest Rock first. Of the three Most Important Tasks you choose for the day, pick the biggest one, or the one youre dreading most, and do that first. Otherwise youll put that off as much as possible and fill your day with less important things. Dont allow yourself to check email until that Big Rock is taken care of. It starts your day with a sense of major accomplishment, and leaves you with a lot of free time the rest of the day, because the most important thing is already done.

13. Delegate. If you have subordinates or coworkers who can do a task or project, try to delegate it. Dont feel like you need to do everything yourself. If necessary, spend a little time training the person to whom youre delegating the task, but that little time spent training will pay off in a lot of time saved later. Delegating allows you to focus on the core tasks and projects you should be focusing on.

14. Cut out distractions. What is there around your workspace that distracts you from the task at hand? Sometimes its visual clutter, or papers lying around that call for your attention and action, or email or IM notifiers on your computer that pop up at the wrong time, or the phone, or coworkers. See if you can eliminate as many of these as possible the more you can focus, the more effective youll be and the less time youll waste. That equals time saved for the good stuff.

15. Disconnect. The biggest of distractions, for most people, is the Internet. My most productive times are when Im disconnected from the grid. Now, Im not saying you need to be disconnected all the time, but if you really want to be able to effectively complete tasks, disconnect your Internet so you can really focus. Set certain times of the day for connectivity, and only connect during those periods.

16. Outsource. If you cant delegate, see if you can outsource. With the Internet, we can connect with people from all over the world. Ive outsourced many things, from small tasks to checking email to legal work to design and editing work and more. That allows me to focus on the things Im best at, the things I love doing, and saves me a lot of time.

17. Make use of your mornings. I find that mornings are the absolute best times to schedule the things I really want to do. I run, read and write in the mornings — three of the four things on my Essentials List (spending time with family is the other thing on the list). Mornings are great because your day hasnt been filled with a bunch of unscheduled, demanding, last-minute tasks that will push back those Essentials. For example, if you schedule something for late afternoon, by the time late afternoon rolls around, you might have a dozen other things newly added to your to-do list, and youll put off that late-afternoon Essential. Instead, schedule it for the morning, and itll rarely (if ever) get pushed back.

18. The Golden Right-after-work Time. Other than mornings, I find the time just after work to be an incredible time for doing Essential things. Exercise, for example, is great in the 5-oclock hour, as is spending time with family, or doing anything else relaxing.

19. Your evenings. The time before you go to bed is also golden, as it exists every single day, and its usually completely yours to schedule. What do you want to do with this time? Read? Spend time with your kids? Work on a hobby youre passionate about? Take advantage of this time.

20. Lunch breaks. If the three golden times mentioned above dont work for you, lunch breaks are another good opportunity to schedule things. Some people like to exercise, or to take quiet times, during their lunch breaks. Others use this time to work on an important personal goal or project.

How to stay young

2009-10-23T02:51:00.001-07:00

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Try everything twice. On Madam's tombstone (of Whelan's and Madam) she said she wanted this epitaph: "Tried everything twice...loved it both times!"

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down. (Keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches.)

3. Keep learning: Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain get idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's!

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with him/her.

6. The tears happen: Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. LIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them at every opportunity.

11. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second chance.

12. Lost time can never be found.

This is Manoj Rai reminding you to keep rereading these entertaining, but insightful words above. Read them everyday for a month and see how your life changes.

Mobile Battery Saving Tips

2009-10-12T00:04:00.001-07:00

If you're expecting a call and your battery icon starts blinking, the first thing you should do is find a charger. But if that's not an option, here are ten things you can do to hang on. We'll skip the usual tips about the 'memory effect' and which battery type is better — NiCd or Li-Ion because you don't really have a choice in that.

Close Background Applications
If you're using a Smartphone, close applications that you don't need. Applications that stay active in the background use up a bit of CPU, which uses up battery. Make sure you 'exit' the applications from the menu, not by pressing the 'End' key, as that merely puts the application in the background. In Series 60 Smartphones (mostly Nokias), hold down the 'Menu' key to get a list of all applications running in the background to close them. In Windows Mobile 5 phones, open the 'Memory' application and check the 'Running programs' tab to close them.

Turn Down Screen Brightness
The screen is one of the most power-consuming parts of the mobile phone. The lower the brightness, the lesser power it needs. Keep it as low as you can, so long as you can still see it! Also, some phones like the E61 and the BlackBerry Pearl come with auto-adjust features that increase the brightness in brightly lit areas and dim it in low-light areas. If you're setting the brightness low, make sure that auto-adjust is turned off.

Don't Use Animated Wallpapers or Screensavers
The animations in wallpapers and screensavers can drain a bit of battery as they also consume a wee bit of CPU. Turn them off.

Turn Off Keypad Lights
If you've been using the phone for a while, you may be able to use the keys without seeing them. If this is the case, the keypad backlight can be turned off. However, not a lot of phones support this, but it's worth considering if your phone does.

Decrease Screen Standby Time Out
The time till your screen dims out and/or gets turned off is configurable in most phones. 10 seconds is good, 5 seconds is better. Set it as low as you can go without it becoming inconvenient.

Turn Off Vibration
Probably the second most power-consuming feature of any mobile phone is the built-in vibration alert. See if you can do without it.

Turn Down Ringer Volume, Keypad Tones and Speaker During Calls
If you're mostly indoors, like in the office or at home, a low ringer volume can go a bit towards saving your battery. Most phones also have DTMF-like keypad tones, which are not necessary if the keypad has decent tactile feedback. I keep them turned off most of the time — you can try it too. Volume of the earpiece when you're on a call can also be lowered, and that helps too.

Disable Voice Clarity / EFR / Voice Privacy
Almost all phones now do Enhanced Full Rate (EFR) for voice communication that consumes a little more power. In most cases, the enhanced quality of EFR doesn't make a difference thanks to the high noise levels in our city. Keep it off, you probably won't miss it. Some phones (mostly Samsungs) have a 'voice privacy' feature which can also be turned off to save battery.

Turn off 3G / GPRS / EDGE
Most 3G/UMTS/WCDMA phones keep searching for 3G coverage by default. In India, they'll keep searching till 2008, draining your battery, so go to the network selection screen and choose GSM-only. If your phone has a secondary camera near the screen, it's a 3G phone. Check your phone's specs on the website if you aren't sure. Sometimes, even regular GPRS or EDGE connections stay active in the back, so make sure you specifically disconnect when you're done browsing the web.

Use Bluetooth and WiFi Only While Transferring
If you only use Bluetooth occasionally to transfer files to and from other devices, there's probably no point keeping it on all the time. Most phones only come with an on/off setting for Bluetooth, unlike the 'Turn on for 10 minutes' setting available for Infrared in some phones (mostly Sony Ericssons). People tend to forget about Bluetooth being left on after transferring the file — avoid doing this. Same goes for WiFi, if you're phone has that.

Here's another tip — find a USB cable if your phone supports recharging via USB. The Motorola RAZR/KRZR/SLVRs and most Windows Mobile Smartphones have a standard miniUSB slot that can use the same cable as most digital cameras. You're more likely to find one of these lying around somewhere than a charger for your phone, unless it's a Nokia, of course.

Finally, the last tip is not very recommendable, but it is something to consider if you've tried everything else above: don't use the phone too much. Of course, you can't use the camera and media features (most Samsung phones won't even let you, if the battery is low) but you can also be a bit choosy while answering incoming calls — not all of them need to be answered. This is even more true in case of unknown numbers!

How To Succeed ?

2009-10-09T05:53:00.001-07:00

Dear all my Friends, I have read below points very carefully and I hope every individual to read it with full concentration, that really help us in our professional as well as social life.

16 point plan… 1. Don't talk negatively about people behind their backs. 2. If you gossip, people won't confide in you. Mind your own business. 3. Try to work for someone who'll challenge your powers.

4. You'll learn more in a year than 4 years of college.

5. Successful bosses have good communication skills. They learn from people, including their employees.

6. Work in such a way that makes your boss look good. It's not flattery

7. On downsizing, the first to go are those with few friends. Bosses prefer competent people whom they respect.

8. Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. Let your dress reflect professionalism.

9. Workout to get in good physical shape. Unless exceptionally skilled, the unhealthy are at a comparative disadvantage.

10. Personal integrity is crucial. tell nothing but the truth. Bosses can forgive mistakes but if you lie, you're gone

11. Be on time. Try to arrive few minutes early. It saves you from stress.

You'll be much relaxed & work better

12. Strive your best to keep a deadline. If you cannot meet it, then apologize & ask for an extension

13. Don't take things personally. If some people are unhappy with you, it's their problem. But always strive to give your best.

14. If you must correct someone, don't get personal about it. Do it never in front of others

15. Spend some time alone every day. What's the mission of my life? What do I want to be? and how to go about it.

16. As you move along Plan A of your career, maintain a Plan B as well — an alternative course to rely

Always remember that the secret of success is passion. Always think big. Spread love & joy.

You'll have blissful years ahead

7 Ways To Make A Good Impression

2009-10-07T22:38:00.001-07:00

1. Dress: The absolute first impression you will make on someone will be through your clothing, because that is what is seen from a distance, and cannot change throughout your meeting. Make sure to dress according to the situation-don't over or under dress-and maintain within the limits of good taste. If you aren't sure if what you're wearing looks good, ask people for an honest opinion. One last thought: always, and I mean always, pull up your pants

2. Hygiene: Take a shower! Shave! Brush your teeth! You must be fully bathed and groomed before you meet with someone for the first time, because scruffy looking people generally don't seem as neat and mature. Pay attention to the little elements like breath: keep a pack of mint gum with you wherever you go, and periodically check to make sure you aren't killing bugs every time you breathe out. If you sweat heavily, keep a small stick of deodorant/anti-perspirant close, and if you notice you're stinking you can freshen up. People notice the minutiae!

3. Manners: At the table and with other people be civilized, polite and respectful: keep your elbows off of the table, open doors for people and address everyone-initially, at least-by their formal title. This will make an especially good impression on senior citizens, because you will prove that you aren't one of those "new fangled punks."

5. Discretion: Choose what to share about yourself: forget to tell everyone about that time you went camping and ruptured your appendix, then fell face first into a pile of bug infested leaves-it is rude and will alienate you from the group. Try to withhold from conversations on personal subjects like religion or more disgusting topics like personal medical care. Before you speak, think about the possible impact of what you might say, then imagine its implications in the long run.

6. Humor: Humor can be your most powerful tool or your doom, because everyone has a slightly different sense of humor. What might be hilarious to you might seem disgusting to another, or vice versa. Try to withhold from any jokes that aren't family or dinner table friendly; you can tell those later.

7. Start and End with a Bang: Whoever you are meeting with will remember how you greet them, and then in what manner you left them. If you feel you have trouble with this, practice a few different phrases in the mirror, and introduce elements like: "pleased to meet you," or "honored to make your acquaintance." Ignore the antiquity of these phrases; it often makes them more memorable.

Find a Home Job From Internet..

2009-10-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

Job search engine

A job search engine is a website that facilitates job hunting. These sites are more commonly known as job boards[1] and range from large scale generalist boards to niche job boards for categories such as engineering, legal, insurance, social work, teaching and seasonal jobs. Users can typically deposit their résumés and submit them to potential employers, while employers can post job ads and search for potential employees. The category job search engines below is a list of specific search engines with details about them.

Trends

A more recent trend in job search engines is the emergence of vertical search or metasearch engines, which allows job-seekers to search across multiple websites. Some of these new search engines primarily index traditional job boards. These sites aim to provide a "one-stop shop" for job-seekers who don't need to search the underlying job boards.

Tensions have recently developed between the job boards and several scraper sites, with Craigslist recently banning scrapers from its job classifieds and Monster.com specifically banning scrapers through its recent adoption of a robots exclusion standard on all its pages while others have embraced them. Other job search engines index pages only from employers' websites, choosing to bypass traditional job boards entirely.

These vertical search engines allow job-seekers to find new positions that may not be advertised on the traditional job boards. There is a close relationship between these search engines and the emergence of XML based standards in the recruitment industry.

Employer review websites are also used for job searches. They enable job seekers to find and read reviews about experiences of working for a company or an organization. Although employer review websites may produce links to potential employers, they do not themselves list vacancies. Venture capital and mergers and acquisitions have been active in the job board industry for more than a decade. Several private equity firms are currently in the process of piecing together large job board networks and other firms are simply expanding through acquisition.

A developing trend with both jobs search engines and jobs boards is that many now encourage users to post their CV and contact details. While this is attractive for the site operators (who sell access to the resume bank to headhunters and recruiters), job-seekers should exercise caution in uploading personal information, since they have no control over where their resume will eventually be seen. Their resume may be viewed by a current employer or, worse, by fraudsters who may use information from it to perpetrate identity theft.

The success of jobs search engines in bridging the gap between job seekers and employers have spawned thousands of other job sites, many of which list job opportunities in a specific sector, such as education, health care, hospital management, academics and even in the non-governmental sector. There are reportedly more than 40,000 employment websites in existence today, the largest of which are represented by The International Association of Employment Web Sites, a trade association for the global online employment services industry. Smaller job boards tend to focus on a particular industry or geographic region..

Employment website

An employment website is a web site dealing specifically with employment or careers. Many employment websites are designed to allow employers to post job requirements for a position to be filled and are commonly known as job boards. Other employment sites offer employer reviews, career and job-search advice describe different job descriptions or employers. Through a job website a prospective employee can locate and fill out a job application or submit resumes over the Internet for the advertised position.

It is reported that over 40,000 employment sites are in existence, the largest of which are represented by The International Association of Employment Web Sites, a trade association for the global online employment services industry.

History

The Online Career Center launched in 1993 as a non-profit organization backed by forty major corporations as a system for job hunters to store their resumes within the databases as well as for recruiters to post job openings to the databases.

The market for online classifieds quickly grew. In 1994 Robert J. McGovern began NetStart Inc. as software sold to companies for listing job openings on their Web sites and manage the incoming e-mails those listings generated. After an influx of two million dollars in investment capital he then transported this software to its own web address, at first listing the job openings from the companies who utilized the software. NetStart Inc. changed its name in 1998 to operate under the name of their software, CareerBuilder. The newly christened company received a further influx of seven million dollars from investment firms such as New Enterprise Associates to expand their operations.

Six major newspapers joined forces in 1995 to list their classified sections online. The service was called CareerPath.com and featured help-wanted listings from the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, San Jose Mercury News and the Washington Post.

The industry's first attempt to reach broader, less tech-savvy base occurred in 1998 when Hotjobs.com attempted to place a Super Bowl spot, but Fox rejected the ad for being in poor taste. The ad featured a janitor at a zoo sweeping out the Elephant cage completely unbeknownst to the animal. The elephant sits down briefly and when it stands back up, the janitor has disappeared. The ad meant to illustrate a need for those stuck in jobs they hate, and offer a solution through their Web site. Hotjobs.com promplty fired the advertising agency who created the ad.

Employment websites were finally launched into the mainstream consciousness when Monster.com gambled on a 1999 Super Bowl ad. CEO Jeff Taylor authorized three 30 second spots for a total of four million dollars. The ad which featured children speaking like adults, drolly intoning their dream of working at various dead-end jobs to humorous effect were far more popular than rival Hotjobs.com ad about a security guard who transitions from a low paying security job to the same job at a fancier building. Monster.com was elevated to the top spot of online employment sites. Hotjobs.com's ad wasn't as successful, but it gave the company enough of a boost for its IPO in August.

In the year 2000 the landscape of online job boards began to change rapidly. After being purchased in a joint venture by Knight Ridder and Tribune Company in July, CareerBuilder absorbed competitor boards CareerPath.com and then Headhunter.net which had already acquired CareerMosaic. Even with these aggressive mergers CareerBuilder still trailed behind the number one employment site Jobsonline.com, number two Monster.com and number three Hotjobs.com.

Monster.com made a move in 2001 to purchase Hotjobs.com for $374 million in stock, but were unsuccessful due to Yahoo's unsolicited cash and stock bid of $430 million late in the year. Yahoo had previously announced plans to enter the job board business, but decided to jump start that venture by purchasing the established brand. By August of 2002, Monster.com posted a loss of $504 million forcing COO James Treacy to resign.

Revenue Streams

Employment websites earn their revenue through a variety of means including charges for job posts, database access, advertising and sales lead generation.

Job Posting

Initially, employment websites charged $50 for an employer to post an opening, a price comparable to placing the same ad in a newspaper. The difference was that there was anywhere from several days to two weeks lead time to get an ad posted, whereas employment sites were much more immediate and offered overnight results.

The current pricing structure varies per site, but generally the price of a job posting is based on the number of job categories it’s listed in, and then the number of regions for which it’s available.

Preparing for a Job Interview

2009-09-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

Some General Job Interview Tips

Do not smoke, chew gum, or eat garlic beforehand.
Wear suitable interview clothes.
Take copies of your CV with you.
Arrive on time for your job interview.
Any applications handed before the interview begins, are to be filled in as accurately as possible, make sure they match the information in your Cv and Cover Letter.
Always greet the interviewer by his/her last name and try to pronounce it correctly.
Have a good firm handshake.
Look alert and interested. Scan the room once and then keep your eyes on the interviewer.
Wait until you are offered a chair before you sit down.
Stress your achievements.

Always conduct yourself professionally and if something beyond your control occurs, show a sense of humor.
Be enthusiastic and show it in your replies and body language.
Answer the interview question by more than a simple yes or no but try not to go over the 60 second limit.
Avoid at all cost complaining about your current or former employer in your job interview.
Do not answer questions about politics or religion if the job is completely unrelated.
Do not raise salary discussions on your first interview - this is usually done on the second interview. Make sure you do your wage research before hand.

Your answer to the initial opening statements in the job interview are important, these are called "ice breakers".

Some times the interviewer will ask whether you had difficulty finding the company premises. Your answer should be brief and polite. The interviewer is merely being polite - if you had problems in finding the premises he/she doesn't need to know that.

Use replies such as

I'm fine thank you, and you?
I'm very well, thank you.

These replies express a careless attitude

So, so
OK
Not so well

Sample Interview Questions

Why did you apply for this position?
Tip: How do you think that you might fit into this company

Would you tell us what attracts you to a career with us? How do you see your studies, skills, experience and personal qualities contributing to the work of the organisation?

Tip: How do you think that you might fit into this company

Describe a time when you had to deal with conflicting demands. How did you deal with this situation and what was the outcome?
Tip: STAR

Can you describe a time where you have been required to perform as part of a team? What was the situation? What part did you play in the team and what was the outcome of the exercise?
Tip: STAR

How do you establish a working relationship with new people?
Tip: Team skills

Where do you expect to be in 5 years time? What will you do if you are not successful in gaining this position?
Tip: Demonstrate to the interviewer that you have thought about what it is you want from work and what you hope to achieve. Let them know you are flexible however, and willing to explore new opportunities.

What particular skills and qualities do you bring to the workforce? What other skills would you like to develop in the future?
Tip: Strengths and weaknesses

Tell me about a challenging situation you have faced. What was the situation and how did you cope with it?
Tip: STAR

Is there an achievement of which you are particularly proud? What is it? Why is it significant?
Tip: STAR

Imagine that you are a member of a small team responsible for the development and production of an internal publication. Your team is dependent on another workgroup to provide the data which will form the basis of your publication.
The deadline for completing this project is not able to be relaxed. (a) What factors do you think might affect the team's ability to meet the publication deadline? (b) What could the team do to ensure the project is completed on time?

Tip: Hypothetical questions allow the interviewer to identify key competencies deemed important by the employer. No right or wrong answer

What are the key elements of measuring performance and how can you establish whether an outcome represents a success? (Answer this in terms of your own work or study experience.) More specifically, what do you think might be some key indicators of the successful performance of a national agency?
Tip: STAR (Behavioural +Situational question)

You have demonstrated in your CV that you have knowledge of entomology. Could you please expand on your experience and tell us what you think your strengths are in this field. An important component of the position will be the maintenance of water quality parameters within acceptable limits for the species. Can you outline your experience in water quality testing? What do you feel are the most important water quality variables?
Tip: Multi-part question

The ability to work independently within a structured team is essential to the position. This will require the successful applicant to be self-starting, able to prioritise tasks, be a good communicator, as well as showing considerable initiative. Can you give us some examples where you have worked within a team environment and demonstrated these abilities?
Tip: STAR + multi-part question

What do you feel is the potential for aquaculture in Australia and what are some of the major impediments to its development? What are some of the major aquaculture species cultured in freshwater? As well as the position involving general maintenance of the aquaria and pond facilities, a significant component will involve participation in scientific experiments through the collection and collation of research data.
Can you describe previous experience you have had in the day to day running of scientific experiments?
Tip: STAR + multi-part question

The research project and facilities the successful applicant will be involved with receives considerable attention from the general public. Therefore, a component of the job will involve liaising with the general public and media.
This requires the delivery of information in a simple precise manner. How confident do you feel you are in delivering sometimes complex information in a simple manner?
Tip: give examples

What computer programs are you familiar with, and more specifically, what programs would you use to write a report, enter research data, and to prepare a poster or seminar.
Tip: give examples of where you have applied the use of these programs.

You have had an opportunity to look at the statistical table from the publication (this was supplied before the interview). (a) Imagine you were asked to write a commentary on the information in the table.
Are there any significant or curious or interesting features revealed by the data which you think should be highlighted, and if so, what might you say about them? Can you offer any suggestions to explain these features? (b) What is your opinion of the general layout of the table? How might it be improved?

Tip: multi-part question

New search engine targets Muslim Web users

2009-09-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

A new search engine, called ImHalal.com, aims to protect the sensibilities of Muslims by filtering out content that is "haram" or forbidden by the faith.

The site will warn people if they are searching for a query that might return explicit content, site-founder Reza Sardeha said in an email on Friday.

Besides developing the search technology, Sardeha and others in his team, based in the Netherlands, have also introduced a two layer filter.

When users get a haram rating of level one or two out of three, they are advised to choose another keyword to search, but they can still continue their search if they believe the results fetched will be clean, Sardeha said.

Words like porn and rape are considered to be at a rating of three, and are blocked, he added. Terms like beer and pork, however, get a haram rating of one because users cannot consume them off the Internet.

The site was launched earlier this month, and has received more than 400,000 unique visitors so far, Sardeha said. The promoters are considering using advertising as a revenue stream for the site, he added.

Muslims have become very active on the Internet in the last few years but there is a lack of tools to assist in safe or responsible online activities.

ImHalal.com aims to create a safe and clean environment for Muslims to search the Web, it said.

Mainstream search engines have comes in for criticism in many parts of the world for displaying content that is offensive to the local culture, and even against local laws. A social activist in India for example has filed a complaint in an Indian court against major search engines for displaying advertising and information on child sex selection techniques. Such advertising is against the law in India.

In some nations, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, some Web sites are actively filtered.

Job Interview Questions

2009-09-04T03:27:00.000-07:00

Question #1: Why don't you tell me about yourself?

This is the classic open-ended interview

question. You could start telling your life's history in two hours or less, but that is not what the interview wants to hear.

Instead, such a question is a test of your ability to select what is important and communicate it clearly and quickly. Obviously, the interviewer expects you to relate your background to the position being considered.

There are two basic approaches to answering this question. One is to provide a brief response to the question as it is asked, and the other is to request a clarification of the question before answering it.

In both cases, you would answer the question and

then quickly turn your response to focus on the skills, experience, and training that prepared you for the sort of job you now want. In other words, you want to relate what you say about yourself to the job at hand. Talk about your experiences as they relate to the position.

Sample answer #1

If you answered the question as it was asked, you might say something like this:

"I grew up in the Southwest and have one brother and one sister. My parents both worked and I was active in sports growing up. I always did well in school, and by the time I graduated from high school I had taken a year's worth of business courses.

I knew then that I wanted to work in a business setting and had several part-time office jobs while still in high school. After high school I worked in a variety of business settings and learned a great deal about how various business run.

For example, I was given complete responsibility for the daily operations of a wholesale distribution company that grossed over two million dollars a year. That was only three years after I graduated from high school. There I learned to supervise other people and solve problems under pressure.

I also became more interested in the financial end of running a business and decided, after three years and three promotions, to seek a position where I could have more involvement in key strategies and long-term management decisions."

Notice how this applicant provided a few bits of positive personal history and then quickly turned the interviewer's attention to skills and experiences that directly related to the job this applicant was seeking.

Sample Answer #2

You could ask interviewers to help you focus on the information they really want to know with a response such as this:

"There's so much to tell! Would you like me to emphasize my personal history, the special training and education I have that prepared me for this sort of position, or the skills and job-related experiences I have to support my objective?"

If you do this well, most employers will tell you what sorts of things they are most interested in, and you can then concentrate on giving them what they want.

Honesty is always the best policy, but that old adage doesn't rule out marketing yourself in the best light during an interview. Virtually all career counselors encourage job seekers to be positive about themselves and don't consider this positive spin as unethical in any way.

But they also caution you to avoid taking credit for something you don't deserve, claiming to have experience you don't have, or bragging about your performance.

You can talk up your achievements, awards, and promotions without misrepresenting yourself. A job interview is also not the place to talk about an unhappy childhood or make negative comments about past employers. Instead, focus on the positive by saying that your childhood helped you become self-motivated, resilient, and a hard worker.

Basic Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself.
Who or what has had the greatest influence on the development of your career interests?
How have your educational and work experiences prepared you for this position?
What factors did you consider in choosing your major?
Why are you interested in our organization?
What kind of work do you want to do?
What is your GPA? Does your GPA reflect your ability?
What goals have you set for yourself?
How do you plan to achieve your goals?
Tell me how you perceive your strengths? Weaknesses?
How do you evaluate yourself?
What work experience has been the most valuable to you and why?
What has been your greatest challenge?
What were the biggest problems you encountered in college? How have you handled them? What did you learn from them?
How do you think you have changed personally since you started college?
Why did you choose the extracurricular activities that you did? What did you gain? What did you contribute?
What was the most useful criticism you received and who was it from?
Tell me about a project you initiated.
How do you solve conflicts?
Give me an example of a problem you solved and the process you used.
Describe the project or situation that best demonstrates your analytical skills.
What one academic course did you have that had the greatest impact on you and why?
Give examples of your "team player" qualities.
Take me through a project where you demonstrated planning skills.
How do you motivate people?
What types of situations put you under pressure and how do you deal with the pressure?
Tell me about a difficult decision you have made.
Give an example of a situation in which you failed and how you handled it.
Tell me about a situation when you had to persuade another person to see your point of view.
What frustrates you the most?
What interests or concerns you about the position or company?
Give me a specific example of your work or learning in a multicultural setting and what impact did the experience have on you?
What two or three accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction?
Describe a situation where you had a conflict with another individual, and how you dealt with it.
Describe your leadership style.
In a particular leadership role, what was the greatest challenge?
What characteristics do you think are important for this position?
What can you contribute to our organization?
What challenges are you looking for in a position?
How are you conducting your job search and how will you make your decision?
What are your expectations of your future employer?
What two or three things are most important to you in a position?
What do we need to know about you that has not been covered?
Why should we hire you?

Types of Interviews

2009-09-04T03:25:00.000-07:00

Interviewers come in many styles, shapes, and sizes. They may be trained professionals or rank beginners. They may be pleasant and encouraging or rude and opinionated.

Likewise, there are several kinds of interviews, depending on the personality and preferences of the interviewer and the instructions from the employer.
Generally, in on-campus and consortia interviews students will be involved initially with a screening interview, one from which the interviewer makes a recommendation about whether to consider a candidate further.
The screening interview is usually (but not always) conducted by a friendly, encouraging individual who has been trained to follow a fairly structured line of questioning.

Group

Some employers will interview several candidates at the same time or you might find yourself in a social setting with the other candidates during the interview process. Keep in mind that the employer is always evaluating you. You want to be seen as a team player.

Panel
A panel is the reverse of the group interview. There are several people from the employer. You might be interviewed by 2-10 people at the same time. Be sure to make eye contact with each person.
When a question is asked you want to direct 50% of your eye contact to the person that asked the question and the other 50% to the other members of the panel. Try to get everyone’s contact information so that you can write each of them a thank you letter.

One-On-One
This is the traditional format for interviews. Make good eye contact and try to match their “style”. If they are very conservative and don’t smile it would not be a good idea to try humor in the interview.

On-Campus
The main challenge is that you usually only have 30 minutes with the recruiter. So be sure to use all the time to your advantage. If there are company representatives in the waiting area, take advantage of the extra “face time” by speaking with them. Remember, they are always evaluating you.

On-Site
When you get an interview that is at the employer’s place of business you need to stay on your toes. You want to be nice to everyone from the receptionist to people you pass by in the parking lot. You never know what their position is at the company. Plan your route to the location and make sure you allow for traffic.
You do not want to be late to an interview! Arrive about 15 minutes early but you want to be near the employer about 1 hr before your interview so you can make sure you have everything together. Take the last 45 minutes to get some water or a bite to eat if you are hungry.

Before the Interview

2009-09-04T03:24:00.000-07:00

Before your interview find out everything you can about the company (read their annual report which can be obtained by telephoning them). Re-read your application, thinking through your own career and the questions they might ask you. You should try to anticipate the general questions which they will ask and also prepare some questions to ask them.

To do well at the interview you will need to convince the interviewer you are technically qualified to do the job. You will also need to show that you are sufficiently motivated to get the job done well and that you will fit in with the company's organizational structure and the team in which you will work.

You should dress smartly for the interview and should leave home earlier than you need to on the day of the interview - you may be delayed by traffic or for other reasons. Be courteous to all employees of the company. At the interview itself you must be positive about yourself and your abilities - but do not waffle.

Here are some tips:

1. Assemble all necessary papers

* Resume or personal data sheet
Know your resume well enough that you can discuss every line if necessary
* Licenses, Social Security card and/or military records
* Samples of work, if relevant
* List of questions you want to ask the interviewer about the job

Many employers will use your resume as a source of questions during the interview. Review your resume prior to the interview and be able to develop answers to questions that relate to your employment and educational experience listed on your resume. Be prepared to discuss gaps in employment. If called upon, you must be able to demonstrate the skills you stated on your resume. Focus your answers on the skills and experience that will be most useful to the position you are interviewing for.

2. Learn all you can about the prospective employer

* What are the products and services?
* What is its reputation?
* What types of jobs are available?
* What are the hiring policies and practices?
* What are their salary ranges?
* What are their goals?

Researching the company you are interviewing with and the position you are pursuing demonstrates genuine interest and initiative. It will be obvious to the interviewer whether you did your research or not. Many interviewers will focus questions on finding out how much preparation you did for the interview.

One can research a company utilizing many different sources:

* The Internet
* Company brochures and year end statements
* The area Chamber of Commerce
* Networking – ask friends, relatives, teachers, social and business contacts

You do not need to know everything possible about the company. The information most helpful for the interviewing process includes knowing the product manufactured or service offered. You should find out the size of the company and if they have multiple locations. Who are their competitors? Did they recently merge with another company? What is their sales volume and is that down or up from previous years?

3. Identify what you have to offer.

* Your education, training and experience—what you have done, know how to do and can do.
* Remember all the skills, abilities and talents you possess that will make you an excellent employee.

4. Consider your potentials as an employee

* Why do you feel you can do the job?
* What makes you qualified for the job?
* What do you have to offer the company or organization?
* Why do you want to work for the employer in question?

Pre- Interview Checklist

Before you leave home for your interview, check the following:

* Have you researched the organization you are interviewing with?

* Do you know the interviewer’s name? If not, get it from the receptionist before the interview.

* Have you formulated answers for usual interview questions?

* Do you have all necessary information for the interview? This includes items such as resume or personal data sheet, names and addresses of references, pen and note pad.

* Is there someone you could do a practice interview with? You will benefit from suggestions for improvement.

Do not forget the most obvious research, simply knowing where you are going BEFORE the interview. What is the company address? How long should you plan for travel time? Drive by the company to be sure that you know how to get there and how long it will take. Also, remember to give yourself an extra 10-15 minutes in case they ask you to complete their job application.

Other tips on preparing for your interview:

* Consider how the position relates to your talents and goals, such as specialty area and opportunities for advancement.

* Schedule the interview at a time that will not conflict with your working hours. Most interviewers will understand you not wanting to take off work at your current position to interview for other jobs.

* Find out the name and position of the person you will meet with and get his/ her telephone number in case an emergency arises.

* Be prepared with answers to why you want to work at that particular organization, and how you would be the best candidate for this position. Understanding the company, their mission and their environment will help you with these questions.

* Dress properly for the interview. Dress slacks, dress shirt, a tie and possibly a sport coat for men. Women should wear a knee length (or longer) skirt or pants, and blouse. If a skirt is your choice, be sure to wear nylons. Don’t forget the dress shoes.

Vodafone mobile broadband to hit top HSDPA speed

2009-08-28T05:34:00.000-07:00

Vodafone has begun upgrading its mobile broadband network to a theoretical maximum download speed of 14.4Mbps, the operator announced on Thursday.

The move makes Vodafone the first British operator to roll out the highest specification for high-speed downlink packet access.

HSDPA, a variant of 3G technology, is expected to be superseded by HSPA Evolved (HSPA+), then by the long-term evolution (LTE) of 3G--with each upgrade providing speed boosts.

Rival British operators offer much lower theoretical maximum speeds. T-Mobile's mobile broadband tops out at 4.5Mbps. O2, 3 and Orange all advertise up to 3.6Mbps, but are in the process of rolling out technology capable of speeds of up to 7.2Mbps.

"Today's network upgrade means customers can be reassured we're consistently enhancing the quality of our network in response to demand," Vodafone UK's chief technology officer, Jeni Mundy, said in a statement.

The theoretical maximum of 14.4Mbps will almost never be achieved in practice. A variety of factors--the two most influential being the distance from the nearest base station and the number of subscribers using the same station--mean the result is actually much lower speeds.

According to Vodafone, most of the customers connecting to base stations that offer 14.4Mbps will get somewhere in between 1Mbps and 5Mbps, and no-one is likely to achieve more than 10.8Mbps on the downlink.

The upgrade has already applied to sites in busy areas of London, Birmingham and Liverpool, with the rest of the United Kingdom gaining the higher speeds "on an ongoing basis", the operator said.

Skype Trojan can log VoIP conversations

2009-08-28T05:31:00.000-07:00

Security giant Symantec claims to have found the public release of source code for a Trojan that targets Skype users.

Trojan.Peskyspy is spyware which records a voice call and stores it as an MP3 file for later transmission.

An infected machine will use the software that handles audio processing within a computer and save the call data as an MP3. The file is then sent over the internet to a predefined server where the attacker can listen to the recorded conversations.

Since the call is an MP3 it does not take up too much space, and means that transfer speeds are lower.

Symantec admits that the threat risk is low at the moment but that, since the code is publicly available, malware authors are likely to use it as part of a customised snooping package.

The downside for the malware creators is that they would need a lot of time on their hands to go through hours of Skype audio files to find anything of monetary interest.

Bus & Yarl Devi Journey (A-9)

2009-08-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Strong passwords: How to create and use them (2)

2009-07-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Password strategies to avoid

Some common methods used to create passwords are easy to guess by criminals. To avoid weak, easy-to-guess passwords:
•
Avoid sequences or repeated characters. "12345678," "222222," "abcdefg," or adjacent letters on your keyboard do not help make secure passwords.
•
Avoid using only look-alike substitutions of numbers or symbols. Criminals and other malicious users who know enough to try and crack your password will not be fooled by common look-alike replacements, such as to replace an 'i' with a '1' or an 'a' with '@' as in "M1cr0$0ft" or "P@ssw0rd". But these substitutions can be effective when combined with other measures, such as length, misspellings, or variations in case, to improve the strength of your password.
•
Avoid your login name. Any part of your name, birthday, social security number, or similar information for your loved ones constitutes a bad password choice. This is one of the first things criminals will try.
•
Avoid dictionary words in any language. Criminals use sophisticated tools that can rapidly guess passwords that are based on words in multiple dictionaries, including words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and substitutions. This includes all sorts of profanity and any word you would not say in front of your children.
•
Use more than one password everywhere. If any one of the computers or online systems using this password is compromised, all of your other information protected by that password should be considered compromised as well. It is critical to use different passwords for different systems.
•
Avoid using online storage. If malicious users find these passwords stored online or on a networked computer, they have access to all your information.
The "blank password" option
A blank password (no password at all) on your account is more secure than a weak password such as "1234". Criminals can easily guess a simplistic password, but on computers using Windows XP, an account without a password cannot be accessed remotely by means such as a network or the Internet. (This option is not available for Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows Me, or earlier versions) You can choose to use a blank password on your computer account if these criteria are met:
•
You only have one computer or you have several computers but you do not need to access information on one computer from another one
•
The computer is physically secure (you trust everyone who has physical access to the computer)
The use of a blank password is not always a good idea. For example, a laptop computer that you take with you is probably not physically secure, so on those you should have a strong password.
How to access and change your passwords
Online accountsWeb sites have a variety of policies that govern how you can access your account and change your password. Look for a link (such as "my account") somewhere on the site's home page that goes to a special area of the site that allows password and account management.

Computer passwordsThe Help files for your computer operating system will usually provide information about how to create, modify, and access password-protected user accounts, as well as how to require password protection upon startup of your computer. You can also try to find this information online at the software manufacturer's Web site.
For example, if you use Microsoft Windows XP, online help can show you how to manage passwords, change passwords, and more.

Strong passwords: How to create and use them

2009-07-31T11:09:00.000-07:00

Your passwords are the keys you use to access personal information that you've stored on your computer and in your online accounts.
If criminals or other malicious users steal this information, they can use your name to open new credit card accounts, apply for a mortgage, or pose as you in online transactions. In many cases you would not notice these attacks until it was too late.

Fortunately, it is not hard to create strong passwords and keep them well protected.
What makes a strong password
To an attacker, a strong password should appear to be a random string of characters. The following criteria can help your passwords do so:
Make it lengthy. Each character that you add to your password increases the protection that it provides many times over. Your passwords should be 8 or more characters in length; 14 characters or longer is ideal.

Many systems also support use of the space bar in passwords, so you can create a phrase made of many words (a "pass phrase"). A pass phrase is often easier to remember than a simple password, as well as longer and harder to guess.
Combine letters, numbers, and symbols. The greater variety of characters that you have in your password, the harder it is to guess. Other important specifics include:

• The fewer types of characters in your password, the longer it must be. A 15-character password composed only of random letters and numbers is about 33,000 times stronger than an 8-character password composed of characters from the entire keyboard. If you cannot create a password that contains symbols, you need to make it considerably longer to get the same degree of protection. An ideal password combines both length and different types of symbols.

• Use the entire keyboard, not just the most common characters. Symbols typed by holding down the "Shift" key and typing a number are very common in passwords. Your password will be much stronger if you choose from all the symbols on the keyboard, including punctuation marks not on the upper row of the keyboard, and any symbols unique to your language.

Use words and phrases that are easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess. The easiest way to remember your passwords and pass phrases is to write them down. Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing wrong with writing passwords down, but they need to be adequately protected in order to remain secure and effective.

In general, passwords written on a piece of paper are more difficult to compromise across the Internet than a password manager, Web site, or other software-based storage tool, such as password managers.

Create a strong, memorable password in 6 steps

Use these steps to develop a strong password:

1. Think of a sentence that you can remember. This will be the basis of your strong password or pass phrase. Use a memorable sentence, such as "My son Aiden is three years old."

2. Check if the computer or online system supports the pass phrase directly. If you can use a pass phrase (with spaces between characters) on your computer or online system, do so.

3. If the computer or online system does not support pass phrases, convert it to a password. Take the first letter of each word of the sentence that you've created to create a new, nonsensical word. Using the example above, you'd get: "msaityo".

4. Add complexity by mixing uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. It is valuable to use some letter swapping or misspellings as well. For instance, in the pass phrase above, consider misspelling Aiden's name, or substituting the word "three" for the number 3. There are many possible substitutions, and the longer the sentence, the more complex your password can be. Your pass phrase might become "My SoN Ayd3N is 3 yeeRs old." If the computer or online system will not support a pass phrase, use the same technique on the shorter password. This might yield a password like "MsAy3yo".

5. Finally, substitute some special characters. You can use symbols that look like letters, combine words (remove spaces) and other ways to make the password more complex. Using these tricks, we create a pass phrase of "MySoN 8N i$ 3 yeeR$ old" or a password (using the first letter of each word) "M$8ni3y0".

6. Test your new password with Password Checker
Password Checker is a non-recording feature on this Web site that helps determine your password's strength as you type.

Continue....

Cyber attacks came from Britain: Vietnamese research

2009-07-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Cyber attacks last week that crippled major US and South Korean websites originated from a master server in Britain, a major Vietnamese computer security centre said on Wednesday.

South Korean and US government and private websites were last week hit by waves of “distributed denial of service” (DDos) attacks designed to swamp selected sites with traffic.
Officials in Seoul said the attacks may have originated in North Korea and that 166,000 “zombie” computers in 74 countries were involved.
And the Bach Khoa Internetwork Security (Bkis) in Vietnam said the master computer was in Britain.

“Most important of all, we could locate the master server that controls all the hacking, located in the UK,” said Nguyen Minh Duc, senior security researcher for
“Ours is the first report on the location of the master server.”The Bkis centre is part of is part of the Hanoi University of Technology and of a regional internet security group, the Asia-Pacific Computer Emergency Response Team.

Duc told AFP the international investigation had reached a dead-end because the hacker had concealed their identity on infected computers.
However, he said: “Our discovery provides information for authorities to find out the culprit behind the attack.... Our finding helps point out that the hacker might be located anywhere in the world, conducted by anyone, not just North Korea.”Seoul's National Intelligence Service earlier said North Korea was a prime suspect in the attacks, which briefly crippled major government and commercial websites in the United States and South Korea.

Commenting in Seoul on the Vietnamese findings, Park Cheol-Soon, a network protection team leader of the government-run Korea Communications Commission, said the British server “appears to have controlled compromised handler servers” that spread viruses.
“However, it needs more investigation to confirm whether this server was the final attacker server or not,” he told AFP.

Park stressed that the apparent discovery of a master server in Britain did not mean North Korea could not be held responsible.
The DDos attacks involved sending multiple requests for website access from tens of thousands of “zombie” computers so the sites became overloaded.

The computers that were used to send the flood of requests had been infected with a virus that allowed attackers to control them anonymously.
The Korea Communications Commission on Monday downgraded its alert against the cyber attacks, saying they were “fizzling out” and most targeted sites had normal traffic restored.
North Korea has staged a nuclear test and numerous missile launches in recent weeks, raising regional tensions. But a cyber attack, if confirmed, would be a new tactic.

Duc said latest reports that Bkis received from KrCERT, the Korean Computer Emergency Response Team, and its US counterpart, USCERT, said those two agencies had worked with UK authorities to approach the master server.

On a separate company blog Duc wrote that, having located the British source for the attacks, “We believe that it is completely possible to find out the hacker.”But Hong Min-Pyo, president of security solution provider Shiftworks, told AFP it was technically impossible to trace who initiated the attacks.

Shiftworks has also tracked down a server in New Jersey that was believed to have been spreading the so-called “malware”, he said. “DDos attacks are designed to hide the attackers.”

100 million dollars worth of stock from Facebook

2009-07-17T11:29:00.001-07:00

A Russian Internet company is offering to buy 100 million dollars worth of stock from Facebook employees in a deal which values the fast-growing social network at 6.5 billion dollars.

The Russian company, Digital Sky Technologies (DST), which invested 200 million dollars in Facebook in May, is offering 14.77 dollars per share of Facebook common stock.
The tender offer will close “some time in August,” said Jennifer Gill, a DST spokeswoman.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the DST offer.

“While individuals must make their own decisions about participating in this program, I'm pleased that the price DST is offering is much greater than the price originally considered last fall,” Zuckerberg said in a statement.
“This is recognition of Facebook's growth and progress towards making the world more open and connected,” he said.

At the time it purchased a nearly two percent equity stake in Facebook, DST said it would be purchasing at least 100 million dollars of common stock held by current and former Facebook employees.
DST's purchase of a 1.96 percent stake in preferred stock in privately held Facebook, the largest cash-raising exercise by the Palo Alto, California-based company in two years, valued the company at 10 billion dollars.

According to the technology blog BoomTown, current and former employees of Facebook will be allowed to sell up to 20 percent of their common shares.
BoomTown said that if the offer was fully accepted by eligible employees it would give DST a total holding of 3.5 percent of Facebook.

US computer software giant Microsoft bought a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook for 240 million dollars in 2007, a deal that at the time valued the company at 15 billion dollars.
While its number of users has grown at an amazing clip, Facebook, unlike other Web giants such as Amazon, eBay, Google and Yahoo!, has yet to prove how it is going to translate traffic into cash.

The company has not yet unveiled plans to go public.
Privately held DST, which is based in Moscow and London, holds significant interests in Web companies in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Facebook claims 250 million users

2009-07-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday said the number of people using the online social networking service had climbed to 250 million.
“The rapid pace of our growth is humbling and exciting for us,” Zuckerberg said in a message posted at Facebook's official blog.

“For us, growing to 250 million users isn't just an impressive number; it is a mark of how many personal connections all of you have made. ”Palo Alto, California-based Facebook was founded in 2004 and has become the most popular online social networking service, eclipsing News Corporation-owned MySpace.

On Monday, it was revealed that a Russian Internet company is offering to buy 100 million dollars worth of stock from Facebook employees in a deal that would value the fast-growing social network at 6.5 billion dollars.

The Russian company, Digital Sky Technologies (DST), which invested 200 million dollars in Facebook in May, is offering 14.77 dollars per share of Facebook common stock.

The tender offer will close “some time in August,” said Jennifer Gill, a DST spokeswoman.
Facebook chief executive Zuckerberg said at the time that the decision whether to sell stock was up to employees and that the offer “is recognition of Facebook's growth and progress towards making the world more open and connected.

”US computer software giant Microsoft bought a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook for 240 million dollars in 2007, a deal that valued the company at 15 billion dollars.
While its number of users has grown at an amazing clip, Facebook, unlike other Web giants such as Amazon, eBay, Google and Yahoo!, has yet to prove how it is going to translate traffic into cash.

“As of today, 250 million people are using Facebook to stay updated on what's happening around them and share with the people in their lives, ”Zuckerberg said in the Wednesday blog post.
“As we celebrate our 250 millionth user, we are also continuing to develop Facebook to serve as many people in the world in the most effective way possible. This means reaching out to everyone across the world.”

Computer crime specialist welcomes internet controls

2009-07-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Guelph Police officer whose job it is to track down criminals on the internet welcomes the call for increased police powers.Det. Const. Bruce Hunter of the Guelph Police technological crimes section said anything that helps in the fight against internet crime, and in particular child pornography, is a plus.His comments came the day after the Conservative government introduced two bills aimed at giving police increased access to private internet communications.

"It's been a long time coming. There's been discussion in the past on amending these laws," Hunter said yesterday."It's been on the horizon for awhile."He said it's important for the laws to keep up with the technology that criminals are using on the internet."As technology marches on, it's becoming more and more advanced. The ability to hide in cyberspace or on your own computers is out there," Hunter said.

"It's becoming increasingly difficult for us to conduct thorough investigations when they hide things in a virtual world."Hunter said police investigating cases of internet child exploitation have had certain powers to gain internet service provider address information for some time.These proposed new laws would enhance that."There's things in place now, for child pornography offenses, that we are able to use right now.

This just kind of entrenches it," Hunter said.What the new laws would do is make it easier and quicker to investigate all internet crimes, including threats."In the United States they only need a subpoena. In Canada we need a search warrant in a lot of cases, and that takes a lot longer," he said.

Hunter said "it's also a tracking tool" for child pornography. "If you had two people exchanging child pornography images, you could get their ISP (internet service provider) information and log where it came from."The proposed new legislation would:enable police to access information on an internet subscriber, such as name, street address and email address, without having to get a search warrant.

force internet service providers to freeze data on their hard drives to prevent subscribers under investigation from deleting potentially important evidence.require telecommunications companies to invest in technology that allows for the interception of Internet communications.

allow police to remotely activate tracking devices already embedded in cellphones and certain cars, to help with investigations. allow police to obtain data about where internet communications are coming from and going to. make it a crime to arrange with a second person over the internet the sexual exploitation of a child.

Opponents of the proposed changes have complained that they could be an infringement on privacy and personal freedoms.

Brief Notes On Michael Jackson

2009-07-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

The Bio History of Michael Joseph Jackson began when he was born on the 29th of August 1958 in Gary, Indiana. He was the 7th of nine children. (brothers: Sigmund "Jackie", Toriano "Tito", Jermaine, Marlon, Steven "Randy", and sisters Rebbie, Janet and La-Toya JacksonMichael began his musical career at the age of 5 as the lead singer of the Jackson 5 who formed in 1964.

In these early years the Jackson 5, Jackie, Jermaine,Tito,Marlon and lead singer Michael played local clubs and bars in Gary Indiana and moving further afield as there talents grew and they could compete in bigger competitions. From these early days Michael would be at the same clubs as big talented stars of there days, such as Jackie Wilson and would be learning from them even back then.

In 1968 the Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers discovered the Jackson five and from there they got an audition for Berry Gordy of Motown Records. The Jackson 5 signed for Motown and moved to California. Their first 4 singles, "I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save", and "I'll Be There" all made US No1 hits.

The Jackson 5 recorded 14 albums and Michael recorded 4 solo albums with Motown. The Jackson 5 stayed with Motown until 1976, wanting more artistic freedom they felt they had to move on and signed up with Epic. The group name Jackson 5 had to be changed as it was owned by Motown, so they reverted to The Jacksons as they had be known in the early days. Brother Jermaine married Berry Gordy's daughter and stayed with Motown. Youngest brother Randy joined in his place.

The Jacksons had a number of hit recordsand in total made 6 albums between the years of 1976 and 1984. In 1977 Michael made his first film debut when he starred in the musical 'The Wiz' playing Scarecrow with Diana Ross in the lead role of Dorothy. It was at this time Michael met Quincy Jones who was doing the score for the film. Michael teamed up with Quincey Jones as his producer for his first solo album with Epic Records. The album titled "Off The Wall" was a big success around the world and the first ever album to release a record breaking 4 No1 singles in the US.

In 1982 Michael Jackson released the world's largest selling album of all time, 'Thriller'. This album produced 7 hit singles, breaking yet again more records, and went on to sell over 50 million copies worldwide. Michael was keen to use music video or short films as he called them to promote his singles from the album. He worked with the best directors and producers, using the latest technology and special effects.for the hit song 'Billie Jean' The short film 'Thriller' used the latest make-up artists technolgy combined with fantastic dancing and cherography, to produce a 14 minute video, with a start, a middle and an ending. So successful was this video that 'The Making Of Michael Jackson's Thriller' became the world's largest selling home video combined with soaring album sales.

In 1983 Michael performed the now legendary moonwalk for the first time on the 'Motown 25 years' anniversary show. This performance alone set Michael undoubtable into the realm of a superstar.
In 1984 Michael won a record breaking 8 Grammy awards in one night. The awards were for his work on the 'Thriller' album and his work on the narrative for the 'ET Storybook'.
On December 9th 1984 at the last concert of the Jackson's Victory Tour, Michael announced he was splitting from the group and going solo.

In 1987 Michael released his much awaited third solo album, titled 'Bad', and lauched his record breaking first solo world tour. 1988, Michael wrote his first autobiography talking for the first time on his childhood and his career. At the end of the 1980s Michael was named 'Artist Of The Decade' for his success off of his 'Thriller' and 'Bad' albums.

In 1991 Michael signed with Sony Music the largest ever recording contract and released his fourth solo album, 'Dangerous'. He toured world again in 1992, taking his concerts to countries that had never before been visited by a pop/rock artist. Also Michael founded the 'Heal the World Foundation' to help improve the lives of children across the world.

In 1994 Michael married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rock legend Elvis Presley. The marriage only lasted for 19 months, as they divorced in 1996. 1995 saw Michael release a fifth solo album, 'HIStory', which was a double album, first half new material and second half half greatest hits. Michael toured again over a legs covering a 2 year period.
In between legs of the tour on November 14th 1996, Michael married for his second time to Debbie Rowe who was a nurse that Michael had met in the treatment of his skin pigment disorder.

Together they had their first child Prince Michael Joseph Jackson jr born on February 13 1997 and a daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson born on April 3rd 1998. In 1997 Michael released the remix album 'Blood On The Dance Floor' which also contained 5 new song linked with a 38min film "Ghosts". This film Michael played 5 roles using the latest special effects and make-up artistry, combined with his dance and music.

In September, 2001 Michael celebrated his 30th anniversary as a solo artist with two concerts to be held in New York, USA. Many artists such as Whitney Houston, Usher, Destinys Child, Shaggy and many more performed there own and Michael Jacksons past songs. Michael then reunited with all of his brothers performed there biggest hits. Michael then went onto perform solo some of his biggest hits.

In October 2001 Michael released the album 'Invincible' so far releasing only 2 singles including the big hit "You Rock My World". Since the release of this first single the album has been surrounded by rumours of a rift with Sony Music and a clear lack of promotion of the album.

For a more indepth biographical look at Michael Jacksons life read the following era's;

The Jackson 5 Era

The Jacksons Era

Off The Wall Era

Thriller EraBad Era

Dangerous EraHIStory & Blood on the Dance Floor Era

Invincible Era

How to hack a gmail account?

2009-07-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

At Defcon, hackers demonstrated a tool to hack into GMail accounts by using snooping unencrypted data (man-in-the-middle attack) with cookies which GMail uses for everything other than login by default.

Now Google has introduced the ability to optionally encrypt any transmission to / from GMail and not just the login sequence. Previously login sequence was encrypted only. All other data was transmitted unencrypted making it vulnerable to hackers. That means every email, every article that you are reading on your GMail account is transmitted unencrypted over the web.

This makes it possible for an attacker sniffing traffic on the network to insert an image served from http://mail.google.com and force your browser to send the cookie file, thus getting your session ID. Once the hackers gets the session ID, hacker can log in to the account without the need of a password. People checking their e-mail from public wireless hotspots are more vunerable than the ones using secure wired networks.

Sri Lanka destroys evidence, prevents ICRC, UN access - Prof. Boyle

2009-05-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

Noting that the slow genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka accelerated to more than 10,000 killed in the last few months, far exceeding the horrors of Srebrenica, Professor Boyle in conversation with Los Angeles KPFK radio host, Michael Slate, Tuesday, accused Sri Lanka Government of bulldozing and destroying evidence of massacres in the Safety Zone while preventing access to the Red Cross and UN agencies. Boyle added that the United States Government with spy satellites would be knowing exactly what Sri Lanka's actions are in the Safe Zone, and stand implicated along with UK, France, and India in allowing the genocide to happen.

"Today ICRC still does not have access when the area should be flooded with food and medicine to urgently attend to the 300,000 Internally Displaced Tamils held in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) supervised camps," Boyle said, adding, survivors from the Safety Zone, from starvation, resembled escapees from Nazi death camps.

The situation was similar to what happened in Gaza, Boyle said, but in Gaza people had access to food via under ground tunnels, whereas the Tamils holed up in the Safety Zone were completely cutoff from the outside and were entirely dependent on food transported by the ICRC ships.

Tracing the history of the conflict, Boyle and Slate agreed that Sri Lanka was an apartheid state from the very beginning of independence, and pointed to the violent elements of the Buddhist clergy, and the India's dravidian-oriented racism as elements that exacerbated the deterioration of the conflict towards genocide.
Peace processes failed, Boyle argued, because Sri Lankan Governments, instead engaging in good faith negotiation, "wanted control, domination, and elimination of the Tamil population."

"We may be at the beginning of a humanitarian catastrophe for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka which would fit the ultimate objective of the Government motivated by chauvinist, violent racism," Boyle said, adding "my experience in working in genocidal situations says once the government and the people are possessed of this genocidal mentality it's very difficult to stop."Slate added, "Tamil people are a severely oppressed nation. Anyone of conscience must stand up and support their resistance."

(TamilNet)

Privacy Policy

2009-05-01T03:11:00.000-07:00

Privacy Policy for www.kts-news.blogspot.com

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5 best money making ideas to earn online

2009-04-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Essentially there are 5 tremendously powerful methods to make money online. These methods were not always available but have only become available due to the large amount of internet commerce being conducted each and every day online. While it is possible to make money, and lots of it, using other methods, these are in my opinion the best for 3 reasons. First, they are some of the cheapest methods around.

Imagine running a business for an entire year where your total cost was less than $1 a day. Secondly, these methods are fast to implement. Some of the methods can have you up and running in hours, if not only a day or two. Lastly, these ideas are simple. When it comes to working online, simpler is better and complex is dead.
The 5 Best Money Making Ideas.

ONE. Making Money the Google Cash Way.
Google Cash is a term coined by Chris Carpenter. In his amazing ebook, he teaches you how to start a profitable advertising business by using Google Adwords to promote products to people using the Google search engine. The strategy is simple. You create ads to attract interested people. When they click on your ad you are charged for that click. The visitor is directed to your site where you can sell them your product or someone else's. The advantage is you get to leverage the Google traffic. You can purchase clicks for as low as 5 cents. Lastly, done properly, you can test dozens of different ads and campaigns allowing you to perfect your selling system.

TWO. Making tons of money selling someone else's stuff.
Affiliate marketing is the manner in which you market a product for someone else, known as the merchant. In return for providing a qualified buyer, the merchant agrees to pay you a commission. The beauty of this type of business is that you can take advantage of hot products, you can easily create a large cash flow by setting up dozens of small income streams promoting hundreds of products. In other words, the business is scalable. Once you learn to make money selling a product for one merchant, you can reproduce that for another. For this to work, the critical step that you need to master is getting traffic. An absolute master, who I consider the king of the affiliate business is James Martell. He is the author of The Affiliate Marketing Handbook (newly revised for 2005). James has hundreds of income streams and can teach anyone how to promote and sell products for merchants online.

THREE. Turn Treasure into Dollars with eBay. eBay Blog
In case this is your first week using the internet, I will briefly explain eBay. They are the world's largest online auction system. People from all over the world, lots of people, using it each and ever day to sell everything from toasters to Hummers. In order to make money on eBay, you research what is selling at the moment, source that product for at great price and then start creating auctions. Of course, that all sounds easy, but the truth is there is a lot of work involved, especially if you have to ship all those products from your house. If you are organized, can research or can use the software to do that research for you, and can negotiate with suppliers than you can really make money with eBay.

FOUR. Drop Ship It. Dropshipping blog
The thought of storing boxes and boxes of products at your house may have you running away from eBay. Thank goodness there is something called Drop Shipping. A drop shipper is a wholesaler who will sell you their products at near wholesale prices and ship them directly to your customer. World Wide Brands maintains a directory of wholesaler and drop shipping companies giving you access to over 2 million products to sell on eBay. The good news is that once you have access to your own products, you can now use the first three methods to market them. Do you see the power now? Maybe you used the first two methods to market someone else's product. Now you can get a better profit margin by drop shipping your own products using these same methods.

FIVE. Write yourself rich.

The first 4 methods involved selling someone else's products for a commission or profit margin. If you want to make the most money, you have to produce and sell your own products. An exceptional item to sell online is information. In particular, ebooks, software, audio and video products have incredible profit margins. But, you think, you have no writing skills. What are you to do? Easy, hire people to do the work for you. This is an amazing way to leverage the skills of someone else. Pretend you have an idea for a new software program. There is a site online called Rent a Coder where you can hire people to work for you. Depending on your product idea, you can get the software coded for $100, $200, maybe even $300. Then the product is yours to resell. You can keep 100% of the profits. You can do the same thing writing a book. Steve Manning offers a free course that will teach you how to write a book in as little as 14 days. I know that sounds to good to be true but it can be done. Most of Steve's students take longer than that on the first book but many admit that they can do it faster by preparing better at the beginning.
There you have it. The 5 best ways of making money online. It is now up to you to master one or more of these ideas. If you need more help getting started, you can download my 25 page ebook named "The Best Money Making Ideas" for no charge. Inside, I elaborate on each of the 5 methods identified above.

About the Author
Glen Jansen, the author of "The Best Money Making Ideas" free ebook, helps internet marketers and budding home business entrepreneurs find 5 of the easiest ways to make money online. Visit www.1st-in-earn-extra-income.com for more free information and money earning articles.

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