planet chat-"anything on the earth"

Slumdog Millionaire propelled nine-year old Rubina Ali to instant stardom and fame. However, too much fame can be a bad thing for a pretty little girl from an impoverished background. She has been subject to near constant media attention, witnessed brawls between her mother and stepmother over her custody and, most recently, been the subject of a dubious international sting operationThe British tabloid News of the World purported to have caught Rubina's father, Rafiq Qureshi, on video agreeing to a deal to sell the girl to an Arab sheikh for 200,000 pounds (about $280,000). The story quoted Qureshi's brother as saying, "The child is special now. This is not an ordinary child. This is an Oscar child." Without bothering to check the allegations with Qureshi, Indian newspapers and cable television channels descended on Rubina in her home in a slum in Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai, asking her to clarify the incident. Qureshi has consistently denied the tabloid's claims a

Apple's remarkable ability to remain unaffected by seems to be continuing unabated - here's the news story, and Jack mentioned the results too. The numbers were certainly impressive: $1.21bn of profits on sales of $8.16bn - up significantly on the same time last year. However, it's pretty hard to get an idea of what those numbers mean in context - so we've plotted the company's financials on a graph to show you how Apple's been performing in recent years. As you can see, the numbers follows a pretty straightforward pattern - a slow increase throughout the year, followed by a drastic jump over the period that covers Christmas. Then things come down again, continuing the upward trend. Keeping an eye on revenues (the blue line) there did appear to be a little flattening of growth last year - the spike in December 2007 was huge, largely on the back of the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, it's interesting to notice that the pink line (profits) doesn't move as

In Hong Kong, it can be hard just finding somewhere to sit down. In the fourth most densely populated place in the world, park benches are packed and strangers share tables at restaurants. But for the 40,000 people who die here every year, it turns out there's no respite from the crowds, even in the afterlife. While a land shortage forced Hong Kongers to give up on burials long ago — only 11% of bodies were buried in 2007 — the city has also run out of space for cremated ashes. By some estimates, that means roughly 50,000 families must store their relatives' remains in funeral homes and offices while they wait — often for years — to secure a 1-sq.-ft. resting place. source: By LING WOO LIU / HONG KONG

WASHINGTON -- The International Space Station module formerly known as Node 3 has a new name. After more than a million online responses, the node will be called "Tranquility." The name Tranquility was chosen from thousands of suggestions submitted by participants on NASA's Web site, www.nasa.gov. The "Help Name Node 3" poll asked people to vote for the module's name either by choosing one of four options listed by NASA or offering their own suggestion. Tranquility was one of the top ten suggestions submitted by respondents to the poll, which ended March 20. "The public did a fantastic job and surprised us with the quality and volume of the suggestions," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations. "Apollo 11 landed on the moon at the Sea of Tranquility 40 years ago this July. We selected 'Tranquility' because it ties it to exploration and the moon, and symbolizes the spirit of international cooperation embodie

The more you work your brain, the more likely you will stave off Alzheimer’s disease Just a modest amount of mental stimulation can go a long way towards warding off Alzheimer’s disease. This is the opinion of researchers who created mice genetically modified to get a condition similar to it. Researchers at the University of California-Irvine studied hundreds of mice altered to make them develop abnormalities known as plaques and tangles in brain tissue that are considered hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease in people. Writing on Tuesday in the Journal of Neuroscience, they said periodic learning sessions-swimming in a tub of water until finding a submerged platform to stand on-slowed the development of those two abnormalities in the mice. “The remarkable thing was that just by learning infrequently, they still had a very dramatic effect on the Alzheimer’s disease pathology, “ said Kim Green, one of the researchers. “So it suggests that in humans, if you learn more and more and more, it’

While online social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are known hang-outs for younger adults and teenagers, older generations in recent months have been taking to the medium at a faster rate than any other age group, according to industry reports. Many of these older folks use social networks to keep tabs on younger family members and they often find fruitful connections with their peers after they've friended all of their kids and grandkids. source:http://twurl.nl/ujetmk

click here! Aspirants appearing for the Common Admission Test (CAT) can look forward to doing away with paper work as CAT, rated as one of the world's most demanding entrance examinations for any graduate institute, is all set to go online from 2009. The Common Admission Test (CAT) will finally do away with its 25-year-old history of the traditional paper-pencil test. The decision will impact thousands of students who, each year, appear for the highly competitive entrance exam at centers across the country in the ambition of making it to the hallowed corridors of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The examination will be conducted on the pattern of similar international exams like GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test), with the only exception that the results will not be declared instantly. The news has been confirmed by an official from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) who said, "The test will definitely go online next year. However, we are not

Indolent cows languidly chewing their cud while befuddled motorists honk and maneuver their vehicles around them are images as stereotypically Indian as saffron-clad holy men and the Taj Mahal. Now, however, India's ubiquitous cows — of which there are 283 million, more than anywhere else in the world — have assumed a more menacing role as they become part of the climate change debate.By burping, belching and excreting copious amounts of methane — a greenhouse gas that traps 20 times more heat than carbon dioxide — India's livestock of roughly 485 million (including sheep and goats) contribute more to global warming than the vehicles they obstruct. With new research suggesting that emission of methane by Indian livestock is higher than previously estimated, scientists are furiously working at designing diets to help bovines and other ruminants eat better, stay more energetic and secrete lesser amounts of the offensive gas.Already the world's largest producer of milk, India

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE (15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) (IPA: /ˈwʊdhaʊs/) was a comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and continues to be widely read. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of pre-war English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career. http://www.pdf-search-engine.com/pg-woodhouse-pdf.html

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DE-AGING IN PHOTOSHOP: De-Aging in Photoshop from Howard Pinsky on Vimeo .

1. http://photojojo.com/content/diy/attach-a-camera-to-your-bike / 2. http://www.beyondmegapixels.com/2008/06/5-ways-to-hold-your-viewers-attention.html 3. http://psdtuts.com/photo-effects-tutorials/transforming-a-daylight-image-into-a-wild-night/ 4. http://www.diyphotography.net/nine-reasons-to-manually-focus-when-taking-pictures 5. http://photodoto.com/the-importance-of-focus/ 6. http://thomashawk.com/2008/06/my-photography-workflow.html 7. http://www.f1point0.com/2008/06/28/the-15-second-diy-adjustable-snoot/ 8. http://www.f1point0.com/2008/06/18/the-nuts-and-bolts-of-off-camera-flash-part-1-basics/

It is well known that Indians believe passionately in the theory of muhurts or auspicious times to perform sacraments, to make major purchases or to begin new ventures. Inspite of modern technology and changing lifeviews, this dedication to auspicious time is a prominent feature of Indian life. Akshaya Tritiya, the third day of the bright half of Vaishakh, is considered one of the four most sacred days of the vear. The word Akshaya means that which never diminishes - hence beginnings made or valuables bought on this day are considered certain to bring luck and success. All over India people celebrate weddings, plan new business ventures, long journeys and other events on this day. Like Diwali, Dussera and Gudi Padva. Akshava Tritiva is reserved for buying gold, silver and other assets. On this day jewellers keep their shops open well into twilight time to entertain their buyers. Akshaya Tritiya or Akha TeeJ is traditionally the birthday of Parshurama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu. T

To make the most of business blogging, you’ll need to commit some time and energy toward learning good blogging techniques. While your blog content should focus on your audience, you’ll want to stay mindful of the opportunities you’ll have to promote, optimize and market your blog. A good training course can help you recognize and manage good link opportunities, and learn good blogging techniques, as well as techniques to avoid. Inadvertent SEO errors and missed opportunities can reduce the effectiveness of your blog and diminish its search engine visibility Blog training will teach you how to expose your blog to the marketplace and promote it among those readers most interested in what you have to say. Good blogging techniques can also help you focus your posts on the key messages you want to send to your readers. Well-written posts targeted to the right audience will elevate your profile and act as a conduit for potential customers who are interested in your niche. Blog training will