planet chat-"anything on the earth"

a website for finding the technology used in the making of a site

2010-01-30T08:03:00.000-08:00

Am blogging after a very long time and something very interesting struck my brains today...yes is there anything to find out which technology is used in constructing any website on earth ???? I goggled with these words "how to find out using which technology a website is built?"and my search ended up in a website that gives great information on any website and technologies used in them.http://builtwith.com/

Little boy,Large cause

2009-06-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

It’s all the media’s fault — nowadays, one vacation every summer is not enough. A family has to visit at least three destinations to get a sense of having gotten away from it all. Interestingly, the loudest clamour for multiple vacations comes from the smallest members of the family — children.

So, 11-year-old Prithvi hopping from one city to another and staying at star hotels with his parents may not come as a surprise. Quite a number of eyebrows goes up when people learn the ambition behind Prithvi’s city-hopping.

Prithvi did not pester his dad Raghu for an extended vacation, but wanted to be taken to a few cities so he could raise funds for less fortunate children. How? The Hyderabad-based Prithvi is a DJ, honoured by U.K.-based World Record Academy for his effort at Katriya Hotel in Hyderabad on June 18, 2008. The boy played non-stop for three hours and five minutes, mixing over 100 songs.

“From the Internet, I found out that somebody in the U.K. became a professional DJ at eight. Prithvi must be the youngest DJ in Asia,” says Raghu, a graphic designer who takes time off work to nurture his son’s talent. It all started on December 31, 2007 at a New Year’s Eve party. “I also manage events. For this one, I had brought DJ Jimmy Bell from the Ministry of Sound (a global dance music phenomenon). As it was my event, Prithvi climbed on to the stage, and stood behind the DJ cabin. Seeing how the music from Bell’s turntable swayed the crowd, Prithvi decided there can’t be a better profession than playing discs.”

On January 1, 2008, he started to explore options for making dance music. He downloaded the 15-day trial version of Virtual DJ, a software for mixing songs. “He mixed two songs — impressed with what I heard, I bought him the software. On an overdrive, Prithvi mixed about 25 songs in a month. I put him under the tutelage of Ananth, a DJ in Hyderabad,” says Raghu.

As if on fast forward, DJ Prithvi quickly went on to play at clubs, and also mixed a song for “Mahatma”, a film directed by Krishna Vamsi. The highlight, however, is what Prithvi has been doing to raise funds for Abhaya Foundation in Hyderabad, which supports children with disabilities and terminal diseases.

This year, he played at Athina in Durgamma Cheruvu (Hyderabad), and on April 16 at Athina (Leela Palace, Bangalore), and raised Rs. 1,30,000 (including sponsorships). Last Saturday, he performed at Vertigo (Deccan Plaza, Chennai) and his ‘do-gooder’s vacation’ will be complete after two more performances — in Vishakapatnam and Hyderabad.

Among other plans are, raising funds to help Sri Lankan Tamils.

source:The Hindu

Haji Ali Dargah

2009-06-08T23:14:00.000-07:00

HAJI ALI DARGAH (Hindi: हाजी अली दरगाह, Urdu: حاجی علی درگہ)is located in the islet of coast of Worli southern mumbai and is considered as most recognizable land marks.
It is situated 500 yards from the coast, in the middle of Worli Bay with worli located in its vicinity.It is linked to Mahalakshmi by a narrow cause way. This causeway is not bound by railings, and is lashed by the sea during high-tide. Therefore, the dargah is accessible only during low tide. It is bounded by the sea on either sides and this is considered as an highlight of the holy shrine.
HISTORY
The dargah was built in 1431 in memory of a Muslim preacher, Syed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari.
Hailing from Bukhara, in the ancient Persian Empire and now in Uzbekistan, Bukhari travelled around the world in the early 1400s, and had come to Mumbai, as per the historical records available with the Haji Ali Trust.
According to a legend surrounding his mystique, once Bukhari saw a poor woman crying on the road, holding an empty vessel. He asked her what the problem was. She sobbed that her husband would thrash her since she had stumbled and accidentally spilled the oil she was carrying. He asked her to take him to the spot where she lost the oil. There, he jabbed a finger into the soil and the oil gushed out. The overjoyed woman filled up the vessel and went home.
Later, Bukhari had a recurring - and disturbing - dream that he had injured Mother Earth by his act. Full of remorse, he soon fell ill and directed his followers to cast the coffin carrying his body into the Arabian Sea. After his death, his followers fulfilled his last wish.
Drifting in the high seas for many days, the coffin finally came and rested on a tiny islet around half a kilometre in the bay off what is today known as Worli, south-central Mumbai.
Taking that as some kind of divine sign, his followers buried the coffin on that islet. Gradually over the years, small additions were made to the shrine, which progressively became famous as the Haji Ali Dargah
As many as 40,000 pilgrims visit the shrine on Thursdays and Fridays.

6 ways to protect your privacy on Google

2009-05-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

1. Know your privacy rights: Use the Google Privacy Center. This site includes all of Google's privacy policies, as well as privacy best practices for each of its products and services. Although the "legalese" of privacy policies can be difficult to understand, Google's Privacy Channel offers a library of short YouTube videos with practical tips on protecting your data when using Google products and services. Try the "Google Search Privacy" and "Google Privacy Tips" series.

2. Protect your content on the services you use. Some content that Google stores for you, such as photos uploaded in Picasa Web Albums, are public by default. You can protect your privacy when you upload photos by choosing the appropriate checkbox.Choices include "unlisted" (accessible only if you have the Web link, and not indexed by Web search engines) or private (viewable only by named users who must sign in).Another example: You can take a Google Chat "off the record" if you don't want the instant messaging transcript stored.In contrast, Google Latitude, which tracks your whereabouts by way of GPS-enabled cell phones, does not share your location data by default. You must authorize others to see it. Latitude stores your last known location, but not your history.

3. Turn off the suggestion feature in the Chrome browser. Chrome uses Google Suggest to try to guess which Web address you want as you type into the "Omnibox," the address bar in Chrome that doubles as a search engine query bar. It makes suggestions for where you want to go based both on popular Web sites and searches and on the text that you type in. That text is transferred to Google's servers and may be logged in some cases. The service is turned on by default.You can turn the feature off by going to "Under the Hood" under Options and unchecking the "Use a suggestion service" box. You can also select other privacy options, including surfing in Chrome's "incognito" mode, which ensures that Web history, cookies and records of downloads are not stored on your computer when the session ends

4. Turn off Web History. You may have turned on the Web History option, also called Personalized Search, when you first created your Google account. If so, Google may be maintaining a "personalized" search history for your use.Google does not use this data to target ads. It uses a separate search history, stored in Google's server logs and associated with a browser cookie, for that purpose. That data is "anonymized" after nine months. But your Web History is retained forever, unless you turn it off or delete the contents

5. Opt out of interest-based ad serving. As of March 11, Google and third parties in its AdSense network are using not just contextual information (what you're searching for) but a history of previously viewed Web pages to serve up targeted advertising. The idea is to serve up ads that are more relevant to your interests.You can remove interest categories Google has attributed to you or add others by visiting its Ad Preferences page. You can also opt out. To make the opt-out setting permanent, however, you'll need to install a plug-in for each browser you use. It's available for IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari.

6. Add SSL to Gmail. You can encrypt e-mails you read and create in Gmail. Your log-in data is encrypted by default by SSL encryption, but SSL is turned off when you interact with your e-mail, because it can slow performance.You'll find the option in Settings under the General tab. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and select the "Always use https" option under the Browser Connection setting.

source:Sign up for the Computerworld Daily newsletter.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2009-05-08T04:03:00.000-07:00

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

CHENNAI MOORE MARKET-Destination spot for avid readers

2009-05-08T03:45:00.000-07:00

Yes the Moore market is claimed to be the destination and a hot spot for all book lovers and those who have a hard time spending money in expensive book shops. It is a commercial building complex situated near the Chennai suburban railway station in park town. I can safely bet that it is one of the perfect place in Chennai to buy books at the least price.If you expect Moore market (MM) to be filled with cool and hippy bookstores like Landmarks, Crosswords, Higgins bothams then you will be disappointed. On the contrary, MM is a gloomy mall packed with several small stores, which primarily offers old/new/pirated books with endless list of collections ranging from classics, comics, fictions, non-fictions,(auto)biographies, magazines, school/college text books……..etc. There is no fixed price for any of these books. The price purely depends on the buyers bargaining skills.The shopkeepers are helpful. Though they don’t look erudite, they are certainly well experienced about the books, which helps the buyers to find their choice amidst the heap of books.Besides the books stores, Moore market is also famous for its aquarium & fish shops, birdcages, antiques and odd electronic items.

The Perils of Rubina: The Slumdog Star vs. the Media

2009-04-24T00:42:00.000-07:00

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 and has not been arrested — despite widespread reports in Indian newspapers and on television to the contrary. (See the real slum of Slumdog Millionaire.)

Rubina's biological mother Khurshida, who does not live with her and has been engaged in a custody battle over the child, then registered a case against Qureshi in the local police station. The Mumbai Police, however, have not found any evidence to back up Khurshida's claims or the tabloid's charge of attempted trafficking. "We had only called him in for an inquiry," says M. Dewar, the investigating officer at the local police station.

The authorities did, however, ask a local non-profit group, Childline, to meet Rubina and check on her well-being. "Our chat with the child was informal and was not intended to explore any story or seek the child's version of events or even to determine whether the story was genuine or not," a Childline spokesman said. The group has not yet been able to establish anything about Rubina's relationship with her mother, father or stepmother. "Those require a number of sittings and a variety of investigations," the spokesman said. (Read a story about what fate awaits Slumdog's child stars.)

In the meantime, The Jai Ho Trust, which was formed to look after the two youngest children in Slumdog Millionaire, Rubina and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, sprang into action. (It is supported by Slumdog's director, Danny Boyle, producer Christian Colson and an Indian child rights group, Plan India). The trust issued a statement saying that its representatives are in regular contact with Rubina and her parents to help protect the child's interests. "We are looking towards shifting the family out of the slum and into a flat, which will be held in trust till the children turn 18," says Noshir H. Dadrawala, one of the trustees. "We will also provide them a monthly stipend of 5,000 to 6,000 rupees ($100-$120) to cover their living costs." The trust also plans to hire a local counselor to periodically sit with the children and their families to help them "cope with fame and also how to handle the media."

That's one skill that the slums of Mumbai could never teach them. Rubina and Azhar are learning to live under a media glare that can undo the wealthiest, worldliest movie stars. The Jai Ho Trust has asked the Indian media to curtail their attention in the future, "to limit further unnecessary exploitation of her rights and interests." The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has ordered a probe by the Mumbai police of the alleged trafficking, but is also concerned about the media pile-on that followed the report. "We already have had a consultation with them [the Indian media] in January and we plan to hold workshops throughout this year to sensitize the media about child rights," says Shantha Sinha, who chairs the commission.

Too much media exposure could even put Rubina in worse danger, says Bhagyashri Dengle, executive director of Plan India, part of the Jai Ho Trust. "This constant media exposure has been very bad for her," Dengle says. "She has actually been laid bare to the attention of traffickers." When asked whether the Mumbai police will be keeping a closer eye on Rubina after this incident, a police officer in the local station laughs. "Where is the need for police watch?" he says. "Ever since the Oscars there are a hundred cameras outside her home that are tracking her every movement. They record every minute detail of her life. They have taken over our duty."
source:TIME CNN

How Apple is squeezing out more profit than ever

2009-04-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

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 drastically in comparison to the ups and downs of revenue. It carries on rising relentlessly - and actually at a greater pace than the revenues do.

What this shows is that Apple has bigger profit margins today than it did three years ago. You can see that revenues have gone up from $4.36bn for this period in 2006 to $8.16bn for the last three months - that's an increase of 87%. Meanwhile profits have shot up from $410m to $1.21bn, almost three times higher.

How? A significant chunk of this must be down to Apple's immense power in the flash memory market - it is now the world's biggest purchaser - and the economies of scale it can achieve when it's selling tens of millions of iPods each quarter. Plus there's the added bonus of things like the App Store (a 30% cut on each purchase) and deals with mobile phone providers - all of which are relatively new.

In short, when everyone's margins are shrinking, Apple is using its size and power to squeeze more out of the products it's making: no wonder Tim Cook doesn't want to make a netbook.
source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/apr/23/apple-gadgets

In Hong Kong THE WORLDS DENSELY POPULATED PLACE , Even the Dead Wait in Line

2009-04-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

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

NEW SPACE STATION MODULE NAME HONORS APOLLO 11 ANNIVERSARY

2009-04-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

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 embodied by the space station."We don't typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people and this is no exception," Gerstenmaier joked. "However, NASA is naming its new space station treadmill the 'Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill,' or COLBERT. We have invited Stephen to Florida for the launch of COLBERT and to Houston to try out a version of the treadmill that astronauts train on."

The treadmill is targeted to launch to the station in August. It will be installed in Tranquility after the node arrives at the station next year. A newly-created patch will depict the acronym and an illustration of the treadmill.

Tranquility is scheduled to arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in May. There, it will be prepared for space shuttle Endeavour's flight, designated STS-130, which is targeted for launch in February 2010. Tranquility will join four other named U.S. modules on the station: the Destiny laboratory, the Quest airlock, the Unity node and the Harmony node.

Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the space station's life support systems. Attached to the node is a cupola, which is a unique work station with six windows on the sides and one on top. Tranquility is targeted for launch in late 2009.source:http://www.nasa.gov/station

Exercise Your Mind, Stave Off Alzheimer's Disease

2009-04-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

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’s going to have a huge, beneficial effect,” Green added.

The findings highlight an idea that also has emerged in other research-that exercising one’s mind is important to staving off Alzheimer’s disease, the degenerative brain malady that is the most common form of dementia among the elderly.

Green noted that other studies have found that highly educated people are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than people with less education.

There is no known cure for Alzheimer’s , which gradually destroys a person’s memory and ability t o learn, reason, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities.

“What we have shown is that by learning by stimulating your mind, you’re able to protect against the development of the pathologies associated with the disease,” Green said.

“Crossword puzzles reading books, learning a new language-anything you can do to stimulate the brain is going to be beneficial, we think.”

The mice were given “a very mild learning experience”-essentially figuring out a maze but in the water-for a week at a time every three months. The sessions were four times daily for a week at two, six, nine, 12, 15 and 18 months of age.

The mice that performed the task experienced slower development of the protein beta amyloid clumping in the brain and forming plaques, gooey build-up that accumulates outside nerve cells, the study found.

These mice also experienced a slower build-up of another protein in the brain. Hyperphosphorylated-tau, that can lead to the formation of neurofibrillary tangles-twisted fibers in brain cells.

Green said the researchers are looking into whether more frequent and intensive learning sessions might provide bigger and longer-lasting benefits.

Alzheimer’s disease first affects parts of the brain controlling memory and thinking. As it advances, it kills cells elsewhere in the brain. Eventually, if the patient has no other serious illness, the loss of brain function will prove fatal.
source:www.MightyMemory.com

All in the Facebook family: older generations join social networks

2009-04-13T22:11:00.001-07:00

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

CAT GOES ONLINE FROM 2009

2009-04-13T04:55:00.000-07:00

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 revealing anything about how it will be done."

The CAT committee is now preparing a question bank that will be used for the online test.

The committee is also considering different issues including online test procedure, timing, question data bank, test centres and ways to go about the online exam.

The IIMs had first given a deep thought at conducting the CAT 2008 online. However it was confirmed later that the IIMs were considering various alternatives for modifying the process of conducting CAT, but the exam in 2008 would be a paper-pencil test.

The CAT being conducted online will reap benefits for both aspirants and institutes conducting the test. For the IIMs, it would mean larger revenues as the cost of application forms are likely to go up.

MBA aspirants may also be allowed to appear for the examination three times in a year.

Speaking on the new initiative, Ashish Bhattacharyya, admissions chairperson at IIM Calcutta, said, "An online system would help us handle the huge number of students appearing for the test every year. Last year the number crossed 2.3 lakh. This year it was above 2.7 lakhs. This number is only expected to increase with projections of three lakh-plus in 2009".

It is also expected that once the new system is in place, not all students will be able to take the exam on the same day as is the system applicable now. The exam would then take place in phases with 'spread out batches' within a period of a few months.

The other change will be that instead of the current single exam paper, the online test will carry quite a few different papers of the same level of difficulty.

Around 270,000 MBA aspirants appeared for CAT across the nation this year.

A majority of those who appeared felt that while the three-segment paper was fairly 'doable', there were a few hiccups in the 'lengthy verbal' and 'tough quant' sections.

Cows With Gas: India's Global Warming Problem

2009-04-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

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 will have to yank up production from the current 100 million metric tons to 180 million metric tons by 2021-22 to keep pace with growing population and expanding disposable incomes. Livestock such as cows, buffalo, goats, sheep, horses and mules are indispensable to India's rural economy — whether yoked to plow land, raised for milk and manure, or harnessed to pull carts to move goods and people. The Ministry of Agriculture estimates that the animals contribute 5.3% to total GDP, up from 4.8% during 1980-81. But, says Dr. K.K. Singhal, head of Dairy Cattle Nutrition at the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal in northern India, "while livestock plays a crucial role in the economy, global warming is becoming a huge worry. We're trying to find indigenous solutions, because our realities are very different from the West.For starters, most Indian livestock is underfed and undernourished, unlike robust counterparts in richer countries. The typical Indian farmer is unable to buy expensive dietary supplements even for livestock of productive age, and dry milch cattle and older farm animals are invariably turned out to fend for themselves. Poor quality feed equals poor animal health as well as higher methane production. Also, even when western firms are willing to share technology or when western products are available, these are often unaffordable for the majority in India. For instance, Monensin, an antibiotic whose slow-release formula reduces methane emission by cows, proved too expensive for widespread use in India. So the emphasis for Indian scientists is on indigenous solutions. "We know we cannot count on high quality feed and fodder," says Singhal, "No one will be able to afford it. What we have done instead is develop cheaper technologies and products." One example is urea-molasses-mineral blocks that are cheap, reduce methane emission by 20%, and also provide more nutrition so they're easier to sell to illiterate farmers who don't know a thing about global warming but want higher milk yields. an article from the TIME MAGAZINE

PG Wodehouse Maniac

2009-04-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

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

3. Vanish Objects with Clone Tool

2009-04-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

Photoshop Tutorial - video powered by Metacafe

Curves: Learn How to Use the Basics of Curves IN PHOTOSHOP

2009-04-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

HOT PHOTOSHOP VIDEO

2009-04-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

DE-AGING IN PHOTOSHOP:

De-Aging in Photoshop from Howard Pinsky on Vimeo.

click shoot best photography links

2009-04-12T09:02:00.000-07:00

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/

AKSHAYA TRITIYA :

2009-04-12T05:37:00.000-07:00

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. The Puranas tell how he reclaimed land from the sea along the west coast of India by his valour. Even today Goa and the Konkan are called Parshurama Kshetra. He then settled 96 selected families there, called Shahanavkuli Brahmins, who are said to have created the cultural heritage of this nart of India. In India gold is regarded as the ultimate symbol of wealth and prosperity. Buying gold and jewellery is a popular activity on Akshaya Tritiya, one of the most auspicious days of the year.

Good Blogging Techniques: The Best Support For Your Blog

2009-04-10T02:19:00.000-07:00

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 demonstrate the most effective writing styles for your blog and allow you to reach out to readers in a way that is welcoming, encouraging and authentic. By making these personal connections with your readers, you will establish your authority and highlight the contributions you can make to your particular industry.

If you’re new to blogging, are interested in learning good blogging techniques or you’re not sure that you’re hitting your desired readership, consider taking the RSS Applied blog training course. You’ll increase your comfort level with what you’re doing, and you’ll be better able to assess your results.

GENETIC ALGORITHM IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

2009-02-24T04:01:00.000-08:00

2009-01-13T15:36:00.001-08:00

part 1

part 2

MTV YOUTH ICON 2008

2008-12-19T20:48:00.000-08:00

MTV YOUTH ICON 2008

THIS VIDEO IS AWESOME AND INSPIRING

http://specials.rediff.com/money/2008/apr/29sarath1.htm

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennaichronicle/Chennai%20Chronicle/Chennai%20ChronicleDescription.asp

THIS IS CHRISTMAS TIME LETS HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS WITH OUR YUMMY CHOCOLATE PUDDING

2008-12-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

Lets taste something yummy and great this Christmas.Merry x mas people have loads and loads of fun. :)
CHOCOLATE PUDDING
Reserve one gill of milk from a quart, and put the remainder on the fire in a double-boiler. Mix three tablespoonfuls of cornstarch with the cold milk. Beat two eggs with half a cupful of powdered sugar and half a teaspoonful of salt. Add this to the cornstarch and milk, and stir into the boiling milk, beating well for a minute. Shave fine two ounces of Chocolate, and put it into a small pan with four tablespoonfuls of sugar and two of boiling water. Stir over a hot fire until smooth and glossy; then beat into the hot pudding.

Cook the pudding in all ten minutes, counting from the time the eggs and cornstarch are added. Serve cold with powdered sugar and cream. This pudding can be poured while hot into little cups which have been rinsed in cold water. At serving time turn out on a flat dish, making a circle, and fill the center of the dish with whipped cream flavored with sugar and vanilla.

The eggs may be omitted, in which case use one more tablespoonful of cornstarch.
MERRY CHRISTMAS

Do generation gaps really matter?????

2008-12-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

There was a talk between a friend and me and she said that she had quarreled with her mom.She narrated to me the entire story and later ended up saying that everything was due to a generation gap.I too fight with my mom for silly reasons but i actually try to accept if am wrong on my part.I believe that child and parent relationship is beyond generations and there is no one in the world who can understand you so well as your mom and dad.A small talk between the parent and the children can wash away all the misunderstandings and the age gaps between them.I had helped my grandma to fill up a page in my slam book and i asked her about her happiest moment in life ?she gave me the most beautiful answer "when i had my first child" :).Any child is the apple of the eye to his/her mom and dad.A mom and dad try their best to give a good quality of life for their children.A line from Ezekiel poem reminds me of a moms heart-:

"My mother only said:
Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children."

The Night Of The Scorpion

"I remember the night my mother was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison -- flash of diabolic tail in the dark room --
he risked the rain again. The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the Name of God a hundred times to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the sun-baked walls they searched for him; he was not found.
They clicked their tongues. With every movement the scorpion made
his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said. May he sit still,
they said. May the sum of evil balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around on the floor with my mother in the centre.
the peace of understanding on each face. More candles, more lanterns,
more neighbours, more insects and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist, trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb, and hybrid. He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toes and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother. I watched the holy man
perform his rites to tame the poison with incantation.
After twenty hours it lost its sting."
"My mother only said:
Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children."

-- Nissim Ezekiel

ECOLOGICAL HOUSING

2008-12-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

Today with lot of environmental developments happening world over like global warming, energy crisis, lifestyle changes, it’s become even more difficult to design houses meeting all these requirements. More and more architectural designs are using digital technologies with respect to modeling, simulation, evaluation and fabrication resulting in complex shaped buildings which incorporates the above challenges. One such project is coming up in Tel Aviv whose primary resources are sun, wind, and land and these are fairly distributed amongst these complex structures thus making an optimum utilization of all. It’s of course high quality housing complete with latest gadgets but run on the natural resources. Architect Yiftach Ben Meir, the designer, is a recent graduate from The Faculty Of Architecture and Town Planning at Technion, Israel Institute of Technology (IIT). His final project SeaO2 was conceived under the framework of Tecnion Computer Oriented Design Studio, T_Code with the instruction of dr. Yasha j. Grobman
SeaO2 is an experimental ecological housing project. The project poses an alternative to current plans for Tel Aviv North West coastal district. SeaO2 demonstrates vast use of cutting edge computer software, some being used in the aerospace industry, in order to improve building performance and to ensure the existence of a sustainable urban environment with a minimal ecological footprint. The project final form is a consequence of a scientific approach that calculates numerous of elements: the sun orbit, wind conditions, maximum open scenic views, very high density and more, all in a free-form organic manner.

Advanced Computer Simulations ensure the project’s credibility. The project’s unique morphology enables: optimized solar reception for heating at winter time, self-shadowing and solar reception for electricity generation at summer time, natural lighting, optimized natural ventilation, open looks to the natural coastal environment, public green spaces, rain collection and more. Various passive mechanical systems complement the basic morphology, enable better performance and create an energy efficient, environmentally friendly housing project.

i luv my grandma :)

2008-12-10T04:43:00.000-08:00

"A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a best friend."

she was a talented and a bold woman .I owe to her for what i am today. She was my role model. my best friend. i lost her 2 years ago and still cant go a day without thinking about her.she had encouraged me in every part of my life .i love u dear .

TAFITI-silverlight's animated search engine

2008-12-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

Tafiti is an animated search engine launched by Microsoft Corporation and it showcase its Silverlight animation and video player. It was launched in 2007.The name Tafiti comes from the Swahili word meaning to "do research".Tafiti incorporates visuals with common web searches. Searches are presented, through a graphic interface, with results appearing in a central column. Via a carousel on the left hand side, users can select the type of media to search in; websites, news feeds, books or images. Results can be dragged and saved on a "shelf" on the right hand side. These results can then be e-mailed or added to a blog.Tafiti also offers a "tree view," with search results displayed as branches.On the Tafiti website, Microsoft said the service is designed to "help people use the web for research projects that span multiple search queries and sessions by helping visualize, store, and share research results." The service is intended to "explore the intersection of richer experiences on the web and the increasing specialization of search."
However this search engine cannot be used without the installation of silverlight thus search engines like http://www.searchme.com/ are considered a better choice .

FXG r u gonna be as good as AXXO ?[ :o]

2008-12-08T00:48:00.001-08:00

Since the decline of aXXo in November. FXG Releases are out numbering the competition 2:1 in terms of new movie releases. FXG torrents are very similar to aXXo in terms of size, quality, and bitrate. From what we have searched, it seams that they do not have an official website. That is why we are here to sponsor them in part. If you are new to movie torrents, or a seasoned pro, these are the ones you should start with. Here are more details of what you can expect out of an FXG torrent.

FXG torrents are pre-released DVDrips, usually over 1000 peers per file, 10/10 quality, around 700mb, avi files, no passwords or rar files needed.

"SUDHA MOORTHYS'S LETTER TO JRD TATA "-BEST THING U CAN EVER RELISH

2008-12-08T00:48:00.000-08:00

It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls
were pursuing research in different departments of Science.I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US. I had not thought of taking up a job in India.
One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors).It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.
At the bottom was a small line: "Lady candidates need not apply."I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.
Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers. Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful.
After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco.
I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the
Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then). I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote.
"The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started
the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel,
chemicals, textiles and locomotives. They have cared for higher education
in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the
Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised
how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender."
I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I
received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at
Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the
telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune
free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs
30 each from everyone who wanted a sari. When I look back, I feel like
laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough
to make the trip.
It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.
There were six people on the panel and I realised then that this was
serious business."This is the girl who wrote to JRD," I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The
realisation abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, "I hope this is only a technical interview."
They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my
attitude. The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of
them.
Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, "Do you know
why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have
never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college;
this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker
throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research
laboratories."
I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties,so I answered, "But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories."Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.
It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr.Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw "appro JRD". Appro means "our" in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him.
I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, "Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor." JRD looked at me.I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it).
Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. "It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?" "When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir," I replied. "Now I am Sudha Murthy." He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.
After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.
One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realise JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me. "Young lady, why are you here?" he asked. "Office time is over." I said, "Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up." JRD said, "It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor.I'll wait with you till your husband comes."I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, "Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee."
Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, "Young lady, tell
your husband never to make his wife wait again." In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.Gently, he said, "So what are you doing, Mrs Kulkarni?" (That was the way he always addressed me.) "Sir, I am leaving Telco.""Where are you going?" he asked. "Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.""Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.""Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful." "Never start with diffidence," he advised me. "Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. I wish you all the best."Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.
Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he
wrote to me, "It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today."I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person,he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine
away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the
passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence.

METAL DETECTORS -"DO THEY SERVE GUD SECURITY?"

2008-12-08T00:24:00.001-08:00

There are metal detectors installed at all hot spots in our country but there are not enough security personnel to check on them.
An incident at the karol bagh market that was bombed last year at New Delhi-:
There were metal detectors installed at several places in the market but there were no security personnel to check on them, not all the civilians passed through these detectors. The kids had a great time running around these detectors.

THNK U AXXO-"TELL ME R U A HUMAN"-[:P] I WILL KEEP THIS A SECRET

2008-12-08T00:14:00.000-08:00

"MR/MS/THEY.AXXO U PROVIDE THE BEST DOWNLOAD FOR GOOD CLARITY PICTURES. ":)

aXXo is the Internet alias of an individual or group, allegedly harassed by Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for infringing copyrights by converting commercial DVD movies into computer files that are then uploaded on the Internet for free download.[1] Due to the illegality of copyright infringement, aXXo's background is unknown, despite numerous attempts to uncover his/her/their real identity.

THE VICTORIA TERMINUS MUMBAI-"KILLING OF INNOCENTS"

2008-12-07T23:45:00.001-08:00

There comes a real need for the phrase "LIVE AND LET LIVE" in our world several innocent human lives are shattered as a cause of terrorism.The VT station
is one such place where several innocent lives were lost .
It was a disastrous nightmare to many when the bombs and terror attacks were slowly increasing from VT to a petrol bunk bombed, Leopold cafe and Taj Mahal hotel firing, explosions in Vile Parle,Trident and the Nariman house.Mumbai has turned out to be an endangered place to many and it reminds us of the blasts in Coimbatore,Serial blasts in Mumbai,blasts at the Gaffar market in Delhi and alot more.the mere cause for all these bloodshed's is Terrorism.

Terror on the country's financial hub -MUMBAI

2008-12-07T22:49:00.000-08:00

Mumbai India's financial capital is endangered due to the widespread terrorist activities.The Bombay stock exchange situated near Colaba was also one of the targeted buildings.The gunmen launched waves of attacks in the heart of India's financial capital.The Mumbai stock exchange remained closed on 27,nov,2008.

my first post-"a person who really inspired me "

2008-12-07T22:07:00.001-08:00

I had met this person for the first time in a workshop held at Ramakrishna mission.A real good human on earth and a very simple man.All of us love to help the poor but he provides a quality of life for them by providing them employment.

His story is an inspiration for millions. A self-made entrepreneur, his mission is to help the poor through job creation. E Sarathbabu hit the headlines after he rejected several high profile job offers from various MNCs after he passed out of IIM, Ahmedabad two years ago.

He instead started a catering business of his own, inspired by his mother who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai, worked as an ayah in an Anganvadi to educate him and his siblings. As a child, he also sold idlis in the slum where he lived. "We talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We can be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is and I still remember the days I was hungry," says Sarathbabu.

In August 2006, Sarathbabu's entrepreneurial dream came true with Foodking. He had no personal ambition but wanted to buy a house and a car for his mother. He has bought a car but is yet to buy a house for his mother. The "foodking" still lives in the same hut in Madipakkam in Chennai. Today, Foodking has six units and 200 employees, and the turnover of the company is Rs.32 lakh a month. But it has not been a bed of roses for Sarathbabu. After struggling and making losses in the first year, he managed a turnaround in 2007.