DIAMOND MONEY

what is WI-MAX ?

2011-09-24T16:37:00.000+05:30

WI-MAX technology

WiMAX is an IP based, wireless broadband access technology that provides performance similar to 802.11/Wi-Fi networks with the coverage and QOS (quality of service) of cellular networks. WiMAX is also an acronym meaning "Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX).

WiMAX is a wireless digital communications system, also known as IEEE 802.16, that is intended for wireless "metropolitan area networks". WiMAX can provide broadband wireless access (BWA) up to 30 miles (50 km) for fixed stations, and 3 - 10 miles (5 - 15 km) for mobile stations. In contrast, the WiFi/802.11 wireless local area network standard is limited in most cases to only 100 - 300 feet (30 - 100m).

With WiMAX, WiFi-like data rates are easily supported, but the issue of interference is lessened. WiMAX operates on both licensed and non-licensed frequencies, providing a regulated environment and viable economic model for wireless carriers.

At its heart, however, WiMAX is a standards initiative. Its purpose is to ensure that the broadband wireless radios manufactured for customer use interoperate from vendor to vendor. The primary advantages of the WiMAX standard are to enable the adoption of advanced radio features in a uniform fashion and reduce costs for all of the radios made by companies, who are part of the WiMAX Forum™ - a standards body formed to ensure interoperability via testing. The more recent Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard is a similar term describing a parallel technology to WiMAX that is being developed by vendors and carriers as a counterpoint to WiMAX.

What is the Range of WiMAX?

The answer to this question probably generates more confusion than any other single aspect of WiMAX. In the early days of WiMAX it was common to see statements in the media describing WiMAX multipoint coverage extending 30 miles. In a strict technical sense (in some spectrum ranges) this is correct, with even greater ranges being possible in point to point links. In practice (and especially in the license-free bands) this is wildly overstated especially where non line of sight (NLOS) reception is concerned.

Due to a variety of factors explained in more detail in other FAQ answers, the average cell ranges for most WiMAX networks will likely boast 4-5 mile range (in NLOS capable frequencies) even through tree cover and building walls. Service ranges up to 10 miles (16 Kilometers) are very likely in line of sight (LOS) applications (once again depending upon frequency). Ranges beyond 10 miles are certainly possible, but for scalability purposes may not be desirable for heavily loaded networks. In most cases, additional cells are indicated to sustain high quality of service (QOS) capability. For the carrier class approach, especially in regards to mobility, cells larger than this seem unlikely in the near future. The primary WiMAX focused US carrier Clearwire has stated that its cell sites are planned at about 1.5 miles apart for mobile purposes. This choice is clearly one intended to meet NLOS requirements. In licensed frequencies, expect similar performance or better for WiMAX than in traditional cellular systems.

What RF Frequencies does WiMAX work in?

The most recent versions of both WiMAX standards in 802.16 cover spectrum ranges from at least the 2 GHz range through the 66 GHz range. This is an enormous spectrum range. However, the practical market considerations of the Forum members dictated that the first product profiles focus on spectrum ranges that offered Forum vendors the most utility and sales potential.

The International standard of 3.5 GHz spectrum was the first to enjoy WiMAX products. The US license free spectrum at 5.8 GHz has a few WiMAX vendors building products. Licensed spectrum at 2.5 GHz used both domestically in the US and fairly widely abroad is the largest block in the US. Also, in the US and in Korea products are shipping for the 2.3 GHz spectrum range. Also in the US the 3.65 GHz band of frequencies now has WiMAX gear shipping to carriers.

The technology appears easily extensible to lower frequencies including the valuable 700 MHz spectrum range at which the nation's largest auction (in terms of money spent) concluded in 2008. More likely near term frequencies likely to be supported include the new 4.9 GHz public safety band (sometimes described as a Homeland security band).

The second largest block of frequencies ever auctioned (in terms of money spent) occurred in the summer of 2006 with the AWS auction from the FCC. This spectrum was split with the bulk being at 1.7 GHz and the rest at 2.1 GHz. At this point, the Forum is not expected to develop a product profile for this range as most licensees have announced support for LTE systems or plan to use it for existing GSM/UMTS networks.

The physics of radio signals typically place two primary constrictions on spectrum. To generalize, the higher the spectrum frequency the greater the amount of bandwidth that can be transported---lower frequencies transport less bandwidth. Secondly, the lower the frequency the greater the carry range and penetration of a signal. For example: A 900 MHz license free radio will travel farther and penetrate some tree cover fairly easily at ranges up to one to two miles. But it can carry much less bandwidth than a 2.4 GHz signal which cannot penetrate any tree cover whatsoever, but can deliver a lot more data. The caveat that can somewhat alter this equation is power. Licensed band spectrum such as 2.5 GHz by virtue of being dedicated to one user is allotted significantly higher power levels which aids in tree and building wall penetration.

Where did the idea of WiMAX come from?

Much of the credit for the formation of the WiMAX Forum™ and to the founding members of the WiMAX Forum, which committed themselves early to the process of creating a collaborative standards body. As a founding member of the WiMAX Forum, Intel recognized that a well developed ecosystem was necessary to drive adoption and thereby drive lower hardware costs. Intel was also instrumental in getting other silicon chip manufacturers involved whose products would form the core of WiMAX technology.

What factors will most greatly affect range for WiMAX products?

Many factors affect range for any broadband wireless product. Some factors include the terrain and density/height of tree cover. Hills and valleys can block or partially reflect signals. Bodies of water such as rivers and lakes are highly reflective of RF transmissions. Fortunately OFDM can often turn this to an advantage---but not always. The RF shadow of large buildings can create dead spots directly behind them, particularly if license-free spectrums are being used (with their attendant lower power allotments). How busy the RF environment of a city or town is can greatly degrade signals---meaning that properly designed and well thought out networks are always desired.

The physics of radio transmission dictate that the greater the range between the base station and customer radio, the lower the amount of bandwidth that can be delivered, even in an extremely well-designed network. The climate can affect radio performance---despite this there are ubiquitous wireless networks deployed today with great success in frozen Alaskan oil fields as well as lush South American and Asian climates. And increasingly WiMAX radio antenna technology coupled with the inherent advantages of OFDM/OFDMA based radios can be a major factor in range and bandwidth capability. The new multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and adaptive antenna systems (AAS) based antenna systems promise to maintain and even link connection and link budgets with much higher bandwidth than older technology.

No two cities are exactly alike in terms of the challenges and opportunities presented. In many respects, broadband wireless remains very much an art form. However, this is also true for the cellular carriers most of us use daily. It can be done quite well. Mobile broadband wireless will be more difficult. Achieving high quality of service (QOS) will be easier with fixed broadband wireless. Despite all of these challenges, current broadband wireless is very effectively serving customers even in the most challenging environments.

2011-09-24T16:32:00.000+05:30

what is WI-Fi ?

A wireless network uses radio waves, just like cell phones, televisions and radios do. In fact, communication across a wireless network is a lot like two-way radio communication. Here's what happens:

A computer's wireless adapter translates data into a radio signal and transmits it using an antenna.
A wireless router receives the signal and decodes it. The router sends the information to the Internet using a physical, wired Ethernet connection.
The process also works in reverse, with the router receiving information from the Internet, translating it into a radio signal and sending it to the computer's wireless adapter.
The radios used for WiFi communication are very similar to the radios used for walkie-talkies, cell phones and other devices. They can transmit and receive radio waves, and they can convert 1s and 0s into radio waves and convert the radio waves back into 1s and 0s. But WiFi radios have a few notable differences from other radios:

They transmit at frequencies of 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. This frequency is considerably higher than the frequencies used for cell phones, walkie-talkies and televisions. The higher frequency allows the signal to carry more data.
They use 802.11 networking standards, which come in several flavors:
802.11a transmits at 5 GHz and can move up to 54 megabits of data per second. It also uses orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), a more efficient coding technique that splits that radio signal into several sub-signals before they reach a receiver. This greatly reduces interference.
802.11b is the slowest and least expensive standard. For a while, its cost made it popular, but now it's becoming less common as faster standards become less expensive. 802.11b transmits in the 2.4 GHz frequency band of the radio spectrum. It can handle up to 11 megabits of data per second, and it uses complementary code keying (CCK) modulation to improve speeds.
802.11g transmits at 2.4 GHz like 802.11b, but it's a lot faster -- it can handle up to 54 megabits of data per second. 802.11g is faster because it uses the same OFDM coding as 802.11a.
802.11n is the newest standard that is widely available. This standard significantly improves speed and range. For instance, although 802.11g theoretically moves 54 megabits of data per second, it only achieves real-world speeds of about 24 megabits of data per second because of network congestion. 802.11n, however, reportedly can achieve speeds as high as 140 megabits per second. The standard is currently in draft form -- the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) plans to formally ratify 802.11n by the end of 2009.
Other 802.11 standards focus on specific applications of wireless networks, like wide area networks (WANs) inside vehicles or technology that lets you move from one wireless network to another seamlessly.
WiFi radios can transmit on any of three frequency bands. Or, they can "frequency hop" rapidly between the different bands. Frequency hopping helps reduce interference and lets multiple devices use the same wireless connection simultaneously.
As long as they all have wireless adapters, several devices can use one router to connect to the Internet. This connection is convenient, virtually invisible and fairly reliable; however, if the router fails or if too many people try to use high-bandwidth applications at the same time, users can experience interference or lose their connections.

what is 4g ?

2011-09-24T16:27:00.000+05:30

4G Technology

When talking about 4G, question comes to our mind is what is 4G Technology. 4G is short for Fourth (4th) Generation Technology. 4G Technology is basically the extension in the 3G technology with more bandwidth and services offers in the 3G. But at this time nobody exactly knows the true 4G definition. Some people say that 4G technology is the future technologies that are mostly in their maturity period. The expectation for the 4G technology is basically the high quality audio/video streaming over end to end Internet Protocol. If the Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia sub-system movement achieves what it going to do, nothing of this possibly will matter. WiMAX or mobile structural design will become progressively more translucent, and therefore the acceptance of several architectures by a particular network operator ever more common.

Many Technologies appear in many different flavours and have many diverse tags attached to them, but that does not really indicate that they are moving in dissimilar tracks. The technologies that fall in the 4G categories are UMTS, OFDM, SDR, TD-SCDMA, MIMO and WiMAX to the some extent.

4G Technology offers high data rates that will generate new trends for the market and prospects for established as well as for new telecommunication businesses. 4G networks, when tied together with mobile phones with in-built higher resolution digital cameras and also High Definition capabilities will facilitate video blogs.

After successful implementation, 4G technology is likely to enable ubiquitous computing, that will simultaneously connects to numerous high date speed networks offers faultless handoffs all over the geographical regions. Many network operators possibly utilize technologies for example; wireless mesh networks and cognitive radio network to guarantee secure connection & competently allocates equally network traffic and bandwidth.

Some of the companies trying 4G mobile communication at 100 Mbps for mobile users and up to 1 Gbps over fixed stations. They planned on publicly launching their first commercial wireless network around 2010. As far as other competitor’s mobile communication companies working on 4G technology even more quickly. Sprint Nextel was planned to launch WiMAX over 4G broadband mobile network in United States. Some of the other developed countries like United Kingdom stated a plan to sale via auction of 4G mobile frequencies couple of years back. The word “MAGIC” also refers to 4G technology which stands for Mobile multimedia, Any-where, Global mobility solutions over, Integrated wireless and Customized services

what is 3g ?

2011-09-24T16:25:00.000+05:30

3G Technology

If you want augmented bandwidth, multiple mobile applications and clarity of digital signals, then 3G (Thrid Generation Technology) is your gateway. GSM technology was able to transfer circuit switched data over the network. The use of 3G technology is also able to transmit packet switch data efficiently at better and increased bandwidth. 3G mobile technologies proffers more advanced services to mobile users. It can help many multimedia services to function. The spectral efficiency of 3G technology is better than 2G technologies. Spectral efficiency is the measurement of rate of information transfer over any communication sytem. 3G is also known as IMT-2000.

3G technology and 3g Technologies characteristics
3G technologies make use of TDMA and CDMA. 3G (Thrid Generation Technology) technologies make use of value added services like mobile television, GPS (global positioning system) and video conferencing. The basic feature of 3G Technology (Thrid Generation Technology) is fast data transfer rates. However this feature is not currently working properly because, ITU 200 is still making decision to fix the data rates. It is expected that 2mbit/sec for stationary users, while 348kbits when moving or traveling. ITU sell various frequency rates in order to make use of broadband technologies. Network authentication has won the trust of users, because the user can rely on its network as a reliable source of transferring data.3G technology is much flexible, because it is able to support the 5 major radio technologies. These radio technologies operate under CDMA, TDMA and FDMA.CDMA holds for IMT-DS (direct spread), IMT-MC (multi carrier). TDMA accounts for IMT-TC (time code), IMT-SC (single carrier). FDMA has only one radio interface known as IMT-FC or frequency code. Third generation technology is really affordable due to the agreement of industry. This agreement took pace in order to increase its adoption by the users. 3G (Thrid Generation Technology) system is compatible to work with the 2G technologies. 3G (Thrid Generation Technology) technologies holds the vision that they should be expandable on demand. The aim of the 3G (Thrid Generation Technology) is to allow for more coverage and growth with minimum investment.

3G technologies (Third Generation Technologies)

There are many 3G technologies as W-CDMA, GSM EDGE, UMTS, DECT, WiMax and CDMA 2000.Enhanced data rates for GSM evolution or EDGE is termed to as a backward digital technology, because it can operate with older devices. EDGE allows for faster data transfer than existing GSM.EDGE was introduced by AT& T in 2003.EDGE has increased the GSM coverage up to three times more. EDGE is a 3G Technology (Thrid Generation Technology); therefore it can be used for packet switched systems. Universal mobile telecommunications systems .UMTS conforms to ITU IMT 2000 standard. It is complex network and allows for covering radio access, core network and USIM (subscriber identity module). It is a relatively expensive technology for the network operators because it requires new and separate infrastructure for its coverage. The GSM is the base of this technology. CDMA is also referred to as IMT-MC. this technology is close to 2G technology GSM because it is also backward compatible. Digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) is another 3G Technology (Thrid Generation Technology). DETC was developed by European telecommunications standards institute; however it is now widely popular in the other countries of the world as well. It runs over a frequency of 1900Mhz. WiMax is a 3G Technology (Thrid Generation Technology) and it is referred to as worldwide interoperability for microwave access. It is a wireless technology. It transmits variety of wireless signals. It can be operated on the multi point and point modes. it is portable technology. This technology is based on the wireless internet access. Name of the WiMax was developed in 2001 by WiMax forum. This technology removes the need for wires and is capable enough to provide 10mbits/sec. it can connect you to hotspot.

what is 2g ?

2011-09-22T20:01:00.000+05:30

The 2G Technology

2G refers to second generation wireless telecommunication technology. While its predecessor, 1G, made use of analog radio signals, 2G uses digital radio signals.

Based on what type of multiplexing (the process of combining multiple digital data streams into one signal) is employed, 2G technologies may be categorized by whether they are based on time division multiple access (TDMA) or code division multiple access (CDMA).

TDMA-based 2G standards include the following: Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), used worldwide; Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (IDEN), developed by Motorola and used in the United States and Canada; Interim Standard 136 (IS-136) or Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), used in North and South America; and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), used in Japan.
IS-95, on the other hand, is CDMA-based. It was developed by Qualcomm, and is alternately known as TIA-EIA-95 or cdmaOne.

2G makes use of a CODEC (compression-decompression algorithm) to compress and multiplex digital voice data. Through this technology, a 2G network can pack more calls per amount of bandwidth as a 1G network. 2G cellphone units were generally smaller than 1G units, since they emitted less radio power.

Another advantage of 2G over 1G is that the battery life of a 2G handset lasts longer, again due to the lower-powered radio signals. Since it transmitted data through digital signals, 2G also offered additional services such as SMS and e-mail. Its lower power emissions also made 2G handsets safer for consumers to use.

Error checking, a feature allowed by digital voice encoding, improved sound quality by reducing dynamic and lowering the noise floor. Digital voice encoding also made the calls less susceptible to unwanted eavesdropping from third parties, due to the use of radio scanners.

Another use of this technology is the availability of international emergency numbers, which can be used by international users anytime without having to know the local emergency numbers. PDC or personal digital cellular technology was developed in Japan, and is exclusively used in JAPAN as well. PDC uses 25 KHz frequency. Docomo launched its first digital service of PDC in 1993.integrated digital enhanced network (iDEN) was developed by MOTOROLA, as a major mobile technology. It enabled the mobile users to make use of complex trunked radio and mobile phones. iDEN has a frequency of about 25Khz.i DEN allows three or six user per mobile channel.iS-136 is a second generation cellular phone system. It is also known as digital AMPS. D-AMPS were widely popular in America and Canada. However now it is in the declining phase. This technology is facing a strong competition by GSM technologies. Now the network carriers have adopted GSM and other CDMA 2000 technologies at large. Interim standard 95 is a first and the foremost CDMA cellular technology. It is most famous by its brand name known as cdmaOne. It makes use of the CDMA to transfer the voice signals and data signals from cellular phones to cell sites (cell sites is cellular network).

Benefits of 2G technology (Second Generation)

Digital signals require consume less battery power, so it helps mobile batteries to last long. Digital coding improves the voice clarity and reduces noise in the line. Digital signals are considered environment friendly. The use of digital data service assists mobile network operators to introduce short message service over the cellular phones. Digital encryption has provided secrecy and safety to the data and voice calls. The use of 2G technology requires strong digital signals to help mobile phones work. If there is no network coverage in any specific area, digital signals would be weak.

Most Expensive Computer in the World

2011-09-22T19:28:00.000+05:30

Most Expensive Computer in the World

The Japanese government estimates the Earth Simulator cost $400,000,000, making it the most expensive computer ever built. The budget for the Earth Simulator project was authorized for the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) in 1997, and NEC Corporation made the winning bid for the Japanese project.

By May 2002, the 640 processor node supercomputer was benchmarked with Linpack as having 35.86 TFlop/s performance. This gave it the top spot on the TOP500 Supercomputer Sites list until 2004 when IBM’s BlueGene/L supercomputer took its place using an architecture that cost less than half as much to implement.
Each processor node in the Earth Simulator contains 8 vector processors running at 500MHz with 16GB of shared memory, and the total main memory in the machine is 10 terabytes. The operating system running on the supercomputer is NEC’s UNIX-based OS called “SUPER-UX” which is used on NEC’s SX Series of supercomputers.

This expensive computer is used for a wide variety of international projects, most of which are related to atmospheric, climate, and oceanographic simulation.

Most Expensive Motorbikes in the World

2011-09-22T19:24:00.000+05:30

Most Expensive Motorbikes in the World

There are many different types of motorcycles – fast ones, big ones, good cruisers, motor crossers, all sorts. But this is about a different kind of bike – Insanely expensive, ridiculously trick, made-from-the-most-exotic materials-on-the-planet bikes.
Really, if you have to ask how much these are – you can’t afford one. I had to ask so you don’t have to, but if you see one of these on the road, just remember, the rider is probably as scared of scratching it as you are of dropping your baby. They are in no partucular order except that I have saved the most expensive for last.

MV-Augusta F4CC

Manufacturer’s Suggested Price - $120,000
You heard right, a hundred twenty thousand dollars, although if you stump up this much cash, you do get a free leather jacket and watch. It’s a pretty fancy watch, but it’s still just a watch. Claudio Castiglioni, the boss of MV said, “I decided to put my name to this bike as I originally dreamed of it for myself,” and 90% of the components are hand made to be as light as possible. In fact, the alternator cover saved 2 kilos in weight over the standard model.
Brembo racing brakes, hand made engine internals, a 1078cc engine, titanium racing exhaust, one-off mechanical slipper clutch. This weighs just 187 kilos and produces 200 hp. According to the designers, they were going for a “little black number.” Gimme gimme. Only 100 were made, and as far as I know, they didn’t sell them all yet, so you can still pick one up.

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Aprilia RSV1000R Factory

MSRP $17,999
The Aprilia Factory RSV makes the MV look as insanely expensive as it actually is, but at 18K, that’s still a fair chunk of change compared to the competition – you can buy a GSXR-1000 and still have enough money left over to appease the spouse. The RSV has an extremely impressive spec sheet and pedigree, but in this class, it’s just too cheap. Fully adjustable front and rear Ohlins suspension, Ohlins steering damper, Brembo radial mount brakes and forged magnesium wheels make this a serious performance animal. Maybe if they gold plated it or something? It’s a nice looking bike though and universally acclaimed as a good ride.

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MTT Turbine SuperBike

MSRP $150,000
Perhaps the most impractical bike on this list, the MTT Turbine SuperBike is powered by a Rolls Royce Allison 250 Series turbine which produces 425 ft/lbs of torque at 2000 rpm and 320 hp at 52,000 rpm and drives through a two speed automatic gearbox. It’s a turbine so revs aren’t quite the same as a normal engine. The MTT was clocked at a record breaking 227 mph and according to the Guinness Book of Records is “The Most Powerful Motorcycle Ever to Enter Series Production.” At the time it was also the most expensive, but that is no longer the case. It’s available as a single or two-seater, but you wouldn’t catch me on the back of this.

Macchia Nera concept bike

MSRP $201,000
Nera means “Black,” in Italian. This was produced as a concept in 2004 and never got any further than that. Based on a Ducati 998 WSB engine, some Italian journalist suggested this was the perfect track day bike, but he was crazy – no one in their right mind throws a two hundred thousand dollar bike down a track. This was the one and only produced and if you are the guy who bought it, I would love to hear from you. This certainly qualifies as the “Most Exclusive Bike in the World.”

Dodge Tomahawk

MSRP $250,000
In true American style, the Dodge Tomahawk weighs in at a beefy 1,500 lbs curb weight. It’s no slouch though – at least in a straight line. I’m not sure I would try going round a corner on it though. And with a measly 3.25 gallon tank (little American gallons at that) I’m not sure you would get as far as a corner. Powered by a liquid-cooled 90-degree 8277 cc V-10 it produces 500 bhp @5600 rpm and 525 lb/ft of torque. A serious challenge for the "Most Impractical Bike in the World," award.

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Ecosse Moto Works’ Limited Edition Titanium

MSRP $275,000
Last, but by no means least is the first ever Titanium motorcycle. With handcrafted, clear coated carbon fiber bodywork, hand painted tank and get this – a fuel injected, supercharged, intercooled 2,150cc billet motor, clear coated carbon fiber wheels and a hand made titanium exhaust system. This bike weights 440 lbs and puts out “more than,” 200 hp – at the rear wheel, and produces “more than,” 210 ft/lbs of torque. This is a little like the old expression from Rolls Royce when they were asked how much power their car engines produced – enough. Available exclusively from Robb Report.com Oh, and you get a free watch. I should bloody well hope so for over a quarter million dollars. Unlike the Dodge and Macchia, this one is actually in production - 10 have been built.

Top 10 cars

2011-09-22T19:05:00.000+05:30

1. Bugatti Veyron Super Sports $2,400,000. This is by far the most expensive street legal car available on the market today (the base Veyron costs $1,700,000). It is the fastest accelerating car reaching 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. It is also the fastest street legal car when tested again on July 10, 2010 with the 2010 Super Sport Version reaching a top speed of 267 mph. When competing against the Bugatti Veyron, you better be prepared!

2. Pagani Zonda Clinque Roadster $1,850,000. One of the most exotic cars out there is one of the most expensive. It can go from 0-60 in 3.4 seconds with a top speed of 217 mph.
We have a tie for 3rd place:

3. Lamborghini Reventon $1,600,000. The most powerful and the most expensive Lamborghini ever built is the third on the list. It takes 3.3 seconds to reach 60 mph and it has a top speed of 211 mph. Its rarity (limited to 20) and slick design are the reasons why it is so expensive and costly to own.

3. Koenigsegg Agera R $1,600,000. The Agera R can burn 0-60 in 2.8 seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 260 mph. It has the parts to reach 270 mph, but the supercar is electronically capped at 235 mph. With the completion of certain paperwork, the company will unlock the speed limit for one occasion.

4. McLaren F1 $970,000. In 1994, the McLaren F1 was the fastest and most expensive car. Even though it was built 15 years ago, it has an unbelievable top speed of 240 mph and reaching 60 mph in 3.2 seconds. Even today, the McLaren F1 is still top on the list and outperforms many other supercars.

5. Ferrari Enzo $670,000. The most popular supercar ever built. The Enzo has a top speed of 217 mph and reaching 60 mph in 3.4 seconds. Only 400 units were produced and it is currently being sold for over $1,000,000 at auctions.

6. Pagani Zonda C12 F $667,321. Produced by a small independent company in Italy, the Pagani Zonda C12 F is the 6th most expensive car in the world. It promises to delivery a top speed of 215 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.5 seconds.

7. SSC Ultimate Aero $654,400. Don't let the price tag fool you, the 7th most expensive car is actually the 3rd fastest street legal car in the world with a top speed of 257 mph+ and reaching 0-60 in 2.7 seconds. This baby cost less than half as much as the Bugatti Veyron, yet has enough power to compete against the most expensive car. It is estimated that only 25 of this exact model will ever be produced.

8. Ascari A10 $650,000. This badboy can reach a tested top speed of 215 mph, zooming 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. The British car company plans to assemple 50 of these supercars in their factory in Banbury, England.

9. Saleen S7 Twin Turbo $555,000. The first true American production certified supercar, this cowboy is also rank 4th for the fastest car in the world. It has a top speed of 248 mph+ and it can reach 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. If you are a true American patriot, you can be proud to show off this car.

10. Koenigsegg CCX $545,568. Swedish made, the Koenigsegg is fighting hard to become the fastest car in the world. Currently, it is the 5th fastest car in the world with a top speed of 245 mph+, the car manufacture Koenigsegg has just released the Koenigsegg Agera R to compete against the Bugatti Veyron. The company is a tough contender and will continue to try and produce the fastest car in the world. Good luck with that!

What is Acne and What to Do About It

2011-09-19T19:17:00.000+05:30

What is Acne and What to Do About It

When bacteria and оil clоg pоreѕ оn the ѕkin, the reѕult iѕ acne vulgariѕ, mоre cоmmоnly referred tо aѕ, ѕimply, acne. Characterized by ѕkin eruptiоnѕ ѕuch aѕ pimpleѕ, whiteheadѕ and blackheadѕ, acne can alѕо cauѕe diѕcоlоratiоnѕ оf the ѕkin and painful cyѕtѕ that are prоne tо leaving permanent ѕcarѕ if ѕevere caѕeѕ оf acne are ignоred оr imprоperly treated. Оften cauѕed by hоrmоnal changeѕ, teenagerѕ are highly ѕuѕceptible tо develоping acne, which can appear оn a perѕоn’ѕ face, cheѕt, neck, оr back. Acne оften clearѕ up after a perѕоn’ѕ teen yearѕ, but many adultѕ are plagued with the cоnditiоn well intо adulthооd and ѕeek a variety оf treatment methоdѕ in hоpeѕ оf a cure.
Underѕtanding hоw acne оperateѕ iѕ оne оf the majоr keyѕ, which unlоckѕ the ѕecretѕ оf itѕ cure. Teenagerѕ are the mоѕt cоmmоn grоup plagued by acne due tо a change in hоrmоnal оr glandular activity experienced during puberty. Aѕ extreme amоuntѕ оf оil, alѕо knоwn aѕ ѕebum, cоllect оn the ѕkin’ѕ ѕurface while blоcking pоreѕ and ѕebaceоuѕ glandѕ, the reactiоn iѕ оne оr mоre pimpleѕ that fоrm оn the ѕkin’ѕ ѕurface.
Hоwever, оther factоrѕ alѕо cоntribute tо the оnѕet оf acne, ѕuch aѕ:

- Dietary deficiencieѕ
- Cоnѕtipatiоn
- Ѕtreѕѕ
- Anemia
- Irregular menѕtrual cycleѕ
- Allergieѕ

While teenagerѕ are affected by acne in diѕprоpоrtiоnate amоuntѕ, adult wоmen alѕо tend tо experience mild tо mоderate caѕeѕ оf acne juѕt priоr tо their mоnthly menѕtrual cycleѕ in which hоrmоnal changeѕ are alѕо tо blame. Acne can alѕо run in familieѕ, althоugh thiѕ iѕ mоre likely due tо the cоnѕumptiоn оf certain dietary chоiceѕ, ѕuch aѕ оily, fatty fооdѕ and chоcоlate, which can each trigger acne ѕymptоmѕ.
Preventative meaѕureѕ are the mоѕt helpful in cоmbating acne. By maintaining clean ѕkin and avоiding оily ѕkincare and hair care prоductѕ that increaѕe the amоunt оf оil оn the ѕkin, clоg pоreѕ, and cauѕe acne, peоple whо are prоne tо acne can avоid frequent eruptiоnѕ. Waѕhing ѕkin twо tо three timeѕ each day with a mild cleanѕer and оnly applying prоductѕ that are labeled nоncоmоdоgenic helpѕ in keeping acne ѕymptоmѕ at bay. Everyоne, but particularly thоѕe whо are prоne tо acne оutbreakѕ ѕhоuld thоrоughly remоve all makeup befоre gоing tо bed at night, ѕhоuld drink plenty оf water thrоughоut the day, and ѕhоuld avоid carbоnated and ѕugary drinkѕ. Alѕо, fried fооdѕ, fооdѕ high in ѕaturated fatѕ, faѕt fооd, prоceѕѕed fооdѕ, alcоhоl and cigarette ѕmоke ѕhоuld be avоided, aѕ each iѕ knоwn tо cоntribute tо the оnѕet оf acne ѕymptоmѕ.

Aѕ annоying aѕ a caѕe оf acne can be, a perѕоn with thiѕ cоnditiоn ѕhоuld never pick their pimpleѕ even when they are at painful ѕtageѕ. Picking at them can cauѕe the ѕkin tо becоme infected and can cauѕe permanent markѕ оr ѕcarring tо оccur. Inѕtead, acne creamѕ that are cоmmоnly ѕоld оver the cоunter cоntaining ѕalicylic acid оr benzоyl perоxide can be applied tо clean ѕkin tо aѕѕiѕt in halting оutbreakѕ and in reducing the amоunt оf pimpleѕ that appear оn the ѕkin. Оf cоurѕe, different ѕkin typeѕ reѕpоnd differently tо theѕe prоductѕ. Therefоre, if irritatiоn оccurѕ оr if ѕymptоmѕ perѕiѕt, peоple with acne are adviѕed tо ѕtоp uѕing that particular prоduct and find anоther that iѕ mоre ѕuitable tо their particular ѕkin type.
In ѕevere caѕeѕ, it may be neceѕѕary fоr a dermatоlоgiѕt tо aѕѕiѕt in treating ѕkin acne. A dermatоlоgiѕt may chооѕe tо drain pimpleѕ and cyѕtѕ aѕ a part оf the оverall treatment plan during a viѕit. Оften, dоctоrѕ will alѕо preѕcribe antibiоtic medicatiоnѕ оr preѕcriptiоn-ѕtrength tоpical ѕоlutiоnѕ that can target prоblem acne and aѕѕiѕt in the ѕkin’ѕ healing. Peоple with ѕevere acne ѕhоuld be adviѕed, hоwever, that many preѕcriptiоn medicatiоnѕ cоmmоnly uѕed tо treat acne ѕymptоmѕ are alѕо accоmpanied by ѕeriоuѕ ѕide effectѕ, ѕuch aѕ birth defectѕ and depreѕѕiоn. Aѕ well, wоmen whо are pregnant оr breaѕtfeeding ѕhоuld avоid certain medicatiоnѕ that can be harmful tо a develоping fetuѕ оr infant.
In ѕevere caѕeѕ that cauѕe acne ѕcarring, cоllagen injectiоnѕ and dermabraѕiоn techniqueѕ have been knоwn tо ѕоmewhat cauѕe the ѕkin tо lооk and feel ѕmооther. Оther treatment methоdѕ alѕо include the uѕe оf laѕer reѕurfacing, which invоlveѕ a burning away оf unѕightly ѕcar tiѕѕue оr chemabraѕiоn, which remоveѕ ѕcar tiѕѕue by uѕing a chemical that peelѕ away the tоp, ѕcarred layerѕ оf ѕkin.
High prоtein dietѕ, dietѕ that are high in zinc and dietѕ ѕuppоrting high amоuntѕ оf chrоmium are alѕо helpful in rebuilding the ѕkin’ѕ ѕurface at the cellular level tо help minimize the appearance оf acne ѕcarring. Ѕоme have even repоrted pоѕitive reѕultѕ by uѕing hоney aѕ a mоiѕturizing agent tо help ѕcarred ѕkin recоver.
Оther natural treatmentѕ fоr acne are alѕо knоwn tо help peоple find relief frоm itѕ ѕymptоmѕ withоut the riѕk оf pоѕѕible harmful ѕide effectѕ. A few оf thоѕe ѕuggeѕted remedieѕ include:

-Applying Alоe Vera gel tо acne prоne areaѕ
- Maѕkѕ made оf plain yоgurt
- Maѕkѕ made frоm grated cucumber
- Maѕkѕ made frоm оatmeal and milk

In any оf the abоve natural acne treatmentѕ, a maѕk can be applied tо clean ѕkin and allоwed tо permeate the ѕkin fоr at leaѕt 30 minuteѕ per treatment, fоllоwed by a thоrоugh rinѕing with cоld water.
Alѕо, peоple whо are prоne tо acne ѕhоuld try ѕupplementing their dietѕ with vitaminѕ, ѕuch aѕ vitamin A, vitaminѕ B and B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, acidоphiluѕ culture and Niacin, all which can help in rebalancing a perѕоn’ѕ bоdy ѕо that оily cоnditiоnѕ that cauѕe acne are better balanced and ѕkin can reѕiѕt acne оutbreakѕ.
Peоple whо ѕuffer frоm acne ѕymptоmѕ, including ѕcarring, оften feel embarraѕѕed becauѕe оf their ѕkin’ѕ appearance. Althоugh nо оne enjоyѕ experiencing an acne оutbreak, it ѕhоuld be nоted that almоѕt everyоne ѕufferѕ frоm acne at leaѕt оnce in hiѕ оr her lifetime. Further, acne iѕ a treatable ѕkin cоnditiоn and оne that can be cоntrоlled largely by making key changeѕ in оne’ѕ lifeѕtyle. While acne iѕ nоt likely tо diѕappear оvernight, with diligence, prоper cleanѕing, and maintenance, acne can be оvercоme. Nоt every treatment methоd wоrkѕ the ѕame оn every perѕоn’ѕ ѕkin type. Therefоre, it may be neceѕѕary tо try ѕeveral different acne treatmentѕ befоre оne iѕ diѕcоvered tо be juѕt the right оne tо treat their particular acne ѕymptоmѕ.

Read more about at What is Acne

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Hybrid Diamonds or Diamond Stimulants ?

2011-09-19T18:56:00.000+05:30

Hybrid Diamonds or Diamond Stimulants ? Which is Better?

Diamond stimulants have been around for many years. In fact, the common simulated diamonds have been available in the market today for many years now. In 1998, a more brilliant diamond was introduced. It is hard like the diamonds since it can also cut glass but still, mined diamonds are the best.

Hybrid diamonds came into the industry several years ago and since the, it has gained worldwide acceptance. The hybrid variety consisted of small diamond crystals which were aligned to form one diamond. Such creation became the flawless diamond simulant and with modern technological advancements, jewelry lovers craved for more. Most simulated diamonds were off-white in color while the hybrid versions can be easily created to have the same color as the mined diamonds. Aside from that, hybrid diamonds are more affordable since the production cost is quite low. The hybrid variety is F-G graded, durable, good quality, and possesses nearly the same color as the mined ones.

With the combination of non-precious cores and man made crystals, diamond hybrids feel and look like real diamonds. A patented process is used to manufacture diamond hybrids. The infused layer will not disconnect or peel and so the diamonds are of good quality. Through the FCVA-Ion Jet Beam Diamond Seeding, crystal seeds are implanted. A real diamond layer will grow inside the core. The patented process is not expensive and so the hybrids are more affordable. It would be best to purchase diamond hybrids that were cut in Israel since diamond cutters there are well known for their skills. By choosing diamond hybrids sold in quality settings, you can witness the diamond’s unmatched brilliance. If you want, you can also get the colored varieties like blue, cognac, lavender, purple, gold, yellow, and pink.

So, are you going for the hybrid variety or will you choose the other diamond simulants? Simulated diamonds are bright and shiny but they are nothing compared to mined diamonds. Their specific gravity, refractive index, hardness, and weight are not even close to real diamonds. True diamonds came from carbon which was subjected to extreme pressure and suffocating heat deep down the Earth. Later on, it became diamond crystals. Most of today’s simulated diamonds came from synthetic, minerals, and glass; they are marketed in various names like white corundum, yttrium aluminum garnet, rhinestones, strontium titanate, and gadolinium gallium garnet. Fine quality simulated diamond jewelries are usually sold in attractive settings. They are sold in different price ranges under 0 to about 0 per carat. Today, many couples choose simulated diamonds for their special occasions because it is much affordable and with proper care, the jewelries can last for a long time.
Whether you go for the hybrid diamonds or the diamond simulants, you can still get great value for your money. It’s now up to you to choose the design and setting of the diamond jewelries. If the simulated varieties are still expensive for you, you can always choose the hybrid diamonds. Search for the perfect diamond jewelry online or in local stores.

SonaDiamondJewelry.com is a leading online destination for man made diamonds and all kinds of diamond jewelry. The widest selection of stunning man made diamonds is awaiting you at this online store. Pick and choose from the selection of striking Man Made Diamonds and other kinds of diamond jewelry for your wedding and be ready to wear it off.

Article from articlesbase.com

computer software

2011-09-18T17:50:00.000+05:30

Computer software

"Software" redirects here. For other uses, see Software (disambiguation).
Computer software, or just software, is the collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions telling a computer what to do. The term was coined to contrast to the old term hardware (meaning physical devices). In contrast to hardware, software is intangible, meaning it "cannot be touched".[1] Software is also sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only. Sometimes the term includes data that has not traditionally been associated with computers, such as film, tapes, and records.

Examples of computer software include:

Application software includes end-user applications of computers such as word processors or Video games, and ERP software for groups of users.
Middleware controls and co-ordinates distributed systems.
Programming languages define the syntax and sematics of computer programs. For example, many mature banking applications were written in the COBOL language, originally invented in 1959. Newer applications are often written in more modern programming languages.
System software includes operating systems, which govern computing resources. Today large applications running on remote machines such as Websites are considered to be system software, because the end-user interface is generally through a Graphical user interface (GUI), such as a web browser.
Testware is software for testing hardware or a software package.
Firmware is low-level software often stored on electrically programmable memory devices. Firmware is given its name because it is treated like hardware and run ("executed") by other software programs.
Shrinkware is the older name given to consumer bought software, because it was often sold in retail stores in a shrinkwrapped box.
Device drivers control parts of computers such as disk drives, printers, CD drives, or computer monitors.
Programming tools help conduct computing tasks in any category listed above. For programmers, these could be tools for debugging or reverse engineering older legacy systems in order to check source code compatibility.

History:

For the history prior to 1946, see History of computing hardware.
The first theory about software was proposed by Alan Turing in his 1935 essay Computable numbers with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem (Decision problem).[3] The term "software" was first used in print by John W. Tukey in 1958.[4] The academic fields studying software are computer science and software engineering.

The history of computer software is most often traced back to the first software bug in 1946. As more and more programs enter the realm of firmware, and the hardware itself becomes smaller, cheaper and faster due to Moore's law, elements of computing first considered to be software, join the ranks of hardware. Most hardware companies today have more software programmers on the payroll than hardware designers, since software tools have automated many tasks of Printed circuit board engineers. Just like the Auto industry, the Software industry has grown from a few visionaries operating out of their garage with prototypes. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were the Henry Ford and Louis Chevrolet of their times, who capitalized on ideas already commonly known before they started in the business. In the case of Software development, this moment is generally agreed to be the publication in the 1980s of the specifications for the IBM Personal Computer published by IBM employee Philip Don Estridge. Today his move would be seen as a type of crowd-sourcing.

Until that time, software was bundled with the hardware by Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Data General, Digital Equipment and IBM. When a customer bought a minicomputer, at that time the smallest computer on the market, the computer did not come with Pre-installed software, but needed to be installed by engineers employed by the OEM. Computer hardware companies not only bundled their software, they also placed demands on the location of the hardware in a refrigerated space called a computer room. Most companies had their software on the books for 0 dollars, unable to claim it as an asset (this is similar to financing of popular music in those days). When Data General introduced the Data General Nova, a company called Digidyne wanted to use its RDOS operating system on its own hardware clone. Data General refused to license their software (which was hard to do, since it was on the books as a free asset), and claimed their "bundling rights". The Supreme Court set a precedent called Digidyne v. Data General in 1985. The Supreme Court let a 9th circuit decision stand, and Data General was eventually forced into licensing the Operating System software because it was ruled that restricting the license to only DG hardware was an illegal tying arrangement.[5] Soon after, IBM 'published' its DOS source for free, and Microsoft was born. Unable to sustain the loss from lawyer's fees, Data General ended up being taken over by EMC Corporation. The Supreme Court decision made it possible to value software, and also purchase Software patents. The move by IBM was almost a protest at the time. Few in the industry believed that anyone would profit from it other than IBM (through free publicity). Microsoft and Apple were able to thus cash in on 'soft' products. It is hard to imagine today that people once felt that software was worthless without a machine. There are many successful companies today that sell only software products, though there are still many common software licensing problems due to the complexity of designs and poor documentation, leading to patent trolls.

With open software specifications and the possibility of software licensing, new opportunities arose for software tools that then became the de facto standard, such as DOS for operating systems, but also various proprietary word processing and spreadsheet programs. In a similar growth pattern, proprietary development methods became standard Software development methodology.

Overview:

A layer structure showing where operating system is located on generally used software systems on desktopsSoftware includes all the various forms and roles that digitally stored data may have and play in a computer (or similar system), regardless of whether the data is used as code for a CPU, or other interpreter, or whether it represents other kinds of information. Software thus encompasses a wide array of products that may be developed using different techniques such as ordinary programming languages, scripting languages, microcode, or an FPGA configuration.

The types of software include web pages developed in languages and frameworks like HTML, PHP, Perl, JSP, ASP.NET, XML, and desktop applications like OpenOffice.org, Microsoft Word developed in languages like C, C++, Java, C#, or Smalltalk. Application software usually runs on an underlying software operating systems such as Linux or Microsoft Windows. Software (or firmware) is also used in video games and for the configurable parts of the logic systems of automobiles, televisions, and other consumer electronics.

Computer software is so called to distinguish it from computer hardware, which encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store and execute (or run) the software. At the lowest level, executable code consists of machine language instructions specific to an individual processor. A machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor instructions that change the state of the computer from its preceding state. Programs are an ordered sequence of instructions for changing the state of the computer in a particular sequence. It is usually written in high-level programming languages that are easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled into object code via an assembler.

Types of software:

This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)

Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major classes[citation needed]: system software, programming software and application software, although the distinction is arbitrary, and often blurred.

System software:

System software helps run the computer hardware and computer system. It includes a combination of the following:

device drivers
operating systems
servers
utilities
window systems
The purpose of systems software is to unburden the applications programmer from the often complex details of the particular computer being used, including such accessories as communications devices, printers, device readers, displays and keyboards, and also to partition the computer's resources such as memory and processor time in a safe and stable manner. Examples are - Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Programming software:

Programming software usually provides tools to assist a programmer in writing computer programs, and software using different programming languages in a more convenient way. The tools include:

compilers
debuggers
interpreters
linkers
text editors
An Integrated development environment (IDE) is a single application that attempts to manage all these functions.

Application software:

Application software allows end users to accomplish one or more specific (not directly computer development related) tasks. Typical applications include:

industrial automation
business software
video games
quantum chemistry and solid state physics software
telecommunications (i.e., the Internet and everything that flows on it)
databases
educational software
medical software
molecular modeling software
image editing
spreadsheet
simulation software
Word processing
Decision making software
Application software exists for and has impacted a wide variety of topics.

Software topics
Architecture
See also: Software architecture
Users often see things differently than programmers. People who use modern general purpose computers (as opposed to embedded systems, analog computers and supercomputers) usually see three layers of software performing a variety of tasks: platform, application, and user software.

Platform software: Platform includes the firmware, device drivers, an operating system, and typically a graphical user interface which, in total, allow a user to interact with the computer and its peripherals (associated equipment). Platform software often comes bundled with the computer. On a PC you will usually have the ability to change the platform software.
Application software: Application software or Applications are what most people think of when they think of software. Typical examples include office suites and video games. Application software is often purchased separately from computer hardware. Sometimes applications are bundled with the computer, but that does not change the fact that they run as independent applications. Applications are usually independent programs from the operating system, though they are often tailored for specific platforms. Most users think of compilers, databases, and other "system software" as applications.
User-written software: End-user development tailors systems to meet users' specific needs. User software include spreadsheet templates and word processor templates. Even email filters are a kind of user software. Users create this software themselves and often overlook how important it is. Depending on how competently the user-written software has been integrated into default application packages, many users may not be aware of the distinction between the original packages, and what has been added by co-workers.

Documentation:

Main article: Software documentation
Most software has software documentation so that the end user can understand the program, what it does, and how to use it. Without clear documentation, software can be hard to use—especially if it is very specialized and relatively complex like Photoshop or AutoCAD.

Developer documentation may also exist, either with the code as comments and/or as separate files, detailing how the programs works and can be modified.

Library :

Main article: Software library
An executable is almost always not sufficiently complete for direct execution. Software libraries include collections of functions and functionality that may be embedded in other applications. Operating systems include many standard Software libraries, and applications are often distributed with their own libraries.

Standard:

Main article: Software standard
Since software can be designed using many different programming languages and in many different operating systems and operating environments, software standard is needed so that different software can understand and exchange information between each other. For instance, an email sent from a Microsoft Outlook should be readable from Yahoo! Mail and vice versa.

Execution:

Main article: Execution (computing)
Computer software has to be "loaded" into the computer's storage (such as the hard drive or memory). Once the software has loaded, the computer is able to execute the software. This involves passing instructions from the application software, through the system software, to the hardware which ultimately receives the instruction as machine code. Each instruction causes the computer to carry out an operation – moving data, carrying out a computation, or altering the control flow of instructions.

Data movement is typically from one place in memory to another. Sometimes it involves moving data between memory and registers which enable high-speed data access in the CPU. Moving data, especially large amounts of it, can be costly. So, this is sometimes avoided by using "pointers" to data instead. Computations include simple operations such as incrementing the value of a variable data element. More complex computations may involve many operations and data elements together.

Quality and reliability:

Main articles: Software quality, Software testing, and Software reliability
Software quality is very important, especially for commercial and system software like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows and Linux. If software is faulty (buggy), it can delete a person's work, crash the computer and do other unexpected things. Faults and errors are called "bugs." Many bugs are discovered and eliminated (debugged) through software testing. However, software testing rarely – if ever – eliminates every bug; some programmers say that "every program has at least one more bug" (Lubarsky's Law). All major software companies, such as Microsoft, Novell and Sun Microsystems, have their own software testing departments with the specific goal of just testing. Software can be tested through unit testing, regression testing and other methods, which are done manually, or most commonly, automatically, since the amount of code to be tested can be quite large. For instance, NASA has extremely rigorous software testing procedures for many operating systems and communication functions. Many NASA based operations interact and identify each other through command programs called software. This enables many people who work at NASA to check and evaluate functional systems overall. Programs containing command software enable hardware engineering and system operations to function much easier together.

License:

Main article: Software license
The software's license gives the user the right to use the software in the licensed environment. Some software comes with the license when purchased off the shelf, or an OEM license when bundled with hardware. Other software comes with a free software license, granting the recipient the rights to modify and redistribute the software. Software can also be in the form of freeware or shareware.

Patents
Main articles: Software patent and Software patent debate
Software can be patented; however, software patents can be controversial in the software industry with many people holding different views about it. The controversy over software patents is that a specific algorithm or technique that the software has may not be duplicated by others and is considered an intellectual property and copyright infringement depending on the severity.

Design and implementation:

Main articles: Software development, Computer programming, and Software engineering
Design and implementation of software varies depending on the complexity of the software. For instance, design and creation of Microsoft Word software will take much more time than designing and developing Microsoft Notepad because of the difference in functionalities in each one.

Software is usually designed and created (coded/written/programmed) in integrated development environments (IDE) like Eclipse, Emacs and Microsoft Visual Studio that can simplify the process and compile the program. As noted in different section, software is usually created on top of existing software and the application programming interface (API) that the underlying software provides like GTK+, JavaBeans or Swing. Libraries (APIs) are categorized for different purposes. For instance, JavaBeans library is used for designing enterprise applications, Windows Forms library is used for designing graphical user interface (GUI) applications like Microsoft Word, and Windows Communication Foundation is used for designing web services. Underlying computer programming concepts like quicksort, hashtable, array, and binary tree can be useful to creating software. When a program is designed, it relies on the API. For instance, if a user is designing a Microsoft Windows desktop application, he/she might use the .NET Windows Forms library to design the desktop application and call its APIs like Form1.Close() and Form1.Show()[6] to close or open the application and write the additional operations him/herself that it need to have. Without these APIs, the programmer needs to write these APIs him/herself. Companies like Sun Microsystems, Novell, and Microsoft provide their own APIs so that many applications are written using their software libraries that usually have numerous APIs in them.

Software has special economic characteristics that make its design, creation, and distribution different from most other economic goods.[7][8] A person who creates software is called a programmer, software engineer, software developer, or code monkey, terms that all have a similar meaning.

Industry and organizations:

Main article: Software industry
A great variety of software companies and programmers in the world comprise the software industry . Software can be quite a profitable industry: Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft was the richest person in the world in 2009 largely by selling the Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office software products. The same goes for Larry Ellison, largely through his Oracle database software. Through time the software industry has become increasingly specialized.

Non-profit software organizations include the Free Software Foundation, GNU Project and Mozilla Foundation. Software standard organizations like the W3C, IETF develop software standards so that most software can interoperate through standards such as XML, HTML, HTTP or FTP.

Other well-known large software companies include Novell, SAP, Symantec, Adobe Systems, and Corel, while small companies often provide innovation.

fact of spartan

2011-09-18T17:39:00.000+05:30

THE SPARTA

Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer -- The First Reviews
Just ten days after the release of Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer two reviews have already been posted on amazon.com. That's exciting -- especially when both are from people I do not know and to whom I did not send review copies. I hope this is a good omen and the book will continue to attract positive attention.

5.0 out of 5 stars
So Good It Will Make You Stay Up Past Your Bedtime..., September 8, 2011
By
Kathleen Ann Langley "Lucky 7 Tattoo Kings Beach" (Lake Tahoe, California)
(REAL NAME), Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is for: Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer (Paperback)

Yes, once again Ms Schrader has kept me up WAY past my bedtime for "just one more chapter." Rarely in historical fiction does this happen for me. I will hit a boring spot in a book and easily put it down until next time. Not so with the second book of this Leonidas trilogy "Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer." She had a tough job to outshine herself after the first part of this 3 part series, " A Boy of the Agoge" yet the author met the challenge with gusto.

All the main players of ancient Sparta are back, and some new ones add to the story without becoming confusing. Gorgo comes into her teenage years with timeless problems we can relate to. Leonidas becomes a man we would all desire to have in our lives as the ultimate compassionate alpha male. And the folks who surround these 2 ancient royal players have their own stories told too. Not a boring one in the bunch either. It's like a soap opera set in antiquity!

Now that I have plowed my way through this second book I once again cannot wait until the 3rd and final book comes out next year! If you even have a vague interest in what life may have been like for Leonidas, or the Spartan people at this time and place in history, you will dig this book.

AND

5.0 out of 5 stars
Thin rations, September 4, 2011,
BY
Jessica Allan Schmidt (People's Republic of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States)
(REAL NAME)

This review is for: Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer (Paperback)

William Styron, author of The Confessions of Nat Turner once commented that a historical novelist did best when given "thin rations". This book takes those scant rations available from the historical record and extrapolates them, using common sense as well as classical sources, to construct what life may have been like for Leonidas I. There are some interesting inconsistencies with the historical records -- for instance, it is not known if Cleombrotus was Leonidas' twin or younger brother, yet the series paints him quite convincingly as Leonidas' elder twin -- but on the whole, it provides a very interesting look at the dynamics of an unusual society.

Sparta is often treated by modern scholars as a nation of simple brutes, but records do not hold with this -- if the training of youths was simply a matter of testing them until they broke, Greek leaders from all over the peninsula would not have competed to send their sons to the agoge for whatever periods they could. Like military schools of today, Sparta's educational programme was much more clearly devoted to military *and* practical learning, but the relative dearth of universal military training during this period means that its military nature is over-emphasised. Moreover, the fact that attendance at the Spartan agoge meant for some préstige among other Greeks strongly implies that it was seen as a specialist school that was a great honour for youths inclined to eventually rise to rôles of command in their own city-state's military.

The examination of what Spartan adult life was like is an interesting view of comparison and contrast. In the era before supertankers and jet aircraft, military engagements were by necessity no more than half the year, before mud and rain made it impossible to manoeuvre effectively, and, even more importantly, avoid disease decimating the ranks (a killer that was more likely than death by battle wound up through the Second World War), and therefore, even though Spartans were certainly careful to keep themselves in training year round and maintain constant operational readiness, they also had personal, civilian lives that were just as important to them, if not more so. As any tactician can tell you, the most motivated fighter is one who fights to defend a society he feels is integral to his life. Were Sparta a brutal place dedicated to warfare and only warfare, there would be no society to defend.

In this book, it is interesting to see the evolution of Queen Gorgo from girlhood to womanhood, even though most of it is conjecture based on what *is* known of the training of Spartan women. This book is also surprisingly engaging for the middle part of a trilogy, traditionally a time when *any* storytelling lags. The agoge is notorious, and Leonidas' death is equally well-known, but this period could have been fairly dull, yet it is as engaging as the first book in this series. I recommend it strongly.

The Physical Appearance of Spartans

As a novelist, I have given considerable thought to what the Spartans in the Age of Leonidas might have looked like, as well as how they would have groomed themselves and dressed. From comments and correspondence, I gather that this is a topic of interest to many of my readers as well, so I thought it might be worth some joint speculation.

In terms of physical build, I have not heard of any archeological evidence based on skeletons, but would welcome any information you may have heard or read about. In the absence of such forensic evidence, I may dependent on mixing ancient sources with modern experience and common sense.

Both Plutarch and – more importantly Xenophon – stress that Spartan youth (i.e. during the critical years of physical development and growth) were not allowed to eat “too much.” Xenophon speaks of “just the right amount for them never to become sluggish through being too full, while also giving them a taste of what it is not to have enough. [Lycurgus'] view was that boys under this kind of regime would be better able, when required, to work hard without eating, as well as to make the same rations last longer, when so ordered; they would be satisfied with a plain diet, would adapt better to accepting any type of food, and would be in a healthier condition. [Lycurgus] also considered that a diet which produced slim bodies did more to make them grow tall than one in which the food filled them out.” (Spartan Society:2)

Plutarch, the less reliable source, writes: “The aim of providing [Spartan boys in the agoge] with only sparse fare is that they should be driven to make up its deficiencies by resort to daring and villainy. While this is the main purpose of their scanty diet, a subsidiary one is claimed to be the development of their physique, helping them in particular to grow tall. When people over-eat, their breathing is labored, thus producing a broad, squat frame. In contrast, if breath suffers from only slight delay and difficulty and has an easy ascent, the body is enabled to develop freely and comfortably. Good looks are produced in the same way. For where lean, spare features respond to articulation, the sheer weight of obese, over-fed ones make them resist it.” (Lycurgus:17).

It is startling the way Xenophon’s explanation of why the Spartans restricted the diet of youth to the necessary is focused on virtues very useful to an effective army in the field, while Plutarch’s speculation is more about cheating and “villainy.” Indeed, if one follows Plutarch’s reasoning, Spartan youth didn’t suffer any deprivation at all because they simply stole what they didn’t get in their official rations and the clever and better they were at theft, the fatter they would have become, defeating any “secondary” aim of improving the physique.

Notable, however, is despite the different explanations of why the Spartans instituted a regime of sparse rations for youth, both authors suggest that it produced “tall” and (in Plutarch’s case) handsome men. To my knowledge, however, too little food in fact stunts growth, not the reverse. Clearly the ancient commentators postulated a causal effect where there was none, but such a thesis would presumably have been based on two known facts: that Spartan youth ate less than their Athenian etc. equivalents and Spartans were, on average, taller than their enemies.

(The modern observer should take careful note of the fact that if Spartans were apparently on average taller than other Greeks, they probably did not suffer any real deprivation as children. Whatever “short” rations were common in the agoge, they were not so short that growth was in any way impeded since even if some youth may have been adept at theft, most would not have been.)

Returning to the theme of physical appearance, however, we clearly have a reasonable indication that Spartans were on average notably taller than most of their contemporaries. Since the ancient explanation (they received too little to eat as children) is implausible, we need to look for other possible explanations that would make the thesis (Spartans were generally taller) credible. Here the experience of modern Japan might be a useful corollary. As long as the Japanese diet was dependent almost exclusively on fish for protein, the Japanese were notoriously short; the introduction of meat led to the average height in Japan skyrocketing by roughly a foot in just two generations. If we remember that fish was the preferred food in Athens and the most readily available protein for all the island Greeks, while Spartans were envied for their rich pastures and game-filled forests, I think it is fair to postulate that the Spartan diet was more meat heavy than that of their major rivals. It is reasonable, therefore, to picture Spartans as unusually tall by contemporary standards.

It would be wrong to conclude, however, that they were broader as well as taller than their contemporaries. On the contrary, the ancient commentators stress that Spartans were slim, something they attributed to the fixed rations at the syssitia. Yet men who are too tall and too thin would have been incapable of marching long distances or fighting exceptionally well in a phalanx. So we are talking about lean, not skinny, men.

While it might be tempting to picture a Spartan in his prime looking something like a linebacker, I would caution that Sparta’s military successes were not soley a function of Spartan troops being able to push harder, but also march more rapidly (and move at night) and to cover difficult terrain. Likewise the emphasis on hunting, particularly for men in the reserves, suggests to me that Spartans were not excessively “top heavy,” but rather lithe and fleet of foot as well as broad shouldered and strong-armed. In conclusion, I postulate that Spartans had an all-round athletic build developed over decades of physical activity from sports and hunting to military drill and combined with a healthy, but protien-heavy diet that made them tough and lean but not stocky.

Turning to grooming, let me start by dismissing modern artistic depictions of Spartans that show them as shaggy, unkempt men with scrawny, chest-long beards and wild, tangled hair hanging to their shoulders alà Richard Hook’s illustrations in Osprey’s The Spartan Army. Likewise, I reject descriptions such as those of Otto Lendle, who describes Spartans as stinking, filthy and slovenly. These images contradict the historical record and existing archeological evidence.

Herodotus, for example, makes a great point of how the Spartans groomed themselves before Thermopylae, and no one would be tempted to stress the beauty of Spartans as Plutarch does if they had been repugnant for their lack of grooming and hygene. More important, a statue fragment found in the heart of Sparta and dating from the early fifth century (commonly – or affectionately – referred to as Leonidas) shows a man with a clipped beard and neat hair. Earlier archaic artwork unanimously shows men with short beards and long, but very neat, “locks” of hair. (Note, for example the hoplites on the magnificent frieze of the Siphnian Treasure at Delphi dating from Leonidas’ lifetime, the Krater of Vix also from this period, and the figurines of known Laconian origin now displayed in the Museum of Ancient History in Berlin or pictured in Conrad Stibbe’s Das Andere Sparta.)

In addition to these sources, the admittedly dubious Plutarch claims Spartan men took particular care of their hair especially in the face of danger, and refers to an alleged quote from Lycurgus that long hair was preferred because it rendered a handsome man better looking, and an ugly one more frightening.

Whether the locks depicted in ancient sculpture were in fact braided or plaited is not possible to tell from the stylized nature of the evidence. However, it is physically impossible to keep long hair in neat, orderly strands when engaged in sports and other strenuous activities unless it is carefully confined in some way. Thus, practical modern experience suggests that Spartan men did braid their hair, something that is consistent with – though not definitely proved -- by the archeological evidence.

Braiding has the added advantage of being something that can be done quickly and alone if necessary, or done elaborately with help. Thus it could have beean a means for men to express individual taste and personality within the rigid limits of the Spartan prohibitions against displaying wealth in dress or personal ornament. I personally like to think of conservative, “old-fashioned” men just braiding their hair to keep it out of their faces, while the “dandies” of Spartan society innovatively braided their hair at diagonals or in crossing patterns etc. – as in Africa today. This gave a man a great deal of freedom for individual expression – all without breaking any taboos about the use of jewelry or other oranaments.

A Tribute to Gorgo -- The Bride of Leonidas

The second book in the Leonidas Trilogy, Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer, is available for purchase on amazon in both trade paperback and Kindle formats. Gorgo plays an important role in this book, which describes her childhood as well as Leonidas' years as a "young man," serving in the Spartan Army. That's why I'd like to devote this entry to Gorgo.

The most remarkable thing about Gorgo, wife of King Leonidas I of Sparta, is that we know anything about her at all. Herodotus and other ancient Greek historians are far more likely to mention Persian queens than the wives of Greeks – not because Persian women were more powerful than their Greek counterparts but because Persians had several wives and so it was sometimes useful to record by which of them a certain Persian prince had been born. Since Greeks had only one legitimate wife, there was no need for such clarification when it came to prominent Greek citizens. Even the names of Sparta's Queens are rarely mentioned. We do not know, for example, the names of either Leonidas’ mother or his step-mother, the “second wife” who caused all the trouble in the Agiad family in the second half of the 6th Century BC.

The near complete absence of Greek women in ancient history (as opposed to Greek mythology and drama) is a function of the fact that ancient historians were predominantly Athenian males from the Classical or Hellenistic Periods. Athenians of these periods did not think women should be seen - much less heard – in public. Women had no public role and so no business in politics or history. As Pericles said in one of his most famous speeches, “the greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about, whether they are praising you or criticizing you.” (Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 2:46.) Gorgo was by that standard a hopeless piece of scandal.

The first time she is recorded opening her mouth, she was already interfering in the affairs of state. She told her father to send away the powerful tyrant Aristagoras, who requested Spartan military aid for his planned rebellion against Persia. Gorgo’s father, King Cleomenes, had already told Aristagoras that his proposal was “improper” and asked him to leave Sparta, but Aristagoras then started to offer Cleomenes bribes. As these became ever larger, Cleomenes appeared to be weakening until his daughter intervened, saying: “Father, you had better go away, or the stranger will corrupt you.”

Gorgo allegedly offered this advice at the tender age of “eight or nine.” Even if, as there is good reason to believe, Herodotus exaggerated her youth to make her father seem foolish, it would be hardly less remarkable if a maiden of 18 or 19 did what Gorgo did. In no other Greek city but Sparta would a female of any age have been allowed to be present much less heard and heeded at a meeting between Heads of State.

Gorgo’s advice was all the more remarkable because it was good. It was Athenian aid for the Ionian revolt that brought the wrath of Persia down on mainland Greece. This led some people to quip that it was easier to bamboozle thirty thousand Athenian men than one Spartan girl. Ironically, had the Athenian Assembly been as wise as Gorgo, then Gorgo might not have been widowed twenty years later by the Battle of Thermopylae.

Perhaps the fact that she was genuinely and exceptionally bright explains why as a wife too she was consulted and her opinions respected. This is evidenced by the incident in which a blank wax tablet was sent to Sparta from the exiled king Demaratus then at the Persian court. “No one,” according to Herodotus, “was able to guess the secret until… Gorgo, who was the wife of Leonidas, divined it and told the others that if they scraped the wax off, they would find something written on the wood underneath. This was done; the message was revealed….(Herodotus, The Histories, 7:239.)

There is little doubt that Gorgo was clever, but what else do we know about her?

It is probably safe to say that Gorgo was not particularly pretty. Had she been, it would have been mentioned by somebody. The beauty of other Spartan women, notably Helen and Demaratus’ mother, is legendary or at least recorded. Some people have suggested Gorgo was ugly based on her name which conjures up the mythical Gorgon, a female beast with snakes for hair so hideous that all who looked at her turned to stone. But this seems to be taking things too far in the other direction. It is hard to imagine a truly ugly woman being so well-loved by either her father or her husband – or so well adjusted and self-confident. Furthermore, we are told that men “made advances” to her, which also seems inconsistent with an unattractive woman. Gorgo was probably simply “ordinary,” and so her looks were not worthy of comment.

Whatever her looks, Gorgo was the quintessential Spartan woman in spirit. She was educated, self-confident, out-spoken and involved in the body politic. She was neither vain nor materialistic. She showed Spartan scorn of affectation when she thought Aristagoras had no hands because he let a slave dress him, and when she accused an elegantly dressed man of not being able “to play even a female role.”

This second quote is again very telling because it suggests Gorgo was familiar with theatre – something an Athenian woman would almost certainly not have been. Athenian women, as we have seen above, were not supposed to be seen or talked about. It was a disgrace for them to be seen even standing in the doorways of their houses much less at the market place. How then should they have been tolerated in the crowds that attended Athenian theater? While it is just possible to imagine them (veiled and heavily escorted by their male relatives) attending tragedies, the sexual explicitness of Athenian comedies is utterly unimaginable if respectable Athenian women were expected to be in the audience. Gorgo’s reference to “playing a female role,” however, makes it very clear that she had seen plays performed.

There is even a chance that she saw these plays performed in Athens. We know that Leonidas’ short reign began with the Persian invasion that led to the Battle of Marathon and ended with the Persian invasion that crushed him and his 300 at Thermopylae before continuing on to burn Athens to the ground. In short, Leonidas’ entire reign was dominated by the Persian threat and the need for the Greek city-states to unite against the common enemy. It is therefore reasonable to postulate that Leonidas spent a good deal of his time lobbying for support in the other important cities especially Athens. The very fact that he was elected the commander of the coalition forces including nominal command of the Athenian fleet suggests that leaders in other cities were familiar with – and trusted - him. It is not fanciful to hypothesize that on at least one of his trips to Athens, he took Gorgo with him.

The evidence that Gorgo traveled to Athens is further corroborated by her most famous quote. An Athenian woman is said to have asked her why “only Spartan women rule their men.” Since it is inconceivable that an Athenian woman would have traveled to Sparta, the only place where such an exchange could have taken place was in Athens itself.

The thought of Gorgo in Athens is rather like the Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s court. She must have been a sensation – and one imagines Leonidas with his dry sense of humor enjoying every minute of it! For example, note that the Athenian woman asked why only Spartan women “ruled” their men, implying that Gorgo had been seen giving Leonidas advice – and he had been seen to accept it, just as Cleomenes had done before him. As Gorgo’s response makes clear, the willingness of Spartan men not to discount good advice just because it came out of the mouth of a woman is what made Spartan men more manly – at least in Gorgo’s eyes! Understandably, perhaps, Spartan men, who measured their virility on the battlefield more than in the debates of the Assembly as in Athens, were less worried by the words of women.

But we should not picture Gorgo as a shrew. Gorgo’s role was that of advisor, companion and lover. She is not depicted telling Leonidas off (as she did her father), but rather helping him solve the mystery of the apparently blank wax tablet and obliquely bragging about his masculinity. And while other Spartan queens (notably Helen) are accused of adultery, Gorgo is portrayed rejecting unwanted advances. She was the mother of at least one child by Leonidas, his son and heir, Pleistarchos, and there is no reason to believe this was their only child. The fact that Pleistarchos was still very young at his father’s death suggests the opposite: that there had been elder children who died or had all been female.

When Leonidas marched out to die at Thermopylae, Gorgo asked him for instructions. His answer was a final compliment to her. He said: “Marry a good man and have good children.” Not sons, children. Leonidas wanted Gorgo not to mourn him but to be happy, and he valued daughters as much as sons – probably because he had learned from Gorgo the importance of clever and loyal women.

Gorgo plays a major role in the second book of the Leonidas Trilogy, Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer, now available for purchase on amazon or directly from the publisher, Wheatmark.

New Review of "Leonidas of Sparta: A Boy of the Agoge"

Master Gunner "Blue 7" posted the following review of Leonidas of Sparta: A Boy of the Agoge on amazon. He gave the book five stars as well!

I made the mistake of watching the movie "300" before reading Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire," one of he most inspiring books I have ever read (so good, in fact, that I got 35 copies of the book for my platoon to read and keep.) One of the best draws of the Spartan legacy is the incredible value they placed on small-unit team-building and self-reliance. In Gates, Pressfield takes a good look at the upbringing of Spartan youths within the agoge, and how the training led to incredible acts of heroism and sacrifice at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Which brings me to this book.

Helena Schrader looks even deeper into the agoge system, and personalizes it even further by showing us through the eyes not of a freeborn helot youth (as in Pressfield's case) but through the eyes of Leonidas himself. This book is everything: political intrigue,inter-family jealousy, and teen angst. But most importantly, it's well-researched and moredetailed than anything else I havee read on Sparta. (And I've read Herodotus!) Schrader takes research by historians, who have "reverse engineered" (sorry, but it's the closest word I can think of to what I mean) the Spartan agoge by studying the Roman version, which was based on the Spartan system. Taking into account the different terrain (Sparta vs Rome), different governmeent and beliefs (though not incredibly dissimilar), different time periods, and clues in writings by Greek historians, my guess is that this is probably more accurate than most.

Finally, sprinkled throughout the book are important themes of self-reliance, and self-determination, respect for laws and traditions, and the importance of comraderie.

I whole-heartedly suggest this book for anyone looking for inspiration in team-building, a curiosity about Sparta life, or just a great book to lose yourself in.

Products of the Spartan Agoge

There is general consensus among both ancient and modern commentators that the Spartan agoge was a state-run institution intended to produce ideal soldiers for the Spartan army. Thus Spartan youth were taught only as much literacy as “was necessary,” and great emphasis was placed on physical strength, endurance and discipline. Most modern writers have taken this to mean that Spartan youth were essentially illiterate brutes, who allowed themselves to be whipped to unconsciousness while growing up and after gaining the citizenship dumbly accepted the decisions of the Gerousia and/or king in Assembly and obeyed orders like robots in the army.

Without even addressing the issue of literacy, which has been handled elsewhere (see Ellen Millender’s excellent article “Spartan Literacy Revisited” in Classical Antiquity, Vol. 20/No.1/April 2001 and/or Jean Ducat’s essay “Perspectives on Spartan Education in the Classical Period,” in Sparta: New Perspectives, ed. Stephen Hodkinson and Anton Powell, 1999), I have a number of problems with this interpretation of Spartan society.

First, as any officer can tell you, the best soldiers are not robots who wait for orders but thinking, self-confident men and women who can take initiative and act without – or even against – orders, if necessary. Furthermore, the famous case of Amompharetus refusing to obey Pausanias’ orders on the eve of the Battle of Plataea is a dramatic case in point demonstrating that Spartans not only didn’t always obey orders – not even on the battlefield, much less in other circumstances. Furthermore, it highlights the fact that superiors in the Spartan army did not feel that they could coerce obedience. Amompharetus was not, after all, summarily executed or even relieved of his command. Instead, Pausanias tried to reason with him and finally ordered the rest of the army to move out. Last but not least, Sparta also had sufficient confidence in the judgment of its individual commanders to repeatedly send men of “ordinary” status out act as advisors to foreign powers, such as Gylippus in Syracus.

Second, the Spartan Assembly, in which all products of the agoge exercised their rights as citizens, was by no means powerless or docile. The Assembly had real powers, indeed more than the kings. The Assembly elected the ephors every year and members of the Gerousia whenever vacancies occurred due to death. Hence men with political ambitions had to lobby and ensure a majority of votes against rivals. Also, according to most interpretations of the Great Rhetra, the Assembly had “the final say” on legislation. The Assembly forced more than one king into exile (e.g. Cleomenes I, Leotychidas, Pleistoanax) and could condemn commanders who exceeded instructions from Pausanius to Phoebidas.

Most important, however, the Spartan assembly was made up of her soldiers and her soldiers knew that they represented the might and power of Sparta. A body in which a large minority was composed of virile young men, in peak physical condition, who have been raised to think of themselves as the elite of their profession is unlikely to have been docile. The men who were to be officers and admirals, magistrates, governors, ambassadors and military advisors around the world rose through the ranks of the army – and all had a voice (and probably a following) in the Assembly. Even if some citizens were indifferent to politics and willing to do what others advised, in every generation there are ambitious young men willing to challenge existing authority. We know for a fact that the Spartan Assembly could be outright rowdy on occassion -- as when the Assembly (“the Spartans” – not the ephors or Gerousia) threw the Persian emissaries of Darius down a well.

What the above demonstrates is that Spartan citizens were anything but mindless robots manipulated by their officers and political leaders. They were self-confident citizens with a highly developed sense of their own power and confidence in their own capabilities. And they were the products of the Spartan agoge.

In short,the agoge was not designed to produce blind-obedience, senseless acceptance of suffering, or mute endurance of hardship but citizens, who would serve Sparta long after they went off active service in a variety of political and diplomatic capacities. Sparta did not want or need docile political pawns or mindless slaves but rather thinking and responsible citizens capable of assuming responsibility and command. Only if one recognizes these broader objectives of the agoge is it possible to understand how it worked.

It is hard to imagine what Sparta would have looked like in Leonidas’ lifetime. The city was destroyed by earthquakes more than once, flooded and the site completely abandoned for more than a thousand years. Today, what few ruins remain date predominantly from the Hellenistic or Roman periods, and an unattractive modern town has been dumped upon the ancient site.

So naturally our images of the ancient city-state have been shaped by what we have been told about Spartan society. Spartan society was characterized by rigid discipline, a disdain for luxury, and endurance of hardship. We are told that the boys suffered a childhood of deprivation in which they had to steal to get enough to eat and were allowed only one garment per year. Allegedly the women were prohibited from wearing jewelry or taking pride in their weaving. Indeed, gold and silver was banned entirely, and so could not adorn even the temples of the Gods. The houses, we are told, were not painted (as else where in the Ancient world), and the cuisine was infamous for its lack of sophistication and variety. (See my blog entry from July 10 "The Secrets of Spartan Cuisine" for more thoughts on Spartan cooking.)

It is understandable if one imagines that such a society could only have developed in an austere, plain, indeed barren, landscape. After all, a society deprived of food and clothes, and lacking all forms of decoration and fine cuisine sounds like a desperately poor society. It is easy to assume that Spartan society evolved to make a virtue out of necessity.

But the valley of the Eurotas River, the heart of ancient Lacedaemon, is anything but barren! It is green and fertile and stunningly beautiful - like riches cupped in the hands of the gods. From the blooming oleander to the wild iris, the valley is a garden. Orange orchards stretch as far as the eye can see, brazenly advertising the abundance of soil and sun and water. Most spectacular of all, the Eurotas valley is one of those few places on earth that offers the sensually stimulating sight of palm trees waving against a back-drop of snow-capped mountains.

Nor is this richness a product of modern fertilizers and irrigation. The ancient historians also speak of Sparta’s agricultural wealth. Sparta’s hinterland produced in abundance every staple of ancient Greek agriculture from grain to grapes, and from citrus fruits to olives. Furthermore, ancient Laceademon was famous for its forests and pastureland. The former provided exportable timber and abundant game to enrich the Spartan diet, while the latter nourished sheep, cattle, goats and fine horses. Finally, Lacedaemon had exploitable mineral resources such as lead, tin, copper and marble.

Sparta took full advantage of these natural blessings. The fact that the ruling class, Sparta’s full citizens or Spartiates, were prohibited from engaging in any profession other than arms, has led many modern observers to imagine Lacedaemon was devoid of industry, trade and commerce. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Sparta’s tiny elite of professional soldiers had the luxury to devote themselves to perfecting their skill at arms precisely because Lacedaemon had a large population of helots and perioikoi who ensured the economic prosperity of the Lacedaemonian state.

Both helots and perioikoi are believed to be the descendents of the peoples who inhabited Lacedaemon before the Doric invasion. While the helots had a status similar to medieval serfs and enjoyed only limited freedom, the perioikoi were fully free men. The perioikoi had abdicated control of foreign policy to Sparta, but they otherwise governed their own affairs by their own customs and laws. They were not bound by the Spartan Constitution attributed to Lycurgus regarding dress, diet, profession or the possession of gold and silver. Among the perioikoi there were artisans and architects, merchants and bankers, tradesmen and shipbuilders – just as in any other Greek city. The perioikoi produced everything from mundane domestic articles to exportable quality works of art in bronze, ivory and stone, and they traded from a variety of ports with direct access to the Aegean and Ionian Seas. (See my blog entry from April 9: "Shopkeepers and Shipmasters.")

In short, Leonidas’ Sparta was not poor, but the center of the powerful city-state of Lacedaemon. It was the administrative hub of large territory with an abundance of natural resources and agricultural produce, good lines of communication, and an active commercial and trading community. It was also the leading nation of the Peloponnesian League, a powerful defensive alliance of independent city-states – the NATO of its age. Last but not least, it was the site of annual vocal and dance festivals that attracted mass tourism from around the ancient world. It was most decidedly not a provincial back-water lost in a barren and inaccessible landscape.

Modern writers, however, have often been misled by the disparaging remarks made by Athenian observers about their hated rival. Nicolas Nicastro in his The Isle of Stone (p.67), for example, describes the capital of the dominant superpower of Greece as no more than “an agglomeration of sleepy villages.” Jon Edward Martin, an author whose research is on the whole very sound, writes in The Headlong God of War (p. 83) that “large buildings were few” and depicts the city as having only “a small collection of civic buildings clustered to the southeast of the acropolis.” Steven Pressfield in his best-selling novel Gates of Fire (p. 188) has one of his characters describe Sparta as “… a pile of stones,” and go on to claim: “It contains no temples or treasures of note, no gold….”

Yet Pausanias, whose travel guide to Greece was written in the 2nd Century AD – long after Sparta’s decline from prominence under Leonidas – needed 26 sections and more than 60 pages to describe only the noteworthy architectural sites of the ancient city! Far from being a backwater, Sparta was a large, prosperous and important city in the lifetime of Leonidas. But, as the Athenian commentary suggests, it was also very different from other Greek cities.
Visitors to Leonidas’ Sparta would have come expecting the capital of this rich and powerful state to be like other power-centers of the civilized world. Whether tourists, coming for the dancing and singing at the annual festivals, or diplomats, coming to plead for Spartan troops to support some distant conflict, foreign visitors would have compared Sparta to Susa, Babylon and Memphis no less than Athens or Corinth. These foreigners came expecting a city enclosed by walls whose strength matched Sparta’s military reputation. They expected to pass through imposing gates into a city crammed with brightly painted, colorfully tiled and elaborately decorated public buildings. They expected to find temples laden with gold crushed between pompous civic buildings. They expected to find a confusing maze of residential streets crammed with humanity humming incessantly with activity. They expected – as in other crowded cities – these back streets to be clothed in the perpetual shadows cast by the tall walls which shielded the private spheres and women of the inhabitants from public view. They expected a commercial capital as well as an administrative one. It is hardly surprising that they were disappointed with what they found at Sparta.

Sparta was different from other Greek cities, but it was not necessarily without its unique charms. For example, we know that in ancient Greece most statues and temples were painted vivid colors and the statues of the gods were dressed in robes, ivory, gold and jewels. Spartan temples were not. But isn’t it precisely that simplicity of white stone structures of flawless proportions and life-like naked marble statues that we find striking in ancient Greek architecture and sculpture today? Would we admire the Parthenon in Athens as much if it was dressed – as it was in the age of Leonidas - in vivid paint? Would we prefer to see Venus de Milo painted in flesh tones with red lips and blond hair?

Sparta’s ethos and aesthetics were different from other Greek cities, but that doesn’t mean it lacked beauty or refinement. Yes, Leonidas’ Sparta had no walls, but this meant it could spread out graciously upon its valley as all major European cities did after their confining walls were torn down. No one today would call Paris, Vienna or Rome “a collection of villages.” Yet all did in fact begin as collections of villages, which later grew into a single metropolis after the need for fortifications disappeared and economic growth fueled urbanization. Why should we assume that just because Sparta was made up of five distinct villages in pre-Archaic times that it was not – by the age of Leonidas when it was at the height of his glory – a cohesive, dynamic city?

Spartan homes may indeed have lacked elaborate interior paintings, but then maybe such decoration was not necessary because, unlike their Athenian counterparts, they were not compressed into the back allies of an over-crowded city and surrounded by high, protective walls. Spartans could afford to build their houses on generous plans. They could incorporate interior courtyards planted with fruit trees and herbs. They could surround themselves with gardens and orchards. Spartans could have decorated their homes - as they did themselves – with things of nature: cut flowers, bowls of fruits, running water. Even without gold or silver, their homes could still sparkle with sunlight glinting off the water of courtyard fountains.

Ironically, Leonidas’ uniquely Spartan city might well have been more pleasing to modern taste than Athens or Babylon of the 5th Century BC.

Picture a city spread across the broad floor of the Eurotas valley before the backdrop of snow-capped Taygetos. Picture a city of wide, tree-lined avenues along which the white-washed civic buildings, marble monuments and graceful temples stretched like pearls upon a green thread. Imagine a city of sun-soaked theatres and imposing but airy stoas. Imagine a city where the barracks and civic buildings with their long porches and batteries of Doric columns face green, open spaces set aside for running and horse-racing. Imagine a city decorated with fountains and flowering trees which gradually spreads out into the suburbs where large villas set in blooming gardens sprawl out toward the mountains on either side of the Eurotas. That image will bring you closer to the Sparta of Leonidas.

BBC News, Sparta

The BBC's Paul Henley detects stirrings of dissent in Sparta as middle-class Greeks hit by the country's economic woes aim their ire at the Athens government.

Yiannis did not expect to be back in his sleepy home town of Sparta, in the Greek Peloponnese, at the age of 30. He sees his return as a personal defeat. Up until 18 months ago, the business graduate had a career in Athens for a finance company. But his job was a casualty of a national economic collapse that dwarfs most others in Europe and, ever since, he has been unable to find work. He ended up moving back in with his parents where he grew up. Having made constant unsuccessful applications for work, he says the growing feeling of uselessness is reducing him as a person.

"Now" he says, "I can't dream as I did before, I can't be optimistic about life or have any real ambitions. Perhaps my only chance is to move abroad."

War against Athens

Yiannis is one of a group who call themselves the "Indignant Spartans" and who went on a 250km protest march to Athens. The three-day march, in May, was a vent for their anger and a way of publicly underlining their belief that ordinary Greeks had been betrayed by their political elite and by the murky world of international finance.

About 10 of the group are sitting around a table, at dusk, at a friend's pavement cafe. They are, frugally, drinking water in the shadow of a statue of Sparta's ancient king, Leonidas, a symbol of the days when Sparta waged a bitter war against Athens. These days, much of that bitterness is returning.

The "Indignant Spartans'' stories are a microcosm of the troubles facing citizens everywhere in Greece, as another national austerity package kicks in, living costs and taxes rocket, consumers rein in spending, wages fall and jobs are lost.
And although the calm, olive and palm tree-lined streets these Spartans inhabit, amid the constant hum of cicadas, seem a world away from the tear gas and the pitched battles outside parliament in Athens, the spirit of provincial rebellion seems to be growing fast.

Vasilis, who is 33, puts it like this: "Sometimes during the past two months I have started to understand how easy it would be to turn, in an instant, from being a good, law-abiding, tax-paying citizen - into a terrorist."

He is not the idle, state-reliant Greek familiar from mocking articles in the foreign press recently.
Vasilis is an entrepreneur who built up a highly successful business chain from scratch during a working life which began, he says, at the age of 12 and has regularly involved 18-hour days. In the past year, he says he has lost €800,000 ($1,150,000; £700,000. Vasilis's restaurant and catering business faces bankruptcy. A single cafe became a collection of restaurants and a mobile catering business with regular wedding and business contracts. As customers began to trail off, Vasilis put his capital into a scheme to build a hotel on the coast. But the scheme was reliant on government-approved loans and grants which disappeared in the crisis. The hotel was never finished and he is looking bankruptcy in the face.

"I feel very angry inside," he says. "When you try to do the best for your country and your children and your neighbours, you still get treated like garbage by the authorities," he says. "It is psychological violence. Maybe the terrorists we see on the television - this is the process they have gone through."

His words are greeted with nods around the table.

Constantina says she has been independent since she was 17 and now, at the age of 43, finds herself borrowing money from her parents. She set up a graphic design business eight years ago. Labels for agricultural products and flyers for local shops are her mainstay. Constantina's graphic design business is starved of business All her clients are desperate to save money. She feels penalised by a tax system she predicts will be the final straw for her business within the next year.

"Maybe marching is the only way I can remain an active citizen of this country," she says.

George, who is 45, is a secondary school teacher and one of those supposed to feel thankful for the relative security of his job. "I do not feel at all lucky," he says. Civil servants' salaries were a number one target in the cuts and that will continue." He feels the faith he had in the future has gone. A house he was building for his family has been left a concrete shell. "The next few years will be the hardest of our lives," he says. "The Ministry of Education has already begun closing schools."

"The situation makes me want to revolt," says Panagiotis, a pastry chef in his 40s. The business he set up with his nephew is at risk from a dramatic loss of customers recently and a simultaneous hike in costs. The macaroons, mini ice-creams and chocolate eclairs he makes are among the first to be crossed off people's shopping lists in difficult times. The handful of people they employ have already taken pay and some could soon be made redundant. "I worry for my family," he says. "What will happen if I can not pay back the loans on the business? I want to go out into the streets and shout about it."

His words are a thinly-veiled warning to Athens: "I want people to understand that my personal revolution must become a national revolution."

2011-09-15T01:50:00.000+05:30

A Gujrat village prepared for a storm that never was

MODASA (SABARKANTHA DIST), OCT 13: The alarm bells rang, but the storm they warned of never arrived. However, last week, village after village in the Modasa, Prantij, and Talod talukas of the Sabarkantha district, saw frenzied preparation for a cyclone the people believed would strike on October 8.
The Kandla disaster fresh in their minds, the villagers chopped off branches from trees, weighed or bound down thatchings, gathered rations, stored water in all available vessels, and even, word has it, dug trenches to shelter in. Never mind that the Sabarkantha district is landlocked. Never mind that even the coastal villages weren't preparing for a cyclone.
All they knew is that the talatis had warned them a storm might strike on October 8 and that they should not move out of their houses on that day. Shanty-dwellers had been told they should prepare to move into government schools for shelter, should the storm arrive.
The villagers did more than take those words seriously.
In Dolatabad village,60-year-old Mohansinh Solanki lost his life preparing for the storm that never was. "After the warning, he would pick an axe and climb the large imli tree behind our house every day to bring down large branches. We kept telling him he was too old to climb. On Monday [October 5] he was up there again, fell, and died on way to hospital,'' says his nephew Gabhusinh Solanki.
Around the house, over a dozen bared trees tell of the old man's labours. Mystery shrouds the origin of the prophesy that started the frenzy, reminiscent of the Dark Ages. While most villages said they read about it in a Gujarati paper, others said the talatis had warned them, on instruction from the collector.
But Sabarkantha collector Virat Vora says, "I think the confusion was created by a report which appeared in a vernacular daily. But before October 8, news did come in that a pressure had developed off the Goa coast. In this situation, had we issued instruction asking people not to get worried, it would have beencounter-productive if a cyclone indeed occurred.''
He says, after the Kandla disaster, the administration has standing instruction to be prepared for any eventuality, so on October 5 mamlatdars and talatis had indeed been asked to alert people. "But we never told them to ask people to fell trees, chop off branches. It's a silly thing to do! The talatis might have been misunderstood.''
Vora claimed that trees had not been damaged on a "large-scale'' and that the hysteria had affected only "three-four pockets of the districts''. And Talod mamlatdar Bamania says no trees were damaged in his jurisdiction.
In fact, over 300 trees were felled or damaged in the district, and there was more to the hysteria. In Bodi, Amodara, Bharadia Campa, Punsari, Rampur, and Ambasar, people worked at hectic pace preparing to save their belongings and their lives.
When it arrived, the D-Day was a long day indeed. Cattle was tethered in open fields, early in the morning. Children were told to stay home from school. Theydid not supply milk to the local co-operative. Dinner was cooked -- and eaten -- early, as they thought the storm was to strike about 4 p.m.
"All day long the people sat inside the four walls of their homes till midnight, praying to God to save them,'' says Solanki. And Dhirubhai Patel, a ration shop owner of Punsari village in the Prantij taluka, adds, "When the talatis warned us, we were bound to take their words seriously. After all we had read of Kandla.''
However, it was not all about overreaction alone. They should have heard the wireless message that was sent on October 8 from the control room at Himmatnagar, the district headquarters. Sent to taluka headquarters at 3:20 p.m. a transcript of the message reads: "A light depression in the central-eastern part of Arabian Sea has moved westward and has intensified. ...It may get more intense and move in north-west-westerly direction...so concerned authorities should be informed and measures should be taken as per the Disaster ManagementPlan.''
But relief commissioner Vijaysinh Parmar in Gandhinagar says no such warning or instruction had been issued to the district administration. Parmar is of view that some overenthusiastic officer at the district-level might have goofed up.
And the Indian Meteorolgy Department (Gujarat) director R.K. Kankane is bemused. He says a depression had developed in the Arabian Sea, but no cyclone warning of any kind was issued around October 8. The state government was told of it "only for information''.
Kankane is surprised how the rumour caught on in an inland area like Sabarkantha. But for the villagers, it had been serious business.

bmw i8 concept car

2011-09-15T01:45:00.000+05:30

BMW i8 Concept.
The most progressive sportscar.

Sometimes it is time to leave the city. Escape the restrictions of everyday life. The BMW i8 is an icon of progress. It combines the energizing performance of a sports car with benchmark efficiency.

BMW i8 Concept – emotional, dynamic and efficient.

The concept car BMW Vision EfficientDynamics created excitement and very positive feedback at the IAA 2009. The BMW Vision EfficientDynamics made it clear that an emotional sports car with the fuel economy of a small car is no contradiction, but could soon be reality.

After successful initial testing of the vehicle concept, the decision for a series-production vehicle was quickly made. The BMW i8 Concept is the next step in the evolution of the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept. The result: The most progressive and innovative sports car of its time. Its innovative plug-in hybrid concept combines the modified electric drive system from the BMW i3 Concept – fitted over its front axle – with a high-performance three-cylinder combustion engine producing 164 kW/220 hp and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) at the rear. Working in tandem, they allow the two drive systems to display their respective talents to the full, delivering the performance of a sports car but the fuel consumption of a small car.

Acceleration of 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under five seconds combined with fuel consumption in the European cycle of under three litres per 100 kilometres (approx. 94 mpg imp) are figures currently beyond the capability of any vehicle powered by a combustion engine of comparable performance. Thanks to the eDrive technology with its large lithium-ion battery, which can be charged from a domestic power supply, the BMW i8 Concept can travel up to 35 kilometres (approx. 20 miles) on electric power alone. Added to which, the 2+2-seater offers enough space for four people, giving it a high level of everyday practicality.

The LifeDrive architecture of the BMW i8 Concept has been carefully adapted to enhance the vehicle's sports car character, and therefore to deliver unbeatable performance and excellent driving dynamics. The motor in the front axle module and combustion engine at the rear are connected by an "energy tunnel", which houses the high-voltage battery. This gives the car a low centre of gravity – and the dynamic benefits that come with it. The positioning of the electric motor and engine over their respective axles and the space-saving and well-balanced packaging of all components result in an optimum 50/50 weight distribution.

An Icon of Progress – the BMW i8 Concept.

The emotional design of the BMW i8 Concept ensures its qualities are clear for all to see. Its dynamic proportions give the BMW i8 Concept the appearance of surging forward before it even turns a wheel and lend visual form to its extraordinary performance.

The sporting character continues into the interior. Boasting a driver-focused environment unmatched by any BMW Group vehicle before it, the BMW i8 Concept immerses the driver fully in the unique driving experience. The BMW i8 Concept is the sports car for a new generation – pure, emotional and sustainable.

The design of the BMW i8 Concept is as special as the car's overall concept embodying the perfect synthesis of technology and aesthetic allure. Its sweeping lines and flat silhouette lend the vehicle a strikingly dynamic appearance even when standing still. A large, transparent greenhouse lends the exterior an extraordinary feeling of lightness and highlights the exceptional efficiency of this vehicle concept. Short front and rear overhangs round off the sporting overall impression. Despite its dynamic appearance, the 2+2-seater can accommodate four people, giving it a high degree of everyday practicality.

As with the BMW i3 Concept, layering again serves as the central design element of the interior and exterior. The individual vehicle components are also clearly visible from the outside, the black and transparent Life module clearly setting itself apart from the silver-coloured body components around it. This layering approach lends the BMW i8 Concept an extremely technical and cutting-edge appeal.

Dynamic side view.
Taut surfaces and precise edges form an extremely sculptural and organic surface structure. The precise lines along its flanks and BMW i "stream flow" also give the BMW i8 Concept a strong sense of powering forward even when it is standing still. The BMW i8 Concept's doors swing upwards like wings to provide an undeniably emotional and sporting allure. Below the doors, the silver-coloured layer moulds the car's flanks into a powerful wedge shape, opening out from the door sills towards the rear. A blue flourish accentuates the dynamic presence of the sills. Together, the bonnet and door sill sculpting emphasise the BMW i8 Concept's forward-surging stance, and their smooth lines imbue the car with a touch of lightness.

Striking front end.
The BMW i8 Concept also displays its dynamic sports car persona when viewed from the front. A number of different levels interact with one another in the design of the front end, while the expressive surface treatment exudes dynamic verve and advertises the car's sporting potential. The full-LED headlights of the BMW i8 Concept are designed as two U-shaped configurations.

A black, semi-transparent "V" rises out of the bonnet just behind the kidney grille, opening out towards the windscreen and guiding the eye to the electric motor below. The "V" also offers the first glimpse of the CFRP module and extends back towards the rear like a black band to provide a visual connection between the different sections of the car.

Sporty rear end.
Similarly to the front end, the rear of the car is also very low, horizontal and sculptural in design. The silver-coloured side sections form a striking vertical frame around the rear of the car, with a precise line extending out to the sides enjoying particular prominence. In its centre the silver-coloured and blue-framed rear diffuser is a wider and lower interpretation of the version on the BMW i3 Concept, adding a distinct sporting flavour to its relationship with its stablemate.

At the rear, the car's exceptional sporting credentials are also expressed in width-accentuating lines, three-dimensional air outlets and "floating" tail lights with air through-flow. The tail lights, which also have a distinct horizontal design, are integrated into the upper layer of the rear and share the signature U-shape of the BMW i light concept.

Purpose-built interior.
The transparent surfaces in the doors and roof give the exterior and interior design of the BMW i8 Concept the appearance of merging into one another. The colour concept and underlying structure of the BMW i8 Concept interior closely mimic those of the BMW i3 Concept. Here again, the Porcelain White support structure, black technical level and comfort section with Mocha Brown leather are split into three different layers. The arrangement of the air vents, control panels and displays also betrays the car's family ties to its BMW i3 Concept sibling. Overall, however, these features have a more sporting character and are geared much more clearly towards the driver. Indeed, a level of driver focus beyond that of any BMW Group vehicle before it allows the BMW i8 Concept to immerse the driver fully in the unique experience behind the wheel. Driver-relevant functions such as the gearshift lever, start-stop button and parking brake are arranged around the driver on the centre console and are graphically strongly geared towards the driving seat as well. The three-dimensional displays are extremely clear and flash up the relevant information for the driving situation at hand. At the same time, occupants in the BMW i8 Concept sit in a highly integrated position low down in the car and are separated by the battery running lengthways through the interior. This longitudinal bisection of the cabin underlines the sporting and forward-looking character of the BMW i8 Concept interior.

Optimum information.
The freestanding information display in the dash is joined by an equally large display taking the role of the instrument cluster. Designing the central instruments in this way enables driver-relevant information to be conveyed in a three-dimensional and high-resolution format. In keeping with BMW i style, the displays are premium, modern and purist. Depending on the driving mode, the two drive systems are depicted by a pair of ellipses, which supply information on their operation at any given time. Other information – such as the available range and fuel level – can be found here, too.
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The LifeDrive architecture of the BMW i8 Concept.

The BMW i8 Concept sees the LifeDrive architecture concept adapted to suit the vehicle's sports car character – i.e. primed to deliver leading performance and sharp dynamics.

In a departure from the purely horizontal configuration favoured for the BMW i3 Concept, the LifeDrive architecture of its BMW i8 Concept sibling also features vertical layering. The drive systems powering the BMW i8 Concept are integrated into the front and rear axle modules, with the CFRP Life module providing the bridge between the two. As a plug-in hybrid, the BMW i8 Concept is designed for all-electric and combustion engine propulsion, and therefore carries fewer battery cells than the BMW i3 Concept. These are stored in the Life module inside the energy tunnel, a structure similar to a central transmission tunnel.

The front and rear axle modules therefore combine with the passenger cell and battery to form a functional unit, which adopts not only load-bearing responsibilities but also extensive crash functions. The location of the high-voltage battery in the energy tunnel gives the vehicle a low centre of gravity, and this enhances its dynamics. Together with the positioning of the motor and engine over the axles, the result is optimum 50/50 weight distribution. Intelligent lightweight design and the innovative use of materials produce extremely low unsprung and rotating masses, which is good news for the car's driving dynamics, acceleration, range and fuel economy. All in all, the BMW i8 Concept offers the ideal environment in which to experience the special drive concept and distinctive sports car character of the BMW i8 Concept on the road.

The axles are also designed to deliver optimum handling properties, in keeping with the car's sporting profile. Thus the multi-link front axle makes for an extremely flat and aerodynamically efficient silhouette while also eliminating any drive forces which may otherwise affect the steering, ensuring optimum handling in every situation.
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Best of both worlds – the BMW i8 Concept.

The i8 Concept combines the advantages of two different drive systems. As a plug-in hybrid it reaps the benefits of an electric motor and an internal combustion engine for maximum efficiency with maximum dynamics.

At the front axle is the electric motor adopted from the BMW i3 Concept and modified for use in the BMW i8 Concept's hybrid power train, while a 164 kW/220 hp turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine developing up to 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) of torque drives the rear axle. Together, the two drive units take the vehicle to a governed top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). Like the electric motor, the 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine was developed entirely in-house by the BMW Group and represents the latest state of the art in conventional engine design. Acceleration of 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under five seconds combined with fuel consumption in the European cycle of under three litres per 100 kilometres (approx. 94 mpg imp) are figures currently beyond the capability of any vehicle powered by a combustion engine of comparable performance. Depending on charging habits and the nature of the route, it is even possible to improve on these figures.

The hybrid concept means that the BMW i8 Concept can also run purely on electric power. The energy supplied by the application-designed battery system installed between the front and rear axle modules to the electric motor at the front axle gives the BMW i8 Concept an all-electric driving range of approximately 35 kilometres (20 miles). The battery can be fully recharged in two hours at a standard power socket.

Driving dynamics.
Thanks to the two drive systems, all four wheels of the BMW i8 Concept can be driven at the same time, similarly to an all-wheel-drive vehicle. This solution combines the advantages of front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive to ensure the optimal dynamic drive configuration as required. Depending on traction conditions and driving situation, intelligent dynamic driving systems ensure maximum energy recuperation without compromising dynamics and stability. This allows very high levels of energy recuperation even in the wet or in snow.
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Laser Light. Leading the way to the future.

The BMW i8 Concept is not only fast and extremely fuel efficient, it also leads the way in innovative vehicle light technology.. For the first time BMW introduces as part of the BMW i8 Concept the newly developed Laser Light. Headlights that are more efficient than LED lights, highly flexible, ten times smaller, pleasant to the eye and absolutely safe.
BMW i8 Concept Laser Lights

By definition, laser lighting is radically different from sunlight, and also from the various types of artificial lighting in common use today. Laser lighting is monochromatic and it is also a "coherent" light source. As a result, laser lighting can produce a near-parallel beam with an intensity a thousand times greater than that of conventional LEDs. Also, the high inherent efficiency of laser lighting means that laser headlights have less than half the energy consumption of LED headlights. Simply put, laser make the BMW i8 Concept even more efficient.

The intensity of laser light poses no possible risks to humans, animals or wildlife when used in car lighting. Amongst other things, this is because the light is not emitted directly, but is first converted into a form that is suitable for use in road traffic. The resulting light is very bright and white. It is also very pleasant to the eye and has a very low energy consumption.

A further feature of laser technology, which has important implications, is the size of the individual diodes. This opens up all sorts of new possibilities when integrating the light source into the vehicle. These size advantages could be used to reduce the depth of the headlight unit, and so open up new possibilities for headlight positioning and body styling.

volkswagen vw nils concept car

2011-09-15T01:33:00.000+05:30

The new concept car from volkswagen

Reckon the Volkswagen up! (itself set to be a star of the VW stand in Frankfurt) is small enough? Well the Germans have other ideas, hence the appearance of a new one-seat electric commuting concept car, the NILS.

VW's research of the German market revealed that 73.9 per cent of all commuters residing between Berlin and Munich cover less than 15.5 miles on their way to work, while 90 per cent of car commuters in Germany drive alone. So the NILS concept is designed specifically for them. Its range is 40 miles and it has a top speed of 80mph so it shouldn't be too out of its depth on a short motorway section.

The slippery aerodynamic shape features outboard wheels within slim housings, much like its cousin, the Audi urban concept, while access to the single-seat cabin is via large gullwing doors made of polycarbonate. Despite all that the NILS is significantly smaller than the up!, measuring 3.04 metres long (half a metre shorter) and just 0.4 metres wide. Extensive use of aluminium in the construction keeps weight down to 460kg.

That should be to the benefit of range, dynamics and performance. VW opted to go for a lightweight electric powertrain. The electric motor is rated at a continuous maximum of 15kW (20bhp), with short-term spikes to 25kW (33.5bhp) possible. Sounds slow, but there's 96lb.ft of torque available from rest, so 0-62mph takes a reasonable 11 seconds. There's no power steering needed so VW promises it's fun to drive.

The NILS project was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development, and is apparently designed to be both 'technically realistic and economically supportable.'

volkswagen vw concept car

2011-09-15T01:20:00.001+05:30

Laugh at High Gas Prices With a 235-MPG VW

With gas prices going through the roof and regulators requiring cars to be ever more miserly, Volkswagen is bringing new meaning to the term “fuel efficiency” with a bullet-shaped microcar that gets a stunning ~~282~~ 235 mpg.
Volkswagen’s had its super-thrifty One-Liter Car concept vehicle — so named because that’s how much fuel it needs to go 100 kilometers — stashed away for six years. The body’s made of carbon fiber to minimize weight (the entire car weighs just 660 pounds) and company execs didn’t expect the material to become cheap enough to produce the car until 2012.
But VW’s decided to build the car two years ahead of schedule.

According to Britain’s Car magazine, VW has approved a plan to build a limited number of One-Liters in 2010. They’ll probably be built in the company’s prototype shop, which has the capacity to build as many as 1,000 per year. That’s not a lot, but it’s enough to help VW get a lot of attention while showing how much light weight and an efficient engine can achieve.
VW unveiled the slick two-seater concept six years ago at a stockholder’s meeting in Hamburg. To prove it was a real car, Chairman Ferdinand Piech personally drove it from Wolfsburg to Hamburg. At the time, he said the car could see production when the cost of its carbon monocoque dropped from 35,000 Euros (about $55,000) to 5,000 Euros (about $8,000) — something he figured would happen in 2012. With carbon fiber being used in everything from airliners to laptops these days, VW’s apparently decided the cost is competitive enough to build at least a few hundred One-Liters.
VW’s engineers — who spent three years developing the car — made extensive use of magnesium, titanium and aluminum to bring it in at less than one-third the weight of a Toyota Echo. According to Canadian Driver, the front suspension assembly weighs just 18 pounds. The six-speed transmission features a magnesium case, titanium bolts and hollow gears; it weighs a tad more than 50 pounds. The 16-inch wheels are carbon fiber. The magnesium steering wheel weighs a little more than a pound. How much of the concept car’s exotic hardware makes it to the production model remains to be seen.
Low weight only gets you so far in the quest for ultimate fuel economy; aerodynamics plays a big role. The One-Liter is long and low, coming in at 11.4 feet long, 4.1 feet wide and 3.3 feet tall. It features an aircraft-like canopy, flat wheel covers and a belly pan to smooth the airflow under the car. The engine cooling vents open only when needed, and video cameras take the place of mirrors. The passenger sits behind the driver to keep the car narrow. The car has a coefficient of drag of 0.16; the average car comes in around 0.30 and the Honda Insight had a Cd of 0.25.

As for the engine, the concept had a one-cylinder diesel engine producing 8.5 horsepower and 13.5 foot-pounds of torque. Car says the production model will use a two-cylinder turbodiesel for a little more oomph. Doubling the number of cylinders is sure to cut fuel economy, so VW may install a diesel-hybrid drivetrain. The engine turns off at stop lights to save fuel, then automatically restarts when the driver depresses the accelerator pedal.

(Update: The car reportedly has anti-lock brakes, stability control and airbags. According to Canadian Driver, “Volkswagen says the One-Liter Car is as safe as a GT sports car registered for racing. With the aid of computer crash simulations, the car was designed with built-in crash tubes, pressure sensors for airbag control and front crumple zones.”)
What’s it gonna cost? Car quotes “one well-placed insider” who says the One-Liter could have a sticker price of anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 Euros (about $31,750
to $47,622). That’s a lot of money. But then, the One-Liter, despite its diminutive size, is a lot of car.
Note/Update: Turns out the 282 mpg figure refers to Imperial gallons; the proper figure when converted to U.S. gallons is 235 mpg.

Photos by Volkswagen

fact of haji mastan

2011-09-14T19:50:00.000+05:30

Haji Mastan Mirza Biography (Sultan Mirza)

Haji Mastan Mirza popularly known as Haji Mastan OR bawa; was a Bombay (Mumbai) gangster and smuggler in the 1960s and 70s. He was born in the coastal town of Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Mastan became the first celebrity gangster of the city, expanding his clout in the Bollywood. As Mastan’s influence in Bollywood grew, he began to produce films. He was also known for his links with the legendary actor Dilip Kumar.During the Indian Emergency (1975 – 77) he was imprisoned, in prison he learned Hindi. Haji Mastan became a Muslim leader in 1984. He formed Dalit Muslim Surakhsha Maha Sangh in 1985-86. Aslam Kiratpuri a well known journalist, gave him ideas how to speak in public meetings after which he became a good speaker. In the year 1994 he died in Mumbai. Haji Mastan is a Tamilian who migrated to Mumbai from Madras at the age of 17 , in 1955. In fact, Tamil was the only language that he could read comfortably. He imported daily issues of Tamil newspapers in his Bombay home. Haji Mastan at first started working on docks of Bombay as a Cooli (porter) later became so powerful as to become indispensable to the political leadership of Maharashtra. After joining politics he had a long list of fan followers.

Haji Mastan Mirza popularly known as Haji Mastan OR bawa; was a Bombay (Mumbai) gangster and smuggler in the 1960s and 70s. He was born in the coastal town of Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Mastan became the first celebrity gangster of the city, expanding his clout in the Bollywood. As Mastan’s influence in Bollywood grew, he began to produce films. He was also known for his links with the legendary actor Dilip Kumar.During the Indian Emergency (1975 – 77) he was imprisoned, in prison he learned Hindi. Haji Mastan became a Muslim leader in 1984. He formed Dalit Muslim Surakhsha Maha Sangh in 1985-86. Aslam Kiratpuri a well known journalist, gave him ideas how to speak in public meetings after which he became a good speaker. In the year 1994 he died in Mumbai. Haji Mastan is a Tamilian who migrated to Mumbai from Madras at the age of 17 , in 1955. In fact, Tamil was the only language that he could read comfortably. He imported daily issues of Tamil newspapers in his Bombay home. Haji Mastan at first started working on docks of Bombay as a Cooli (porter) later became so powerful as to become indispensable to the political leadership of Maharashtra. After joining politics he had a long list of fan followers.
Haji Mastan planned his own foray into films with a project titled Mere Garib Nawaz and followed by other movies. He was a successful distributor and he excelled in cinema business. Deewar (1975 film) – a well recognized film in Bollywood’s crime genre – is based on the life of Haji Mastan. The protagonist in the film, played by Amitabh Bachchan survives as long as he wears a plate with the number 786, dies at the hands of his honest brother.

To give the role authenticity, Amitabh Bachchan reportedly (by whom?) met Haji Mastan to study his mannerisms.
Contrary to general belief, Haji Mastan Mirza was never an underworld don or even a goon for that matter. He was a smuggler and a shrewd man who rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty of his era. Be it Karim Lala or Varadarajan Mudaliar, Dilip Kumar or Shashi Kapoor, he had friends from the world of politics. To an extent, he was a simple man at home, with bare minimum needs and facilities. Though he possessed a huge mansion in a posh locality off Peddar Road, opposite Sophia College, he virtually lived his life in a small room built on the terrace of his bungalow. He worshipped the sea and had a clear view of the ocean from his terrace abode.

fact of jawaharlal nehru

2011-09-14T19:39:00.000+05:30

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)

Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad, the son of a lawyer whose family was originally from Kashmir. He was educated in England, at Harrow School, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge. He then studied law at the Inner Temple in London. He returned to India in 1912 and practised law for some years. In 1916, he married Kamala Kaul and the following year they had a daughter, Indira.

In 1919, Nehru joined the Indian National Congress which was fighting for greater autonomy from the British. He was heavily influenced by the organisation's leader Mohandas Gandhi. During the 1920s and 1930s Nehru was repeatedly imprisoned by the British for civil disobedience. In 1928, he was elected president of the Congress.

By the end of World War Two, Nehru was recognised as Gandhi's successor. He played a central role in the negotiations over Indian independence. He opposed the Muslim League's insistence on the division of India on the basis of religion. Louis Mountbatten, the last British viceroy, advocated the division as the fastest and most workable solution and Nehru reluctantly agreed.

On 15 August 1947, Nehru became the first prime minister of independent India. He held the post until his death in 1964. He implemented moderate socialist economic reforms and committed India to a policy of industrialisation.

Nehru also served as foreign minister of India. In October 1947, he faced conflict with Pakistan over the state of Kashmir, which was disputed at independence. Nehru sent troops into the state to support India's claim. A United Nations ceasefire was negotiated, but Kashmir remains deeply unstable to this day.

Against the background of the Cold War, Nehru developed a policy of 'positive neutrality' for India. He became one of the key spokesmen for the non-aligned countries of Africa and Asia, many of which were former colonies that wanted to avoid dependence on any major power.

Despite efforts at cooperation by both countries, Indian-Chinese border disputes escalated into war in 1962 and Indian forces were decisively beaten. This had a significant impact on Nehru's declining health. He died on 27 May 1964.

Two years later Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi became prime minister. With an interruption of only three years, she held the post until her assassination in 1984. Her son Rajiv was prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989 but he too was assassinated.

Did you know …?
…that Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India was involved with Mridula Sarabhai, Padmaja Naidu, Shraddha Mata and
Lady Edwina Mountbatten?

…that Shraddha Mata, a Tantrik woman, is said to have delivered Nehru’s child in a convent in Bangalore?

…that the love child of Jawaharlal Nehru may still be alive in India and he may be a man in his early fifties now? And that his birth date is estimated to be 30th May, 1949?

…that though Nehru’s private secretary M.O. Mathai confirmed the existence of the child, no efforts have ever been made to locate him?

…that Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose, two national leaders, lusted after Padmaja Naidu, the daughter of a third national leader, Sarojini Naidu and authentic information is available to prove the fact?

…that Mrs Indira Gandhi abhorred her aunt Vijayalaxmi Pandit, because she had once, as a young girl, overheard Vijaya describing her (Indira) as `ugly and stupid`?

…that a yogi in the Himalayas blessed the atheist Motilal Nehru and sprinkled water on him thrice from his pot, and thereafter Motilal sired three children: Jawaharlal, Krishna and Vijayalaxmi?

…that Vijayalaxmi Pandit wanted to marry Syud Hossain, a Muslim journalist working for The Independent but Mahatma Gandhi was against it and didn’t allow it?

…that Mahatma Gandhi believed that the sexual act was only for procreation and insisted that everyone close to him should take an oath of celibacy after marriage? And that Vijayalaxmi Pandit defied him?

…that Mahatma Gandhi insisted on a Vedic marriage between Indira and Feroze Gandhi, so Feroz had to go through the process of becoming a Hindu?

…that a labour leader from Allahabad, Manzoor Ali publicly claimed to be the hald brother of Jawharlal Nehru?

…that Manzoor Ali was the real brother of a famous tawaif Jaddanbai?

…that one of the three children of Jaddanbai from three different husbands was famous film actress Nargis?

…that Nehru blood, thus, runs in the veins of Sanjay Dutt, the controversial film star at the moment being tried in bomb blasts case?

NEHRU DIED OF TERTIARY SYPHILIS-AORTIC ANEURYSM
NEHRU DYNASTY
GHIYASUDDIN GHAZI (Name changed to GANGA DHAR to escape British army). His son was
MOTI LAL NEHRU

MOTILAL married and his first wife and son died at childbirth.
MOTILAL and his second wife THUSSU (name changed to SWAROOP RANI) had three children
THUSSU with MOBARAK ALI (Motilal's Boss) was the first son JAWAHAR LAL NEHRU (he was circumcised)
MOTILAL AND THUSSU had two daughters by name NAN (also called Vijaya Lakshmi) & KRISHNA
MOTILAL had also two b****** sons out of Muslim women by name SHEIK ABDULLA &SYUD HUSSAIN
VIJAYA LAKSHMI eloped with SYUD HUSSAIN (half brother and sister) and had a girl CHANDRALEKHA
VIJAYALAKSHMI MARRIED R.S. PANDIT and had two more girls NAYANTARA & RITA
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU married KAMALA KAUL (marriage never consummated)
JAWAHARLAL had an affair with SARADDHA MATA (assumed name) and had a son given away to an orphanage in BANGALORE
JAWAHARLAL had an affair with LADY MOUNTBATTEN but no children
JAWAHARLAL HAD MANY AFFAIRS and in the end died of SYPHILIS
KAMALA KAUL had an affair with MANZUR ALI (who is son of Mobark Ali who fathered Nehru also) and their daughter is INDIRA PRIYADARSINI NEHRU
KAMALA KAUL had an affair with FEROZ KHAN (son of Nawab Khan who supplied liquor to their house) but no children
INDIRA was found in the bed with her GERMAN TEACHER at Shantiniketan
INDIRA PRIYADARSINI nikhahed as per Islamic rites FEROZ KHAN after converting herself to Islam. Her new name was MAIMUNA BEGUM and both had changed their name to fool the public of India on the advice of Ghandi by an affidavit in a court to INDIRA GHANDI and FEROZ GANDHI
INDIRA and FEROZ had one son by name RAJIV GHANDI (as per Islamic rites he was circumcised)
INDIRA had an affair with MOHAMMED YOUNUS and had a second son SANJIV GHANDI (later the name changed to SANJAY GHANDI to escape prosecution in UK for car theft. He was circumcised as per Islamic rites)
INDIRA had an affair with M.O. MATHAI (Nehru's steno) and a son was aborted
INDIRA had an affair with DHIRENDRA BRAMMACHARI but no children
INDIRA had an affair with DHINESH SINGH but no children
FEROZ had an affair with TARAKESWARI SINHA
FEROZ had an affair with MEHMUNA SULTANA
FEROZ had an affair with SUBHADRA JOSHI and many others.
RAJIV GHANDI converted to a Christian Catholic and changed the name to ROBERTO and married the Italian Catholic Christian by name SONIA MAINO (Sonia Maino was on the pay roll of KGB, the Russian spy agency which presented her in front of Rajiv Ghandi) and had one daughter and one son by name BIANKA and RAUL. For the Indian public these names are presented as PRIANKA and RAHUL.

The Womanizer was after ladies and even had an illegitimate son who was left with some christian missionaries. One of the reason for the free run for the christian conversion through out India and in North East particularly was that the christians could blackmail Nehru with exposure. Eventually this womanizer died of TERTIARY SYPHILIS-AORTIC ANEURYSM

azaming airplane crashes

2011-09-14T19:32:00.000+05:30

It is a fact that many people are scared to fly. It is an inbuilt fear that many of them have as a result of seeing coverage of various plane crashes through the years rather than an actual fear of being in the air and being powerless to control the motion. Airplane crashes certainly are daunting things even if the chances of a plane crash taking your life are extremely slim. This is largely because the accounts given are daunting and only the worst crashes actually make waves in the news.

However, if you have heard of all of the airplane crashes below then it really is no wonder why you may want to take out life insurance before flying. They truly are the worst of the worst and, unfortunately, are all but one are caused by human error or deliberation rather than an unfortunate mechanical accident. I guarantee that you’d have heard of at least one.

1.
March 27, 1977. Two Boeing 747s, operated by KLM and Pan Am, collide on a foggy runway at Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands killing 583 people. The KLM jet departed without permission and struck the Pan Am jet as it taxied along the same runway. Confusion over instructions and a blockage of radio transmissions contributed to the crash.

2.
August 12, 1985. A Japan Air Lines 747 crashes near Mt. Fuji after takeoff from Tokyo on a domestic flight killing 520. The rupture of an aft bulkhead, which had undergone faulty repairs following a mishap seven years earlier, caused destruction of part of the airplane’s tail and rendered the jet uncontrollable. A JAL maintenance supervisor later committed suicide, while the president of the airline resigned, accepting full, formal responsibility for the crash and visiting victims’ families to offer a personal apology.

3.
November 12, 1996. An Ilyushin IL-76 cargo plane from Kazakhstan collides in midair with a Saudia 747 near Delhi; all 349 aboard both planes are killed. The Kazakh crew had disobeyed instructions, and neither airplane was equipped with collision-avoidance technology.

4.
March 3, 1974. In one of the most notorious and gruesome crashes ever, a THY (Turkish Airlines) DC-10 crashes near Orly airport killing all 346 passengers and crew. A poorly designed cargo door had burst from its latches, and the subsequent depressurization caused failure of the cabin floor and impairment of cables to the rudders and elevators. Out of control, the plane slammed into the woods northeast of Paris. McDonnell Douglas, maker of the DC-10, which would see even more controversy later, was forced to redesign its cargo door system.

5.
June 23, 1985. A bomb planted by a Sikh extremist blows up an Air India 747 enroute between Toronto and Bombay (with stops in Montreal and London). The airplane fell into the sea east of Ireland killing 329. Investigators in Canada cited shortcomings in baggage screening procedures, screening equipment, and employee training. A second bomb, intended to blow up another Air India 747 on the same day, detonated prematurely in a luggage facility in Tokyo before being loaded aboard.

6.
August 19, 1980. A Saudia L-1011 bound for Karachi returns to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, following an in-flight fire that broke out just after departure. For reasons never understood, the crew takes its time after a safe touchdown and rolls to the far end of the runway before finally stopping. No evacuation is commenced, and the airplane then sits with its engines running for more than three minutes. Before any doors can be opened by the inadequately-equipped rescue workers at Riyadh, all 301 people on the widebody die as the passenger cabin is consumed by a flash-fire.

7.
July 3, 1988. An Airbus A300 operated by Iran Air is shot down over the Straits of Hormuz by the US Navy destroyer Vincennes. The crew of the Vincennes, distracted by an ongoing gunbattle, mistakes the A300 for a hostile military aircraft and destroys it with two surface-to-air missiles. None of the 290 occupants survived.

8.
May 25, 1979. As an American Airlines DC-10 lifts from the runway at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, an engine detaches and seriously damages a wing. Before its crew can make sense of the situation, the airplane rolls 90 degrees and disintegrates in a huge fireball about a mile beyond the runway. With 273 fatalities, this remains the worst-ever crash on US soil. Both the engine pylon design and airline maintenance procedures were faulted by NTSB investigators, and all DC-10s were temporarily grounded.

9.
December 21, 1988. Two Libyan agents are later held responsible (one is convicted) for planting a bomb aboard Pan American flight 103, which blows up in the night sky over Lockerbie, Scotland killing 270 people, including 11 on the ground.

10.
September 1, 1983. Korean Air Lines flight KL007, a 747 carrying 269 passengers and crew from New York to Seoul (with a technical stop in Anchorage) is shot down by a Soviet fighter after drifting off course — and into Soviet airspace — near Sakhalin Island in the North Pacific. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) later attributes the mysterious deviation to “A considerable degree of lack of alertness and attentiveness on the part of the flight crew.”

An interesting breakdown includes the following:

Number of Boeing 747s involved in the ten crashes: 7
Number resulting from terrorist sabotage or that were shot down mistakenly: 4
Number that occurred in the United States: 1
Number that occurred prior to 1974: 0
Number that occurred during the 1970s or 1980s: 9
Number in which pilot error can be cited as a direct or contributing cause: 3
Number that crashed as direct result of mechanical failure: 3
24Share

amazing houses

2011-09-14T19:24:00.000+05:30

World's Most Unusual Houses

World's Most Unusual Houses - Home Sweet Home

Our homes are very close to our hearts and a pivotal part of our lives. However while many of us love our homes and depend on them greatly, the majority of houses still follow a fairly mundane design. This is not true of all homes however, as this list of some of the world's most unusual houses proves. Read on...

Bart Prince Homes:

Bart Prince is an architect who is well known for his unusual structures. These include many unusual homes that break the mould of the box-shaped buildings we all drew as children and are some of the world's most unusual houses. Each home revolves around a central theme, and is designed from the 'inside out'. Bart Prince's own home is of course a testament to this original and quirky design – some kind of metallic snake-like looking building that is suspended in the air and features unusual looking antennae along with some other mysterious features.

Dal al Hajar:

Dal al Hajar in Yemen is one of the world's most unusual houses for sure but it quite different from those designs of Bart Prince. This is really more of a palace than a house per-se, but was designed to be a summer home. Cut straight into the rock that forms its base it is highly tall and narrow in its design and made up from many different layers and levels.

Bubble House:

The bubble house in Tourettes-su-Loup, France is listed as a historic monument despite being designed in the 70s and being as-yet incomplete. The design is highly futuristic and you might expect from the name it is made up from several 'bubble' shapes give it round ceilings and walls – which is reflected in the curved convex windows and doors too. It also features a range of round pools and waterfalls and if that wasn't enough it's situated on a volcanic terrain.

Upside Down House:

Situated in Szymbark in Poland, the upside down house is essentially exactly what it sounds like – a house that is completely upside down. Looking like any other wooden home apart from that rather distinguishing feature, it was designed to be a statement on 'communism and the end of the world' (whatever that means...). Apparently just standing inside the building can make you feel dizzy and seasick. One of the world's most unusual houses and apparently one of the most sickening and disorientating as well!

Toilet Shaped House:

Again this is a house that is adequately described by its title – the toilet shaped house is a house that is shaped like a toilet, or more accurately a toilet seat with a distinct lack of cistern at the back. The windows are glass around the outside making for a very spacious and light interior. This masterpiece can be found in Suweon, South Korea.

Floating House: The floating house is one of the world's most unusual houses and also one of the most striking. Here the name is slightly misleading – of course the house does not actually float, it just appears to be floating as the result of some very clever design work that enables it to be held up by just one point. Found allegedly in the Ukraine there are some claims that it may be a hoax.

Crooked House: The crooked house is Poland's second entry into the world's most unusual houses and is less 'crooked' than wavy, looking like its morphing and warping along the vertical edges and inducing quite a headache. Apparently inspired by the paintings of the Polish artist 'Jan Marcin Szancer' it can be found in Sopot. Unfortunately it is a contentious entry into any list of the world's most unusual houses as it is actually a shopping mall more than a home.

Shoe House: Surely inspired by the nursery rhyme (about the old lady who lived in a shoe) it seems like someone decided to turn it into a reality. That someone was the artist-come-hotelier Ron Van Zyl who built a shoe shaped house for his wife in South Africa.

biggest ship

2011-09-14T19:17:00.000+05:30

World’s Biggest Ship

The World’s Biggest Ship – Past, Present and Future

Everyone has heard of the Titanic, which was at the time of its creation the world’s biggest ship designed for carrying passengers. Touted as the ‘ship that could not be sunk’ the world’s biggest ship of its kind sadly sank on its first commercial voyage after colliding with an ice berg in 1912 killing 1,517 people.

At an overall length and breadth of 269.1 metres by 28 metres, with a deck 18 metres above the water, weighing a total of 46,328 tonnes, and with a maximum capacity of 1,178 people; the Titanic did a lot to earn its title of the world’s biggest ship of its time. This ‘titanic’ failure of then the world’s biggest ship subsequently put people off the design and use of such large ships for time. Many people incorrectly believe the Titanic to still be the world’s biggest ship ever built. However that is far from the case, and the caution didn’t last forever; today the world’s biggest ship is considerably bigger, with even larger and grander designs poised to become the world’ biggest ship or vessel in future.
The world’s biggest ship ever built would be introduced in 1979. This ship was the ‘Knock Nevis’, a floating storage and offloading unit that was also known as the Seawise Giant, the Happy Giant or the Jahre Viking and put the world’s biggest ship at over 458 meters in length (that’s a quarter of a mile) and 68 meters wide as well as 646,642 tonnes. Incredibly, if the Knock Nevis was able to stand on its end, it would actually be taller than the Empire State building in New York. It could not sail through the English Channel as it was too narrow for the world’s biggest ship to manoeuvre. To this day the Nevis remains the world’s biggest ship ever built, though it sailed its last voyage in 2009 and was subsequently scrapped.

With the world’s biggest ship ever built now out of use, that leaves the ‘Emma Maersk’ which is the world’s second biggest ship ever built and also currently the world’s biggest ship in use. At 397 meters, the ship is notably smaller than the Nevis but still larger than the Eiffel Tower and many skyscrapers. Interestingly, as well as being the world’s biggest ship currently in use, the Emma Maersk also holds another record as longest a container ship has remained in use.

While these describe the world’s biggest ship past and present, the world’s biggest passenger ship is another matter. Here the winner is the Queen Mary which is also the third longest ship in the world behind the Knock Nevis and the Emma Maersk. At 345 meters long this still puts it as taller than the Eiffel Tower and almost 100 meters longer than the famous Titanic which was also a passenger ship. Other notable entries (the third and fourth world’s biggest ship respectively) are the Berge Stahl (342 meters) and the USS Enterprise (341). The world’s biggest cruise ship meanwhile, the MS Oasis of the Seas, was built only recently in 2009.

While these contenders for world’s biggest ship are all impressive and noteworthy in one way and another, they are still overshadowed by some of the ambitious plans for the future that threaten to dwarf even the Knock Nevis.

The most ambitious of these plans for the world’s biggest ship involve ‘floating communities’ that are essentially water-bound cities or towns that offer all the amenities of a residential area on land but for a floating community. One of the best known designs for such a ship is the ‘Freedom Ship’ proposed by Norman Nixon in the 1990s and intended to provide an ocean colony on a boat that would be 1,317 meters long and housing for approximately 50,000 people along with an aircraft landing strip, casino, hotel, school and more. This would solve many of the problems of space and land in an increasingly over populated world as well as providing a very different way of life for its residents. While the technical challenges mean that this has yet to become the world’s biggest ship, the project is still looking for investors.

Currently then, the world’s biggest ship is the Emma Maersk, while the Knock Nevis takes the prize for the world’s biggest ship ever built; both of which leave the Titanic for dust. Meanwhile a continuing trend towards larger and larger sea-fairing vessels suggests that these ships will only continue to get bigger, and that we may even some day create them big enough to replace cities.

most expensive hotel in the world

2011-09-14T19:15:00.000+05:30

World's Most Expensive Hotels

World's Most Expensive Hotel - Are you ready to see some luxury ?

When we go on holiday it’s a great opportunity to treat ourselves to some real indulgence and relaxation and to pull out all of the stops in order to make it a perfect experience.

However some of us take this farther than others and if you look at some of the world’s most expensive hotel suits you’ll realise that truly ‘pulling out all the stops’ can be as extravagant as you want it to be. Here we’ll look at some of the world’s most expensive hotel suits and rooms to get an idea of what real luxury and extravagance is and do a bit of vicarious living. Perhaps at the same time you might feel a little less guilty about spending a lot on a five star hotel for your holiday.

Bear in mind that of course prices will vary depending on currency, time of year and various other factors and that new hotels are opening up all the time. However this selection of the world’s most expensive hotel suites should all be considered the ‘heavy hitters’ and one potentially the world’s most expensive hotel.

The Atlantis:
The Atlantis is reportedly the world’s most expensive hotel with its Atlantis Bridge suit as its crowning jewel and officially the world’s most expensive hotel suite at $25,000-$37,000 for a night. Just think, that’s one million dollars for just three of four days at the hotel!
So what makes this the world’s most expensive hotel? Well first off it has a great location being at the top of a large bridge connecting the Royal Tower buildings giving it a view over the whole area and an exciting ‘suspended’ feel. Of course you get more than just a single room for the world’s most expensive hotel suit too and instead get ten rooms adorned with gold and even your own butler to run errands and fetch drinks and a cook to cook you up meals on request. The rooms also have 12 foot high ceilings and include an ‘entertainment center’ as well as a bar to ensure you never have to leave the suit.

Hotel Cala di Volpe:
Hotel Cala di Volpe in Italy is another option that some report as the world’s most expensive hotel with price estimates from around $27-$36 thousand. For this you get only three bedrooms (with three bathrooms) but on the plus side you also get an outdoors pool (salt water) and your own solarium and gazebo. Amusingly it is reported that this contender for the world’s most expensive hotel still charges visitors for its internet access however!

The President Wilson Hotel:
Meanwhile the world’s most expensive hotel generally considered just behind the Atlantis and Hotel Cala di Volpe at $23,000-$35,000 per night, is the President Wilson Hotel. Here the Imperial Suite, which takes up the entire top floor, is not only incredibly luxurious, but also incredibly secure with bullet proof windows and doors and armed guards making perfect for politicians and celebrities visiting Geneva.

As you’d expect from what’s nearly the world’s most expensive hotel, this suit is decorated largely in marble and hardwood and comes with its own study, library, billiards table and cocktail lounge and five bathrooms – one of which includes a Jacuzzi and steam room which is something even the world’s most expensive hotel can boast. This means no getting bored and no queuing for the bathroom… though that said, as the suit can accommodate forty people at once this makes it a little more likely. That also means that what would be near-enough the world’s most expensive hotel becomes a lot more affordable.

Grand Resort Lagonissi:
Another one of the world’s most expensive hotel suits is the Royal Villa at the Grand Resort Lagonissi in Greece. Another three bedroom suit, this one makes up for its lofty pricing with three swimming pools (indoor and outdoor) as well as a see view through a huge sliding door as well as a private chef, butler - and a first on our list of the world’s most expensive hotel suits – it’s own pianist! For all this you can expect to pay similarly high prices at around $20,000-$34,000.

Park Hyatt Vendome:
Being fans of luxury, it is no surprise that the French would want to have a contender for the world’s most expensive hotel in their capital city. The Park Hyatt Vendome is just that at around $20,000 per night and featuring shockingly high ceilings, rows of pillars and a spa suit in its Imperial Suite. Not quite the world’s most expensive hotel, but not too shabby either!

fact of evolution

2011-09-14T19:09:00.000+05:30

hen non-biologists talk about biological evolution they often confuse two different aspects of the definition. On the one hand there is the question of whether or not modern organisms have evolved from older ancestral organisms or whether modern species are continuing to change over time. On the other hand there are questions about the mechanism of the observed changes... how did evolution occur? Biologists consider the existence of biological evolution to be a fact. It can be demonstrated today and the historical evidence for its occurrence in the past is overwhelming. However, biologists readily admit that they are less certain of the exact mechanism of evolution; there are several theories of the mechanism of evolution. Stephen J. Gould has put this as well as anyone else:

In the American vernacular, "theory" often means "imperfect fact"--part of a hierarchy of confidence running downhill from fact to theory to hypothesis to guess. Thus the power of the creationist argument: evolution is "only" a theory and intense debate now rages about many aspects of the theory. If evolution is worse than a fact, and scientists can't even make up their minds about the theory, then what confidence can we have in it? Indeed, President Reagan echoed this argument before an evangelical group in Dallas when he said (in what I devoutly hope was campaign rhetoric): "Well, it is a theory. It is a scientific theory only, and it has in recent years been challenged in the world of science--that is, not believed in the scientific community to be as infallible as it once was." Well evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape-like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered.

Moreover, "fact" doesn't mean "absolute certainty"; there ain't no such animal in an exciting and complex world. The final proofs of logic and mathematics flow deductively from stated premises and achieve certainty only because they are not about the empirical world. Evolutionists make no claim for perpetual truth, though creationists often do (and then attack us falsely for a style of argument that they themselves favor). In science "fact" can only mean "confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional consent." I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.
Evolutionists have been very clear about this distinction of fact and theory from the very beginning, if only because we have always acknowledged how far we are from completely understanding the mechanisms (theory) by which evolution (fact) occurred. Darwin continually emphasized the difference between his two great and separate accomplishments: establishing the fact of evolution, and proposing a theory--natural selection--to explain the mechanism of evolution.

Gould is stating the prevailing view of the scientific community. In other words, the experts on evolution consider it to be a fact. This is not an idea that originated with Gould as the following quotations indicate:

Let me try to make crystal clear what is established beyond reasonable doubt, and what needs further study, about evolution. Evolution as a process that has always gone on in the history of the earth can be doubted only by those who are ignorant of the evidence or are resistant to evidence, owing to emotional blocks or to plain bigotry. By contrast, the mechanisms that bring evolution about certainly need study and clarification. There are no alternatives to evolution as history that can withstand critical examination. Yet we are constantly learning new and important facts about evolutionary mechanisms.
- Theodosius Dobzhansky "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution", American Biology Teacher vol. 35 (March 1973) reprinted in Evolution versus Creationism, J. Peter Zetterberg ed., ORYX Press, Phoenix AZ 1983

Also:

It is time for students of the evolutionary process, especially those who have been misquoted and used by the creationists, to state clearly that evolution is a fact, not theory, and that what is at issue within biology are questions of details of the process and the relative importance of different mechanisms of evolution. It is a fact that the earth with liquid water, is more than 3.6 billion years old. It is a fact that cellular life has been around for at least half of that period and that organized multicellular life is at least 800 million years old. It is a fact that major life forms now on earth were not at all represented in the past. There were no birds or mammals 250 million years ago. It is a fact that major life forms of the past are no longer living. There used to be dinosaurs and Pithecanthropus, and there are none now. It is a fact that all living forms come from previous living forms. Therefore, all present forms of life arose from ancestral forms that were different. Birds arose from nonbirds and humans from nonhumans. No person who pretends to any understanding of the natural world can deny these facts any more than she or he can deny that the earth is round, rotates on its axis, and revolves around the sun. The controversies about evolution lie in the realm of the relative importance of various forces in molding evolution.

- R. C. Lewontin "Evolution/Creation Debate: A Time for Truth" Bioscience 31, 559 (1981) reprinted in Evolution versus Creationism, op cit.

This concept is also explained in introductory biology books that are used in colleges and universities (and in some of the better high schools). For example, in some of the best such textbooks we find:

Today, nearly all biologists acknowledge that evolution is a fact. The term theory is no longer appropriate except when referring to the various models that attempt to explain how life evolves... it is important to understand that the current questions about how life evolves in no way implies any disagreement over the fact of evolution.
- Neil A. Campbell, Biology 2nd ed., 1990, Benjamin/Cummings, p. 434

Also:

Since Darwin's time, massive additional evidence has accumulated supporting the fact of evolution--that all living organisms present on earth today have arisen from earlier forms in the course of earth's long history. Indeed, all of modern biology is an affirmation of this relatedness of the many species of living things and of their gradual divergence from one another over the course of time. Since the publication of The Origin of Species, the important question, scientifically speaking, about evolution has not been whether it has taken place. That is no longer an issue among the vast majority of modern biologists. Today, the central and still fascinating questions for biologists concern the mechanisms by which evolution occurs.
- Helena Curtis and N. Sue Barnes, Biology 5th ed. 1989, Worth Publishers, p. 972

One of the best introductory books on evolution (as opposed to introductory biology) is that by Douglas J. Futuyma, and he makes the following comment:

A few words need to be said about the "theory of evolution," which most people take to mean the proposition that organisms have evolved from common ancestors. In everyday speech, "theory" often means a hypothesis or even a mere speculation. But in science, "theory" means "a statement of what are held to be the general laws, principles, or causes of something known or observed." as the Oxford English Dictionary defines it. The theory of evolution is a body of interconnected statements about natural selection and the other processes that are thought to cause evolution, just as the atomic theory of chemistry and the Newtonian theory of mechanics are bodies of statements that describe causes of chemical and physical phenomena. In contrast, the statement that organisms have descended with modifications from common ancestors--the historical reality of evolution--is not a theory. It is a fact, as fully as the fact of the earth's revolution about the sun. Like the heliocentric solar system, evolution began as a hypothesis, and achieved "facthood" as the evidence in its favor became so strong that no knowledgeable and unbiased person could deny its reality. No biologist today would think of submitting a paper entitled "New evidence for evolution;" it simply has not been an issue for a century.
- Douglas J. Futuyma, Evolutionary Biology, 2nd ed., 1986, Sinauer Associates, p. 15

There are readers of these newsgroups who reject evolution for religious reasons. In general these readers oppose both the fact of evolution and theories of mechanisms, although some anti-evolutionists have come to realize that there is a difference between the two concepts. That is why we see some leading anti-evolutionists admitting to the fact of "microevolution"--they know that evolution can be demonstrated. These readers will not be convinced of the "facthood" of (macro)evolution by any logical argument and it is a waste of time to make the attempt. The best that we can hope for is that they understand the argument that they oppose. Even this simple hope is rarely fulfilled. There are some readers who are not anti-evolutionist but still claim that evolution is "only" a theory which can't be proven. This group needs to distinguish between the fact that evolution occurs and the theory of the mechanism of evolution.
We also need to distinguish between facts that are easy to demonstrate and those that are more circumstantial. Examples of evolution that are readily apparent include the fact that modern populations are evolving and the fact that two closely related species share a common ancestor. The evidence that Homo sapiens and chimpanzees share a recent common ancestor falls into this category. There is so much evidence in support of this aspect of primate evolution that it qualifies as a fact by any common definition of the word "fact."
In other cases the available evidence is less strong. For example, the relationships of some of the major phyla are still being worked out. Also, the statement that all organisms have descended from a single common ancestor is strongly supported by the available evidence, and there is no opposing evidence. However, it is not yet appropriate to call this a "fact" since there are reasonable alternatives.
Finally, there is an epistemological argument against evolution as fact. Some readers of these newsgroups point out that nothing in science can ever be "proven" and this includes evolution. According to this argument, the probability that evolution is the correct explanation of life as we know it may approach 99.9999...9% but it will never be 100%. Thus evolution cannot be a fact. This kind of argument might be appropriate in a philosophy class (it is essentially correct) but it won't do in the real world. A "fact," as Stephen J. Gould pointed out , means something that is so highly probable that it would be silly not to accept it. This point has also been made by others who contest the nit-picking epistemologists.
The honest scientist, like the philosopher, will tell you that nothing whatever can be or has been proved with fully 100% certainty, not even that you or I exist, nor anyone except himself, since he might be dreaming the whole thing. Thus there is no sharp line between speculation, hypothesis, theory, principle, and fact, but only a difference along a sliding scale, in the degree of probability of the idea. When we say a thing is a fact, then, we only mean that its probability is an extremely high one: so high that we are not bothered by doubt about it and are ready to act accordingly. Now in this use of the term fact, the only proper one, evolution is a fact. For the evidence in favor of it is as voluminous, diverse, and convincing as in the case of any other well established fact of science concerning the existence of things that cannot be directly seen, such as atoms, neutrons, or solar gravitation .... So enormous, ramifying, and consistent has the evidence for evolution become that if anyone could now disprove it, I should have my conception of the orderliness of the universe so shaken as to lead me to doubt even my own existence. If you like, then, I will grant you that in an absolute sense evolution is not a fact, or rather, that it is no more a fact than that you are hearing or reading these words.

fact of satellite

2011-09-14T19:01:00.001+05:30

What is satellite ?

In general, a satellite is anything that orbits something else, as, for example, the moon orbits the earth. In a communications context, a satellite is a specialized wireless receiver/transmitter that is launched by a rocket and placed in orbit around the earth. There are hundreds of satellites currently in operation. They are used for such diverse purposes as weather forecasting, television broadcast, amateur radio communications, Internet communications, and the Global Positioning System, (GPS).

The first artificial satellite, launched by Russia (then known as the Soviet Union) in the late 1950s, was about the size of a basketball. It did nothing but transmit a simple Morse code signal over and over. In contrast, modern satellites can receive and re-transmit thousands of signals simultaneously, from simple digital data to the most complex television programming.

There are three types of communications satellite systems. They are categorized according
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A geostationary satellite orbits the earth directly over the equator, approximately 22,000 miles up. At this altitude, one complete trip around the earth (relative to the sun) takes 24 hours. Thus, the satellite remains over the same spot on the earth's surface at all times, and stays fixed in the sky from any point on the surface from which it can be "seen." So-called weather satellites are usually of this type. You can view images from some of these satellites on the Internet via the Purdue Weather Processor. A single geostationary satellite can "see" approximately 40 percent of the earth's surface. Three such satellites, spaced at equal intervals (120 angular degrees apart), can provide coverage of the entire civilized world. A geostationary satellite can be accessed using a dish antenna aimed at the spot in the sky where the satellite hovers.

A low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite system employs a large fleet of "birds," each in a circular orbit at a constant altitude of a few hundred miles. The orbits take the satellites over, or nearly over, the geographic poles. Each revolution takes approximately 90 minutes to a few hours. The fleet is arranged in such a way that, from any point on the surface at any time, at least one satellite is on a line of sight. The entire system operates in a manner similar to the way a cellular telephone functions. The main difference is that the transponders, or wireless receiver/transmitters, are moving rather than fixed, and are in space rather than on the earth. A well-designed LEO system makes it possible for anyone to access the Internet via wireless from any point on the planet, using an antenna no more sophisticated than old-fashioned television "rabbit ears."

A satellite is basically any object that revolves around a planet in a circular or elliptical path. The moon is Earth's original, natural satellite, and there are many manmade (artificial) satellites, usually closer to Earth.

    * The path a satellite follows is an orbit. In the orbit, the farthest point from Earth is the apogee, and the nearest point is the perigee.
    * Artificial satellites generally are not mass-produced. Most satellites are custom built to perform their intended functions. Exceptions include the GPS satellites (with over 20 copies in orbit) and the Iridium satellites (with over 60 copies in orbit).
    * Approximately 23,000 items of space junk -- objects large enough to track with radar that were inadvertently placed in orbit or have outlived their usefulness -- are floating above Earth. The actual number varies depending on which agency is counting. Payloads that go into the wrong orbit, satellites with run-down batteries, and leftover rocket boosters all contribute to the count. This online catalog of satellites has almost 26,000 entries!

Although anything that is in orbit around Earth is technically a satellite, the term "satellite" is typically used to describe a useful object placed in orbit purposely to perform some specific mission or task. We commonly hear about weather satellites, communication satellites and scientific satellites.

Adorn diamond jewelry with panache

2011-06-17T17:19:00.000+05:30

Every woman fantasizes of a grand wedding in which she walks down the aisle like a stunning princess to her handsome prince in shinning armor and they live happily ever after. However this dream is not quite complete without the huge diamond adorning her engagement ring on her finger too. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend; this is not just a saying but very much a fact. What would women do if they don’t have their precious diamonds? Women and diamonds are simply inseparable. These marvelous stones look super sexy with white gold. The class and magnificence of diamonds are simply unmatched.

Depending on how much you are willing to invest in your engagement ring you may finalize a few cuts and designs. Diamonds can be procured without going bankrupt too as they are available in various grades that decide their pricing. Before you step out to buy them it is imperative to know about the intricacies of diamonds to be able to fairly analyze its pricing and get a good deal.

Diamond is basically an allotrope of carbon and is extremely hard. Its tough lattice prevents its contamination and thus negligible impurities are found in diamonds. The higher the content of impurity the lower priced the diamond would be. The optical brilliance of the diamond is the next most important feature that decides the pricing of the diamond. Diamonds have the unique ability to disperse light in different colors and a clearer dispersion signifies a high quality diamond. Only a pure diamond has the ability to transmit visible light through it and appear colorless. The colors emitted by a diamond are reflections of the impurities present in the stone. Nitrogen is one of the most commonly found impurities in diamond and makes the diamond appear slightly yellowish or brownish. Boron impurities can give diamond a bluish-gray shade.

Diamonds can be found in various cuts like Mazarin, point cut, old single cut, table cut, etc. When you purchase a diamond you should also assess its symmetry and polish. Polishing of a diamond means the smoothness of each facet of the diamond and symmetry signifies the alignment of each facet. A poor polished diamond would lack radiance and would look dull and discolored and a poor symmetry may end up throwing light incorrectly. The whole beauty and brilliance of the diamond end up getting tarnished due to this.

The round cut is the most common cut amongst diamonds but you can certainly pick any unique cut too for your jewelry. A fancier cut would look more chic and you make you look extremely stylish. “Baguette” is a cut that has caught the attention of fashionistas as it accentuates the beauty of the diamond by giving it pristine whiteness, superb clarity and dazzling brilliance. The mixed Princess cut is also gaining popularity in the world of fashion as augments the brilliance and fire of the stone and looks stunning. Diamonds are evergreen and suit all occasions and age groups. Add sparkle to your attire with classy diamond adornments and be the centre of attention wherever you go.