iCorel

"Ladies first" - Not as chivalrious as it seems

2013-10-28T00:03:00.003-07:00

One day, I got curious as to how the term 'ladies first', actually came to be. So, I did a research on internet. Nobody seems quite sure how the phrase came to be but there is a story on how. When a man says “Ladies first” women usually find the man most pleasant and is soon full of praise about his good manners. It is thus shocking that the story tell us that the phrase was used not because a man respected a lady or thought fondly of her. In fact it was quite the opposite.

And I am going to copy paste the story here:

“Once upon time, there were two lovers who loved each other so much. They decided to marry, but some social circumstances and relatives block the way of their marriage since the man comes from a wealthy family and the lady from a poor one. They did not accept this and intentionally decided either to live together as husband and wife, or to die together. So they did their best to make their dream come true, sadly they failed. Dying was their only option to be together forever “Just like Romio & Juliette”.

They thought about a number of ways to commit the suicide, leaping themselves off a cliff into the sea was the appropriate way to them. The Man sincerely said he would not bear seeing her drowning to death before his eyes so he convinced his lover that he would go first and then she would do so latter. In the rush moment, the man did it and drown. The lady was deeply looking at him as he was ‘sinking’. The man was dead. It was the lady’s turn to follow him to live together underneath, as they agreed. But she soon broke her promise, forgetting her sweetheart who was dying before her eyes and in heart as well. She threw herself back to the village’. Yes! Her promise was to throw herself and she did, but back to the village instead of the sea.

She came back home, to her relatives as if nothing has happened. Few days later, she fell in love with another man. She was happy with him as if it was her first love. It did not take a lot of time till she got married to him. Since then, people started using the ‘Ladies First’.″

“Once upon time, there were two lovers who loved each other so much. They decided to marry, but some social circumstances and relatives block the way of their marriage since the man comes from a wealthy family and the lady from a poor one. They did not accept this and intentionally decided either to live together as husband and wife, or to die together. So they did their best to make their dream come true, sadly they failed. Dying was their only option to be together forever “Just like Romio & Juliette”.
They thought about a number of ways to commit the suicide, leaping themselves off a cliff into the sea was the appropriate way to them. The Man sincerely said he would not bear seeing her drowning to death before his eyes so he convinced his lover that he would go first and then she would do so latter. In the rush moment, the man did it and drown. The lady was deeply looking at him as he was ‘sinking’. The man was dead. It was the lady’s turn to follow him to live together underneath, as they agreed. But she soon broke her promise, forgetting her sweetheart who was dying before her eyes and in heart as well. She threw herself back to the village’. Yes! Her promise was to throw herself and she did, but back to the village instead of the sea.
She came back home, to her relatives as if nothing has happened. Few days later, she fell in love with another man. She was happy with him as if it was her first love. It did not take a lot of time till she got married to him. Since then, people started using the ‘Ladies First’.″
- See more at: http://www.bananaq8.com/articles/the-story-behind-ladies-first/#sthash.B4K86Y23.dpuf

Dream facts

2012-06-19T06:57:00.002-07:00

1.Blind people also dream.

People who become blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion. It is hard for a seeing person to imagine, but the body’s need for sleep is so strong that it is able to handle virtually all physical situations to make it happen.

2. You forget almost all of your dream

Often when we wake up we fail to remember even a single sequence of the dream we had during the night. A strange fact remains therefore, that dreams are almost always forgotten, except if a person is woken up at the REM stage. Within 5 minutes of waking, half of your dream if forgotten. Within 10, 90% is gone. Interestingly enough, if you are awakened out of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, you are more likely to remember your dream in a more vivid way than you would if you woke from a full night sleep.

3.Men dream more about other men.

Men tend to dream more about other men, while women tend to dream equally about men and women.

4. Some people dream in black and white

Some people dream only in black and white while about 70% of people dream in colors. Certain dreams are very common to some people such as, failing an exam, getting up late for the exam, dreams related to one's school, seeing a person dead who is alive in real life, being chasedby someone etc. Studies are being conducted in the relevance of colors and repeated sequences in dreams.

5.Quiters experience more vivid dreams

People who have smoked cigarettes for a long time who stop, have reported much more vivid dreams than they would normally experience. Additionally, according to the Journal of Abnormal Psychology: “Among 293 smokers abstinent for between 1 and 4 weeks, 33% reported having at least 1 dream about smoking. In most dreams, subjects caught themselves smoking and felt strong negative emotions, such as panic and guilt. Dreams about smoking were the result of tobacco withdrawal, as 97% of subjects did not have them while smoking, and their occurrence was significantly related to the duration of abstinence. They were rated as more vivid than the usual dreams and were as commonas most major tobacco withdrawal symptoms.”

6.During REM sleep the body is paralyzed by a mechanism in the brain in order to prevent the movements which occur in the dream from causing the physical body to move. However, it is possible for this mechanism to be triggered before, during, or after normal sleep while the brain awakens. Glands begin to secrete a hormone that helps induce sleep and neurons send signals to the spinal cord which cause the body to relax and later become essentially paralyzed.

7. You can control your dreams.

If you're interested in lucid dreaming, you may want to take up video gaming. The link? Both represent alternate realities, said Jayne Gackenbach, a psychologist at Grant MacEwan University in Canada. "If you're spending hours a day in a virtual reality, if nothing else it's practice, "Gackenbach told LiveScience in 2010. "Gamers are used to controlling their game environments, so that can translate into dreams. "Her past research has shown that people who frequently play video games are more likely than non-gamers to have lucid dreams where they view themselves from outside their bodies; they were also better able to influence their dream worlds, as if controlling a video-game character. That level of control may also help gamers turn a bloodcurdling nightmare into a carefree dream, she found in a 2008 study. This ability could help war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Gackenbach reasoned.

8.Sex

As in their wake hours, men also dream about sex more than women do. You can not only have sex as pleasurable as in your real life while dreaming , but also experience an orgasm as strong as a real one without any wet results. The sensations felt while lucid dreaming (touch, pleasure and etc..) can be as pleasurable and strong or even stronger as the sensations experienced in the real world.

Venus transit 2012: A rare natural phenomena

2012-06-04T07:14:00.000-07:00

A photo of Venus transit

A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, becoming visible against the solar disk. During a transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun. Venus appears smaller, and travels more slowly across the face of the Sun, because it is much farther away from Earth. The full 2012 transit will be visible from the Pacific Ocean—including Hawaii, northwestern North America, northern Asia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, central and eastern Australia and the Pacific islands. Most of North America and northwestern South America will be able to see the start of the transit before sunset, while southern Asia, the Middle East, eastern Africa, western Australia, and most of Europe will be able to observe the end of the transit as the Sun rises.

Transit visibility

Resident Evil: Damnation

2012-06-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

In some of the previous posts (1,2), I have mentioned that this year is a big year for Resident evil. I just found out last night (despite this been announced for almost 2 years), that also 2nd animated movie of the series is scheduled to release this year. Indeed this year is a big year for Resident Evil series. Last night when I found out this, I was so excited that I had to getup from bed and do several laps around the room to burn some this excess energy: other wise I could not have slept. Resident Evil: Damnation, set to release on 27 October 2012, is a continuation of the previous Resident Evil animated movie, Resident Evil: Degeneration.

Not much is known about the plot of the movie yet: They have only released a teaser trailer. However it is clear that the story of Resident Evil: Damnation will revolve around bio-organic weapons used in the European war zone. We'll see the return of our hero, Leon S. Kennedy as the protagonist. Other returning characters are Angela miller and Clair Redifield.

On to the list of notable new characters: First is, the daughter of U.S president, the one and only, Ashley Graham. Second is the part of Leon that he can't let go: Ada Wong. Then the brother of Clair Redifield and hero of the game Resident Evil 5: Chris Redifield. Chris Redifiled's girlfriend: Jill Valentine. Then there's the Umbrella Corporation top scientist, William Birkin's daughter: Sherry Birkin. Ingrid Hunnigan, Sheva Alomar, Billy Coen, Steve Burnside and Rebecca chambers complete this list.

I will continue to update this post with release of new information.

Update: 2nd July.
In a Facebook Fan page it is stated that it's confirmed that on Friday the 13th of July at Comic-Con San Diego, Capcom will release a new 7 minute trailer for Damnation. Followed by answers of the director, on some questions regarding Resident Evil: Damnation.

Euro 2012 Fixtures GMT

2012-06-03T12:14:00.003-07:00

Euro 2012 Fixtures By Date(GMT):

Click to view Euro timetable/schedule for Maldives

Click to view Euro 2012 Schedule

Friday, June 8th @ 5pm: Poland vs Greece
Friday, June 8th @ 7:45pm: Russia vs Czech Republic
Saturday, June 9th @ 5pm: Netherlands vs Denmark
Saturday, June 9th @ 7:45pm: Germany vs Portugal
Sunday, June 10th @ 5pm: Spain vs Italy
Sunday, June 10th @ 7:45pm: Ireland vs Croatia
Monday, June 11th @ 5pm: France vs England
Monday, June 11th @ 7:45pm: Ukraine vs Sweden
Tuesday, June 12th @ 5pm: Greece vs Czech Republic
Tuesday, June 12th @ 7:45pm: Poland vs Russia
Wednesday, June 13th @ 5pm:Denmark vs Portugal
Wednesday, June 13th @ 7:45pm: Netherlands vs Germany
Thursday, June 14th @ 5pm:Italy vs Croatia
Thursday, June 14th @ 7:45pm: Spain vs Ireland
Friday, June 15th @ 5pm:Ukraine vs France
Friday, June 15th @ 7:45pm: Sweden vs England
Saturday, June 16th @ 7:45pm: Czech Republic vs Poland
Saturday, June 16th @ 7:45pm: Greece vs Russia
Sunday, June 17th @ 7:45pm: Denmark vs Germany
Sunday, June 17th @ 7:45pm: Portugal vs Netherlands
Monday, June 18th @ 7:45pm: Croatia vs Spain
Monday, June 18th @ 7:45pm: Italy vs Ireland
Tuesday, June 19th @ 7:45pm: England vs Ukraine
Tuesday, June 19th @ 7:45pm: Sweden vs France
Thursday, June 21st @ 7:45pm: Group A Winner vs Group B Runner-Up
Friday, June 22nd @ 7:45pm: Group B Winner vs Group A Runner-Up
Saturday, June 23rd @ 7:45pm: Group C Winner vs Group D Runner-Up
Sunday, June 24th @ 7:45pm: Group D Winner vs Group C Runner-Up
Wednesday, June 27th @ 7:45pm: Quarter Final Winner #1 vs Quarter Final Winner #3
Thursday, June 28th @ 7:45pm: Quarter Final Winner #2 vs Quarter Final Winner #4
Sunday, July 1st @ 7:45pm: Semi-Final Winner #1 vs Semi-Final Winner #2

Euro timetable/schedule for Maldives

2012-06-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

Euro 2011 Fixtures By Date (MVT):

Click here to view Euro 2011 Schedule

Click here to view Euro 2011 Fixtures GMT

Friday, June 8th @ 9pm: Poland vs Greece
Friday, June 8th @ 11:45am: Russia vs Czech Republic
Saturday, June 9th @ 9pm: Netherlands vs Denmark
Saturday, June 9th @ 11:45am: Germany vs Portugal
Sunday, June 10th @ 9pm: Spain vs Italy
Sunday, June 10th @ 11:45am: Ireland vs Croatia
Monday, June 11th @ 9pm: France vs England
Monday, June 11th @ 11:45am: Ukraine vs Swede

Tuesday, June 12th @ 9pm: Greece vs Czech Republic
Tuesday, June 12th @ 11:45am: Poland vs Russia
Wednesday, June 13th @ 9pm:Denmark vs Portugal
Wednesday, June 13th @ 11:45am: Netherlands vs Germany
Thursday, June 14th @ 9pm:Italy vs Croatia
Thursday, June 14th @ 11:45am: Spain vs Ireland
Friday, June 15th @ 9pm:Ukraine vs France
Friday, June 15th @ 11:45am: Sweden vs England
Saturday, June 16th @ 11:45am: Czech Republic vs Poland
Saturday, June 16th @ 11:45am: Greece vs Russia
Sunday, June 17th @ 11:45am: Denmark vs Germany
Sunday, June 17th @ 11:45am: Portugal vs Netherlands
Monday, June 18th @ 11:45am: Croatia vs Spain
Monday, June 18th @ 11:45am: Italy vs Ireland
Tuesday, June 19th @ 11:45am: England vs Ukraine
Tuesday, June 19th @ 11:45am: Sweden vs France
Thursday, June 21st @ 11:45am: Group A Winner vs Group B Runner-Up
Friday, June 22nd @ 11:45am: Group B Winner vs Group A Runner-Up
Saturday, June 23rd @ 11:45am: Group C Winner vs Group D Runner-Up
Sunday, June 24th @ 11:45am: Group D Winner vs Group C Runner-Up
Wednesday, June 27th @ 11:45am: Quarter Final Winner #1 vs Quarter Final Winner #3
Thursday, June
28th @ 11:45am: Quarter Final Winner #2 vs Quarter Final Winner #4
Sunday, July 1st @ 11:45am: Semi-Final Winner #1 vs Semi-Final Winner #2

Euro 2012 Schedule

2012-06-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

Click to view Euro 2012 Fixtures GMT
Click to view Euro timetable/schedule for Maldives

Group Stage
	8^th June	12^th June	16^th June
Group A	Poland VS Greece Czech republic VS Russia	Poland VS Russia Greece VS Czech republic	Greece VS Russia Poland VS Czech republic
	10^th June	14^th June	18^th June
Group B	Spain VS Italy Republic of Ireland VS Croatia	Spain VS Republic of Ireland Italy VS Croatia	Spain VS Croatia Italy VS Republic of Ireland
	11^th June	15^th June	19^th June
Group C	Ukraine VS Sweden England VS France	Sweden VS England France VS Ukraine	France VS Sweden England VS Ukraine
	9^th June	13^th June	17^th June
Group D	Netherlands VS Denmark Germany VS Portugal	Netherlands VS Germany Portugal VS Denmark	Portugal VS Netherlands Germany VS Denmark

Quarter Final	Semi Final	Final
21^st June	27^th June	01^st July
Quarter Final 1 (group A winner ) VS (group B runner up)	Semi Final 1 (Quarter Final 3 winner) VS (Quarter Final 4 winner)	(Semi Final 1 winner) VS (Semi Final 2 winner)
22^nd June
Quarter Final 2 (group B winner) VS (group A runner up)
23^rd June	28^th June
Quarter Final 3 (group C winner) VS (group D runner up)	Semi Final 2 (Quarter Final 1 winner) VS (Quarter Final 2 winner)
24^th June
Quarter Final 4 (group D winner) VS (group C runner up)

Resident evil 5: Retribution 3D

2012-06-01T08:14:00.001-07:00

As mentioned on one of my previous post, this year has been one of the biggest year for the resident evil series. With the upcoming release of the 6th installment of the game series and 5th installment of the movie series, the resident evil fans are excited. Yes, 10 years after the release of the first movie in the resident evil series (in 2002), the 5th film will be released on September 14.

Alice and Ada

This time it's with many new characters and of course, also with a lot of action. 4 months ago Sony pictures released an official trailer for the movie. The characters, Ada Wong (played by Li Bingbing), Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb) and Barry Burton (Kevin Durand) are newly introduced characters of the movie.

In the movie, the Umbrella Corporation's deadly T-virus continues to ravage the Earth, transforming the global population into legions of the flesh eating undead. The human race's last and only hope, Alice, awakens in the heart of Umbrella's most clandestine operations facility and unveils more of her mysterious past as she delves further into the complex. Without a safe haven, Alice continues to hunt those responsible for the outbreak; a chase that takes her from Tokyo to New York, Washington DC, and Moscow, culminating in a mind-blowing revelation that will force her to rethink everything that she once thought to be true. Aided by new found allies and familiar friends, Alice must fight to survive long enough to escape a hostile world on the brink of oblivion. The countdown has begun.

Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb)

Now let's have a look at the trailer. We first see some people holding some gadgets, (Sony gadgets, like psp and....) standing on a road, saying their name followed by "this is my world". On the following part we see flashes of buildings in America. Then a scene where Alice, in a black outfit, standing on the top of the white house, with some soldiers, she says,"My name is Alice, and this is my world."

On to the next scene, we see a large creature in pursuit of a driving car and the driver is trying to out run the thing. We can't clearly see who is inside the car. In the next scene we see four people (Luther West, Leon S. Kennedy, Ada Wong and Barry Burton) standing, side by side, on a snowy mountain.

Alice holding a girl

The next scene is very confusing as we see Alice in normal, civilian cloths standing near a road, a little girl (perhaps, her daughter?) holding on to her. We could also see a police car driving past them and in background we see a burning car. Perhaps the town is been attacked. This scene might be a flash back to before the first movie.

Next we see a group of planes, like the planes from the last scene of the last movie of the series and they are shooting at something or someone. Then we see Alice, this time in her black outfit, standing on a crowded road and people are still moving normally. This is perhaps before the infection.


Michelle Rodriguez as Rain Ocampo

The next scene we see Michelle Rodriguez as Rain Ocampo in her black military uniform. She was one of the last one to die in the first film of the series, but now she's back. Maybe she is a clone.

Then we see Ada and Alice taking out their gun and pointing/shooting at someone. The next scene features Ada Wong, in her signature red dress, running inside a house while some people (troopers?) is shooting at her from behind.

The next scene is some what similar to a continuation of the last scene of Resident Evil: After life. We could see the same war planes shooting at the ship, Alice and other characters in same outfit fighting back or simply running away.

Ada running away from 'troopers'.

Next we see Alice fighting some people using a chain as a weapon in a white background. For a moment we could also see Rain, pointing her gun above her. Maybe something's attacking her from above. Then we get a scene where Alice is running away from a group of zombies.And that's the end of the trailer.

From different sources I also came to know that, in the film, Ada will be held captive by Jill Valentine and fight scene between Jill and Alice that involved over 200 moves was filmed. This indicates that somehow Jill had become a "bad girl."

Sorry for being such a resident evil evil fan, but I'm hyped-up excited.

Is unknown female in Resident Evil 6, Ada?

2012-05-27T03:20:00.001-07:00

The unannounced Female Antagonist is shown to release a virus via exploding grenade like contraption with syringes immediately infecting BSAA Members.

Ada in Resident Evil 4

Unknown character in Resident Evil 6

Speculation is that Ada Wong is this mysterious Antagonist. She was last seen in Resident Evil 4, securing a plaga sample for "The Organization", with unknown mortification. People thought that the woman in the Captivate Trailer was Ada Wong due to the fact of this being a new game and Ada might be getting a Concept-Design-make over. The second reason for people believing this new Antagonist being Ada was because now she has a large playing field with Wesker gone and a new virus in her hands.

"Put your gun down Chris, she's a key witness we need her."
"A Witness? She's the one who did all this!"
(Chris and Leon in Resident Evil 6,
talking about unknown character)

Another possibility is that she may be Carla Radames, a clone of Ada. However it is a rumor. Now this rumor was dispelled quickly, the moment it came up but this rumor might possibly be a true one as it had the list of character names months before and every announced new name in the latest trailer was true, after that list.

It's too early to conclude that this new character is Ada or an Ada's clone, in fact she might not even be Ada. However Capcom has confirmed that Ada will be in Resident Evil 6. If she is Ada or a clone of her that's posing as her then it would explain why Leon wants to protect her. After all, Leon shares a close bond and history with her. Possibly an intimate one.


(Resident Evil dark side chronicles) Leon: Ada!! Ada: This place is gonna blow. There isn't much time left. Leon... You have to get out of here. Leon: No, Not without you! Ada: It's strange... i barely know you, but i knew you'd say that. Leon:Ada.....

Update 5th June: It's been confirmed that she is indeed non other than Ada Wong. Wow she's hot...
Source: Resident Evil 6 - E3 Official Trailer (US)

The fastest microchip

2012-05-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

The clock frequencies of today's PC processors are starting to close in on 4GHz (again) and with extreme cooling they can be pushed to beyond 6GHz, which is enough to make some loose their breath. This isn't much though when you consider the research presented at MIT. Scientists at the renowned American university has designed a microchip that can process data at unsurpassed speeds. They claim that its new chipset will be able to operate at unimaginable 500-1000GHz, in other words at Terahertz levels.

The substance used is carbon and it is the very key to the high frequencies. The researchers managed to build a circuit using the graphene, made from a single layer of carbon. The circuit consisting of only one lonely transistor will be used for frequency multiplication and by creating a pure signal with no need for filtration it will be able to achieve these frequencies without problems.

Researchers have been investigating the potential of graphene since the "discovery" in 2004 and the unveiled use that could actually reach the market relatively soon.

It all comes down to making graphene compatible with wafer manufacturing and Tom Palacios, professor at MIT, believes that we will see graphene-based chips in 1-2 years.

Grapene based solar panels-easily the most efficient!!!

2012-05-23T10:17:00.002-07:00

Researchers have also shown that they can make basic solar cells, light-emitting devices, touch screens, photodetectors and mode-lock ultra-fast lasers from the graphene. However, there are, of course, drawbacks: graphene's "external quantum efficiency" is low – it absorbs less than 3% of the light falling on it. Furthermore, useful electrical current can only be extracted from graphene-based devices that have electrical contacts with an optimized "asymmetry" – something that has proven difficult to achieve.

Now, researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of Manchester may have solved both these problems by pairing up graphene with plasmonic nano structures. These are metal devices that enhance local electromagnetic fields in a material by coupling incoming light with electrons on the surface of the metal. The nano structures are fabricated on top of graphene samples to concentrate the electromagnetic field in the region of the material where light is converted to electrical current, so as to dramatically increase the generated photovoltage.

The team, which includes Manchester's Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, winners of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery of graphene, started out by preparing samples of graphene using the now-famous "sticky tape" method. This involves mechanically shaving off single layers of graphene from a block of graphite. The researchers then made two-terminal electronic devices from the material by forming contacts made of titanium and gold on the graphene using electron-beam lithography. Next, various plasmonic nano structures were assembled close to the contacts.

The new devices have an external quantum efficiency of almost 50%, the highest value to date for graphene. This boosts the light-harvesting capacity of graphene by more than an order of magnitude compared to its non-contacted counterpart, without sacrificing it's speed.

Furthermore, the problem of creating contacts with the desired asymmetry is addressed through the use of titanium and gold in the device.

Super lithium ion battery with graphene

2012-05-23T10:08:00.001-07:00

Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon. It’s essentially the same material on your pencil tip, only shaved down to a nearly two-dimensional plane. Though extremely thin, graphene is the strongest material ever made (two hundred times stronger than structural steel). Meanwhile, it’s also lightweight and can also be stretched like rubber. More importantly, however, graphene is an excellent electrical current conductor.

During the end of 2011 Engineers at Northwestern University led by professor Harold H. Kung have produced a lithium-ion battery with a graphene /silicon electrode which can store ten times as much charge, charge ten times faster and last longer than current best-technology batteries.

The Northwestern University engineers have replaced the graphite anode in lithium ion batteries with a sandwich made up of sheets of graphene with 'nano holes' and silicon which are capable of storing ten times the number of lithium ion's as traditional graphite. This also enable the battery to be charged ten times quicker than normal lithium ion batteries.

The researchers said that the technology could be seen in the marketplace in the next three to five years. Imagine a dream cellphone battery that stayed charged for more than a week and recharged in just 15 minutes!!! Now that's really cool!

A supercomputer that soundly thrashed two of humankind’s most successful players at their owngame.

2012-05-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, after taking a strong lead after day two , IBM’s machine took a resounding win at the end of the third and final day of its Jeopardy challenge. Final score: Watson $77,147, Ken Jennings $24,000, Brad Rutter $21,600.

There were only two situations where the human players showed signs of superiority. The first came in the early questions of day three where Jennings and Rutter appeared to conclude that a round about movies was straightforward enough that it was safe to buzz in immediately and then use the few seconds before their required response to figure out the puzzle. That proved just enough to outdo Watson, which was programmed to (albeit it at a rapid pace) both figure out the answer and decide whether it was worth buzzing in.

The second situation arose on the final question when Jennings, as well as writing the correct answer, wrote “I, for one, welcome out new computer overlords.” Not having been programmed for improvisation, Watson failed to give the correct response of “What would be the best Simpsons line to quote right now?”

Meanwhile IBM has given more explanation about Watson’s incorrect answer of Toronto in a US Cities round. As well as noting the confusion about the Blue Jays playing in the American league, it blamed two further factors. Firstly, there are several smaller cities named Toronto in the United States. Secondly, analysis of previous games suggests that the title of a round doesn’t always match the questions perfectly: in this case Watson failed to distinguish that “US Cities” is indeed a precisely defined group.

We certainly haven’t seen the end of Watson — and don’t forget, in some ways, Apple’s voice-controlled assistant Siri is a consumerized, hand-held version of Watson.

The smallest internal combustion engine

2012-05-23T09:51:00.002-07:00

The size of a toddler’s fingernail, the tiny engine measures just 6mm by 4mm and its creators believe it will replace batteries to become the primary power source for most of our everyday gadgets.

For although it’s mind-boggling to imagine, this engine is 372 times (actually I'm not sure about the power output, some sources over the internet says 700 and others says it's 372 times) more powerful than a standard AA battery and runs for two years on a single squirt of lighter fuel.

One of the main problems faced by engineers who have tried to produce micro motors in the past has been the levels of heat produced. The engines got so hot they burned themselves out and could not be re-used. The Birmingham team overcame this by using heat-resistant materials such as ceramic and silicon carbide.

On the side note, this discovery was made in 2003. But I'm not aware that commercial production of this engine has started or not. If it takes a team of scientists and engineers to build each one, it won’t be replacing batteries any time soon. And it mentions nothing about the difficulty of manufacture. It'll take time for this baby to replace the batteries. Just imagine this little thingy runing inside your phone for two years without requiring any attention... Pretty cool, isn't it?

New way to help quit smoking

2012-05-22T08:07:00.002-07:00

Forget the patches, gum, hypnosis, and aversion therapy, if you want to quit smoking you need to put your money where your mouth is. That's according to the latest report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, which says studies by behavioral economists have shown that paying yourself to quit is more successful than other methods.

The idea is called a commitment contract, under which the smoker regularly places a predetermined amount of money with a neutral third party for the duration of the agreement. Should they kick the habit, as proved by a blood test, they get reimbursed the entire sum. If not, they get nothing.

The research says it works because those trying to quit the ciggies have something to work towards rather than a negatively perceived process many feel compelled to rebel against by lighting up.

Trials of the method in the Philippines found that it proved more than 50 per cent more successful than that of the control group who were just shown pictures of the consequences of smoking.

Brooke Greenberg: A girl frozen in time!

2012-05-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

Left side of this pic is Brooke.

Brooke Greenberg is old enough to drive a car and next year will be old enough to vote — but at16lb in weight and just 30in tall, she is still the size of a one-year-old.

Superficially, Brooke, who lives with her parents Howard and Melanie Greenberg and her three sisters in Reisterstown, a Baltimore suburb, is frozen in time. She looks and acts as if she were asmall toddler — for 17 years her family has changed her nappies, rocked her to sleep and given her cuddles.

Brooke has shown some development, including crawling, smiling and giggling when tickled but she has never learnt to speak and still has her infant teeth.
But she has also suffered a succession of life-threatening health problems, including strokes, seizures, ulcers and breathing difficulties— almost as if she were growing old despite not growing up.

Neko: A cafe' for cat lovers

2012-05-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Austria's first cat cafe, where customers can have drinks while playing with cats, opens in Vienna.

A customer watches cat 'Thomas' inspecting his basket. [LEONHARD FOEGER//Reuters]

[photo; Reuters]

This Cafe opened earlier this month in Vienna city centre. Customers can stroke and interact with the cafe's five feline hosts, named Sonja, Thomas, Moritz, Luca and Momo, who all came from an animal shelter and now freely roam about the cafe and take naps. After three years of negotiations with city officials over hygiene issues, Austria opened its first cat cafe last Friday. 'Cafe Neko', "Neko" meaning cat in Japanese, was opened by Vienna resident Takako Ishimitsu, 47, from Japan. Ishimitsu said she decided to open a cat cafe in order to introduce some aspects of Japanese culture to Vienna. "Showing unknown Japanese concepts is good for Austria. I had various ideas, and the cat cafe project was the least difficult to realize. And at the same time, I can do something good for the Vienna animal shelter which I have been supporting for years," cafe owner Takako Ishimitsu said. She added that the 50-seat cafe was an instant hit with locals and tourists alike.

Two cats 'Thomas' and 'Sonja' strolling around.[LEONHARD FOEGER//Reuters]

"Surprisingly, more than 99 per cent the reactions are positive. One of our goals is to provide some happiness to people who cannot have cats on their own, because of their jobs or family members suffering from allergies," Ishimitsu said.

Resident Evil 6 game releasing this year

2012-05-08T09:21:00.002-07:00

Earlier January of this year, a website named "no hope left" has been on the internet. The site appears to be a viral teaser website featuring various images of biohazard sign, with the phrase 'No hope left' and also the date 19.01.12, spray painted all over the world. The website also features a video in which a chinese woman in a panic wishing that her lover would come home soon. Some people speculate that the website could be a teaser for the game: Resident Evil 6. And it can't be helped for the fact the CAPCOM is known to make the use of viral marketing. Later an official trailer for the game was posted on the website, confirming that the website was indeed a teaser for RE6.

Not much is known about the story of the game. The two traillers published as of today, reveals that the game allows the gamers to select between three scenarios of connected stories. The game also introduces a new enemy named J'avo. In wikipedia, it was mentioned that J'avos are braver and a lot meaner than those good ol' zombies. For example J'avos are able to regenerate parts of their body that's been shot at. From two traillers game's main characters we see are: Leon S.Kennedy, Helena Harper (Leon's partner), Jake Muller, Sherry Berkin (Jake's partner), Chris Radifield and some B.S.A.A agents. The game takes place in 2013, some fourteen years after the US Government's destruction of Raccoon City, and takes place in various places around the world: Leon in the U.S, Jake in Eastern European State of Edonia and Chris in China. During the game locations of the characters crosses each others'.

In the first trailler the release date was announced as 20 November 2012, however in the captive trailer released during April, the release date was put forward by a month to 2 October.

With releasing of the fifth film in the Resident Evil series, Resident Evil: Retribution 3D, in theaters on September 14 th, it’s going to be a very big year for Resident Evil. This marks the first time a movie and game will launch in the same window in the history of the successful franchises.

How to identify a two way mirror

2012-05-07T09:56:00.001-07:00

With the increasing number of clothing shops around the world, it's important that everyone knows how to identify a two way mirror.

Some people may not know what a two way mirror is, so I will take a moment to explain what a two way mirror is. A two way mirror is a mirror that is partially reflective and partially transparent. It's like a normal mirror from one side and a transparent, see through glass from the other side. So, this implies that you could install one of these mirrors in a lady's (or even men's) fitting room and have someone watching on the other side or worse, get a camera to record all of the things going on the inside... The victim will have no idea that he/she is being watched! Creepy? definitely!

So, how to identify these creepy mirrors? Well, you could always tell a hilarious joke or do something funny and hear for someone's laughter...... Just kidding! Fortunately there's a more appealing way to identify those type of mirrors. When ever you enter one of those suspicious looking fitting rooms, check the mirror for the following:
Place your fingertip against the reflective surface; if there is a gap between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is normal mirror.

However if your fingernail directly touches the image of your nail, then it's a two way mirror. Now this might be the good time to leave the place (and inform the authorities).

Now that's all I can tell you about two way mirrors. Happy shopping!!!

Funny Windows Glitches

2012-05-05T08:28:00.002-07:00

Today while I surfing Internet I stumbled upon this hilarious tricks, that you could test out next time you have spare time on a computer. By the way, I think this tricks only works for Microsoft Windows platforms.

1.Try to make a folder with only the word “con”. Try again.... Try again. No matter how hard you try you cannot create a folder with the name “con”. (Don’t ask me, I don’t know why.)

2.Go to Notepad. Type in "Bush hid the facts"(without the quotes), save the file as whatever you want, close it and open it. Now that’s too weird. However, if you edit a text document this will not happen.

3.Type this into Microsoft word:
=rand(200,99)
And most people will be like "Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!”

Funny facebook prank

2012-05-05T07:14:00.004-07:00

The prank is very simple. Just post a status using this link , - http://facebook.com/profile.php?=638383373

This link looks like a link of original Facebook profile. But actually this link is not valid. The code is given randomly and whenever some one clicks the link,will be redirected to their own profile.

Now you can make a prank by posting status like " Everybody Please report against this stupid profile - http://facebook.com/profile.php?=638383373"

Obviously your friends are going to check who's profile is that. They will be very shock to see their own profile. Most Probably they will get upset and may ask you why you are doing this.? why? :P

How to change start-up programs

2012-05-05T00:31:00.003-07:00

Is your computer running more slowly than usual? That might be because the useless demo software you installed the other week might be starting with every system reboot and taking up all of your RAM memory. Or worse, some bogus virus from that suspicious looking pen drive your friend gave you, and that virus starting up with every system reboot. Whatever the reason a startup tweak may help to get your computer run faster.

This method to modify your startup settings is tested on Microsoft Windows XP. This might also work on other Microsoft platforms. If it does let me know by leaving a comment. Without talk delay, here is the steps:

1. Click start menu and open up run dialogue box. You can also do this by pressing ‘windows key’ and ‘R’ simultaneously.

2.On the run dialogue box type “msconfig” and click ‘OK’. This will open “System Configuration Utility”.

3.On “System Configuration Utility” window you will see some tabs above. From those tabs navigate to tab named “startup”. There should be a list of programs there. un-check the programs you don’t want to start with windows.

Note:- Some programs are vital for windows start-up deselecting this programs may result in failure of system start-up. This web site may help you decide, which programs can be disabled safely.

4.Click “OK” and restart your computer.

Fun with google

2012-05-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

Google Search Engine is the most famous Search Engine available with a lot of advanced features. But did you know that sometimes even Google want to make fun with their users. Here are someways to play with google.

Barrel roll
Search "do a barrel roll" and watch google search results do a spin of 360 degrees across the browser.... Just like a barrel roll. Yes, google obeyed your command!!

Zerg rush
Want to feel the pressure of been overpowered by sheer number? Just jot "zerg rush" in to google search and try to defend your results from being destroyed by enemies shaped like letter "O". Click on the letters to destroy them.

Pacman
Another game! Started out as a Google doodle in 2010, but the Google Pacman game was so popular, it was given a permanent home page.

Chuck Norris
In the mode for a little joke? Google has it all. Write "find chuck Norris" and hit I’m feeling lucky and watch google goes into joker mode!

Google gravity
Type "google gravity" on google search engine, press I'm feeling lucky button. Watch as google become a victim of gravity and falls to the bottom of your browser. While google is fallen down write your search in the box and click search button. You will see search results fall from above the browser. While the results or/and google home page is fallen down, you will be able to play with the fallen pieces. Drag around one of the piece with your mouse and see other pieces fly around when hit by the piece your draging.

Laundry
Google is a search engine packed with many features such as Gmail, social networking, news, shopping and many more. And do you think that Gmail function of google can do your laundry for you? I personally think no, but the option "have Gmail do the laundry" is available as a suggestion, on the suggestion list of the Gmail. Maybe someday google will do that!!

That's all for now, thank you. Have fun!!

Some helpful features of google search

2012-04-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

World clock

Google will display the time in any country/city across the world. Just search by typing something like the following phrases or sentences:

Time city name

City name time

What is the time in city name?

Conversions

Google search can convert currency and units into one another just search:

USD EURO

USD in EURO

xUSD in EURO

Convert xUSD to EURO

km mile

km in mile

xkm in mile

AND MANY MORE!

Note: above “x” is a numerical number.

Finding Weather

Google search could also become a meteorologist. Just type, “weather city name”, with out quotes.

Title Search

My favorite feature. This feature make Google neglect those articles which are just stuffed with keywords, making the search more reliable and less time consuming. Here is the keyword:

intitle:Type your search here

Dictionary

Type “Define: your word” hit search button and viola, Google is now a dictionary.

Calculator

For some people feature may not be helpful, because for them Internet is slow and the waiting time is not worth it, but Google can be a great calculator if you like using your keyboard and not a mouse pointer in the native calculator app of the operating system. Typing can be like this:

X+Y

X*Y

sqrt X

..........

There are other features as well but these are the features that I think would be most useful. I’ve tested the above phrases, but if you happen to know others, a comment would be helpful to others.

New comet to sweep through solar system in 2013

2012-04-28T01:06:00.001-07:00

First picture of the comet PANSTARS.
Image source: www.space.com

After Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) in 2007, this comet may have the potential become the next brightest comets of this century.

When the CCDs of the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) picked up the traces of a comet on June 6 2011, it was an inconspicuous object of 19th magnitude. Named after the telescope, the comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARS), is expected to pass within 28 million miles of the sun in march 9, 2013. During the perihelion the comet is expected to reach a peak magnitude of 0, which is as bright as star Capella.

10 months later, now inside the orbit of jupiter, the PANSTARS is now an object of 14th magnitude at 5 astronomical units from the sun.

Whether the comet will be visible to the naked eye or not, is still a subject of debate amongst the experts. Because of it's closeness to the sun during perihelion, it will only stay in the night sky only an hour or two. During this time the sky could be too bright or it could be obscured by the clouds. Of course observations with telescopes/binoculars is still possible.