The iSamrat Hub

Use Google Adwords Keywords tool for SEO-ing your website/blog

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 16:23:00 +0000

Do you want to attract more visitors to your blog or website? If you own a blog or website you probably want to. How do you do that? SEO is the answer to market you blog. Almost all of the people on the Internet use a search engine like Google or yahoo to find useful tools. The good news is that you can optimize your site so it can be found easily on these search engines. Here's the trick.

Most popular search engine will crawl through the vast World Wide Web searching for keywords as entered by the user. A site with more use of keywords, (usually) ranks higher in search results.

Now, Google Adsense Keywords provides a service to let you the webmaster know the density of searches related to the topic of your website/blog. Using this data, which comes from the world's most used search engine, you can Search-engine optimise your site.

This service lets you know how many times a specific keyword has been searched for in Google, how much advertisers are willing to advertise in sites with the keywords and so on. The service even suggests commonly mis-spelt keywords, so you can intentionally misspell some words, so more visitors land on your page.

To use this service point your browser to- https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

The possibilities of time travel

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:42:00 +0000

Imagine going to the past and meeting Einstein, Shakespeare or da Vinci. Imagine going to the future and meeting your great grandchildren. Time traveling opens possibilities to such seemingly impossible tasks. But time traveling itself seems possible. Time traveling means to travel through time and go to different times anytime you want. Time traveling has till now only been a good topic for science fiction writers. It has only existed in imagination. But is there enough intelligence in human beings to turn imagination into reality? Will man make the time machine, a device which can travel through time?

Ronald Mallett is one such man who is determined to build a time machine. He is a physics professor at the University of Connecticut. With a brilliant idea and Einstein’s equations Mallett has designed a time machine which uses circulating laser beams. Black holes, wormholes and cosmic strings- all three phenomena are proposed for time traveling, although all of them are possible, none seem feasible due to the gigantic mass they require. So, instead using any of the above three Mallett’s time machine uses light in the form of circulating laser light to warp or loop time. While, his team is still looking for funding, Mallett hopes that the time machine will be built within 10 years. Mallett believes that depending on the technology and funding time travel may be possible this century.

When people show concerns over time traveling Mallett assures them that time traveling is not dangerous. “The Grandfather paradox [ in which you go to the past and kill your grandfather before you were born] is not an issue” says Mallett “when you travel in time means you are both traveling in time and into other universes.”

“When you go back into the past,” Mallett says,” you’ll go into another universe and the things you do in your visit to the past does not affect our universe.”

Mallett has also written a book about this grand project with New York Times best-selling author Bruce Henderson. The book is named Time Traveler: A Scientist’s Personal Mission to make Time Travel a Reality

Mallett’s father died at the age of 33 of a heart attack when Mallett was 10 years old. After reading The Time Machine by H.G.Wells, he was determined to build a time machine so that he could go back to the past and warn his father about the dangers of smoking so that his father’s heart attack and death could be prevented.

Mallett now is 62 and he believes that he will live to see the first time machine. Sadly, the way it works means that he will never be able to fulfill his original wish - to warn his father about his deteriorating health. ”My solace is that if this works, future generations will be able to prevent the type of tragedy that I went through" says Mallett.

Natural ways to stay awake

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:23:00 +0000

Whether you’re a student studying for his exams or an employee preparing a long presentation, when you have to stay awake till late nights, you’ll probably have to take a cup of coffee. Staying awake naturally is just too difficult for some people. Most people have to depend on cups and cups and coffee to remain alert. But the caffeine contained in the coffee is very harmful for health as it directly affects your heart. However, most people cannot stop pouring in coffee due to their busy work schedule.

But there are some ways you can apply even to your busy schedule, so that you can remove fatigue and stay alert, without coffee or any other drugs. The tips listed here might sound simple but they really help you to stay awake naturally.

1. Get enough sleep. The best way to stay awake when you require it is to get enough sleep when you’re free. Unless you get enough sleep, you’ll easily get fatigued under the stress from your work.

2. Take a light diet. If you know you’ve to stay awake, take a light diet in the mealtime. Taking a heavy diet makes your digestive system do extra work thus making you tired.

3. Take deep breaths. If you feel sleepy when you’re not supposed to, begin taking deep breaths. Taking in enough oxygen helps remove fatigue.

4. Light exercise. Do some light exercise each day. This keeps your body and mind active and fresh.

5. Wash your face with cold water. Every hour or so, get away from your work and wash your face with cold water. It helps refresh you.

6. Entertain yourself. Watch some funny video clips or photos. Or read some really funny jokes. This really keeps you alert.

7. Walk. Walk around in your room, office or house, after every two hours of work or study. Dong this gives you some break plus it refreshes you mind.

8. Proper ventilation. Make sure the room you work in receives plenty of fresh air. Open the windows, or use an air conditioner.

9. Have a conversation. Having a conversation keeps the mind alert for some hours. You could have a brief conversation with your coworker or with some friends on the phone, to keep yourself free from fatigue.

10. Drink enough water. Water helps lessen fatigue. Also, it makes sure you go to the bathroom, so you get a break.

11. Take power naps. Take short naps lasting from 6 to 10 minutes to relieve you from fatigue. However, use a vibrating alarm clock. Also, don’t nap during work hours. You could get into trouble.

12. Vacations. Take vacations regularly. Doing this will prevent on developing too much stress on you.

These simple ways will help you stay awake naturally if you implement these into your busy schedules. While a cup of coffee may keep you awake, it’s not healthy for you. Also, the above mentioned tips can keep you awake as or even more effectively as caffeine can.

Using mannequins to promote your retail business

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 10:02:00 +0000

A mannequin is an articulated doll used mainly to showcase clothing items. Many retail stores have tapped the potential of the mannequin in attracting customers. Mannequins give a ‘human touch’ to the store.

Mannequins can be used in the front window of the store to showcase the stores latest and greatest items. Often, store owners use mannequins to display their best pieces of clothing. Mannequins give your store the chance to define to your customer, its own unique style.

You can also attract customers by displaying current fashion trends on the front window, with the use of mannequins. Many stores also display clothing and other clothing gear (like hats and jewelry) according to the season. For example, they display swimsuits in the summer; coats in the winter and so on.

Making efficient mannequins is also important in the clothing business. While making or buying mannequins you should see to it that effective body language has been portrayed. The mannequins should be able to suit the type of store it’s going to represent.

To sum up, mannequins can act as an ambassador for many types of retail stores. Since, mannequins give your customers the feel of what your store has to offer, use of mannequins is a must. Furthermore, the clothing a mannequin should get should be changed regularly to give the impression that the store is updated in terms of fashion trends.

How To Promote Your Business Using Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 07:25:00 +0000

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform where you can send posts, called ‘tweets’, up to 140 characters long as frequently as you wish. You can follow someone, so you see all of his/her tweets. If someone follows you, he/she will get notified of all your ‘tweets’. It’s basically like sending short text messages to all the people who subscribe to you.

Now, most celebrities use Twitter to let their fans know what they’re up to. They have been using Twitter to remind people about them every once in a while so that they become even more popular. What most businesses don’t realize is that Twitter can equally beneficial for a business as it has been for celebrities. After all, both celebrities and businesses do want to become more popular.

Businesses who’ve used Twitter have found out they could use it to connect with employees and customer at a more personal level. It can be used for gaining the trust of the customer and establishing of the brand.
By now, if you own a business, you must already have gone to the Twitter homepage and signed up if you hadn’t already. But, unless you have some basic idea about Twitter and Twittering, Twitter can turn into a disaster.

Here are seven basic tips to make Twitter a profitable experience for your business:
1. Use @businessname for your business’s tweets. This helps your customers connect with you more easily. Plus, this directly establishes brand identity.
2. Follow others. Follow your customers and employees. Read their tweets and offer them help.
3. Don’t advertise. You might get tempted to advertise on your tweets but this will just damage the identity of your business both in the Twittersphere and in the real world.
4. Offer tidbits and advice. For example, if you own a cake shop give some quick tips on how to make cakes. This really prompts people to begin following you.
5. Announce. Announce new products or latest happenings in your tweets. If you own a bookshop, you could tweet about the fastest selling book of the week.
6. Promote your Twitter. By placing a sign on your shop or even your business card, you can help people find you on Twitter. When people begin following you, they’ll get closer to your company.
7. Announce contests and giveaways on your tweets. Free stuff gets a lot of attention, especially on the Web.

140 characters of plain text can do a lot to promote your business. For some businesses, it has proved fruitful than advertising on newspapers or even on the television. Don’t expect quick but short term sales but aim for long-term brand reputation. By establishing brand reputation with Twitter, you’ll automatically attract lots of customers- just with 140-character tweets!!

Stocks 101: Understanding Stocks

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:41:00 +0000

Have you ever heard some one saying terms like stock, bearish market, bullish market and, have been left wondering? Do you want to begin putting your money into investments so that they grow for you? [Disclaimer: investing in stocks can be risky if not researched into well].

A stock is, basically, a share in the ownership of a company. By becoming a shareholder of the company you become entitled to the earnings and assets of the company. As one acquires more of the company’s stocks, his ownership stake in the company becomes higher. Stocks can also be called shares or equity.

By becoming the owner of a stock of the company, you have a claim on everything the company owns- furniture, trademarks, and so on. However, your ownership is proportional to the percentage of company’s shares you own; so usually you’ll have a very less claim over the company’s total assets.

Why companies sell stock?
A person owns a company which is doing great. Its products are doing well in the market and profits are quite high. Why then would the person sell the stock of his company instead of owning 100% of the company? After all, he knows the company will do great in the future too.
The answer to that is: to get money. Any company needs cash to grow. So, to acquire the cash for the company to grow beyond its current size, the company is made a public company by selling its shares or stock.

Why people buy stock?
So, why would one buy the stock of a company? They buy a specific company’s stock because they think the company can do well. Now, if the company does well the shareholder benefits too because the value of the stock they hold rises and they can sell the stock for a higher price than they had bought for, thus earning a profit. Also, if a company does well and earns some profit it may decide to send out its earnings to its shareholders. Each shareholder receives a fraction of the money, called dividend, based upon his ownership stake in the company.
So, that is why people go into the trouble of buying stocks.

Understanding risk
Before buying the stock of any company, no matter how “great” it may be, you should understand that stocks involve a lot of risk and if not decided properly you can lose your hard-earned money. However, if you choose your stocks really well, high risk can equal to higher returns on your investment. So, one should really do a lot of research on what a company (and its rivals) is up to before buying its stocks.
In the stock exchange you can make different types of investments- long term, short term, value, growth and the list can become very long. Also, you can invest in companies sector-wise (for example you may choose to invest in manufacturing and infrastructure.

This article is just an introduction to stocks and you probably have much more to learn before putting your money on stocks. Remember, you don’t have to be a millionaire to start investing. You can start investing with small amounts you’ve saved. And maybe one day, you could wake up to find yourself a millionaire.

5 best places for tourists in Kathmandu

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 06:14:00 +0000

Planning to come to Nepal for a vacation? 2011 is the Nepal Tourism Year and officially the tourism year has already been inaugurated. So, what can you expect in Nepal?

Yes, most tourists go trekking to base camps or go paragliding right away. Most tourists, however, miss some of the greatest part of Nepal- Kathmandu.

Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, can be a enchanting experience for the traveler. Despite being a bit overcrowded with a lot of noise, pollution and traffic, there are many great places in Kathmandu worth a visit.
Here is a short list of some of the best place for tourists to hang out in Kathmandu Valley.

1. Garden of Dreams (tel: 977 01 442 5340)

This is the perfect place for some peaceful time with yourself or a loved one. Whether to give yourself a break after all the trekking or from the chaotic streets of Kathmandu, you can visit the Garden of Dreams (or Swapna Bagaincha) for a stroll in the evening.

Don't miss this great landmark when in Kathmandu.
The site also has a on-site bar called Kaiser Bar.

2. 1905 (tel: (977-01) 422 5272)
This venerable restaurant which lies just across the street from the Garden of Dreams, has boasted many a state function in its day. Queen Elizabeth II herself had dined here.

3. Kathmandu Durbar Square

Lying at the heart of the Valley, this site is an ancient square with palaces and temples, including the current incarnation of the Kasthamandap or "Wooden house" that gives the city its name. The square has been in active use since the construction of a palace around 1000 AD. This site is the most popular UNESCO World Heritage Site in Nepal.

This is perfect for tourists seeking to understand Nepal's cultural history.

4. Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastry. (tel: 977-01-448 3575

Boudha, the Buddhist area where the famous Boudhanath stupa is located is another great place in Kathmandu. You can visit Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastry for the weekly 11-am English-lecture by its renowned abbot Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche.

5. Pilgrims Book House

Pilgrims in Thamel (next to the Kathmandu Guest house) is the largest and most well established English language bookshop in Kathmandu. They have great sections on Buddhism (a whole room devoted to vajrayana), as well as an encyclopedic selection on books devoted to subjects on Nepal. This place also sells great music and videos. So, its a great place if you want to know more about Nepal, Tibet, India, Buddhism, and so on.

You can also visit this place for buying souvenirs.

Nepal Tourism Year 2011: An overview

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:27:00 +0000

On October 25, 2008 the Government of Nepal decided to organize a national campaign called the "Nepal Tourism Year 2011". The campaign is an effort to promote Nepal as a tourist destination. The government anticipates receiving at least one million tourists by the year 2011. Also, the government plans to expand Nepal’s tourism industry so, it consistently receives high number of tourists. The declaration of the tourism year was made after consulting with the private sector, tourism entrepreneurs and media partners.

The Nepal Tourism Year 2011 will officially commence on February 26, 2010 in a program organized at Tundikhel in Kathmandu, Nepal. Promotion of the Nepal Tourism Year includes the geographical, cultural, biological and religious diversity of Nepal. The main highlights of the tourism year seem to be trekking, adventurous sports, mountain expeditions and wildlife safari. Hotels and other tourist facilities are improvising themselves for the tourism year. Many international airlines have also begun international flights to Tribhuwan International Airport, the only international airport in Nepal.

The first tourists Nepal received were the mid-20th century hippies like Jimmy Hendrix. Since, then, Nepal has become quite popular as a tourist destination. Most tourists, who visit Nepal, have fallen in love with the peoples’ hospitable culture. Tourism-concerned industries are pressurizing the government to improve services for tourists.
Out of the world’s ten tallest mountains, eight, including the world’s tallest Mt. Everest, lie in Nepal. Popular trekking routes have been developed around these mountains such as the Annapurna Trekking route. Also, many tourists also prefer to trek to the Everest base camp.

One new concept the Nepali tourism industry seems to be adopting for the Tourism Year of 2011 is that of ‘luxury travel’. Existing hotels are turning into star hotels and new luxury hotels are popping up. Spas, resorts and other luxury services are also being embraced by Nepalese entrepreneurs in excitement of the tourism year.

Nepal is going through its peace process after its 10 year long civil war. The political leaders have envisioned “Nepal Tourism Year” as a part of their plan in bringing about rapid economic expansion. This mega event in the Nepalese tourism sector is an attempt to harness the tremendous possibilities of tourism in Nepal.

Also, the declaration of tourism year has tried to incorporate the expertise and dynamicity of the government, private sector, organizations (like Nepal Tourism Board) and so on. The networks of Non-Residents Nepalese have also been mobilized in promoting tourism. Various other promotional campaigns have also been organized in order to promote the Tourism Year itself.

Tapping opportunities

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:17:00 +0000

Opportunities are everywhere. Many a time you must have seen or heard of someone making a fortune from simple ideas. Take Twitter for a example. Anyone could have thought of that before Jack Dorsey.

There are thousands of other such examples, which prove that we overlook opportunities around us. Only when someone else makes a fortune for himself, do we realize the simple and obvious presence of that opportunity.

During the 1850s gold rush, everyone went to mine for gold. Only a few actually could strike gold, and a even less number was actually make a fortune. But, those who sold the equipment to those miners actually got rich. Levi Strauss (known for the famous company Levi's) is one of those people who tapped an opportunity in time.

All he did was sell jeans during the gold rush. It wasn't even fashionable then.

So, always keep you eyes open for opportunities. Who knows you might find just the right one?

e=mc^2, explained

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:34:00 +0000

In one of Albert Einstein’s revolutionary scientific papers published in 1905, E=mc2 was introduced. Since then, E=mc2 probably has been the most famous equation in the world. E=mc2 has become overwhelmingly popular in the society. Even people with no background in physics have at least heard of the equation and are aware of its prodigious influence on the world we live in. However, most people do not exactly know what the equation means

This article will explain to you about the world’s most famous equation, E=mc2, in a simple and brief way.

The equation is a direct result of the work of Einstein on special relativity. Simply put, this equation tells us that mass and energy are two forms of the same thing; before the work of Einstein this concept had not been considered by the global intellectual community for explaining some of the basic laws of the Universe. In the right condition, mass can turn into energy and energy can turn into mass. Here, ‘right condition’ refers to near-to-light-speed. Maybe, that is why we humans feel difficult to perceive it - because we are too slow in comparison to light. Light moves at a speed of roughly 670 million miles per hour.

To find out how much energy an object has, multiply the mass of the object by the square of the speed of light. But why multiply? That’s because, when mass is converted into energy, the resulting energy is by definition moving at the speed of light. Pure energy is electromagnetic radiation and electromagnetic radiation always moves at the speed of light (light is also a kind of electromagnetic wave).

The equation requires you to use the square of speed of light because of the nature of energy. When a body begins to move twice as fast as it’s moving now, it does not use twice as much as energy. It uses four times more. This is related to the formula of kinetic energy: kinetic energy= (1/2) x mass x velocity2; did you notice that the velocity is squared? Oh, and by the way, speed and velocity is roughly the same thing.
Because the square of the speed of light is a very large figure: around 448,900,000,000,000,000 in units of mph; even a small chunk of matter can produce a large amount of energy.

Perhaps the reason why the equation is so widely celebrated is because of its capability to explain basic natural processes: from microscopic radioactivity to the big bang itself. It has explained the phenomenon of emission of huge amounts of energy from radioactive elements (such as Uranium). It has also explained how the sun produces energy, just to name a few.

E=mc2 has also enabled the creation of new technologies like PET scans in the health sector, nuclear energy, etc. Moreover, the famed equation has revolutionized the way we think about the Universe.
I hope that this brief article has helped you build up a basic comprehension of the world’s most famous equation.

Is climate change really worth fighting?

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:50:00 +0000

When, finally, no agreement was signed in Copenhagen last December (2009), everyone seemed to get disappointed. Climate change seems to have made quite a reputation of its own for a could-be Armageddon.

But could it be that climate change scientists, activists and researchers are exaggerating about the consequences of climate change? Is climate change a war worth putting billions of taxpayers’ dollars into?

Yes, climate change is probably for real. Various researches have accurately proved that the earth’s climate is changing in an unnatural rate and direction. But, need we put so much of our efforts in stopping climate change?

If you plant a tree to stop global warming, that’s great and I’d appreciate your effort. But do countries really need to cut emissions by huge fractions just to stop climate change. If it was just about the technology, it’d be really okay. Countries could be made to use efficient technologies.

But the recent talks at COP15, and other climate change talks, indicate that entire economies may have to get capped in order to fight climate change.

Climate change is preventable, claim scientists, but so are road accidents. Everyone, knows that if the government pushes the maximum speed to 5 kmph or even just 10 kmph then, the number of road accidents will come down to almost zero.
But, the prize of preventing the road accidents is simply not worth all the valuable time that would be lost if the world moved at 5 kilometers an hour!

Similarly, climate change could be just another battle, which is simply not worth fighting.

Do post comments on your views on whether climate change is actually worth fighting against OR cast your vote in the polls below

Online Surveys & Market Research

Blog got deleted by Blogger. Beware!!

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:48:00 +0000

My previous blog- iSamrat (http://isamrat.blogspot.com) got deleted by Blogger [sobs…] because it was suspected and later “verified” by Google (who happens to own Blogger, in case you didn’t know) as containing scam. I had put a lot of effort into the blog, especially the promotional part, and the blog had just got an additional 7 subscribers [I know it’s not a great figure but, hey, it was just starting out!!], the day before this (mournful??) incident happened.

Well, I tried to restore the blog and waited for a few days, still hopeful. I was checking my email so many times in a day to see if Google had replied. I had thought I lost all my posts (as I directly type them out into Blogger), when I (fortunately) remembered about the blog’s FeedBurner feed.

The feeds, thankfully, had the full posts so I could use them again.

I, however, do not think that Google deleting my blog was accidental. Someone had posted some links written in Chinese, as comments to the blog posts, which were probably offensive. As, I had not cared to turn on the ‘Comment Moderation’ option in my previous blog, it resulted in such trouble for me.

This has been a useful lesson for me, though. And I’ve written this post especially to let all you fellow (honest) Blogspot-bloggers, know how not to get your Blogger blog identified as scam.

The first thing to prevent your blog from getting accused of spamming is: DON’T SCAM. As obvious as it may seem, many innocent bloggers do spam (in accordance to the Google definition of spam) without actually intending to. Now, Google can mark your blog a scam for various reasons including the use of the popular ‘in-text ads’ (this could be another reason my blog got deleted).

The second thing you could do is, to turn the comment moderation option on. By turning this on, comments will not appear on your blog unless you approve them. Although, approving every comment, may seem troublesome, it’s really worth the effort and it’s even necessary. If you prefer to keep the comment moderation off, at least make sure that you delete those meaningless and irrelevant comments you could get from spammers.

Getting you blog detected as spam is one of the most frustrating and annoying things that could happen to you. If your blog does happen to get suspected of spam (or any other violation of Terms of Service) then immediately post out your problem in ‘Something is Broken’ forums in the Google Help Forums.

You’ll be replied with a message by someone in the forum, prompting you carry out four steps. These four steps include (1)reading some articles (which I really found unnecessary and annoying), (2)clicking the ‘Restore access’ link in the Blogger Dashboard, (3)filling out another form in Google spreadsheets, and then (4)finally sending out a post in the Forums containing the dates of when you carried out steps #2 and #3.

You actually have to do all these steps in order. Step 1 is mainly for the purpose of educating bloggers about spam, what Blogger is doing to stop them ….blah…blah. Really boring stuff.

After you complete the four steps, Google has two days to re-check whether your blog is an actual spam.

So, you see waiting those two days (three actually, as I had thought I’d actually get back my blog) were really painful.

But, now I have this great new blog, which I really hope doesn’t get blocked again. I was just posting out some of the post from my old blog when I came up with the idea to share the main reason I was having the trouble.

"Generation Gap"

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:50:00 +0000

This article titled 'Generation Gap', written by me, was published in The Kathmandu Post(Nepal) on February 9, 2010. You can view the online version here or just read on. The article is regarding the natural gap that exists between the generations in society.

The conflict of ideologies regarding the way of life between two generations can be called as generation gap. Generation gap, in one form or the other, is a widespread phenomenon in every society irrespective of how different culture and the way of life they practice. It has existed among all generations, although, there may be variations in degree, some too narrower while others quite wider.

With the span of time, societies evolve, in terms of culture, morality, and way of living due to growth in science and technology. The growth in science and technology, in a continuously changing time, has an impact on our way of living, and this also helps build our perceptions of life. In older times, our parents and grandparents may have perceived something to be totally wrong or unacceptable, but the very things, now, may be ordinary and practical to us. Similarly, what might seem very uncommon to us now might be a thing to be followed by our children tomorrow.

Every generation struggles and fights with other generations to make their thoughts and perspectives accepted in the society. Even our older generations had a conflicting thought with their elders, and they still have it with us. The same is going to be the case between us and our younger generations.

When we do not understand the differing ideas of others, we tend to be in clash with the older or younger generation. The “Y” generation always is of the opinion that their ideas are not given a proper respect. They find the old ways of living boring and unfashionable. Similarly, the older ones also find it hard to deal with their young children. Many people belonging to older generations despise their younger ones accusing them of not following the older culture.

Although there seems to be lot of problems due to the generation gap, it should be taken as a natural occurrence, because, it is just the result of the evolution of human mind. In my opinion, generation gap need not be viewed with negative spectacles alone; rather, it should be welcomed, with proper understanding between the two. Also, the differences in opinion and way of living between the two indicate that our society is in the process of advancements made by science and technology.

While it would be wrong to disrespect someone’s culture, I think that it is also better for the older generations to adapt themselves with the changing time. They should listen to the ideas of new generation and give them positive feedback and encouraging thought, in time of need. Younger generations, for their part, can learn a lot by the experiences of the older ones, and they should respect them for that. We should understand that each generation possesses its own unique way of living and thinking, and there should be room for various kinds of ideas. The collective ideas from both generations can create a better and mature society.

"Power Relations"

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:10:00 +0000

This article titled 'Power Relations', written by me, was published in The Kathmandu Post(Nepal) on December 20, 2009. You can view the online version here or just read on. It's about the use of inverters in power-crippled Nepal.

Inverters, nowadays, seems to have kept many of us Kathmanduites out of darkness during the load-shedding hours. The use of inverters is rapidly increasing as the electricity authority increases the load-shedding hours. But, what most of us fail to understand is that the use of inverters is triggering a vicious cycle which ultimately victimises us, the consumers, into more and more hours of power cuts. Eventually when the power requirement exceeds power generation, our inverters will no longer be able to work long enough to put us through the power cuts. Many of us, I hope, still recall the long power cuts we had to face last year (how could anyone forget it?).

When a large number of households begin to install inverters they directly increase their power requirement and consequently the power requirement of the whole country. In a way, we are being selfish by storing some electricity into our inverter batteries which would otherwise be distributed evenly throughout the whole country.

Inverters also increase the energy demand in the country hence forcing the Nepal Electricity Authority to increase load-shedding hours. So we end up with more power cuts — eventually to the point where our inverters cannot cope with the long dark hours. This in turn tempts more people to start using inverters. As more households install inverters, power cuts will also gradually begin to rise. It must now already be evident to you how this continues in a fast growing vicious circle. Now, if only a few households were using such inverters, the energy demand wouldn’t surge up. But it’s obvious to all of us that this is certainly not the case here.

It might seem unfair for you to stay in the dark for a few hours, but it is also certainly not fair to use the electricity to charge up our inverter batteries. We must understand that we are depriving those people who cannot afford to buy an inverter, of the electricity they would get if the inverters weren’t used. This is an ethical and moral issue, which we are facing daily but which is taken for granted by most of the people.

Inverters do not generate energy and in the long run they will not, in any way, help to cut off load-shedding hours. They just store some energy which we get during non-load shedding hours so we can use that to run some electrical appliances. So, what we should focus on, instead, is to try and harness hydroelectricity and other alternative sources of energy which will ultimately lead us to a load-shedding-free and prosperous Nepal.

How to use The Secret

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:53:00 +0000

'The Secret' is a 2006 film featuring a powerful law called the 'law of attraction'. The Secret or the law of attraction was discovered by Rhonda Byrne, who is also the creator, author, and producer of both the book and the movie. After its release in March 2006, millions have watched the movie.

The law of attraction basically states that our lives are shaped by our thinking. If you visualize ourselves earning money, we earn money; if we imagine yourself in debt, you end up in debt. Now, the movie and the book is told to empower ordinary people like us with the power to control the Secret for ourselves.

I just recently watched the movie and I was just wondering whether this law of attraction really works. However, I figured out, that there is really no way to measure whether the law of attraction works. In fact, all such universal and cosmological powers are mysterious and abstract. But what I can say is that The Secret powers The Secret itself.

If you think the Secret works, you attract it and then the Secret does work. If you think the Secret doesn't work, you still attract it and then the Secret doesn't work. But in both cases, if you read carefully, you'll find that the Secret has already done its job. Sounds paradoxical? It is.You choose whether the secret works for you or not. That, my friend, is the secret of the Secret.

Scribd.com- Easy online document sharing

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:24:00 +0000

Scribd has, basically done to text, what Youtube has done to video. It is the largest social publishing networking containing tens of millions of original writings, documents and extracts from books. On Scribd you can turn PDF files, Word documents, excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations into web documents and share it with the world.

The company, with its headquarters in San Francisco, was established in March 2007. It gets tens of millions of readers every month browsing through 10 million documents with around 35 billion words. It supports 90 different languages.

Many leading media companies and businesses distribute content through Scribd, including The New York Times, Ford Motor Company, Simon & Schuster, O'Reilly, World Bank, Chicago Tribune, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and more.

Albert Einstein: A short biography

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:18:00 +0000

Albert Einstein is a renowned name not only among physicists and scientists but to the whole world. He was and is known as a genius.

Einstein was a simple man. He was born on Friday March 14, 1879. In school days, his teachers and friends hated him. He was teased and considered stupid. He was hated by his friends for mainly two
reasons:

1.Because he was a Jew.
2.He was quite different from others. (Some believe him to be quite socially maladjusted)

He was one of the quietest students in the class. Yet because of curiosity he was the one who used to ask the most questions to teachers. This was yet another reasons his teachers hated him.

He was once in his childhood amazed at the behavior of the compass. He later decided that "something deeply hidden had to be behind things." Most of his free time he'd find himself playing his violin or scribbling notes.

Einstein was interested in Math, Physics, Politics and religion. Einstein was a religious man but he was not discriminate about different religions. It is believed that when Einstein's uncle had taught him algebra head had said that algebra is a merry science and in algebra we have to find the identity of an unknown entity which is called x. The definition probably made Einstein interested in algebra and so for the rest of his life he took algebraic equations not as assignments but as puzzles that he'd do just for fun.

In 1905 A.D a scientific revolution took place due to three papers by Einstein that had been published in Annalen der Physik (Annals of Physics). The idea presented makes up an important part in the quantum theory. Max K.E.L Planck had proposed that radiation of light occurred in packets of energy called quanta, Einstein later extended the idea by arguing that light consisted of quanta, which was later called photons. With the idea he explained the photoelectric effect. He explained that the photons of light hits the metal and forces it to lose electrons. This is the photoelectric effect.

In his second paper he explained the electrodynamics of moving bodies. It also consisted of the Special theory of Relativity. His third paper had an explanation of the Brownian movement.

In 1915 A.D, ten years after the three papers had been published; Einstein presented yet another paper named 'General Theory of Relativity'. According to Einstein the General theory was based on the Special theory.

For the rest of his life, from 1920 A.D Einstein tried to create the unified field theory. But in spite of his strong determination and hard work he had no success in it. Till this date the unified field theory has not been properly
finalized.

Einstein was first married to Mileva Maric, whom he later divorced. And later he married his own cousin, Elsa.

It seems that Einstein was not much in a want of 'more' money, because despite many of the magazines had offered him a large sum of money for his autography, he refused. His 'Autobiographical Notes' is the only autobiography he has written.

It is said that Einstein had spoken his last words in German, in front of a nurse who didn't understand German so no one knows what actually his last words were. After his death in 1955 A.D his brain was kept preserved, which was studied by scientists to find the secret of the great genius of Albert Einstein.

How science affects our society

noreply@blogger.com (Sam) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:15:00 +0000

Science has, in a way, truly revolutionized our lives. Medical science has increased life expectancy and reduced infant mortality rates. The usage of chemical fertilizers in agriculture has resulted in higher agricultural yields. Electronic goods have transformed the way we live at home. These goods have also opened up a whole new possibility for digital entertainment. Many such aspects of science have been embedded to our daily lives. But some portion has yet to define the roles its play within the human society.

We are living in a world where new scientific developments and inventions are taking place all around us. Throughout the past century and now there have been important developments in astronomy and physics too. But, what difference do these discoveries mean to us as individuals? Yes, maybe there are possibilities for living out there in space or even just utilizing minerals from mars. But what is the significance of a newly discovered star to us as individuals, is yet to be justified.

Maybe man has always wanted, by instinct, to explore the unknown. In the 17th century, he was discovering islands and continents. Now, he’s looking out for stars and planets in space. Large organizations and millions of dollars are invested in space programs in many developed nations. These investments also include the taxpayer’s dollar. These programs are however not lacking public support. A large portion of the population is also enthusiastic about such space programs.

It is this instinctive urge that keeps such scientific developments go on even though they do not presently, affect human society as a whole. Humans, as a species, have always been curious of the unknown. Maybe that’s why man is into making new discoveries in sectors which presently do not affect our lives directly. Perhaps, someday, let us hope that even such discoveries will prove fruitful.