Variety

2010-09-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

An iPhone app that measures pollutants in air

A new smartphone application can now allow users to keep a tab on the air quality and see the level of pollutants around them.

Computer scientists in the University of Southern California hope that as many users as possible download and try it in order to improve the software. Currently, the download works for smartphones running the Android system and soon will be widely available on Android app sources. An iPhone app is in the works.

The basic principle of the Visibility app is simple, according to the paper documenting the work by USC computer science professor Gaurav Sukhatme.

The user takes a picture of the sky while the sun is shining, which can be compared to established models of sky luminance to estimate visibility. Visibility is directly related to the concentration of harmful “haze aerosols,” tiny particles from dust, engine exhaust, mining or other sources in the air. Such aerosols turn the blue of a sunlit clear sky gray.

There is one caveat — It has to be the right picture. The visibility/pollution models are based on the viewing geometry of the image and the position of the sun.

The Visibility app works because modern smartphones contain a rich set of sensors that include cameras, GPS systems, compasses and accelerometers, in addition to the powerful communication capabilities that are inspiring a slew of intelligent phone applications ranging from personal health monitoring to gaming and social networking.

Sameera Poduri, a postdoctoral researcher in Sukhatme’s lab, explained that the accelerometer in the phone — the sensor that tells how the user is holding the phone, determining whether it displays information vertically or horizontally — can “guide the user to point the camera in exactly the right direction.” The picture must be all or mostly sky, which makes a contribution from human user judgment critical. “Several computer vision problems that are extremely challenging to automate are trivially solved by a human. In our system, segmenting sky pixels in an arbitrary image is one such problem. When the user captures an image, we ask him [or her] to select a part of the image that is sky,” noted the research paper.

The accelerometers and the compass on the phone capture its position in three dimensions while the GPS data and time are used to compute the exact position of the sun. The application automatically computes the camera and solar orientation, uploading this data along with the image — a small (100KB) black-and-white file — to a central computer. The central computer analyzes the image to estimate pollutant content and returns a message to the user, as well as registering the information (User identities are anonymized). The system potentially can help fill in the many blanks in the existing maps of air pollution. So far the results are promising, but they indicate that several improvements are possible.

Sukhatme added: “We’re sure we can improve it if we get people trying it and testing it and sending data.”

2010-09-11T21:19:00.000-07:00

USB speakers set to get more out of laptops

Soon, music aficionados can use plug-in USB speakers that produce high-quality sound from the laptop without the need for mains power.
The tinny fizz produced by most laptops’ built-in speakers spoils the music quality because the USB port, from which they get their power, can supply only 2.5 watts. Now, the British firm NXT of Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, has come up with a USB-powered system that can deliver up to 15 watts to each speaker, reports New Scientist.
Although power from mains-powered units is held at around 32 volts, a USB 2.0 port can deliver no more than 5.25 volts to a device.
NXT chief executive James Lewis says that most of the time music is quiet enough to be reproduced satisfactorily by circuits running at just 1 volt. So NXT built its USB-powered amplifier to run at low voltage, but able to deliver higher voltages - and more power to the speakers.
This is done by tapping a pair of capacitors that store spare power from the USB during quiet passages. By pre-determining the music signal a couple of milliseconds ahead of the amplifier, the system determines exactly when to raise the voltage and unleash the stored power.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of using the dynamic reallocation of power for this type of application. It seems like a great idea,” said Andy Dowell, a director of Dolby Laboratories in the U.K. “People would love to get more oomph out of the PC speakers.”

Link ANI

2010-06-04T22:16:00.000-07:00

Depressed? Try trancendental meditation

A new study has revealed that transcendental meditation can successfully be used to treat depression.

The research led by University of California Los Angeles has shown that depressive symptoms almost halved among those who used the therapy over 12 months.

The advocates believe that the meditation reduces stress and increases feelings of calm, sometimes described as "inner peace".

Even patients at risk of depression who had not developed the illness saw benefits. During the study, researchers followed 36 patients with clinical depression, while another, by the University of Hawaii, looked at 112 patients at risk of heart disease, who were also at high risk of suffering from depression.

"These results are encouraging and provide support for testing the efficacy of Transcendental Meditation in the treatment of clinical depression," telegraph.co.uk quoted Hector Myers, the co-author of one of the studies and professor and director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), as saying.

Both studies compared the groups with healthy people who were also asked to perform Transcendental Medication over the course of a year. They show that patients experienced the benefits of meditation rapidly.

The findings revealed that those with depression reported that their symptoms had nearly halved within three months of starting the treatment, and the effects were maintained across the rest of the year-long study.

Similarly, in the patients at risk of developing heart disease, the full benefits were seen within three months, over the course of which time depressive symptoms fell by around a third.

2009-08-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

New organic nano-wires may help replace silicon in computer chips

Organic nano-scale wires may serve as an alternative to silicon in computer chips, according to a collaborative team of Chinese and Danish researchers.

Nanochemists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Nano-Science Center, Department of Chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, say that they have created nanoscale electric contacts out of organic and inorganic nanowires.

The researchers say that they have crossed the wires like Mikado sticks in the contact, and coupled several contacts together in an electric circuit.

They say that doing so has enabled them to produce prototype computer electronics on the nanoscale.

Presently, the foundation of our computers, mobile phones and other electronic apparatus is silicon transistors.

A transistor is in principal an on- and off- contact, and there are millions of tiny transistors on every computer chip.

Thomas Bjornholm, Director of the Nano-Science Center, Department of Chemistry at University of Copenhagen said: "We have succeeded in placing several transistors consisting of nano-wires together on a nano device. It is a first step towards realisation of future electronic circuitry based on organic materials - a possible substitute for today's silicon-based technologies. This offers the possibility of making computers in different ways in the future."

The researchers have revealed that the material developed by them has a low operational current, high mobility and good stability, the qualities that can enable it to compete with silicon.

Excited over the results, Professor Wenping Hu, of Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "This work is the first significant result of our collaboration with the researchers from the Nano-Science Center. It is a good starting point for our new Danish-Chinese research centre for molecular nano-electronics and it underlines the fact that we can complement each other and that together we can achieve exciting and important results."

A research article describing the study has been published in the journal Advanced Materials.

Link Yahoo

2009-07-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

ROTI, KAPDA, MAKAAN & MOBILE.....

As part of her Garibi Hatao campaign for the 1971 Lok Sabha polls, Mrs Gandhi had promised roti, kapda and makaan to every poor Indian, a slogan that won her a famous election victory but this slogan needs a change in modern India, it should be Roti, kapda, makaan & mobile. Apart from basic needs like roti kapada and makaan, mobile became essential and basic need in every once life. Every one from house maid, rickshaw puller, taxi drivers, office boys etc, from common man to elite people are using mobile phone for communication. The cost of mobile starts from modest Rs 3000 to billions (platinum and diamondstudded).

Communication among people is most important. With the invention of telephone, people used to talk and communicate to long distances. With advent of mobile phone the entire concept of communication is completely changed. The world became one. Earlier mobile phone was luxury and now it is necessity. According to survey nearly 30 crores of people are using mobile phone. It is estimated by 2010 nearly 25 crores of people use mobile phones having internet and camera facility. The largest mobile users in the world is China, next comes to India. The market share of Nokia is 52.8%, followed by 10.2% LG and 8.3 % Samsung.

According to Ravindra H Dholakia “Things started changing rapidly from the eighties with decontrol and deregulation of the economy. Indian consumers started realizing more and more value for their money as economic reforms progressed and goods and services of greater variety and better quality became available in the market. Freer and newer markets established consumer sovereignty; incomes and production started rising rapidly and absolute poverty began to decline. Consumer spending on basics fell to 73% in 1991, 62% in 2001, and 55% in 2008, making more room for spending on comforts and luxuries. Transport, communication, education, recreation, and personal and business services that accounted for 15% of consumer spending in 1981 rose sharply to more than 35% in 2008. This shows the rise in the value for consumers' money in effective terms. Moreover, household savings in GDP also sharply rose to about 12% in 2008, while basic necessities accounted for only 30%. Financial assets like net deposits, shares, debentures, life insurance, and provident and pension funds that constituted hardly 11% of household savings in 1951 now account for more than 43% in 2008. Concern and provision for future consumption is also showing a sharp increase”

Country will have 3000 million mobiles by 2010. Every individual is having more purchasing power and spending more money on mobiles and other consumable items. The consumer is adding lot of E- waste to the planet. Consumerism is harming environment. Mobile became essential part of life like roti kapada, and makaan.

The new slogan ROTI KAPADA, MAKAAN AND MOBILE is appropriate to modern man.

2009-06-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

POP KING MICHAEL JACKSON IS EVER GREEN HERO

The pop king Michael Joseph Jackson is no more. He has made impact with his pop music in all age groups of people all over world. For his legions of fans, he was the peter pan of pop. In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and "Thriller—widely credited with transforming the music video from a promotional tool into an art form—helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists. Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist and entertainer. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he made his début onto the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1969, and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Jackson was referred to as the "King of Pop"in subsequent years; his 1982 album Thriller is the world's best-selling record of all time and four other solo studio albums are also among the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and History (1995). Jackson donated and raised millions of dollars for beneficial causes through his foundation, charity singles and support of 39 charities. Other aspects of his personal life, including his changing appearance and behavior, generated significant controversy, damaging his public image. Though he was accused of child sexual abuse in 1993, the criminal investigation was closed due to lack of evidence and Jackson was not charged. The singer had experienced health concerns since the early 1990s and conflicting reports regarding the state of his finances since the late 1990s. Jackson married twice and fathered three children, all of which caused further controversy. In 2005, Jackson was tried and acquitted of further sexual abuse allegations and several other charges. One of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, his other achievements include multiple Guinness World Records—including one for "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time"—13 Grammy Awards, 13 number one singles in his solo career, and the sale of 750 million records worldwide. Jackson's highly publicized personal life, coupled with his successful career, made him a part of popular culture for almost four decades. Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, aged 50. Before his death, Jackson had announced a 50-date sell-out This Is It comeback tour, in London, England. Even though he is no more, he lives in every heart of his fans. The pop king Michael Joseph Jackson is ever green hero.

Link MSN

2009-02-06T21:17:00.000-08:00

VALENTINE DAY: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine. The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry. Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers.

The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball. Many view this day as harmless fun, an opportunity to show love and affections towards spouses and partners by exchanging cards, giving flowers and having candle lit dinners etc. The old tradition of love on Valentine ’s Day became multibillion dollar business. With modernity young people celebrate this festival. The greeting shops like Archies will make big business. The tradition of valentine day which symbolises love became controversy in India and abroad. Some Hindu and some Muslim religious groups openly opposing the valentine day saying that this not the culture of the country.

I feel that, with change of time there will changes in culture of any country. Modern days one has to accept things as long as valentine day is celebrated with dignity and decent way of showing love towards partner. These things should not be treated by religious groups as bad things. Every religion has taught love towards partner. How can one say that celebrating festival of love is uncultured? If anyone shows the vulgarity it should be questionable!!!! By any one.

Link MSN

2009-02-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

OBAMA SETTING EXAMPLE TO THE WORLD.

Barack Obama ha taken over reins of USA. He has done campaign to “change America and bring Change in American administration and economy."Americans have sent a message to the world," "If there is anyone out there that still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible... who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." What are the challenges to new president •His first task is to revive economy of USA, economy is in a grip of recession •Subprime crisis, every American wants a shelter and the prices housing sector should not fall any t more. •The greatest three trillion war with Iraq, which is the tax payer money America has spent on Iraq war. Withdrawing of troops from Iraq. •Energy crisis, USA is biggest consumer of energy and it has not signed Kyoto Protocol,(Climate Change) many American wants that USA should go to green technology and save the energy and sign the Kyoto protocol. •Control of terrorism is one more problem the new president may face. •Tackling of unemployment problem and out sourcing is some more big issues. •We have to see Americans who have elected an immigrant and half Muslim to the white house. Immediately after taking over office Obama has said he will give conditional aid to the Pakistan for controlling of terrorism and closing of Guatemala prison with in a year.The representatives have passed $819-billion stimulus package for helping the industry, individuals etc. He has taken policy decision on climate change “We will make it clear to the world that America is ready to lead, from being held hostage" to hostile regimes and the threat of global warming. To protect our climate and our collective security, we must call together a truly global coalition”. Obama has pulled American elite especially the wall street CEO for getting the hefty bonus when the companies are helped by the government on bailout package and he also pulled the citigroup for ordering jet plane when country is facing recession. He has said it is shameful and irresponsible. He is no doubt the peoples president. Obama should ask industry to set the salary structure so that the gap between rich and poor will not be wide.

He is setting standards to the world leaders that he means business and see the welfare of common American when USA is facing economic crisis.
Link MSN

2008-09-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hybrid vehicles set to hit Indian roads next year.

Both Honda Siel Cars India and homegrown Mahindra & Mahindra have indicated that they will make their hybrid vehicles commercial by next year. Other auto makers, such as Toyota and Ford, are also exploring the market for hybrid vehicles in the country. Hybrid vehicles run on electricity and another fuel, which could be petrol, diesel or bio-fuel. The car owner has the option to drive the car using either electricity or petrol and can easily switch from one to another. These vehicles help reduce emissions by generating power from an electric motor, burning less fuel for each mile travelled. M&M’s senior vice-president (product development), automotive sector, Arun Jaura told ET: “As I talk to you, we are test-piloting Scorpio’s mild-hybrid variant and full-hybrid variant. We plan to launch them early next year.” Mr Jaura added that both variants would be priced higher than the current Scorpio petrol and diesel models. The full-hybrid Scorpio will run on electricity and petrol. In the mild-hybrid version, a conventional Scorpio’s engine will have the option of being turned off whenever the car is braking or stopped yet restart quickly and cleanly. When the engine is off, accessories can run on electrical power. Honda Siel Cars India will also launch its premium offering Civic in its hybrid avatar next year. ”We have plans to launch the Civic hybrid in India by next year. The cars would initially be imported as completely built units (CBU),” said Jnaneshwar Sen, senior Gm (marketing), Honda Siel Cars India.

Honda Civic hybrid would run on electricity-petrol combine. Toyota, which is known for making one of the most successful hybrid cars Prius, is keen on bringing it in India. However, Toyota India officials believe it can happen only if the government is ready to provide subsidies to hybrid vehicle makers. American auto maker Ford India, too, is monitoring the market and globally has the technology ready for such products. Arvind Mathew, managing director, Ford India says: “We will continue to monitor market demand in India before we launch any hybrid product.” The Society of Automobile Manufacturers Association India (SIAM), on its part, has told the government that to gradually increase the use of such vehicles, the price has to come down significantly. For that, support from the government by way of reduced taxes/duties on CNG/LPG/Hybrid vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles and components is needed. Auto makers believe the government should provide manufacturing support to players for hybrid vehicles and also extend some tax sops if hybrids are imported as CBUs.

The government is also expected to extend infrastructure support, such as providing consumers with enough CNG, LPG, clean fuels and electric charging stations. “In several countries, hybrid car owners are offered exemptions when they file income-tax. Such tax breaks to consumers will provide them with incentives to buy hybrid cars,”adds Mr Jaura.

Link Economic Times

2008-07-09T19:22:00.001-07:00

The world is becoming a happier place -- study

The world is becoming a happier place, a study published in this month's Perspectives of Psychological Science shows.
Data from national surveys conducted between 1981 and 2006, which were collated by researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, showed that happiness was on the rise in 40 out of 52 countries.
And in a separate happiness ranking, which looked at 97 countries representing 90 percent of the world's population, only 20 countries were listed as unhappy.
University of Michigan political scientist Ronald Inglehart, the lead author of the study, said the upswell in happiness came as a surprise to researchers, who have long felt it was "almost impossible to raise an entire country's happiness level."
"There has been a lot of research over the last 25 years indicating that happiness is very stable," Inglehart told AFP.
"There may be short-term changes but it returns to a set point," he said.
But the study, which was part of the ongoing World Values Surveys, appeared to disprove that theory.
For the past 26 years, World Values Surveys have asked more than 350,000 people how happy they are.
Among the 52 countries and territories for which long-term comparative data were available, India, Ireland, Mexico, Puerto Rico and South Korea showed steep upticks in happiness last year, while the happiness quotient in 14 other countries, including nine in Europe, also rose, but less sharply.
Those 14 countries are Argentina, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Sweden.
"Economic growth, democratization and tolerance are strongly linked with happiness," said Inglehart.
"We have had an unusual set of circumstances in the last 25 years where all of these things that are quite important and have strong linkages to happiness have been going in a favorable direction. So most countries have rising levels of happiness," he told AFP.
"Democracies are significantly happier than non-democratic countries; prosperous countries tend to be happier than poor countries; and tolerant people -- even intolerant people living in a tolerant society -- tend to be happier."
In the United States, Switzerland and Norway, happiness was stagnant, but all three countries were still in the top 20 of the 97 nations that were ranked in order of happiness levels.
Denmark, where 52 percent of the population said they were very happy, was at the top of that list and Zimbabwe at the bottom, with only around four percent of Zimbabweans saying they were happy.
"Zimbabwe has everything going wrong. It's desperately poor, AIDS is high, people are being killed, the political system is repressive. It's not a great place to live these days and it's deeply unhappy," said Inglehart.
"The results clearly show that the happiest societies are those that allow people the freedom to choose how to live their lives," Inglehart said, citing the tolerant societies and democratic political systems in Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada -- all of which rank among the 10 happiest countries in the world.

Link AFP

2008-06-26T02:53:00.000-07:00

Windows Server 2008 Uses 10% Less Energy, Microsoft Says

Microsoft has published a whitepaper showing that the new Windows Server 2008 uses 10% less energy than its predecessor, released in 2003."Microsoft Windows Server 2008 has been designed with energy efficiency in mind, to provide customers with ready and convenient access to a number of new power-saving features," according to the report.
Energy-efficiency upgrades include updated support for administrating processor power-management functions across multiple servers and new virtualization technology to consolidate servers onto fewer machines.
"If multiple virtual servers can run on a single physical machine without consuming significantly more power than a standalone server, that means you can add virtual servers at essentially no power cost," the report notes.
Microsoft's tests show that Windows Server 2008 uses 2.3% less power when idle and 6.8% less when active compared to the 2003 version. The energy cost savings are minimal - about $30 a year for a 20-server configuration - but the benefits can add up over time, especially in larger server environments, Microsoft says.
Microsoft has been talking up the energy benefits of Windows Server 2008 since it was released in March, even publishing a best practices guide for IT managers to coincide with the launch
Link Sustainable life media

2008-06-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

World Cup Memories of 1983

There was, though, a lot of friendly punching and backslapping as the World Cup squad of 1983 reassembled, 25 years on, for a silver jubilee felicitation ceremony by the BCCI. Kapil Dev and his Devils, as they were called, all got together again, spouses and kids in tow, for what was to be a formal ceremony, but also turned out to be a nostalgia trip for the buddies.

Sunil Gavaskar, who was carrying the cricket ball that was used during the World Cup, said, “The ball still has its shine. Sadly, some of the autographs on the ball have become faded, and but now, I’m going to try and take the autographs of the winning squad on it again.” BCCI president Sharad Pawar and MS Gill did the honours, while the men smiled and joked even on stage. Kapil paaji even got a little emotional while making his speech. Apart from the men in white, the other centre of attention all evening were the men who turned up, coincidentally, all in pink – former captains Rahul Dravid, Mohd Azharuddin and Anil Kumble.

When we caught up with Azharuddin, he said, “Actually, I wasn’t planning to come for the function today. It was just that I had some work in Delhi and decided to attend the ceremony at the last minute. It was a memorable experience to be part of such a grand occasion.” Dravid was also glad to be there. “It is a great moment for me to be here as part of the event,” he said. “This is a landmark in the history of Indian cricket. It’s been a long time since we have seen such a victory, and we hope to repeat it in the future soon.” Srikkanth’s wife Vidya said that her two sòns were in Chennai and so could not make it to the event. Poonam and Kirti Azad, however, had no such issues and got their sons along, looking every bit the proud parents. Both boys – Somya and Surya – are cricket players too. Soon after the do, the squad left for London, where Gavaskar will throw a bash tomorrow, at Lord’s – on the anniversary of the day India won the World cup in 1983.

Spotted: Sharad Pawar, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Sandeep Patil, Kirti Azad, Mohinder Amarnath, Ravi Shastri, Balwinder Sandhu, Yashpal Sharma, Madan Lal, Syed Kirmani, Roger Binny, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunil Walson, PR Mansingh, MS Gill, Raj Singh Dungarpur, Vishwanath Gundappa, Ajit Wadekar, IS Bindra, Chandu Borde, NKP Salve, Rajeev Shukla, Marshneil Gavaskar, Deepa Patil, Vidya Srikkanth, Manali Vengsarkar, Poonam Azad, Jhulan Goswami, Anjum Chopra, Diana Aduljee, Rahul Dravid, Azharuddin, Anil Kumble
Link times of India

2008-05-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Top 10 annoying office habits!

Overbearing, obsessively rude, noisy, and opinionated – there are so many things that can be found annoying in that one person in office. So, what actually are some of the ‘universally’ bad behaviours for office work? Here's a look at the top 10 annoying office habits... 1. Office drummers - There are lesser annoying office habits than the person who has to tap out a rhythm while waiting for their brain to submerge into the work they’re assigned. 2. Foghorn phone voice - The breed of office worker who raises their tone several decibels as soon as they pick up the phone. 3. Pod pong - Well, these are those people who marinate themselves in perfumes overnight. 4. Key smashers - All offices have at least one person who appears to think that to make the little symbols on their keyboard appear on the screen, they need to exert the force of an atomic bomb through the ends of their digits. 5. Paid for nothing - In this case, an employee gets paid for standing out in the sunshine chatting to wheezy and addicted mates while the fresh-lunged members of the workforce are indoors putting their mind to work. 6. Snot funny - What is it with people, who riddled with pleurisy, the bubonic plague or cancer of the entire body, still think it's a good idea to come in to work? The world really won't stop if that report doesn't get finished and the boss more likely regards you as a mug than a martyr. Your work mates, of course, will shower you with love for ruining their plans for the weekend and keeping their kids out of school. 7. Lucifer's lunch - Egg and mayonnaise sandwiches, tuna fishcakes, blue cheese with crackers, breakfast burritos with extra onion and chips with salt and vinegar – all food items which should be banned from the workplace, thanks to their smell. 8. Ringtone hell - This section includes all those people who play bits of their favourite heavy metal music collection from a speaker on their desk, via their mobile phone. 9. Space invaders - You distinctly remember hearing the boss bring your new work mate over to his or her work area and say, "This is your desk". The boss did not follow that up with the words, "but feel free to use your colleague's desk for overspill if there's not enough room for your inane gossip magazines and pictures of your 17 children". 10. Eau de underarm - There are fewer things more noxious than a damp-shirted male who, after working up a sweat running for the bus, is left to "mature" over a keyboard for eight hours.
Link Times of India

2008-04-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

Let's Live Every Moment So We Die Well, Too

Spiritual longing comes to you not because you think of God. If people think of God, they will not become spiritual, they will only think of how to acquire more. If God comes and blesses them, they will want more money, property, health, everything. Only when you think about death, these questions come up: What is this about, where will i go, what will happen to me? This wanting to know will come naturally. Yoga is not just about life; when we talk about living well, we are also talking about dying well. Dying gracefully, joyfully, is important. It is the final thing you get to do; but most people are doing it horribly. When we say a spiritual possibility, a space, there is also room to die. Spirituality is a means to live; it is also a means to die because living and dying are not different. Right now i can say you are living, or i can say you are dying. The process of dying is on; one day it will be complete. It is just that so much negativity is attached to the word "death". But death is a part of life. One who does not know how to die, or is unwilling to die, cannot live. If you are afraid of death, you will only avoid life, you cannot avoid death. Every day of your life you need to be aware that you are mortal. In Shoonya meditation everything that you consider as "myself" will become nothing; it is as if you die. Again, when you open your eyes, it is all there. If you practise this consciously, twice a day, when the time to die comes, it will no more be a big issue. The process you refer to as life is something that can be constantly improved upon. Not everybody is living with the same quality, level of understanding and grace. Even if you live a thousand years and do everything that you wish to do, still something better could be done. This is the way of life. But death is perfect and absolute when it happens; death does not need anybody's assistance. You don't have to think about it; you don't have to reflect upon it. But the limited nature of life needs to be reflected upon. So always the first training for a spiritual aspirant is to go and sit in the cremation ground. You are just like a miracle happening and one day you are gone. Busy in between, but you are like a bubble: when the bubble is on, it is so real; one prick — gone! Look at this life right now: inhalation, exhalation. If the next inhalation does not happen, that's it... That is how fragile this life is. People always think death is something that happens to somebody else; it's not so, it will happen to you and me. If you remind yourself every day that you will also die, you will move towards knowing higher perception. If you are aware of the mortal nature of your life, is there time to get angry with somebody, to quarrel or do anything stupid? Once you are conscious that you will die, you will want to make every moment of your life as beautiful as possible. Those who are constantly aware of the fragile nature of existence, they don't want to miss a single moment; they will naturally be aware. They can't take anything for granted; they will live purposefully, becoming aware

Link spirituality

2008-03-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

Football ace Linekar wants Gandhi statue in Leicester

Former England football ace Gary Linekar has lent his support for the installation of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in his home city of Leicester which has a large Asian population. A section of people in the city, located about 100 km from here, have opposed the move to install a statue of Gandhi and has instead favoured Linekar or any other local hero. In a letter written to Keith Vaz, MP, Linekar, who is now a popular football and TV presenter, said he agreed that the ethnic diversity of Leicester should be "celebrated" and that Gandhi's philosophy of brotherhood amongst different religions and ethnicity should be honoured. Such diversity should be supported with public acknowledgment. The statue will come at no extra cost to the tax payer as private funding has already been secured, Vaz, who is leading the campaign to celebrate the religious and ethnic diversity of the City of Leicester, said on Friday. Leicester is predicted to be Britain's' first white minority city in 12 years. Vaz said a statue of Mahatma Gandhi would be an excellent symbol of the leader's and the city's commitment to diversity. In his letter, Linekar said: "As far as a statue of me is concerned, frankly I think that is best left to other people to decide. "Clearly the cost of such a statue will be a factor and perhaps the extra materials required for my ears would make the statue too expensive!”. Linekar is frequently teased on television for his "bigger than normal" ears.

2008-03-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Pentagon bans Google map-makers

The US defence department has banned the giant internet search engine Google from filming inside and making detailed studies of US military bases.
Close-up, ground-level imagery of US military sites posed a "potential threat" to security, it said.
The move follows the discovery of images of the Fort Sam Houston army base in Texas on Google Maps.
A Google spokesman said that where the US military had expressed concerns, images had been removed.
Google has now been barred from filming and conducting detailed studies of bases, following the discovery of detailed, three-dimensional panoramas online - and in particular, views of the Texan base.
"Images include 360-degree views of the covered area to include access control points, barriers, headquarters, facilities and community areas," said the defence department in a statement quoted by AFP news agency.
It said such detailed mapping could pose a threat.
Google spokesman Larry Yu said the decision by a Google team to enter the Texas base, which is in San Antonio, and undertake a detailed survey, had been "a mistake".
He told the BBC that it was "not our policy to request access to military installations, but in this instance the operator of the vehicle with the camera on top - which is how we go about capturing imagery for Street-View - requested permission to access a military installation, was given access, and after learning of the incident we quickly removed the imagery".
Individuals and governments
Military officials are currently looking into exactly what imagery is available - though it may not be able to order its removal if images are taken from public streets.
Among the popular mapping services offered by Google are Street View, which allows web users to "drive" along virtual US landscapes with ground-level views, and Google Earth, which offers detailed satellite and 3D images of locations around the world.
In this case, it was imagery offered on Street View that caused the concern.
But both have provoked complaints - from individuals depicted in the images and from governments concerned that satellite images could compromise security.
Gary Ross, a spokesman for the US Northern Command, told AFP that although such services could be useful, "there has to be a balance".
But Mr Yu said Google would listen to concerns about privacy and security.
"We try to have a compliant image removal policy - not only relative to the military but to consumers also," said Mr Yu. "If people have concerns, they should contact us."

Link BBC News

2008-03-08T07:24:00.000-08:00

The Buddha

2007-09-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

'Bush', 'Clinton' in Ukrainian zoo

Cellmates Bush and Clinton are the newest residents of an Ukrainian zoo, but they aren't complaining because the staff pamper them with fruit juice, their favourite drink.

The special pair, who are the last remaining skunks in captivity in the country, are named after current US President George W Bush and former president Bill Clinton.

The animals, known for their ability to excrete a foul-smelling odour when alarmed, were presented to the zoo in Kharkov city as a gift two weeks ago.

Their names were chosen to reflect the species' geographic origin -- North America, said a spokesman for the zoo, adding the duo has not sprayed anyone with their trademark odour so far.

"Most of all, they like juices," a zoo official said when asked what the skunks' preferred, according to a report by RIA Novosti.

But they eat almost everything from fruits and vegetables to fish and meat, he added.
Link The Timesof India

2007-08-25T01:13:00.000-07:00

Tired Beckham ruled out of Colorado match

David Beckham, fatigued after playing three games in six days, has been ruled out of Los Angeles Galaxy's Major League Soccer (MLS) match against Colorado Rapids on Sunday. The England midfielder has been hampered by a left ankle injury for the last two months and limped off the pitch after the Galaxy's 0-3 MLS defeat by Chivas USA on Thursday. "While it's regrettable that he will not get the opportunity to play in Colorado this season, we have to focus on healing David's injury," Galaxy president and general manager Alexi Lalas said in a statement on Friday. "He will rest this weekend in LA while preparing for our SuperLiga final match on Wednesday." The Galaxy, while struggling for form in the MLS, will host Mexican league champions Pachuca at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on Wednesday in the inaugural SuperLiga final. "I'd love to be on the pitch with my team this Sunday but our training staff has advised me that it would be detrimental to not only my health for this game but for the rest of the season," Beckham, 32, said. "I look forward to making it out to Colorado for our next scheduled match there."

The globe-trotting Beckham, signed by the Galaxy from Real Madrid on a $32.5 million five-year deal, competed in two matches in two continents on successive days this week. A day after playing the full 90 minutes for England in a 2-1 friendly defeat by Germany in London, Beckham was on the pitch throughout as the Galaxy slipped to their ninth defeat in 17 MLS games against Chivas on Thursday. Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said he had erred in leaving Beckham on for the entire match. "It wasn't the intention to play him at all but he came in and said that he felt okay," Yallop told reporters. "And obviously with our situation in the league we need points." "I didn't want to leave him on but in the end, at 2-0, he tried and all it needed was may be one set piece or one bit of magic by David." "Right at the end he looked hobbled. I used him tonight and I shouldn't have done that. You can still tell now that he is sore, he's still not 100 percent." Beckham twisted his ankle playing for his country against Estonia in a Euro 2008 qualifying match in June and aggravated it in his final appearance for Real 11 days later when his former team clinched the Spanish league title.
Link Timesof India

2007-04-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

Get ready for Spider Man

DIRECTOR: Sam Raimi

CAST: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe

RUNNING TIME: 121 minutes

GRADE: A

The 40-year journey of Marvel Comics' "Spider-Man" to the big screen is a twisted, meandering saga filled with so many contradictory claims But, finally, here it is, and it was worth the wait. As a special-effects particularly impressive.

Adapted by David Koepp (using an extended treatment by James Cameron), the film spends the first of its two hours establishing the character of meek teenager Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), who acquires certain super powers after being bitten by a spider one day on a field trip.

At the same time, it tells the story of industrialist Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe), a kind of corporate Dr. Jekyll who tests a chemical portion on himself that turns him into Spider-Man's nemesis, a super-powered Mr. Hyde the press dubs "the Green Goblin."

The two stories intersect -- and the stage is set for an eventual super-showdown -- when Parker and Osborn's troubled son (James Franco) become best friends, roommates and rivals for the affections of their beautiful high-school classmate (Kirsten Dunst).

Read this Link Spider Man

2007-04-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

"Friendly Monkey Valley."

AFP writes

A white-handed gibbon eats a banana while sitting on a giant fruit display at the Everland amusement and animal park in Yongin, south of Seoul, during the opening of an anthropoid theme park called "Friendly Monkey Valley." (AFP/Jung Yeon-Je)

AFP news

2007-04-11T01:09:00.000-07:00

The long and short of why dogs vary in size

The team of scientists attribute the dramatic variations in dog sizes to the IGF1 gene

Telegraph UK writes

From the smallest Chihuahua to the largest Great Dane, dogs dramatically vary in size, much more than most other creatures and an international team of scientists reports that it has found the reason is down to a scrap of DNA. Ranging from toy to giant, dogs have the biggest size variation of any mammal and the team of US and British experts believe it is due to variations in one gene.After analysing DNA samples from 3,200 dogs, they pinpointed IGF-1, a gene that makes a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1.Variants of the gene were very strongly associated with the different sizes of dogs and the scientists are now trying to determine the precise mutations occurring within the gene.

The scientists began by looking at Portuguese water dogs, which range from 25 pounds to 75 pounds. Small and large Portuguese water dogs had one region of their DNA that differed. It was here that the IGF-1 gene, which is known to influence body size in humans, was found. They then analysed the same region in hundreds of dogs from 14 small breeds.

The IGF1 gene's hormone helps humans and other mammals grow from birth to adolescence. Medium and large dogs have the IGF1 gene but lack the newly discovered piece of DNA. But in small dogs, this scrap of DNA next to the IGF1 gene suppresses the gene's activity, keeping small dogs from growing larger.

The study is relevant to human medicine because a vast majority of the genes in the human genome can also be found in the dog genome.The team, which reported its findings in the journal Science, was led by geneticists Elaine Ostrander and Nathan Sutter.

Mr Sutter told The Daily Telegraph. "There is strong support that IGF1 does promote growth and help determine body size in people. One example is a boy who was born without any IGF1 gene function - he was born extremely small and grew very slowly".

The research could help scientists looking for the genetic causes of human diseases such as arthritis, diabetes and cancer, said the researchers.

LinkTelegraph UK

2007-04-07T20:02:00.000-07:00

Tomb Sweeping Festival-Online tombs to honour dead

Beijing News reports

Chinese internet users are turning to online tombs as an easier ways to pay respects to deceased relatives and others during an annual festival to honour the dead, state media reported

At least five million people have logged on the web sites allowing them to offer the dead everything from simple message to the burning of electronic version of incense in the run-up to the yearly Tomb Sweeping Festival , the Beijing News reported

Chinese turn out in droves for the festival each year to clean the graves and tombs on their ancestors as assign of respect, leaving behind myriad offering to comfort them an the after life. The paper said the huge growth in online offering is likely due to large part to an increase in people paying respects to revered historic figures rather than direct relatives

Link Agence France-Presse

2007-03-31T19:35:00.001-07:00

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myLot User Profile

2007-03-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

Boing Boing writes Buddha Machine: spiritual, generative transistor radio

The Buddha Machine from Chinese manufacturer FM3 looks like a cheap transistor radio. Turn the single dial, and it starts making crazy-ass, generative ambient music. Press the single button and a different kind of crazy-ass music emanates from the single small speaker. That's it -- one button, one dial, one speaker. There's also an LED to let you know it's on.

link amazon.com via boingboing