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WVIL's unbelievable 31 megapixel cameraphone is unbelievably fake, attempts pathetic viral campaign (update)

2012-01-21T19:38:00.001+05:30

Honestly, we never thought people could get this high and drunk in Vegas, but the guys from WVIL werereally pushing it. Their crime? A blatantly staged viral campaign for an "unbelievable" smartphone that sports a 31 megapixel CMOS full frame sensor. Oh, and it has an interchangeable lens, too, with which you can use the main body as a wireless viewfinder (like the Samsung SH100 paired up with an Android phone). Nice concept, WVIL, just too bad your mom called to disown you at CES. Video after the break.

Update: The Artefact Group, a Seattle design firm, just emailed to inform us that the idea is their own -- see the whole concept at our more coverage link below.

Google Chrome TAB Shortcut Keys

2012-01-11T18:12:00.001+05:30

How many tabs do you have open right now?

If you're like us, then it's probably quite a few, and constantly clicking between them can sometimes be distracting. Today's #chrometip features a few keyboard shortcuts that you can use to quickly switch between your open tabs:

Ctrl+Tab -- Cycle to the next tab.
Ctrl+Shift+Tab -- Cycle to the previous tab.
Ctrl+1 through 8 (Windows only) -- Jump to the tab whose placement on the strip corresponds with the key, with Ctrl+9 taking you to the last tab.

"Contagious" Yawning Occurs More Among Loved Ones

2011-12-15T12:48:00.001+05:30

Yawning in response to another's yawn may be form of empathy, study hints.

Call it the finding that puts the "aw" in yawn—scientists have discovered that people yawn more in response to the yawns of people they care about most.

So-called contagious yawning is a type of psychological effect that happens only in response to seeing, hearing, or reading about yawning.

Though there have been previous hints of a link between contagious yawning and empathy, the new study marks the first time scientists have actually observed the connection.

New statistical models showed that the rate at which people yawned contagiously was highest in response to kin, then friends, then acquaintances, and lastly strangers.

The findings suggest that yawning is a form of empathizing with people experiencing a feeling, which—in the case of yawning—usually means stress, anxiety, boredom, or fatigue.

"This is the important point: By reenacting the mechanism, it's like you share emotions, so your response is higher because you mirrored each other's emotions," said study co-author Ivan Norscia of the Natural History Museum at the University of Pisa in Italy.

By contrast, spontaneous yawning, a purely physiological phenomenon, may occur to cool our brains, according to recent findings.

The Stronger the Bond, the More You Yawn

For the study, Norscia and co-author Elisabetta Palagi, of the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies in Rome, spent a year collecting behavioral data from more than a hundred adults of different nationalities.

The observations were made in a variety of natural settings—such as on the train or around the dinner table—in Italy and Madagascar, where the study authors also conduct primate research.

The scientists recorded several variables, such as the subjects' relationships to each other, countries of origin, genders, and styles of yawning, i.e., open-mouth versus suppressed yawning.

The team then developed a statistical model based on their data and tested the effects of each variable on contagious yawning.

In the model, only social bonding emerged as a predictor of response to another person's yawn, according to the study, published December 7 in the journal PLoS ONE.

The research provides "a pretty compelling case that empathy may be involved in contagious yawning among humans," said Andrew Gallup, an evolutionary biologist at Princeton University who has also studied yawning.

Are Yawners Paying Attention?

However, Gallup pointed out a potential limitation in the new results: People may simply notice yawning more often in their loved ones and friends.

For instance, people may be more attuned to the behaviors of people they know than those of, say, strangers on a train.

"I don't think that this completely discredits the results, but I think it's something to take into consideration," Gallup said.

A potential remedy, he said, would be to set up an experiment in which people are shown video clips of other people of varying relatedness to the subject, with instructions to pay equal attention to each clip.

If the same connection between social bonds and yawning emerges, "then you're home free," he said.

But study co-author Norscia pointed out that a person may actually pay less attention to a family member's yawn.

That's because a person's response to new stimuli is usually heightened, whereas a person's reaction to familiar stimuli might be reduced.

This is "an evolutionary adaptation to avoid an unbearable overloading of the attentional system," Norscia said. When someone does notice a loved one's yawn, though, they're more likely to respond due to their emotional attachment.

As for the potential study design with video clips, in Norscia's opinion, "I doubt you can drive someone's attention simply by asking them to do it. I wish controlling attention was that easy."

Contagious Yawning Still a Mystery

If people do yawn as a form of empathy, the reasons for the response are still unclear.

Evolutionarily, contagious yawning is a much more recent phenomenon seen only in humans, chimpanzees, baboons, and—more controversially—dogs.

Spontaneous yawning, on the other hand, has been around for at least 200 million years—even fish do it.

A potential benefit of contagious yawning could be to improve the overall vigilance of a group, Princeton's Gallup said. That's because, by cooling the brain, yawning enhances alertness and overall mental efficiency.

Likewise, yawning may be a way of encouraging people to lend a helping hand, study co-author Norscia suggested.

If "I am able to empathize with you to perceive what you are feeling," he said, "maybe I can engage in behaviors that can help you do something."

Lunar Eclipse - In Chennai, tamilnadu Canon 600D

2011-12-12T21:08:00.001+05:30

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon. The type and length of an eclipse depend upon the Moon's location relative to its orbital nodes. The most recent total lunar eclipse occurred on December 10, 2011

Android in 2012: What’s after Ice Cream Sandwich - Page 1 - Integrating IT

2011-12-12T10:46:00.000+05:30

Android in 2012: What’s after Ice Cream Sandwich - Page 1 - Integrating IT

Google Inc. only scratched the surface with the latest improvements to its Android mobile operating system. Users have been left wanting more, and they are likely to get it in 2012.

Better graphics, better cameras, and maybe even a voice-command feature similar to Siri (bundled with the latest iteration of Apple's iOS operating system) could be on the horizon for Internet search leader Google.

Android's latest big update, Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, is coming with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and it's only a matter of time before other smartphones and tablets begin seeing the update.

But as fresh as Ice Cream Sandwich is, users are looking ahead. Android is already installed on tons of smart phones across countless wireless carriers, and that reach is sure to expand with each new update.

Here's what to expect for the little green robot in 2012.

Doing More With Voice

Siri brought voice commands to the masses, and you can bet that Google is working on something similar for Android.

Ice Cream Sandwich already allows for instant speech to text, and voice commands have been a part of the OS since Android 2.0, but they lack some of the personal charms that Apple has given its voice-activated virtual assistant.

While we shouldn't expect a snarky secretary like Siri, we can look forward to Google incorporating voice functions into more of its apps. A great example of this is the new Google Translate app. It has a conversation mode that allows you to translate your speech and the speech of others into one of more than 50 different languages. It's by no means perfect, but it gives us a good idea of how Google can use voice input to make even better apps.

Better Camera Software

When it came to mobile cameras, the stock Android camera software was hardly something to brag about. It was clunky, slow, and had only a few basic settings you could really customize.

Ice Cream Sandwich gave the software a much-needed update, introducing features like panoramic photos and zero lag between snapshots. Future Android updates could include face detection and more-advanced settings for experienced shutterbugs. But those camera improvements wouldn’t just be for phones. Tablets that use video chat would gain better focus and video quality, especially as we begin to see more tablets that run over 4G and LTE networks.

More Apps That Take Advantage of Hardware Acceleration

We've recently seen more phones with dual-core processors, but unfortunately not all apps have been optimized to take advantage of the extra processing power. Starting with Ice Cream Sandwich, however, hardware acceleration is enabled by default, meaning that new apps released on the OS will run smoother and games will look better than their predecessors. Older apps will have to be updated to see a boost in performance, and how an app behaves on a dual-core versus a single-core device will be noticeably different.

More Devices

Android is a versatile OS, and it's been installed on everything from USB drives to robotic bartenders.

At Google I/O 2011 (an annual developer conference), Google launched the Android@Home project, a framework for Android to be installed into automated "smart" houses. These Android smart houses would communicate with other Android-powered gadgets to make life easier for the people inside.

Some car manufacturers are even looking into Android to power the media consoles in their vehicles and to do things like media sharing from phones to the car. If it has a chip in it, chances are someone will try to install Android into it.

Lighter Overlays

Android overlays are no big deal as long as they don't get in the way of the Android experience.

Overlays can add a lot of functionality, such as what we saw on Honeycomb tablets. But on phones, most of them are clunky and resource-heavy. With Ice Cream Sandwich incorporating a ton of useful features that were previously seen only on HTC and Samsung devices, overlays are slowly being toned down.

A good example: Motorola's MotoBlur overlay. Once an overwhelming and visually assaulting UI, the MotoBlur overlay has been greatly reduced to a lightweight skin that blends in relatively well with the stock Android UI.

A More Complete Shopping Experience

When it comes to media, iOS is the reigning king.

The iTunes store has not only apps and music, but also movies, TV shows, and even books. With the launch of Google Music, Google is trying to create a similar ecosystem for Android.

The Android Market is steadily becoming the one-stop shop for all Android-related media. You can currently rent movies from the Android Market, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see TV shows and podcasts also make their way to the Google-run store. Once Google adds those to its Android Market lineup, Android will become a much stronger contender in the mobile media-player space.

Next: Jelly Bean?

Expect at least two updates to Android in 2012.

One will most likely be an incremental update to Android 4.0, but some observers expect another major update to the Android OS as well. Reportedly named "Jelly Bean," some people are already calling this next iteration of Android a "game-changer."

While details so far are slim, it is quite likely that Jelly Bean will contain one or more of the features described here.

December 8th - 1971 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Navy launches an attack on West Pakistan's port city of Karachi.

2011-12-08T10:18:00.000+05:30

The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases.^[16]^[17] Lasting just 13 days it is considered one of the shortest wars in history.^[18]^[19]

During the course of the war, Indian and Pakistani forces clashed on the eastern and western fronts. The war effectively came to an end after the Eastern Command of the Pakistani Armed Forces signed the Instrument of Surrender,^[20] on December 16, 1971 following which East Pakistan seceded as the independent state of Bangladesh. Around 97,368 West Pakistanis who were in East Pakistan at the time of its independence, including some 79,700 Pakistan Army soldiers and paramilitary personnel^[21] and 12,500 civilians,^[21] were taken as prisoners of war by India.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

Part of Indo-Pakistani Wars and Bangladesh Liberation War

Date	3–16 December 1971
Location	Eastern front: East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) Western front: India-West Pakistan border
Result	Decisive Indian political, strategic and military victory. Eastern front: Pakistani forces surrender. Western front: India declares unilateral ceasefire after Pakistani surrender in the east.^[1]
Territorial changes	Secession of East Pakistan as the independent state of Bangladesh.

Belligerents

India

East Pakistan (nowBangladesh)
Mukti Bahini
Unofficially supported by:
Soviet Union

Pakistan

Unofficially supported by:
United States

Commanders and leaders

Gen Sam Manekshaw
Lt.Gen. J.S. Arora
Lt.Gen. G.G. Bewoor
Lt.Gen. K. P. Candeth
Lt.Gen. Sagat Singh
Adm S. M. Nanda
ACM Pratap Lal

General M. A. G. Osmani

Gen. Abdul Hamid Khan
LGen Gul Hassan Khan
LGen Tikka Khan
LGen A. A. K. Niazi
VAdm Muzaffar Hassan
AM Abdul Rahim Khan

Strength

500,000 troops

365,000 troops

Casualties and losses

3,843 killed ^[2]
9,851 wounded^[2]
1 Frigate

1 Naval Plane^[3]^[4]

Indian Okha harbour damaged/fueling facilities destroyed^[5]
Widespread damage to all western Indian airfields.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Pakistani Claims

130 IAF Aircraft^[9] ^[10]

Indian Claims
(add the fig here)

9,000 killed^{[verification needed]}^[11]
4,350 wounded
97,368 captured^{[verification needed]}^[12]
2 Destroyers^[13]
1 Minesweeper^[13]
1 Submarine^[14]^[15]
3 Patrol vessels
7 Gunboats

Pakistani Claims
(add the fig here)

Indian Claims
(add the fig here)

Western and Soviet involvement

The Blood Telegram

The Soviet Union sympathized with the Bangladeshis, and supported the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini during the war, recognizing that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals—the United States and China. The USSR gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the United States or China developed, it would take counter-measures. This assurance was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971.^[60]

The United States supported Pakistan both politically and materially. President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia.^[61]Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with whom Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and where he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America's new tacit ally, China. In order to demonstrate to China the bona fides of the United States as an ally, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan, routing them through Jordan and Iran,^[62] while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the "genocidal" activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram. This prompted widespread criticism and condemnation both by Congress and in the international press

Courtesy: wikipedia

12 Most Unusual Bridges of the World

2011-12-07T11:48:00.001+05:30

12. Kawazu-Nanadaru Loop Bridge, Japan

Kawazu-Nanadaru Loop Bridge

The Kawazu-Nanadaru Loop Bridge consists of two spirals, each 1.1 km long, 80-meter in diameter - the only way for traffic to get down the mountainside into the valley, too steep for any other usual road-building solutions.

The busy Route 414 serves the weekend crowd from Tokyo, intent to wind down at the hot springs resort of the Izu Peninsula. The "winding down" bit obviously starts at this bridge. Built in 1981, the double-spiral structure demands careful driving - the speed limit on the bridge is only30 km/h, which also helps to better enjoy the views.

11. Hureai Bridge, Japan

This unique circular pedestrian bridge is located at the foot of the Hiyoshi dam near Kyoto, Japan. It is part of Hiyoshi Spring spa resort and was designed by Japanese architect Norihiko Dan, who also planned the landscaping of the spa resort and park.

Built in 1998 the bridge known as 'Friendship Bridge' has a diameter of 80 metres.

10. Wind-Rain Bridge, China

Chengyang Wind-Rain Bridge

The Chengyang Bridge or Chengyang Wind-Rain Bridge, Liuzhou, Guangxi Province (very north of Guangzi), People's Republic of China. It's in Dong Minority Region. It's a special covered bridge and one of Fengyu Bridges (a special bridge type in local Dong Minority Region). It was completed in 1916. It has many other names including Yongji Bridge and Panlong Bridge.

The bridge is a perfect combination of painting, bridge, corridor, veranda and Chinese pavilion. It has two platforms (at the two ends of the bridge), 3 piers, and 4 spans, 5 pavilions, 19 verandas, and three floors. The piers are made of stone, the upper structures are mainly wooden, and the roofs are covered with tiles. The bridge has wooden handrails on both sides.The bridge has a total length of 64.4 meters, and its corridor has a width of 3.4 meters. The net height above the river is about 10 meters.

9. Ponte Vecchio, Italy

The Ponte Vecchio is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. It has been described as Europe's oldest wholly-stone, closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge, but there are far older segmental arch bridges such as Alconétar Bridge.

The bridge first appears in a document of 996.The bridge consists of three segmental arches: the main arch has a span of 30 meters (98 ft) the two side arches each span 27 meters (88 ft). The rise of the arches is between 3.5 and 4.4 meters (11½ to 14½ feet), and the span-to-rise ratio 5:1.

8. Langkawi Sky Bridge, Malaysia

Langkawi Sky Bridge is a 125 metre curved pedestrian cable-stayed bridge. It is located 700m above sea level at the peak of Gunung Mat Chinchang on Pulau Langkawi, an island in the Langkawi archipelago in Kedah.The Langkawi Sky Bridge is accessible by the Langkawi Cable Car.

The Langkawi sky-bridge in Malaysia offer magnificent views of the Andaman Sea and Thailand's Tarutao Island. The Andaman Sea and Thailand's Tarutao Island can be seen in the distance. Platforms at each end allow the visitors to take a breather before venturing across. There are also signs telling visitors to get off the bridge quickly in the event of an electrical storm.

7. Aiola Island Bridge, Austria

Located in the center of the Mur river in Graz, Austria, it has a sunbathing area, a trendy bar and a coffee house. Aiola Island Bridge is a unique offering of coolest bridge cum bar. Known as 'Aiola Island', it is positioned right in the heart of the Mur River in Graz, Austria. The island was built in 2003 by a New-York based artist Vito Acconci.

Aiola island-bridge bar in Austria

This exclusive installed masterpiece got the deserving attention within months. It features asunbathing area, fashionable bar and a coffee house and also allows you an access to cross the Mur river from one shore to other. I haven't come such an elite masterpiece before.

6. Tianjin Eye bridge, China

It is a gigantic Ferris wheel built on Yongle Bridge over the Haihe river. It can lift people 120m up into the air. Tianjin Eye is a 120m-tall (110m-diameter) Ferris wheel built on the Chihai Bridge over the Hai River in Tianjin, China. It is claimed to be the only such wheel to have been constructed over a bridge.

Construction started in 2007 (main body completed on 2008-Dec-18) and it opened to the public in on 2008-Apr-07. The electric-powered wheel has 48 capsules, each with a capacity of 8 passengers, and takes 30 minutes to complete a rotation, giving a capacity of 768 passengersper hour.

Tianjin Eye at night

At the time of construction, only the 135m London Eye and 160 m Star of Nanchang were taller, however even larger wheels have since been built, including the 165m Singapore Flyer, and the 185m Great Berlin Wheel and 208m Beijing Great Wheel are under construction.

5. Henderson Waves, Singapore

At a height of 36 meters or 12 storeys from the road, it's the highest pedestrian bridge inSingapore. Henderson Waves is a 274-metre (900 ft) long pedestrian bridge. At 36 metres (120 ft) above Henderson Road, it is the highest pedestrian bridge in Singapore. It connects Mount Faber Park and Telok Blangah Hill Park.

Henderson Waves at night

The bridge has a wave-form made up of seven undulating curved steel ribs that alternately rise over and under its deck. The curved ribs form alcoves that function as shelters with seats within. Slats of yellow balau wood, an all-weather timber found in South-East Asia, are used in the decking. The wave-forms are lit with LED light at night from 7pm to 2am daily.

4.Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, Japan

The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, also known as the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway, is a bridge-tunnel combination across Tokyo Bay in Japan. It connects the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture with the city of Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture, and forms part of National Route 409. With an overall length of 14 km, it includes a 4.4 km bridge and 9.6 km tunnel underneath the bay—the fourth-longest underwater tunnel in the world.

At the bridge-tunnel crossover point, there is an artificial island called Umihotaru with a rest area consisting of restaurants, shops and amusement facilities. Air is supplied to the tunnel by a distinctive tower in the middle of the tunnel, called the Kaze no Tō, which uses the bay's almost-constant winds as a power source. The road opened on December 18, 1997 after 31 years of construction at a cost of 11.2 billion USD at the time of opening. The Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line reduced the drive between Chiba and Kanagawa, two important industrial regions, from 90 to 15 minutes.

3. Falkirk Wheel, Scotland

It restored navigability across Scotland on the historic Forth & Clyde Canal and Union Chanal. The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It is named after the nearby town of Falkirk in central Scotland. The two canals were previously connected by a series of 11 locks, but by the 1930s these had fallen into disuse, were filled in and the land built upon.

The Millennium Commission decided to regenerate the canals of central Scotland to connect Glasgow with Edinburgh once more. Designs were submitted for a lock to link the canals, with the Falkirk Wheel design winning. As with many Millennium Commission projects the site includes a visitors' centre containing a shop, café and exhibition centre.

2. Banpo Bridge, South Korea

The Banpo Bridge is a major bridge in downtown Seoul over the Han River, South Korea, connecting the Seocho and Yongsan districts. Banpo Bridge is on top of Jamsu Bridge, forming a"double deck" bridge. When the water level rises too high, the Jamsu Bridge becomes covered with water and gets closed off. The lower deck incorporates pedestrian and bicycle paths that provide easy access to the Banpo Hangang Park from the north side of the river. Banpo Bridge is a girder bridge and was completed in 1982.

The bridge has 38 water pumps and 380 nozzles on either side, which draw 190 tons of waterper minute from the river 20 meters below the deck, and shoots as far as 43 metershorizontally.

1.Magdeburg Water Bridge, Germany

The Germans took over 80 years to build this 918m bridge over Elbe river near the town ofMagdeburg. Canal engineers had first conceived of joining the two waterways as far back as 1919, and by 1938 the Rothensee boat lift and bridge anchors were in place, but construction was postponed during World War II. After the Cold War split Germany, the project was put on hold indefinitely by the East German government.

With the reunification of Germany and major establishment of water transport routes made theWater Bridge a priority again. Work started in 1997, with construction taking six years and costing €500 million. The water bridge now connects Berlin's inland harbour network with the ports along the Rhine river. The aqueduct's trough structure incorporates 24,000 tonnes of steel and 68,000 cubic meters of concrete. Until the opening of the water bridge in October 2003, ships moving between the Midland Canal and the Elbe-Havel Canal used a 12-kilometre, through the Rothensee lock, along the River Elbe and back up Niegripp lock.

Why Do We Yawn? It May Keep Us From Getting Hot-Headed

2011-11-17T14:40:00.001+05:30

Yawning may help you keep a cool head—literally, a new study suggests. The findings might hold some hope for sufferers of insomnia, migraines, and even epilepsy.

Though scientists have put forth various theories for yawning—from fatigue to lack of oxygen—none have held up to scrutiny.

"We can put a man on the moon, but we do not understand what the function of yawning is," said study co-author Gary Hack, of the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in Baltimore.

Now, Hack and co-author Andrew Gallup, of Princeton University, propose that yawning causes the walls of the maxillary sinus to expand and contract like a bellows, pumping air onto the brain, which lowers its temperature. Located in our cheekbones, the maxillary are the largest of four pairs of sinus cavities in the human head.

Like a computer, the human brain is "exquisitely" sensitive to temperature and must stay cool to work efficiently, said Hack, whose previously collected data was combined with Gallup's in the new study, recently published in the journal Medical Hypotheses.

Sinus Solution?

In addition to potentially solving the mystery of yawning, the study may also reveal why we have sinuses, whose existence has also stumped scientists.

It's a "unified theory tying yawning, sinus ventilation, and brain cooling into a neat little package," Hack said.

Ryan Soose—an ear, nose, and throat doctor as well as director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Division of Sleep Surgery—added, "The hypothesis that these two relatively unknown things may be directly related, to me, is very intriguing."

(See "Is Your Brain Sleeping While You're Awake?")

Cadaverous Clues

In 2002 study co-author Hack and his team were dissecting a cadaver when they discovered that the back wall of the maxillary sinus was much thinner—and therefore more flexible—than described in many medical textbooks.

The researchers postulated that, when the jaw moves, the sinus wall flexes, ventilating the sinuses. (Explore the human body.)

"I'd always kept that in the back of my mind, because yawning was an exaggerated jaw movement that would have an impact on this previously undescribed pump in humans," Hack said.

Later, he came across the postdoctoral research of Princeton's Gallup, who in 2007 had become the first to suggest the brain-cooling theory for yawning.

Since 2007, Gallup had tested the idea in both animals—many of which also yawn—and people. (Read "Beyond the Brain" in National Geographic magazine.)

For instance, Gallup and his team had implanted probes into rats' brains and recorded brain-temperature changes before, during, and after the rats yawned.

The team discovered that brain temperature spikes in the run-up to a yawn, then starts to decline, and finally falls rapidly to pre-yawn temperature.

This suggests yawns are triggered by an increase in brain temperature and "actually promote brain cooling," Gallup said.

(See "Rat Made Supersmart—Similar Boost Unsafe in Humans?")

Gallup had also studied two women who suffer from chronic bouts of excessive yawning. He had asked one of the patients—who could predict her "yawning attacks"—to take her own temperature before and after the episode, he said.

The results showed her body temperature rose before the yawn and fell afterward—"directly mirroring results of the rat-brain temperature study," Gallup said.

However, "we do have to be cautious that there are only two subjects in [that] study."

Indeed, co-author Hack expects the brain-cooling yawning theory to be "very controversial—we're delving into an area that's not well understood."

Yawning Theory May Influence Medicine

Overall, understanding yawning could be a useful tool for diagnosing certain medical conditions, such as epilepsy and migraines, which are both preceded by excessive yawning, the scientists say.

The University of Pittsburgh's Soose added that the discovery might someday aid doctors in treating patients with insomnia, the most common U.S. sleep disorder. Insomniacs often have trouble regulating their body temperatures, which must drop in order for sleep to occur. (Take a secrets-of-sleep quiz.)

"You could envision some mechanism by which you could rinse or cool the sinuses to treat insomnia," Soose said. "It opens the doors to help treat insomnia in a different way."

Courtesy: NGC

Special Trains for Diwali 2011 - Southern Railway

2011-10-20T11:42:00.001+05:30

The Southern Railway has decided to run special trains as well as augment the existing trains to help the passengers travelling during Deepavali season.

According to a Southern Railway release, to cater to the demand in the Chennai Egmore-Tiruchirapalli-Madurai-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur sector, five extra coaches would be arranged by Train No. 16735 Chennai Egmore-Tiruchendur Express from October 21 to October 30.

In the return direction, these five coaches will be attached to Train No. 16736 Tiruchendur-Chennai Egmore Chendur Express from October 22 to October 31.Thus, on a daily basis, 360 extra berths will be made available.

The Southern Railway has requested the passengers to check the status and make reservation from the general as well as Tatkal quota. Passengers waitlisted by this train are also requested to check the status of their tickets.

Besides, the following special trains will be run:

Tiruchirappalli-Chennai Central Superfast Special (via Karur, Erode, Jolarpettai): Train No.06802 will leave at 6 p.m. on October 24 and arrive at Chennai Central at 3.30 a.m. the next day.

Train No.06801 Chennai Central-Tiruchirapalli Superfast Special will leave at 6.15 p.m. on October 27 and arrive at Tiruchirapalli at 3.30 a.m. the next day.

Chennai Central-Coimbatore Superfast Special: Train No.06803 will leave at 10.30 p.m. on October 25 and arrive at Coimbatore at 6.50 a.m. the next day.

Train No 06804 Coimbatore-Chennai Central Superfast Special will leave at 11.45 p.m. on October 26 and arrive at Chennai Central at 7.45 a.m. the next day.

Chennai Central- Nagercoil Superfast Special (via Jolarpettai,Erode, Karur, Dindigul, Madurai): Train No. 06001 will leave at 11.30 p.m. on October 23 and arrive at Nagercoil at 2 p.m. the next day.

Train No. 06002 Nagercoil-Chennai Central Superfast Special will leave at 12.40 p.m. on October 26 and arrive at Chennai Central at 3.30 a.m. the next day.

Chennai Central-Nagercoil Superfast Special (via Jolarpettai,Erode, Karur,Dindigul ,Madurai): Train No 06003 will leave at 8.45 p.m. on October 24 and arrive at Nagercoil at 11 a.m. the next day.

Train No 06004 Nagercoil-Chennai Central Superfast Special will leave at 12.40 p.m. on October 27 and arrive at Chennai Central at 3.30 a.m. the next day.

Chennai Central-Nagercoil Superfast Special (via Jolarpettai, Erode, Karur, Dindigul, Madurai): Train No 06005 will leave at 3.15 p.m. on October 25 and arrive at Nagercoil at 5.30 a.m the next day. Train No.06006 Nagercoil –Chennai Central Superfast Special will leave at 12.40 p.m. on October 30 and arrive at Chennai Central at 3.30 a.m. the next day.

The reservation for these trains will open on October 21.

Courtesy: The hindu

Apple 'visionary' Steve Jobs dies

2011-10-06T15:13:00.001+05:30

நியூயார்க்: கம்ப்யூட்டர் உலகில் பல அரிய சாதனைகளைப் படைத்த ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தை உருவாக்கிய ஸ்டீவ் ‌ஜாப்ஸ் (வயது56) மரணமடைந்தார்.
புற்று‌நோயால்அவதிப்பட்டு வந்த அவர் நியூயார்க் நகரில் மரணமடைந்தார். அறிவாளிகளும் சாதனையாளர்களும் நீண்ட காலம் உயிர் வாழ்வதில்லை என்பதை
நிரூபிக்கும் வகையில் இவருடைய மரணம் அமைந்துள்ளது.
1980ல் இவரால் உருவாக்கப்பட்ட ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனம் இன்றைய நவீன கணினி தொழில்நுட்ப புரட்சியில் முக்கிய இடம் வகித்து வருகிறது. ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸ் இதை
தனது 21வது வயதில் உருவாக்கினார். 1980ல் இவர் உருவாக்கி ஆப்பிள் கம்ப்யூட்டர் மிக வெற்றிகரமாக விளங்கியது. 2011ல் இதன் விற்பனை 4
லட்சத்தைத் தாண்டியது. இது ஒரு உலக சாதனையாகும்.

எங்கும் எடுத்துச் செல்லும் வகையில் கணினி தொழில் நுட்பத்தை மாற்றிய பெருமை இவருக்கே உரியது. சாதாரணமான கம்ப்யூட்டர் தயாரிக்கும் நிறுவனமாக
உருவாகிய ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தில் இசைக்கு முக்கியத்துவம் கொடுக்கும் வகையில் ஐ பாடு மற்றும் ஐ டியூன்ஸ், ஐபோன் உருவாக்கியவர் இவரே. 2003ல் ஐ
பாடு உருவாக்கபட்ட பிறகு இசை உலகில் ஒரு மாற்றமே ஏற்பட்டது. சுமார் 20 கோடி பேர் இதில் பதிவு செய்து ஒன்றரை கோடிக்கும் மேற்பட்ட பாடல்களை
பதிவிறக்கம் செய்து ரசித்து வருகின்றனர்.

புதிய வரலாற்றைப் படைத்தது: 2007ல் ஐ‌ போனை இவர் உருவாக்கினார். ஸ்மார்ட் போன் உருவாக இது ஒரு முன்னோடியாக விளங்கியது. 2011ல்
உருவாக்கப்பட்ட ஐ டியூன்ஸ் சேவை மேலும் ஒரு புரட்சியை ஏற்படுத்தி உள்ளது. இதைத் தொடர்ந்து முழு கம்ப்யூட்டர் பயன்பாட்டை ‌கையடக்க வடிவில் கொண்டு வரும்
வகையில் இவர் உருவாக்கிய ஐ பேடு வடிவமைப்பு மற்றும் தொழில் நுட்பம், கணினி யுகத்தில் புதிய வரலாற்றைப் படைத்தது. கடந்த ஆண்டு வரை
பிரபலமாக இருந்த டேப்லட் பிசி என்ற கம்ப்யூட்டரை, ஐ பேடு பின்னுக்குத் தள்ளி, 2010 இறுதியில் ஒன்றரை கோடி விற்பனையானது.

இவர் கடந்த ஆகஸ்ட் வரை அதன் ‌தலைவராகவும் இருந்தார். இவருடைய மரணம் குறித்து அமெரிக்க அதிபர் ஒபாமா, பில்கேட்ஸ் ஆகியோர் இரங்கல்
தெரிவித்துள்ளனர்.

ஒபாமா: அமெரிக்காவில் புதிய படைப்புகளை உருவாக்கி உலகில் சாதனை படைத்தவர்களில் ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸூம் ஒருவர் என அமெரிக்க அதிபர் ஒபாமா
தெரிவித்துள்ளார். ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தை துவங்கி இந்த உலகிற்கு மகத்தான சேவை செய்து நம்‌மை விட்டு பிரிந்துவிட்டார். மனித வரலாற்றில் அரிய சாதனை
ப‌டைத்துள்ளார். மிகவும் அசாதாரணமான ஒரு மனிதரை இந்த உலகம் இழந்துவிட்டது என்றார்.

பேஸ்புக் நிறுவனர் மார்க் ஜூகர்பெர்க்: கம்ப்யூட்டர் உலகில் புரட்சியை ஏற்படுத்தி,உலகையே மாற்றி அமைத்தவர் ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸ். அவரை இந்த கம்ப்யூட்டர் உலகம்
இழந்துவிட்டது என சமூக இணையதளமான பேஸ்புக் நிறுவனர் மார்க் ஜூகர்பெர்க் கூறினார்.

அர்னால்டு இரங்கல்: கலிபோர்னியா மக்களின் கனவை நனவாக்கி தனது வாழ்நாளில் வாழ்ந்து காட்டினார்.கம்ப்யூட்டர் உலகின் முன்னோடி ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸ் என கலிபோர்னியா
மாகாண கவர்னரும், பிரபல ஹாலிவுட் நடிகருமான அர்னால்டுஸ்வாஸ்னேக்கர் டுவீட்டர் இணையதளத்தில் இரங்கல் தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

அமெரி்க்காவின் சான்பிரான்ஸிஸ்கோ நகரில் கடந்த 1955-ம் ஆண்டு பிப்ரவரி மாதம் 24-ம் தேதி பிறந்தார் ஸ்டீவன்பவுல் ஜாப்ஸ். கம்ப்யூட்டர் இன்ஜினியராக
தனது பள்ளி வாழ்க்கையை துவக்கினார். 300-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட தனது எலெக்ட்ரானிக் தொழில்நுட்ப கண்டுபிடிப்புகளுக்கு அமெரிக்காவில் காப்புரிமை பெற்றுள்ளார். கடந்த
1977-ம் ஆண்டு ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தின் சார்பில் கம்ப்யூட்டரை உலகிற்கு அறிமுகப்படுத்தினார். 2010-ம் ஆண்டு ஜூன் மாதம் ஐ-போன்களை
அறிமுகப்படுத்தினார். அதே ஆண்டு ஜனவரி 27-ம் ஆண்டு முதன்முதலாக ஐ-பேடினை அறிமுகம் செய்து நவீன கணினி உலகில் புரட்சியை
ஏற்படுத்தினார்.கடந்த ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம் ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தின் தலைமை நிர்வாகி பதவியிலிருந்து விலகினார்.அவர் விலகினாலும் ஆப்பிள் நிறுவனத்தின் வளர்ச்சிக்கு
அவர் ஆற்றிய பணியை உலகம் மறக்கவில்லை.

NASA Satellite Falls to Earth, But Debris Location Still a Mystery

2011-09-24T22:52:00.001+05:30

No reports yet of damage or injury from UARS spacecraft, agency says.

Defying predictions one last time, NASA's doomed UARS satellite dove through Earth's atmosphere late last night over the North Pacific Ocean, off the U.S. West Coast, the space agency says. (Also see "Space Debris: Five Unexpected Objects That Fell to Earth.")

As recently as Friday morning, U.S. officials had forecast that the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS, would fall out of the sky in the late afternoon or early evening Friday, eastern time.

(See "NASA Satellite Falling Faster Due to Solar Activity.")

But the satellite shifted position as it tumbled toward the planet, forcing scientists to throw out their earlier time estimates.

NASA said early Saturday that UARS fell out of orbit sometime between 11:23 p.m. and 1:09 a.m. ET.

Amateur satellite trackers in places such as San Antonio, Texas, and northernMinnesota reported catching glimpses of UARS as it made its final, doomed circles around Earth.

Though the spacecraft plummeted over the Pacific, it's still not clear exactly where debris from the satellite has landed. Pieces of the satellite will be strung along a debris "footprint" stretching 500 miles (800 kilometers).

So far there are "no reports of any damage or injury," NASA said via Twitter close to midday Saturday.

Satellite Pieces Not For Sale

UARS, which weighed more than six tons, was lofted into orbit by the space shuttle Discovery in 1991. The craft recorded data on Earth's atmosphere until it was switched off in 2005.

Some 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) of debris from the satellite were projected to survive the superheated descent through the atmosphere. The biggest intact piece, NASA said, would probably be a 300-pound (140-kilogram) chunk of the spacecraft's structure.

NASA warned the curious not to touch any pieces of the spacecraft that may have made it to the ground, because of the risk of sharp edges.

The space agency also tried to head off sales of UARS remnants on Internet auction sites such as eBay.

"Any pieces of UARS found are still the property of the country that made it," NASA warned via Twitter this morning. "You'll have to give 'em back to U.S."

Now, Virtual Tickets accepted by Indian Railways – No need of physical printouts!

2011-09-22T12:23:00.001+05:30

It is nice to see that Indian Railways is making life easier for Railway commuters – as well as for our environment. Imagine the number of trees that would have been needed to cut just for the Ticket Reservation printouts that lakhs of consumers carry on daily basis when they set-off on Indian Railways journey.

According to the announcement on IRCTC website – Commuters can now carry their Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS) virtually. What this essentially means is you can just show a screenshot of your e-ticket on any device and it will be treated as Valid.

Indian Railways calls it "Virtual Reservation Message" or VRM. So, if you have a mobile with camera that should be enough to create a VRM. Book your ticket online, take a snapshot using your mobile camera of the e-ticket and show it to Ticket Checker along with your Valid Identity Proof.

If you are carrying a Smartphone, it is even easier – you can login to internet and show your e-ticket itself!

Couple of months back, Indian Railways had also announced that it will launching a Mobile applicationthat will make it possible for commuters to book the tickets on mobile itself. Once booked, the SMS sent out by the app will serve as a ticket itself and can be shown to the Ticket Checker along with your personal identification!

Personally, I am super-delighted with this development like millions of other Indian Railway Commuters. I travel Pune-Mumbai quite frequently on Deccan Queen. It has always been a pain carrying a printout. But now with a mobile in my hand I don't have to worry at all!

Have you taken advantage of this "Virtual Reservation Message" or VRM already? If not, you should for your next train journey!

Google+ opens social network to everyone

2011-09-21T20:32:00.001+05:30

Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of social business: "We think there's lots of room for innovation"

Google+ is being opened up for anyone to join after two-and-a-half months in closed testing.

The search firm's latest foray into social networking was initially offered to journalists and people working in technology related fields.

However, members' ability to invite friends meant its user base quickly grew to tens of millions.

Google+ has been praised for several innovative features including its multi person "hangouts" video chat.

Two weeks after it launched, the company announced that its service had attracted 10 million users.

It has not produced official figures since then, although estimates by web analytic firm Comscore put membership at 25 million by the end of the first month.

Despite users' apparently rapid uptake, research carried out by Australian web software maker 89n suggested that the rate of public posting was declining. The survey did not take account of private postings.

Social search

Alongside its full public launch, Google is adding several new features to the service, including video hangouts on Android smartphones - allowing multi-person chats.

Users will also be able to share the content of their computer screens with whoever they are talking to.

Another notable addition is the integration of search within Google+, allowing members to find results from socially shared information, as well as across the wider web.

The prospect of "social search" through Google would appeal to businesses, according to social networking specialist Matt Rhodes from Fresh Networks.

"Brands know that a lot of people who come to them come through search and anything they can do make themselves come up through the right terms or higher up the rankings is important. Commercially that is the opportunity," he said.

"If you are logged into Google and search for supermarkets, if some of my friends have plus 1'd Tesco or commented about it, that might push Tesco above Sainsbury's in my search results."

Myspace founder Tom Anderson - an active Google+ user - told BBC News: "Failure is not an option for Google on this. The fate of their business depends on social in the long run, so I think they'll keep tweaking and reminding users until they get it right."

Rivals' response

The rise of Google+ has not gone un-noticed by its competitors.

Facebook has recently rolled out a number of innovations which many observers have characterised as a direct response to the Google challenge, although the company argues that these have been in the pipeline for far longer.

These include a revamp of the social network's friend system, making in easier to add people to categories, similar to Google Circles.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Facebook users would be able to connect their status updates directly to their Twitter feed, in a move that may enhance the appeal of both Google rivals.

Conversely, Google finds itself in the unusual position of being a minority player in the market, facing Twitter's 200 million users and Facebook's 750 million.

Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of social business told the BBC that he welcomed the competition.

"We suspect people use many different tools to share," he said.

"The most popular mechanism people use to share today is email. So we think there's lots of room for innovation."

with regards,
Jayaprakash.K

NASA satellite expected to hit Earth this week

2011-09-20T12:12:00.000+05:30

The sky is not falling. A 12,500-pound NASA satellite the size of a school bus is, however.

It's the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, or UARS — YOU-arz — and it's currently tumbling in orbit and succumbing to Earth's gravity. It will crash to the surface Friday.

Or maybe Thursday. Or Saturday.

Out-of-control crashing satellites don't lend themselves to exact estimates even for the precision-minded folks at NASA. The uncertainty about the "when" makes the "where" all the trickier, because a small change in the timing of the reentry translates into thousands of miles of difference in the crash site.

As of the moment, NASA says the 35-foot-long satellite will crash somewhere between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south latitude — a projected crash zone that covers most of the planet, and particularly the inhabited parts. In this hemisphere, that includes everyone living between northern Newfoundland and the frigid ocean beyond the last point of land in South America.

Polar bears and Antarctic scientists are safe.
It's the biggest piece of NASA space junk to fall to Earth in more than 30 years. It should create a light show. The satellite will partially burn up during reentry and, by NASA's calculation, break into about 100 pieces, creating fireballs that should be visible even in daytime.
An estimated 26 of those pieces will survive the re-entry burn and will spray themselves in a linear debris field 500 miles long. The largest chunk should weigh about 300 pounds.

As the Friday-ish crash gets closer, NASA will refine its estimate of timing and location, but the fudge factor will remain high.
"There are too many variations on solar activity which affect the atmosphere, the drag on the vehicle," said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist for orbital debris at NASA. He said that when NASA estimates that the satellite is two hours away from hitting Earth, there will still be a margin of error of 25 minutes.

"That equates to plus or minus 5,000 miles. That's a lot of real estate," he said.
The good news is that UARS will probably splatter into the open ocean, because Earth is a water planet. And humans, for all their sprawl, occupy a very limited portion of its surface.

NASA did a calculation of the odds that someone would be struck by UARS debris. It's very unlikely: about a 1-in-3,200 chance that one person somewhere in the world would be hit. That's not the odds for any specific person (say, a reader of this story), but for the entire human population, which is about 7 billion.

Used fuel tanks and rocket bodies fall to Earth frequently, Johnson said, "and in over 50 years of these things coming back around the world, no one has ever been hurt. There has never been any significant property damage."

The satellite was launched on the space shuttle Discovery in 1991 and spent 14 years studying the atmosphere as part of an effort to understand, among other things, the human influence on climate change. It measured chemicals that damage the ozone layer, aerosols from Mount Pinatubo and changes in solar radiation that affect the upper atmosphere. But NASA decided in 2005 that UARS's work had become redundant to that performed by other satellites, and it received its scientific pink slip.

Google+: 10 things it does better

2011-08-24T14:51:00.000+05:30

A glance at Google+'s most popular users, however, would indicate that the social service is still a playground for tech's early adopters.

The unofficial leaderboard of the site's "most circled" users is dominated by technologists -- from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Even I make the list -- and while that's surely flattering, I'm hardly a household name.

This is the next great challenge for Google+ -- mainstream users may now be hearing about the service from time to time, but in a world of social networking overload, why would anyone spend time on Google+?

It's a question I struggle to answer: Google+ is certainly more fun to use than some of its rivals, but pinning down its specific advantages can be a challenge.

After all, the main features of the service are familiar: Post text updates, photos, videos and links to your friends from the Web or your mobile device. What's the big deal? I polled the Google+ community for answers to Google's marketing conundrum, and 10 distinct differences emerged. Could these be enough to convince the masses?

1. "Circles"

Overwhelmingly, Google+ users say they prefer Google+'s model for organizing your contacts. While Twitter allows you to "follow" others, and Facebook is all about mutual "friendship," Google+ instead introduces the concept of "Circles."

Circles are groups of friends with different labels such as "co-workers" or "family." Users can choose to share each update with a different group, and also view their incoming streams by group, rather than all at once. "I'm finding the circles help with keeping my life and work separate," explains Google+.

2. Privacy

Google+ users say they find the service's privacy settings easier to use. This might be surprising given that Google+ profiles themselves cannot be private. However, thanks to Circles, it's easy to control which users can see each of your updates. "I want fine grained control of how my posts are shared,".

3. Longer, more thoughtful posts

Twitter might be king when it comes to brevity, but Ward Anderson says he reads more insightful postings on Google+. This thoughtfulness is enabled by Google+'s higher character limit -- users can post multiple paragraphs of text, versus one or two sentences on Twitter.

4. No ads

Google+ users, including Dave Francis Rotaquio, say they love that Google+ is currently ad-free. With Facebook having run ads for years, and Twitter now ramping up its use of advertising, Google+ is now one of the few successful social networks that lacks commercial interruption.

However, the free lunch is unlikely to last forever: Google runs the largest ad network on the Web and may eventually have to face the economic realities of operating a large social site.

5. Group video chat

Want to video chat with up to 10 friends? With Google+, switching from a text chat to a group video conversation takes a click -- and it's one feature that Google's rivals lack. Facebook now supports video calls thanks to a deal with Skype, but group chatting isn't possible there.

What's more, Google just integrated this "Hangouts" feature into YouTube, letting you and your friends chat about videos while you watch.

6. Farmville-free

Google+ recently added games to its lineup -- a feature that's often cited as an annoyance on rival social networks. (Do you have a Facebook friend who can't help but post Farmville updates all day?)

Google+ makes its games less irritating, by relegating all gaming updates to a dedicated tab -- this keeps your stream free from noisy distractions. So if Farmville were ever to come to Google+, few would consider it a pest.

7. Better photos

Some Google+ users say the network is becoming a leader in photo-sharing: Full-screen photo galleries and a highly active community consisting of some the Web's most popular photographers must surely have helped here.

8. Friendly staff

Who said social networks don't need great customer service? The creators of Google+ are active on the service themselves and use it to respond to questions and criticisms..

9. Less clutter

Perhaps it's simply the lack of advertising, but many Google+ users say they like Google's clean, white aesthetic. On Google+, there's nothing to distract you from the content.

10. Integrated with Google products

Fans of Google's other services, such as Gmail and Google Calendar, say they like the way Google+ works across many of Google's existing products.

"They had everything else, for the most part, already working so all they needed was to add the social networking aspect to things,".

Perhaps the greatest selling point of Google+ is the most obvious, however: It's new. The opportunity to start afresh with an up-to-date list of friends, no spam, no ads and an uncluttered interface is a novel experience for those of us who have spent years maintaining profiles on other websites.

Copyrights

2011-08-22T23:00:00.002+05:30

This post confirms my ownership of the site and that this site adheres to Google AdSense program policies and Terms and Conditions: ca-pub-2873240415372652

Important NOTICE - NESTLE BANANA BABY FOOD

2011-07-28T11:36:00.000+05:30

As received.

Message received from a friend.

Nestle is asking all consumers to return BANANA BABY FOOD expiring in 2012 as it may contain GLASS. Please forward for safety of babies. Bar Code 7613033089 73.

India successfully launches GSAT-12

2011-07-15T18:40:00.000+05:30

India on Friday successfully launched its latest communication satellite GSAT-12 onboard a powerful variant of homegrown Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C17, from the spaceport in Sriharikota.

In a textbook launch, Indian Space Research Organisation’s workhorse PSLV lifted off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here at 4.48 pm at the end of the 53-hour countdown and placed the 1,410 kg GSAT-12 into orbit about 20 minutes later.

“I am extremely happy to state that the PSVL-C17 GSAT12 mission is successful. The launch vehicle injected the satellite very precisely into the intended orbit,” a beaming ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan announced.

On its 18th successful mission in a row, the PSLV zoomed into cloudy skies as scientists broke into cheers at the mission control centre here, 90 km from Chennai.

GSAT-12 was injected into an elliptical Transfer Orbit of 284 km perigee (closest point to Earth) and 21,000 km apogee (farthest point to Earth).

Subsequently, the onboard Liquid Apogee Motor would be used to place the satellite in a circular orbit.

GSAT-12, aimed at augmenting the capacity in the INSAT system for various communication services like tele-education, tele-medicine and Village Resource Centres, would be co-located with INSAT-2E and INSAT-4A satellites.

This was the second time in its 19 flights that the PSLV has been used for launching a communication satellite after Kalpana-1 in 2002.

ISRO used the most powerful XL configuration with six extended solid strap-on motors carrying 12 tonnes of solid propellant as against nine tonnes for the standard PSLV for Friday’s flight. A similar configuration was used for launching India’s maiden Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission in 2008.

ISRO chose its reliable launch vehicle PSLV in the face of failures of two previous GSLV flights in April and December 2010 that dealt a blow to the missions to place GSAT-5 and GSAT-5P into orbit causing transponder shortage.

Launch of GSAT-12, equipped with 12 Extended C-band transponders, is expected to partly meet the country’s growing demand for transponders in a short turnaround time.

The satellite, with a mission life of about eight years, and the PSLV together cost about Rs 200 crore.

Mr. Radhakrishnan said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has extended his warm congratulations to the ISRO team on the successful launch of GSAT-12.

He said in the coming months ISRO would undertake a series of PSLV missions for launching several satellites.

According to him, the GSAT-12 would cater to tele-medicine and tele-education services and ‘more importantly’ provide support for disaster management.

The ISRO chief also said the space agency had an agenda for a reliable GSLV cryogenic stage (indigenous) “which will happen in a year.

“The ISRO team will pursue this with grit and determination.”

India’s ambitious home grown cryogenic stage programme has met with failures of two GSLV rockets -- in April and December 2010.

Lauding the efforts of ISRO team, Union Minister of State in PMO V Narayanasamy said this launch would help the country in meeting requirement for more transponders.

ISRO officials said the GSAT-12 and all parameters were 'healthy’.

Courtesy: TheHindu

Google new UI

2011-06-30T14:32:00.000+05:30

Starting from 1997, you might noticing that google has updated its products a lot. Still google is working to improve its features and its functionalities. Now google brings us its new and improved Google experience and still working in it. We will still experience its makeover a lot. Here are some of its latest update UI:

Google’s home page in 1997.

Latest UI 2011 – June 28.

Search Result (LoggedIN with google account).

Thanks & Regards,

Jayaprakash.Kandasamy

Gmail Motion Beta

2011-04-01T21:26:00.002+05:30

A new way to communicate

The mouse and keyboard were invented before the Internet even existed. Since then, countless technological advancements have allowed for much more efficient human computer interaction. Why then do we continue to use outdated technology? Introducing Gmail Motion -- now you can control Gmail with your body.

How it works

Gmail Motion uses your computer's built-in webcam and Google's patented spatial tracking technology to detect your movements and translate them into meaningful characters and commands. Movements are designed to be simple and intuitive for people of all skill levels.

Motion Guide

Familiarize yourself with some of the basic functionality of Gmail Motion using this printable guide of sample gestures. With it, you'll be able to start writing and responding to emails – with your body – in no time.

Safety precautions

Using Gmail Motion is not only safe but also healthy and fun. As with any physical activity, certain precautions are recommended. First, make sure to clear the area around you. Second, try to take short breaks every 30-40 minutes, just as you would if you were typing. And finally, take time to stretch after each session to give the muscles you'll be using some relief.

Top Ten Nuclear Nations' Quake Hazard

2011-03-30T12:02:00.000+05:30

1. United States: Coastal Concern

Annual U.S. nuclear generation: 798.7 billion kwh (kilowatt-hours)

Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi crisis has raised questions around the world on the earthquake hazard in countries that rely heavily on nuclear power. As it turns out, the seismic threat varies widely in the top ten countries generating electricity by fission.

Although the United States has not built a new nuclear power station since the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island, it is far and away the world’s largest nuclear power producer. Its 104 reactors produce more electricity than all the nuclear plants in the next two nations—France and Japan—combined. But because U.S. electricity use is so prodigious, all those nuclear plants provide only 20 percent of the total.

2. France: Heavy Reliance on Nuclear

Annual French nuclear generation: 389.3 billion kwh

The wind turbine above the cooling towers at France’s Cruas nuclear plant in the Rhône River valley near Montélimar is only one of the structures that makes the site unique. The power plant, built in the early 1980s, is one of only two nuclear power plants in the world built with “seismic base isolation,” flexible devices at the base that absorb vibration. Each reactor sits on more than 1,800 neoprene pads, each several inches thick. (The other such plant is near Cape Town, South Africa.)

Even though the total amount of energy France generates from atomic stations is less than half the amount generated in the United States, no other country relies as heavily on nuclear power. More than 80 percent of France’s electricity comes from 58 reactors in 19 power plants.

3. Japan: From Hazard to Crisis

Japan's annual nuclear generation: 265.8 billion kwh

Although it is now scene of one of the world's worst nuclear crises, the Fukushima Daiichi plant, seen here in October 2008, once was part of a fleet that exemplified the promise of fission for an energy-hungry nation.

Despite its experience as the only country to endure a wartime nuclear attack, Japan two decades later turned to the so-called “peaceful atom” to help power its economic growth. With little in the way of domestic fossil fuel sources, and forced to import virtually all of its oil, coal, and natural gas, the island nation came to view nuclear power was a way to produce large amounts of electricity domestically. And since its first commercial nuclear power plant began operation in 1966, Japan has built up a program of 54 reactors, including the largest one in the world: Kashiwazaki-Kariwa in the Niigata prefecture on the west coast.

Nuclear energy has been providing one-third of Japan's power, and before the Fukushima accident, the nation had plans to expand that share to 40 percent by 2017 and to 50 percent by 2030.

4. Russia: Aspirations for Nuclear

Russia's annual nuclear generation: 154.9 billion kwh

Cucumber plants thrive in a greenhouse in Siberia, thanks to the heat output of Russia's most remote nuclear power plant, Bilibino, located about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle in Chukotskiy autonomous region.

Russia has had aims to expand its nuclear power for reasons quite opposite that of Japan. The sprawling nation has huge fossil resources, including the largest proven natural gas reserves in the world, but Moscow would like to increase its exports of those. Shifting more Russians to nuclear power and away from natural gas, which is heavily subsidized by the state, would allow Russia to generate more revenue by selling the gas abroad.

So Russia, which now derives 16 percent of its electricity from 32 nuclear reactors at 10 locations, has plans to expand that share to 25 percent by 2030. Except for Bilibino's four small reactors in the far east, all of Russia's nuclear power plants are west of the Ural Mountains. They are closer, in other words, to Russia's population center, which also happens to be an area of low earthquake hazard.

5. South Korea: Fast-Building Latecomer

Annual Nuclear Generation: 140.4 billion kwh

A worker measures the radioactivity of drums containing waste at Yonggwang nuclear power site south of Seoul, one of Korea's young fleet of nuclear generating stations.

South Korea was a relative latecomer to nuclear power—starting up its program only one year before the Three Mile Island accident. But since its first plant was completed in 1978, it has built 21 reactors at four power stations that provide more than one-third of the nation's electricity. Twelve more reactors are planned by 2022. One of the world's fastest-growing developed countries, Korea's goal is to generate half its power from nuclear energy.

6. Germany: A Controversial 'Bridge'

Unterweser nuclear power facility, near Kleinensiel (map) which opened in 1978, is one of seven older plants that the German government ordered closed for at least three months for safety checks in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi crisis.

Although Germany's 17 nuclear power plants provide about a quarter of the nation's energy supply, their future has long been clouded with controversy.

7. Canada: Nuclear Pioneer in the North

Canada's annual nuclear generation: 85.9 billion kwh

The huge turbine hall in the Bruce Power LP station on Lake Huron in Tiverton conveys the size of Canada's commitment to the atom; the facility boasts the largest output of any nuclear plant in North America.

Canada began its nuclear program as early as 1944 and built its first experimental reactor in 1947. Overall, the nation derives about 15 percent of its electricity from 18 commercial reactors. But dependence on nuclear is far greater in Canada's most populous province. Ontario, home to the capital of Ottawa, has 16 of the existing reactors (including Bruce Power), and derives 53 percent of its electricity from nuclear power. The other two nuclear units are also in the east, in Quebec and New Brunswick.

8. Ukraine: Legacy of Disaster

Ukraine's annual nuclear generation: 78.8 billion kwh

The past and future of nuclear power can be seen together in Ukraine. AtKhmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant, two units are operating and two more are slated to be built by Russia's atomic energy company, Rosatom.

But Ukraine will always be known for its first power plant, begun in 1970 and commissioned in 1977, at Chernobyl, site of the worst nuclear accident in history. The 1986 reactor explosion killed some 30 people, caused a fire to burn for 10 days and left tens of thousands of square miles contaminated.

9. China:Ambitious Nuclear Plans

Annual nuclear generation: 66.6 billion kwh

This 180-ton rotor, shown here last year just after fabrication at a steam turbine plant in China's Sichuan province, soon was spinning inside China's first 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant. Unit 3 at the Ling'ao nuclear plant on the Dapeng peninsula in Guangdong, which opened last July, is still the largest reactor in China but it won't be alone for long. More than 27 new nuclear plants are now under construction in China, most of them this size or larger.

China already has 13 operating nuclear power plants, but together they provide only one percent of electricity to the world's most populous nation, which remains heavily dependent on coal. The Chinese government was aiming to increase nuclear's share in power generation sharply. Many of the planned plants are being built in the nation's rapidly developing eastern coastal areas, which have limited access to other power sources. Four of those planned reactors would be the first in the world with so-called Generation III-plus technology, with “passive safety” systems designed to continue cooling operation for 72 hours in the case of a power outage.

10. United Kingdom: A Nuclear Legacy

The United Kingdom's annual nuclear generation: 65.7 billion kwh

The Heysham nuclear power station on Morecambe Bay in northwestern England, with four reactors that opened in the 1980s, is one of eight locationsthe British government has identified as potential sites for new nuclear developments.

United Kingdom currently derives about 18 percent of its electricity from 19 nuclear power reactors in nine locations. The nation built so many nuclear stations in the 1950s and 1960s that it actually has more shut-down reactors—26—than operational ones. The United Kingdom has the only units still operating in the world that are considered early, Generation I design.

In 2008, the government announced its support for additional nuclear stations to meet projected energy needs, with plans to promote construction by 2025.

New Ruby-Eyed Pit Viper Discovered

2011-03-30T11:52:00.000+05:30

Seen coiled around a branch in an undated picture, a new species of snake called the ruby-eyed green pit viper (Cryptelytrops rubeus) has been discovered in Southeast Asia, according to a recent study. The snake lives in forests near Ho Chi Minh City and across the low hills of southern Vietnam and easternCambodia's Langbian Plateau.

Scientists collected green pit vipers from Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia between 1999 and 2003 and examined them in the lab, using physical characteristics and genetics to identify new species.

"We know this species from only a few specimens, and very few people in the world have seen this snake," said study co-author Anita Malhotra, a molecular ecologist at Bangor University in the U.K. "We know very little about what it does, to be honest."

Malhotra and colleagues also discovered a very similar species with striking yellow eyes (not pictured) dubbed the Cardamom Mountains green pit viper (Cryptelytrops cardamomensis), which inhabits southeastern Thailand and southwestern Cambodia. Both new species were described in the January 23 issue of the journal Zootaxa.

What'z New Today - Google's Think Quarterly

2011-03-25T12:24:00.000+05:30

On Thursday, the tech giant Google launched Think Quarterly, a publication aimed at advertisers and partners in the U.K. For the first issue, Google has chosen a theme near and dear to its heart: data.

“At Google, we often think that speed is the forgotten 'killer application' – the ingredient that can differentiate winners from the rest,” said Matt Brittin, managing director of Think Quarterly. “We know that the faster we deliver results, the more useful people find our service.

“But in a world of accelerating change, we all need time to reflect. Think Quarterly is a breathing space in a busy world. It's a place to take time out and consider what's happening and why it matters,” Brittin added.

The 68-page book leaps right into the impact data are having on business today, and it's an absolute visual stunner. Designed by the creative group The Church of London, the book reads like an insider guide with a euro spin.

According to Mashable, Google has snagged up some decisive talent for the project, with The Guardian's Simon Rogers and WE magazine's Ulrike Reinhard jumping aboard.

Although it's an interesting step for Google, it is not necessarily made with a U.S. audience in mind. Interviews with Vodaphone U.K. CEO Guy Laurence and data expert Hans Rosling might just turn off the most casual of readers from the U.S. Other articles feature talks with Google chief economist Hal Varian and Google director of research Tony Fagan.

But ease of reading is not what Google is aiming for with Think Quarterly.

This is a wonky magazine shooting for the wonkiest of readers.

The first issue is dedicated to answering the question, "Amongst a morass of information, how can you find the magic metrics that will help transform your business?"

The book, as the company calls it, will not be sold for profit.

In a statement Google said, "Like most companies we regularly communicate with our business customers via email newsletters, updates on our official blogs, and printed materials. This short book about data was sent to 1,500 of our UK partners and advertisers."

The next edition set to launch in May, with new issues for advertisers and partners coming out every few months.

Today's Windows OS Tips

2011-03-24T12:54:00.000+05:30

The run option of Start menu is used to run a program or to open a document directly. If you do not know the exact location of the program or document then click on Start button to open Run and type the programs shortcut name to open it directly.

Run Commands

appwiz.cpl -- Used to run Add/Remove wizard
Calc --Calculator
Cfgwiz32 --ISDN Configuration Wizard
Charmap --Character Map
Chkdisk --Repair damaged files
Cleanmgr --Cleans up hard drives
Clipbrd --Windows Clipboard viewer
Control --Displays Control Panel
Cmd --Opens a new Command Window
Control mouse --Used to control mouse properties
Dcomcnfg --DCOM user security
Debug --Assembly language programming tool
Defrag --Defragmentation tool
Drwatson --Records programs crash & snapshots
Dxdiag --DirectX Diagnostic Utility
Explorer --Windows Explorer
Fontview --Graphical font viewer
Fsmgmt.msc -- Used to open shared folders
Firewall.cpl -- Used to configure windows firewall
Ftp -ftp.exe program
Hostname --Returns Computer's name
Hdwwiz.cpl -- Used to run Add Hardware wizard
Ipconfig --Displays IP configuration for all network adapters
Logoff -- Used to logoff the computer
MMC --Microsoft Management Console
Msconfig --Configuration to edit startup files
Mstsc -- Used to access remote desktop
Mrc -- Malicious Software Removal Tool
Msinfo32 --Microsoft System Information Utility
Nbtstat --Displays stats and current connections using NetBIOS over TCP/IP
Netstat --Displays all active network connections
Nslookup--Returns your local DNS server
Osk ---Used to access on screen keyboard
Perfmon.msc -- Used to configure the performance of Monitor.
Ping --Sends data to a specified host/IP
Powercfg.cpl -- Used to configure power option
Regedit --Registry Editor
Regwiz -- Registration wizard
Sfc /scannow -- System File Checker
Sndrec32 --Sound Recorder
Shutdown -- Used to shutdown the windows
Spider -- Used to open spider solitaire card game
Sfc / scannow -- Used to run system file checker utility.
Sndvol32 --Volume control for soundcard
Sysedit -- Edit system startup files
Taskmgr --Task manager
Telephon.cpl -- Used to configure modem options.
Telnet --Telnet program
Tracert --Traces and displays all paths required to reach an internet host
Winchat -- Used to chat with Microsoft
Wmplayer -- Used to run Windows Media player
Wab -- Used to open Windows address Book.
WinWord -- Used to open Microsoft word
Winipcfg --Displays IP configuration
Winver -- Used to check Windows Version
Wupdmgr --Takes you to Microsoft Windows Update
Write -- Used to open WordPad

"Supermoon": Biggest Full Moon in 18 Years Saturday, 19-March-2011

2011-03-19T13:23:00.000+05:30

"Beautiful" moon will be bigger and brighter than regular full moon, expert says.

It may not be faster than a speeding bullet, but tomorrow the moon will make its closest approach to Earth in 18 years—making the so-called supermoon the biggest full moon in years.

And despite Internet rumors, the impending phenomenon had no influence on the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami (see pictures).

The monthly full moon always looks like a big disk, but because its orbit is egg-shaped, there are times when the moon is at perigee—its shortest distance from Earth in the roughly monthlong lunar cycle—or at apogee, its farthest distance from Earth.

Likewise, because the size of the moon's orbit varies slightly, each perigee is not always the same distance away from Earth. Friday's supermoon will be just 221,566 miles (356,577 kilometers) away from Earth. The last time the full moon approached so close to Earth was in 1993, according to NASA.

The March 19 supermoon, as it's called, will be visible "pretty much any time during the night," said Geza Gyuk, astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.

"Look for the full moon as it rises above the eastern horizon as the sun sets below the western horizon—it will be a beautiful and inspiring sight," he said via email.

(See "Year's Biggest Full Moon, Mars Create Sky Show [2010].")

Though the supermoon will be about 20 percent brighter and 15 percent bigger than a regular full moon, the visual effect may be subtle, added Anthony Cook, astronomical observer for the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.

"I doubt that most people will notice anything unusual about this full moon," Cook said.

"Because the total amount of light is a little greater, the biggest effect will be on the illumination of the ground—but not enough to be very noticeable to the casual observer."

Japan Earthquake Not Linked to Supermoon

Such a lunar close encounter can cause slightly higher than normal ocean tides and localized flooding—especially if there is already a storm surge, astronomers say.

A supermoon may even have some impact on seismic activity because of the stronger gravitational interaction between the moon, the sun, and Earth.

Even so, there is no clear evidence that any of these phenomena influenced the Japan earthquake and tsunami.

"The earthquake in Japan happened when the moon was close to its average distance to Earth—there was nothing extreme about its position or phase," Cook said.

"While some earthquakes seem to have tidal connections, this isn't one of them."

(Take a moon myths and mysteries quiz.)

There's no need to get worked up over a supermoon, Adler Planetarium's Gyuk added.

"We survived 2008 [an almost supermoon year] and 1993 just fine," he said by email.

"Just keep in mind even this 'extreme' supermoon is not really that extreme!"

Courtesy: NGC

Google Doodle celebrates 80 years of Alam Ara

2011-03-14T10:44:00.000+05:30

On March 14, 1931 - exactly eighty years ago - the police had to be summoned to the Majestic cinema hall in Mumbai (then Bombay). The reason for the feared stampede was the uncontrollable response of movie-goers to the first Indian talkie, Alam Ara.

Celebrated by a Google Doodle on the homepage of the search engine in India to commemorate the arrival of sound to Indian cinema, Alam Ara also included the first song in Hindi films - setting off an endearing and enduring tradition. The song, De de khuda ke naam par, was performed on screen by actor Wazir Mohammed Khan - this, of course, was before the days of lip-syncing to playback tracks. The film, in fact, had seven songs, scored by Ferozshah M. Mistru and B. Irani.

The tragedy, however, is that the film may be lost forever. In 2008, an Information and Broadcasting ministry official revealed that no prints are now available with the National Archives of India. The last existing prints were destroyed in a fire at Pune's National Film Archives in 2003. A search was conducted across the country but no print of Alam Ara could be found.

Directed by Ardeshir Irani, the film is a love story between a prince and a gypsy girl. It starred master Vithal, Zubeida, LV Prasad and Prithviraj Kapoor. The film was shot mostly in at night to avoid capturing the noises of the day. Alam Ara was made using microphones that had to be hidden from the camera's view. It ran for two hours and four minutes, and used a Tanar Sound System to record the dialogue.

The amazing fact of a movie with dialogue that the audience could actually hear was advertised with the line 'All living. Breathing. 100 per cent talking.' The Hindi punchline was even more colorful: '78 murder insaan zinnia ho gaye. Unko bolte dekho.' (78 dead people come to life. Watch them speak.)

India's first talkie now remains only a memory, a scattering of images and, today, a 'Google Doodle'.

google Body Browser

2010-12-27T12:27:00.002+05:30

Google has recently demoed an interesting WebGL application called Body Browser, which lets you explore the human body just like you can explore the world in Google Earth. Now you can try Google Body Browser before it's added to Google Labs, assuming that you have a WebGL-enabled browser:

* WebGL is available, but not enabled by default in Chrome 8 (the latest stable version). Type about:flags in the address bar, click "Enable" next to "WebGL" and then click on "Restart now". Please note that this is an experimental feature in Chrome 8.
* WebGL is enabled by default in Chrome 9 Beta, Chrome 9 Dev Channel, Chrome Canary Build and Firefox 4 beta.

Dell PS511 USB Sound Bar Review

2010-10-12T13:08:00.000+05:30

Highlights

Delivers 2-Watt output for enhanced multimedia experience
Helps improve the quality of multimedia presentations, online training, DVD playback on your system

Technical Specification

Product Type	PC multimedia speaker
Nominal (RMS) Output Power	2 Watt
Connectivity Technology	Wired
Interface Type	USB
Additional Features	USB powered
Connector Type	1 x USB ( 4 pin USB Type A

The Dell™ PS511 USB Sound Bar offers Mobility, Single USB Cable Solution for Power/Audio, and Excellent Digital Stereo Sound with an added bonus of a hard shell carry case. This product has been tested and validated on Dell systems to ensure it will work with your computer. It is supported by Dell Technical Support when used with a Dell system.

Play Hidden Snake Game In YouTube Video

2010-10-11T11:54:00.000+05:30

YouTube provides streaming video. You can find variety of video based on your interests. Usually we wait for the video to load on the YouTube. But have you ever thought that you can do something innovative while waiting for your favorite video to stream? YouTube videos comes with hidden snake game.

Snake game is one of the most basic and simple game that is available in almost all cellphones. All you have to do is eat your food without touching the tail of the snake.

How To Play Snake Game In YouTube Video

open any YouTube video. Let us take this as an example.
When streaming starts. Select the player with mouse and press any arrow key in ur key board (that loading image will changed to a snake.
Once the game starts you can change the direction from keyboard arrow.

Thanks & Regards,

Jayaprakash.Kandasamy

Google Working on Cars That Drive Themselves [Google Said to Be Working on Self Driving Cars, Have Already Logged 140,000+ Test Miles]

2010-10-11T11:39:00.000+05:30

Take a look at your arsenal of gadgets, what do you see? You’ve probably got a high powered portable computer, a large touchscreen touting smartphone and perhaps even a tablet. Much of this stuff has become standard fare but if you go back even 5 years, many of the things we use on a daily basis would be unheard of – 20 years? Forget about it.

This technology

is thanks to the major technological revolution we are currently engrossed in. In fact, things are moving so fast that by the time a device hits the market, another product is already in the pipeline to make it obsolete. So, with things moving at such a rapid pace it leads us to question, what’s next?

Google is no stranger to technological discovery with things like their Android mobile operating system and extremely advanced search engine (among other things, of course). However, what they are working on now is something that will surely make consumers see the company in a new light.

What might this be, you ask? Well, according to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the search engine giant is currently at work on cars that are completely automated. In fact, their progress is so far along that they’ve already got a whole slew of self driving Toyota Prius that have logged over 140,000+ test miles. Apparently, the work is done by a whole slew of sensors, cameras, laser range fingers and GPS technology that, when coupled together, make for a completely autonomous driving experience.

Unfortunately, seeing how this technology is extremely new it probably won’t be made publicly available anytime soon if ever but the innovation at work here is tremendous. It also leads us to question what industry Google will find their way into next. They’ve already dipped their feet in virtually ever technologically focused industry but have yet to make it into the auto industry.

Thanks & Regards,

Jayaprakash.Kandasamy

Google TV

2010-10-05T11:26:00.000+05:30

It’s been almost five months since we introduced Google TV to the world at Google I/O, and today we’re happy to give you an update on our progress. For those who haven’t yet heard of it, Google TV is a new way to think about TV: it’s a platform that combines your current TV programming and the open web into a single, seamless entertainment experience.

One of our goals with Google TV is to finally open up the living room and enable new innovation from content creators, programmers, developers and advertisers. By bringing Google Chrome and access to the entire Internet, you can easily navigate to thousands of websites to watch your favorite web videos, play Flash games, view photos, read movie reviews or chat with friends—all on the big screen.

Since our announcement, we’ve been overwhelmed by interest from partners on how they can use the Google TV platform to personalize, monetize and distribute their content in new ways. Most of these partner sites already work with Google TV, but many are choosing to further enhance their premium web content for viewing on the television. Today, we’re excited to announce several of these content partners.

Turner Broadcasting has been hard at work optimizing some of their most popular websites for viewing on Google TV, including TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, available anytime through Google TV.
NBC Universal has collaborated with Google TV to bring CNBC Real-Time, an application that allows you to track your favorite stocks and access news feeds while enjoying the best financial news from CNBC directly on the TV screen.
HBO will bring access to hundreds of hours of programming to Google TV with HBO GO. Authenticated subscribers will soon be able to access all of their favorite HBO content on-demand in an enhanced website for Google TV.
NBA has built NBA Game Time, an application that lets you follow game scores in real-time and catch up on the latest highlights from your favorite team in HD.

In addition, we’ve partnered with some of the leading premium content providers to bring thousands of movie and TV titles, on-demand, directly to your television. Amazon Video On Demand offers access to over 75,000 titles for rental or purchase, and Netflix will offer the ability to instantly watch unlimited movies and TV shows, anytime, streaming directly to the TV.

We have also been working with some leading technology and media companies to optimize their content for Google TV, including news sites like The New York Times and USA Today; music sites like VEVO, Pandora and Napster; information networks like Twitter; and online networks like blip.tv. And with YouTube Leanback, we can offer the best experience for you to watch your favorite viral videos and personalized channels on the television.

You can get a sneak peek of some of these apps in the video below:

This is just the beginning. Over the next few weeks, you can expect to hear from more sites that are enhancing their web content for the television. If you’re interested in learning more about how to optimize your website for viewing on Google TV, please visit our developer page.

Today we also launched a new website that provides more information about these apps and all of the other great features of Google TV. And if you want to stay up to speed on the latest developments from the Google TV team, check out our new blog.

We’re really excited about the enthusiasm surrounding the platform and can’t wait for it to reach your living room. Devices powered by Google TV will launch this month, so look out for more information in the next few weeks from Sony on its Internet TV and Blu-Ray player, and Logitech on its companion box.

Update: Added links to partner announcements.

Courtesy: Google

Special trains for Deepavali

2010-09-22T08:14:00.001+05:30

Southern Railway will run the following special trains to clear extra rush of passengers during Deepavali festival season. Reservation for the trains opens on Wednesday.

Train No. 0601 Chennai Central-Tirunelveli-Chennai Central Superfast Special will leave Chennai Central at 6.15 p.m. on November 4 and arrive at Tirunelveli at 7.45 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0602 Tirunelveli – Chennai Central Superfast Special will leave Tirunelveli at 2 p.m. on November 5 and arrive here at 3.40 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0613 Chennai Central – Tuticorin Superfast Special will leave Chennai Central at 8.35 p.m. on November 6 and reach Tuticorin at 10 a.m. the next day.

Train No. 0614 Tuticorin – Chennai Central Special will leave Tuticorin at 3.45 p.m. on November 7 and arrive here at 8.20 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0603 Chennai Central – Nagercoil Superfast Special will leave Chennai Central at 11.30 p.m. on November 3 and arrive at Nagercoil at 2 p.m. the next day.

Train No.0604 Nagercoil – Chennai Central Special will leave Nagercoil at 4.15 p.m. on November 4 and arrive here at 8.20 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0629 Chennai Central – Tirunelveli Special will leave Chennai Central at 7.30 p.m. on November 3 and arrive at Tirunelveli at 9.35 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0630 Tirunelveli – Chennai Central Special will leave Tirunelveli at 2.55 p.m. on November 4 and arrive here at 5 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0622 Coimbatore – Chennai Central Superfast Special will leave Coimbatore at 11.55 p.m. on November 2 and arrive here at 8.20 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0621 Chennai Central – Coimbatore Superfast Special will leave Chennai Central at 10.30 p.m. on November 3 and arrive at Coimbatore at 6.50 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0642 Nagercoil – Chennai Egmore Superfast Special will leave Nagercoil at 5 p.m. on November 7 and arrive at Chennai Egmore at 6.05 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0641 Chennai Egmore – Nagercoil Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 2.40 p.m. on November 8 and arrive at Nagercoil at 5.35 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0619 Chennai Central – Tuticorin Superfast Special will leave Chennai Central at 8.35 p.m. on November 3 and arrive at Tuticorin at 10 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0620 Tuticorin – Chennai Central Superfast Special will leave Tuticorin at 2.05 p.m. on November 4 and arrive here at 3.45 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0646 Tiruchchirappalli – Chennai Egmore Special will leave Tiruchchirappalli at 9 p.m. on November 1 and arrive at Chennai Egmore at 4.30 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0645 Chennai Egmore – Tiruchchirappalli Superfast Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 10.45 p.m. on November 4 and arrive at Tiruchchirappalli at 6 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0635 Chennai Egmore – Nagercoil Superfast Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 6.50 p.m. on November 2 and arrive at Nagercoil at 8.05 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0636 Nagercoil – Chennai Egmore Special will leave Nagercoil at 1.30 p.m. on November 3 and arrive at Chennai Egmore at 4.25 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0661 Chennai Egmore – Sengottai Special will leave Chennai Egmore at 10.45 p.m. on November 3 and arrive at Sengottai at 12.30 p.m. the next day.

Train No.0662 Sengottai – Chennai Egmore Special will leave Sengottai at 4.45 p.m. on November 4 and arrive at Chennai Egmore at 6.05 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0652 Ernakulam Jn. – Chennai Central Special will leave Ernakulam Jn. at 6.55 p.m. on November 4 and arrive at Chennai Central at 7.45 a.m. the next day.

Train No.0651 Chennai Central – Ernakulam Jn. Superfast Special will leave Chennai Central at 8.35 p.m. on November 5 and arrive at Ernakulam Jn. at 8.05 a.m. the next day.

Five reasons to use Google Chrome (and not IE9 beta)

2010-09-17T16:57:00.000+05:30

It's faster
Preston says IE9 is faster than previous versions -- but that's not exactly saying much. As he points out, Chrome was the fastest browser in his tests: 25% faster than IE9.

It maximizes available screen real estate
As Preston rightly points out, IE9's new clean look is inherited from Chrome. Firefox 4 does a similar thing, but both FF4 and IE9 waste space above the tabs when maximized. That may seem like a small thing, but as more of us move to 16:10 or 16:9 wide screens, vertical space is at a premium, relatively speaking.

IE9 compensates by putting the 'One Box' location bar and the tabs on the same 'row', but this just has the effect of limiting the amount of space that tabs can use. Chrome's solution of eliminating the title bar makes perfect sense.

It actually has useful add-ons
Preston was impressed by IE9's add-on performance monitor, but that would be more useful if there was a decently-sized community of add-on writers for the browser.

Firefox has had this for some time, of course. Chrome has gone from a standing start to a rich choice of add-ons in what seems like the blink of an eye.

It, too, integrates with Windows 7
While there isn't an easy way to pin a site to the taskbar, Chrome does support jumplists for most-visited sites and recently-closed windows.

In other words, right-click on the Chrome icon on the taskbar, and you're presented with two pop-up lists that Chrome automatically generates for you. One contains the sites that you often visit -- the same list that you get in a new tab. The other contains tabs that you closed most recently, in case you want to re-open them.

The address bar supports Google Instant
Almost everyone is raving about Google Instant. What's the betting that the next stable beta build of Chrome supports that functionality direct from the address bar?

What's your favorite browser?

Courtesy: Google Alerts

Honey! It's sweet, yet comes with a sting

2010-09-16T13:02:00.001+05:30

Antibiotics fed to bees for commercial purposes are dangerous to consumers, says a new study.

Branded honey sold in India is likely to be contaminated with harmful antibiotics, according to a new study

That spoonful of “guaranteed pure” sweetness may be hiding a bitter secret. Branded honey sold in India is likely to be contaminated with harmful antibiotics, according to a new study by the Centre for Science and Environment.

CSE's Pollution Monitoring Laboratory tested 12 leading brands of honey sold in Delhi, including those made by Indian companies such as Dabur, Himalaya, Patanjali, Baidyanath and Khadi as well as by two foreign companies based in Switzerland and Australia. Scientists found high levels of six harmful antibiotics in 11 samples, with only the Indian Hitkari brand coming out clean.

The contamination is the end result of a murky chain, which begins when antibiotics are fed to bees to prevent disease, promote growth and increase honey production to meet commercial targets. When they make their way into your daily spoonful of honey, these substances could damage the blood, kidneys, liver, bones and teeth. More importantly, they create resistance in the body to prescribed antibiotics when you really do fall ill, says the CSE report.

Most developed countries have banned or strictly regulated antibiotics in honey, and Indian companies must meet those standards when they export their products. However, in a stinging example of double standards, most Indian companies are dumping their contaminated honey on the domestic market, since there are no regulations here, says CSE.

Dabur Honey — which has captured 75 per cent of the Indian market — had the antibiotic Oxytetracycline at nine times the level that is permitted for exported honey. It also had significant amounts of two other drugs completely banned for use in honey. If the sample was placed for export to the United States or the European Union, it would have been rejected.

Interestingly, Dabur was recently involved in a controversy in Nepal, where leading newspapers claimed that the Dabur honey was substandard and used harmful chemicals. The company dismissed it as part of a Nepali “smear campaign” against Indian products, but the sticky claim has now come from an Indian source.

Nectaflor Natural Blossom Honey, made by Narimpex of Switzerland, had the largest number — five — of the six antibiotics that it was tested for, including the highest levels of ampicillin and erythromycin, both of which are not permitted for beekeeping in any country. It would be illegal to sell it even in Switzerlanditself. Similarly, the Australian brand, Capilano Pure & Natural Honey, which is sold in 40 countries, violated standards set in its home country.

“It is clear that foreign companies are taking advantage of the lack of regulations in India. After all, if our government does not care about the health of its people, why should these companies care?” said CSE director Sunita Narain, at the release of the study on Wednesday.

“We have standards for antibiotic contamination in the honey we export. The government even tests and certifies that exported honey meets health and safety regulations. But we do not have any standards for domestic honey. This is clearly unacceptable,” she said.

Courtesy: TheHindu

google 25th Anniversary of the Buckyball

2010-09-04T11:58:00.000+05:30

Google is celebrating buckyball's 25th anniversary by commemorating it in an interactive Google Doodle on Google's homepage.

Today’ google released its home page with interactive animated buckyball logo. It looks amazing, It mouse driven animated buckyball. You can check out the logo in google search home page.

Have any one know how to design that type of animation? They have designed using CSS & javascript. Can any one help me to find out how to do that type of animation using CSS & javascript. It’s really amazing.

Insomnia Increases Risk of Early Death for Men?

2010-09-02T12:25:00.001+05:30

It's not all in your head: Insomnia has "significant physical consequences."

Suffering from insomnia? A new finding could make you lose even more sleep.

Men with chronic insomnia who also sleep less than six hours a night have a higher risk of early death than "normal" male sleepers who get more than six hours of shut-eye, a new study suggests. (Take National Geographic magazine's sleep quiz.)

Insomnia—difficulty falling or staying asleep—is the most common sleep disorder, affecting about 30 percent of people in the U.S., according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Chronic insomniacs are those who have had the disorder consistently for at least a year.

After decades of mixed findings, the new report shows that insomnia is a "serious disease with significant physical consequences, including mortality," said study leader Alexandros N. Vgontzas, director of Penn State University's Sleep Research & Treatment Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Though the researchers didn't specifically study people who reported lack of sleep due to their lifestyle, Vgontzas emphasized that "losing sleep for whatever reason is bad for your health." For instance, he has published previous results showing that curtailing sleep in young adults by two hours a night for just one week is linked to inflammation that may cause cardiovascular problems.

The new study changes "how we view insomnia," said Vipin Garg, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

"It definitely is pointing attention to insomnia as more than a psychological disorder," said Garg, who was not involved in the research.

Insomnia Tracked Over Time

Study leader Vgontzas and colleagues randomly selected 741 Pennsylvania men between 20 and 100, with an average age of 50, to participate in the initial phase of the study, between 1990 and 1995.

First, the volunteers identified themselves as either insomniacs or non-insomniacs. Then they spent a night in a sleep lab, where scientists confirmed how long the subjects slept.

By combining the subjects' self reports and the lab data, the team determined that 6 percent of the men had chronic insomnia.

Between 1994 and 1997, the sleep researchers studied a thousand women with a similar age range to the men. The team found that 9 percent of the women had chronic insomnia.

By the time the scientists checked in on the subjects in 2007—14 years later for the men, 10 for the women—51.1 percent of the male chronic insomniacs who slept fewer than six hours a night had died, versus 9.1 percent of the normal male sleepers.

The findings suggest that chronic male insomniacs are four times more likely to die early—even after taking into account risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and sleep apnea, Vgontzas said.

(Read secrets of why we sleep in National Geographic magazine).

There was no such link between insomnia and premature death in women—insomniacs and healthy sleepers both had a mortality rate of just over 2 percent during the study period.

There could be two reasons for the gender discrepancy, Vgontzas said: Since the women's study was started later, there was not as much time for follow-up as for the men. It's also possible there's a "gender effect"—though insomnia is less common in men, it's generally more severe, he said.

Flaws in Insomnia Study?

There were a few weaknesses in the insomnia study's design, said Garg, of the Sleep Disorders Center.

For instance, the number of subjects in the study was small: "To give that kind of bold statement [about mortality], you want to see a bigger sample," he said.

It's also possible that during their one night in the sleep lab, some subjects experienced something called a "first-night effect." In other words, the unfamiliarity of the surroundings may have influenced their sleep patterns.

Insomnia Not a Direct Killer

The researchers did not include cause of death in their study, but study leader Vgontzas said that "no one dies directly from insomnia."

Instead, the chronic disease probably just wears on people gradually, making them more likely to succumb to other ailments.

For instance, male insomniacs in the study who were also diabetic or had high blood pressure were even more likely to die during the test period than their relatively healthy counterparts.

There's also evidence that hyperarousal—a condition that causes some people to stay awake for long periods of time—can stress the cardiovascular system, the sleep center's Garg noted.

Insomniacs Born Not Made?

Causes of insomnia are still poorly understood—it may be that some people are just "born poor sleepers," Vgontzas said. But even more mysterious is how to treat the condition.

For instance, insomnia medications are mostly geared toward combating occasional sleeplessness, and psychological interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy don't seem to work for severe insomniacs, he said.

That's why federal agencies and companies need to support the search for better treatments, and doctors need to take insomnia diagnosis more seriously, Vgontzas said.

Doctors "are used to thinking insomnia is a nuisance," he said. "They have to change their attitude about that."

The insomnia-risk study appears September 1 in the journal SLEEP.

Courtesy: National Geographic

Gmail's New Voice Call Service From Google

2010-08-30T10:45:00.000+05:30

Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer’s microphone and speakers. But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time. Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, “wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones?”

Starting today, you can call any phone right from Gmail.

Calls to the U.S. and Canada will be free for at least the rest of the year and calls to other countries will be billed at our very low rates. We worked hard to make these rates really cheap (see comparison table) with calls to the U.K., France, Germany, China, Japan—and many more countries—for as little as $0.02 per minute.

Dialing a phone number works just like a normal phone. Just click “Call phone” at the top of your chat list and dial a number or enter a contact’s name.

We’ve been testing this feature internally and have found it to be useful in a lot of situations, ranging from making a quick call to a restaurant, to placing a call when you’re in an area with bad reception.

If you have a Google Voice phone number, calls made from Gmail will display this number as the outbound caller ID. And if you decide to, you can receive calls made to this number right inside Gmail (see instructions).

We’re rolling out this feature to U.S. based Gmail users over the next few days, so you’ll be ready to get started once “Call Phones” shows up in your chat list (you will need to install the voice and video plug-in if you haven’t already). If you’re not a U.S. based user—or if you’re using Google Apps for your school or business—then you won’t see it quite yet. We’re working on making this available more broadly—so stay tuned!

For more information, visit gmail.com/call.

Update Aug 26: This has now been rolled out to everyone in the U.S. If you don't see the feature yet, try logging out of Gmail and signing back in.

Courtesy: Official Google Blog

Thanks & Regards,

Jayaprakash.Kandasamy

PORSCHE 911 GT2 RS STEALTH LAUNCHED IN INDIA

2010-05-17T18:45:00.001+05:30

Now and then hypercar manufacturers slip in one of their sizzlers almost stealthily and here is one such launch that almost nobody in the Indian blogosphere have a clue about. If you’re loaded to the gills and have a fetish for fast porkers, you’ll go bonkers over what you’re about to hear.

You can now buy the Porsche 911 GT2 RS right here in India, the spy pics of which we had brought you just days ago. That is, if you can afford the gargantuan price tag of over INR 1.5 Crores. Porsche aficionados will certainly be pleased to hear that the 911 GT2 RS produces about 620 Bhp from it’s 3600cc Twin Turbo Boxer engine.

All this power will push you past the 100 kph mark in under 3.5 seconds and before you read finishing this sentence, you’ll be able to doing about 200 Ks. Yes, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS will transport you past the 200 mark in under 9.8 seconds and the top speed too is a stunning 330 Kph. Now, for those who know the rich racing heritage the GT2 moniker signifies, you can be pretty certain that plenty of other hypercar drivers would shiver at the sight of a 911 GT2 in their rear view mirrors.

IPL goes 3D with SpiderCam

2010-04-26T11:20:00.000+05:30

The mastermind of the spidercam®system is Jens C. Peters. He founded CCSytems Inc. in 2000 in Austria with the original aim to further investigate the innovative concept of thespidercam® and to develop a fully functional prototype. He intended to create a cable-suspension system for a camera transporting device, capable of moving not only laterally or horizontally along the ground, but also vertically, thus providing full 3D-movement while covering wide areas; applicable indoors as well as outdoors.

To reach his goal, he carried out an in depth study, made numerous calculations, plans and CAD-drawings, built models and revised them again and again. One of his major efforts was always to reach technical solutions by means of already well-known, standardised and reliable components which could be arranged in a modular manner. All developments Peters achieved are protected by international patents, and the name spidercam® is a trademark.

At the end of 2003 the project passed its baptism of fire: For the first time the spidercam® as known today took off, hovered and moved around freely in a large event-hall in Carinthia (Austria). In 2004 the system was employed for the first time on a television production in Austria. In the same year, J. C. Peters teamed up with the German company PMT and thespidercam® entered the German market. Right from the very beginning thespidercam® provided fantastic shots for various German broadcasters and quickly became integrated in the German media landscape.

spidercam® - the better cable camera

Moving through space without being limited by obstacles on the ground the spidercam® effortlessly and silently follows the commands of the spidercam® pilot. The free movement in space opens up completely new and unique perspectives, thus bringing your audience closer to the action than ever before. This is achieved by using the latest computer, network and drive technologies, combined with approved and high quality camera and video-components.

Basics:
Four motorised winches are positioned at each corner at the base of the covered area. By controlling the up- and unwinding of the four Kevlar-cables the camera-carrier (dolly) is able to reach any position in space. The spidercam® pilot is operating this three dimensional dolly movement; his inputs are processed by a special software, which forwards the commands to the winches. This ensures the save dolly movement at any time. The real-time communication between the winches and the control station is realised by fibre-optic cables. Another two fibre-optic cables are woven into two of the Kevlar-cables, which enables double information processing: the camera and remote head receive their respective commands, while the camera transmits its HD-Signal back to the control station. The remote head, which houses the camera, is not only responsible for the pan and tilt movement, it also controls the lens remote (focus, zoom, iris). A gyro sensor, which is installed in the dolly, stabilises the horizon. A specially trained spidercam® camera operator is responsible for all camera issues.

Set-up:
Whether TV or film productions, indoors or outdoors, small or large areas: the characteristics of a spidercam® installation are the modular design, the low weight of the components and the small rope-forces, therefore a successful set-up is possible at almost any location. With the right preparation the installation will be realisable at even the most extraordinary places - we always find the optimal solution!

Safety:
Safety is our highest priority. The spidercam® is certified by the German BGV and has been awarded the BGV C1 certification. This approval guarantees the highest level of European safety standards. In addition to the internationally approved German seal the spidercam® system is also authorized to fly over audience in accordance to the requirements of the French Bureau VERITAS.
In case of an emergency or a malfunction the security concept will stop the system immediately. This stop is composed of the deactivation of the winches and the activation of all brakes, which brings the system to a halt within milliseconds. A stop can either be initiated manually by pressing one of the "emergency stop" buttons, or automatically by one of the integrated safety protocols.

The most important security components:

tension sensor checking the Kevlar-cables
torque sensor checking the winding control unit
mechanical check of brake functionality
constant monitoring of the functionality of all brake contactors, motor contactors, servo amplifiers, emergency stop button and fibre optic connections
constant monitoring of the kinematics and dolly position

Every safety-related electrical circuit exists twice. Furthermore there are two breaks in each winch, each break strong enough to handle the complete load even without electrical power. If there is a surprising loss of power all brakes will be activated automatically.

An artist's impression of how the SpiderCam looks above the pitch

The SpiderCam works on an aerial cable system

BSNL launches 3G services in Puducherry

2010-04-05T11:22:00.000+05:30

PSU BSNL launched its 3G mobile services in Puducherry (earlier known as Pondicherry) falling under the Tamil Nadu circle.

The services were launched by Union Communications Minister, A Raja.

On the occasion, Mr. D.Varadarajan, CGM BSNL Tamil Nadu Circle said, “BSNL 3G Mobile service is now available to all postpaid and prepaid subscribers of Poudecherry and Karaikal city and surrounding urban areas.”

As a launch offer, BSNL is offering 3G SIM for Rs 59 with 50 free video calls and 25 MB data storage usage. After the consumption of free calls, the tariff applicable will be 30 paise per minute for local voice and video calls while STD voice and video calls will be charged 50 paise per minute.

Find C# application running in debug or Release mode

2010-03-11T16:44:00.000+05:30

Message

Here is the simple solutions to check the .Net C# application is running in debug / Release mode.

#if(DEBUG)

Statments with in this block will be compiled & Executed in DEBUG mode;

#else

Statments with in this block will be compiled & Executed in Release mode;

Making Music Boosts Brain's Language Skills

2010-02-23T18:09:00.000+05:30

Music fine-tunes certain language abilities in the brain, new research shows.

Photograph by Pete Ryan, National Geographic Stock

Do you have trouble hearing people talk at cocktail parties? Try practicing the piano before you leave the house.

Musicians—from karaoke singers to professional cello players—are better able to hear targeted sounds in a noisy environment, according to new research that adds to evidence that music makes the brain work better.

"In the past ten years there's been an explosion of research on music and the brain," Aniruddh Patel, the Esther J. Burnham Senior Fellow at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego, said today at a press briefing.

Most recently brain-imaging studies have shown that music activates many diverse parts of the brain, including an overlap in where the brain processes music and language. (Listen to global beats at Nat Geo Music.)

Language is a natural aspect to consider in looking at how music affects the brain, Patel said. Like music, language is "universal, there's a strong learning component, and it carries complex meanings."

Above the Din

For example, brains of people exposed to even casual musical training have an enhanced ability to generate the brain wave patterns associated with specific sounds, be they musical or spoken, said study leader Nina Kraus, director of theAuditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University in Illinois.

Kraus' previous research had shown that when a person listens to a sound, the brain wave recorded in response is physically the same as the sound wave itself. In fact "playing" the brain wave produces a nearly identical sound.

But for people without a trained ear for music, the ability to make these patterns decreases as background noise increases, experiments show. Musicians, by contrast, have subconsciously trained their brains to better recognize selective sound patterns, even as background noise goes up.

The overall effect is like a person learning to drive a manual transmission, Kraus said.

"When you first learn to drive a car, you have to think about the stick shift, the clutch, all the different parts," Kraus told National Geographic News. "But once you know, your body knows how to drive almost automatically."

At the same time, people with certain developmental disorders, such as dyslexia, have a harder time hearing sounds amid the din—a serious problem, for example, for students straining to hear the teacher in a noisy classroom.

Musical experience could therefore be a key therapy for children with dyslexia and similar language-related disorders, Kraus said today at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Singing Music's Praises

In a similar vein, Harvard Medical School neuroscientist Gottfried Schlaug has found that stroke patients who have lost the ability to speak can be trained to say hundreds of phrases by singing them first.

In research also presented today at the AAAS meeting, Schlaug demonstrated the results of intensive musical therapy on patients with lesions on the left sides of their brains, those areas most associated with language.

Before the therapy, these stroke patients responded to questions with largely incoherent sounds and phrases. But after just a few minutes with therapists, who asked them to sing phrases and tap their hands to the rhythm, the patients could sing "Happy Birthday," recite their addresses, and communicate if they were thirsty.

"The underdeveloped systems on the right side of the brain that respond to music became enhanced and changed structures," Schlaug said at the press briefing.

Success varied depending on how recently a person had had a stroke and the severity of the damage, he noted. But several patients were eventually able to teach themselves new words and phrases by turning them into tunes, and few were even able to move beyond simple phrases and give short speeches.

Overall, Schlaug said, the experiments show that "music might be an alternative medium for engaging parts of the brain that are otherwise not engaged."

Northwestern's Kraus agreed. She added that musical training, whatever the age, should be universally encouraged, since it can play a key role in education, clinical therapies, and even in protective measures for keeping the brain sharp as people age.

"Plus," she said, "it's just inherently wonderful."

Naps Clear Brain's Inbox, Improve Learning

2010-02-23T18:05:00.000+05:30

Naps wipe the brain's memory slate clean, a new sleep study says (file photo).

Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Stock

If your brain is an email account, sleep—and more specifically, naps—is how you clear out your inbox.

That's the conclusion of a new study that may explain why people spend so many of their sleeping hours in a pre-dreaming state known as stage 2 non-rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep.

For years sleep studies have hinted that shut-eye improves our ability to store and consolidate memories, reinforcing the notion that a good night's sleep—and power naps—is much more conducive to learning than an overnight cram session.

Now scientists may have figured out how, in part, this happens: During sleep, information locked in the short-term storage of the hippocampus—the part of the brain responsible for memories—migrates into the longer-term database of the cortex.

This action not only helps the brain process new information, it also clears out space for the brain to take in new experiences.

That means "it's not just important to sleep after learning, it's critical to sleepbefore learning," study leader Matthew Walker, of the University of California, Berkeley, said today during a press briefing.

"Sleep prepares the brain like a dry sponge, ready to soak up new information."

Power Naps

In his latest work, presented today at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego, Walker and colleagues asked 39 young adults to perform several tasks related to fact-based learning.

One group was then asked to take a 90-minute nap while the other group stayed awake.

Afterward, both groups engaged in a new round of tasks. The non-nappers performed much worse than the nappers, the researchers found.

Measuring the nappers' electrical activity in the brain revealed that their "cache" cleared during stage 2 non-REM sleep.

The new work not only backs up the benefits of midday naps, it also may have also solved the long-standing mystery of why people need stage 2 non-REM sleep.

Although the "dreaming" sleep stage known as REM is perhaps better known, humans actually spend about half of the night in stage 2 non-REM.

REM sleep is crucial for more complex thinking, such as making nonobvious connections between previously learned facts—a process he describes as "a Google search gone wrong—or right."

"When you have a problem, no one says you should 'stay awake on it,'" he quipped.

Instead, sleep—specifically the REM stage—is a way for the brain to take information that might at first seem unrelated to your mental "search" and come up with creative solutions.

In fact, he said, our dreams could be a testing ground for this subconcious problem-solving.

Not Everyone Built for Naps

Unfortunately, the new findings don't mean that all people would benefit from an afternoon siesta, noted Sara Mednick, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, San Diego.

Some nappers tend to wake up groggy and disoriented because of something called sleep inertia. (Related: "Night Owls Stay Alert Longer Than Early Birds.")

"This is when you wake up during deep, slow-wave sleep," she said today during the briefing. Since brain temperature and blood flow to the brain decrease during this sleep stage, it's jarring to suddenly be awake and experiencing much higher rates of brain activity.

Previous studies have shown that habitual nappers tend to be light sleepers. This means they spend much less time, at least during the first few hours of sleep, in a deep non-REM sleep state.

If naps leave you groggy, it's also possible to get a similar performance boost on some tasks simply by taking a mental time-out, she said.

"In some cases," she said, "quiet rest and naps give the same [memory] benefits."

Windows XP Control Panel, Shortcuts and Control.exe

2010-02-17T12:42:00.002+05:30

Windows XP Control Panel, Shortcuts and Control.exe

As the name suggests, Control Panel is where many important system settings can be changed or adjusted. Since so many vital functions can be found there, it is worth looking at some aspects of how it works. We will also consider some ways of quickly accessing this very important system area. Going over the entire panoply of functions is too much for a single article but shortcuts for a few frequently used functions are given.

The standard way to open Control Panel is through Start-Control Panel. There are two methods of displaying the contents. One is called the "Category View" and displays tasks by generalized categories as shown in the figure below.

Choosing a category leads to another box with a further choice of tasks or icons for specific control panel applets. The figure below shows the choice when "Performance and Maintenance" is clicked .

A second way of displaying Control Panel is called the "Classical View" and displays icons for individual applets. A partial view is shown below. Some of these applets may have several tabs that open different functions.

Control Panel Applets

Some of the components of the Control Panel are special system folders but many are determined by a group of files with the extension CPL. Most of these files are in the folder\Windows\System32\; some that are part of application software may be elsewhere. To find which CPL files are on your system, go to Windows Search and search for all files with name *.cpl. The table below lists some of the common CPL files. CPL files can be used to directly access various features of Control Panel by opening them with eitherRundll32.exe or Control.exe. By this means, scripts or shortcuts can be written for immediate access to particular functions. Commands using these files can also be entered into the Start-Run line. Note that some CPL files are multi-functional and require additional parameters to invoke the various functions. Parameters use the "@" sign and a zero-based integer. Tabs are denoted by additional indexes (not necessarily zero-based integers). More details are given in the section on shortcuts below.

**Table I. Some Control Panel Applet Files**
File	Function	Tabs (number in parentheses is index n discussed below)
access.cpl	Accessibility controls	Keyboard(1), Sound(2), Display(3), Mouse(4), General(5)
appwiz.cpl	Add/Remove Programs
desk.cpl	Display properties	Themes(5), Desktop(0), Screen Saver(1), Appearance (2), Settings(3)
hdwwiz.cpl	Add hardware
inetcpl.cpl	Configure Internet Explorer and Internet properties	General(0), Security(1), Privacy(2), Content(3), Connections(4), Programs(5), Advanced(6)
intl.cpl	Regional settings	Regional Options(1), Languages(2), Advanced(3)
joy.cpl	Game controllers
main.cpl	Mouse properties and settings	Buttons(0), Pointers(1), Pointer Options(2), Wheel(3), Hardware(4)
main.cpl,@1	Keyboard properties	Speed(0), Hardware (1)
mmsys.cpl	Sounds and Audio	Volume(0), Sounds(1), Audio(2), Voice(3), Hardware(4)
ncpa.cpl	Network properties
nusrmgr.cpl	User accounts
powercfg.cpl	Power configuration	Power Schemes, Advanced, Hibernate, UPS (Tabs not indexed)
sysdm.cpl	System properties	General(0), Computer Name(1), Hardware(2), Advanced(3), System Restore(4), Automatic Updates(5), Remote (6)
telephon.cpl	Phone and modem options	Dialing Rules(0), Modems(1), Advanced(2)
timedate.cpl	Date and time properties	Date & Time(0), Time Zone(1), Internet Time (no index)

Shortcuts and Scripts Using Control.exe

As outlined at the beginning of this page, the standard way to open Control Panel functions by using Start-Control Panel requires several steps. If a particular function is frequently used, it may be convenient to create a shortcut that opens the desired window directly. It is common on the Internet to find shortcuts that use the executable fileRundll32.exe to open CPL files and these are discussed here. However, many of the standard shortcuts are for Windows 98/Me and do not work in Windows XP. Also there are easier, shorter ways available for Control Panel applets. Using Rundll32.exe is a general method applicable to many different types of DLL files with a complicated syntax. For CPL files there is a specific method using the executable Control.exe that I think is preferable. It has the simpler syntax shown below.

control somefile.cpl,<optional arguments>

Here, somefile.cpl stands for whichever of the CPL files is of interest. There are two types of optional arguments. They are of the form "@m,n" (without the quotes.) Here "m" and "n" are integers. Thus, the full expression when optional arguments are included is

control somefile.cpl,@m,n

The parameter @m is used for files with more than one basic function and starts with zero, which is the default value if no parameter is used. For example, main.cpl controls both mouse and keyboard properties. Thus, either the command

control main.cpl
or
control main.cpl,@0

would open the mouse properties. To open the keyboard properties the command would be

control main.cpl,@1

The second set of optional parameters "n" can be used when a dialog box is tabbed. A number of the values are given in Table I. For example, the default window when the mouse properties dialog is opened is the "Buttons" tab. To open the"Pointer Options" tab (third on the list) the command would be

control main.cpl,@0,2

Note that here the index "n" is zero-based so the third tab has an index of 2.

Many control panel files have only one main page and the "@m" index can be omitted. In that case, to open a particular tab requires two commas between the file name and the tab index. For example, the dialog box for System Properties has a number of tabs as listed in the table above. A specific one of these can be opened by adding a parameter so that the command reads

control.exe sysdm.cpl,,n

where "n" is an integer running from 0 to 6 corresponding to the 7 tabs listed in Table I.

Unfortunately, Microsoft is not consistent in how it indexes tabs. For example, when using access.cpl, the tabs run from 1 to 5 instead of beginning with zero. Some files can only be opened at a few tabs or only at the beginning tab. For instance, Power Options has four tabs but they are not accessible with an index. The only way to find out what system applies to a particular file seems to be trial and error. Also note that the numbering of tabs for many files is not the same in Windows XP as it was in Windows 98/Me. Also, at least one change was made in Windows XP SP2. Many of the values are given in the book, Microsoft Windows XP, Inside Out (2d edition), by Bott, Siechert, and Stinson, which has been used as a partial source for Table I above.

Easier Shortcuts Using Control.exe

Trying to open control panel applets with commands containing the complexity of index parameters discussed in the previous section may seem rather daunting to some PC users. Fortunately, there are some alternate commands using plain names that can also be used. These do not seem to be as well-known but are discussed in Microsoft'sMSDN library. Fewer possibilities are available than with the previously discussed methods but there are some new commands as well. Three that work in Start-Run are given below.

**Table II. Commands using plain names**
Command	Function
control date/time	Launches the Date and Time Properties window
control desktop	Launches the Display Properties window
control color	Launches the Display Properties window with the Appearance tab preselected

Scripts using Shell object

Control panel applets can also be opened with JScript or VBScript files using the Shell.Application object and its ControlPanelItem method . For a control panel appletsomefile.cpl the syntax is
Shell.ControlPanelItem("somefile.cpl" )
For example, the display applet desk.cpl would use
Shell.ControlPanelItem("desk.cpl" )
A snippet of the corresponding code for VBScript is
dim objShell set objShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application") objShell.ControlPanelItem("desk.cpl")

Other Shortcuts

There are also a number of other quick ways to get to some of the Control Panel components. Here is a short list of some.

Using the Windows key + the Break key will open the System Properties dialog box.
Enter devmgmt.msc into Start-Run to open Device Manager
Enter fonts into Start-Run to open the Fonts folder
Enter main.cpl into Start-Run to open Mouse properties
Enter desk.cpl into Start-Run to open Display properties
Enter control userpasswords2 into Start-Run to manage User Accounts

Note that any file with extension CPL can be used directly as long as your system has the usual file association of CPL with Control.exe. To see how to check your file associations or to change file associations go to this tutorial.

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Windows XP Control Panel, Shortcuts and Control.exe

Control Panel Applets

Shortcuts and Scripts Using Control.exe

Easier Shortcuts Using Control.exe

Scripts using Shell object

Other Shortcuts

Japan's annual nuclear generation: 265.8 billion kwh

Although it is now scene of one of the world's worst nuclear crises, the Fukushima Daiichi plant, seen here in October 2008, once was part of a fleet that exemplified the promise of fission for an energy-hungry nation.