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Dieting can inflame anger

2011-04-26T06:35:00.000+05:30

Those cutting out the calories are more irritable and angry than those who eat what they like, according to researchers.

The study revealed that the effort involved in exerting self-control over food can even lead to aggressive behaviour towards other people.

Those on diets are more likely to prefer anger-themed movies, were more interested in looking at angry facial expressions,

Discover What Powers Your Favorite Websites

2010-07-18T08:08:00.002+05:30

Have you ever wondered if the site you’re visiting is powered by WordPress or if the webapp you’re using is powered by Ruby on Rails? With these extensions for Google Chrome, you’ll never have to wonder again.

Geeks love digging under the hood to see what makes their favorite apps and sites tick. But opening the “View Source” window today doesn’t tell you everything there is to know about a website. Plus, even if you can tell what CMS is powering a website from its source, it can be tedious to dig through lines of code to find what you’re looking for. Also, the HTML code never tells you what web server a site is running on or what version of PHP it’s using.

With three extensions for Google Chrome you’ll never have to wonder again. Note that some sites may not give as much information, but still, you’ll find enough data from most sites to be interesting.

Discover Web Frameworks and Javascript Libraries with Chrome Sniffer

If you want to know what CMS is powering a site or if it’s using Google Analytics or Quantcast, this is the extension for you. Chrome Sniffer (link below) identifies over 40 different frameworks, and is constantly adding more. It shows the logo of the main framework on the site on the left of your address bar. Here wee see Chrome Sniffer noticed that How-To Geek is powered by WordPress.

Click the logo to see other frameworks on the site. We can see that the site also has Google Analytics and Quantcast. If you want more information about the framework, click on its logo and the framework’s homepage will open in a new tab.

As another example, we can see that the Tumblr Staff blog is powered by Tumblr (of course),

the Discus comment system, Quantcast, and the Prototype JavaScript framework.

Or here’s a site that’s powered by Drupal, Google Analytics, Mollom spam protection, and jQuery. Chrome Sniffer definitely uncovers a lot of neat stuff, so if you’re into web frameworks you’re sure to enjoy this extension.

Find Out What Web Server The Site is Running On

Want to know whether the site you’re looking at is running on IIS or Appache? The Web Server Notifier extension for Chrome (link below) lets you easily recognize the web server a site is running on by its favicon on the right of the address bar. Click the icon to see more information.

Some web servers will show you a lot of information about their server, including version, operating system, PHP version, OpenSSL version, and more.

Others will simply tell you their name.

If the site is powered by IIS, you can usually tell the version of Windows Server its running on since the IIS versions are specific to a version of Windows. Here we see that Microsoft.com is running on the latest and greatest – Windows Server 2008 R2 with IIS 7.5.

Discover Web Technologies Powering Sites

Wondering if a webapp is powered by Ruby on Rails or ASP.NET? The Web Technology Notifier extension for Chrome (link below), from the same developer as the Web Server Notifier, will let you easily discover the backend of a site. You’ll see the technology’s favicon on the right of your address bar, and, as with the other extension, can get more information by clicking the icon.

Here we can see that Backpack from 37signals is powered by the Phusion Passenger module to run Ruby on Rails.

Microsoft’s new Docs.com Office Online apps is powered by ASP.NET…

And How-To Geek has PHP running to power WordPress.

Conclusion

With all these tools at hand, you can find out a lot about your favorite sites. For example, with all three extensions we can see that How-To Geek runs on WordPress with PHP, uses Google Analytics and Quantcast, and is served by the LightSpeed web server. Fun info, huh?

Windows 8 leaks show Microsoft's eyes on Apple

2010-07-02T11:13:00.004+05:30

Although still early in the process, newly leaked documents about Windows 8 offer some keen insight into where Microsoft wants to head with the next version of the operating system.

One thing that is made abundantly clear is that Microsoft has been paying attention to Apple. In the documents, which appear to come from an April meeting with computer makers, Microsoft discusses its Cupertino, Calif.-based rival and outlines plans to offer a Windows Store similar to the way Apple distributes software on its
iPhone. The documents, which Microsoft has declined to comment on or authenticate, also talk about plans to give Windows a more
iPad-like response time through new power management settings.

Among the Windows 8 details outlined in a leaked presentation are plans for a Windows Store, where consumers could go to directly buy PC software.(Credit: Courtesy of Microsoft Kitchen)

In particular, one slide titled "How Apple Does It: A Virtuous Cycle," talks about the need for simplicity in design. "Apple brand is known for high quality, uncomplicated, 'it just works,'" the slide says, adding that "This is something people will pay for!"

Other slides don't directly reference Apple, but talk about the need for a number of features popularized by its products, including the App Store, as well as a more instant-on feel.

Although Windows has continued to dominate the PC market, still holding roughly 95 percent of global market share, it faces a significant threat from mobile operating systems looking to encroach on the low end of the computer market, including the iPad and Android-based devices.

Hewlett-Packard, which originally talked about plans for a
Windows 7-based slate PC in January, now refuses to say whether it will build that product and has since announced plans to buy Palm in a deal expected to close shortly. Microsoft has been working on tablets for nearly a decade and, as early as 2005, outlined the hardware trends that would enable a device like the iPad. Thus far, however, only Apple has been able to create a hit with consumers.

Among the goals outlined for Windows 8 are some features that would appear to be aimed at making Windows more competitive in this market, including improved simplicity, better support of touch and gestures, as well as support for smaller-size screens.

Microsoft's Windows 8 game plan (images)

Although the iPad is not referenced directly, the presentation does refer to the slate form factor as a "center of gravity," alongside laptops and all-in-ones.

To achieve quicker boot-up, Microsoft is looking at several things, including a new combination of logging off and hibernating a machine that would offer a faster boot-up than a full restart. That combination would become the default on-off behavior, though just what to name the setting is still a question mark, according to the documents. The company is also looking to resume from sleep in less than a second, according to the documents.

"Windows 8 PCs turn on fast, nearly instantly in some cases, and are ready to work without any long or unexpected delays," reads one of dozens of slides posted to enthusiast site Microsoft Kitchen, among other places.

Of course, the goal of instant-on PCs is a long held, but as yet unrealized aspiration. Microsoft significantly improved its boot-up, resume, and shut-down times with Windows 7, but they all pale when compared to the nearly instantaneous response one gets from a mobile device such as the iPhone or iPad.

As for the store, Microsoft apparently plans to let each computer maker brand the store under their own name. Among the benefits to consumers would be the ability to access those applications on any PC they own. It is also outlined as an opportunity for partners to make money after the PC sale, though it is described as "revenue neutral" for Windows, suggesting that perhaps Microsoft is not planning to take a cut of sales.

One slide suggests that, in an earlier forum with hardware makers, Microsoft heard that such a store is seen as needed as soon as possible, though this is clearly a tricky undertaking with Microsoft having to balance the needs of software creators, consumers, partners, resellers, and the PC makers--not to mention Microsoft itself.

The slides also offer up a time frame for Internet Explorer 9, suggesting a beta of the new browser is expected by August. Microsoft has had developer platform previews of IE9, but those have lacked a significant user interface and other features. The beta, according to the slides, will be the "first release of full IE functionality."

FIFA: ESPN goes 3D

2010-06-12T22:27:00.004+05:30

When Walt Disney Co debuts its ESPN 3-D channel for World Cup coverage, the split-second cutaways and bold graphics that ESPN has become known for will be replaced by scenic panoramics and wide-angle player shots.

“You’ll see a different-looking story,” Chuck Pagano, ESPN vice president of technology, said in an interview. “We aren’t going as fast or with as many graphics. 3-D is a different viewing experience.”

Producing the in-your-face technology has proven to be a learning experience for the crew at ESPN. When testing 3-D camera shots at an Ohio State-University of Southern California football game in September, ESPN found it couldn’t track the action as well as with high-definition cameras because the ball moved too fast for the mounted 3-D cameras to capture without jarring the viewer. Also, some graphics shown in early 3-D testing proved visually overwhelming, so they were cut back.

Unlike filming in high-definition, capturing action on 3-D requires two high-definition cameras tied together on a mount. One camera shoots the image for the right eye, the other for the left. The signals from both cameras are fed from the live event for production, and then pushed to pay-TV distributors, where the signals are eventually merged together by a 3-D TV set.

Comcast Corp, DirecTV and AT&T Inc. have signed deals to carry ESPN’s 3-D channel in the U.S. Only customers with 3-D capable television sets will be able to take advantage of the programming. About 2.5 million U.S. homes will have such sets by the end of this year, according to U.K.-based research firm FutureSource Consulting.

Higher costs
For the World Cup, soccer’s governing body FIFA is producing the 3-D footage. The filmed action will be sent about 8,000 miles from South Africa to ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, via a fiber-optic line under the Atlantic Ocean, and then transmitted from Bristol to viewers’ homes on the same video stream as high-definition feeds. A 3-D video stream consumes about the same bandwidth in a cable pipe as a high- definition feed.

Sony Corp., which is an official sponsor of the World Cup and partner with ESPN 3-D, will be supplying cameras to film the 3-D sports coverage. Sony has developed a specialized 3-D image processing device, the MPE-200, that will help correct any image differences between the two cameras, for example if one camera zooms out faster than the other, creating distortion.

Production costs for 3-D events are higher than the average telecast. Live 3-D broadcasts require ESPN to use a separate production truck and more cameras, Pagano said. Although he said filming in 3-D was more expensive, Pagano declined to specify how much, saying the charge was “incremental.”

“We’re still learning,” Pagano said. “3-D started as a science experiment and it still is a science experiment. We’re setting the protocols and methodologies for filming as we go along in our journey.

Bra-Removing Contest Pits Nerds Against Bras

2010-05-31T15:17:00.001+05:30

“They are more than an underwear to me, Mr. Farkus,” said George Constanza. “Two cups in the front, two loops in the back. How do they do it?”

Indeed, a bra is a paradox among paradoxes. It fits a woman so snugly and supports her bosom so well, yet for some men remains so impossibly difficult to remove. It may perhaps be the number one reason why quick-thinking but clumsy-fingered men never score.

Looking to permanently ameliorate this pesky situation is a shopping mall in China that just launched a bra-removing contest. Read on and pay attention, fellow nerds!

Our story begins at the Guangzhou mall in Guangzhou city, China. Earlier this month, officials at the shopping center staged a bra-removing contest in which participants were charged with removing eight bras in under 60 seconds. Whoever could manage the task was awarded with a 1,000 yuan ($146.50) voucher to spend as he or she chose.

During the contest, eight scantily clad ladies sporting a bra, face mask, and short-shorts stood in line on stage as competitors rushed by them quickly removing their bras. The catch was that that they had to do it with only one hand.

According to the Mumbai Mirror news agency, most crowd members clapped and cheered in jubilation. However, one uptight fart complained: “This must have been the brainwave of a dirty old man. Why would anyone want to take part in such a degrading spectacle?”

A shopping mall spokesman defended the competition, saying, “The workings of a woman’s bra are a mystery for many men. This activity helped more people understand bra culture and explore its secrets.” I suppose that knowledge is indeed power!

The irony is that it was in fact a woman who came out on top by undoing all eight bras in just 21 seconds. During an interview with Fox Chicago, she said, “I didn’t expect to win; maybe it was because I get so much practice in my everyday life.”

Remember fellas—practice makes perfect. So go buy a bra, put it on IN PRIVATE and get to undoing it over and over and over again. It’s embarrassing, but it may be your last chance to master the art of quickly undoing a bra—lest you’re cast out of the world of male-to-female copulation forever!

Typography

2009-11-09T22:05:00.001+05:30

Typography (Etymology: typos—type, graphos—written) is the art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs. Type glyphs are created and modified using a variety of illustration techniques. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning).

Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors, comic book artists, graffiti artists, and clerical workers. Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users.

Typography refers to the arrangement of text on a page, and appears in some form or another in all instances of written communication. Depending on the purpose, typography can be used for optimum readability, impact, or an artistic statement. Some graphic designers work totally in text, and study typography extensively while they perfect their art. Quality typography can make a big difference in communications, because it can impact the way the reader sees and feels about the topic being discussed.

At the most basic, typography is a combination of font, size, spacing, and color. For example, wiseGEEK articles use a clear sans serif font in a moderate size, arranged on the screen for maximum readability. The text is black on a pale background, further enhancing the readability, and links within the text stand out because they are underlined, and in a different color. The overall purpose behind the typography of the article is to clearly communicate written information to a reader.

This is also the case with typography in newspapers, books, and other sources of information. Newspaper typography is a carefully balanced art form, as the compositors of the newspaper must be able to fit the required text within certain page restrictions. The newspaper staff must also make decisions about the sizing for headlines, and the placement of material on the page. The next time you see a physical newspaper, examine the typography more closely, and see if you can observe patterns in the way articles and photographs are laid out on the page. You should be able to immediately distinguish the lead article, for example, as it should instantly draw your eye.

However, typography can also be elevated into an art form. The best examples of highly artistic typography are found in advertising design. For example, most consumers associate particular fonts with certain branded products, because the advertising campaign featured distinctive use of those fonts. The design teams behind the advertising campaign made a series of design roughs which probably included a variety of fonts so that the designers and company executives could decide on a design which best represented the company.

Especially in modern art, typography is also used to convey an artistic statement. Famous works of modern art often include the use of text as a visual medium, sometimes alone, and sometimes with image. The font, letter spacing, and color are all important considerations for maximum visual impact. Small changes in the typography can radically alter the look and feel of a piece, and numerous computer graphic design programs make it easier for designers to modify their typography to perfection. Classic typography, using movable type and a press, required a close eye to detail, and an ability to extrapolate the final look of the piece from limited visual information.

GE Introduces Green Gizmo Home

2009-07-20T06:56:00.003+05:30

They call it the Net-Zero Energy home. It has ground source heat pumps (promising a 30% reduction in energy use), photovoltaic arrays, supplementary wind power, high efficiency appliances and battery storage, all talking to each other through a Home Energy Manager.

That's a lot of impressive technology. But are green gizmos the best way to achieve net zero energy?

Kevin Nolan, vice president of technology at GE's Consumer & Industrial unit, shows off GE's demand response appliances and Home Energy Manager

GE says that the net-zero energy house will cost 10% more than a conventional house. That's a lot of money; if people would pay that much for extra insulation and better windows they would probably save 30% of their energy costs without fancy heat pumps. But they won't, and when builders offered it, few took them up on it.

Moresco notes that Passivhaus design easily achieves 80% reduction in energy use without any high-tech gizmos, just insulation, tight envelope and orientation.

General Electric has the kind of reputation that can make this kind of hardware mainstream, and can generate a volume big enough to support an infrastructure of sales, installation and maintenance that doesn't exist today. There are tens of thousands of existing houses that can be upgraded with it.

But if you are starting from scratch, it is better to design so that you have less expensive technology to pay for and maintain, not more. Go for efficiency, not green gizmos.

'Oral Sex Is the New Goodnight Kiss'

2009-05-30T09:08:00.003+05:30

Teens in Documentary Say Oral Sex 'Not That Big of a Deal' and Get Paid for Sexual Favors

They don't give their names, but viewers can see their faces plainly and what these teens are saying is shocking parents. Pre-teens and teens are engaging in sexual activity at an earlier age.

"I ended up having sex with more than one person that night and then in the morning I was trying to get morning-after pills," one of the girls said. "I was, like, 14 at the time."

It's just one of dozens of stories from teenage girls in a new documentary by Canadian filmmaker Sharlene Azam that aims to shed light on the secret, extremely sexual lives of today's teens.

After four years researching for the documentary, Azam told "Good Morning America" that oral sex is as common as kissing for teens and that casual prostitution -- being paid at parties to strip, give sexual favors or have sex -- is far more commonplace than once believed.

"If you talk to teens [about oral sex] they'll tell you it's not a big deal," Azam said. "In fact, they don't consider it sex. They don't consider a lot of things sex."

Evidence of this casual attitude may be seen in the fact that more than half of all teens 15 to 19 years old have engaged in oral sex, according to a comprehensive 2005 study by the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics.

'Oral Sex Is the New Goodnight Kiss'

In the documentary, "Oral Sex Is the New Goodnight Kiss," girls as young as 11 years old talk about having sex, going to sex parties and -- in some extreme situations -- crossing into prostitution by exchanging sexual favors for money, clothes or even homework and then still arriving home in time for dinner with the family.

"Five minutes and I got $100," one girl said. "If I'm going to sleep with them, anyway, because they're good-looking, might as well get paid for it, right?"

Another girl talked about being offered $20 to take off her shirt or $100 to do a striptease on a table at a party.

The girls are almost always from good homes, but their parents are completely unaware, Azam said.

"The prettiest girls from the most successful families [are the most at risk]. We're not talking about marginalized girls," she said. "[Parents] don't want to know because they really don't know what to do. I mean, you might be prepared to learn that, at age 12, your daughter has had sex, but what are you supposed to do when your daughter has traded her virginity for $1,000 or a new bag?"

Sex Favors Traded for Relationship Stability

For some of the girls, the sexual favors are not about clothes or money, but used to keep a relationship together in a chillingly objective way.

"I think there's very much trading for relationship favors, almost like 'you need to do this [to] stay in this relationship,'" one girl told "Good Morning America."

"There's a lot of social pressure," said another. "Especially because of our age, a lot of girls want to be in a relationship and they're willing to do anything."

The girls laughingly admitted they never talk to their parents about their sexual activity.

"I mean, we're not looking for our future husbands," one girl said. "We're just looking for, maybe like ... at our age, especially, I think all of us, both sexes, we have a lot of urges, I guess, that need to be taken care of. So if we resort to a casual thing, no strings attached, it's perfectly fine."

Azam said she thinks the "no strings attached" romances could be a defense mechanism against a greater disappointment.

"A lot of girls are disappointed in love," she said. "And I think they believe they can hook up the way guys do and not care.

"But unfortunately, they do care."

Real Archaeologist Digs Up Fact, Fiction of 'Angels & Demons'

2009-05-17T00:44:00.005+05:30

Like we've said before, taking potshots at the scientific inaccuracies of Hollywood blockbusters is as easy as poking fun at the ShamWow guy. But there are some truly scary realities in "Angels & Demons," the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code." And, of course, some scarily obvious falsehoods.

Antimatter!

Early on in the movie a potentially catastrophic vial of antimatter is stolen from CERN setting the plot in motion. Antimatter sounds like a fantasy sci-fi movie product, but it has been created -- at the cost of about $1,772 trillion per ounce. Why? Because it takes enormous energy to create in particle accelerators like CERN. (Remember CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research. They've got the huge underground particle accelerator that was supposed to create a black hole and swallow the earth last fall, until an accident took everything offline. Cross your fingers for this fall, when they start the accelerator up again.)
The only reassuring news about antimatter besides its prohibitive cost? The fact that, at this point, there's no way to store it, much less broadcast it on the Internet.

After the jump, learn the truth about the Vatican's leadership and the badass-itude of the Swiss Guard.The Vatican Leadership

Oh Vatican, oh Vatican, who's the most murderous of them all? Yep, probably because of the lousy press from the Catholic Church that followed "The Da Vinci Code," this film played nice with Catholicism's major domos. But in real life, popes and cardinals haven't been innocent when it comes to murder, bribery, rape, incest, etc. Around the time that so many of the fantastic churches in the film were built, for instance, there was Pope Alexander VI (d. 1503). Known as the "STD Pope," Alex allegedly committed his first murder at 12, slept with his daughter, and died drinking poison intended for a potential cardinal.

The Illuminati

OK, here's the problem with the secret society chronology in this movie: most of the groups we're familiar with today, like the Freemasons and the Illuminati, were founded during the Age of Enlightenment, which began in the 1700s. In fact, the Illuminati were founded in 1776 -- a good 100-150 years after the characters (Galileo, Bernini) mentioned in "Angels & Demons" existed. (By the way, the original Illuminati preferred to call themselves the "Perfectibilists," and "The Order of the Bees," neither of which is nearly as sexy or intimidating.)
Other, earlier "secret societies" known to pose a threat to the Church, like the Knights Templar, were ruthlessly stamped out by popes in the 1300s. So poor A&D author Dan Brown was essentially left with a secret society "dead zone" from 1400 to 1700 -- the time of Galileo.

The Swiss Guard

Let's talk about how badass the Swiss Guard is. Would you mess with a Chechen, a Colombian, or an Afghani? Multiply that by 10 and we have the Swiss. Crazy-ass, take-no-hostages mountain people -- these are the men who have ruthlessly guarded the Vatican for 500 years. And those nasty-looking halberds they carry? Renowned since the 16th century for efficiently piercing human skulls. They also carry assault rifles. So don't make fun of their striped pajamas and funny hats the next time you find yourself in Rome.

Symbology

... is a load of crap. I'd love to teach it at Harvard too, but what our esteemed professor Dr. Robert Langdon does is actually some weird combo of western art history and anthropology.

Why is it impossible to teach "symbology"? Because those two crossed keys that mean "Vatican" in the West may mean something entirely different in say, Vietnam. And the whole elements-of-the-earth spiel that works for Langdon in Rome may mean nothing in the Peruvian desert. To be a symbologist, he'd have to have in-depth knowledge of all of the world's cultures in order to properly interpret symbols, which is impossible unless you're Stephen Hawking. Our dear Harvard professor doesn't even know Italian, for Pete's sake.

Kristin Romey is an anthropologist, explorer, former executive editor of Archeology Magazine and, most prestigiously, Asylum's scientific adviser.

Angels & Demons - Official Trailer 1

Angels & Demons - Official Trailer 2

Mars had 'recent' running water

2009-03-03T07:09:00.000+05:30

Mars appears to have had running water on its surface about one million years ago, according to new evidence.

Images from a Nasa spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet show fan-shaped gullies on the surface which seem to be about 1.25 million years old, the study says.

They believe the channels were sculpted by surface water from melting ice.

It may represent the most recent period when water flowed on the planet, a team from Brown University in Rhode Island, US, report in the journal Geology.

Gullies on the Red Planet are known to be young features, but scientists have found it difficult to pin down their precise ages.

But Samuel Schon and colleagues from Brown were able to do this using impact craters on a gully system in Promethei Terra, an area of cratered highlands south of the Martian equator.

"You never end up with a pond that you can put goldfish in," Mr Schon explained.

"But you have transient melt water. You had ice that typically sublimates. But in these instances it melted, transported, and deposited sediment in the fan. It didn't last long, but it happened."

The researchers say the discovery of a gully system, even an isolated one, that supported running water as recently as 1.25 million years ago greatly extends the time that liquid water could have been active on the Red Planet.

It also adds to evidence that Mars experienced a recent ice age in which polar ice is thought to have been transported toward the planet's equator, where it settled in mid-latitude deposits.

Separate events

From afar, the gully system looks like one entity several hundred metres wide.

But detailed study of images from Nasa's Mars Reconaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft shows there were four intervals in which water-borne sediments were carried down the steep slopes of nearby features called alcoves and laid down in a deposit called an alluvial fan.

In order to estimate the age of the system, the scientists used a method of counting craters.

Because impacts occur with some regularity, this has become an established way of dating planetary surfaces. More cratered surfaces are deemed older, while smoother surfaces are considered younger.

The researchers accept that because the rate of cratering may shift up and down over time there is a degree of uncertainty in this calculation. But they say this is within acceptable limits.

Mr Schon and his colleagues were able to distinguish four individual "lobe" features which make up the alluvial fan, and determine that each of these lobes must have been deposited in separate events.

One of the lobes was pockmarked with small craters; the scientists identified this as the oldest component of the fan. The other lobes, meanwhile, were unblemished, suggesting they had to be younger.

"We think there was recent water on Mars," said co-author James Head III, a professor of geological sciences at Brown University.

"This is a big step in the direction to proving that."

Using a comparison with another cratered surface 80km to the south-west, the team was able to date the oldest lobe of the fan to about 1.25 million years ago.

This established a maximum age for the younger, superimposed lobes.

The researchers suggest the formation developed when ice and snow deposits formed in the alcoves during the most recent ice age on Mars.

About half a million years ago, ice in the mid-latitudes began to melt or, in most instances, changed directly to vapour - a process called sublimation.

The team considered other options, such as groundwater bubbling up to the surface. But they say the most likely mode of formation for the gullies was the melting of snow and ice deposits that created "modest" flows of water.

The finding follows the discovery of water-bearing minerals such as opals and carbonates on Mars.

Safari dominates browser benchmarks

2009-02-26T07:34:00.000+05:30

Proving itself a staggering 42 times faster at rendering JavaScript than IE 7, our benchmarks confirm Apple's Safari 4 browser, released in beta Tuesday, is the fastest browser on the planet. In fact, it beat Google's Chrome, Firefox 3, Opera 9.6 and even Mozilla's developmental Minefield browser.

We used the SunSpider suite of JavaScript tests to determine which browser was the quickest, and the Safari 4 beat every browser in terms of speed, on both a PC running Windows XP SP2, and a Mac running OS X 10.6 with all updates applied.

Below are the actual figures if you want to see how all seven browsers scored against each other, but for quick reference we determined on a PC that Safari was a whopping 42 times faster than Internet Explorer 7, just over six times faster than Internet Explorer 8, 3.5 times faster than Firefox 3, and 1.2 times faster than Google Chrome. Here's Safari versus the rest, excluding IE 7:

Add IE 7's results to the PC graph and witness the shocking truth. These are results from a PC with a 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo:

1) Safari 4 (Total time: 910ms)
2) Mozilla Minefield 3.2a1 (1,136ms)
3) Google Chrome (1,177ms)
4) Firefox 3 (3,250ms)
5) Opera 9.6 (4,076ms)
6) Internet Explorer 8 (5,839ms)
7) Internet Explorer 7 (39,026ms)

On Mac OS X, Safari was four times faster than Firefox 3 and a depressing (for Opera) 7.5 times faster than Opera 9.6.

Results (fastest at the top) on Mac OS X (2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo):

1) Safari 4 (Total time 967ms)
2) Minefield 3.2a1 (969ms)
3) Firefox 3 (3803ms)
4) Opera 9.6 (7322ms)

Fast and Furious

2009-02-19T19:29:00.000+05:30

Release Date: April 3, 2009

Studio: Universal Pictures

Director: Justin Lin

Screenwriter: Chris Morgan

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, John Ortiz, Laz Alonso, Gal Gadot, Shea Whigham, Tego Calderon, Liza Lapira

Genre: Action, Thriller

Official Website: FastandFuriousmovie.net

Plot Summary: Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reteam for the ultimate chapter of the franchise built on speed -- "Fast & Furious." Heading back to the streets where it all began, they rejoin Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster to blast muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles and floor through the Mexican desert in the new high-octane action-thriller.
When a crime brings them back to L.A., fugitive ex-con Dom Toretto (Diesel) reignites his feud with agent Brian O'Conner (Walker). But as they are forced to confront a shared enemy, Dom and Brian must give in to an uncertain new trust if they hope to outmanuever him. And from convoy heists to precision tunnel crawls across international lines, two men will find the best way to get revenge: push the limits of what's possible behind the wheel.

Click Picture to Enlarge

Thousands of unconscious eye movements stop us from going blind

2009-02-14T07:14:00.000+05:30

The imperceptible jumps and jiggles known as "microsaccades" mean that a really steady stare is impossible.

Even when trying to fix a gaze on a stationary target, the eyes are always moving.

Experts have long dismissed these movements as the accidental result of spurious nerve signals. But new research shows they are actively controlled by the same brain region used to scan newspaper columns or track a moving object.

Scientists now think these "microsaccades" provide a vital function by "refreshing" images on the retina which would otherwise fade away.

Dr Richard Krauzlis, from the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, focused on the "command centre" in the brain responsible for eye-tracking.

He found that the brain region played an integral part in the mechanism that controlled the movements.

The evidence suggested that the flickering movements were necessary for normal vision, said the researchers, whose findings are reported in the journal Science.

Co-author Dr Ziad Hafed, also from the Salk Institute, said: "Because images on the retina fade from view if they are perfectly stabilised, the active generation of fixational eye movements by the central nervous system allows these movements to constantly shift the scene ever so slightly, thus refreshing the images on our retina and preventing us from going 'blind'."

The Tomb of Queen Sesheshet

2009-02-07T20:15:00.000+05:30

"Let's start from the beginning," Abdel Hakim Karar suggests as he scampers up the north side of an archaeological dig of sun-bleached pink stone and gravel.

When you make your living unearthing the royal riches of ancient Egypt, the beginning is a very distant place indeed – more than four millennia away, during the time of the 6th dynasty. We are standing on the rim of the necropolis of King Teti at Saqqara, where Karar and his team of archaeologists are excavating the tomb of Queen Sesheshet, Teti's mother. The tomb, and the once five-story-high pyramid that accommodates it, was until recently a dump for the sand and detritus of surrounding digs. But the intuitive power of Karar and his inimitable boss, Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, rescued it from oblivion last November. It was a once-in-a-lifetime strike – how often does one "discover" a pyramid? – and it may shed light on a particularly notorious episode in a pharaonic tradition of court intrigue and murder most foul.

"We suspected this was the mother's pyramid," says Karar, as he gestures to a horizon line interrupted only by the iconic step pyramid of Saqqara, the Eiffel Tower of its time, built by the legendary 3rd dynasty ruler Imhotep. "Then we came across stones carved with the characters for 'Seshi' and we knew what it was."

The surrounding complex was discovered and unearthed by a fraternity of French and British archaeologists in the mid-19th century. Its centerpiece is the pyramid of Teti, the first ruler of the 6th dynasty, and the subsidiary pyramids of his two principal wives, queens Iput I and Khuit. Like many such digs in Egypt -- a country that, because of its strategically vital location, has played host to several great civilizations -- Saqqara offers a bounty of archaeological wealth beyond what was once the property of pharaohs. Enveloping the site is a containing wall of dung-colored mud bricks built in 330 B.C. by Ptolemy I, the Macedonian general who campaigned with Alexander the Great and who may have been mentored by Aristotle. The U-shaped wall contained a drawing of the funeral procession that followed the death of a sacred bull as ordained under Serapis, the Greek deity promoted by Ptolemy as a way to fuse Hellenist and Greek religions.

Hawass, who began working at the Saqqara necropolis in 1988, says Sesheshet's pyramid "might be the most complete subsidiary pyramid ever found" in the area. It is certainly one of the largest. The remains of its 72-square-foot base suggests a pitch of 51 degrees, a common feature of 5th and 6th century pyramidal design, and a height of 46 feet. Large, smoothly carved blocks of limestone around the southern end of its foundation is all that's left of the casing that gave Egyptian pyramids of the time their clean, elegant lines. The entire structure would have been built with bronze tools.

Karar and his team wait several weeks to open the tomb's burial chamber. "We don't want to disrupt the remains," he explains. When the burial chamber is opened, a sarcophagus is found with a mummy inside. Though her name does not appear within the burial chamber, the evidence points to the burial of a queen, believed to be Sesheshet.

Beginning in the 4th dynasty, the kings of Egypt were careful to commemorate their wives and mothers with regal monuments. (In a monograph published in a 2000 edition of Archiv orientalni, a quarterly Czech archaeological journal, Hawass hinted at the possibility of a third subsidiary pyramid in honor of Teti's mother.) Yet the size and grandeur of Sesheshet's pyramid is as much a political statement as it is an expression of filial piety. Sesheshet came from a powerful family at a time of civil war within the royal clan and she protected Teti for much of his 20-year rule. Sadly for Teti, her talismanic powers did not extend from the grave; after her death, according to the Ptolemaic historian Manetho, Teti was murdered by his own bodyguards working in league with the treacherous Userkare. In testament to the hardboiled political culture of the time, Userkare himself was ousted by Pepy I, son of Queen Iput I, only a few years after he had seized the throne. While Manetho is vague as to Userkare's fate, there are few surviving monuments to his rule, the modern-day equivalent of being airbrushed out of the history books and a fate worse than death in edifice-obsessed ancient Egypt.

While Sesheshet's tomb is believed to have been plundered by thieves, like many Egyptian pyramids, the artifacts discovered in Iput I's burial chambers offer a glimpse of what might have been kept there: vessels and dishes made of alabaster and red clay, tools lacquered in gold, a sarcophagus carved from limestone and layered with gypsum, and canopic jars filled with the royal viscera in storage for the afterlife. The walls and pillars of the tomb may depict scenes of court life and religious rites and there will likely be granite stele with inscriptions identifying the royal matron as a "mother of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt."

Karar, who studied at Cairo University and has spent half of his 50 years digging up ancient relics, says he hopes the tomb will also yield new details about how the ancient Egyptians related to other such geopolitical powers as Rome, Nubia, Syria, Greece and Persia. The record of Sesheshet's era is particularly incomplete, he says, which is another reason why the discovery of her pyramid is so significant.

"It's never boring," says Karar of his profession. "Egyptians now appreciate what we do because of the attention it is getting in the media. They no longer take their heritage for granted." Sesheshet, whose name evokes a goddess of history and writing, would have approved.

Google Lets Gmailers Cut the Cord

2009-01-29T07:15:00.000+05:30

Gmail users will be able to use some of the webmail app's functions while offline. The feature, which Google says is still experimental, is designed for users who don't necessarily have constant access to WiFi or 3G networks but still want to write and manage e-mail wherever they are. Their actions are saved on the computer and updated to Gmail's servers once a Web connection has been established.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) More about Google has officially taken Gmail offline. No, the search giant has not put the kibosh on the popular e-mail service; it's added offline functionality, the company announced Tuesday.

While Web-based e-mail services that are accessible from any computer with a Web connection and a browser are convenient, the applications are sometimes hindered by their Internet tether, Google said. Unless users are at a WiFi hotspot or using a smartphone over a snappy network, accessing Web-based email can be a challenge.

The new offline Gmail functionality is an experimental feature in Gmail Labs. Once they add the feature to their Gmail accounts, users will be able to use parts of the Web-based e-mail service offline.

"It should be no surprise to anyone that Google felt compelled to develop an offline version of Gmail. The entire world isn't wired, and for businesses and consumers, they want to work offline sometimes," Matthew Caine, an analyst at Gartner (NYSE: IT) More about Gartner, told TechNewsWorld.
Gearing Up Gmail Offline

To bring Gmail to the offline world, Google uses Gears, a set of programming tools designed to enable Web developers to create offline versions of Web-based applications. Gears downloads a local cache of a user's e-mail. While a subscriber is connected to the network, the cache is synchronized with Gmail's servers.

When the connection is lost, Gmail will automatically switch into offline mode using the data previously stored on the computer's hard drive rather than data sent across the network. That way, users can continue to use the application.

They can read messages, star and label them, and do many of the same things they are accustomed to doing while using their webmail online, according to Google. Any messages that are sent while the application is offline are placed in the user's outbox and sent automatically when Gmail detects an Internet connection.

For users who are "borrowing" their Internet connection from a neighbor or just have a slow or unreliable connection, there is a so-called flaky connection mode. It uses the local cache as if the user is disconnected, but still synchronizes e-mail with the server Linux MPS Pro - Focus on Your Business - Not Your IT Infrastructure. $599.95/month. Click to learn more. in the background. The goal, Google said, is to provide nearly the same browser-based Gmail experience regardless of whether a user is using the data cached on the computer or talking directly to Gmail's server.

Google cautions users that while the company has been using Offline Gmail internally for a while, it is still considered an experimental feature. It will be available in the U.S. and the UK over the next few days.

"You could use a POP or IMAC client on the back end, but what's interesting is that this is an in-browser client and requires very little fuss and bother to set up. It has the potential to bring [Gmail] to the masses offline," Caine said.

"It's a slightly different paradigm -- you're still working in the browser and that architecture, plus the ease of installation will make it attractive compared to the old paradigm of finding Thunderbird and setting it up," he added.

Coffee Could Fuel You, and Your Car

2009-01-21T06:01:00.000+05:30

Coffee can do more than just fuel you through an afternoon slump. It might also power your car.

That's the idea behind a new study that turned used coffee grounds into biodiesel fuel. Coffee will probably never replace petroleum, but discarded cappuccino scraps might someday help reduce our impact on the environment, say the study's authors. They imagine a day when the byproducts of your latte end up in the gas tank of your car -- with hardly any waste left behind.

"It's a very simple two-step process," said Susanta Mohapatra, a chemical engineer at the University of Nevada, Reno. "We can definitely make a big impact on our environment with fuel made out of nature."

Scientists have known for decades that coffee beans contain oil. Mohapatra and colleagues, however, were the first to analyze coffee grounds.

Used grounds usually end up in landfills, though gardeners sometimes use them as compost material. The scientists collected used grounds from Starbucks, which gives bags of grounds away as part of the company's "Grounds for your Garden" program.

To prepare the grounds for analysis, the team first dried them in an oven. They mixed the resulting powder with a combination of solvents that caused the oil to separate from the solution. They extracted the oil, saving the solvents for the next round of processing. The remains could still be used as compost, ethanol feedstock, and fuel pellets.

"We're not wasting anything," Mohaptra told Discovery News. "It's a recycling process."

The study showed that used grounds contain about 15 percent oil by weight, depending on the type of coffee. That's not too far off the proportions in soybean, rapeseed, and palm oils, which are also used as sources for biodiesel. And coffee oil is more stable than these other sources because of its high antioxidant content, found the study, which appeared in December in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Around the world, growers produce more than 16 billion pounds of coffee each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The scientists estimate that spent grounds could add 340 million gallons of biodiesel to the global fuel supply.

Mohapatra envisions a streamlined coffee recycling system, in which the same trucks that deliver beans to Starbucks could pick up the brewed waste and head to a biodiesel plant. The plant would be close by, to save on transportation costs and emissions.

Coffee grounds appear to produce high-quality oil, granted Robert McCormick, an engineer at The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. But, he said, coffee probably won't be a practical solution to the world's energy needs.

For one thing, the country's main sources of biodiesel -- cooking oil and animal fat -- are 100 percent oil, compared to coffee's 15 percent. And even when a cafe brews a large amount of coffee, relatively few grounds are left behind. It takes 50 gallons of spent grounds to produce just 1 gallon of oil, Mohapatra said.

Still, McCormick commends the researchers for thinking outside the box about the world's energy issues.

"Anything that takes a waste product and makes a fuel out of it is really a positive," he said. "This is pretty cool."

Photographs of Madonna could sell for $10,000 each

2009-01-17T20:46:00.000+05:30

Two photographs of Madonna set to appear in a Christie's auction next month will probably sell for at least $10,000 each, according to estimates posted on the company's Web site.

One, a full-frontal nude black-and-white photograph of the singer, was taken in 1979 by celebrated American photographer Lee Friedlander for a series of nudes he was working on, said Milena Sales, a spokeswoman for the auction house.

Madonna was about 20 when the photograph, one of several, was taken.

A handful from the shoot appeared in Playboy magazine in 1985, Sales said. Christie's put price estimates for the photograph at $10,000 to $15,000.

The second photograph of Madonna was taken in the 1980s by Helmut Newton.

In the Newton photograph, which is in color, Madonna is wearing a short dress and black stockings with garters. The circumstances behind the photo shoot were not immediately clear.

The auction will take place in New York on February 12.

Flying car takes high road to Timbuktu

2009-01-15T05:24:00.000+05:30

From the noisy and lovable Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to the time-traveling DeLorean in "Back to the Future," flying cars have been a fixture of movies and science fiction that never quite cut it in the real world -- until now.

A flying car devised by a British inventor and a team of engineers took off from London on Wednesday on an epic journey to Timbuktu, Mali, in West Africa -- a trip they hope will prove the fantasy has become reality.

The "Skycar" is a road-legal all-terrain buggy with a huge rear propeller and a fabric wing, the result of 18 months of design and research.

"We started with a car rather than starting with an aircraft and made a car into an aircraft," said Skycar's creator, Giles Cardozo. "It's a really exciting piece of kit to drive but of course, it also flies."

The Skycar's 3,720-mile (6,000-kilometer) trip will take it through France, Spain and Morocco, then the Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali to the famously isolated city of Timbuktu.

Its design gives it the performance of a motorbike while also allowing it to fly over impassable terrain and the sand seas of the Sahara, the designers said. They hope to fly over the Straits of Gibraltar.

In propeller mode, the engine makes a lot of noise. The two-person seat is a tight fit with room for a driver and a passenger who controls the car in flight.

Experienced adventurer Neil Laughton is the designated pilot of the craft on its epic journey.

"I'm a bit nervous, but that's what adventure and exploration's all about," Laughton told CNN.

Although some eccentric-looking flying cars have been attempted before, Cardozo and his team of engineers say advances in flexible wing technology have made their car more practical, with more precise handling and increased safety over traditional rigid wings.

The flexible wing is folded and packed in the back of the car when driving on the road and can deploy immediately when it is ready to fly.

The car, which runs on biofuel, has a takeoff speed of 73 km/h (45 mph) and requires a distance of less than 200 meters (220 yards), meaning it can take off on a beach or in a park.

He admits the Skycar has trouble in high wind or turbulence, but it has some safety measures.

"It will be easier and safer to fly than any other aircraft, as it has no pitch control and (is) therefore impossible to stall or dive," the inventors say. "Should the engine fail, the pilot would simply glide down into the nearest field or strip of sandy desert. In the event of catastrophic wing failure, car connection system failure or mid-air collision, an emergency ballistic reserve parachute can be deployed."

The expedition hopes to help out some charities along the way, and if it is successful the car's creators hope to market it commercially.

"If people see the fun in this and it catches on, I think it could be a great fun toy," Cardozo said. "It's not your everyday means of transport by any means, but it's a great, fun alternative way of getting around -- like a quad bike, like a Jet Ski, like anything like that."

Cardozo hopes his "toy" will arrive in Timbuktu by late February, proving that flying cars aren't just the stuff of movies or children's stories anymore.

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Bruce Lee's home saved as tourist site

2009-01-07T20:32:00.000+05:30

Fans of kung fu legend Bruce Lee will soon be able to take a tour of the star’s residence.

Hong Kong property tycoon Yu Pang-lin has been given the green light to transform the two-storey town house into a museum honouring the film icon.

The 5,700 square-foot, two-storey town house in a Kowloon suburb where Lee spent the last months of his life is currently a love motel which provided hourly room rentals.

Bruce Lee fans have been struggling for years to save the house from such an inglorious fate and Yu finally made a surprise decision last year to donate it to the city where the martial arts master first shot to fame.

“Both sides have now reached a consensus to go ahead and essentially proceed with this good plan,” Yu told reporters after a meeting with government officials.

“I’m 88 years old now and hope that while I’m still alive I’ll be able to see this Bruce Lee museum completed,” he added.

Hong Kong’s Commerce and Economic Development Bureau has agreed to preserve the “original outlook of the building and its features”, recreating parts of the home to revitalise it as a long term sustainable tourism attraction.

Yu said that he wants the site to include a library, martial arts centre and a movie theatre to fully commemorate Lee’s life a philosophy.

Born in San Francisco, Lee was widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the twentieth century. His movies “Fist of Fury,” “Game of Death” and “Enter the Dragon” changed and influenced martial arts films in Hong Kong and the rest of the world.

Hong Kong’s Bruce Lee fan club welcomed the breakthrough plan, and expressed hopes that the residence will prove to be as big a draw as other global memorial sites such as the Beatles Story in Liverpool and Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion in Tennessee.

Leap year bug zaps Zune music players

2009-01-02T20:11:00.000+05:30

It wasn't a very Happy New Year for owners of Microsoft's Zune.

Thousands of the MP3 music players froze on New Year's Eve around the world due to what Microsoft described as a bug in the device's internal clock.

The bug only affected the original, 30-gigabyte version of the music player that was introduced by the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft in 2006 as its answer to Apple's wildly popular iPod.

Later devices with 80GB and 120GB of memory were not affected.

Microsoft was alerted to the problem when Zune forums and discussion boards lit up overnight with complaints from Zune owners around the world that their devices players had stopped working.

Many of the messages were signed "Victim of the December 31st 2008 Zune 30 Meltdown!" and the mass Zune stoppage gave rise to puns such as "Zunesday" and "Z2K," a reference to the millennium Y2K bug.

Microsoft initially put out a statement saying owners of the 30GB Zune may experience "issues" when booting up the device, asked for patience and apologized for the inconvenience.

Several hours later, another statement on Microsoft's zune.net explained the problem and said it would essentially self-resolve.

"There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year," Microsoft said.

"The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009," it said. "We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow.

"By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on," it advised users.

Alcohol: Truth 'n' Consequences

2008-12-28T17:48:00.000+05:30

Alcohol is nearly as addictive as which drug? - Cocaine
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An estimated 17 percent of cocaine users become addicted to it, and drinkers follow closely at 15 percent. Of the other drugs: marijuana, 9 percent; heroin, 25 percent; nicotine, 32 percent.

Following factors are effect by alcohol.
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Body weight: Fat, protein proportion, volume of blood and cardiovascular function all play roles in determining the impact of alcohol.Gender: Alcohol is generally more potent to women than men.

Ethnicity: Based on genetic differences, there are direct and indirect alcohol effects by ethnicity. For example, Asians carry a gene that compromises liver function. More than other groups, Asians who drink tend to get flush, sweat and become nauseated.

Age: A person’s age is represented in every system of the body, and alcohol works directly on the cardiologic, metabolic, excretory, digestive and neurological systems. Consider that dosage recommendations vary by age even on over-the-counter drugs.

Genetics: One’s capacity to tolerate alcohol is partially dependent on genetic factors, so you may gain some insight about your own tolerance by studying other family members’. Geneticists have even gone so far as to determine that the ability to hold alcohol depends on an enzyme made on Chromosome 4.

By consuming no more than one drink per hour, you can stay under the legal limit for driving. - False
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The effects of one drink per hour will vary greatly from one person to the next. A 125-pound woman having just one glass of wine per hour over the course of three full hours can easily reach a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08—the legal limit in most states. Symptoms such as flushed face and difficulty with fine motor skills can be evident at a BAC level of just .02.The body metabolizes pure alcohol at only .25 or .30 ounces (about half a drink) per hour, so on average it takes two hours for the effects of a single drink to be eradicated. Metabolization simply can’t keep up with an hourly drink. Drinking has a cumulative effect.

It’s best to treat a hangover with acetaminophen (Tylenol). - False
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Current evidence suggests there is little if any danger in using proper dosages of acetaminophen the morning after a night of drinking. Physicians do acknowledge, however, that research on the subject is lacking. The risk sometimes cited is liver toxicity, which is a realistic concern for alcoholics who overdose on acetaminophen to the tune of 26 extra-strength pills in 24 hours.

Women get drunk faster than men do. - True
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Alcohol mixes with water in the body, and because men have more body water, there is more dilution of alcohol. Less body water makes for a meaner hangover as well.

Drinking tends to enhance sexual experiences. - False
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Going by the numbers, the drawbacks of combining alcohol with sex outweigh the benefits. Women with impaired judgment are more likely to engage in sexual behaviors they later regret, especially regarding whom they slept with or what they consented to. Worse yet, compromised judgment can put a woman in a dangerous sexual situation. For both men and women, the likelihood of unprotected sex also rises with alcohol use, increasing incidences of unwanted pregnancy and STDs, including, of course, HIVOn the upside, alcohol does relax social and sexual inhibitions, and can increase amorous feelings. But these benefits could easily backfire as well since alcohol interferes with a man’s ability to sustain an erection and with a woman’s ability to reach orgasm.

Claiming that one is drunk, and therefore out of control, is a legitimate defense against an accusation of sexual assault. - False
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Being drunk is not a valid legal defense against a charge of rape or sexual assault. It is estimated that 75 percent of men who perpetrate sexual assault are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. A significant percentage of sexual-assault victims also tend to be under the influence; however, a victim who is drunk may be incapable of giving consent. Sex with an intoxicated person can constitute rape.

Alcohol and pot are relatively safe to mix, since the effect of one balances out the other. - False
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Alcohol and pot are both depressants. The risk of slowing one’s body down or passing out increases significantly when they’re combined. Marijuana also inhibits the gag reflex, which can be a problem when you want or need to throw up—and a fatal malfunction if you vomit while unconscious.Some drug combinations are additive, meaning that the effect produced is equal to the sum of the drugs combined. The effect of mixing alcohol and marijuana, however, is hyper-additive or synergistic: The two are multiplied rather than added. Many additional factors have influence (weight, tolerance, age, type of alcohol and pot), so the outcome is always difficult to predict.

According to a 2005 study of colleges, how many students per year were injured under the influence of alcohol? - 599,000
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And that’s just the 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in college.

The number of alcohol-related fatalities in motor vehicle crashes appears to be going: - Down
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Americans may be getting smarter. Between 2003 and 2004, there was a 2.4 percent reduction in alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities: 17,105 in 2003 compared to 16,694 in 2004. While that’s good news, alcohol still plays a role in 39 percent of all traffic fatalities.

Disney jumps ship on next 'Narnia'

2008-12-26T22:46:00.000+05:30

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" will have to sail without Disney.

While declining to elaborate, Disney and Walden Media confirmed Tuesday that for budgetary and logistical reasons the Burbank-based studio is not exercising its option to co-produce and co-finance the next "Narnia" movie with Walden.

The third entry in the series, based on the classic books by C.S. Lewis, was in preproduction and set for a spring shoot for a planned May 2010 release. The development puts the participation of the talent attached in doubt. Michael Apted was on board to direct a script by Steven Knight. The key players of the second installment, "Prince Caspian" -- Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, William Moseley and Anna Popplewell -- were to return for the third film.

Walden has a strong relationship with the Lewis estate and will shop "Treader" in hopes of finding a new partner. The most likely candidate at this stage is Fox, which markets and distributes Walden fare under the Fox Walden banner.

Any partnership on a "Narnia" movie will require a substantial investment. "Caspian," which filmed in the Czech Republic, Mexico and New Zealand, cost $200 million. The first film, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," was shot mostly in New Zealand for $180 million.

It is rare for a studio to pull out of a planned trilogy in midstream, but the number-crunching showed a franchise on a downward trend. "Lion" roared to $292 million domestically and another $453 million internationally in 2005. This year, "Prince Caspian" grossed a healthy $141 million in North America and another $278 million internationally, but that was well off the "Lion" take.

Further challenging "Treader" may be a waning of the pricey children's fantasy genre. When the "Harry Potter" series topped the book charts and then filled movie theaters, studios began snapping up fantasy manuscripts as quickly as they could. When "The Lord of the Rings" showed it was possible for adults to enjoy the fare as well -- and produced the boxoffice results to prove it -- Hollywood's fascination with the genre intensified.

But no other fantasy adventure films have shown that kind of boxoffice punch. Earlier this year, Warners and New Line hoped they were launching a franchise with "The Golden Compass," but the adaptation of the Philip Pullman trilogy tanked domestically.

The film grossed just $70 million domestically and the co-production partners declined to go forward with a second installment despite the fact the film did take in more than $300 million overseas.

Lance Armstrong twitters on 'unreal' drug-testing and 'big as yo' face burritos

2008-12-22T19:00:00.000+05:30

Even Lance Armstrong, who after winning the Tour de France seven times has taken his fair share of doping tests, is amazed by the number of times he has been told to give samples on his return to competitive cycling.

On his Twitter page - a social-networking website - Armstrong wrote: "Guess what!? Drug control #10. Unreal."

Many in France still cast a suspicious eye towards Armstrong and the success he achieved before retiring in 2005.

As such, the American is attempting to be as open as possible when it comes to his comeback preparations.

Upon his return, he said: "We're going to be completely transparent. This is for the world to see. I am returning with a completely comprehensive programme and there will be no way to cheat."

The authorities are clearly making sure of this.

Armstrong, though, is hiding nothing, as his postings on Twitter show. They include:

"Ate at Chuys. One of Austin's finest. Had a "big as 'yo face" burrito."

"Got a note from Levi. Was going to go out and train with him but didn't since my condition isn't half-bad now. It's freezing cold there too."

"Still freezing in Austin so training indoors at Kevin's Pedal Hard studio."

"Just saw Slumdog Millionaire. Amazing film. Run don't walk to see it."

"Morning - I'm up drinking coffee, reading the nyt, and texting with Johan who's at the Tour of Spain (Vuelta) presentation."

Former team-mate George Hincapie, however, perhaps seems less than impressed with the media's reaction to Armstrong's return. On his page, he notes: "Just did a USA Today interview. 95 per cent L(ance) A(rmstrong), 5 per cent me. He's back!!!!"

World's First Computer Rebuilt, Rebooted After 2,000 Years

2008-12-18T23:37:00.000+05:30

A British museum curator has built a working replica of a 2,000-year-old Greek machine that has been called the world's first computer.

A dictionary-size assemblage of 37 interlocking dials crafted with the precision and complexity of a 19th-century Swiss clock, the Antikythera mechanism was used for modeling and predicting the movements of the heavenly bodies as well as the dates and locations of upcoming Olympic games.

The original 81 shards of the Antikythera were recovered from under the sea (near the Greek island of Antikythera) in 1902, rusted and clumped together in a nearly indecipherable mass. Scientists dated it to 150 B.C. Such craftsmanship wouldn't be seen for another 1,000 years — but its purpose was a mystery for decades.

Many scientists have worked since the 1950s to piece together the story, with the help of some very sophisticated imaging technology in recent years, including X-ray and gamma-ray imaging and 3-D computer modeling.

Now, though, it has been rebuilt. As is almost always the way with these things, it was an amateur who cracked it. Michael Wright, a former curator at the Science Museum in London, has built a replica of the Antikythera, which works perfectly.

In the video from New Scientist below, Wright shows how the machine works.

In short, Antikythera's user interface is deceptively simple, operated by a simple knob on the side. This conceals the intricacy within, amounting to a complex mathematical model, tracking the movements of planetary bodies and incorporating a series of submechanisms to account for the eccentricities of their rotation.

A dial on the faceplace featured the Greek zodiac and an Egyptian calendar; pointers showed the location of the moon and the five planets known at the time. On the machine's back, an upper dial shows a 19-year calendar (matching the solunar cycle) and the timing of upcoming Olympic games. A lower dial shows a 76-year cycle (when the Olympic and solunar cycles coincide) and indicates the months in which lunar and solar eclipses can be expected.

According to New Scientist, this is the first working model of the Antikythera computer to include all of the device's known features. And, like the original machine, it has been built of recycled metal plates. That's right: The Antikythera mechanism is not only the world's oldest computer, it's also the world's first green computer.

Endangered species

2008-12-15T21:32:00.000+05:30

Mouse could become extinct as new gadgets do without one....

The computer mouse might someday become an endangered species.

Instead of rolling a mouse around to move a cursor on the screen, more users will gesture with their fingers on touch-screens and multitouch trackpads, analysts say.

Or they will tilt or shake the phones or other handheld devices themselves to manipulate them, said Steve Prentice, vice president and fellow at Gartner, a market-research firm based in Stamford, Conn.

Apple's iPhone, Nokia and other smart phones already are undergoing such a transformation with touch-screens, he said in an e-mail, and the switch "will accelerate over the next two to three years."

On an iPhone or iPod touch, a user can scroll through album covers by flicking a finger across the screen, or tilt and turn the device to control actions in a game.

Prentice, based in Egham, England, said users probably will stop connecting a mouse to their laptop computers within five years, if they haven't already. And the use of a mouse will diminish on office desktop computers after that. The new trackpads are seen as offering more versatility.

"The demise will be hastened by the move toward 3-D environments, which encourage a more complex range of movements to move around, and by the growth of multimedia applications and manipulation, which encourage a more natural user interface," he said.

Already, Hewlett-Packard makes a TouchSmart personal computer with a touch-screen monitor. Apple's new laptop computers have trackpads that support gestures with two, three or four fingers. And the upcoming Microsoft Windows 7 also will support multitouch.

Not so fast, said Logitech International, the Swiss maker of mice and other peripherals. Touch-screens will continue to develop, but "I don't see a world where it would override the effectiveness of the mouse and keyboard," said Erik Charlton, director of product marketing for Logitech retail pointing devices.

The history of the mouse dates to 1968, originating at what was then known as Stanford Research Institute.

A glimpse of the future can be found at the Microsoft Technology Center in Manhattan, where visitors can get their hands on a Surface table.

The Surface computer, which debuted for commercial use in July, has a 30-inch screen on which users can tap, drag, spin and zoom in and out with their fingers or an object such as a paint brush.

Gmail Enables SMS Messaging From Chat

2008-12-11T20:43:00.000+05:30

Only a few days after the launch of its new task manager, Gmail has introduced a new feature allowing users to send free SMS messages through its integrated Chat. To activate the feature, visit the Gmail Labs page and scroll down until you see the appropriate listing (you may also want to activate a few of the other nifty features while you’re at it).

To send a message, just type a phone number into the search box at the top of the chat window on the left side of the Gmail interface, and hit ‘Send SMS’. Numbers can be associated with contact names so you don’t have to keep manually entering them. Recipients of these messages can respond by simply hitting ‘reply’ on their cell phones to send their own SMS message (Gmail ties a unique phone number with each of your contacts).

According to the Gmail blog post, the site is currently testing out the service with US phones only for now (messages can be sent from abroad, they just need to be directed at a US phone).

Gmail first toyed around with the feature in October, but wound up pulling it from Labs for a few weeks because of a number of glitches. This time, it seems like it’s here to stay.

This isn’t by any means the first chat service to offer free SMS messaging - major chat networks like AIM have been doing this for years. But it’s a handy feature, especially for the many people who use Gmail all day long.

1995 Ferrari motorcycle to be auctioned

2008-12-08T21:50:00.000+05:30

Ferrari doesn't make motorcycles. At least, not officially... but that fact hasn't stopped a number of custom cycle makers from taking matters into their own hands. Perhaps the most famous Maranello-inspired two-wheeler was made by Arlen Ness, but that one's not all that practical in conception. We would imagine a Ferrari motorcycle to be a truly sporting machine, equally as comfortable on the race track as the street, or, more realistically, being shown off in one's garage. Ferrari seems to agree, as the only cycle ever created that bears an official Ferrari chassis number -- SF-01M -- has true sporting pretensions.

Built by David Kay Engineering and completed in 1995, this one-and-only Ferrari motorcycle sports a DOHC engine displacing 900cc and putting out 105 horsepower at 8,800rpm. The only styling choice we take exception with are the Testarossa-style strakes on either side, but nothing's perfect, right? So, what's the only officially official Ferrari bike worth? We'll find out for sure when the auction ends on the 20th, but the expected price is between 325,000-375,000 Swiss francs, or around $300K in U.S. dollars.

Scientists solve evolutionary puzzle on how the turtle got its shell

2008-11-27T21:44:00.000+05:30

Scientists believe they have cracked a long-standing mystery of evolution - how the turtle got its shell.

It follows the discovery in south west China last year of the oldest known turtle fossils, believed to date back 220 million years.

The three adult specimens were discovered remarkably intact and with characteristics never before seen in turtles - including teeth and an incomplete upper shell.

The world's oldest known turtle (above) dating back 220 million years has been unveiled by scientists. The new species forms a missing link between ancient terrestrial turtles and their modern, aquatic descendants (below)

The species was dubbed Odontochelys semistestacea, meaning toothed, half-shelled turtle.

Scientists from Canada, China and the US said the half-shell provided new evidence of how it evolved, Nature magazine has reported.

Dr Xiao-chun Wu, a palaeontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, said: 'Since the 1800s, there have been many hypotheses about the origin of the turtle shell.

'Now we have these fossils of the earliest known turtle.

'They support the theory that the shell would have formed from below as extensions of the backbone and ribs, rather than as bony plates from the skin as others have theorised.'

This image shows an artist impression of Odontochelys semitestacea, an ancestral turtle from the Triassic of China

He believes the lower shell, known as the plastron, formed first followed by an outgrowth and broadening of the backbone and ribs to form the upper shell, or carapace.

This process corresponds with the shell formation seen in turtle embryos and hatchlings.

Dr Wu said: 'With Odontochelys, we now have clear fossil evidence of this process emerging in an adult.'

Dr Wu's student and lead author of the report, Chun Li, of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, discovered the fossils in Guizhou province with the help of local farmers.

Scientists believe the lower shell, known as the plastron, formed first followed by an outgrowth and broadening of the backbone and ribs to form the upper shell

The competing theory of shell development was that it grew from bony plates on the skin which formed a kind of dermal armour, which then fused with the underlying ribs and backbone.

Until now, the oldest known turtle, discovered in Germany, dated to about 210 million years ago.

Because it already had a fully formed shell, scientists could not say how it developed.

But the authors said the new fossils show the theory of dermal armour is incorrect.

The team also concluded the earliest turtles were aquatic and not land-based, and that turtles as a group may have originated from water.

They said the presence of the lower shell would protect the swimming animal from predators below.

Dr Olivier Rieppel, of the Field Museum in Chicago, who also took part in the study, said although there was only a partial shell to protect its back, the under shell was fully formed, like modern-day turtles.

He said this suggested it was a water dweller.

'Reptiles living on the land have their bellies close to the ground with little exposure to danger.'

Fact or Fiction: Household Remedies

2008-11-25T20:57:00.000+05:30

We've heard them, we've repeated them, and in some cases we even swear by them -- but do the household remedies we learned at Grandma's knee really work? The Good Housekeeping Research Institute staff put them to the test. Here, once and for all, are the surprising answers.

1. Hot water makes ice cubes faster than cold water - and makes clearer ice cubes, too.
Myth! In three trials in our food appliances lab, cold water always won the race. The Good Housekeeping Research Institute filled one tray with hot water and the other with cold, then recorded the time it took each to reach 32 degrees F. Every time, the cold water cubes froze faster. As for crystal-clear cubes, you'll have to get a professional, restaurant-style ice-cube-making machine, because neither hot nor cold water in regular ice cube trays will produce clear cubes, just the foggy ones you're used to.

2. Tomato juice will de-skunk the dog.
True! But it's not very practical, since you'll need a tremendous amount of juice after shampooing your dog - and we're not talking about a couple of small cans. Plus, you might also stain your pet's fur pink. Some vets swear by commercial de-skunking products like Skunk-Off. The Bobst Hospital of the Animal Medical Center in New York City recommends a solution of 1 cup of white vinegar diluted with 1 gallon of water. But Good Housekeeping veterinarian Holly Cheever says that nothing will get rid of skunk odors completely.

3. Baking soda deodorizes a refrigerator.
True! But only to an extent. The chemical properties in baking soda will neutralize unpleasant odors caused by sour milk, tuna or cabbage but won't make them disappear entirely. To test baking soda's effectiveness, our food appliances lab placed an open jar of chopped garlic in two refrigerators for two days. In the first fridge, they put an open box of baking soda and let it sit for 24 hours. Then, they put the Institute's noses into action. The sniffing testers noted that there was less odor in the refrigerator that contained the baking soda, but that the odor still existed.

4. Ink marks disappear when treated with hair spray.
True! But only in limited situations. The GH Research Institute's appliances and cleaning products department stained cotton, polyester and poly/cotton fabrics with three ballpoint ink stains. Then, aerosol hair spray and pump hair spray were used to attack the stains on each fabric. The results? Pump and aerosol hair sprays removed only the ink stains from all-polyester fabrics. The stains were lightened, but still visible, on the poly/cotton and cotton fabrics. And the fabrics sprayed with hair spray were left sticky and stiff. So if you try this remedy, be sure to launder the clothes afterward.

5. Toothpaste will remove stains from clothing.
Myth! This one is still a myth in our book. The GH Research Institute's appliances and cleaning products applied four stains (Italian dressing, tomato sauce, coffee with milk and sugar, and ballpoint ink) to two sets of cotton, polyester and poly/cotton fabric swatches. Fluoride toothpaste was applied to one set of each of the stains on each of the fabrics. Then the clothes were machine-laundered in warm water and line-dried. No toothpaste was applied to the control set, but it was laundered and line-dried as well. The toothpaste didn't give great results. Only the ink stain on the cotton fabric came out with the toothpaste. And if you give an ink-stained shirt a brisk brushing with toothpaste, you'll still have to launder out the white, pasty stuff. "It's an expensive and ineffective way to treat stains," says home-care director Carolyn Forte "Stick to regular prewash products." She recommends Shout and Spray 'n Wash.

6. An extra potato de-salts the soup.
Myth! "It's just amazing. This myth travels like wildfire on Internet cooking and food sites," says Carol Wapner, associate director of the GH nutrition lab. "But if you oversalt your soup, a potato won't really help you." The GH Research Institute's nutrition and chemistry departments ran a test, putting 2 teaspoons of salt in cream of asparagus soup instead of the 1/4 teaspoon required, and measured the sodium content. Then, a peeled and quartered russet potato was stirred in for 15 minutes. A subsequent analysis revealed that the sodium concentrations were virtually the same with and without the potato. If you've really oversalted your soup, add water, a little bit at a time, to dilute the salt level. Just don't forget to adjust the other seasonings as well.

7. Cold chamomile tea in the wash water will reduce shrinkage.
Myth! File this one under the myth category. The GH Research Institute's appliances and cleaning products department took two identical men's cotton T-shirts and thoroughly measured them. Both were hand-washed, one in a solution of hot water, a cup of cold chamomile tea and laundry detergent; the other without the tea. They were both rinsed in cold water. Then, they were rinsed in cold water and hung dry. The addition of the tea to the water didn't significantly reduce the overall shrinkage of the shirt.

Apple releases iPhone 2.2 update

2008-11-22T08:49:00.000+05:30

Apple released a hefty update for the iPhone on Thursday night.

The 2.2 software update is available through iTunes, and it's packed with lots of goodies. Apple released its 2.1 software update in September.

Some of the highlights of the update center on GPS and Google Maps. For example, version 2.2 includes Google Street View in Google Maps, which allows users to see a 360-degree view of locations taken with cameras mounted on Google's cars. It also added walking directions in Google maps with information on public transportation stops.

In addition, the iPhone can now download podcasts over the air using a Wi-Fi or 3G network. Previously, users had to download podcasts into iTunes on their computers and then sync their files. Now iPhone users can also turn off the auto-correction on the virtual keyboard, which I must say is a nice alternative to allowing the iPhone to guess what you're trying to type.

Other improvements include a bug fix for scheduled e-mail fetching, improved stability and performance for the Safari Web browser, improved phone quality to reduce dropped calls (hooray!), and improved sound quality in visual voice mail messages.

But there are still lots of things missing--for example, cutting and pasting. And the iPhone still doesn't support MMS messaging nor does it have GPS turn-by-turn directions.

Transporter 3 : "The boss said your man for the job." - Preview

2008-11-16T08:56:00.000+05:30

The Transporter is back! The good guy, bad guy Frank Martin is back in the third installment of the The Transporter chronicle. This film will continue the story of Frank Martin, a professional "transporter" who has relocated to Paris to continue his low-key business of delivering packages without questions. This time Frank Martin, still played by the sexy Jason Statham, was hired by a criminal mastermind Tarconi (played by Francois Berland) to go on a mission to deliver a “package”. Frank agree to do the job, or shall we say “mission” according to Tarconi, with one condition, he’ll going to use his Audi A8 car. From what I’ve seen from the trailer, Frank awakens to find a device (probably a bomb) around his wrist which is programmed to explode, if he steps more than 75 feet away from his vehicle. With Frank Martin now electronically rigged, he must complete his so-called mission or die.

The Transporter 3, promised an action-packed adventure just like what we saw in the previous two Transporter saga, maybe be even more. Rumors say that there will be more sexy scenes between Jason Statham and his leading lady Natalya Rudakova who played the role of Valentina. The official trailer release by Lionsgate speaks pretty well about the movie. The plot of the story is really quite intriguing and it has a lot cool movie lines. And what I love is the Jason Statham half-naked scenes… ;-)

The Transporter 3 is to be shown on major theaters world wide on November 26, 2008.

Bacteria In Mouth Help Make Certain Foods Tasty

2008-11-12T06:31:00.000+05:30

Scientists in Switzerland are reporting that bacteria in the human mouth play a role in creating the distinctive flavors of certain foods. They found that these bacteria actually produce food odors from odorless components of food, allowing people to fully savor fruits and vegetables.Their study is scheduled for the November 12 edition of the ACS bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

In the study, Christian Starkenmann and colleagues point out that some fruits and vegetables release characteristic odors only after being swallowed. While scientists have previously reported that volatile compounds produced from precursors found in these foods are responsible for this 'retroaromatic' effect, the details of this transformation were not understood.

To fill that knowledge gap, the scientists performed sensory tests on 30 trained panelists to evaluate the odor intensity of volatile compounds – known as thiols – that are released from odorless sulfur compounds found naturally in grapes, onions, and bell peppers.

When given samples of the odorless compounds, it took participants 20 to 30 seconds to perceive the aroma of the thiols – and this perception persisted for three minutes. The researchers also determined that the odorless compounds are transformed into the thiols by anaerobic bacteria residing in the mouth – causing the characteristic 'retroaromatic' effect.

"The mouth acts as a reactor, adding another dimension to odor perceptions," they explain. However, the authors conclude, it is saliva's ability to trap these free thiols that helps modulate the long-lasting flavors.

Gone But Not Forgotten: The 5 Most Memorable Posthumous Performances

2008-11-08T20:17:00.000+05:30

Even though comedian Bernie Mac died at the age of 50 of pneumonia this past August, he still stars in two movies opening this weekend. He not only plays opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the endearingly foul-mouthed tale of two washed-up singers in "Soul Men." But he also lends his voice to DreamWorks' animated movie "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa." Here's a look at other film stars who died before the release of their final films.

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight Though he died of an accidental drug overdose this past January, a full seven months before "The Dark Knight" opened, Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker in Christopher Nolan's grim superhero blockbuster has already garnered Oscar talk. The Australian actor died while shooting Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," but a trio of other stars -- Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell -- stepped in to film the character's remaining scenes.

James Dean - Giant

James Dean - GiantDean was a mere 24 years old when he died in a car wreck in 1955. But in that short time, he starred in three movies and garnered two posthumous Oscar nominations, one for "East of Eden" and the other for "Giant."

Oliver Reed - Gladiator

Oliver Reed - GladiatorLegendary British actor Oliver Reed died of a heart attack during production of this epic sword and sandal flick. As a result, a number of his scenes had to be re-edited using a double, digital effects, and plenty of shadows.

Bruce Lee - Enter the Dragon

Bruce Lee - Enter the DragonBruce Lee died just three weeks before his breakout movie opened, killed suddenly by a cerebral edema. "Enter the Dragon" proved to be such a hit -- one of the most profitable movies of all time -- and there was such a demand for its departed star that Hong Kong soon started cranking out films with leads named Bruce Li, Bruce Lei, Brute Lee, and Lee Bruce.

Social networking sites dos and don'ts

2008-11-06T19:25:00.001+05:30

Certain predicted technological revolutions are more myth than reality.

After all, TV phones and laserdiscs were hailed as the wave of the future and yet, despite influencing today's technology, they've gone by the wayside.

Social networking sites might have seemed as if they'd follow the same route, but all signs suggest they're here for the long haul.

Employers are checking job applicants' profiles on sites like Facebook, Brightfuse and LinkedIn, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey.

Twenty-two percent of employers say they use social networking sites when evaluating job candidates, and an additional 9 percent intend to do the same soon. Yet, only 16 percent of workers with social networking profiles have modified their pages with potential employers in mind.

What are they looking for?

Employers want to understand the candidates more and look beyond the resume.

"We can also learn a little about the candidate's culture fit and professionalism," says Kelly Vergara, executive director of human resources at digital marketing agency Resource Interactive. "We screen for culture above all else, so this is important."

Thirty-four percent of hiring managers chose not to hire a candidate based on what they found in profiles.

Controversial information, such as information about the candidate drinking or using drugs and inappropriate photographs, were the top reasons for dismissal. But job qualification was still a top priority, as evidence of poor communication skills, negative comments about a former employer and lies about qualification were the next most popular reasons not to hire someone.

Vergara and other hiring managers are also actively using these sites to seek out the right candidates. Of the hiring managers who use social networking sites for candidate research, 24 percent said profiles encouraged them to hire the job seekers. Forty percent of those hiring managers saw proof in the profiles that the employees were a good cultural fit.

"Our talent specialists post open positions on their Facebook [and LinkedIn pages]. Or if there is an upcoming career event, they will post on their profiles if they'll be there, and often individuals will reach out to meet in person."

If you want to use your profile to get hired or to at least keep your options open for a future job search, here are some dos and don'ts to keep in mind:

Do update your profile regularly

"Keep your profile updated, even when you're not looking for a job," recommends Patrice-Anne Rutledge, author of "The Truth About Profiting from Social Networking." "Recruiters love to find top-notch passive job candidates and having a current profile can help you land your dream job when you least expect it."

Don't badmouth your current or previous employer

You know that griping about your current boss is a grave error during an interview, and it's just as detrimental on your profile. Give hiring managers the idea that eventually you'll be tarnishing their image if you part ways with the company and you'll be crossed of their lists of candidates.

Also, if you're currently employed, don't forget any confidentiality and conduct agreements you've signed, Vergara reminds. You don't want to violate your contract and end up jobless while you hunt for a new position.

Do join groups...selectively

One of the fun elements of networking sites is that you can connect with other people who share your same interests and have your quirky sense of humor. Thus you end up with virtual groups like "I Drink More Beer than Water."

The silly group might seem harmless enough to you, but for a hiring manager trying to find a mature candidate for an open position, it doesn't leave a great impression.

"No one is going to hire the consultant doing the keg stand or the lawyer that belongs to the anarchist forum," says Patricia Sanchez-Abril, an expert on privacy and networking sites and professor of business law at the University of Miami. Instead opt for groups that show your professional aspirations or social involvement, such as an organization for advertising professionals or the charity you volunteer at.

Don't mention your job search if you're still employed

If your boss knows you're on the lookout for a new job, then by all means let it be known. However, if you're attempting to keep your search below the radar, Vergara recommends restraint. Even if your boss isn't your online friend, somebody can get the information back to him or her.

Do go on the offensive

If you want to use your networking profile as a tool, review the pictures you've uploaded, the personal information you've disclosed and any personal blogs or sites you've linked to. Don't wait until you're interviewing to go back and clean up your profile because the hiring manager probably already had a look.

"Get rid of your digital dirt," says Rutledge. "A large percentage of recruiters 'Google' potential candidates to see what they can find out about them -- both the good and the bad. Be sure that you don't have any information on social networks or other sites that could make a recruiter decide to pass on you as a job candidate."

Don't forget others can see your friends

Unless you've opted to keep your friends list private, your friends can see the contacts you've made. So in addition to keeping your friends' risque pictures and comments off of your profile, be cautious about whom you friend and when.

"Connecting to five people at Company XYZ after a day of vacation is a sure sign you are interviewing," Vergara cautions.

Ultimately you need to remember that social networking profiles can mean potential bosses are evaluating you before you even apply for the job. You'd make sure to wear your best clothes to an interview, so polish your profile with the same care.

Modest 'Quantum of Solace' star on Bond fame

2008-11-03T07:57:00.000+05:30

It seems a very long time ago, considering the barely-contained anticipation around new Bond movie "Quantum of Solace," that eyebrows were raised over Daniel Craig's initial casting as the super-cool spy.

Die-hard Bond fans, bloggers and critics worldwide couldn't map the rugged 40-year-old's bullish physicality onto suave James Bond, who's as famous for his sharp suits, womanizing and suggestive one-liners as for his espionage activities.

But no one was more astonished than Craig himself. "I never expected to be playing the part. That was the biggest surprise to me," he told CNN in London, where the new film premieres in Leicester Square Wednesday.

Craig, a self-confessed Bond fan, quickly quieted critics with the huge success of his first film, "Casino Royale." It pulled in $594 million worldwide, more than any previous Bond movie, and firmly established a new breed of Bond for the 21st century.

Craig's second outing as the super spy picks up where "Casino Royale" left off -- the first time there has been such a direct sequel in the 22 movies of the Bond series, something which critics say is one of the movie's major strengths.

Bond is seeking revenge after his lover, Vesper Lynd, is killed at the end of "Casino Royale."

British film critic James Christopher describes him as a "darker, more bare-knuckled" Bond than any of his suave predecessors.

For Craig, though, the challenge was to live up to earlier Bond movies: "The early movies changed the face of movies in the 60s, they went on location, they presented a style that has been adopted in movie making since then," he told CNN.

"I would like people to look at these movies in a few years and say 'Yeah, they stand up as good movies," he continued.

"Quantum of Solace" director Marc Forster was also daunted by the pressures of producing a follow-up to "Casino Royale."

"I was very hesitant at the beginning," the 39-year-old German revealed to CNN. "'Casino Royale' was so successful and expectations were so high that I felt like the pressure will be enormous."

Admittedly, with his previous films including a biopic of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie, "Finding Neverland" and 2007's adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's bestselling novel, "The Kite Runner," he doesn't seem the immediate choice to direct the latest high-octane installment in the world's most famous spy franchise.

Possibly the key to the film's success is the close relationship rapidly established by the Forster and his leading man.

"Thankfully, we kind of met up and we just sort of clicked," Craig remembers, "We both had very similar ideas about what we wanted, similar taste in movies."

"It was different from any film I had made before," Forster told CNN. "I would work with an actor who had basically created the character already ... he would play the character and I would sort of come into his world," he continued.

MGM, the studio behind "Quantum of Solace," is obviously pleased with the results so far: they have signed Craig up for a further four movies.

Giant Spider Caught on Film Eating Bird in Australian Backyard

2008-11-01T23:55:00.000+05:30

An amazing image of a mammoth spider devouring a bird was taken in the backyard of a property near Cairns, Australia.

The image, which is being cirulated via e-mail worldwide, is real, according to wildlife experts, The Cairns Post reported.

The photo, believed to have been taken earlier this week, shows the spider clenching its legs around a lifeless bird trapped in a web at a property near Atherton, west of Cairns.

Joel Shakespeare, the head spider keeper at NSW's Australian Reptile Park, said the spider was a golden orb weaver.

"Normally they prey on large insects, it's unusual to see one eating a bird," he said. Shakepeare said he had seen golden orb weaver spiders as big as a human hand but the northern species in tropical areas were known to grow larger.

Shakespeare said the bird, a chestnut-breasted mannikin which appears frozen in an angel-like pose in the pictures, is likely to have flown into the web and got caught.

"It wouldn't eat the whole bird," he said.

French scientist unveils artificial heart

2008-10-31T08:36:00.000+05:30

French scientists have unveiled a working prototype of a fully artificial heart which is based on the technology of satellites and airplanes.

The device could save millions of lives and beats almost exactly like the real thing using electronic sensors to regulate heart rate and blood flow.

Developers Carmat, funded by the European space and defense group EADS, presented the device at a press conference in Paris on Monday.

Carmat's chief operating officer Patrick Coulombier told The Associated Press: "it's the same principle in the airplane as in the body."

Coulombier explained that the same tiny sensors that measure air pressure and altitude in an airplane or satellite are also in the artificial heart. This should allow the device to respond immediately if the patient needs more or less blood.

The French design has so far only been tested in animals, and now needs approval from its authorities before pushing ahead with clinical trials.

Previous artificial hearts have been unable to automatically vary their pumping speed and must be tweaked externally.

The French heart is also the most lifelike, with two pumps to send the blood into the lungs and the rest of the body, just like a real heart. Past artificial hearts have only had one pump.

The French model is made from natural materials including polymer and pig tissue, which have already been used in heart valves implanted into people.

The artificial heart would initially be for patients who had suffered a massive heart attack or who had heart failure, but might eventually be used in patients who are not that sick.

Heart disease is the world's top killer, claiming some 17 million lives a year. According to the American Heart Association, about 2,200 heart transplants were performed in the U.S. in 2006. Thousands more patients would benefit if more donor hearts were available.

The artificial heart is expected to cost about 150,000 euros or $192,140.

Tihar - Festival of Lights

2008-10-27T22:26:00.000+05:30

The Nepali festival Tihar is also known by many names such as Dipawali or Bhai Tika or Laxmi Puja or as a festival of lights. It is a five-days festival, which comes soon after the Dashain Festival, and Tihar is all about worshiping of different animals such as crow, dog, cow, and worshiping of the Hindu Goddess of Fortune or Wealth (Goddess Laxmi), and cooking great meals at home, brothers and sisters shopping for gifts, flying kites, decorating homes and streets, playing cards with friends, resting and relaxing, and finally ending the festival with an exchange of a special temporary mark on forehead (tika in Nepali). The last day of the festival is known as Tika day or popularly known as Bhai Tika day (Bhai in Nepali means Brother). To sum up Tihar festival, Tihar is the festival when sisters wish a long life to their brothers (Bhai)!

Tihar is a festival for brothers and sisters, but What if you are a brother without a sister or a sister without a brother. Well, you can make one by accepting someone close to you in your relatives. If nothing works, you find one among your friends and neighbors, it becomes almost as if it was real. Whom ever you made your sister or brother remains so for life, and each year this festival makes your bond stronger. Tihar is a festival of sisters wishing a long life to their brothers, and Tihar is the most popular festival in Nepal. So hold on to your topi (hat), loads of excitement and fun are coming at you now!