Home » Archives for 2008
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 24, 2008
In Brief :
It's christmas time and there is a long list of pending movies and tv-shows. For all you tv/movie addicts out there, here is my list of top 4
blogspot favourites to watch and download tv shows and movies.
4 top
tv-series and movie download blogger blogs : - http://all-about-ngage.blogspot.com/
- http://watchnewmoviesnow.blogspot.com/
- http://www.yourpcmovies.blogspot.com/
- http://episodes-tv.blogspot.com/
To know more read in detail below....
In Detail :
1. http://all-about-ngage.blogspot.com/ : This one is a hot favourite. Get anything from tv shows, movies to mobile videos and softwares for Symbian platform. The site has direct download links as well as files hosted on Netload and Filebase.
2. http://watchnewmoviesnow.blogspot.com/ : Find all the latest movies and tv episodes you missed. The files are hosted on zshare, bitroad and supernovatube. Easy and fast download.
3. http://www.yourpcmovies.blogspot.com/ : This one is for movies. Amazing collection of movies. The good news is a lot of direct downoad links.
4. http://episodes-tv.blogspot.com/ : This one is for your tv needs. Choose from rapidshare, megaupload, netload and filefactory links. 
Merry Christmas !!
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 22, 2008
In Brief : The journal "Science" listed its top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2008.
1. A technique that allows stem cells to be created without the need to destroy embryos has been named as the scientific breakthrough of the year.
2. Exoplanets
3. Expanding the catalog of cancer genes
4. New mystery materials
5. Watching Proteins At work
6. Toward renewable energy on demand
7. The video embryo
8. "Good" fat, illuminated
9. Calculating the weight of the World
10. Faster, cheaper genome sequencing
The latest areas of interest for the year 2009 includes plants genomics, the elusive Higgs boson, speciation genes, ocean acidification, and neuroscience in court.
In Detail :
The top choice, cellular reprogramming, opened a new field of biology almost overnight and holds out hope of life-saving medical advancesThe other top nine achievements are :
Exoplanets : Using a special telescope techniques, for the first time the astronomers were able to directly observe planets orbiting other stars.
Expanding the catalog of cancer genes: Researchers have been able to sequence genes from two deadliest cancer cells, pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma. They turned up dozens of mutations that remove the brakes on cell division and send the cell down the path to cancer.
New mystery materials: An entirely new second family of high-temperature superconductors were discovered. These materials consisted of iron compounds instead of copper-and-oxygen-compounds.
Watching Proteins At work: It was a pleasant suprise for the Biochemists to watch proteins bind to their targets, switch a cell’s metabolic state and contribute to a tissue’s properties.
Toward renewable energy on demand: Inorder to store excess energy generated from part-time sources like wind and solar power, researchers have found a new promising tool using a cobalt-phosphorus catalyst.
The video embryo: In 2008, researchers observed in unprecedented detail the dance of cells in a developing embryo, recording and analyzing movies that trace the movements of the roughly 16,000 cells that make up the zebrafish embryo by the end of its first day of development.
"Good" fat, illuminated: Scientists have been able to morph "good" brown fat, which burns "bad" white fat to generate heat for the body, into muscle and vice versa. This has led to a new approach to treat obesity .
Calculating the weight of the World: Physicists have been successful in calculating the mass of proton and Neutron from the standard model which describes most of the visible universe’s particles and their interactions.
Faster, cheaper genome sequencing: Researchers have been able to report a sequencing technology that is much cheaper and speedier. The technique can be applied from woolly mammoths to human cancer patients.
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 17, 2008
In Brief : Wikipedia launched it's mobile version yesterday. I too launched the mobile version (
http://simple2learn.mofuse.mobi/) of my blog yesterday, thanks to mofuse.com
I have been using a nokia N70 (Symbian 60 v2 OS) since last one year and it has been 4 months since I have been a regular mobile-internet user . The speed ranges from ok to good . It might sound improbable to many but I have been downloading full movies on my mobile with the help of Opera/Netfront browsers and Fget downloader. And yes, I watched the movie Max Payne on my mobile. What I have been doing on a Symbian 60 v2 mobile can be done even better on the Symbian v3+, Windows mobile and iphone.
The point is that mobile internet has come a long way. Everyday there is a significant advance in technology. With 3G supposed to be implemented in India, and mobiles with larger screens hitting the market, it's time to focus on mobile web. Already mobile blogging and monetizing projects are coming up in big way. The major players have all launched their respective mobile versions which load faster and are really easy to use. I guess it's the right time to join the mobile-web bandwagon. Read in detail for my mobile bookmarks...
In Detail :
http://m.google.com
http://m.youtube.com
http://m.yahoo.com
http://m.orkut.com
http://peperonity.com : the ultimate mobile host. numerous user pages. http://moviesmobile.net : all the hollywood/bollywood movies for mobile
http://mjelly.com/ : the best mobile links directory
http://wapedia.mobi : lets you view websites in mobile compatible version
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 15, 2008
In Brief : Netbooks have given mobility an all new meaning. Bridging the gap between handheld devices and laptops, they are creating quite a buzz.
Netbook : A very small, light-weight, low-cost, energy-efficient laptop, primarily used for internet based services such as web browsing, e-mailing and instant messaging. They are also suitable for light use running office and educational software
Subnotebook : A small and lightweight laptop.They generally are found to run full desktop operating systems such as Windows or Linux, rather than specialized software such as Windows CE, Palm OS or Internet Tablet OS.Subnotebooks are smaller than laptops but larger than handheld computers. They often have smaller-sized screens, less than 14 inches, and weigh less than typical laptops, usually being less than 2 kg (4.4 lbs). The savings in size and weight are usually achieved partly by omitting ports or having removable media or optical disc drives.
Notebook : Nothing but the laptop. We all know what a laptop is, right?
Top 10 netbooks....Having difficulty in choosing a netbook. Read in detail
In Detail : http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12673233
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 12, 2008
In Brief : Slumdog Millionaire is a key contender for Oscar nominations after being nominated in four
Golden Globes categories. The categories include,
- best film
- best director (Danny Boyle),
- best adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy)
- best original score (A R Rahman).
Widely televised worldwide, the Globes are given by Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
For more info on the movie read in detail....
In Detail :
IMDB
Slumdog Millionaire wins Brit awards
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 11, 2008
In Brief : Google India released zeitgist(spirit of times) report.
- Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif is the most-searched in India.
‘recession’ does not figure among the top search for ‘economic terms’
‘How to reduce weight’ is a major concern among Indians
Goa is everyone’s favourite destination.
Presence of three email services on the mobile query list shows increasing adoption of internet on mobile. People are using their mobiles to email, to check cricket scores, latest news and to know more about Bollywood celebrities.
The increased traffic on the Indian railways website indicated that Indian users would rather go online than stand in long queues at railway stations.
The Sixth Pay Commission was also a popular searchword.
Beijing Olympics and IPL made it to to the fastest rising search term in 2008.
Genelia D’souza of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na fame was 7th on the list.
Mahatma Gandhi remained the most popular politician, but interestingly Sarah Palin in third place was more ‘searched’ than Obama at the fifth spot.
Sania Mirza topped the sportstars leaving behind Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. The list includes Christiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer and John Cena.
The second India Zeitgeist report (globally the report is in its 9th year) offers a perspective on the year’s major events and hottest trends based on searches conducted by users in India.
While developing the 2008 report, Google analysed various aspects of the search queries to understand what was on the minds of Internet users in India.
In Detail :
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/katrina-genelia-most-searched/00/21/342872/
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/katrina-kaif-tops-the-most-searched-person-in-google/80277-8.html
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 9, 2008
In Brief :
Make up your mind on internet censorship. The Internet Watch Foundation -- a nonprofit, nongovernment-affiliated organization -- added the Wikipedia page for the Scorpions' 1976 album "Virgin Killer" onto its blacklist Friday. The IWF's concern comes over the image on the album's original cover, which shows a young girl completely nude. Someone had reported the image as inappropriate through the IWF's online submission tool, the organization says, and its internal assessment found the photo to be "a potentially illegal indecent image of a child under the age of 18." The IWF's blacklist is used by the vast majority of British Internet service providers to maintain decency standards for their subscribers. As a result of the ban, affected U.K. Internet users are unable to view the page or access Wikipedia's article editing function.
I think they have gone too far. Form your own opinion. Animal Magnetism is their only album I have in my collection and I think going by the trend they may find it's cover provocative too.
In Detail : Washington Post story
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 8, 2008
In Brief :
It's like "Ripley's believe it or not". But then this is India where bizarre is common and common is bizarre.
In an unprecedented incident, the case of an Adilabad man charged with harassment for dowry and murder of his wife was heard by two division Benches of the A P High Court almost concurrently. And while one of the Benches pronounced him guilty on both the counts, the second one acquitted him on the charge of murder and ordered that he be set free immediately.
Imagine this in a country where "
death sentence" and "
double jeopardy" are legal.
source : The Times of India
In Detail
The trial court in Adilabad, after examination of the evidence on record, both oral and documentary, held Hymad responsible for the death of his wife and in 2006, sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder along with Rs 1,000 as fine and imposed another three years imprisonment plus Rs 500 fine for harassing his wife for additional dowry.
The accused has been serving prison term since then. Meanwhile, the relatives of Hymad approached S Surendar Reddy, a lawyer in Hyderabad and through him, got a criminal appeal filed in 2006 in the AP High Court against the judgment of the trial court. Around the same time, Hymad too wrote a letter to the authorities of the high court seeking their help in engaging the services of an advocate for preferring an appeal over the trial court verdict. The high court, through its legal aid wing, allotted lady advocate Shanti Neelam to argue his case.
The criminal appeal by Hymad's relatives went to a two-member division bench comprising Justice A Gopal Reddy and Justice B Seshasayana Reddy while Hymad's own appeal went to another two two-member bench comprising Justice D S R Verma and Justice K C Bhanu. The judgment on the appeal by relatives holding the accused guilty on both counts was delivered on March 7, 2008, while the verdict on Hymad's appeal acquitting him on the charge of murder was given on September 29, 2008
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 6, 2008
In Brief :
Diego Armando Maradona arrived on a two-day visit here early this morning and was welcomed by thousands of Kolkatans who gave sleep a miss and lined the roads for a glimpse of the Argentinian.
He is currently the coach of Argentinian football team.
Considered by most to be the best football player ever, his career has been marred by drug abuse and the infamous "Hand of God" episode in 1986 football world cup win over England.
I have been following football since 1994 world cup and sadly my only memories of the genius is that of his unceremonius exit from the event due to doping charges
In Detail
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 5, 2008
In Brief : Japanese beer brewed from barley which was grown on the international space station orbiting the Earth, has finally been tasted.
The space-beverage was the result of a five-month mission during which barley was grown for the first time in a Russian laboratory on board the International Space Station (ISS).
Sapporo Breweries, one of Japan's major breweries, went on to use the crop of barley grown in space to create 100 litres of a 5.5 per cent proof beer aptly named "Space Barley".
The space brew was the result of a collaboration between the Russian Academy of Science, Okayama University in Japan and Sapporo Breweries , one of the oldest brewers in the country.
The barley was grown as the result of an on-going crop growing project on board ISS, with other products including wheat, lettuce and peas. In the furute, potatoes could also be grown in space.
Cosmonaut Dr Boris Morukov who spent 11 days in space says potatoes may one day be grown, but not to make space vodka.
While the current batch of space beer will not be sold commercially, 30 couples selected from among the public by lottery will be invited to a special tasting event in Tokyo next month.
Although beer has previously been off space menus due to its alcohol and gas content, breweries are hoping that the newly-created space beer may eventually become available for astronauts to enjoy in space.
In Detail
Want to know more...
Posted by
Unknown on Dec 4, 2008
In Brief : Nokia has completed its acquisition of mobile platform company Symbian. The acquisition, which was announced earlier this year, will enable Nokia to continue moving forward with its plans to liberate the Symbian source code and transform the platform into a community-driven open source software project.
After the software is audited to ensure that there are no licensing problems, it will be made available to the general public under the open source Eclipse Public License (EPL). Nokia expects this process to take roughly 2 years.
The completion of Nokia's Symbian acquisition marks a major turning point for the Symbian mobile operating system.
Although Symbian is currently the dominant platform on mobile phone handsets, its relevance is beginning to decline as Apple and Linux-based alternatives gain popularity.
Opening the platform and transitioning to a radically different development model could potentially attract a new development community to the software and make it more attractive to handset makers.
The move is part of Nokia's broader software strategy, which is now dominated by open source.
Nokia also recently acquired Trolltech and has brought the company's Qt framework to Symbian. A Qt preview release for S60 was announced in October for developers who wanted to get an early start. Qt is also supported on Windows Mobile and a variety of Linux-based mobile platforms, so it provides developers with a lot of portability across the entire mobile ecosystem.
It will also enrich the S60 software ecosystem by making it possible to port over existing Qt applications from the desktop.
My experience with Nokia N-Series...there is nothing like Symbian OS...open source model ensures that there are numerous third party softwares to do practically everything you would do on your personal computer right from web browsing/blogging to playing 3d games !!
Read More....To know more about Symbian OS....
http://www.s60.com/http://www.symbian.com/www.allaboutsymbian.com
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Posted by
Unknown on Dec 3, 2008
In Brief : Only 4 months of training after a two-year sabbatical may not be ideal build-up for a World Championship but that is all
M C Mary Kom needed as she clinched a historic 4th gold medal to become the most successful woman boxer in the world.
Yet, the pint-sized 46kg boxer, who returned to the capital on Monday, bagged the top honour with a comprehensive 7-1 verdict over Romania ’s Steluta Duta.
When MC Mary Kom started boxing, she had to convince her father that it was okay for a woman to try and storm what was considered a male bastion. Eight years and three World championship gold medals later, Mary Kom, now a mother, had to convince herself that she still had some fight left in her.
IT HURTS
“Women boxers in India should be treated with more respect. They have been bringing laurels for the country regularly,” said the world’s most successful woman pugilist.
“I was extremely pained when I was denied the Khel Ratna Award,” she said.
“I had three world titles under my belt but the selection panel did not find me good enough to get the award.
“I was very upset because the panel had some eminent sportspersons, including the legendary Milkha Singh. At least they should have realised my contribution. It happened to me twice,” the boxer said with regret.
Mary Kom said despite being ignored time and again, she was not going to call it quits so easily.
Awards or no awards she is the real "
Million Dollar Baby".
Read More
source : PTI http://www.dnaindia.com/ The Telegraph
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Posted by
Unknown on Dec 2, 2008
In Brief : The jury leader in the trial of a Missouri woman accused of an Internet hoax that ended in a teenage neighbor's suicide said most panelists favored convicting the defendant of felony conspiracy.
The jurors in Myspace internet hoax case convicted Lori Drew the accused only on federal misdemeanor charges because they were unable to agree on whether the MySpace hoax was malicious, according to forewoman Valentina Kunasz.
Drew, 49, of the St. Louis suburb of O'Fallon, was convicted Nov. 26 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, where the case was tried because MySpace has servers in the area.
Witnesses had testified that the aim of the hoax had been to find out whether Megan was spreading rumors about Drew's daughter, Sarah, who was also 13 at the time.
The "boy" dumped Megan in 2006, telling her: "The world would be a better place without you." Megan hanged herself soon afterward.
PROSECUTER's VIEW
They didn't think she intended to have this girl kill herself. But she knew she was suicidal, depressed and taking medicines and still continued to pursue this act. Whether (Drew) physically types those messages we'll never know, but she didn't make any effort to stop it, so, that was malicious.
DEFENCE's VIEW
Drew had conspired to create a fictitious teenage boy on MySpace to get Megan Meier, 13, to divulge information, not to harm her.
Megan's mother, Tina Meier, pointed out that Drew is an adult. "She knew what was going on," Meier said on "Today." "She allowed this to continue to happen."
She said she was disappointed that Drew was not found guilty of additional charges, "but that's something I can't dwell on."
THE HACKING ARGUMENT
The specifics of the Lori Drew case are messy and emotional. The important fact is that there is no federal cyberbullying statute, so the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles turned to a novel interpretation of existing computer hacking laws to try to punish the woman. The general idea is that in creating terms of service, a Web site owner specifies the rules of admission to the site. If someone violates any of those contractual terms, the "access" to the Web site is done without authorization, and is thus hacking.
Unfortunately for Internet users everywhere, a jury bought the theory last week and found Lori Drew guilty of three misdemeanor violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, punishable with up to one year in a federal prison and a $100,000 fine for each of the three counts
SENTENCE :Drew could face up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine for her convictions on three misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without authorization.
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Posted by
Unknown on Dec 1, 2008
In Brief : Yesterday I was reading an interview of Jeff Smith in Mumbai Mirror, the creator of graphic novel Bones, and it struck me how is it different from the comics. Here is the difference....
A graphic novel is a type of comic book, usually with a lengthy and complex storyline similar to those of novels, and often aimed at mature audiences.
It also means comic short story anthologies, and in some cases bound collections of previously published comic book series (commonly referred to as trade paperbacks).
Graphic novels are typically bound in longer and more durable formats than familiar comic magazines (using the same materials and methods as printed books).
They are generally sold in bookstores and specialty comic book shops rather than at news-stands.
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Posted by
Unknown on Nov 29, 2008
In Brief :
I urge the Mumbaikar's to show a little less spirit this time and pray/grieve for the hundreds who have lost their lives in the terrorist attack on the city. We seem to be using the "spirit of mumbai" as an excuse to hide our growing indifference to the gruesome attacks which seem to have become a way of life here. I'm not sure which is better :
Going about our life as if nothing happened : to give a strong reply to the terrorists.
Stopping in our tracks and share our loss and grief together : a strong reply to the government that we have suffered and you better do something about it.
It's time to salute the brave army men, NSG,mumbai police,scribes covering the episode and valiant civilians living/dead who fought willingly/unwillingly.
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Posted by
Unknown on Nov 27, 2008
In Brief :
unveiled its annual "
IBM Five in Five" list in which the company details some of the most striking innovations which it thinks has the potential to change the way we live in the next five years.
This is the third edition.
The
2008 list is before you....
1.
Solar technology to become ubiquitousWith energy-saving technology a prime concern in the days of the current economic downtrend, the future looks bright for alternative energy sources.
2. Medical soothsayers
For less than $200, you will be able to predict your medical future.
This technology can go a long way in dramatically altering our lifestyles!
3. Converse with the web in voice
A miracle for the trillions who can't read or write.
4. Digital Shopping Assistants : coming soon !!
This not about the mundane, currently very un-interactive online shopping experience you're used to.
5. Forgot something? Hit Search!
In the future, it is possible that our activity will be recorded by cameras and microphones all around us. All these data will be continuously fed to a personal computer, which will keep all our "records" making them available instantly whenever you need it!
Posted by
Unknown on Nov 25, 2008
In Brief : Rumours have it that Microsoft intends to re-brand its Live Search into Kumo next year.
The company has allegedly already acquired the domain Kumo.com last week
It has been also securing all the other variants of Kumo (.net, .jp, .fr and so on).
All these domains are now being held by CSC Corporate Domains, Microsoft's domain registrar of choice at the moment.
CSC Corporate reportedly picked the domain up from semiconductor equipment supplier Schlumberger, which renounced at the domain a few years ago.
Kumo is the Japanese term for "spider" and "cloud," both words fitting the general idea of search technology.
The acquiring of Kumo.com and other domains for Kumo sparked speculation that Microsoft is making a second re-branding after MSN and Live.com.
Another hint that Microsoft is taking measures to boost Live Search is that it has recently hired Sean Suchter, currently Yahoo's vice president of search technology.
According to the latest data provided by ComScore and Citi Investment Research,
The big question here is whether Kumo.com will have more success that Live.com, which reached a dead end and hasn’t grown in the past few months despite Microsoft’s programs to actually pay users for using the service.
source : http://www.efluxmedia.com/
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Posted by
Unknown on Nov 24, 2008
In Brief : Imagine Cyberspace being extended to outer space !!
Nasa has successfully transmitted images to and from a spacecraft 20 million miles away with a communications system based on the net.
The Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN) technology is designed to work across vast distances where response times can be measured in days.
Further tests of DTN are due to take place on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2009.
Read more ... and
more...
Posted by
Unknown
In Brief :
Google's SearchWiki service enables users to get more involved in the system’s search results.
[[[ A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language.
Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. The collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis.
Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described it as "the simplest online database that could possibly work".]]]
The new customization process lets users change the results’ ranking and also add comments and annotations.
With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site.
You can also write notes attached to a particular site and remove results that you don't feel belong. These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future. SearchWiki is available to signed-in Google users.
For now, Google users can only change their own search results, but all the notes can be publicly viewed.
In order to edit and customize the search results, users will have to be signed in to their Google accounts. From that point on, all the new features will become available, allowing the complete rearrangement of the search results, the deletion of unhelpful results and also the remarks on the search’s usefulness.
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Posted by
Unknown on Nov 23, 2008
In Brief : Will be watching India vs England daynight ODI.
watch out for the new post tomorrow !! Subscribe
Posted by
Unknown on Nov 22, 2008
In Brief : Touchscreen is a display which can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area.
The term generally refers to touch or contact to the display of the device by a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus.
However, if the object sensed is active, as with a light pen, the term touchscreen is generally not applicable.
The ability to interact directly with a display typically indicates the presence of a touchscreen.
Earlier, most consumer touchscreens could only sense one point of contact at a time, and few have had the capability to sense how hard one is touching. This is starting to change with the commercialisation of multi-touch technology.
The touchscreen has
two main attributes :
First, it enables you to interact with what is displayed directly on the screen, where it is displayed, rather than indirectly with a mouse or touchpad.
Secondly, it lets one do so without requiring any intermediate device, again, such as a stylus that needs to be held in the hand.
Such displays can be attached to computers or, as terminals, to networks. They also play a prominent role in the design of digital appliances such as the personal digital assistant (PDA), satellite navigation devices and mobile phones.
Problem 1 : stress on human fingers.
Solution : Use fingernails as stylus.
Problem 2 : fingerprints on the display
Solution : use optical coating to prevent finger oils to stick.
Problem 3 : "Gorilla Arm" effect- Cramps in finger and arm.
Solution : horizontally oriented touchscreen minimises it, but it remains an issue.
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It's christmas time and there is a long list of pending movies and tv-shows. For all you tv/movie addicts out there, here is my list of top 4 blogspot favourites to watch and download tv shows and movies. 
tv-series and movie download blogger blogs : 
Merry Christmas !!
