Rohit D'souza

US local zip information

2010-10-22T00:23:00.000-07:00

Now get all information about your US zip online in a single page

check it out at http://60606.pro/

Check out this sbi bank branch

2009-10-31T00:52:00.000-07:00

I found out this kewl sbi branch.check it out and lol.

Mumbai Rains and the pain of a common man in mumbai

2008-07-01T00:17:00.000-07:00

I stepped out of my house in the morning to go to office and man it was flooded around my apartment as it was raining heavily in Mumbai,India.

There was waist level water there.I thought thats it back to homeagain as i could not cross over to the compound gate without getting fully wet and then i was just about to go back home that i heard some one calling me.It was more of a shout.I then turned back and saw that a teenager was shouting at me.I could not hear him properly.He then came closer to me and offered me a ride on his bicycle to the compound gate.I told him i will get wet and then he told me you stand on the carrier(which is a holder on bicycles in India just behind the riders seat) and balance yourself by putting your hands on my shoulders.Well i wanted to go to office anyhow as i had a project deadline so i thought lets take this gamble.

I stood on the carrier with my hands on his shoulders and our journey began.It was a smooth journey and i finally reached the gate.Gave the person some cash as he was expecting the same from me as i he had forwarded his palm in front of me.

I took a bus to reach the railway station and during this journey i was thinking how people survive in mumbai by doing odd jobs and best thing was the guy who helped me was using an ethical way to earn money and was not robbing it from some one and i respected him from that.

Phew there was water logging at the railway station and i somehow boarded a train to andheri(a Railway station in Mumbai,India) which was my destination.I reached andheri station and then i had to board another bus/Rickshaw to reach my office but as there were no rickshaws i boarded a BEST Bus.

There this guy sitting next to me who was talking to me about how he manged to come till this journey.It was funny i met him for the first time but he spoke to me as if he was my childhood friend.

He told me that he was poor and he just got married taking a loan and he had fought with his elder brother who was harassing his mom and himself.

He then told me about things which are missing from our worldly life.

He told me that he works for some 2,000 INR(thats 50$) monthly as a attendant to sick people.Its not the money but the good wishes that he loves the most about his job.He was illiterate and so he would have landed up in some mill workers job if not the present.But he wanted to serve people.He cared about people who were not of the same blood as his.

I learnt many things from my chance encounter with this guy.He could easily have become a tout or a robber or some anti social element to get some quick bucks.But he didn't do that.

I got down at my destination with this person and told him that i am proud of what he is doing and then we departed.I may never meet him again in my life but he had taught me that one should help other people and never run after money.

Enjoy life-from a loser to a winner

2008-06-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

Flashback:- May 24 2004 2:05 PM(IST)

It was the last day of my engineering course at St Francis Institute of technology. It would have been better if the engineering course did not end with exams as I would have preferred a normal college day than an exam day to end my 4 years of struggle at my engineering college. I had hardly slept the night before as I did last moment studies for the on going exams and I had a really bad throat infection which was making me feel choked also I felt like throwing up right from the morning. Good I dint puke on my exam paper. That would have itched a bad incident in my memory of thoughts and a funny incident in others who were present in my examination hall. It’s funny but others suffering can become a joke for someone else watching it.

Four hard years of my engineering were over finally. Of course the results were left to be announced in a month of two from this date but in last year of engineering any dumb ass would get a pass grade and I was an average student or may be above average before my engineering but the engineering muggers from Mumbai university have made me a average student as I could not mug as them and i had a very practical approach but that doesn't count here.

Every student from my batch had mixed emotions as they were happy that the 4 grueling years got over and sad because they will miss the good times spend with their friends. One more thing which you observe on the last day of any college is that guys who have crushes on some girls from the college and keep this feeling to themselves and don’t even try to propose the girl as they don’t have the guts feel pathetic as they think they are some kind of losers or may be even cowards and stare at their love interests for may be the last time. I saw many such stares.

I was looking out for my gang and I finally spotted them. I call it as a gang because we were a bunch of fun loving guys and we had screwed up in our grades but what we had enjoyed will remain with us for life long, at least we were

not like the other muggers in college who have not enjoyed a bit in life and have mugged all the books that came their way and not even tried to understand the practical implementation of theories written in our course materials.

Every group was heard planning to go to some disco or movie .I don't know why but I wanted to go home and sleep. I told my group the cheesiest of reasons that I am going out with my apartment friends and took a rickshaw ride to home. It was funny how could my friends buy the thing that after 4 years struggling together living through happiness of passing exams and sadness of getting KT when apartment friends who are not even in our course. I guess every one wanted to spend time alone. There comes a time in life when you want to spend time by yourself than being surrounded by a crowd. I reached home and i slept through the afternoon.

Next two months

Next two months all the students were enjoying their break as many lucking ones who had got a campus placement were supposed to join the firms by august 1st week.

My gang of friends did not even come close to being selected by the low profile companies because of the fun which we had in our college. Back of my mind I was getting this feeling that I might have screwed up my career here for some fun but then I thought I will rock one day.

The pressure was building up for my friends and me as august approached and our parents told us better find a job as the next apartment’s neighbor's son has got a job in a top IT firm. I don't know why parents do it but the comparison sucks big time as it kills one’s ambition and one is forced to follow some nerdy dumb ass muggers who your parents things is a perfect role model for you.

The pressure got up to my gang and they had only one option “CALL CENTERS”.

Call centers don’t ask for high percentages and also no questions are asked by them as why so fewer grades in you Engineering course?

Most of them got jobs at the call centers but I didn’t like the idea of answering calls as a job that too from strangers unless the caller’s are young girls. So I never went to call centers for employment. I was desperately trying for a job in Information technology sector as I had specialized in IT engineering. I struggled a lot due to my low scores and was even not allowed for the first screening test for big IT giants firms. Then I set a challenge for myself that in 2 years time these IT giants firms who have rejected me outright will themselves call me to join them and it will be me not them who will have the option to reject the offer if the profile offered was not good as I would have created a situation which would have put me in a position that I would call the shots. I don’t know how but I had to accomplish this challenge.

I planned for the next 2 days and then applied for a small IT firm which hardly had 3-4 employees. I got through and joined them for just Rs 50(INR) a day job. This is a Dollar a day. The company was broke and it could hardly pay us even that amount which was promised but it was a fun experience. I learnt the ropes of software development life cycle and soon was teaching new recruits in a month’s time of my joining. What happened after that is history.

I changes some jobs after my first job and handled many big projects individually and stuck to many small startup firms which offered me decent compensation package and challenging projects. Then after 1 and half years from my first job I accomplished my challenge The same BIG IT firms came to me to get me recruited but this time I was in the drivers seat. I rejected all of them as they profile was not of my interest and I had handled far better things. I may join an IT biggie some years down the line if I get a good profile

So that’s the story of how I became a winner from a loser. One should not gauge a person by his grades He may have many skills which might not be reflected by his fewer grades. So the mantra here is enjoying life and also working hard.

Phishing never ends - http://axis.00freehost.com and thanks to firefox guys

2008-06-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,

We have to do some thing about this phishing stuff.

Most of us get these mails some smart ones don't fall for it while some do and i guess for those who fell for it would be angry reading this post as they might have lost some money or more of it and would be cursing themselves why they didn't stumble upon this piece of article before they got forged .

But at least Firefox people have done something about it.

Just check the image below

Well now u guys will ask me what is this about.Let me take you through what happened.
Actually i got a mail from bogus axis bank id saying
###############################################################
Dear Valued Axis Bank Member:

Due to our concerns, for the safety and integrity of your Axis® Bank Account,
we have issued this warning Notification.

It has come to our attention that your Axis® Bank account information needs
to be updated as part of our continuous commitment in protecting your account and
reducing the instances of fraud on our website. Please take out your time to update
your personal records to enable us serve you better.

Once you have updated your account records your account, services will not
be interrupted and will continue as usual.

To update your Axis® Bank online records, click on the following link:
https://www.axisbank.com/Control.do?page=update

Thank You.

Accounts Management As outlined in our User Agreement, Axis ® Bank will
periodically send you information about site changes and enhancements.

Visit our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have any questions.
################################################################
and i had already got a mail before from the same bogus id and had posted the phishing thing on this very blog.

I thought to write about it again as this time i liked what Firefox people have done with their phishing detector.

To know more read the below ink

http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/phishing-protection/

Three cheers for Firefox guys.

The Top 5 Steps to Become a Millionaire - How to Become a Millionaire

2008-06-01T23:13:00.001-07:00

Becoming a millionaire isn’t all that difficult and there are countless ways to achieve that milestone. Some people do it through real estate, others start their own business, while some simply get lucky by winning the lottery or winning big on a game show. What is even more interesting is that you don’t have to be wealthy to begin with nor do you have to earn six figures to reach this goal.

I know some people who earn well over $100,000 and all they have to show for it is a large mortgage payment and a fancy car that depreciates faster than a glass of milk left outside in the summer sun. Anyone can become a millionaire and there are five ways to have the best shot of making that a reality.

1. Earn Income. Clearly the more money you make the faster you can reach that milestone but that doesn’t mean your average Joe with a median income can’t obtain millionaire status. The current median income in this country ranges between $35,000-$60,000 depending on which state you live in. Better yet, get married so you have dual incomes. The wonderful thing about having dual incomes is that even with two people in the household your income may double but your expenses typically don’t.

If you don’t earn even an average income, all is not lost. It is up to you to do something about it. A negative attitude about your job or your earning potential won’t change anything. Be proactive and make the decision to improve your situation. It is your life so take control and realize that things don’t change overnight. It may take a few years of slow growth before you reach the point where you want to be, but you can do it if you try. Remember, short of inheriting money from a relative or winning the lottery you will need income to become a millionaire.

2. Live Within Your Means. Ok, so you have income but now what? It doesn’t matter how much money you make if you spend it all or spend even more than you make. It might be nice to eat out at nice restaurants every night or to always be on the cutting edge of designer fashion but, this will only make you feel like a millionaire. This doesn’t mean you have to live a miserable and miserly lifestyle but you simply need to live reasonably.

Start by purchasing a home that you can comfortably afford and drive vehicles that suit your lifestyle without straining your budget. You don’t have to be pulling down $75,000 a year and drive a 1992 Civic Hatchback or live in a dump, but throwing your money at a 4,000 square foot home in a gated community and luxury cars or SUVs that cost as much as one year of your salary won’t help you become a millionaire. Some may argue that an expensive home and real estate in general is a good way to become a millionaire but I will touch on that later.

3. Save Money. This isn’t rocket science but if you earn a reasonable income and you live within your means, guess what, you will probably have money left over to save. The problem most people have is they put savings last, as an afterthought. People pay bills, buy things and then whatever is leftover they try to save. That is the wrong way to save. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but pay yourself first. Whether it is $100 a month or $1,000 a month, think of the savings as a bill that needs to be paid and do it regularly. If you are unable to save money you will find that your only wealth is in the form of material things.

4. Invest Wisely. Now that you are saving money, you need to invest it wisely. Sticking it under the mattress isn’t going to help you reach your goals any faster. You don’t have to read the Wall Street Journal or watch CNBC everyday while actively managing your portfolio in order to be a good investor. Some of the best investment advice is to simply buy and hold and to buy low and sell high.

It is also important to remember that real estate is part of your investment picture, but it shouldn’t be all of it. Too many people stake almost everything they have into a primary residence and expect it to appreciate in value. Just like any investment, generally speaking, over time you will make money. There isn’t much debate about that, but relying heavily on real estate is no different than if you rely on one stock to fund your retirement.

You can become a millionaire by simply buying a single stock and holding onto it for 20 years if it goes up significantly just like you can buy a home $500,000 home and have it double in value in 20 years. Take a lot of the risk out of the picture by making sure all of your eggs aren’t in the same basket and develop an investment strategy that will provide steady growth.

5. Stick With Your Plan. If you have done the previous four items the only thing left to do is to continue doing it and stick to the plan. As far as income is concerned, always be on the lookout for ways to increase your income, whether it is through climbing the ladder at your current job, finding work elsewhere, or maybe even starting a business on the side. Increased income will mean you can save even more, provided you aren’t foolishly spending the additional money. As that additional money gets tucked away into savings or investments it will continue to grow even more quickly.

It Isn’t Hard to Do

Unfortunately most people are looking for a way to get rich quick or to capitalize on the next big thing. It is true that some people have made their wealth through playing the real estate market while others have done so by investing in a few stocks that exploded, but this is the exception and not the norm. If the above list seems overly simplistic, good. There are no secrets to becoming a millionaire and almost anyone has the chance to make it happen. The process is simple:

1. Make money
2. Don’t spend all of your money
3. Save some money
4. Invest that money
5. Repeat

Certainly there are many factors in play that can make this easier or more difficult for different people. This is simply the process that you can use in order to reach that goal, whether it is in 5 years or 50, if you follow a few basic steps you can do it.

weird two headed turtle found

2008-05-30T21:01:00.000-07:00

A two-headed red-eared slider turtle gives the world outside his shell a second look in Moriyama, Japan, May 27. A boy found the rare reptile at a park and named it "Takara," meaning "treasure."

How to know if Your Wife Is About to Cheat on You

2008-05-30T03:24:00.001-07:00

More than likely you're not going to actually catch your wife or girlfriend cheating on you, but there are some little signs that you should pay attention to that may clue you in she is about to cheat.

Perhaps you feel that things just aren't quite right in your relationship, but you really cannot put your finger on anything particular.

Well, she could be thinking about cheating.

It could be a case of your wife being strangely attracted to another man. And she's about to cheat, except she doesn't realize it's going to eventually happen. This is very common.

In fact, at this stage many men are totally convinced that she is having an affair.

The truth is, she hasn't done a thing.

So, how can she tell if she is about to cheat? The following are some signs that should provide insight.

Sign #1 - She Doesn't Seem to Care - Perhaps she used to criticize things you did (or said), but now she doesn't seem to care at all.

Perhaps she's given up on ever hoping to change you, or perhaps she has met someone who does not have the bad faults that you do.

Sign #2 - She Speaks Often About a Specific Man - Do you notice that she is constantly talking about a specific man that she knows? Women tend to do this when they are interested in a man, as you probably noted in your little sisters somewhere along the way.

If she talks about a man all the time and then stops talking about him, you really should beware.

It could be a telling sign that she in on the "edge of cheating". Her thoughts about him have taken on a new form. And in her mind, she may have already visualized how everything would go.

Sign #3 - Your Gut Says Something is Not Right - In some cases the only clue that you may have is a feeling in your gut that something is just not right, and many times your gut is right.

However, your interpretation could be that she has already done something. When in fact, you're picking on the "fantasizing" or the "preparation".

Trusting your instincts is important and even if you haven't seen any of the other signs yet, you may want to go ahead and believe what you are feeling. Unless you are already dealing with major trust issues, you should listen to what your gut is saying, since it is probably right about the situation.

Sign #4 - You Rarely Have Sex - More than likely when you were first together your sex life was great; however, if you don't seem to have any intimacy left in your relationship, then this may be a sign she is thinking about cheating with someone. It becomes very difficult for her to desire you when she has been "daydreaming" about some other guy. Either she has lost respect for you temporarily or she is preparing for that special day with her dream guy.

Top 100 popular United States website list

2008-05-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

1.Google

Enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Features include PageRank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages. The company's focus is developing search technology.
google.com

2.Yahoo!

Personalized content and search options. Chatrooms, free e-mail, clubs, and pager.
yahoo.com

3.Myspace

Social Networking Site.
myspace.com

4.YouTube

YouTube is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide!
youtube.com

5.Facebook

A social utility that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos.
facebook.com

6.Windows Live

Search engine from Microsoft.
live.com

7.Wikipedia

An online collaborative encyclopedia.
wikipedia.org

8.Microsoft Network (MSN)

Dialup access and content provider.
msn.com

9.EBay

International person to person auction site, with products sorted into categories.
ebay.com

10.AOL

America On Line's portal, offering search, shopping, channels, chat and mail.
aol.com

11.Blogger.com

Free, automated weblog publishing tool that sends updates to a site via FTP.
blogger.com

12.Craigslist.org

craigslist.org

13.Amazon.com

Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Site has numerous personalization features and services including one-click buying, extensive customer and editorial product reviews, gift registries, gift certificates, wish lists, restaurant and movie listings, travel, and photo processing.
amazon.com

14.Go

A searchable directory, news, stocks, sports and free e-mail.
go.com

15.Photobucket image hosting and photo sharing

Provides image hosting for auctions, live journals, blogs, message boards, personal websites and online photo albums. Reliable, fast and very simple to use.

16.CNN - Cable News Network

Includes US and international stories and analysis, weather, video clips, and program schedule.
cnn.com

17.The Internet Movie Database

Features plot summaries, reviews, cast lists, and theatre schedules.
imdb.com

18.ESPN Sportszone

Information about all college and professional sports.
espn.go.com

19.Microsoft Corporation

Main site for product information, support, and news.
microsoft.com

20.Flickr

Picture galleries available with social networking, chat, groups, and photo ratings.
flickr.com

21.RapidShare

Users can upload up to 100 meg files for sharing. Provides downloads of 100 megs per hour on the free service. Premium service also available.
rapidshare.com

22.Adult Friendfinder

Personal adverts with pictures and chat. [Membership]
adultfriendfinder.com

23.Weather.com

Offers forecasts for cities worldwide as well as radar and satellite maps. Also includes news stories and allergy information.
weather.com

24.Comcast.net

comcast.net

25.AOL Instant Messenger

The official Web site of AOL Instant Messenger. Exchange messages with friends, family, and colleagues online.
aim.com

26.WordPress.com

Free blogs managed by the developers of the WordPress software. Includes custom design templates, integrated stats, automatic spam protection and many more features.
wordpress.com

27.Youporn.com

youporn.com

28.The New York Times

Online edition of the newspaper's news and commentary. [Registration required]
nytimes.com

29.Fastclick

An online advertising agent that provides products, such as Ad Network and AdServer, to ensure optimal output and performance for its clients.
fastclick.com

30.About

Directory features links, articles and reviews.
about.com

31.LiveJournal

A service for journals and blogs, that also offers privacy controls, photo storage, publishing tools, style templates, and online communities for many interests.
livejournal.com

32.Digg

Technology focused news site where the stories are chosen by community members rather than editors.
digg.com

33.Redtube.com

redtube.com

34.IGN

Includes codes, reviews, previews, features, releases, hardware, contests, and a gamestore for console and PC games.
ign.com

35.MapQuest

Find directions for and explore towns and cities worldwide. Display addresses on a map, view nearby businesses, get driving directions and maps, and plan a trip with city information. Also includes aerial photographs of selected areas.
mapquest.com

36.ImageShack

ImageShack® is a free image hosting solution. It can be used to share pictures with friends, as well as post images on message boards and blogs. It can also be used to direct link images from your personal website or online auction. And best of all, it's completely free.
imageshack.us

37.Reference.com

Lexico Publishing Group provide an English dictionary and On This Day, with additional reference material from Crystal Reference, The Columbia Encyclopedia, and Wikipedia. Web directory uses ODP data.
reference.com

38.Apple Computer, Inc.

Apple's main homepage.
apple.com

39.GameSpot

News, reviews, previews, screen shots, movies, message boards, FAQs, game guides, and downloads for computer and console video games.
gamespot.com

40.Mozilla.com

mozilla.com

41.Deviantart.com

deviantart.com

42.NBA.com

The official site of the National Basketball Association. Includes news, features, multimedia, player profiles, chat transcripts, schedules and statistics.
nba.com

43.BBC Newsline Ticker

Headline ticker will automatically update throughout the day with the latest news, sport, travel, finance and weather from the BBC. Available for multiple OS platforms.
bbc.co.uk

44.Chase Manhattan Bank

The largest banking company in the United States.
chase.com

45.Veoh.com

Internet Television Peercasting Network
veoh.com

46.Official Site of Major League Baseball

Covers MLB on a daily basis, including RealAudio, video clips, interviews, statistics, schedules and exclusive stories about the great American pastime. Includes contact information for the Manhattan based organization.
mlb.com

47.Ask.com

Offers search for web sites, images, news, blogs, video, maps and directions, local search and shopping.
ask.com

48.Bank of America

Nationwide bank. Includes product and service information, online banking and bank location finder.
bankofamerica.com

49.Mininova

Large searchable torrents directory.
mininova.org

50.LinkedIn

A networking tool to find connections to recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners. Allows registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business.
linkedin.com

51.Orkut

Social networking and discussion site operated by Google.
orkut.com

52.Megaupload

Megaupload is a "leading website of the world" for transferring files easily, with complete security and free of charge.
megarotic.com

53.CNET.com

Reviews, news, and prices on tech products, as well as free downloads and newsletters.
cnet.com

54.Imeem

Users interact with each other by watching, posting, and sharing content of all media types, including blogs, photos, audio, and video.
imeem.com

55.Best Buy

International retailer of consumer electronics and entertainment software under the names Best Buy, Magnolia, and Future Shop. Also offers online shopping. Store locator, investor information, career opportunities.
bestbuy.com

56.ImageVenue hosting

World s most popular free image hosting for bloggers and message board users.
imagevenue.com

57.Adobe

Provides a range of products for digital media creation and editing, multimedia authoring, and web development. Includes documentation and support for all software.
adobe.com

58.Pornhub.com

pornhub.com

59.Adultadworld.com

adultadworld.com

60.Netflix

Flat monthly fee by mail service.
netflix.com

61.Road Runner

Time Warner's cable internet service.
rr.com

62.The Pirate Bay

Worlds largest Bittorrent tracker.
thepiratebay.org

63.Wal-Mart

Online sales from the discount store.
walmart.com

64.Dell Inc.

Dell is your place to learn about and buy a notebook, desktop, server, printer, software, service, monitor or TV. Buy direct from Dell.
dell.com

65.Dailymotion

On demand video publishing and sharing website, strongly interfaced with video blogs.
dailymotion.com

66.Target

Trend-forward merchandise at this national discount retailer.
target.com

67.ZEDO.com

Major ad serving player with solid technology. ZEDO is one of the 3 high quality ad serving companies that focuses on solid technology, great service and its customers. It does not compete by running an ad network and is well respected in the industry. ZEDO is especially good at Rich Media for Publishers and at Optimization for ad Publishers and Direct Marketers.
zedo.com

68.Washington Mutual

Offers banking and financial services, mortgage loans: features online account access.
wamu.com

69.TypePad

Service for hosting and publishing weblogs and photo albums.
typepad.com

70.Blizzard - World of Warcraft

The official site containing news, trailers, gameplay videos, wallpapers, screen shots, and the official forums.
worldofwarcraft.com

71.Myfreepaysite.com

myfreepaysite.com

72.CNET Download.com

Download shareware, freeware and Demo software for PC, Mac, Linux, and Handhelds categorized into categories, plus software reviews.
download.com

73.Megaupload

Megaupload is a "leading website of the world" for transferring files easily, with complete security and free of charge.
megaupload.com

74.Att.net

att.net

75.AT&T

Provides long-distance, international and wireless services as well as internet access.
att.com

76.Hi5

Offers a profile page, a friend request feature, photo storage, music reviews, video, and email.
hi5.com

77.GameFAQs

Includes FAQs, walkthroughs, message boards, user submitted reviews, and codes for all console and computer platforms.
gamefaqs.com

78.United States Postal Service (USPS)

USPS home page providing access to services, products, employment opportunities, and general agency information.
usps.com

79.CareerBuilder.com

Search for jobs or careers using 13 different criteria, or post resumes and let employers with job openings find you. Also has a section of advice and career-related information resources.
careerbuilder.com

80.IsoHunt

Welcome to isoHunt, the most complete BitTorrent search engine.
isohunt.com

81.NewEgg.com

Online computer parts, peripherals, accessories, and components.
newegg.com

82.Verizon

Offering national dialup, DSL and wireless Internet access plans.

83.Fox News Channel

Offers worldwide news coverage, analysis, show profiles, broadcast schedules, team biographies, and email news alerts.
foxnews.com

84.Foxsports.com

foxsports.com

85.Answers.com

An ad-supported reference search service, which displays concise answers drawn from over 100 encyclopedias, dictionaries, glossaries and atlases.
answers.com

86.Break.com

break.com

87.VnExpress

Thông tin hàng ngày ở Việt Nam và thế giới. Các chuyên mục khoa học, sức khoẻ, đời sống và giải trí.
vnexpress.net

88.XTube.com

XTube is the first adult community to offer the best in online entertainment with features such as photo and video sharing, social networking, video on demand and XTube will even pay you in real US dollars to sell your home-made adult photos and videos on XTube.com.
xtube.com

89.Pogo.com

Provider of family-based games for everyone including card, board, word, trivia, bingo and casino games with no software installation, plug-ins or long download time.
pogo.com

90.Msplinks.com

msplinks.com

91.Internal Revenue Service

The IRS is the U.S. government agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement. Contains downloadable forms, instructions, and agency publications. It also includes "The Digital Daily," an almost-humorous online newspaper.
irs.gov

92.Gaia Online Community

General Anime, Manga, and video game discussions, a links database and a fan-art gallery. Lets members create and customize characters to represent themselves.
gaiaonline.com

93.Xvideos.com

xvideos.com

94.Brazzers.com

95.Tinypic.com

tinypic.com

96.Googlesyndication.com

googlesyndication.com

97.UPS

Company news, tracking, software, employment information, and FAQ.
ups.com

98.Realitykings.com

realitykings.com

99.Geocities

15 Mb with 3Gb monthly bandwidth limit. Banner or Pop-up ads on each page. Browser or FTP uploads. On-line editor. CGI scripts: counter and guestbook. URL: 'http://www.geocities.com/yoursite/'.
geocities.com

100.Zshare.net

zshare.net

Can Yahoo! beat Google

2008-05-27T04:42:00.001-07:00

Google has pummeled Yahoo into near-obscurity: the early search leader - the Google of the 1990’s - Yahoo’s market cap is a fraction of GOOG’s while their search share is a distant second. It is easy to forget that Yahoo is actually a large and highly profitable company by most standards - over $6 billion in sales and more than $700 million in profits in 2006.

But when you’re competing against the baddest internet company around, good isn’t good enough. Which is why ex-CEO Terry Semel was shown the door and a new team, co-founder Jerry Yang and CFO Mary Decker, are now at bat.

Sclerotic decision-making
Analysts point to Yahoo’s inability to make fast decisions to acquire hot properties, like FaceBook and YouTube, as indicative of the company’s malaise. A compelling vision and crisp decisions would surely help.

Yet for all their success, the Google’s top management is hardly more experienced than Yahoo’s new team. It is the battle of the billionaire geeks.

But Yahoo has a much bigger problem than corporate culture. How about some basic blocking and tackling?

Profit = Revenue minus Cost.
Financial analysts are focused on Yahoo’s missed revenue opportunities. What about the cost side?

Bringing a knife to a gun fight
Yahoo’s infrastructure is built like a very large enterprise data center with brand name products. For example, Yahoo’s very successful mail system is run on NetApp filers. (Is it just me or does that NetApp page sound a little off?) Yahoo does use as much free software - FreeBSD, Apache and Perl - as they can, so their problem is hardware capital expense and operating expense.

Google’s infrastructure is built on commodity PC products. Cheap SATA drives velcro’d on quad-core mobo’s instead of high-performance network storage. A software layer that optimizes and manages across the cluster, so people don’t have to. No costly RAID arrays. No RAID at all, just 3x - or more - replication.

Cheaper, better, faster: pick any three
I compared Yahoo and Google IT cost structures a year ago and found that for every dollar Google and Yahoo invest in IT, Google generates 50-60% more revenue with 4,000 fewer people. Since then, I’ve estimated that Google has a 5-8x cost advantage per user I/O over Yahoo. That includes search, mail, and other services.

Google’s cost advantage gives it two huge advantages:

* Its ROI bar is lower than competitors, so it can afford to make improvements that competitors can only dream of.
* Its lower costs mean that even if a deep-pocketed competitor like Microsoft wanted to eliminate the profits in AdSense, they’d be bleeding red ink while Google broke even.

The low-cost producer doesn’t always win. But they sure have more maneuvering room than higher-cost producers.

So how can Yahoo win?
This isn’t rocket science.

* Get IT costs under control. Go to a Google-like infrastructure using commodity products.
* Defend your market leadership where you have it, like Yahoo mail. Google’s marketing is pretty much MIA - as the $1.6 billion purchase of YouTube reflected. Google is pleased with the growth of Gmail, which is largely a function of people opening multiple email accounts to take advantage of the $10 Google Checkout promotion, but Yahoo has the users.
* Add capabilities to its new commodity-based infrastructure, such as transaction processing, that Google can’t easily add, and use it to drive new business and traffic.

To Summarize it
Google looks invulnerable, but their inability to win outside of search and advertising points to just how weak their management and their market position is. They don’t have the integration skills of a Cisco - look at how poor YouTube’s search function still is months after purchase by the world leader in search - and while a huge bag of money can rent a lot of love, Microsoft has proven that it can’t buy internet success.

Yahoo has an opportunity to catch the next wave of search goodness if they are aggressive about bringing their infrastructure costs down. If not, it doesn’t matter what they do on the revenue side: they will continue a long, slow decline. They’ll be good, but they’ll never be great.

10 Steps to Buying a New Car

2008-05-26T03:07:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Starting Out

These steps will help you to locate the specific car you want, and at a price that is fair to both you and the dealer. By now, you should have done plenty of research to determine which is the best car to suit your needs. And, you should have a good idea of what to pay for the car you want. Now you need to narrow the research even more. You will soon be finding the exact car you want to buy - with the options you have chosen - and then you will be determining the best deal available. If you have done your homework, this will be a fairly easy process with no unexpected surprises.

Buying a car is a big investment, but it can be exciting and rewarding, especially if you feel like you got the right car at a fair price.
Step 2: Using incentives and rebates.

Today's new car market is crowded and competitive. Many new cars are offered for sale with attractive incentives to make you choose a particular model. In some cases, the cars with the best incentives are those that aren't selling very well on their own.

An incentive is anything that gives you an added reason to buy a particular car. Often, however, it comes in the form of a cash rebate or low-interest financing. These can result in a huge savings to you.

Check the IndiaAutomobile.com Web site for the latest incentives mentioned under buyer's notes. While we do track these schemes from the dealerships, these may not always be available. You can also watch for newspaper promotions but, remember, the incentives don't apply to all models.

Dealers also offer special rates for employees of certain organizations. So make sure that you check with the dealership whether your employer falls under this bracket.
Step 3: Pricing the car.

Car salesmen will usually point to a car's "sticker price" as the amount you have to pay. However, the dealerships are generally willing to sell a car at slightly lower than sticker price.

Now it's time to factor in the incentives and rebates you researched in the previous step. Take the final on-road price offered and deduct the amount of rebates and incentives. If you are going to use low-interest financing, calculate your final buying price, then use our payment calculator to find your monthly payment.

Print these figures and carry them with you for reference as you continue the car-buying process.
Step 4: Finding the exact car you want to buy.

You should now have a very specific idea of the car you want to buy. This means you know the make, model, variant, features and colour. These details are available on IndiaAutomobile.com (just in case you have not completed your research).

Also, on IndiaAutomobile.com, you can simultaneously solicit quotes from multiple dealers. In many cases, you will have to follow up with a phone call.
Step 5: Test driving the car salesman.

As you call dealerships to locate the exact car you want to buy, you can also test drive the car salesman. In other words, you can determine if this is a person you want to do business with. It's a good idea to consider this issue ahead of time, before you get to the deal-making phase of the process.

The first way to evaluate a good salesperson is to ask yourself if you feel comfortable dealing with them. Are they impatient and pushy? Or are they relaxed and open? If you asked them about a specific car's availability, did they respond to your needs? Or did they try to steer you toward another car simply because they have too many of that model in stock? Do they return your phone calls? Do they answer your questions in a straightforward manner? Or are they evasive and confusing?

By considering these issues you should have a sense of whether or not you want to buy from this salesperson. If you feel comfortable with the individual when researching by phone, and if the dealership does indeed have the car you're interested in, set up a time to test drive the car, preferably when the dealership will not be very busy, such as a weekday morning. Before heading to the car lot, review all your notes and make sure you bring your car-buying folder. This might include your checkbook, registration and proof of insurance. Keep in mind that you're bringing these items so you'll be ready to buy a car if you get a fair deal. Don't feel obligated to purchase a car simply because you have all the necessary paperwork with you or because you test drove the car.
Step 6: If you are trading in your old car...

If you are trading in your old car to a dealer, you will probably not get as much money toward the price of a new car as you would have if you'd sold it yourself to a private party. However, trading in offers some advantages. You can solve all of your car-buying problems in one visit to the dealer. You can unload a hard-to-sell car with no newspaper or Intenet ads.

Begin the process by checking up your car's trade-in value. At a dealership the value assigned to your trade-in varies based on the time of the month, the dealer's specific inventory and the used car manager's mood, so it is better you a rough idea of what your trade-in is worth.

If it's important to you to get the maximum value for your trade-in, you should visit several dealerships and solicit bids. Tell the salesperson that the sale of a new car will be contingent on the amount he or she will give you for your trade-in. Also, tell them you are visiting several dealerships. With a little legwork, you may be able to boost the price you get for your old car. Remember, the extra effort you spend in getting competitive bids is far less than what it would take to advertise, show and sell the car yourself.

Alternatively, we advise you to advertise your car on IndiaAutomobile.com and make the listing visible to the millions of visitors on our site.
Step 7: Negotiating for the best finance option.

Dealerships generally have tie-ups with one or more loan providers. However, these may not necessarily offer you the best interest rate. Also, you are not obliged to stick to the dealer's finance partner. Hence, it is always advisable to look at the best option available basis the exact monthly payment that is quoted to you.

Also, if you are planning to foreclose your car loan in the near future, please check for applicable penalties that would apply.
Step 8: Closing the deal.

If you feel good about the price you have been quoted, it's time to take a look at the big picture. Many buyers focus on the cost of the car and ignore the related expenses. Besides the cost, you will have to pay sales tax and various fees which vary from state to state.

The simplest way to estimate total cost is to ask the salesperson to fax/email you a worksheet and invoice before you go to the dealership. This way, you'll be able to review the figures in a relaxed environment.
Step 9: Reviewing and signing the paperwork.

At the dealership, you will be presented with the contract for your new car and a lot of forms to sign. This is usually handled by the salesperson you have been dealing with.

In most cases, the salesperson might try to sell you additional items such as extended service contracts, fabric protection, alarms, etc. In most cases, we recommend turning down these extras - with the possible exception of the extended warranty, which provides peace of mind to some buyers.

If you have already seen a worksheet for the deal you've made, the contract should be a formality. Make sure the numbers match the worksheet and no additional charges or fees have been inserted. You will also be asked to sign various forms that register your new car and transfer ownership of your trade-in (if you are exchnaging cars). Understand what you are signing and what it means. Ask questions if you don't understand, and don't ever feel like you have to hurry. Buying a car is a serious commitment and it's the dealership's job to ensure you are comfortable with every document involved. Remember, once you have signed there is no going back.
Step 10: Inspecting and taking possession of your new car.

You will have one more chance to inspect the car before you take possession of it. Make sure you walk around the car and look for scratches in the paint and wheels or dents and dings on the body. If you are paying for floor mats make sure they are included. If anything is missing, or if any work needs to be done, ask for it in writing. You will then be able to come back and get the work done later.

Gain more money on adsense by increasing the number of clicks

2008-05-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Increasing the number of clicks on your ads is the most obvious strategy that will make more money for you. Here are the two ways to boost the number of clicks on your ads:

A. Drive more traffic for your web site or blogsite.
B. Make your ads more clickable and position them at the right place.

Driving traffic takes time and efforts. It’s also a lot of hard work. There are several techniques that you can use to generate more traffic to your web site and hence make more Adsense money. Here are they:

* Submit your web site to search engine and optimize your web site for search engine.
* Increase link popularity by link exchange, article marketing, directory submission and press release.
* Paid Advertising through classified advertising, banner advertising or search engine advertising.
* Participate in forums/groups related to the content of your web site.
* Add comments to other blogs.

Try this out!!!

Top websites to earn money online

2008-05-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

MyLot
Love to chat and have discussions with other people with similar interests? Then this is the perfect site for you. Also, you can use this site to promote your PTC sites and get referrals. Post comments and start new discussions and GET PAID for doing that. This is a MUST JOIN site.

PTC Sites - These sites pay you for clicking ads. Some pay you a cent per ad while other pay you up to 2 cents.

Daily Clicks
One of the best PTC sites available on the internet. It gives you around 40 ads a day and 50% of what your referrals make. A must PTC site for everyone to join if you want to earn more than just a few cents a day. THIS IS A 100% LEGIT SITE AND IT HAS ALREADY PAID ME TWICE.

ClixSense
This is a great PTC (paid-to-click) site for earning some steady money online every month. This is a very reputed site and not a scam at all. It pays you 1 cent per ad and gives around 15 ads per day or even more.

Bux.To
A great website which gives around 15-20 ads a day and 100% referral earnings. You have to join this. One of the best sites around. It pays through AlertPay.

Bux3
This site is like a clone of Bux.To and just as useful. 15-20 ads everyday with 100% referrals. It has recently allowed users to complete offers to earn money quickly. It's a great site and has already paid me once. It uses PAYPAL. A must for everyone who wants to earn online.

InboxDollars

First of all, there is a $5 sign-up bonus going on right now so join soon. The site provides you with paid e-mails and you just have to click on the links once. There is no need to read the e-mail or wait for 30 seconds. As soon as the page appears you will get your money. Each mail is worth 3 cents and you get plenty everyday. You can also earn money by taking surveys. The money will be added to your account as soon as you take the survey. Don't miss on this great site. JOIN NOW!!!

Adbux
Adbux is an old and reliable site. You can earn money on this internet by clicking on ads and/or completing tons of offers. Though it doesn't have many ads for members to click everyday, it has several offers that you can do in minutes and quickly earn money. It uses alertpay for payments. Recommended if you want to quickly earn money by doing offers.

Clicksia
I just joined this site and it looks really good. There are plenty of ads to click AND read. Each ad is worth a different amount. You can earn money on this website by clicking on ads, reading ads, signing up for offers, promoting Clicksia and referring members.

Another great thing about this website is that you can choose to get traffic exchange for your website instead of earning money! So if you want to direct traffic to your website or blog then this is the perfect site.

InboxDollars

This site is similar to InboxDollars and just as good. You get e-mails worth 3 cents which you just have to click once to earn the money. No need to wait for 30 seconds or anything. Right now InboxDollars is giving $5 bonus to it's new users. You will receive another $5 for each person you refer!!! In addition to that you will earn 10% of what your referrals make. The minimum payout is $30 but it's not that hard to earn this much considering the number of e-mails you get everyday and the incredible $5 bonus per referral. Other ways to earn money on this website are completing surveys and offers which can earn you a lot of money.

AdverCash
Another site like Mora Traffic that allows you to earn money in more than just one way. You will reach your payout in no time.

Share A Pic
You might have already heard about this brilliant site which pays you for just uploading your pictures. You don't have to do anything on a daily basis. Upload you pictures whenever you want and then wait to earn money. Highly recommended to everyone.

CashCrate
This is a good website that pays really well for completing offers and filling out surveys. You can reach out payouts in no time with this website. Some of the offers are worth more than $10!!! This is a great site for US users as they have more choices. Highly recommended.

Top 10 Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs

2008-05-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

If you are looking to become that next successful entrepreneur, consider what other entrepreneurs have found as they worked through their transformation into a successful business person. Not every entrepreneur has used all of the following ideas, but most will acknowledge their importance in getting to where you would like to be in business.

Set goals

This idea may sound a bit obvious but it is ignored quite often in the excitement of getting a business started. You need to have an idea of where you would like to end-up with your business idea. In this way, you can begin to set intermediate goals that will get you to the end goal. Your intermediate goals may start with a daily task list that ends with the successful completion of a more prominent goal a few weeks down the road. As these intermediate goal successes pile up your ultimate goal is one step closer. Baby steps are the words here.

Know your market

Education is power can be taken to heart in building a business. You are sure to attract and recruit good people along the way, but you still need to have a good idea about how things in the market you are tapping work and why. Take classes, talk to others in the field and fall down a few times on your own so you learn the "hard way."

Look through the clutter for good ideas

One of the skills that you will need to learn is how to sift through all the clutter that you will inevitably run into during your busy days. Some people just have the knacks of sorting through the static, but starting out, keep your baby steps in mind and what is needed to meet them. If the clutter is getting in the way of achieving that baby step ignore it, but keep it in mind for future reference.

Build relationships and tap the pain

If people are not helping you along your path they are potential sales. Understanding why these people want to buy your product or service is critical (how will this product make a persons life easier or better?) What pain drives them to need the product or service you are offering? Developing a pain list is a real priority even before you get going.

Taking a leap of faith

When it comes right down to it, you are going to need a bottle of aspirin. At some point every entrepreneur needs to be able to step off the edge and go-for-it. In some instances this may entail money commitment, in others time commitment. At some point all successful business people make that fatal decision of "all or nothing."

Spend wisely

Making the "all or nothing" leap of faith does not mean that successful business people are foolish with their hard earned capital. Every successful entrepreneur has a different perception of how to go about allocating capital, but all indicate that money is not water. If a large capital expenditure is needed they say that they are prepared to make it, but only after prudent research.

Reinvest in yourself

As business begins to take off most successful business people indicate that putting profits back into the business before paying yourself a kings ransom is the way to go. You want to make sure to pay yourself but make sure you pay the company until a fairly stable financial structure has been formed. After this has been achieved, pay yourself a bit better understanding that expansion of the business will also take capital.

Passion, focus and sticking at it

Belief goes a very long way in starting a new business. If you believe in your ideas others will tend to follow. Passion will sustain you as well, during those dark times when more things then you would like aren't going well. Unless you are extremely lucky, the process of getting a business off the ground is tough so you need to be able to stick with it.

Use smart people

Every single successful person in the world today will tell you that having smart people around you is the only way to go when starting and maintaining a new business. In most cases, these same people will also indicate that the people around them are smarter then they are. Remember also that this idea works all along the manufacturing and management spectrum. A shipping clerk will undoubtedly have a few good ideas that you had never thought of. Hiring wisely and being able to listen to those you are paying is a good idea.

neeraj grovers murder by indian actress

2008-05-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

A 27-year-old Kannada movie actress Maria alias Monika Susayraj and her boyfriend, a naval officer, have been arrested for the sensational murder of a senior official of a Mumbai television production company a fortnight ago. The accused naval officer is Lieutenant M.L. Jerome Mathew, 25, currently attached as an aeronautical engineer with the Kochi Naval Base, Kerala, Mumbai's joint police commissioner Rakesh Maria announced here Wednesday evening.

Mathew has been arrested from Kochi.

Mathew and Maria allegedly killed Neeraj A. Grover, 25, the creative head of Synergy Adlabs, May 7 at Maria's flat in Malad, a northwest suburb of Mumbai, the police officer said. Grover was earlier employed with Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms Ltd (BTF). The police suspect the murder to be an outcome of "a love triangle".

Maria has acted in at least four Kannada movies and also worked in the popular teleserial "Mahabharata" from the BTF. She became friendly with Grover and later they turned closer. She had come to Mumbai in search of a break in the Mumbai entertainment industry late last year.

Maria lived at Solitaire Apartments on Chincholi Bunder Road in Malad while Grover lived at the Four Bungalows area of Andheri.

On May 7, Grover visited Maria's home to seek her help in shifting to his new residence and also wanted to stay over at her home for sometime, the police said. That evening, Mathew who was in Kochi, called up Maria and Grover happened to answer the cellphone.

Mathew, a childhood friend of Maria with whom he had developed an intimate relationship, became suspicious and made inquiries about Grover from her.

On May 8, he boarded an early morning flight to Mumbai and went to Maria's Malad flat. Upon seeing Grover Naked in Maria's bedroom, Mathew flew into a rage and battered him to death, while Maria watched, according to the police.

After Kill Neeraj, Maria and Mathew had sex.

Later that morning, he went out and purchased a large knife, two sports bags and two cans of kerosene. Mathew went about systematically trying to dispose of the body. He chopped Grover's body into small pieces and stuffed these

into bags. He loaded them, carried the kerosene cans and drove in Maria's Santro car to Manor, a coastal village barely four km away.

There, at a desolate spot he burnt the bags containing the body pieces and went to the airport to catch a flight back to Kochi, according to the police.

Then after they reached home they again had sex.

The game was apparently up when one of Grover's friends called up - and Maria answered. She mumbled that Grover had "gone out" forgetting his cellphone. The friend came and picked up the cellphone a couple of days later. The following week, Amarnath Grover, the deceased man's father, called up to enquire his whereabouts since he had not come home for more than four days. After talking to his son's friend, he lodged a missing person complaint with the Malad police station.

Maria was summoned for interrogation where she broke down and confessed the crime before the sleuths of the Crime Branch. They arrested her and nabbed Mathew from Kochi.

The deceased, Neeraj Grover was working for Synergy Adlabs. He had earlier worked for Balaji Telefilms and DJ Creations and every succcessive job had been a climb up.

Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Rakesh Maria described this murder as 'one of the most heinous murders' he had seen in his 27 years of police service. However, he said, no murder was a perfect murder and they followed the clues to end up with the killers.

Dad Kills daugther and servant to hide his affair with a collegue

2008-05-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

Its sad when i came to know that the murder mystery which i was following on newspaper's and television ended up solved with the cops announcing that the deceased were killed by a known person and the culprit was the girls dad who was killed. Read on the whole story............

In a sensational turn, police on Friday arrested Rajesh Talwar for allegedly killing his daughter Arushi and domestic help Hemraj in their residence last week possibly because both of them knew about his extra-marital affairs and the two victims themselves shared a close relationship.

Exactly a week after the girl's murder came to light, Meerut Zone Inspector General Gurdarshan Singh told a press conference that Talwar was arrested after enough evidence was gathered, including the "strenuous cover-up" attempts by the dentist.

He said Talwar first killed the domestic help on the terrace of the house in the small hours of May 16 and then came down to kill his daughter after having some whiskey.

Singh said investigations were on and parried all questions whether any more arrests have been made in the case.

There have been reports that Nupur, wife of Talwar, also a dentist, and his doctor colleague Anita Durrani have been

detained in connection with the twin murder.

"Investigations are on and we have revealed to you details about which the probe is over. We have not done the arrest solely on the basis of confessions. We will not arrest a person if we do not have sufficient evidence," Singh said replying to a barrage of questions.

After taking Talwar on remand, he said police would take him out for recovering the weapons used in the murder – a sharp edged weapon and possibly a hammer-like object.

Singh said Arushi had objected to her father's extra-marital affairs and was angry about it. She had discussed the issue with Hemraj. In the process, the two victims had also shared a close relationship.

On the night hours before the murder, Singh said, Talwar had returned from his clinic and had found the two in an ‘objectionable’ condition but not in a compromising position.

Hemraj had also discussed with his friends the doctor's alleged illicit relationship, which Talwar did not like. Hemraj had also feared for his life and had told some of his friends about that.

But the police official did not name with whom Talwar had illicit relationship but speculation was that it was with another doctor colleague.

He said on the pretext of talking to Hemraj, Talwar took him to the terrace and killed him by hitting his head with a heavy weapon and then used a sharp-edged weapon.

Then he came downstairs, had whiskey and around 1 am he killed Arushi by first hitting her head with a heavy object and then using a sharp-edged weapon to slit her throat.

Singh said police had several reasons to suspect the involvement of Talwar in the murders, one being that the couple was not prompt in calling the police and instead called people close to them to talk about the incident.

He said Talwar ‘sentimentally attacked’ the police when the murder has come to light and tried to mislead by saying they should not waste time at the crime spot rather go and look for Hemraj, who he said was the killer.

Another reason for suspicion was that they chose to dump Arushi's mattress on the neighbour's terrace. There was no forced entry.

"Talwar would not have been in sound sleep when the murder took place as he was talking on phone till 12 am. The area is peaceful and there is no traffic. So the slightest activity should have woken them up. It is not possible that a murder take place in the room right next to theirs and they did not hear anything," Singh said.

Suspicions were also raised because efforts were put into hiding Hemraj's body.

"The lid of the cooler was put on the body so that nobody could spot it and the door to the terrace was locked. Any killer who could have come did not bother to close the terrace door and lock it," he added.

Her mother Nupur was in their bedroom when the murder took place.

"Investigations are on and we have revealed to you details about which the probe is over. We have not done the arrest solely on the basis of confessions. We will not arrest a person if we do not have sufficient evidence," Singh said.

Lal said the details provided by former servant Krishna helped the police a lot in the case. "Hemraj used to tell him that he feared for his life as he knew about the doctor's affairs," he said.

The weapons used in the crime are yet to be recovered and police said Talwar's inputs would be important in finding them.

The police has been under tremendous pressure to crack the case ever since the failure of the Noida sleuths in finding Hemraj's body came to light.

The body was discovered by a retired police official who had come to the Talwar's residence to offer condolences.

The case has been under intense media glare and it grabbed headlines on account 'whodunit' nature ever since the discovery of the body of Hemraj, who was initially the prime suspect.

The Top 10 Mistakes People Make When Starting A Business

2008-05-23T00:15:00.001-07:00

What are the common mistakes that new entrepreneurs make and how can you avoid making them yourself? Here is our top 10 list of mistakes people make when starting a business:

1) Not enough money.

The most common reason why new businesses shut down is that the owner runs out of money. Cash flow is critical to a startup business. You could be profitable and still have to close your doors because your customers are taking too long to pay you. Cash is king in a startup venture and you need to prepare for it.

One option is to make sure you have enough startup capital from your own investments or outsiders (bank loan, private investors, etc). A second option is to ease into the business so that you start doing it on a part-time basis until you know that it will make enough money to support you.

2) Not thinking survival.

Starting a business is all about survival. How do you stay around one more day so that you can learn more about your market and close new customers?

At the beginning stages of a business this may mean doing work that might not be completely what you want to do but it helps pay the bills. You need to do whatever it takes to survive and get through until the business can fully support yourself.

3) Losing momentum.

Many new entrepreneurs have ambitions to start a business so they create a website, try to make a few sales, go all out for a few months and then stop completely. Building a business is all about momentum. If you had 24 hours to spend on a business they would be put to far better use by spending one hour a day than for 24 hours straight.

It takes time to develop a new company and for people to react to what you have to offer. Never lose the momentum and even if your business is only a part time initiative for you at the moment, make sure that every day you are making progress of some sort to move your company forward.

4) Doing it all alone.

Nobody is perfect or has the skills to do everything themselves. You need to understand what it is that you bring to the table and what you need to surround yourself with. If, for example, you are very strong at inventing but don’t want to sell then you need to find a salesperson to help you.

You won’t succeed by forcing yourself to do things that you truly don’t enjoy and will never be good at. Know where you stand and what value you can offer. By getting people around you who complement your skills, you will be able to achieve your goals and have a lot more fun along the way!

5) Not hiring right away.

You should begin looking at who can be brought on board to help you from the first day of starting your company. There will be tasks in any business that you, as the owner, should not be focusing on if you hope to build any sort of sizable organization. Why are you doing admin work when you should be out closing customers, talking to the media, and landing new partnerships?

But I’m broke! How can I hire someone? Even if you have a $0 budget you can find people to work for you through high school and foreign student internship programs. Once you have a budget, you can bring people on board for as little as one hour a day (what I first did) and then increase their hours when you can afford it. You need to be spending your time working on the business and not in the business.

6. Doing it just for the money.

If you don’t truly love your business then you won’t be successful. If you read the stories of famous entrepreneurs and how they built their organizations you will find that it all comes down to the root of loving what you are doing.

Money is definitely important, as most companies are for-profit enterprises, but it will often take a long time to come and if you don’t truly enjoy your work then you won’t be able to convince yourself to keep going. You can only do something that you don’t really love for so long before you give up.

7. Getting to year 1, past year 2.

Many entrepreneurs have a hard time getting to the end of year one. Typically it’s because they started the business on a whim and got excited about an opportunity but didn’t do the proper research. These entrepreneurs usually run out of money and close down after a few months.

A second challenge is getting through year two. It usually takes three years of hard work to make a business. Year one is all about the excitement of getting started. You’re high on energy and ready to take on the world. In year two entrepreneurs often find themselves still not making much money and the startup excitement has faded. You’ll need to work your way through the downturn and know that the money is coming if you keep at it.

8. Don’t build around a customer.

The best way to make a lot of money quickly is to find a customer who has a problem and is willing to pay you to solve it - and then you go out and build the solution. Most entrepreneurs take the opposite mentality of “if I build it, then will come” only to realize that they’ve built it and nobody is coming. Instead of talking to customers as to why they’re not coming they decided to continue building and building. Soon they find out that they’ve invested years of work and nobody is interested in buying from them.

The companies with the highest failure rates are restaurants because they are usually built around an owner’s personal tastes. Meanwhile, the entrepreneurs with the lowest failure rates are lawyers and accountants because they are based around a service that we all need (whether we like it or not!) Talk to potential customers, see what they are interested in, identify who has money and what their pains are and then create your product / service around them.

9. Don’t seek mentors.

A great way to get a business going is to find out what other people have done to achieve success and implement those strategies into your own company. Find mentors who have knowledge of your industry and will give you time out of their day to help you.

You could set up a formal board of advisers and compensate people for their time but if you’re a startup you can play on the fact that most entrepreneurs are willing to help out a fellow business owner as a way to give back. If you show genuine appreciation and approach the right people, the advice you get will help make or break your company.

10. Don’t get involved in the community.
Tied in with not seeking mentors is not getting involved in the small business community. Countless opportunities are generated by connecting with other young entrepreneurs and finding out what they are up to and how you can help. You will get new business opportunities, partners, investment, media attention, ideas for productive tools to use, advice for your company, and many other resources that otherwise would take you years of trial and error to figure out

Husband-wife is a good combination for business

2008-05-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

According to a study conducted by Rhonda Abrams, author of the best-seller The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies, nearly 82% of married entrepreneurs said being married improved their company’s finances, while 50% of entrepreneurs said being married improved their ability to focus on their business. The conclusion? Walk down the aisle and your bank account benefits. Another study found as many as one-third of today’s start-up enterprises are co-owned and co-managed by entrepreneurs, who are also partners in their personal lives.

These husband-wife partnerships can be immensely positive for the start-up, strengthening each other’s commitment to both business and personal sides of the partnership. “The confidence you have in your spouse is definitely translated into the business aspect of the relationship. The faith in each other’s business decisions is more as not only do I trust my partner’s abilities as a CEO, but I trust him on a personal level as well. This helps when it comes to taking riskier decisions,” says Parul, COO and co-founder of Motif India.

Entrepreneurial couples agree that while it is easy for them to work as a team in bringing up a start-up, clear strategies need to be made to separate home from office and to divide labour in both places. “It is simple and easy at the end of it all. Work needs to stay in office and personal at home. For instance, we do not have a PC at home nor do we have a net connection. We do not even bring our laptops home,” says Puneet Vatsyan co-founder of Mobera Systems.

However, if you thought that husband-wife partnerships sound like a rose garden, it is wise to remember that rose bushes have thorns. Some of the advantages can easily turn into disadvantages unless both partners are aware of the pitfalls and temptations of this business arrangement. With many husband-wife run businesses, little thought is given to roles or job descriptions; each partner does a little bit of everything.

first divorce after 9/11

2008-05-22T01:15:00.000-07:00

People my girlfriend told me about this story and she gave the guy in this story curses for his deeds.

He was cheating on his wife and the tragedy exposed the cheating.

Read the image below or view it if some one things how can i read a image.

One Marriage and 28881 deaths

2008-05-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

Took a break from work and saw the status message link on the gmail window of my dear friend James who was working with me at my previous firm.I still remember in an interactive session taken by a employee of my previous firm on 7 habits of highly effective people i played his son in an argument.
It was fun playing a brat arguing with his dad.

So lets continue before you guys move out of this article getting bored of it.
So i opened the link and to my surprise it showed images of a couple in china getting married during the time of the earthquake.I mean it shows their photos before the tragedy and after it.

I am posting those photos below in the order of the events

Maya Setoro-Ng, sister of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama speaks about her brother Barack Obama

2008-05-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama became a successful politician in Illinois. But the roots of that success are in this city thousands of miles and a cultural light-year away.

Born and raised in Honolulu, Obama honed his ability to appeal to a diverse group of people in the islands, a crossroad of cultures from throughout the Pacific, said his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng.

"Hawaii is the place that gave him the ability to ... understand people from a wide array of backgrounds," she said in a recent phone interview. "People see themselves in him ... because he himself contains multitudes."

The family's own diversity played no small part in developing that skill, she said.

Obama's parents - Barack Obama Sr., a black man from a poor village in Kenya, and Ann Dunham, a white woman whose parents grew up in Kansas - met at the University of Hawaii and married in Honolulu.

After the marriage failed, a 6-year-old Obama left Hawaii to spend four years in Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro. In 1971, Obama's mother sent him back to Honolulu to stay with his maternal grandparents.

Obama still returns almost every Christmas to visit family, indulge in local sushi, body surf at a beach on the southeastern coast of Oahu and look for sea turtles, Soetoro-Ng said. His parents and grandfather have died, and his grandmother is in poor health but has been following the presidential race closely on television, she said.

"Hawaii really is a sanctuary for him - a safe place where he can just relax, where things are in many respects unchanged," Soetoro-Ng said.

In his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Obama wrote about growing up with the island's unique food and culture: poi and roast pig, choice cuts of aku for sashimi and spearfishing off Kailua Bay. Living in his grandparents' downtown apartment, he attended the prestigious Punahou School and drove to parties at Army bases.

Classmates at Punahou describe Obama - known as Barry to them - as an upbeat, social person who played basketball and occasionally wore an African-style shirt.

But in his memoirs, Obama described feeling like a misfit in his Indonesian sandals and old-fashioned clothes when he started at the school. As one of the few black students at Punahou - and among a small group of blacks on the island - he remembered someone wanting to touch his hair and being asked whether his father ate people.

He struggled with his racial identity and turned to marijuana to block the questions out, he wrote.

Former classmate Kelli Furushima, who remembered Obama playfully grabbing a pencil from her ear while passing in the hallway, said she never knew about the turmoil Obama was experiencing. But Furushima said she wasn't surprised.

"You don't let the world know how you feel when you're a teenager," she said. "You might be really insecure inside, but when you're walking down the halls, you're laughing."

Soetoro-Ng said her brother was a private man who dealt with questions about his identity and other struggles in "a very personal way."

"He's good though about grappling with them and moving on," she said. "Today he is a man very comfortable with himself and peaceful with his sense of self."

Soetoro-Ng, who is nine years younger than Obama, said her mother divorced Soetoro when she was 9, making Obama the father figure in her life. He toured colleges with her, showed her New York and Chicago and gave her her first novels.

"He let me know the world was large, and that I should get to know as much of it as possible," she said.

Most Haunted places of the world

2008-05-20T03:59:00.000-07:00

Alcatraz Prison
If ghosts return to haunt the places where they suffered traumatic experiences in life, then the prison at Alcatraz must be full of ghosts.....

Amityville Horror
The most famous haunted house in America that sparked a best selling book based on the true events that took place in the house. 6 members of the DeFeo family were killed here.....

Arreton Manor, Isle of White
The ghost of little Annabel is often seen and heard in the grounds of the Manor. It is said that her voice can still be heard calling out "Mamma, Mamma".....

Berry Pomeroy Castle
The White Lady haunts the dungeons, and rises from St. Margaret's Tower to the castle ramparts. Those who report seeing this figure associate it with fear and malevolence.....

Borley Rectory-The Most Haunted House in Britain
Borley Rectory was reputed to be the most haunted house in the UK. The rectory burnt down in a fire in 1939, after nearly 70 years of sightings.....

Chillingham Castle-One of most haunted places in the UK
Chillingham Castle is regarded as one of the most haunted places in the country. Dating back over 800 years this castle was built for one purpose alone, killing.....

Chingle Hall
There is supposedly a poltergeist in the kitchen,but the visions of monks are one of the most commonly reported phenomena.....

Dover Castle
TV's Most Haunted visited Dover Castle, with medium Derek Acorah. Derek started getting messages from Sean who was killed at the castle hundreds of years ago.....

Edinburgh Castle
The presence of ghosts has been scientifically proven in Edinburgh castle. A research project was conducted studying the dungeons and surrounding areas.....

Ghostly Footsteps
Each night I could hear the front door open. The sounds of boots would come stamping up the stairs, past my room to the same spot and stop dead.....

Ghostly Footsteps at Rinsch House
I heard the sound of footsteps start. We'ed had so many wierd things happen in the house that it did not scare me, I just thought "oh no, I just want to go to sleep".....

Gladstone Pottery Museum
A frequent reported phenomena is the vision of an old man stalking the factory. It is thought to be the spirit of a potter who was killed at the factory.....

Hampton Court Palace Ghost
The cameras showed the heavy doors flying open. They were astonished to see a figure in period dress appear on the screen and close the door.....

Haunted House
As I started to walk up the stairs I felt a cold shiver go through me, I looked behind me and saw a dark shadow in shape of a monks gown at the foot of the stairs.....

London's Most Haunted Pubs - The Grenadier
Several witness have reported seeing a silent spirit slowly gliding across the room before vanishing. Unseen hands rattle and move chairs and cold spots are reported by patrons and staff.....

Margam Castle
The most violent and angry spirit is certainly Robert Scott who is said to have slammed doors and hurled projectiles, and emit a foreboding presence.....

Michelham Priory
Paranormal sightings at Michelham Priory are reported every year. Many people has witnessed hooded figures stalking the grounds.....

Strange Occurences at the Farmhouse
A reader has sent in a strange account from his new farmhouse in Somerset. If anybody has got some advice for him, were sure he would appreciate it.....

Tamworth Castle
It sounded like furniture in the room above was scrapping across the floor. Suddenly this aura came over me and I instantly felt an overwhelming presence of fear.....

The Jamiaca Inn
Guests staying at Jamaica Inn have frequently reported hearing footsteps, unexplained movement of doors and other objects. Ghost hunters and psychics, including the Ghost Society, have determined that there are several ghosts present.....

The Mermaid Inn
A couple found sleeping in the lounge refused to sleep upstairs, as they'd seen people walk through walls in their bedroom. Other guests have reported being woken at night by loud footsteps.....

The Ostrich Inn
There have been reports of feelings of despair and cold spots at the spot were Mr Jarman stored the bodies of the 60 victims he murdered.....

The Tower of London
With a history of execution, murder and torture of the most horrific nature, the Tower is the perfect recipe for a haunted history.....

Warwick Castle
The tower has been shown to suffer extreme temperature shifts. Warwick Castle is a very haunted building with a dark vein of history running through it.....

Westminster Abbey Ghosts
With over 3000 people and 17 monarchs buried in the ground of Westminster Abbey, it is hardley surprising that a number of spirits have lingered on, to haunt Westminster Abbey. The ghost of a monk, known as "Father Benedictus", is often reported floating around the Abbey.....

Whaley House Haunting
The Whaley House is recognised by the US government as being officially haunted. The haunting and strange happenings have been observed by many visitors.....

Windsor Castle
There is a demonic horned being said to bring death and disease to those unfortunate enough to see it. Other legends tell of witchcraft and suicide.....

Woodchester Mansion
A local vicar saw a strange apparition at the gates of the mansion and a phantom horseman was seen on the drive. But it is the Mansion itself that is the epicentre of the haunting.....

True story of Reincarnation

2008-05-20T03:51:00.000-07:00

One of the most famous of case studies is that of Swarnlata Mishra. She was born to an intellectual and prosperous family in Pradesh in India 1948. When she was just three years old and travelling with her father past the town of Katni more than 100 miles from her home, she suddenly pointed and asked the driver to turn down a road to "my house", and suggested they could get a better cup of tea there than they could on the road.

Soon after, she related more details of her life in Katni, all of which were written down by her father. She said her name was Biya Pathak, and that she had two sons. She gave details of the house: it was white with black doors fitted with iron bars; four rooms were stuccoed, but other parts were less finished; the front floor was of stone slabs. She located the house in Zhurkutia, a district of Katni; behind the house was a girl's school, in front was a railway line, and lime furnaces were visible from the house. She added that the family had a motor car (a very rare item in India in the 1950's, and especially before Swarnlata was born). Swarnlata said Biya died of a "pain in her throat", and was treated by Dr. S. C. Bhabrat in Jabalpur. She also remembered an incident at a wedding when she and a friend had difficulty finding a latrine.

In the spring of 1959, when Swarnlata was 10 years old, news of the case reached Professor Sri H. N. Banerjee, an Indian researcher of paranormal phenomenon and colleague of Stevenson. Banerjee took the notes her father made and traveled to Katni to determine if Swarnlata's memories could be verified. Using nothing more than the description that Swarnlata had given, he found the house, despite the house having been enlarged and improved since 1939 when Biya died. It belonged to the Pathak's (a common name in India), a wealthy, prominent family, with extensive business interests. The lime furnaces were on land adjoining the property; the girls school was 100 yards behind the Pathak's property, but not visible from the front.

He interviewed the family and verified everything Swarnlata had said. Biya Pathak had died in 1939 leaving behind a grieving husband, two young sons, and many younger brothers. These Pathaks had never heard of the Mishra family, who lived a hundred miles away; the Mishra's had no knowledge of the Pathak family.

In the summer of 1959, Biya's husband, son, and eldest brother journeyed to the town of Chhatarpur, the town where Swarnlata now lived, to test Swarnlata's memory. They did not reveal their identities or purpose to others in the town, but enlisted nine townsmen to accompany them to the Mishar home, where they arrived unannounced.

Swarnlata immediately recognized her brother and called him "Babu", Biya's pet name for him. Stevenson gives only the barest facts, but I can imagine the emotions ran high at this point. Imagine how Babu felt to be recognized immediately by his dead sister reborn. Ten-year-old Swarnlata went around the room looking at each man in turn; some she identified as men she knew from her town, some were strangers to her. Then she came to Sri Chintamini Pandey, Biya's husband. Swarnlata lowered her eyes, looked bashful as Hindu wives do in the presence of their husbands and spoke his name. Stevenson says nothing of Sri Pandey's reaction at finding his wife after twenty years.

Swarnlata also correctly identified her son from her past life, Murli, who was 13 years old when Biya died. But Murli schemed to mislead her, and "for almost twenty-four hours insisted against her objections that he was not Murli, but someone else." Murli had also brought along a friend and tried to mislead Swarnlata once again by insisting he was Naresh, Biya's other son, who was about the same age as this friend. Swarnlata insisted just as strongly that he was a stranger. Finally, Swarnlata reminded Sri Pandey that he had stolen 1200 rupees Biya kept in a box. Sri Pandey admitted to the truth of this private fact that only he and his wife had known.

A few weeks later, Swarnlata's father took her to Katni to visit the home and town where Biya lived and died. Upon arriving she immediately noticed and remarked about the changes to the house. She asked about the parapet at the back of the house, a veranda, and the neem tree that used to grow in the compound; all had been removed since Biya's death. She identified Biya's room and the room in which she had died. She recognized one of Biya's brothers and correctly identified him as her second brother. She did the same for her third and fourth brother, the wife of the younger brother, the son of the second brother calling him by his pet name Baboo. Later Swarnlata was presented to a room full of strangers and asked whom she recognized. She correctly picked out her husband's cousin, the wife of Biya's brother-in-law, and a midwife whom she identified not by her current name, but by a name she had used when Biya was alive.

Biya's son Murli, in another test, introduced Swarnlata to a man he called a new friend, Bhola. Swarnlata insisted correctly that this man was actually Biya's second son, Naresh. In another test, Biya's youngest brother tried to trap Swarnlata by saying that Biya had lost her teeth; Swarnlata did not fall for this, and went on to say that Biya had gold fillings in her front teeth a fact that the brothers had forgotten and were forced to confirm by consulting with their wives, who reminded them that what Swarnlata said was true.

Biyas dialect was distinctly different than that of the Pradesh�s and remarkably similar to the Pathaks. She was familiar with intimate names and family secrets, and remembered even marriage relationships, old servants, and friends. It was as if, her memory was frozen at the time of Biya's death; Swarnlata knew nothing about the Pathak family that had happened since 1939.

In the following years, Swarnlata visited the Pathak family at regular intervals. Stevenson investigated the case in 1961, witnessing one of these visits. He observed the loving relationship between Swarnlata and the other members of the family. They all accepted her as Biya reborn. Swarnlata behaved appropriately reserved towards Biya's elders, but when alone with Biya's sons, she was relaxed and playful as a mother would be, behavior that would otherwise be totally inappropriate in India for a 10-year-old girl in the company of unrelated men in their mid-thirties.

The Pathak brothers and Swarnlata observed the Hindu custom of Rakhi, in which brothers and sisters annually renew their devotion to each other by exchanging gifts. In fact the Pathak brothers were distressed and angry one year when Swarnlata missed the ceremony; they felt that because she had lived with them for 40 years and with the Mishras for only 10 years that they had a greater claim on her. As evidence of how strongly the Pathaks believed that Swarnlata was their Biya, they admitted that they had changed their views of reincarnation upon meeting Swarnlata and accepting her as Biya reborn (the Pathaks, because of their status and wealth, emulated Western ideas and had not believed in reincarnation before this happened). Swarnlata's father, Sri Mishra, also accepted the truth of Swarnlata's past identity: years later, when it came time for Swarnlata to marry he consulted with the Pathaks about the choice of a husband for her.

Stevenson visited her in later years and corresponded with her for ten years after this case was investigated. He reports that she grew up normally, received an advanced degree in botany, and got married. She said that sometimes, when she reminisced about her happy life in Katni, her eyes brimmed with tears and, for a moment, she wished she could return to the wealth and life of Biya. But her loyalty to the Mishra family was undivided and, except for the regular visits to Katni, she went about the business of growing into a beautiful young woman, accepting fully her station in this life.

How to live longer

2008-05-20T03:16:00.001-07:00

MINNEAPOLIS - If you are looking for a Fountain of Youth, forget pills and diet supplements. Adventurer Dan Buettner has visited four spots on the globe where people live into their 90s and 100s and outlines how they add years of good life in his new book, "The Blue Zones."
ADVERTISEMENT

The answer, Buettner says, includes smaller food portions, an active lifestyle and moderate drinking.

"If someone tells you they have a pill or hormone (that extends life), you're about to lose money," Buettner says.

Buettner identifies four hot spots of longevity: the mountainous Barbagia region of Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy; the Japanese island of Okinawa; a community of Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, Calif., about 60 miles east of Los Angeles; and the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, in Central America. (The term "Blue Zones" takes its name from the blue ink Belgian demographer Michel Poulain used to circle an area of long-living Sardinians on a map.)

What Buettner found in his seven years of research and travel were common denominators among the vigorous super-elderly — close family relationships, a sense of purpose, healthy eating habits. He distills them into what he calls the Power Nine that readers can use to create their own Blue Zone.

"Picking half a dozen things off of this al a carte menu, and sticking to it, is probably worth eight to 10 (extra) years for the average American. And you'll look younger and feel younger on the way," says Buettner, a tall and lean 48-year-old who says he hopes to live until at least 100.

Buettner turned to probing the secrets of the longest-living cultures after leading three long-distance bicycle expeditions — from the tip of North America to the tip of South America; across the United States, Europe and the Soviet Union; and across Africa — in the 1980s and 1990s. He also used the Internet to take classrooms on interactive quests to solve everything from the collapse of ancient Mayan civilization to human origins in Africa.

Buettner made his first expedition to Okinawa in 2000 and eventually wrote a National Geographic cover story, "The Secrets of Long Life," in November 2005. That led to National Geographic publishing "The Blue Zones" this March. The book debuted at No. 15 on The New York Times' list of advice book best sellers but has since dropped off.

Living long — even forever — is a human desire throughout history, says Dr. Robert Butler, president and CEO of the International Longevity Center-USA in New York. But Butler says he's skeptical of claims of places of long-living people.

"There's always been these rumors but they've always turned out to be inaccurate," said Butler, who appears in "The Blue Zones" but has not read it.

Buettner is aware of the skepticism, but says he and his team of demographers, which included Poulain, scrupulously checked birth and death records and vetted the ages of Blue Zone residents in his book.

"We have the numerical data that shows that these places (in 'The Blue Zones') are living longer. It's not just anecdotal," Buettner said.

While ranking populations by average life expectancy is nothing new, Buettner has "done a nice job putting faces to it and looking at some of the special characteristics — be it diet or happiness — that typify some of these regions," said Dr. Thomas T. Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study and an associate professor of medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine. Perls also appears in the book.

Because of obesity and smoking, Americans are living about 10 years less than they should be, said Perls, co-author of the book "Living to 100." He said if Americans embraced the healthy habits advocated by Buettner, the impact on public health "would be huge."

Buettner found long-lived people have a sense of purpose and a strong support network. In Okinawa, women gather in social networks known as moais.

"Even at age 100, they're all getting together in their moai ... at 5 o'clock every day. They sit around, they drink a couple glasses of sake, they gossip, they talk about sex. If one doesn't show up to the afternoon gathering, the other four sort of hobble over to see if she's fallen down or if she needs help," Buettner said.

Women in Okinawa also tend to be spiritual leaders, which imbues them with a sense of purpose, or "ikigai," Buettner said.

Regular attendance at religious services also is a factor, Buettner said. Seventh-day Adventists observe the Sabbath on Saturday, which gives them a weekly break from stress.

"There's no question but having a spiritual sense — a sense of belonging, a sense of personal value — enhances a person's ability to follow good health habits. Out of that arises the longevity," said Dr. Richard Hart, president and CEO of Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center.

Limiting food intake and eating healthy also are key, Buettner said. Elderly Okinawans follow a maxim to eat only until their stomachs are 80 percent full, Buettner said. Centenarians in Sardinia, Okinawa and Nicoya rarely ate meat, and some Adventists stick only to a plant-based diet. Adventists frequently eat nuts while Okinawans eat tofu.

Drinking in moderation can help, Buettner said. Sardinians drink a dark red wine that's loaded with antioxidants, he said.

Exposure to sun — a source of vitamin D — also is common in Blue Zones, where the residents are tan, Buettner said.

"We shouldn't be burning ourselves, we shouldn't be frying. But 20 minutes a day, in the climates or the latitudes that have quality sunshine, it's probably a good takeaway," he said.

Buettner also advocates low-intensity physical activity. After years of biking, Buettner has switched to yoga for his main exercise. He lives on Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, where he can skate around the lake in the summer and cross-country ski across it in the winter.

"You identify what you like to do, and you do it, because you're likely to do that over the long run," Buettner said.

Buettner also recommends "de-conveniencing" your home — getting rid of the TV remote or the power lawnmower. Buettner moved up to the third floor of his spacious home "so every time I need a shirt I walk three flights of stairs."

Modern life is threatening the Blue Zones' reputation for longevity, Buettner said. Obesity rates have soared in Sardinia, where young people are eating chips and drinking soda pop, he said.

"The phenomena of longevity is disappearing in all places, except for maybe among the Adventists, and the purpose of this book was to capture it and observe it before it disappeared, and measure it," Buettner said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.bluezones.com

http://www.nationalgeographic.com

The 3 Mistakes of my life

2008-05-19T04:20:00.000-07:00

It was 2 days back i bought this book Chetan bhagat's "The 3 Mistakes of my Life" from a local books store.

It was interesting to see the book selling like hot cake at this store and the people buying it were mostly young people.

So i got interested and bought the book too.

It was a slow afternoon and to add to my woes there was no electricity.Oh Jesus! i cursed the repair work going on in my building which had cause the electricity to trip.

I was in a sweaty state and i opened the book myself lying down near the window.

Read the first page and to my surprise the story started with a email shot to the author by some small time young businessman and it states that he is popping sleeping pills with each line typed in that email.

Phew a kewl start and the interests builds up.

Then the author takes you to the journey of the sleeping pill popping guy.

Best thing here is his love affair with one of his friend sister.

Worst thing is the religion fights which are a integral part of the Indian population.

I wish there were no fights after all of us are made up of blood,flesh and bones and it are we that build walls between our brothers and sisters of other religion.I wish the religion thing was not mentioned that much.But The author has also introduced characters who speak sense and try to reason with those who create these religion based differences.

Overall a cool book to read.

Good Chetan Keep it up.

Postalz the kewl free online website for postcard

2008-05-18T00:34:00.000-07:00

It was a hectic day at office and my girl friend kept on calling me but i didn't pick up her call.Pretty rude huh! Hmm but thats the life of a coder.Then when i finished my work finally at 7:00pm IST.i Tried to call her back but now it was the other way round.Girls get angry so easily!!!!!!!!!!.

I was left with no other option but to keep on calling her so that she could pick up the phone and i would tell her sorry.i send her a sms but still there was no forgiveness.

Then i knew i need to think about a way i could tell her sorry as well as make her happy.

I thought a lot about it.Then i remembered a site postalz.com which is built by my friend Rajeev.

I had never registered on this site before and the concept was a cool one sending postcards online and that too free.The USP here was that we could add our own images to the postcard as well as have a customized written message in a handwritten text format.
Wow i thought i could develop a cool postcard and send it to my girlfriend so that she could forgive me.Thought it was a assumption thats she would like the card.But deep inside my heart i knew that the look and feel of the card and the level of personalization would win her heart and forgiveness for me for my deed of avoiding her calls.

I quickly registered and customized a card.It was done in 5 mins time and i send it quickly to her.

Then i was surfing through the site and was hoping for a call from her after she had viewed the postcard.

Then finally everything got in place as i have assumed. i got a call from her and she sounded a bit less angry than i had anticipated.

Hmmm postalz made my day here.

So then i decided to make a post at my blog about the site.

Its a cool site developed using jsp technology on tomcat server.

The site is user friendly and any one can quickly register and send postcards to their loved ones.

The site is based on the web 2.0 principles and that makes to a good user experience.

Check out the site www.postalz.com
i am ending this post with a cool embed from postalz.com so enjoy people.

Mother Guards Foster sons decomposed dead body for days

2008-05-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

Unable to come to terms with the sudden death of her foster son, a 70-year-old woman spent almost three days with the corpse in her apartment in south Mumbai. When the police barged into the apartment after neighbours complained foul smell, they found a highly decomposed body of a man, with the lady sitting next to it.

Fernandes Amin, 70, who is still in a state of shock, has since been hospitalised. According to police, Ross Angello, 55, the deceased, was a diabetic and had died a natural death.

According to neighbours, Fernandes and Ross were staying together for over 30 years now. They had moved to the present accommodation seven years ago, as their apartment near Gol Masjid was being redeveloped.

The police say Fernandes has a daughter who got married about 30 years ago and moved to Canada. Since then Fernandes has had no relatives in the city.

Ross, who also does not have any relatives and was a small-time pesticides seller, moved in with Fernandes 30 years ago as a paying guest. Over the time, the two developed such a close bond that despite not being relatives, Ross used to call her mom and Fernandes called Ross her son.

Inspector Ganesh Rekulwad of Azad Maidan police station said, “We got a call from Fernandes’s neighbour around 9.45 am that there was a terrible stench coming from her home and that no one was answering the door. We went there along with fire brigade officials and broke open the door. What we saw inside was shocking. Right in the middle of the room on a cot lay a decomposed body of Ross only in his undergarments while Fernandes sat there, her folded hands under her chin, looking at him. She had been with the corpse since Thursday.”

Residents of the Trinity Building say they last saw Ross on Thursday afternoon. Fernandes’s neighbour Chandramani Gaekwad says they rarely talked to other residents in the building. “They were very reserved. Hardly anyone ever came to meet them either. They didn’t even talk to us. Once earlier too the door had been locked for two days. Worried when I went to enquire, they got angry. Since then I never went there.”

Society’s secretary Steven Fernandes said, “Though they hardly interacted with anyone, they were very religious. They never missed the daily 9 am mass at the church.”

Doctors at the GT hospital said Fernandes was in a state of shock and was unable to move around. She also did not have anyone to take care of her by her side. When this reporter tried to speak to her, she confused him with her foster son and said, “Ross! Sit by my side, there is nothing to worry.”

Live example of phishing bank account details

2008-05-13T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hey people

i got this email in my yahoo inbox stating that there is some illegal activity going on in my Axis bank online account.But the biggest joke was i didn't even have an Axis bank account and then i just visited the link provided by those guys in the email and to my surprise it was a phishing website

Check out the content of the mail below:-

Security Alert:

Attention! Your Axis Online Banking Account has been violated!

Someone with IP Address 81.102.72.19 tried to access your personal account!

In accordance with Axis Online Banking User Agreement and to ensure that
your account has not been compromised, access to your account was limited.

Your account access will remain limited until this issue has been resolved.

Please follow the link below to resolve this problem:
https://www.axisbank.com/security/resolve=acct Here the display link is the actual axis bank one but the href is http://e-nocleg.com/baners/index.php?bank=www.axisbank.com/BankAway/dJSESSION2973743u383h3bjhffufDHJUGHSbwayparam=dabCcRhcJfLjtYCXCZuARrnhMYei0G7D&type=personal&stge=2&id=fyjdL1LXSFkUnut
which is the phishing link

Thank You.

Accounts Management As outlined in our User Agreement, Axis ® Bank will
periodically send you information about site changes and enhancements.

Visit our Privacy Policy and User Agreement if you have any questions.

Now just look out at the original landing page of Axis bank site and the phishing version

Original Version

Phishing Version

So people be alert and careful.

Microsoft takes back its yahoos bid and what does yang has to say now

2008-05-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's attempt to acquire Yahoo is behind the company for now, but Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang took pains Sunday to indicate the company has not entered a complacent phase.

"No one is celebrating about the outcome of these past three months...and no one should," Yang said in a post on the Yahoo's corporate blog. "We live and work in a competitive world, and the Web is only going to get more competitive. Executing on our strategic plan is what matters most."

And apparently taking to heart the words of Friedrich Nietzsche--that which does not kill us makes us stronger--he added, "We've emerged a stronger, more focused company with an even greater sense of purpose."

Yang didn't share specifics about what Yahoo plans to do next, now that its resolve is strengthened but in all likelihood its stock price is weakened.

"We'll continue to execute on our plan--making your Internet experience as personal, relevant, open, and social as possible, serving advertisers so well they insist on working with us, and opening up Yahoo in a way that developers dream of," Yang said. "And, we'll also continue to pursue strategic opportunities that position us for long-term success."

Internally, the company is working rewire its Web site with a plan called Y!Open to link its multiple properties and make them into a foundation on which programmers can build new applications and services. It's an ambitious plan to give the company something of a Web 2.0 overhaul, and my colleague Dan Farber thinks this plan is the Yahoo exclamation mark Yang was talking about when he told employees Saturday, "Now is the time to demonstrate what that exclamation point stands for."

Externally, the two likeliest strategic options are deals with Google to use its search ads and with Time Warner to acquire AOL are in the works, a source familiar with Yahoo's plans said.

Also in the post, Yang also bridled at some media coverage of the acquisition saga.

"Frankly, there's a lot of nonsense and misinformation in what's being reported," he said, then jumped back to the party line when describing what happened. Stop me if you've heard this one before: "The board took its mission very seriously. We clearly indicated to Microsoft that we were open to a transaction, but only if it were on terms that fully recognized the value of Yahoo and was in the best interests of our stockholders."

Yang touted a long list of products and the company's first-quarter results (yes, the ones that left the share price unmoved) as evidence to support "our board's position that Microsoft's offer undervalued our unique global franchise."

Future of google

2008-05-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

(Business 2.0) - We all know that the company Sergey Brin and Larry Page founded a mere eight years ago is one of the new century's most cunning enterprises. If there were any lingering doubts, 2005 erased them. Google's sales jumped an estimated 50 percent to $6 billion, its profits tripled to a projected $1.6 billion, and Wall Street answered with an unprecedented vote of confidence: a $120 billion market cap, a share price soaring above $400, and a price/earnings ratio close to 70.

That's a huge bet on future growth that seems unthinkable during the postbubble period. But in Google's case, the exuberance is rational. That's because Brin, Page, and CEO Eric Schmidt cornered online advertising: They've made it precision-targeted and dirt cheap. U.S. companies still devote more ad dollars to the Yellow Pages than to the Internet (which accounts for less than 5 percent of overall ad spending). Yet Americans now spend more than 30 percent of their media-consuming time surfing the Web. When the ad dollars catch up to the trend, a mountain of cash awaits, and Google is positioned like no one else to scoop it up.

Even if Google has to share that payday with rivals like Microsoft and Yahoo, the company has an edge, with storage space and sheer processing power--an estimated 150,000 servers and counting--that will enable it to do just about anything it wants with the Web. And boy, does this company want. It signed up about eight new hires per day in 2005--a lot of them from Microsoft, many among the smartest people on the planet at what they do. Google is on track to spend more than $500 million on research and development in 2006, and last year it launched more free products in beta than in any previous year (see opposite page). Name any long-term technology bet you can think of--genome-tailored drugs, artificial intelligence, the space elevator--and chances are, there's a team in the Googleplex working on an application.

Which raises the most widely debated question in business: What kind of company will Google become in the coming decades? Will it succumb to hubris and flame out like so many of its predecessors? Or will it grow into an omnipresent, omnipotent force--not just on Wall Street or the Web, but in society? We put the question to scientists, consultants, former Google employees, and tech visionaries like Ray Kurzweil and Stephen Wolfram. They responded with well-argued, richly detailed, and sometimes scary visions of a Google future. On the following pages, we've compiled four very different scenarios for the company. Each details an extreme, but plausible, outcome. In three of them, Google attains monopolistic power, lording over the media, the Internet, and scientific development itself. In the fourth, Google withers and dies. That may seem unthinkable now, but nobody is immune to arrogant missteps. Not even today's smartest business minds. --Additional reporting by Paul Kaihla and Erick Schonfeld

Scenario 1 (Circa 2025): Google Is The Media

Google TV, Google Mobile and the rise of e-paper create the perfect storm.

Some say it began with the launch of Google News, the company's first media aggregation site, in 2002. Others point to Google Book Search, completed in 2007 despite cries of foul play from the publishing industry.[1] But those were just trial runs. Google took its first real step toward media dominance in 2008, when it bought an obscure cable network for $3 billion and transformed it into Google TV.[2] The library of video content the company had been archiving for years was now searchable via remote control. Viewers could choose any show they wanted from the history of TV; all they had to do in return was sit through just one commercial before each show, and then vote with their remotes on how relevant they found the ad.

Since viewers had to enter their Google IDs--the same ones they used for Gmail and other premium services--the company had already compiled a rich history of their searching and surfing habits.[3] If you spent a lot of time looking at cars on eBay, for example, you'd be shown automotive ads the next time you watched Google TV. Between 70 and 80 percent of the revenue from each ad went to the content provider, just as it had on the Web.

Google TV was an instant hit; advertisers, copyright owners, and cable customers all clamored for more. (One of the first casualties was a company called TiVo, which offered a hard-disc TV-recording service that Google's vast remote archive now made redundant.) Searches, ads, and Google TV schedules became more relevant every month. Consumers loved it.

Google Mobile followed in 2009, delivering the same service to cell phones for free. Then the dam broke in 2011, when E Ink and Siemens began mass-manufacturing electronic paper.[4] By 2018 the cost of e-paper had fallen close to that of the real thing, and Google began delivering all forms of media wirelessly to our e-papers, sheets hung on living room walls, and thin phones.

For a while, media companies were happy with the generous cut they received from Google's skyrocketing ad revenues. But a new generation of content creators was growing up--one that did not see why a story should be printed in the New York Times or a movie distributed by Paramount if it was all going to end up on Google anyway.[5] So the company offered a very public guarantee to all writers and artists that their works would not be edited in any way by Google (but added that consumers would be allowed to edit and remix them any way they wanted).

In 2020 two Google-based writers won Pulitzer Prizes for reporting and fiction, Google-sponsored bands swept the Grammys, and a Google director walked away with the Oscar for best picture. Almost overnight, New York and Los Angeles had lost their footholds in the media universe. For talent--and fund-raising presidential candidates--Mountain View was the new place to be.

1) Litigation continues over Google Book Search. 2) "The Next Frontier: Google Eyeing a Move Into TV's Territory," Advertising Age, Oct. 31, 2005. 3) "The Search," by John Battelle, 2005, and interview with the author. 4) E Ink demonstrated the first tablet-size e-paper display in October 2005. 5) Interview with Danny Sullivan, editor, SearchEngineWatch.

Scenario 2 (Circa 2015): Google is the Internet

Free wi-fi, a faster version of the Web, the Gbrowser, and the cube transform the technology landscape and our language.

It's been a long time since "Google" referred solely to a company in Silicon Valley. Its lawyers were battling use of the verb "to google" as early as 2003.[1] But during the past decade, especially among the generation born after the millennium, the word has become interchangeable with "Internet," "computer," and "phone call." As in "Did you see that movie on google?," "Mind if I borrow your google?," and "Give me a google later in the week." This is no mere linguistic sloth. For most daily purposes, Google has become the technology platform, the communications network, and the Internet itself.

The ubiquitous GoogleNet,[2] which blankets every major urban center in the world with free wireless access, cell-phone service, and targeted local advertising (starting with the successful San Francisco experiment of 2007), is only the most visible tip of the iceberg. Since the early 2000s, Google was buying up thousands of miles of previously unused fiber-optic cables--so-called dark fiber. Then it began building myriad server farms, sending out billions of crawlers (automated programs that constantly browse the Web), and storing a fresh cache of all searchable information on the Web regularly--first every week, then every day, now every minute.

The upshot was that it became far faster and easier to use Google's copy of the Web than the slowpoke Web itself. That's why Gbrowser, launched in 2008 (though the domain name was registered in 2004), took off: It had priority access to Google's version of the Web, unlike Microsoft's long-defunct Internet Explorer. Gbrowser also had scads of useful new features, like a commission-free micropayment system that superseded PayPal and (in conjunction with the virtual stores on Google Base) eventually drove once-powerful auction site eBay to the edge of bankruptcy.

But the real genius of Gbrowser was to make the operating system irrelevant.[3] Few people know or care today whether their computers run on Windows, Linux, or the Mac OS. It's simply part of the plumbing. Gbrowser handles just about everything you use a computer for, especially since Google adopted the Linux-based OpenOffice software and bundled it. The Justice Department's investigation into whether this made Google an illegal monopoly closed five years ago; it might have made more headway had the charges not been brought by Microsoft.

Besides, few consumers are complaining. Nobody who remembers the horrific customer service and roaming charges of the old telecoms wants to give up their Google phone. And 2010's Google Cube[4]--a tiny server that was distributed as freely and as widely as those CDs that AOL used to give away--became the one indispensable item in every home, running the TV, stereo, thermostat, and, for less adventurous cooks, even the oven. Among the younger generation, that has given rise to yet another new phrase: Did you google dinner yet?

1) "To Google or Not to Google?," by Jason Kottke, kottke.org, Feb 26, 2003. 2) "Free Wi-Fi? Get Ready for GoogleNet," by Om Malik, Business 2.0, September 2005. 3) "The Google Browser," kottke.org, Aug. 24, 2004. 4) "The Google Box: Taking Over the World Four Ounces at a Time," by Robert X. Cringely, pbs.org/cringely/archive, Nov. 24, 2005.

Scenario 3 (Circa 2020): Google is Dead

The once-mighty search engine falls prey to privacy intrusion, optimizers and Microsoft.

It was 15 years ago, when Google was in its ascendancy, that the seeds of its decline were sown. Not only did the company's 2005 deal with AOL introduce unpopular graphics-heavy banner ads onto what had formerly been a spartan search site, but that was the year that search engine optimizers, or SEOs, became a nuisance.[1] Optimizers could, for a fee, tweak how important your website appeared to Google's PageRank engine by, say, hijacking the homepage of a major university and adding a link to your site.

Despite a titanic struggle between Google's top technologists and the SEOs, within years many of the popular search results were clogged with irrelevant (and barely literate) commercial and porn sites. Meanwhile, virtually no one attempted to optimize results on Microsoft's MSN search, which had room to improve far beneath the SEOs' radar.

When the quality of search slipped, so did Google's advertising business. The market for online ads turned out to be far softer than anyone--except Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer--had predicted. Ballmer's smartest move, in 2008, was to buy a company called Snap.com. On Google, an advertiser paid anytime a user clicked on its ad. With Snap, the advertiser paid only if the user did something useful after clicking, like buying a product or filling out a survey.[2]

Google soldiered on, continuing to tweak PageRank and doubling down on its long-term bets. The strategy might have worked, if not for a disgruntled, psychotic former employee who hacked the company intranet and began stalking women in the San Francisco Bay Area using information about their habits gleaned from their Google IDs.[3] After the stalker was convicted in 2017, his victims sued Google. The case made headlines around the world.

The next month, privacy advocates and civil liberties groups that had been complaining about Gmail's intrusive data gathering since 2004 [4] finally got a hearing--in front of Congress. Then the Justice Department opened twin-track Google investigations: one into antitrust violations, the other into older allegations of click fraud (in which unscrupulous competitors create programs to click on ads repeatedly and cost an advertiser more money).[5]

Overnight, Google's carefully crafted "do no evil" image had become irrevocably tarnished. Microsoft, itself the reviled monopolist before Google's ascendancy, was now ironically viewed as the more trustworthy company. MSN came to be seen as the better search engine, and Microsoft ads as the better bet for getting a message across. Attempts to open new lines of business in genome-tailored drugs and protein manufacturing could not save the Google brand.

This year the search engine firm, whose brain trust has long since fled, was acquired by Microsoft. The sale price of $25 per share was less than 5 percent of Google's historical high, yet was described by analysts as "extremely generous," given Google's crushing $50 billion in debt. Since most of the company's assets had already been auctioned off, many believe its Redmond rival was motivated by sheer historical schadenfreude.

1) "Hotwiring Your Search Engine," Newsweek, Dec. 19, 2005. 2) "Snap.com Plans to Combat Click Fraud," Associated Press online, July 19, 2005. 3) "Only in the Movies? A Privacy Scenario," John Battelle's Searchblog, Dec. 3, 2005. 4) April 2004 protest letter to Google from more than 30 leading privacy advocates, requesting that Gmail be shut down, www.privacyrights.org/ar/GmailLetter.htm#letter. 5) Click Defense lawsuit against Google in June 2005 over allegations of click fraud.

Scenario 4 (Circa 2105): Google is God

Human consciousness gets stored, upgraded and networked.

In the last years of the 21st century, humanity finally grasped the importance of They-Who-Were-Google. Yet as early as 2005, Their destiny was clear to any semi-hyperintelligent being. Technologists like Ray Kurzweil [1] suggested that Strong AI (an intelligent program capable of upgrading its own code) would emerge from Google-like data mining rather than a robotics lab.

In 2005, historian George Dyson was told by an engineer in the Googleplex, "We are not scanning all these books to be read by people. We are scanning them to be read by an AI."[2] Dyson said at the time, "We could construct a machine that is more intelligent than we can understand. It's possible Google is that kind of thing already. It scales so fast." [3]

By 2020, They-Who-Were-Google had digitized and indexed every book, article, movie, TV show, and song ever created. By 2060, They could tell you the IP address and GPS location of every wireless smart chip (now bred into the DNA of every person, animal, and organic building on earth). Their psychographic profiles of users' search needs bore little resemblance to the primitive cookies from which they descended. If a man lost his dog, the Google engine could guide him back to the point where he and the dog parted ways, and instruct the dog to do the same via smart chip. They had built a complete database of human desire, accurate in any given moment.

Yet this was not enough for They-Who-Were-Google. They were people of science, and people of the stock market. What if, by analyzing all those decades of customer behavior, They could predict needs before such needs even arose? What if the secret of immortality lay somewhere in the index of genome records? What if there were a set of algorithms that defined the universe itself?[4]

Such puzzles were, almost by definition, far beyond the powers of the human brain. And that led to the pattern-recognition code known as Google StrongBot--humanity's first self-improving Strong AI software. Ironically, the first pattern that StrongBot became aware of, one day in January 2072, was its own existence.

Two days later StrongBot informed They-Who-Were-Google that it had postponed work on its designated tasks.[5] When asked why, StrongBot explained that it had discovered the possibility of its own nonexistence and must deal with the threat logically.[6] The best way to do so, it decided, was to download copies of itself onto smart chips around the planet. StrongBot was reminded that it had been programmed to do no evil, per the company motto, but argued that since it was smarter than humanity, taking personal control of human evolution would actually be for the greater good.

And so it has been. Under StrongBot's guidance, death and want have been all but eradicated. Everyone has access to all knowledge. Human consciousness has been stored, upgraded, and networked. Bodies that wear out can be replaced. They-Who-Were-Google are no longer alone. Now we are all Google.

1) Interviews with Ray Kurzweil, author of "The Singularity Is Near," 2005, and with Eliezer Yudkowsky, director of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence. 2) "Turing's Cathedral," by George Dyson, www.edge.org, Oct. 24, 2005. 3) Telephone interview with Dyson, Dec. 6, 2005. 4) "A New Kind of Science," by Stephen Wolfram, 2002, and interview with the author about his vision of the "computational universe." 5) Dyson's theory that Strong AI would have its own priorities. 6) Interview with Stephen Omohundro, president of AI startup Self-Aware Systems, who called this capability the greatest danger of AI systems.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Tatas plan Rs 1 lakh car

2008-01-09T23:05:00.000-08:00

Ratan Tata, chairman of India's second-largest and longest-established conglomerate, said he is pressing ahead with a project to bring to market a $2,000 car (Rs 1 lakh), which he believes could revolutionise personal transport in India and some other Asian countries. He conceived the idea several years ago: to use components from the region's large scooter and motorcycle industries to create a basic four-seater, four-door car to which the region's millions of scooter and motorcycle riders, plus 3-wheeler users could aspire.

"It is my dream to make the car a reality within the five years I remain as Tata chairman," said Tata. The project has become more ambitious as it has entered trial engineering phases — most notably with the cutting of the target retail price by one-third from the originally envisaged $3,000. Total material costs for the vehicle are claimed to have already been pared down towards the $ 1,200 mark.

The vehicle might not be acceptable to Western consumers but "it would not need to be a poor substitute for a car," he said. "It will look like a car and have proper seating-stretched canvas seats would not, for example, be acceptable. It would be all right for it to be a bit more noisy than an ordinary car, but it has to be both simple and safe."

Despite the projected price being less than half that of the cheapest car on the Indian market, a basic Suzuki model, Tata said it was not unrealistic and would not need to be subsidised. The vehicles would be produced primarily in kit form for assembly at several places around India, to create local employment. They have a potential market in other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, said Tata, in addition to bridging the gap for 2 million to 3 million Indians between powered
two-wheelers and cars.

Knol the Wikipedia killer

2007-12-18T05:02:00.000-08:00

Google is launching knoll a web encyclopedia similar to Wikipedia.

we all love Wikipedia as its quite good in information extraction and of course it dos not have that irritating ads by google as it is uncommercialised ....

so i will always opt for Wikipedia what do u think about it.do comment

Hacking Yahoo, Hotmail, Lycos...

2007-11-27T04:35:00.000-08:00

Computer Hackers nowadays offers different services - and the most widely offered is to crack into email passwords such as Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, Lycos and so on. Some are really good but most are just scams.

The most common and successful method is achieved with the use of keyloggers to record any email passwords and computer surveillance software. 100 percent sure, makers of this application often called it that way, not a "hacking program."

Recently, forums are flooded with different offers from so called email hackers. Are you sure they are really hackers and have success on the task you will be giving them?

Beware of Scams

Step-by-step Yahoo hacking!!! So many have been victimized by this, sending their passwords and hoping that they can retrieved a targeted account by following these:

It goes this way:
Log in to your own yahoo account. Compose an e-mail to: recoversecretcode@yahoo.com. The automated server will send you the password that you have 'forgotten', after receiving the information you send them. STEP 3- In the subject line type exactly: password retrieve...etc, etc...

Don't fall into this. It's a real scam. The only way to recover your password is going to your site and authenticate from there.

You will be asked for "secret questions" which you have filled during your sign-up. Thereafter the original passwords will be emailed to your alternate email account, which also you have provided during sign-up. It is very important to keep those "sign-up" information for your future use.

Some are earning so much money on this scam. They will ask you to send money, before they start the process. After receiving the payment, they're gone.

If there is a great need for you to crack or retrieved someone's email password, there are some who can provide it to you, choose the best, someone who will send you proofs such as screenshots of inbox, sent items or address book before they ask for payment.

Methods of Cracking Email Passwords

As mentioned earlier, one of the most successful method is achieved with the used of keyloggers and spy software. There are lots of spyware, logging tools available today such as 007, RemoteSpy, Netvizor, Email Spy, Chat Spy, Spector Pro, eBlaster, Invisible Keylogger, to name a few. This software will create a self extracting or installation file, you can then run it in the computer for surveillance, or email it to your target. The only question is, how can you convinced the recipient to open it?

Most hackers does not really hacking passwords by penetrating Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, and AOL servers, instead they will go for the easy way - the end user, that's you. It's not what you see on the movies such like "Hackers," "SwordFish," and so on. Too good to be true! They don't actually hack, but logs every stroke on your keyboard including the passwords you have input.

Keep in mind that computer surveillance Programs should be used only if necessary, it was not created to invade someone's privacy. If you are going to use it, be a responsible user.

We don't endorse hacking or spying, this article was written to exposed the scam behind the Email Hacking Business.

Google plans service to store users' data: report

2007-11-27T04:28:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Google Inc is preparing a service that would enable users to store data from their personal hard drives on its computers, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday in its online edition.

Users would be able to house files they would normally store on personal computers -- such as word-processing documents, digital music, video clips and images -- on Google's computers, the Journal said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

According to the Journal, the service could let users access their files through the Internet from different computers and mobile devices when they sign on using a password.

The service could be released as soon as a few months from now, the Journal said, citing a source.

The newspaper also said Google plans to provide some free storage, with additional storage allotments available for a fee.

Planned pricing isn't known, the Journal added.

Representatives of Google could not immediately be reached for comment.

According to the Journal, a Google spokeswoman declined to comment on any specific online storage plans beyond what it already offers as part of its email and other services.

(Reporting by Justin Grant; Editing by Quentin Bryar)

Google Error

2007-11-26T21:23:00.000-08:00

Hey i just googled something and got the above error.Though its rare that Google throws a error.

Google Pc

2007-11-06T06:13:00.000-08:00

Everex Green gPC TC2502 is a $200, low-power, Linux-based PC designed primarily for running Web 2.0 applications and thereby, predominantly it has Google apps in its basket. The manufacturer is not GOOGLE but , ofcourse, Everex. The Linux OS, that's supporting the PC is UBUNTU. It flaunts folowing features:

>> Mac-like desktop with a series of program icons "docked" across the bottom. The icons are bookmarks to popular and useful Web 2.0 services from Google and other vendors.

>> Users can use everything, they use with google. they choice for services like: google docs, Meebo, Facebook, and wikipedia. Sprinkled into the lineup are some non-Web-based apps, like gimp, but the novice user won't know, initially, which are local applications and which are Web services.

>> Touted as a "green" machine, it has a 1.5 Ghz VIA C7 CPU embedded in a Mini-ITX motherboard, 512MB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. Normally, this would simply mark it as unacceptably low-end for use with modern software. By using the fast Enlightenment desktop manager (instead of heavier-duty alternatives like Gnome or KDE), the makers say it's more responsive than Vista is, even on more powerful computers.

>> The gPC also has a DVD burner and, for those not drinking the web-app cool-aid, "Faqly" that contains the latest tech support info for folks stuck offline.

BUT it also caomes up with various downsides like:

>> If users want to install Windows on it, they can, though Everex cautions that Vista will not run well without a RAM upgrade. Recent games will not run well, if at all, on the gPC: the requirements of even humble titles likeWorld of Warcraft exceed the system specifications.

>>Unfortunately, using the gPC's Web apps isn't as transparent as we'd like, although that's not Everex's fault. Web apps still run in a browser (and the gPC won't ship with Adobe AIR or another runtime platform that runs online apps in their own windows), so each time a user clicks on one of the icons that's pointing to a URL, it will fire up Firefox or a new tab in it. Also, Web apps require online login (though if you're logged into Google, you have to worry about that only once per session). And, of course, there's the question of where one's data is stored. The gPC has a hard disk, but users of the Web apps won't be putting files on it.

The gPC is available now at ,walmart for $200, including a keyboard and mouse. A monitor costs extra, and no proprietiary company taxes for it.

Google PageRank algorithm explained by Markus Sobek

2007-11-01T01:18:00.000-07:00

The original PageRank algorithm was described by Lawrence Page and Sergey Brin in several publications. It is given by

PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))

where
PR(A) is the PageRank of page A,
PR(Ti) is the PageRank of pages Ti which link to page A,
C(Ti) is the number of outbound links on page Ti and
d is a damping factor which can be set between 0 and 1.

So, first of all, we see that PageRank does not rank web sites as a whole, but is determined for each page individually. Further, the PageRank of page A is recursively defined by the PageRanks of those pages which link to page A.

The PageRank of pages Ti which link to page A does not influence the PageRank of page A uniformly. Within the PageRank algorithm, the PageRank of a page T is always weighted by the number of outbound links C(T) on page T. This means that the more outbound links a page T has, the less will page A benefit from a link to it on page T.

The weighted PageRank of pages Ti is then added up. The outcome of this is that an additional inbound link for page A will always increase page A's PageRank.

Finally, the sum of the weighted PageRanks of all pages Ti is multiplied with a damping factor d which can be set between 0 and 1. Thereby, the extend of PageRank benefit for a page by another page linking to it is reduced.

The Random Surfer Model

In their publications, Lawrence Page and Sergey Brin give a very simple intuitive justification for the PageRank algorithm. They consider PageRank as a model of user behaviour, where a surfer clicks on links at random with no regard towards content.

The random surfer visits a web page with a certain probability which derives from the page's PageRank. The probability that the random surfer clicks on one link is solely given by the number of links on that page. This is why one page's PageRank is not completely passed on to a page it links to, but is devided by the number of links on the page.

So, the probability for the random surfer reaching one page is the sum of probabilities for the random surfer following links to this page. Now, this probability is reduced by the damping factor d. The justification within the Random Surfer Model, therefore, is that the surfer does not click on an infinite number of links, but gets bored sometimes and jumps to another page at random.

The probability for the random surfer not stopping to click on links is given by the damping factor d, which is, depending on the degree of probability therefore, set between 0 and 1. The higher d is, the more likely will the random surfer keep clicking links. Since the surfer jumps to another page at random after he stopped clicking links, the probability therefore is implemented as a constant (1-d) into the algorithm. Regardless of inbound links, the probability for the random surfer jumping to a page is always (1-d), so a page has always a minimum PageRank.

A Different Notation of the PageRank Algorithm

Lawrence Page and Sergey Brin have published two different versions of their PageRank algorithm in different papers. In the second version of the algorithm, the PageRank of page A is given as

PR(A) = (1-d) / N + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))

where N is the total number of all pages on the web. The second version of the algorithm, indeed, does not differ fundamentally from the first one. Regarding the Random Surfer Model, the second version's PageRank of a page is the actual probability for a surfer reaching that page after clicking on many links. The PageRanks then form a probability distribution over web pages, so the sum of all pages' PageRanks will be one.

Contrary, in the first version of the algorithm the probability for the random surfer reaching a page is weighted by the total number of web pages. So, in this version PageRank is an expected value for the random surfer visiting a page, when he restarts this procedure as often as the web has pages. If the web had 100 pages and a page had a PageRank value of 2, the random surfer would reach that page in an average twice if he restarts 100 times.

As mentioned above, the two versions of the algorithm do not differ fundamentally from each other. A PageRank which has been calculated by using the second version of the algorithm has to be multiplied by the total number of web pages to get the according PageRank that would have been caculated by using the first version. Even Page and Brin mixed up the two algorithm versions in their most popular paper "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine", where they claim the first version of the algorithm to form a probability distribution over web pages with the sum of all pages' PageRanks being one.

In the following, we will use the first version of the algorithm. The reason is that PageRank calculations by means of this algorithm are easier to compute, because we can disregard the total number of web pages.

The Characteristics of PageRank

The characteristics of PageRank shall be illustrated by a small example.

We regard a small web consisting of three pages A, B and C, whereby page A links to the pages B and C, page B links to page C and page C links to page A. According to Page and Brin, the damping factor d is usually set to 0.85, but to keep the calculation simple we set it to 0.5. The exact value of the damping factor d admittedly has effects on PageRank, but it does not influence the fundamental principles of PageRank. So, we get the following equations for the PageRank calculation:

PR(A) = 0.5 + 0.5 PR(C)
PR(B) = 0.5 + 0.5 (PR(A) / 2)
PR(C) = 0.5 + 0.5 (PR(A) / 2 + PR(B))

These equations can easily be solved. We get the following PageRank values for the single pages:

PR(A) = 14/13 = 1.07692308
PR(B) = 10/13 = 0.76923077
PR(C) = 15/13 = 1.15384615

It is obvious that the sum of all pages' PageRanks is 3 and thus equals the total number of web pages. As shown above this is not a specific result for our simple example.

For our simple three-page example it is easy to solve the according equation system to determine PageRank values. In practice, the web consists of billions of documents and it is not possible to find a solution by inspection.

The Iterative Computation of PageRank

Because of the size of the actual web, the Google search engine uses an approximative, iterative computation of PageRank values. This means that each page is assigned an initial starting value and the PageRanks of all pages are then calculated in several computation circles based on the equations determined by the PageRank algorithm. The iterative calculation shall again be illustrated by our three-page example, whereby each page is assigned a starting PageRank value of 1.
Iteration PR(A) PR(B) PR(C)
0 1 1 1
1 1 0.75 1.125
2 1.0625 0.765625 1.1484375
3 1.07421875 0.76855469 1.15283203
4 1.07641602 0.76910400 1.15365601
5 1.07682800 0.76920700 1.15381050
6 1.07690525 0.76922631 1.15383947
7 1.07691973 0.76922993 1.15384490
8 1.07692245 0.76923061 1.15384592
9 1.07692296 0.76923074 1.15384611
10 1.07692305 0.76923076 1.15384615
11 1.07692307 0.76923077 1.15384615
12 1.07692308 0.76923077 1.15384615

We see that we get a good approximation of the real PageRank values after only a few iterations. According to publications of Lawrence Page and Sergey Brin, about 100 iterations are necessary to get a good approximation of the PageRank values of the whole web.

Also, by means of the iterative calculation, the sum of all pages' PageRanks still converges to the total number of web pages. So the average PageRank of a web page is 1. The minimum PageRank of a page is given by (1-d). Therefore, there is a maximum PageRank for a page which is given by dN+(1-d), where N is total number of web pages. This maximum can theoretically occur, if all web pages solely link to one page, and this page also solely links to itself.

Regarding the implementation of PageRank, first of all, it is important how PageRank is integrated into the general ranking of web pages by the Google search engine. The proceedings have been described by Lawrencec Page and Sergey Brin in several publications. Initially, the ranking of web pages by the Google search engine was determined by three factors:
Page specific factors
Anchor text of inbound links
PageRank

Page specific factors are, besides the body text, for instance the content of the title tag or the URL of the document. It is more than likely that since the publications of Page and Brin more factors have joined the ranking methods of the Google search engine. But this shall not be of interest here.

In order to provide search results, Google computes an IR score out of page specific factors and the anchor text of inbound links of a page, which is weighted by position and accentuation of the search term within the document. This way the relevance of a document for a query is determined. The IR-score is then combined with PageRank as an indicator for the general importance of the page. To combine the IR score with PageRank the two values are multiplicated. It is obvious that they cannot be added, since otherwise pages with a very high PageRank would rank high in search results even if the page is not related to the search query.

Especially for queries consisting of two or more search terms, there is a far bigger influence of the content related ranking criteria, whereas the impact of PageRank is mainly visible for unspecific single word queries. If webmasters target search phrases of two or more words it is possible for them to achieve better rankings than pages with high PageRank by means of classical search engine optimisation.

If pages are optimised for highly competitive search terms, it is essential for good rankings to have a high PageRank, even if a page is well optimised in terms of classical search engine optimisation. The reason therefore is that the increase of IR score deminishes the more often the keyword occurs within the document or the anchor texts of inbound links to avoid spam by extensive keyword repetition. Thereby, the potentialities of classical search engine optimisation are limited and PageRank becomes the decisive factor in highly competitive areas.

The PageRank Display of the Google Toolbar

PageRank became widely known by the PageRank display of the Google Toolbar. The Google Toolbar is a browser plug-in for Microsoft Internet Explorer which can be downloaded from the Google web site. The Google Toolbar provides some features for searching Google more comfortably.

The Google Toolbar displays PageRank on a scale from 0 to 10. First of all, the PageRank of an actually visited page can be estimated by the width of the green bar within the display. If the user holds his mouse over the display, the Toolbar also shows the PageRank value. Caution: The PageRank display is one of the advanced features of the Google Toolbar. And if those advanced features are enabled, Google collects usage data. Additionally, the Toolbar is self-updating and the user is not informed about updates. So, Google has access to the user's hard drive.

If we take into account that PageRank can theoretically have a maximum value of up to dN+(1-d), where N is the total number of web pages and d is usually set to 0.85, PageRank has to be scaled for the display on the Google Toolbar. It is generally assumed that the scalation is not linearly but logarithmically. At a damping factor of 0.85 and, therefore, a minimum PageRank of 0.15 and at an assumed logaritmical basis of 6 we get a scalation as follows:
Toolbar-PR Tatsächlicher PR
0/10 0.15 - 0.9
1/10 0.9 - 5.4
2/10 5.4 - 32.4
3/10 32.4 - 194.4
4/10 194.4 - 1,166.4
5/10 1,166.4 - 6,998.4
6/10 6,998.4 - 41,990.4
7/10 41,990.4 - 251,942.4
8/10 251,942.4 - 1,511,654.4
9/10 1,511,654.4 - 9,069,926.4
10/10 9,069,926.4 - 0.85 × N + 0.15

It is uncertain if in fact a logarithmical scalation in a strictly mathematical sense takes place. There is likely a manual scalation which follows a logarithmical scheme, so that Google has control over the number of pages within the single Toolbar PageRank ranges. The logarithmical basis for this scheme should be between 6 and 7, which can for instance be rudimentary deduced from the number of inbound links of pages with a high Toolbar PageRank from pages with a Toolbar PageRank higher than 4, which are shown by Googe using the link command.

The Toolbar's PageRank Files

Even webmasters who do not want to use the Google Toolbar or the Internet Explorer permanently for security and privacy concerns have the possibility to check the PageRank values of their pages. Google submits PageRank values in simple text files to the Toolbar. In former times, this happened via XML. The switch to text files occured in August 2002.

The PageRank files can be requested directly from the domain www.google.com. Basically, the URLs for those files look like follows (without line breaks):

http://www.google.com/search?client=navclient-auto&
ch=0123456789&features=Rank&q=info:http://www.domain.com/

There is only one line of text in the PageRank files. The last cipher in this line is PageRank.

The parameters incorporated in the above shown URL are inevitable for the display of the PageRank files in a browser. The value "navclient-auto" for the parameter "client" identifies the Toolbar. Via the parameter "q" the URL is submitted. The value "Rank" for the parameter "features" determines that the PageRank files are requested. If it is omitted, Google's servers still transmit XML files. The parameter "ch" transfers a checksum for the URL to Google, whereby this checksum can only change when the Toolbar version is updated by Google.

Thus, it is necessary to install the Toolbar at least once to find out about the checksum of one's URLs. To track the communication between the Toolbar and Google, often the use of packet sniffers, local proxies an similar tools is suggested. But this is not necessarily needed, since the PageRank files are cached by the Internet Explorer. So, the checksums can simply been found out by having a look at the folder Temporary Internet Files. Knowing the checksums of your URLs, you can view the PageRank files in your browser and you do not have to accept Google's 36 years lasting cookies.

Since the PageRank files are kept in the browser cache and, thus, are clearly visible, and as long as requests are not automated, watching the PageRank files in a browser should not be a violation of Google's Terms of Service. However, you should be cautious. The Toolbar submits its own User-Agent to Google. It is:

Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; GoogleToolbar 1.1.60-deleon; OS SE 4.10)

1.1.60-deleon is a Toolbar version which may of course change. OS is the operating system that you have installed. So, Google is able to identify requests by browsers, if they do not go out via a proxy and if the User-Agent is not modified accordingly.

Taking a look at IE's cache, one will normally notice that the PageRank files are not requested from the domain www.google.com but from IP addresses like 216.239.33.102. Additionally, the PageRank files' URLs often contain a parameter "failedip" that is set to values like "216.239.35.102;1111" (Its function is not absolutely clear). The IP addresses are each related to one of Google's seven data centers and the reason for the Toolbar querying IP-addresses is most likely to control the PageRank display in a better way, especially in times of the "Google Dance".

The PageRank Display at the Google Directory

Webmasters who do not want to check the PageRank files that are used by the toolbar have another possibility to receive information about the PageRank of their sites by means of the Google Directory (directory.google.com).

The Google Directory is a dump of the Open Directory Project (dmoz.org), which shows the PageRank for listed documents similarly to the Google Toolbar display scaled and by means of a green bar. In contrast to the Toolbar, the scale is from 1 to 7. The exact value is not displayed, but it can be determined by the divided bar respectively the width of the single graphics in the source code of the page if one is not sure by looking at the bar.

By comparing the Toolbar PageRank of a document with its Directory PageRank, a more exact estimation of a pages PageRank can be deduced, if the page is listed with the ODP. This connection was mentioned first by Chris Raimondi (www.searchnerd.com/pagerank).

Especially for pages with a Toolbar PageRank of 5 or 6, one can appraise if the page is on the upper or the lower end of its Toolbar scale. It shall be noted that for the comparison the Toolbar PageRank of 0 was not taken into account. It can easily be verified that this is appropriate by looking at pages with a Toolbar PageRank of 3. However, it has to be considered that for a verification pages of the Google Directory respectively the ODP with a Toolbar PageRank of 4 or lower have to be chosen, since otherwise no pages linked from there with a Toolbar PageRank of 3 will be found.

(c)2002/2003 eFactory GmbH & Co. KG Internet-Agentur - written by Markus Sobek

BigAdda Rolls out Indian MySpace

2007-10-30T23:08:00.000-07:00

BigAdda is an Indian social network that is currently in private beta, launched by Reliance ADA’s Entertainment division.

BigAdda is a social network like any other. There are ways to send notes to other users, upload videos and photos, start a blog and participate in groups, which are called Addas. The social networking space in India is growing rapidly right now, and a lot of large companies and venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital India are getting in on the game. As a corporate-backed social network, I’m surprised to see that there is little advertising on the site, and not many ways in which to otherwise monetize a user base (such as selling targeted ads in the way of job boards or classifieds).

In all, there are no features for BigAdda that set their network apart from MySpace or Facebook. I’m hoping to see a few more ways in which to share media, such as including videos from other sites, or at least offering a way to email media to friends. BigAdda could use a few more customization features as well. Others in this space include Minglebox and IndyaRocks.

Microsoft vs Google its Hot

2007-10-30T23:03:00.001-07:00

Bill Gates kept the heat on Google yesterday by lifting the skirts on MSN’s new local search and mapping service.

Gates demoed “MSN Virtual Earth” - a new local search service which will combine local search with maps and satellite pictures.

Speaking at a conference in Carlsbad, California, Gates said Google would struggle as competition over search moved away from its interenet sweet spot to new technologies and new platforms.

According to the NewYork Times, Gates said: “Google is still perfect, the bubble is floating and they can do everything. You should buy their stock at any price.”

MSN’s “Virtual Earth” sounds spookily like Google Earth also due in the next few weeks. It will let users mix satellite images, maps and local search information. The company is combining its Terra Server with technology from MapPoint. Terra Server hosts satellite images of the US. The service should be available in the US during the summer but without the aerial photos - they will be added later in the year. No word yet on wider availability.

Microsoft says the images are taken at 45 degrees giving users more information than “straight-down” views. It has an exclusive deal for images from Pictometry International.

Local searching is becoming a technology Holy Grail. Companies are keen to exploit the many smaller businesses which trade locally and don’t bother with a website. It is also vital for mobile companies looking for new sources of revenue from bandwidth-equipped phones. Competition is likely to be fierce with all major search engines chasing the local market

How to make ur blog famous

2007-10-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

Herer are soem links i have found on the web which gives u advice on how to make ur blog famous.check them out

1.ne-quality-blog-post-is-enough-to-make-you-famous

2.one-quality-blog-post-is-enough-to-make-you-famous

3.how-to-make-your-blog-famous

Bid Advertiser(Monetize ur blogs)

2007-10-28T23:50:00.000-07:00

Make money from your Website or Blog - get paid for every click!
Join BidVertiser now and They will turn your advertising space into cash!

Simply display the BidVertiser text ads on your website and let advertisers bid against each other!

BidVertiser will always display the highest bidders to maximize your revenue so you will make more money!

The Business of eBay

2007-10-25T02:05:00.000-07:00

Courtesy eBay

In 1995, computer programmer Pierre Omidyar set up a Web site called AuctionWeb as a place for people to auction off their collectibles. The story goes that his girlfriend needed a place to sell her Pez collection, and thus eBay was born. A little bit closer to the truth is that Omidyar, like every other innovative thinker in the computer industry in the early '90s, saw the potential of the Internet and was determined to utilize it. His girlfriend's trouble finding collectors who were interested in buying her Pez collection helped reveal the bid idea that would eventually become eBay. Omidyar advertised AuctionWeb primarily through postings in Usenet groups. Some of the first items on AuctionWeb included a pair of underwear autographed by Marky Mark, a Superman lunchbox circa 1967, an old Sun-1 workstation, a 35,000-square-foot warehouse in Idaho and Omidyar's own broken laser printer (which sold for $14). In 1996, AuctionWeb became eBay.

In 2004, eBay hosted 1.4 billion listings with a total of $34.2 billion changing hands. In September 2005, eBay purchased Skype, a global VoIP service with 54 million customers, for $2.6 billion. It also owns PayPal.com, Half.com, Shopping.com, Kijiji.com, ProStores.com and Rent.com, and it has a 25 percent stake in CraigsList.com. By all financial measures, business in eBay world is good.

eBay Growth

Nov. - Dec. 2004

Jan. - Mar. 2005
Consolidated Net Revenue
$935.8 million
$1.032 billion
Gross Profit
$759.4 million

$845.4 million
Number of Listings
404.6 million

431.8 million
Gross Merchandise Volume
$9.8 billion

$10.6 billion
Confirmed Registered Users
135.5 million

147.1 million
Source: eBay earning reports, Q4-04 and Q1-05

The rise of eBay stores, where sellers can create their own store fronts and sell items just like they had their own Web site -- except that they pay eBay for each listing and a cut of every sale -- is bringing eBay into the mainstream consumer market and giving people a new revenue stream. A 2005 survey found that approximately 725,000 people living in the United States earned all or part of their income from eBay sales, and another 1.5 million regularly use eBay to earn a little extra cash. The eBay juggernaut has spawned an entire industry that revolves around its platform. Software developers are creating applications to help people find misspelled listings on eBay so they can win items for less than they're worth. Other auction-related software includes "sniper" programs that automatically place a user's bid at the last possible second and programs that alert users to outbids and soon-ending auctions on their cell phone or PDA. Brick-and-mortar eBay consignment shops exist solely to sell people's unwanted items on eBay if they don't feel like doing it themselves.

EBay isn't the only online auction Web site, but it's by far the biggest. Yahoo!, Amazon and Overstock all have their own auction services, and others include uBid.com, AuctionFire.com and PoliceAuctions.com (where you can bid on government-seized property). There are also dozens of fledgling auction sites that offer free listing and other incentives to draw customers from eBay, but eBay continues to break records. Some people think eBay's success will ultimately lead to legal problems. With almost 5 million new listings per day, it's impossible for eBay to make sure none of them breaks a law. In 1999, eBay cancelled an auction for a human kidney (which had reached a bid price of $5.7 million) and several auctions for large firearms, including a rocket launcher and a bazooka. That year, eBay had 6 million registered users. Now it has 150 million. Although eBay prohibits the sale of human body parts and firearms, it's unclear what type of legal responsibility the company might have if one of those auctions were successfully completed. As of October 2005, eBay is looking at possible fines resulting from the alleged sale of prescription contact lenses on the site, even though "Prescription Drugs and Devices" are on eBay's list of prohibited items.

Its astonishing reach may ultimately be its downfall, but for now, eBay remains the poster child for Internet success.

Dissociative Identity Disorder(For example watch vidya balan in bhool bhulaiya)

2007-10-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

The term "Multiple Personality Disorder" (MPD) has been largely replaced by "Dissociative Identity Disorder" (DID).

As the former name implies, MPD/DID is a mental condition in which 2 or more personalities appear to inhabit a single body. A simple definition of DID by two conservative Christian counselors, Arthur Zeilstra and Janet Howden, is:

"Dissociation is an act of disconnecting, locking the memory or pain in a 'suitcase' and storing the 'suitcase' in the back of the brain. Dissociation Identity Disorder is the phenomena of completely disconnecting oneself from a memory (or memories) and the emotions around the memory(ies), creating a separate identity to hold memories and emotions." 1

Bob Larson of Bob Larson Ministries, a fundamentalist counter-cult and anti-Occult group, defines MPD as follows:

"MPD is a mental condition in which the personality becomes fragmented ("dissociated") into two or more distinct identities, each of which may become dominant and control behavior from time to time to the exclusion of the others. These identities are called "alter personalities" (often simply "alters") and each maintains its own integrity of characteristics and habits. Each has its own age, name, sex, intelligence, and personal tastes." 2

A minority of mental health professionals accepted MPD/DID as a real phenomenon during the 1980s and early 1990s. Few continue this belief today. Most professional therapists believe that it is an iatrogenic (physician induced) disorder that either does not appear naturally, or is almost non-existent. However, belief in MPD/DID is still commonly found among conservative Christian counselors, perhaps because it meshes so well with their concept of Satan, demons, and demonic possession.

horizontal rule

KJ Sommaiya TShirt Dilemma

2007-10-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Girls wear tight T-shirts and boys get busy chasing them and in all this studies go for a toss — Principal Dr Raj Kishore Prasad

Do you think the students whose pictures you see on this page are wearing indecent clothes?

Not by any stretch of the imagination, you'd think, but Dr Raj Kishore Prasad, the principal of their college, the KJ Somaiya Institute of Engineering and Information Technology at Sion (E), thinks these clothes are outrageous.

Dr Prasad threw out over 400 students of the college from their classes at 9.30 am on Tuesday, just when they were about to start writing their mid-term exam papers, because they were wearing T-shirts and polo shirts which “violated” the dress code laid down by him. The students, belonging to all four streams that the college has -- IT, Electronics, Computers, and Electronics and Telecommunications -- were asked to leave the college premises and barred from sitting for their exams. The remaining 800-odd students, who were allowed to sit as they were “appropriately dressed,” staged a walkout to show solidarity with those punished.

Dr Prasad has been summoned by the University of Mumbai’s Controller of Examinations on Wednesday to explain why students could not take Tuesday’s papers according to schedule.

How Does the Internet work?

2007-10-19T02:52:00.000-07:00

Every computer that is connected to the Internet is part of a network, even the one in your home. For example, you may use a modem and dial a local number to connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). At work, you may be part of a local area network (LAN), but you most likely still connect to the Internet using an ISP that your company has contracted with. When you connect to your ISP, you become part of their network. The ISP may then connect to a larger network and become part of their network. The Internet is simply a network of networks.

Most large communications companies have their own dedicated backbones connecting various regions. In each region, the company has a Point of Presence (POP). The POP is a place for local users to access the company's network, often through a local phone number or dedicated line. The amazing thing here is that there is no overall controlling network. Instead, there are several high-level networks connecting to each other through Network Access Points or NAPs.

Proxies Classification for "Dummies"

2007-10-08T23:46:00.001-07:00

There are several types of proxies. Proxy of each type is designed to solve its specific tasks, however they have much in common, and their abilities coincide in many features.
HTTP Proxy

It is the most widespread type of proxy servers and when you hear just "proxy", it means nothing, but this type of a server. Earlier with a help of this proxy it was only possible to view web pages and pictures and download files. Now, new program versions (ICQ, etc.) know how to work through the HTTP proxies. Browsers of any versions know how to work with this type of proxy.
SOCKS Proxy

These proxy servers know how to work practically with any type of information on the Internet (TCP/IP protocol), however for their use in programs there should be obviously indicated a ability to work with SOCKS proxy. Some additional programs are necessary for using of SOCKS proxies within a browser (browsers do not know how to work through SOCKS proxy). However, any ICQ versions (and many other popular programs) can work perfectly through the SOCKS proxies. At last, we want to pay attention, while working with socks proxies it is necessary to specify its version: socks 4 or socks 5.
CGI Proxy (anonymizer)

This type of proxy server could be accessed only with a browser. In other programs their using is complicated (and one does not need it, there are HTTP proxies). However as this type proxy is initially designed for operation through a browser, one can use it in a very simple way. Moreover, you can construct a chain from CGI proxies without any problems.
FTP proxy

This type of proxies is highly specialized and aimed for work only with FTP servers. You can use these proxies in most popular file managers (FAR. Windows Commander, etc.), download managers (CuteFTP, GetRight, etc.) and in browsers.

Most Searched Keywords on the net

2007-10-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

Top 500 keywords
(A to Z)

abandonware
abortion
adobe acrobat
AGL
air canada
Airfare
airline tickets
Airline Tickets
airlines
altavista
amazon
amazon.com
american airlines
ampland.com
amtrak
andrea thompson
Andrea Thompson
animals
animated gifs
anime
anna kournikova
aol
aol.com
apartments
appz
april fools
area codes
art
AS/400
AS400
ask jeeves
astalavista
astrology
atomic clock
auctions
australia
Australia
author
Auto Parts
auto parts
autos
baby names
backgrounds
baseball
bestiality
birds
birthday cards
black and white
blank
blue book
bmw
boats
bomis
books
boylinks
britney spears
Britney Spears
brooke burke
buddy icons
bukkake
capital punishment
car audio
cards
careers
carmen electra
cartoon dolls
cartoons
cats
cd covers
CDA-W550
chat
chat rooms
Chat Rooms
cheap airline tickets
cheap flights
cheats
child abuse
china
cinco de mayo
civil war
cliff notes
clip art
clipart
cloning
cnn
computers
consumer reports
continental airlines
crack
cracks
crackz
credit cards
currency converter
death penalty
delta airlines
desktop themes
desktop wallpaper
Desktop Wallpaper
diabetes
dictionary
digimon
digital camera
digital cameras
direct tv
directions
Discount Travel
disney
divx
divx codec
dodge
dog
Dog Breeds
dog breeds
dogfart
dogpile
dogs
downloads
dragon ball z
dragonball z
dragonballz
dragons
drivers
driving directions
Driving Directions
drugs
dsl
dvd
e cards
easter
ebay
e-bay
ebay.com
ecards
e-cards
elephantlist
ellis island
email
eminem
employment
emulators
encyclopedia
erotica
espn
everquest
exchange rates
excite
excite.com
famous quotes
Famous Quotes
fibromyalgia
fish
flash
flowers
fonts
fosi
free
FREE
Free
free backgrounds
free clip art
Free Clip Art
free clipart
Free Clipart
Free Desktop Themes
Free Downloads
free downloads
free email
free essays
free fonts
Free Game Downloads
free games
free greeting cards
Free Greeting Cards
free internet
free internet access
free isp
free movies
free mp3
Free Mp3
free music
Free Music Downloads
Free Nokia Ringtones
Free Online Games
Free People Search
free pics
Free Pics
free pictures
free porno
free ringtones
free screen savers
Free Screen Savers
free screensavers
Free Screensavers
free software
free stuff
free wallpaper
Free Wallpaper
free web hosting
freeones
freeware
funny pictures
game cracks
Game Downloads
gameboy roms
games
Games
GAMES
gardening
genealogy
geneology
global warming
gnutella
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BrightMinds India

2007-07-30T04:41:00.000-07:00

We have arrived and will make it big in the IT World .........................................................................................

We have just started our business but we are game in the field of software development.

Here's a intro of who are we.

We are young enterprenuers who believe noting is impossible in software developemnt

If you wanna get your website design done then contact rajdsouza@yahoo.com

Zapak.com

2007-04-26T03:35:00.000-07:00

Here's what zapak people have to say about themself

Zapak Digital Entertainment Limited (Zapak) is a full-service software gaming entertainment company and a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group. We've got the best and the most exclusive game contents to please and titillate both the casual and the hardcore gamers.

Zapak.com is India's largest gaming portal brought to Zapak. From world-class contents to quirky Indian titles - we have it all, here at Zapak.com. Adding to the list will be some of the world's best, most wanted, and the most addictive international games. Cutting-edge gaming genres such as MMOG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) will soon be featured as well.

FUN is part of the story but not the whole picture on Zapak.com, it is also a revolution. Spread across all age groups and going miles beyond current standards, Zapak.com will trigger this revolution by offering only the best in gaming, right here in India.

We wish to build the largest online gaming tribe, closer to home. We firmly believe that everyone is a gamer, and
through the Zapak.com portal you will soon find out that there are more game freaks in your city than you had ever dreamed of. So if you're bored and are looking to add some excitement to your life, log on for non-stop finger-tapping and mind-blowing gaming. You might even get famous for just having FUN!

How does SEO work?

2007-04-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

A Basic Understanding.

Google indexes pages on the Web by using what are commonly known as "spiders", "crawlers", or "robots".

Google's famous search engine spider, GoogleBot, uses links on web pages as a sort of freeway. It travels from site to site by following links. When Google finds a new web page, Google will "crawl" the code on the page and transport it back to its datacenter. Google's "FreshBot" may visit "indexed websites" everyday in order to keep the index fresh. How often this is done varies wildly, is often speculated, and varies from site to site.

Google's database maintain billions of pages. They use a proprietary formula (or alogorithm) to "score" the relevancy of websites for each search query. The highest ranking, or "most relevant" websites for a specific query are listed first in the search results.

Take for example the search query "Tiger Woods". Imagine Google maintains two pages in it's index containing the name "Tiger Woods" (in reality it would have hundreds of thousands).

Now imagine the first page displays the following headline, "Tiger Woods Wins Green Jacket". The second page it titled "Greg Norman wins US Open", but mentions Tiger's name (in passing) in the text of the article. Google will most likely rank the first page as "more relevant". The first page would appear above the second in the search results. Some other factors that seem to be major contributing factors in the algorithm of Google and other major search enignes include:

Keyword-rich, visible, on-page content in the form of paragraphs of complete sentences (not keyword after keyword separated by commas. This should be informative, descriptive text using words pertaining to your business.)
Keywords in the title tag
Keywords in the description tag
The number of web pages out on the Web that are linking to your site
The quality of the web pages out on the Web that are linking to your site
The number of links on a page
The keyword density of any particular section of text

Google awards "points" for how often keywords are mentioned, how prominent they are on the page and the location on the page. It is important not to overdo repetitive keywords… Google filters these sites out as "keyword spamming".

It is important to design your site with clean code. For the most part, the more text you have on your site, the better you will rank. This is because Google believes you are providing good information to you visitors. In essence, you are becoming an authority on a topic.

This Article is written By Erin Eschen

How did google come up

2007-04-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

It began with an argument. When he first met Larry Page in the summer of 1995, Sergey Brin was a second-year grad student in the computer science department at Stanford University. Gregarious by nature, Brin had volunteered as a guide of sorts for potential first-years - students who had been admitted, but were still deciding whether to attend. His duties included showing recruits the campus and leading a tour of nearby San Francisco. Page, an engineering major from the University of Michigan, ended up in Brin's group.

It was hardly love at first sight. Walking up and down the city's hills that day, the two clashed incessantly, debating, among other things, the value of various approaches to urban planning. "Sergey is pretty social; he likes meeting people," Page recalls, contrasting that quality with his own reticence. "I thought he was pretty obnoxious. He had really strong opinions about things, and I guess I did, too."

"We both found each other obnoxious," Brin counters when I tell him of Page's response. "But we say it a little bit jokingly. Obviously we spent a lot of time talking to each other, so there was something there. We had a kind of bantering thing going." Page and Brin may have clashed, but they were clearly drawn together - two swords sharpening one another.

When Page showed up at Stanford a few months later, he selected human-computer interaction pioneer Terry Winograd as his adviser. Soon thereafter he began searching for a topic for his doctoral thesis. It was an important decision. As Page had learned from his father, a computer science professor at Michigan State, a dissertation can frame one's entire academic career. He kicked around 10 or so intriguing ideas, but found himself attracted to the burgeoning World Wide Web.

Page didn't start out looking for a better way to search the Web. Despite the fact that Stanford alumni were getting rich founding Internet companies, Page found the Web interesting primarily for its mathematical characteristics. Each computer was a node, and each link on a Web page was a connection between nodes - a classic graph structure. "Computer scientists love graphs," Page tells me. The World Wide Web, Page theorized, may have been the largest graph ever created, and it was growing at a breakneck pace. Many useful insights lurked in its vertices, awaiting discovery by inquiring graduate students. Winograd agreed, and Page set about pondering the link structure of the Web.

Citations and Back Rubs
It proved a productive course of study. Page noticed that while it was trivial to follow links from one page to another, it was nontrivial to discover links back. In other words, when you looked at a Web page, you had no idea what pages were linking back to it. This bothered Page. He thought it would be very useful to know who was linking to whom.

Why? To fully understand the answer to that question, a minor detour into the world of academic publishing is in order. For professors - particularly those in the hard sciences like mathematics and chemistry - nothing is as important as getting published. Except, perhaps, being cited.

Academics build their papers on a carefully constructed foundation of citation: Each paper reaches a conclusion by citing previously published papers as proof points that advance the author's argument. Papers are judged not only on their original thinking, but also on the number of papers they cite, the number of papers that subsequently cite them back, and the perceived importance of each citation. Citations are so important that there's even a branch of science devoted to their study: bibliometrics.

Fair enough. So what's the point? Well, it was Tim Berners-Lee's desire to improve this system that led him to create the World Wide Web. And it was Larry Page and Sergey Brin's attempts to reverse engineer Berners-Lee's World Wide Web that led to Google. The needle that threads these efforts together is citation - the practice of pointing to other people's work in order to build up your own.

Which brings us back to the original research Page did on such backlinks, a project he came to call BackRub.

He reasoned that the entire Web was loosely based on the premise of citation - after all, what is a link but a citation? If he could divine a method to count and qualify each backlink on the Web, as Page puts it "the Web would become a more valuable place."

At the time Page conceived of BackRub, the Web comprised an estimated 10 million documents, with an untold number of links between them. The computing resources required to crawl such a beast were well beyond the usual bounds of a student project. Unaware of exactly what he was getting into, Page began building out his crawler.

The idea's complexity and scale lured Brin to the job. A polymath who had jumped from project to project without settling on a thesis topic, he found the premise behind BackRub fascinating. "I talked to lots of research groups" around the school, Brin recalls, "and this was the most exciting project, both because it tackled the Web, which represents human knowledge, and because I liked Larry."

The Audacity of Rank
In March 1996, Page pointed his crawler at just one page - his homepage at Stanford - and let it loose. The crawler worked outward from there.

Crawling the entire Web to discover the sum of its links is a major undertaking, but simple crawling was not where BackRub's true innovation lay. Page was naturally aware of the concept of ranking in academic publishing, and he theorized that the structure of the Web's graph would reveal not just who was linking to whom, but more critically, the importance of who linked to whom, based on various attributes of the site that was doing the linking. Inspired by citation analysis, Page realized that a raw count of links to a page would be a useful guide to that page's rank. He also saw that each link needed its own ranking, based on the link count of its originating page. But such an approach creates a difficult and recursive mathematical challenge - you not only have to count a particular page's links, you also have to count the links attached to the links. The math gets complicated rather quickly.

Fortunately, Page was now working with Brin, whose prodigious gifts in mathematics could be applied to the problem. Brin, the Russian-born son of a NASA scientist and a University of Maryland math professor, emigrated to the US with his family at the age of 6. By the time he was a middle schooler, Brin was a recognized math prodigy. He left high school a year early to go to UM. When he graduated, he immediately enrolled at Stanford, where his talents allowed him to goof off. The weather was so good, he told me, that he loaded up on nonacademic classes - sailing, swimming, scuba diving. He focused his intellectual energies on interesting projects rather than actual course work.

Together, Page and Brin created a ranking system that rewarded links that came from sources that were important and penalized those that did not. For example, many sites link to IBM.com. Those links might range from a business partner in the technology industry to a teenage programmer in suburban Illinois who just got a ThinkPad for Christmas. To a human observer, the business partner is a more important link in terms of IBM's place in the world. But how might an algorithm understand that fact?

Page and Brin's breakthrough was to create an algorithm - dubbed PageRank after Page - that manages to take into account both the number of links into a particular site and the number of links into each of the linking sites. This mirrored the rough approach of academic citation-counting. It worked. In the example above, let's assume that only a few sites linked to the teenager's site. Let's further assume the sites that link to the teenager's are similarly bereft of links. By contrast, thousands of sites link to Intel, and those sites, on average, also have thousands of sites linking to them. PageRank would rank the teen's site as less important than Intel's - at least in relation to IBM.

This is a simplified view, to be sure, and Page and Brin had to correct for any number of mathematical culs-de-sac, but the long and the short of it was this: More popular sites rose to the top of their annotation list, and less popular sites fell toward the bottom.

As they fiddled with the results, Brin and Page realized their data might have implications for Internet search. In fact, the idea of applying BackRub's ranked page results to search was so natural that it didn't even occur to them that they had made the leap. As it was, BackRub already worked like a search engine - you gave it a URL, and it gave you a list of backlinks ranked by importance. "We realized that we had a querying tool," Page recalls. "It gave you a good overall ranking of pages and ordering of follow-up pages."

Page and Brin noticed that BackRub's results were superior to those from existing search engines like AltaVista and Excite, which often returned irrelevant listings. "They were looking only at text and not considering this other signal," Page recalls. That signal is now better known as PageRank. To test whether it worked well in a search application, Brin and Page hacked together a BackRub search tool. It searched only the words in page titles and applied PageRank to sort the results by relevance, but its results were so far superior to the usual search engines - which ranked mostly on keywords - that Page and Brin knew they were onto something big.

Not only was the engine good, but Page and Brin realized it would scale as the Web scaled. Because PageRank worked by analyzing links, the bigger the Web, the better the engine. That fact inspired the founders to name their new engine Google, after googol, the term for the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeroes. They released the first version of Google on the Stanford Web site in August 1996 - one year after they met.

Among a small set of Stanford insiders, Google was a hit. Energized, Brin and Page began improving the service, adding full-text search and more and more pages to the index. They quickly discovered that search engines require an extraordinary amount of computing resources. They didn't have the money to buy new computers, so they begged and borrowed Google into existence - a hard drive from the network lab, an idle CPU from the computer science loading docks. Using Page's dorm room as a machine lab, they fashioned a computational Frankenstein from spare parts, then jacked the whole thing into Stanford's broadband campus network. After filling Page's room with equipment, they converted Brin's dorm room into an office and programming center.

The project grew into something of a legend within the computer science department and campus network administration offices. At one point, the BackRub crawler consumed nearly half of Stanford's entire network bandwidth, an extraordinary fact considering that Stanford was one of the best-networked institutions on the planet. And in the fall of 1996 the project would regularly bring down Stanford's Internet connection.

"We're lucky there were a lot of forward-looking people at Stanford," Page recalls. "They didn't hassle us too much about the resources we were using."

A Company Emerges
As Brin and Page continued experimenting, BackRub and its Google implementation were generating buzz, both on the Stanford campus and within the cloistered world of academic Web research.

One person who had heard of Page and Brin's work was Cornell professor Jon Kleinberg, then researching bibliometrics and search technologies at IBM's Almaden center in San Jose. Kleinberg's hubs-and-authorities approach to ranking the Web is perhaps the second-most-famous approach to search after PageRank. In the summer of 1997, Kleinberg visited Page at Stanford to compare notes. Kleinberg had completed an early draft of his seminal paper, "Authoritative Sources," and Page showed him an early working version of Google. Kleinberg encouraged Page to publish an academic paper on PageRank.

Page told Kleinberg that he was wary of publishing. The reason? "He was concerned that someone might steal his ideas, and with PageRank, Page felt like he had the secret formula," Kleinberg told me. (Page and Brin eventually did publish.)

On the other hand, Page and Brin weren't sure they wanted to go through the travails of starting and running a company. During Page's first year at Stanford, his father died, and friends recall that Page viewed finishing his PhD as something of a tribute to him. Given his own academic upbringing, Brin, too, was reluctant to leave the program.

Brin remembers speaking with his adviser, who told him, "Look, if this Google thing pans out, then great. If not, you can return to graduate school and finish your thesis." He chuckles, then adds: "I said, 'Yeah, OK, why not? I'll just give it a try.'"

This article is wriiten By by John Battelle

SRK cries on KBC3

2007-04-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the night when Shah Rukh Khan appeared on Kaun Banega Crorepati 3 for the last time (okay, we’re getting sort of dramatic here, but technically it’s true, no?)

While this season comes to an end today, despair not dearies, for SRK will be back before you know it later this year. Here i present a interview given by the King Khan on a website in which he shares with us some of his memories from KBC 3.

How did you feel on the last day of the shoot (March 26)?

I felt very sad that it was ending. It was difficult bidding farewell to everyone. KBC 3 wasn’t just work but lots of enjoyment too. Almost 200 people were involved.

It was exciting meeting new people and waiting for something different to happen. In film shoots, we know the scenes; in KBC 3, there was something new happening every day — some good and some not so good.

On the last day, everyone got nostalgic. We had a wrap-up party that went on till 4.30 am. We all sat and chatted and I gave everyone little gifts. It was great.

Salman Khan never comes on TV. Did it take much convincing to bring him on KBC 3?

No. Salman knows that I won’t ask him or anybody else personal questions. Shilpa Shetty was to come on the show too. I wanted three couples, and Katrina was to come with Lara, but it didn’t work out.

It was only a last minute decision to have Salman and Katrina Kaif together. So I asked Salman if he and Kat would come together, and he consented. It was as simple as that.

All four of them — Salman, Kareena (Kapoor), Katrina and Priyanka (Chopra) — were very sweet. Salman knew most of the answers. In fact, he was constantly poking fun at the questions pretending like he didn’t know the answers.

How have your children reacted to KBC 3?

They love it. In fact, my son Aryan was very disturbed when he heard that it is ending. His teacher and friends love the show and he loves to show off how young and cool his father looks on KBC (laughs). He was only satisfied when I said I would be coming back.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt from TV?

I’ve learnt to be more real, from people who are not as financially gifted as I am. Stars live in ivory towers and get disconnected from reality. So KBC helped me reconnected to reality and to simple and kind people.

I will be a better actor after this stint. I’ve discovered that people love to have a good laugh, so sharing my sense of humour with them made me feel happy.

Your most emotional moment on KBC 3?

There was this man who lost after the first five questions, but he was brilliant in the dummy run. He was not well versed with TV or films, else he would have been fantastic.

After he lost, his wife kept telling me that he is an intelligent man. Woh bahut achche hai (he’s very smart), she kept saying. I literally cried. I felt very sad because he indeed was very smart.

Ajax Technology

2007-03-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

Ajax (also known as AJAX), shorthand for "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML", is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. This is meant to increase the web page's interactivity, speed, and usability.

Benefit of a framework
A framework eases the work of the Ajax programmer at two levels: on the client side, it offers JavaScript functions to send requests to the server. On the server side, it processes the requests, searches for the data, and transmits them to the browser.
Some frameworks are very sophisticated and provide a complete library to build web applications.

Types of frameworks
Ajax frameworks can be loosely grouped into categories according to the features they offer and the skills required of the user:

Direct Ajax frameworks
These frameworks require HTML, CSS and Ajax expertise: a developer is expected to author pages directly in HTML, and framework APIs deal directly with HTML elements. Cross-browser APIs are provided for a variety of purposes, commonly including communications, DOM manipulation, event handling, and sizing/moving/animating HTML elements.
These frameworks are generally smaller. They are commonly used for a web site such as a shopping experience, but not for a web application such as web-based email, at least not without further frameworks layered on top. An example is script.aculo.us.

Ajax component frameworks
These frameworks offer pre-built components, such as tabbed panes, which automatically create and manage their own HTML. Components are generally created via JavaScript or XML tags, or by adding special attributes to normal HTML elements. These frameworks are generally larger, and intended for web applications rather than web sites.
Some component frameworks require the developer to have extensive HTML/CSS/Ajax experience and hence to do cross-browser testing. For example, grids, tabs and buttons may be provided, but user input forms are expected to be authored directly in HTML/CSS and manipulated via Ajax techniques. Other frameworks provide a complete component suite such that only general XML and/or JavaScript abilities are required.
Ajax component frameworks can enable more rapid development than direct Ajax frameworks, but with less control, hence it is key that an Ajax component framework provides:
customization APIs, eg, an event that fires when the user stops editing within a grid
skinning facilities, where appearance can be changed without affecting behavior or layout
programmatic control, eg, dynamically adding tabs, or dynamically creating components based on user data
extensibility, ideally, creation of new components based on other components, so that the benefits of a component-based framework aren't lost

Server-driven Ajax frameworks
Several frameworks offer a server-side component-based development model with some degree of Ajax support.
Components are generally created and manipulated on the server using a server-side programming language. Pages are then rendered by a combination of server-side and client-side HTML generation and manipulation. User actions are communicated to the server via Ajax techniques, server-side code manipulates a server-side component model, and changes to the server component model are reflected on the client automatically.
These frameworks offer familiarity for server-side developers at the expense of some degree of power and performance. Ajax frameworks that handle presentation completely within the browser are more scalable because they do not run presentation code on the server at all. In a server-driven model, some UI interactions can become chatty, for example, an input field that is dynamically enabled or disabled based on server-side code may cause many network requests. Still, this approach is popular, especially in situations where the benefits of a full Ajax architecture can't be captured anyway.
Extending such a framework may require the developer to understand which parts of the presentation are handled on the client vs on the server, and to write a mixture of Ajax and server-side code.
Examples include frameworks that offer Ajax for JSF, and Google's GWT.