INFORMATION REDEFINED

EA REVS UP STREET RACING CULTURE WITH NEED FOR SPEED CARBON SOUNDTRACK

2006-09-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

Redwood City, Calif., September 19, 2006 -- Fasten your seatbelts for the most intense ride of the year as EA redefines the sound of street racing with Need for Speed™ Carbon. For this long-awaited new chapter in the top-selling franchise, EA™ Trax has created an international soundtrack of 30 diverse cuts that reflect the game’s three distinct car classes; exotics, muscles and tuners. The riff-heavy power of such bands as Kyuss, Eagles of Death Metal, UK’s Metro Riots and Australia’s Wolfmother fuels the Muscle Cars. For the game’s Japanese Tuner Cars, the soundtrack delivers a newly revitalized sub-genre of electronic music known as ‘Electro’ originally pioneered by Gary Numan and personified by such artists as UK’s Ladytron and Goldfrapp, Australia’s The Presets, Japan’s melody. and Canada’s Tiga. Exotic cars are represented by a mix of the new UK Grime scene with artists such as Lady Sovereign, Roots Manuva and Sway, International Hip Hop from Pharrell, and Philadelphia’s Spank Rock. And while the different crews may compete head-to-head, the three music genres combine to create what may be the most compelling and combustible game soundtrack of the year."Street racing is an international outlaw sport with a velocity all its own," said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing at EA. "Need for Speed Carbon takes a cinematically sonic approach to the sport’s different personalities and the crews that rule it. We’ve spent close to a year working with artists and labels from around the world to ensure that not only does the music capture the true hardcore styles of the sport, it also pushes it forward with breakthrough new artists. By combining these genres, we’ve now taken the premier street racing simulation brand in the industry to an unstoppable new level."The complete in-game soundtrack for Need for Speed Carbon includes:

Artist Song
Dynamite MC Bounce
Dynamite MC After Party
Eagles Of Death Metal Don’t Speak (I Came to Make A Bang!)
Ekstrak feat. Know-1 Hard Drivers
Every Move A Picture Signs Of Life
Gary Numan/Tubeway Army Are ‘Friends’ Electric
Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five Scorpio
Goldfrapp Ride A White Horse (Serge Santiago Remix)
Kyuss Hurricane
Lady Sovereign Luv Me Or Hate Me
Ladytron Sugar (Jagz Kooner Remix)
Ladytron Fighting In Built Up Areas
melody. FEEL THE RUSH (Junkie XL Remix)
Metro Riots Thee Small Faces
Part 2 feat. Fallacy One Of Dem Days (Remix)
Pharrell feat. Lauren Skateboard P Presents: Show You How To Hustle
Priestess I Am The Night, Colour Me Black
Roots Manuva No Love
Spank Rock What It Look Like
Sway Hype Boys
The Bronx Around The Horn
The Presets Steamworks
The Vacation I’m No Good
Tiga Good As Gold
Tigarah Girl Fight (Mr. D Hyphy Mix)
Tomas Andersson Washing Up (Tiga Remix)
Valient Thorr Heatseeker
Vitalic My Friend Dario
Wolfmother Joker And The Thief
Yonderboi People Always Talk About The Weather (Junkie XL Remix

Developed in Vancouver, B.C. by EA Blackbox Need for Speed Carbon will be available on November 1, 2006 in North America and Europe. Need for Speed Carbon will be available for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Wii™ as well as the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox® videogame system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube™, Nintendo DS™, Game Boy® Advance, PSP™ (PlayStation Portable) handheld entertainment system, PC and mobile. More information can be found at www.needforspeed.com

Trailer at http://rapidshare.de/files/25693304/cole-Need_For_Speed_-_Carbon_Trailer.rar

AWESOME PICTURE

2006-06-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

COMMENTS AWAITED

Exclusive: Arjun Singh interview on IBN

2006-05-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Karan Thapar: Hello and welcome to the Devil's Advocate. As the debate over the reservations for the OBCs divides the country, we ask: What are the government's real intentions? That is the critical questions that I shall put today in an exclusive interview to the Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh.

Karan Thapar:Most of the people would accept that steps are necessary to help the OBCs gain greater access to higher education. The real question is: Why do you believe that reservations is the best way of doing this?

Devil's Advocate: Arjun Singh
Interview Part I Part II

Arjun Singh: I wouldn't like to say much more on this because these are decisions that are taken not by individuals alone. And in this case, the entire Parliament of this country - almost with rare unanimity - has decided to take this decision.

"Parliament has taken a view and it has taken a decision, I am a servant of Parliament and I will only implement"

Karan Thapar: Except that Parliament is not infallible. In the Emergency, when it amended the Constitution, it was clearly wrong, it had to reverse its own amendments. So, the question arises: Why does Parliament believe that the reservation is the right way of helping the OBCs?

Arjun Singh: Nobody is infallible. But Parliament is Supreme and at least I, as a Member of Parliament, cannot but accept the supremacy of Parliament.

Karan Thapar: No doubt Parliament is supreme, but the Constitutional amendment that gives you your authorities actually enabling amendment, it is not a compulsory requirement. Secondly, the language of the amendment does not talk about reservations, the language talks about any provision by law for advancement of socially and educationally backward classes. So, you could have chosen anything other than reservations, why reservations?

Arjun Singh: Because as I said, that was the 'will and desire of the Parliament'.

Karan Thapar: Do you personally also, as Minister of Human Resource Development, believe that reservations is the right and proper way to help the OBCs?

Arjun Singh: Certainly, that is one of the most important ways to do it.

Karan Thapar: The right way?

Arjun Singh: Also the right way.

Karan Thapar: In which case, lets ask a few basic questions. We are talking about the reservations for the OBCs in particular. Do you know what percentage of the Indian population is OBC? Mandal puts it at 52 per cent, the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) at 32 per cent, the National Family and Health Survey at 29.8 per cent, which is the correct figure?

Arjun Singh: I think that should be decided by people who are more knowledgeable. But the point is that the OBCs form a fairly sizeable percentage of our population.

Karan Thapar: No doubt, but the reason why it is important to know 'what percentage' they form is that if you are going to have reservations for them, then you must know what percentage of the population they are, otherwise you don't know whether they are already adequately catered to in higher educational institutions or not.

Arjun Singh: That is obvious - they are not.

Karan Thapar: Why is it obvious?

Arjun Singh: Obvious because it is something which we all see.

Karan Thapar: Except for the fact that the NSSO, which is a government appointed body, has actually in its research in 1999 - which is the most latest research shown - that 23.5 per cent of all university seats are already with the OBCs. And that is just 8.5 per cent less than what the NSSO believes is the OBC share of the population. So, for a difference of 8 per cent, would reservations be the right way of making up the difference?

Arjun Singh: I wouldn't like to go behind all this because, as I said, Parliament has taken a view and it has taken a decision, I am a servant of Parliament and I will only implement.

Karan Thapar: Absolutely, Parliament has taken a view, I grant it. But what people question is the simple fact - Is there a need for reservations? If you don't know what percentage of the country is OBC and if, furthermore, the NSSO is correct in pointing out that already 23.5 per cent of the college seats are with the OBC, then you don't have a case in terms of need.

Arjun Singh: College seats, I don't know.

Karan Thapar: According to the NSSO - which is a government appointed body - 23.5 per cent of the college seats are already with the OBCs.

Arjun Singh: What do you mean by college seats?

Karan Thapar: University seats, seats of higher education.

Arjun Singh: Well, I don't know I have not come across that so far.

Karan Thapar: So, when critics say to you that you don't have a case for reservation in terms of need, what do you say to them?

Arjun Singh: I have said what I had to say and the point is that that is not an issue for us to now debate.

Karan Thapar: You mean the chapter is now closed?

Arjun Singh: The decision has been taken.

Karan Thapar: Regardless of whether there is a need or not, the decision is taken and it is a closed chapter.

Arjun Singh: So far as I can see, it is a closed chapter and that is why I have to implement what all Parliament has said.

"So far as I can see, it is a closed chapter and that is why I have to implement what all Parliament has said"

Karan Thapar: Minister, it is not just in terms of 'need' that your critics question the decision to have reservation for OBCs in higher education. More importantly, they question whether reservations themselves are efficacious and can work.

For example, a study done by the IITs themselves shows that 50 per cent of the IIT seats for the SCs and STs remain vacant, and for the remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent are the candidates who even after six years fail to get their degrees. So, clearly, in their case, reservations are not working.

Arjun Singh: I would only say that on this issue, it would not be correct to go by all these figures that have been paraded.

Karan Thapar: You mean the IIT figures themselves could be dubious?

Arjun Singh: Not dubious, but I think that is not the last word.

Karan Thapar: All right, maybe the IIT may not be the last word, let me then quote to you the report of the Parliamentary Committee on the welfare for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes - that is a Parliamentary body.

It says, that looking at the Delhi University, between 1995 and 2000, just half the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Castes level and just one-third of the seats for under-graduates at the Scheduled Tribes level were filled. All the others went empty, unfilled. So, again, even in Delhi University, reservations are not working.

Arjun Singh: If they are not working, it does not mean that for that reason we don't need them. There must be some other reason why they are not working and that can be certainly probed and examined. But to say that for this reason, 'no reservations need to be done' is not correct.

Karan Thapar: Fifty years after the reservations were made, statistics show, according to The Hindustan Times, that overall in India, only 16 per cent of the places in higher education are occupied by SCs and STs. The quota is 22.5 per cent, which means that only two-thirds of the quota is occupied. One-third is going waste, it is being denied to other people.

Arjun Singh: As I said, the kind of figures that have been brought out, in my perception, do not reflect the realities. Realities are something much more and, of course, there is an element of prejudice also.

Karan Thapar: But these are figures that come from a Parliamentary Committee. It can't be prejudiced; they are your own colleagues.

Arjun Singh: Parliamentary Committee has given the figures, but as to why this has not happened, that is a different matter.

Karan Thapar: I put it to you that you don't have a case for reservations in terms of need, you don't have a case for reservations in terms of their efficacy, why then, are you insisting on extending them to the OBCs?

Arjun Singh: I don't want to use that word, but I think that your argument is basically fallacious.

Karan Thapar: But it is based on all the facts available in the public domain.

Arjun Singh: Those are facts that need to be gone into with more care. What lies behind those facts, why this has not happened, that is also a fact.

Karan Thapar: Let’s approach the issue of reservations differently in that case. Reservations mean that a lesser-qualified candidate gets preference over a more qualified candidate, solely because in this case, he or she happens to be an OBC. In other words, the upper castes are being penalised for being upper caste.

Arjun Singh: Nobody is being penalised and that is a factor that we are trying to address. I think that the Prime Minister will be talking to all the political parties and will be putting forward a formula, which will see that nobody is being penalised.

Karan Thapar: I want very much to talk about that formula, but before we come to talk about how you are going to address concerns, let me point one other corollary: Reservations also gives preference and favour to caste over merit. Is that acceptable in a modern society?

Arjun Singh: I don't think the perceptions of modern society fit India entirely.

Karan Thapar: You mean India is not a modern society and therefore can't claim to be treated as one?

Arjun Singh: It is emerging as a modern society, but the parameters of a modern society do not apply to large sections of the people in this country.

Karan Thapar: Let me quote to you Jawaharlal Nehru, a man whom you personally admire enormously. On the 27th of June 1961 wrote to the Chief Ministers of the day as follows: I dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain second-rate or third-rate. The moment we encourage the second-rate, we are lost. And then he adds pointedly: This way lies not only folly, but also disaster. What do you say to Jawaharlal Nehru today?

Arjun Singh: Jawaharlal Nehru was a great man in his own right and not only me, but everyone in India accept his view.

Karan Thapar: But you are just about to ignore his advice.

Arjun Singh: No. Are you aware that it was Jawaharlal Nehru who introduced the first amendment regarding OBCs?

"I don't think the perceptions of modern society fit India entirely. It is emerging as a modern society, but the parameters of a modern society do not apply to large sections of the people in this country"

Karan Thapar: Yes, and I am talking about Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961, when clearly he had changed his position, he said, “I dislike any kind of reservations”.

Arjun Singh: I don't think one could take Panditji's position at any point of time and then overlook what he had himself initiated.

Karan Thapar: Am I then to understand that regardless of the case that is made against reservations in terms of need, regardless of the case that has been made against reservations in terms of efficacy, regardless of the case that has been made against reservations in terms of Jawaharlal Nehru, you remain committed to extending reservations to the OBCs.

Arjun Singh: I said because that is the will of Parliament. And I think that common decisions that are taken by Parliament have to be honoured.

Karan Thapar: Let me ask you a few basic questions. If reservations are going to happen for the OBCs in higher education, what percentage of reservations are we talking about?

Arjun Singh: No, that I can't say because that has yet to be decided.

Karan Thapar: Could it be less than 27 per cent?

Arjun Singh: I can't say anything on that, I have told you in the very beginning that at this point of time it is not possible for me to.

Karan Thapar: Quite right. If you can't say, then that also means that the figure has not been decided.

Arjun Singh: The figure will be decided, it has not been decided yet.

Karan Thapar: The figure has not been decided. So, therefore the figure could be 27, but it could be less than 27, too?

Arjun Singh: I don't want to speculate on that because as I said, that is a decision which will be taken by Parliament.

Karan Thapar: Whatever the figure, one thing is certain that when the reservations for OBCs happen, the total quantum of reservations will go up in percentage terms. Will you compensate by increasing the total number of seats in colleges, universities, IITs and IIMs so that the other students don't feel deprived.

Arjun Singh: That is one of the suggestions that has been made and is being seriously considered.

Karan Thapar: Does it find favour with you as a Minister for Human Resource Development?

Arjun Singh: Whatever suggestion comes, we are committed to examine it.

Karan Thapar: You may be committed to examine it, but do you as minister believe that that is the right way forward?

Arjun Singh: That could be one of the ways, but not the only way.

Karan Thapar: What are the other ways?

Arjun Singh: I don't know. That is for the Prime Minister and the other ministers to decide.

Karan Thapar: One way forward would be to increase the total number of seats.

Arjun Singh: Yes, definitely.

Karan Thapar: But the problem is that, as the Times of India points out, we are talking of an increase of perhaps as much as 53 per cent. Given the constraints you have in terms of faculty and infrastructure, won't that order of increase dilute the quality of education?

Arjun Singh: I would only make one humble request, don't go by The Times of India and The Hindustan Times about faculty and infrastructure, because they are trying to focus on an argument which they have made.

Karan Thapar: All right, I will not go by The Times of India, let me instead go by Sukhdev Thorat, the Chairman of the UGC. He points out that today, at higher education levels - that is all universities, IITs and IIMs - there is already a 1.2 lakh vacancy number. Forty per cent of these are in teaching staff, which the IIT faculty themselves point out that they have shortages of up to 30 per cent. Given those two constraint, can you increase the number of seats?

Arjun Singh: That can be addressed and that shortage can be taken care of.

Karan Thapar: But it can't be taken care of in one swoop, it will take several years to do it.

Arjun Singh: I don't know whether it can be taken care of straightway or in stages, that is a subject to be decided.

"I would only make one humble request, don't go by the media, because they are trying to focus on an argument which they have made."

Karan Thapar: Let me ask you bluntly, if you were to agree to compensate for reservations for OBCs by increasing the number of seats, would that increase happen at one go, or would it be staggered over a period of two-three or four year old process.

Arjun Singh: As I told you, it is an issue that I cannot comment upon at this moment because that is under examination.

Karan Thapar: So, it may happen in one go and it may happen in a series of several years.

Arjun Singh: I can't speculate on that because that is not something on which I am free to speak on today.

Karan Thapar: Will the reservation for OBCs, whatever figure your Committee decides on, will it happen in one go, or will it slowly be introduced in stages?

Arjun Singh: That also I cannot say because, as I told you, all these issues are under consideration.

Karan Thapar: Which means that everything that is of germane interest to the people concerned is at the moment 'under consideration' and the government is not able to give any satisfaction to the students who are deeply concerned.

Arjun Singh: That is not the point. The government knows what to do and it will do what is needed.

Karan Thapar: But if the government knows what to do, why won't you tell me what the government wants to do?

Arjun Singh: Because unless the decision is taken, I cannot tell you.

Karan Thapar: But you can share with me as the minister what you are thinking.

Arjun Singh: No.

Karan Thapar: So, in other words, we are manitaining a veil of secrecy and the very people who are concerned...

Arjun Singh: I am not maintaining a veil of secrecy. I am only telling you what propriety allows me to tell you.

Karan Thapar: Propriety does not allow you to share with the people who are protesting on the streets what you are thinking of?

Arjun Singh: I don't think that that can happen all the time.

Karan Thapar: But there are people who feel that their lives and their futures are at stake and they are undertaking fasts until death.

Arjun Singh: It is being hyped up, I don't want to go into that.

Karan Thapar: Do you have no sympathy for them?

Arjun Singh: I have every sympathy.

Karan Thapar: But you say it is being hyped up.

Arjun Singh: Yes, it is hyped up.

Karan Thapar: So, then, what sympathy are you showing?

Arjun Singh: I am showing sympathy to them and not to those who are hyping it up.

Karan Thapar: The CPM says that if the reservations for the OBCs are to happen, then what is called the ‘creamy layer’ should be excluded. How do you react to that?

Arjun Singh: The ‘creamy layer’ issue has already been taken care of by the Supreme Court.

Karan Thapar: That was vis-a-vis jobs in employment, what about at the university level, should they be excluded there as well because you are suggesting that the answer is yes?

Arjun Singh: That could be possible.

Karan Thapar: It could be possible that the ‘creamy layer’ is excluded from reservations for OBCs in higher education?

Arjun Singh: It could be, but I don't know whether it would happen actually.

Karan Thapar: Many people say that if reservations for OBCs in higher education happen, then the children of beneficiaries should not be entitled to claim the same benefit.

Arjun Singh: Why?

Karan Thapar: So that there is always a shrinking base and the rate doesn't proliferate.

Arjun Singh: I don't think that that is a very logical way of looking at it.

Karan Thapar: Is that not acceptable to you?

Arjun Singh: No, it is not the logical way of looking at it.

Karan Thapar: So, with the possible exception of the creamy layer exclusion, reservation for OBCs in higher education will be almost identical to the existing reservations for SC/STs?

Arjun Singh: Except for the percentage.

Karan Thapar: Except for the percentage.

Arjun Singh: Yes.

Karan Thapar: So, in every other way, they will be identical.

Arjun Singh: Yes, in every other way.

"Actually, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had a meeting in which OBC leaders were called to convince them that this would give them the desired advantage"

Karan Thapar: Mr Arjun Singh, on the 5th of April when you first indicated that the Government was considering reservation for OBCs in higher education, was the Prime Minister in agreement that this was the right thing to do?

Arjun Singh: I think, there is a very motivated propaganda on this issue. Providing reservation to OBCs was in the public domain right from December 2005, when Parliament passed the enabling resolution.

Karan Thapar: Quite true. But had the Prime Minister specifically agreed on or before 5th of April to the idea?

Arjun Singh: Well, I am telling you it was already there. A whole Act was made, the Constitution was amended and the Prime Minister was fully aware of what this is going to mean. Actually, he had a meeting in which OBC leaders were called to convince them that this would give them the desired advantage. And they should, therefore, support this resolution. And at that meeting, he himself talked to them. Now, how do you say that he was unaware?

Karan Thapar: But were you at all aware that the Prime Minister might be in agreement with what was about to happen but might not wish it disclosed publicly at that point of time? Were you aware of that?

Arjun Singh: It was already there in public domain, that's what I am trying to tell you.

Karan Thapar: Then answer this to me. Why are members of the PMO telling journalists that Prime Minister was not consulted and that you jumped the gun?

Arjun Singh: Well, I don't know which member of the PMO you are talking about unless you name him.

Karan Thapar: Is there a conspiracy to make you the Fall Guy?

Arjun Singh: Well, I don't know whether there is one or there is not. But Fall Guys are not made in this way. And I am only doing what was manifestly clear to every one, was cleared by the party and the Prime Minister. There is no question of any personal agenda.

Karan Thapar: They say that, in fact, you brought up this issue to embarrass the Prime Minister.

Arjun Singh: Why should I embarrass the Prime Minister? I am with him. I am part of his team.

Karan Thapar: They say that you have a lingering, forgive the word, jealousy because Sonia Gandhi chose Manmohan Singh and not you as Prime Minister.

Arjun Singh: Well, that is canard which is below contempt. Only that person can say this who doesn't know what kind of respect and regard I hold for Sonia Gandhi. She is the leader. Whatever she decides is acceptable to me.

Karan Thapar: They also say that you brought this issue up because you felt that the Prime Minister had been eating into your portfolio. Part of it had gone to Renuka Chaudhury and, in fact, your new deputy minister Purandar Sridevi had taken over certain parts. This was your way of getting back.

Arjun Singh: No one was taking over any part. This is a decision which the Prime Minister makes as to who has to have what portfolio. And he asked Mrs Renuka Devi to take it and he cleared it with me first.

Karan Thapar: So there is no animus on your part?

Arjun Singh: Absolutely not.

Karan Thapar: They say that you did this because you resented the Prime Minister's popular image in the country, that this was your way of embroiling him in a dispute that will make him look not like a modern reformer but like an old-fashioned, family-hold politician instead.

Arjun Singh: Well, the Tammany Hall political stage is over. He is our Prime Minister and every decision he has taken is in the full consent with his Cabinet and I don't think there can be any blame on him.

"I have not jumped the gun. If this is an issue, which is sensitive, everyone has to treat it that way."

Karan Thapar: One, then, last quick question. Do you think this is an issue, which is a sensitive issue, where everyone knew there would have been passions and emotions that would have been aroused has been handled as effectively as it should have been?

Arjun Singh: Well, I have not done anything on it. I have not, sort of what you call, jumped the gun. If this is an issue, which is sensitive, everyone has to treat it that way.

Karan Thapar: But your conscience as HRD Minister is clear?

Arjun Singh: Absolutely clear.

Karan Thapar: There is nothing that you could have done to make it easier for the young students?

Arjun Singh: Well, I am prepared to do anything that can be done. And it is being attempted.

Karan Thapar: For seven weeks, they have been protesting in the hot sun. No minister has gone there to appease them, to allay their concerns, to express sympathy for them. Have politicians let the young people of India down?

Arjun Singh: Well, I myself called them. They all came in this very room.

Karan Thapar: But you are the only one.

Arjun Singh: You are accusing me only. No one else is being accused.

Karan Thapar: What about the Government of India? Has the Government of India failed to respond adequately?

Arjun Singh: From the Government of India also, the Defence Minister met them.

Karan Thapar: Only recently.

Arjun Singh: That is something because everyone was busy with the elections.

Karan Thapar: For seven weeks no one met them.

Arjun Singh: No, but we are very concerned. Certainly, all of us resent the kind of force that was used. I condemned it the very first day it happened.

Karan Thapar: All right, Mr Arjun Singh. We have reached the end of this interview. Thank you very much for speaking on the subject.

PM knew about quota proposal: Arjun

2006-05-20T05:06:00.000-07:00

Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh rubbished suggestions that his drive on reservations for OBC was out of intended by a desire to embarrass Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"This is a canard which is below contempt [and something] only a person who does not know what kind of respect and regard I hold for Sonia Gandhi could say. She is the leader and whatever she decides is acceptable to me," he told Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate programme on television channel CNN-IBN.

He was replying to a question whether he was jealous of the prime minister after the Congress president picked him for the top job.

Replying to a question whether the prime minister was in the know of things, Arjun Singh said, "I think there was a very motivated propaganda on this issue. Providing reservation to OBCs was in the public domain right from December 2005 when Parliament passed the enabling resolution."
The prime minister was fully aware of it and he had met the OBC leaders to convince them to support this legislation. "How can you say he was unaware," he asked.
Dismissing the suggestion that he had jumped the gun, Arjun Singh said he was only doing what was manifestly clear to everyone and was cleared by the party and the prime minister.
"There is no question of any personal agenda," he said.
Asked whether he has come up with reservation idea only to embarrass the prime minister, the HRD Minister shot back, "Why should I embarrass the prime minister. I am with him and I am part of his team."Regarding the details of how reservations will be implemented if brought into effect, he said, "That is an issue I cannot comment upon at this moment. That is under examination. I cannot speculate. I am not free to speak today."

Students protest over hike in OBC quota

2006-05-19T08:09:00.000-07:00

Meerut medicos intensify quota stir - ANI Meerut, May 19 (ANI): Medical students took out a rally in Meerut today against proposed 27 per cent reservation to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in post graduate programmes.

Dental college medicos join anti-quota stir in Bengal - IANS Kolkata, May 19 (IANS) Junior doctors and students of A.R. Ahmed Dental College here Friday joined the anti-reservation stir by resorting to 'cease work' and class boycott even as the agitation, including relay hunger strike, continued in other medical colleges of West Bengal.

Alternative model, a quota for all - IBNlive.com Reservation issue has anothe facet, two social scientists present an alternative model of quotas benefiting every one.

Cops thrash quota supporters - IBNlive.com A pro-reservation rally by medicos in Patna turned ugly when the police ordered lathicharge on the quota supporters.

Quota: Kanpur medicos begin indefinite strike- Indian Express JOINING the anti-reservation protests, medical students and junior doctors here started an indefinite strike from today. Patients found themselves at the receiving end as medicos denied new admissions in some hospitals. At Hallet Hospital for instance, junior doctors reportedly stopped the emergency, ICU and OPD services, denying admission to even critically ill patients. Patients coming from the outside districts were the worst hit. Shanti Devi from Bidhoona said a relative of hers was suffering acute abdominal pain, but could not get treatment. Ranjan Singh from Kannauj said no doctor was prepared to see his medical reports despite the fact that ...

Left divided on excluding creamy layer from quota- The Left appears to be a divided house on the issue of reservation in educational institutes. A day after the CPI(M) Politbureau came out with a statement saying the "creamy layer" be barred from reaping benefits of reservation, a CPI delegation led by national secretary D Raja met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and expressed their opposition on the matter. CPI leaders, however, maintain that they met Mr Singh only to indicate their support to the government on the issue. "We told the Prime Minister that we support the government on the reservation issue. It is a brave move aimed at ...

Quota row prompts Sonia to convene CWC- In the backdrop of the controversy over OBC reservations in educational institutions, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) has been convened by party president Sonia Gandhi on May 20. The meeting is expected to endorse Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's move to set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue. Since the matter was discussed at the meeting of the core committee last week and subsequently between the Prime Minister and HRD minister Arjun Singh separately, the expectation is that the CWC will not witness any strong sentiments being expressed on the issue. The meeting, which has ...

Shadow play

2006-04-16T06:23:00.000-07:00

Pixeldom’s famous agent provocateur, Snake, is back… This time in two new flavours that promise to blow your mind away before you even know what hit you!

The Metal Gear series pretty much invented a style of military action video games where sneaking around and a sly sense of humour are at least as important as blasting away. Two new editions to the series make these contrasts exceptionally clear.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the PlayStation 2 adds long-sought online multiplayer battles, while Metal Gear Ac!d 2 for the PlayStation Portable keeps things fun and kitschy by including a 3D viewer.
Those who played last year’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater will find something oddly similar about Subsistence. That’s because it’s the SAME GAME – well, not entirely.
The single player experience is mostly unchanged – a good thing for one of last year’s best action games.

Set in the 1960s during the height of the Cold War, you play as Snake, an American super-agent who must infiltrate the Soviet Union and stop a next-generation nuclear tank that could tip the scales of war in Mother Russia’s favour.

The online multiplayer modes are completely new; you can do battle with as many as seven others in the usual kill-or-be-killed deathmatch arena. But I found the sneaking and rescue missions particularly fun because they require teamwork and fit perfectly into the game’s stealth combat design philosophy.

One caveat: Though free so long as you have the required broadband Internet access, the system for connecting and playing online was rather clunky and prone to disconnection in my experience.Subsistence also includes two previously unreleased Metal Gear titles from the last century for us old-school gamers: Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.

Metal Gear Ac!d 2 brings more of the same turn-based strategy to the PSP system as last year’s version, with only a few new twists.Compared to Subsistence, it’s a slower pace where you draw from a deck of cards that determine if you can evade or attack through treacherous warehouses and other enemy bastions.After your move, the enemies all get a turn and, in that way, it’s much like a chess game – just with machine guns and stun grenades.

The graphics this time around have been redone in a cell-shaded, comic book style that looked bright and clear on the PSP’s spacious screen.An included paper and plastic accessory fits around the PSP and lets viewers watch some of the game’s lengthy cut-scene movies in full 3D. But it’s more of a gimmick that anything and had me rubbing my eyes after only a few minutes.

Metal Gear
Solid 3:
SubsistenceRating: 3.5/5
Publisher: Konami
Platform: PlayStation2

Metal Gear
Ac!d 2Rating: 3/5
Publisher: Konami
Platform: PlayStation Portable

Amma is worth Rs 23.4 cr

2006-04-16T06:21:00.000-07:00

Chennai: Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who filed nomination papers for contesting from Andipatti constituency near Madurai in central Tamil Nadu on Saturday, declared that her assets are worth close to Rs 23.4 crore.According to the sworn affidavit prepared by notary A Chandrasekar of Madras High Court, which she submitted along with her nomination papers, she has movable and immovable assets, but no jewellery. She said all her jewellery were taken away by police while registering the disproportionate wealth case against her and the seized properties have been handed over to the custody of the court. Hence she does not possess any jewellery now and she is also not in a position to assess the value of the jewellery in the court's custody.The affidavit further stated that she is 58 years old and has passed matriculation from Church Park School, Chennai in 1964.She has only Rs. 20,000 on hand and holds deposits worth Rs 2 crore in banks and financial and non-financial banking institutions. Bonds and debentures in her name are valued at Rs 50,000.Under the immovable assets category, she owns an agricultural land (a vineyard in Andhra Pradesh) which extends about 15 acres and is valued at Rs 4 crore.Her house in the posh Poes Garden in Chennai city is situated on a 24,000 sq. ft. land and it is valued at Rs 5 crore. The adjacent building in which Jaya TV is situated is worth Rs 95 lakh. She has another house in Sri Nagar Colony in Andhra Pradesh which is worth Rs 14.11 lakh.A commercial space of 180 sq ft near Mount Road in Chennai which she owns is valued at Rs. 4 lakh and another 1200 sq ft near Mylapore in Chennai is worth Rs. 25 lakh.Among other interests, she has 50 per cent share in Shri Jaya Publications which is worth Rs 10 crore. In Sasi Enterprises too, she has 50 per cent stake which is valued at Rs 1 crore. Her fleet of vehicles include a 1980 model Ambassador car, a 1992 model Tata Sierra, a 1998 model Tata Safari, another Tata Safari which is 1999 model and a 2000 model Ford Ikon.

APTITUDE QUESTIONS: CARITOR test held on 24th march at AMC engg college

2006-03-25T13:47:00.000-08:00

hi frnds.
Myself Aalok from 6th sem CS..
AMC Engineering college...
Bangalore...

I m putting here some of the questions asked in aptitude test conducted by CARITOR at our campus.there were total 45 questions and a total given time of 1 hour..I'll be adding more questions as i'll recall them.

I am feeling a bit lazy to write all the questions here,since i have already typed them once to put them on my college forum website.

So i'll request you people to please follow the given links which will take you to the page where i have put the questions..

>>for some aptitude questions you can go to the following link.

http://www.melanj.net/clubs/showthread.php?p=532#post532

>>for some group discussion topic u can check the following link

http://www.melanj.net/clubs/showthread.php?p=528#post528

>>and if you want u can go to following link for some hint about the technical round questions

http://www.melanj.net/clubs/showthread.php?t=95

>>the last link will give you some idea about HR round.

http://www.melanj.net/clubs/showthread.php?t=96

as far as i guess the cutoff was 25/45 in aptitude though it was never disclosed officially.

even i asked the company personals myself about my score and cut-off in aptitude,but their straight answer was a NO..

they said it was against their policy..

anyways you take a look at the questions.the page will be updated regulirily..
so keep visiting.

thanx
Aalok.

The new face of INDIA

2006-03-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

PICTURES:BUGATTI VEYRON

2006-03-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

MUZAFFARPUR IMAGE GALLERY

2006-03-04T02:00:00.000-08:00

History of Muzaffarpur

2006-03-04T01:54:00.000-08:00

Muzaffarpur district, (famous for fruit Litchi) was created in 1875 for the sake of administrative convenience by splitting up the earlier district of Tirhut. The present district of Muzaffarpur came to its existence in the 18th century and named after Muzaffar Khan, an Amil (Revenue Officer) under British Dynasty. Purbi Champaran and Sitamarhi districts on North, on the South Vaishali and Saran districts, on the East Darbhanga and Samastipur districts and on the West Saran and Gopalganj districts surround Muzaffarpur. Now it has won international encomiums for its delicious Shahi Litchi and China Litchi.

It is, of course impossible to trace back the history of this region to its earliest origins, but we can trace back it’s stream of strong heritage a very long way through the ancient Indian epic Ramayan, which still bears a significant role in Indian civilization. To initiate with the Legend, Rajarshi Janak was ruling Videha, the mythological name of this entire region including eastern Nepal and northern Bihar. Sitamarhi, a place in this region, bears a value of sacred Hindu belief where, Seeta (other name Vaidehi: The Princes of Videha) sprang to life out of an earthen pot while Rajarshi Janak was tilling the land.

The recorded history of the district dates back to the rise of the Vrijjan Republic. The center of political power also shifted from Mithila to Vaishali. The Vrijjan Republic was a confederation of eight clans of which the Licchavis were the most powerful and influential. Even the powerful kingdom of Magadh had to conclude matrimonial alliances in 519 B.C. with the neighboring estates of the Licchavis. Ajatshatru invaded Vaishali and extended his sway over Tirhut. It was at this time that Patliputra (the modern Patna) was founded at the village Patali on the banks of the sacred river Ganga and Ajatshatru built an invincible fortress to keep vigil over the Licchavis on the other side of the river. Ambarati, 40 Kms from Muzaffarpur is believed to be the village home of Amrapali, the famous Royal court dancer of Vaishali.

Vaishali, a center of religious renaissance, Baso Kund, the birth place of Mahavir, the 24th Jain Tirthankar and a contemporary of Lord Buddha continue to attract visitors from across the international boarders.

From the visit of the Hieuen Tsang’s till the rise of the Pala dynasty, Muzaffarpur was under the control of Maharaja Harsha Vardhan, a powerful sovereign of North India. After 647 A.D. The district passed on to the local chiefs. In the 8th century A.D. the Pala kings continued to have their hold over Tirhut until 1019 A.D. Chedi kings of Central India also exercised their influence over Tirhut till they were replaced by the rulers of the Sena dynasty towards the close of the 11the century.

Between 1211 & 1226, Ghais-u-ddin Iwaz, the ruler of Bengal, was the first Muslim invader of Tirhut. He, however, could not succeed in conquering the kingdom but extorted tributes. It was in 1323 that Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq established his control over the district.

The history of Muzaffarpur will remain incomplete without a reference to the Simraon dynasty (in the north-east part of Champaran) and its founder Nanyupa Deva who extended his power over the whole of Mithila and Nepal. During the regime of Harasimha Deva, the last king of the dynasty, Tughlaq Shah invaded Tirhut in 1323 and gained control over the territory. Tughlaq Shah handed over the management of Tirhut to Kameshwar Thakur. Thus, the sovereign power of Tirhut passed from the Hindu chiefs to the Muslims but the Hindu chief continued to enjoy complete autonomy uninterruptedly.

Towards the close of the 14th century the whole of North Bihar including Tirhut passed on to the kings of Jaunpur and remained under their control for nearly a century until Sikandar Lodi of Delhi defeated the king of Jaunpur. Meanwhile, Hussain Shah, the Nawab of Bengal had become so powerful that he exercised his control over large tracts including Tirhut. The emperor of Delhi advanced against Hussain Shah in 1499 and got control over Tirhut after defeating its Raja. The power of the Nawabs of Bengal began to wane and with the decline and fall of Mahood Shah, north Bihar including Tirhut formed a part of the mighty Mughal Empire. Though Muzaffarpur with the entire north Bihar had been annexed yet the petty powerful chieftains continued to exercise effective control over this area till the days of Daud Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. Daud Khan had his stronghold at Patna and Hajipur and after his fall a separate Subah of Bihar was constituted under the Mughal dynasty and Tirhut formed a part of it.

The victory of East India Company in 1764 at the battle of Buxar gave them control over whole of Bihar and they succeeded in subduing the entire district. The success of the insurgent at Delhi in 1857 caused grave concern to the English inhabitants in this district and revolutionary fervor began to permeate the entire district. Muzaffarpur played its role and was the site of the famous bomb case of 1908. The young Bengali revolutionary, Khudi Ram Bose, a boy of barely 18 years was hanged for throwing the bomb at the carriage of Pringle Kennedy who was actually mistaken for Kingsford, the District Judge of Muzaffarpur. After independence, a memorial to this young revolutionary patriot was constructed at Muzaffrapur, which still stands. The political awakening in the country after the First World War stimulated nationalist movement in Muzaffarpur district also. The visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Muzaffarpur district in December 1920 and again in January 1927 had tremendous political effect in arousing the latent feelings of the people and the district continued to play a prominent role in the country’s struggle for freedom.

Muzaffarpur played a very significant role in the history of North-Eastern India. The peculiarity of Muzaffarpur in Indian civilization arises out of its position on the frontier line between two most vibrant spiritual influences and most significantly, to this day, it is a meeting place of Hindu and Islamic culture and thoughts. All sorts of modified institutions, representing mutual assimilation, rise along the boarder line. It has undoubtedly been this highly diversified element within her boundaries that has so often made Muzaffarpur the birthplace of towering geniuses.

Muzaffarpur Geographical

Location: North Bihar, IndiaBoundary: North: District Sitamarhi and East Champaran South: District Vaishali and Saran East: District Darbhanga and Samastipur West: District Saran and GopalganjLatitude: North 25°54’ to 26°23’ Longitude: East 84°53’ to 85°45’ Height (from sea level): 170 feetArea: 3122.56 Sq Km.Blocks: Aurai, Bochahan, Gaighat, Katra, Minapur, Muraul, Mushahari, Sakara, Bandra, Kanti, Kurhani, Motipur, Paroo, Sahebganj, Saraiya

INDIA IN 1940's

2006-02-24T09:09:00.000-08:00

Bugatti VEYRON 736kW SUPERCAR

2006-02-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

Bugatti has confirmed production of the world's most powerful supercar, the 736kW EB 16.4 Veyron, for 2003.
Volkswagen-owned Bugatti Automobiles SAS has announced that it will market the outrageous Veyron and that its 8-litre W16 alloy engine will boast four turbochargers and produce enough horsepower to break the magic 1,000bhp.
In fact, the EB 16.4 Veyron's awesome engine - the final production version of which was on display in the car at the Geneva Motor Show - will produce 1,001bhp.
That's 736kW in our language, or more than twice the maximum power produced by the V12 550 Maranello - the most powerful production car in Ferrari's range - and well up on the Lamborghini Diablo's claimed 405kW.
If Bugatti's figures are correct, the EB 16.4 Veyron will also put into the shade Porsche's claimed 410kW from the 5.5-litre V10 in the Carrera GT concept - which, not surprisingly, is also said to be scheduled for production in 2003.

Maximum torque from the Veyron's direct-injection W16 is a similarly gob-smacking 1,250Nm between 2,200 and 5,500rpm. To get that figure into perspective, it helps to realise that the 550 Maranello boasts 569Nm, the Diablo hits 620Nm and AMG's E55 gets by with a "mere" 530Nm.
As the recently-formed Bugatti Automobiles SAS says, "No other series production car in the world can match this figure".
Named after 1939 Le Mans winner Pierre Veyron, the re-born Bugatti company's supercar isn't new. The concept was first shown at the 1999 Paris Show, and it reappeared in Paris last year with a 463kW version of the W16 that was said to be the production engine.
Originally, Volkswagen had hoped for a W18, but insiders say this engine ran into significant engineering problems. The W16 engine is actually two narrow-angle V8s with a common crank.
Confirmation of EB 16.4 Veyron production was the highlight of Bugatti Automobiles SAS's Geneva celebrations, defined by VW's publicity machine as the start of "a new era that projects the mystique of a successful past into the present".
Also announced was the fact that the new company's headquarters are located in Molsheim near Strasbourg, France - Bugatti's original home.
The announcements were made at Geneva by Dr Karl-Heinz Neumann, President and Technical Director of Bugatti Automobiles SAS.
Sharing responsibility for the company with Dr Neumann is commercial director Reinhold Kopp. Both directors have a double function within Volkswagen: Dr Neumann is also director of Volkswagen's engine development division and Reinhold Kopp heads VW's government relations area.
Dr Neumann said maximum speed and acceleration details of the EB 16.4 Veyron would be announced "at a later date". Funnily enough, price wasn't mentioned.

Motorola V557 Review Posted

2005-12-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

As the first device to include Motorola's SCREEN3 technology, the V557 provides an innovative approach to push information to consumers. Using a "ticker tape" that runs along the bottom of the phone's home screen, the V557 takes advantage of Cingular's Media Net Live Ticker service to push news, sports, entertainment, and other premium content and services. Information is presented to users with no buttons to push, and no browsers to launch.

Featuring chrome details and a soft-touch finish, the V557 delivers a compelling experience with a built-in VGA camera phone with Bluetooth wireless technology and EDGE broadband technology. Pumped up with productivity tools, the V557 offers an email client supporting POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP protocols, speakerphone functionality, and Java-based software applications.

Ideal for the busy professional, the Motorola V557 gives consumers a new way to enjoy continuous access to news that's important to them, functioning as an efficient mobile phone for anyone looking to stay connected to their world.

Introduction

Arguably the king of clamshells, much of Motorola's appeal is its integration of useful functions with conservative design. Competing in a fickle marketplace where handhelds are regularly retired in a matter of months, the V551 has had a lifespan of well over a year, a testament to Motorola's success in flip phone architecture. Now, Motorola has taken the fundamental designs that made the V551 a favorite and added improvements releasing its successor, the V557.

As the first device to include Motorola's SCREEN3 technology, the V557 offers an innovative approach to push information out similar to a "ticker tape" that runs along the bottom of the phone's idle screen. Taking advantage of Cingular's Media Net Live Ticker service, consumers can access news, sports, entertainment, and other premium content and services directly on the V557's home screen. Information is presented to users with no buttons to push, and no browsers to launch.

Additionally offering EDGE broadband data rates, Bluetooth wireless technology, a complete email client, and Cingular's consumer data services, the V557 provides an effective way to be productive and stay connected on the road.

Design

Offering a black design reminiscent of the V551's blue edging, the V557's chrome details and soft-touch finish exhibit a clean and refined feel often necessary for conservative environments. Measuring 89 x 49 x 25 mm and weighing 114 g, the V557 is a mid-sized phone, a bit smaller than the size of a deck of playing cards. Not overly bulky but thicker than average, the V557 diverges from the ultra-thin fads sweeping the industry
Displayed on the front, a monochrome external LCD offers convenient access to vital information at just a glance away. Positioned above the screen, a lens to the 0.3-megapixel camera and camcorder is activated with the press of the Camera Key. Nearby, a mirror allows shutterbugs to take self-portraits or get into group shots.

On the right side, a Voice Key activates voice dialing and voice memo recording. Volume Keys along the left turn off incoming call alerts, change earpiece volume during calls, and change ringer volume from the home screen. Anticipating subsequent actions to follow, a nearby Smart Key gives users an alternative method of performing many basic phone functions. For instance, by highlighting a menu item, pressing the Smart Key will select it. Outlets for the Headphone and Accessory Connectors are located on the top and bottom respectively. While the speaker grill is placed on the back for loud and clear handsfree access.

Opened, the V557's the main 65K-color LCD is exposed, doubling as the viewfinder in Camera Mode. Surrounded by Send, Power / End, Camera, Browser, Menu, and Left and Right Keys, the 5-way directional and numeric keypads provides menu navigation and text messaging using iTAP predictive text technology.

Out of the box, the Motorola V557 comes with a standard 820 mAh Li-Ion Battery, Home Charger, Data Cable, Quick Start Guide, and User Manual.

Cell phones are a health risk, according to a new lawsuit

2005-12-10T12:23:00.000-08:00

Highlight:
Five class action suits against several cell phone companies allege that cell phones are actually a health hazard because of the low-level radiation they emit. So far, there have been a few studies on the dangers of long-term cell phone use, but the results have been inconclusive. However, some scientists are saying that cell phones just haven't been around long enough to provide the hard data needed to assess the health risks.
Summary:

The science remains unclear on whether the radiation emitted by cell phones poses a health hazard, but a number of lawsuits alleging the risk have been given new life.
Despite wireless industry efforts, those cases may now be heard by state courts after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived last week five class-action suits, returning them for trial in the states where they originated.
Suits filed in 2001 in state courts in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia and Louisiana claimed Nokia Inc. and other cell phone makers failed to protect consumers from potentially harmful radiation and should be required to provide headsets to consumers.
The plaintiffs claim the industry has violated various state laws on consumer protection, product liability, implied warranty, negligence, fraud and civil conspiracy.
"We have thoroughly examined the claims ...
and one thing is clear: the elements of each of the claims depend only on the resolution of questions of state law," Judge M. Blane Michael wrote in the majority opinion, which was joined by Judge Michael Luttig.
For example, a Swedish study published last year in the International Journal of Epidemiology suggests that people who use a cell phone for at least 10 years might increase their risk of developing acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor on the auditory nerve that carries sound from the ear to the brain.
In Britain, the chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board advised in January that parents should not give mobile phones to children age 8 or younger as a precaution against the potential harm of radiation from the devices.
The Federal Communications Commission says there is no scientific proof that cell phones are hazardous.
"This is an issue the industry needs to put to bed," said Atlanta-based telecom analyst Jeff Kagan.

IE flaw lets intruders into Google Desktop

2005-12-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

A security researcher in Israel has found a way to steal information from unwitting users of Google's desktop search tool by exploiting an unpatched flaw in Microsoft's ubiquitous Internet Explorer.

There is a bug in the way the Web browser processes CSS rules, Matan Gillon wrote in a description of his hack posted on Wednesday. CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is a method for setting common styles across multiple Web pages. The Web design technique is widely used on many sites across the Internet.

The proof-of-concept method is an example of how security flaws in software can offer all kinds of access to programs on vulnerable PCs, including to Google Desktop.

"This design flaw in IE allows an attacker to retrieve private user data or execute operations on the user's behalf on remote domains," Gillon wrote in his description of the attack method. He crafted a Web page that--when viewed in IE on a computer with Google Desktop installed--uses the search tool and returns results for the query "password."

To exploit the flaw, an attacker has to lure a victim to a malicious Web page. "Thousands of Web sites can be exploited, and there isn't a simple solution against this attack, at least until IE is fixed," Gillon wrote.

Microsoft is investigating the issue, which it described in a statement as a problem affecting the cross-domain protections in Internet Explorer. "This issue could potentially allow an attacker to access content in a separate Web site, if that Web site is in a specific configuration," Microsoft said in the statement.

Microsoft is not currently aware of malicious code that takes advantage of the flaw, but is monitoring the situation, the company said. A security update or an advisory on the problem may be coming, it said.

Google is also investigating Gillon's findings. "We just learned of this issue and are looking into it," Sonya Boralv, a spokeswoman for the search giant, wrote in an e-mailed statement.

While Gillon in his example uses the IE flaw as a means to get to Google Desktop, this flaw and other software bugs could be used to covertly access virtually any application on a compromised computer.

"It is like any other flaw within IE, but he got creative and used it to launch Google Desktop to retrieve data," security researcher Tom Ferris said. "You can bet we will see this one being used to steal users' Quicken data, database files, etc."

Steve Manzuik, a security product manager at eEye Digital Security, agreed. "This definitely looks like a flaw in IE and not a Google bug. He is using Google Desktop as to retrieve data, but it is IE that makes it possible," he said.

While IE is vulnerable, Gillon found that Firefox and Opera are not. For protection, Internet users could use one of those browsers or disable JavaScript in IE, Gillon suggested.

It has been a busy week on the Microsoft security front. Four examples of attack code were released for flaws in the Windows operating system, and a Trojan horse is finding its way onto PCs through another yet-unpatched flaw in IE.

Microsoft tweaks browser to avoid liability

2005-12-05T03:55:00.000-08:00

Microsoft tweaks browser to avoid liability

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Microsoft is changing the way its Web browser handles certain controls in an effort to shield itself from liability in an ongoing patent spat with a start-up backed by the University of California.

The software giant is notifying Web developers and other partners on Friday that it is changing the way Internet Explorer handles certain Web programs, known as ActiveX controls and Java applets.

With the change, Web developers will need to slightly modify their pages or consumers will have to make an extra click to get to some content, such as for a Macromedia Flash-based advertisement.

"We think that the user experience impact is relatively modest," said Michael Wallent, a general manager in Microsoft's Windows-client unit.

Microsoft will incorporate the new version of Internet Explorer into all new copies of Windows and also into the next version of the browser, IE 7, which will be available for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and as part of Windows Vista. Existing users may also get the new code as part of future security updates, Wallent said.

"We believe over the next six months, most customers will be running copies of Internet Explorer with this behavior."

Microsoft has been in a long-running spat with Eolas Techologies and the University of California. In September, the U.S. Patent Office upheld the validity of the patent at issue in the case.

A University of California spokesman said that its lawsuit against Microsoft deals with infringement caused by previously sold versions of the browser.

"The lawsuit covers sales predating this latest reconfiguration," he said.

In 2003, a jury awarded more than $500 million in damages to the university and Eolas, but Microsoft appealed the decision. An appeals court this year partially upheld Microsoft's stance, saying the company should be allowed to present evidence that similar inventions predated Eolas' patent application.

"We believe this change insulates us from any potential liability," Wallent said. "We don't expect we will have to make any other changes.

Wallent said that the move was designed to end uncertainty for the future as the Eolas case heads back to court later this year.

"With this change we are very confident that we would no longer have liability even if the case doesn't go our way in the end," he said.

Wallent added that Microsoft's move "in no way reflects a lack of confidence in our case."

"We'll continue to pursue our case and believe that the Eolas patent is invalid," he said.

International Business Machines Corporation

2005-11-24T05:28:00.000-08:00

IBM

(International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and personal computers. At the end of 2004, IBM sold its desktop PC line to Lenovo, China's largest computer manufacturer.
It all started in New York in 1911 when the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) was created by a merger of The Tabulating Machine Company (Hollerith's punch card company in Washington, DC), International Time Recording Company (time clock maker in NY state), Computing Scale Company (maker of scales and food slicers in Dayton, Ohio), and Bundy Manufacturing (time clock maker in Auburn, NY). CTR started out with 1,200 employees and a capital value of $17.5 million.
In 1914, Thomas J. Watson, Sr., became general manager. During the next 10 years, he dispensed with all non-tabulating business and turned it into an international enterprise renamed IBM in 1924. Watson instilled a strict, professional demeanor in his employees that set IBMers apart from the rest of the crowd.
IBM achieved spectacular success with its tabulating machines and the punch cards that were fed them. From the 1920s through the 1960s, it developed a huge customer base that was ideal for conversion to computers, and Watson's son, Thomas J. Watson, Jr., was an enthusiastic supporter of computers.
IBM launched its computer business in 1953 with the 701 and introduced the 650 a year later. By the end of the 1950s, the 650 was the most widely used computer in the world with 1,800 systems installed. The 1401, announced in 1959, was its second computer winner; and by the mid-1960s, an estimated 18,000 were in use.
In 1964, it announced the System/360, the first family of compatible computers ever developed. The 360s were enormously successful and set a standard underlying IBM mainframes to this day.
During the 1970s and 1980s, IBM made a variety of incompatible minicomputer systems, including the System/36 and System/38. Its highly successful AS/400, introduced in 1988 and renamed the "iSeries" in 2000, provides a broad family of compatible machines in this segment.
In 1981, IBM introduced the PC into a chaotic personal computer field and set the standard almost overnight. IBM is still one of the largest PC manufacturers, but the majority of PC sales come from the PC industry at large, from companies such as Dell and HP to mom-and-pop shops by the hundreds.
Like everyone else, IBM includes the Windows operating system on its PCs. In the mid 1990s, it tried to compete with its OS/2 operating system. Although highly praised and still used,offered in for desktop and server use, OS/2 never gained significant market share.
The early 1990s were gut-wrenching years for IBM. It experienced major losses for the first time due mainly to slowing sales of high-profit mainframes as companies embraced PCs and small servers by the millions. As a result, IBM reduced its workforce by more than 100,000.
In 1991, IBM teamed up with Apple and Motorola to produce the PowerPC chip, a single-chip version of IBM's RS/6000 workstations (see Apple-IBM alliance). Introduced in 1995, the PowerPC systems had little impact as stand-alone PCs, but the chips breathed new life into IBM's RS/6000 and AS/400 lines. In 1995, IBM purchased Lotus Development Corporation, publisher of Lotus 1-2-3 and the popular Notes groupware.
In the late 1990s, IBM embraced the Linux operating system and supports it on all of its product lines. This is a major shift for a company that is known for proprietary software for half a century. However, IBM is never a company to be underestimated. Under the astute leadership of Louis Gerstner, who took command in 1993, the company rebounded and returned to the profits it had been accustomed to (2000 revenues of $88 billion; $8 billion profit). Gerstner focused IBM on its core capabilities and removed many bureaucratic policies that kept the company from responding to a rapidly changing world.
Today, IBM mainframes still flourish as the bulk of data in most large enterprises still resides in machines that are the successors to System/360, dating back more than four decades. As each year goes by, more electronic history piles up, creating massive databases that IBM mainframes handle with ease. However, IBM derives most of its revenue from software and services and is, in fact, the largest software and services company in the world.

RTOS at a Glance-REDEFINED INFORMATION

2005-11-24T05:17:00.000-08:00

» AMX, KwikNet, KwikPeg (from KADAK Products Ltd.)» C EXECUTIVE(from JMI Software Systems, Inc.)» CMX-RTX (from CMX Systems, Inc.) » DeltaOS (from CoreTek Systems, Inc.)» eCos(from Red Hat, Inc.)» embOS (from SEGGER Microcontroller Systeme GmbH)» eRTOS (from JK microsystems, Inc.)» ETS(from VenturCom)» EYRX (from Eyring Corporation)» INTEGRITY (from Green Hills Software, Inc.)» INtime® real time extension to Windows® (from TenAsys Corporation)» IRIX (from SGI)» iRMX(from TenAsys Corporation)» Jbed (from esmertec, inc.)» LynxOS (from LynuxWorks)» MQX(from Precise Software Technologies Inc)» Nucleus PLUS (AcceleratedTechnology, ESD Mentor Graphics)» On Time RTOS-32 (from On Time Informatik GmbH)» OS-9 (from Microware Systems Corporation)» OSE (from OSE Systems )» PDOS (from Eyring Corporation)» PSX (from JMI Software Systems, Inc.)» QNX Neutrino (from QNX Software Systems Ltd.)» QNX4 (from QNX Software Systems Ltd.)» REDICE-Linux(from REDSonic, Inc.)» RTLinux (from Finite State Machine Labs, Inc.)» RTX 5.0 (from VenturCom)» Portos (from Rabih Chrabieh)» smx (Micro Digital, Inc) (from Micro Digital, In.)» SuperTask! (from U S Software)» ThreadX (from Express Logic, Inc.)» Treck AMX (from Elmic Systems USA, Inc.)» Treck MicroC/OS-II (from Elmic Systems USA, Inc.)» TronTask! (from U S Software)» TTPos: (from TTTech Computertechnik AG)» Virtuoso (from Eonic Systems)» VxWorks 5.4 (from Wind River)» SCORE, DACS and TADS(from DDC-I)» Nimble - the SoC RTOS(from Eddy Solutions)» Nucleus (from Accelerated Technology)» Fusion RTOS (from DSP OS, Inc.)» FreeRTOS (from Richard Barry)
RTOS Book (PDF)
» Real-time Systems: Specification, Verification and Analysis edited by Prof. Mathai Joseph (2.01 MB zipped)
Real-Time Operating Systems Lecture Notes
» RTOS and Operating System fundamentals(Must Visit)» Operating Systems Introduction (Must Visit)» Real-Time Systems» RTOS Notes (PDF)» Embedded Systems Notes » Real Time Systems Notes (PS)» More OS Notes» Operating System Lecture Notes» Concepts, Algorithms, and Tools for Model Checking (PS)
RTOS - Research Papers
» Embedded Systems White Papers(365 papers)» Reports on real-time by RTOS Lab at Seoul National University (Must Visit)» Embedded tools, rtos white papers» SNU RTOS Lab Publications supported by NRL» White Papers on Stack and Scheduling» A Debugger RTOS for Embedded Systems » RTOS Survey (Georgia Institute of Technology )» EDTN's e-library: Real Time Operating Systems
RTOS Fundamentals, Basics, Concepts
» Real time OS Basics (Must Visit)» Real-Time Operating Systems Presentation (PPT) » References : Advanced Operating Systems» 8-Bit Operating Systems» Embedded Linux Basics » Articles on embedded systems» Embedded Systems Programming» Embedded Systems Internet Resources» Dr. Dobb's Embedded Systems» Michael Barr'sEmbedded Systems Glossary» Embedded Systems Resource Site
RTOS, Embedded Systems Advanced and Misc Topics
» Advanced Embedded x86 Programming: Paging » ZiLOG and the Embedded Internet» An Embedded Web Server Using a 16-bit Microcontroller » Microcontrollers and DSPs - Will They Converge?» Advantages of Flash Microcontrollers » Device Driver Development - Portability and Tools» 8051 Tutorial (Must Visit)» 8051 Interrupt Tutorial » Paul's 8051 Microcontroller Family » Keil 8051 Microcontroller Development Tools» 8051 Source Page» Basic introduction to the 8051 microcontroller» Online 8052 Resources» Unix Systems Programming In a Nutshell» What really happened on Mars?» Notes on the history of the Priority Inversion problem» Priority Inversion » Priority Inversion and the Mars Pathfinder» Avoiding Starvation and Deadlock» A Classic Problem - Dining Philosophers» A Novel Parallel Deadlock Detection Algorithm and Architecture
VxWorks and Tornado
» Windriver - Home of VxWorks People» VxWorks / Tornado II FAQ » comp.os.vxworks Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) » WinDriver VxWorks - Device Driver Development Tool» VxWorks - An Overview» How to write software for the IOTA VxWorks system
QNX
» Reliable RTOS Technology, QNX Software Systems» Download the QNX realtime platform» QNX Internet Resources » The Unofficial QNX Page» QNX Source Code Licenses » OpenQNX: The QNX community portal
Windows CE
» Windows CE .NET Home» Windows CE 3.0 FAQ» Windows CE News» Craig Peacocks Windows CE Pages» Windows CE software - free shareware downloads» Jimmy's Windows CE Software Home Page» Windows CE Software Archieve
Pocket PC
» Pocket PC Software List» Pocketgear - Software, News» Pocket PC Index» Pocket PC magazine» Pocket PC Passion» Pocket PC Thoughts» Pocket PC Developer Network» Pocket PC Newswire» Pocket PC for All
Palm OS
» Home of Palm OS» Palm OS Emulator» Palm OS Programmer's FAQ» Palm OS Development Resources» Yahoo! Messenger - Palm OS Version
More to come ...» more links will arrive ... soon ...

INFORMATION GETS REDEFINED ONCE AGAIN

2005-11-22T05:32:00.000-08:00

Apple iTunes security flaw discovered

A critical vulnerability, found in some versions of Apple Computer's popular iTunes, could enable attackers to remotely take over a user's computer, according to a warning issued Thursday by a security research firm. The discovery of this flaw comes days after Apple issued its security update for iTunes 6 for Windows. This flaw existed on the earlier version of iTunes 6 for Windows and was not addressed by the newest security update, according to a warning issued by eEye Digital Security. After eEye mistakenly posted a note on its Web site saying the iTunes flaw affected "all operating systems," the security firm updated its warning to indicate that the flaw had been found only on the Windows operating system so far. However, eEye is now testing whether the flaw also affects iTunes running on Mac operating systems. Apple iTunes 6 for Windows, as well as the previous version, are affected by the flaw, said Steve Manzuik, product manager at eEye. The flaw enables malicious hackers to launch arbitrary code remotely, once a user clicks on a malicious Web site link or opens a malicious e-mail, Manzuik said. "iTunes is widespread, so there is a large exploit base," Manzuik said, noting that no exploit code has been published to date. When Apple released its iTunes 6 for Windows security patch earlier this week, it was designed to prevent the wrong helper application from launching. The helper program searches multiple system paths to figure out which program to run, but the flaw could allow an attacker to create a way for an alternate program to be initiated by iTunes. An Apple representative was not available for comment, but the company has a policy of not discussing or confirming security issues until it has conducted an investigation and issued any needed patches, according a posting on its Web site. eEye says it does not provide extensive details on security flaws until a vendor has released a patch to resolve the flaw.

Attack code released for IE hole

2005-11-22T05:14:00.000-08:00

Exploit code for a new flaw in Internet Explorer could put systems at risk of remote attack, security experts warned Monday.
The exploit code, made public Monday, aims to take advantage of the "extremely critical" vulnerabilities in IE 5.5 and IE 6 running on XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), and IE 6 running on Windows 2000 SP4, security researcher Secunia said in advisory.

Once a PC user is tricked into visiting a malicious Web site, the exploit can be triggered automatically, without the user doing anything.

"An attacker could use the exploit to run any code they want to on a person's system," said Thomas Kristensen, Secunia's chief technology officer. "It could be they want to launch some really nasty code on a user's system."

The flaw lies in a Javascript component of IE used for loading Web pages onto a computer, according to an advisory from SANS Internet Storm Center.

Microsoft has not released a patch for the hole exploited by the code. People can attempt to work around the problem by either shutting off Javascript or using another type of browser, security companies advised.

Security researchers said the IE vulnerability has been known for the past six months, but had previously been seen as a conduit for denial-of-service attacks rather than the remote execution of code. DOS attacks, which attempt to crash a system by flooding it with data, are typically considered less-severe security risks.

"The vulnerability itself has been known about for a while, but it was only a problem for a denial-of-service attack that would sometimes cause IE to crash," said Johannes Ullrich, chief research officer for the Sans Institute. "Up until now, no one knew how to mark the code and find it in memory to execute a remote code attack."

The exploit code was published by an organization called Computer Terrorism.

Because the flaw was initially believed to involve only a potential DOS attack, Microsoft never issued a patch for the problem, Ullrich said. He added it is not yet known whether Microsoft will spin out a patch for the flaw immediately or wait for its monthly patch cycle.

A Microsoft representative was not able to comment early Monday on the flaw or the exploit, but did say that the company is investigating reports of the possible vulnerability for customers using Internet Explorer while running Windows 2000 SP4 and Windows XP SP2.

"We have also been made aware of proof-of-concept code that could seek to exploit the reported vulnerability but are not aware of any customer impact at this time," the representative said.

Microsoft, upon completion of its investigation, will take appropriate action to protect its customers by providing a patch as part of its monthly security bulletin program or in a separate security advisory, the representative added.

Information Architecture Redefined

2005-11-16T22:45:00.000-08:00

"You know when you're on a website and you see a bunch of navigation choices to click on? I'm the one who decided what the choices are, what they are called and where they take you when you click" ..

Yeah, I said that. And I do have to explain Information Architecture a lot, quite a lot. These days all everyone seems to agree on is that it’s a hot title. Not that many people actually know what IA’s do. Do a search on dice.com or hotjobs.com and you’ll see a weird variety of job requirements, from perl coding to graphic design. At one point I thought the Information Architect title was going to go the way of Webmaster: a title that was great for small companies who needed someone who could do a little bit of everything, but bad for companies who needed experts. Luckily the relentless efforts of a few highly visible IAs is changing that, and now we have at least narrowed the field in which we play.

So what do IA’s do?

Much like our real world namesakes, we design spaces for human beings to live work and play in. The big difference is the materials we work with: cement is replaced with thesauri, timber with hierarchies and steel with interaction flows. Confused? Let me tell it as a story. Oh, and to do so I’m going to have to reveal I’m a big dork. Hope this won’t slow you down.
When I built my first webpage on geocities, it was one page. It had pictures of my friends, a little history about me and a link to mail me. Pretty typical. There was no Information Architecture there yet, but definitely some information design which is very closely interrelated with IA. I knew that people coming to my site would need to know what they were looking at, so I wrote a big H3 title across the top, “Welcome to the personal website of IMMORTAL” Next I knew I wanted to have some stuff about me, so I added the history and pictures. Finally, I figured if people had read all of this they might want to talk to me, and I added my email address. Strangely enough, I was doing pretty solid user-centered design. I was asking myself how people visiting my site would want to use it.
My next website was more of an effort. I wanted all information online so I could access them from anywhere—my parent’s house, my girlfriend's house or at home. As I had yet to become a good Information Architect, I started with research—I looked through all my books to see how they were organized. I simply laid them all out on the floor and started grouping them together in like piles. Pretty soon I knew I needed to go with the course organization.

Architecting a Site

So last weekend I headed over to a fellow architect’s office, and we spent the day re-architecting an IT solutions Company's site that had over 2000 pieces of content. We started the way I had started with my first webpage: we pored over the documentation to discover who the audience was and what their key needs were. We wrote the names of three people who we thought would use the site, and wrote their needs underneath each of the names. PIYUSH, the CEO who wanted to know if he should buy the product. FRANK, the potential employee who wanted to know if it was a cool place to work. CHARL, the investor who wanted to know if this was a hot buy.
Next we did exactly what I did for my second site ever: took a printout of the content inventory and cut it up into tiny pieces of paper. Then we did the largest card sort I’ve ever done. We grouped all the like content, then created a hierarchy for that content. Then we role-played. We pretended to be the different sorts of audience members as they tried to use the hierarchy “I’m PIYUSH the CEO, I need to know if I buy this product, Can it solve my problem? Where’s the section on upgrades? Are there product reviews? How long have these guys been in business?” and so on. We made a couple of tweaks to the groupings and we were done.
Of course, this isn’t everything an IA does for a website. It’s just what an IA might do for a content site. But you can see the key principals. Understand the user. Understand the business offering. Bring the two together.
Now go make your site easier for your customers to use….
So finally what definition would you give about IA:::
Information Architecture - The study of the organisation and structure of effective web systems. In particular, the relationships between internal page elements, as well as the relationship between individual pages....

Website spews venom on Ganguly

2005-10-24T05:07:00.000-07:00

The tirade against deposed Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly got a new dimension with a website lampooning him for his cricketing abilities and attitude.

Ever since India's coach Greg Chappell's damning e-mail to BCCI, Sourav baiters have increased in number. The latest in the list being a website pouring venom on the southpaw and urging others to join the malicious campaign.
The website www.ihateganguly.com calls it ''a place to mourn, condemn and discuss the pathetic state of Indian cricket embodied by Sourav 'no-fastbowling-please' Ganguly'' and carries jokes in extreme bad taste.

The site, reportedly launched on October 8, claims to have some 61,000 hits already and 400 users till now.

Apart from articles condemning Sourav, the website contains some stale jokes and states that its mission is three-fold: ''Get rid of Ganguly as captain; Make sure he never regains the crown; Make sure his place in the team is based purely on his batting performance.''

Preventing weight gain associated with lithium

2005-09-29T10:44:00.000-07:00

Goodwin and Goldstein (2003) advocate the following measures to prevent weight gain in patients on lithium carbonate:

Dietary/lifestyle measures

Encourage daily physical exercise
Restrict fluid intake to non-sugary liquids (e.g., water, diet soft drinks)
Avoid intake of simple carbohydrates, particularly early in the day (lithium may induce mild hypoglycemia, causing patients to increase caloric intake as they “chase” their blood sugar through the day)

Medical/pharmacological measures
Measure free T4 and supplement thyroid hormone if necessary (T4 at or below the lower quartile of normal may indicate hypothyroidism, another cause of weight gain
If possible, avoid concurrent medications with additive weight gain effect
Consult with primary care physician about other options if weight gain exceeds 5 lbs despite preventive measures

Ref: - Goodwin, F.K. & Goldstein, M.A. (2003) Optimizing lithium treatment in bipolar disorder: a review of the literature and clinical recommendations. Journal of Psychiatric Practice, 9, 5, 333-343.

Hurricane Katrina

2005-09-14T01:51:00.001-07:00

Hurricane Katrina was the third most intense hurricane to make landfall in the United States. In the early morning hours of august29.2005.the eyewalls of Katrina grazed by New Orleans, Louisiana and made landfall in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The full extent of the humanitarian crisis left in Katrina's aftermath appears to have been greatly increased by the associated general failure of the New Orleans levee system, and also by what is now widely regarded as certain governmental shortcomings in the manner of response to the hurricane, at many different levels of government. The hurricane is believed to have killed thousands of people, and is known to have displaced more than one million — a humanitarian crisis on a scale unseen in the U.S. since the Katrina,developed from a tropical wave about 175 miles (280 km) east of Nassau, Bahamas. The hurricane strengthened. Katrina moved southwest across Florida and west into the Gulf of Mexico, where it intensified rapidly to Category 5. In the early morning of August 29, Katrina made its second landfall near Buras, Louisiana as a Category 4 storm featuring 140-mph (230 km/h) winds, and its eyewall passed over the eastern edge of New Orleans as the hurricane made its way to water once again. A few hours later, it made landfall for a third time near the Louisiana/Mississippi border with 125-mph (200 km/h) Category 3 winds. Katrina weakened thereafter, losing "hurricane" status more than 100 miles (160 km) inland, near Laurel, Mississippi. It was downgraded to a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee and continued to race northward.
As the hurricane approached landfall near New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin placed the city under a mandatory evacuation order. Many residents remained in the city. The vast majority of those who stayed were reported to have been unable to leave because they did not have vehicles, money for gas and other transportation. Also, many residents were unable to travel because they were elderly or infirm. As a result, the Louisiana Superdome was opened as a shelter of last resort for those that were to stay in the city. Federal disaster declarations blanketed 90,000 square miles (233,000 km²) of the United States, an area almost as large as the United Kingdom. The hurricane left an estimated five million people without power, and it may be up to two months before all power is restored. Disaster relief plans are in operation in the affected areas.
Early in the morning of August 30 2005, breaches in three places of the levee system on the Lake Pontchartrain side of New Orleans caused a second and even greater disaster. Heavy flooding covered almost the entire city over a sustained period, forcing the total evacuation of over a million people. Because 80% of the city's area is below sea level, all water that goes into the city must be directly pumped out--even water from an average rainstorm. Consequently, the city is now uninhabitable until the water is removed.
On September 3 2005 US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff described the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as "probably the worst catastrophe, or set of catastrophes" in the country's history, referring to the hurricane itself plus the flooding of New Orleans.
Hurricane Katrina may be the deadliest hurricane in the United States since the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which is estimated to have killed 6,000-12,000 people. As of 7 PM CDT September 1, 2005, more than 20,000 are still reported missing. Local mortuaries have been told to prepare for "up to 40,000 bodies" [1] (http://www.t-g.com/story/1116806.html). New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin stated on August 31 that the death toll of Katrina may be "in the thousands", an estimate also provided through a statement by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco on September 1. Accurate numbers are not known. Damage was reported in at least 12 states. Hurricane Katrina will be remembered for its vast devastation of the Gulf Coast regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and especially for the massive flooding of the historic city of New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina wind swath.

Storm development
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a lucid statement on August 23 saying that Tropical Depression Twelve had formed over the southeastern Bahamas. The numbering of the system was debated, as Tropical Depression Twelve formed partially from the remains of Tropical Depression Ten. The naming and numbering rules at the NHC require a system to keep the same identity if it dies, then regenerates, which would normally have caused this storm to remain numbered Ten. However, the NHC gave this storm a new number because a second disturbance merged with the remains of Tropical Depression Ten on August 20, and there is no way to tell whether the remnants of T.D. Ten should be credited with this storm. (This is different from Hurricane Ivan in the 2004 season, when the NHC ruled that Ivan did indeed reform; the remnant of Ivan that regenerated in the Gulf of Mexico was a distinct system from the moment Ivan originally dissipated to the moment it regained tropical storm strength[2] (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al122005.discus.001.shtml).) The system was upgraded to Tropical Storm Katrina on the morning of August 24. Katrina became the fourth hurricane of the 2005 season on August 25 and made landfall later that day around 6:30 p.m. between Hallandale Beach and Aventura, Florida.

Hurricane Katrina on August 28, 2005, near its peak intensity
On August 27, the storm was upgraded to category 3 intensity (major hurricane) and at 12:40 a.m. CDT (0540 UTC) on August 28, Katrina was upgraded to Category 4. Later that morning, Katrina went through a period of rapid intensification, with its maximum sustained winds peaking at 175 mph (280 km/h) (well above the Category 5 threshold of 156 mph (250 km/h)), gusts of 215 mph (344 km/h) and central pressure of 906 mb by 1:00 p.m. CDT. It later reached a minimum pressure of 902 mb, making it the fourth most intense Atlantic Basin hurricane on record. The storm weakened just before landfall on August 29 as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph at 6:10 a.m. CDT near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana.
Katrina, which affected a very wide swath of land covering a large portion of eastern North America, was last seen in the eastern Great Lakes region on August 31. Before being absorbed by the frontal boundary, Katrina's last known position was over southeast Quebec and northern New Brunswick.
Its lowest minimum pressure at landfall was 918 mb, making it the third strongest hurricane on record to make landfall on the United States. A 15 to 30 foot (5 to 9 m) storm surge came ashore on virtually the entire coastline from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to Florida. The 30 foot (10 m) storm surge recorded at Biloxi, Mississippi is the highest ever observed in America.
At 11 p.m. EDT on August 31 (0300 UTC, September 1), U.S. government weather officials announced that the center of the remnant low of what was Katrina had been completely absorbed by a frontal boundary in southeastern Canada, with no discernible circulation. The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center's last public advisory on Katrina (http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/tcpat2.html) was at 11 p.m. EDT Wed 31 August 2005 and the Canadian Hurricane Centre's last public advisory on Katrina (http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/bulletins/20050831114442.Katrina.txt.en) was at 8 a.m. EDT Wed 31 august 2005.

Tornadoes

Eye of Hurricane Katrina seen from a NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft. Image taken on August 28, 2005, before the storm made landfall.
There were tornado reports near Adams and Cumberland Counties in Pennsylvania, in Fauquier, Virginia, in Atlanta, Georgia, in Carroll County, Georgia, in Carrollton, Georgia, in White County, Georgia, in Helen, Georgia, and in Mobile, Alabama. No deaths were reported from the tornadoes, but several injuries were reported in Georgia. 500,000 chickens were killed or set free after dozens of poultry houses were damaged in Carroll County, Georgia. There was major damage in Helen, Georgia, destroying homes and a hotel. It is the worst natural disaster ever to happen to the United States.

LINK PARTENERS

2005-08-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

The Best Link Exchange Site

Doorstep Info

Logo Design

Get logo design in high quality by butterfly effect design company. Our services are logo, brochure, web, stationary designs. Get your business professionaly designed

Gold Rings

The ultimate source of affordable loose diamonds, diamond rings and engagement ring settings and mountings from ny diamond district. Every order is special!

Diamond Wedding Rings, Engagement Rings

The ultimate source of affordable engagement rings, diamond wedding rings and bands from the new york diamond district. Every order is special!

Free Classified Ads

Free classified advertising for individuals and website owners to promote their products.

Paid Survey

Get free information and details to more than 500 paid online survey companies that will pay you cash money to take online paid surveys. All of them are free to join!

Buy Internet Advertising Banner Ads Web Traffic

Need banner ads for advertising your website? Get web traffic from our banners today! This should be your first choice for internet advertising.

St. George Utah Real Estate - Homes For Sale St. George Utah

Beautiful homes for sale in southern utah. Market your home online showing as many as 10 high quality photos. Helping buyers and sellers in the southern utah with all their real estate needs.

Template Affiliate Program

You can make from 5 to 35% in commission on every sale you refer from your web site.

Telecommunications.name

We specialize in selling telecommunication products and services. If your looking for anything telecom we probably have it.

Oniline Pharmacy

Blackpool City

spyware remover tool

THE ULTIMATE SEX GUIDEget solution for all your secual problems..lots of stuffs available for free.

THE PEACE OF MIND

Macromedia Dreamweaver

Offers Macromedia Dreamweaver and Fireworks video tutorials on web developement.

Natural Mineral Cosmetics Including Mineral Foundation
Made of pure crushed bare minerals and organic ingredients, afterglow responds to your need for a line of natural cosmetics that has beautiful, rich, natural colors and offer full spectrum uva and uvb sunscreen protection.

Promotional Products
Promotional products & custom promotional items. Your superstore for promotional products including promotional pens, promotional mugs and golf promotional products. Fast delivery service and low minimum order.

Lingerie
Lingeriescene is here to provide you with all your lingerie needs; whether you're a woman who wants to spice up your love life or a man shopping for a gift for that special someone, we have the perfect piece of lingerie for you.

Domainette
Do you want your website to be professional, fast and outstanding? - use html templates or flash templates.

Silver Drugs Phentermine
Buy cheap phentermine online at silverdrugs. Order phentermine weight loss prescription medication and other weight loss products and medical prescriptions drugs online. Best prices for phentermine on the internet.

GLOBAL WARMING

LATEST HAPPENINGS

Information :what does it mean

2005-08-24T23:37:00.000-07:00

Information is a term with many meanings depending on context, but is as a rule closely related to such concepts as meaning, knowledge, instruction, communication, representation, and mental stimulus.

Although many people speak of the advent of the "information age," the "information society," and information technologies, and even though information science and computer science are often in the spotlight, the word "information" is often used without careful consideration of the various meanings it has come to acquire.

Often information is viewed as a type of input to an organism or designed device. Inputs are of two kinds. Some inputs are important to the function of the organism (for example, food) or device (energy) by themselves. In his book Sensory Ecology, Dusenbery called these causal inputs. Other inputs (information) are important only because they are associated with causal inputs and can be used to predict the occurrence of a causal input at a later time (and perhaps another place). Some information is important because of association with other information but eventually there must be a connection to a causal input. In practice, information is usually carried by weak stimuli that must be detected by specialized sensory systems and amplified by energy inputs before they can be functional to the organism or device. For example, light is often a causal input to plants but provides information to animals. The colored light reflected from a flower is too weak to do much photosynthetic work but the visual system of the bee detects it and the bee's nervous system uses the information to guide the bee to the flower, where the bee often finds nectar or pollen, which are causal inputs, serving a nutritional function.

The most important meanings of information are identified in the following sections roughly in order of narrowest to broadest.

Information as a message

Information is a message, something to be communicated from the sender to the receiver. If information is viewed merely as a message, it does not have to be accurate. It may be a truth or a lie, or just a sound of a kiss. Strangely it may even be a disruptive noise used to inhibit the flow of communication and create misunderstanding. This model assumes a sender and a receiver, and does not attach any significance to the idea that information is something that can be extracted from an environment, e.g., through observation or measurement. Information in this sense is simply any message the sender chooses to create.

Measuring information

The view of information as a message came into prominence with the publication in 1948 of an influential paper by Claude Shannon, "A Mathematical Theory of Communication." This paper provides the foundations of information theory and endows the word information not only with a technical meaning but also a measure. If the sending device is equally likely to send any one of a set of N messages, then the preferred measure of "the information produced when one message is chosen from the set" is the base two logarithm of N. In this paper, Shannon continues:
The choice of a logarithmic base corresponds to the choice of a unit for measuring information. If the base 2 is used the resulting units may be called binary digits, or more briefly bits, a word suggested by J. W. Tukey. A device with two stable positions, such as a relay or a flip-flop circuit, can store one bit of information. N such devices can store N bits ... [The Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 27, p. 379, (July 1948).]
A complementary way of measuring information is provided by Algorithmic information theory. In brief, this measures the information content of a list of symbols based on how predictable they are, or more specifically how easy it is to generate the list. The sequence below would have a very low algorithmic information measurement since it is a very predictable pattern, and as the pattern continues the measurement would not change. Shannon information would give the same information measurement for each symbol, since they are statistically random, and each new symbol would increase the measurement.
123456789101112131415161718192021
Also see: self-information, lexicographic information cost

Information as a pattern

Information is any represented pattern. This view assumes neither accuracy nor directly communicating parties, but instead assumes a separation between an object and its representation, as well as the involvement of someone capable of understanding this relationship. This view seems therefore to require a conscious mind. Consider the following example: economic statistics represent an economy, however inaccurately. What are commonly referred to as data in computing, statistics, and other fields, are forms of information in this sense. The electro-magnetic patterns in a computer network and connected devices are related to something other than the pattern itself, such as text to be displayed and keyboard input. Signals, signs, and symbols are also in this category. Painting and drawing contain information to the extent that they represent something such as an assortment of objects on a table, a profile, or a landscape. In other words, when a pattern of something is transposed to a pattern of something else, the latter is information. This type of information still assumes some involvement of conscious mind, of either the entity constructing the representation, or the entity interpreting it.

When one constructs a representation of an object, one can selectively extract from the object (sampling) or use a system of signs to replace (encoding), or both. The sampling and encoding result in representation. An example of the former is a "sample" of a product; an example of the latter is "verbal description" of a product. Both contain information of the product, however inaccurate. When one interprets representation, one can predict a broader pattern from a limited number of observations (inference) or understand the relation between patterns of two different things (decoding). One example of the former is to sip a soup to know if it is spoiled; an example of the latter is examining footprints to determine the animal and its condition. In both cases, information sources are not constructed or presented by some "sender" of information. To repeat, information in this sense does not assume direct communication, but it assumes involvement of some conscious mind.

Regardless, information is dependent upon, but usually unrelated to and separate from, the medium or media used to express it. In other words, the position of a theoretical series of bits, or even the output once interpreted by a computer or similar device, is unimportant, except when someone or something is present to interpret the information. Therefore, a quantity of information is totally distinct from its medium.

Information as sensory input

Information is any type of sensory input. When an organism with a nervous system receives an input, it transforms the input into an electrical signal. This is regarded information by some. The idea of representation is still relevant, but in a slightly different manner. That is, while abstract painting does not represent anything concretely, when the viewer sees the painting, it is nevertheless transformed into electrical signals that create a representation of the painting. Defined this way, information does not have to be related to truth, communication, or representation of an object. Entertainment in general is not intended to be informative. Music, the performing arts, amusement parks, works of fiction and so on are thus forms of information in this sense, but they are not forms of information according to the previous definitions above. Consider another example: food supplies both nutrition and taste for those who eat it. If information is equated to sensory input, then nutrition is not information but taste is.

Information as an influence which leads to a transformation

Information is any type of pattern that influences the formation or transformation of other patterns. In this sense, there is no need for a conscious mind to perceive, much less appreciate, the pattern. Consider, for example, DNA. The sequence of nucleotides is a pattern that influences the formation and development of an organism without any need for a conscious mind. Systems theory at times seems to refer to information in this sense, assuming information does not necessarily involve any conscious mind, and patterns circulating (due to feedback) in the system can be called information. In other words, it can be said that information in this sense is something potentially perceived as representation, though not created or presented for that purpose.

When Marshall McLuhan speaks of media and their effects on human cultures, he refers to the structure of artifacts that in turn shape our behaviors and mindsets. Also, pheromones are often said to be "information" in this sense.
In 2003, J. D. Bekenstein claimed there is a growing trend in physics to define the physical world as being made of information itself (and thus information is defined in this way).
See the section below on information as a property in physics. (Also see Gregory Bateson.)

Information as a property in physics

Information has a well defined meaning in the field of Physics. Examples of this include the phenomenon of quantum entanglement where particles can interact without reference to their separation or the speed of light. Information itself cannot travel faster than light even even if the information is transmitted indirectly. This could lead to the fact that all attempts at physically observing a particle with an "entangled" relationship to another are slowed down, even though the particles not connected in any other way other than by the information they carry.

Another link is demonstrated by the Maxwells demon thought experiment. In this a direct relationship between information and another physical property, Entropy, is demonstrated. A consequence is that it is impossible to destroy information without increasing the entropy of a system (in practical terms this often means generating heat). Thus, in the study of logic gates, the theoretical lower bound of thermal energy released by an AND gate is more than for the NOT gate (because information is destroyed in an AND gate and simply converted in an NOT gate). Physical information is of particular importance in the theory of Quantum computers.

Etymology of "information" in English
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (http://dictionary.oed.com/), the earliest historical meaning of the word information in English was the act of informing, or giving form or shape to the mind, as in education, instruction, or training. A quote from 1387: "Five books come down from heaven for information of mankind." It was also used for an item of training, e.g. a particular instruction. "Melibee had heard the great skills and reasons of Dame Prudence, and her wise informations and techniques." (1386) The English word was apparently derived by adding the common "noun of action" ending "-ation" (descended through French from Latin "-tio") to the earlier verb to inform, in the sense of to give form to the mind, to discipline, instruct, teach: "Men so wise should go and inform their kings." (1330) Inform itself comes (via French) from the Latin verb informare, to give form to, to form an idea of. Furthermore, Latin itself already even contained the word informatio meaning concept or idea, but the extent to which this may have influenced the development of the word information in English is unclear. As a final note, the ancient Greek word for form was eidos, and this word was famously used in a technical philosophical sense by Plato (and later Aristotle) to denote the ideal identity or essence of something (see The Forms).

THE HIDDEN FACT BEHIND GURGAON STRIKE

2005-08-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

It has always been said with some black humour that what West Bengal does today India does tomorrow. Thus, it was West Bengal that "pioneered" the concept of "load-shedding" or those endless hours of power cuts that eventually drove investment out of the state, partly contributing to its inexorable decline. Power cuts are now endemic in India today, though industry compensates for it with an increasing reliance on captive sources.

Strikes were another Bengal speciality that other states imported -- notably Maharashtra, with disastrous consequences for the textiles industry. The joke in those days was that you could always identify a Bengali labour leader from his muscular right arm, developed over endless days of raising it in a clenched fist in time to chants of "cholbe na, cholbe na".

For reporters covering the labour beat, the staple fare was to write about the mandays lost owing to strikes, lockouts, and so on. In the state-wise comparisons, Bengal always topped, frequently surpassing its earlier records like Sergei Bubka on the pole vault. Today, however, industry's increasing reliance on the unorganised labour market has tamed the trade union movement like nothing else could.

Till recently, the "bandh" or political curfew was something to which India in general proved more resilient. North India introduced a variant called the "chakka jaam", which disrupted life occasionally but nothing was organised on quite such a majestic scale of debilitating efficiency as the West Bengal bandh.

This was the political equivalent of an annual tantrum by the Left parties against various central iniquities (real and imagined) and they were usually considerate enough to schedule it ahead of a weekend or a public holiday. That way Writers' Buildings' seriously underworked staff and those operating the state's under-functioning public services could enjoy an extended holiday gratis.
The Left-sponsored bandhs were truly a fine art. Even Mamata Banerjee's energetic attempts to emulate them never achieved quite the same level of total closure. Depending on your perspective, bandhs were considered a huge nuisance or great fun. In the days before laptops, cellphones and Blackberrys gave executives unparalleled mobility, a bandh could leave anyone chasing a deadline fretting and fuming. For children, it facilitated gloriously empty roads for undisturbed one-day cricket tournaments.

For those of us in the media business bandhs meant a day when you were collected from and dropped home by office transport because media was deemed an "essential service" and therefore exempt from the enforced inactivity of the bandh. Not that we were particularly grateful. I always found it irritating, if a little touching, that Business Standard, then an eight-page one-edition daily with a modest circulation, was considered an essential service.

But the quaint custom of the ABP group, then owners of the paper, to give every employee who attended that day Rs 5, five glucose biscuits, a cup of tea and a vast meal of rice and fish on the house made the day worthwhile eventually. All in all, with little work to do, it was possible to wrap up early after a day of peaceful fun. The next day's lead edits usually ran virtuously solemn comments on the national loss to which such bandhs contributed.

When I was transferred to Delhi, I thought (slightly regretfully, I must admit) I had put bandhs behind me. So it was with a sense of déjà vu that I heard about the bandh call by the Left parties in Gurgaon in response to alleged police atrocities on alleged workers at the Honda factory late last month. Since public relations is not deemed an essential service and therefore not subject to police protection, our management decided to keep the office closed as a matter of abundant caution.

Evidently, the Left does not consider the thousands of multinationals who have their offices and headquarters in this city essential services, either, so all of them downed their shutters for the day. But copying a concession to modernity established by their West Bengal brethren, they allowed ITES/BPO services to be exempted from this curfew.

Nobody is quite sure what this bandh achieved. Most executives, whether in Indian or multinational firms, worked from home on laptops and it was pretty much business as usual. JNU students, that bottom-less talent pool for the Left, practised their skill at demonstration and protest. All was forgiven at the Honda factory, leaving its Japanese parent bemused and frightened. But yet, in some indefinable way, the bandh has set an uncomfortable precedent.
Gurgaon represents the contradictions of today's liberalising India. Its impressive glass-and-concrete high rises, neon signs flashing some of the world's biggest global names, and malls are all symbols of the thrusting ambitions of Indian business and society, even as the potholed roads, unreliable power supply and general paucity of urban infrastructure represent the rank failure of the government. In fact, absent the glitz and the determined energy of the private sector, and Gurgaon is not unlike Kolkata was in the eighties. The bandh just added another ominous point of similarity.

The views expressed are personal

Fastest Company

2005-08-21T15:17:00.000-07:00

the INFORMATION REDEFINED::
According to quantum physics, the very presence of an observer changes the event he is observing. Something like that seems to be happening in the Newtonian world too, as far as the annual Outlook survey of business schools is concerned. The ranking exercise appears to have inadvertently triggered off healthy competition between management institutes to do more research, improve their processes and facilities.
Sample the statistics. In year 2000, when Outlook did its first survey of business schools, as many as 70 per cent of the institutes did not have a single faculty member who had published a research paper. Now it’s the reverse: in almost 75 per cent of the B-schools surveyed this year, at least one research paper has been authored by its faculty. In our ranking we give considerable weightage to intellectual capital, of which research output forms an important part (see Methodology). This may not have any immediate impact on placements, but in the long run are very important for faculty development, curriculum updation and finally, for the economy as a whole. If, of course, these research papers are written with the aim of pursuing and expanding knowledge, and not merely to push the writer’s B-school up the ranks.Naturally, placement remains the parameter with the highest weightage in our judgement. For, the MBA is a professional degree that’s supposed to prepare young men and women to engage with and master the real competitive world of corporate life. And it’s unavoidable that placement performance is judged through the filter of the compensation packages offered to graduating students. And here, at the risk of blowing our own trumpet, we can say our methodology has the most detailed and fair procedure to rank institutes on placement performance, including a unique return-on-investment index comparing salaries and school fees.Several publications now do annual B-school surveys. Some consider only the average salary offered as a criterion for placement (we take into account median salary—a more valid indicator than average—and also maximum and minimum salaries, plus maximum salary for foreign jobs). Some, startlingly, do not take into account the obvious fact that schools visited by companies from the US and Europe to hire for their headquarters are better than those that draw only Indian recruiters. Others, strangely enough, rely only on perceptions of recruiters and academics and don’t crunch any hard numbers.This is galling, since the primary objective of a manager is often defined as "reducing uncertainty". A perceptual ranking is nebulous, and can change dramatically if the sample of respondents changes, or even if the same sample is surveyed at different times.We also do a perception survey, but we do it as a year-long exercise to weed out subjectivity as far as possible. Even at the end of this, we give "perception" only a 20 per cent weightage. The rest comes from hard numbers supplied to us by the institutes. If some numbers look exaggerated, we personally visit the schools to verify. For instance, this year, we were forced to drop some 70 schools from the survey because of claims that did not match the reality.This year has been a bumper harvest for the top B-schools as far as placements go. Many companies had to return empty-handed from the best campuses. Among the 236 B-schools that participated in our survey, a high 47 per cent reported that every graduate had got a job offer—last year it was 38 per cent. The average median annual salary offered was Rs 2,50,000, up 25 per cent (Rs 50,000) over last year. And there’s more good news. Areas like industry interface too see marked improvement.B-schools across India are ramping up infrastructure, especially technological.Wireless campuses, electronic databases and libraries, laptops for every student...these expensive efficiency tools are becoming common in many private and government-aided autonomous B-schools.Some like BIMTECH in Delhi, Alliance Business Academy in Bangalore and IIMM in Pune are in the process of shifting to fully residential campuses.Another recent positive is the CII initiative to promote industry interface with B-schools. It has launched a scheme, the CII Industrial Fellowship, under which a faculty member from a partner institute is assigned a research project with industry for a period of three to six months. The academic can get insights into the actual working of the organisation, get data, do research, develop a case study. Already institutes like Christ College, Alliance Business Academy, Mount Carmel Business School have assigned professors to work with organisations like Wipro and Philips. In the agri-business sector too, the agriculture ministry’s initiative of generating agricultural entrepreneurs or agripreneurs—for which Hyderabad’s National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management is a nodal centre—has also shown some positive results. There are already over 150 cases of successful new agripreneurs. Some schools have gone beyond teaching globalisation; they themselves are venturing abroad into new markets. Mumbai’s S.P. Jain Institute and Jamshedpur’s XLRI have opened centres in Dubai. Private universities like the Hyderabad-based ICFAI are planning to enter Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other South Asian countries. The Manipal group now has campuses in Nepal, Malaysia, Dubai and Muscat. The IIMs are considering opening branches in West and Southeast Asia. mdi Gurgaon, ICFAI, and Mumbai’s Wellingkar Institute are applying for international accreditation. by AACSB (Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business) in the US and EQUIS (European quality norms).Now the concerns. Our surveys have consistently shown a big gap between industry expectations and B-school delivery (see ‘Ticket in a Bottle’ story on page 54). Many in industry find B-school products too raw. Says Pankaj Mittal, director, Asia Pacific, Delphi Systems: "The freshers’ business process understanding is too low and lacks special skill sets. We have to invest a substantial amount in training them. B-schools need to inundate students with current cases and live projects." One reason for this industry-MBA mismatch could be that over 80 per cent of those who join management institutes in India come fresh from college and have no work experience. In many top global schools, a minimum of three years’ work experience is mandatory for the applicant. Paucity of good faculty is another problem. About 70,000 students graduate every year from 1,000-odd B-schools in the country. Taking a 1:10 teacher-student ratio (the international standard), we need 7,000 teachers. But the current estimate is less than 2,000 management educators. "And many of them," says Dr Pandurangarao, director, ICFAI Business School, "are not properly trained to teach. Very few Indian B-schools are proactive in developing quality faculty." Agrees Dr A.K. Sen Gupta, director of Navi Mumbai’s SIES College of Management Studies, "India produces hardly 150 management doctorates per year," he says. Also, teachers are expected to facilitate the process of learning compared to teaching what they intend to. Teachers are still considered deliverers of knowledge from ivory towers. The emotional bondage between teachers and students is virtually non-existent.And above all, teachers are seldom considered mentors, coaches or counselors."Curriculum is another concern. A majority of our B-schools still focus on existing customers—industries like fmcg, IT, banking, manufacturing etc—and don’t really think of unserved markets.Only about ten institutes have programmes on rural management and agri-business that can generate job producers instead of job consumers.Not a single institute we surveyed has an elective on growth areas like energy management or non-renewable energy. They are yet to tap underserved areas like healthcare, hospitality, communication, entertainment and small businesses."The three vital components of any content and curriculum are quality, relevance and flexibility," says Sen Gupta. "Unfortunately, in many institutes in India, the course content lacks in all the above. Scarcity of adequate good faculty affects quality. Curriculum has often been found to be static for as long as a decade. But the most critical dimension is that the bureaucratic set-up of many B-schools has resulted in institutes devoid of agility to respond to change." One consequence of this is that hardly 20 management institutes in India can be really called integrated B-schools—that is, truly integrated with industry, and not only disseminating existing knowledge but creating new knowledge, skills and practices that can have a far reaching impact on the Indian economy.Probably the most key concern is the global challenge. The General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) regime, which operates under the WTO umbrella, is to begin by 2005—opening up global education markets. While Indian institutes will be free to go abroad and offer services, top foreign universities will also be allowed entry into India. In February, International Business Week wrote: "Schools from the elite University of Chicago to the fast-growing ranks of ‘for-profit’ colleges are also setting up shop overseas.... As China and India develop advanced industrial bases the global demand for post-secondary education could nearly triple over the next two decades."Currently, about 10,000 Indians go off every year to study in foreign B-schools. With barriers falling, this number is bound to swell. And with the clear possibility of foreign competition coming to India, our top institutes need to bootstrap themselves urgently to world-class level. As Professor J. Philip, director, xime Bangalore, says: "It’s a blurred interconnected borderless world. We have to be in the thick of it."

SPORTS:where do they come from

2005-08-21T09:26:00.000-07:00

INFORMATINO REDEFINED

sports, athletic games or tests of skill undertaken primarily for the diversion of those who take part or those who observe them. The range is great; usually, however, the term is restricted to any play, pastime, exercise, game, or contest performed under given rules, indoors or outdoors, on an individual or a team basis, with or without competition, but requiring skill and some form of physical exertion.

Some sports, such as hunting, fishing, running, and swimming, derive from the rhythms and work requirements of primitive everyday life. Some, such as riding, shooting, throwing the javelin, or archery derive from early military practices. Still others, like boxing, wrestling, and jumping, arose from the spontaneous challenges and occasional hostilities that accompany human interaction.

Development of Sports

The precise origins of many sports remain obscure, although all cultures have known physical contests. The ancient Egyptians swam, raced, wrestled, and played games with balls. The ancient Greeks held large athletic festivals, including the Olympic games, that drew athletes from all over the ancient world. The Greeks, and then the Romans, also competed in events (chariot races, throwing the javelin) that relied on the participation of animals or the use of mechanical contrivances, a tradition continued into modern times in sports such as dog racing, horse racing, and shooting.

During the Middle Ages, the cultural isolation imposed by the feudal system and religious doctrine that opposed the use of the body for play hampered the development of organized sport in the Western world. For many centuries, contests between knights in tournaments that emphasized military skill were among the only forms of approved, public sports. In the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, games and exercise attained renewed popularity. As had been the case in ancient times, however, politics and social class circumscribed activity. Sports that required wealth or leisure, such as polo or falconry, were the province of the upper classes, while inexpensive, massed sports, such as soccer, took root among commoners.

Modern Sports

The late 19th cent. witnessed an expanding belief in sport as useful recreation, and in industrialized societies equipment was standardized, local and national organizations were set up to govern play, and a doctrine of character-building declared sports to be a necessary endeavor for men. The revival of the Olympics in 1896 and the blossoming U.S. intercollegiate athletic system boosted many forms of amateur, or unpaid, sports at the same time that professional sports (such as baseball, boxing, and bicycle racing) drew large numbers of spectators. Sports that were traditionally played in various countries became, by legislative act or general acceptance, national sports—baseball in the United States, bullfighting in Spain and Mexico, cricket in England, and ice hockey (see hockey, ice) in Canada.
During the Great Depression, Americans sought inexpensive outlets for their energies; mass participation in sports such as softball and bowling resulted. At the same time, spectator sports burgeoned, and the commercialism that accompanied them gradually engulfed both amateur and professional sports. By the late 20th cent., the televising of athletic events had made sports big business. On the other hand, expanding public concern with personal physical health led to mass participation, not necessarily competitive, in sports like running, hiking, cycling, martial arts, and gymnastics. Athletic activity by women expanded, especially after political action in the 1960s and 1970s opened doors to many forms of competition and an increased share of public funding for sports.
During the 20th cent., sports took on an increasingly international flavor; aside from the world championships for individual sports, like soccer's World Cup, large-scale international meets, such as the Pan-American games and the Commonwealth games, were inaugurated. Sports have correspondingly become increasingly politicized, as shown in the boycott of the 1980 Moscow games by Western nations and the retaliatory boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles games by Soviet-bloc nations, an exchange brought on by Soviet actions in Afghanistan.

courtesy:answers.com

PACEMAKER IMPLANTATION

2005-08-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

A pacemaker is a treatment for dangerously slow heart beats. Without treatment, a slow heart beat can lead to weakness, confusion, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and death.

Slow heart beats can be the result of metabolic abnormalities or occur as a result of blocked arteries to the heart's conduction system. These conditions can often be treated and a normal heart beat will resume. Slow heart beats can also be a side effect of certain medications in which case discontinuation of the medicine or a reduction in dose may correct the problem.

But sometimes, the conduction system of the heart becomes irreversibly damaged for any one of a number of reasons. And some people require medications that cause slow heart beats as a side effect in order to prevent other serious problems. Since there is no medication that one can take on chronic basis to speed up the heart rate, a pacemaker is the only solution.

Fortunately, having a pacemaker implanted is only a minor surgical procedure. This is not open heart surgery. After a pacemaker is implanted, most people resume their previous lifestyle with little or no limitations.

The procedure is performed with mild sedation and a local anesthetic. Patients are not put to sleep. An 2 inch incision is made parallel to and just below a collar bone. Pacer wires are then inserted into a vein that lies just under the collarbone and advanced through that vein under fluoroscopic guidance into the heart. The other end of the pacer wires are connected to a "generator" that is implanted under the skin beneath the collar bone. This generator is about half an inch deep and one and a half inches wide. The skin is then sutured closed and the patient leaves the hospital later than same day or the following day. Incisional pain is mild and transient and usually responds to Tylenol. It is possible to feel the pacer generator under the skin and a slight deformaty of the skin can be visually noticed.

Patients may not shower for a week after the procedure to keep the incision dry and should avoid excessively exerting the arm on the side the pacer was placed for that week.

After a week, the patient may resume their prior lifestyle without limitation. Household appliances do not interfere with modern day pacemakers. However, cellular phones may-especially digital cell phones. These should be kept 12 inches away from the pacemaker when on-preferably at the ear on the opposite side of the pacemaker. Never leave the cell phone in a pocket overlying the pacemaker.

Patients with pacemakers should avoid powerful electromagnetic fields which may reprogram the pacemaker. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans cannot be performed on patients with pacemakers for that reason.

The pacemaker generator contains a lithium battery and what is, essentially, a little computer. The generator can communicate with an external device placed on the skin overlying the pacemaker. Through this device, a physician can change the programming of the pacemaker to best suit the individual patient's needs and investigate the status of the pacemaker. Some pacemakers also report on the performance of the patient's heart.

Pacemakers can also be checked over the telephone. The patient places a device and a magnet over the pacemaker and the pacemaker transmits a signal over phone line that is analyzed in the physicians office.

Pacemaker batteries give off warning signals when they are running low on power many months before they actually fail. This can be detected either by a telephone check or by a formal interrogation by the external device mentioned above. Pacemakers are generally checked at least every 3 months to allow plenty of time to change the generator when it is running low on power. Changing the generator simply means remaking the same incision, removing the old generator, and plugging the existing wires into the new generator. The patient goes home the same day. Most batteries last at least 5 years.

Pacemakers sense every heart beat the patient has and only pace the heart when the patient's heart rate falls below a predetermined limit. Patients are usually completely unaware of when the pacer is pacing their heart. In some patients, the pacemaker only needs to fire very rarely because the slow heart beat only occurs intermittently. In other patients, the heart beat is always too slow and the pacemaker has to pace the heart all of the time. Such patients are said to be pacemaker dependent.

Another use of pacemakers is for a disease called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. This is a disease where overgrown heart muscle blocks the egress of blood out of the heart. By altering the electrical activation pattern of the heart's muscle, pacemakers can help alleviate this problem.

A special type of pacemaker that stimulates both the left and right ventricles of the heart simultaneously ( a biventricular pacemaker) can reduce symptoms and the need to be rehospitalized in heart failure patients with weak heart muscle who demonstrate slow electrical conduction through the ventricles on their ECG. This is known as cardiac resynchronization therapy. Thses pacemakers are usually combined with implantable defibrillators. Because these pacemakers are specifically designed for patients with heart failure, they may also come with a monitor to detect the amount of fluid in the lungs or the strength of contraction of the heart muscle.

To prevent abnormally fast heart rhythms from developing in the upper chambers of the heart (the atria), some researchers are experimenting with pacing the atria from two sites instead of just one.

what are pacemakers

2005-08-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Overview

Pacemakers are battery-powered implantable devices that function to electrically stimulate the heart to contract and thus to pump blood throughout the body. Pacemakers consist of a pager-sized housing device which contains a battery and the electronic circuitry that runs the pacemaker, and one or two long thin wires that travel through a vein in the chest to the heart. Pacemakers are usually implanted in patients in whom the heart's own "spark plug" or electrical system is no longer functioning normally.

The Heart and Its Electrical System

In order to better understand why some patients require pacemakers and how these devices work, it is worth briefly discussing how the heart and its electrical system work. The heart is divided into right and left sides. Each side has a chamber that receives blood that is returning to the heart (called atria) and a muscular chamber that is responsible for pumping blood out of the heart (called ventricles).

Blood that has traveled to parts of the body and is now oxygen-poor returns to the heart and enters the right atrium. This blood is then pumped by contraction of the right atrium into the right ventricle. The right ventricle, in turn, contracts and pumps this blood to the lungs, where it absorbs oxygen. The oxygen-rich blood then returns from the lungs to the heart and enters the left atrium, where it is pumped into the left ventricle. The left ventricle is the most muscular of the heart's four chambers and serves as the main pumping chamber of the heart. When the muscular tissue of the left ventricle contracts, blood is pumped into the aorta, the main artery of the body which supplies blood to other arteries. Oxygen-rich blood travels through the aorta to other arteries of the body and then, in turn, to the organs and tissues of the body, which require oxygen to function. Oxygen-poor blood returns from these organs and tissues through the veins back to the right atrium of the heart, and the cycle repeats itself.

The contractions of the different chambers of the heart are normally organized in a very specific manner — a special type of electrical impulse travels through the heart and sets off contractions in the chambers as it passes through the chambers. Figure 2 shows the normal sequence by which this electrical impulse travels through the heart.

The heart's normal "spark plug" is an area of specialized heart tissue called the SA node, which is located in the right atrium. Each time this tissue "fires," an electrical impulse is generated that travels first through the right and left atria, signaling these chambers to contract and pump blood into the ventricles. The impulse then travels down into another small patch of specialized heart tissue called the AV node, which is located between the atria and the ventricles. The electrical impulse is conducted through the AV node and then through specialized wire-like pathways into the ventricles, where it signals the ventricles to contract and to pump blood out into the lungs and throughout the body. This normal sequence of electrical activation of the chambers of the heart is called sinus rhythm. It occurs each time the heart beats, usually about 60 to 80 times every minute.

Why does weight matter?

2005-08-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

Why do (some) cyclists obsess about weight? Why does it matter? Well, if we all rode at a constant speed on level ground, and had perfect bearings in our bikes, it wouldn't. But in the real world, the story is not a very simple one. The human body is not a very capable power plant. I can sustain about 200 watts, and even Lance doesn't do much more than 600 watts except in very short bursts. So the game is to optimize the power budget of the system to make the most of this puny output. Where does the power go? To a first approximation, there are three items:

Rolling resistance
Aerodynamic drag
Gravity (or to be more precise: rate of change of gravitational potential energy)

Rolling resistance is typically small - bearings and tires are very good these days. If we consider riding on the flat, then it is clear that there is no contribution from gravity. So most of our power output goes to overcoming aerodynamic drag. It is somewhat difficult to characterize the drag of a cyclist. Even wind-tunnel modelling is not fully adequate. The reason for this is that in the real world, the apparent wind "seen" by the cyclist is the vector sum of their speed and the prevailing surface wind. This means that the effective wind might not come from head-on. This means that both the effective area and the coefficient of drag are not constants, as they are usually considered to be. Be this as it may, we can still say in general terms that aerodynamic drag goes like the square of the speed relative to the air. From basic physics, power is the rate of doing work, and work is force times distance. So the power is drag times speed, in other words it goes like speed cubed. So if you want to go twice as fast, you need eight times the power output, or put another way, twice the power output will take you about 26% faster.

Now how about hills? The power lost (stored, actually) due to climbing is simply your mass times the local gravitational accelleration, times your vertical speed. If you have a steep hill, and you know the altitude at the bottom and at the top (from a map, or from measuring it), this leads to a simple way to calculate your power output. Provided the hill is steep enough that you are going quite slowly (less than 10 mph (16 kph) but the slower the better), there shouldn't be too much aerodynamic drag to mess up the calculation. Weigh yourself, your bike, and all your gear that you ride with. We need to convert to S.I. units so that the answer will come out in watts. Say it was 150 lbs + 20 lbs + 5 lbs. Divide by 2.2 to get Kg mass - almost exactly 80 Kg. Now multiply by little-g, the earth's gravitational accelleration, to get weight in Newtons. 80x9.8 is about 780 N. Now suppose the climb is 1900' and you do it in 49 minutes. 1900 feet is abuot 580 m, and 49 minutes is 2940 s. So the climb rate is 0.197 m/s. Power is weightxclimb rate, or in this case about 154 watts.

What can we say in general? well for a given hill, power is proportional to speed. It is also proportional to weight. So if you save a couple of pounds, by whatever means, you potentially go around 1% faster. What if we hold the speed constant and vary other parameters? Power goes like the sine of the steepness of the hill. But for the kind of angles we're talking about, sin(x) is approximately equal to x. So if the hill gets a bit steeper, the power output to maintain speed goes up close to proportionally. Power is proportional to weight in the constant speed case, just like in the constant hill case.

So the general conclusion we can draw here, is that riding on the flat (in a time trial, where there's no drafting) is driven by power to drag ratio, whereas riding up hills is driven by power to weight ratio. That's why you don't see the average time trialist get to the top of a mountain first - and why the ultra-elite like Lance and co. are so special....

information-redefined::we redefine every information