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Holiday

2007-10-11T01:45:00.001-07:00

new news related article after 7 days

Illegal Music Sharing...any takers?

2007-10-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

A federal jury in Duluth, Minn., on Thursday ordered a Minneapolis woman to pay US$220,000 to six music companies for illegally downloading and sharing copyrighted music over a peer-to-peer network.

The 12-person jury said Jammie Thomas must pay $9,250 for each of the 24 songs that were the focus of the case. In their complaint, the six music companies that sued her had claimed that Thomas had illegally shared a total of 1,702 songs over the Kazaa file-sharing network, but they chose to focus on a representative list of 24 songs.

The verdict was greeted with dismay by many in the blogosphere who have been following the case closely for some time now.

New York lawyer Ray Beckerman, writing in the Recording Industry vs The People blog, called the verdict "one of the most irrational things I have ever seen in my life in the law."

"A verdict of $222,000 for infringement of 24 song files worth a total of $23.76?" he asked. "It is an outrage, and I hope it is a wake-up call to the world that we all need to start supporting the defendants in these cases."

Commenting on Gizmodo.com, a reader identifying himself as DirtyBacon said he was shocked but not surprised by the verdict. "I guess my two mp3 players, that have thousands of songs that I bought on CD, are illegal contraband," he said. "My options of moving to Asian countries for work are looking more appealing. I've officially lost faith."

The six music companies that sued Thomas were Capitol Records Inc., Sony BMG, Arista Records LLC, Interscope Records Inc., UMG Recordings Inc. and Warner Bros. Records Inc.

Article Source: PC World

Halo 3: Microsoft to replace damaged games

2007-09-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has been forced to offer replacement Halo 3 games within hours of launching the much-hyped Xbox 360 game.

Not long after thousands of fans walked away from long queues with the software giant's most eagerly awaited computer game, reports of scratched video game disks flooded the internet.

Microsoft faced a flurry of blogs claiming that the scratches were a result of the game's special limited-edition packaging. In response, the group told its customers on the Xbox website, "if, for any reason, you have a damaged Microsoft Xbox 360 disc and (would) like to replace it...you will need to complete the program form".

Customers have until December 31 to send their damaged disks back to Microsoft, which warned that the replacement games would take four to six weeks to deliver. The game went on sale in Britain at midnight last night. Prices in the US start at around $60 (£30), yet the same basic edition of Halo 3 in the UK is on sale for £49.99. Retailers Amazon and Game, however, are offering it online for around £39.99. Last month, Microsoft finally caved in to Xbox 360 games console price cuts in the UK, just weeks after Nintendo turned up the heat by lifting its profit forecast for the year by more than 40pc on the back of soaring global sales of Wii and DS devices.

The news of damaged Halo 3 games will come as a blow to Microsoft, which recently admitted it will have to spend up to $1.15bn repairing defective Xbox 360 consoles and extending their warranty policies.

Record Arctic ice melt causes alarm

2007-09-22T03:44:00.000-07:00

SEA ice over the Arctic has shrunk to its smallest known area, shattering a record set in 2005 and continuing a trend spurred by human-caused global warming, scientists say.

"It's really quite astounding," said Walt Meier, a research scientist at the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre. "It's the biggest drop from a previous record that we've ever had."

Sea ice freezes and melts seasonally, but never had it ebbed to this small a patch. Compared with 2005, this year there had been a decrease of more than 1 million square kilometres — nearly four times the size of Victoria — the centre said. It is more than double the decline between 2002 and 2005.

"That's a dramatic change in one year," Dr Meier said of this year's sea ice decrease.

"Certainly we've been on a downward trend for the past 30 years or so, but this is really accelerating the trend."

The minimum amount of ice occurred on Sunday and freezing has already begun in some places, according to satellite imagery used by the centre.

Melting sea ice, unlike the melting glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica, does not contribute to the global sea level rise, much as an ice cube in a glass of water does not make the level of liquid rise when it melts.

But without the bright white of sea ice to reflect the sun's rays, the Earth loses what some climate scientists call its air-conditioner. The less ice there is, the more dark water there is to absorb the warming solar radiation.

This year's record was caused by a "perfect storm" of interacting factors, Dr Meier said. These included a long-running high pressure system that kept skies cloudless over the Arctic, along with a circulation pattern that pushed ice out of the Arctic towards Greenland, instead of letting it circle around the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska.

Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Want a lightsaber?

2007-09-19T02:55:00.000-07:00

From the Department of Easy Enough To Predict: LucasArts has announced that the "next-generation action adventure" of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be coming to the Wii, as well as the PS3 and Xbox 360 (and Nintendo DS and PSP and PS2).

Difference is with the Wii version that yes, next year when it's released, you'll be able to wave the Wiimote around and get that authentic yeum-yeum noise of a lightsaber. (Light saber? Sabre?) The nunchuk, meanwhile, will let you enact your character's force powers. In the case of Yoda, this would presumably mean spinning high in the air and sentences backwards speaking in.

Apparently the game will be set in the period between Star Wars III and IV (so, after the creation of Darth Vader - when the whole galaxy has for years sort-of ruled by Jedi masters using Da Force - but before the period when Han Solo, certainly 20 years older than Luke Skywalker, can say he's flown the length and breadth of the galaxy and never heard people talk about a "Force". That make any sense to you?) and you will play Darth Vader's "apprentice".

Read More on Guardian.co.uk

Apple unveils new wireless iPod Touch

2007-09-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

A new generation of iPod player with an extra wide screen and wireless internet connection has been unveiled by Apple.

The newest incarnation of the iconic MP3 player will allow users to surf the web, store photos, watch internet videos and download music directly to the device.

The new "iPod Touch", features a 3.5-inch, touch-screen display on which light finger touches allow the user to scroll through menus, and use two fingers to resize pictures. The wireless internet access and the Safari web browser, including the Google and Yahoo search engines, offers access to the popular YouTube video-sharing website.

The iPod touch will be available in the UK later this month. An 8GB memory version capable of holding up to 1,750 songs will cost £199 and the 16GB model holding 3,500 songs will cost £269.

It comes in bright colours and is a much squarer shape than previous generations of the gadget.

Speaking from his company’s headquarters in San Francisco, California, Steve Jobs, chief executive and founder of Apple joked that his company’s new iPod was "one of the seven wonders of the world".

"This is the revolution in how to enjoy your music," he said.

The device was unveiled in a launch broadcast live from California to eager Apple enthusiasts and journalists around the world. Every new announcement was met with whoops and cheers.

Mr Jobs also unveiled the new iPod Nano, which features a 2.5-inch screen for watching movies and playing built-in games. "It’s incredibly tiny. It’s incredibly thin," he said.

The Nano features a 320-by-240-pixel screen with 24 hours of audio playback. "We think it’s really, really beautiful," Mr Jobs said. The company also plans to release the sleek iPhone in the UK before Christmas priced somewhere between £300 and £400.

News Source: The Telegraph

HBO: Hollywood Box Office this summer

2007-09-02T10:44:00.000-07:00

Hollywood - The summer film run at the box office proved the studios still have what it takes in star power to draw in movie buffs when it comes to filling theater seats after the summer film season, raking in a record $4 billion for the studios.

The summer's box office take beat the last season record of $3.95 billion set three year's ago.

The studios brought out highly-touted films every week, including through August which is usually a low period for box office returns at the end of the summer film season.

Four sequels also set records, bringing in $300 million each in box office returns; "Spider Man", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Shrek" and "Harry Potter". Movie pundits couldn't figure out whether the release of the "Harry Potter" film this summer would have done better or worse at the box office when the final book in the series made headlines worldwide and was released at the same time as the latest movie, leaving one more film to be produced for the Potter sequel of sequels.

Coming up close behind the four record sequels this summer was "Transformers", which is still at the box office this Labor Day weekend and its sequel, "Transformers 2" is already on the drawing board.

Another hot sequel this summer was "The Bourne Ultimatum", which grossed $70 million at the box office its first week, outperforming all of the other "Bourne" films before it. So far the Bourne film has grossed $185 at the box office.

Two other films did better than most expected with "Knocked Up" grossing $147 million at the box office this summer and the comedy is still going strong. Also, the teen summer comedy "Superbad" has been holding its own in the No. 1 slot at the box office for the second week in a row.

Read full News at: AXcess News

Paris Hilton Big Brother Inmate?

2007-08-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

Atlanta, GA 8/12/2007 2:46 PM GMT

Relax America; Paris Hilton is thinking about entering the Big Brother house in the U.K, not the U.S. A source claims that the socialite wants to do Celebrity Big Brother “if the price is right.” Hilton has reportedly begun talking to them already.

“Paris is keen to do the show because she wants to show people the real her. She wants to show the British public that there is more to her life than shopping and partying and show would certainly make an interesting housemate. It all depends on whether they can afford her,” a source claims.

Paris Hilton has demanded $5 million (£2.6 million) to star in German reality show BIG BROTHER - THE VILLAGE - after turning down their initial $1.9 million (£1 million) offer.

"Please let his happen. Please. It would be the biggest coup the Channel 4 show would ever have -- bar the appearance of Elvis or perhaps, just maybe, Jesus.

I don't know why Paris Hilton would be such great viewing -- she is, after all, a jailbird nobody that has never done anything, ever -- but something tells me it just would be. She'd leave that house either popular as anything having convinced the world that she isn't all bad. Or, she'll leave in a mess, booed from every corner. So hated that even Davina would stand at the bottom of the stairs and boo too.

I wonder which scenario would happen. Either way, she'll still get her spot on the Friday Night Project.

And as for ratings, she's a surefire hit. Everyone would tune in to see how the girl would get on. Could she manage living on equal par with all those people? I quite like her (I know, shame on me), and I think she'd surprise everyone.

And we know she's not shy about being filmed..."

Article Sources: Finditt and Availableforpanto

Fake Steve Jobs Busted

2007-08-06T03:56:00.000-07:00

The quest to unmask the anonymous author of The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, a satirical blog purportedly written by Apple's charismatic chief executive, is over.

The snarky, no-holds-barred diary, which lampooned everyone from tech industry figureheads to tech journalists to venture capitalists, has enthralled and amused the blogosphere for the past 14 months.

In Business 2.0 magazine's recent list of "The 50 Who Matter Now", Fake Steve Jobs ranked 37th, ahead of Evan Williams, founder of Twitter, and just a few spots behind Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook.

But the mystery surrounding who penned the pseudonymous diary - which has attracted readers from the highest echelons of tech, including Steve Jobs himself and Bill Gates - captivated industry watchers more than the content itself.

Today, the mystery scribe was revealed by The New York Times reporter Brad Stone as Forbes Magazine senior editor Daniel Lyons, bringing to an end a six-month search that in recent months bordered on the illegal.

"Well, tip of the hat to you, Brad Stone ... Now you've ruined the mystery of Fake Steve, robbing thousands of people around the world of their sense of childlike wonder," Lyons wrote in his usual acerbic style after he had been outed.

"Hope you feel good about yourself, you mangina."

Previously, Fake Steve lashed out at the "creepy" attempts to unmask him, which reportedly involved shady computer hacking techniques and other privacy invasions.

But today's revelations did little to break Lyons out of his egotistical Fake Steve Jobs character; in fact, the blog will now be rolled into Forbes.com and October will see the publication of Lyons's latest satirical novel, Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody.

Oroginal and complete story is published at: Sunday Morning Herald

All About Google

2007-07-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Much more than you know about Google knows Google about you. The makers of Google want to conquer the world, the world of information. They have more power and influence than any other enterprise. Google has six times more stock-value than General Motors. Google wants to become the one and only search engine - so that Google is the Internet.

Who doesn't appear at Google doesn't exist. Some people are Google addicted. They seek information about people. If they are interested in a girl and they don't want to look like a stalker, they go to the Internet and have a look, what Google knows about her.

Google uses so-called "robots". These are programs, which search the entire the Internet and analyze all web pages automatically. They go onto every side and have a look at every single word and every single link. They save the contents on her hard disks and every word is indexed. They do this permanently and for all web pages of the world. Every side is analyzed and evaluated and the number of the references to every document investigated. From this the relevance is figured out. One then finds the most popular sides which are called again and again. This is the heart of the system: the page-rank algorithm (indicates the rank of a web page). Behind these Google algorithms millions of mathematical equations which convey the feeling to one to obtain the best hits and the search results indeed are very good.

The founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page

The founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are approximately beginning thirty (and each of them already has a fortune of approximately 7 to 12 million dollars). Both are sons of college professors. The family of Sergey Brin emigrated to the USA in 1976. Sergey was six years old at that time. His parents left Russia because of the anti-Semitism ruling there. Sergeys father is a mathematics professor at university of Maryland. His mother works as a rocket designer for NASA. The father of Larry Page was the first one who made his doctor to computer science at university of Michigan (in Chicago).

How Google earns his money

Although no advertising is on the initial page of Google, Google earns its money by advertising in the end.

Google has said himself: "If so many people look for certain information, then it must be worthwhile, to approach to people, who are advertiseing, and to them say: 'I have so and so many people who are looking for the product which You sell by chance. Do You want to buy these enquiries from us?'Google sells advertising to advertising-driving in form of a sponsered link which is displayed besides or over the search results. The Google advertisement program "AdWords" makes it possible for enterprises or single persons to offer for or to buy certain words or terms. If somebody enters a search word, then the advertising of the one who has most paid for this is displayed at the highest position.

But this isn’t the whole picture. If the advertising often isn't selected enough, then it doesn't appear. So the advertising of this one which has most paid and which is selected most is published in first place. So the popularity of the advertising is taken into account. Why does Google do this? Because the customer must pay for every click on his advertising, the advertising which most is selected is the most interesting for Goggle.

The most frequent requested words are "pornography", "pills" and "poker"

Google obtains at least 95% of its profits with the "AdWords program". At the moment, this is probably the worldwide most successful advertising medium.

Googles gigantic computer capacity

The enormous size of its computer network belongs to the greatest secrets of Google. No matter how many search requests come in at Google, they are always processed very fast. Google has created a worldwide unique infrastructure and built the biggest computer of the world which consists of innumerable microprocessors. They have approximately 450 000 computers in 10 to 20 computer centers allover in the world.

Read this great story complete at: Koinae.de

American Home Mortgage tumbles on liquidity issues

2007-07-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - American Home Mortgage Investment Corp sank on Monday after the home loan provider announced "major" writedowns, delayed a dividend and said lenders were demanding it put up more cash.

Shares of American Home were down 39 percent, falling in pre-market trading to $6.39 from Friday's close of $10.47. On Friday the shares hit their lowest level since April 2003. Trading on Monday was halted for news pending.

The announcement late Friday evening reflects how liquidity and credit issues affecting subprime lenders are extending to companies that make home loans to borrowers considered to be good credit risks.

American Home, based in Melville, New York, specializes in prime and near-prime loans. It has, however, made many loans that allow borrowers to produce little documentation. Such loans are often considered riskier. The company recently commanded a roughly 2.5 percent share of the U.S. mortgage market.

"Bankruptcy is not out of the question," said Matt Howlett, an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton Inc. in New York. "It needs to find a partner with alternative funding and hope the market turns around. It's going to be tough."

He added, "It's clear now we're in a liquidity crisis. Any loans that aren't pure prime are falling in value."

American Home did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Read full news with figures at: Reuters.

Last supper - my version

2007-07-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

Click image to enlarge

You are reading and hearing about it since yesterday and we are still not able to open the websites. What i've learnt from searching the net that the man who "Discovered" this theory is actually mirrored+superimposed the pic. I've done exactly that. Those who have not looked at the "original", may want to look at my version.

Technically it is mirrored superimposed image. Make your own judgment.

(what i have done is ..downloaded the original image from wikipedia...opened it in photoshop.. layer copied.. new layer=50% opacity..done)

I don't think personally that Mr. Davinci could take anymore "Theories". But still... Cheers!

25 Interesting facts, YOU CAN live without these

2007-07-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.

2. Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros.

3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.

5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.

6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.

9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

11. Dalmatians are born without spots.

12. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

13. The ‘v’ in the name of a court case does not stand for ‘versus’, but for ‘and’ (in civil proceedings) or ‘against’ (in criminal proceedings).

14. Men’s shirts have the buttons on the right, but women’s shirts have the buttons on the left.

15. The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids.

16. The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it’s already been digested by a bee.

17. Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks.

18. The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.

19. Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.

20. Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.

21. The verb “cleave” is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

22. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red.

23. When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.

24. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.

25. The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney.

Read the complete list at: Hemmy.net

15 Largest Social Bookmarking Sites

2007-07-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

Here are the 15 Largest Social Bookmarking Sites ranked simply by Alexa Rank.Other things that i taken into account were Inbound Links, Google Page Rank and U.S. traffic data from Compete and Quantcast. Although no traffic metrics are completely accurate so you can call them my favorites if you like. All data collected within last 7 seven days (from 20th july) and Alexa Ranking has been checked today.

1. digg.com
117,796,083 - Inbound Links
22,541,770 - Compete Monthly Visitors
7,200,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
97 - Alexa Ranking
8 - Google Page Rank

2. Technorati.com
75,029,441 - Inbound Links
2,877,385 - Compete Monthly Visitors
1,600,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
205 - Alexa Ranking
8 - Google Page Rank

3. del.icio.us
172,291,472 - Inbound Links
1,032,835 - Compete Monthly Visitors
1,100,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
240 - Alexa Ranking
8 - Google Page Rank

4. StumbleUpon.com
16,953,085 - Inbound Links
731,424 - Compete Monthly Visitors
645,880 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
294 - Alexa Ranking
8 - Google Page Rank

5. MyBlogLog.com
1,711,429 - Inbound Links
1,795,517 - Compete Monthly Visitors
78,295 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
416 - Alexa Ranking
7 - Google Page Rank

6. Slashdot.org
11,418,847 - Inbound Links
276,433 - Compete Monthly Visitors
252,696 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
560 - Alexa Ranking
9 - Google Page Rank

7. Netscape.com
22,728,070 - Inbound Links
4,870,107 - Compete Monthly Visitors
8,079,125 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
564 - Alexa Ranking
9 - Google Page Rank

8. Bloglines.com
55,357,021 - Inbound Links
170,518 - Compete Monthly Visitors
92,760 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
833 - Alexa Ranking
9 - Google Page Rank

9. reddit.com
49,048,002 - Inbound Links
976,882 - Compete Monthly Visitors
266,266 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
842 - Alexa Ranking
7 - Google Page Rank

10. Fark.com
11,534,478 - Inbound Links
217,545 - Compete Monthly Visitors
1,797,393 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
1,879 - Alexa Ranking
7 - Google Page Rank: 7

11. Furl.net
50,132,698 - Inbound Links
88,892 - Compete Monthly Visitors
65,539 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
4,071 - Alexa Ranking
8 - Google Page Rank

12. blinklist.com
23,703,633 - Inbound Links
136,654 - Compete Monthly Visitors
158,548 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
4,582 - Alexa Ranking
6 - Page Rank

13. clipmarks.com
179,742 - Inbound Links
124,970 - Compete Monthly Visitors
108,688 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
6,509 - Alexa Ranking
6 - Google Page Rank

14. kaboodle.com
99,788 - Inbound Links
1,611,382 - Compete Monthly Visitors
691,706 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
9,529 - Alexa Ranking
6 - Google Page Rank

15. netvouz.com
8,521,836 - Inbound Links
87,746 - Compete Monthly Visitors
88,705 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors
14,548 - Alexa Ranking
6 - Google Page Rank

New ‘Last Supper’ theory left crashed Web sites

2007-07-28T03:20:00.000-07:00

MILAN, Italy - A new theory that Leonardo’s “Last Supper” might hide within it a depiction of Christ blessing the bread and wine has triggered so much interest that Web sites connected to the picture have crashed.

The famous fresco is already the focus of mythical speculation after author Dan Brown based his “The Da Vinci Code” book around the painting, arguing in the novel that Jesus married his follower, Mary Magdelene, and fathered a child.

image taken from wikipedia

Now Slavisa Pesci, an information technologist and amateur scholar, says superimposing the “Last Supper” with its mirror-image throws up another picture containing a figure who looks like a Templar knight and another holding a small baby.

“I came across it by accident, from some of the details you can infer that we are not talking about chance but about a precise calculation,” Pesci told journalists when he unveiled the theory earlier this week.

Web sites www.leonardodavinci.tv, www.codicedavinci.tv, www.cenacolo.biz and www.leonardo2007.com had 15 million hits on Thursday morning alone, organizers said, adding they were trying to provide a more powerful server for the sites.

full story at: MSNBC

Two Helicopters Collide Over Phoenix

2007-07-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

Friday July 27, 2007 10:31 PM
By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press Writer
PHOENIX (AP) - Two news helicopters collided and crashed Friday while covering a police chase on live television, killing four people on board. Both helicopters went down in a park in central Phoenix and caught fire. No one on the ground was hurt.

TV viewers did not actually witness the accident because cameras aboard both aircraft were pointed at the ground. But they saw images from one of the helicopters break up and begin to spin before the station abruptly switched to the studio.

Television station KNXV reported that it owned one of the choppers. The other was from KTVK. A pilot and photographer aboard each chopper were killed.

Within a minute, other stations with helicopters in the area began reporting news of the crash.

KNXV reporter Craig Smith, who was among the dead, was reporting live as police chased a man driving a construction truck who had fled a traffic stop and was driving erratically, hitting several cars and driving on the sidewalk at times.

Police had blown the truck's tires, and the man eventually parked it, then carjacked another vehicle nearby.

As police closed in, Smith said, ``Oh geez!''

After the picture broke up, the station switched to the studio and then briefly showed regular programming, a soap opera, before announcing that the helicopter had crashed.

Read full story at: Guardian

Man Paid $39000 for a new mobile number

2007-07-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

LUDHIANA, India: There seems to be no limit to price tags on status. But paying a jaw-dropping Rs 1.55 million (approx $39000) for a fancy cell phone number will clearly be India’s richest ring.

That’s what Ludhiana’s Amit Malhotra coughed up for 9780000000.

Even though Ludhiana — which has the most Mercedes per capita in any major Indian city and where Rs 600 thousand-suitlengths are common sartorial acquisitions — is known for its if-you-have-it-flaunt-it attitude, the price tag for Amit’s number has set a new benchmark. ‘‘ What do we say,’’ chuckled a Hutch employee who didn’t want to be named. ‘‘ If people have the money, let them buy the moon.’’

Amit, the son of a city garment manufacturer and property dealer, won the number at an auction organised by Hutch. He learnt last week that the company was going to release ‘VIP’ numbers and applied for one. Then he was told it planned to auction these numbers.

The auction was conducted through a phone-conference . The bidding process began on Tuesday morning and ended on Wednesday evening. In the final round, there were five men battling it out for the big-draw number. The results were released on Thursday evening.

In the Malhotra household, sweets were distributed as friends and relatives trooped in. Vijay Malhotra , the father, wasn’t a bit fazed. ‘‘ It’s not something new. He has always chosen VIP numbers for his belongings. Only this time he has spent a huge amount on it.’’

Swamped by questions, the 26-year-old ‘VIP’ said he didn’t just dust his pocket out for the money. ‘‘ I borrowed money from friends and relatives and will repay them soon,’’ Amit said.

Ludhiana at Wikipedia
Hutch Cellular at Wikipedia

Originally Published at: Economic Times

Explosion at Mojave Airport Kills 2

2007-07-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

Associated Press 07.26.07, 8:58 PM ET
MOJAVE, Calif. -

An explosion killed two people and critically injured four others at a Mojave Desert airport site used by the pioneering aerospace company that sent the first private manned rocket into space, authorities said.

The blast at a Mojave Air and Space Port facility belonging to Scaled Composites LLC also left some toxic material, said Kern County fire Capt. Doug Johnston.

Scaled is the Mojave-based builder of SpaceShipOne, the first private manned rocket to reach space, and is developing a successor for the new space tourism business Virgin Galactic.

Aerospace designer Burt Rutan, who heads Scaled, told The Associated Press he had no information and was heading to the scene.

Video news helicopters showed wrecked equipment and vehicles at the airport in the high desert north of Los Angeles near Edwards Air Force Base. The blast site was in a remote unpaved section of the airport.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blast, said Tony Diffenbaugh, an inspector with the fire department.

Kern County fire crews and bomb experts were headed to the scene, where there was concern that airport personnel could be exposed to hazardous materials, said sheriff's Deputy Vince Martinez.

Read Full News at: Forbes.com

Cause Found for Dallas Explosion

2007-07-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

The explosions at a natural gas company sent columns of fire high into the air near downtown Dallas on Wednesday and launched flaming debris onto nearby roads and buildings.

Witness Trystan Bright said "flames started going everywhere, debris was flying all over the freeway with fire attached to it, you know it was kind of scary. Everybody started trying to put their car in reverse, a couple of wrecks almost occurred."

Parts of Interstates 30 and 35 had to be shut down, making traffic a nightmare.

Fire crews had to wait until the explosions ended before they could attack and extinguish the fire.

Chief Eddie Burns of Dallas Fire-Rescue says "we have the facility surrounded and we are basically just in a defensive mode, where we are just containing the fire."

Three people were injured but there are no deaths reported and no one missing in this rubble.

Fire officials say the whole thing was caused by a faulty connector used to join acetylene tanks during the filling process.

Report by: WRCB TV

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Some Opinions

2007-07-24T02:52:00.000-07:00

AmCan Mom wrote on Jul 23, 2007 11:18 PM:

I pre-ordered the book from Amazon.com and when it came my husband said: "Everyone say good-bye to Mommy! We will see her when she is done reading her new book." Excellent finale!!! "

I L H P wrote on Jul 23, 2007 9:20 PM:

" hi, i have not read the entire book yet bt still i am like addicted just like the others just let me tell u this harry starts out in his bedroom and his 17 b-day is in a couple of days. and dudly is still chubby as ever "

tony wrote on Jul 23, 2007 6:31 PM:

"i was the first to get the book saturday morning at the library and finished it by sunday afternoon. it was amazing! to think that it all started ten years ago. i too was crying at the close of the book, knowing it was over. no matter what anyone says, the book is great,including the epilouge. thank you j.k. rowling for enriching my life with these books."

Grape Crush wrote on Jul 23, 2007 4:10 PM:

"It was a riveting read, and a very satisfying conclusion to the series. Yes, I would have liked an expanded epilogue, to find out more of what happened to the main and other characters, but there's one strong feeling that I came away with overall: It's done. Another book, or a spin-off series, seems pointless. The Harry Potter story just feels complete."

randall wrote on Jul 23, 2007 9:30 AM:

"i think that harry potter books had introduce us to the world of magic and mystical images . to me i have found the book to be very educational by the means of good and evil , the books had tought me that friendship is only speaking to soneone but by beliving and standing with no matter how different and hard the times are . like that harry friends stood by him and the bonds they made witheach other . i think that their friendship should teach us something very important ......and the books could be user as literature ?.... i could read any thing that jk rowling write.... "

Harry Potter n0.1 fan!!! wrote on Jul 23, 2007 9:20 AM:

"it was very amazing!!!!!!!! if she doesnt continue with harry potter she might continue with one of his children!!!!! im very glad on how the book turned out!!!!!!!!! when i got the book i couldnt put it down and when i reached the ending i was so happy!!!!!! it is the best book in the series!!!!!!!!!!!!! i simply loved it!!!!! "

Deb wrote on Jul 23, 2007 8:50 AM:

"AS an adult reading the final book - I couldn't put it down. I found it a fantastic conclusion to the series and it had me crying well before the final chapters - JK Rowlings has addressed the finale as I would have hoped - with explanation and excitment, amazing read - i found the end result well worthy of the 600 odd pages I'd read to get there - my favourite character SNAPE kept me guessing to the end - Marvellous stuff - the only disappointment is it is over."

Read Full Transcript at: Napavalleyregister.com

11-Year-Old Dies In Deadly Weekend Across GTA

2007-07-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

It was a shockingly violent weekend in the city, as gunfire left four people including an 11-year-old boy dead and four others injured.

The youngster, Ephraim Brown, was killed overnight Saturday into Sunday after being caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs in the Jane and Sheppard area. He had been attending a cousin's birthday party at the time.

Brown's grief-stricken sisters called for the community in North York to come together and attempt to bring an end to the gun violence before more lives are lost. The youth once attended school with 15-year-old Jordan Manners, who was fatally shot inside his high school in May.

"The community needs to take charge and take action," Camisha Brown said. "If you know anything please, help our family out."

Police Chief Bill Blair appealed for the public's help in the case and asked that those in the community refrain from retaliating for the attack. There's no word on suspects.

A 21-year-old was also wounded in the gunfire but apparently isn't helping police in the investigation.

Original Story at: Citynews.ca

President at 24

2007-07-23T05:59:00.000-07:00

Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones will play President Allison Taylor when 24, the show about the exploits of counter terrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), returns in January for its seventh season, Fox TV announced yesterday.

The series has been an Oval Office groundbreaker before, with Dennis Haysbert playing President David Palmer, the nation's first black president.

Jones, winner of best-actress Tony Awards for The Heiress and Doubt, has appeared in films including Ocean's Twelve and The Perfect Storm and has guest-starred on TV shows including the White House drama The West Wing.

Ouch!
Beau Bridges endured physical pain while filming two My Name Is Earl episodes that won him an Emmy nomination for best guest actor in a comedy series.

Original Story at: baltimoresun.com
Cherry Jones at: Wikipedia
Cherry Jones at: IMDB
Cherry Jones Photo Gallery

....

Minor league coach dies during game

2007-07-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

North Little Rock, AR (Sports Network ) - Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died Sunday after being hit in the head by a line drive while he was serving as the team's first base coach against the Arkansas Travelers.

Tino Sanchez hit a line drive that struck Coolbaugh in the temple during the top of the ninth inning.

Coolbaugh was knocked unconscious and was administered CPR on the field. He was eventually taken by ambulance to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Coolbaugh, a former Drillers player, had just joined the team on July 3 as a replacement for Orlando Merced, who had resigned earlier in the season.

He spent 17 seasons in professional baseball, appearing in 44 games with the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals. Coolbaugh also spent time in the Toronto, Texas, Oakland and New York Yankees organizations.

Original Story at: Sportsnetwork.com

People Searching Magnetic-Diet

2007-07-23T01:14:00.000-07:00

This is real. People all across US are searching for Magnetic Diet. I Searched too and this is what i found. Magnetic Diet is just another Paid diet program. The "official site" say:

The magnetic diet is more than a weight loss diet. It’s a complete weight and health management system. Not only will you be able to lose weight but you will be able to stay at any weight you choose once you get there. For those who want or need to you can even use the magnetic diet to gain weight. Beyond weight control you will also learn:

1. How to control your cravings. Uncontrolled cravings are the number one reason why people fail at their diets. In the magnetic diet you will learn the most powerful technique to control cravings ever developed. You will be able to use this technique to combat any type of craving including food, tobacco, and other addictions as well.

2. How to exercise to burn fat. Most people waste their time and put themselves at risk of injury performing exercises that only burn sugar and not fat. Your muscles will only burn glycogen (stored sugar) unless you create the correct condition for them to burn fat for energy. In the magnetic diet you will learn how you can create this condition every single day.

3. How to create a lean self image. In life, what’s on the outside is merely a reflection of what is on the inside. If you see yourself as overweight and unhealthy you do the things to create that condition in your life. If you see yourself as lean and healthy you will automatically do the things to create that condition in your life. In the magnetic diet you will learn the techniques that will allow you to reprogram your mind and create a new self image, which will help to create, from the inside out, the changes that you want to see in your body.

4. You’ll learn how to lose weight without losing muscle. Every fad diet on the web and in the media that promises fast weight loss causes you to lose muscle. You’ll learn why losing muscle ruins your metabolism and is the number one reason people end up getting fatter than they were when they started.

My opinion: Worthless, Nothing New. What is your opinion?

Pocket money has risen 600% in 20 years, says study

2007-07-23T00:46:00.000-07:00

The children of today receive an average of £8.01 pocket money per week, according to Halifax, compared to just £1.13 in 1987 – an increase of more than six hundred per cent.

To mark the 20th anniversary of Halifax conducting research into children’s pocket money, they have released a report which reveals the amount given has risen more than six times faster than inflation, which has increased by just 99% over the same period.

Pocket money levels have experienced some drops, with last year’s average of £8.20 being higher than this year’s and lower than the previous year’s average, as well as drops in 1994, 1996, and 1997.

South East children have come off the best, with an average of £10.43 per week, compared to those in the North East who get just £5.70 per week, almost 29% below the UK average.

Most of the children surveyed did not have anything particular in mind that they were saving for. Mike Regnier, head of savings at Halifax, commented on children’s saving and spending habits and how they have changed over the past two decades:

“Children's spending power has increased dramatically since 1987, with the average pocket money rising from £1.13 per week to £8.01, an increase of over 600%. This is well in excess of inflation, which has risen 99% over the same period.

“Part of the increase may be explained by changing tastes and technology. Whereas 20 years ago children spent their money on toys or saved towards things like holidays, nowadays children are likely to buy DVDs and mobile phones, which simply didn't exist in 1987.”

Original Story from: Fairinvestment.co.uk

simpsonizeme or simpsonize

2007-07-23T00:24:00.000-07:00

Today I read an article about a cool little web site that you can use to convert yourself into a Simpsons character. The tool is at www.simpsonizeme.com and it allows you to upload a picture of yourself and it spits out a yellow, cartoon version of yourself. Of course, you can change the color and many other characteristics about your Simpsons doppelganger. When you're finished tweaking your character to your liking, you can save it and e-mail it to all of your friends.

I used it on myself and the picture above is supposed to be me - in case you ever wondered what I look like. It took me a number of tries until it actually worked.

I believe the website is very busy right now, so if you get an error when importing your picture, just try it again in a few minutes. Also, be sure to save your character before you try to export it. I didn't save it the first time and it wasn't able to export anything and I ended up starting again from scratch.

White House would consider direct assaults in Pakistan

2007-07-22T13:13:00.000-07:00

Frances Townsend, the White House homeland security adviser, signaled today that the Bush administration would consider direct assaults on al-Qaeda hideouts in Pakistan.

Townsend was asked on "Fox News Sunday" why the United States isn't sending Special Forces, attack drones and anything else it can to wipe out al-Qaeda. She replied, "Just because we don't speak about things publicly doesn't mean we're not doing many of the things you're talking about."

She added, "Job number one is to protect the American people, and there are no options that are off the table."

A National Intelligence Estimate released Tuesday reported that al-Qaeda has grown stronger, in part because it has established "a safe haven" in northwest Pakistan, in the Federally Administered Tribal Area that is beyond the national government's control.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Kurshid Kasuri warned on CNN's "Late Edition" against the White House bypassing the Pakistani military in any operation.

By Zachary Goldfarb | July 22, 2007; 2:07 PM ET

Read full story at: Washingtonpost

Microsoft Anna - Sensual Babe or Just Another Robot?

2007-07-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Anna is the new English text to speech voice of Windows Vista. She replaces Microsoft Sam, the robot-like voice that comes with Windows XP. Microsoft Sam has probably single-handedly done more than anything to give text to speech a bad name. The only positive thing I can say about Microsoft Sam is that he reminds me of the Commodore Amiga, possibly the first personal computer to have a built-in text to speech capability.

Does Microsoft Anna sound any better than Sam? Does she have a sensual voice that you could listen to all day or does she have you reaching for the mute button? How does she compare to a voice from a leading speech engine provider, such as one of Nuance®’s RealSpeak™ voices?

To answer these questions, I’ve conducted a simple ’speak-off’ between Microsoft Sam, Microsoft Anna and RealSpeak™ Samantha. Each voice had to read three passages of text, ranging in difficulty from a simple news story to an abstract from a medical journal that most humans would have trouble pronouncing.

Read Full Article at: text2go

HIV-Drugs Tested on Virus-Free People for Prevention

2007-07-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

By Simeon Bennett

July 22 (Bloomberg) -- HIV drugs will be given to people who don't have the virus by U.S. scientists to determine whether the medicines can protect those at greatest risk of catching the AIDS-causing disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta are recruiting volunteers in Thailand, Botswana and the U.S. to test so-called pre-exposure prophylaxis as a means of prevention. The National Institutes of Health is planning a trial for Peru and Ecuador, researchers told an AIDS conference in Sydney today.

The theory suggests that taking anti-HIV drugs before potential exposure to the virus can protect a person against acquiring it through risky sex or intravenous drug use. It's controversial because of concern it may raise resistance to the drugs, making them less effective when infection happens.

``We don't yet have definitive proof this is effective,'' Dawn Smith, the CDC's associate chief for science, told the conference.

Unlike other experimental approaches to fighting HIV such as vaccines and microbicides, the technique uses drugs that are already in use, such as Gilead Sciences Inc.'s Viread and Truvada. The regime has been shown to lower the risk of infection in monkeys, according to the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition.

U.S. Trial

The U.S. trial will target young black males who have sex with men because they are statistically more at risk of contracting HIV than their white peers, Smith said. The Thai trial will target as many as 2,000 injecting drug users, and the trial in Botswana will recruit as many as 1,200 heterosexual men and women. The CDC expects its first set of results by mid-next year, Smith said.

As many as 1,400 men who have sex with men may be enrolled in the study in Peru and Ecuador. Participants will take one tablet a day of Truvada, said Robert Grant, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who is heading the study in Peru and Ecuador.

Read Full Story at: Bloomberg.com

Bus carrying Poles crashes in France killing 24

2007-07-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

PARIS (Reuters) - French police said at least 24 people died on Sunday when a coach carrying Polish pilgrims plunged down a hillside and burst into flames near the southeastern French city of Grenoble.

The coach, carrying around 50 Polish nationals, apparently suffered problems with its braking system while descending a steep incline. It left the road, cleared roadside barriers and careered downhill, emergency officials said.
Photo

The vehicle came to rest on the banks of the river Romanche and burst into flames, they added.

"The toll has now risen to 24 dead, 24 injured and two missing," gendarme (police) Lt-Colonel Thierry Rousseau told Reuters by telephone. Of the injured, 12 were in a serious condition, he added.

Local officials said the coach's speed and the state of its brakes may have been factors in the accident.

Pictures broadcast on LCI television showed rescue workers treating survivors on the grassy banks of the Romanche, the carcass of the coach still smouldering in the background.

Debris was strewn around the river bank where the coach finally came to rest.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon would visit the crash site later in the day, his office said. The Polish consul in Lyon was also heading there, Warsaw said.

Original News at: Reuters UK

More British teens diagnosed with STD

2007-07-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

LONDON, July 22 (UPI) -- Health officials in Britain blame television programs celebrating casual sex for a dramatic increase in sexually transmitted disease among teens.

Overall, diagnoses of STD (sexually transmitted disease) were up 2 percent in 2006 from the previous year, The Telegraph reported. But the increase was much bigger among teenagers and young adults.

The number of 16- to 19-year-olds diagnosed with herpes was up 13 percent, while genital warts were up 6 percent in that age group. The number of teenage girls diagnosed with herpes rose 16 percent. The overall increase for herpes was 9 percent and for warts 3 percent.

Pat Troop, head of the Health Protection Agency, said young people watch programs that emphasize sex and not safety.

"You don't see people in films pulling out condoms," she said.

Since 1997, syphilis has increased 1,607 percent, gonorrhea 46 percent and herpes by 36 percent. Dr. Gwyneth Hughes, the head of the HPA's STD division, said young people are more likely to be infected because they are more likely to have multiple partners and to engage in unsafe sex.

Originally Posted at: UPI

Pete Wilson, long-time Bay Area television journalist, dies at 62

2007-07-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

07-21) 13:25 PDT Palo Alto, Calif. (AP) --

Pete Wilson, an award-winning broadcast journalist who co-anchored the evening news at the San Francisco Bay Area's KGO-TV, died of a massive heart attack during hip replacement surgery. He was 62.

Wilson, who also hosted KGO Radio's daily afternoon talk radio call-in show, died Friday night at Stanford University Hospital, according to KGO-TV, San Francisco's ABC affiliate.

Wilson's last television broadcast on KGO-TV, also known as ABC7, was on Wednesday. Before his surgery, Wilson had told radio listeners he was nervous about the procedure.

Wilson first joined the news operation at KGO-TV in 1983 after a stint at KTXL-TV in Sacramento. He later went on to anchor the news broadcast at San Francisco competitor KRON-TV for 12 years before returning to KGO-TV about five-and-a-half years ago.

A Wisconsin native, Wilson began his broadcasting career at a country-western station in Milwaukee more than 30 years ago. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in journalism and creative writing.

The Vietnam veteran won several Emmys, Associated Press awards and two Peabody awards for his work, including one for his coverage of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

"He was never fully satisfied just reporting the facts of a situation," KGO Radio President and General Manager Mickey Luckoff said. "He constantly questioned and probed the logic behind the beliefs and views of those in the news."

Wilson lived in Marin County. He is survived by his wife, Sandra, and a son, Brendan, a college student.

Original News from: www.sfgate.com

Hamilton fit to race after crash

2007-07-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Alan Baldwin, Reuters

NUERBURGRING, Germany, July 21 (Reuters) - McLaren cleared Lewis Hamilton to race in Sunday’s European Grand Prix after the Formula One championship leader escaped injury in a heavy qualifying crash.

"There is...absolutely no medical reason that he can’t race," McLaren team boss Ron Dennis told reporters after the 22-year-old Briton returned to the paddock from hospital on Saturday.

The rookie must however have a final check by the International Automobile Federation’s doctor on Sunday morning before being formally given the green light.

"I’m feeling fine, very fortunate, very lucky that I haven’t got any bruises. I’m sure tomorrow I’ll wake up with some bruises," Hamilton told reporters.

"The most important thing is that I’m well and the team is doing a good job to make sure we have a good car tomorrow. I have to be signed off tomorrow morning, so we have to wait and see. But I feel fine for the race. So fingers crossed."

Hamilton, 12 points clear of double world champion team mate Fernando Alonso after nine podium finishes in a row, brought qualifying to a halt when he left the track at around 260kph and ploughed into the tyre wall.

The session remained red-flagged for more than half an hour while doctors attended to him and the debris was cleared away.

Hamilton, wearing an oxygen mask and with a drip applied, waved and gave a thumbs-up sign as he was taken to a waiting ambulance.

RIGHT WHEEL

Dennis said the accident was probably caused by a faulty

wheel gun which failed to tighten a nut on the McLaren’s right front wheel.

"We were quite fortunate to be honest because the wheel nut on Fernando’s car was not properly tightened either," added the team boss.

Read Full Story at: autos.canada.com

Further Reading

Personal Website of Lewis Hamilton: www.lewishamilton.com
Lewis Hamilton at : Wikipedia
Lewis Hamilton Picture Gallery
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Official Site

Burglars hit homes of Hollywood big earners

2007-07-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Skilled burglars have raided the homes of corporate titans, celebrities and sports stars in some of the wealthiest neighborhoods around Los Angeles over the past year, making off with more than US$7 million (HK$54.6 million) in cash, rare books and jewelry while leaving few clues.

The two, possibly three, men clad in black and wearing ski masks and gloves have hit more than 70 homes in areas such as Bel-Air and Beverly Hills, usually at night and often on weekends.

They evade security systems and surveillance cameras, taking advantage of the fact that many of the estates are walled off from street view and their owners are frequently out of town.

The team often enters houses by using bricks to break through backyard sliding glass doors or climbing through second-floor windows.

Police did not release victims' names. But sources with knowledge of the investigation said the burglars hit the home of former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing and her Oscar- winning director husband, William Friedkin.

They also stole US$500,000 in cash and jewelry from the Bel-Air mansion of Los Angeles Clippers basketball player Cuttino Mobley.

Read Full Story at: thestandard.com.hk

Mourinho Urges Galaxy: Don't Take Risks With Beckham

2007-07-21T05:44:00.000-07:00

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hopes LA Galaxy will not take chances with the fitness of superstar recruit David Beckham.

The Major League Soccer side host Premiership big hitters Chelsea in Los Angeles tonight in a prestigious friendly which has been billed for weeks as Beckham's baptism into the US soccer scene.

But the script has been compromised by an ankle injury that could well delay Beckham's much-anticipated Galaxy debut.

While Mourinho has reassured all and sundry that the Chelsea players would not be intent on targeting Beckham should he play and aggravating his injury, he has advised the Galaxy coach, Frank Yallop, to think long and hard about whether or not play his prized asset in a friendly against the Blues.

"When I was a child I heard dozens of stories of Eusebio, who was injured but had to play a certain game because of the cachet of the match," recalled Mourinho.

Read Full Story at: goal.com

Hackers Cracked iPhone

2007-07-21T04:18:00.000-07:00

Hackers have succeeded in (partially) unlocking the iPhone so Apple's much-hyped device can be used on at least one network other than AT&T.

Although the iPhone Development Project team has broken the shackles tying the device and AT&T directly, there are still limitations that mean customers can use pre-paid SIMs from Cingular, for example, but not yet use any SIM of their choice.

A tool called iASign will unlock the iPhone allowing it to be used with any singular or AT&T SIM with FULL functionality of the iPhone, avoiding the need to use the iPhone-specific SIM that comes with the device. Virtual network operator pre-paid SIMs also work, providing these operators piggy-back on AT&T's network.

Using alternative SIMs provides several advantages. In the case of a Cingular SIM, there's no need to sign up to a new two-year contract. Those whose businesses subscribe to Cingular can use company SIMs on personally-bought iPhones. Finally, those not wishing to tie themselves to a contract can use pre-paid SIMs.

Hackers have been hard at work trying to unlock the functionality of the iPhone since the devices were released in the US earlier this month. Reverse engineer Jon Lech Johansen (DVD Jon) discovered a way to get iPod and Wi-Fi - though not the phone - features of the device working without signing up to AT&T within three days of its release.

Read Full Story at: theregister.co.uk

Waiting over for Harry Potter fans

2007-07-21T03:55:00.000-07:00

The wait was finally over this morning as thousands of Harry Potter fans got their hands on copies of the seventh and final book.

Thousands of people queued at book shops and supermarkets around the country, waiting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to go on sale at midnight.

More than 1,000 fans lined the streets around Waterstones’ flagship store in central London and another 1,000 waited at Asda’s superstore in Pudsey, near Leeds.

Many will have already started reading the book this morning but one of the first to finish it was speed reader Anne Jones, who read more than 199,900 words, on 607 pages, in 47 minutes and one second.

Spoiler Warning

Fans from India confirmed that Harry is not dead at the end.

Read Full Article at: breakingnews.iol.ie

UP boy claims to be incarnation of a US scientist

2007-07-21T01:32:00.000-07:00

This story is could be described as bizarre, miracle of nature and unbelievable. How can a 14 yr old boy suddenly forget his language Hindi and start speaking in English with an American accent?

New Delhi: Last week, many news channels showed the story of a 4-year-old girl in a tiny village in Uttar Pradesh, India, who claims to be incarnation of Kalpana Chawla.

Now, if that wasn’t enough, there is another bizarre case of a 14-year old boy, who talks in a strange accent and claims he is an incarnation of a US scientist.

The boy talks gibberish with a few words of science thrown in here and there. And the people in his village Rampur claim that "Rajesh Kumar is explaining scientific formulas and concepts," although he has never studied science or has been overseas.

Rajesh’s family claims that this transition occurred after the boy hurled a stone at his father and was severely punished. They say he suddenly started speaking in accent and hasn't talked in Hindi ever since.

While the Indian media is going gaga over the case, it’s not for the first time that something bizarre as this has attracted undue attention.

“There are channels that thrive on such news. From morning till evening they will keep repeating special shows, overtly stressing upon such stories. They even bring in experts to give even more stupid theories on reincarnation and re-birth. What they don’t understand is that by doing so, they are promoting bunkum,” Sanal Edamaruku President Indian Rationalist Association said.

As the Indian media runs after the bizarre, one can only hope it will also try to show the scientific side of things.

Original Story by: IBNLive.com
Further Reading: Rajesh or American scientist: Rebirth or something else?

J.K. Rowling - Life without Harry

2007-07-21T00:28:00.000-07:00

She is feted across the globe for her magic-filled books but now the final Harry Potter has hit the shelves, what on earth will J. K. Rowling do with herself?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, on finishing the last page of his historical novel, The White Company in 1890, cried "That's torn it!" and flung his steel-tipped pen across the study so it twanged in the wood panelling. Edward Gibbon, on finishing Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in 1787, after 15 years' work, went for a reflective stroll in his arboretum and recorded "a profound combination of exhilaration and melancholy".

When J.K. Rowling completed the last page of her seven-volume, multi-movie-spawning, billion-spinning, Harry Potter super-saga this year, she, too, felt the moment deserved a memorial. She was staying at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh and recorded the moment by writing in marker pen, on a marble bust, the words: "J. K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (652) on 11 January 2007."

Need More? Read Full Story at: nzherald.co.nz

Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote

2007-07-20T23:51:00.000-07:00

So we were thinking about getting a new TV, and we asked ourselves: what is that we enjoy most about the television watching experience? Is it the high-impact action of televised poker? The sensitive terminal illness dramas on that ladies’ cable network? The soul-cratering emptiness that is the contemporary sitcom? The mentally unstable human dregs who populate reality TV? Yes, of course, we love all of that and more. But then it hit us: as wonderful as TV is, our favorite part is the clicking, the flipping, the endless search for something better on another channel. It’s not the prey we care about – it’s the hunt.

So we said, “Screw the new TV. Let’s get a new remote.” Now we enjoy the Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote more than we ever enjoyed all the CSI and Law and Order spinoffs combined. For one thing, it’s got a little screen of its own, so it’s kinda like a remote and a TV*.

Whoa. We just blew our own minds.

Read Full Story at : Woot.com

Other resouces: Official Product page for Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote

Harry Potter and the Deathly Book Leaks

2007-07-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz

We're still a few hours away from the release of the final book in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, and Scholastic (Nasdaq: SCHL) is already putting out fires. The stateside publisher has been chasing down online retailers who shipped the book too soon, as well as reviewers with early critiques and cyber-spoilers who have put pages from the book online.

It probably doesn't help that Rowling, who hasn't had a problem offing key characters in recent installments, has made no bones about the need to kill a few more in the final book.

Does Harry die? Will his buddy Ron Weasley meet his literary demise? Is Hermione Granger no stranger to the grim reaper?

I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. Secrets were a lot easier to keep when everyone didn't have one-click access to the rest of the world through blogs, online discussion boards, and personal websites.

Read Full News at: The Motley Fool

Related Links:

J. K. Rowling's Official website

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at wikipedia

Hillary Clinton's Cleavage

2007-07-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

New York -- There was cleavage on display Wednesday afternoon on C-SPAN2. It belonged to Sen. Hillary Clinton.

She was talking on the Senate floor about the burdensome cost of higher education. She was wearing a rose-colored blazer over a black top. The neckline sat low on her chest and had a subtle V-shape. The cleavage registered after only a quick glance. No scrunch-faced scrutiny was necessary. There wasn't an unseemly amount of cleavage showing, but there it was. Undeniable.

It was startling to see that small acknowledgment of sexuality and femininity peeking out of the conservative -- aesthetically speaking -- environment of Congress. After all, it wasn't until the early '90s that women were even allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor. It was even more surprising to note that it was coming from Clinton, someone who has been so publicly ambivalent about style, image and the burdens of both.

The last time Hillary Rodman Clinton wore anything that was remotely sexy in a public setting surely must have been more than a decade ago, during Bill Clinton's first term in office when she was photographed wearing a black Donna Karan gown that revealed her shoulders. It was one of Karan's "cold-shoulder" dresses, inspired, Karan once noted, because a woman's shoulders remain sensuous and appealing regardless of her age.

Throughout Clinton's time as first lady, she wore clothes that were feminine and stately. But sexiness was not part of the image. Her second inaugural gown was by Oscar de la Renta. The original version of the gold lace dress had cap sleeves and a wide, jewel neckline. Clinton altered it so that it had long sleeves and a high, almost Victorian collar.

When she appeared on the cover of the December 1998 issue of Vogue, just after the Monica Lewinsky scandal had peaked, she wore another de la Renta gown, this one with a boat neck and long sleeves. She looked glamorous, regal and defiant. But one was not even tempted to mention the s-word.

Note: Daily-news-reporter.blogspot.com is not responsible for viability of source.

Read Full Article at Washington Post

Additional Info:

Donaghy under investigation for betting on NBA games

2007-07-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK -- The FBI is investigating allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games over the past two seasons, including ones in which he officiated. Defense attorney John Lauro confirmed Donaghy is under investigation but refused to comment on the allegations or the case. According to a law enforcement official, authorities are examining whether the referee made calls to affect the point spread in games on which he or associates had wagered. The law enforcement official, who spoke to The Associated Press on Friday on the condition of anonymity, said the referee was aware of the investigation and had made arrangements to surrender as early as next week to face charges.

The law enforcement official said the bets involved thousands of dollars and were made on games during the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons.

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