Business, Six Sigma, HR Strategy,B I,ERP,CRM, BPO

30 Habits that Will Change your Life

2012-01-26T07:01:00.000-08:00

Developing good habits is the basic of personal development and growth. Everything we do is the result of a habit that was previously taught to us. Unfortunately, not all the habits that we have are good, that's why we are constantly trying to improve.
The following is a list of 30 practical habits that can make a huge difference in your life.You should treat this list as a reference, and implement just one habit per month. This way you will have the time to fully absorb each of them, while still seeing significant improvements each month.

Health habits
    * Exercise 30 minutes every day.Especially if you don't do much movement while working, it's essential that you get some daily exercise. 30 minutes every day are the minimum recommended for optimal health.
    * Eat breakfast every day.Breakfast is the more important meal of the day, yet so many people skip it. Personally, I like to eat a couple of toasts in the morning along with a fruit beverage.
    * Sleep 8 hours.Sleep deprivation is never a good idea. You may think that you are gaining time by sleeping less, when in reality you are only gaining stress and tiredness. 8 hours are a good number of hours for most people, along with an optional 20 minutes nap after lunch.
    * Avoid snacking between meals.Snacking between meals is the best way to gain weight. If you are hungry, eat something concrete. Otherwise don't. Update: for clarification, I mean don't eat junk food between meals, but eating real food it's ok.
    * Eat five portions of fruits and vegetables every day.Our body and brain loves getting vegetables and fruit, so I highly recommend eating as much of them as possible. Five portions is the dose that's usually recommended by many health associations.
    * Eat fish.Fish is rich of omega 3 and other healthy elements. At least one meal per week of fish should be enough for getting all these nutrients.
    * Drink one glass of water when you wake up.When you wake up, your body is dehydrated and needs liquid. Make the habit of drinking one glass of water after you wake up in the morning. Also, drink more during the day.
    * Avoid soda.Soda is often one of the most unhealthy beverage you can find. Limit your consumption of soda as much as possible and you're body will be grateful for that.
    * Keep your body clean.I don't advise spending your day in front of the mirror, but a minimum of personal care does never hurt.
    * If you smoke, stop it.There's no reason to smoke anymore, and quitting is possible.
    * If you drink, stop it.Same as above. Don't think that alcohol will solve your problems. It never does. The only exception is one glass of wine per day during meals.
    * Take the stairs.This is just a hack that forces you to do a minimum of exercise. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.Productivity habits    * Use an inbox system.Make the habit of keeping track of all the ideas and things that comes to mind. You can use a notebook to do this, and then sync everything on your computer.
    * Prioritize.If you have a list of things to do, where do you start? One way is to prioritize your list. If you are in doubt, ask yourself: If I could only accomplish one thing today, what would it be?�
    * Plan, but not too much.Planning is important, and you should decide in advance what you are going to do today or this week. However, planning for more than a few weeks is usually inefficient, so I would not worry too much about that.
    * Wake up early.Waking up early in the morning is a great way to gain extra time. I personally like to wake up at 5 am, so that by 9 am I have already accomplished what otherwise would have taken me many days..
    * Check your email only twice per day.Email can easily become an addiction, but it's usually unnecessary to check it every 10 minutes. Make an effort and check your email only once or twice per day, see if the world will still rotate as before after you try this.
    * Eliminate unimportant tasks.Being busy all day does not mean you are doing important stuff. Eliminate every activity that's not important, and focus on what really matters.
    * Clean off your desk and room.Having a clear room and desk is important to maintain focus and creativity.
    * Automate.There are a lot of tasks that you need to perform every day or every week. Try to automate them as much as possible.
    * Set strict deadlines.When you do something, decide in advance when you're going to stop. There's a rule that states that you will fulfill all the time you have available for completing a task, so make an habit of setting strict deadlines for maximizing your productivity.
    * Take one day off per week.Instead of working every day, take one day off per week (for example sunday) where you are not going to turn on your computer. Use that time for doing recreational activities like going for a walk.

Personal Development habits
    1. Read 1 book per week.Reading is a good way to keep your brain active. With just 30 minutes per day you should be able to read one book per week, or more than 50 books per year.
    2. Solve puzzles.Quizzes, word games, etc. are all good ways to exercise your brain.
    3. Think positively.You are what you think, all the time.
    4. Make fast decisions.Instead of thinking for one hour wherever you are going to do something, make your decisions as fast as possible (usually less than 1 minute).
    5. Wait before buying.Waiting 48 hours before buying anything is a tremendous money saver, try it.
    6. Meditate 30 minutes per day.A great way to gain clearness and peace is through meditation. 30 minutes are not a lot, but enough to get you started with meditation.
Career habits    * Start a blog.Blogging is one of the best way to put your word out. It doesn't have to be around a specific topic, even a personal blog will do.
    * Build a portfolio.If your job is creating stuff, building a portfolio is a great way to show what you are capable of. You can also contribute stuff for free if that applies to your work.What do you think? What are the habits that changed your life?Update:A reader put together a downloadable copy of all these habits. Check it out here.

(( 8 Funny Logics ))

2012-01-26T06:59:00.001-08:00

8 Funny Logics......

1. If time doesn't wait for you, don't worry!
Just remove the damn battery from the clock and Enjoy life!

2. Expecting the world to treat u fairly coz u r a good person is like
expecting the lion not to attack u coz u r a vegetarian. Think about it.

3. Beauty isn't measured by outer appearance and what clothes we wear,
but what we are inside. So, try going out without clothes tomorrow and see the admiration!

4. Don't walk as if you rule the  world,
walk as if you don't care who  rules the world!
That's called Attitude! Keep on  rocking!

5. Every lady hopes that her daughter will marry a better man than she did
and is convinced that her son will never find a wife as good as his father did!!!

6. He was a good man. He never  smoked, drank & had no affair.
When he died, the insurance  company refused the claim.
They said, he who never lived,  cannot die!

7. A man threw his wife in a pond of Crocodiles?
He's now being harassed by the Animal Rights Activists for being cruel to the Crocodiles!

8. So many options for suicide:
Poison, sleeping pills, hanging,
jumping from a building, lying on train tracks, but we chose Marriage, slow & sure!

The MicrOsoft gang of 1978 ```

2012-01-25T22:34:00.000-08:00

The Microsoft Gang of 1978

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
What Happened To The People In Microsoft's Iconic 1978
Company Photo?

It's one of the most iconic photos in American business.A ragtag group of bearded weirdos assembled for a family
portrait in Albuquerque.
Usually, there's a question above the photo: "Would
you have invested?"It's a trick question. You're supposed to answer no –
because well, look at those people – but then you learn it's a company portrait
of Microsoft from 1978.
It was taken just before the then startup left
Albuquerque for Seattle. (Microsoft couldn't find anyone willing to move to New
Mexico.)Early employee Bob Greenberg, pictured in the middle, won
the free portrait after calling in a radio show and guessing the name of an
assassinated president. The gang reluctantly gathered together in some of their
finest attire, and American business legend was made.
We all know what happened with the two guys in the bottom
left and bottom right corners -- Bill Gates, and Paul Allen.
But what about the rest? The question pop up on Hacker News
recently, and they decided to find out.
---------------------
Bill Gates is now giving
away the billions he made from Microsoft
Image:
Business Insider, Microsoft
We all
know what happened with this guy. Bill Gates founded and built Microsoft from
nothing into the most valuable technology company in the world. Along the way
he amassed a fortune, which he's now giving away to all sorts of good causes. --------------------- Andrea
Lewis became a fiction writer and freelance journalist
Image: Business Insider, Microsoft
Andrea Lewis was the only person at the
company that was from Albuquerque. She was a technical writer for Microsoft,
which meant she wrote documents explaining Microsoft's software. She left
Microsoft in 1983, eventually becoming a freelance journalist and fiction
writer. Thanks in part to her Microsoft options, her net worth was estimated at
$2 million by the  AP.  ---------------------
Maria Wood sued Microsoft
just 2 years later
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftMaria Wood
was a book keeper for Microsoft, and married to another one of the early
Microsofties in the picture. She left the company just two years later, suing
it for sexual discrimination. Microsoft settled the case. After that, it
doesn't look like she did much else. She raised her children and became a
volunteer.
---------------------
Paul Allen has spent his
billions on sports teams, startups, and much more
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftAfter Bill
Gates, Paul Allen is the most famous guy in the group. Allen, the other
Microsoft cofounder, is the 37th richest person in the world according to Forbes. He's the
owner of the Portland Trailblazers, the Seattle Seahawks, one of the biggest
yachts in the world, and much more.
---------------------
Bob O'Rear went onto be a
cattle rancher
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftBob O'Rear
was one of the oldest employees at Microsoft. He was at NASA in Mission Control
when we landed on the moon. At Microsoft he was a chief mathematician, and is credited with
reworking code in DOS, and getting it onto IBM PCs. He left the company in
1983, moved back to his home state of Texas, and did some cattle ranching. His
worth is estimated at $100 million, and he sits on the board of a few local
businesses. ---------------------
Bob Greenberg left
Microsoft, then worked on the Cabbage Patch Kids
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftBob
Greenberg was the guy that won a radio call-in contest to get the photo. He
left Microsoft in 1981, after helping the company develop a new version of
BASIC. When he left he went on to help his family's company, Coleco, develop
the Cabbage Patch Kid dolls, which became a huge hit. More recently, he's said to have
worked on golf course software. ---------------------
Marc McDonald left
Microsoft because it was getting big, but ended up back at the company, anyway
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftMarc
McDonald was the first salaried employee, and when he left in 1984, it was
because he didn't like how big the company was getting. After leaving Microsoft
he went to another Paul Allen company, Asymetrix. He then went to Seattle
design company Design Intelligence, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2000.
So, he ended up back at Microsoft! According to the AP, he has said
he is worth less than $1 million.
---------------------
Gordon Letwin stayed with
Microsoft longer than anyone other than Bill Gates
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftGordon
Letwin was with the company until 1993, the second longest run of all the
employees pictured (Gates is first). He was a programmer at Microsoft, and quit
when he wanted a break from the grind of the company. He has a ranch in
Arizona, and has donated money to some environmental causes. His worth is
estimated at $20 million or so.
---------------------
Steve Wood went on to found
Wireless Services Corp.
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftSteve Wood
is the husband of Maria Wood, who eventually left Microsoft under bad
circumstances. Steve left in 1980, but worked with Paul Allen on a few
companies. He founded Wireless Services Corp., a mobile messaging company, in
1996. It's been renamed SinglePoint, and he's now the chairman. He and his
wife's net worth is pegged at $15 million now.
---------------------
Late Bob Wallace researched
on psychedelic drugs and founded a software company after Microsoft
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftBob
Wallace seems like he was one of the most far out early Microsoft employees. He
spent time and money researching psychedelic drugs after leaving the company.
He also founded a software company called Quicksoft. He died in 2002 from pneumonia.
---------------------
Jim Lane went on to do his
own software company
Image:
Business Insider, MicrosoftJim Lane
was a project manager who left in 1985 reportedly saying, Microsoft
"beat the enthusiasm out of me." He went on to start his own software
company. At Microsoft he helped with the early partnership with Intel.
(Something that's been pretty useful for Microsoft so far.) ---------------------
Here's one more look at the
gang from 1978 ...
Image:
Microsoft
... And here's a photo of
them from 2008 that Microsoft put together when Bill Gates was leaving the
company
Image:Microsoft

SALT - A Wonderful & Versatile Chemical!!

2012-01-23T04:38:00.001-08:00

SALT- a wonderful & versatile chemical!!

1. If you drop a whole egg on the floor, pour salt all over the egg, let it sit for awhile, then use dustpan, the egg will come right up, without all that mess.

2. Soak
stained hankies in salt water before washing.

3. Sprinkle salt on your shelves to keep ants away.

4. Soak fish in salt water before descaling; the scales will come off easier.

5. Put a few grains of rice in your saltshaker for easier pouring.

6. Add salt to green salads to prevent wilting.

7. Test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water; fresh eggs sink bad ones float.

8. Add a little salt to your boiling water when cooking eggs; a cracked egg will stay in its shell this way.

9. A tiny pinch of salt with egg whites makes them beat up fluffier.

10. Soak wrinkled apples in a mildly salted water solution to perk them up.

11. Rub salt on your pancake griddle and your flapjacks won't stick.

12. Soak toothbrushes in salt water before you first use them; they will last longer.

13.
Use salt to clean your discolored coffee pot.

14. Mix salt with turpentine to whiten you bathtub and toilet bowl.

15. Soak your nuts in salt brine overnight and they will crack out of their shells whole. Just tap the end of the shell with a hammer to break it open easily.

16. Boil clothes pins in salt water before using them and they will last longer.

17. Clean brass, copper and pewter with paste made of salt and vinegar, thickened with flour.

18. Add a little salt to the water your cut flowers will stand in for a longer life.

19. Pour a mound of salt on an ink spot on your carpet; let the salt soak up the stain.

20. Clean your iron by rubbing some salt on the damp cloth on the ironing surface

21. Adding a little salt to the water when cooking foods in a double boiler will make the food cook faster.

22. Use a mixture of salt and lemon juice to clean piano keys.

23. To fill plaster holes in your walls, use equal parts of salt and starch, with just enough
water to make stiff putty.

24. Rinse a sore eye with a little salt water.

25. Mildly salted water makes an effective mouthwash. Use it hot for a sore throat gargle.

26. Dry salt sprinkled on your toothbrush makes a good tooth polisher.

27. Use salt for killing weeds in your lawn.

28. Eliminate excess suds with a sprinkle of salt.

29. A dash of salt in warm milk makes a more relaxing beverage.

30. Before using new glasses, soak them in warm salty water for a while.

31. A dash of salt enhances the taste of tea.

32. Salt improves the taste of cooking apples.

33. Soak your clothesline in salt water to prevent your clothes from freezing to the line; likewise, use salt in your final rinse to prevent the clothes from freezing.

34. Rub any wicker furniture you may
have with salt water to prevent yellowing.

35. Freshen sponges by soaking them in salt water.

36. Add raw potatoes to stews and soups that are too salty.

37. Soak enamel pans in salt water overnight and boil salt water in them next day to remove burned-on stains.

38. Clean your greens in salt water for easier removal of dirt.

39. Gelatin sets more quickly when a dash of salt is added.

40. Fruits put in mildly salted water after peeling will not discolor.

41. Fabric colors hold fast in salty water wash.

42. Milk stays fresh longer when a little salt is added.

43. Use equal parts of salt and soda for brushing your teeth.

44. Sprinkle salt in your oven before scrubbing clean.

45. Soaked discolored glass in a salt and vinegar solution to remove stains.

46. Clean greasy pans with a paper towel and salt.

47. Salty water boils faster when cooking eggs.

48. Add a pinch of salt to whipping cream to make it whip more quickly.

49. Sprinkle salt in
milk-scorched pans to remove odor.

50. A dash of salt improves the taste of coffee.

51. Boil mismatched hose in salty water and they will come out matched.

52. Salt and soda will sweeten the odor of your refrigerator.

53. Cover wine-stained fabric with salt; rinse in cool water later.

54. Remove offensive odors from stove with salt and cinnamon.

55. A pinch of salt improves the flavor of cocoa.

56. To remove grease stains in clothing, mix one part salt to four parts alcohol.

57. Salt and lemon juice removes mildew.

58. Sprinkle salt between sidewalk bricks where you don't want grass growing.

59. Polish your old kerosene lamp with salt for a brighter look. Remove odors from sink drainpipes with a strong, hot solution of salt water.60. If a pie bubbles over in your oven, put a handful of salt on top of the spilled juice. The mess won't smell and will bake into a dry, light crust which will wipe off easily when the oven has cooled.

Why women have sex

2012-01-23T04:31:00.001-08:00

Why women have sex

According to a new book, there are 237 reasons why women have sex. And most of them have little to do with romance or pleasure

Do you want to know why women have sex with men with tiny little feet? I am stroking a book called Why Women Have Sex. It is by Cindy Meston, a clinical psychologist, and David Buss, an evolutionary psychologist. It is a very thick, bulging book. I've never really wondered Why Women Have Sex. But after years of not asking the question, the answer is splayed before me.

Meston and Buss have interviewed 1,006 women from all over the world about their sexual motivation, and in doing so they have identified 237 different reasons why women have sex. Not 235. Not 236. But 237. And what are they? From the reams of confessions, it emerges that women have sex for physical, emotional and material reasons; to boost their self-esteem, to keep their lovers, or because they are raped or coerced. Love? That's just a song. We are among the bad apes now.

Why, I ask Meston, have people never really talked about this? Alfred Kinsey, the "father" of sexology, asked 7,985 people about their sexual histories in the 1940s and 50s; Masters and Johnson observed people having orgasms for most of the 60s. But they never asked why. Why?

"People just assumed the answer was obvious," Meston says. "To feel good. Nobody has really talked about how women can use sex for all sorts of resources." She rattles off a list and as she says it, I realise I knew it all along: "promotion, money, drugs, bartering, for revenge, to get back at a partner who has cheated on them. To make themselves feel good. To make their partners feel bad." Women, she says, "can use sex at every stage of the relationship, from luring a man into the relationship, to try and keep a man so he is fulfilled and doesn't stray. Duty. Using sex to get rid of him or to make him jealous."

"We never ever expected it to be so diverse," she says. "From the altruistic to the borderline evil." Evil? "Wanting to give someone a sexually transmitted infection," she explains. I turn to the book. I am slightly afraid of it. Who wants to have their romantic fantasies reduced to evolutional processes?

Management Styles

2012-01-22T23:02:00.001-08:00

1. MANAGING BY WALKING FASTER THAN THE EMPLOYEES These
kind of managers you will always see in the corridor, ten steps away.
"We'll have to talk" you can hear them say, just as they have
disappeared around the corner.
2. MANAGING BY STARING OUT OF THE WINDOW These managers
you usually meet with their backside faced to you with their hands in their
pockets. When you talk to them, their thoughts keep staring out of the windows.

3. MANAGING BY POST-ITS: Some managers forget everything.
They want to impress you with their 'busy'ness by continuously writing on
Post-Its, while you are talking.

4. MANAGING BY DELEGATION TO THE SECRETARY These managers
just delegate everything to the secretary.

5. MANAGING BY KNOWING NOTHING These managers don't
really know anything at all. They let YOU give answers. Meanwhile they fill the
time with irrelevant anecdotes.

6. MANAGING BY CONCEPTUAL THINKING These people try to
explain the present from a theoretical view of the far future. The idea that
this never will work, completely satisfies them. They will always have
something to talk about.

7. MANAGING BY HIDING INFORMATION Information hiders are
aware of the market value of strictly secret kept information. You must be very
thankful to get any information at all.

8. MANAGING BY DOING EXACTLY WHAT THE BOSS SAYS These
managers prevent their bosses from creative thinking. Else they have more work
to do.

9. MANAGING BY WALKING ONE FOOT BEHIND THE BOSS In
hierarchical organizations you can watch those groups walking in the corridor.
The more equal managers are directly followed by the lesser equal managers, and
so on.

10. MANAGING BY SMILING AND WEARING NICE SUITS If you
drink beer with them, lunch with them, smile to them and also wear nice suits,
nothing can stop your career anymore.

11. MANAGING BY STUDYING Despite their continual
attendances of all kind of studies and congresses, they still belong to
category 5. The longer they learn, the further they get from the practice.

12. MANAGING BY CREATING VAGUE OVERHEAD SHEETS Do you
know them? Those sheets with some big arrows, boxes or circles? These sheets
provide the ultimate proof of their overall brilliance.

13. MANAGING BY OPEN DOOR AND EMPTY ROOM This is a major
improvement of the older 'OPEN DOOR' management style. Now you can really walk
in and out anytime you want. Nobody ever knows where these managers are.

14. MANAGING BY SPEAKING WITH OTHER MANAGERS This kind of
managing is very popular. It will give them within a few hours the same
information as an employee can tell them in 15 minutes.

15. MANAGING BY HAVING A NON SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE In
an organization with a hopeless infrastructure, managers are really necessary.
These managers will naturally prevent the organization from having a better
infrastructure.

16. BUA MANAGEMENT ( BY USING ABBREVIATIONS ) This
management style is ATRASACWOC ( Adopted To Reach A Shorter And Clearer Way Of
Communication ).

17. MANAGING BY USING BUZZ WORDS These managers like to
bluff your head off with hip, nearly undefined, terms.

18. MANAGING BY REORGANIZATION If they think there is
nothing more to organize, they reorganize.

19. MANAGING BY BELIEVING These managers must be
spiritual educated, because they have no clues at all.

20. MANAGING BY FORGETTING PROMISES If you remind
them to one of their promises, the priority of that promise is too low to
remember.

THE SEVEN C's OF SUCCESS

2012-01-22T22:40:00.001-08:00

THE SEVEN C's OF SUCCESS..

THE SEVEN C's OF SUCCESS by Brian Tracy

Clarity: Eighty percent of success comes from being clear on who you are, what you believe in and what you want.

Competence: You can't climb to the next rung on the ladder until you are excellent at what you do now.

Constraints: Eighty percent of all obstacles to success come from within. Find out what is constraining in you or your company and deal with it.

Concentration: The ability to focus on one thing single-mindedly and see it through until it's done takes more character than anything else.

Creativity: Flood your life with ideas from many sources. Creativity needs to be exercised like a muscle; if you don't use it you'll lose it.

Courage: Most in demand and least in supply, courage is the willingness to do the things you know are right.

Continuous learning: Read, at the very least, one book a week on business to keep you miles ahead of the competition. And just as you eat and bathe, organize your time so you spend 30 minutes a day exploring email, sending messages, going through websites, because like exercise, it's the only way you can keep on top of technology. If you get away from it, you'll lose your edge...

Top 10: Online shopping sites in India!!!

2012-01-22T22:36:00.001-08:00

Shop online: Online shopping has become a popular trend in India now. People
have been enjoying the convenience of having their order shipped right to their
doorstep. But people often get confused in selection of reliable sites as there
are a plethora of sites, and everyone claims to be reliable. But in actual only
few are up to the mark. Thus to facilitate you, here is our pick of top 10
online shopping sites.

ebay.in: eBay is one of India's leading online marketplace. It is an online
marketplace where anyone can trade practically anything. It is a platform for
the sale of goods and services by a diverse community of individuals and
businesses. eBay users trade in more than 50,000 categories including
collectibles, antiques, sports memorabilia, computers, IT and office, art,
antiques, toys, dolls, stamps, comics, magazines, music, pottery, glass,
photography, electronics, jewellery and gemstones, claims the company.

fashionandyou.com: Fashion and You is an invitation-only online destination. It
features the best International & Indian designer brands in luxury, hi-fashion
and lifestyle experiences for men, women, children and your home.

flipkart.com: It is an online chopping site that lets users shop various items
including books, mobile accessories, cameras, game consoles, MP3 players, home
and kitchen appliances and much more, online at discounted prices. It offer
multiple methods to make payments for order: credit card, debit card, net
Banking, e-gift voucher and cash on delivery. The order is generally delivered
within 3-4 working days.

mygrahak.com: MyGrahak.com is said to be India's largest online SuperMarket. It
sells a wide range of products like FMCG, Food, Non Food, Grocery, Rice,
Gourmets and others. Attractive offers are also available for shopping online at
MyGrahak.com.

futurebazaar.com: It is one of India's largest online retailers and is part of
Future Group %u2013 owner of brands like Big Bazaar, Pantaloons & Central. It
offers a wide range in cameras, consumer durables, home decor, home
entertainment, appliances and electronics, mobile.

homeshop18.com: Homeshop18 is a virtual retailer operating in a multimedia
environment that includes television, web, catalogue and print to sell high
quality products and services directly to consumers across the country. It deals
in books, movies and music, gifts and flowers, mobiles and accessories, camera
and camcoders, electronics, computers and peripherals, toys and games and much
more.

myntra.com: It is an online shopping destination for fashion and lifestyle
products. It lets you shop online from the latest catalog of original branded
products in apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and kids.

snapdeal.com: The website claims to offer 50-90 per cent off daily discount
deals in major cities of India. It is touted to be the one-stop-shop for
availing discount coupons/vouchers for restaurants, spa, gyms, travel/holiday
packages and other cool things in your city.

letsbuy.com: Letsbuy.com is an Internet retailer of branded Consumer electronics
and IT products, which claims to offer more than 9000 products from top
international and domestic brands. The company deals in technology products like
notebooks, printers, networking, digital cameras, storage and Consumer
electronics such as LCD TVs, mobile phones, MP3 players, gaming and home
electronics.

mydala.com: It is a platform which gets you great deals you want in your city.
It claims to offer deals each day - 40-95 per cent off on the best of
restaurants, shopping, salons in your city.

<>_<>10 MISCONCEPTIONS<>_<>

2012-01-19T00:21:00.000-08:00

<>_<>10 MISCONCEPTIONS<>_<>

If you eat less food, your stomach will shrinkDieters are often
advised to decrease their intake of food in order to shrink the
size of their stomach. However, while smaller portions will obviously help with
weight-loss, the size of your stomach has nothing to do with the process. On
average, the organ will maintain a constant volume throughout life, regardless of
the amount of food that passes through it.

Banknotes are made out of paper
Despite being known as "paper money", the billion or so British banknotes that are
printed every year are in fact made from cotton. The fabric is beaten to form the
very thin, tightly-bonded fibres of our durable "paper" notes. This explains why
money can survive an accidental whizz in the washing-machine, whereas plain paper
cannot.

Wild goldfish are goldIn their natural habitat, goldfish are actually green and subsist on weeds and
small invertebrates. It is only domestic goldfish that are carefully selected and
bred to maintain their characteristic golden-red colour. If domestic goldfish
escape to a less-protected environment, the species will usually revert to an
olive green hue.

Mr Crapper invented the flushing toiletAs appropriate as his name may be, Thomas Crapper did not invent the flushing
toilet. Crapper was a famous Victorian plumber whose achievements included
installing the drains at Westminster Abbey, but it was Edward Jennings who, in
1852, first took out a patent for the flush-out toilet and forever improved the
sanitary world.
You can only fold a piece of paper in half seven times
If you pick up a piece of paper and try to fold it in half more than seven times,
it is highly unlikely that you will succeed. No matter how large or small the
sheet, it was universally believed to be an unachievable act. However, in 2002,
the feat was proved possible by an American university student, who studied the
maths behind the folds. After producing a formula and testing it first on a sheet
of gold foil, Britney Gallivan succeeded in folding a 1,220-m (4,000-ft) long piece of toilet paper in half 12 times.

Columbus believed the Earth was flatChristopher Columbus's legendary status is often magnified with the story that
when he began his voyage in 1492, he bravely defied the contemporary belief that
the Earth was flat. However, Columbus's map, which is typical of its time,
survives and although it shows that he thought that the Earth was much smaller
than it is, he clearly knew the Earth was round. (In fact, the circumference of
the Earth was calculated by the ancient Greek mathematician Eratosthenes as early
as 240 BC.)

Hair and nails continue to grow after deathWhile we are alive, hair and fingernails are among the fastest growing cells on
our body (nails average about a tenth of a millimetre a day). A discomforting and
commonly reported occurrence is that even after death these cells continue to
grow. This potentially supernatural phenomenon is, however, all an optical
illusion. In reality, the body begins to dehydrate after death and the loss of
moisture causes the skin to retract. This shrinking of skin cells makes hair and
nails jut out more prominently, giving the illusion that they have grown.

Pencils are made with leadPencils contain no lead, so there is no risk of lead poisoning if you stab
yourself with one. Instead they are made up of a mixture of graphite and clay.
Graphite, a crystallized form of carbon, was discovered near Keswick in the mid-
16th century and was named from the Greek "graphein", meaning "to write".

White chocolate is chocolateWhite chocolate is a relatively new invention—it was first produced in the 1930s,
almost 90 years after the introduction of the first solid dark chocolate bar.
Despite being named white chocolate, it is officially not recognized as chocolate
because it does not contain cocoa liquor. Cocoa liquor, a substance with a
slightly 'bitter' quality that is a necessary ingredient for both milk and dark
chocolates, is replaced entirely in white chocolate with cocoa butter.

Screw-caps equal cheap wineIt is not true to say that screw caps (or stelvin enclosures as they are more
formally known) on wine bottles indicate that its contents are cheap. In fact,
although screw caps are not as aesthetically pleasing as the traditional cork,
many upmarket winemakers are now recognizing and implementing the benefits of
screw caps over corks. Corks, occasionally liable to becoming mouldy, can cause a
chemical compound

Top 10 Amazing Accidental Inventions

2012-01-19T00:20:00.003-08:00

Louis Pasteur
once said, "chance favors the prepared mind."That's the
genius behind all these accidental inventions -the scientists were prepared.
They did their science on the brink and were able to see the magic in a
mistake,set-back, or coincidence.

No. 10 - Saccharin

Saccharin, the sweetener in the pink packet, was discovered because chemist Constantin
Fahlberg
didn't wash his hands after a day at the office. Prepare to get icked. The year was 1879 and Fahlberg was
trying to come up with new and interesting uses for coal tar. After a productive day at the office, he went home
and something strange happened. He noticed the rolls he was eating tasted particularly
sweet.
He asked his wife if she had done anything interesting to the rolls, but she hadn't. They tasted normal to her.
Fahlberg realized the taste must have been coming from his hands -- which he hadn't washed.
The next day he went back to the lab and started tasting his work until he found the sweet spot.

No. 9 -
Smart Dust

Most people would be pretty upset if their homework blew up in their faces and crumbled into a bunch of tiny pieces.Not so student Jamie Link. When Link was doing her doctoral work in chemistry at the University of California,
San Diego, one of the silicon chips she was working on burst. She discovered afterward, however,that the tiny pieces
still functionedas sensors.The resulting "smart dust" won her the top prize at the Collegiate Inventors Competition in 2003.
These teensy sensors can also be used to monitor the purity of drinking or seawater, to detect hazardous chemicalor biological agents in the air, or even to locate and destroy tumor cells in the body.

No. 8 - Coke

There are many stories of accidentally invented food: the potato chip was born when cook George Crum
(yes, really his name!) tried to silence a persnickety customer who kept sending french fries back to the kitchen
for being soggy; Popsicles were invented when Frank Epperson left a drink outside in the cold overnight;and ice
cream
coneswere invented at the 1904 World's Fair in St.
Louis.But no food-vention has had as much success as Coke.
Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton was trying to make a cure for headaches.He mixed together a bunch of ingredients -
and don't ask, because we don't know; The recipe is still a closely guarded secret. It only took eight years of being sold
in a drug store before the drink was popular enough to be sold in
bottles.

No. 7- Teflon

After all the damage they've done to the ozone layer, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, are persona non grata.Back in the 1930s, however, they were (pardon the pun) the hot new thing in the science of refrigeration.
Young DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett was working to make a
new a new kind of CFC.
He had a theory that if he could get a compound called TFE to react with hydrochloric acid,
he could produce the refrigerant he wanted. So, to start his experiment Plunkett got a whole bunch of TFE gas,
cooled it and pressured it in canisters so it could be stored until he was ready to use
it.
When the time came to open the container and put the TFE and hydrochloric acid together so they could react,
nothing came out of the canister. The gas had disappeared. Only it hadn't. Frustrated and angry,
Plunkett took off the top of the canister and shook it. Out came some fine white flakes.
Luckily for everyone who's ever made an omelet, he was intrigued by the flakes
and handed them off to other scientists at DuPont.

No. 6 - Vulcanized Rubber

Charles Goodyear had been waiting years for a happy accident when it finally occurred.Goodyear spent a decade finding
ways to make rubber easier to work with while being resistant to heat and cold.
Nothing was having the effect he wanted. One day he spilled a mixture of rubber, sulfur and lead onto a hot stove.
The heat charred the mixture, but didn't ruin it. When Goodyear picked up the accident,
he noticed that the mixture had hardened but was still quite usable. At last!
The breakthrough he had been waiting for! His vulcanized rubber is used in everything from tires,
to shoes, to hockey pucks.

No. 5 -
Plastic

In 1907
shellac was used as insulation in electronics. It was costing the industry a pretty penny to import shellac,which was made from Southeast Asian beetles, and at home chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland thought he might turn a profit
if he could produce a shellac alternative. Instead his experiments yielded a moldable material that could take high temperatures
without distorting.
Baekeland thought his
"Bakelite" might be used for phonograph records, but
it was soon clear that
the product had thousands of uses. Today plastic, which was derived from Bakelite, is used for everything from telephonesto iconic movie punch lines.

No. 4 - Radioactivity

Two words that
you don't ever want to hear said in the same sentence are "Whoops!" and "radioactive."
But in the case of physicist Henri Becquerel's surprise discovery, it was an accident that brought radioactivity to light.
Back in 1896 Becquerel was fascinated by two things: natural fluorescence and the newfangled X-ray.
He ran a series of experiments to see if naturally fluorescent minerals
produced
X-rays
after they had been left out in the sun.
One problem - he was doing these experiments in the winter, and there was one week with a long stretch of overcast skies.
He left his equipment wrapped up together in a drawer and waited for a sunny day.
When he got back to work, Becquerel realized that the uranium rock he had left in the drawer had
imprinted itself
on a photographic plate without being exposed to sunlight first.
There was something very special about that rock. Working with Marie and Pierre Curie,
he discovered that that something was radioactivity.

No. 3 - Mauve

Talk about strange connections - 18-year-old chemist William Perkin wanted to cure malaria;instead his scientific endeavors changed the face of fashion forever and, oh yeah, helped fight cancer.
Confused? Don't be.
Here's how it happened. In 1856 Perkin was trying to come up with an artificial quinine.
Instead of a malaria treatment, his experiments produced a thick murky
mess.
But the more he looked at it, the more Perkin saw a beautiful color in his mess.
Turns out he had made the first-ever synthetic dye.
His dye was far better than any dyes that came from nature; the color was brighter,
more
vibrant, and
didn't fade or wash out.
His discovery also turned chemistry into a money-generating science - making it attractive
for a whole generation of curious-minded people. But the story is not over yet.
One of the people inspired by Perkin's work was German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich,
who used Perkin's dyes to pioneer immunology and chemotherapy.
No. 2 - Pacemaker
This list wouldn't be
complete without at least one absent-minded professor.
But it's not flubber
clocking in at No. 2, it's a life saving medical device.That pacemaker sewn into a loved one's chest actually came about because American engineer
Wilson Greatbatchreached into a box and pulled out the wrong thing. It's true.
Greatbatch was working on making a circuit to help record fast heart sounds.
He reached into a box for a resistor in order to finish the circuit and pulled out a 1-megaohm resistor
instead of a 10,000-ohm one. The
circuit pulsed for 1.8 milliseconds and
then stopped for one
second.
Then it repeated. The sound was as old as man: a perfect heartbeat.

No. 1 - Penicillin

You read this far into the list looking for penicillin, didn't you?
That's OK. As one of the most famous and fortunate accidents of the 20th century, penicillin belongs at No.1 on this list. If you've been living under a rock for the past 80 years or so, here's how the popular story goes:
Alexander Fleming didn't clean up his workstation before going on vacation one day in 1928.When he came back, Fleming noticed that there was a strange fungus on some of his cultures.
Even
stranger
was that bacteria didn't seem to thrive near those cultures.Penicillin became the first and is still one of the most widely used antibiotics.
_

Top 10: Mobile phones at CES 2012!!!

2012-01-19T00:20:00.001-08:00

Hottest phones: Though many mobile phones have been announced at the Consumer Electronics Show 2012, but only some phones have managed to catch our attention. Here is our pick of top 10 phones at the CES 2012.

Lenovo K800: Lenovo K800, unveiled at the CES, is the first Intel-powered Medfield phone. Running Android 4.0 OS along with Lenovo's LeOS, the phone features a 4.5-inch a TFT display with 720p, and has a 1.6GHz Medfield processor. The phone is likely to be available in China in Q2, 2012.

Sony Xperia S: The Xperia S is said to be the first smartphone from the new Xperia NXT series – next generation smartphones from Sony. The new Xperia S is an Android smartphone that sports a 12 megapixel camera with 16x digital zoomand, and has a 1.5GHz dual-core processor for faster performance. The Xperia S is also NFC (near field communication) enabled to allow consumers to share content with each other as well as enjoying an increasing number of NFC applications and services. It has a 4.3 inch Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine with HD resolution screen (1280 x 720). It offers 32GB of internal flash storage space. Running Android 2.3 OS, the Xperia S will be available to consumers globally from the first quarter 2012.

Huawei Ascend P1 S: Huawei unveiled the Ascend P1 smartphone at the CES 2012. Its touchscreen is covered in Corning Inc's Gorilla Glass and runs on Texas Instruments Inc's 1.5GHz's multicore processor. The phone will be available in black, white and pink colours. The 6.68-mm thin phone will be available in April 2012 in markets from North America, Europe to Asia, said the company. Powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460 Cortex-A9 processor, the phone has has 1GB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory. The company will ship the Ascend P1 S with the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system.
Motorola Droid 4: Verizon Wireless have unveiled the new DROID 4 smartphone by Motorola at the CES 2012. The device is touted to be slim at half an inch thin and is powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM. The phone features an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture and Mirror Mode to display images and video on an HDTV. Running Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS, it has a 4.0-inch qHD display with scratch and scrape resistant glass. The Droid 4 by Motorola will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com in the coming weeks.

Nokia Lumia 900: The Nokia Lumia 900 was unveiled at the CES 2012. The phone uses AT&T Inc.'s new "LTE" wireless data network, for faster downloads. Powered by a 1.4 GHz processor, the Nokia Lumia 900 has a 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack glass touchscreen. The phone sports an 8 megapixel rear camera and 1 megapixel rear camera. The companies said it will be available in coming months.

HTC Titan II: HTC Titan II is the first LTE Windows Phone from HTC. The Titan II has a 4.7-inch super LCD screen, a 16-megapixel back camera, a 1.3-megapixel camera on the front for video calls and a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon CPU. The device will be available "in the coming months" to AT&T customers.

Sony Xperia ion: The Xperia ion, the first LTE smartphone from Sony, will be available exclusively in the US from AT&T in the second quarter. It has a 4.6-inch HD display (1280 X 720 pixels). It is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. The phone offers 16GB internal flash storage. Sporting a 12 megapixel, it is said to be the first LTE smartphone from Sony, exclusive with AT&T in the US.

LG Spectrum: The LG Spectrum is said to be available exclusively on Verizon from January 19 at a price of $200 with a two-year contract. The phone features a 4.5-inch high-resolution display (1280 by 720 pixels), and runs Android 2.3 OS (4.0 upgrade is promised in second half of 2012)). Powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, the phone has an 8 megapixel camera.

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx: The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx has been released for Verizon Wireless. It features a 4.3-inch 540x960 pixels Super AMOLED Advanced capacitive touch screen with 256 ppi pixel density. When compared to the Motorola Droid Razr, the phone has an extended battery life. The phone sports an 8 megapixel, autofocus, LED flash rear camera with 1080p video capture capabilities. IT also also has a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting.

SpareOne mobile phone: SpareOne's mobile phone comes with a battery life of 15 years, whether you charge it or not and is designed for emergencies. The new phone, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, is designed as a backup phone you can keep in the glove compartment for emergencies.

__,_._,___

Top 10: Mobile phones under Rs 1000!!!

2012-01-19T00:17:00.001-08:00

Dirt cheap phones: Are you looking for a budget phone? Here is our pick of mobile phones that are available for less than Rs 1000.

Micromax X111: Weighing 69g, the phone has a 1.4 inch colour display. It offers 32MB of in-built memory, and also includes a card slot. It offers USb connectivity and FM Radio. The phone is engineered with a 480 mAh Li-ion battery. It is touted to have a water resistant marble keypad.

Nokia 1280: The phone has a 1.36 inch black and white display, and weighs 81.9g. It is equipped with a 1020 mAh Li-ion battery, which is claimed to give talk tine of up to 8 hours. The phone has a memory card slot, FM Radio and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

LG A 180: Weighing 65.4g, this bar phone features a 1.5 inch TFT LCD display. Powered by a 950mAh battery, the company claims the phone to have talk time of up to 17 hours. It also includes FM Radio.

Motorola WX260: The phone has a 1.8 inch display, and weighs 83g. The phone also a memory card slot that can support memory card of up to 2GB. It includes GPRS, and USB conenctivity. The phone has MP3 capabilities and FM Radio. Engineered with a 750 mAh Li-ion battery, the phone is believed to offer talk time of up to 480 minutes.

Alcatel OT-230D: It is a dual SIM(GSM+GSM) phone that has a 1.5 inch colour TFT screen. It also includes FM Radio. Weighing 64 g, the phone has a 720 mAh Li-ion battery that is said to be offering talk time of up to 360 minutes. The phone includes USB connectivity

Micromax X100: Weighing 61g, the phone has a 1.46 inch colour TFt screen. It has FM Radio and a memory card slot. It is powered by a 450 mAh Li-ion battery.

Samsung Guru E1081: The phone has a 1.43 inch colour screen. Weighing 64g, the phone has an internal memory of 1 MB. It also has a memory card slot. The phone has an 800 mAh Li-ion battery that is claimed ot give talk time of up to 450 minutes. It also has USB connectivity.

Alcatel OT-517D: It is a dual SIM(GSM+GSM) candybar phone that weighs 66g. It features a 1.8 inch colour display. Connectivity options include GPRS, Bluetooth and USB. It also sports a rear camera, and also supports WAP browser. The phone has a 720 mAh Li-ion battery, which is claimed to offer talk time of up to 360 minutes.

Micromax X215: It is also a dual SIM (GSM+GSM) phone, which weighs 65g. It has a 1.5 inch colour display. It has a memory card slot that can support memory card of up to 2 GB. Connectivity options include USB and GPRS. It also includes MP3 capabilites and FM Radio. It also has a rear camera. Engineered with a 1000 mAh Li-ion battery, it is claimed to offer talk time of up to 4 hours.

LG A100: The phone has a 1.5 inch TFT display. Weighing 68g, the phone has a 950 mAh battery that is claime dto offer talk time of up to 17 hours. It also has a one touch torch light. It also offers USB connectivity.

Top 10: Tablets of the year 2011!!!

2012-01-19T00:16:00.001-08:00

Top-notch tablets: The year 2011 is said to be the year of the tablets as many tablet PCs ranging from low-cost to mid range to high-end have been launched this year. Though many tablets hit the market, but all tablets were not able to impress users. Thus we have come up with a list of top 10 tablets that are not only feature-rich but have also managed to attract users' eyeballs.
Apple iPad 2: Apple launched the second generation of the world's best selling tablet computer, the Apple iPad, this year. Named iPad 2, the new iPad is is skinnier, faster and slightly lighter. It comes with cameras for video chatting and snapping photos. The iPad 2 looks much like the first iPad, though it has a sleeker, lighter body with a curved back. Among the most noticeable changes is the inclusion of cameras, one on the front and one on the back. The new iPad has Apple's new dual-core A5 chip, which helped applications open more quickly than on the older iPad. Add to that a new version of Apple's iOS software. The new processor and the new iOS combined to improve Web surfing. It has a 9.7-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen multitouch display with IPS technology.
Price: In India, the iPad 2 with Wi-Fi costs for Rs 29,500 for the 16GB model, Rs 34,500 for the 32GB model and Rs 39,500 for the 64GB model. The iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G is priced at Rs 36,900 for the 16GB model, Rs 41,900 for the 32GB model and Rs 46,900 for the 64GB model.
Sony's Tablet S and Tablet P: Sony launched two new tablets this year - Tablet S and Tablet P. Both the tablets are equipped with Android 3.2 operating system(OS) and a 5 megapixel camera. The tablet S is wedge-shaped, with one side thicker than the other. The tablet's 'throw' feature enables users to wirelessly sync tablet with DLNA compatible devices including PCs, Bravia televisions and others, thereby allowing them to share and play files - audio, video and images - on bigger screens. On the other hand, the Tablet P has a folding design for enhanced handling and use. The Tablet P has dual LCD touchscreens - each measures 5.5-inch - thereby allowing users to watch video on one screen while using the other to control it, or checking emails on one screen while using the other screen as a keyboard. These tablets are PlayStation certified.
Price: The tablet S comes in two variants - 16 GB Wi-Fi only model and 16 GB 3G + Wi-Fi model, which cost Rs 29,990 and Rs 33,990 respectively. Priced at Rs 36,990, the Tablet P will be available in the Indian market by mid January 2012.
Aakash and the Ubislate 7 tablets: The tablet falls under this category because it is the ultra-low-cost tablet launched this year. Powered by Android 2.2 (Froyo) OS, the 7-inch tablet has a resistive touch screen. The tablet weighs 350g and has 256 MB of RAM. The device has a Arm11 – 366Mhz microprocessor and a 2100mAh battery. It supports only Wi-Fi network. However the upgraded version of Aakash, called the Ubislate 7, is scheduled to be launched late January. It has a Cortex A8 – 700 Mhz processor compared to the 366 MHz processor in Aakash. Running Android 2.3 OS, it will include a 3200 mAh battery. The device will support both WiFi and GPRS networks.
Price: Rs 2,500 for the Aakash tablet and Rs 2,999 for the Ubislate 7
Amazon Kindle Fire: The Kindle Fire is the first full-color, touch-screen Kindle. It's more of an all-purpose computer than an e-reader. It shows movies, TV shows and Web pages. It does email and lets you play games. It's amazing that it costs half of what the first Kindle cost, just four years ago, yet does so much more than display books. Amazon says the Kindle Fire doesn't need more memory because the company provides an online storage locker, where users can stuff all your music and other content. The device is low-cost, but still includes a lot of features.
Price: $199
Nook tablet: Barnes & Noble's earlier Nooks were dedicated book-reading devices, and the tablet is at most a half-way step into the world of general-purpose tablet computing. The Tablet has a 7-inch touch-sensitive color screen. The Nook has some features over the Fire. It has a faster processor and more memory for software operations, which means faster Web browsing and magazine page-flipping, longer battery life and twice as much storage space. The Nook Tablet has 16 gigabytes that can be expanded to 32 gigabytes.
Price: $249
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime: Powered by Android 3.2 OS, it has a 10.1-inch LED backlight WXGA (1280x800) screen. the device has a 1.2 megapixel front camera and an 8 megapixel rear camera. it is claimed to be the world's first first Quad-core CPU tablet. It can be transformed to notebook mode with a full QWERTY chiclet keyboard dock. It comes in two variants - 32 GB and 64 GB.
Price: $ 599 onwards
Motorola Xoom 2 tablet : Motorola launched a successors to Xoom, its first Android tablet. Named Motorola Xoom 2, it has the same 10.1-inch widescreen HD display and Android 3.2 Honeycomb like its predecessor but comes with a brighter display. The Xoom 2 is 100 grams lighter than the original Xoom and is also water resistant thanks to a splash-guard coating. It is compatible with the optional Motorola Stylus that is great for note-taking, hand-writing emails and sketching. It is powered by 1.2GHz dual-core processors and come with 1.3 MP front and 5 MP rear-facing HD cameras with digital zoom, auto focus, and LED flash. It comes with with 1GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage.
Price: £390
HTC Flyer: HTC launched the seven-inch touch screen tablet HTC Flyer, which has a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It has 1GB of RAM and an in-built memory of 16GB and a 5-megapixel camera. The device also has features like HTC Sense, HTC Scribe and HTC Watch, which provide a better visual, touch and movie-viewing experience to users.
Price: Rs 39,890
Samsung Galaxy Tab 750: Samsung launched a second tablet computer with a bigger screen and more processing power than the original Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is touted to be a multimedia hub for aficionados of games, electronic books and social media, with a 10.1 inch screen, dual surround-sound speakers, and front- and rear-facing cameras. The tablet, with two core processors (1GHz) to better handle media, is based on the latest Google Android platform, Honeycomb - which has been optimised for tablets. It has a 3 megapixel rear and a 2 megapixel front camera.
Price: Rs 32,500
LG Optimus Pad: It has a 8.9-inch high-definition touchscreen and is powered by a Android 3.0 OS. IT has a NVIDIA Tegra 2 Cortex-A9 Dual Core 1GHz processor. The Optimus Pad has a front-facing camera for video conferencing, and a 5.0 megapixel rear-facing stereoscopic camera with flash for image capture and 3D and HD video recording.
Price: Approx $650

Internet addiction linked to brain changes

2012-01-17T04:17:00.001-08:00

Similar to alcohol and drug addiction

Andrew Buckin - Fotolia.com
Teenagers who are addicted to the internet show signs of brain changes
similar to those who are addicted to alcohol and drugs, a study suggests.

Chinese researchers used MRI scans to look at the brain structure of 17 young peoplewith "internet addiction disorder" attending the Shanghai Mental Health Centre
and compared them with those of 16 healthy volunteers.

In the internet-addicted teens, the scans showed changes to the white matter fibreswhich connect the regions of the brain involved in emotional processing,
attention and decision-making.

Other research has found similar white matter changes in the brains of peopleaddicted to alcohol, cocaine, cannabis and other drugs.

The researchers, led by Dr Hao Lei from the Chinese Academy of Sciences,wrote in the journal Plos One:
"The findings suggest that white matter integrity may serve asa potential new treatment target in internet addiction disorder."

However, the study findings cannot say whether internet addictioncauses the brain changes seen in the study.
Some people may already have brains which make them more likely to become addicts.

Commenting on the study, Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, a consultant psychiatrist atImperial College London, said:
"This type of research exploring the differences between normal brains of people who suffer frominternet addictions is groundbreaking, as it makes clear neuroimaging links between internet addiction
and other addictions such as alcohol, cocaine and cannabis among others.

"We are finally being told what clinicians suspected for some time now,that white matter abnormalities in the orbito-frontal cortex and other truly significant
brain areas are present not only in addictions where substances are involved but also inbehavioural ones such as internet addiction."

How Big is Walmart? SCARY

2012-01-17T04:10:00.001-08:00

This should boggle your mind!! And Probably scare you as well!

1. At Wal-Mart, Americans spend $36,000,000 every hour of every day.

2. This works out to $20,928 profit every minute!

3.. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to St. Patrick's Day (March
17th) than Target sells all year.

4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target + Sears +
Costco + K-Mart combined.

5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people and is the largest private
employer, and most can't speak English.

6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.

7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger & Safeway combined, keep
in mind they did this in only 15 years.

8. During this same period, 31 Supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.

9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.

10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are
Super Centers ; this is 1,000 more than it had 5 years ago.

11. This year, 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur
At a Wal-Mart store. (Earth's population is approximately7.0
billion.)

12. 90% of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Wal-Mart.

13. The value of product for Wal-Mart passing through the port of San
Diego each year is a larger sum than 93% of ALL countries Gross
National Product (GNP) .....and that is only ONE port ...one way
that's how Wal-Mart gets it's stuff.

14. Of the 1.6 million employees, only 1.2% make a living above the
poverty level.

15. Wal-Mart's head office is located and centralized in Bentonville.
Due to this fact, there are more millionaires per square mile there
than any place on Earth.

16. The official U.S.. Government position is that Wal-Mart's prices
are no lower than anyone else's when compared to a typical families
weekly purchases.
That's the view of the statisticians at the Bureau Of Labor
Statistics (BLS) responsible for calculating the Consumer Price Index
(CPI).

17. 92% of everything Wal-Mart sells, comes from China . Another
4%comes from Chinese owned companies in the U.S. or in 3rd world
Countries.

18. Wal-Mart and MOST large companies, take out life insurance on it's
employees, without their knowing. If an employee dies, ALL the
insurance moneys go to the companies. I.e. An employee making $18,000
per year, dies, and the company might make as much as $1 million. Most
often these moneys, coming from what is commonly referred to as "Dead
Peasant Life Insurance Policies", is paid out to executives as
bonuses. (A common practice, unknown by the average consumer).

19.. Wal-Mart now averages a "profit" (not sales) of $36 billion per year.

20. Let Wal-Mart bail out Wall Street. If not, consider shopping someplace else.

If we closed all the Wal-mart stores would China go bankrupt?????????

Some Abbreviation

2012-01-14T23:36:00.001-08:00

Some ABBREVIATIONS Which Are Not Known To Many Of Us :

NEWS : NORTH EAST WEST SOUTH

CHESS: Chariot, Horse, Elephant, SoldierS.

COLD : Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease.

JOKE : Joy Of Kids Entertainment.

AIM : Ambition In Mind.

DATE : Day And Time Evolution.

EAT : Energy And Taste.

TEA : Taste And Energy Admitted.

PEN : Power Enriched In Nib.

SMILE : Sweet Memories In Lip Expression.

BYE : Be with You Everytime. :)

Tips to improve your Car's Fuel Economy

2012-01-14T23:31:00.000-08:00

Tips to improve your Car's Fuel Economy

Here are some very good tips on improving your vehicle's Fuel Economy / Increase Fuel Efficiency / Mileage. With increasing fuel prices it is becoming more and more prudent to use them.
Use your gears wisely.
Driving in the highest gear possible without labouring the engine is a
fuel-efficient way of driving. A vehicle travelling at 60kmph in third gear
uses 25 percent more fuel than at the same speed in fifth gear

Drive smoothly
Think ahead! By applying light throttle and avoiding heavy braking, you can
reduce both fuel consumption and wear
and tear. Try to predict traffic at
junctions and when in queuing to avoid accelerating and then braking.
Research suggests driving techniques can influence car fuel efficiency by as
much as 30 percent.

Switch off your engine
There are two schools of thought on this one. Switching your engine off for
short periods of time can actually increase fuel consumption, as it requires
more fuel to get the engine started. Also your catalytic converter will no
longer be running at full temperature and so your car will be less
efficient, increasing the amount of pollution you cause. However if you are
stopped for more than a few minutes then your car will simply burn less fuel
with the engine stopped.

Drive off promptly to prevent wasting fuel
Don't leave your engine running when you first start up. Drive off straight
away if you can, but drive gently until the engine has reached
its normal
operating temperature. This doesn't increase fuel efficiency as such, but it
does mean your engine is switched on for less time.
Lighten your load
Think carefully about what you need on a journey. if you do not need
something, do not pack it. Remove roof racks if not needed. The lighter the
load, the lower the fuel consumption, and emissions, and the higher the fuel
efficiency.

Tyres effect fuel efficiency
It is estimated that about 50% of tyres on the road are under inflated.
Aside from increasing the rate of wear, this wastes fuel and decreased your
fuel efficiency. Check your tyre pressures every fortnight. Worn tyres will
also decrease fuel efficiency (and your safety!), so check the
tread
regularly. If you are replacing tyres then consider some of the newer 'Eco'
tyres that are designed specifically to increase fuel efficiency.

Car Windows
Driving with your windows open drastically reduces your fuel efficiency, far
more so than putting the air conditioning on when motorway driving. So in
those hot summers(?) preferably keep the windows shut, and the air
conditioning on if you want to keep cool. Of course the air conditioning
decreases fuel efficiency too, so try not to over use it.

Invest in a new fuel efficient car
New cars come in all shapes and sizes, but it is possible to pick a new car
that can greatly reduce your fuel bill, and your fuel emissions.

Size matters. Choose an economical car - small cars use far more fuel
efficient and produce lower emissions than large cars.

Drive the most fuel-efficient car that meets your needs. Compare
models and
classes. Even similarly sized cars can vary in fuel efficiency by up to 45%.

Consider diesel engines (with a particulate trap), and LPG (Liquefied
Petroleum Gas) and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) fuelled cars - all have
lower CO2 emissions than standard petrol cars.

Consider 'hybrid' vehicles - they combine a conventional engine with an
electric motor and battery. These offer reduced fuel consumption and CO2
with potentially lower emissions of all pollutants.

Diesel Engines
If your going to buy a diesel, ensure it is a new 'common rail' type, as
these are approximately 10% more efficient than older diesels. also replace
(or clean if applicable) air cleaner elements as often as is required by
your vehicles servicing schedule.

Regluar Maintenance maintains fuel efficiency

Air Filter:
One of the most common reasons for a drop in fuel efficiency is a
dirty
intake filter. This will decrease the amount of air entering the cylinders
of the engine resulting in incomplete combustion. Check the filter regularly
to ensure that it is clean.

Spark Plugs
Ensure your spark plugs are in good condition. Renew the plugs and wires at
intervals specified by the owners manual. This will keep all cylinders
firing properly resulting in higher efficiency.

Lube Oil:
Change the lube oil at intervals specified by the owners manual. Use the
recommended oil only especially in newer cars. Use of an engine flush before
changing the oil will help to get rid of a lot of the dirt that collects in
the engine that a normal oil change will not remove. On older engines it is
advisable to use
an oil treatment agent. This basically thickens the oil
which creates a better seal between the piston and the liner, preventing
blow past and consequent loss of combustion pressure, resulting in higher
fuel efficiency.

Exhausts alter fuel efficiency
Most cars have special sizes for the exhaust. When cars are reasonably old
the silences has to be changed. The garage people always try to fit a size
that they have in the garage it self. Which might not be the exact size
recommended for the car. The wrong size a bigger or smaller silencer size
effects on the MPG of the car and the HP of the car. It may be cheaper to
put another size than your recommended size for your car but on the long run
it will cost you in many
ways, especially on fuel consumption. Always put
the recommended size of the exhaust that is indicated in your car manual
because the car company knows how to optimize the performance of your car.
From the Net

Tips for Migraine

2012-01-10T05:55:00.001-08:00

Tips for Migraine

Eat a healthy, balanced diet and do not skip meals.

Exercise regularly. Exercise can help to reduce tension and stress and lower the chances of migraines.

Pick an exercise that suits you and if strenuous physical activity is a trigger, then choose something

gentle such as yoga, walking, or Pilates.

Try stick to a regular sleep pattern, and ensure that you get enough sleep each night.

Keep a migraine journal to help identify migraine triggers. Include all the foods, activities or anything

else you did that day. Once you know your triggers then you can do your best to avoid them.

v Learn to relax. Practice relaxation techniques and deep breathing to help you manage stress and

If you feel a migraine coming on find a quiet and dark room and lay down with a cold compress on

Avoid tobacco smoke and limit your caffeine intake whenever possible

If you are a woman suffering from regular migraines, it may be useful to limit your estrogen intake.

Estrogen can be found in many birth control and hormone replacement therapies, so you may need to

discuss alternatives with your doctor.

Migraine Home Remedies

J Mix plain Rice with Curd in the night and keep it overnight. Eat this rice in the morning in empty

stomach for some days to sure Migraine.

Massage head with Castor oil (Erand) and put a wet cloth on the forehead, both helps to get relief

Eating a spoon of Honey with half spoon of salt or just eating Honey or putting Honey in nostrils all

helps to cure Migraine pain.

Eating Jaggery (Gur) Mixed with pure Ghee, (Ghee prepared from cow milk) in the empty stomach for

5 days to helps to cure Migraine.

Eating Goose berries (Amla) with Salt gives relief from Migraine.

Eating Apple pieces with Salt for 3 weeks help to get permanent relief from Migraine.

Apply diluted Asafoetida (Hing/Inguva) paste on the forehead and try to inhale its smell, to get relief

from Migraine. Don't rub it as it can cause skin irritation.

Mustard (Sarson) oil drops put in the nostrils ( If you are having left side pain put in the right nostril &

vice verse ) for few months helps to get permanent relief from Migraine.

A few drops of Ghee prepared from cow milk put in the nostrils (If you are having left side pain put in

the right nostril & vice verse) for few months helps to get permanent relief from Migraine.

Drinking a spoon of Basil (Tulsi) juice mixed with Honey helps to get relief from Migraine.

Eating some sweet, Sugar or jaggery during Migraine reduces pain in some people instantly.

Chewing some black pepper (kali mirch) with pure Ghee (Ghee prepared from cow milk) helps to get

Dry Ginger (Sonti) Mixed in water can be smelled and applied on the forehead (avoid rubbing) reduces

Putting Drum stick leaves (Muranka Bhaji) juice in the nostrils (If you are having left side pain put in

the Right nostril & vice versa) gives relief from Migraine.

Smelling Onion juice or chewing raw Onions helps to get relief from Migraine pain.

5 drops of Drum stick leaf juice and Ginger juice equally mixed and filtered can be put in the ear (If

you are having left side pain put in the Right ear & vice verse) to get relief from Migraine pain.

putting few drops of Almond (Badam) oil in the nostrils for some days helps to get permanent relief

Migraine- Natural Cures for Common Illness

2012-01-10T05:53:00.001-08:00

Migraine is the term used to describe a severe pain in the head. This can be cause by the contraction or dilatation of blood vessels in the brain and the irregular nerve activity mainly in the meninges. Migraine is caused by the stimulation of the trigeminal nerve, which release a substance inducing inflammation and also send messages to pain receptors in the meninges.

Migraine occurs most often in women, due to fluctuations in the level of the hormone estrogen, that's the reason why women get migraines around the time of menstruation, when estrogen levels are low.

During pregnancy is also common to suffer migraines, especially during early pregnancy. The cause may be hormonal, but the headache can be due to excess tension too.

People who suffer from migraines often are between the ages of 20 and 30. However, children can have migraine too, but their symptoms are shown as colic, periodic abdominal pains, vomiting, dizziness, and severe motion sickness, then these symptoms will disappear, focusing in the exact problem, painful headaches. Almost every person who suffers from migraines will have some symptoms before having one.

Migraine Causes

The underlying cause of migraines is not fully understood. Some researchers have suggested that the condition is neurological and caused by changes in serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain. As a reaction to these changes, brain neurons release additional neuropeptides which cause pain and inflammation of the blood vessels. Migraines could also be hereditary, and approximately 70% of migraine sufferers have a family history of this condition.

In addition, migraines can be brought on or triggered by a number of factors. These triggers will vary among people but,

The common triggers include:

Ø Certain foods (common foods including chocolate, cheese, alcohol, and caffeine)

Ø Skipping meals or fasting

Ø Hormonal changes (many women experience migraines during their menstrual cycle, menopause or pregnancy)

Ø Stress, tension or anxiety

Ø Fatigue

Ø Intense physical activity

Ø Changes in the physical environment such as changes in season, temperature or altitude

Ø Various sensory stimuli such as bright lights, flashing lights, unusual smells and loud noise

Ø Changes in sleeping patterns, sleep disorders or lack of sleep

Ø Alcohol and tobacco smoke

Ø Over-the-counter and prescription medication

Tips and Home Remedies for Migraine problem. So, next time you suffer migraine don't complain just follow the remedies.

19 Futuristic and Creative Cell Phone Concepts

2012-01-10T01:02:00.000-08:00

19 Futuristic and Creative Cell Phone
Concepts Mobile Phone is one of the fast developing thing in the
field of technology. It's in the hands of each and everyone in this world and has become a part of our life. Then what about the future Collection of the most creative and interesting cell phone concepts designed by talented people from all over the globe.

Weather Cell Phone Concept

Beautiful cell phone concept design by Seunghan Song
accurately detects and illustrates present weather conditions.

Roll Out Bracelet Cell Phone -
ConceptAlexey Chugunnikov created the mother of all concept
phones: it has a transparent display, that's also flexible and retractable. The Roller phone can be pulled up from a wrist band that serves as a normal watch and reveals a pretty large display. The flexible screen of the phone reaches from the wrist till the tips of your fingers, the ideal length of an interaction space.

Mobile Script Cell Phone
ConceptDesigned by Aleksander Mukomelov, this cell phone comes
with a large touchscreen, that is located inside the phone in the collapsed state.

Projector Cell Phone
ConceptCool extra slim concept cell phone equipped with rotating
screen with built-in projector; an ideal tool for field presentations.

Braille Cell Phone concept
Many a time we do wonder how the blind is supposed to find
cellphones useful, and here's the Braille Phone concept which relies on Electric Active Plastic to create Braille code on the screen of the phone, allowing the visually impaired to read whatever message or incoming call simply by touching it.

Alarm Clock Cell Phone
Concept Sony Ericsson WakeUp Phone looks and functions like an
alarm clock that will wake you up in the morning.

Pen Cell Phone Concept
Target-shaped areas on top and bottom are earpiece and receiver.

Leaf
Cell Phone - Concept
Leaf Phone Features an Organic Structure, is Made of Eco Friendly Plastic Leaf Phone Features an Organic Structure. Created by designer Anastasia Zharkova. The handset resembles a natural leaf and uses an organic structure, plus Eco-friendly plastic as its main material.

Edge Cell Phone Concept
Designed by Chris Owens, the transparent touchscreen keypad is edge lit by internal LED's.

Grass Cell Phones
Green mobile phones designed to last only for the length of its functional life cycle, they fall apart for easy recycling after two years are up.

LG
Helix Bracelet Cellphone Being fancy is more important to some than being technologically up to date and this trend was also followed by designer Rob Luna, who created the LG Helix concept phone. This device can also be used as a slap bracelet and worn on the owner's wrist. There's also an LED section up front

Mechanical Cell Phone
Concept
Cell phone designed by Mikhail Stawsky will charge its
battery when you spin it around your finger.

Flexible Cell Phone Concept
Beautiful wrist concept cell phone designed by Shirley A.
Roberts.

Ear Cell Phone Concept
Kambala is a cool mobile phone that transforms into an
earpiece.

Philips Fluid Flexible Smartphone
ConceptCreated by Brazilian Designer Dinard da Mata. You can wrap
the device around your wrist and turn it into a bracelet for fashionable users. The handset supports gaming when the bracelet is rolled out horizontally, displaying virtual gaming controls.

Samsung Bracelet Smartphone
Erik Campbell designed a very original Samsung bracelet phone, a wearable mobile device concept that relies on memory alloy articulation. This smartphone is destined to reach the wrists of athletes,adventurers and tech freaks from all over the world.

Samsung Finger Touching Cellphone - Concept
The idea of a device that projects its keyboard or interface on a surface instead of incorporating a display hasn't been exploited enough till now and here's a concept that reminds us of the power of projectors. The Samsung Finger Touching hand phone is a sort of bracelet-like handset that projects its keypad onto your hand. The user's fingers will become the keypad and the round segment of the concept phone is the one that incorporates the projector.

Purse Bracelet Fancy Cell Phone - Concept
Designer By Yw Li. This is surely a phone for ladies, a
fancy device that can be worn like a precious purse or bracelet, due to a long and probably golden chain.

ZTE Cube Cell Phone
This device seems to be folded, with the aid of 3 hinges
and that means that we're dealing with a rather long phone, when it not gone "cube mode". The concept was demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona by ZTE.

Challenging Question

2012-01-09T22:52:00.001-08:00

Challenging Question Can You AnswerQuestion

If you had to choose for President, from a choice of 3 candidates, whom would
you choose.
Your choices are:

Candidate A:
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologers. Hes had
two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8-10 martinis a day.

Candidate B:
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and
drinks a quart of whisky every evening.

Candidate C:
Hes a decorated war hero. Hes a vegetarian, doesnt smoke, drinks an
occasional beer and hasnt had any extramarital affairs.
Which one of these candidates would be your choice?

See the Answers Below:

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt
Candidate B is Winston Churchill
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler
What was your answer?

Phone Bill Joke

2012-01-09T22:48:00.001-08:00

The Mysterious Phone Bill Joke

The phone bill was exceptionally high and the man of the house called for meetingon a Sunday morning after breakfast

Dad: People this is unacceptable. OK, I do not use this phone, I use the one at the office,
But You too have to limit the use of the phone.

Mum: Same here, I hardly use this home telephone as I use my work telephone.

Son: Me too, I never use the home phone. I always use my company mobile.
All of them now in a state of shock and together they look at their maid
who until now is patiently listening to them.

Maid(un baffled): So what is the problem? We all use our work telephones!

Moral: Sometimes we do something and never realize that its wrong, until someone does the same to us.

Seek the excellence....Success will follow

2012-01-09T05:24:00.001-08:00

Seek the excellence....Success will follow.This is a powerful message to our modern society. We seem to have lost our bearing & our sense of direction.
Request - Read Twice
**Story of Appreciation**

One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview, the director did the last interview, made
the last decision.

The director discovered from the CV that the youth's academic achievements were excellent all the way, from the secondary school until the postgraduate research, never had a year when he did not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarships in school?" the youth answered "none".

The director asked, " Was it your father who paid for your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it was my mother who paid for my school fees.

The director asked, " Where did your mother work?" The youth answered, "My mother worked as clothes cleaner. The director requested the youth to show his hands. The youth showed a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, " Have you ever helped your mother wash the clothes before?" The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books. Furthermore, my mother can wash
clothes faster than me.

The director said, "I have a request. When you go back today, go and clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning.*

The youth felt that his chance of landing the job was high. When he went back, he happily requested his mother to let him clean her hands. His mother felt strange, happy but with mixed feelings, she showed her hands to the kid.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly. His tear fell as he did that. It was the first time he noticed that his mother's hands were so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises in her hands. Some bruises were so painful that his mother shivered when they were cleaned with water.

This was the first time the youth realized that it was this pair of hands that washed the clothes everyday to enable him to pay the school fee. The bruises in the mother's hands were the price that the
mother had to pay for his graduation, academic excellence and his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother hands, the youth quietly washed all the remaining clothes for his mother.

That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office.

The Director noticed the tears in the youth's eyes, asked: " Can you tell me what have you done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, " I cleaned my mother's hand, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes'

The Director asked, " please tell me your feelings."

The youth said,
Number 1, I know now what is appreciation. Without my mother, there would not the successful me today.
Number 2, by working together and helping my mother, only I now realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done.
Number
3, I have come to appreciate the importance and value of family relationship.

The director said, " This is what I am looking for to be my manager.
I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the sufferings of
others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life. You are hired.

Later on, this young person worked very hard, and received the respect of his subordinates. Every employee worked diligently and as a team. The company's performance improved tremendously.

A child, who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted, would develop "entitlement mentality" and would always put himself first. He would be ignorant of his parent's efforts. When he starts work, he assumes
that every person must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he would never know the sufferings of his employees and would always blame others. For this kind of people, who may be good academically, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel sense of achievement. He will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parents, are we really showing love or are we destroying the kid instead?*

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plates and bowls together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to
understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow gray, same as the mother of that young person. The most important thing is your kid learns how to appreciate the effort and experience the difficulty and learns the ability to work with others to get things done.

Try to forward this story to as many as possible...this may change somebody's fate...

Some Interesting IAS Questions- intelligent - not the 'bull shit' kind!

2012-01-09T05:19:00.001-08:00

YOU MAY THINKTHE ANSWERS ARE FUNNY. BUT THEYARE THE CORRECT ANSWERS. THINK BEYOND BOUNDARIES
Awesome Answers In IAS(Indian Administrative Service) Examination
Q. How can you drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
A. Concrete floors are very hard to crack! (UPSC Topper)

Q. If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take four men to build it?
A. No time at all it is already built. (UPSC 23rd Rank Opted for IFS)

Q. If you had three apples and four
oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have?
A. Very large hands. (Good one) (UPSC 11 Rank Opted for IPS)

Q. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
A. you will never find an elephant with one hand. (UPSC Rank 14 Opted for IES)

Q. How can a man go eight days without sleep?
A. No Probs, He sleeps at night. (UPSC IAS Rank 98)

Q.. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?
A. It will Wet or Sink as simple as that. (UPSC
IAS Rank 2)

Q. What looks like half apple ?
A: The other half. (UPSC - IAS Topper )

Q. What can you never eat for breakfast?
A: Dinner.

Q. Bay of Bengal is in which state?
A: Liquid (UPSC 33 Rank)

Interviewer said "I shall either ask you ten easy questions or one really difficult question. Think well before you make up your mind!" The boy thought for a while and said, "my choice is one really difficult question." "Well, good luck to you, you
have made your own choice! Now tell me this.
"What comes first, Day or Night?"
The boy was jolted into reality as his admission depends on the correctness of his answer, but he thought for a while and said, "It's the DAY sir!"
"How" the interviewer asked.
"Sorry sir, you promised me that you will not ask me a SECOND difficult question!"
He was selected for IIM!

Hot jobs for 2012

2012-01-09T04:56:00.001-08:00

Hot Jobs for 2012

jobs 2012, Job Openings,jobs in india, Jobs in Hyderabad

Mobile applications developers, data warehouse analysts, and user experience designers are among the IT pros that tech recruiters say will be in strong demand in 2012.

Mobile applications developer

Responsibilities: Codes, tests, debugs, documents and monitors mobile applications; interacts with different departments regarding new deployments; and recommends changes and enhancements to applications.

2012 salary range: $85,000 to $122,500

Salary increase: 9.1%

Data warehouse analyst

Responsibilities: Collects, analyzes, mines and leverages data stored in data warehouses; researches and recommends technology solutions related to data storage, reporting and importing; and works with business analysts to translate data requirements into logical data models.

2012 salary range: $88,000 and $119,000

Salary increase: 6.7%

User experience (UX) designer

Responsibilities: Designs innovative and impactful online experiences for customers; and balances technical functionality and visual elements of a website.

2012 salary range: $71,750 to $104,000

Salary increase: 6.2%

Data security analyst

Responsibilities: Performs security audits, risk assessments and analysis; makes recommendations for enhancing data systems security; and researches attempted breaches of data security and rectifies security weaknesses.

2012 salary range: $89,000 and $121,500

Salary increase: 6%

SEO/SEM specialist

Responsibilities: Analyzes website traffic and provides strategies for improvement; develops SEO (search engine optimization) website assessments and recommendations, and translates them into technical requirements; and provides SEO guidance in technical areas such as server infrastructure, website structure and page construction.

2012 salary range: $63,750 to $87,500

Salary increase: 6%

Network engineer

Responsibilities: Engineers enterprise data, voice and video networks; establishes and operates network test facilities; and maintains a secure transfer of data to multiple locations via internal and external networks.

2012 salary range: $75,000 to $107,750

Salary increase: 5.8 %

Web developer

Responsibilities: Gathers business requirements and develops specifications for web-based applications; provides technical assistance to web administrators; and integrates websites with back-end systems such as databases.

2012 salary range: $61,250 and $99,250

Salary increase: 5.4%

Not all thieves are stupid

2012-01-09T00:39:00.001-08:00

Not all thieves are stupid
This gives us somethingto think about with all our new electronic technology.GPS
A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard.When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.
Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your home address in it.. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen.MOBILE
PHONES I never thought of this.......This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet... Etc...was stolen.20 minutes later when she called her hubby,
from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says 'I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago.' When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.
Moral of the lesson:Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact
list.Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom,
etc....
And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back
Also, when you're being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and friends' who text you..
PLEASE SHARE THIS ONI never thought about the above! As of now, I no longer have 'home' listed on my cell phone.Even if this does not pertain to you.... Share it on to your family & friends...

Impact of inflation on Retirement Planning

2012-01-09T00:30:00.001-08:00

Impact of inflation on Retirement PlanningMost people underestimate the impact inflation will have on their retirement plans. Even at relatively low rates, inflation is a real thief of buying power over time. Most experts feel safe recommending that individuals calculate their retirement needs using a 3-5% percent inflation rate. But, it is important to understand that we have sustained inflation rates of around 8-10%. At an average annual rate of 3.75%, inflation will double approximately every 19 years. Use this as a rule of thumb to figure out how many times your cost of living will double by the time you need the money. Don't use your retirement date as the endpoint for your retirement planning. Remember, you could easily live another 20-30 years or more in retirement — time enough for your cost of living to double yet again. Because of the compounding effect of inflation over time, failing to account for inflation in your retirement savings
plan can be as devastating as losing more than half of your money. However, if you get an early start and make sensible investments, you can get the power of compound interest rates working for you rather than against you.
Inflation is defined as a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services. It is measured as an annual percentage increase. As inflation rises, every rupee you own buys a smaller percentage of a good or service. Measuring inflation is a difficult problem for government statisticians. To do this, a number of goods that are representative of the economy are put together into what is referred to as a "market basket." The cost of this basket is then compared over time. This results in a price index, which is the cost of the market basket today as a percentage of the cost of that identical basket in the starting year.

The value of a currency does not stay constant when there is variation in inflation. The value of a currency is observed in terms of purchasing power, which is the real, tangible goods that money can buy. When inflation goes up, there is a decline in the purchasing power of money. For example, if the inflation rate is 7% annually, then theoretically a Re.1 cost an item now will cost Re. 1.07 in a year. After inflation, your currency can't buy the same goods it could beforehand. In short for an ordinary man the cost of living will go up proportionately, you need to pay more money to buy same quantity of the goods you purchased earlier.
To pick an average inflation rate to use for future estimates would require you to make some estimate about where you think the economy is headed. We're currently in a period of high inflation (9-10%), but inflation has frequently been over 5%. As per RBI predications, the inflation will be under control by the end of this financial year and it is estimated that, the inflation will be 7-8% by end of this financial year(April,2012)
Lot of peoples does not consider inflation while planning their future especially retirement planning. The temptation of "instant satisfaction" does not allow one to plan and invest for future at the cost of present day financial situation. The retirement looks too far away. Put things in perspective and things start to look scary. Go ahead, enjoy life, but please do not forget what the future may look like. Control your current expenses and have a good future. One's lifestyle could be the greatest asset or the biggest liability. It is all in your hands.
When you plan for future, it is useful to you to calculate the inflation adjusted future expense of your family compare with present expense. Knowing this fact is a must while doing the financial plan because of its capacity to predict and calculated inflation adjusted future returns from your investment portfolio.
Causes of Inflation
The following are the main reasons for the inflation

Demand-Pull Inflation - This is simply can be summarized as "too much money chasing too few goods". In other words, if demand is growing faster than supply, prices will increase. This usually occurs in growing economies. In short people have lot of surplus money in their hands but the supply of the goods is limited.

Cost-Push Inflation - When manufacturing costs go up, companies need to increase prices of the goods to maintain their profit margins. Increased costs can include things such as wages, taxes, or increased costs of imports etc. This can also case due to the increases in the bank rates by RBI. In that case companies needs to pay more on account of interest payments for the loan they availed from the banks for business purposes.

Result of Inflation

Inflation affects different people in different ways. It also depends on whether inflation is anticipated or unanticipated. If the inflation rate corresponds to what the majority of people are expecting (anticipated inflation), then we can compensate and the cost isn't high. For example, banks can vary their interest rates and workers can negotiate contracts that include automatic wage hikes as the price level goes up.

Problems arise when there is unanticipated inflation:

a)     Borrowers needs to pay more interest for the loan amount
b)    The prices of all essential commodities will go up consequently creating financial problems for those who are earning fixed amount of salary, pension etc. This will lead to a decline in their purchasing power.
c)     Bank interest rates will go up which leads to hike in loan interest like housing loan, automobile loans etc
d)    Uncertainty about what will happen next makes corporations and consumers less likely to spend. This hurts economic output in the long run.
e)     If the inflation rate is greater than that of other countries, domestic products become less competitive.

Other Economic Situations

1)     Deflation- is just opposite of inflation, in this situation the general level of prices is falling.
2)     Hyperinflation – is usually rapid inflation. In extreme cases, this can lead to the breakdown of a nation's monetary system.
3)     Stagflation– is the combination of high unemployment and economic stagnation with inflation.
Finally, inflation is a sign that an economy is growing. In some situations, little inflation (may be less than 1% or near to deflation) can be just as bad as high inflation. This was happened in India just 2 years back. Immediately Government had taken remedial steps and brought that under control. The lack of inflation may be an indication that the economy is weakening. It is very difficult to judge whether inflation is good or bad, it mainly depends on the situation of overall economy as well as your personal situation. Inflation may be good for one person, similarly bad for another. In case the inflation is rising similarly wages are also raising proportionately in that case hike in the prices of goods will automatically adjusted in the wage hike.

Hope you enjoyed this article and I have not missed any major points. If so, do not forget to send your comments.

Software Professional's Wedding Card

2012-01-09T00:27:00.000-08:00

Some IDeas of Wedding Cards

FUNNY ONE - LINERS..!!!

2012-01-09T00:24:00.003-08:00

FUNNY ONE - LINERS..!!!FUNNY ONE - LINERS

The difference
between in-laws and outlaws?
Outlaws are wanted.
Alcohol is a
perfect solvent:
It dissolves
marriages, families and careers.

A fine is a tax for doing wrong.
A tax is a
fine for doing well.

Archeologist: someone whose career lies in ruins.
An archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have:
The older she gets,
the more interested he becomes in her.

There are two kinds
of people who don't say much:
those who are quiet
and those who talk a lot.

They say that alcohol
kills slowly.
So what? Who's in a
hurry ?

Alcohol and
calculus don't mix.
Never drink and derive

One nice
thing about egotists:
They don't talk
about other people.

There was a man who
said,
"I never knew what
happiness was until I got married...
and then it was too
late

Before
marriage, a man yearns for the woman he loves. After marriage, the
'Y' becomes silent.

Top 10: Tablets of the year 2011!!!

2012-01-09T00:24:00.001-08:00

Top-notch tablets: The year 2011 is said to be the year of the tablets as many
tablet PCs ranging from low-cost to mid range to high-end have been launched
this year. Though many tablets hit the market, but all tablets were not able to
impress users. Thus we have come up with a list of top 10 tablets that are not
only feature-rich but have also managed to attract users' eyeballs.
Apple iPad 2: Apple launched the second generation of the world's best selling
tablet computer, the Apple iPad, this year. Named iPad 2, the new iPad is is
skinnier, faster and slightly lighter. It comes with cameras for video chatting
and snapping photos. The iPad 2 looks much like the first iPad, though it has a
sleeker, lighter body with a curved back. Among the most noticeable changes is
the inclusion of cameras, one on the front and one on the back. The new iPad has
Apple's new dual-core A5 chip, which helped applications open more quickly than
on the older iPad. Add to that a new version of Apple's iOS software. The new
processor and the new iOS combined to improve Web surfing. It has a 9.7-inch
LED-backlit glossy widescreen multitouch display with IPS technology.
Price: In India, the iPad 2 with Wi-Fi costs for Rs 29,500 for the 16GB model,
Rs 34,500 for the 32GB model and Rs 39,500 for the 64GB model. The iPad 2 with
Wi-Fi + 3G is priced at Rs 36,900 for the 16GB model, Rs 41,900 for the 32GB
model and Rs 46,900 for the 64GB model.
Sony's Tablet S and Tablet P: Sony launched two new tablets this year - Tablet S
and Tablet P. Both the tablets are equipped with Android 3.2 operating
system(OS) and a 5 megapixel camera. The tablet S is wedge-shaped, with one side
thicker than the other. The tablet's 'throw' feature enables users to wirelessly
sync tablet with DLNA compatible devices including PCs, Bravia televisions and
others, thereby allowing them to share and play files - audio, video and images
- on bigger screens. On the other hand, the Tablet P has a folding design for
enhanced handling and use. The Tablet P has dual LCD touchscreens - each
measures 5.5-inch - thereby allowing users to watch video on one screen while
using the other to control it, or checking emails on one screen while using the
other screen as a keyboard. These tablets are PlayStation certified.
Price: The tablet S comes in two variants - 16 GB Wi-Fi only model and 16 GB 3G
+ Wi-Fi model, which cost Rs 29,990 and Rs 33,990 respectively. Priced at Rs
36,990, the Tablet P will be available in the Indian market by mid January 2012.
Aakash and the Ubislate 7 tablets: The tablet falls under this category because
it is the ultra-low-cost tablet launched this year. Powered by Android 2.2
(Froyo) OS, the 7-inch tablet has a resistive touch screen. The tablet weighs
350g and has 256 MB of RAM. The device has a Arm11 – 366Mhz microprocessor and
a 2100mAh battery. It supports only Wi-Fi network. However the upgraded version
of Aakash, called the Ubislate 7, is scheduled to be launched late January. It
has a Cortex A8 – 700 Mhz processor compared to the 366 MHz processor in
Aakash. Running Android 2.3 OS, it will include a 3200 mAh battery. The device
will support both WiFi and GPRS networks.
Price: Rs 2,500 for the Aakash tablet and Rs 2,999 for the Ubislate 7
Amazon Kindle Fire: The Kindle Fire is the first full-color, touch-screen
Kindle. It's more of an all-purpose computer than an e-reader. It shows movies,
TV shows and Web pages. It does email and lets you play games. It's amazing that
it costs half of what the first Kindle cost, just four years ago, yet does so
much more than display books. Amazon says the Kindle Fire doesn't need more
memory because the company provides an online storage locker, where users can
stuff all your music and other content. The device is low-cost, but still
includes a lot of features.
Price: $199
Nook tablet: Barnes & Noble's earlier Nooks were dedicated book-reading devices,
and the tablet is at most a half-way step into the world of general-purpose
tablet computing. The Tablet has a 7-inch touch-sensitive color screen. The Nook
has some features over the Fire. It has a faster processor and more memory for
software operations, which means faster Web browsing and magazine page-flipping,
longer battery life and twice as much storage space. The Nook Tablet has 16
gigabytes that can be expanded to 32 gigabytes.
Price: $249
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime: Powered by Android 3.2 OS, it has a 10.1-inch
LED backlight WXGA (1280x800) screen. the device has a 1.2 megapixel front
camera and an 8 megapixel rear camera. it is claimed to be the world's first
first Quad-core CPU tablet. It can be transformed to notebook mode with a full
QWERTY chiclet keyboard dock. It comes in two variants - 32 GB and 64 GB.
Price: $ 599 onwards
Motorola Xoom 2 tablet : Motorola launched a successors to Xoom, its first
Android tablet. Named Motorola Xoom 2, it has the same 10.1-inch widescreen HD
display and Android 3.2 Honeycomb like its predecessor but comes with a brighter
display. The Xoom 2 is 100 grams lighter than the original Xoom and is also
water resistant thanks to a splash-guard coating. It is compatible with the
optional Motorola Stylus that is great for note-taking, hand-writing emails and
sketching. It is powered by 1.2GHz dual-core processors and come with 1.3 MP
front and 5 MP rear-facing HD cameras with digital zoom, auto focus, and LED
flash. It comes with with 1GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage.
Price: £390
HTC Flyer: HTC launched the seven-inch touch screen tablet HTC Flyer, which has
a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It has 1GB of RAM and an in-built memory
of 16GB and a 5-megapixel camera. The device also has features like HTC Sense,
HTC Scribe and HTC Watch, which provide a better visual, touch and movie-viewing
experience to users.
Price: Rs 39,890
Samsung Galaxy Tab 750: Samsung launched a second tablet computer with a bigger
screen and more processing power than the original Galaxy Tab. The Galaxy Tab
10.1 is touted to be a multimedia hub for aficionados of games, electronic books
and social media, with a 10.1 inch screen, dual surround-sound speakers, and
front- and rear-facing cameras. The tablet, with two core processors (1GHz) to
better handle media, is based on the latest Google Android platform, Honeycomb -
which has been optimised for tablets. It has a 3 megapixel rear and a 2
megapixel front camera.
Price: Rs 32,500
LG Optimus Pad: It has a 8.9-inch high-definition touchscreen and is powered by
a Android 3.0 OS. IT has a NVIDIA Tegra 2 Cortex-A9 Dual Core 1GHz processor.
The Optimus Pad has a front-facing camera for video conferencing, and a 5.0
megapixel rear-facing stereoscopic camera with flash for image capture and 3D
and HD video recording.
Price: Approx $650

No need to respond to tax notices for below Rs 100

2012-01-09T00:22:00.002-08:00

No need to respond to tax notices for below Rs 100 The Income Tax Department has asked assessees not to respond to notices of arrears of paltry amounts like Re 1, Rs 4 and Rs 6 as demands of less than Rs 100 would be adjusted against future refunds. The Department has issued the clarification in response to reports that the Central Processing Centre (CPC), Bangalore, is sending notices for payment of tax arrears as small as Re 1, Rs 4 and Rs 6 and thus causing hardship to assessees. "As per extant procedure, demand of less than Rs 100 is not enforced but is liable for adjustment against future refunds," said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in a release. The communication from the CPC for partly amounts to tax payers, it said, "is not a demand notice. This measure is, in fact, an assessee-friendly exercise". The Department has also written to all chief commissioners to amend such entries, if approached by
taxpayers. THe I-T Department, it said, had created a central repository at Bangalore for better demand management and asked all officers to collate demand lying at various places. "It was suggested that taxpayers should also be informed about the same so as to enable them to take necessary action if the outstanding demands were incorrect. This measure was aimed at providing greater transparency. Therefore, a communication has been sent to taxpayers informing them about existing arrears," the release said. – Source - www.financialexpress.com

(( 8 Funny Logics ))

2012-01-09T00:22:00.001-08:00