GOD Tusi Great HO - Enjoy Life

Most Beautiful Places of the World

2012-01-20T12:48:00.001+05:30

The world's highest chained carousel,
located in Vienna, at a height of 117 meters.
Thor's Well a/k/a "the gates of the dungeon" on Cape Perpetua,
Oregon. At moderate tide and strong surf, flowing water
creates a fantastic landscape

Emerald Lake in the crater of an extinct volcano.
Tongariro National Park - NewZealand

Restaurant on a cliff on the east coast of Zanzibar.
Depending on the tide the restaurant can be reached
both on foot and by boat.
Office of Selgas Cano in Madrid

Desert with Phacelia (Scorpion Weed). Flowering once in several years.

Balloons in Cappadocia.

Dubai. The view from the skyscraper BurjKhalifa.
The height of buildings is 828 m (163 floors).

And this is the view down

These trees grow in the forest near Gryfino, Poland.
The cause of the curvature is unknown

The border between Belgium and the Netherlands in a cafe

Twice a year in the Gulf of Mexico rays migrate.
About 10 thousand stingrays swim from the Yucatan
Peninsula to Florida in the spring and back in the fall.

In the resort town of Skagen you can watch an amazing
natural phenomenon. This city is the northernmost
point of Denmark, where the Baltic and North Seas meet.
The two opposing tides in this place can not merge because
they have different densities.

In the Chinese province of Shandong is a bridge across
the Gulf of Jiaozhou. The bridge length over 36 km is
calculated for eight car lanes, and is the longest
sea bridge in the world.

Day and night. The monument in Kaunas, Lithuania

An unusual tunnel in California's Sequoia National Park

This statue, created by Bruno Catalano, is located in France

Family photo

The longest traffic jam in the world recorded in China.
Its length is 260 kilometers

Paris computer games store. In fact, the floor is absolutely flat.

Marcus Levine - slaughtering an artist in the
literal sense. He creates his paintings by nailing
a white wooden panel. At his latest series of
paintings exhibited in a gallery in London,
Marcus has spent more than 50 000 pieces of iron.

In the city of Buford (USA) lives just one person.
He works as a janitor and as a mayor.

Autumn camouflage

Haus Rizzi - Germany.

Lena Pillars. Russia, the Lena River.

Banpo Bridge in Seoul, South Korea

Favelas of Brazil. The boundary between wealth and poverty.

Lost paradise in the Indian Ocean. Isle of Lamu.

Balcony of floor 103 in Chicago.

From the outside it looks like

View of the sunset from inside the wave.

This is a unique geological phenomenon known as Danxia landform.
These phenomena can be observed in several places in China.
This example is located in Zhangye, Province of Gansu.
The color is the result of an accumulation for millions of years of
red sandstone and other rocks.

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In northwestern Montana, USA. The water is so transparent
that it seems that this is a quite shallow lake. In fact, it’s very deep.

Airport in the Maldives is located on an artificial island in
the middle of the Indian Ocean

Lighthouse guard in Mare, France must be one of the most
courageous people on the planet!
Not everyone will have a smoke in such weather, and in such a place!

Photo of storm in Montana, USA, 2010

Skyscraper-Crescent Crescent Moon Tower (Dubai)

The river above the river: Magdeburg Water Bridge, Germany.

2011-08-03T16:54:00.002+05:30

UP boy makes world record for 34 fingers

2011-07-21T11:59:00.000+05:30

A baby boy, who was named Akshat, has registered his name in the Guinness World Records for having a total of 34 fingers and toes. He is just over the age of one and hails from the Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh.

Amrita Saxena, the mother of the child, says she couldn't believe that her son broke the world record."At first, I couldn't believe that my son has broken the world record. I came to know about it when one of my family friend informed us about previous world record was with a baby born in China with 31 fingers. We registered the data of our child in the Internet and after that I was asked to submit few documents. Now, my son's name was registered in the Guinness World Records," says Amrita.The Doctors have said that it was a rare phenomenon and diagnosed it as polydactyly."It's a case of polydactylic. It is a congenital physical anomaly in humans, dogs, and cats having supernumerary fingers or toes. It is due to certain defects in the bone development of the uterus. It is absolutely curable. Generally people go for plastic surgery. And in few occasions it can be cured normally, if the polydactyly is minimal," said Dr. Parul Gupta, a gynaecologist.The parents of Akshat wants him to undergo the treatment to cure it and lead a normal life.

Best of Raju Shrivastava

2011-05-10T11:47:00.000+05:30

Best of Raju Shrivastava

WWE Extreme Rules 2011 Results

2011-05-05T16:53:00.000+05:30

The fifth annual WWE Extreme Rules came to you, live on pay-per-view, from the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL. Since the shocking announcement a couple of weeks ago that then World Heavyweight Champion Edge would be forced to retire from in-ring competition, forcing the eleven-time World Champion to vacate the title, SmackDown has been without a World Heavyweight Champion, but on the one night that the WWE goes extreme, Edge’s best friend, Christian, would look to rectify the situation as “Captain Charisma” would face “The Mexican Aristocrat” Alberto Del Rio in Christian’s specialty, a Ladder Match with the winner claiming the vacant World Heavyweight Title, but after the surprising reveal this past Monday night during the 2011 WWE Draft, Alberto Del Rio is now a member of the RAW roster, meaning that, if Del Rio wins the World Heavyweight Title, he will take the title with him to RAW, leaving SmackDown without a World Champion! The WWE Championship would be up for grabs in extreme fashion at Extreme Rules as well as the self-proclaimed “Most Must-See Champion in WWE History” The Miz would defend the WWE Title against John Cena and the man who took the spot originally held by R-Truth in the match, “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison as the three Superstars would battle in a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match where the only ways to win are by pinfall, submission, or escaping the cage with both feet touching the floor! Despite his shocking draft to SmackDown via the 2011 WWE Draft, Randy Orton still has unfinished business with a RAW Superstar by the name of CM Punk as “The Viper” would face the leader of The New Nexus in a Last Man Standing Match where the only way to win is to incapacitate your opponent to the point where he cannot get to his feet by the referee’s count of ten! While RAW lost Randy Orton, among others, in the 2011 Draft, RAW also gained some of SmackDown’s best, including the incomparable Rey Mysterio, but much like Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio has some unfinished business before he heads to Monday Nights as “The Ultimate Underdog” would be looking for revenge against the Superstar who defeated him by questionable means at WrestleMania, as well as repeatedly assaulted him over recent weeks, in Cody Rhodes as the two would square off in a Falls Count Anywhere Match where pinfall or submission can occur anywhere in the arena! Ever since the anonymous General Manager of RAW ruled him the winner of his WrestleMania match by disqualification, the self-proclaimed “Voice of the WWE” Michael Cole has crowed about being “undefeated” at WrestleMania and has even had himself knighted as “Sir” Michael Cole, all the while aligning himself with “The All-American American” Jack Swagger to assault Jerry “The King” Lawler and Lawler’s legendary friend and colleague, “Good Ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross, but at Extreme Rules, the Hall of Fame team of Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler would be looking to shut Michael Cole once and for all as they would face the so-called “Sir” Michael Cole and his trainer, Jack Swagger, in a Country Whipping Match, a match that has a lot uncertainty regarding the rules, but one thing is known for certain, the match will feature a leather strap for the competitors to use against each other! Since 2009, the team known as LayCool, Layla & Michelle McCool, has dominated the Divas division together, holding the Women’s and Divas Titles both together and individually as the team established a seemingly concrete friendship, but personal animosity has driven these former best friends apart and it has become apparent between the two accomplished Divas that there is only room for one of them in the WWE and, at Extreme Rules, the first British Women’s Champion in WWE history, Layla, will go one-on-one with the first Diva to win both the Women’s and Divas Titles, Michelle McCool, in a match with no disqualifications and no count-outs with the loser being forced out of the WWE as the career of one of these Divas will end in a Loser Leaves WWE Match!

Match Results

•Last Man Standing Match: The New Nexus Banned: Randy Orton def. CM Punk following the RKO off of the top rope.

•United States Championship: Tables Match: Kofi Kingston def. Sheamus (c) with a modified Boom Drop through a table to win the United States Title.

•Tag Team Country Whipping Match: Michael Cole & Jack Swagger def. Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler by Michael Cole rolling up Jim Ross.

•Falls Count Anywhere Match: Rey Mysterio def. Cody Rhodes by pin following the 619 and Splash in the ring.

•Loser Leaves WWE: No DQ & No Count-Outs: Layla def. Michelle McCool by roll-up to force Michelle McCool out of the WWE.

•World Heavyweight Championship: Ladder Match: Christian (with Edge) def. Alberto Del Rio (with Brodus Clay & Ricardo Rodriguez) to win the vacant World Heavyweight Title.

•WWE Tag Team Championship: Lumberjack Match: Kane & Big Show (c) def. Wade Barrett & Ezekiel Jackson by Big Show (c) pinning Wade Barrett following the chokeslam to retain.

•WWE Championship: Triple Threat Steel Cage Match: John Cena def. The Miz (c) & John Morrison by pinning The Miz (c) following the Attitude Adjustment off of the top rope to win the WWE Title.

Detailed Results

The show kicks off with one of the most vicious and extreme matches in the WWE as the biggest acquisition for SmackDown in the 2011 WWE Draft, “The Viper” Randy Orton has one piece of unfinished business before heading to SmackDown as Orton would face the leader of The New Nexus, CM Punk, in a Last Man Standing Match, where the only way to win is to incapacitate your opponent to the point where he cannot get to his feet by the referee’s count of ten and, as decreed just prior to the match by the anonymous RAW General Manager, The New Nexus is banned from ringside! It would not take long for the extreme to commence during the match as CM Punk would get a pair of kendo sticks from underneath the ring before wearing Orton out with several kendo stick shots before Orton would finally fight back with a kendo stick shot to the mid-section of CM Punk, but Punk would regain the advantage by catapulting Orton into the exposed steel turnbuckle! Punk would then continue his punishment of Orton and would set up a steel chair in the corner, but Orton would manage to fight back and would send Punk careening into the chair in the corner and all the way to the outside of the ring, where Orton would continue the assault!

After driving CM Punk into the ring apron and into the ringside barricade prior to a big powerslam on the arena floor, Randy Orton would look to put CM Punk away as Orton would expose the announce table at ringside, but Punk would fight back temporarily before Orton would regain the advantage over Punk as Orton would roll Punk into the ring and would look for the RKO, but Punk would dodge the move before successfully hitting the GTS on Orton, but Orton would just barely get to his feet in time as Orton would stop the referee’s count at nine! Punk would continue the assault on Orton with a back suplex on a steel chair, but Orton would utilize the ropes to get to his feet again! Punk would then look for a side Russian leg sweep on a folded out steel chair, but Orton would come out of nowhere with the RKO, but Punk would roll out of the ring to his feet at the count of nine! Orton would follow Punk to the outside where “The Viper” would set up for his signature DDT on the arena floor, but Punk would fight out of the move and would send Orton spine-first into the steel ring post before Punk would place the steel chair around the neck of Orton before sending Orton into the steel ring post with the steel chair compressing the neck of Orton, but still Orton would make it to his feet! Punk would then drag Orton to the announce table where Punk would set up for the GTS on top of the table, but Orton would fight out of it and strike with the RKO on Punk on an announce table that did not budge from the impact, but Punk was able to roll off of the table and land on his feet long enough to break the count!

After the RKO on the announce table did not get the job done, Randy Orton would go for the move that has gotten the job done so many times in the past for Orton as Orton would go for the career-jeopardizing punt to the skull, but CM Punk would dodge the move and would send Orton face-first into the steel steps! After Orton got to his feet again, Punk would roll Orton into the ring and would look to come off of the top rope on Orton, but Orton would recover and would deliver several kendo stick shots to Punk on the top rope before Orton would deliver a sinister RKO off of the top rope, which would finally keep CM Punk down for the ten count, earning the SmackDown-bound Randy Orton the extremely hard-fought victory!

Backstage, the new SmackDown acquisition, United States Champion Sheamus would confront his new boss, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long as he would state that he does not “like it” and Long would assume that Sheamus means the bonus match that the GM made where Sheamus will defend the United States Title against the man he attacked on SmackDown, Kofi Kingston, in a Tables Match, but Sheamus protests that Kofi is not even from the United States and he demands to see a “birth certificate”, but Long tells Sheamus that he should worry about keeping the United States Title!

In a bonus match made by SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long, one of the newest additions to the SmackDown roster, Sheamus, would defend the United States Title against the man he attacked on SmackDown in new RAW acquisition, Kofi Kingston, in a Tables Match, where the only way to win is to put your opponent through a table! At one point in the match, Sheamus thought he had the match in hand as he would go for the Brogue Kick that would send Kofi Kingston through the table on the outside of the ring, but Kofi would land on the arena floor, avoiding the table! Shortly after this, Kofi would run into a similar problem as, with Sheamus on the ring apron, Kofi would hit Trouble in Paradise on Sheamus, only for Sheamus to land next to the table instead of through it! Then, with Sheamus using the table to get to his feet, Kofi would seize the positioning of Sheamus as Kofi would dive off of the top rope with a modified Boom Drop that would send Sheamus crashing through the table to win the United States Championship, bringing the title back to Monday Night RAW!

Backstage, R-Truth is being interviewed by Todd Grisham as he tells Grisham to “shut up” before claiming that him not even having a match at Extreme Rules is a “conspiracy”! Truth continues that he knows for a “fact” that neither The Miz or John Cena wanted him in the match and John Morrison “stole” the opportunity from him and, if there is one thing he cannot stand, it’s a “thief”!

Before he and Jack Swagger would face Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler in a Tag Team Country Whipping Match, the self-proclaimed “Voice of the WWE” Michael Cole would brag that he used to be a war correspondent, so he is not “scared” of facing the Hall of Famers in a Tag Team Country Whipping Match and calls Ross & Lawler “incontinent retirees”!

Then it was time for the Tag Team Country Whipping Match as the self-proclaimed “Voice of the WWE” Michael Cole, wrapped in bubble wrap for protection, would team with his trainer, “The All-American American” Jack Swagger to face Hall of Famers “Good Ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler in a match where the four competitors would compete in the match like a normal tag team match, but both teams would be armed with their own leather straps! Shortly after entering the match for the first time, Michael Cole would dare Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler to hit the protected Cole with the straps and, with the straps not doing any damage to the bubble wrap covered Cole, Lawler would hit Cole with a right hand before taking the protective bubble wrap off of Cole! After being repeatedly assaulted by Michael Cole and Jack Swagger over recent weeks, Jim Ross would have payback on his mind as the Hall of Famer would whip Jack Swagger with the strap before locking in his own ankle lock, leading to Swagger making the tag to Cole! Jim Ross would then pick up where he left off on RAW as Ross would whip Cole repeatedly before locking in his ankle lock again, but a distraction by Swagger would allow Cole to get a roll-up on Ross to pick up the surprising win!

After being assaulted by Cody Rhodes time and time again over the inadvertent steel knee brace to the face that left Rhodes in need of reconstructive surgery, Rey Mysterio would be looking for revenge before heading to his new home on RAW as “The Ultimate Underdog” would face Cody Rhodes in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, where pinfalls count anywhere in the arena with no disqualifications and no count-outs! After fighting around the ring, through the crowd and in the backstage area, the match would conclude in the middle of the ring as Rey Mysterio would spew a green mist into the eyes of Cody Rhodes, which would allow Rey to hit the 619 and follow it up with a splash to pick up the win!

Backstage, Layla confronts the RAW and SmackDown Divas and apologizes for all she has done to the Divas before Kelly Kelly tells Layla that they don’t like Layla, but they like Michelle McCool even “less” before wishing Layla luck in her match!

After their partnership and friendship completely fell apart over recent weeks, one member of the team known as LayCool would be forced out of the WWE as the former friends would square off as Layla would go one-on-one with Michelle McCool in a Loser Leaves WWE Match with no disqualifications and no count-outs! At one point in the match, Layla would look to have the match won after hitting the Lay Out, but Michelle McCool would manage to get her foot on the rope, allowing the match to continue! Shortly after this, Michelle McCool would hit the Faith Breaker on Layla, but a weakened McCool would be unable to go for the cover right away, which would allow Layla enough time to recover and counter a pinfall attempt by McCool into a roll-up to pick up the win, preserving her career and forcing Michelle McCool out of the WWE!

Things would then go from bad to horrible for Michelle McCool as, with McCool crying in the ring over being forced out of the WWE, Kharma would come for Michelle McCool as the gargantuan Kharma would march to the ring to confront a fearful McCool as the gigantic and unbalanced woman would get her hands on the former Women’s & Divas Champion as Kharma would drill McCool with a double underhook facebuster before laughing maniacally as the rest of the Divas watch what could be their future from the backstage area! Can any Diva stop this unreal threat to the Divas division? Who will Kharma target next?

After Edge was forced to relinquish the World Heavyweight Championship a few weeks ago due to his retirement, SmackDown has been without a World Heavyweight Champion, but that all could change as Edge’s best friend, Christian, would compete in his specialty, a Ladder Match, against the biggest acquisition for RAW in the 2011 WWE Draft in “The Mexican Aristocrat” Alberto Del Rio and, if Del Rio wins the vacant World Heavyweight Title, he will take the title with him to RAW! After going to war with countless ladder shots and failed attempts to claim the World Heavyweight Title, Alberto Del Rio would look to finally finish Christian off with Christian lying prone on a ladder bridged from the ring apron to the announce table as Del Rio would dive off of the top rope, but Christian would move out of the way, resulting in Alberto Del Rio going crashing into the steel ladder! With Alberto Del Rio down on the outside, Christian would look to finally claim the World Heavyweight Title belt, but Del Rio’s protégé, Brodus Clay, would come out and would try and take Christian out, but Christian would use a steel step ladder on Clay, taking Clay out of the equation! Having recovered from his spill to the outside, Alberto Del Rio would re-enter the ring and would use the steel step ladder to add extra torque to the arm of Christian with the cross armbreaker! With Christian down, Del Rio would look to claim the World Heavyweight Title, but with the title belt moments from being in his grasp, a car horn would blare throughout the arena as former World Heavyweight Champion Edge would roll in in a Jeep as the horn would distract Alberto Del Rio long enough for Christian to knock Del Rio off of the ladder on top of Brodus Clay and Ricardo Rodriguez as Edge rushes down to ringside to cheer his best friend on as Christian would ascend the ladder and finally grasp the World Heavyweight Title belt to achieve his lifelong dream to become the World Heavyweight Champion, prompting a celebration between friends as Edge congratulates the new World Heavyweight Champion, Christian!

With Superstars and NXT Rookies, including former champions and Corre members Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel, surrounding the ring, Corre members Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett & Ezekiel Jackson would be looking to do what Slater & Gabriel could not as Barrett & Ezekiel would challenge Kane & Big Show for the WWE Tag Team Titles in a Lumberjack Match! During the match, Ezekiel Jackson would look to have things well in hand for his team after managing to hoist Big Show up and deliver a scoop slam, but Wade Barrett would opt to tag himself in and would look to outdo Ezekiel by attempting to hoist Big Show up for Wasteland, but Barrett would not be able to lift “The World’s Largest Athlete” and Big Show would deliver a chokeslam to Barrett and, as Ezekiel watched, Big Show would pin Barrett to successfully retain the WWE Tag Team Titles for himself and Kane! After the match, all hell would break loose as all of the lumberjacks would brawl in and out of the ring with Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel finding themselves in the ring with Kane & Big Show as the WWE Tag Team Champions would plant the Corre members with dual chokeslams!

Then it was time for the main event as the self-proclaimed “most must-see champion in WWE history” The Miz would defend the WWE Title against former WWE Champion John Cena and “The Prince of Parkour” John Morrison in a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match, where the match can end by pinfall, submission, or escaping the cage with both feet touching the floor! During the match, John Cena would look to have the match in hand after locking in the STF on The Miz, but Miz would use the bottom rope to choke Cena, forcing Cena to release the hold as Miz attempts to escape through the cage door, but Cena would prevent the escape! Shortly after this, John Cena and John Morrison would battle on top of the cage and, after Morrison would kick the steel cage door into the face of Miz to prevent another escape, Cena would knock Morrison off balance, leaving Morrison split on the steel door before Miz would drag Morrison back into the cage! Later on in the match, John Morrison would start to escape the cage, but with Cena and Miz getting to their feet below, Morrison would opt to dive off of the top of the cage with Starship Pain to both men and, with all three Superstars down, Morrison would slowly climb to escape the cage through the door, but R-Truth would rush out would deliver a knee to the skull of Morrison, compacting Morrison’s head between his knee and the steel steps! Truth would then enter the cage and would pummel John Morrison in the corner before the unbalanced R-Truth would even deliver the Axe Kick to John Cena! Truth would then turn his attention back to Morrison as Truth would plant Morrison with the What’s Up before symbolically climbing over the top of the cage and dropping to the outside! With both of the challengers down, The Miz would climb the cage, looking to escape and retain the WWE Title, but John Cena would meet Miz towards the top of the cage and Cena would fight his way out of an attempted Skull Crushing Finale off of the top rope by Miz and would deliver the Attitude Adjustment off of the top rope en route to pinning The Miz to finally win the WWE Championship for the first time in almost a year!

Funny pictures of the day

2011-04-29T12:57:00.000+05:30

Scientists Attempt to Crack Secret Code of the Axolot

2011-04-29T12:30:00.001+05:30

The axolotl is one of a kind in nature: It can regenerate severed limbs, organs and even grow back its spinal column after injuries. At a new research center in Hanover, Germany, researchers are trying to unlock the Mexican salamander's secrets -- and whether they can be applied to humans.

HAPPY DIWALI AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO Y OU & YOUR FAMILY

2009-10-17T19:09:00.000+05:30

A simple Puzzle for you & your kids

2009-05-08T16:38:00.000+05:30

Here is a puzzle for you ...

Imagine you are in Africa. You have been tied hanging on a tree with a rope anchored on the ground, a candle is slowly burning the rope, and the lion is waiting for you to drop and be his lunch.
Your survival hinges on the rope staying intact, there is no one around to help you. What to do now ..........

Puzzle

2009-05-08T16:37:00.000+05:30

Sing a Happy Birthday song for the lion ...

2009-05-06T14:47:00.001+05:30

2009-04-08T16:01:00.002+05:30

Masala Dosa Personality Test

There are many ways to eat a masala dosa ..What ever the way one eats; there is a very good reason for doing that. It shows some traits of the person that is you...

Case 1: People who open the masala dosa and eat it: These are the people who are very open about their life. Everyone one the persons friends would know all about him/her. I have generally seen guys do this rather than girls. Some people think that it is a gross way of eating but in truth, these people are just portraying who they are and how their life is.

Case 2: People who start from both end and approach the masala later: These are the people who like to wait for the exiting things to come to their life. Sadly when the times comes, they are not too interested or just do not know how to enjoy it to the fullest. These are the folks who just want life as either dry or exiting. They just do not know how to phase their life and enjoy it no matter what. There are two types of people within this group

Case 2.1: People who do not finish all the masala: These folks just do not care as much for the fun times as they are already brought down by the harsh reality of life. The dry periods in their life has left them with so much scars that they do not want to be really happy when the time is right. They just take only as much as they needed and end their life. A very sorry state indeed.

Case 2.2: People who finish all the masala with the little dosa they have: These are the folks who just are the extremes. They just go all out in life. No matter it is dark or bright. They may not enjoy life to the fullest but they sure make sure that they get every single good and bad thing out of life. Sometimes these folks are really hard to get along with. They are either your best friends or your worst enemies. They do not have a middle path at all.

Case 3: People who start from the middle and proceed to both ends: These are the people who like to get right to what they think is their best part of life. Usually these guys finish of the good portions in a hurry and get stuck with nothing but worst parts of their life. The thing to note among these people is that the tendency to burn out very early in their life. Like the above case, there are two kinds of people in this group too.

Case 3.1: People who do not finish the dosa: These folks are really the saddest of people. They are the ones who tend to end their life as soon as it hits the bad patch. For them, they only need and want the best things in life and nothing more. Typically, they are not prepared or tuned to life as a whole. They just want to enjoy from first till last. Sadly, no one in the world can live without even an ounce of sadness in life. Not even the richest of the richest. But to self destruct at the mere sign of distress is very bad. That is what these guys tend to do. Some learn to live life but most of them do not.

Case 3.2: People who do finish the dosa: These folks are the typical human beings. We all enjoy the greatest of times in life and push the sad parts thinking about the great times in life. Typically the plate is clean and nothing is left for fate or in life. Happiness and sadness are part of life and these guys know that and are kind of prepared for it. Life is not always happy but there are moments of happiness here and there.

Case 4: People who eat the dosa making sure that the masala lasts for the whole dosa: These people are very rare. These are the people who like to attain balance in their life. It is hard to displease these people and it is hard to make them really happy. They like their balance and are very protective of it. Sadly these are the people who tend to be lonely as anyone else may upset the balance of their system... Perfectionist to the core and are very careful. These guys do not make the best company but are needed in any group to make the group from going hay wire.

Case 5: People who do not share and eat the dosa as if it is precious: These folks are very protective about their life. They do not want anyone to come and interfere in their life. They like to hide their true nature and intensions for their benefit. Beware of such people as they are in every group for their own need and nothing else.

Case 6: People who offer their first bite to others: These guys are overly friendly. They do anything to be part of a group and make everyone feel like the group is important than the individuals. They are the glue that holds any group together. They are very friendly and bring the best of all the others in the group. They go out of their way to help other friends. Most groups should have a person like this and they are the ones who plan the group outings and other group activities. Once this person is out of the group, typically the group slowly falls apart.

Case 7: People who take one or two bites and then offer the dosa to others: These guys care about friends and friendship but they take their time to get into the group. They take their time in making friends and they typically are very committed once into the friendship. These guys like to always be in the side lines and typically do not jump into anything in life. They always take their time to analyze the situation and then make a decision. These guys take the better safe than sorry approach.

Case 8: People who wait for others to make the offer first: Typical people I must say. They are unsure about everything. Even if they wanted to offer, they will wait till the other person offers the food first. If the other person is silent, so are these people. They are the followers. They do terrific idea, they will pitch it to someone else and get their advice before proceeding. Sadly, most of the elderly world like these types of people.

Case 9: People who offer dosa only when they cannot finish it on their own: You all may be familiar with these kinds of people. People who are very generous only when all their needs are fulfilled. These folks are selfish but at the same time not misers or greedy. They just want to satisfy themselves before they give it to the world. They typically do not stuff themselves nor do they tend to starve. They are very good people who would give you the best of advices in life. They would make sure that you are not sad following their advice.

Case 10: People who offer the whole dosa and eat from others plates: These folks are other extreme. They know what they want, they get what they want but they cannot enjoy what they want. Instead they tend to settle for other things in life which satisfies the needs but does not satisfy the person completely. These guys are termed as born losers cause even when they have the thing they wanted, they can't stop others from stealing it from them. So next time you sit with a person eating a masala dosa, look closely and see if he falls into one of the above categories. You may be surprised as how much it reveals about the person

* Enjoy eating Masala Dosa.

Watch the rare wonders of nature…….

2009-03-31T15:02:00.000+05:30

Watch the rare wonders of nature…….

The classical natural wonders are huge and hard to miss - vast canyons, giant mountains and the like. Many of the most fantastic natural phenomena, however, are also least easy to spot. Some are incredibly rare while others are located in hard-to-reach parts of the planet. From moving rocks to mammatus clouds and red tides to fire rainbows, here are seven of the most spectacular phenomenal wonders of the natural world.

1) Sailing Stones

The mysterious moving stones of the packed-mud desert of Death Valley have been a center of scientific controversy for decades. Rocks weighing up to hundreds of pounds have been known to move up to hundreds of yards at a time. Some scientists have proposed that a combination of strong winds and surface ice account for these movements. However, this theory does not explain evidence of different rocks starting side by side and moving at different rates and in disparate directions. Moreover, the physics calculations do not fully support this theory as wind speeds of hundreds of miles per hour would be needed to move some of the stones.

2) Columnar Basalt

When a thick lava flow cools it contracts vertically but cracks perpendicular to its directional flow with remarkable geometric regularity - in most cases forming a regular grid of remarkable hexagonal extrusions that almost appear to be made by man. One of the most famous such examples is the Giant's Causeway on the coast of Ireland (shown above) though the largest and most widely recognized would be Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Basalt also forms different but equally fascinating ways when eruptions are exposed to air or water.

3) Blue Holes

Blue holes are giant and sudden drops in underwater elevation that get their name from the dark and foreboding blue tone they exhibit when viewed from above in relationship to surrounding waters. They can be hundreds of feet deep and while divers are able to explore some of them they are largely devoid of oxygen that would support sea life due to poor water circulation - leaving them eerily empty. Some blue holes, however, contain ancient fossil remains that have been discovered, preserved in their depths.

4) Red Tides

Red tides are also known as algal blooms - sudden influxes of massive amounts of colored single-cell algae that can convert entire areas of an ocean or beach into a blood red color. While some of these can be relatively harmless, others can be harbingers of deadly toxins that cause the deaths of fish, birds and marine mammals. In some cases, even humans have been harmed by red tides though no human exposure are known to have been fatal. While they can be fatal, the constituent phytoplankton in ride tides are not harmful in small numbers..

5) Ice Circles

While many see these apparently perfect ice circles as worthy of conspiracy theorizing, scientists generally accept that they are formed by eddies in the water that spin a sizable piece of ice in a circular motion. As a result of this rotation, other pieces of ice and flotsam wear relatively evenly at the edges of the ice until it slowly forms into an essentially ideal circle. Ice circles have been seen with diameters of over 500 feet and can also at times be found in clusters and groups at different sizes as shown above.

6) Mammatus Clouds

True to their ominous appearance, mammatus clouds are often harbingers of a coming storm or other extreme weather system. Typically composed primarily of ice, they can extend for hundreds of miles in each direction and individual formations can remain visibly static for ten to fifteen minutes at a time. While they may appear foreboding they are merely the messengers - appearing around, before or even after severe weather.

7) Fire Rainbows

Amazing Facts

2009-03-06T17:19:00.004+05:30

A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue. i know some people who can do some amazing stuff too.
Giraffes have the same number of vertebrae in their necks as humans. Their lips are prehensile, their tongues are 21 inches long, and they cannot cough.
Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying
Galileo became totally blind shortly before his death.(probably from looking at the sun too much)
As of 14.10.2003, only 0.6% of people actually sign the guestbook. Its true. Over 120,000 visitors. Yes, the statistic did go down.
Goldfish have the memory span of about 3-5 seconds, thats why you can leave them in a small jar and they wont get bored and you can also over feed them till they kaput.
If you leave a goldfish in a dark room for years, it will turn white. (be reminded of the RSPCA though)
A pregnant goldfish is called a twit
If you rubbed garlic on the sole of your feet, it would be absorbed and eventually show up on your breath (unsure)
If all the gold in the ocean were mined, every person on Earth would get about 20 kgs of gold each. Thanx clem
When glass breaks, it showers TOWARDS, not away from the force that broke it. To reiterate, I will repeat it again one more time, to recap, TOWARDS the force, not away.
People drank gold powder mixed in with water in medieval Europe to relieve pain from sore limbs.

Indians have a reason to cheer - OSCAR

2009-02-23T12:20:00.000+05:30

The Indian Oscar

Unlike the earlier Oscars this years Oscar gave lot to rejoice for Indians. A bunch of awards for Slumdog Millionire and Smile Pinky in short documentary section. ‘Smile Pinky’ is a 39 minute-long documentary about a cleft-lip girl and her struggle for joy in an alienating society. Though both the films, Slumdog Millionire(Danny Boyle) and Smile Pinky( directed by Emmy-nominated producer Megan Mylan), the film crew contains mostly Indians.

A R Rahman got 2 oscars for Slumdogs music(best original song(Jai Ho) and original score). Kerala born Resul Pookutty bagged Oscar in Best Sound Mixing category for his work on Slumdog Millionaire. Pookutty hails from Vilakkupaara in Quilon district, Kerala.

READ THE STORY OF A R RAHMAN ... CILCK HERE

THE OSCAR LIST

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actor: Sean Penn, MilK

Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader

Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Score: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Song: A.R. Rahman for Jai Ho penned by Gulzar Slumdog Millionaire

Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Mixing: Resul Pookutty (India), Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke Slumdog Millionaire

Best Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Best Short Documentary: Smile Pinky

Best Foreign Film: Departures (Japan)

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Jerry Lewis

Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black, Milk

Animated Feature Film: WALL-E

Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes

Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Costume: Michael O'Connor, The Duchess

Art: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes

Live Action Short Film: Spielzeugland (Toyland)

Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Sound Effects: Dark Knight

Smile Pinky

The documentary is about a six-year-old girl born with a cleft-lip in the far-away Mirzapur. The poor girl is shunned and ostracised by the society, while a surgery to get rid of the deformity is out of question.

Made in Bhojpuri and Hindi, the film is directed by Emmy-nominated producer Megan Mylan, and also talks of Ghutaru, a similar social outcast due to his facial deformity.

The curing surgery is simple, but seemed out of bounds until Pankaj, a social worker travelling village to village, crosses their path. The film was shot in the village and G S Memorial Plastic Surgery Hospital where Pinki was actually operated by plastic surgeon Subodh Kumar Singh.

Resul Pookutty

The name Resul Pookutty has become almost synonymous with sound direction in Hindi films, especially after the success of Sanjay Leela Bansali's `Black.' Resul was recently in Thrissur in connection with the second Thrissur International Film Festival.

Resul hails from Vilakkupara in Anchal in Kollam district and it was fate that landed him in tinsel town, that too in Bollywood movies.

Joining the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune "was a turning point in my life." Resul passed out from the Institute in 1995 and moved to Mumbai, the dreamland of Indian commercial filmmakers.

"That was a natural immigration as a graduate of the institute. Ninety-five per cent of the technicians of the Mumbai film industry are alumni of FTII, Pune," points out Resul. "After my graduation from Pune, my interest to specialise in sound became clear, and today I feel I am successful, both aesthetically and commercially," he says.

Importance of sound

Until recently sound artistes were merely considered as sound recorders without much significance in the industry, but Resul's generation totally changed it into sound direction. Rajat Kapur's `Private Detective' was his maiden work and after that his career graph accelerated. His recently released films include `Black' and `Mathrubhumi - a national without women' by Manish K.J. (this film, an Indo-French venture, eamines the issue of female infanticide). `Missed Call' by Mridul Vinay and `Mixed Doubles' by Rajat Kapur will be released soon.

SOURCE:THE HINDU

AR Rahman's Journey to Oscars

2009-02-23T11:56:00.000+05:30

The Mystic Master

Music and spiritual surrender are the two big themes of AR Rahman’s life. As he returns with the Golden Globe, SHOMA CHAUDHURY explores how the public gift and private search intersect to create magic

BEFORE THE gift, there was the prophecy. After their first child — a girl — was born, an array of astrologers told the disappointed Tamil music composer, RK Shekhar and his wife Kasturi, that they would soon be gifted with someone extraordinary: a son whose name would illumine the world, a musical genius whose soul would arc across the sky.

Dileep Kumar was born just over a year after on January 6, 1966. The name — AR Rahman, mysteriously wrapped in instant and acetylene fame — would come later, but by the time he was three, the signs were firmly in place. He was, indeed, the fortunate one: he could play the harmonium before he could speak; and soon after his birth, his father inexplicably began to prosper. The word spread. His sister Kanchana, the elder one, music coursing in her blood too but born without prophecy, remembers her father taking the little boy to Sudarshan, a reputed music director, when he was four. “I hear your child can play anything,” Sudarshan challenged him, “let’s see if he can do this.” He played a particularly complex piece, then covered the harmonium with his veshti to make the playing more difficult — a kind of surrogate blindfold — and handed over the harmonium to the young boy. The calm little boy executed it perfectly. Humbled, Sudarshan leapt up and embraced the child.

The virtuosity has never abated since. On January 11, 2009, watched by elated countrymen across the world, Rahman became the first Indian to win the Golden Globe — a coveted precursor to the Oscars — for his musical score in the acclaimed Hollywood film, Slumdog Millionaire. This may be just one more crest in the stream of awards and recognitions that have lapped around him — a Padmashree, four national film awards, 12 Screen awards, 21 Filmfare awards, among innumerable others — but the excitement around the man Time magazine called “the Mozart of Madras” has never been higher, his name never more luminous.

In Chennai though, away from the champagne speeches and applauding lights of Los Angeles, a more profound underlayer of Rahman’s music reveals itself. It is three days after the award, the maestro is yet to come home. The city is unusually quiet; the shops are closed, the roads are empty. It is Pongal and everyone is on holiday. Rahman’s studio — AM Studios — the most state-of-the-art, hitech studio in all of Asia, usually bustling with dozens of musicians and directors and sound engineers, is empty too. The four-storey white and lilac and parquet building has the aura of a prayer house, zinging with the vibration left by an intense concentration of human energy. In the heart of the studio is a large room that can host a 30-piece string orchestra. Facing it, in a glassed-off control room sits a massive mixing console — a Neve 88R, estimated to cost Rs 4 crore — a console with such a daunting array of knobs it could tune the universe. Elsewhere in the building, small soundproof rooms house gleaming pianos, synthesisers, violins, harmoniums, and drums. In a large, airy room on the roof, instruments of every conception sit waiting for the imaginations that will finally unlock their sound.

A world to win A visbily moved Rahman accepts the Golden Globe award
Photo HFPA

The silence is a kind of serendipity: it allows one to sense what very few people know. Rahman’s music — always new, groundbreaking, wildly intuitive, experimental, a kind of sound that masters of cinema craft like Baz Luhrmann, Shekhar Kapoor and Danny Boyle say “they had never heard before” — is deeply rooted, in fact, “sourced”, from Rahman’s idea of divinity.

When Rahman, or Dileep as he was known then, was nine, the radiant prophecy seemed to falter. His father, Shekhar died suddenly — on the very day his first film as a music director was released. The golden circle was breached, the family was devastated. Kasturi was certainly overworked, and insufficient sleep had precipitated her husband’s cancer. Although her sister and parents were part of the large joint family, there was no one to turn to. It fell on mother and son to find the money to keep the family together.

Rahman remembers it as a difficult, opaque time when there seemed to be no answers. His mother made some money by renting out musical instruments, but by the time he was 11, Rahman was more often out of school than in, repeatedly called away from the playground by his mother to record music for a fee. It should have felt like an escape: he was never particularly interested in school or playground games, for that matter. In fact, he had such low attendance and marks, he was asked to leave his first school. He went to another local one for a year, and then joined MCC. Barely a term in, when he was about 15, he gave up school altogether. He played the piano and guitar on television shows, and became a sort of “roadie” with different Malayali, Tamil and Telugu composers. For a year, he played with the celebrated Iliayaraja. It should have felt like an escape, but it didn’t.

Kanchana says her brother wanted to be an ordinary boy — sleep late, play carom — and used to resist being woken at seven by his mother to practice the piano. But the mother, fervently knocking at temples, churches, and mosques, was determined to refuel the prophecy. Suddenly, around the time he was 11, destiny came knocking again. The family met Karimullah Shah Kadiri, a Sufi pir (at a railway station, goes the apocryphal story). Karimullah foresaw the boy’s entire future and said Dileep would come to him in 10 years. “That was the turning point,” Rahman admitted in a rare moment of candour to a CNN interviewer. “Everything happened as he said it would.”

ON HIS music teacher John Jacob’s insistence, Dileep applied for a scholarship to study music in Trinity College, Oxford — a crucial interlude that exposed him to western classical music. In 1987, around the time he was 21, moved by everything that had happened to them — dreams, oracles, signs — Dileep, his mother, and two younger sisters converted to Islam (Kanchana would convert a little later).

Two years later, in 1989, he set up Panchathan Record Inn in his backyard — the foundation stone was laid by Karimullah Shah — and began to make jingles for ads. In 1991, legendary director Mani Ratnam took a chance on the untested youngster and invited him to score the music for his new film, Roja. With the divine assurance of a prodigy, Dileep proceeded to break every rule with his debut.

Family man Rahman, seen with wife Saira Banu, wants to spend more time with his children
Photo SHAILENDRA PANDEY

Now, on the eve of Roja, seven new names were offered to him: Dileep chose Allah Rakha Rahman, the first of the 1,000 names of Allah. Soon after, Roja was released, and as the pir had prophesied, the Isai Puyal — “musical storm” — AR Rahman was born. Wrapped in instant and acetylene fame.

Like other prodigies across time who have bent the arc of history, Rahman’s debut track was unlike anything anyone had heard before. It sent ripples through the industry and got Rahman the National Film Award for Best Music Director, the first time ever for a firsttime film composer. In 2005, Time magazine picked it as one of Top Ten Movie Tracks of All Time. “Rahman is like a weaver. With Roja, he created this incredibly intricate, complicated sound that no one had ever tried before,” says lyricist and friend Prasoon Joshi. “The Indian music and film industry had always relied on extraordinary melodies and singers, the mukhara and the antara. But Rahman played with the structure, he layered the melody with different strands of sound, he created spaces where one could listen to a single string or enjoy a beat before returning to the voice. He created a river with many side streams you could step into. It was unlike everything that had gone before.”

Over almost two decades since, the experimentation has never stopped. Director Rakeysh Mehra likens Rahman to the great Chinese travelers of 2,000 years ago, who wandered the world gathering influences from faraway lands. Western classical, Indian classical, reggae, hip-hop, rap, rock, pop, blues, jazz, opera, sufi, folk, African beats, Arabian sounds — there is nothing Rahman has not dared to meld together. No new voice he has not dared to use. No texture of sound he has not strained to perfect. The stories are legion. Of how he got Maryem Toller, a Canadian, to sing the hit song Mayya, Mayya, itself triggered by the sound of a man selling water, saying mayya, mayya — Arabic for water — overheard on a Haj trip. Of how he got R&B singer Ash King from the bylanes of London to sing Dil Gira Dafatan for the forthcoming film, Dilli 6, although King didn’t know a word of Hindi, just because he liked the texture of his voice. Of how he spotted Naresh Aiyar, who had been sidelined by judges like Adnan Sami in a Channel V talent contest, and picked him to sing the sublime song Ru ba ru. Of how he spotted Blaaze and Sukhwinder and Madhushree and Vijay Yesudas and scores of other new voices he has launched in the world. Of how he took 17 years to give his sister Kanchana — or Raihanah, as she is called after her conversion — a song of her own in the blockbuster Sivaji, because her voice finally matched the sound playing in his head.

The stories are legion; what is less known is Rahman’s understanding of his own gift. Unlike Mozart, the legendary giant TIME magazine compared him to, whose creative genius seemed to flow from some mercurial, manic yet sublimely flamboyant ego, those who know Rahman say he has absolutely no ego. A little like the shy Srinivasa Ramanujan, the untutored mathematical genius from Chennai who believed his prodigious acumen was channeled to him by his family devi, Namagiri, apparently Rahman too believes he is merely an instrument. As director Shekhar Kapoor puts it, “Rahman does not believe music resides in him, but that he sources it from a field of consciousness that exists eternally. He believes that to access or to be able to reach that ‘field’ you need to be very pious. I believe as long as he continues to believe the music is not his, that he is merely the conduit, he will have no limitations.”

The search for piety — the complete purity that will keep him in touch with his music — has meant a kind of twin journey for Rahman. On the one hand, there has been an ever amplifying outward honing of craft, a restless search for new stimuli, a mastery of technology, a constant self-education, a perfecting of the conduit. Parallel to that has been an ever intensifying private inward journey towards submission and surrender to the will of God — a destruction of ego, an effacement of self.

At the heart of this journey are two figures. Arifullah Mohammad al Husaini Chisti ul Kadiri — son of Karimullah Shah, no more than in his 20s or 30s, who took his father’s place as Rahman’s spiritual teacher after his death. Said to be descendants of Hazrat Mohammad, Arifullah’s dargah in Karrapa sharif, Andhra Pradesh, is both pilgrimage and refuge for Rahman. ‘Malik Baba’ Rahman calls him. AM Studios, set up in 2005, is probably named after his initials — Arifullah Mohammad — an educated guess, because even many of Rahman’s closest associates say they don’t know what the initials stand for.

God is music Rahman, seated at his piano, believes his creativity is divinely inspired
Photo SANJAY GHOSH

(My brother is the most secretive man in the world,” laughs Raihanah. “If I ask him for a house, he will give it to me. If I ask for a studio, he will give me one, just don’t enter mine, he will say.”) But an observant eye cannot fail to miss it. A small picture of Malik Baba adorns the entrance to the studio that hosts the tuning console for the universe. There are curious palm-marks in auspicious chandan on many windows and walls — quiet signs of faith.

RAHMAN IS the most spiritual person to ever touch my life,” says Mehra. “He has zero ego, there is no ‘I’ or ‘me’ in him.” “It is true. He has a surreal influence on people,” agrees Deepak Gattani of Rapport entertainment agency, who constructs most of Rahman’s extravagantly mounted concerts and has been a friend for 16 years. “He has taught me there is more to life than we normally see. He never has knee-jerk responses to things.” “He is sent by God, kudrat ne unko banaya hai,” says singer Kailash Kher, who has toured with Rahman often. “One day you will see him in Los Angeles, standing with people like Weber and Boyle and the owners of Fox. The next day he might be sitting in a dargah among fakirs and dervishes.” “His spirituality is not something others can understand,” says his sister. “I am in complete awe of him. He is a blessed thing. God considers him a special child. He has surrendered totally — every move, every action, every thought is surrendered to God.”

This surrender has taken many forms. Absolute simplicity. Frequent visits to dargahs. Generous alms to the poor. Sleeping on bare cement or sand if necessary. A sublimation of material desire not related to music. (Rahman apparently loved cars, but never drove anything fancier than an Innova until he finally indulged in a BMW last year, 18 years after monumental commercial success.) Sometimes, for others, the forms of surrender have seemed more irrational and inexplicable. For instance, his daughter was born with a hole in her heart, but Rahman refused to have her operated. Prayers, he believes, can change destiny, so he surrendered to the healing faith of his pir. Miraculously, his daughter was cured when she was two.

(“God always looks after him. It is uncanny. What others have to knock for just comes to him,” laughs his sister. Press for examples and she says facetiously, “You might be traveling abroad and desperate for some good hot food. People like us will have to worry about going out in the cold, catching a taxi, finding a place. But Rahman will just be sitting and praying and then, suddenly, someone will come and ask him, what would you like to eat? North Indian or South Indian?”)

But in other cautious snatches from friends respectful of Rahman’s desire for privacy but willing to share their marvel of him, slowly a small trickle of illustrations pile up. Gattani talks of an unexpectedly stormy night in Bangalore. Thirty thousand people are gathered in the Palace Grounds. Rahman’s pioneering Three Dimensional Concert — staggering in scale — is about to start. A sudden squall catches everyone unaware. The backdrop collapses, the grounds flood. Amidst the panic, an unperturbed Rahman locks himself in his green room for half-an-hour. When he emerges, he tells his associates to ask the crowd what they want — have the show or postpone it. Have it, they say. On cue, the rain stops, the songs roll out. Just as Rahman sings the last bar of Vande Mataram, it starts raining again. “It was astonishing,” says Gattani. At other times, when an important decision is to be taken, Rahman retreats into himself and says he will ask for “permission”. A couple of days later, depending on how the divine consultation has gone, he calls back with either a refusal or a go-ahead. Take his most cherished project — KM Conservatory, for instance, a pioneering school of music he has dreamt of for years. Initialed after the elder pir, Karimullah? Again, no one knows. For a long while, there was talk of partnering with the government. Finally, Rahman said he would seek “permission” for the partnership. It did not come and Rahman went it alone — funneling huge sums of personal money and passion to start the conservatory on his birthday last year.

Malik Baba is the most visible manifestation of this surrender. It is to him that Rahman turns to most. Often, to a critical eye, such faith can seem to skate precariously close to subjugation rather than creative surrender. But it seems to work unerringly for Rahman. “Everyone may not understand it, and it may not work for everyone,” says superstar Aamir Khan, “but Rahman is a very spiritual person, and in a curious way, his complete surrender to his faith opens him up completely. It frees him to work.”

The other figure key to Rahman’s journey is his mother, Kasturi — or Kareema Begum, after her conversion. “Amma”, as she is universally known — a jovial, quintessentially motherly figure — has remained a powerful leitmotif in Rahman’s life. “Their relationship is like the bhakt for his bhagwan,” says Kher. He follows her wishes with unquestioning faith — “aastha” is the evocative word he uses. “If she had asked him not to go to LA to receive the Golden Globe and go to a dargah instead, I am sure he would have done it.” She, in turn, is affectionate, solicitous, the keeper of the prophecy, often traveling with Rahman on his tours abroad. Ask her about her son and she says, “He prays five times a day. He is Allah’s gift.” “Old worldly” her elder daughter calls her, momentarily dismissive, and through the crevices of the brisk praise that follows, you catch a glimpse of the inevitable shrapnel around a blessed sibling — the mistakes of a conservative family, the unintended but painful eclipses, the little neglects, the big oversights, the sisters unconsciously less precious than the boy. “We were there, somewhere in the atmosphere,” jokes one of them.

The foundation Mother Kareema was determined that her son should become a musician
Photo SANJAY GHOSH

BUT NOW it is the fourth day after the award, and late in the evening. The maestro has come home and the driveway to his house is swarming with waiting journalists. There is a comforting smell of incense in the air. The windows in his reception are curtained with white veshtis, carpets adorn his walls. It is a decorative detail repeated in all his buildings.

The Panchathan Record Inn — Rahman’s private studio, his sanctum sanctorum — is a lush, comfortable room draped in rich red curtains, alternated with white. Computers, consoles, instruments and hi-tech gizmos strew the room like books might in another’s study. It is past midnight before we meet; a journalist’s deadline looms over the meeting like a vengeful shadow and in an unfortunate inversion, Rahman is game for a long conversation, but I am in a hurry. The encounter is briefer than it should have been. Still, none of the conversations around him has prepared one for the man himself. Neat, boyish, he is incredibly youthful, light-hearted — calming in an odd way — and disarmingly open. Every account of him has steeled one to meet a man of few words — the secretive brother one has to tease things from. Instead, Rahman is willing to talk about everything. And is, often, unexpectedly funny.

As we retrace his life, it is suddenly cast in more complex light than music, prayer and simple surrender. “I did not convert overnight, nor did anyone force me,” says Rahman.

“It was a long process. I was really intrigued by the whole Sufi thing and had gone very deeply into it, puttingx aside three hours every day to learn Arabic. I was drawn to Sufism because they have no regulation, no rules, no distinction between Hindu-Muslim — they just look straight into your heart and see your love for the auliyas, the noor of the Prophet.”

THE SURRENDER, too, has a complicated relationship with the music. “When you are in a creative field, particularly something like film or music,” says Rahman, “you can be tossed between highs and lows, good reviews and bad reviews. To maintain equilibrium, you have to detach yourself and abandon yourself merely to the service of music — look at it all from a different perspective. For this, the destruction of the ego is very important. At the same time, there are ironic counterpoints. If you don’t have an ego you can switch on and off, you cannot make music, you cannot do something extraordinary. You have to be committed to the idea of excelling the standards you have set yourself, fulfilling expectations. So, there is a good ego and a bad ego. Something like music also draws you away into another energy field — money, fame, women. For a long time, these impulses used to pull me in separate ways — the desire to renounce and the desire to achieve. You can never perfect these things, but finally now, I feel I am walking in sync, with both impulses hand-in-hand.”

Over the years, Rahman admits to many moments of stasis and saturation — phases when he felt enough is enough, he had done it all and would like to renounce the world. Each time, he laughs, something would come and uplift him, raise the scales. When Roja was offered to him, he was fed up with everything he had been doing: the jingles, the recordings for other music composers in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil. “I revered Mani Ratnam and it was my dream to work with him. I thought this would be the last soundtrack I would make, so I just did what I pleased. I wanted to have fun. There were no walls in my head, no limitations. All the young people were listening to Western stuff those days, even me, so I thought, what’s the problem, are we not experimenting enough? And I let myself go.”

THE INSTANT and meteoric success brought its own counter stasis. “I thought, this is it,” says Rahman. “I have won the National film award, now I can just live off the earnings of my studio.” But then the excitements and challenge of the Hindi film industry came calling. Rangeela first; then a flood of other Hindi films. When the stasis of that threatened, there was the spike of Elizabeth, Bombay Dreams and Lord of the Ring. The western world came calling. By the time that threatened to pale, the KM Conservatory had been born, and Rahman’s Foundation Against Global Poverty — committed to eradicating poverty in India, Africa, and now, he chuckles, even America. “With all of this, I struggle less with the desire to renounce. I have found new meaning, a new sense of duty towards living, not only towards these projects, but to my wife and kids, and even my music. I see music now as being all about love, a service to humanity — it is about sharing joy with fellow human beings,” says he.

For many years, Rahman’s family — wife Saira Banu, daughters Kathija and Raheema, and son Rumi, were rarely seen publicly around him. “I plan to take them around with me much more now,” says he. “Be it in my studio, my tours abroad, or on my spiritual journeys. I don’t want them to feel separate. My father was such a huge influence because we were always around him. Without him, there would have been no music in our life.”

Typical of Rahman, his encounters with the western world too have yielded deeper things than success and awards. “After my first National Film Award, the Golden Globe has mattered the most to me because I wanted to bridge that vacuum — the fact that no Indian had won these international film and music awards. But as an individual, there is only so much of fame you can take in. Very quickly you detach yourself from it, you are only there as a representative of something else, not as an individual.”

What the forays into the western world have yielded for Rahman then is an expanded consciousness. “When I went to London first for Bombay Dreams, I was living isolated in this house, making music, meeting nobody. I used to pray five times a day and try to keep my fast. All around me were these pubs and drunk kids would piss under my window. Each time I went out, I would come back and bathe. But slowly I realised love can transcend all these segmental issues. You need to find a larger perspective which bridges all these worlds — west and east, Muslim and non-Muslim, or whatever else divides us.”

Bridges — that is an apt metaphor for Rahman and his music. In a jostling, frenetically commercial world — brimful of quick encomiums and sudden deaths — it has become difficult to gauge the true merit of things. Is Rahman the Mozart of our times? We may not be sure yet, but of this we can be certain: his music offers a way to bridge that huge void between the known and the great unknown from which earthly beauty stems.

A BLOCK AWAY from Rahman’s home, his new sense of “duty towards the living” is illumining a new generation. As the maestro was flying back across the continents with the globe — literally — in his hands, on the day of the Pongal holiday, you could have chanced on a handful of young boys and girls on the first floor of AM Studio. Students of Rahman’s dream project, the music school, KM Conservatory, they pored over their computers and music sheets. Occasionally, the strains of music wafted out from adjoining practice rooms. It would be difficult to find a more eclectic group: Anurag Sharma, 16, had given up on school and traveled with his mother (another keeper of prophecy?) all the way from Delhi to rent a room in Chennai for the opportunity of studying music in Rahman’s school. Ashrita Arockiam, a 23- year old post-graduate in English from Hyderabad, was straining to put together a scholarship to study music abroad, when the opportunity to do a similar course suddenly bloomed on home ground. Saurav Sen, 32, a computer engineer from Kolkata, gratefully gave up his job, and exchanged it for a year cocooned in music.

mix of foreign and Indian faculty, exposure to Western and Indian classical music, training in music technology, and a chance to workshop with many of the great musicians across the globe is only a part of the grooming the students from the Conservatory get. Three of the 40 chosen for the full-time foundational course — all of them had to audition before they were selected — are already apprenticing with Rahman. “We put together a concert every week,” says young Anurag, “whenever he is here, Rahman sir sits in on the session. It is amazing to be able to do that.”

But before the stasis of this can set in, a new scale is waiting for Rahman: the dream of creating India’s first symphonic orchestra. “We are a country of a billion people, bursting with talent,” says he, “why doesn’t India have a single orchestra?” KM could well be the womb for that. And in nurturing all of this with love, he might finally overcome the difficult opacity of his own teenage years.

Comedy at its Best

2009-02-19T15:06:00.000+05:30

Facts of Life

2009-02-19T14:53:00.000+05:30

No piece of normal-size paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.
The first product to have a bar code scanned was Wrigley's gum.
Earth is the only planet not named after a pagan God.
A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.
The new 787 Boeing was revealed on 7/8/07 or July 8th, 07.
Adding a drop of olive oil and lemon juice to an ice cube then running it over your face gives you better results than some expensive skin care products.
The Germans tried to copy Coca-Cola and came up with the drink Fanta.
Every day is about 55 billionths of a second longer than the day before it
Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
The largest potato was grown in Lebanon by Khalil Semhat near Tyre. The spud was 11.3 kilos (24.9 pounds)
Footprints of astronauts who landed on the moon should last at least 10 million years since the moon has no atmosphere.
The national orchestra of Monaco (a nation in Europe) has more individuals than its army.
Earthworms have five hearts
The Himalayan gogi berry contains, weight for weight, more iron than steak, more beta carotene than carrots, more vitamin C than oranges.

You have to be at least 58.5 inches to be an astronaut. (Click here)

Unique animals. Hippopotami cannot swim (ppl have said that a hippo can swim, but i dont think its classified as swimming. I'll check), whales can't swim backwards, tarantulas can't spin webs, crocodiles can't chew and hummingbirds can't walk

Ants

Ants make up 1/10 of the total world animal tissue
An ant can survive for up to two days underwater.
The animal with the largest brain in proportion to its size is the ant.
Ants dont sleep. Thanx teepo (apparently noone can be sure since they don't have eyelids, they also have no need for sleep)
Ants taste like sweet tarts. (from experience..)Thanx RiffSingr

Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

The weight of air in a milk glass is about the same as the weight of one aspirin. (But one also wonders how big a milk glass is... anyone?)

The gases emitted from a banana or an apple can help an orange ripen. (Not sure which fruits are concerned).

Adolph Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only 1, and i repeat, ONE, testicle.

Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones were once roommates. Thanx Rebecca

Australia is a major exporter of camels

Australia has no native monkeys. (in the wild)

Australia's box jellyfish has toxins more potent than the venom in cobras, and is one of the most dangerous jellyfish in the world

Apparently 1/3 of people with alarm clocks hit the 'snooze' button every morning, and from 25-34 age group, it is over 1/2. (r u 1 of them?)

Hans Christian Anderson, creater of fairy tales, was word-blind. He never learned to spell correctly, and his publishers always had errors

On average, Americans spend about 6 months of their lives waiting at red traffic lights

There is air in space, but very little of it. In fact, it is equivalent to a marble in a box 5 miles wide. Most of the gas is captured by the gravitational pull of other celestial bodies.Thanx M.Lerner

Abdul Kassam Ismael, Grand Vizier of Persia in the tenth century, carried his library with him wherever he went. Four hundred camels carried the 117,000 volumes.

Extremely Hot Hot Actresses

2009-01-29T17:05:00.000+05:30

WHO SAYS - INDIA IS A POOR COUNTRY?

2008-12-29T14:58:00.001+05:30

Revelation of Swiss bank accounts

This is so shocking.......If black money deposits was an Olympics event.... India would have won a gold medal hands down. The second best Russia has 4 times lesser deposit. U.S. is not even there in the counting in top five! India has more money in Swiss banks than all the other countries combined!

Recently, due to international pressure, the Swiss government agreed to disclose the names of the account holders only if the respective governments formally asked for it. Indian government

We need to start a movement to pressurise the government to do so! This is perhaps the only way, and a golden opportunity, to expose the high and mighty and weed out corruption!

Please read on......and forward to all the honest Indians to.....like somebody is forwarding to you.......and build a ground-swell of support for action!

Is India poor, who says? Ask the Swiss banks. With personal account deposit bank of $1,500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?

DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $1500 billion, which have been misappropriated by them. This amount is about 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 each. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them. Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India , the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours. After paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in earning interest, the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain the country very comfortably.

Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently. 'Obviously, these people won't be tourists. They must be travelling there for some other reason,' believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, clearly, he isn't referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who've been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin!

Just read the following details and note how these dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians, corrupt officers, cricketers, film actors, illegal sex trade and protected wildlife operators, to name just a few, sucked this country's wealth and prosperity. This may be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only. What about other international banks?

Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries:

TOP FIVE
is not asking for the details.......no marks for guessing why?

INDIA $1,456 BILLION
RUSSIA $470 BILLION
U.K. $390 BILLION
UKRAINE $100 BILLION
CHINA $96 BILLION

Now do the math's - India with $1,456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than rest of the world combined. Public loot since 1947:

Can we bring back our money? It is one of the biggest loots witnessed by mankind -- the loot of the Aam Aadmi (common man) since 1947, by his brethren occupying public office. It has been orchestrated by politicians, bureaucrats and some businessmen.

The list is almost all-encompassing. No wonder, everyone in India loots with impunity and without any fear. What is even more depressing in that this ill-gotten wealth of ours has been stashed away abroad into secret bank accounts located in some of the world's best known tax havens. And to that extent the Indian economy has been stripped of its wealth. Ordinary Indians may not be exactly aware of how such secret accounts operate and what are the rules and regulations that go on to govern such tax havens. However, one may well be aware of 'Swiss bank accounts,' the shorthand for murky dealings, secrecy and of course pilferage from developing countries into rich developed ones.

In fact, some finance experts and economists believe tax havens to be a conspiracy of the western world against the poor countries. By allowing the proliferation of tax havens in the twentieth century, the western world explicitly encourages the movement of scarce capital from the developing countries to the rich. In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding demonstrating that $11...5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by rich individuals across the globe.

The findings estimated that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from some 70 tax havens. Further, augmenting these studies of TJN, Raymond Baker -- in his widely celebrated book titled 'Capitalism's Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free Market System' -- estimates that at least $5 trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries to the West since the mid-1970.

It is further estimated by experts that one per cent of the world's population holds more than 57 per cent of total global wealth, routing it invariably through these tax havens. How much of this is from India is anybody's guess.

What is to be noted here is that most of the wealth of Indians parked in these tax havens is illegitimate money acquired through corrupt means. Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank accounts in such places is central to the issue, not their low tax rates as the term 'tax havens' suggests. Remember Bofors and how India could not trace the ultimate beneficiary of those transactions because of the secrecy associated with these bank accounts?

IS THERE ANYONE WHO CAN SAVE INDIA?

(Souce : Internet)

Top 10 Most Beautiful Bridges in the World

2008-12-18T16:38:00.000+05:30

Bridges are stylish: from classical to modern, they are as much a work of art as they are marvels of engineering. To celebrate the wonders of "classic" bridges, here are Neatorama's picks for the Top 10 Most Beautiful Bridges in the World:

10. Khaju Bridge

Photo: twocentsworth [Flickr]

Khaju Bridge at night. Photo: Jovika [Flickr]

The Khaju Bridge (Pol-e-Khajoo) in Isfahan, Iran, was built in the 17th century by Shah Abbas II. The bridge also serves as a dam, with sluice gates under the archways. When the gates are closed, the water level behind the bridge is raised to irrigate gardens alongside the Zayandeh River.

The Khoju Bridge has two stories of arcades, marked by the distinctive intersecting arches decorated with richly colored tiles. At the center of the bridge, there are two large pavilions, called the Prince Parlors, that were originally reserved for the Shah.

9. Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard. Photo: zak mc [Flickr]

Pont du Gard, an aqueduct spanning the Gard River in southern France, is a masterpiece of Roman engineering. It wasn't built to transport people (though there is a pedestrian footbridge on it) - instead, it was part of a complex aqueduct system that carried water over 30 miles (about 50 km) to the ancient Roman city of Nemausus (now Nîmes).

The Pont du Gard was built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63 - 12 BC), the son-in-law of Caesar Augustus. The bridge's stones, some of which weigh up to 6 tons, were cut perfectly to fit together without any mortar.

The wedge-shaped stones, known as voussoirs, were arranged in three levels, the top-most being the water conduit. So precise was the engineering that the entire system descends only 56 ft. (17 m) vertically - over 30 miles! - to deliver 5 million gallons (20,00 m³) of water to the city.

8. Bridge of Sighs

The Bridge of Sighs. Photo: Eugenia y Julian [Flickr]

In the 19th century, Lord Byron named a Venetian limestone bridge across the Rio di Palazzo connecting the Doge's prison to the interrogation room in the main palace, the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri). Supposedly, the prisoners would sigh when they look out the window - with stone bars no less - to see their last view of beautiful Venice before their imprisonment, torture or execution.

In reality, Doge's prison held mostly small-time criminals. Also, the bridge was built in 1600 by Antonio Contino, after the days of the inquisitions and summary executions. Legend has it that if lovers kissed on a gondola underneath the Bridge of Sighs at sunset, their love would last for eternity.

7. Iron Bridge

Iron Bridge. Photo: johnmuk [Flickr]

Iron bridge at night. Notice how the bridge and its reflection make a perfect circle.
Photo: Mark Haythorne [Flickr]

The Iron Bridge, spanning the Severn river in Shropshire, England, isn't a particularly large or ornate bridge, but it does have something that made it unique: it's the first bridge made completely out of cast iron.

In the 18th century, Shropshire was rich in iron and coal - indeed, there were more iron factories within two-mile radius of the town than any other city in the world. It was also there that iron was first smelt with coke. So it was only natural that the bridge would be made out of iron, a stronger alternative to wood. (Photo of the railing: zorro [Flickr])

Architect Thomas Farnolls Pritchard proposed a single arch bridge that would let boats pass underneath, but he died before the bridge was built. The construction of the Iron Bridge was carried out by a local master ironworker named Abraham Darby III. About 400 tons (363 tonnes) of cast iron was used, with about 800 separate castings. The Iron Bridge has 5 arch ribs, each cast in two halves. It only took three months to put the parts together (which they did using screws instead of bolts!).

The ease and speed of the Iron Bridge's construction helped convince engineers of the versatility and strength of iron, and helped usher in the Industrial Revolution era. Darby, however, didn't fare so well: he severely underestimated the cost to build the bridge, and remained in debt for the rest of his life. (Source)

6. Covered Bridges

The West Montrose Covered Bridge on the Grand River, Ontario, Canada. It's known locally as the Kissing Bridge. Photo: gojumeister [Flickr]

Pisgah Covered Bridge in southern Randolph County, North Carolina. It was washed away by a flood in 2003, but rebuilt with 90% of the original wood. It's now one of two historic covered bridges left in the state. Photo: jimmywayne22 [Flickr]

Thomas Malone Covered Bridge in Beaver Creek State Park, Ohio.
Photo: c0reyann [Flickr]

Covered bridges are simply that: bridges that have enclosed sides and roof. Though technically the Bridge of Sigh, Ponte Vecchio, and the Wind and Rain Bridges in this list are covered bridges, this term usually means simple, single-lane bridges in rural settings.

Before they are made famous by the 1995 Clint Eastwood film The Bridges of Madison County, "kissing bridges" or "tunnels of love" have been the pride and joy of many small towns across Europe and especially Northern America where more than ten thousands of such bridges were built.

In the 19th century, timber was plentiful and cheap (or, in many cases, free). So it's natural that these bridges were made of wood. But why were they covered? Well, lovers aside, the real reason was much more practical: the wooden beams of the bridge lasted longer when protected from the elements.

Unfortunately, due to neglect, theft of lumber, vandalism, and fire, most covered bridges in the United States and Canada have disappeared.

5. Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio. Photo: G|o®g|O

Ponte Vecchio at night. Photo: MrUllmi [Flickr]

The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval bridge over the Arno River. Actually, it's much more than a bridge - it's a street, a marketplace, and a landmark of Florence, Italy.

The Ponte Vecchio that we know today was built in 1345 by Taddeo Gaddi after an older span was destroyed in a flood. To finance the bridge, lots along the roadway were rented out to merchants, especially butchers and tanners, to hawk their wares.

In 1565, Duke Cosimo I de Medici ordered an architect named Giorgio Vasari to construct a roofed passageway. Soon after, jewelers, goldsmiths, and merchants of luxury goods pushed out the butchers out of Ponte Vecchio. Centuries of haphazard additions gave the bridge's distinctive, irregular appearance today.

During World War II, after having survived many floods, the bridge faced its gravest threat: German bombers were blowing up bridges in Florence. It was a direct order from Hitler that spared Ponte Vecchio from certain destruction.

It is said that the word "bankruptcy" came from Ponte Vecchio. When a merchant failed to pay his debt, the table ("banco") he used to sell his wares was broken ("rotto") by soldiers. Not having a table anymore ("bancorotto"), meant the seller was bankrupt.

4. The Wind and Rain Bridge

Chengyang Bridge. Photo: mazakii that genius [Flickr]

The wind and rain bridges were a type of bridge built by the Dong people (a minority ethnic group) in China. Because they live in the lowlands and the valleys with many rivers, the Dong people are excellent bridge builders. They are called "wind and rain" bridges because the covered bridges not only let people cross the river, but also protect them from the elements.

The Dong people don't use nails or rivets to build these bridges - instead, they dovetail all of the wood. The largest and most magnificent is the Chenyang Bridge, spanning the Linxi River near the Dong village of Maan. The bridge is about 100 years old, and like all wind and rain bridges, it was built without a single nail.

3. Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge. Photo: Dennis Gerbeckx [Flickr]

Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise. Photo: LemonSunrise [Flickr]

In 1855, engineer John Roebling started to design a bridge that at the time would be the longest suspension bridge in the world, with towers being the tallest structures in the Western Hemisphere: the Brooklyn Bridge in New York.

Today, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the main crossings of the East River and one of the most heavily trafficked bridges in the world. But in the late 19th century, it took Roebling more than 14 years to convince the city to build the bridge.

After he got approval, Roebling was surveying a site when his foot was crushed by a ferry. Three weeks before the scheduled groundbreaking, he died of tetanus. His son, an engineer named Washington Roebling took over the project.

In 1872, while working on caissons to set the foundation for the towers, Washington fell ill with caisson disease (a decompression sickness commonly known as "the bends") that left him barely able to see, talk, or write. His wife, Emily Warren Roebling, rose to the occasion - she learned engineering on the fly and for nine years went to the job site to deliver her husband's directions. Washington himself was said to watch the construction from his room through a binocular.

When the Brooklyn Bridge was opened, Emily was honored with the first ride over the bridge. She held a rooster, a symbol of victory, in her lap. Washington himself rarely visited the bridge till his death in 1926.

One interesting note about the Brooklyn Bridge: it stood fast while other bridges built around the same time had crumbled. Engineers credit Roebling for designing a bridge and truss system six times as strong as he thought it needed to be!

2. Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge at twilight. Photo: Diliff [wikipedia]

Tower Bridge at night. Photo: Andreas L [Flickr]

It's funny to think about ancient traffic jams, but that was why the Tower Bridge in London, England was built. By the end of the 19th century, the development of the eastern part of London caused such a load on the London Bridge that the city decided to build a new bridge.

Construction of the Tower Bridge started in 1886, led by architect Sir Horace Jones and engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry. The design was a bascule (draw) bridge with two towers built on piers, so the bridge wouldn't interefere with the port facilities nearby.

A year after construction was started, Jones died and his replacement, George D. Stevenson along with Barry decided to modify the design a little bit. Instead of the original brick facade design, the Tower Bridge had a more ornate Victorian Gothic style meant to harmonize it with the nearby Tower of London.

When the bridge opened in 1894, the public was aghast. H. Heathcote Statham, Fellow of the Royal Insitute of British Architect, wrote the familiar sentiment as thus: "The Tower Bridge … represents the vice of tawdriness and pretentiousness, and of falsification of the actual facts of the structure." (Source: Waddell, J., Bridge Engineering, Google Books)

But over time, people warmed up to the bridge. Indeed, the Tower Bridge grew to be one of London's most recognizable landmarks. Even one of its loudest critics, architectural critic Eric de Maré conceded: the British people "have grown fond of the old fraud … and we must admit that it has carried on its task with admirable regularity and efficiency." (Source: Dupré, J., Bridges; 1997 Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers)

1. Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge in HDR as the first big storm of the season hits San Francisco.
Photo: vgm8383 [Flickr]

Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. Photo: mischiru [Flickr]

Golden Gate Bridge at night. Photo: justinwyne [Flickr]

The Golden Gate Bridge is such an iconic symbol of San Francisco (and of suspension bridge in general) that it's hard to imagine a time when it didn't exist. But before it was built, most people thought it was an impossible task.

In 1916, the idea of a bridge to cross the Golden Gate, a narrow strait that separated San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Headlands, was conceived. Though it was almost immediately dismissed as the cost was estimated to be $100 million (astronomical for the time), a veteran bridge builder named Joseph Strauss lobbied for more than two decades to have it built.

The Golden Gate Bridge faced tough opposition: the Department of War thought it would interfere with ship traffic and the Southern Pacific Railroad opposed it as competition to its ferry service. At first, even the public didn't like the bridge … because Strauss' original design was deemed too ugly! But Strauss finally won, and after 22-years of drumming up support, the bridge was built. (Photo: SF Museum)

Strauss insisted that the project take worker's safety seriously. It was the first major bridge project that used hard hats and a safety net. During the course of construction, 19 people were saved by the net to become members of the Halfway to Hell Club. (Source)

The color of the Golden Gate Bridge is actually not red - it's an orange vermillion called International Orange. The color was chosen specifically because it complements the bridge's natural surrounding yet enhances its visibility in the fog.

Construction took more than four years, at a cost of $27 million. The Golden Gate Bridge actually came in $1.3 million under budget (though 5 months late). For his work, Strauss got $1 million … and a lifetime bridge pass!

Soft times

2008-11-07T13:57:00.000+05:30

Hot Models

2008-11-07T13:51:00.000+05:30

Rare Aishwarya Pics...

2008-10-14T12:27:00.000+05:30

BDV-838145-BDV

Airplane Oops! Situations

2008-10-14T12:26:00.000+05:30

Better on the ground than in the air

Short of the actual crash, most of the accidents depicted here occurred without loss of human life, and thus can be described as "Oops". There is a site "Aviation Safety" where many troublesome situations are listed and discussed, with full background information for each. What you will see here is a collection of images from various such occasions, sent to us by readers who found them or even witnessed the events.

On the Ground

The hazards start while the plane is still on the runway. Most of the time they are results of the "reckless driving" of the taxiing & service vehicles.

The accident above happened fairly recently - winter 2005 or 2006. The plane slid off the runway in the snow. A six year-old passenger in one of the cars on the street was killed.

The story for the accident below goes: "The mechanics failed to have someone riding brakes in the plane, failed to bring chokes and failed to set parking brakes on both aircraft AND the tug... and then they left aircraft unattended" -

Michael Lashley, as an aircraft safety inspector, have seen multiple occasions when aircraft was endangered by the careless driving of mechanics. The example below is credited to "Mechanics driving with no Hyd pressure for brakes" -

Plane chopped by the propeller of another plane:

The story on this rampage is playing out to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars - these are the damages for 4 destroyed planes. The poor guy who's responsible for this started the engine of his private Piper Saratoga plane - and then lost control, slicing through four other planes and crashing into the fifth...

Effort and intelligence come from God

2008-10-06T16:51:00.000+05:30

कबीर कोठे मंडप हेतु करि काहे मरहु सवारि ॥
Kabīr koṯẖe mandap heṯ kar kāhe marahu savār.
Kabeer, why kill yourself for your love of decorations of your home and
mansion?

कारजु साढे तीनि हथ घनी त पउने चारि ॥२१८॥
Kāraj sādẖe ṯīn hath gẖanī ṯa pa▫une cẖār. ||218||
In the end, only six feet, or a little more, shall be your lot. ||218||

कबीर जो मै चितवउ ना करै किआ मेरे चितवे होइ ॥
Kabīr jo mai cẖiṯva▫o nā karai ki▫ā mere cẖiṯve ho▫e.
Kabeer, whatever I wish for does not happen. What can I accomplish by merely
thinking?

अपना चितविआ हरि करै जो मेरे चिति न होइ ॥२१९॥
Apnā cẖiṯvi▫ā har karai jo mere cẖiṯ na ho▫e. ||219||
The Lord does whatever He wishes; it is not up to me at all. ||219||

चिंता भि आपि कराइसी अचिंतु भि आपे देइ ॥
Cẖinṯā bẖė āp karā▫isī acẖinṯ bẖė āpe ḏe▫e.
God Himself makes the mortals anxious, and He Himself takes the anxiety
away.

नानक सो सालाहीऐ जि सभना सार करेइ ॥२२०॥
Nānak so salāhī▫ai jė sabẖnā sār kare▫i. ||220||
O Nanak, praise the One, who takes care of all. ||220||

from sggs 1376

57% men, 64% women in Asia Pacific not satisfied with sex: Survey

2008-10-03T12:44:00.001+05:30

As much as 57% of men and 64% of women in the Asia Pacific region are not very satisfied with their sex lives, reveals an Asia Pacific survey conducted in India and 12 other countries.

The AP SHOW survey reveals that in India discussion about sexual experience is still a major concern among couples. Sex ranks seventh out of the seventeen life priorities for men, while for women it ranks near the bottom at fourteen.

Family life is clearly the most important aspect of life for both men and women. Other life priorities include being a spouse, work or career, being a parent, financial well-being and physical health. The same life priorities appear on the top of women’s list.

The survey reveals that sexual satisfaction is strongly associated with satisfaction in overall physical health, and love and romance.

The key findings of the survey are:

· As much as 57% of men and 64% of women in the Asia Pacific region are not very satisfied with their sex lives

· Greater satisfaction with sex is strongly associated with greater satisfaction with life overall

· For men and women, greater satisfaction with erection hardness is linked to greater satisfaction with sex

· Satisfaction with erection hardness is associated with satisfaction with sex, love & romance, family life, and role as spouse/partner – for men and women

· Men with suboptimal erections have sex less often, are less satisfied with sex and other aspects of the sexual experience, and are less positive about life overall

Addressing the situation in India, Dr Rupin Shah (andrologist, Lilavati Hospital), said, “In India, the survey showed that adults who are less than satisfied with sex are less likely to be satisfied with life overall.”

“There is also a clear link between satisfaction with erection hardness and satisfaction with sex for people in India. I ask our physicians to reach out to their patients and help them realize that sexual health is as important as any other aspect of their overall health and wellness. Taboos about the subject should be set aside to ensure the health needs of men and women in the Asia Pacific are well met,” he said.

The AP SHOW survey confirms the importance of sexual health to overall wellness in life. The survey also reveals that sexual dissatisfaction is high among men and women,” said Dr Rosie King, sexual health physician, Sydney Centre for Sexual and Relationship Therapy, Sydney, Australia.

The survey, conducted among 3,957 sexually-active men and women (2,016 males and 1,941 females) from the general public aged between 25 and 74 years, was designed to gather information on attitudes towards sexual health in Asia Pacific, a region characterized by diverse cultural beliefs and practices.

Comedy in pictures

2008-09-30T14:20:00.000+05:30

Start your day with a positive attitude

2008-09-30T14:07:00.000+05:30

HOW TO START YOUR DAY WITH A POSITIVE ATTITUDE :

1. Open a new file in your PC .

2. Name it "Boss "

3. Send it to the RECYCLE BIN

4. Empty the RECYCLE BIN

5. Your PC will ask you, "Are you sure you want to delete Boss permanently?"

6. Answer calmly, "Yes," and press the mouse button firmly....

7. Feel better?

HAVE A NICE DAY!!!

Letter to everybody with heart & lungs

2008-09-30T14:04:00.000+05:30

I am aditya, studying in UKG-D.

I lost my "rubber vetcha pencil" (pencil with a rubber attached on the top). The pencil costs Rs.3/-. That Kanna kulli (dimple cheeks) lola should have taken it. When I asked her she pinching and bite me.

I have an agreement with google and microsoft. Each time this Message is forwarded.. I will get 1 paise each from google and Microsoft AOL. I dont know you, but if you have a good heart or lung or kidney plz send this to atleast 10 mail ids. Please don't neglect.

One person neglected this mail and his pencil got broken while writing annual exam.

Plz
Yours
Aditya (Without pencil)

Nature at its best

2008-09-15T15:58:00.000+05:30

School in a cave

2008-09-15T15:54:00.000+05:30

2008-09-12T16:09:00.000+05:30

Secrets of Life

2008-09-12T16:04:00.000+05:30

Bachchans fall to the feet of Raj Thackeray for Forgiveness

2008-09-12T12:30:00.000+05:30

What a shame! The so called legend, Big B, aka Amitabh Bachchan and his extended family including his son, his plastic smiley bahu, his old wife and his concubine Mr Amar Singh (without whom Bachchan family is incomplete) has finally fallen to the feet of Raj Thackeray after Raj gave them a stern warning to not to cross the lashman rekha as long as he wishes to live and work in Mumbai.

Why this actor who considers himself more than anybody else the greatest talent on earth, whose birth has made India proud had to meekly surrender to Raj who (and his party MNS) does not even have a standing in Mumbai.

It is nothing but greed and sheer lust for money forced him to beg before Raj Thackeray. Mr Bachchan is even ready to lick the feet of Raj, he even indicated that (although not literally) he can go to any extent so that he and his old wife is forgiven and the ban is lifted on his and his family's films.

Actually Bachchan not only had to apologize and accept the humiliation from Raj, he also lobbied to the Congress Mata Ji through SP party and then finally our Italian guardian instructed Maharashtra CM to look into the issue and after some closed door deals Raj Thackeray finally lifted the ban.

Now Mr Bachchan is very much relieved as his latest film now can be inaugurated, he need not worry about other things as the Indian public will take care of the rest.

So greedy Bachchan has finally done it, his only aim is to make money by hook or by crook and when there is any obstacle to this earning he is ready to lick anything (you fill up the gap), then this great intellectual artists behaves like a street beggar.

I think Indian public has already forgotten that this guy forged documents to prove that he is a farmer and wanted to grab some government land, later he had to give up because of media pressure but his concubine bailed him out of any punishment.

It is a matter of big shame that it has become almost impossible to find a clean person in India who has risen to the top, almost everyone is corrupted and we blame the traffic police or the office peon for petty things.

Bachchan is also a habitual offender in the matters of income tax, also he duped many young people by founding a company called ABCL and after that winding it up!

I wonder how many more life time achievement award is waiting for this history sheeter celebrity.

Kareena Kapoor

2008-09-11T16:50:00.000+05:30

Aishwarya Rai at its best

2008-09-11T16:47:00.000+05:30

20 things you didn't know about Windows XP

2008-09-11T16:37:00.000+05:30

You've read the reviews and digested the key feature enhancements and operational changes. Now it's time to delve a bit deeper and uncover some of Windows XP's secrets.

1. It boasts how long it can stay up. Whereas previous versions of Windows were coy about how long they went between boots, XP is positively proud of its stamina. Go to the Command Prompt in the Accessories menu from the All Programs start button option, and then type 'systeminfo'. The computer will produce a lot of useful info, including the uptime. If you want to keep these, type 'systeminfo > info.txt'. This creates a file called info.txt you can look at later with Notepad. (Professional Edition only).

2. You can delete files immediately, without having them move to the Recycle Bin first. Go to the Start menu, select Run... and type 'gpedit.msc'; then select User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Explorer and find the Do not move deleted files to the Recycle Bin setting. Set it. Poking around in gpedit will reveal a great many interface and system options, but take care -- some may stop your computer behaving as you wish. (Professional Edition only).

3. You can lock your XP workstation with two clicks of the mouse. Create a new shortcut on your desktop using a right mouse click, and enter 'rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation' in the location field. Give the shortcut a name you like. That's it -- just double click on it and your computer will be locked. And if that's not easy enough, Windows key + L will do the same.

4. XP hides some system software you might want to remove, such as Windows Messenger, but you can tickle it and make it disgorge everything. Using Notepad or Edit, edit the text file /windows/inf/sysoc.inf, search for the word 'hide' and remove it. You can then go to the Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel, select Add/Remove Windows Components and there will be your prey, exposed and vulnerable.

5. For those skilled in the art of DOS batch files, XP has a number of interesting new commands. These include 'eventcreate' and 'eventtriggers' for creating and watching system events, 'typeperf' for monitoring performance of various subsystems, and 'schtasks' for handling scheduled tasks. As usual, typing the command name followed by /? will give a list of options -- they're all far too baroque to go into here.

6. XP has IP version 6 support -- the next generation of IP. Unfortunately this is more than your ISP has, so you can only experiment with this on your LAN. Type 'ipv6 install' into Run... (it's OK, it won't ruin your existing network setup) and then 'ipv6 /?' at the command line to find out more. If you don't know what IPv6 is, don't worry and don't bother.

7. You can at last get rid of tasks on the computer from the command line by using 'taskkill /pid' and the task number, or just 'tskill' and the process number. Find that out by typing 'tasklist', which will also tell you a lot about what's going on in your system.

8. XP will treat Zip files like folders, which is nice if you've got a fast machine. On slower machines, you can make XP leave zip files well alone by typing 'regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll' at the command line. If you change your mind later, you can put things back as they were by typing 'regsvr32 zipfldr.dll'.

9. XP has ClearType -- Microsoft's anti-aliasing font display technology -- but doesn't have it enabled by default. It's well worth trying, especially if you were there for DOS and all those years of staring at a screen have given you the eyes of an astigmatic bat. To enable ClearType, right click on the desktop, select Properties, Appearance, Effects, select ClearType from the second drop-down menu and enable the selection. Expect best results on laptop displays. If you want to use ClearType on the Welcome login screen as well, set the registry entry HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop/FontSmoothingType to 2.

10. You can use Remote Assistance to help a friend who's using network address translation (NAT) on a home network, but not automatically. Get your pal to email you a Remote Assistance invitation and edit the file. Under the RCTICKET attribute will be a NAT IP address, like 192.168.1.10. Replace this with your chum's real IP address -- they can find this out by going to www.whatismyip.com -- and get them to make sure that they've got port 3389 open on their firewall and forwarded to the errant computer.

11. You can run a program as a different user without logging out and back in again. Right click the icon, select Run As... and enter the user name and password you want to use. This only applies for that run. The trick is particularly useful if you need to have administrative permissions to install a program, which many require. Note that you can have some fun by running programs multiple times on the same system as different users, but this can have unforeseen effects.

12. Windows XP can be very insistent about you checking for auto updates, registering a Passport, using Windows Messenger and so on. After a while, the nagging goes away, but if you feel you might slip the bonds of sanity before that point, run Regedit, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/Advanced and create a DWORD value called EnableBalloonTips with a value of 0.

13. You can start up without needing to enter a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', which will open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use.

14. Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to. Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options... and Advanced, go down to the Security area and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

15. XP comes with a free Network Activity Light, just in case you can't see the LEDs twinkle on your network card. Right click on My Network Places on the desktop, then select Properties. Right click on the description for your LAN or dial-up connection, select Properties, then check the Show icon in notification area when connected box. You'll now see a tiny network icon on the right of your task bar that glimmers nicely during network traffic.

16. The Start Menu can be leisurely when it decides to appear, but you can speed things along by changing the registry entry HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/MenuShowDelay from the default 400 to something a little snappier. Like 0.

17. You can rename loads of files at once in Windows Explorer. Highlight a set of files in a window, then right click on one and rename it. All the other files will be renamed to that name, with individual numbers in brackets to distinguish them. Also, in a folder you can arrange icons in alphabetised groups by View, Arrange Icon By... Show In Groups.

18. Windows Media Player will display the cover art for albums as it plays the tracks -- if it found the picture on the Internet when you copied the tracks from the CD. If it didn't, or if you have lots of pre-WMP music files, you can put your own copy of the cover art in the same directory as the tracks. Just call it folder.jpg and Windows Media Player will pick it up and display it.

19. Windows key + Break brings up the System Properties dialogue box; Windows key + D brings up the desktop; Windows key + Tab moves through the taskbar buttons.

20. The next release of Windows XP, codenamed Longhorn, is due out late next year or early 2003 and won't be much to write home about. The next big release is codenamed Blackcomb and will be out in 2003/2004.

Apple Unveils New iPods

2008-09-10T13:50:00.000+05:30

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs took the wraps off a revamped line of iPods on Tuesday and trumpeted a truce with NBC Universal that means the TV network will begin selling programs again on iTunes.

The iPod announcements were largely expected, and investors were less than energized, sending Apple's shares down $6.24, 4 percent, to close at $151.68.

The iPod upgrades Jobs revealed Tuesday in a theater in San Francisco include two slick new Nano models, oval-shaped devices that Jobs said are the thinnest iPods Apple has ever made. They are less than a quarter-inch thick.

A $149 version comes with 8 gigabytes of memory (enough for 2,000 songs); a 16-gigabyte version (which holds 4,000 songs) is $199.

The new models acknowledge the incredible appetite for iPods - Jobs said Apple has sold 160 million iPods since their introduction in 2001, making them the runaway leader among portable music players. But Apple has to work hard to differentiate them from the iPhone, Apple's cell phone/iPod/Internet device that threatens to cannibalize some of the demand for iPods.

Jobs also showed off three new versions of the iPod Touch, which is much like an iPhone except that doesn't make calls. An 8-gigabyte version of the new model will sell for $229; a 16-gigabyte Touch will be $299 and a 32 GB model will be $399.

Apple hopes the 32-gigabyte unit will appeal to people who download a lot of games and other programs, and wouldn't be able to store them all on an iPhone, which tops out at 16 gigabytes. Jobs said people have downloaded a "mind-blowing" 100 million applications for iPhones and iPod Touch devices since Apple began offering the programs online two months ago.

"We don't think of it as cannibalization," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of product marketing. "As long as they want an Apple product, we're happy."

But Ross Rubin, an analyst with market researcher NPD Group, said Apple's focus on the Nano and its new features indicates otherwise. Among the new twists: A "shake to shuffle" feature that lets people mix up their iPod playlists by giving the device a hard, abrupt shake.

Jobs also showed off a new "genius" feature in iTunes and the iPod's onboard software. If a user clicks the genius button while listening to a song, the program automatically creates a new playlist of similar songs from the user's own library. The software determines similarity in part by analyzing which songs other people have together in their libraries.

In the deal with NBC, the television network is coming back to iTunes a year after pulling out in a dispute over the prices Apple charges for shows it sells on the online service. At that time, programming controlled by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., made up an estimated 40 percent of the video downloads on iTunes.

At the height of the spat, Apple said NBC had sought more than double the wholesale prices for its shows, which would have resulted in shows selling for $4.99 each. NBC disputed that, and said it wanted only to be able to sell programs at different prices.

But with its muscle in the market for digital downloads, Apple largely appears to have won the battle. NBC's programming will sell for the same prices as other TV shows available on iTunes. High-definition shows, a new addition for iTunes, will sell for $2.99 each. Shows in standard definition cost $1.99. Some older shows are available for 99 cents apiece.

NBC was able to wring some concessions. Jean-Briac Perrette, NBC Universal's president for digital distribution, said NBC will be allowed to bundle programs together and set prices for those packages as well as for full seasons of shows. Apple wasn't willing to budge on those requests in earlier negotiations.

Perrette said NBC is "thrilled to be back on iTunes" but noted the network also has "a lot of other avenues" to sell shows online, including its own site and a video Web site, Hulu.com, that it created with News Corp.

Jobs gave the start of the event some buzz by flashing a message on a screen behind him: "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."

Jobs borrowed that line from Mark Twain in reference to obituary preparedness on Jobs that was accidentally posted by Bloomberg News and then retracted. News outlets regularly prepare obituary material on famous people.

Questions about Jobs' health swirled after he appeared gaunt at a recent Apple event. Apple has since said Jobs, 53, a survivor of pancreatic cancer, suffered from a bug and is better. He appeared thin but energetic Tuesday.

(Source: Tech2.com)

Asus Eee PC 1000H

2008-09-10T13:46:00.000+05:30

Asus Eee PC 1000H

By: Jayesh Mansukhani | Sep 08, 2008

Good LCD panel
Great sound output
Impressive battery life

Lousy, glossy finish
Unergonomic mouse keys

The Asus Eee PC range needs no introduction. The original Eee PC was the very first 'netbook' of sorts, and its popularity opened up a whole new segment. Ever since that maiden release, the market for these sub-notebooks has exploded and expanded so much that it's become a category of its own.

Asus has not been resting on its laurels though; it's churned out netbook after netbook, with over 23 models available at the time of writing this article. The Asus 1000H that we are reviewing here is the latest in the Eee PC range and comes with Intel’s Atom processor. Let’s find out how it fares.

The 1000H signifies a significant departure from the simple finish and styling that was typical of the Eee PC range. For one, it's given up a plain matte look for a glossy black finish. While this may look elegant the first time you see it, the truth is that it’s a horrible fingerprint and dust magnet. We had our test model for a few weeks and in that time it went from looking fresh and interesting to something a dust storm would have spewed out.

With a weight of 1.46 kg and dimensions of 10.5 x 7.5 x 1.0 to 1.5 inches, this is easily the largest 10" netbook available today. This may be upsetting to some, but I didn't find it a problem at all. The build quality is sound, with no extra flex in the body, and the reinforced hinges give it the reliability most Asus products boast of.

The keyboard is easily the best seen in any Eee PC so far. It's well-proportioned at 92 percent of the size of a normal full-sized keyboard, offers a comfortable typing experience via the 'just right' texture finish of the keys, and has adequate space around the mouse pad for you to position both hands easily. This setup allows you to work comfortably and accurately.

The touchpad, however, proved to be a disappointment. Though it’s adequately large and fairly responsive, the mouse keys are a real pain. They are tapered, with the clicking area being around the edge of the laptop. This causes you to lift your hands clear of the keyboard to get a clear press. This may not be an issue for people with large hands, but my thumb got cramped after some hours of use.

The matte 10-inch LCD panel of the 1000H has a native resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels and is strictly average. At maximum levels it does offer adequate levels of brightness, color and contrast. After the brilliant panel that we saw on the Acer Aspire One, this one was a bit of a disappointment. On the plus side, the matte finish allows you to work in brightly-lit conditions without fuss.

Connectivity-wise, the 1000H is similar to offerings from other manufacturers. It offers 3 USB slots, a multi-slot reader, VGA out, Bluetooth (thankfully!), and a Kensington security slot. It also offers 802.11N as a bonus.

As expected, this Eee PC is based on an Intel Atom N270 processor clocked at 1.8 GHz. The device offers 1GB of RAM, and has an 80GB HDD. These specifications are similar to other netbooks and hence performance levels were much the same. While the processor is a bit faster than the standard 1.6 GHz offering, it didn’t offer much more with regard to multi-tasking, which was already quite robust. I could easily type this article on the 1000H while listening to music, and with a dozen Firefox tabs open, alongside Photoshop running in the background, without any discrenable slow down.

The one thing that does set the 1000H apart from other netbooks is its audio capability. The 1000H comes with Dolby Sound room technology, which at first I thought was another crappy gimmick. When you consider that just about every netbook’s audio usually sounds like a cat being tortured or a rusty drill, I was not hoping for too much.

However, in a complete surprise, a Flac sample that I normally use for such tests was output in a clear, appreciably appropriate manner, with good amounts of bass, clear mids, and somewhat muffled highs. This was completely unexpected and most welcome, as such sound quality is normally found in laptops that cost maybe four times as much, and aimed at a vastly different segment.

The 1000H we tested came with a 6-cell battery. This allowed us to make the laptop battery last well over 7 hours with prudent use, and even rough usage got around 6½ hrs. These are excellent figures and nothing more needs to be said; after all, one of the USPs of a netbook is low power consumption.

Asus has come up with a winner. Despite its irritating glossy finish, the 1000H has extremely good performance, very good battery life, surprisingly good sound, and a well-designed keyboard. At Rs 26,000, it’s easily among the most VFM netbooks available today, and I have no qualms recommending it wholeheartedly.

(Source: Tech2.com)

Will the Big Bang test end the world on Wednesday?

2008-09-10T13:41:00.000+05:30

LONDON: If critics are to be believed, the end of the universe will begin coming Wednesday when a Welsh miner's son launches the world's biggest scientific experiment to know how the universe was born.

The well-known Welshman physicist, Lyn Evans, dubbed Evans the Atom, will this week switch on a giant particle accelerator designed to unlock the secrets of the Big Bang.

On Wednesday, Evans will fire up the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile-long doughnut-shaped tunnel that will smash sub-atomic particles together at nearly the speed of light.

Built by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the collider lies beneath the French-Swiss border, near the institution's headquarters in Geneva, at depths ranging from 170 feet to 600 feet.

The aim of the 4.4 billion-pound (over $7.7 billion) experiment is to recreate the conditions that existed a fraction of a second after the Big Bang - the birth of the universe - and provide vital clues to the building blocks of life.

It will track the spray of particles thrown out by collisions in a search for the elusive Higgs Boson, a theoretical entity that supposedly lends weight, or mass, to the elementary particles. So important is this mysterious substance that it has been called the "God Particle".

Scientists also hope to shed some light on the invisible material that exists between particles - dubbed "dark matter" as no one knows what it really is - which make up most of the universe.

But a handful of scientists believe that the experiment could create a shower of unstable black holes that could "eat" the planet from within, and they are launching last-ditch efforts to halt it in the courts.

One of them, Otto Rossler, a retired German chemist, said he feared the experiment may create a devastating quasar - a mass of energy fuelled by black holes - inside the earth. Jets emanating from it would grow and catastrophes such as earthquakes and tsunamis would occur at the points they emerged from the earth.

"The weather will change completely, wiping out life, and very soon the whole planet will be eaten in a magnificent scenario - if you could watch it from the moon. A Biblical Armageddon. Even cloud and fire will form, as it says in the Bible."

He said that attempts were still being made in the European Court of Human Rights to halt the experiment on the grounds that it violated the right to life. The court has, however, already rejected calls for a temporary delay in the project.

Walter Wagner, an American scientist who has been warning about the dangers of particle accelerators for 20 years, is awaiting a ruling on a lawsuit he filed a fortnight ago in his home state of Hawaii.

Evans, however, is dismissive of the "doom-mongers".

"There are thousands of scientists around the world who have been preparing this machine and they know what they are talking about, unlike these guys," he is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.

200 Indian scientists line up for Big Bang effort

2008-09-10T13:37:00.000+05:30

When the 27-km long Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator, goes live on Wednesday in the Alps along the Swiss-French border, it will kick off one of the largest man-made experiments in history. Interestingly, it’s not just a massive science experiment being conducted by CERN, a French acronym for the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, but also one of the biggest IT projects. India's contribution to the $10-billion effort in search of the universe’s missing matter by smashing particles like during the Big Bang is equally impressive. Around 200 of the 2,000 scientists doing the experiment are from India. The entire system comprising 1,232 cryo magnets, each weighing about 32 tonne, is sitting on precision motion positioning systems developed, among other places, at the Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT), Indore, by the Electronics Corporation of India. Indian institutes like Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, RRCAT, Indore, Benares Hindu University and varsities of Delhi, Jaipur, Punjab have contributed significantly to the experiment and will also be involved in analysing the collision debris.Says Amit Roy, director of Delhi-based Inter-University Accelerator Centre (earlier called Nuclear Science Centre): “About 200 scientists involved in the experiment are of Indian origin. “ “India has also been involved in supplying material to build the tunnel and several Indians have played a key role in the whole project,” Mr Royadded. The monetary contribution by India is $25 million. The prominent Indians who are part of the project include Atul Gurtu of TIFR, an expert on particle colliders, Vikas Sinha of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, who created a chip to process signals, and Vinod Chauhan employed by CERN to lead the group which tested the magnets. Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology director Vinod Chandra Sahni says: “No collisions will take place today. September 10 simply marks the launch wherein two beams will be sent in the tunnel, one clockwise and the other anti-clockwise. The particle smashing at close to speed of light (about 300,000 km per second) will start on October 21. Some particles will collide, triggering new particles that could help scientists understand the universe better.” The tunnel, buried 100 metres underground, is lined with sensors and 1,600 superconducting magnets across eight sectors, which are held at an operating temperature of 271 degrees below zero — colder than outer space. The LHC accelerator, which is accurate to a nanosecond, will be used to slam particles into each other to try to recreate the conditions at the beginning of time — as in the Big Bang. Data from the collision, about 15 petabytes (1 petabyte is quadrillion bytes or 1,000 terabytes) a year will be studied around the world by some 100,000 computers across 50 countries. Within a year, the particle accelerator’s experiments will have spewed enough data to fill a pile of compact discs 12 miles high. India is part of the world-wide computational grid that will help analyse this data. But the massive experiment is not without its share of controversy. Cynics believe that all the particle smashing will create a massive black hole, sucking life out of earth, if things don’t follow the planned script. However, Mr Roy adds: “The scientific community the world over is eagerly looking at the experiment. The claims of this experiment turning out to be a disaster are rather exaggerated and based on wrong calculations.” Brusing aside fears of the experiment going wrong, geeks at CERN believe that they are going to find the so-called God-like particle dubbed Higgs Boson, which will offer clues about dark matter and other missing links of physics. This, in turn, will accelerate our own understanding of life. If they don’t find that, they still hope to lay their hands on something exciting and worthwhile out of the tunnel. Much like one of CERN’s alumni, Tim Berners-Lee, stumbled upon the internet and invented the first web browser in 1989 to initially help physicists worldwide to swap notes!
var imgid = '3465596';var capt = '(FILE) Picutre taken 22 March 2007 shows the magnet core of the world\'s largest superconducting solenoid magnet (CMS, Compact Muon Solenoid) near Geneva.
(Source: Economic Times)

SRK to become desi Indiana Jones

2008-09-01T14:43:00.001+05:30

SRK is all set to fuse some action and adventure on the big screen and finally we can see him outside his lover boy image as he is all set to play the desi version of Indiana Jones.

Director Santosh Sivan is all set to make the most expensive flick of Bollywood, and the Bollywood version of Indiana Jones will have the adventure, drama and thrill that the original flick had.

A source says, “It’s a big budget film and will be an out- and-out action adventure. There will be shades of romance and comedy as well. The inspiration for this film is the Indiana Jones franchise and will be made keeping the original in mind. Shah Rukh will start working on the film only after he winds up his other projects.”

Dashing hunk, John Abraham will be giving company to SRK in the movie. The film will show SRK leading his team into the deep dangerous jungles where the action is waiting for them.

Saif and I are Made for Each Other: Kareena

2008-09-01T14:42:00.001+05:30

Kareena was her candid best for an interview given to a UK based news daily, something that she never does for the Indian media. She spoke at length on the unknown details of her love life.

She said, “He’s a great lover!… I think he is the man I’ve been waiting for. He’s everything any woman would ask for; everything that a woman needs.”

Kareena also added, “Saif and I are made for each other and I plan to stay with him for as long as I can.”

Yeh toh Waqt hi Batayega… for now… All the very best Bebo!

HOW TO ENJOY LIFE

2008-09-01T14:37:00.000+05:30

HOW TO ENJOY LIFE

Life should be enjoyed. Hopefully the following tips will help you enjoy your life more.

Enjoy Life Tip No. 1

Always take time to smell the roses.

Enjoy Life Tip No. 2

Get up 30 minutes early and go for a brisk walk. Come home and have your favourite breakfast. Doesn't matter what happens after that - you've had a great start to the day !

Enjoy Life Tip No. 3

Every now and then it is OK to be totally selfish ! Plan a day that is totally indulgent ! Do what YOU want to do. Do it all day. Don't feel guilty about it. It is your day. Plan it so that you do as many of your favorite things all in the same day. It's OK - you've earned it !

Enjoy Life Tip No. 4

Exercise every day. A walk is fine (and at your own pace). You will be literally amazed at how clearer your thinking is and how less stressed you become. Try it for one week and let me know how you went !

Enjoy Life Tip No. 5

This follows quite nicely. At the end of each day congratulate yourself on what you have achieved - do not whip yourself for what you didn't get done. You will have another chance tomorrow. Focus on your positive achievements.

Enjoy Life Tip No. 6

Don't take life too seriously. That issue that you think is so important - isn't. Next week it will matter less, next year even less. Ten years from now - will you even remember ? One hundred years from now - will it matter ? Ten million years from now ?

Enjoy Life Tip No 7

In my humble opinion there are five secrets to happiness:

1. To love and be loved (unconditionally).

2. To believe in yourself and have someone else believe in you.

3. To have a dream and strive for that dream.

4. To live and eat healthily and consume everything in moderation.

5. To give to others.

A good story for all of us to follow in our careers and social life

2008-08-28T12:19:00.000+05:30

Once upon a time a Washerman was bringing up two donkeys.

Let us say Donkey-A and Donkey-B.

Donkey-A felt it was very energetic and could do better than the other. It always tried to pull the washerman's attraction over it by taking more load and walking fast in front of him.

Innocent Donkey-B is normal, so it will walk normal, irrespective of the washerman's presence. After a period of time, Washerman started pressurising Donkey-B to be like Donkey-A. But Donkey-B unable to walk fast, got continuous punishment from washerman. It was crying and told personally to Donkey-A "Dear friend, only we two are here, why to compete with each other....we can carry equal load at normal speed ".

That made Donkey-A all the more energetic and next day it told to washerman that it can carry more load and even it can run fast also.

Obviously happier washerman looked at Donkey-B.., his BP raised and he started kicking Donkey-B. Next day with smile, Donkey-A carried more load and started running fast. But it was breathtaking for Donkey-B and it couldn't act that way....But the washerman was frustrated, so he harassed Donkey-B terribly, and finally it fell down hopelessly.

Then Donkey-A felt itself as a supremo and happily started carrying more load with great speed. But now the Load of the Donkey-B is also being carried by Donkey-A., and still it has to run fast. For some period it did, finally due to fatigue it got tired and started feeling the pain. But washerman expected more from Donkey-A. It also tried best, but couldn't cope up with his owners demand. The Washerman got angry with Donkey-A also and started harassing to take more load... Donkey-A was crying for long time and then tried its best... But it couldn't meet the owner's satisfaction. Finally the day came when due to frustration the washerman killed Donkey-A and went for searching some other Donkeys.

Its an endless story..........

But the moral of the Story in Corporate and social life is......,

"Think all colleagues are same and that everyone is capable.... Always Share the Load equally..... Don't ever act smart in front of your Boss and never try for getting over-credit...

It doesn't matter if you are 'A' or 'B'

For the Boss you shall be always DONKEY.

Enjoy Life

2008-08-28T12:06:00.000+05:30

Power of Positive Talk - Amazing article from the GREAT ONE Dr. APJ ABDUL KALAM

I remember my dad teaching me the power of language at a very young age. Not only did my dad understand that specific words affect our mental pictures, but he understood words are a powerful programming factor in lifelong success.
One particularly interesting event occurred when I was eight. As a kid, I was always climbing trees, poles, and literally hanging around upside down from the rafters of our lake house. So, it came to no surprise for my dad to find me at the top of a 30-foot tree swinging back and forth. My little eight-year-old brain didn't realize the tree could break or I could get hurt. I just thought it was fun to be up so high.

My older cousin, Tammy, was also in the same tree. She was hanging on the first big limb, about ten feet below me. Tammy's mother also noticed us at the exact time my dad did. About that time a huge gust of wind came over the tree. I could hear the leaves start to rattle and the tree begin to sway. I remember my dad's voice over the wind yell, "Bart, Hold on tightly." So I did. The next thing I know, I heard Tammy screaming at the top of her lungs, laying flat on the ground. She had fallen out of the tree.
I scampered down the tree to safety. My dad later told me why she fell and I did not. Apparently, when Tammy's mother felt the gust of wind, she yelled out, "Tammy, don't fall!" And Tammy did. fall.

My dad then explained to me that the mind has a very difficult time processing a negative image. In fact, people who rely on internal pictures cannot see a negative at all. In order for Tammy to process the command of not falling, her nine-year-old brain had to first imagine falling, then try to tell the brain not to do what it just imagined. Whereas, my eight-year-old brain instantly had an internal image of me hanging on tightly.

This concept is especially useful when you are attempting to break a habit or set a goal. You can't visualize not doing something. The only way to properly visualize not doing something is to actually find a word for what you want to do and visualize that. For example, when I was thirteen years old, I played for my junior high school football team. I tried so hard to be good, but I just couldn't get it together at that age. I remember hearing the words run through my head as I was running out for a pass, "Don't drop it!" Naturally, I dropped the ball.

My coaches were not skilled enough to teach us proper "self-talk." They just thought some kids could catch and others couldn't. I'll never make it pro, but I'm now a pretty good Sunday afternoon football player, because all my internal dialogue is positive and encourages me to win. I wish my dad had coached me playing football instead of just climbing trees. I might have had a longer football career.

Here is a very easy demonstration to teach your kids and your friends the power of a toxic vocabulary. Ask them to hold a pen or pencil. Hand it to them. Now, follow my instructions carefully. Say to them, "Okay, try to drop the pencil." Observe what they do.
Most people release their hands and watch the pencil hit the floor. You respond, "You weren't paying attention. I said TRY to drop the pencil. Now please do it again." Most people then pick up the pencil and pretend to be in excruciating pain while their hand tries but fails to drop the pencil.

The point is made.

If you tell your brain you will "give it a try," you are actually telling your brain to fail. I have a "no try" rule in my house and with everyone I interact with. Either people will do it or they won't. Either they will be at the party or they won't. I'm brutal when people attempt to lie to me by using the word try. Do they think I don't know they are really telegraphing to the world they have no intention of doing it but they want me to give them brownie points for pretended effort? You will never hear the words "I'll try" come out of my mouth unless I'm teaching this concept in a seminar.

If you "try" and do something, your unconscious mind has permission not to succeed. If I truly can't make a decision I will tell the truth. "Sorry John. I'm not sure if I will be at your party or not. I've got an outstanding commitment. If that falls through, I will be here. Otherwise, I will not. Thanks for the invite."
People respect honesty. So remove the word "try" from your vocabulary.

My dad also told me that psychologists claim it takes seventeen positive statements to offset one negative statement. I have no idea if it is true, but the logic holds true. It might take up to seventeen compliments to offset the emotional damage of one harsh criticism.
These are concepts that are especially useful when raising children.

Ask yourself how many compliments you give yourself daily versus how many criticisms. Heck, I know you are talking to yourself all day long. We all have internal voices that give us direction.
So, are you giving yourself the 17:1 ratio or are you shortchanging yourself with toxic self-talk like, " I'm fat. Nobody will like me. I'll try this diet. I'm not good enough. I'm so stupid. I'm broke, etc. etc."

If our parents can set a lifetime of programming with one wrong statement, imagine the kind of programming you are doing on a daily basis with your own internal dialogue.

Here is a list of Toxic Vocabulary words.

Notice when you or other people use them.

Ø But: Negates any words that are stated before it.
Ø Try: Presupposes failure.
Ø If: Presupposes that you may not.
Ø Might: It does nothing definite. It leaves options for your listener..
Ø Would Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen.
Ø Should Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen (and implies guilt.)
Ø Could Have: Past tense that draws attention to things that didn't actually happen but the person tries to take credit as if it did happen.
Ø Can't/Don't: These words force the listener to focus on exactly the opposite of what you want. This is a classic mistake that parents and coaches make without knowing the damage of this linguistic error.

Examples:
Toxic phrase: "Don't drop the ball!"
Likely result: Drops the ball
Better language: "Catch the ball!"

Toxic phrase: "You shouldn't watch so much television."
Likely result: Watches more television.
Better language: "I read too much television makes people stupid. You might find yourself turning that TV off and picking up one of those books more often!"

Exercise: Take a moment to write down all the phrases you use on a daily basis or any Toxic self-talk that you have noticed yourself using. Write these phrases down so you will begin to catch yourself as they occur and change them.

Children & Angels

2008-08-28T12:00:00.001+05:30

I have often felt that children are far closer to the angels than we adults are. They seem far more ready to share joy freely and to give love unconditionally to others. They seem to easily know how to celebrate life, laugh, smile, and embrace delight just as God meant for all of us to do. Nothing brought this point home to my heart more clearly than a story a friend of mine recently shared with me about her daughter.

Her daughter while mentally handicapped has a soul that shines brighter than a thousand suns. She loves everyone and is never afraid to express her affection to others. Once when she was at Church with her Mom it came time to give others the sign of peace. Now most people do this with a handshake or a gentle touch. This little Angel Child , however, wasn't one to hold back on her love. She turned around and gave a sweet, elderly lady next to her a huge hug full of both energy and love. Later after Church that same lady with tears in her eyes approached the girl's Mom and spoke to her. "My husband just died a week ago", she said. "I felt so alone that I was going to go home and take some pills to end my life today, but now thanks to your little girl I believe that there still is love in this world."

Our children can teach us so much about love. Our children can teach us so much about joy. Our children can teach us so much about life. Let us not ignore the lessons they give us every day. Let us instead learn from them and share more love and joy with others in our own lives. God loves us and put us here to love each other. Sometimes we forget this, but thankfully God is patient and forgiving with us. He never fails to send us joyous angels and happy children to guide us back to love again.

Love has no limits

2008-08-28T11:59:00.000+05:30

While Dad was polishing his new car,
his 4 yr old son picked stone & scratched lines on the side of the car.
In his anger, Dad took the child's hand & hit it many times, not
realizing he was using a wrench.
At the hospital, his child said "Dad when will my fingers grow back?"
Dad was so hurt.
He went back to car and kicked it a lot of times.
Sitting back he looked at the scratches, child wrote "I LOVE YOU DAD"

Anger and Love has no limits...

Now, an air conditioner that runs on solar power

2008-08-26T16:27:00.000+05:30

Washington, Aug 12 (ANI): Tired of those massive electricity bills, courtesy the air conditioners? Well, here's a cool and economical solution to beat the heat - GreenCore Air's solar powered air conditioner.

What's more, the new air conditioner is environmental friendly too as it's powered by a single 170-watt solar panel.

The company claims that its air conditioning unit can heat and cool a 600 square foot room.

Running on DC power, it does away with any need to put an AC inverter between the solar panel and the air conditioner.

This, in turn, wards off those power losses linked with converting AC to DC.

And in case there's no sun, the unit runs on an integrated battery bank.

GreenCore has released two versions of the air conditioner: a fixed one, and a mobile one that is mounted on wheels.

Currently, the new AC units are being tested by a McDonald's restaurant and the U.S. Navy. (ANI)

Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar set to clash during Christmas

2008-08-26T16:26:00.001+05:30

Last year, the Christmas week witnessed the release of Welcome and Taare Zameen Par. Both, despite belonging to the opposite genres, worked big time at the box-office. The films in question also cemented the status of the two stars associated with those films -- Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan.

Now Akshay and Aamir are all set to clash all over again - and it's Christmas time. Aamir's Ghajini is already confirmed for this date and if sources are to be believed, Akshay's Chandni Chowk To China is also eyeing the Christmas week.

"We're looking at the date. But right now we are more concerned about the right chain of theatres, since Ghajini is also arriving on this date. Plus, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (releasing on December 12) would also be retaining many screens. We've asked Warner Bros (partners in Chandni Chowk To China) to get back to us about it. Only after they are clear, vis-à-vis the screens, will we take a call," Nikhil Advani said.

Celebrity News - Akshay Kumar

2008-08-26T16:06:00.000+05:30

Akshay Kumar has just returned rejuvenated with his wife from Monte Carlo. And now it's his son's turn. The first week of his 2-week holiday was devoted to his wife Twinkle while son Aarav had stayed back. Now the second lap of the holiday is exclusively devoted to Akshay and his son Aarav. "It's full-on male-bonding time now. If all three of us had been on a holiday together, I'd have been divided between my son and wife. And both would've felt cheated. By dividing my holiday time into two I can give myself completely to both."

While Akshay is on holiday with his son, he can't use the phone. "At least not when Aarav is around," grins Akshay. Recently, when Akshay was on 'Dus Ka Dum' with Salman Khan, the TRPs shot up to unprecedented heights.

A lot has been written about Akshay leopard-spot t-shirt on 'Dus Ka Dum'. Akshay is unperturbed. "I'm not here to go by definitions and standards of fashion set by others. I've always worn what I'm comfortable in. Why should I change that just because more people are watching me now? And I saw nothing wrong with the leopard-spotted t-shirt. When Brad Pitt wears a similar t-shirt everyone goes ooh and aah. I don't want people's approval about my clothes but my performances. Let me wear what I like," Akshay protests.

The success of Singh Is Kinng has put an extra responsibility on Akshay's shoulder. "I never thought it would be so big. Now that it is such a success, I feel I've got more than I deserve."

His anchoring of the reality show Fear Factor on the new channel Colors has also been a huge success. If rumours are to be believed, Akshay is already negotiating for a second season of Fear Factor and that too at a much steeper fee than Fear Factor 1.

Deepika’s bikini stint!

2008-08-20T10:05:00.000+05:30

Even as Deepika claims that she doesn’t have a bikini-compatible figure, we show you the actress’s super-hot bikini poses for Kingfisher that reject her own modesty-inspired claim.

Shedding all inhibitions

One of those assignments that made Deepika a hot property in the modeling world, the 2006 Kingfisher Calendar saw the Padukone girl at her sensuous best

Really Beauties of another WORLD

2008-06-20T14:12:00.000+05:30

MP3 to Dance with

2008-06-13T16:34:00.000+05:30

File1: http://www.ziddu.com/download.php?uid=a7Ofm5ioZ66fm5SntayZlJyiZ7CWlZep7

Deewangi DeewangiOmShantiOM

File2: http://www.ziddu.com/download.php?uid=Z66dmputbK%2BalZWnsqyZlJyiZLCWlZep4

Dekho Nashe Mein RACE

File3: http://www.ziddu.com/download.php?uid=ZrKcnJmoZbGcnZqtsqyZlJyiZLCWlZen4

Dekho Nashe Mein RACE (Remix)

File4: http://www.ziddu.com/download.php?uid=a7CZmZipbLKZnOKnZaqhkZSrYqucmJyu5

Dhoom Again Dhoom2

File5: http://www.ziddu.com/download.php?uid=b6yalZata62blJipb%2FiblJStZKqfkZWobw%3D%3

Dil Tote Tote Ho Gaya

Art Work by renouned Artists

2008-06-13T15:28:00.001+05:30

Wow Pictures

2008-06-13T15:24:00.000+05:30

Words Of Wisdom

2008-06-13T15:16:00.000+05:30

1. A day without sunshine is like night.
2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.
3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.
9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.
14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?
18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines
19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?
20. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, "What the hell happened?"
22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos.

******

Shakti

GOD Tusi Great HO - Enjoy Life

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A simple Puzzle for you & your kids

Puzzle

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HOW TO ENJOY LIFE

HOW TO ENJOY LIFE

A good story for all of us to follow in our careers and social life

Enjoy Life

If our parents can set a lifetime of programming with one wrong statement, imagine the kind of programming you are doing on a daily basis with your own internal dialogue.

Toxic phrase: "You shouldn't watch so much television."Likely result: Watches more television.Better language: "I read too much television makes people stupid. You might find yourself turning that TV off and picking up one of those books more often!"

Exercise: Take a moment to write down all the phrases you use on a daily basis or any Toxic self-talk that you have noticed yourself using. Write these phrases down so you will begin to catch yourself as they occur and change them.

Children & Angels

Love has no limits

Now, an air conditioner that runs on solar power

Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar set to clash during Christmas

Celebrity News - Akshay Kumar

Deepika’s bikini stint!

Really Beauties of another WORLD

MP3 to Dance with

Art Work by renouned Artists

Wow Pictures

Words Of Wisdom

Toxic phrase: "You shouldn't watch so much television."
Likely result: Watches more television.
Better language: "I read too much television makes people stupid. You might find yourself turning that TV off and picking up one of those books more often!"