Wednesday, 6 March 2013
5 Myths About Mark Zuckerberg
3-D Mapping Rescue Robot
Navigation Aid for the Visually Impaired
As a PS3 Controller
Robotic Surgery Assistant
Evil Genius Simulator
Top 5 Kinect Hacks
Callie Rogers Returned to Work as a Maid
10 Most Spectacular Lottery Burnouts
Creating Indoor Clouds
The Inspiration for the Indoor Cloud
How Indoor Clouds Work
10 of the Biggest Lies in History
Bernie Madoff's Ponzi Scheme
When Bernie Madoff admitted that his investment firm was "just one big lie," it was an understatement [source: Esposito]. In 2008, he confessed to having conned about $50 billion from investors who trusted him with their savings. Madoff used the formula of a Ponzi scheme to keep up the fraud for more than a decade.
This classic lie is named after the notorious Charles Ponzi, who used the ploy in the early 20th century. It works like this: A schemer promises investors great returns, but instead of investing the money, he keeps some for himself and uses the funds from new investments to pay off earlier investors.
Madoff may not have invented this lie, but he took it to new lengths. For one, he made a record amount of money from the scheme. But he was also able to keep it going much longer than most Ponzi schemers. Usually, the scam falls apart quickly because it requires the schemer to constantly find more and more investors. It was also an especially shocking lie because Madoff, as a former chairman of NASDAQ, had been an accomplished and respected expert in the financial field. Compare this to Chares Ponzi, who was a petty ex-con by the time he launched his scheme.
Anna Anderson, Alias Anastasia
With the onslaught of the Russian Revolution, the existence of a royal family was intolerable to the Bolsheviks. In 1918, they massacred the royal Romanov family -- Czar Nicholas II, his wife, son and four daughters -- to ensure that no legitimate heir could later resurface and rally the public for support.
Soon, rumors floated around that certain members of the royal family had escaped and survived. As one might expect, claimants came out of the woodwork. "Anna Anderson" was the most famous. In 1920, Anderson was admitted to a hospital after attempting suicide and confessed that she was Princess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the royal family. She stood out from other claimants because she held a certain resemblance to and surprising knowledge of the Russian family and life at court.
Although a few relatives and acquaintances who'd known Anastasia believed Anderson, most didn't. By 1927, an alleged former roommate of Anderson claimed that her name was Franziska Schanzkowska, not Anna and certainly not Anastasia [source: Aron]. This didn't stop Anderson from indulging in celebrity and attempting to cash in on a royal inheritance. She ultimately lost her case in the legal proceedings that dragged on for decades, but she stuck to her story until her death in 1984. Years later, upon the discovery of what proved to be the remains of the royal family, DNA tests confirmed her to be a fake. In 2009, experts were able to finally confirm that all remains have been found and that no family member escaped execution in 1918 [source: CNN]
Titus Oates and the Plot to Kill Charles II
By the time he fabricated his notorious plot, Titus Oates already had a history of deception and general knavery. He'd been expelled from some of England's finest schools as well as the navy. Oates was even convicted of perjury and escaped imprisonment. But his biggest lie was still ahead of him.
Raised Protestant by an Anabaptist preacher, Oates entered Cambridge as a young man to study for Anglican orders. After misconduct got him dismissed from his Anglican post, he started associating with Catholic circles and feigned conversion [source: Butler]. With the encouragement of fellow anti-Catholic Israel Tonge, Oates infiltrated enemy territory by entering a Catholic seminary. In fact, he entered two seminaries -- both of which expelled him. But it hardly mattered. By this time, he had gathered enough inside information and names to wreak enormous havoc.
In 1678, Oates concocted and pretended to uncover a plot in which the Jesuits were planning to murder King Charles II. The idea was that they wanted to replace Charles with his Catholic brother, James. What ensued was a three-year panic that fueled anti-Catholic sentiment and resulted in the executions of about 35 people [source: Encyclopaedia Britannica].
After Charles died in 1685, James became king and had Oates tried for perjury. Oates was convicted, pilloried and imprisoned. He only spent a few years in jail, however, as the Glorious Revolution swept through England in 1688. Without James in power, Oates got off with a pardon and a pension.
Piltdown Man
After Charles Darwin published his revolutionary "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, scientists scrambled to find fossil evidence of extinct human ancestors. They sought these so-called "missing links" to fill in the gaps on the timeline of human evolution. When archaeologist Charles Dawson unearthed what he thought was a missing link in 1910, what he really found was one of the biggest hoaxes in history.
The discovery was the Piltdown man, pieces of a skull and jaw with molars located in the Piltdown quarry in Sussex, England. Dawson brought his discovery to prominent paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward, who touted its authenticity to his dying day.
Although the discovery gained world renown, the lie behind Piltdown man slowly and steadily unraveled. In the ensuing decades, other major discoveries suggested Piltdown man didn't fit in the story of human evolution. By the 1950s, tests revealed that the skull was only 600 years old and the jaw came from an orangutan. Some knowledgeable person apparently manipulated these pieces, including filing down and staining the teeth.
The scientific world had been duped. So who was behind the fraud? Many suspects have surfaced, including Dawson himself. Today, most signs point to Martin A. C. Hinton, a museum volunteer at the time of the discovery. A trunk bearing his initials contained bones that were stained in exactly the same way the Piltdown fossils were. Perhaps he was out to embarrass his boss, Arthur Smith Woodward, who refused to give him a weekly salary.
The Dreyfus Affair
Like the conspiracy invented by Titus Oates, this scandal was built on a lie that dramatically affected national politics and was perpetuated for years by hatred. Alfred Dreyfus was a Jewish officer in the French Army in the late 19th century when he was accused of a treasonous crime: selling military secrets to Germany.
After his highly publicized trial, authorities sentenced him to life imprisonment on Devils Island, and anti-Semitic groups used him as an example of unpatriotic Jews. However, suspicions arose that the incriminating letters were in fact forged and that a Maj. Esterhazy was the real culprit. When French authorities suppressed these accusations, the novelist Emile Zola stepped up to accuse the army of a vast cover-up.
The scandal exploded into a fight between so-called Dreyfusards, who wanted to see the case reopened, and anti-Dreyfusards, who didn't. On both sides, the debate became less about Dreyfus' innocence and more about the principle. During the dramatic 12-year controversy, many violent anti-Semitic riots broke out and political allegiances shifted as Dreyfusards called for reform.
After Maj. Hubert Joseph Henry admitted to forging key documents and committed suicide, a newly elected Cabinet finally reopened the case. The court found Dreyfus guilty again; however, he soon received a pardon from the president. A few years later, a civilian court of appeals found Dreyfus innocent, and he went on to have a distinguished army career and fought with honor in World War I. Meanwhile, the scandal had changed the face of politics in France.
Clinton/Lewinsky Affair
In January 1998, citizen journalist Matt Drudge reported a sensational story that turned out to be true. The president of the United States, Bill Clinton, had an affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. As suspicions mounted, Clinton publicly denied the allegations. As if this lie weren't big enough, it turned out that Clinton had lied under oath about the affair as well -- which was perjury and grounds for impeachment.
Here's how the truth came out. Paula Jones was an Arkansas state employee when then-governor Clinton allegedly propositioned her. She later sued him for sexual harassment. In an effort to prove that Clinton had a pattern of such behavior, lawyers set out to expose his sexual affairs. They found Linda Tripp, a former White House secretary and confidant of Lewinsky. Tripp recorded telephone conversations in which Lewinsky talked of her affair with Clinton. Lawyers then probed Clinton with specific questions and cornered him into denying the affair under oath.
During the highly publicized scandal, prosecutor Kenneth Starr subpoenaed Clinton, who finally admitted to the relationship. Based on Starr's report, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton for not only perjury but obstruction of justice. Despite the scandal, Clinton maintained relatively high approval ratings from the American public, and the Senate acquitted him of the charges. However, in the eyes of many Americans, his legacy remained tarnished.
Watergate
Two decades before the Clinton scandal, another U.S. president was caught in a web of lies, and the controversy had devastating effects on the country as a whole.
In the summer before President Richard Nixon's successful re-election to a second term, five men were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, housed in the Watergate Hotel. As details emerged over the next year, it became clear that officials close to Nixon gave the orders to the burglars, perhaps to plant wiretaps on the phones there. The question soon became about whether Nixon knew of, covered up or even ordered the break-in.
In response to mounting suspicions, Nixon denied allegations that he knew anything. In front of 400 Associated Press editors, famously proclaimed, "I am not a crook." He was talking about whether he had ever profited from public service, but that one quote came to represent his entire political career.
It was a lie that came back to haunt him. When it was revealed that private White House conversations about the matter were recorded, the investigative committee subpoenaed the tapes. Nixon's refusal on the basis of "executive privilege" brought the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that he had to relinquish the tapes.
The tapes were exactly the smoking gun needed to implicate Nixon in the cover-up of the scandal. They revealed that he obviously knew more about the matter than he claimed. Upon the initiation of impeachment proceedings, Nixon gave up and resigned from office. The scandal left a lasting scar on the American political scene and helped usher Washington outsider Jimmy Carter into the presidency a few years later.
The Big Lie: Nazi Propaganda
By the time Nazism arose in Germany in the 1930s, anti-Semitism was nothing new -- not by a long shot. The Jewish people had suffered a long history of prejudice and persecution. And although Nazis perpetuated centuries-old lies, this time those lies would have their most devastating effects. Like never before, anti-Semitism was manifested in a sweeping national policy known as "the Final Solution," which sought to eliminate Jews from the face of the Earth.
To accomplish this, Adolf Hitler and his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, launched a massive campaign to convince the German people that the Jews were their enemies. Having taken over the press, they spread lies blaming Jews for all of Germany's problems, including the loss of World War I. One outrageous lie dating back to the Middle Ages claimed that Jews engaged in the ritual killings of Christian children and used their blood in the unleavened bread eaten at Passover [source: Landau].
Using Jews as the scapegoat, Hitler and his cronies orchestrated what they called "the big lie." This theory states that no matter how big the lie is (or more precisely, because it's so big), people will believe it if you repeat it enough. Everyone tells small lies, Hitler reasoned, but few have the guts to tell colossal lies [source: Hoffer]. Because a big lie is so unlikely, people will come to accept it.
This theory helps us understand so many of the lies throughout history. Although we've barely scratched the surface of all those lies that deserve (dis)honorable mentions, you can satiate your historical curiosity by browsing the lists on the next page.By the time Nazism arose in Germany in the 1930s, anti-Semitism was nothing new -- not by a long shot. The Jewish people had suffered a long history of prejudice and persecution. And although Nazis perpetuated centuries-old lies, this time those lies would have their most devastating effects. Like never before, anti-Semitism was manifested in a sweeping national policy known as "the Final Solution," which sought to eliminate Jews from the face of the Earth.
To accomplish this, Adolf Hitler and his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, launched a massive campaign to convince the German people that the Jews were their enemies. Having taken over the press, they spread lies blaming Jews for all of Germany's problems, including the loss of World War I. One outrageous lie dating back to the Middle Ages claimed that Jews engaged in the ritual killings of Christian children and used their blood in the unleavened bread eaten at Passover [source: Landau].
Using Jews as the scapegoat, Hitler and his cronies orchestrated what they called "the big lie." This theory states that no matter how big the lie is (or more precisely, because it's so big), people will believe it if you repeat it enough. Everyone tells small lies, Hitler reasoned, but few have the guts to tell colossal lies [source: Hoffer]. Because a big lie is so unlikely, people will come to accept it.
This theory helps us understand so many of the lies throughout history. Although we've barely scratched the surface of all those lies that deserve (dis)honorable mentions, you can satiate your historical curiosity by browsing the lists on the next page.
Biggest Lies in History Han van Meegeren's Vermeer Forgeries
Biggest Lies in History
Biggest Lies in History
How Valentine's Day Works
History of Electronics
Basic Electronic Components
Saturday, 2 March 2013
windows 7 keys
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Friday, 1 March 2013
windows 8
Start 8
One of the things about not having a Start button on the desktop that is so frustrating to many early adopters is that the very first public test release of Windows 8 actually had one! It still re-directed you to the Start Screen that we see today, but the button was there for anyone who wanted to use it. Start 8 took that one step further, and implemented an experience that gently blends the Windows 8 Start Screen and the UI that every Windows user is already familiar with.
Apps, using the same icons that are generated in the Start Screen, populate the Start 8 menu. Everything about the UI meshes very well with the rest of the Desktop UI, right down to the use of flat colors and simple animation. It also offers all of the same functionality that was available on the Start menu in Windows 7, including the Control Panel and shut down functions. In my opinion, Start 8 is what traditional Windows PC users would expect from the next version of Windows.
Start 8 has a free 30 day trial, but is available for $4.99 on the Stardock website.
ViStart
When Windows Vista came pre-loaded on PC’s, there were several companies that offered the ability to downgrade back to XP almost as an apology for including the OS on their products. ViStart looks and feels almost exactly like that for Windows 8, only it’s designed to work as far back as XP. Everything about the UI looks like the classic style Aero Glass experience out of the box, with open theme tools available so third parties can release custom UI’s for the program.
If you were to install ViStart on a Windows 8 system before handing it to them, the user would have a difficult time telling you that they were using Windows 8. Unfortunately, even on a high end system, there were points in which ViStart lagged out or crashed altogether. At one point, a complete reboot was required in order to restore ViStart to a functional state.
ViStart is completely free, but the quality is not great. To make matters worse, their installer includes a lot of pre-selected options to install unrelated third party software that many users would likely glaze over during installation.
Pokki
If you’re going to re-invent the wheel and bring back the Start menu, you might as well do it with some style and make sure yours stands out, right? Pokki is more than an unusual name, it’s a completely fresh take on a Start Menu. Pokki’s UI creates a self contained user experience that allows you to be as simple or as complex as you like. Your Start Menu can be just an application launcher, it or can be the launchpad for your twitter feed, the portal for your email, and a quick launch dock for your favorite apps.
Pokki takes the Desktop experience and adds notifications, just like you would expect in your mobile experience. As a Start button replacement it is a cool animated tool, but it is also designed to work well with touch. It takes all of the features of Windows 8 and bundles them up in a tool that is much easier for someone who has never seen Windows 8 to understand. Of course, if you’re just looking for a Start replacement, Pokki serves as a quick and pleasant to use menu that grants access to shut down as well as file management and Control Panel.
I would have expected to pay for Pokki, and was surprised to see that it was not only free, but requires the least effort to install and use out of the batch of Start replacements that were tested.
These options should be more than enough to quench your thirst for a Start menu in Windows 8. And, don’t forget, some PC vendors are including Start menu-like tools with their Windows 8 systems in an effort to differentiate their offerings and satisfy users who miss the operating system’s most prominent feature.
Windows 8 tips: How to get your Start menu back
Easily the most dramatic change made to the latest version of Windows was the decision to remove the Start button from the bottom left corner of the operating system’s Desktop view. While the change makes a lot more sense on a touch screen device, the choice to just flat out remove a staple of the OS has caused some coping issues with long time Windows users. .
If you’re using a mouse and keyboard, and are somehow unfamiliar with the Windows key on your keyboard, reaching the Start screen from the Desktop is a two step process. And then when you get to the new Metro-ified Start screen, it might not be what you want — those live tiles are great for new and social, but those aren’t always what you are looking for.
Fortunately, there are no shortage of software developers that have stepped up to the task of rescuing the Start button and it’s menu options from the depths of Windows 8.
Power 8
Because the Start Menu itself has changed quite a bit over the years, there’s a lot of flexibility to be had when developing a replacement for it. Power 8 is specifically designed for Windows 8, making sure to offer the Start button with tools and features that play well with the rest of the new OS. The first thing you see when you open Power 8 is a list of programs, with the ability to pin them quickly to your taskbar. Over time, you would probably be less likely to use the Power 8 button for everything, since your applications would all be pinned to the taskbar for rapid access.
There’s also a file manager UI baked into Power 8 that does a good job of letting you quickly navigate your file system without having to double click through a bunch of folders to get what you want. This would appeal to anyone who stores a lot of content locally and wanted a fast way of accessing things that were buried deep within other folders. Power 8 also includes one click access to things like the shutdown, hibernate, and lock screen functions, which aren’t quite so accessible in the stock configuration of Windows 8 with a mouse and keyboard.
Power 8 is available for free, with the source code available to anyone who contributes to the project.
Start Menu 8
If we were handing out awards for the neatest looking Start button icon replacement, Start Menu 8 would win it. The software is designed to be as flexible as you need when setting up your own personalized start menu. You could almost use Start Menu 8 as a complete fullscreen replacement for the desktop, though that is certainly not the intended purpose. Start Menu 8 includes a somewhat unique feature, in that it allows the computer to boot straight to the desktop to give the whole experience a feel that is much more like “traditional” Windows experiences.
The design is such that you should never feel the need to use the Windows 8 Start screen at all. Your programs, settings, and folder system are all accessible here, as well as all the Control Panel features and screen controls. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from using the Windows 8 Start screen and switching between the two experiences is pretty simple. Pressing the Windows key on the keyboard will still return you to the new Windows 8 Start, which neatly allows yout o contain both experiences.
Start Menu 8 is available for free, but there are no shortage of hooks in the program to try and get you to upgrade to the pro version.
Classic Shell
Some users have been unhappy with the Start Menu for a lot longer than others. The team at Classic Shell have been implementing their own version of the Start Menu since Windows Vista. With that much time comes a lot more in the way of enhanced features and stability when faced with unique situations. It’s also translated in 35 different languages and offers a wealth of documentation for using the advanced features.
Everything about the UI for Classic Shell can be modified. The default UI reminds me of early Windows XP, even Windows 2000 in some areas. Every part can be skinned, themed, and altered to look however you like. The settings for this start menu are incredibly granular and even allows for control over the animations as you move from menu to menu. For Windows 8, you can do away with the Modern UI entirely with Classic Shell and come about as close as possible to completely reverting to a Windows 7 or earlier workflow. Of course, if you still wanted to take advantage of things like Windows Store and the apps that go along with it, Classic Shell makes that easy.
Classic Shell is free, and from what I can tell by browsing their website, very well supported by the community should you encounter any problems.
Wednesday, 27 February 2013
electron
engineering final year procject ideas for ece
ece projects topics list for final year ( New Ideas )
1. DTMF mobile phone controlled dam water gates controlling system with high-level protection
2. uC based Wireless Temperature Measurement
3. GPS based travel assistant for blind people
4. Image based password authentication for Illiterates with Touchscreen
5. (GPS+GSM+Microcontroller)
6. AC/DC/Stepper Motor Closed Loop Speed Control
7. Wireless Heartbeat Monitoring and Alert system
8. Using this project the digital camera can be controlled remotely using RF Transmitter and Receiver The controls include taking picture snaps, switching on the flash light, changing camera direction using stepper motor etc
9. GPS Navigator/Logger (Microcontroller Board + Memory Card +PC Software)
10. Microcontroller based automatic liquid dispensing system Used in Tea/Coffee, Soft Drink vending machines
11. GSM Based Irrigation System
12. Microcontroller and Touchscreen based wireless library book catalog system
13. Password protected GSM based Device control
14. Note: Digital Camera also will be given to the students along with microcontroller hardware kit
15. PC Controlled Digital Devices
16. Using Unconstrained Tongue Motion as an Alternative Control Mechanism for Wheeled Mobility (IEEE )
17. PC Controlled Analog Devices
18. Automatic Intelligent Plant Watering System (Microcontroller + Rain Sensor)
19. Touchscreen controlled motor speed and direction controlling system
20. The design was carried out through the use of two infrared sensors The sensors check blood density on the patient's fingertips in order to measure heart rate The raw data from the sensors is processed by microcontroller and the processed data is sent to LCD display
21. Using Magneto-Inductive Sensors to Detect Tongue Position in a Wireless Assistive Technology for People with Severe Disabilities (IEEE )
22. The purpose of this project is to get SMS alerts whenever the electrical power status changes to ON or OFF Use your mobile phone to switch on/off the water pump from any location in the world (GSM Modem + Microcontroller + Electromagnetic Relays)
23. Microcontroller based Generator/Alternator Control and Monitoring System
24. GPS based universal clock Gets the time from satellites and displays on GLCD
25. Telugu Tutor with dynamic text and Images identification for elementary school kids
26. Radio Frequency based remote controlled robot with wireless video camera mounted on it
27. Accelerometer (Gyroscope) Controlled Robot Accelerometer is mems based -axis sensor that can sense the tilt in of the -diamentions The robot moment is controlled based on the tilt angle of the robot No need to press any buttons for robot control
28. Electrical Data (voltage, current, frequency etc) Logger (SCADA)
29. uC based Real Time Clock and Multiple Device control based on Time and Date
30. uC based MMC/SD Memory Card Interfaceing with FAT File System (Data Logger)
31. Digital Multimeter (Microcontroller Board + Sensors + LCD)
32. Standalone GPS Coordinates(Latitude,Longitude) Locater (GPS+Microcontroller+LCD)
33. GPS & GSM Based Realtime Vehicle Tracking System
34. MEMS Accelerometer based digital photo frame with automatic position/view adjustment system (similar to digital cameras)
35. Wireless PC based multi-patient health monitoring system for Corporate Hospitals
36. GSM based digital Notice board with display on Monitor or LCD display
37. Triac and optically isolated diac based electrical oven temperature monitoring and controlling system with zero-crossing detector
38. Microcontroller and Triac based realtime temperature monitoring and control
39. Solar data logger into MMC/SD Memory Card
40. Digital vehicle speedometer with password enabled speed limit setting
electrical conducion
Electrical conduction
Electrical conduction is the movement of electrically charged particles through a transmission medium.
The movement can form an electric current in response to an electric field.
The underlying mechanism for this movement depends on the material. Conduction in metals and resistors is well described by Ohm's Law, which states that the current is proportional to the applied electric field.
Metals are good conductors because they have unfilled space in the valence energy band.
Another medium, a "perfect vacuum," contains no charged particles; vacuums normally behave as very good insulators.
However, metal electrode surfaces can cause a region of the vacuum to become conductive by injecting free electrons or ions through either field emission or thermionic emission.
beautiful lines
“For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.”
Firefighters could be helped by holograph technology
Infra-red holography could be more useful than the camera imagery currently used by firefighters searching for people trapped in burning buildings, researchers in Italy say.
They have built an imaging system that uses an infra-red laser to penetrate areas of thick smoke and flames.
The beam reflects off any objects, including people, within the area.
That data is then decoded by an imager to create a 3D model of everything inside the room.
Infra-red (IR) camera monitors currently used by firefighters require lenses that can be blinded by intense fire, said researcher Pietro Ferraro, of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) Istituto Nazionale di Ottica in Italy.
"IR cameras cannot 'see' objects or humans behind flames because of the need for a zoom lens that concentrates the rays on the sensor to form the image," he said.
"It became clear to us that we had in our hands a technology that could be exploited by emergency responders and firefighters at a fire scene to see through smoke without being blinded by flames, a limitation of existing technology."
A man stood behind a flame seen via a traditional imaging system (left) and via infrared digital holography (right)
Mr Ferraro added that fire victims who were moving could also be picked up by the system.
"Perhaps most importantly, we demonstrated for the first time that a holographic recording of a live person can be achieved even while the body is moving."
Other potential applications include monitoring breathing and cardiac activity, said Mr Ferraro - but the next step for the researchers was to make the technology more portable.
The research has been published in journal Optics Express
Satellites falling: 'Space dust' responsible?
Satellites are falling and 'space dust' or natural micro-meteoroids may be responsible for damaging and even completely shutting them down, a Stanford scientist has claimed.
New research by Stanford aeronautics and astronautics Assistant Professor Sigrid Close suggests she is on track to solve a mystery that has long bedevilled space exploration: Why do satellites fail?
It is popularly imagined that satellites are imperilled by impacts from "space junk" - particles of man-made debris the size of a pea that litter the Earth's upper atmosphere - or by large meteoroids like the one that recently exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Although such impacts are a serious concern, most satellites that have died in space haven't been knocked out by them. Something else has killed them.
Researchers say the likely culprit, it turns out, is material so tiny its nickname is "space dust."
These natural micro-meteoroids are not directly causing satellites harm. When they hit an object in space, however, they are travelling so fast that they turn into a quasi-neutral gas of ions and electrons known as plasma.
That plasma, Close theorises, has the potential to create a radio signal that can damage, and even completely shut down, the satellites they hit.
The signal is an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP – similar in concept but not in size to what is generated by nuclear detonations.
A massive EMP recently knocked out cell phones when the Chelyabinsk meteoroid hit, the report said.
"Spacecraft transmit a radio signal, so they can receive one that might potentially disable them," Close said.
"So our question was:
- See more at: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/satellites-falling-space-dust-responsible-/1080708#sthash.pAXpFvMT.dpuf
Ten smartphones with tablet ambitions...
Product Round-up How we all laughed when Samsung launched the Galaxy Note toward the end of 2011. Who could possibly want a phone with a 5.3-inch screen? It turned out rather a lot of people did, and the unqualified success of the 4.8-inch Galaxy S III and 5.6-inch Galaxy Note 2 proved that what many punters want is a phone with a really, really, really big screen. A tablet and phone in one, in other words.
All hail, then, the rise of the ‘phablet’ - a stupid word, of course, but one that now seems firmly lodged in the parlance of our time.
A day spent wandering around the exhibition halls of this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas underlined the fact that the Note is only the tip of the iceberg. According to market watcher IHS iSuppli, 60.4 million phones with screens of five inches or more between the corners will find a home during 2013, a 135 per cent rise over 2012’s total. By 2016 world+dog will supposedly be buying 140 million of these monsters.
And it’s not just the screen sizes that got bigger at CES. Everywhere you looked there were devices with 1080p resolution displays. On a 5-inch screen that equates to a 441 pixels per inch dot density. The reign of the 720p superphone has ended almost as soon as it began.
Sadly for fans of Apple’s mobile operating systems, and of Microsoft’s, the cupboard is bare. It’s hard to imagine that a Windows Phone 8 device with a 5-inch screen won’t arrive before the end of 2013 so, for the time being, the best on offer is the 4.8-inch Samsung Ativ S. As for Apple, there are rumours of a new 5.0-inch iPhone six months or so down the line but who knows how reliable they are.
Time then to poke the Android phablet anthill with a stick and see what comes angrily spilling out. I should say in advance that I’ve only had a brief fiddle with some of these devices so the final products that wash up on Blighty’s shores may not be quite the same. Here is what to expect.
Alcatel One Touch Scribe HD
Alcatel was the surprise of CES 2013, coming from nowhere to display a raft of phones, phablets and tablets that were really rather impressive. Many pundits thought the highlight was the Scribe X with its 5-inch, 1920 x 1080 display, quad-core 1.4GHz processor and 12Mp camera, but it was the lesser 5-inch, 1280 x 720, IPS LCD Scribe HD that caught my eye. The reason: I suspect it will be as cheap as chips when, or indeed if, it goes on sale in the UK while still offering a pretty decent specification.
Running on a 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6589 chip with 1GB of RAM, the Scribe HD comes with 4GB of storage, a MicroSD card slot and a usefully beefy 2500mAh battery. Apparently it has been designed in such a way that the chip doesn’t suffer from the overheating that Alcatel reckons affects some of its quad-core rivals - Nexus 4, I guess they are looking at you here. The plastic body wasn’t the most impressive thing I’ve ever had in my hand, but I’m guessing it will cost much less than any handset here apart from the super-budget Kogan, assuming Alcatel doesn’t go tits up in the meantime.
Price TBC
More Info Alcatel
Asus PadFone 2
The PadFone 2 grabs the phablet concept by the short and curlies, and drags it off into the woods for a good seeing to. A device of two parts, Harry, it consists of a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 phone that can slot into the back of a 10.1-inch tablet. Unlike the Mk. 1 PadFone that never made it to these shores, there is no inconvenient hatch to open before you dock the phone - you just slide it into the grooved receptacle on the back and - wallop - you have a 10-inch phone with a 1280 x 800 display. And you can still use the phone’s 12Mp camera.
The PadFone 1’s clever but apparently seldom used combo stylus/earpiece hasn’t been carried over, but you can still make calls when docked, either with a Bluetooth headset or through the tablet’s speaker and mic. Or you can answer a call by simply sliding the phone out of the dock. With a 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chip, 2GB of RAM, 2140 and 5000mAh batteries, the PadFone 2 can handle the sprint and the marathon, and is arguably the perfect solution to the one device, one data plan, all uses conundrum. Expect an official announcement about UK availability this week at Mobile World Congress.
Adobe releases Photoshop Touch for iPhone, iPod touch and Android phones
Adobe has finally brought its Photoshop Touch app to iPhone, iPod touch and Android phones. Photoshop Touch has been available for iPad and Android tablets since early last year.
The iPhone and Android apps come with a feature-set that's almost identical to the tablets apps. The UI, of course, is optimised for the smaller screen of mobile phones.
Adobe Photoshop Touch for iPhone and Android phones includes core Photoshop features like layers, advanced selections tools, adjustments and filters. Also included are touch-optimised features like Scribble Selection for high-precision selections using just the finger, and Camera Fill for real-time blending of your camera feed with layers. This app features the same filters as the tablet version, like Colour Drops and Acrylic Paint, and also a new Ripple filter.
Photoshop Touch comes with support for Adobe Creative Cloud, which means you can start a project on the phone, continue it on the tablet or your desktop/ laptop running Adobe CS6. This capability is available to every customer with a free Creative Cloud account.
However, like the tablet the app, it still does not include support for Dropbox or opening files via email, which is sure to disappoint many users.
The app is available for download via App Store or Google Play for Rs. 270.
Adobe Photoshop Touch for iPad (Rs. 550 on the App Store) last received an update in December last year. The update improved the Gallery browsing experience. Adobe Photoshop Touch for Android tablets (Rs. 550 approximately on Google Play) was last updated on 28 November 2012. The update included an interface optimised for 7-inch tablets, improved grid layout, two new effects, smoother brush strokes, quick access to last 5 colours, sharing options and various bug fixes.
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- See more at: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/adobe-releases-photoshop-touch-for-iphone-ipod-touch-and-android-phones-336301#sthash.zmWkMjYW.dpuf
Evernote hits 1 million user mark in India
Evernote, the company behind the popular cross platform note-taking app, announced that it has crossed 1 million users in India.
"User adoption for Evernote in India started slowly, but picked up at a rapid pace in the last two years. The global user base of Evernote is more than 50 million today and in India now we've hit a million!" said Linda Kozlowski, Director of Market Development, APAC for Evernote, while commenting on the milestone.
The company also released a few statistics around the usage of the Evernote service. As per the company, Evernote added 92,000 users per month in India, on an average, over the last 3 months. The company added that it has 3 times as many users as 12 months ago and 12 times as many users as 2 years ago.
She added, "Like our CEO, Phil, always says, we built Evernote for ourselves, it was something we wanted to use and now we love and rely on it. We quickly realised that there were many more like us who really appreciate the product. Having a million users in India is evidence of Evernote's value across regions and cultures."
In terms of platforms, Evernote has the most users on Android, followed by Evernote Web and Evernote Windows, respectively. Interestingly, most notes in India have been created on Windows, closely followed by Android.
Launched in 2008, the service allows users to capture, organise, and find information across multiple platforms. Users can take notes, clip webpages, snap photos using their mobile phones, create to-dos, and record audio. All data is synchronised with the Evernote web service and made available to clients on Windows, Mac, Web, and mobile devices. Additionally, the Evernote service indexes incoming notes, making printed or handwritten text in images searchable. - See more at: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/evernote-hits-1-million-user-mark-in-india-336293#sthash.EWNVNRbm.dpuf
LG Optimus G Hits India at Rs 34500: All That You Need To Know
The latest smartphone loaded with some amazing features. Know more!
www.nokia.com/Lumia_920 Buy Samsung Dual Sim
Limited offer at GetitBazaar. Online Shopping Indian Style
GetitBazaar.com/Grand-Launch
Well, the LG event scheduled to take place in Mumbai has started and finally Optimus G has been launched on the stage. The pre event buzz was that LG Optimus G appeared on the official LG India website at a price of Rs 35,500. Just now, at the event the price has been confirmed to be at Rs 34,500.
According to the company''s press release, LG Optimus G boasts a sleek design and boasts, True HD IPS Plus and Zerogap Touch. The new battery from LG Chem has a longer life designed for multitasking. An ultra high-resolution, compact camera is employed in the Optimus G to offer super sharp photos without pixilation.
Further, LG Optimus G is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor - a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU processor with Asysnchronous Symmetric Multiprocessing, which enables each core to power up and down independently to increase performance while saving battery life.
LG developed and patented Crystal Reflection to give the back cover the ability to display different patterns depending on the angle and lighting. The intricate pattern gives Optimus G a clean finish reminiscent of a jewel.
The Optimus G creates the perfect combination of pleasure and functionality through a unique user experience not seen on any other device. While mobile communication, business, and entertainment are easily accommodated with the Optimus G, the all-new device can also release one's inner artist with a wide range of features including:
The QSlide Function shows two different screens simultaneously on one display so users can quickly send an important work email while playing a graphic-intense video at the same time.
QuickMemo allows users to take notes on captured documents or photos with their fingers and instantly share with colleagues as an attachment or URL.
Live Zooming enhances viewing experiences by enabling consumers to zoom in up to five times while watching video to see small details normally hidden on the screen.
Photographs can be intensified with camera capabilities like Time Catch Shot, which empowers the user to choose the best photo among various shots taken before the shutter button is pressed.
Dual Screen Dual Play not only allows mirroring between the smartphone and a TV or monitor, it also has the ability to display different content on each screen. For example, a slide presentation can be displayed on the monitor while the Optimus G shows the accompanying speaking notes.
Creativity is also put to the test by the Icon Personalizer, which allows consumers to customize the sizes and images of their most-used apps.
Three Dead in Shooting at Swiss Factory
GENEVA — At least 3 people were killed in a shooting at a Swiss factory on Wednesday, the police said, adding that the gunman was among the dead. The episode was the second mass shooting in Switzerland this year.
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The shooting occurred at about 9 a.m. in the canteen of a Kronospan wood processing factory in the town of Menznau, about 14 miles west of Lucerne, the police said in a statement. A spokesman for the police in Lucerne said that the gunman was a 42-year-old employee of the factory, but he gave no further details. The police said that the gunman was among those dead but that he was not shot by the police. The police were still at the factory investigating.
Seven people were injured in the shooting, the police said. The helicopter rescue service RGA said it evacuated four seriously injured people to hospital, the Swiss news agency SDA reported.
Mass shootings are uncommon in Switzerland, but the shooting in Menznau was the second such episode in two months, and it could revive debate on gun control in Switzerland, where it is estimated that there are between two and three million guns in circulation among the country’s population of eight million people.
In January, a mentally ill man, armed with a hunting rifle and an early-20th-century army carbine, shot and killed three women and wounded two men in the southern Swiss village of Daillon. That shooting renewed calls for stricter gun controls, ranging from setting up a central registry of weapons to ending the tradition that allows people who perform military service to keep army-issue weapons at home.
Luxor balloon disaster 'blow' for Egyptian tourism
(CNN) -- The tragic hot air balloon crash in Luxor on Tuesday comes at a time when Egypt's tourism industry has been struggling to prove that the country is still safe to visit in the wake of the 2011 revolution.
Nineteen people died when canisters aboard the balloon exploded over Luxor, a popular destination for tourists visiting its ancient temples and tombs.
Read more: Egypt balloon explosion probe could take two weeks
International tourism has long been a mainstay of the Egyptian economy, with United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) figures showing it generated $10.1B in 2012.
"To give you an idea, international tourism generates more income to Egypt that the Suez Canal ($5.1B in 2011 as compared to $8.7B from tourism that same year)," UNWTO chief of communications Sandra Carvao said. "In terms of the impact on jobs, tourism employs directly nearly 18 million people."
Tourists killed in hot air balloon blast 2009 hot air balloon crash survivor speaks How to stay safe in a hot air balloon Hot air balloon burns, plummets to ground
In January -- two years after the start of the 2011 uprising that overthrew long-time Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak-- protests again took place in Egyptian cities. Official media reported that at least seven people were killed during clashes between anti-government protesters and those loyal to new President Mohamed Morsi.
Read more: What's behind the latest wave of violence in Egypt?
Nadejda Popova, senior travel and tourism analyst at market research company Euromonitor International, acknowledged that the ongoing political unrest -- as well as Europe's economic downturn -- had affected Egyptian tourism.
But she said Egypt remained a key Middle Eastern tourism destination and that there were indications that there had been a slight recovery in 2012. Euromonitor's preliminary figures suggested that there had been a 4% rise on 2011 to 9.4 million tourism arrivals -- as well as signs investors had not given up on Egypt's tourism market, she said.
The UNWTO's 2012 data also pointed to what Carvao described as "a clear recovery in demand", with a 17% increase in tourism arrivals, to 11.2 million.
How safe is hot air ballooning?
However, Popova said numbers were still down, with the political transition "heavily impacting" Egyptian tourism.
"It is far away from the pre-crisis levels when we had 12 million, for example, in 2010 tourist arrivals in the country," she said. "The political instability and the continuous uprising have been probably among the biggest threats to this recovery." Popova said she expected numbers to return to their pre-crisis levels by 2017.
Earlier this month Egypt's tourism minister, Hisham Zazou, told CNN that live webcams were being installed in holiday hotspots to prove that the country's tourism industry was healthy. Footage of holidaymakers "basking in the sun" would give Egypt's tourism industry more credibility, he said. "When [tourists] see it, they will come."
Read more: Egypt's tourism minister -- Webcams will prove we're safe
Popova said the Egyptian authorities were developing strategies to strengthen tourism with a focus on diversifying the market. In 2012, Russia remained one of the leading countries in terms of arrivals, alongside travelers from the UK, Germany and Italy, but the tourism ministry was trying to lure in more travelers from other markets such as Asia and Latin America, she said.
ElBaradei: Egypt 'is a failed state' Africa's severe youth unemployment Torture claims fuel anger in Egypt Egypt journalist discusses Arab Spring
Morsi's decision to host Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-- the first Iranian president to visit Egypt in more than 30 years -- was potentially another way of diversifying the consumer segment, she said.
Read more: Shoes hurled at Iranian President Ahmadinejad during trip to Cairo
Travel journalist and senior travel editor at Britain's The Independent newspaper Simon Calder said an increase in interest from Asia was unfortunately reflected in the list of the dead from the Luxor disaster. Officials said those on board included nine tourists from Hong Kong, four from Japan, three from Britain, two from France and one from Hungary.
The last thing post-revolutionary Egypt needed was "a tragedy of this magnitude," Calder said.
"Even though -- during the entire two years to my knowledge -- not a single tourist has been harmed, it gives the impression of a state unraveling where security cannot be guaranteed," he said. It's a tremendous thing and great tribute to the people in the country that they've managed to protect their guests, however this is possibly going to create a different image."
Popova said while she did not expect the crash to have "major repercussions" for Egypt's tourism industry as a whole, it had tarnished its image.
Egypt's temporary ban on balloon flights -- introduced after the crash -- was "an indication the authorities are concerned not only about the safety of the people but also about their image and how people perceive them," she said. The disaster was a blow for an industry "trying everything in their effort to bring people back to the country," she said.
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