A picture is worth a thousand words

The above proverb is justified by the pictures in the link mentioned below.These pictures are Natures Best Photography 2007 Award Winners.They are simply amazing.

Nature's Best Photography 2007 Award Winners

Artic Sea To Be ICE FREE as early as 2012

I think if all of polar ice caps melt as soon as 2012 it is not long before the kevin costner's water world film will turn into a reality.

Here is an excerpt from the article which says polar ice caps would be melting up much sooner than expected :-

An already relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated that summer sea ice would be gone in five years.

Greenland's ice sheet melted nearly 19 billion tons more than the previous high mark, and the volume of Arctic sea ice at summer's end was half what it was just four years earlier, according to new NASA satellite data obtained by The Associated Press.

"The Arctic is screaming," said Mark Serreze, senior scientist at the government's snow and ice data center in Boulder, Colo.

Just last year, two top scientists surprised their colleagues by projecting that the Arctic sea ice was melting so rapidly that it could disappear entirely by the summer of 2040.

This week, after reviewing his own new data, NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally said: "At this rate, the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012, much faster than previous predictions."

Source :- AOL

AOL in Tamil

AOL has recently been pushing in for its share it in the Indian pie.Here is its latest avatar.AOL TAMIL

Edit 04DEC2011:- "AOL TamiL" (RIP) is no more.The closest one gets to AOL Indian domain is aol.CoolAge.in

Can we see Gundams in near future

The time when you see battle robots in action may be sooner then we all think.The US army personnel are seen in the below video testing out exoskeletons(Body Armour).Guess these will grow in siz in near future and we will have wars involving huge armours like in star wars and gundam series

Infant used to bomb Bhutto's rally in Karachi?

Man i think people are getting more maniacal by the day.According to a report on AOL now babies are being used as bombs . First came the suicide bombers in the form of men , then women and now babies.

People who make babies into live bombs must be awarded maximum possible punishment . How can people get so low

Added Meebo Connectivity

Hi all, anyone can use the meebo widget on this page to communicate with me when i am online on meebo. You can also leave messages offline messages to me.Just type in your nick in the appropriate box and type away messages you want to send me

China zoo tigers turn on each other in hunger

BEIJING - Tigers in a north China zoo that was too poor to properly feed them turned on each other, killing and eating one, zoo authorities said on Monday.


The same zoo was shut down briefly last year due to a shortage of funds and lack of visitors, earlier media reports said.

"We only receive 1,000 yuan ($135) per month in government subsidies and the park is only able to generate another 1,000 yuan each month from the sale of tickets, which is the main source of income," the official said.

In the incident, which happened on Sunday, four tigers got into a fight, killing one and devouring its innards.

Last year, a zoo in the northwestern region of Xinjiang that was home to an endangered Siberian tiger faced with a similar financial crisis when the zoo's ticket revenues fell short of operating costs.

Are all you gmail messages safe ? Think again

Short excerpt of the article which claims that gmail messages are getting deletd from inbox :-

Disappearing Gmail messages baffle users
Juan Carlos Perez
November 15, 2007 (IDG News Service) When Jeneane Sessum logged into her Gmail account on the afternoon of Oct. 27, she was greeted with a horrifying sight: an empty inbox.


A Gmail user since 2004, Sessum, a social media consultant and writer in Atlanta, had thousands of messages there, enough to use up almost 30% of her allotted storage space.


Since Gmail is her primary work and personal e-mail service, Sessum lost many important messages, including some she needed at that moment for a project.


Days earlier in Chicago, Jessica Squazzo, a writer and editor, accessed Gmail and stared at her computer screen in disbelief: All messages from 2007 had disappeared from her inbox.

For more on this article ClickMe

Move Over NBA Stars,Make Way For Cheerleaders

Never underestimate the power of a cheerleader! Not only does this one make a half court shot in front of a demanding half-time crowd, but she does it facing in the opposite direction and throwing the ball over her head.

A Site That Is Genuinely Hilarious

I have been a regular at this site called Crystal Air Productions.It is one of the sites which i know which impresses you with its parody.The articles here mock people ranging bush to Spears.You are sure to have a lot of laughs after reading the articles in this site. Some of the headings of articles in this site are :-
"Santa's Elves Caught In Recalled Toy Sting" and "Dermatitis Outbreaks Linked To Zune Usage".For more ClickMe

Who says blonds are dumb

Just realised that they are wonderful human beings

Japanese police have issued an arrest warrant for Hayden Panettiere over her campaign to save dolphins from being slaughtered.

"I learned that they have an arrest warrant out for me in Japan," the 'Heroes' star told E! News. According to UsMagazine.com, the warrant is for obstruction of commerce

The young actress and a group of activists from the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd tried to rescue a pod of dolphins in Japan on Oct. 30, in protest of the annual hunting of the animals by local fisherman.

However, they were unsuccessful. After paddling out to sea on surfboards, the group was blocked by a boat and couldn't reach the doomed creatures.

"It was really frightening. But in the end, all we really worried about was the dolphins," Panettiere said about the incident.

When asked what the warrant could mean for her, she quipped, "Potentially jail, but i doubt it."

Panettiere laid bare her emotions following the Oct. 30 incident, with the actress shedding tears as she told reporters about what she has seen in the water.

"This baby stuck its head out and kind of looked as us, and the thought that the baby is no longer with us is very difficult," she said.

On her reasons for supporting the cause, she said in a statement after the protest, "The dolphins and whales in our ocean are a part of a larger eco-system that prevents the killing off of other marine life. By destroying these animals and not allowing our future generations to enjoy their beauty, we are causing our own selves damage. I always felt the need to speak on behalf of these helpless creatures who can not defend themselves."

Car burglar flees police, nabbed by gator instead

Hindsight being what it is, an unidentified thief (allegedly) burglarizing cars behind the Miccosukee Resort in Dade County, Florida might have picked a different hunting ground had he known that he'd become the hunted. And we mean that in the most literal sense. You see, witnesses called the cops on the burglar while he was breaking into cars, and the boys in blue arrived on the scene and gave chase. Hoping to elude the fuzz, the suspect dove into a pond behind the resort and casino where he was greeted by a 9-foot alligator unfamiliar with the concept of Miranda rights. Unfortunately for the suspected burglar, the gator was of the aggressive and unpleasant variety, and thus, a law-breaking career came to a grisly and unexpected end. He'd have been a lot better off spending the night in the clink instead of heading into the drink. Unfortunately for the gator vigilante, Florida fish & wildlife reps saw to it that he followed his erstwhile prey into the afterlife.
Follow the jump for local news video.

Quintuplets in Britain

Take Five: A one-woman baby boom
Russian mum defies doctors and gives birth to healthy quintuplets in Britain.
Never thought that humans can successfully give birth to so many babies in one pregnancy.Thanks to modern technology it is possible.The chances of such births are
1 in 10 years.
baby boom

Fried Coke,Deep-Fried Cupcake....What Is Next Fried Fanta

Is this a hoax.No sir.It is true.Americans can not get enough of fries.Starting with french fries to the latest Coke Fry americans cannot resist fries.Good for heart I guess(Chuckle)

Here is the recipe for fried coke

Deep-Fried Coca-Cola
Where to Find It: The Texas State Fair in Dallas
Part of what makes some fried foods so interesting is the intrigue factor. Deep-fried Coke, how could someone even do that? Why would someone even think to try that? If you want to know the answer you’ll have to ask its creator, Abel Gonzales Jr., a state fair gourmand who created the award-winning recipe. He mixes the coke in with dough, fries it up, drizzles coke syrup on it, and tops it with cinnamon and whipped cream. After it became obvious that Abel had stumbled onto something great, fry-guys at state fairs all over the country decided to make their own versions. We’ve heard that it’s not as good when Abel’s not the one making it, but we're not going to stop you from trying it wherever you can find it.

For more mouth watering fries click me

Tips About Fueling Your Vehicle

These are suggestions on fueling your vehicle from one who is in petroleum business for 3 decades.

Here are some tricks to help you get your money's worth:
1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallonage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.

2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.

3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)

4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If ou are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains ore vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your money. Hope this will help ease your pain at the pump.

Turkey Pardoning

During the Civil War, Tad Lincoln(Son Of Lincoln) asked his father to spare a turkey named Jack from a holiday meal. President Lincoln obliged his son and pardoned the fortunate turkey. Inspired by this tale, President Harry Truman pardoned the first National Thanksgiving Turkey in 1947. This White House ceremony has been an annual event ever since.
Thanksgiving at the White House, 2006

Better Cricket Ground

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asking all affiliated units to have dedicated stadiums and quality pitches within two years if they want to host matches in the future.
Dedicated stadiums, good wickets must for future matches

Does this mean that it would bridge the performance of ranji teams and international teams? The current ranji games are played in dust bowls which aid only spin.This I hope will create a better talent pool.

Recipe For Back Ache

Travelling to office from home and back on chennai roads during rainy seson is a real nightmare.The situation is worse when the road gets dug up(the culprits being Electricity Board,BSNL,Broadband,Private Telephone operators,Sewerage Board and the list goes on and on,the latest to join the bandwagon are construction companies which are building flyovers at major intersections)and water gets filled in these holes.One cannot judge the depth of these pits if they get filled with water.

These are artificial sink holes which guide motorists to the other world or the hospital beds.If one successfully is able to negotiate these then also they cannot avoid the potholes on the road.(infact some roads with potholes resemble the surface of the moon with craters).One can even go to the extent in saying that potholes ocassionally give way to mettalled surface instead of saying that "the potholes occur on the roads".These pot holes coupled with numerous speed breakers are a sure shot way to getting back aches.

Also the silencers get worn out within 1 year when one rides on these roads.One hopes that elections are held soon so that at least an effort is made by the government to patch these roads

Panacea Of Indian Cricket

It seems cricketers when they get accustomed to any one of the three forms of cricket their form in others suffer.Though India won the T-20 World cup they could not win the 7 match ODI series against Australia but they could win the only T-20 match played after the ODI series quite conmfortably.

So summarising that Indian cricketers can concentrate on only one form of the game why not have one team each of 14 players for each form of game(i.e.One team each for Tests,ODIS,T-20) and build up specialized team.

This would have following advantages :-
==>Players need not adapt to other formats
==>Large talent pool of players
==>Better utilization of talent as more players get chance in the Indian team.

Gundam Mania?

Lately I have been watching Gundam series on the web. I am a die hard gundam fan and i love both series. They are
==>Gundam X and
==>Victory Gundam

On completion of Victory Gundam i would have completed 5 Gundam series
==>Gundam Original
==>Gundam Zeta
==>Gundam ZZ
==>Gundam X
==>Gundam Victory

Looking forward to see the Gundam Seed series and gundam short films.
The official Gundam site has some cool specs about the mechs in the series

Australia Back With Vengence??

Australians have scored two 300 plus totals in back to back matches against Indians in the recent ODI series.They look like a more commited side than in the T-20 world cup.Dhoni is facing his first real test after capturing captainship from Dravid.I hope he fares well.Australians are looking more like a pack of hungry wolves ready to tear apart Dhoni and his men in blue(Apparently i like team india in tights like in hollywood flick Robin Hood: Men in Tights)

Wind In The Hair ?? More Like Soil In The Hair

It is probably the first time in 3 months that i drove my two wheeler home from office without a helmet.It felt good like that for some time.But as i increased the speed the wind started blowing into the ears and the buzzing sound began to bug me.Also when i reached home i felt that my hair had collected lot more dirt than usual.Also it began to itch.My eyes were also dry and and corners of the eyes have collected a lot of dirt.Then i realised that wearing helmet and goggles are useful to us in more ways than one while driving apart from protecting us from fatal accidents.Helmets and goggles protect us from dirt,sound on the roads,also cold winds blowing at nights.So i recommend all to wear them while driving two wheelers.

One Of The Earliest Computer Ads Features Kevin Costner

We have come a long way with computers.Looking at where we are now, that was a "prophetic" commercial, and was well done.

Miss Teen South Carolina Calls 911

Miss Teen South Carolina Calls 911????
Miss Teen South Carolina once again demonstrates grace under pressure.

Man And Fish Can Coexist ?Dumb Vs Dumber

Welcome to the show.Today we have what you were waiting for for so long.
The much anticipated show Miss Carolina Vs Bush or should i
say dumb vs dumber? is on now

Two of America's great minds go head to head.

Russia Tests World's Most Powerful Vacuum Bomb. (September 12)

Russia tests what its says is the world's most powerful vacuum bomb. (September 12)

We have heard of vacuum tubes , picture tubes but Vacuum bombs . This is news

Speed Thrills But Kills

Evey time i climb my two wheeler i feel that i must drive responsibly. But once I start riding the hands automatically start wringing the accelerator and I start riding recklessly. Also I think every driver faces this dilemma. I think we must blame the adrenaline for this. It looks like i am passing the buck. But I can't help it.

I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE OR ELSE...,USE INTERNET EXPLORER YOU DOPE.

These are the messages that i got in yesterday while starting firefox.Then the fixefox closed up.This repeated for 4 or 5 times.Then i got fed up and switched to another browser.Today i found a fix at this blog.Hope you all can see that and benefit out of it.The fix works very well.

Blog Url For Firefox Worm Fix

ICL Vs BCCI

Well The drama continues in Indian cricket. BCCI is desperate to keep its tight grip on Indian cricket whereas ICL hopes to give the six-team league a foothold in the India market. We have been hearing a lot about Indian Cricket League (ICL). BCCI bosses are not happy with ICL. They are not even ready to recognize ICL and trying their best to derail ICL. While both BCCI and ICL take pot shots at each other the main benefactors seem to the players.Here is what ponting had to say about ICL :-
Ponting: ICL may lure cricketers into early retirement

Ricky Ponting has hit out at the proposed Indian Cricket League (ICL), saying the million-dollar series threatens to tempt ageing cricketers into early retirement while luring youngsters away from national duty.
“It’s only a concern if there is huge money involved in it. If this sort of stuff gets off the ground, these guys won’t even be playing with their mates, they’ll be thrown into made-up teams. You’ll be out there by yourself and trying to win some money,” Ponting was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun.

So the main question is "Whether this situation benefit indian cricket or not ? Also Will this curb the rot in INDIAN cricket?" These questions remain to be answered.Guess people in INDIA must wait and watch as the drama unfolds.

Dogpile Search Added

Well people , I have added dogpile search box to this blog . It is my favourite search engine because one i like its blue theme and also the dog motif on the home page . Also it is a meta search engine(Queries other search engines and displays results from those).I like the "search history" feature where one can see all the searches one has done previously.I find this feature useful at times . Now people visiting blog can check dogpile out from the dogpile search I added to this page .

Google's Obsession With White Colour

Well i think google as a company likes all its websites to feature a white background.To cite a few examples we have the search engine,gmail,google groups and picasa.The only popular site that was predominantly featuring a pinkish theme was orkut and hence the think tank at google got cranking and viola orkut changes theme based on white.People like me find the new theme not so appealing as the old one.I have been in orkut for over 6 months now and i feel the older theme was pleasant and strikes the right chord.

Miss South Carolina Again

Miss Teen USA 2007 South Carolina Is My Hero!?????


This video is funny . Jimmy Kimmel breaks down what Miss South Carolina had to say on the Miss Teen USA awards show.


Miss Teen USA 2007 Caitlin Upton from South Carolina visits "Today show" to answer the map question right

Light Always At The End Of Tunnel ?

Think of the situation where after a gruelling day at work , you leave office , tired and hungry and you leave office at odd hours and then without warning all hell breaks lose . Your 2wheeler refuses to start and you are stuck outside city and you are 16 kms away from your house and it is getting late . I tried pressing self start and kicking the kicker .Then i pushed up the steep ramp up from the basement parking.Started pushing my vehicle.Every now and then desperately kicked and pressed the start button.I continued like that for 2 kms.Some auto guys wanted to help me and they almost broke my kicker .They insisted that i take their help . The only mistake i did was to ask them as to there was any mechanic shop nearby . Stupid fools . one kept pressing the self start . Other kicked the kicker . Total mayhem . It was dark all around on the highway and i had to puit up with them as they were 4 of them . Then after i pushed my vehicle for 4 to 5 kms did i try to start it once more when a miracle happened and it started . Thank God otherwise i would have been too tired the next day and i would have missed office.

Blabber Mouth

Never knew that some people can not answer even simple questions.You can see the answer that a competitor in "Miss Teen USA Carolina" gave in the link below:-

Miss Teen USA South Carolina 2007 with Subtitles

All they asked her was as to why "a fifth of the Americans cannot locate their country on maps" and she is not able to answer such a simple question properly.See the video and you will understand.I accept that it was a pressure situation but i think she should have done better.

Well i have edited this entry and put up the video here so that you can all enjoy watching it.

Tit Bits About Jhonny Depp

Saw this talk show on sony pix today whose guest was Jhonny Depp.Well this program usually airs Sundays between 19:00 to 19:30 hrs . Here are some interesting facts from the conversation.

• Depp means idiot in german
  
• Jhonny depp has native american roots
  
• Jhonny depp is claustrophobic
  
• Started life as a musician
  
• Started learning music at age of 12 when he got his first guitar
  
• Performed at night clubs when he was underage and usually sneaked on to the stage
  

Vivek Vs Vadivelu

Well the Tamil film industry is ruled by invariably two comedians Vivek and Vadivelu

Vivek:-Looks are ok,Is witty,dialogues are sometimes politically targeted and also they make us think about issues in the society,rumored to have his own with the directors and hence is getting side lined these days.

Vadilvelu:-Pretty dark,less of witty dialogues and more comic caricatures,now-a-days he appears in the movies more to get beaten up rather than acting

Both are them are pretty good in their own way but it sometimes gets boring to see the same guys again and again.It is high time that we see new comedians in Tamil cinema.Also both have reached a saturation point as far as comic relief in films is concerned.

Mentos

The mentos advertisements are great.I like the one where the student (comes late to college)after eating mentos enters the classroom backwards and the lecturer thinks he is bunking the class and asks the student to get back to his place.The advertisement reminds me that for every bad situation there is a witty solution.The advertisement should be inspiration to all to think creative.Dimag Ki Batti Jala do.

God Vs Science

Does God exist?Now that is one tough question for people like me.I am neither an atheist nor one who has complete faith in god.The question would be much easier if i belong to either of the afore mentioned categories.Well as far i am concerned every body is had a bit of good and evil and everyone can be GOD if he chooses.So I am sincerely trying to be nice to everyone i meet.Thus i think one day i will achieve salvation if such a thing ever exists.On the other hand science asks man to believe in anything that can be felt,seen,heard and can thus it can verified for its presence.Thus comes the debate whether god really exists or not.This precise thought had driven the renaissance movement.Well meanwhile i continue to ponder about god and his existence.Can anybody help me?

Software Programmer Or Paper Work Programmer

I guess I wrote more documentation in these 2 years as a java programmer than writing java code.First we write code comments(class comments,comments on public variables,method comments,loop comments phew tiring isn't it),then comes the time sheet stuff,then the SDLC(Software Development Lifecycle) documents like use case documents,activity documents etc:,then the "Minutes of meetings" and "weekly status reports", and the list continues ,by the end of the day you become a moron doing more paper work than concentrating on the code.

Tryst With Mosquitoes

Well mosquitoes have become a part of my everyday life.They wake me up when it is time to wake up.They keep me active even though i have sedentary habits like browsing on the computer etc:They keep biting me and i am forced to switch positions in front of the machine.They also provide entertainment on dull afternoons during the weekends when we play "If you bite me i will kill you".I am especially affected by mosquitoes because i am allergic to all sort of repellents.well that makes me sitting duck.

SUZUKA

Finished seeing suzuka on youtube.It is an anime about high school romance,love triangle . It is about love in between a track and field athlete(suzuka) and her classmate . Well this companion is the male lead (yomato) is loved by the team manager(skurai). All heal breaks lose as the three of them face tough situations ,they cannot avoid.I give it 6/10 marks.
To know more check out this link:-Suzuka_(manga)

List of episodes:-List_of_Suzuka_episodes

Link to first episode on youtube:- watch

Expect a lot of situations where you feel as to why suzuka has such a bad attitude.

Truman Show

Saw "over the hedge" and "truman show" in the morning.I felt that people should not be treated like guniea pigs after watching "truman show".Well now i know how our house pets or imprisonement feels like.I now know how animals in the zoo feel.well if you suddenly come to know that everything about you is fake,one will obviously will feel very depressed.This theme was also touched upon in "The matrix" film.

Transformers Anyone

Watch special directors cut webisodes from your favorite Transformers in the link mentioned below :-
Watch Transformers Episodes
The official movie site is transformersmovie.com.One can find the transfomers downloadable game demo there, the movie's trailers and pictures of the cast.

Wow I have Started Blogging

Well i too have started blogging?Well anyway will try to blog here everyday.Planning to do this for a very long time.Well at last i am finally into this thing.yippee.Yahoo