Bye Bye Pluto...:(

To ensure that kids who keep up on astronomical news don't think the planetarium is behind the times, Pluto is no longer part of one move-it-yourself display at the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium. The button that made it move around the replica sun is disabled. With school gearing up and field trips on the way, director Jon Elvert said, staffers have been busy reworking exhibits to fit an international group of astronomers' decision that Pluto isn't a planet, after all.

Rather, the International Astronomical Union decided, it's a dwarf planet, one of a number of rocky thingummies in the Kuiper Belt at the solar system's edge. Pluto was discovered in 1930, the year Mickey Mouse's dog _ then unnamed _ made his debut. Disney archivists to assume the dog took the name of the planet then dominating the news. In the end, many factors did it in, including Pluto's unusual orbit, which passes inside Neptune's orbit for 20 years, and the fact that its moon, Charon, is so large that the two bodies orbit around a common center of gravity.It will be several more years until students in East Baton Rouge Parish schools receive new textbooks telling them that Pluto no longer is classified as a planet. Instead, educators will rely on newspaper articles, scientific journals and other means to bring students up to date. The planetarium hopes to become a resource for educators wanting to explain to students the recent decision to demote Pluto from regular planet status.

Elvert said his immediate response is to change all references to Pluto from "planet" to "dwarf planet." The main exhibit room, called the solar system gallery, already has been modified. In the outer planet exhibit, a panel with text about Pluto has been removed. Its place is empty, though Elvert said he wants to include a panel with information about dwarf planets. A board with historical information about how planets received their names may remain. That board says Pluto was named for the Roman god of the underworld. A ceiling exhibit, called an orrery, contains models of all the planets and the time it takes them to orbit the sun. That exhibit still has Pluto and its orbit of 249 Earth years. In the planet tower, a staircase that leads to the planetarium, all nine planets are displayed hanging from the ceiling, showing their size in relation to Earth. Elvert said he believes the planetarium will add other "golf-ball size" objects to the collection near Pluto, to represent other dwarf planets.

Four-year-old Haley Hiriri visited the planetarium last week with her grandparents, Louis and Margaret Meade. Louis Meade of Bernardsville, N.J., said he had heard of the change in Pluto's classification, but did not think it would affect too many people.While some astronomers and planetarium staff members have refused to accept the new ruling, Elvert said he sees a great opportunity to teach people how science works."The solar system is still forming. It's still evolving," Elvert said. "Science is an evolving, learning process.""It would be kind of dull if it was all finite, laid out, black and white," he said.Elvert said he hopes the new buzz will cause children and adults to become interested in how planets are discovered.And, he noted, two other objects will join Pluto as dwarf planets: the asteroid Ceres, which was considered a planet in the 1800s, and 2003 UB313, an icy object slightly larger than Pluto and nicknamed Xena."Pluto is still Pluto, but it will be part of another classification of planets," Elvert said.

Vista!!! Waitin 4 U

Microsoft rushed what may be the final test version of its Windows Vista operating system to more than a million testers on Friday(Sep 1), trying to meet deadlines for its long-delayed commercial release.With pressure mounting to squeeze out final bugs, Microsoft asked testers to give Vista an urgent shakedown — even as they headed into a long holiday weekend. Microsoft has said publicly that it is hoping to offer the program to corporate customers before the end of November and to the broader consumer market in January. It will be the first new version of Windows in more than five years, an unusually long time between releases. But Microsoft executives have also repeatedly cautioned that until Vista meets performance and stability standards, the company will refrain from offering it commercially.

On Friday, several analysts said that the Microsoft program might end up slipping further from the November goal. Microsoft has recently been talking about an “end of the year” shipping goal for the corporate version of Vista, according to one analyst who was briefed on Thursday.A company spokesman disputed the reports of further slippage, saying that the company was still aiming to meet the November and January goals.Because most large corporations may wait as long as 18 months before deploying the program widely to employees, a relatively short further delay is unlikely to have a significant revenue impact on Microsoft.“Corporate adoption will be relatively slow,” said Roger L. Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a computer industry consulting firm. “It could be 2008 before many companies actually deploy in volume.”

Over the summer, Vista has been tested by several million developers and ordinary users and has received less than stellar marks. Complaints have ranged from repeated crashes to an irritating user interface that constantly force users to click on warning boxes.A recent version being used by a smaller group of technical experts has been given much higher marks for stability and for using less computer memory.Friday’s version, called Release Candidate 1, or RC1, is a crucial last trial needed to tell the company whether it is on track. “This is supercritical for us,” said Sven Hallauer, director of release management for Windows Vista, during an internal interview that was posted Friday on a company Web site. “We have our own criteria for quality to ship, but we really need the validation from the community.”Time is particularly tight, he said, because the company has only two or three weeks after Friday’s release to make significant changes, after which the project will grow increasingly constrained.“Teams are working superhard right now,” he said in the interview. “Teams are working 50, 60, 70 hours a week to go ship this RC1 milestone.”In an e-mail message sent to testers Friday, Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft’s platform and services division, wrote: “The operating system is in great shape with RC1, but there’s still a lot of testing to do. You’ve come through for us so far, and I’m asking you to once again put the pedal to the metal and send us feedback.”

Analysts said that while the company has made progress, there could still be land mines that could throw the effort into disarray. “They are never out of the woods until the product is delivered,” said Al Gillen, research director for system software at the International Data Corporation, a market research firm based in Framingham, Mass.This week, Microsoft declined to comment after pricing information appeared on Amazon.com. The prices, which ranged from $199 for a basic home version to $399 for the all-in-one Windows Vista Ultimate, will potentially increase Microsoft’s earnings next year, according to Rick Sherlund, a Goldman Sachs financial analyst.In a research note, he also cautioned that the significant hardware requirements for the new operating system might limit the rate of adoption for the software.Vista will have an array of new features and changes in appearance from Microsoft’s current operating system, Windows XP. Superfetch, for example, lets Vista monitor the applications most frequently used and places them in memory so that they will appear to load more quickly.In the interview posted by Microsoft, Mr. Hallauer said Vista would have fewer dreaded “blue screens of death,” in which the operating system freezes and leaves the user with a blue display screen. Instead, Vista will automatically recover from such freezes and start over, without forcing the user to restart the system manually.

Jana Gana Mana... Vande Mataram...

The song Jana Gana Mana, composed by Rabindranath Tagore, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of lndia on 24 January 1950. It was first sung on 27 December 1911 at the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza consists of the full version of the national anthem. It reads:

Jana-gana-mana- adhinayaka, jaya he
Bharata-bhagya- vidhata
Punjab-Sindhu- Gujarata- Maratha-
Dravida-Utkala- Banga
Vindhya-Himachala- Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchala-Jaladhi- taranga
Tava shubha name jage
Tava shubha ashish maange
Gahe tava jaya-gatha
Jana-gana-mangala- dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya- vidhata
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he !

Playing time of the full version of the National Anthem is approximately 52 seconds. A short version consisting of first and last lines of the stanza (playing time approx. 20 seconds) is also played on certain occasions. The following is Tagore's English rendering of this stanza:

Thou art the rulers of the minds of all people,
dispenser of India's destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas, mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga
and is chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
thou dispenser of India's destiny,
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

Jai Hind

P.S.: Was supposed to be for Aug 15th but cudn update de blog...

Orkut - The opium of the Internet masses

It could well be termed the opium of the Internet masses - such is the addiction of the Orkut web-based community that has evolved into a virtual alternative online world.

Take the case of science undergraduate Rajeev Krishnan. He says his addiction to Orkut has taken a "serious toll" on his leisure time. So much has Orkut seeped into Krishnan's system that he spends more than three hours a day with the community - at the cost of his other interests like singing, watching movies and reading.A Google subsidiary, Orkut is an Internet social network service named after its creator, Google employee Orkut Büyükkökten. It claims to be designed to help users meet new friends and maintain existing relationships. It has been growing by leaps and bounds internationally since its launch in January 2004. "I tend to forget to eat, sleep and perform most of my daily chores after I log on to Orkut. I seriously feel powerless before Orkut," says Krishnan."Ever since I joined Orkut last month I have spent hundreds of rupees on browsing. Its almost like Orkut is the drug and I am the addict," he added.

Indians (6.7 per cent) are the third largest group of Orkut users after Brazil (67 per cent) and the US (13 per cent). There are some 23.8 million Orkutters worldwide.There are communities ranging from the "I hate Himesh Reshammiya" or "I love Amitabh Bachchan" to inane topics like "Tea biscuit dipping" and "Coyote fans", all of whom have a reasonable membership."The best thing about Orkut is that it connected me with a lot of my school friends. The last I met and spoke to them was some 13 years back," said Chennai-based-filmmaker Shalini Shankar, 24. "There are other communities too but as it comes from Google, Orkut has a certain standard and is constantly innovating," she added.

Indeed, Orkut's strength has been the committed number of Google and Gmail users who are being hooked - by invitation only.In fact, so rapid has been Orkut's growth that it often runs slow or is unavailable - producing a "Bad, bad server. No donut for you" error message.Then, there's another downside - hate campaigns."Orkut is being used by hate groups and anti-social elements to propagate their own agenda. There are any number of communities promoting racial and religious hatred," said Bangalore-based software engineer Anurag Mathur.For example, there are groups that hold "north Indians leave Bangalore" and others that espouse the Nazi cause. Media reports in the aftermath of the Mumbai serial blasts said underworld don Dawood Ibrahim was informed via Orkut about the blasts hours before they took place.

Orkut has a solution for this. If more than 10 Orkut users complain against a community or a member, the entity is deemed fit to be declared bogus and is subsequently deleted. There have also been cases of members adding strangers to their pool of friends just to increase the numbers against their names and profiles."It is a major boost to the ego to see a large number of friends listed besides one's profile and - even better - the number of fans one has," Mathur pointed out. "And for a few days if you do not have any scraps (messages) in your inbox or responses to your observations from you fellow community members, then you tend to get withdrawal symptoms," he added.

Emails Linked to Karuna Sagara...

Mail 1

Dear Mr.Guru,

Thanks for calling up. I am attaching herewith the medical reports ( scanned copy) of this patient. Would be glad to have your assistance on organising funding for this operation.

Me and a couple of friends are running a trust by name Miralce services soceity and the request letter is as below for your reference.

regards

Arokia Nathan R

Savi -> Thanks for the reference.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Sir,

Greetings.

We are from MSS( Miracle Services Society), a registered trust focussing on the Orphan children's education and tendering assistance to the poor and needy.

We have been setting up Libraries at Orphanages, assisting the Students hailing from poor family for thier primary and higher secondary education and providing funding assitance for life critical operations.

Our current mission is to organise the funds requried for the open heart surgery for a patient by name Manikandan, Age 23 whose Aortic valve needs replacement.

He lost his father 20 years back and been taken care by his mother who is a servant maid cum bangle seller. They are very poor and live in a place called Pothanur in Coimbatore.

Since, Manikandan can not take up any job due to his heart condition, the family of two is under tremendous burden to meet his high cost of medicines and day to day expenses.

He would need Rs.88,000/- for this operation which will make him a normal person after an year's time.

We sincerely hope that Manikandan can take up a job and take care of his old mother reversing the present situation of the old mother taking care of him.

You may kindly help this patient through cheque for DD in the name of "G.Kuppusamy Naidu Memorial Hospital a/c.Manikandan" or on "Miracle Services Society" payable at Coimbatore and forward the same to the following address:-

M/s.Miracle services soceity, 135-Sidhanaidu Layout,Palayur,P.N.Palayam, Coimbatore -37. Phone: 0422- 2211274.

Warm regards

Arokia Nathan R
94430 21109

Mail 2

Hi

The operation was actually scheduled on 01.05.06. However same could not be carried out since the funding has not been through.

Kindly help this patient.

regards

Arokia Nathan R

Karuna Sagara...

Hi Frenz

Im draftin tis 2 let u knw abt my long time dream.
Even some of, y not, all of u wud ve some dreams like tis.
I thought tat it wud b better to invovle (not fully) some like minded ppl(considered u as those) into this aesthetic work. k... enough of all these stuff... ll come to the core.

Wats tis all abt...Its jus 2 help de needy...tats it.n how?
We can bring up some institutes for orphans n help de needy,poor. Might b an old age home wud do.
But :( as of now its not able for us to go in a bigger level.
So y not v think of a smaller level:)

Idea 1:
I was thinkin of devotin possibly 100/- per month 4m de monthly salary n ve it as a common account.Thinkin 2 start a new acc in icici or some banks in which net banking is available so tat all can ve de userid n pwd.So who ever finds some1 who needs money like 4 some operation r other things we can devote it 4m tis.May be some1 can ve de cheque incharge n sign it to de needed one.Dunno whether it ll work out.

Idea 2:
Givin a min of 100/- when a request comes(coz if it goes beyond 100 4m each it ll b a meager amount)
Dunno even tis ll work out

Scenario
Im also copyin as a next post,de two mails which was sent by a friend who is genuinely workin 2 collect funds 4 operations n doin all social work stuff.He is Arokianathan@ Arok n he is workin in C&G as sales manager n devotin a part 2 de needy.He was introduced to me by de sister who is in Singapore. He was her classmate in her college days. So i came to know tat his work was genuine n not a fake.He fowarded n forwarded mails 2 get some help n @ tat time i was struck in project work so tat i cudn even help him.De operation was said to be 88,000/- but i thought it wud b atleast gud 2 send 1000/- but as an individual hw cud i do.After all struggle de operation is gonna b today and too bad tat i was unable to do anything.

Back To De Point
I would like to have all your thoughts regardin tis issue guys. Do let me knw abt wat cud b done.If u ve some other better ideas u r welcome. At first i wud need ur response whether to start some stuff like tis.Whether it ll b helpful... Waitin 4 ur response.

Notepad No No Log Pad:)

Its amazin thing abt de Notepad.

B4 savin ur contents type
.LOG (in caps. Notice guys thr is a dot in front of de word LOG)
in a new line n save.

When u open Wow!!! Gr8 yaar! De Time n added thr. Kewl stuff...
So if u wanna log de date n de time u can very well do it using notepad.
Jus try it out.

Yahoo To Push Norton AntiVirus Software

Yahoo will provide an extra measure of protection to its customers by offering Norton Internet security software. The Norton software, produced by Symantec, includes protection against the most common cyber threats, such as spyware, spam, and identity theft. It is intended to be used while users shop online, handle their e-mail messages, or do their online banking.The two companies will provide a co-branded version of Symantec's Norton Internet Security package that is integrated with the Yahoo toolbar, Yahoo e-mail, and HotJobs services. It includes Norton AntiVirus and Norton Personal Firewall for detecting and blocking spyware, viruses, and nuisance adware.

Feeling Safe
"Our users want to feel safe online and not have to put a lot of work into feeling safe," Yahoo spokesperson Nicole Leverich said. "With the Norton Internet package we are providing an easy way to add comprehensive protection." Leverich said it's not uncommon for Yahoo to partner with technology providers who are specialists in their respective fields. "They are great at security, so it makes sense to let Symantec do what it does best while allowing us to focus on what we do best, which is provide an array of Internet services to our subscribers." Yahoo users can receive a free 30-day trial of Norton Internet Security, after which a 12-month subscription will cost US$49.99.

Too Much Security Not Enough
Secure Web surfing and e-mail handling is a priority for all Web portals, and most are taking steps to keep their customers satisfied. AOL recently rolled out its own Total Care package, with third-party assistance. Microsoft offers Windows OneCare Live, and Google also has a partnership with Symantec."All ISPs should offer strong security measures, and most of them are already doing so, because most people aren't educated about protecting themselves," Yankee Group analyst Johathan Singer said. With some 81 percent of PC users surfing the Web without any of the recommended precautions, there is no such thing as too many vendors hawking security solutions, he added.

Tech Fundu

Have you ever thought of the person who invented "CTRL + ALT + DEL" key combination? "David Bradley" -- He is the One who spent 1 minute and 23 seconds in writing the source code that rescues the world's PC users for decades.This extraordinary IBM employee is retiring on Friday after a prolong service of 29 years. His formula forces obstinate computers to restart when they no longer follow other commands. By 1980, Bradley was one of 12 people working to create the debut. The engineers knew they had to design a simple way to restart the computer when it fails to respond the user -- Bradley wrote the code to make it work. Bradley says. "I did a lot of other things than Ctrl-Alt-Delete, but I'm famous for that one." His fame and success is achieved each time a PC user fails. He commented his relationship with Bill gates by saying "I may have invented it, but Bill gates made it famous by applying my formula when ever any Microsoft's Windows operating system made by him CRASHES, thus I win when ever he looses".

Here's De Luv...

When used in a generic sense, a Buddha is generally considered to be a person who discovers the true nature of reality through years of spiritual cultivation, investigation of the various religious practices of his time, and meditation. This transformational discovery is called bodhi - literally, "Awakening" (more commonly called "Enlightenment"). Any person who has become awakened from the "sleep of ignorance" by directly realizing the true nature of reality is called a Buddha.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
The Buddha taught that life was inherently suffering, that it is caused by craving, but that this condition was curable by following the Noble Eightfold Path. This teaching is called the Catvāry Āryasatyāni, the "Four Noble Truths".Suffering: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; separation from what is pleasing is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.

1. The origin of suffering: The craving which leads to renewed existence (reincarnation).
2. The cessation of suffering: The cessation of craving.
3. The way leading to the cessation of suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path;
4. The Four Noble Truths was the topic of the first sermon given by the Buddha after his enlightenment, which was given to the ascetics with whom he had practiced austerities.

The Four Noble Truths were originally spoken by Buddha, not in the form of a religious or philosophical text, but in the form of a common medical prescription of the time. Buddha also said that followers should use his teachings only if they help. He compared worrying about things such as an afterlife while suffering with a person who has been shot with an arrow worrying about who made the arrow, rather than removing it. As such, there is a strong case for the Buddha's teachings being intended as psychological tools, to ease mental distress, rather than as esoteric teachings for the strongly religious. To attest to this, Buddhist meditation, in particular, is now being scientifically studied in the West, both in laboratory tests, and in real-world, hands-on psychiatry. Many long-term practicing Buddhists, for instance, have been shown to have physically different brain structure, in areas associated with profound joy or spiritual happiness.

THE NOBLE EIGHT FOLD PATH

The Noble Eightfold Path is the way to the cessation of suffering, the fourth part of the Four Noble Truths. In order to fully understand the noble truths and investigate whether they were in fact true, Buddha recommended that a certain path be followed which consists of :

1. Right View - Realizing the Four Noble Truths
2. Right Intention - Commitment to mental and Ethical growth in moderation
3. Right Speech - One speaks in a non hurtful, not exaggerated, truthful way
4. Right Action - Wholesome action, avoiding action that would hurt others
5. Right Livelihood - One's job does not harm in any way oneself or others; directly or indirectly (weapon maker, drug dealer, etc.)
6. Right Effort - One makes an effort to improve
7. Right Mindfulness - Mental ability to see things for what they are with clear consciousness
8. Right Concentration - State where one reaches enlightenment and the ego has disappeared

The word samyak means "turned to one point or against each other, universus or adversus; whole, entire, all; correct, right, true." There are a number of ways to interpret the Eightfold Path. On one hand, the Noble Eightfold Path is spoken of as being a progressive series of stages through which the practitioner moves, the culmination of one leading to the beginning of another, whereas others see it as the states of the 'Path' as requiring simultaneous development. It is also common to categorise into prajñā (wisdom), śīla (virtuous behaviour) and samādhi (concentration).

Courtesy : Wikipedia

An Embodiment of Narthana...

Nataraja (literally, The King of Dance) is the dancing posture of Lord Shiva, the aspect of God as the Destroyer in Hinduism. The upper right hand holds the Drum (called Udukkai in Tamil and Dhamarukha in Hindi), which symbolizes sound originating Creation. The upper left hand contains Agni or the fire, which signifies Destruction. The opposing concepts in the upper hands show the counterpoise of creation and destruction. The second right hand shows Abhaya (fear not in Sanskrit), bestowing protection from both evil and ignorance to those who follow the righteousness of dharma.The second left points towards the raised left foot which signifies Upliftment and Salvation. The hand also looks like the trunk of Ganesha, the obstacle remover, a symbol of strength.The dwarf on which Nataraja dances is the demon Apasmara that symbolises the ignorance of dichotomy, which is defeated by the dance of Shiva.As the Lord of Dance, Nataraja, Shiva performs the tandava, which is the dance in which the universe is created, maintained, and resolved. Shiva's long, matted tresses, usually piled up in a kind of pyramid, loosen during the dance and crash into the heavenly bodies, knocking them off course or destroying them utterly.The surrounding flames represent the manifest Universe. The snake swirling around His waist is kundalini, humans' inherent soul impelling force resident in everyone.--Shakti.Within Lord Shiva's dancing manifestation is represented not only all of time and space, but also the primal creative force that is beyond the circle of illusion that mortals live within, all movement and vibration of the universe, and the stillness beyond all existence.The entire form of Nataraja can be seen to mirror the Hindu sacred syllable Aum, thus implying that Lord Shiva's dance of Destruction and Creation is contained within the existential principle of the Divine Sound.The image of the Lord as the Cosmic Dancer is shown at the Chidambaram temple, an unusual fact as Shiva is depicted in an anthropomorphic form rather than in the typical non-anthromorphic form of the linga.

Courtesy : Wikipedia

Joke Mania...

The character James Bond has a peculiar style of introducing himself by saying first Bond, then followed by great smile & finally James Bond. His style is absolutely killing but he doesn't know the consequences when he meets our great south indian guy.

When Bond meets a Hyderabad guy James Bond

"My name's Bond...(smiles and then says).... James Bond." James Bond: "And you?"

Telugu Guy : "I am Sai... Venkata Sai... Siva Venkata Sai... Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai....Srinivasulu Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai... Rajasekhara Srinivasulu Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai..... Sitaramanjaneyulu Rajasekhara Srinivasulu Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai.... Bommiraju Sitaramanjaneyulu Rajasekhara Srinivasulu Laxminarayana Siva Venkata Sai....

James Bond faints!!!