Some interesting facts about our body

- Hiccups happen when the diaphragm, the muscle that controls our breathing, becomes irritated and start to spasm and contract uncontrollably. With each contraction, air is pulled into the lungs very quickly, passes through the voice box, and then the epiglottis closes behind the rush of air, shaking the vocal chords, causing the "hic" sound. The irritation can be caused by rapid eating, emotional stress and even some diseases. The best cure? Breathing into a paper bag. This calms the diaphragm by increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in your bloodstream.

- The length from your wrist to your elbow is the same as the length of your foot.

- Your heart beats 101,000 times a day. During your lifetime it will beat about 3 billion times and pump about 400 million litres (800 million pints) of blood.

- Your mouth produces 1 litre (1.8 pints) of saliva a day.

- On average, people can hold their breath for one minute. The world record is seven-and-a-half minutes.

- The human head contains 22 bones. More on the head and brains

- On average, you breathe 23,000 times a day.

- On average, you speak almost 5,000 words a day - although almost 80% of speaking is self-talk (talking to yourself).

- Einstein's brain was of average size (1375 grams - 49oz).

- Over the last 150 years the average height of people in industrialised nations increased by 10 cm (4 in).

- In the 19th century, American men were the tallest in the world, averaging 1,71m (5'6"). Today, the average height for American men is 1,75m (5'7"), compared to 1,77m (5'8") for Swedes, and 1,78m (5'8.5") for the Dutch.

- The tallest nation in the world is the Watusis of Burundi.

- If the amount of water in your body is reduced by just 1%, you'll feel thirsty.

- Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, suggested that a woman could enlarge her bust line by singing loudly and often.

- A person can live without food for about a month, but only about a week without water.

- You'll drink about 75,000 litres (20,000 gallons) of water in your lifetime.

- After a certain period of growth, hair becomes dormant. That means that it is attached to the hair follicle until replaced by new hair.

- Hair on the head grows for between two and six years before being replaced. In the case of baldness, the dormant hair was not replaced with new hair.

- Men loose about 40 hairs a day. Women loose about 70 hairs a day.

- In the Middle Ages the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow was called an ell.

- A person remains conscious for eight seconds after being decapitated.

- The first human sex change took place in 1950 when Danish doctor Christian Hamburger operated on New Yorker George Jargensen, who became Christine Jargensen.

- The muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in your body. It allows you to blink 5 times a second. On average, you blink 15 000 times a day. Women blink twice as much as men.

- A typical athlete's heart churns out 25 to 30 litres (up to 8 gallons) of blood per minute.

- We have four basic tastes. The salt and sweet taste buds are at the tip of the tongue, bitter at the base, and sour along the sides.

- Unless food is mixed with saliva you cannot taste it.

- The liver is the largest of the body's internal organs. The skin is the body's largest organ.

- Not all our taste buds are on our tongue; about 10% are on the palette and the cheeks.

- On average a hiccup lasts 5 minutes.

- Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails.

- It takes about 3 months for the transplanted hair to start growing again.

- About 13% of people are left-handed. Up from 11% in the past.

- In 1900, a person could expect to live to be 47. Today, the average life expectancy for men and women in developed countries is longer than 70 years.

- A newborn baby's head accounts for one-quarter of its weight.

- King Henry I, who ruled in the England in the 12th century, standardised the yard as the distance from the thumb of his outstretched arm to his nose.

- The bones in your body are not white - they range in colour from beige to light brown. The bones you see in museums are white because they have been boiled and cleaned.

- Our eyes are always the same size from birth.

- Every person has a unique tongue print.

- If all your DNA is stretched out, it would reach to the moon 6,000 times.

- Approximately two-thirds of a person's body weight is water. Blood is 92% water. The brain is 75% water and muscles are 75% water.

- The coloured part of the eye is called the iris. Behind the iris is the soft, rubbery lens which focuses the light on to a layer, called the retina, in the back of the eye. The retina contains about 125 million rods and 7 million cones. The rods pick up shades of grey and help us see in dim light. The cones work best in bright light to pick up colours.

- We actually do not see with our eyes - we see with our brains. The eyes basically are the cameras of the brain. One-quarter of the brain is used to control the eyes

Predictions that missed the mark

In 1894, the president of the Royal Society, Lord Kelvin, predicted that radio had no future. The first radio factory was opened five years later. He also predicted that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible. Today, there are more than one billion radio sets in the world, tuned to more than 33 000 radio stations around the world. The Wright Brother's first flight covered a distance equal to only half the length of the wingspan of a Boeing 747.

In the 6th century BC Greek mathematician Pythagoras said that earth is round - but few agreed with him. Greek astronomer Aristarchos said in the 3rd century BC that earth revolves around the sun - but the idea was not accepted. In the 2nd century BC Greek astronomer Erastosthenes accurately measured the distance around the earth at about 40,000 km (24,860 miles) - but nobody believed him. In the 2nd century AD Greek astronomer Ptolemy stated that earth was the centre of the universe - most people believed him for the next 1,400 years.

In the early 20th century a world market for only 4 million automobiles was made because "the world would run out of chauffeurs." Shortly after the end of World War II (1945), the whole of Volkswagen, factory and patents, was offered free to Henry Ford II. He dismissed the Volkswagen Beetle as a bad design. Today, more than 70 million motorcars are produced every year. The Beetle became one of the best-selling vehicles of all time.

The telephone was not widely appreciated for the first 15 years because people did not see a use for it. In fact, in the British parliament it was mentioned there was no need for telephones because "we have enough messengers here." Western Union believed that it could never replace the telegraph. In 1876, an internal memo read: "This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication." Even Mark Twain, upon being invited by Alexander Graham Bell to invest $5 000 in the new invention, could not see a future in the telephone.

Irish scientist, Dr. Dionysius Lardner (1793 - 1859) didn't believe that trains could contribute much in speedy transport. He wrote: "Rail travel at high speed is not possible, because passengers ' would die of asphyxia' [suffocation]." Today, trains reach speeds of 500 km/h.

In 1943, Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM forecast a world market for "maybe only five computers." Years before IBM launched the personal computer in 1981, Xerox had already successfully designed and used PCs internally... but decided to concentrate on the production of photocopiers.

After the invention of the transistor in 1947, several US electronics companies rejected the idea of a portable radio. Apparently it was thought nobody would want to carry a radio around. When Bell put the transistor on the market in 1952 they had few takers apart from a small japanese start-up called Sony. They introduced the transistor radio in 1954.

In 1894, A.A. Michelson, who with E.W. Morley seven years earlier experimentally demonstrated the constancy of the speed of light, said that the future of science would consist of "adding a few decimal places to the results already obtained."

Perhaps the guy who got it wrong most was the commissioner of the US Office of Patents: in 1899, Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, assured President McKinley that "everything that can be invented has been invented."

Today's Choice Of Songs

Tumse milke
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Mera Chand Mujhe
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Aisa Deewana Hua Ye Dil-
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Crcket's Ten Most Bizarre Dismissals ... and one that got away

Misbah-ul-Haq was freakishly run out on the second day of the first Test in Delhi. Here's a look at some other examples of batsmen being sent on their way in an unconventional manner. Remember a strange dismissal?



Graham Gooch - Old Trafford 1993
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As a batsman who thrived best when he backed his instincts, Gooch had one notable occasion to rue them, at Old Trafford in the opening Test of the 1993 Ashes. As was so often the case at the start of the 1990s, Gooch was leading by example as his team floundered around him, compiling a brilliant final-day century, his 18th in Tests, to give England a glimmer of a get-out clause as they struggled to avoid defeat. On 133, however, he jabbed down late on a rising delivery from Merv Hughes, and momentarily lost his composure. As the ball ricocheted off the turf and lobbed menacingly towards the stumps, Gooch used his hand to brush it to safety, and was rightly sent on his way by Dickie Bird. The following day's papers, cruelly pursuing the play-on-words and ignoring the heroics that had preceded them, were unanimous: "Gooch hands the Ashes to Australia".

Ashok Mankad - Headingley 1974
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The eldest son of the legendary Vinoo, Ashok Mankad was never quite able to emerge from his father's shadow. Arguably, he was given a raw deal by the Indian selectors, who would often pick him for one match per series, and then throw him in at anywhere from No. 1 to No. 8 in the order. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, accidents singled him out as well, never more so than at Headingley in 1974, during his solitary appearance of a disappointing tour of England. He had batted attractively for a rearguard 43, but was unluckily dismissed as he swayed out of the way of a Chris Old bouncer. His cap fell off as he ducked his head out of line, and landed on the stumps. India collapsed soon afterwards, to lose by an innings and 78 runs.

Andy Ducat - Headingley 1921
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A one-cap wonder and a Surrey stalwart, Andy Ducat's greatest claim to fame was the unfortunate manner of his maiden Test dismissal. Facing up to the redoubtable Australian fast bowler, Ted McDonald, Ducat had failed to add to his overnight 3 when he broke the shoulder of his bat as he attempted a steer through the covers. The resulting loss of power meant that an effective stroke became a tame lob to slip, and as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, the shard of bat went on to dislodge the bails as well. It was the first of these two dismissals that was recorded for posterity, and Ducat managed just two more runs in his international career, as Australia romped to a 219-run victory. Remarkably, McDonald pulled off the same stunt later in the year, when South Africa's Billy Zulch was given out hit-wicket by another piece of splintered bat.

Wayne Phillips - Edgbaston 1985
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The catch that clinched the match that allowed England to regain the Ashes ... and it remains shrouded in mystery to this day. With a little over an hour of the fifth Test remaining, the series was deadlocked at 1-1, and though Australia were facing an innings defeat Wayne Phillips was 59 not out and digging in for the draw. At 113 for 5, however, he cut a delivery from Phil Edmonds that clattered into the in-step of Allan Lamb, one of a host of vultures circling around the bat. The ball bounced up for an alert David Gower to swivel round and pouch it, and after a consultation, umpires Shepherd and Constant sent him on his way. The breach made, Australia crumbled, losing their last five wickets for 29 runs.

Colin Wells - Sussex v Warwickshire 1980
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Bowling against Sussex in a John Player League match, Geoff Humpage's attempt to stop a firm straight drive failed, but as luck would have it, fashion had passed him by. Flared trousers and other monstrosities had all but disappeared from 1980s life, but the Humpage clan were still rooted in the previous decade, which was just as well for his team-mates. The material billowing from his outstretched limb clearly brushed the speeding ball, which cannoned into the stumps of the non-striker Colin Wells. Not so much a wicket taken with flair, as one taken by flares ...

Andrew Symonds - Melbourne 2005-06
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It's easy to grin and bear it when you're in some of the best form of your life, and your team is rollicking towards a massive total in the opening match of a one-day tournament. That is what Andrew Symonds did at Melbourne last month, in the VB Series curtain-raiser against Sri Lanka. His tubthumping 66 from 61 balls was sawn off in a remarkable moment of misfortune, when he hammered a straight drive off Jehan Mubarak with such force that Michael Clarke at the non-striker's end had no time to react. The ball looped up off Clarke's ankle, all the way to Tillekeratne Dilshan at wide mid-on, who accepted the offering with an air of bemusement. As Symonds departed he grinned at a sheepish Clarke and indicated he was owed a post-match pint.

Michael Vaughan - Bangalore 2001-02
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Michael Vaughan became the seventh man to be dismissed for handling the ball - and the second Englishman after Graham Gooch - when a moment of confusion cost him his wicket against India at Bangalore in 2001. Vaughan had been blighted thus far in his career by injuries, but he had only himself to blame here. Well set on 64, he missed a sweep shot off Sarandeep Singh and the ball got trapped beneath him. Even though the ball wasn't heading towards his stumps, he brushed it away in a moment of thoughtlessness: the Indians appealed, as was their right, and Vaughan was sent packing, much to the consternation of his captain, Nasser Hussain, who claimed it was "against the spirit of the game". Had Vaughan simply tossed the ball to a fielder, it is unlikely India would have appealed. England, as was their wont back then, collapsed

Inzamam-ul-Haq - Faisalabad 2005-06
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Inzamam-ul-Haq had battered England en route towards another hundred in the second Test at Faisalabad, when an unfortunate, and controversial, decision robbed him of an innings of monstrous proportions. After celebrating his hundred, he played a full toss from Steven Harmison back to the bowler. Harmison reacted immediately by throwing down his stumps - something he had tried once before, nearly dismissing Shane Warne in the 2005 Ashes. Inzamam, unsurprisingly, took evasive action and replays suggested his back foot had lifted from the crease. It wasn't a good decision, and his flummoxed face as he trudged off demonstrated as much. But Inzamam even managed to upstage himself six weeks later, in the first ODI against India.

Salman Butt - Multan 2005-06
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Salman Butt, in the same series as Inzamam's dismissal, was perhaps even more unfortunate, although Marcus Trescothick might lay claim to that. It was the first day at Multan, during England's pre-Christmas tour of Pakistan, and Butt and Younis Khan were moving along smoothly, after Shoaib Malik had fallen for 39. Nearing a deserved century, Butt's patience ran dry and a slashed slog off Shaun Udal - who was making his debut aged 36 - sped towards Marcus Trescothick at first slip. The ball bounced off Trescothick's forehead, causing Geraint Jones to scamper and dive low to take the head-butted deflection. "I'd rather it had come in a more conventional manner," mused Udal afterwards, as he reflected on the end of a 17-year wait for his first Test wicket.

Tom Pugh - Peterborough 1961
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To be given out "jaw before wicket" is presumably as painful as it sounds. The man who could tell you is the former Gloucestershire captain, Tom Pugh, who suffered that indignity at Peterborough in 1961. Facing up to the Northants fast bowler, David Larter, Pugh had not yet got off the mark when he ducked into a low full-toss. Cracked on the side of the face plumb in front of the stumps, Larter appealed, the umpire upheld, and Pugh was rushed to hospital with his jaw broken in two places, as his team collapsed from 61 for 1 to 66 for 5. They coped admirably in his absence, however, successfully chasing down a target of 304 to win by four wickets on the third afternoon.

And a freakish non-dismissal ...

Mohammad Ashraful - Trent Bridge 2005
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Fresh from a brilliant hundred that had sealed the upset of the century, against Australia at Sophia Gardens, great things were suddenly expected of Bangladesh's young strokeplayer, Mohammad Ashraful. But his next outing could hardly have begun in less auspicious circumstances. Bangladesh had just lost two wickets in two balls to England's gangly debutant, Chris Tremlett, and when Ashraful pushed forward uncertainly to Tremlett's next delivery, he needed some divine intervention to avoid becoming the hat-trick victim. The ball looped up and landed smack bang on the top of middle stump, but somehow neither bail was dislodged. Grinning from ear to ear, Ashraful responded with an innings of pure abandon. He brought up his half-century from a mere 21 balls, and had reached 94 from just 52 by the time he was bowled by a Paul Collingwood slower ball. It was not enough to save the match, but it confirmed the arrival of a special talent.

Classic contests within the contest

A few high-voltage individual battles could make things exciting in the three-Test India-Pakistan series that begins on Thursday.

Shoaib Akhtar vs Rahul Dravid:
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This is a classic cricketing confrontation. Power, speed and swing versus purity of method and temperament. Sparks could fly when Akhtar bowls at Dravid. Akhtar is gradually regaining his rhythm, while Dravid’s form is looking up if his domestic exploits are any indication.

In the Rawalpindi Test in 2004, Akhtar sent down a blistering spell with the new ball but was blunted by Dravid’s resilience at No. 3. It turned out to be the decisive duel of a historic series. If Dravid holds firm against Akhtar’s thrust, the host will be hard to beat.

Sachin Tendulkar vs Umar Gul:
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V.V.S. Laxman’s bemused look is fresh in mind. Gul delivered a ball from wide of the crease which straightened and breached the Indian’s defence in the Lahore Test of 2004. This was a real high quality delivery.

Now, Gul has added speed and fitness to his skill. His run-ins with the in-form Sachin Tendulkar are bound to be significant. Gul can be crafty with the older ball too and it is here that India will require Tendulkar’s technical excellence in the middle-order. This is a battle that can witness momentum shifts.

Anil Kumble vs Mohammad Yousuf:
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For Pakistan, Kumble is a bad memory. The leg-spinner’s subtle variations, which have consumed the Pakistani batsmen in the past, threaten to do so again. The Indian captain’s match of skills with the solid Yousuf could set the tone for the series.

Yousuf uses the width of the crease in a precise fashion and is a fine player of spin. He also has the precious ability to milk the spinners with singles that could prevent Kumble from creating the pressure. Once set, Yousuf can ease his big shots through the gaps. Kumble faces a challenge but so does Yousuf.

Zaheer Khan vs Younis Khan:
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Here are two key cricketers. Given his ability to swing the ball away or bring it back, Zaheer is a threat to the right-handers. How Zaheer bowls to Younis, expected to bat No. 3, can be critical to the outcome. Younis is strong on the off-side. He also tends to rock back on to his back-foot.

The left-arm paceman will strive to have Younis caught at the crease with the delivery straightening into the right-hander.

He may also seek to get Younis on to the front foot by pitching the ball up and then the dreaded away movement could do the damage. Younis will have other thoughts...a perfect square-drive maybe.

Danish Kaneria vs Sourav Ganguly:
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Ganguly is one of the cleanest strikers of the spinning ball. The left-handers do have certain inherent advantages against the left-armers and the leggies since they can strike with the spin. But then, Kaneria has an effective googly and could test Ganguly with a slip in place and should be an exhilarating contest.

2008 Yearly Horoscope Predictions

Mesha (Aries)
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The year 2008 will be an excellent year for you as far as career is concerned. You can expect impressive lifts in your career, and also promotion will come your way very easily. Substantial increase in your income and wealth cannot be ruled out. Increase in responsibility is also foreseen for you.


If you have been contemplating of taking up any new course or were wanting to learn something new (music, martial arts, painting, tattoo, astrology, Rekei, meditation) – you can very well go ahead this year.

The year will prove very lucky especially for students. Student attempting for important exams like that of board and competitive exams will do exceedingly well. They will surely get more marks than expected.

There will be considerable increase in your spiritual and religious inclination too. Visits to places of religious prominence is very much possible. Luck through elderly people, seniors, bosses & superiors will be in your favour. Meeting with spiritual and religious leaders is also foreseen for you.

Minor health problems are possible for your mother in the mid months of year 2008. Medical expenses will be more. Also problems related to house, land, vehicles and real estate property would arise.

Rishabha (Taurus)
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Change in place of residence cannot be ruled out for you this year. Also investments in land, house, and property will yield impressive results. Purchase of new vehicles or upgradation of existing vehicles is very much foreseen for you.

You will do exceedingly well on career front. People working in MNCs and IT firms can expect long-term foreign travels. If you have been trying to immigrate or move to another country for work – then it will materialize in this particular year.

Minor health problems for mother will continue till mid months of year 2008. Expenses will be more, and few financial losses are also visible for you. Always take care of your belongings – because loss of wallet or some important financial document is foreseen. Minor health problems are visible for you too.

There will be a minor down fall in your sibling’s life. You will be subjected to many short travels. And visits to many places of religious interests are on the cards. You will also be able to cultivate a habit of reading books on spirituality and religion.

Indians working abroad will be able to settle in foreign nations. They will also be able to invest in land and property both in India and abroad.

Mithuna (Gemini)
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This will be an average year for you. You will be subjected to many short travels, and also you will change your place of residence a couple of times this year. Change in city is also foreseen for you. Short travels to foreign nations – both for business and pleasure are very much foreseen for you.

Father’s health would need some serious attention. Medical expenses will increase too.Your relationship with bosses, superiors and seniors at work front will have minor turmoil. It will be best to avoid arguments with them at office place.

For unmarried people matters related to marriage will fall in place. Wedding bells will ring for many who are born in this particular ascendant. It will be a good year for you to fall in love and also to propose someone whom you have been seeing for some time.

Spouse’s career will boom, and luck through him/her will be more for you. New acquaintance and relationships will develop and flourish. Business partnership will yield impressive results.

Health problems related to mouth and eyes region can be expected. Also health problems related to skin allergies will give you some tough time. Be watchful about your words this year.

Kataka (Cancer)
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For married people problems on marriage front will increase – verbal fights will be more between couples, which will lead to temporary separation from each other. For unmarried people this will be an interesting year – things related to marriage will fall in line. Engagements and marriages are possible for Kataka lagna people this year.

On the career you will witness substantial increase in your income. Lift in career and increase in responsibilities cannot be ruled out for you. Promotion will come your way.

You will be able to win through enemies, critical situation and health problems. Good things in life will happen to you after few bad events.

Your father’s health will suffer a bit. Ailing fathers will have a bad time - to the extent of hospitalization. There will be major transformation in your belief system this year. In fact this will be a year of resurrection for you – meaning a new personality will emerge out of you.

You will become more and more spiritual in the coming year. Visits to place of religious prominence and meeting with spiritual gurus will happen on its own accord.

Unconventional relationships are possible for you, and also planets will support love marriage more than arranged marriage for you this year.


Simha (Leo)
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This will be a year of major changes in your life – which includes – change in career, change in place of residence, change in personality and also change in relationships. Increase in power and increase in responsibility will come your way. On the career front you can expect a MASSIVE growth – where in you will be able to manage a set of people.

Married couple can expect news of pregnancy, but then minor complications – in matters related to conception and delivery cannot be ruled out. Unmarried couple should be extra careful about any unnecessary pregnancy, which might lead to abortions.

This will be an impressive year for children who are studying at schools and colleges. They can expect good growth in their lives and also they will be able to perform exceedingly well on curriculum front. Winning of prizes and accolades are also foreseen for you.

Luck in and through foreign nations will be a bit less for you. Minor health problems and medical expenses cannot be ruled out for you.

There will be considerable increase in your spiritual inclination this year. And the thoughts of completely cutting off from material world will haunt you many a times this year.

Kanya (Virgo)
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This will be an excellent year for all those who are born in the Ascendant of Kanya. There will be impressive increase in your luck in and through foreign nations – meaning if you already are in foreign nation – you will do exceedingly well there. And if you are in India then you will have great opportunities to go abroad and settle there. People working in MNCs will also do exceptionally well.

Childless couple can expect some positive news on conception front. And people needing medical assistance or people going in for artificial insemination for getting conceived can go ahead with good hope and faith in lord.

If you have been contemplating of investing in a house or property – you can very well go ahead. You will have extraordinary luck in these areas. Also purchase of vehicles is foreseen for you. Income through renting out places is also on the cards.

Your spouse can expect impressive lifts in his/her career. Luck through spouse – both on monetary front and emotional front - will be more for you this year.

Students aspiring to take up education abroad will find this year very lucky. Also students attempting for competitive exams related to foreign universities will be able crack them with good marks.

Thula (Libra)
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You will witness minor problems on career front in the mid months of year 2008. A job change or change in designation is very much possible for you. Problems with colleagues, bosses, & superiors will increase to give you some tough time.

If you have been contemplating of investing in house, land, property or vehicles – this year will prove lucky for you. Existing owners would be able to renovate their houses. Purchase of new vehicle is also on the cards. Mother will prove very supportive - both monetarily and emotionally.

Any new course related or unrelated to career taken up this year will give positive results. Also students will be able to do excellently well. They will be able to perform good and come out with flying colours.

Many short travels are possible for you, and many of them will to places of religious prominence. Purchase of books and literature related to religion and spirituality will be more. Minor health problems related to shoulder and hands will give you some sleepless nights. You are also advised to be utmost careful about what you communicate through email or letters. Also be doubly watchful about legal documents.

People living away from birthplace will be able to invest in house in foreign nations. Settlement chances of foreign countries will increase multifold for you.

Vrishika (Scorpio)
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This year will bring MAJOR changes on your career front for good. You will change your job, change your firm, and also change in industry of work is very much foreseen. Business travels to foreign nations will be more. Also change in place of residence, city and country for work purpose is foreseen for you.

You can expect substantial increase in your income and wealth this year. Also you will do exceedingly well on the financial front. Investments in stocks will give you good returns too.
Relationship with family and relatives will improve to a very large extent. And you will be able to exist in harmony with them.

Childless couple can expect some positive news on conception front, and women who are already pregnant can expect a safe and normal delivery. Children will be able to do extremely well on curriculum front, and will be able to bring home some accolades.

Short travels to foreign nations are very much foreseen for you. The areas you should be careful about this year are – your father health and your relationship with seniors and bosses. Medical expenses will increase for you, and also slight misunderstandings with people at work will go out of proportion.

Dhanus (Sagittarius)
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Luck in and through foreign nations will increase multifold for you this year. If you are working in MNCs or in a foreign nation then you indeed can expect some substantial increase in your income. Your financial position will remain sound and steady.

You will be able to travel abroad both for short-term and long term assignments. There will also be impressive growth in your sibling’s life. Increase in inclination towards spiritual and religious pursuits will keep you content and happy most of year.

Support and good wishes from elderly people like father, seniors and bosses will make you perform well both on professional front and personal front.

Luck in matters related to house, land, property and vehicles would be more for you. Inherited property will reach you without any hurdles. You will also be able to donate or make some substantial contribution to some temples this year. Income through renting out places is also on the cards for you.

New moneymaking opportunities through foreign nations will open up for you. Investments in foreign brands will yield impressive results. It will be an ideal year for people who are into export/import related business. They will be able to make a killing on the profit front.

Makara (Capricorn)
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This year will bring some major losses on your financial front. Hence you are advised not to invest in any new endeavour, where your personal money is at stake. Also refrain from investing in stock markets.

On the career front there will be major changes – which includes change in industry of work and change in place of residence.

Minor health problems and increase in medical expenses cannot be ruled out for you. This will be a year of major transformation for you, where in there will be shift in your spiritual energy and also there will be change in perception and belief system. Your relationship with relatives will get strained. Losses due to speech will lead to many problems both on professional and personal front. It would be ideal if you maintain ‘moun vrath’ at least once in 15 days.

Long distance travel is foreseen for you – this includes foreign nations. People in IT fields will be able to get some foreign assignments. The year will be promising for people associated with written communication - like writers, journalists and bloggers.

Marital problems will increase for you, and people in the verge of divorce will get the final judgment. Temporary physical separation from spouse cannot be ruled out.

Kumbha (Aquarius)
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This will be an ideal year for you as far as matters related to love relationship, romance and marriage is concerned. All probable unmarried people will be able to find their life partners and wedding bells will ring for many of you. Lovers would be able to get a go ahead from their parents very easily.

On the career front you will do excellently well. Money flow will be good, and finances will be taken care of. You can expect impressive increase in income and lift in career in the initial months of year 2008. Visits to prominent places of worship for the first time will bring fruitful results. Blessing of God, and elderly people will harmonize your life to a very large extent.
Minor health problems in the mid months of year 2008 are foreseen for you. Also matters related to court cases will surface. You are advised to keep all legal documents up to date, and safe.

Old broken relationships will get bonded again. Also you will be able to attend some important family function.

Long distance travel is very much foreseen for you. And your luck in and through foreign nations will increase impressively. People working for MNCs will do well. People settled in foreign nations will make good amount of money and wealth.

Meena (Pisces)
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This will be an average year for you. There won’t be much savings happening. Though there will be increase in income and revenue for you, increase in expenses cannot be ruled out. End of the day income will equal out expenses. Minor downfall is visible for your elder sibling – loss of job or loss of wealth.

On the career front you can expect positive news. Luck in and through foreign nations will increase multifold for you. Few foreign travels are also on the cards. Bad events will lead to good events for you this year.

You can expect a major breakthrough on your career front in the initial months of year 2008, which will lead to increase in fame and power for you. Visits to prominent places of worship, and meeting with religious Gurus on one-to-one basis will lead to some happy moments.

Minor health problems for children will give you some sleepless nights. Also childless couples will see conception getting delayed. Medical assistance would be needed for getting pregnant. Pregnant women will face some minor complications during delivery.

Income through foreign nations will increase impressively. Hence this year will be good for people working in MNCs and also for people who revenue depends on foreign clients.

Migrating to a Mac from Windows

If you own one of the newer Intel-based Macs, you can run OS X and Windows XP on one machine. In the spring of 2006, Apple's Boot Camp beta software shook up the computing public upon its arrival. Apple announced that Boot Camp will be featured in the next major release of OS X (dubbed Leopard), which is expected early in 2007. In the meantime, you can download a version of the software at Apple.com. It includes Boot Camp Assistant software, stored in the Utilities folder under Applications.

Boot Camp itself is free, but you have to supply your own single-disc, full-install version of the Windows XP CD with Service Pack 2. An XP upgrade disc won't cut it.

Other requirements are as follows:

* An Intel Mac with OS X version 10.4.6 or later. If necessary, run Software Update.

* At least 10GB of free space on the startup disk.

* A blank recordable CD or DVD.


If you don't run into snags, the entire installation (including Windows) should take about an hour.

Because snags are possible, back up all your important information on the Mac's startup disk. Remember too that when you transform your Mac, it becomes as vulnerable to viruses and spyware as any other Windows PC.
Getting basic training

Follow these steps to get through Boot Camp:

1. Run Boot Camp Assistant (in the Utilities folder under Applications) to make sure that you have the latest firmware on your computer.

You can find updates at Apple.com. Follow any on-screen instructions if you are updating the firmware.

2. Click Burn a Macintosh CD, and insert a blank recordable CD or DVD.

Boot Camp Assistant guides you through burning a Macintosh Drivers CD. You need these software drivers later on to instruct Windows.

3. Create a partition for Windows XP.

You are essentially carving out an area of your hard drive for the XP operating system. This partition must be at least 5GB and can swell as large as the total free disk space on hand minus 5GB. Drag the divider to set the partitions for both OS X and XP.

4. Insert the Windows XP CD, and click Start Installation.

5. When asked to select a Windows partition, select only partition C.

Failure to do so could wipe out your entire Mac OS X startup disk.

6. Format the partition in either NTFS or FAT.

FAT provides better compatibility between the two operating systems; NTFS is more reliable and secure.

7. After Windows is installed, use the Mac Drivers CD you created in Step 2 so that AirPort, Bluetooth, the Eject key on the Mac keyboard, networking, audio, and graphics are recognized by the XP operating system.

A Startup Disk control panel for Windows is also added. You have to eject the Windows XP CD to install the Mac Drivers CD. To eject the CD, go to My Computer, select drive D, and click Eject This Disk in the System Tasks list.

8. When you see the message indicating that the software "has not passed Windows Logo testing," click Continue Anyway.

Don't cancel any driver installers. The computer will restart.

9. Follow any Found New Hardware instructions.

As with any new Windows computer, Microsoft requires that you activate your XP software with 30 days.

Not everything in Windows may run smoothly (or at all) off the bat. For instance, many PC manufacturers include DVD decoders that help your machine recognize and play discs. But a DVD decoder is not included with a retail copy of XP. You'll have to separately add a DVD decoder for XP or merely watch those movies in Tiger.
Switching operating systems

You can go back and forth between Tiger and XP, but you can't run both simultaneously under Boot Camp. Instead, you have to boot one operating system or the other; thus the name Boot Camp.

Here's how: Restart your machine and hold down the Option key until icons for each operating system appear on the screen. Highlight Windows or Macintosh HD and click the arrow to launch the operating system you want for this particular session.

If you want OS X or Windows to boot every time, choose Mac menu --> System Preferences and click Startup Disk. Choose the OS you want to launch by default.

You can perform the same function in XP by choosing Start --> Control Panel and then choosing (under Category View) Performance and Maintenance. Next, click the Startup Disk control panel and click either the Macintosh HD or Windows icon, depending on your startup preference.

Today's Choice Of Songs

Dard E Dil
---------------------




Musafir hai Yarron
------------------------




Rajanigandha Phool Tumhare
----------------------------------------------



Humne Dekhi Hai Un Aankhon Ki Mehekti Khushboo
-----------------------------------------------------------------

What Really Killed the Dinosaurs

Instead of being driven to extinction by death from above, dinosaurs might have ultimately been doomed by death from below in the form of monumental volcanic eruptions.The suggestion is based on new research that is part of a growing body of evidence indicating a space rock alone did not wipe out the giant reptiles.The Age of Dinosaurs ended roughly 65 million years ago with the K-T or Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, which killed off all dinosaurs save those that became birds, as well as roughly half of all species on the planet, including pterosaurs. The prime suspect in this ancient murder mystery is an asteroid or comet impact, which left a vast crater at Chicxulub on the coast of Mexico.

Another leading culprit is a series of colossal volcanic eruptions that occurred between 63 million to 67 million years ago. These created the gigantic Deccan Traps lava beds in India, whose original extent may have covered as much as 580,000 square miles (1.5 million square kilometers), or more than twice the area of Texas.Arguments over which disaster killed the dinosaurs often revolve around when each happened and whether extinctions followed. Previous work had only narrowed the timing of the Deccan eruptions to within 300,000 to 500,000 years of the extinction event.

Now research suggests the mass extinction happened at or just after the biggest phase of the Deccan eruptions, which spewed 80 percent of the lava found at the Deccan Traps."It's the first time we can directly link the main phase of the Deccan Traps to the mass extinction," said Princeton University paleontologist Gerta Keller.

Clues in other life forms
------------------------------------------
Keller and colleagues focused on marine fossils excavated at quarries at Rajahmundry, India, near the Bay of Bengal, about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) southeast of the center of the Deccan Traps near Mumbai. Specifically, they looked at the remains of microscopic shell-forming organisms known as foraminifera.

"Before the mass extinction, most of the foraminifera species were comparatively large, very flamboyant, very specialized, very ornate, with many chambers," Keller explained. These foraminifera were roughly 200 to 350 microns large, or a fifth to a third of a millimeter long.These showy foraminifera were very specialized for particular ecological niches."When the environment changed, as it did around K-T, that prompted their extinction," she added. "The foraminifera that followed were extremely tiny, one-twentieth the size of the species before, with absolutely no ornamentation, just a few chambers." As such, these puny foraminifera serve as very distinct tags of when the K-T extinction event started.The researchers found these simple foraminifera seem to have popped up right after the main phase of the Deccan volcanism. This in turn hints these eruptions came immediately before the mass extinction, and might have caused it.

Double trouble
-------------------------

Both an impact from space and volcanic eruptions would have injected vast clouds of dust and other emissions into the sky, dramatically altering global climate and triggering die-offs. Keller's collaborator, volcanologist Vincent Courtillot at the Institute of Geophysics in Paris, noted upcoming work from her collaborators suggests the Deccan eruptions could have quickly released 10 times more climate-altering emissions than the nearly simultaneous Chicxulub impact.Keller stressed these findings do not deny that an impact occurred around the K-T boundary, and noted that one or possibly several impacts may have had a hand in the mass extinction. "The dinosaurs might have faced an unfortunate coincidence of a one-two punch—of Deccan volcanism and then a hit from space," she explained. "We just show the Deccan eruptions might have had a significant impact—no pun intended".Although paleontologist Kirk Johnson at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science called these new findings "significant," he noted a great deal of evidence connected a single massive impact with the K-T extinction event. He suggested that advances in radioisotope dating could now hone down when the Deccan eruptions occurred to within 30,000 to 65,000 years. "That could help put to bed some of the disputes regarding the issue," he said.

Keller and her collaborator Thierry Adatte at the University of Neuchatel in Switzerland detailed their findings Oct. 31 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver.

Today's Choice Of Songs

Puchho Na Yaar Kya Hua
--------------------------




Yeh Din Kya Aye
--------------------------




Jiska mujhe tha intezar
----------------------------



Na Bole Tum Na
----------------------------

The Making Of Robin Uthappa

"At some point two years ago, he found me and I found him," Robin Uthappa says. "Actually I think we just found each other. And I could communicate with him. And things just happened for me since then. There was a time during the World Cup when he wouldn't talk to me, and that was a really bad phase. But it passed and we're communicating again."

Uthappa isn't talking about his relationship with his captain, coach or mentor. Nor is he referring to his father or a confidante. He's trying to explain his faith in God, the main reason he thinks he has got so far. A lot of sweat has gone into the making of Indian cricket's audacious young hope, but talk to him and you'd think he's destiny's child.

We're at Café Mocha on Bangalore's Lavelle Road, but Uthappa is "fasting". Actually he's not. "I'll have the Cookie Monster. But I want it blended really well. I'm off solids."

His Reebok t-shirt fits neatly, and in his designer shades he seems right at home in the yuppie haven of the coffee shop.

Uthappa is coming off a seven-match one-day series against Australia, one where he attacked with both bat and lip. He kicked the series off in a gung-ho manner ("We'll fight fire with fire.") and didn't mind looking silly midway through it ("Man for man, we're a better side than Australia."). In the one-off Twenty20 in Mumbai, Brett Lee rapped him on the gloves with a bouncer, walked up and howled, "It's a different ball game, isn't it?" Pat came Uthappa's response: "But it's the same bat."

Brave new India or silly, reckless India? "I said we'll fight fire with fire, and we lost the series 2-4," he says, fidgeting with t-shirt, glass, seat. "But we gave our best. This was the best team in the world and we gave them a fight. They probably had the most uncomfortable Indian tour. I don't think they had seen an Indian side talking back so much.

"And I still think we are probably the more talented side on paper. They're very professional, no doubt. They know what to do and stick to the basics. And they make very little mistakes. And that's what makes them successful."

Does the media reaction worry him? "When I'm playing, I don't watch TV," he smiles cheekily. "And I don't read the newspaper reports. I just look at my pictures sometimes and see if the photo is good."

‡‡‡‡

Nobody who meets the upbeat, bubbly Uthappa of today would imagine that he seriously contemplated giving up the game five years ago. A prolific run-getter at the school level, Uthappa couldn't come to terms with the political wrangling commonplace in junior cricket. Medication had made him fat, and fed up with the vagaries of the real world, he was perilously close to throwing in the towel.

"I was a very fat kid. I put on weight because I had to take steroids to overcome epilepsy. At the age of 16, I felt there was a lot of politics which was affecting me and thought I'd give up. I decided to get away from everything and go to Coorg. But my dad always said I should give it a last shot, only because of the kind of talent the Lord had blessed me with."

Enter Makarand Waingankar, a journalist turned coach turned cricket administrator, who was then working as a consultant with the Karnataka side.

"The funny part is, I didn't know he had given up the game," Waingankar, currently the chief administrative officer at the Baroda Cricket Association, says. "But I was surprised that a batsman of such talent wasn't being given more chances. I wanted him to join Frank Tyson's newly launched academy in Bangalore."

Uthappa consented in what was a defining moment. "I worked really hard, lost 12 kilos in a matter of a month, and that's where it all changed. Things started happening for me after that."

Waingankar sounded out Dilip Vengsarkar, then the chairman of the Talent Resource Development Wing of the BCCI. Uthappa was thrown in the deep end, picked for a match between two National Cricket Academy teams (where an emerging Karnataka player was usually given a chance).

He has rarely looked back since. "I did well, was picked for India Under-17, became the highest run-scorer in the tri-nation championship in Sri Lanka in 2002, made it to the Under-19 side for the Asia Cup, and then played the Under-19 World Cup."

Ultimately it's only about situations. Put me in a situation and I'll adapt



It was in these Under-19 tournaments, shown on television, where most had their first glimpse of Uthappa. Standing well outside leg stump, he walked across as the bowler delivered, prompting several coaches to write him off instantly. Those who looked beyond saw the ferocious straight punches, which form the bedrock of his game even today.

"The shuffle happened because my batting was still developing. In school I never had an initial movement. I always went on the front foot. At some point I thought I was going too far forward. So I tried to go back and then forward.

"I wasn't mature enough to understand my game that well. You need to train your muscles to go over the same movement constantly. When you're playing a lot, you pick up some bad habits. But it's just muscle memory. And once you make a constant effort, it gets okay.

"The punch down the ground came about because of where I grew up. There's a house in front of the apartment where I stay, and in front of that house was an empty plot where we played. There were roads on either side, so if I had to score it would have to be straight. If I hit over the house and into the gutter, it was six. So I always tried to punch straight." Sessions with Waingankar, where he concentrated on hitting within the width of the sight screen, helped him fine-tune the shot.

The rest, as he says, is destiny. A whirlwind hundred in the 2005 Challenger Trophy showed Uthappa's destructive prowess. Six months later, in his first international chance, he produced the highest score by an Indian debutant.

Chances were hard to come by but he was making people take notice. Eight hundred and fifty-four runs in seven Ranji Trophy games, a firestarting 70 against West Indies in Chennai to seal his World Cup berth, 55 in his first chance on the England tour, a series-levelling 47 not out in the cauldron that was The Oval, and two sizzling knocks in the World Twenty20.

"Destiny, destiny, destiny," is his simple explanation. "There's nothing more to it. When I got selected for India, I was playing corporate cricket for Air India in Bombay. And to be honest, I wasn't batting well. Even the day before the match I was struggling. It was a dead rubber and they decided to play me. It was the last game of the series and if I had been dropped after that not many would have noticed.

"But when I went into bat, I felt as good as ever. And now I hold a record for an Indian debutant. That doesn't happen to everybody. A lot of things that have happened in my life have a lot to do with God. If you see me batting, you'll see me mumbling, saying something. I pray the most when I bat. That's my time of prayer - on the field and when I bat. My love for him has only grown over time.

"Let's take the Oval game. I go in at No. 7, a position I've batted in just once in my life - and that was an Under-13 match - and win a game for my country. How do you explain that? When I went in to bat [with 83 needed] I thought, 'I can really win this game with Dhoni.'"

What comes next is most baffling. "When Dhoni got out, I knew I would win it. I knew this was my game. I knew I had been sent here to win it. The trust in the Lord was enough. Fortunately I had the tail with me and they've been batting brilliantly."

Surely the final two shots - a cute paddle past fine leg and a smashing drive past mid-off - had something to do with Uthappa? "Stuart [Broad] got the long-off up for the final ball. I'd just scooped him and knew he was trying to fool me. I knew he was bringing him forward to make me think it was going to be short. But even if he had bowled a short one, I knew the Lord would help me pull it away. I trusted myself and trusted Him. So I walked down, took it on the full and finished it."

There was a time last year when Uthappa ran the risk of being pigeonholed as a one-day specialist. It was at the start of the season, midway through the opening game against Haryana in Mysore, that he received a jolt. It came from Venkatesh Prasad, the Karnataka coach last season.

"I'd scored a fifty in the first innings and felt happy about it. It was then that Venky came up to me and showed me the list of run-getters in the previous season. I was 62 on the list and he said, 'Do you realise how low that is?' That's when the realisation hit me on the face. It was then that I took it upon myself to take Karnataka to victory in every game. I got a hundred in almost every game after that. Had I played the semis, we would have won that too."

Through the season Uthappa showed an ability to adapt. Often he began in a blaze but occasionally he knuckled down and batted through the day. "I remember the Duleep Trophy game against Sri Lanka A in November last year. VVS Laxman was the captain and he gave me a useful piece of advice before that: 'Just concentrate on staying at the wicket all day. The runs will come'. And when I did that, I ended the day on 141. I didn't even need to think of smashing the ball around."

Some doubts still remain. Can he adapt his game to the bouncy tracks in Australia? Isn't he too much of a front-foot player? "I enjoy the longer version the most. I think I have a decent back-foot game too. I pull and cut okay. I have a good back-foot drive. Ultimately it's only about situations. Put me in a situation and I'll adapt.

"I also think technique is a bit overrated. Steve Waugh didn't have the greatest technique but came with a lot of grit and determination. Viru [Sehwag] is the only Indian to get a triple-hundred. It's all about how you feel inside. It doesn't matter if your batting looks bad - it's about how much you score."

Mention the two tough tours ahead, Pakistan at home and Australia away, and Uthappa's thoughts immediately turn to fast bowling. "They're going to be exciting. Shoaib Akhtar is coming back and I've always wanted to play him. Australia will probably have Shaun Tait in their side, and he's another who will be good to bat against."

You get the feeling Uthappa will be well up to the challenge of whatever those two bowlers, and others down the years, can serve up. After all, he's got help from above.

Where Time Stands Still

Indian mythology has this story about king Kukudmi who had a beautiful daughter Revati with many eligible suitors. In a dilemma over how to choose the right husband for her, Kukudmi took her to see no less a person than the creator Brahma himself. Brahma was involved in some work at the time and told Kukudmi to 'wait a second' till he could attend to him.

Kukudmi waited and when Brahma made himself available, presented his problem to him. Brahma laughed. "Your brief wait here has meant that several aeons have elapsed on the Earth. So all those prospective husbands for Revati are no more". He advised Kukudmi to get back to Earth and marry his daughter to Balarama, the brother of Krishna.

This story finds strange echoes in the remarkable phenomena that astronomers are familiar with, namely black holes, for time plays strange tricks as one approaches a black hole. Before coming to this phenomenon, let us take a brief look at what a black hole is supposed to be and how it could form.

A black hole is briefly described as an object which is so compact that its strong gravity prevents even light from leaving its surface. The strength of gravity on a heavenly body is measured by how difficult it is to leave its surface. Let us compare a black hole with the Earth. If a footballer kicks a ball up in the air it drops back, being attracted by the gravity of the Earth.

If he kicks it harder, it would rise higher, but will eventually drop down. Is there a limiting speed beyond which a ball leaving the Earth would just keep going farther and never come back? Twelfth standard mathematics will be enough to calculate the answer. The limiting speed is a little more than 11 kilometres per second, far above the kicking ability of a Pele or a Beckham.

But modern space technology has that capability. Spaceships which are launched towards the outer planets, exceed that speed limit. The speed limit is, not surprisingly, called the escape speed and it is an indicator of how powerful the gravitational pull of the body is. The escape speed for the Sun is more than that for the Earth, being above 42 kilometres per second. The escape speed for a black hole, by contrast, is the speed of light, that is, three lakh kilometres per second.

If the Earth were compressed to a quarter of its size, its escape speed would double. The weights of us earth dwellers would magnify sixteen fold, thus indicating how powerful the Earth's gravity has become. If the Earth were compressed further, it would finally become a black hole when its diameter shrank to around 18 millimetres. For the Sun to become a black hole, its diameter would have to become as small as six kilometres, much smaller than its present diameter of 14 lakh kilometres. But we can rest assured that neither the Sun, nor the Earth have a contracting tendency strong enough to become black holes. The internal pressures in these bodies are capable of preventing this outcome.

While looking for a candidate to become a black hole, astronomers look for an object so massive, that there is no known physical agency within it to counter its own contracting force of gravity. Such an object would keep on shrinking and shrinking till it became compact enough to be called a black hole. We need such a shrinking object to connect up with the experience of king Kukudmi.

Imagine two observers A and B who are in constant communication through light signals. A is a distant observer while B sits on the surface of the shrinking object. Both enter into an agreement whereby they send signals to each other once every minute. This agreement works in an uneventful way to start with. But as time proceeds, A will discover that B's signals do not reach him every minute. In fact, the interval between the signals grows progressively, to an hour, a day, even a month. And there would come a time when A's wait is so prolonged that he would be left wondering when B's next signal would come, indeed if it would come at all.

The mystery behind why this happens is resolved if we take note of Einstein's general theory of relativity. The theory of relativity tells us that whenever the force of gravity in a region grows in strength, time there flows more slowly. As the object shrinks, the force of gravity on it grows and the watch of observer B runs more and more slowly than the watch of the faraway observer A. So, although B diligently sends his signals every minute, as measured by his watch, to A the interval between signals is longer than a minute.

This effect is known as time-dilatation. And at the stage of becoming a black hole, time dilatation reaches infinity and B's time almost stands still as noted by A's watch. So one can say that Brahma's den was close to becoming a black hole and Kukudmi was experiencing no more than time dilatation! Black holes, for many of us, are a here-and-now phenomenon. Doesn't time stand still in a government office?

Today's Choice of Songs

Uthe sabke kadam
---------------------------




Ek Baat Kahoon
-------------------------




Heera Panna
-----------------





Mere Dil main ajj
----------------------------

Astronomers discover new planet

Astronomers in the US say they have found a new planet in orbit around a star 41 light years from Earth.The discovery brings to five the number of planets orbiting the star, 55 Cancri, the most found to date in a single solar system outside our own.

Astronomers have found more than 250 planets outside our own solar system - the team behind the latest discovery have found more than anyone else.The new planet is a gas planet about 45 times the mass of the Earth.Their latest find is a fifth planet to add to the four they had already discovered around 55 Cancri, a double or binary star in the constellation of Cancer.

Gas giant
--------------------

If the new planet, which has mild surface temperatures, has a rocky moon or moons around it, say the astronomers, then theoretically they could support liquid water.But it is the bigger picture that is really intriguing these planet hunters.They say this quintuple planet system has many similarities to our own.
The planets orbit a star which is similar in age and mass to our own Sun and the system also boasts its own gas giant - a planet four times the mass of our own Jupiter in a similar orbit to Jupiter.What they have not yet found is a rocky planet like the Earth or Venus, but according to Professor Geoff Marcy, of the University of California, Berkeley, who led the work, that may only be a question of time and technology.

"There is an intriguing, mysterious gap between the fourth planet out around 55 Cancri and the Jupiter-like planet that's far away," he says."In that gap, we don't know what there is. Our current technology would be able to detect big planets like Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter. We don't see any of them."So if there are any planets there, they must be smaller, the size of the Earth.

"In fact, it's a little hard to imagine that there's just nothing there in this big gap. So the suggestion is there might be small rocky planets, like Venus, Mars or Earth."Of course, none of these planets can actually be seen - the astronomers use tiny wobbles in the movement of the star to detect the presence of planets tugging on the star as they encircle it.But you can see the star itself - 55 Cancri - easily, with only a pair of binoculars, at the right time of year and with a clear night sky.

Get A Mac -- It Just Works

Your toaster doesn’t crash. Your kitchen sink doesn’t crash. Why should your computer? Think of the countless hours you would save if your PC worked on your time — not the other way around. Then think about a Mac.


If you spend more of your precious time figuring out why your PC crashes than you spend taking out the garbage every week, you need a Mac. Still not convinced? Just ask the millions of people who use and love a Mac why it’s become such an integral part of their lives, and most will tell you the same thing: It just works. Letting them do what they want to do. When they want to do it. All the time.

That’s because a Mac offers absolutely flawless integration of hardware and software. Only with a Mac do you get a system built by the same people who make the OS, the applications, and the computer itself.


Take a Mac out of its box and you experience that hand-in-glove fit from the get-go. Plug it in. Turn it on. And you’re ready for anything. With a Mac, you’ll find all of the essentials built right in. USB. FireWire. Ethernet. Every new Mac offers built-in antennas for wireless networks, so getting on the Internet from anywhere is a mere matter of turning on your Mac. No reconfiguring your network settings. No plugging in some clunky wireless card.

The real secret behind the Mac’s crash-resistant performance lies deep within the operating system itself. Beneath the surface of Mac OS X lies an industrial-strength UNIX foundation hard at work to ensure that your computing experience remains free of system crashes and compromised performance. Time-tested security protocols in Mac OS X keep your Mac out of harm’s way. Most Fortune 500 companies, governments, and universities rely on UNIX for their mission-critical applications. And now, so can you.Of course, should you happen to experience the occasional hiccup with your Mac, you won’t get the runaround. Because Apple makes the whole enchilada, one phone call — or better yet, one visit to the friendly Genius Bar at your local Apple Store — can solve both hardware and software problems in one fell swoop. And when you add the AppleCare Protection Plan, you extend your support options to include three full years of free telephone help and comprehensive repair coverage. That ought to save you some time and sanity, too.

Friends and Foes in Current India Pakistan Cricket Teams

A India v Pakistan contest is never without interesting battles among the players from opposing teams. Here's a few that could flare up over the upcoming ODI series.


Sehwag v Shoaib
--------------------------
Action v reaction doesn't get fierier. It's the longest run-up against the most exhilarating bat-swing, the fastest ball against the speediest bat. Sehwag doesn't do defence, Shoaib doesn't do half-measures. Earlier collisions have produced fireworks. There's also been plenty of lip. Sehwag has a strike-rate of 103.66 against Pakistan, Shoaib reserves his fastest for India. Both are on a comeback. Both like to make an instant impact. There are few more exhilarating ways to start a one-dayer. Blink and you'll surely miss it.

Younis v Sreesanth
-----------------------------

This may turn into a battle for the stump mics. Sreesanth will talk, mostly with a scowl, and Younis will chat back, mostly with a smile. Expect mid-pitch skirmishes and plenty of banter. Younis likes to cheer his partner after every quick single and Sreesanth is rarely short of a word while walking back to the start of his run-up. Both are capable of swinging matches - Sreesanth will rely on moving the ball at a good pace, Younis on finding the gaps in the middle overs. Both love to improvise - Sreesanth with his slower ones and Younis with his cheeky paddles and glides. Don't miss this street-fight. It's as spicy as it gets.

Uthappa v Afridi
--------------------------
Seasoned cheek meets youthful brashness in a high-energy battle. Whether it's with his electric hitting or waspish legspin, Shahid Afridi likes to impose himself. A charged Afridi is usually a sign of a successful Pakistan set-up. He provides momentum quicker than the rest and turns games in a matter of minutes. In Robin Uthappa he could meet his match. Not one to shy away, Uthappa's gung-ho approach has worked so far. Whether it's his nonchalant walk down the crease or cool shuffle across it, he's shown his value as a finisher. Incidentally, neither is likely to back away from a chat.


Pathan v Tanvir
-------------------------
Left-arm seamers rarely come with so much of a contrast. Irfan Pathan has transformed from a genuine swing bowler to a containing middle-over specialist. Sohail Tanvir, with his unusual wrong-footed action, is a new-ball threat. Pathan's stump-to-stump line is ideal for the middle and late overs while Tanvir's discomforting bounce off a good length can be used to exploit any early fizz on the pitch. Both are handy batsmen lower down the order - Pathan more conventional with a wide array of strokes, Tanvir more unorthodox, relying on a crisp flick off the hips.


Malik v Dhoni
--------------------------
India v Pakistan provides a captaincy challenge like few others. Both Shoaib Malik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are relatively new to the job, both are trying to build sides for the future, and both saw their sides reach the final of the World Twenty20 before subsequently stumbling in home series. Both are versatile batsmen capable of floating up and down the order and equipped to attack as well as defend. Both have faced the heat of an India-Pakistan series before but how they tackle the burdens of captaincy could decide the fate of the series.

Glorious Uncertainties India-pakistan Cricket

As with all the greatest sporting derbies, matters are never routine when India and Pakistan come together. Strange things, not always clasped to the fortunes of form, class and temperament, happen.

A match is stolen off the last ball with a mighty six, a match is won off the third last ball with an equally grand stroke; 350 is nearly chased down yet 126 proves too far; a fast bowler of repute is smashed for 40 runs in two overs but an opener with a tidy line in slow-medium wobblies cripples a side; people flock to see them play in deserts, against a backdrop of windmills and even in Canada, a country as au fait with cricket as India and Pakistan are with ice hockey.

And we should be glad for it. Such previews generally carry all the weight of a feather floating in space but for what its worth, here is a punt. Home advantage and a stodgier feel to their personnel tips the balance in India's favour, albeit gingerly. Then again Pakistan don't mind the other tag, one they wore so ebulliently on their last tour two years ago. Does that tip the balance back?

Citizens of two nations they may be, but certain truths are shared. One, Bollywood cuts across the Line of Control as does indigenous Pakistani classical and pop music. Two, democracy works for one, maybe not the other. Lastly, and most importantly, India's batsmen have always been unchallenged kings of the region and Pakistan's bowlers its' undisputed lords.

Much like the Rolling Stones, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly roll on. They don't surf the zeitgeist as they once did, but like the band, they still provide solid value. Suresh Raina may be yesterday's news, but Rohit Sharma might be tomorrow's. The real spunk, however, comes from Yuvraj Singh, Robin Uthappa and the captain himself. Mahendra Singh Dhoni may command Shahid Afridi-like fan fervour and he may have the strike rate to match, but he is a cerebral giant by comparison.

The Wall is resting, fatigued no doubt from the support it has provided in recent times. But if and when India falter at 15 for 2 with nothing to lean back on, Pakistan will be happiest to not see Rahul Dravid walking out. It leaves the middle order thin rather than lean, especially given the presence of five openers in the squad.

Perhaps they can pass on the surplus to Pakistan. New era, new captain and coach, same opening strife: Pakistan went through five openers and three combinations in five matches against South Africa and are still likely to draw names from a hat come the first ODI. In fact, their batting has rarely been as brittle as this, relying essentially on Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, with a little help from Shoaib Malik, the captain.

But even as it has become a pre-tour ritual for at least one Pakistan fast bowler to drop out from injury, drugs or bust-ups just before the series, on their bowling still rests the winning and losing of this. In Mohammad Asif's absence, Shoaib Akhtar will carry much the attack and though he is eminently capable, never before has it been as important for him to remain fit and preferably confined to his hotel room with no possibility of mischief.

Just in case, the force is strong with Umar Gul and Iftikhar Anjum presently, especially the latter who provides, as first change, an adept, thoughtful option. India hasn't suited Afridi the bowler, but his craft is at its peak and strong enough to make up for his batting. As vital as the fast men will be Afridi's middle-overs spread.

For once, however, India's pace is in comparably rude health. Zaheer Khan and RP Singh's bowling is a different game from when Pakistan last played them in an ODI. Zaheer is leaner and wiser, more rounded and a better bowler. RP is broader, quicker, bouncier, spikier and altogether more dangerous. Behind them, Sreesanth will dance, pump fists, sledge, stare and occasionally bowl mean spells. But it says much for their strength that India choose to play without Munaf Patel, who is possibly the most gifted of them all.

Will fielding make a difference? Both sides are bad enough for it to cancel itself out, as Sanjay Manjrekar points out in Cricinfo's Round Table. . But leadership will. Both captains are young, both have had their honeymoons and both have been brought back to earth swiftly by vastly superior sides.

Dhoni feels the more settled, if only because his place in all forms is unquestioned. Malik, meanwhile, is still gamely battling off lingering doubters. It is also easier to be a young captain of India than to be one of Pakistan. Malik's calm will come in handy in times of stress, as will Younis as deputy. Dhoni's feistiness, his wily, upmarket sadak chaap bravado will serve him likewise.

As parting, heed this: if this were on paper, you would be wise to crumple it and chuck it away. So turn off the monitor instead, for come tomorrow all of it and none of it will matter.

Around the world in a solar taxi

Louis Palmer dreamt of travelling around the world in a car when he was just 14. Twenty one years later, his dream saw the light of day when he invented an eco-friendly car powered only by solar energy.

The 35-year old Swiss is now on a promotional world tour in his solar car, demonstrating that sustainable technologies are perfectly suited for everyday use, even to go around the world! “With this tour I want to show that solutions against global warming are available and that it can be stopped,” he says. He is currently in India, doing a tour of Mumbai, Udaipur, Delhi, Agra and Kolkata.



He has already travelled through all continents, by bicycle, ultra light airplane and a car. Palmer says the many signs of global warming that he came across disturbed him. “The weather has changed so drastically in almost all the 60 countries I visited, that people are alarmed. This prompted me to build my solar car, which I humorously call a ‘solar taxi’ as I take passengers for a ride.” His taxi is not only eco-friendly, but economical too. According to Louis, a compact solar taxi (without the trailer) could be built for Rs 3 lakh.

Developed by Palmer with the help of students from four Swiss technical universities over a period of one year, the solar taxi consists of a vehicle and trailer with solar cells – it’s 100% renewable energy with no polluting emissions.

Palmer envisions a future where solar cells will adorn rooftops of houses so that people can charge their car batteries. “My idea is to have an energy bank of sorts, from which people can take as much electricity as they feed into the grid.So if you have solar cells on your rooftop feeding electricity into your grid, you can recharge your car electrically by taking as much from the grid. This way, you can ‘refuel’ along your journey and be unaffected by cloudy or rainy weather,” he says.

The solar taxi, which travels at a maximum speed of 90 kmph on its three wheels, is equipped with luxurious, leather-covered bucket seats guaranteeing both fun and comfort. The person in the passenger seat too can drive the vehicle as the steering slides across horizontally.

Palmer started his world tour on July 3, 2007 in Lucerne, Switzerland and travelled across Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. From Dubai, he shipped the solar car to Mumbai. “So far almost all car drivers that I came across have given me the ‘thumbs up’ sign of encouragement; sometimes they were curious to find out how it works,” he says. The route he takes for the rest of his tour will depend on the invitations he receives.

Armed with a screen and projector for presentations, his goal is to cover at least 50,000 km and visit 50 countries in five continents.

If everything works out, this project will set a world record of being the first motor vehicle powered by non-fossil fuel to drive around the world.

He already has some interesting tales to tell from his experiences. In Syria, Palmer was involved in a crash when another taxi rammed into his car. But he promptly got police escort after that. “It was like real protocol, where even when I drove to a shop to buy a juice can, I was escorted by police cars and motorbikes with blaring sirens!” says Palmer. In Saudi Arabia, expecting stiff resistance for promoting a non-fossil fuel car, Palmer got the Saudi king himself to grant permission and also a 24-hour police escort in Riyadh.

While in India, Palmer hopes to highlight this alternative mode of mobility as he feels that a strong message from a developing economy is the need of the hour. “With so many petrol cars, polluted air, traffic jams and noise levels, quality of life is minimised. I can’t imagine how ill Mumbai will look 10 years from now with double the amount of cars.” Maybe, here’s a unique chance for India to embrace forward thinking.

Golden Collections

Bekarar KarKe Yun Na Jaiye
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Ajeeb Dastan Hai
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Hum aap ki aankhon mein
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Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan
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Fernando Alonso quits McLaren

Spain's double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso has left McLaren in a mutual split after an acrimonious and controversial season with the Mercedes-powered team. McLaren announced the widely expected decision in a statement on Friday.

"Following a meeting between Fernando Alonso and McLaren, it was agreed that it would be in the best interests of both parties to bring the relationship to an end," they said in a statement. The 26-year-old driver, who joined McLaren from Renault at the end of the 2006 season, fell out with team management whom he accused of favouring British rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

He had two years to run on his contract. The Spaniard's next destination remains uncertain, with Renault eager to secure his return while other teams could also change their plans now that one of the sport's hottest properties is openly available.

"Since I was a boy I had always wanted to drive for McLaren, but sometimes in life things do not work out," Alonso said in the McLaren statement. "I continue to believe that McLaren is a great team. Yes, we have had our ups and downs during the season, which has made it extra-challenging for all of us, and it is not a secret that I never really felt at home," he added.

"I know there have been suggestions of favouritism within the team and people say a lot of things in the heat of battle, but in the end I was always provided with an equal opportunity to win. Today's decision allows all of us to focus on 2008."

Spanish media said the divorce was negotiated by Alonso's manager Luis Garcia Abad and a lawyer at the McLaren headquarters in Woking on Thursday and Friday morning.

The El Mundo newspaper said Alonso, who finished the season in third place level on points with Hamilton and a point behind Ferrari's new champion Kimi Raikkonen, would not have to pay any compensation to McLaren. McLaren did not give any details of the terms of the separation but said it had been decided only after the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on October 21.


"The mutual parting of ways has not been discussed until now, since it was felt that any such discussion could have seriously disrupted the team's and Fernando's 2007 Formula One World Championship challenge," the statement said.



Team boss Ron Dennis, who said in September that he had not been on speaking terms with Alonso since a row on the morning of the Hungarian Grand Prix on August 5, wished the Spaniard well.

"He is a great driver but for some reason the combination of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Fernando has not really worked out," he said. "In the end we reached a stage where none of us could find a way to move forward. We all believe that our joint decision to part company is for the best, and we will now continue to focus on our 2008 World Championship challenge."

McLaren said a decision on who would replace Alonso alongside Hamilton, overall runner-up in a sensational rookie season, would be made in due course. Alonso won four races for McLaren, who were fined $100 million and stripped of all their constructors' points after a spying controversy with Ferrari.

The Spaniard played a key role in that controversy, providing e-mail evidence to the governing body that proved damning for his team.

Auspicious November

Shiva Tandava Strotram
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SURAJ KI GARMI SE
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Sri Ram Chandra Kripalu Bhajman
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Ganesha Pancharatnam Stotram
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