Monday, August 31, 2009

Website of the day - www.ehow.com

Ehow

http://www.ehow.com/: A reference site for just about everything else. Want to know how to tie a tie? How to Get up in The Morning and Get to Work On Time? How to Customize a Cover Letter? This is the place.

eHow.com has to be one of my favorite websites I recently stumbled upon. You can literally find out how to do something right here on the website. They can tell you how to do almost anything, and that is what I like about this website. The website is from people like me and you, and everyone has their own opinion about something.

There may be 20 articles on how to make tomato soup, but everyone has their own different touch or ingredient. It is a really good website which I find quite addicting.

If you love to write, this might be the website for you. You have the opportunity to sign up for their writer’s compensation program and make money off of the articles that you share on the website. They pride themselves on having thousands of practical solutions to everyday problems and queries, and on offering this information free.

Shortcut Keys of MS Excel 2007

Shortcut Keys of MS Excel

Microsoft Word 2007 keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Office Word 2007 height="500" width="100%" > value="http://d.scribd.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=5284083&access_key=key-qkkfl45ax63ctco2fxj&page=1&version=1&viewMode=">

Best Advertisment of the Year 2009

Best advertisement of the year 2009

Sunday, August 30, 2009

James Cameron's AVATAR

In Cinemas Worldwide December - In the epic action adventure AVATAR, James Cameron, the director of Titanic, takes us to a spectacular new world beyond our imagination. On the distant moon Pandora, a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization. The film was first conceived by Cameron 14 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not yet exist. Now, after four years of actual production work, AVATAR delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film, disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

Official International Teaser Trailer




Natpu kalam - Aruvumathi Kavithigal

எல்லாவற்றிலும்
எனக்குப் பிடித்ததையே
நீ
தேர்ந்தெடுத்தாய்
உனக்குப் பிடித்ததையே
நான்
தேர்ந்தெடுத்தேன்
அதனால்தான்
நட்பு
நம்மைத் தேர்ந்தெடுத்திருக்கிறது
----------------------------------------------------------------------

பால் வாசனையில்
அம்மா
அக்குள்
வாசனையில்
துணைவி
இதயத்தின்
வாசனையில்
நட்பு  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

கடற்கரையின்
முகம் தெரியாத இரவில்
பேசிக் கொண்டிருந்த நம்மை
நண்பர்களாகவே
உணரும்
பாக்கியம்
எத்தனைக் கண்களுக்கு
வாய்த்திருக்கும்
------------------------------------------------------------------------

உனக்கு மடல் எழுத
உட்காருகிற போது
மட்டும்தான்
அப்புறம்
எழுதிக் கொள்ளலாம்
என்பதற்கான
அர்த்தமற்ற காரணங்கள்
மிக எளிதாய்
எனக்குக் கிடைத்து
விடுகின்றன
------------------------------------------------------------------------

போக்குவரத்து அதிகமுள்ள
அந்தச் சாலையோரத்தில்
நாம் பேசிக்கொண்டிருந்த பொழுது
எத்தனை முறை
காதுகளுக்குத்
திரும்பினோம் என்று
சொல்லிவிட முடியுமா
உன்னால்
------------------------------------------------------------------------

தேர்வு முடிந்த
கடைசி நாளில் நினைவேட்டில்
கையொப்பம் வாங்குகிற
எவருக்கும் தெரிவதில்லை
அது ஒரு நட்பு முறிவிற்கான
சம்மத உடன்படிக்கைஎன்று
------------------------------------------------------------------------

கனவில் கூட
என்னைக்
கிள்ளிப் பார்க்கும்
இந்தச் சுரப்பிகள்
உன்னைக்
கண்டதும் எப்படி
இவ்வளவு
இயல்பாய்
தூங்கிவிடுகின்றன
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

காமத்தாலான
பிரபஞ்சத்தில்
நட்பைச்
சுவாசித்தல்
அவ்வளவு
எளிதன்று
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

பேருந்து நிறுத்தத்திற்குச்
சற்றுத் தள்ளிநின்று
பேசுகிறவர்கள்
காதலர்கள்
நிறுத்தத்திலேயே
நின்று
பேசுகிறவர்கள்
நண்பர்கள்
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

கண்களை வாங்கிக் கொள்ள
மறுக்கிறவள்
காதலியாகிறாள்
கண்களை
வாங்கிக் கொண்டு
உன்னைப்போல்
கண்கள் தருகிறவள்தான்
தோழியாகிறாள்
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

என் துணைவியும்
உன் கணவரும்
கேட்கும்படி
நம்
பழைய மடல்களையெல்லாம்
படித்துப் பார்க்க
ஒரு
மழை தொடங்கும்
நாள் வேண்டும்
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

உனது அந்தரங்கத்தின்
அனுமதியற்ற
எல்லையை
ஒரு நாள் தற்செயலாக
நான்
மீறிவிட்ட
கோபத்தில்
ஏறக்குறைய
நாற்பது நாள்கள்
என்னோடு நீ
பேசாமல்
இருந்தாய்
ஓர் அதிகாலையில்
முதலாவதாக எழுப்பி
எனக்கு நீ
பிறந்தநாள் வாழ்த்துச்
சொல்லிய போதுதான்
பிறந்தேன் மறுபடியும்
புதிதாய்
நான்
---------------------------------------------------------------------

போகிற இடத்தில்
என்னை
விட
அழகாய்
அறிவாய்
ஒருவன்
இருந்து விடுவானோ
என்கிற
பயம்
நல்லவேளை
நட்பிற்கு
இல்லை
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Top 10 Greatest Photos

Website of the day

Scribd - largest social publishing company in the world

Scribd began with a simple observation — that the desire for self-expression through the written word is as old as humanity itself. But even with the proliferation of blogs and other self-publishing tools, there was no easy way for average people to publish to a readership of millions.

Today, Scribd is the largest social publishing company in the world — the website where more than 60 million people each month discover and share original writings and documents.

Scribd’s vision is to liberate the written word — to turn everyone into a publisher and create the best possible reading experience on the web and mobile platforms.

"... the idea behind Scribd is that everyone has a lot of documents sitting around on their computers that only they can read."

Quick Facts
Tens of millions of readers every month
Millions of documents shared
More than 35 billion words
More than 5 million iPaper embeds
90 different languages

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Aruvumathi - Natpu Kalam











Website of the day




Today's website is http://www.quillpad.com/, great online Indian language typing tool. You can write in 10 Indian languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu etc with its online editor. For example, type 'aap kaise hain' in the Quillpad editor and it will convert it directly into Devanagari script. You can save or email your message. Quillpad can also predict if multiple words are possible for your input. You can click on the word to select from those options. In addition Quillpad allows you to type English words freely in between Hindi words. It intelligently transliterates them into Hindi.



Quillpad uses a superior mechanism to transform English words to Indian English way of writing in Indian languages, automatically. It is not based on manually added limited words set.



Best way to see how Quillpad works for multiple languages is to see what users are talking about it. Check out Quillpad Forums. Developers know how to read or write only Hindi, Kannada and Telugu, but Quillpad is currently trained for 8 languages. They didn't need any linguistics expert to help us achieve this. Quillpad does it automatically, the Machine Learning way!






Quillpad Free Widget, Quillpad Free Widget comes with a single language transliteration support and you can choose your preferred language while registration. You can change your preferred language by logging in to your account anytime later. Quillpad Free Widget can be used only on non-commercial and personal websites.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Website of the Day

Tired of printing web pages only to find your printout is full of ads, empty space and other junk you don't want?


PrintWhatYouLike is a free online editor that lets you format any web page for printing in seconds!

This is very interesting website, http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/: With this online utility, you can remove ads, images of a webpage before printing. You can also change font size or font type. Save money and environment by reducing paper and ink usage.

How To Make Any Page Printer Friendly
1. Enter a URL and click Start. There is nothing to download - everything runs in your browser
2. Make the page more readable by changing the font size and type and removing the background
3. Combine multiple web pages - edit & print them as one document!
4. Save your modified page as a PDF or HTML document
5. Remove ads and other junk you don't want


Thursday, August 27, 2009

Books that changed the world forever

These are the books that changed the world forever, some how every one in this world read any one of the this book in their life time.

In order of creation, here is the list of top 10 books that changed the world.

1. The Bible (circa 30AD – 90AD) - The book that defines Christianity, billions of people have lived their lives according to its text. Christians have gone into battle to defend what the book stands for.

2. The Qur'an / Koran /Al-Qur'an (650AD to 656AD) - The book that defines Islam, billions of people have lived their lives according to its text. Muslims have gone into battle to defend what the book stands for.

3. Magna Carta (1215) - Written in Latin, the Magna Carta is quite simply one of the key moments in the history of democracy. Among other things, the charter established habeas corpus meaning that citizens can't be thrown in jail at the drop of a hat. Much of its content comes from the Charter of Liberties issued by Henry I in 1100.

4. Divine Comedy by Dante (circa 1310) - this book established a language, Italian, out of a series of regional dialects and describes a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. To the Italians, Dante is 'the Supreme Poet' (il Sommo Poeta).

5. Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Isaac Newton (1687) - the book describes gravity and the laws of motion for the first time. It is the basis for modern engineering. A true landmark in science

6. The Communist Manifesto (1848), co-authored with Friedrich Engels, was published in 1848. Commissioned by the Communist League, the manifesto urged the working classes to overthrow its rulers and establish a classless society without private property. The Russian Revolution turned his theory into reality and the world was never the same again.

7. Experimental Research in Electricity – Michael Faraday (1855), Faraday was an English chemist and physicist whose many experiments with electricity ultimately lead to his invention of electromagnetic rotary devices which formed the foundation of electric motor technology. Although he received little formal education and thus higher mathematics like calculus were always out of his reach, he went on to become one of the most influential scientists in history. It was largely his experiments that lead to electricity becoming viable for use in technology.

8. On the Origin of Species – Charles Darwin (1859), perhaps the greatest science book of all time as it established the principle of evolutionary biology. The book is readable even for the non-specialist and attracted widespread interest on publication. The book was controversial, and generated much discussion on scientific, philosophical, and religious grounds. The scientific theory of evolution has itself evolved since Darwin first presented it, but natural selection remains the most widely accepted scientific model of how species evolve. The at-times bitter creation-evolution controversy continues to this day.

9. Das Kapital, published in 1867, is critique of capitalism and how it exploits the workers. If the Communist Manifesto urges action then Das Kapital explains why change is required. Would Douglas Coupland have popularized the term 'McJob' in his 1991 novel, Generation X, without Marx and his work so long ago.

10. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler (Vol-1 1925 & vol-2 1926) - This infamous book is essentially an autobiography that also outlines the National Socialist political ideology. Hitler changed the world, not his book, but Mein Kampf was a tool of the Nazi political machine.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Saadat Hasan ‘Manto' - A great story teller

"If you find my stories dirty, the society
you are living in is dirty. With my stories, I only expose the truth"
-- Saadat Hasan ‘Manto'
"A writer picks up his pen only when his sensibility is hurt."
-- Manto to a court judge



Saadat Hasan Manto, the most widely read and the most controversial short-story writer in Urdu, was born on 11 May 1912 at Samrala in Punjab’s Ludhiana district.

In a literary, journalistic, radio scripting and film-writing career spread over more than two decades, he produced twenty-two collections of short stories, one novel, five collections of radio plays, three collections of essays, two collections of personal sketches and many scripts for films.

He was tried for obscenity half a dozen times, thrice before and thrice after independence. Some of Manto’s greatest work was produced in the last seven years of his life, a time of great financial and emotional hardship for him. most known for his Urdu short stories , 'Bu' (Odor), 'Khol Do' (Open It), 'Thanda Gosht' (Cold Meat), and his magnum opus, Toba Tek Singh' (a telefilm on it was shown on Doordarshan some years back)

Combining psychoanalysis with human behaviour, he was arguably one of the best short story tellers of the 20th century, and one of the most controversial as well. When it comes to chronicling the collective madness that prevailed in the Indian subcontinent, during and post the Partition of India in 1947, no other writer comes close to the oeuvre of Saadat Hasan Manto.

He is often compared with D. H. Lawrence, and like Lawrence he also wrote about the topics considered social taboos in Indo-Pakistani Society. His topics range from the socio-economic injustice prevailing in pre- and post- colonial subcontinent, to the more controversial topics of love, sex, incest, prostitution and the typical hypocrisy of a traditional subcontinental male. In dealing with these topics, he doesn't take any pains to conceal the true state of the affair - although his short stories are often intricately structured, with vivid satire and a good sense of humour. In chronicling the lives and tribulations of the people living in lower depths of the human existence, no writer of 20th century, came close to Manto. His concerns on the socio-political issues, from local to global level are revealed in his series, Letters to Uncle Sam, and those to Pandit Nehru.

He died several months short of his forty-third birthday, in January 1955, in Lahore.

I have added some short stories to know him better,

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Value of Ignorance (Bekhabri ka Faida)


The trigger was pressed; the bullet shot out of the barrel. A man looking through his window collapsed on the spot. The trigger was pressed a second time. Another shot fired.
The water carrier's water-bag burst. He too collapsed. His blood, mixed with water, started flowing on the road.
The third shot. This time it was off target. The bullet simply went through a damp wall.
The fourth bullet hit the back of an elderly woman. She died instantly--without a scream.
Nobody was killed. Nobody was injured. That was the fifth and sixth bullet.
The man was enraged. Suddenly he spotted a child sprinting across the road. He turned his pistol in his direction.
'What are you doing?' his companion said.
'You have no rounds to fire.'
'You keep quiet! How would that little child know?'

Jelly

At six in the morning, the man selling ice from a pushcart next to the petrol pump was stabbed to death. His body lay on the road until seven, while water kept falling on it in steady driblets from the melting ice.
At quarter past seven, the police took his body. The ice and blood stayed on the road.
A tonga rode past. The child noticed the coagulated blood on the road, pulled at his mother's sleeve and said, 'Look, ma, jelly'

Dog of Tithwal

The soldiers had been entrenched in their positions for several weeks, but there was little, if any, fighting, except for the dozen rounds they ritually exchanged every day. The weather was extremely pleasant. The air was heavy with the scent of wild flowers and nature seemed to be following its course, quite unmindful of the soldiers hiding behind rocks and camouflaged by mountain shrubbery. The birds sang as they always had and the llowers were in bloom. Bees buzzed about lazily.

Only when a shot rang out, the birds got startled and took Right, as if a musician had struck a jarring note on his instrument. It was almost the end of September, neither hot nor cold. It seemed as if summer and winter had made their peace. In the blue skies, cotton clouds floated all day like barges on a lake.

The soldiers seemed to be getting tired of this indecisive war where nothing much ever happened. Their positions were quite impregnable. The two hills on which they were placed faced each other and were about the same height, so no one side had an advantage. Down below in the valley, a stream zigzagged furiously on its stony bed like a snake.

The air force was not involved in the combat and neither of the adversaries had heavy guns or mortars. At night, they would light huge fires and hear each others' voices echoing through the hills.

The last round of tea had just been taken. The fire had gone cold. The sky was clear and there was a chill in the air and a sharp, though not unpleasant, smell of pine cones. Most of the soldiers were already asleep, except Jamadar Harnam Singh, who was on night watch. At two o'clock, he woke up Ganda Singh to take over. Then he lay down, but sleep was as far away from his eyes as the stars in the sky. He began to hum a Punjabi folk song:

Buy me a pair of shoes, my lover A pair of shoes with stars on them Sell your buffalo, if you have to But buy me a pair of shoes With stars on them

It made him feel good and a bit sentimental. He woke up the others one by one. Banta Singh, the youngest of the soldiers, who had a sweet voice, began to sing a lovelorn verse from Heer Ranjha, that timeless Punjabi epic of love and tragedy. A deep sadness fell over them. Even the grey hills seemed to have been affected by the melancholy of the song.

This mood was shattered by the barking of a dog. Jamadar Harnam Singh said, 'Where has this son of a bitch materialized from?'

The dog barked again. He sounded closer. There was a rustle in the bushes. Banta Singh got up to investigate and came back with an ordinary mongrel in tow. He was wagging his tail. 'I found him behind the bushes and he told me his name was Jhun Jhun,' Banta Singh announced. Everybody burst out laughing.

The dog went to Harnam Singh who produced a cracker from his kitbag and threw it on the ground. The dog sniffed at it and was about to eat it, when Harnam Singh snatched it away. '. . . Wait, you could be a Pakistani dog.'

They laughed. Banta Singh patted the animal and said to Harnam Singh, 'Jamadar sahib,JhunJhun is an Indian dog.' 'Prove your identity,' Harnam Singh ordered the dog, who began to wag his tail.

'This is no proof of identity. All dogs can wag their tails,' Harnam Singh said.

'He is only a poor refugee,' Banta Singh said, playing with his tail.

Harnam Singh threw the dog a cracker which he caught in midair. 'Even dogs will now have to decide if they are Indian or Pakistani,' one of the soldiers observed.

Harnam Singh produced another cracker from his kitbag. 'And all Pakistanis, including dogs, will be shot.'

A soldier shouted, 'India Zindabad ! '

The dog, who was about to munch his cracker, stopped dead in his tracks, put his tail between his legs and looked scared. Harnam Singh laughed. 'Why are you afraid of your own country? Here, Jhun Jhun, have another cracker.'

The morning broke very suddenly, as if someone had switched on a light in a dark room. It spread across the hills and valleys of Titwal, which is what the area was called.

The war had been going on for months, but nobody could be quite sure who was winning it.

Jamadar Harnam Singh surveyed the area with his binoculars. He could see smoke rising from the opposite hill, which meant that, like them, the enemy was busy preparing breakfast.

Subedar Himmat Khan of the Pakistan army gave his huge moustache a twirl and began to study the map of the Titwal sector. Next to him sat his wireless operator who was trying to establish contact with the platoon commander to obtain instructions. A few feet away, the soldier Bashir sat on the ground, his back against a rock and his rifle in front of him.

He was humming:

Where did you spend the night, my love, my moon?

Where did you spend the night?

Enjoying himself, he began to sing more loudly, savouring the words. Suddenly, he heard Subedar Himmat Khan scream,

'Where did you spend the night?'

But this was not addressed to Bashir. It was a dog he was shouting at. He had come to them from nowhere a few days ago, stayed in the camp quite happily and then suddenly disappeared last night. However, he had now returned like a bad coin.

Bashir smiled and began to sing to the dog. 'Where did you spend the night, where did you spend the night?' But he only wagged his tail. Subedar Himmat Khan threw a pebble at him. 'All he can do is wag his tail, the idiot.'

'What has he got around his neck?' Bashir asked. One of the soldiers grabbed the dog and undid his makeshift rope collar. There was a small piece of cardboard tied to it. 'What does it say?' the soldier, who could not read, asked.

Bashir stepped forward and with some difficulty was able to decipher the writing. 'It says JhunJhun.'

Subedar Himmat Khan gave his famous moustache another mighty twirl and said, 'Perhaps it is a code. Does it say anything else, Bashirey?'

'Yes sir, it says it is an Indian dog.'

'What does that mean?' Subedar Himmat Khan asked.

'Perhaps it is a secret,' Bashir answered seriously.

'If there is a secret, it is in that word Jhun Jhun,' another soldier ventured in a wise guess.

'You may have something there,' Subedar Himmat Khan observed.

Dutifully, Bashir read the whole thing again. 'JhunJhun. This is an Indian dog.'

Subedar Himmat Khan picked up the wireless set and spoke to his platoon commander, providing him with a detailed account of the dog's sudden appearance in their position, his equally sudden disappearance the night before and his return that rnorning. 'What are you talking about?' the platoon commander asked.

Subedar Himmat Khan studied the map again. Then he tore up a packet of cigarettes, cut a small piece from it and gave it to Bashir. 'Now write on it in Gurmukhi, the language of those Sikhs . . .'

'What should I write?'

'Well . . .'

Bashir had an inspiration. 'Shun Shun, yes, that's right. We counter JhunJhun with Shun Shun.'

'Good,' Subedar Himmat Khan said approvingly. 'And add:

This is a Pakistani dog.'

Subedar Himmat Khan personally threaded the piece of paper through the dog's collar and said, 'Now go join your family.'

He gave him something to eat and then said, 'Look here, my friend, no treachery. The punishment for treachery is death.'

The dog kept eating his food and wagging his tail. Then Subedar Himmat Khan turned him round to face the Indian position and said, 'Go and take this message to the enemy, but come back. These are the orders of your commander.'

The dog wagged his tail and moved down the winding hilly track that led into the valley dividing the two hills. Subedar Himmat Khan picked up his rifle and fired in the air.

The Indians were a bit puzzled, as it was somewhat early in the day for that sort of thing. Jamadar Harnam Singh, who in any case was feeling bored, shouted, 'Let's give it to them.'

The two sides exchanged fire for half an hour, which, of course, was a complete waste of time. Finally, Jamadar Harnam Singh ordered that enough was enough. He combed his long hair, looked at himself in the mirror and asked Banta Singh, 'Where has that dog Jhun Jhun gone?'

'Dogs can never digest butter, goes the famous saying,' Banta Singh observed philosophically.

Suddenly, the soldier on lookout duty shouted, 'There he comes.'

'Who?' Jamadar Harnam Singh asked.

'What was his name?JhunJhun,' the soldier answered.

'What is he doing?' Harnam Singh asked.

'Just coming our way,' the soldier replied, peering through his binoculars.

Subedar Harnam Singh snatched them from him. 'That's him all right and there's something round his neck. But, wait, that's the Pakistani hill he's coming from, the motherfucker.'

He picked up his rifle, aimed and fired. The bullet hit some rocks close to where the dog was. He stopped.

Subedar Himmat Khan heard the report and looked through his binoculars. The dog had turned round and was running back. 'The brave never run away from battle. Go forward and complete your mission,' he shouted at the dog. To scare him, he fired in his general direction. Harnam Singh fired at the same time. The bullet passed within inches of the dog, who leapt in the air, flapping his ears. Subedar Himmat Khan fired again, hitting some stones.

It soon became a game between the two soldiers, with the dog running round in circles in a state of great terror. Both Himmat Khan and Harnam Singh were laughing boisterously. The dog began to run towards Harnam Singh, who abused him loudly and fired. The bullet caught him in the leg. He yelped, turned around and began to run towards Himmat Khan, only to meet more fire, which was only meant to scare him. 'Be a brave boy. If you are injured, don't let that stand between you and your duty. Go, go, go,' the Pakistani shouted.

The dog turned. One of his legs was now quite useless. He began to drag himself towards Harnam Singh, who picked up his rifle, aimed carefully and shot him dead.

Subedar Himmat Khan sighed, 'The poor bugger has been martyred.'

Jamadar Himmat Singh ran his hand over the still-hot barrel of his rifle and muttered, 'He died a dog's death.'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Further reading

1. Life and Works of Saadat Hasan Manto, by Alok Bhalla. 1997, Indian Institute of Advanced Study. ISBN 8185952485.

2. The Life and Works of Saadat Hasan Manto. Introduction by Leslie Flemming; trans. by Tahira Naqvi. Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard Books Ltd., 1985.

3. Another Lonely Voice: The Urdu Short Stories of Saadat Hasan Manto, by Leslie A. Flemming, Berkeley: Centre for South and South east Asian Studies. University of California. 1979.

4. Madness and Partition: The Short Stories of Saadat Hasan Manto, Stephen Alter, Journal of Comparative Poetics, No. 14, Madness and Civilization/ al-Junun wa al-Hadarah (1994), pp. 91–100.

5. Bitter Fruit:The Very Best of Saadat Hassan Manto, edited and tr. by Khalid Hassan, Penguin, 2008.

6. Naked Voices: Dtories and Sketches by Manto, Ed. and tr. by Rakhshanda Jalil. Indian Ink & Roli Books, 2008.

Internet references

Saadat Hasan Manto at the Internet Movie Database
Manto, After Fifty year; A tribute at BBC Hindi
Saadat Hasan Manto: Urdu for humanity first
Watch Video Play of Saddat Hasan Manto

Monday, August 17, 2009

Tata Nano - an inside view

The Tata Nano is a rear-engined, four-passenger city car built by Tata Motors, aimed primarily at the Indian market. The car is very fuel efficient, achieving around 26.00km/l on the highway and around 22.00km/l in the city. It was first presented at the 9th annual Auto Expo on January 10, 2008, at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India. Nano had a commercial launch on March 23, 2009 and a booking period from April 9 to April 25, generating more than 200,000 bookings for the car, with the pricing of Rs 115,000 (rupees).

In early 2008 the news magazine Newsweek identified the Nano as a part of a "new breed of 21st-century cars" that embody "a contrarian philosophy of smaller, lighter, cheaper" and portend a new era in inexpensive personal transportation — and potentially, "global gridlock". The Wall Street Journal confirmed a global trend toward small cars, which includes the Nano

Model versions
At its launch the Nano was available in three trim levels:
1. The basic Tata Nano Std priced at 123,000 Rupees has no extras;
2. The deluxe Tata Nano CX at 151,000 Rupees has air conditioning;
3. the luxury Tata Nano LX at 172,000 Rupees has air conditioning, power windows and central locking
4. The Nano Europa, European version of the Tata Nano has all of the above plus a larger body, bigger 3-cylinder engine, anti-lock braking system (ABS) and meets European crash standards and emission norms.

Technical specifications
According to Tata Group, the Nano is a 33 PS (33 hp/24 kW) car with a 623 cc rear engine and rear wheel drive, and has a fuel economy of 4.55 L/100 km (21.97 km/L, 51.7 mpg (US), 62 mpg (UK)) under city road conditions, and 3.85 L/100 km on highways ( 25.974 km/L, 61.1 mpg (US), 73.3 mpg (UK)). It is the first time a two-cylinder non-opposed petrol engine will be used in a car with a single balance shaft. Tata Motors has reportedly filed 34 patents related to the innovations in the design of Nano, with powertrain accounting for over half of them.

The project head, Girish Wagh has been credited with being one of the brains behind Nano's design. Much has been made of Tata's patents pending for the Nano. Yet during a news conference at the New Delhi Auto Expo, Ratan Tata pointed out none of these is revolutionary or represents earth-shaking technology. He said most relate to rather mundane items such as the two-cylinder engine’s balance shaft, and how the gears were cut in the transmission.
Though the car has been appreciated by many sources, including Reuters due to "the way it has tweaked existing technologies to target an as-yet untapped segment of the market", yet it has been stated by the same sources that Nano is not quite "revolutionary in its technology", just low in price. Moreover, technologies which are expected of the new and yet-to-be-released car include a revolutionary compressed-air fuel system and an eco-friendly electric-version, technologies on which Tata is reportedly already working, though no official incorporation-date for these technologies in the new car has been released.
Rear mounted engine
The use of a rear mounted engine to help maximize interior space makes the Nano similar to the original Fiat 500, another technically innovative "people's car". A concept vehicle similar in styling to the Nano, also with rear engined layout was proposed by the UK Rover Group in the 1990s to succeed the original Mini but was not put into production. The eventual new Mini was much larger and technically conservative. The independent, and now-defunct, MG Rover Group later based their Rover CityRover on the Tata Indica.

References
1. "Learning from Tata's Nano". Businessweek.com. 2008-02-27. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2008/id20080227_377233_page_2.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
2. "Specifications (from Tata web site)". http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/index.php?option=com_whynano&task=specification&Itemid=303. Retrieved 2009-03-31.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Amazing Facts about India and Indians

• India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization.
• India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
• India is the world's largest democracy.
• Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
• India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
• The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
• Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
• Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.
• Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.
• The art of Navigation was bornin the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'.
• Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
• The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
• Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12).
• IEEE has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Prof. Jagdish Bose and not Marconi.
• The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
• According to Saka King Rudradaman I of 150 CE a beautiful lake called Sudarshana was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.
• Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
• Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
• When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization).
• The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population.
• The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.
• India is one of the few countries in the World, which gained independence without violence.
• India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World.
• India is the largest English speaking nation in the world.
• India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer indigenously
Facts to make every Indian proud
Q. Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems?
A. Vinod Khosla

Q. Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of thetoday's computers run on it)
?A. Vinod Dahm

Q. Who is the third richest man on the world?
A. According to the latest report on Fortune Magazine, it is Aziz Premji,who is the CEO of Wipro Industries. The Sultan of Brunei is at 6thposition now.

Q. Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 webbased email program)?
A. Sabeer Bhatia

Q. Who is the president of AT & T-Bell Labs (AT & T-Bell Labs is the creatorof program languages such as C, C++, Unix to name a few)?
A. Arun Netravalli

Q. Who is the GM of Hewlett Packard?
A. Rajiv Gupta

Q. Who is the new MTD (Microsoft Testing Director) of Windows 2000,responsible to iron out all initial problems?
A. Sanjay Tejwrika

Q. Who are the Chief Executives of CitiBank, Mckensey & Stanchart?
A. Victor Menezes, Rajat Gupta, and Rana Talwar.We Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, evenfaring better than the whites and the natives.

Websites you might be interested in
India-Resource - a web resource for India-related non-profit or non-commercial sites featuring Indian history, it's cultural legacy, news and analysis, and progressive activism.
Good News India - of positive action, steely endeavour and quiet triumphs - news that is little known.
Department of Tourism - Ministry of Tourism and Culture, India.
Courtesy: Department of Tourism, India.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Everything you need to know about swine flu

FACTS SHEET – INFLUENZA A (H1N1)
-----------------------------------------------
What is influenza – A(H1N1)
Influenza – A (H1N1) (earlier know as swine flu) is a new influenza virus causing illness in people. First detected in Mexico in April, 2009, it has spread to many countries in the World. Swine flu is basically a misnomer. This was originally referred to as “swine flu” because laboratory testing showed that many of the genes in this new virus were very similar to those found in pigs in North America. Further on, it has been found that this new virus has gene segments from the swine, avian and human flu virus genes. The scientists calls this a ‘quadruple reassortant” virus and hence this new (novel) virus is christened “influenza-A (H1N1) virus.”

Influenza A(H1N1) outbreak
It is causing an epidemic among humans in Mexico and it has spread to Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UK and USA.

Are there human/infections with influenza – A (H1N1) in India?
One passenger who traveled to India from USA has tested positive for Influenza A [H1N1]. There is no further spread from him. Do not panic!

Is there any confirmation of transmission between pigs and humans at this point?No.
Is this flu virus contagious?
Influenza A (H1N1) virus is contagious and spreading from human to human.

What are the signs and symptoms of influenza-A (H1N1) in people?
The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with influenza-A (H1N1)

How does influenza-A (H1N1) spread?
Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through droplets created while coughing or sneezing by a person infected with the influenza-A (H1N1).

How can someone with the flu infect someone else?
Infected person may be able to infect others beginning one day before symptoms develop and up to seven or more days after becoming sick.

How to keep away from getting the flu?
First and most important: Follow simple steps as cough etiquettes (covering mouth & nose with handkerchief or tissue paper while coughing), stay at least an arm’s length from persons coughing or sneezing, avoid gathering and wash your hands frequently. Try to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids and eat nutritious food.

Are there medicines to treat this flu?
Yes. Necessary medicines in sufficient quantity are available. The Government has in the designated hospitals stored medicines if required. It is strongly advisable not to take medicines of your own, as it will lower your immunity.

What can I do to protect myself from getting sick?
(a) Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
(b) Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
(c) Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
(d) Try to avoid close contact with people having respiratory illness.
(e) If one gets sick with influenza, one must stay at home, away from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. However, if one is having any respiratory distress, one should report to a nearby hospital.

What steps Government of India taking to prevent outbreak of this flu in India?
(1) The strategy is basically to detect early cases among the passengers coming from the affected countries either by air, road or ship.
(2) The Government has launched a massive mass media campaign to inform and educate people on dos and do nots.
(3) Sharing information with public through media.

Health Ministry Appeal:
People who have traveled from the affected countries in the past ten days and show symptoms of influenza A (H1N1) like fever, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing should immediately contact the telephone number given below or the nearby Government Hospital.

IMPORTANT CONTACT NUMBERS:
Outbreak Monitoring Cell (Control Room, NICD): 011-23921401

Important Websites:
http://www.mohfw.nic.in/; http://www.nicd.nic.in/

Source: Ministry of Health (India)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Thabu Sankar-Devadhaikalin devadhai

Thabu Sankar-Devadhaikalin devadhai

Kavithai time

Thabu Shankar has been one of my favorite poet, follows the "Puthu Kavithai" style and they are very easy to read and understand and yet, so different. At times you tend to think how the heck he is thinking like this....


GSMA's 14th Global Mobile Awards 2009

The winners for 2009 are...

Best Mobile Handset or Device
INQ: INQ1
Nokia: Nokia E71 - Highly Commended
T-Mobile: T-Mobile G1 - Highly Commended


Best Mobile Game

Gameloft: Real Football 2009

Digital Chocolate: AvaPeeps: FlirtNation - Highly Commended

Best Mobile Enterprise Product or Service

Vodafone: Vodafone Global Enterprise Limited

Best Use of Mobile for Social and Economic Development

Nuance Communications: Airtel-T9 India Consumer Vernacular Messaging Campaigns

Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough

RIM: BlackBerry Storm 9500 SurePress Screen

CEO Environment Award

Nokia

Green Mobile Award

Smart Communications: Alternative Power for Cell Sites program

Best Mobile Brand Campaign

R/GA London: Nokia Urbanista Diaries

For more details: http://www.globalmobileawards.com/index.shtml

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Amazon Kindle DX - Next level in reading

Kindle is a new product from Amazon that is a book reader device. This allows you to read your books via screen on the device. Advantages include being able to download book through a wireless connection that connects directly to Amazons’ kindle store that boast over 90,000 titles.








Advantages and Disadvantages of the Amazon Kindle DX

Ever since it's debut in November of 2007, Amazon.com's Kindle electronic book reader has remained one of its flagship products, targeting the e-book market at entirely new demographics. The Kindle also continues to evolve, seeing its second generation in early 2009 and, in June of that same year, appearing again as the Kindle DX. So what new features does the Kindle DX bring to your virtual libraries, and does it lose anything when compared to its predecessors? Below you'll find an overview of what new features the DX offers.

The Kindle DX features a number of advantages over the Kindle 2. Sporting four gigs of internal flash memory, the DX doubles the capacity of its predecessor, allowing for the storage of approximately 3000 non-illustrated titles. The screen is also larger, measuring in at ten inches as compared to the six inches of the previous Kindle's. This larger screen makes textbooks easier to view, thus targeting a new demographic of college students not wishing to be burdened by numerous heavy physical volumes.

Amazon also expanded the selection of accessible formats by including PDF support, thus freeing Kindle DX users from brand lock-in. By supporting PDF titles, the Kindle DX is taken out of Amazon's closed ecosystem, becoming a reader capable of rendering any number of business documents, periodicals and e-books, including large libraries of public domain classics.

One of the DX's new innovative features is its inclinometer, enabling it to be flipped sideways or upside-down while still retaining the correct text orientation. For years, critics of e-books have argued that separate reading devices are less convenient than physical books. While it may seem minor, the addition of the inclinometer showcases a level of customizability for the reading experience simply not available with non-electronic books. The inclinometer also improves the PDF viewing experience. By changing orientation, it is sometimes possible to zoom in on otherwise difficult-to-view PDFs that were designed to be viewed on computer screens.

The DX also adds stereo speakers, a feature which makes the text-to-speech capabilities introduced in the Kindle 2 somewhat more accessible. Also, whereas the previous models were restricted to transferring data via Amazon's Whispernet, the DX offers a wireless fallback option for times when Whispernet connectivity is either absent or inadequate.

The Kindle DX does have several disadvantages which, depending on perspective, might make its predecessor a more appropriate choice. Priced at $489, the Kindle DX significantly out prices both previous models, each of which retailed for $359. Also, while many find the larger size of the DX to be an asset, it finds itself competing with equally-sized netbooks which cost less while offering more features. While the newer display is larger and more ideal for many viewing conditions, there remains something to be said for a smaller gadget that is more easily portable.

Amazon's rapidly-evolving Kindle line shows great promise. Rather than a slow iteration cycle with few visible improvements and numerous problems left unaddressed, Amazon has shown a dedication to design an exciting and usable platform for electronic book distribution.



LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Just Rate It