Samsung's Apple's ipad 3 Challenger

The fruity company's Ipad has a threat coming from Samsung. It is being said that Samsung is gearing up to beat Apple's 'retina' display by launching a new tablet in February.
Samsung is likely to get an edge over Apple in the battle of patents as its new launch of a tablet of 11.6" screen-size will make it less similar to iPad 2. And this is going to challenge Apple's iPad 3. The bezel will be thinner than that on Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the display pixel resolution will be 2560 x 1600.


Technical Aspects
This Samsung tablet will run Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich including Android beam technology for transferring files. It will be running from a dual-core Exynos 5250 processor clocked at 2GHz. Wireless docking could also be used to encourage Android users to adopt Apple AirPlay-style technology to put their content onto TV screens.

Feel free to pass any new info along regarding this launch in the comment box below. Also comment on how you think the new Samsung Android Tablet is set to challenge the Apple's iPad 3.
Ciao !

Comic Artist Jerry Robinson Dies

Comic book artist Jerry Robinson, creator of Batman's sidekick Robin, has died aged 89.


First hired to draw comic books in 1939, Robinson has been called a "pioneer in storytelling" by Mike Marts, editor of the Batman series. He is credited for creating the green-haired villain -- The Joker -- whose "name came first," Robinson said last year. "Then I thought of the playing card". The character's most recent portrayal was done by Heath Ledger in the 2008 movie "The Dark Knight".


This however, is disputed by claims from Batman creator Bob Kane, who says that the character was created by him and the series' original writer Bill Finger.


Robinson is survived by a wife, two children and two grandchildren.

Two New Elements join the Periodic Table

Your periodic table is being joined up by two new elements unveiled by The International Union of Pure Applied Chemistry. Named Flerovium and Livermorium, these two elements were announced on Dec 1, 2011. Now they are undergoing a 5 month period of public comments before they officially appear on the periodic table. 

Do comment ! 

Why Is Yawning Contagious??

It is a universally accepted fact that "yawning" is an act highly contagious. Even reading or discussing the topic makes one yawn, let alone sitting next to a person doing it.*YAWN*

The exact reason for yawning has not even been discovered by scientists yet.There was once a theory of oxygen and C02 balance associated with it but that one has been negated now. Some scientists do believe however that Yawning is related to boredom or inactivity in humans. The thought of it being caused by sleepiness  is a wrong concept since we all know that even when one wakes up in the morning after a 7, 8 or even 14 hour sleep, he is sure to yawn.

Scientists also claim that yawning is a social behavior observed by all species who possess a spinal cord (i.e vertebrates) and also that the reason to yawn is different for all.
*YAWN*
One might do it in boredom while another does it in times of hyper-activity.

Contagious Yawning is a powerful force.Although all vertebrates yawn, contagious yawning only exists only humans, chimpanzees and possibly dogs. One study suggests that yawning when others yawn, is a sign of empathy and a form of social bonding.Kids develop this rooted behaviour after at least age of four. Kids with autism are half as likely to catch yawns and the most severe cases might never do.

"Emotional contagion seems to be a primal instinct that binds us together," said Molly Helt, a graduate student in clinical psychology at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. "Yawning may be part of that."

References:[1]Hasb e hal, dunya news 

[2]Discovery.com

Year's Last Lunar Eclipse

Saturday, Dec 10th 2011, large parts of the world were  able to see a lunar eclipse. This shall not repeat until atleast 2014 now.


 "The entire lunar eclipse was visible in East Asia, Australia, and the far western portion of North America that included Alaska and Canada's Yukon and Northwest Territories. The spectacle lasted nearly three and a half hours, starting on Saturday at 4:45 a.m. Pacific Time."[1]
(change quotation when NatGeo updates)


Lunar Eclipse Geometry

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes behind the Earth so that the Earth blocks the Sun's rays from striking the Moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon[2]

 [1]Natioanl Geographic
[2] Wikipedia

Oldest Known Mattress Found

Archeologists have announced the discovery of World's oldest mattress in South Africa-. The 12 inches high artifact ,made of reeds and rushes, was found at the bottom of a pile of bedding in Sibudu Cave site in KwaZulu-Natal(map). According to researchers, the bedding had accumulated from rolled over grasses and leaves in a time period of 39,000 years. They also claimed that the oldest of its components date back to 77,000 years.


"What we have is evidence of plant bedding that is 50,000 years older than any previous site anywhere in the world," said study leader Lyn Wadley of the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Reference: National Geographic

Heart of hearts !

Australia: A group of researchers studying at the University of Melbourne discovered that seleno-sugar compounds can shut down tissue damaging acids. This can prevent heart disease. Corin Storkey who was part of the group said :

"Although these compounds are not the kind of sugar most people would buy as a Valentine’s Day gift, we are still very excited by their potential to maintain a healthy heart "
“Our seleno-sugar compounds work by scavenging hypohalous acids, a group of highly reactive chemicals that can damage tissues when produced in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or at excessive levels,” says Carl Schiesser, professor of chemistry.

Adele Named 2011 Top Artist

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins mostly known by her stage name "Adele", a 23 year old British singer and song writer made Billboard history when she became the first female singer to be named top artist, have the top album "21" and score the top single, "Rolling in the Deep," all in one year. 21 is her second album released in February, 2011 and in barely 11 months sold more than million globally, and made Adele nominated for six Grammys.

She was followed in the top artist group by No. 2 Rihanna, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga in that order, while Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Bruno Mars rounded out the top ten.

Battleship (2012)

Battleship is an upcoming sci-fi naval war film, based on a video game of the same name "Battleship".

A fleet of ships in the Hawaiian Islands at Pearl Harbor, engage in a very dynamic and intense battle against aliens, known as "The Regents". The aliens have come to planet Earth on a mission to build a power source in the ocean, but they come in contact with the navy fleet. The film shows both sides of the story, from the aliens' perspective, as well as the humans' so the audience knows exactly where the opponent's ships are.

The film is directed by Peter Berg starring Taylor Kitsch as Lt. Alex Hopper, Brooklyn Decker as Sam Shane, Alexander Skarsgard as Stone Hopper, Rihanna as Petty Officer, Liam Neeson as Admiral Shane and Tadanobu Asano.

Film is scheduled to be released in May 2012, by Universal Pictures.

Sculptures Made of Toothpicks

Should one-dayers be scraped?

The poll organised by The Daily Telegraph showed that 50.54% voted 'Yes' for ODIs to be scraped while 49.46% said 'No'.

The polling was done after English spinner Graeme Swann - despite being one of the best bowlers in the world at 50-over cricket - said that one-dayers have to be excluded because international cricket is over-crowded.

Swann said: "I think one-day cricket will have to give at some point, hopefully for everyone. I don't think that game should carry on for much longer."

"For me it's not as enjoyable to play in. I think Test cricket and Twenty20 are the way forward for cricket."

OIL SPILL ON A PRISTINE LAND

NZ'S WORST ENVIRONMENTAL MARITIME DISASTER

OIL SPILL ON A PRISTINE LAND

This October, New Zealand experienced worst oil spill disaster in decades.

A Cargo ship carrying 1,700 tonnes oil hit the reef and went stranded. Even a small amount of oil can affect wildlife if it comes ashore in the wrong place. The spillage caused solid waste and liquid waste on the clean beaches of NZ, leaving it to a heartbreaking sight. 

A number of volunteers stepped forward to help clean up the coast. hey used buckets and all sorts of things to clear the mess. 

The initial impact from an oil spill can vary from minimal impact to large scale mortality within a particular biological community.

Spilled oil poses serious threats to fresh water and marine environments, affecting surface resources and a wide range of subsurface species that are linked in a complex food chain that includes human food resources. The toxicity of oil itself can poison the exposed organisms.

Recovery times following spills can vary from a few days to decades; depending on the type of environment and the size and type of the spill and conditions at the time.

Workers Protest Against Unilever's 'Scrooge' Treatment

Workers at Unilever are protesting against 'Scrooge' tactics used by the company which has cancelled all Christmas parties and gifts for the strikers. 


Unilever has instead donated items to charity saying that the demonstrations have made gifts inappropriate. The dispute follows Unilever's plans to end the final salary pension scheme. The proposal aims to cut the retirement income for staff by up to 40%.


The strike is bound to hit production of various Unilever brands including Dove, Pot Noodle and Marmite.

Russia: Tweeting protesters swamped

Moscow's Triumphal Square, host to a number pf protesting Russians demonstrating against the recent elections, was the hot topic with online Tweeters -- only to be drowned in a flood of pro-Kremlin messages.


According to security officials, hijacked computers may have been used to disrupt chat about Russian political protests on Twitter (based around the hashtag #triumphalnaya), with the attack having been engineered using a botnet. The suggestion comes after analyzing the rate, about 10 per second, at which the pro-government messages were posted using thousands of twitter accounts, many of which were compromised.


The protests follow accusations of rigging aimed at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whose United Russia party has seen a visible dip in popularity.

Samsung Electronics First to Mass Produce ‘Optical Sensor in Pixel’ LCD Panel

Press Release: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has recently begun mass production of 40-inch ‘Optical Sensor in Pixel’ LCD panels, which feature highly advanced optical sensors. The Optical Sensor in Pixel LCD panel detects reflected images of an object on the panel, using Infra-red sensors that are built into the panel. With optical sensor in each pixel of the panel, it can assess touch sensitivity much more accurately, compared to existing touch panels.

Using next-generation image sensing technology, this Optical Sensor can detect more than 50 touch points simultaneously and can display images with Full HD resolution and wide-angle viewing. All of the input functions of a keyboard, mouse or scanner can be carried out on the panel itself. The panel can be installed in a variety of applications including table top and wall-mounted types. Its tempered glass is strong enough to withstand external loads over 80 kilograms.

This product will transform the paradigm for massively interactive communications, compared to the older one-way communications of today’s kiosk touch panels. ‘Optical sensing per pixel’ technology can perform without interrupting the image signals displayed on the panel, so it can be used by professional stock brokers, financial analysts or for eDesk applications in schools or business conference rooms. It has already been installed in ‘Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft® Surface®’, a table-type PC product, co-developed by Samsung Electronics and Microsoft®, that is now available for pre-order. The MD of Samsung Pakistan, Mr, Hee Chang Yee said; “This innovation has overcome the limitations of touch functionality that hampered the effectiveness of most interactive displays.

Hitler - As Valued As Hated

Two pieces of bed linen of Hitler will be put on auction soon. Are you interested to buy it for $3000??? Well many are! 

Two bed linens and a pillow cover emroided with eagle have come to market for sale. Auctioneers, Dreweatts in the southwestern English city of Bristol, are expecting to make some 2000-3000 pounds from it. I wonder how would it be to sleep on Hitler's bed cover. Very Daring??? I hope buys are not buying nightmares. 

Vidic ruled out for rest of the season

Nemanja Vidic suffers his injury during the Champions League defeat to Basel

Sir Alex Fergusan has confirmed that Nemanja Vidic will miss the rest of the season after x-rays showed that he has seriously injured his knee.

Vidic (Manchester United's captain) ruptured a cruciate knee ligament in the Champions League defeat against FC Basel, that knocked out Manchester United from the League, on Thursday. 

The Serbian defender was a crucial player for the club and it's a big blow for the fans and Fergusan.

"It's not unexpected but it's still bad news," Ferguson said. "We thought it was a bad one and unfortunately he's out for the season. He sees the specialist on Monday to work out the progress of when he has his operation. It won't be immediately as we have to let the swelling come down. It's a blow."

The champions league defeat demoted Manchester United to Europa League. Fergusan said that it was "our penalty for not qualifying".

"This club has only thought about the Champions League. We have just thought about winning that European Cup. The punishment is the big disappointment of not challenging for it this year, having been in three finals in the last four years," he said.

Uefa president, Michel Platini, launched the defence of Europa League saying that "the world does not revolve around England".

 "You shouldn't criticise the Europa League just because you've played in three Champions League finals," he continued.

Secret CIA prison found in Romanian capital

The Romanian capital Bucharest has been found to host a secret CIA prison used to interrogate Al-Qaeda terrorism suspects.

 

The building, identified by former CIA operatives, belongs to a Romanian agency Orniss, and was used for holding and torturing detainees. Orniss meanwhile is denying any connection with the CIA, with the latter refusing to comment.

The building is known to have held the 9/11 prime suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who is presently awaiting trial in Guantanamo Bay.

Aldo Leopold

The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little we know about it. The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.

- Aldo Leopold -

Interesting Facts

• 

  Your smell is unique: Your body odour is unique to you — unless you have an identical twin. Even babies recognize the individual scents of their mothers

• Your brain operates on 10 watts of power: It’s true: The amazing computational power of your brain only requires about 10 watts of power to operate

• The world’s first computer virus came from Pakistan. It was called Brain
• Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing
• When you are looking at someone you love, your pupils dilate, they do the same when you are looking at someone you hate

A Cloaked Alien Spaceship Orbiting Mercury?

NASA's spaceship observed  a massive alien spacecraft orbiting tiny planet next to Mercury. It was seen while NASA was on a mission for watching "Coronal Mass Ejection" from the sun.

It is "definitely some sort of manufactured object.", said the person who had used US Navy's SECCHI website to gather the images.
"It's cylindrical on either side, has a shape in the middle... It definitely looks like a ship to me. Very obviously it's cloaked," he continued.
"There's really, absolutely no other explanation for that than some sort of ship."

Source:Discovery News

Its Never Too Late

Michael Zone at the age of 90 got his diploma on Thursday.
A WWII vet had from Canada had enough life and business experience to retire without the added stresses of school work and exams but his 8th grade grandson pushed him back to school.
He hopes that it will inspire his 70 years younger juniors to stay at college and realize there is no life without education. He says "I want to be an inspiration for the other kids, without a diploma, you can't do anything."

He told the Las Vegas Star “Without an education, you’re lost, Life is a hell of a lot more interesting with an education.”

Hardworkers' Stats

New data published on "Who works the longest hours in Europe?" shows that Greek workers actually put in longer hours than anyone else in Europe — 42.2 per week, compared to just 35.6 in Germany.

Source of Stats : Guardian magazine, UK.

Why You Can't Concentrate?

Forgot where had you placed the keys? Unable to concentrate to what people have to say to you even when you are being spoken to directly? Difficult to remember appointments?

If situations like above happen too frequently in your life, then you might be a victim of ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). This, according to scientists is a result of hormones or vitamin deficiency mostly e.g the thyroid hormone. "If there's a deficiency in thyroid hormone, metabolism slows, which reduces blood flow and cellular function in various parts of the brain," says Dr. Orford,consultant at the Mayo Clinic's Preventive Medicine Division in Scottsdale.Also, conditions such as Crohn's or celiac disease can prevent your body from absorbing the B-12 Vitamin which might be another cause.

REASONS AND CURES
Certain events in your life might also be linked to an ADHD condition; trying to quit smoking or any recent disorientations in your diet are two examples.According to researches activities such as playing brain games and regular physical exercise shall help one out. Excerse is a healthy process which produces brain-derived neurotrophic factor that helps the brain rewire and slows formation of plaques. Alzheimer's disease is also then kept away with. This article from Gini Kopecky Wallace, (Prevention Magazine) describes in sufficient detail , the symptoms and cures related to ADHD. Take a read

Personality - Benjamin Franklin

“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.”

 Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Frankiln (1706-1790) is one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat[1]. He has contributed to some major inventions in the field of electricity including the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass 'armonica'. He was also the founder of the first public lending library in America and the first fire department in Pennsylvania.

[1] Wikipedia

Travel to Venus, Italy!

One of the most important tourism site, Venice is one of the most beautiful city in the world with most amazing art works, rich musical and cultural heritage.
Great site for everyone to visit!

Jolie's Kids Wont Watch Her First Directed Movie!

Angelina Jolie goes through the greatest experience of her life of writing and directing her first movie. But she tells the reporters that her children wont be watching the movie.

Angelina's first directed movie 'In The Land Of Blood And Honey' is about brutal Yugoslav War of the 1990s, featuring the story of a Bosnian woman sent to a Serbian rape camp.

Considering ages of her children, she says they understand its not a video game but a very brutal thing. So children wont be watching their mommy's work at this age.

While explaining her experience of writing war scenes, Huntington Post reports that Angelina has written most of it when children were either sleeping or in school.

The world's most famous optical illusion

"All is Vanity"

Charles Allan Gilbert drew this optical illusion picture in 1892, when he was 18 years old. After he sold it to Life Magazine and they reproduced it as a print, it became famous.

This is an ambiguous optical illusion, where we see more than one thing in the picture. If we view the overall image, we see a human skull. When we focus on the details of the picture, we see a woman looking in her vanity mirror.

Hard Times - Polar Bears - Cannibalism

Cannibalism is a phenomenon is which animals eat their own specie. This is not part of Polar Bear's nature. But in hard times even humans have eaten other humans to survive. 
In July 2010, a photojournalist Jenny E. Ross witnessed a polar bear killing and eating a cub.
Its not the first time polar bears are seen eating their own fellows but such occurrences have started to become very common.

Why Do We Shiver!

All of us must have experienced shivering at one time or the other. We shiver and our teeth chatter when we feel cold. But why do we shiver???
Shivering is a body reflex to cold. When its cold, nerve signals go from our brain to spinal cord telling our muscles to quickly alter between tightness and looseness. This quick altering of muscles heats the body. So be assured, when you are shivering your body is producing heat quickly.