Close call for a Lufthansa A320
Posted on March 7, 2008
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A Lufthansa plane escapes disaster during a landing attempt in stormy weather. The flight had more than 130 passengers on board when it was pummelled by crosswinds while trying to land at Hamburg’s Fuhlsbuettel airport. The pilot scraped the Airbus A320’s wing on the runway but averted disaster by aborting the landing and taking off again.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRr5u__Uqh4]
Massive Crowd
Posted on March 7, 2008
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Ever wondered how the movie ‘Lord of the Rings’ showed huge crowds charging at each other? This was done by special effects generated by a software called MASSIVE (Multiple Agent Simulation System in Virtual Environment) originally developed in New Zealand. These crowd-related visual effects are actually computer animations and the result of the problem-solving methodology called fuzzy logic. Other than being applied in artificial intelligence software, fuzzy logic is also being utilized in many electronic and embedded systems including common home appliances (fyi!). I was happy to accidentally come across the name of the actual software package they used for this crowd-effect. ‘Massive’ software has been used to animate artificial life ever since LOTR in several movies and TV ads. I’m amazed by the way the software makes each character in the crowd on screen do a different thing. Check out their website too http://www.massivesoftware.com/ - really impressive.
Here’s an ad where this software has been used. Well, I came across this ad first which led me to MASSIVE and then researched on it!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH3GH7Pn_eA]
Source referred: wikipedia
Shooting a fast moving Spy Satellite!
Posted on February 21, 2008
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Tonight, the U.S Navy will be attempting to shoot down it’s damaged spy satellite to prevent it from entering earth’s atmosphere. The spy satellite was launched in 2006 and almost immediately started to malfunction. The Navy will be firing a long range missile from one of it’s war ships and hope to destroy the satellite with it’s toxic fuel Hydrazine. This is definitely not an easy mission as you can imagine how hard it is to shoot a moving target, let alone a really fast moving one. The U.S has done this successfully once before and I hope they will not fail this time either. The U.S is not the only country to be attempting this. The Chinese have also successfully shot down a weather satellite in 2007.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zQliJ2XAJA]
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If you accept, click ‘I do’ to confirm!
Posted on February 20, 2008
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Picture this: The bride and groom are ready to get married. However they are still dressed in their pyjamas and in front of a computer screen. After a matter of two mouse clicks on a button which reads ‘I do’, they get legally married! Both of ‘em are nowhere near each other… may be even oceans apart. No ceremony, no function, no people around and absolutely no commotion. But yes, they have an option button where a priest could perform the ceremony remotely for them without their physical presence at his convenience!!!
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HD DVD is dead, Blu-ray declared the winner!
Posted on February 20, 2008
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Toshiba has finally thrown in the towel in the war between their HD DVD and the rival Blu-ray format. With Toshiba withdrawing from the format war, consumers have a clear choice when it comes to high definition DVD format - Blu-ray. It was already apparent to me when I recently went to a Walmart and saw that there were numerous title choices for Blu-ray where as the choice for HD DVD titles was limited. Toshiba tried to gain the market share by severely slashing the prices on their HD DVD. With limited DVD titles available in the HD DVD format, the consumers did not take the low price bait on the players. The nail in the coffin was when Warner Bros studio also changed camps and went over to the Blu-ray side. When I did my research on HD DVD vs Blu-ray some time back, I realized that Blu-ray was 1080p while HD DVD was 1080i. With all the new HDTV 1080p sets being sold, it was only natural for consumers to prefer the Blu-ray. This decision by Toshiba will also affect the gaming market for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
In the end, I believe that it is good that the war is over. The choice is now clear!
Can we achieve peace of mind?
Posted on February 19, 2008
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In this technologically advanced age, working conditions, life style and outlook towards life have undergone a tremendous change. This competitive world has made man restless to seek his ambitions as quickly as possible. Our quest for a richer life and to experience the comforts and amenities make man struggle endlessly to achieve more and more. We are never content with what we have and we become jealous at the progress of others.
This desire to achieve higher goals in life makes us more and more materialistic and as a result our mind becomes full of stress. In this disturbed state of mind, we not only loose peace of mind, but also lose out on our family life in our race to achieve our goals.
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Learning to cook the new way
Posted on February 17, 2008
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In recent times, I have been noticing a huge paradigm shift when it comes to online recipes. In the past, anyone who wanted to cook something would go to a recipe site, print out the recipe and then try to follow it. In the last couple of years, I have been noticing that the shift is towards online video recipes. The difference now is that instead of just having a recipe to print, you can also view the video and see how the recipe author intends for you to make the recipe. This is especially useful for new cooks, bachelors and people who are not familiar with all the ingredients in a recipe. With the popularity of blogging and podcasting, the trend these days is for recipe video podcasts and video blogs.
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Through the barrel of a gun
Posted on February 17, 2008
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The NIU firing points to many assumptions and inferences. There appears to be no motive, no premeditated plan with any intention. Then what was it that pushed the student to such a heinous crime? The perpetrator of this crime must have been under tremendous stress or some agony, caused by anger, frustration against imaginary harm and injustice. Could blaming others for his failures, wrong doings probably become his nature and he constantly lived in the past, a tape recording repeating in his mind? The outburst of unreal thoughts, miseries explode intense emotions which probably pushed him to a place where he pumps all his explosive emotions from the barrel of guns to relieve himself of these explosive emotions, but the eventual emergence of sense leads him to commit suicide.
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Starbucks Coffee offers free Wifi
Posted on February 14, 2008
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After a 6-year partnership with T-mobile, Starbucks is trying to entice customers with a lower-priced Wi-Fi by using AT&T as its wireless provider. And it’s a big difference in cost. I have been using T-Mobile the past 5 years and I will be candid about their service. They are good, however $6 to $9.99 an hour did seem outrageous to me. With AT&T Wireless, Starbucks will offer a great deal with 2 hours of free wireless access a day. Additional time will cost $3.99 for a two-hour session. This will definitely bring in the much needed traffic at Starbucks and its a win-win for both, Starbucks and AT&T.
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Phytochemicals - The Next Generation Cure
Posted on February 14, 2008
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Cancer is the second major cause for mortality at present after cardiovascular diseases. The treatments for cancer include radiation therapy, chemotherapy etc. These treatment methods have shown adverse side effects. Thus, scientists turned their attention to alternative therapies, one of which is the use of phytochemicals as a treatment method. Phytochemicals are non-nutritive chemicals produced by plants to protect themselves. It has been found that these phytochemicals protect against human diseases also. They have anti-oxidant properties that protects the cell against damage and reduce the risk of cancer.
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