Get Mutated

In some ways, the older days were better, the more the Megahertz, the better the processor, and of course, Intel ruled the roost, so there was no Intel-AMD battle to choose from. With the introduction of technologies such as 64 bit computing and dual core processors, AMD gradually made up ground, and Intel seemed to have reached the pinnacle. After the rude awakening, Intel took on new strategies, and changed the naming convention for their processors. No more are processor names as simple as “Pentium 4 - 2.4 GHz”, instead of which you’ll find “Intel Pentium D 7xx” (I can’t remember the exact number). So, let us analyse what Intel’s new numbers actually mean.

First things first, the “D” in newer Intel processors does not stand for dual-core, but instead for ‘desktop’. Now, let’s the the various series Intel has to offer:

* Intel Pentium 3xx - These are the modern day equivalent of the Celeron processor. It has no bells and whistles such as HyperThreading and is low on cache (512KB). Also note that Mobile Celeron is also included in this series.
* Intel Pentium 5xx - These are the standard Intel processors (read P4) without features such as HyperThreading, but they do have a nice 1MB of L2 cache.
* Intel Pentium 6xx - These are Intel’s high end single core processors which come with HyperThreading and 2MB of L2 cache.
* Intel Pentium 7xx - These are a special series of processors which include only mobile Intel processor from the Pentium M family. (Centrino family included).
* Intel Pentium 8xx - These are intel’s top end dual-core processors. The Pentium D 840 EE is Intel’s current flagship processor.
* EE (Extreme Edition) - These are souped up, overclocked versions of high end Intel processors.
* Pentium D - These processors are meant for desktop computers. They feature in the 3xx, 5xx, 6xx and 8xx series.
* Pentium M - They are Intel’s mobile processors (the ones keeping Intel alive ;-) ), and are ideally meant to be used in Notebook computers. However, with their excellent power saving and noise reduction capabilities, they have been adopted by some desktop computers too, with some brands making special motherboards for implementing these processors on the Desktop PC. They feature only in the 3xx and 7xx series right now.
* EM64T - It stands for Extended Memory 64 Technology and it is Intel’s answer to AMD’s Athlon 64. Keeping it simple, they are those processors which support the 64-bit instruction sets.

Future Processors

* Intel Yonah - This processor will go into mass production next year. It is a range of dual-core processors for notebooks.
* Intel Whitefield - It is a dual core version of Intel’s Xeon server processor.
* Dual Core Itanium 2 - As it says, it’s a dual core version of the Itanium 2 processor.

NOTE :- To those of you who have been expecting a Pentium 5 for ages, all I have to say is that the chances of that ever happening are quite negligible, because Intel are trying to make their nomenclature more sensible (a little too much, maybe ? :think: ), and there’s no point in adding a number because the clock speeds increase (which isn’t likely either) !

This page from dnaindia lists the The top 10 hacks of all time

http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=11072&CatID=5

Check out Amazing Wallapers at my new online Gallery:

mutant.shutterbook.com

This page lists Best games lists going back a few years from multiple sources.

http://www.filibustercartoons.com/games.htm

The Evolution of Viruses

1983: Virus researcher Fred Cohen coins the term "computer virus" in a research paper.

1987:Brain, the first computer virus, is released. It infects the boot sector of 360KB floppy disks and uses stealth techniques to leave the computer unaware of it. Stoned (the first virus to infect the Master Boot Record) is released. It scrambles the hard drive's MBR, preventing a system from booting.

1988: The first antivirus software is released by an Indonesian programmer. It detects the Brain virus, excises it from a computer, and immunizes the system against further Brain attacks.

The Internet Worm is released onto the nascent Net and brings down about 6000 computers.

1989:Dark Avenger appears. It infects programs quickly, but the subsequent damage happens slowly, permitting the virus to go undetected for a long time.

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In research conducted at the Hebrew University, a method for controlling bacterial activity without antibiotics was developed. The research showed how it is possible to interfere with the communication of groups of bacteria thus enabling new ways of fighting bacterial infections and disease caused by germs as well as ways to help beneficial bacteria to multiply.

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AoA!

I am busy these days with some creative stuff which u will seeing soon.Meanwhile i have got game of the month so do check it out!! Its really Awesome......

November's Game of the Month

Wallpapers of the Month will be uploaded sooon.

Enjoy Fasting and also offer Special Prayers for the Earthquake Victims.

To know the latest about the Earthquake in South Asia,Visit this link to CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/10/quake.asia/index.html?section=cnn_topstories

The quake started at about 8.52 am when i was lying in my room in Abbottabad.I got up from my bed but the jolts thrusted me against the wall at other side.It was really a horrifying experience as it seemed that you were walking on water.
Alot of unimaginable incidents took place in my surroundings which i enumerate as follows:

1. One M.O jumped from his room on 2nd floor of the doctor's hostel to save his life but he died at the point.Two other guys jumped from their rooms but they also suffered severe injuries.Another guy got his body paralyzed.
2. One of the walls of our Anatomy department fell over 2 brand new corrolla cars & they were crushed to death.Almost all the window panes broke off in our college.
   
3. Approximately 5 huge 3 storey plazas in Mandian,Abbottabad were burried in the ground with the inital jolts of the quake.
4. All kachi abadi houses were lying on the ground with no one there to morn as whole families were burried underneath them.
   
5. Almost all of the roads were blocked as the people were to trying to rush out of the city.

According to U.S Geology Department almost 20 earthquakes have hit Pakistan which range from 4.5 to 6.3 on the Richter Scale since yesterday.The inital one had the value of 7.6
To know more about the Quakes Visit these Links

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08136662.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4323008.stm

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/Maps/10/75_35.html

This time,I have got Some Awesome Wallpapers for all The Mutants.


Go To Wallpapers Page

Salam 2 Everbody Outthere!
Back after a long time this time I have some interesting news for you! A Car Rally was held for the first time in our college in Abbottabad,which was a unique event.
People from all over the place came to participate in it even from nearby cities such as Islamabad & Peshawar.I took some photos of the event which u can see by the Link Given Below.

Go to Pictures Page

I have also given above 4 Pics for Preview.

Officials in Thailand are investigating claims by villagers who say they have seen an alien.

About 10 people from Huay Nam Rak claims to have spotted the alien in a nearby rice field, reports The Nation.

The 'extraterrestrial' was said to have a small body, a large head and didn't leave any footprints.

It is reported the creature wandered around in the field for about an hour without taking any notice of the villagers.

Sawaeng Boonyalak, 35, who was among those who rushed to see it, said: "The alien is about 70 cm high and has yellow skin and a flat chest. Its mouth is very tiny. It has bald big head with big eyes and big ears.

"Suddenly, the alien floated to a tree top. After more villagers came to see it, it floated into the sky into the bright light."

District chief Wisit Sitthisombat who interviewed the ten residents said they were consistent in their testimonies.

He said: "I asked them to draw what they have seen and the pictures came out similarly."

ALLERGY-prone people are to be given an innovative therapy: hookworms that suck blood from their guts.

The idea is that the worms will prime their immune systems so they no longer react to grass pollen, cat dander and dust mites. A trial of 50 allergy sufferers in the UK run by David Pritchard and colleagues at the University of Nottingham will start within weeks, and if it works, researchers plan to see if the same trick can be used to treat asthma.

Like many parasites, the human hookworm, Necator americanus, has evolved ways to avoid being killed by the body's immune system. Although we don't know precisely how, it appears to promote multiplication of "regulatory T-cells". These in turn suppress other white blood cells that become overactive in people suffering allergies and asthma

US health experts have recommended the approval of a form of insulin that can be inhaled rather than injected.

The drug, Exubera, is designed to offer diabetics an alternative to their daily insulin injections.

Exubera can be used for Type 2, the most common form of diabetes, but will not replace all the shots needed by some with the less common Type 1.

However, US regulators have questioned the safety of the drug when used by people who smoke or have lung disease.

They expressed concern about the long-term effects of the drug and its manufacturers - Pfizer, Sanofi Aventis and Nektar Therapeutics - have agreed to continue studies until 2019.

"We understand the need to assess the long-term effects on pulmonary function," a spokesman for Pfizer told the Associated Press news agency.

The inhaled form of insulin could be used to manage blood sugar levels for people with either type of diabetes who need insulin injections before meals.

However, at this stage the drug is unlikely to replace the longer-acting injections that people with Type 1 diabetes need to take in the morning or before bed.

During drug trials, researchers found that inhaled insulin generally was as effective as injections in controlling blood sugar levels - but it has yet to be tested for its longer term effect.

Some patients who took inhaled insulin complained of coughing and a small decrease in breathing capacity.

Exciting news

The recommendation to approve the Exubera was made by a panel of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisers.

The FDA usually follows the recommendations of its advisory committees, but is not required to.

Diabetes UK said the recommendation could be a first step towards putting an end to insulin injections for the 700,000 people in the UK who need daily injections to stay alive and healthy.

Douglas Smallwood, chief executive, said: "This is exciting news and it is hoped that inhaled insulin could be a reality for people in the UK within the year.

"Since insulin was discovered in the 1920s injections have been the only option.

"Many attempts have been made to come up with new treatments and at last we appear to be close to success.

"While it will not be suitable for everyone this could make a real difference to the daily lives of many people with diabetes."

However, Dr Martin Press, a consultant endocrinologist at the Royal Free and Cromwell Hospitals in London, said insulin was administered to relatively insensitive areas of the body such as the leg using tiny needles.

"Frankly you hardly feel it, so I don't personally see that this represents a major advance."

Hey!

Check out this months game.

Game of the Month

You can play this game online as well as with the Boss in the Office :)
You can also play games of the previous months in the Playground sectiuon in the side bar.

Anyone who is tired of clicking, then this website is a must watch for you.

DontClick.It

Especially check out the experiments section,I liked it very much!

A new treatment strategy has shown promise in helping to transform HIV into a curable infection. Preliminary research published this week in The Lancet medical journal outlines how scientists used an anti-convulsant drug to awaken dormant HIV hiding in the body, where it is temporarily invisible but still dangerous.

HIV infection is incurable because current drugs only work when the virus is multiplying, which occurs only when it is in an active cell. However, HIV sometimes infects dormant cells, and when it does, it becomes dormant itself.

While the virus poses no threat in its resting state, the sleeping cells sporadically wake up, reactivating the virus and causing it to multiply. Patients must continue to take medications for the rest of their lives so they can fight the virus when it comes out of the reawakened cells. Only if every last infected dormant cell is wiped out -- or the virus purged from these cells -- can patients stop taking medication and be virus-free, experts say.

Figuring out how to clear this reservoir of latent infection, or whether that's even possible, is one of the hottest areas of AIDS research.

Over the last few years, a handful of drugs have been shown to decrease the size of the dormant HIV pool, but they were subsequently abandoned because their effect was either too weak or the side effects too toxic.

The latest drug, valproic acid, shows more promise, said Dr. Warner Greene, director of the Gladstone Institute for Virology and Immunology at the University of California, San Francisco.

"It's a first baby step, showing that maybe the use of (this type of drug) -- far more likely in combination with one or two other agents -- might be a viable approach for tackling this latency problem," said Greene, who was not involved with the research but is conducting similar studies.

"The idea, if we could ever do it, is to purge every latently infected cell. Treat patients for probably two or three years, they'd be able to come off their antiretroviral therapy and they'd be virus-free," he said.

The study, led by Dr. David Margolis at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, tested the ability of valproic acid to reduce the number of infected dormant cells.

Four patients on standard therapy were given the pills to take twice daily for three months. The size of this pool of infected dormant cells decreased by 75 percent in three out of the four patients, the study found.

"This finding, though not definitive, suggests that new approaches will allow the cure of HIV in the future," Margolis said. "It's a significant conceptual move forward."

Margolis said he believes the drug reactivates the virus inside a dormant cell, either waking up the cell with it or killing it. Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy, a professor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, who also studies the dormant HIV issue, said Margolis' results were an impressive first try.

"It's enormous for just three months' treatment to have such an effect," he said, adding that the findings merit urgent further study. "I think it's very exciting news."

However, other experts were less optimistic. "It's extremely unlikely that this approach would work," said Dr. Robert Siliciano, a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University who was one of the scientists who discovered the dormant infection problem in the mid-1990s. "It assumes something about the mechanism which we don't know is true. The mechanism may involve other issues that are not affected by this drug."

"It didn't get all the cells. That's probably because it's not really targeting the right mechanism for latency," Siliciano said. "It's got to be a 99.9999 percent reduction to be useful. When you stop the drugs the virus explodes back so quickly, even if you had one latently infected cell left, in a matter of days you would be back to where you started from."

Siliciano said he also doubts the valproic acid approach will solve the problem because it's likely HIV lies dormant in other types of cells that scientists have not discovered yet and tackling those reservoirs may require a completely different approach.

"It's a little bit premature to be talking about a cure for HIV," he said.

Hi Guys!

Its the latest hack by me.I have got Google's Logo mutated.

You Can View it Here & U can also Mutate it according to your wish.

Genetic engineers are turning nasty, infectious microbes into smart treatments for a deadly disease

In February, researchers at UCLA announced a clash of the titans, biochemically speaking: They turned one of the great scourges of humankind—HIV—into a hunter of another: cancer. In tests on mice afflicted with metastatic melanoma, a modified strain of HIV invaded cancer cells without infecting the rodents with AIDS. Around the same time, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, announced similar results after engineering the measles virus to seek and destroy cancerous tumors while leaving healthy tissue unscathed.

The close timing of these breakthroughs speaks to the flurry of activity in the field of virotherapy, which exploits the tendency of viruses to attack cancer cells in a pitched battle that cancer often loses. With preliminary studies showing many of these viruses to be safe for humans, several universities and biotech firms are now conducting clinical trials of virotherapy.

As radical as it sounds, the idea of turning viruses loose on cancer actually predates the genetic technology that now fuels it. During the 1950s, scientists proved that adenovirus, a version of the common cold bug, was mildly effective against cervical cancer. But research was abandoned as chemotherapy gained prominence, and virotherapy was resurrected only after a study published in the journal Science in 1991 showed that a virus could be genetically modified to invade a tumor without inflicting disease.

The trick is to put the right virus in the right place—in other words, to deliver it to the malignancy, where it must penetrate the cancer cells, replicate, kill the cells, and invade adjacent cancer cells in mounting numbers—all without triggering the body's immune response. Direct injection is the typical shortcut, but some regions of the body, including the brain, are hard to reach this way. Using intravenous administration is the ultimate goal, because it's noninvasive and catches metastasized cancer, but this method is more likely to trigger the body's defenses and repel the therapy before it arrives at its destination.

“The immune system is the elephant in the room for the entire virotherapy field,” says Stephen Russell, director of the Mayo Clinic's molecular-medicine program. The engineered measles virus employed in the clinic's recent study was, in fact, administered successfully to mice via the bloodstream—one of the first such instances. To outwit the body's defenses, Russell devised a “targeted” measles virus, modifying its genome to express an antibody that shepherds it directly to the tumor.

Likewise, the HIV strain in the UCLA melanoma study was targeted, and researchers have since tailored it to seek and destroy prostate and melanoma cancers. “Basically, we put different hooks on the virus so it can hold on to different molecules,” says Irvin S.Y. Chen, director of the UCLA AIDS Institute.

While all this new work is promising, virotherapy could be years away from the medicine cabinet. Chen, for instance, won't begin human trials for at least another three years, and even therapies already in testing face several more years of experimentation and FDA scrutiny. But experts agree that the field is at a tipping point. The next few years of research should tell us whether or not the villainous virus is truly worth rehabilitating.

Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.

The shoes - dubbed Square Eyes - contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day's exertions.

The design was inspired by a desire to combat the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University in London, UK. "We looked at current issues and childhood obesity really stood out," she told New Scientist. "And I wanted to tackle that with my design."

Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
Daily amounts

Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equates to precisely one minute of TV time.

The first prototype has two sensors in the sole - one that record steps and another, in the heel, that can be used to send data to the receiver with a firm stamp.

"It's a good idea for integrating sensors into clothing," says Cliff Randall, at Bristol University, UK, who believes computers will routinely be built into garments in the future. But Randall says it will be more challenging to build a TV control unit that cannot easily be thwarted. "It's got to be easy to install and difficult to bypass," he adds.

Existing pedometers normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to dupe. "It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort," she says. "That was one of my main design considerations."

Delaying the introduction of cereal-based foods into a child's diet could help avoid later gut problems, say University of Colorado scientists.

Babies had a lower chance of developing the digestive disorder coeliac disease if they were not fed grains until aged four to six months, they found.

This condition is caused by proteins in grains, which damage the gut and make it difficult to digest foods.

The research appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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I have started my photo blog & nowadays i m very much busy it.

Link: My Photo Blog

Washington - Computer users already anxious about viruses and identity theft have a new reason to worry: hackers have found a way to lock up the electronic documents on your computer and then demand $200 (about R1 200) over the Internet to get them back.

Security researchers at the San Diego-based Websense uncovered the unusual extortion plot when a corporate customer they would not identify fell victim to the infection, which encrypted files that included documents, photographs and spreadsheets.

A ransom note left behind included an e-mail address, and the attacker using the address later demanded $200 for the digital keys to unlock the files.

"This is equivalent to someone coming into your home, putting your valuables in a safe and not telling you the combination," said Oliver Friedrichs, a security manager for Symantec Corporation.

The FBI said the scheme, which appears isolated, was unlike other Internet extortion crimes.

Leading security and anti-virus firms this week were updating protective software for companies and consumers to guard against this type of attack, which experts dubbed "ransom-ware".

"This seems fully malicious," said Joe Stewart, a researcher at Chicago-based Lurqh who studied the attack software. Stewart managed to unlock the infected computer files without paying the extortion, but he worries that improved versions might be more difficult to overcome. Internet attacks commonly become more effective as they evolve over time as hackers learn to avoid the mistakes of earlier infections.

"You would have to pay the guy, or law enforcement would have to get his key to unencrypt the files," Stewart said.

The latest danger adds to the risks facing beleaguered Internet users, who must increasingly deal with categories of threats that include spy-ware, viruses, worms, phishing email fraud and denial of service attacks.

In the recent case, computer users could be infected by viewing a vandalised website with vulnerable Internet browser software. The infection locked up at least 15 types of data files and left behind a note with instructions to send e-mail to a particular address to purchase unlocking keys. In an email reply, the hacker demanded $200 be wired to an Internet banking account. "I send program to your email," the hacker wrote.

FBI spokesperson Paul Bresson said more familiar Internet extortion schemes involve hackers demanding tens of thousands of dollars and threatening to attack commercial websites, interfering with sales or stealing customer data.

Experts said there were no widespread reports the new threat was spreading, and the website was already shut down where the infection originally spread. They also said the hacker's demand for payment might be his weakness, since bank transactions can be traced easily.

"The problem is getting away with it - you've got to send the money somewhere," Stewart said. "If it involves some sort of monetary transaction, it's far easier to trace than an email account." - Sapa-AP

Source : Link

A Chinese man pulled a car with his ears while walking on eggs without breaking them.

Zhang Xingquan, ,38, pulled the car for about 20 metres in Dehui, Jinli province.

His performance drew a big crowd of astonished onlookers.

Zhang said he began to learn the stunt when he was just eight-years-old.

He can also pick up a 25kg bicycle with his mouth while standing on eggs.

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A wallpaper section will be added soon.

Insulin itself is the target of friendly fire from the immune system in Type I diabetes, new research shows. The discovery may one day help doctors forestall that attack and thus prevent the disease.

Type I diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes, occurs when T-cells of the immune system mistakenly recognise insulin-producing cells in the pancreas as foreign and destroy them. But researchers have not been sure which of several possible molecules actually triggers this case of mistaken identity.

A team led by George Eisenbarth at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, US, genetically engineered diabetes-prone mice to lack normal insulin genes. Instead, the researchers gave the mice a modified insulin gene that functioned normally as a hormone but lacked the structural feature of insulin usually recognised by the immune system.

Even though these mice carried all the same molecular targets - except insulin - as their unmodified kin, they did not develop diabetes, strongly implying that insulin is the crucial target of autoimmune attack (Nature, vol 435, p 220).
Knowing where to look

Human diabetics show evidence of a similar autoimmune response against insulin, though earlier clinicians had failed to find anti-insulin T-cells in blood samples drawn from diabetic patients. But researchers led by David Hafler of Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts decided to look where those cells would be most likely to accumulate - in the lymph nodes draining the pancreas.

The team obtained lymph nodes from patients during surgery or from organ donors after death and cultured the T-cells they contained. Pancreatic lymph nodes from three diabetic patients contained large numbers of insulin-recognising T-cells while lymph nodes near their spleen or the pancreas of three non-diabetics did not (Nature, vol 435, p 224).

Taken together, the two studies come very close to clinching the case against insulin in the onset of human diabetes, says Lisa Spain, director of immunology for the Type I diabetes programme at the US National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney diseases in Bethesda, Maryland.

With this knowledge in hand, researchers can now begin searching for ways to block the immune system's inappropriate response to insulin. A drug that binds to the insulin-recognising receptor on T-cells, for example, might prevent them from mounting a response, says Spain.

London - Science-fiction moved a step closer to reality on Wednesday when robots nicknamed "Sister Mary" and "Doctor Robbie" started work at a London hospital.

The pair allow doctors to visually examine and communicate with patients, whether they are in another part of the hospital or even another part of the world.

"This is a revolutionary concept which opens new avenues in telemedicine research and integrates technology with healthcare," said Professor Sir Ara Darzi in a statement.

Darzi, head of surgery, anaesthetics and intensive care at London's prestigious Imperial College is also a practising surgeon at St Mary's hospital in Paddington, west London.

The 1.5m robots are controlled remotely by a doctor via a joystick.

Doctors can look at patients thanks to a camera mounted on top of the robot while patients can see their doctors via a screen on the robots' "face".

Patients can be asked questions and medical records - such as X-rays and test results - can be read.

As part of a pilot study, patients will be assessed as to how they respond to the robots' metallic ministrations.

Everyone was expecting Sony to deliver a technological powerhouse with its PlayStation 3 debut here at E3 and Sony sure didn't disappoint. The PlayStation 3 combines the power of the Cell processor and the Nvidia-based RSX graphics processor to create what Sony Computer Entertainment's Ken Kutaragi calls a "supercomputer for computer entertainment."

Source: Link

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu,

I pray that this reaches you in the best of health and Eeman.

After steeping myself in books that deal with anxiety and mental ailments, I found that Muslim scholars agree upon three fundamentals for one who seeks a cure:

1. One should have a close relationship with Allah, by worshipping Him, being obedient to Him, and turning to Him when in hardship or in ease. And this is the paramount issue in faith:

“So worship Him [Alone] and be constant and patient in His worship. Do you know of any who is similar to Him? Surah Maryam – Ayah 65.

2. One must close the files of the past. Episodes of the past, which when recalled only induce pain, should be forgotten and eradicated from one’s memory. Thus, a new life for a new day!

3. One should leave the future alone. Whatever has yet to occur is from the world of the unseen. Therefore it should be left alone until it comes. More particularly, one should avoid being preoccupied with predictions, expectations, and apprehensions. Life should be within the boundaries of today.

‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“Beware of having long-term expectations (for this world), for verily it makes one forget (his true purpose).”

“And they thought that they would never return to Us.” Surah Al-Qasas – Ayah 39.

Wasalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu Ahsin.

Check out this months game in The PlayGround section in
the side bar.

Smokers could lose up to seven years off their life expectancy.

Scientists say a 30-year-old man will live on average until he is 82 if he doesn't smoke. But if he smokes he will lose 5.5 years and die aged 76.8.

A woman of the same age has a life expectancy of 86 - reduced by 6.8 years to 79 if she smokes reports the Daily Express.

Angus McDonald, who led the survey for the Actuary Profession said: "The striking thing is that smoking has a bigger effect on how long you will live than whether you are a man or woman."

The Continuous Mortality Investigation was collected from more than two and a half million people taking out life insurance policies or endowments.

Although those surveyed may not have died of smoking-related diseases, smokers' lifestyles often mean they are at far higher risk of alcohol and diet-related problems.

A Chinese man who found a two-headed snake at his home is raising it as his pet.

The man, called Yang, discovered the unusual reptile in a discarded bag in his yard in Zhenyang town, Henan province.

He has decided to raise the snake in a washbasin in his family home.

Both the two heads are well-developed, and each have eyes and a mouth.

The snake, bearing red and black rings, is more than half a metre long, and as thick as an adult's thumb.

Yang says the snake has a very good appetite for mice.

An expert from the local forestry department believes the abnormal wild snake was formed by environmental effects during gestation, reports Jinbao Daily.

There are many companies / brands / products whose names were derived from strange circumstances:

Mercedes -> This was actually the financier's daughter's name.

Adobe -> This came from name of the river Adobe Creek that ran behind the house of founder John Warnock.

Apple Computers > It was the favorite fruit of founder Steve Jobs. He was three months late in filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his company Apple Computers if the other colleagues didn't suggest a better name by 5 o'clock.

CISCO -> It is not an acronym as popularly believed. It is short for San Francisco.

Compaq -> This name was formed by using COMp, for computer, and PAQ to denote a small integral object.

Corel -> The name was derived from the founder's name Dr.Michael Cowpland.It stands for COwpland REsearch Laboratory.

Google -> The name started as a joke boasting about the amount of information the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named 'Googol', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100 zeros. After founders - Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry Page presented their project to an angel investor, they received a cheque made out to 'Google'.

Hotmail -> Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending in 'mail' and finally settled for hotmail as it included the letters "html" - the programming language used to write web pages. It was initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.

Hewlett Packard -> Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.

Intel -> Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company 'Moore Noyce' but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain so they had to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.

Microsoft -> Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the '-' was removed later on.

Motorola -> Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time was called Victrola.

ORACLE -> Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a consulting project for the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The code name for the project was called Oracle (the CIA saw this as the system to give answers to all questions or something such). The project was designed to help use the newly written SQL code by IBM. The project eventually was terminated but Larry
and Bob decided to finish what they started and bring it to the world. They kept the name Oracle and created the RDBMS engine. Later they kept the same name for the company.

Sony -> It originated from the Latin word 'sonus' meaning sound, and 'sonny' a slang used by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.

SUN -> Founded by 4 Stanford University buddies, SUN is the acronym for Stanford University Network. Andreas Bechtolsheim built a microcomputer; Vinod Khosla recruited him and Scot t McNealy to manufacture computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a UNIX-based OS for the computer.

Yahoo! -> The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book 'Gulliver's Travels'. It represents a person who is repulsive in appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! Founders Jerry Yang and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves yahoos.

C++ -> Bjarne Stroustrup called his new language 'C with Classes' and then 'new C'.Because of which the original C began to be called 'old C' which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C.

Java -> James Gosling,and his project is now known as Java Originally called Oak by creator James Gosling, from the tree that stood outside his window, the programming team had to look for a substitute as there was no other language with the same name. Java was selected from a list of suggestions. It came from the name of the coffee that the programmers drank.

Linux -> Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix OS on his system which he replaced by his OS. Hence the working name was Linux (Linus' Minix). He thought the name to be too egotistical and planned to name it Freax (free + freak + x). His friend Ari Lemmk encouraged Linus to upload it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave Linus a directory called linux on his FTP server, as he did not like the name Freax. (Linus' parents named him after two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling)

And last but not the least

Dell Computers -> Named after the founder Michael Dell.

Source: G3techNews

Hi guys! I have brought a new section for U!

"Game of the Month"

All the games in this section will be small,built in flash & could be downloaded to your PC.

Checkout for the Game of this Month in the Links
&
Tell me What U think About It!

I will meet u freinds when i come back & this time i will be having a surprise for you,So keep guessing What it would Be!

Caution: read it carefully, please!
Admission Open to Paradise


Eligibility Criteria:

(i) Muslim
(ii) Belief in ALLAH as well as in the Holy Prophet (PBUH)
(iii) Belief in the Day of Judgement.

Rules and Regulations:

(i) Admission will be based on open merit
(ii) There will be no self-finance scheme
(iii) Reserved seats for Shuhada.
(iv) Only those will be allowed to enter, who get their result cards in right hands
(v) Those who get their result cards in left hand will not be eligible for the admission in Paradise.

Examination Procedure:

(i) Practical examination is your life time.
(ii) Viva will be conducted on the Day of Judgement.
(iii) First question will be asked about prayer
(iv) Final merit list will be displayed on the same day.
(v) No supplementary exam will be held.

Suggestions:

This world is an examination hall, you do not know the time when the Malak-ul-Maut, will take away your answer sheet. In order to make sure your success, you must attempt your paper with great care and must perform your practical examination with great concentration. For syllabus, please consult Holy Quran and Hadeeth.
You are much worried about this life, this world is just like a drop and the life of hereafter is like an ocean. Now the choice is yours.
Special Concession:
Allah has set some special consessions during the month of Ramadan. The marks are multiplied by 70 times of each questions. You have a chance to reset your wrong answers. Some people get the direct success of the exam in this month.

Note:
Just imagine if your name is not in the list of selected candidates???

One day a fellow went into town to purchase a horse.
"I can see you are a religious fellow," the horse saleman told him. This fine specimen here is the horse for you. It's an Islamic horse."

"Oh, and what makes this particular horse Islamic?" asked the buyer, feeling a little sceptical.

"Well, when you say, 'Al hamdu lillah' (praise be to God), it goes; and when you say, 'La ilaha illallah wa Muhammad rasulullah' (there is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet), it stops. What could be easier?"

"Hmm. I guess I'll take it." He paid the salesman, jumped on the horse, and said "Al hamdu lillah," and off the horse went, like a bullet, the new owner hanging on for dear life.

Over hill and dale the horse sped, while the befuddled owner tried to remember what to say to make it stop. He tried every religious phrase he could think of, but he couldn't remember the right one. Finally, the horse neared the edge of a cliff, and showed no sign of slowing down. Seeing he was about to die, the owner reaffirmed his faith, as is Islamic tradition: he said "La ilaha illallah wa Muhammad rasulullah!" and the horse stopped, at the very edge of the cliff.

The owner was full of amazement and relief. In gratitude for his deliverance, he sighed, "Al hamdu lillah."
Read it and understand it...I hope it will work somewhere for someone, amen.

When you work for ALLAH, ALLAH works for you.
(Aameen)

A pen that conceals what is written is a big hit with Chinese teenagers.

The pen, also called "invisible pen", uses special ink which left no marks on papers, while can be read with a mini purple lamp on the other end of the pen.

The pen is popular with students in Wuhan who are using it in exams or writing love letters.

"The pen should totally be forbidden. It is bad to the mental health of the students," said the principal of a local school.

But students disagree. A girl student named Wang said: "The pen has irreplaceable advantages. My mom always loves to peek at my diaries, and with this pen, she has no idea," reports Chutian Golden Newspaper.

The first mobile phone virus capable of rifling through a phonebook and automatically sending a copy of itself to uninfected phones was discovered by anti-virus researchers on Monday.

Commwarrior has no malicious payload but it spreads more insidiously than any phone virus to date because it appears to come from a friend and can spread over long distances, say researchers at the Finnish security firm F-Secure in Helsinki.

Read Full Story

INDONESIA and Germany signed an agreement this week to install a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean. Though some of the pieces will be in place by October, it could turn out to be a race against time. The quake that caused last year's devastating tsunami has increased the stress on other faults nearby, according to a study published this week. This has left the region primed for one or two major earthquakes, and possibly another tsunami.

Read the whole story

Amina leads the prayer on Friday. (Reuters)

March 20: She is being called the “shock Imam”, having stunned Muslim clergy across continents. In India, the shade of opinion over a Muslim woman leading namaz ranges from anger to flippancy to allegations of an American conspiracy.

On March 18, Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, led Friday prayers in New York, where about half of the estimated 100 people were men. Clad in a hijab (veil), she also read out the Khutba (the holy sermon).

Continue Reading

What do u think? Is this an American conspiracy or Just lack of understanding of Islam by Muslims!!! Comment.

Google, one of the most powerful search engines on the planet, has turned into a household name. Founded in September 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, this site covers eight billion web pages, which make it the largest search engine ever.

Google comes from the word "Googol," a mathematical term for one followed by 100 zeros. Certainly the site has lived up to its mathematical derivative, for it contains a wealth of data that has turned it into the most popular search engine of our time. However, Google isn't just a search engine.Innovators at Google devote 20 per cent of their week to work on new and ground-breaking ideas. As a result, the site is continuously upgraded with various, new features that make it all the more interesting.

For scholars

An novel approach for scientists and scholars, Google Scholars is specifically designed for academic literature, including theses, books, peer-reviewed papers, abstract and technical reports from all major areas of research.

Web quotes

A few search engines (like Teoma) already provide suggestions or recommendations for thewebsites that you look up. However, Google's WebQuotes does not let you indulge in guesswork about a site, that is, whether it will be worth visiting or not.By including comments from other websites alongside your results, you get to see what other people think of the site before you click on its link.

Compute

Donate your PC's spare resources for serious medical and scientific research like SETI@home, by downloading Google's Compute tool bar. You can receive data packets which can help you find a cure for Parkinson's disease or give scientists the power to simulate protein synthesis.

Desktop search

Desktop search offers you multi-purpose full text search of email, computer files and the web pages you may have viewed. After installation, Google's desktop search can look for your personal items through all file types in your PC. It can also search chats from AOL messengers. Currently, it is available for Windows XP and Windows 2000 updates and above.


Libraries

Towards the end of 2004, Google announced that it would provide details of digital books, so that worldwide users can look them up through the search engine. Working in collaboration with Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, Oxford University and New York Public library, the Google print programme helps publishers put their books and information in a searchable mode.

Voice search

This is truly a remarkable service from Google, but is still in its pilot phase. If you are tired of hitting the same key over and over again for your search, this feature is definitely for you. Through this service, Google will provide a special phone number for your query. Just say your search words and a state-of-the-art programme will understand and turn it into typed keywords, just the way you would.

Personalized search

Google is well-known for its famous page-ranking technology. Personalized web searching could be an evolutionary step in this regard. The goal is to get tailored results according an individual's search. For instance, if a fishing enthusiast enters the word "salmon," his results will be ranked so that salmon fishing tips appear highest on the list. A cook will see recipes first, while biology students will get links to anatomical data. For this to work, you will have to fill out a detailed form, quite like your personalized online profile.

Video

Google hopes to index information throughout the world. It is perhaps for this reason that the company introduced Google Video, an amazing service in which you can search and organize thousands of TV programmes every day. Google video helps you search for a growing archive of televised contents - everything, from cricket matches to documentaries and from talk shows to news.


Source: This post is modified from an article 'Googlism explained' by Suhail Yusuf published in Sci-Tech World of 19th March 2005.

Taking pictures with your mobile phone is no longer confined to what is visible through the view finder on the phone. Sony Ericsson’s new Bluetooth controlled camera, ROB-1, can move around freely, steered....


Read the whole story

The world's first hydrogen-powered motorbike has been launched in Britain.

It can reach 50mph in 12 seconds, produces no emissions and is as quiet as a laptop computer - but that could be a problem.

Anti-noise campaigners welcomed the prospect of a motorbike without the usual earth-shattering roar.

But engineers are considering adding an artificial "vroom" as they were worried its silence might be dangerous.

Harry Bradbury, chief executive of manufacturer Intelligent Energy, said: "There has never been a silent bike produced, so no one is used to it.

"As it goes forward towards production, we're going to give thought to some light noise modulation."

He is planning to introduce an artificial engine noise which could be used in an urban setting to alert other road users but switched off in the countryside to allow for a peaceful ride.

The bike is powered by a briefcase-sized cell filled with high-pressure hydrogen, which needs to be topped up every 100 miles.

Courtesy: Ananova

Our love is a measure of our faith. Is our love deep enough to recognize the One we cannot see but expressions of His love are scattered all around us? Or is it so shallow that it begins and ends only with humans who often abandon and hurt us in this world when we need them the most, whose love brings heartbreak and depression and who will be the first to leave us when we depart from this world?

I just got my telenor connection... having experienced all the four GSM networks of Pakistan, I think i'm in a situation where I can comment about their pricing and service.

Firstly, Mobilink (May Be Link) sent an SMS to all its custommers today stating

"Breaking News for jazz Customers: ALL calls to ALL networks, at local rates. Outgoing airtime for only Rs.3.5/min for ALL calls! Aur Sunao!"

And people thought, Mobilink was back in... It's simply a CHEAT! Do u see the word "AIRTIME"? So they dont have to give a * any more... No, not even the one which requires a 16X microscope... they are saying the truth, but a totally twisted... I tried to dial a Ufone number from my Mobilink number when the balance reached Rs.6.5, failed... Not enough balance...

3.5/min Airtime for ALL calls to ALL networks... What's Airtime? Simply the charges that you pay to speak from you phone, irrespective of where you called... It's simply for the communications from your mobile to the Mobilink server (or any other network) from where the call is re-routed through the existing PTCL infrastructure to your destination...

So do you pay only Rs.3.5/min when you call from a Mobilink Karachi number to a Lahore Land Line?

No you pay Rs.3.5/min airtime and around Rs.12/min for PTCL NWD charges from Karachi to Lahore... Mobilink just hides this, as does PaktelGSM...

I worked around with Telenor, and the case is different for Telenor Pakistan. It doesnt use the word "airtime" anywhere in its packages... After experimenting a few numbers, I have concluded that ALL calls to ALL networks (even long distance PTCL fixed lines) are for Rs.4.5/min from Telenor...

This 4.5/min also uncludes the 15% CED, NWD charges and the Air time...

Where as the rates advertised by
PaktelGSM as 3.75/min
MobilinkGSM as 3.5/min
UfoneGSM as 3/min , 1.5/min
are just AIRTIME charges...

so simply add 15% CED (tax) charges in the above mentioned rates to get the Paktel to Paktel, Mobilink to Mobilink and Ufone to Ufone Charges...

What about other networks? Besides Telenor, all other networks are also applicable for NWD/PTCL charges...

That means if you dial a local fixed line number from any of the above mentioned packages, simply add Rs.2 per 5 minutes in the above mentioned AirTime charges...
Similarly, if you make a Lahore PTCL call from a Karachi Mobilink, you will have to add Rs.12/min in addition to the above mentioned AirTime charges (Not in Telenor)

Telenor has exempted all this... In reality, PaktelGSM and MobilinkGSM have joined to Liar's club by deceiving its customers about AirTime and actual call charges...

My Choice: Telenor (if you have a plenty of long distance and other network calls)
Ufone: Girl-Friend, Boy Friend.... Both have Ufone, speak for Rs.1.5/min after 10pm
Mobilink: For people who just dial Mobilink numbers, (companies?)
PaktelGSM: Not recomended...

In less than an year of the contract for running yet another cellular network in Pakistan, the company has setup the basic infrastructure for the launch in three major cities of Pakistan. And just yesterday, the website of Telenor Pakistan also went online at http://www.telenor.com.pk. Surprisingly, telenor didnt want to become an April fool and has unexpectedly launched its service in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The website claims that the service has already started in Karachi, Rawalpindi and Islamabad and would be started for the following destinations by 23rd March, 2005.

	Lahore
	Faisalabad
	Hyderabad
	Karachi – Hyderabad Super Highway

Telenor, which will function under the area code "0345" has most of the pre-paid features you would normally get in a post-paid package. Besides the usual GPRS and MMS heavily advertised by Ufone, the norway based company has also added "Missed call alerts" to the pre-paid packages its to introduce. At the same time, Nokia in a press release has said that the 2.5G Telenor network would be upgraded to EDGE within an year of its launch (By 2006).
The following technical resources are worth a read for a detailed analysis of the Telenor setup in Pakistan

• Mobilecomms Technology
• Telenor Specifications
• 3G.co.uk

The best part about the recharging of your Telenor pre-paid accounts is "easyload". Telenor claims that you may load any amount of Money from "Rs. 10 to Rs. 1000"; not limiting you to by a minimum card of a particular amound (That explains why Mobilink brought in the Rupee 100 scratch card). Whats more?
All pre-paid telenor connections have an unlimitted account validity. So no more limits to recharge your account!

Still more? Yes, im surprised with the rates that Telenor has come up with.

PaktelGSM the LiarGSM
It certainly seemes much more than Ufone and PaktelGSM, but at the same time i'd like to point out a LiarGSM in this scenario. PaktelGSM has been advertising the 3.75/min anywhere in Pakistan air time... Hello!?! it says "AirTime". I fell for that! I was shocked to be charged Rs.50 for a 4 minute call to Lahore... I asked my friends, and the case was no different... So PaktelGSM/LiarGSM is actually 3.75/min+PTCL/Mobile Charges...

Calls to fixed line from to PaktelGSM are Rs. 3.75/min + PTCL charges (Around 5.75/min)
PaktelGSM to PaktelGSM are Rs. 3.75/min
PaktelGSM to Other Mobile networks are around Rs.7-8/min (See the catch?)
PaktelGSM to long distance PTCL Rs.3.75/min plus NWD charges (Rs.15/min to lahore!)

Nationwide Call Rate for Telenor Pakistan
	To another Telenor number	Rs. 3.99/min
	To any other mobile number	Rs. 3.99/min
	To any PTCL number	Rs. 3.99/min
	Inclusive of Interconnect and long distance charges
	All outgoing calls/airtime usage is subject to 15% CED only It's good to know Telenor has made this clear on its website that 3.99/min includes long distance charges (Which PaktelGSM doesnt)

SMS
	Outgoing	Rs. 1.50
	Incoming	Free
	Outgoing International	Rs. 5.00

source: http://www.telenor.com.pk



While roaming in the city you would get to see the skinny versions of base stations being setup by their technical teams and mobile base station vans. So what can the Pakistani citizens expect out of this new telecom company in Pakistan? Has it really brought in more jobs?

Nokia and Siemens was awarded the contract for setting up the entire infrastructure for Telenor, Pakistan. As the sales and franchise officers engulfed the Telenor head quarters, I was surprised that not a single technical job was anounced by Telenor in Pakistan.

References

1. Mobilecomms Technology
2. Telenor Specifications
3. 3G.co.uk
4. Telenor Pakistan

If A equals success, then the formula is

_ A = _ X + _ Y + _ Z.

_ X is work.
_ Y is play.
_ Z is keep your mouth shut.

-- Albert Einstein

The pakistani government has finally accepted the fact that it scans and stores all emails sent to and from pakistan for security reasons. The statement was made in the National Assembly this friday upon answering a question repeatedly put up by Muhammad Pervez Malik; a member of the National Assembly.

The CIA in the US is known to be doing the same to keep an eye on any upcomming security threats. After reading an article on SecurityFocus regarding email scanning, I now agree to the fact that the job carries a cosiderablly high price tag. I wouldnt disagree to know that the price is something near to a $100 million a month.

Well incase you are wondering how secure your email really is, its "zero" secure under normal conditions of our country.

The most vulnerable email addresses to date are the local POP3 addresses. Some of the following accounts are the easiest to trace for the government (infact anyone even working there) as they do not have a proper IS Security policy in place. Dont be surprised if you see one of your emails in the hands of a sweeper who happens to work there.

MOST Vulnerable (Local POP3s/SMTPs)

* @khi.paknet.com.pk, @hyd.paknet.com.pk, @anycity.paknet.com.pk
* @cyber.net.pk
* @go4b.net
* @sat.net.pk
* @super.net.pk
* @wol.net.pk
* @gerrys.net.pk
* @zab.net.pk

Many of us usually prefer to send the larger emails quickly by switching to our local ISPs SMTP, which normally doesnt ask for authorization if you are their custommer. But is it really secure enough? There is a 99% chance that it goes to the government too if you use the local SMTP.

However only a fraction of the internet users of this country use these POP3/SMTP accounts. They are mostly seen used at places where people dont have a permanent connection to the internet. So Rural and sub-urban places of the country have the most usage for these accounts. And atleast I wouldnt expect Osama Bin Laden to hide in the Karachi Marriot hotel! He would rather, goto a low profile area.

Most of the remaining crowd would stick to their hotmails, yahoos, gmail or any other web based email systems... Is it secure?

Yahoo Mail

Now thats a 50-50... When logging in, Yahoo Mail gives you an option to keep your entire session in SSL (Secure Socket Layer). SSL makes your connection extremely SLOW because of the heavy encryption going on, however if you use this option, there is not chance of anyone being able to read whats being sent and received from your Yahoo Mail. Only you, God and Yahoo would know whats in. (I havent seen anyone using this option to date but still its available).

Hotmail

I havent used hotmail that much, the last time I logged in was In 10th grade (6 years ago). I didnt have a hotmail account since then. But I registered this one to see if its supports SSL. The funny part about hotmail is that it does secure your login procedure (that means General Musharaf would not get to know your password). But he can read your emails. As Hotmail only secures the connection when u login, after ur in, hotmail invites Baba Musharaf to read your mail (Yes a copy is cached with baba Musharaf) as the communication after login is not secured.

GMAIL

The case of GMAIL is the same as Hotmail. It secures your login procedure using SSL (baba musharaf cant read ur password). But he gets what he needs, since gmail also doesnt encrypt your inbox/emails after ur logged in. So again a copy is most probably cached at the National Security Storage centre (Whatever that maybe).

It is not that GMAIL, Hotmail and Yahoo cant secure their connection. It simply descreases the loading speed by upto 10 times! Imagine If it takes you 3 seconds to login, it would take 30 seconds with an SSL connection. Security concious people always use the "Secure logon" option of Yahoo! Mail. Gmail and Hotmail should also provide similar options

My Choice for email security

1. GMAIL POP3/SMTP (Check this) using ports 995 and 465/587 for POP3 and SMTP respectively
2. Yahoo Mail with SSL login (Click Secure before login)

Yes, thats GMAIL POP3/SMTP on number one. The GMAIL's POP3/SMTP mail is the most secure email ive seen to date (unlike its web based counterpart). The GMAIL POP3/SMTP uses SSL even on POP3/SMTP connections and gives you the ease to manage your mail from Mozilla Thunderbird, Outlook, Incredimail or any other client...

These are the initail days of my blogging & I am learning how to blog.
You will soon be able to find some unique content on my blog.

Today is the Birth Day of my first ever blog!
This is also the Birth Day of my first ever post!
;)