Month: December 2005

100 things we didn’t know this time last year

BBC has compiled very nice result of 100 things we didn’t know this time last year. Basically each week the Magazine picks out snippets from the news, and compiles them into 10 Things We Didn’t Know This Time Last Week. Here’s an end of year almanac. Here are my top six:

  • One person in four has had their identity stolen or knows someone who has #21
  • The length of a man’s fingers can reveal how physically aggressive he is, scientists say. # 22
  • You’re 10 times more likely to be bitten by a human than a rat. # 52
  • It takes 75kg of raw materials to make a mobile phone. # 53
  • Deep Throat is reportedly the most profitable film ever. It was made for $25,000 (£13,700) and has

    • grossed more than $600m. # 54

  • Bill Gates does not have an iPod. # 94

Read full article online here

Kerry Packer dies

One-day international cricket is now an international phenomena as a result of Kerry Packer hard work. He changed the cricket forever. He introduced the colored clothing in cricket and made cricket commercialized game. Because of him cricket went to next level and everyone can watch cricket on television. Packer died in his sleep on Tuesday at the age of 68.
Media coverage of Kerry Packer:
Packer a great Australian: Howard
The Packer case
Media Mogul Kerry Packer dead

India To Form Expert Group On Google Satellite Image Issue

Concerned over satellite images of its strategic installations being made available in the public domain by internet search engine Google, India has decided to constitute an expert group to suggest ways to safeguard the country’s interests. According to yahoo news, “Satellite images made available by Google include Rashtrapati Bahwan, residences of the Prime Minister, besides commercial airports, naval bases, atomic establishments and other sensitive installations, which could create a crisis from a safety point of view, he added.”
This story is on slashdot too. I have already written about this threat issues Google earth images created storm across India.

Insat 4A put into orbit successfully

Finally on Thursday Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) latest satellite, Insat-4A put into orbit (Click to view Insat 4A image/picture) successfully. It was launched from Kourou, French Guiana. According to official ISRO statement:

  • It is India’s first communication satellite
  • It can provide upto 150 DTH channels via 12 Ku-band transponders
  • It will boost countries television capacity
  • It will cover India, Asia Pacific and the Gulf

INSAT-4A is launched into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) by Ariane-5 launch vehicle. The satellite is subsequently manoeuvred to 36,000 km high Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) by firing the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) on-board the satellite. In GSO, INSAT-4A will be co-located with INSAT-2E and INSAT-3B satellites at 83 deg East longitude. INSAT-4A is designed for a life of 12 years.

For more information, see ISRO official web site.

India ICC Test rankings

With recent victory for India, our position in ICC test cricket is at number two. Thanks to Indian spin duo Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, India scored 259-run victory in Ahmedabad on Thursday. India won the three match series with 2-0. And no wonder Harbhajan was declared man of the match, while Kumble man of the series.

ICC Test rankings as on 23-Dec-2005

  • #1 : Australia ( 128 points)
  • #2 : India ( 115 points)
  • #3 : England ( 113 points)
  • #4 : Pakistan ( 103 points)
  • #5 : S Africa ( 100 points)
  • #6 : N Zealand ( 100 points)
  • #7 : Sri Lanka ( 96 points)
  • #8 : W Indies ( 73 points)
  • #9 : Zimbabwe ( 27 points)
  • #10 : Bangladesh ( 5 points)

Have no fear

Recently I was reading very nice piece of information. According to Swami Vivekananda ”
The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you. Depend on no one. The movement you reject all help you are free“.
All our problems and fears will come and go, just as we go, even god comes on this earth and go, and so have no fear. Always accept conditions, don’t expect & accept help form anyone.. this way we will not worry more about problems!

Bluffmaster and King Kong

If I get any chance by this weekend I will go and watch this movie. Soundtracks are really good and as always Abhishek Bachchan and hot Priyanka chopra with lots of thrill.

King Kong
This one I will definitely watch may be next week as it is directed by Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings. I’m sure it will be full of action, awesome special effects and fun. They got ultra cool website. But as usual I will wait and see if it is worth to watch or not. I will get review from my friends

Pune Lohegaon airport goes international

Finally my town (pune) got international airport :D The first international flight from Pune to Dubia took today. Lohegaon is basically military airbase, this is really a good news as we got good IT sector, Education sector in Pune.

However requires more infrastructure and needs additional space for immigration checks, customs clearance, baggage-handling and passenger amenities etc. Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel had promised six months ago of making Lohegaon terminal go international by mentor Sharad Pawar’s birthday.

Read more here

Which is the top most site in the world?

Have you ever wondered which is the top most site in the world? Recently I came across very nice article. The top portal information is based upon in the number of unique visitors, and is also the top destination for news, a market. So here are top 10 web site according to vistors:

#1 : Yahoo Inc 101.3 million visitors (Yahoo.com)
#2 : Microsoft Corp.’s site with 95.6 million (Microsoft.com)
#3 : MSN portal, 92.1 million (msn.com)
#4 : Google, 80.4 million (google.com)
#5 : America Online Inc., 75.7 million (Aol.com)
#6 : EBay Inc., 55.2 million (ebay.com)
#7 : MapQuest, 39 million (mapquest.com)
#8 : Amazon.com, 37.6 million (http://amazon.com)
#9 : RealNetworks, 36.4 million (realnetworks.com)
#10 : The Weather Channel, 31.2 million (weather.com)

Found via yahoo news.