June 2007 – Page 2

Human colonization on other star systems is impossible

Charles Stross is a well known writer. He writes from science fiction to fantasy. Now he has written an excellent blog post human colonization on other star systems is impossible:

Historically, crossing oceans and setting up farmsteads on new lands conveniently stripped of indigenous inhabitants by disease has been a cost-effective proposition. But the scale factor involved in space travel is strongly counter-intuitive.

Here’s a handy metaphor: let’s approximate one astronomical unit â€” the distance between the Earth and the sun, roughly 150 million kilometres, or 600 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon â€” to one centimetre. Got that? 1AU = 1cm. (You may want to get hold of a ruler to follow through with this one.)
The solar system is conveniently small. Neptune, the outermost planet in our solar system, orbits the sun at a distance of almost exactly 30AU, or 30 centimetres â€” one foot (in imperial units). Giant Jupiter is 5.46 AU out from the sun, almost exactly two inches (in old money).
We’ve sent space probes to Jupiter; they take two and a half years to get there if we send them on a straight Hohmann transfer orbit, but we can get there a bit faster using some fancy orbital mechanics. Neptune is still a stretch â€” only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, has made it out there so far. Its journey time was 12 years, and it wasn’t stopping. (It’s now on its way out into interstellar space, having passed the heliopause some years ago.)

Difference between HTML 5 and HTML 4

HTML has been in continuous evolution since it was introduced to the Internet in the early 1990’s. Some features were introduced in specifications; others were introduced in software releases. In some respects, implementations and author practices have converged with each other and with specifications and standards, but in other ways, they continue to diverge.

HTML4 became a W3C Recommendation in 1997. While it continues to serve as a rough guide to many of the core features of HTML, it does not provide enough information to build implementations that interoperate with each other and, more importantly, with a critical mass of deployed content. The same goes for XHTML1, which defines an XML serialization for HTML4, and DOM Level 2 HTML, which defines JavaScript APIs for both HTML and XHTML.

This document describes the differences between HTML4 and HTML5 and provides some of the rationale for the changes. This document may not provide accurate information as the HTML5 specification is still in development. When in doubt, always check the HTML5 specification itself.

Howto create CSS Image Rollovers effect wihout using Javascript

Wow, this tutorial is pretty simple. I was looking for something like this for my small project. This CSS code gives the same effect as with a JavaScript rollover except users dont need JavaScript and you only have to load a single image.

I really hate having to use JavaScript for image rollovers as it seems messy, requires two separate images and can only degrade gracefully to nothing if the user has JavaScript turned off.

CSS Image Rollovers [redvodkajelly.com]

Why Does It Rain So Frequently In The Rainforests?

Describes the scientific causes – why does it rain so frequently in the rainforests around the world?

Rain forest are forest with heavy annual rainfall. I always see the rainforests on Discovery or Natgeo tv channel. And, I was wondering why does it rain so frequently in the rainforests?
Continue reading “Why Does It Rain So Frequently In The Rainforests?”

Download Apple Safari 3 browser for Windows XP and Vista

Apple has launched a version of its web browser Safari for Windows, competing head to head with Microsoft’s Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox.

According to Apple’s website:

The fastest web browser on any platform, Safari loads pages up to 2 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. And it executes JavaScript up to 2.8 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. What does all that mean for you? Less time loading pages and more time enjoying them.
A test version of Safari 3 for Windows XP, Vista and Apple Macs running OSX, is available for download from the Apple website. Apple is hoping to replicate the success of iTunes, which has proved enormously popular on both Macs and Windows machines.
“We think Windows users are going to be really impressed when they see how fast and intuitive web browsing can be with Safari,” said Mr Jobs.

DOWNLOAD APPLE SAFARI 3 BROWSER FOR WINDOWS XP / VISTA

=> Download link

Digital paper that can speak or talk to you

A talking paper made by scientists that can speak to you and has been created.

One interesting idea would be to use it on cigarette packaging, so instead of having a written message warning you of danger to your health, you would have a spoken one.

The prototype display uses conductive inks, which are sensitive to pressure, and printed speakers. The team envisages that the technology could be used by advertisers, and in the future, it might even be employed for product packaging. The researcher’s display model shows its possible use for marketing holiday destinations.

How do you senses cold?

Cold can relieve pain and reduce inflammation says the new study findings. Protein senses cold Single receptor responds to cold and menthol:

Three papers, two published recently in Neuron and the third in this week’s issue of Nature, have shown that mice rely on a single protein, called TRPM8, to sense both cold temperatures and menthol, the compound that gives mints their cool sensation.
The sensor also controls the pain-relieving effect of cool temperatures, but does not seem to play an important role in the response to painfully cold temperatures below 10 C.
TRPM8 is in the same family as the protein that detects heat and capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot. These proteins lie in the cell membranes of select neurons, and form channels that open and close in response to external signals.
Both cold temperatures and menthol trigger TRPM8 to open, allowing small, positively charged molecules, such as calcium ions, to pour into the cell.

Who Invented Mobile Phone?

A little history about modern mobile phone and its inventor Dr. Martin Cooper.

We use mobile phone everyday. I own a blackberry and a Nokia phone. In the 90s the cellphone was a luxury item. I thought it would be an interesting idea to dig out a little history about mobile phone.

Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola, made the first US analogue mobile phone call

Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola is considered to be the inventor of the first practical mobile phone. On April 3, 1973, Martin placed a call to rival Joel Engel, head of research at AT&T’s Bell Labs, while walking the streets of New York City talking on the first Motorola DynaTAC prototype.
In 1940s Motorola developed a backpacked two-way radio, the Walkie-Talkie and a large hand-held two-way radio for the US military. The same technology developed further and produced the mobile phone that we know today.
In 1946 USSR (Russia) successfully tested their version of a radio mobile phone mounted inside a car.
The modern handheld cell phone era began in 1973 when Motorola invented the first cellular portable telephone to be commercialised, known as Motorola DynaTAC 8000X.
On October 13, 1983, the pilot commercial cellular system of Illinois Bell begins operating in Chicago. The second pilot system run by ARTS in partnership with Motorola begins operation in Baltimore/Washington on December 16, 1983.
By 1984, Washington, DC has two competing cellular providers,
By 1988, many cellular systems (particularly New York and Los Angeles) are already becoming overloaded as the promise of nearly infinite expansion of capacity from cell splitting turns out to be more costly and difficult than foreseen.
The Motorola StarTac was the first phone in the world with Vibrating alert function. It was unveiled in North America on January 3, 1996. StarTACs remained popular until the early 2000s.
The Sharp J-SH04 was the industry’s first mobile phone to feature an integrated 110,000-pixel CMOS image sensor for taking digital photos (camera mobile phone).
By 2003 or 2004 Blackberry begun to take the market by storm. The phone were optimized for wireless email communication. GPRS could provide data rates from 56 kbit/s up to 114 kbit/s. It can be used for services such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and for Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access.
On January 9, 2007 Apple unveiled the iPhone to the public.

WHERE WERE MOBILE PHONES FIRST USED?

=> United States of America (USA)

These days we use second generation (2G) GSM / CDMA / TDMA mobile networks and phones. Many service providers now looking to create a third generation (3G) mobile network. The most significant feature offered by third generation mobile technologies is the capacity to support greater numbers of voice and data customers but as usual it is quite expensive to roll out. Now, a 4G system is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure all-IP based solution where facilities such as IP telephony, ultra-broadband Internet access, gaming services, and streamed multimedia may be provided to users.

References:

Rashtrapati Bhavan New Delhi India

President House i.e Rashtrapati Bhavan (a sanskrit word) is the official residence of the President of India, located in New Delhi.

The main entrance is to Rashtrapati Bhavan is known as Gate 35, and is located on Prakash Vir Shastri Avenue, renamed from North Avenue in November of 2002. According to official website:

The splendour of the Rashtrapati Bhavan is multi-dimensional. It is a vast mansion and its architecture is breathtaking. More than these, it has a hallowed existence in the annals of democracy for being the residence of the President of the largest democracy in the world. Few official residential premises of the Head of theState in the world will match the Rashtrapati Bhavan in terms of its size, vastness and its magnificence.
The present day Rashtrapati Bhavan was the erstwhile residence of the British Viceroy. Its architect was Edwin Landseer Lutyens. The decision to build a residence in New Delhi for the British Viceroy was taken after it was decided in the Delhi Durbar of 1911 that the capital of India would be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in the same year. It was constructed to affirm the permanence of British rule in India. This building gave the impression, in the words of a critique, the setting of a perpetual Durbar. The building and its surroundings were supposed to be ‘an empire in stone’, ‘exercising imperial sway’ and containing in it, “the abode of a disinterested elite whose rule was imposed from above”.

RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN Pictures and tour

You can see satellite picture using Google earth or live picture using Google map.

The official site itself has photo and video gallery