US Spy Satellite Coming Down To Earth Due to Power Loss

A reconnaissance satellite aka spy satellite used for military or intelligence applications. One of such large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or March. The worst part is US government not sure where it will hit on earth. From the yahoo news source:

The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, hey said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation,” said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. “Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause

According to wikipedia:

The KH-11, also referenced by the codenames 1010, Crystal and Kennan, also commonly known as “Key Hole”, was a type of reconnaissance satellite launched by the American National Reconnaissance Office between December 1976 and 1990 and used until present. It is believed to resemble the Hubble Space Telescope in size and shape, as the satellites were shipped in similar containers. Using a powerful 2.3-meter mirror, the theoretical ground resolution with no atmospheric degradation and 50% MTF would be roughly 0.15 meter (6 inches). Operational resolution would be worse due to effects of the atmosphere. Different versions of the KH-11 vary in mass from 13,000 to 13,500 kilograms. Its length is believed to be 19.5 meters, and diameter is 3 meters or less.

=> Disabled spy satellite threatens Earth

Windows XP SP3 will bring a 10 % Speed Boost

Who needs Windows Vista? According to Yahoo news, Windows Service Pack 3 will offer substantial performance gains:

Running an Office productivity test suite on a preview version of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP, Devil Mountain discovered a 10 percent performance boost over the current version of Windows XP, the company reported on its blog. So Vista’s biggest competition isn’t Apple or Novell or Red Hat; it’s Microsoft itself, it’s XP.

=> Read more: Windows XP Speed Boost Coming with SP3

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.

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.