Monday, March 30, 2009

You are so Blessed!

If you woke up this morningwith more health than illness, you are more blessed than themillion who won't survive the week.
If you have never experiencedthe danger of battle,the loneliness of imprisonment,the agony of torture orthe pangs of starvation,you are ahead of 20 million peoplearound the world.
If you attend a temple
Without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almostthree billion people in the world.
If you have food in your refrigerator,clothes on your back, a roof overyour head and a place to sleep,you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank,in your wallet, and spare changein a dish someplace, you are amongthe top 8% of the world's wealthy.
If your parents are still married and alive,you are very rare,especially in the United States.
If you hold up your head with a smileon your face and are truly thankful,you are blessed because the majority can,but most do not.
If you can hold someone's hand, hug themor even touch them on the shoulder,you are blessed because you canoffer God's healing touch.
If you can read this message,you are more blessed than overtwo billion people in the worldthat cannot read anything at all.
You are so blessed in waysyou may never even know.
Blessings to you!
Google now offers you money saving Tips - Courtesy TipJar

Yes you heard me right - the internet behemoth that has amassed fortunes in its Internet business now offers you tips on how to save money. Well, that a very intelligent thought after plan given the current economic crisis.
Head over to TipJar and you can see it all in action. Tip Jar is actually powered by Google Moderator Engine. This itself began as an experiment for the Google App Engine in the early days.
Tip Jar is well thought off and it is segregated into 9 different regions/categories. This allows users to share and receive tips on finance, food, vacation, shopping, kids & family, cars & transit, at home, at work and miscellaneous topics.
But as always, TipJar is riddled with opposition due to the following clauses by Google :"By posting or voting on a suggestion in Tip Jar feedback, you give Google the right to use it freely without compensation."and also..
"You agree that Google has no obligation to use any idea or feature request you post or vote on in any Google product, service, or web site. You agree to not post any material that is copyrighted or subject to third party proprietary rights or that violates any third party rights.
"What is your opinion on this folks? Do you feel Google must have the last say on this?"

Sweetest Prayer


I said a little prayer for you

And I asked the Lord above

To keep you safely in His care

And enfold you in His love

I did not ask for fortune

For riches or for fame

I only ask for blessings

In the Saviour’s Holy name

Blessings to surround you

In times of trial and stress

And inner joy to fill your heart

With peace and happiness.

Helen Steiner Rice

WHY DON'T WE ALL SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGES?


At one time, at the beginning of history, what there was of mankind then probably spoke one language. As time went on, this parent language, or perhaps there were several parent languages, spread and changed.

At first, the parent languages were spoken by small numbers of persons or by scattered small groups. Gradually, some groups increased in numbers and there wasn’t enough food for all of them. So some people would form a band to move to a new location.

When these people arrived at a new location and settled down, they would speak almost the same as the people from whom they had parted. Gradually, though, new pronunciations would creep in. The people would begin to say things a little differently and there would be changes in the sounds of words.

Some words that were needed in the old home were no longer needed in the new place and would be dropped. New experiences would require new words to describe them. Ways of making sentences would change. And suppose the people had settled in a place where others were already living? The two languages would blend, and thus both of the old languages would change.

At first, when the speech of the new people had changed only slightly from the original language, it would be called “a dialect.” After a longer time, when there were many changes in words, sounds and grammar, it would be considered a new language.

In just these ways, Spanish, French and Portuguese developed from Latin; and English, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Dutch grew from an early form of the German Language.

The ancestor language, together with all the languages which developed from it, is called “a family” of languages.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Important Health Tips for Computer Users!

I have collected a few guide line for all those people who work a lot on their computers. Be it your laptops or desktop PC's these tips are very important for every one. As the world is becoming more and more high tech people are getting more into computers, they spend a lot of time in their PC's either doing useful or completely useless stuff, so no matter what ever they do, I advice them to consider the following things which are really important if people would want to avoid health problem later on in their lives.







PEOPLE OF THE WORLD

A Wake Up Call


I hope the world have an ambition

To change the words of aspiration

I hope the world have an expectation

To become a better nation

I hope the world have an anticipation

To make strong the inside connection

I hope the world have an addition

To forget past and start a new generation

I hope the world have an instrumentation

To protect the people from the destruction

I hope the world have an option

To create a peaceful definition

I hope the world have an dedication

This is absolutely positive and full of perfection

I hope the world have to follow the rules and regulation

That’s already written in the book of direction!

ORANGE FESTIVAL IN NETHERLANDS

The Queens Day or Koninginnedag of Netherlands falls on 30 April. Orange is the colour of the their Royal family. You can see that the Amsterdam’s streets, roads, parks and canals come alive in a sea of Orange. It is preferable if not mandatory to wear orange during this national event of the Amsterdam Orange Festival.

















WHO WROTE THE FIRST ENCYCLOPEDIA?

You go to an encyclopedia to get information. That means you expect it to contain the facts on all important subjects. The word “encyclopedia” began as a Greek word and means “instruction in the whole circle.” It was first used in English by Sir Thomas Elyot in 1538 who said it was “the ernynge whiche comprehendth all lyberall science and studies.”
Today, encyclopedias are generally arranged alphabetically, so that it’s easy to look something up. But in early times they were arranged in any way the author liked. For example, one author of an encyclopedia in the Middle Ages began with a discussion of God and angels, and ended with descriptions of scents, colors and a list of 36 kinds of eggs!
The oldest encyclopedia in existence that covers many subjects was written by a Roman called Pliny. It was called Natural History and it was written in the 1st century A.D. It had 37 volumes and contained more than 20,000 items. Pliny quoted from more than 450 authors. This book was considered so valuable that there were 43 editions of it up to 1536!
The largest encyclopedia ever written was the third Chinese encyclopedia, which was ordered put together by a Chinese emperor who died in 1721. The set contained 5,020 volumes! The first encyclopedia which had the subjects arranged in alphabetical order was written by an English Clergyman, John Harris, and was published in 1704. It was called Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.
One of the greatest efforts to put together an encyclopedia was made by the French in the 18th century. It was called the Encyclopedie and was begun in 1743. What made it unusual was that many of the most famous Frenchmen of the time wrote articles for it, including Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot.
The Encyclopedia Britannica or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences was started in Scotland in 1768. It has been published in the United States since 1911.
YOU STILL HAVE HOPE

If you can look at the sunset and smile,
then you still have hope.

If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower,
then you still have hope.

If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly,
then you still have hope.

If the smile of a child can still warm your heart,
then you still have hope.

If you can see the good in other people,
then you still have hope.

If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep,
then you still have hope.

If the sight of a rainbow still makes you stop and stare in wonder,
then you still have hope.

If the soft fur of a favored pet still feels pleasant under your fingertips,
then you still have hope.

If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism,
then you still have hope.

If you give people the benefit of a doubt,
then you still have hope.

If you still offer your hand in friendship to others that have touched your life,
then you still have hope.

If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings a pleasant surprise,
then you still have hope.

If the suffering of others still fills your with pain and frustration,
then you still have hope.

If you refuse to let a friendship die,
or accept that it must end,
then you still have hope.

If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection,
then you still have hope.

If you still buy the ornaments,
put up the Christmas tree or cook the supper,
then you still have hope.

If you can look to the past and smile,
then you still have hope.

If, when faced with the bad,
when told everything is futile,
you can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase..."yeah...BUT.,"
then you still have hope.

Hope is such a marvelous thing.
It bends, it twists, it sometimes hides,
but rarely does it break.

It sustains us when nothing else can.
It gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead,
when we tell ourselves we'd rather give in.

Hope puts a smile on our face
when the heart cannot manage.

Hope puts our feet on the path
when our eyes cannot see it.

Hope moves us to act
when our souls are confused of the direction.

Hope is a wonderful thing,
something to be cherished and nurtured,
and something that will refresh us in return.

And it can be found in each of us,
and it can bring light into the darkest of places.
NEVER LOSE HOPE!

Friday, March 27, 2009

DO THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD STILL EXIST?


It was probably hard for the people of ancient times to imagine that the great monuments which they called “the Seven Wonders of the World” would ever vanish. But except for one, they have all disappeared!


They single remaining one is the pyramid of Cheops at Gizeh, Egypt. It was built about 5,000 years ago to serve as a tomb for a pharaoh and his queen.


The second wonder was the great Walls of Babylon, in what is now Iraq. They were built about 600 B.C. by the famous King Nebuchadnezzar.


The third wonder of the world was the statue of the God Zeus, at Olympia, Greece, fashioned by the Greek sculptor Phidias. The figure was about 40 feet high, with robes of gold, flesh and ivory, and eyes of precious gems. No trace of it exists.


The fourth wonder was the Temple of the goddess Diana at Ephesus, in what is now Turkey. The roof was supported by great stone columns 60 feet high, and the temple contained some of the finest works of Grecian art. It was burned by the invading Goths in A.D. 262.


The fifth wonder was the tomb in the city of Halicarnassus in what is now Turkey. It was built for King Mausolus, who died in 353 B.C. This was such a splendid structure and cost so much money, that we now call any elaborately decorated tomb “a mausoleum.”


The sixth wonder was the Colossus of Rhodes, a bronze statue of Helios, the sun god. It was about 105 feet high, and stood on the island of Rhodes. It was destroyed in an earthquake in 224 B.C.


The seventh and the last wonder was the lighthouse of Pharos, begun about 283 B.C. on the island of Pharos off the coast of Egypt. It is believed it was almost 600 feet high above its base, with a light burning at the top which guided ships to port. The beacon served for more than 1,500 years before it was finally destroyed by an earthquake.

NUMEROLOGY


The ancient and popular divinatory art of numerology can now help you shape your own destiny, by understanding the numerical significance of your name and birth date. An age-old system in which letters of the alphabet are given numerical values from 1 to 9, and your birth date is compounded into a life-path number, numerology can reveal your true personality and help u gain deeper understanding of the patterns of life.

Numerology does not predict the future; rather it is a simple system which offers guidance in all areas of your life, including health, love, luck and career.

In this way numerology will help you to discover the power of numbers and show you how to use numbers to enhance your life.

SEVEN CHARACTERISTICS OF HOPE




  1. Hope "lights a candle" instead of "cursing the darkness."
  2. Hope opens doors where despair closes them.
  3. Hope looks for the good in people instead of harping on the worst in them.
  4. Hope discovers what can be done instead of grumbling about what cannot be done.
  5. Hope draws its power from a deep trust in Allah and the basic goodness of mankind.
  6. Hope regards problems, small or large, as opportunities.
  7. Hope cherishes no illusions, nor does it yield to cynicism.

Look to this day!

For it is life, the very life of life.

In its brief course

Lie all the verities and realities

of your existence.

The bliss of growth

The glory of action

The splendour of beauty,

For yesterday is but a dream

And tomorrow is only a vision,

But today well-lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness

And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day!

Such is the salutation to the dawn.


Kalidasa.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

YOGA AND HEALTH

“Yoga is the most practical and curative medicine to control the ailments of modern life. The practice of Yoga prevents the sorrows which are yet to come.”

Originally emerging some 4,000 years ago in the Indian subcontinent, yoga began as a philosophy. The word yoga means “oneness” in Sanskrit (to develop deeper mediation.)
While mediation is still an important element of the practice today, the role of asanas and poses, has increased over time to enable the unification of body and mind through a combination of breathing, stretching and mental focus.

The practices of asanas and pranyamas are very helpful to preserve the health and connectivity of our body. Yoga is unique in that it recuperates the system. The practice of asana and pranayama, helps clean and massages the internal organ and also in the efficient removal of toxins from the body.

When practitioners perform yogangas (postures) like Asana, Pranayama, Bandha, Mudra, blood circulation improves to optimum level. It also improves the lung capacity and helps to eradicates all the diseases.

For the cells to grow and survive stretching is important. When the cells are stretched they are able to grow better, adapt and survive. Yogis are said to have had long lives. This was because of the kind of exercise they did on a long term basis. Yogic practices improve the optimum growth of cells. The technique of stretching and contracting in yoga help in the precise positioning of the muscles. Hence the muscles do not get exhausted and are thus trained to remain healthy throughout the life.

“The person who has practiced in yoga should not bother about disease, old age or death, he will be able to overcome.”

Best Time for Yoga

The best time for yoga practice is either in the early morning or late in the evening.

A well ventilated and clean room should be selected for the practice of yoga.

Using a mat or a thick blanket is a must.

Open places like garden, ground etc should not selected for the practice of yoga.

Asanas should be done on empty stomach. Allowing at least 3 hours after a meal, 1 hour after refreshment and 1/2 hour after light drink such as milk is essential.

Wear loose and comfortable cloths, which felicitate free movement of limbs.

It is better to take bath before practicing yoga. One should not take bath immediately after the practices. After 1/2 an hour one can take bath.

Before starting practice of yoga, the bladder should be emptied, bowels evacuated and mouth should be cleaned.

After completing practice of asanas and pranayama always lie down in shavasana for at least 10 minutes.

There should not be any type of forceful bending and other movements. One can try only to the extent, he can perform.

One should sit facing east or west or north and not to south.

Women should not practice asanas during menstrual period. One should stop practicing asanas after the fifth month of pregnancy up to three or four months after the confinement except under expert guidance.

After the yoga practice, one should feel fresh and relaxed, never tired, exhausted or sweating.

Asanas and physical exercises should not be combined.

One should practice with full concentration and awareness. There should be co-herence of the body and mind

The qualities demanded from a aspirant are discipline, faith, tenacity and perseverance to practice regularly without interruption.

Yoga practices Should Do under the Guidance of a Learned Teacher or guru, and no one should not practice Yoga by seeing book, TV, etc.

“Balance under both external environmental variations such as cold or heat and internal environmental variations joy or distress is yoga says Bhagavadgita.”

HOW DID SLANG BEGIN?


Slang is a variation of or addition to standard speech. If you stop to think of it, you will realize how many forms of slang there are.

For example, slang may be formed by compounding words (“low-down”)

Or by clipping words ( “pro,” “mike,” “pix” ) or abbreviation ( “O.K.” “snafu,” “q.t.” ), or onomatopoeia ( “boom,” “whiz,” “bang” ), or borrowing from foreign languages

( “pronto,” “savvy” ), or by analogy ( “Park your hat,” “He got pickled” ).


These various forms of slang arise for many reasons and under many different conditions. One of the most common ways is among people who belong to the same group. It might be the same trade, profession, hobby, age or social position. For example, students have their “lab” and their “gym.” Second-hand car dealers have their “creampuffs” (good cars) and their “dogs” (bad cars.) A waitress will say, “Drop two on,” when she orders poached eggs on toast.


But the same slang word in one group may mean something else to another group. In the underworld, “cat” doesn’t mean the same thing it does in the jazz world. Some social conditions tend to produce slang more easily. If there excitement, crowding or people have been suddenly assembled for a particular purpose (as in time of war), then a large number of slang words are formed. “Blitz,” “doodlebug,” and walkie-talkie” were slang expressions created in the last world war.


Sometimes one clever person may launch a new slang expression and it is picked up by a lot of people. In many cases, new expressions that were once considered slang have been accepted into the dictionary in time.


Among these are “bet,” “shabby,” “chap,” “cab,” and “kidnap.” Some words have lasted as slang for hundreds of years, as, for example, the word “booze.”



the microsoft file

By WENDY GOLDMAN ROHM

THE SECRET CASE AGAINST BILL GATES


AN INTIMATE ACCOUNT OF THE BIGGEST BUSINESS STORY OF THE DECADE.

Case Closed meets Barbarians at the Gate in this definitive account of the biggest business story of the decade: the case against Microsoft. Award-winning investigative reporter Wendy Rohm, who has been on the Gates case for over a decade, has created a brilliant inside look at the world's most powerful corporate leader.

The Microsoft File is an extraordinary fly-on-the-wall account of Microsoft’s intent to monopolize the computer industry. Wendy Goldman Rohm takes you to the inner sanctum of Microsoft, has you sit in on meetings between Microsoft and important customers and competitors, and looks at the struggles of the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice as they try to develop a strategy to counter one of the most serious charges of market manipulation since John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil.

The Microsoft File is based on information from not one but many "Deep Throats," as well as internal documents that tell a story of:

• How Microsoft’s predatory marketing and pricing behavior belies its claims of fair competition.
• How Microsoft killed the market for a competitor’s operating system, a system that could have challenged MS-DOS.
• How bugging devices were found in the hotel room of a supposed business partner of Microsoft’s the day before a critical meeting with Microsoft.
• How Microsoft inserted hidden code in the beta version of Windows 3.1, creating fear in the marketplace that competing products would crash and adding a byte in the final version that was marketed so the hidden code wouldn’t appear on the screen.
• How close Apple came to discarding the Macintosh operating system for Windows, and the real reason why Bill Gates decided to invest some $250 million in Apple.
• How Microsoft, despite nondisclosure agreements, obtained and used technological secrets from competitors.
• How the biggest mergers in the software industry unfolded, blow-by-blow, as Microsoft’s competitors tried to survive the increasing power of the Gates juggernaut. Is Microsoft’s rise as the world's most powerful and successful company a classic example of the free market, as many Microsoft apologists contend?

Is its success, and the failure of other companies, the result of the creative destruction that makes capitalism so strong? The Microsoft File suggests that other forces were at work.

INSIDE THE MICROSOFT FILE

Three bugs
In the detectives upturned palm were three bugs. The man took out the bottle with black powder and a little brush. He dusted the three detectives carefully. No fingerprints were found

A Remarkable Turnaround
In little more than a year, [The German computer manufacturer] Vobis had been turned around from selling no MS-DOS and 100 percent DR-DOS to selling no DR-DOS and more than 90 percent of its computers with MS-DOS.

A False Diagnosis
“What the guy is supposed to do is feel uncomfortable and when he has bugs, suspect the problem is DR-DOS and then go out to buy MS-DOS or decide not to take the risk for the other machines in the office.”

Smile and Shoot
“If you are going to kill someone, there isn’t much reason to get all that work up about it and angry. You just pull the trigger. Angry discussions beforehand are a waste of time. We need to smile with Novell while we pull the trigger.”

Pearly Gates and His Sidekick
Noorda liked to refer the Microsoft chairman as Pearly Gates and [senior VP Steve] Ballmer as Em-Ballmer. That was because “one promises you heaven and the other prepares you for the grave.”

Being Like Mike
It’s no wonder that [other CEOs] were comparing doing business with Bill Gates to having a date with Mike Tyson.

Pocket Change for a Billionaire
[Attorney General Janet] Reno’s proposed fine of $1 million a day … was a joke to him. “Every two and a half hours 1 make a million!” Gates bragged.

Monday, March 23, 2009

BOYZONE



Boyzone are an Irish boy band who had popular mainstream success during the 1990s.

Formation

Boyzone was formed in 1993 through an advertisement calling for auditions to form a new all-male 'boy band' vocal group: 'the Irish Take That'. About 300 singers tried out and initially, seven were selected. They made their first appearance, only a day after being formed, on Ireland's top-rated Late Late Show dancing to a backing track before a somewhat bemused audience in a TV moment which has often been re-played to the embarrassment of the band members who later found fame.

Breakthrough

With some of the original members fading away and others being brought into the group, it took some time before Boyzone settled down into its most recognisable five-member line-up of Ronan 'Assmaster' Keating, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch. David McKeever, one of the original band members, left the band citing musical differnces with Ronan Keating but it is believed that he was kicked out of the band in late 1993 after a bust up with Mikey Graham which is alleged to have involved two pool cues, a bag of oranges and 6 litres of homemade whiskey. They played through 1993 and in the early parts of 1994 all over Northern Ireland, mainly in pubs and clubs, before Polygram signed them up in 1994 and released the cover version of the Four Seasons' hit "Working My Way Back to You", featuring Graham and Gately on lead vocals. It reached No. 3 in the Irish Charts.

The release of their cover version of the classic Osmonds' hit, Love Me for a Reason, broke the British charts. The song hit No. 2 in the UK and was included in their 1995 hit debut album "Said and Done". The album reached the No. 1 spot in Ireland and the UK.

"A Different Beat"

The band's second album - A Different Beat - was released in 1996 and contained their first UK number one single, a cover of the Bee Gees' hit "Words". The album also contained the hit singles A Different Beat, "Isn't It a Wonder". Ronan Keating - who by now had emerged as the band's lead singer and front-man - won the Ivor Novello award for songwriting in 1997 for "Picture of You".

"Where We Belong"

Their third studio album, Where We Belong, was released in 1998 and featured Boyzone's writing abilities. It contained the hit singles "All That I Need" (which stayed for six weeks in the MTV Asia charts), "Baby Can I Hold You" (Tracy Chapman cover)and "No Matter What". Originally written for the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical Whistle Down the Wind, "No Matter What" was the group's best ever selling single and was voted Song of the Year, 1998. Since the song was also recorded by Meat Loaf the band shared stage with him to perform the song during his 1998 live concert in Dublin.



Sunday, March 22, 2009

Ask Baba Ali




He wanted to try something new and different: A Muslim Comedy.
The goal isn’t just to make his audience smile but more importantly get a message across by using the tool of humor.


http://www.askbabaali.com/