Clipmarks | suryasunder's clips

I love mice

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:17:40 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: Photo by Jim Thompson.
High tech cat food there. And wonderful sense of timing by the photographer.

Clip Source: www.facebook.com

Tags: camera, cat, mouse

Advice from the Experienced

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:07:44 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: I don't know whether something more soothing, more comforting could be said to someone who's jittery about writing her/his first novel.

That is Pat Bertram for you

Clip Source: www.facebook.com

One thing to keep in mind when writing a first novel is that a book begins with a single word. Many novice writers get intimidated by the thought of writing an entire book, but all you ever need to write is one word. I know that's not much of a goal, but in the end, it's the only goal. That's how every book through the ages got written -- one word at a time. By stringing single words together, you get sentences, then paragraphs, pages, chapters, an entire book.

Tags: writing, advice, novel

Another Face of Bravery

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 04:56:59 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: The eyes say it all.

Clip Source: www.indianexpress.com

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan was killed while engaging terrorists at the Taj hotel, an NSG spokesperson said.

Tags: bravery, military, terrorism, commando, major, death

Exploring the virtual ant colony

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:27:32 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Ground-penetrating radar has been used to nondestructively map an ant colony for the first time.

The results have been digitised and fed into an interactive visualisation system so that the colony can be explored virtually.

The system is inexpensive compared to earlier approaches and could be used in many fields.

Visitors at the SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles have been putting the system through its paces this week.

The radar returns a map of a vertical slice of earth, with the radar waves' arrival times dependent on the density within the slice. Tunnels show up as low density, the fungus on which the ants feed is higher, and the soil surrounding the tunnels higher again.

By shifting the GPR apparatus around inch by inch, an 8-by-8 metre region was investigated, resulting in 3-D map of the underground colony.

The team then fed the data into an "immersive visualisation" scheme. The GPR data are first spliced together and software then fills in the finer textural details.

The Precious Laptop

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:24:32 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: So, the laptop is ready to join that elite band of heirlooms formerly enjoyed by watches, crockeries? Why not?

Clip Source: www.engadget.com

The Luvaglio folks still seem a bit press shy -- either due to the info "leaked" last month, or a willful attempt to drum up interest -- but now they're back for more, and this time they've got a much better pic of this outlandishly priced laptop of theirs. Of course, it's pretty dang difficult to cram enough technology and precious materials into something this size to ever begin to justify that million dollar price tag, but the supposed Blu-ray, SSD and "full" upgradability specs have all piqued our interest in a theoretical sense -- much more fun than slapping some shiny stuff on the case and calling it good. The built-in USB memory stick / MP3 player, and "integrated screen cleaning" seem a bit odd, but hopefully all will be revealed in time. The extra fancy part is that the notebook can be built with the "owner's choice of precious metals, leathers and real woods,"

Tags: technology, style

Social Events can be predicted

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:59:47 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: This has been long overdue. But I wonder, whether a historical model could be used instead of a mathematical one. The results would be broader and more imprecise, of course. But nevertheless, I wonder, that potential has ever been fully looked into.

Clip Source: www.european-futurists.org

Social events don’t just “happen”; there is a structure and pattern to the unfolding of collective human social phenomena. As a mathematician, Professor John L. Casti believes these patterns can be identified, understood, and used to give insight into what might happen next. The best sociometer to measure social moods which turn into social events are financial market averages.

Tags: history, mathematics, prediction

Theme for A Dream

Tue, 20 May 2008 15:13:13 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: Nothing new here, I can just bask in the feel-good sensation.

Clip Source: blog.allindiadeals.com

It’s the small iPod with one very big idea: Video. Now the world’s most popular music player, available in 4GB and 8GB models, lets you enjoy TV shows, movies, video podcasts, and more. The larger, brighter display means amazing picture quality. In six eye-catching colors, iPod nano is stunning all over the India.

iPod Prices in India

4GB iPod nano - Rs.8,200
8GB iPod nano - Rs.10,900

What do you get in the box

iPod nano
Earphones
USB 2.0 cable
Dock adapter
Quick Start guide

"Killing Field" Journalist Dies

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:11:45 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: I hope this death won't make us forget. I hope we'd retain the resolution to pronounce in one voice across the world - "Never Again!"

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Dith Pran died at a hospital in New Jersey from pancreatic cancer at the age of 65, according to his former New York Times colleague, Sydney Schanberg.

They were in Cambodia in 1975 to report the fall of Phnom Penh to Khmer forces.

Mr Dith was not allowed to leave, and had to endure four years of torture and starvation before escaping to Thailand.

In 1980, Mr Schanberg described his colleague's ordeal in a magazine article, and later a book, called "The Death and Life of Dith Pran". It became the basis for the Oscar-winning Hollywood film, The Killing Fields.

"Pran was a true reporter, a fighter for the truth and for his people," Mr Schanberg told the Associated Press.

Flood of Friendship

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 14:19:52 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: Ha Ha Ha Ha!

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

How to make friends on Facebook

By Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology Correspondent, BBC News

Short of friends on Facebook? Wondering why you have no mates on MySpace? I have the answer. Just write a few words pondering whether social networking is for the over-40s and you will be swamped with offers of friendship.

That is what happened to me after I wrote an article here suggesting that the likes of Facebook, MySpace and bebo might well be revolutionising the social interactions of the under-30s, but would not work for my generation

A lot of people wanted to prove me wrong. On Facebook, which seems to be the hottest network right now, more than 700 people have been in touch to offer friendship.

To my embarrassment they have even set up a Facebook group called Befriend Rory Cellan-Jones.

Tags: social networking, humour

Nick of time . . .

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:51:33 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: Is this only technology, or is this the efficiency and sincerity with which British Health Establishment works? Why isn't human life held in this much value in all parts of the world?

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Alec Keep credits this dramatic poster for the fact he is still alive today.

The 66-year-old chauffeur from Potton in Bedfordshire, was driving home when he spotted the British Heart Foundation poster and noted its dramatic imagery.

A few weeks later when he started getting chest pain the image started to flash into his mind.

"I got in the door and this pain shot across my chest," he said.

"I sat down and was just going to wait for it to go away.

"Then I remembered that poster with the man with the belt around his chest saying: 'If you have chest pain dial 999'.

"I did, and I think that if I hadn't I would not have survived."

Within minutes a paramedic was at the door and Mr Keep was taken to Bedford Hospital, but his heart stopped on the way and needed to be restarted.

Mr Keep went onto have a quadruple by-pass. The operation was so successful that just over three months later he was fit enough to go back to work.

Tags: medical, publicity, health

Free software to use after Windows reinstallation

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:28:46 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: One day all software will be free, is the message at the top of the page,
and the Author created the page/site after reinstalling windows clean, and outfitting the system with free and open source software. He goes through his installation step by step, and there are user comments under his post, with feedback and other freeware suggestions by users.

Clip Source: www.freewaregenius.com

Description: I recently clean installed Windows XP on my laptop, and this meant that I had to re-install all the essential software that I use. It also presented an opportunity to write a posting about how you can outfit your computer with all the essential (and non-essential) software you need using strictly 100% freeware and/or open source titles.This posting could have been titled any of the following:

How to never use a paid program again (aside from Windows).

53 essential freeware programs that can take care of the majority of your computing needs.

I am writing this from the perspective of myself clean-installing Windows and re-installing all the software I find to be essential afterwards. This post took a long time to write, please Digg and/or Stumble it ;).

Pre-installation: before reformatting my hard drive, I used the following programs:

1. Gparted Live CD

2. Unstoppable Copier

3. Amic Email Backup

4. DriverMax:

5. Produkey

Post installation: now the fun begins.

6. PC Decrapifier

Tags: free, software, reinstall, windows, freeware, open source

Norman Mailer Passes Away

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 15:12:23 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: Norman Mailer was one of the authors I always wanted to test, but never got around to it. I guess now would be a time as good as any.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Norman Mailer, the pugnacious two-times Pulitzer Prize winner who was a dominating presence on the U.S. literary scene across seven decades, died on Saturday of kidney failure, his family said.

Mailer, 84, had undergone lung surgery in October.

In more than 40 books and a torrent of essays, Mailer provoked and enraged readers with his strident views on U.S. political life and the wars in Vietnam and Iraq.

Mailer's first book, "The Naked and the Dead," is considered one of the finest novels about World War Two and made him a celebrity at age 25 when published in 1948.

Mailer's works were often filled with violence, sexual obsession and views that angered feminists. He later reconsidered many of his old positions but never surrendered his right to speak his mind.

Detractors considered him an intellectual bully and he feuded with fellow authors like Truman Capote, William Styron, Tom Wolfe and Norman Podhoretz.

Tags: obituary

Village of Hope

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:36:51 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: Could this village expand one day to encompass the whole world? Any sane person on this planet will hope so.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Situated on a peak on the Carmel mountain range, the 77-acre village is an oasis of tranquillity, a vital ingredient in the healing of children scarred by years of conflict and abuse.

Named after Orde Charles Wingate, the controversial British army officer who trained Jewish underground forces in the 1930s, the centre provides a safe refuge, education and life skills for destitute children from the age of five, through adolescence and up to the age of 19, and, in some cases, beyond.

For the past 54 years, the business of Yemin Orde has been to provide a home and a future to abandoned and at-risk children from around the world.

At present there are some 500 residents in the village from about 20 countries as diverse as Sudan, Guinea and China, each with a story like Adam's.

Tags: hope, youth, community, village

Greenhouse Effect

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:22:17 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: This is something worth repeating. For so few seem to listen to it.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is the natural process by which the atmosphere traps some of the Sun's energy, warming the Earth enough to support life.

Most mainstream scientists believe a human-driven increase in "greenhouse gases" is increasing the effect artificially.

These gases include carbon dioxide, emitted by fossil fuel burning and deforestation, and methane, released from rice paddies and landfill sites.

Tags: environment

MAS*H

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 07:24:28 GMT

clipped by: suryasunder
clipper's remarks: I have never visited the U.S. For a period of my life, this series was my personal America. The humour was sublime.

Clip Source: www.answers.com

Spotlight: The long-running television version of M*A*S*H premiered 35 years ago today, on CBS. Some trivia about the series: the only actors to play on the show from the first episode to the last were Alan Alda (Hawkeye Pierce), Loretta Swit ("Hot Lips" Houlihan) and Jamie Farr (Klinger — though he played someone else in the first episode); Alda was the only cast member to appear in every episode; B.J. Hunnicutt's real first name was... B.J., after his mother, Bea, and his father, Jay; the final episode still holds the record for most-viewed episode in US TV history: 106 million Americans, 77 percent of that night's viewers.

Tags: television