The Most Enlightening Story Ever

There was once a scientist. After a lot of practice & efforts, he developed a formula & learned the art of reproducing himself. He did it so perfectly that it was impossible to tell the reproduction from the original. One day while doing his research, he realized that the angel of death (Yum) was searching for him. In order to remain alive, he reproduced a dozen copies of himself. The reproduction was so similar that all of them looked exactly like him. Now when this angel of death (Yum) came down, he was at a loss to know which of the thirteen before him was the original scientist & confused.


He said to the scientist addressing all thirteen of them, "Sir, You must be a genius to have succeeded in making such perfect reproduction formula of Yourself. However, i have discovered a flaw in Your work, just one tiny little flaw."

The scientist immediately jumped out & shouted, "Impossible! where is the flaw?"

"Right here" said the angel (Yum), as he picked up the scientist from among the reproductions & carried him off.

The whole purpose of the scientist & his formula of reproduction failed as he could not control his pride + his emotions, so he lost his life.

So when man's knowledge & skills takes him to the top of the ladder & makes him successful, however the 3 letter word "EGO" can pull him/her down to earth immediately at its double speed. So don't allow EGO to kill Yourself, instead; KILL YOUR EGO.

Don’t open Your mouth and confirm to the world whether You are fool. Instead, let the world judge whether You are an idiot or an intelligent.

Microsoft Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista (known by its code name Longhorn during development) is the newest version of the Microsoft Windows operating system, slated for release to the public in 2007. Windows Vista includes hundreds of new features and many notable changes and improvements, including striking visual effects, improved search capabilities, security enhancements, and a 64-bit option. Windows Vista is the next version of Windows for clients and servers. Vista adds numerous features, including improved security and advanced multimedia capabilities. Vista also includes Trustworthy Computing (Palladium) and greater support for digital rights management. PCs running Vista require more memory than Windows XP. At least 1GB is recommended, with 2GB being a safer bet.


Windows Vista Advantages:

> Improved Graphical User Interface, the Aero:

There is an entire new GUI for Windows Vista. The appearance of window, desktop, start button, start menu, taskbar, everything got a new look. Now, the window in Windows Vista looks similar to that of in Mac OSX. Minimize, maximize and the close buttons wore an entire new strange look. The windows can be made to appear in translucent, 3D modes, if the new Aero is applied. The start button has been modified to give a new look. The word “start” has been removed. Only the new Windows logo gets appear in start button. Start menu also got a new look. The desktop wallpapers got a new look too. The desktop contains a side bar, which shows a clock, and some of the widgets. Widgets are small programs, which is equivalent to standard short cuts.

> Surf the net, without much worry about security

Browsing the net, without any security measures invites a major danger. Windows Vista enable one provide high level of security measures. Windows Vista has come with a latest version of Internet Explorer which is version 7.0. This provides a higher degree of security to the system, as well as, the operating system environment. It also warns strictly against visiting some fake sites. It includes phishing filter to provide higher security while surfing the net. Protection against spamming is also provided. The other security measures include tools such as Windows defender, advanced firewall, Encryption/Decryption of data, support for NTFS partitions, auto backup. The Windows Defender is a program which blocks suspicious programs which tries to do some illegal activity in the computer system. Advanced firewall provides security to both incoming and outgoing data.

> Manage your knotty kids, using parental controls:

One can control kids by using parental controls in Windows Vista. Parents can now deny access to certain programs especially, the games. Through separate child account, parents can now keep track of what all activities done by the child. It also enables parents to control the activities by blocking certain activities such as running a game program, blocking some sites that, the child might have visited etc. For this to work, parent must setup separate account for the child with different password.

> Play multimedia contents using latest media player:

The latest version of Windows Media Player bundled with Windows Vista. The Windows Media Player 11 enhances video, audio quality when playing sound, music, videos. It has got new look and has got a series of rich features. These features include URGE services from MTV digital music services, Simplified Library, Library layouts. The newest URGE services provide access to the huge collection of online music, song collections. The simplified library improves customization options. Whenever, one plugs some of the latest media player compatible devices, the media player detects the device and installs the drivers associated with the device automatically.
> Improved search, Windows Explorer:

In Windows Vista, you will get the search result as and when you type some letters of a particular word. The explorer shows a list of all files in the folder by default. When one types in, the few letters of words in the search box, the files will get filtered out according to the letters. Suppose, if one searches for filenames of “govt. services”, the search will filter out and displays only files with filenames with the name “gov”, if you type “gov” in the search text box. It will further filter the filenames, when you type full form. Also, the look of Windows Explorer got changed rapidly. More sorting options are also provided. Different kinds of listing is also got introduced.

> Date and time, know the difference in time across the world:

In earlier Windows operating systems, it was indeed difficult to know the time difference across the two countries. It proved difficult for online chat users. In Windows Vista, one can add additional clocks, to show the time of some other country. For example, if you want to know the time of London, then you can add clock of London to the additional clocks tray. The tray comes up for display, when one moves mouse over the time shown in the task bar.

> Manage your photos using photo gallery:

Windows Vista has got an inbuilt tool called as Photo Gallery to manage digital photos. Using it, one can modify the photos. It has got ability to show previews of movie files, a feature, which was not there with Windows XP. Using this tool, one can transfer or share the photos from computer to devices such as mobile phones, PDA’s, etc. The photo gallery also has the ability to work high precision, high quality images, which are produced by latest high quality cameras.

> Total different world, new experience:

Windows Vista brings you the new world of new experience. It starts from amazingly changed desktop, which goes beyond imagination. All icons look better this time around. The 256x256 resolution icons made Vista world to feel like you have got a computer from heaven. Networking aspect has improved further in Windows Vista, with the introduction of further security enhancements. Performance wise, vista makes life better, when compared with its predecessors.


Windows Vista features several new noticeable visual effects, including this completely revamped Windows-Tab view of open software applications.

Vista Disadvantages:

* Requirements high, too hot deal:

Windows Vista, the next generation operating system requires superb computer to install. It consumes a lot more resources than its predecessor windows XP. For vista Aero to work, you need to invest something more than what you would have expected to invest before. The graphics card requirement is quite high. The graphics card must be of DirectX 10 supported. The required minimum graphics memory on the graphics card is 128 MB. For better performance, graphics memory must be of 256 MB. The minimum hard disk space required is 20 GB for installation of Windows Vista. Processor speed is also expected to be high for Aero to work smoothly without causing any hiccups. The memory requirement for Windows Vista system is high. The system will work smoothly when one has got RAM of about 2 GB installed. Totally, I would like to say that, Windows vista eats up lot of resources, than its predecessor, the Windows XP.
* Regarding price, sucking your hard earned money:

The price of Windows Vista Ultimate edition seems to be too high. Ordinary user cannot thus, have a look into all the features of Vista, which is only available in the Ultimate Edition. Microsoft seems to be not so interested in country wise markets. The prices are set according to the US market. However these prices are on higher side for developing asian countries. Microsoft should set the price of Vista as per the market. It is the time for Microsoft to think over this aspect, having introduced stricter validation process.

*Replace the oldies, another way of extracting:

This is a usual problem, which always exists whenever new operating system gets released, and you have an old system or have some old components in the system. If one decides to install windows vista in the old system, then they should check the compatibility of system components, checking whether Vista supports them or not. Some manufacturers will still provide Vista support for the oldies by providing the latest drivers for the same. If manufacturers are not providing the latest drivers, you need to purchase a new device as a replacement for the existing device. Before, you purchase a new device you need to check out for Vista compatible or Vista ready logo, which is put up on the device.

*Window appearance. Did you like the different look?

In Windows Vista, the window appearance underwent lot of unwanted changes. The windows in Windows Vista, the window appears similar to that of MAC OSX. The Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons, wore a different look. The three buttons got reduced in their sizes, making them unclear to aged people, people with eye sight problems. The minimize, maximize, and close buttons have reduced in sizes. The icon in the other end has disappeared, which makes the window slightly dull in appearance.

In overall, the new operating system, Windows Vista is said to be an ideal replacement to its predecessor, the Windows XP

Something Interesting... Again..... :) :)

This is something for refereshment.. we usually discuss something related to company, employess etc.

I hope this you will enjoy... PLEASE DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY

After 2 years of selfless service, a man realized that he has not been
promoted, no transfer, no salary increment, no commendation. So he decided to walk up to his HR Manager. His manager looked at him, smiled and asked him to sit down saying:

"My friend you have not worked here for even a single day." The man was surprised to hear this, but the manager went on to explain.

Manager: How many days are there in a year?

Man: 365 days and sometimes 366.

Manager: How many hours make up a day?

Man: 24 Hours.

Manager: How long do u work in a day?

Man: 10am to 6pm i.e 8 hours a day.

Manager: So, what fraction of the day do u work in hours?

Man: He did some arithmetic and said 8/24 i.e 1/3 (one third).

Manager: This is nice of u! what is 1/3rd of 366 days?

Man: 122(1/3 x 366=122 in days)

Manager: Do u come to work on weekends?

Man: No sir.

Manager: How many days r there in a year that r weekends?

Man: 52 Saturdays and 52 Sundays equals to 104 days.

Manager: Thanks for that. If u remove 104 days from 122 days. how many days
do u now have?

Man: 18 days.

Manager: I do give u 2 weeks sick leave every year. Now remove that 14 days
from the 18 days left. How many days do u have remaining?

Man: 4 days.

Manager: Do u work on Republic Day?

Man: No sir!

Manager: Do u come to work on Independance Day?

Man: No sir!

Manager: So how many days r left?

Man: 2 days Sir!

Manager: Do u come to work on New Years Day?

Man: No sir!

Manager: So how many days r left?

Man: 1 day sir!

Manager: Do u work on Christmas Day?

Man: No Sir!

Manager: So how many days r left?

Man: None Sir!

Manager: So what r u claiming?

Man: I have understood, Sir. I did not realise that I was stealing company
money all these days.

Moral-NEVER GO TO HR FOR HELP!!!

HR-HIGH RISK.

THE REALITY ABOUT TAJ !!!

Believe this - Hidden and Politically Suppressed Truth of Taj Mahal
Aerial view of the Taj Mahal

Inlaid pinnacle pattern in courtyard

The interior water well

Close up of the pinnacle


Red lotus at apex of the entrance

Rear view of the Taj & 22 apartments

Typical Vedic style corridors

A locked room on upper floor

The OM in the flowers on the walls

Vedic design on ceiling of a locked room

Secret bricked door that hides more evidence

Palace in Barhanpur where Mumtaz died

No one has ever challenged it except Prof. P. N. Oak, who believes the
whole world has been duped. In his book Taj Mahal: The True Story, Oak says the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz's tomb but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya ) ... In the course of his research Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace was usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai SIngh for Mumtaz's burial . The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur still
retains in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for
surrendering the Taj building. Using c aptured temples and mansions, as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers.

For example, Humayun,Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions. Oak's inquiries began with the name of Taj Mahal. He says the term ' Mahal ' has never been used for a building in any Muslim countries from Afghanisthan to Algeria . 'The unusual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal was illogical in atleast two respects.

Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani,' he writes.
Secondly, one cannot omit the first three letters 'Mum' from a woman's name to derive the remainder as the name for the building.'Taj Mahal, he claims, is a corrupt version of Tejo Maha laya, or Lord Shiva's Palace . Oak also says the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale created by court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists . Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's time corroborates the love story.

Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting the Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan's era, and was a temple dedicated to Shiva, worshipped by Rajputs of Agra city. For example, Prof . Marvin Miller of New York took a few samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan. European traveler Johan Albert Mandelslo,who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the cit y in his memoirs. But he makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built. The writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a year of Mumtaz's death, also suggest the Taj was a noteworthy building well before Shah Jahan's time.

Prof. Oak points out a number of design and architectural inconsistencies that support the belief of the Taj Mahal being a typical Hindu temple rather than a mausoleum. Many rooms in the Taj ! Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time and are still inaccessible to the public ... Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Lord Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples .... Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Prof. Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition dire consequences . There is only one way to discredit or validate Oak's research.

The current government should open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal under U.N. supervision, and let international experts investigate.

Do circulate this to all you know and let them know about this reality.....


Satyameva Jayate, nothing else!

Now a days, Online Chatting...Awesome. Read It.. :) :)

Here is something interesting...

Our FRIEND(Hero) WAS chatting with a female - Online chat.
Background both are s/w engineers by the way and both work for real big MNC's



Hero : Hey...GM (Good Morning)... How's u doing today?

Female: VGM...Day is going good and it got better having found u on chat



Hero : wow...am honored, u know what, my day starts only when I find you on Chat

Female: Yep...me too feel the same...Brb (be right back)'ll get some Coffee.

Hero : OK
(Hero waits impatiently. Meanwhile, his manager comes to his seat.)


Manager: Hey, I need some help from you

Hero : [**** This guy always comes at wrong time] Yeah tell me


Manager: Could u write a program for me which generates nth prime number, Given value of n. Would you give this by today evening?


Hero : I would do that, but I think it's quite hard, is it ok with you, if I Give it by tomorrow evening.


Manager: Yeah, that would be fine. Thank you [Leaves the place]
(Our hero sighs and stares at his monitor waiting impatiently for Female
to Arrive. All of a sudden smiles on his face. Over to chat window...)

Female: Hey, am back

Hero : cool, you know what my manager does, She's kinda..... keeps asking stupid Things, tries to give me stupid work

Female: Yeah, it's the same everywhere. Real sick ppl these managers are!!

Hero : Yep, u rite!!

Female: Hey, can u do me a favor

Hero : *smiles* sure, why not.


Female: Hey, I want you to write me a program to print nth prime Number, given N. Would you give that to me by tomorrow evening? Plzzz. You know it's real Urgent for me to work this out


Hero : hey, that's a one-hour's work. Sure check Ur mail in an hour from now. ok?


Female: THIS IS WHAT I ASKED U WHEN I CAME TO YOUR WORK PLACE. NOW YOU
KNOW WHO I AM!! AND ONE MORE POINT.... YOUR 1 HOUR TIME STARTS NOW!!

Cocodole - Helping hand !!!

The website basically uses Google Custom Search. In short, it simply replicated the google search for any search terms. But the point to note here is that it uses the revenue generated through the searches for children, specially underprivileged and differently-abled children. So if you like Google.com, you can try out Cocodle.com. It will give the same result but at the same time, one more reason to search using your favorite search engine!

Cocodle , powered by Google Custom Search, is an initiative towards helping underprivileged and
differently-abled children with the revenue generated through online search.

What all we are asked for is to just use the site, nothing more. With Cocodle, you will get the
same results you get in Google for any particular search, but it gives you one more
good reason to search with your favorite search engine - and that is " helping underprivileged
and differently-abled children across the globe ".


We finally have got the chance to help these children without having to donate any
money or do any extra work.

If you think internet is one of the biggest boon to mankind, let's share a little of it with those
children who never got to see it

Kites In Role: Kites Review

Starring : Hrithik Roshan, Nicholas Brown, Luce Rains, Barbara Mori
Director : Anurag Basu
Language : Hindi
Genre : Romance / Action / Thriller
Banner : Film Kraft
Release Date : May 21 2010

Anurag Basu did a smart remix-job with his directorial extravaganza – ‘Kites’. He added the charming cinematographic sauce of Ayananka Bose to the magical chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori, garnished the blend with the editing mastery of Avik Ali, frosted the mélange with the choreography of Flexy Stu and Loren L and beatified the cliché love story with the color of three different languages: English, Hindi and Spanish. The final product – a slick movie that scintillates the screen with the Greek God looks of Hrithik Roshan and the oomph of Barbara Mori, but unfortunately, terribly predictable and too long for my appointment with a predicted disappointment of 127 minutes.

Kites has a unique storyline and a dance based romance thriller. In the harsh terrain of the Mexican desert, a mortally wounded man is left or dead in the heat of the desert sun. This is J. Once a street smart, carefree young guy. Now, a wanted man. The only thing that keeps him alive is the quest to find the love of his life, Natasha. A woman engaged to another man, surely destined for J. A woman who comes into his life like a bolt of lightning and changes it forever. KITES is a story of love that goes beyond barriers, boundaries and cultures. It is a story of passion that defies every rule, of a relationship that takes two lovers on thrilling journey filled with precious moments - and unexpected betrayal.

Kites Preview
A love story that crosses borders and linguistic barriers, Kites is a tale of romance between an Indian guy and a Mexican beauty.

Starring Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori in lead roles, the movie is directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Rakesh Roshan .

The film has Hrithik playing a man named J, who once used to be a clever, street smart, charming guy, but is now a wanted man. To add to his woes he's left to die in the scorching heat of the Mexican desert. Only one desire keeps him alive, to find the woman he loves.


That woman is Natasha (Barbara Mori). She is engaged to another man, but that makes no difference to J. If loving her brings down loads of troubles on him, J would happily bear it all.

What is the fate of this love story where the lovers don't even speak each other's languages? While she talks in Spanish, he speaks Hindi with a smattering of English.

Kangana Ranaut completes the love triangle by adding another angle to the Hrithik-Barbara love story.

The film has some breath-taking dances from Hrithik, Barbara and Kangana. The choreography in these songs is by Flexy Stu, a renowned American choreographer. For one song shot in Mumbai, Farah Khan did the choreography.

Mangalore crash aftermath : Kin Bid Tearful Adieu to Dear Ones

It was a sad day for Fatima from Dubai who lost four members of her family i.e. her uncle and his 3 Kids. Their families were just recovering from a tragic accident which had taken away their mothers life’,- Fatima Dubai




Reshma from Dubai said that’ it was an ill-fated day for the passengers of Air India Express. All the dreams of many youngsters and fathers and families have been burnt too’.


‘Our heart felt condolences for the bereaved families. May God give them courage to come to terms with this loss? We should pray for avoidance of such disasters in future’.Zarina Begum, Mangalore


Air India must re-instate there process and safety measures, as one’s life is too precious than any other on earth. May Allah bless all expired. – Razak Khan, K S rao Road



Thinking of those little innocent kids and infants, it’s a bad tragedy and all Allah’s will...nothing will go against HIM. My husband is from Kasargod and his neighbour/friend also expired in this crash who had gone for the funeral of his father. May Allah rest his soul in peace. – Zubair, Surathkal


Heart felt condolences to all the families of the victims. May God give courage to all families and may their soul rest in peace. – Suman Mendonsa, Kinnigoli

My deepest heart felt condolences to all the family members and friends who lost life.May god rest there souls in peace!!! –Franklin D’souza, Padubidre

May God give the courage and strength to all the family members to overcome this difficult time. Naronnha, Pandeshwar.



One of the biggest tragedies I ever heard. I condole for those who lost their family members i have my condolences for them. Reena Periera, Nanthoor.


The Mangalore air crash tragedy is shameful for an Indian to say that Air India is the worst carrier. Soumya Bhat, Bangalore

No doubt that the maintenance and service of Air India Express is very poor. Said Veena D’souza, Vamanjoor .

The tragedy took place soon after the inauguration of integrated airport. It is said news for Mangaloreans and Air port authority. Venkatramana Polali, Bangalore

Gone are the days, when people used pray for their families for happy journey. The declining faith in god may lead to a ruin- Jaishankar, Kapikkad

This was shocking news for me and family. As, we were dressing up for marriage function to be scheduled at kasargod. After hearing the heart rending news, we cancelled our programme- Preetham Nair, Vanalcia.

Such horrible incident should be occurred in coming days. Air port authority must take all the necessary steps to avoid such terrifying accident- Sreelatha Nayak, Mangalore

It is very sad and unfortunate incident. They might not have thought of such incident would occur on Saturday when they boarded the air bus- Priya Mathew Kutinha, Jeppu, Mangalore/ Oman

It was really very sad news of this year, I express my deep condolences to victims of families and their relatives and AI concerned authorities should rectify and learn to avoid such tragic crash in future. Preetham Bangera, katipalla, Kuwait,

It is extremely sad day for families who lost their kith and kin. Let us all pray for peace. Let their soul get peace in the heaven.…Joel D Pais

With the air crash the newly opened international air port terminal receives bad name. But nobody could make out what caused for the tragic incident. Airport authority or pilot? Investigations are on. Let us see what result we get. Rajesh Rai, Puthur, Mangalore.

This is very sad & brings to our conscious that how helpless we are & the death is following the day we born in this world and next second is not ours therefore do the good things at all the time. My deepest condolence to the families who lost their loved one.- Janardhana Baikady, Neerumarga, Mangalore

It is time to switch over for new air bus. As the Air India Express is the only service from Mangalore to Gulf countries. We need Kingfisher, Ethihad, Oman Airways, KLM flight and Air Arabea service. Government must talk about this. Divakaran M, Sharjah, Kasargod

Shocked, we all would like to mourn the loss and pray for the souls. May God give courage to the family members of the dead? – Radheesh Nambiar, Kanhangad, Kasargod District.

I feel very sorry for the people who lost their lives. Those poor people didn’t even know that they would end up like this. Sudhakaran, Kannur, Kerala, USA
The early morning news really shocked all the Mangaloreans All are shattered by the tragic incident- Suchit, Manipal

Mangalore Today team has done well in covering entire news. The updation for every half an hour made us to get full information. Anagha Shree, USA


Early morning news has reeled all Indians. I deeply condole for the families who lost their son, daughter, mother, father, and others.. Sandeep Wagle, Mangalore..

It was painful news for those who were waiting for their relatives, parents and others. I am extending my condolence to them.. Jyothi Saligrama, Udupi

Now all are targeting pilot…. Is it correct? Fist of all let us pray for those soul lost its life in the accident… RIP- Saritha Shetty, Hosangady, Bangalore

I pray for those who made, those did not and those who mourn. While home coming is a joyous one, those who come to receive them even more happiness to see them after along time coming home in toiling in another country to make a living to feed the families.It is hard for me to accept tragedy at Bajpe a place close to me and the airport is a family home airport travelled many times. Its the most scenic airport in the world and trust me it never occurred to be it could also subject to tragedies. Prasad Montero, Reyad


It is one of the worst disasters Mangalore had ever witnessed. Most of the travelers must be the breadwinners of their families who were quite happy to board the plane that was touching their hometown. I can imagine the feelings and excitement when one is returning home, not to mention the excitement of family members who are foreseeing the arrival of their family member who went abroad to uplift their family. No one had expected this type of horrible accident. However, the fate was destined differently against the wishes of all of us. Gireesh, Bajpe, Mangalore

This is a very shocking incident to all, and its very sad news to hear.May GOD bless them all to bear the great loss of their family members. Praksh kamath, Ajman, UAE

May god take care of all the family of the people who died in the Mangalore Air crash- Chandralekha J S
Lakshman Hejamady said we are not here to blame the authorities nor the government on their role but simply need to admit that we are not at all equipped to face any small nor such major mishaps. Aren’t we comparatively very much behind when it comes to saving human life just compare it with many others nations? Pray that Central and State Government reflects on this reality which is a major drawback and gives a serious taught on such important issues in their agenda.

I have been travelling in Air India since long time. I came to Mangalore on leave for two months. As my vacation ends on May 30. Now I am afraid of going back in Air India Express. This time I am planning to book my ticket in Oman airways. Kunhambu, Uduma, Kasargod / Sharjah


Mangaloreans should give thanks to those who really helped in difficult condition. We should notice each and everyone’s whole hearted help- Mohan Shetty, kankanady, Mangalore

Team Mangalore Today express deepest condolences to the bereaved families and friends of those who have lost their lives on Air India Express crash in Mangalore.

‘Whatever be the compensation can it bring back those who are dead…? If t he Mangalore airport has such a narrow runway and the landing is very precarious then take necessary steps to make it better’ -Linda. D’souza, Bangalore

Airplane crash in Mangalore

At around 6:00 am on Saturday, four miles short of the runway, the Air Traffic Controller cleared the pilot for touchdown. The pilot acknowledged. This was the last communication between the pilot and the ATC

The pilot was landing on ILS or the Instrument landing System, which has two features, the Localiser which aligns the plane to the centre of the runway and the Glide scope which helps the pilot to set his angle of approach.
ATC sources told CNN-IBN that the pilot was flying much above the appropriate approach angle which could be why the plane touched down 2000 feet beyond the actual touchdown point on the runway. This left the pilot with only 5000 feet to bring the plane to a halt.

Former Director General of Civil Aviation, Kanu Gohain, said: "The pilot says established on ILS. That means he is in line with the runway and he is on the glide slope. As he was following those signals on the ILS, he should have touched down exactly at the ILS touchdown point at 1000. You are in touchdown point and another 2000 to 5000 ft is the available length of the runway. Still that could have been used to stop the plane by using the braking system and thrust reversals. At the most, the plane would have gone beyond that runway and stooped in the runway end safety area."

Soon after touchdown, the ATC made the routine request for the plane to back track towards the terminal but got no answer. Survivor accounts also suggest that within seconds of touching down one of the tyres of theaircraft might have burst.

Omar Farooq, a survivor, said: "Tyre burst while landing so the plane skidded of the runway, hit the boundary wall and exploded. The plane cracked open and I jumped out. I ran almost 500 mts and people later rushed to a hospital. I have suffered injuries but I'm okay."

The plane then hit an ILS antenna, rammed the boundary wall and fell right into the gorge ahead. Experts say there are many questions that need to be answered.

H S Khola asked what was the weight of the aircraft, what was the length of the runway and was it safe enough to land in that much length? What was the touchdown speed of the aircraft and was the deceleration system working fully?"

Gohain further said: "When the investigation is carried on it has to be established from the flight data recorder at what point he touched down, how much in the runway he had had and what was the engine power at that time. What was the speed at the time of touchdown? These are the parameters which have to be considered to establish why the pilot could not stop the plane within the available length of the runway."

Most of these may be answered when the flight data recorder or Black Box is recovered.

One of the Best Interviews ....Superb !!!!!!

Interviewer: Tell me about yourself.

Candidate: I am Rameshwar Kulkarni. I did my Tele Communication engineering from BabanRao Dhole-Patil Institute of Technology.


Interviewer: BabanRao Dhole-Patil Institute of Technology? I had never heard of this college before!

Candidate: Great! Even I had not heard of it before getting an admission into it . What happened is - due to cricket world cup I scored badly! in 12th.I was getting a paid seat in a good college. But my father said (I prefer to call him 'baap') - "I can not invest so much of money".(The baap actually said - "I will never waste so much of money on you"). So I had to join this college. Frankly speaking this name - BabanRao Dhole-Patil, can at the most be related to a Shetakari Mahavidyalaya.



Interviewer: ok, ok. It seems you have taken 6 years to complete your engineering.

Candidate: Actually I tried my best to finish it in 4 years. But you know, these cricket matches and football world cup, and tennis tournaments. It is difficult to concentrate. So I flunked in 2nd and 3rd year. So in all I took 4 + 2 = 7 years.


Interviewer: But 4+2 is 6.

Candidate: Oh, is it? You know I always had KT in maths. But I will try to keep this in mind. 4+2 is 6, good, thanks. These cricket matches really affect exams a lot. I think they should ban it.


Interviewer: Good to know that you want cricket matches to be banned.

Candidate: No, no... I am talking about Exams!!


Interviewer: Ok, What is your biggest achievement in life?

Candidate: Obviously, completing my Engineering. My mom never thought I would complete it. In fact, when i flunked in 3rd year, she was looking for a job for me in BEST (Bus corporation in Maharashtra ) through some relative.


Interviewer: Do you have any plans of higher study?
Candidate: he he he.. Are you kidding? Completing 'lower' education itself was so much of pain!!


Interviewer: Let's talk about technical stuff. On which platforms have you worked?

Candidate: Well, I work at SEEPZ, so you can say Andheri is my current platform. Earlier I was at Vashi center. So Vashi was my platform then. As you can see I have experience of different platforms!
(Vashi and Andheri are the places in Mumbai)


Interviewer: And which languages have you used?

Candidate: Marathi, Hindi, English. By the way, I can keep quiet in German, French, Russian and many other languages.


Interviewer: Why VC is better than VB?
Candidate: It is a common sense - C comes after B. So VC is a higher version than VB. I heard very soon they are coming up with a new language VD!



Interviewer: Do you know anything about Assembly Language?

Candidate: Well, I have not heard of it. But I guess, this is the language our ministers and MPs use in assembly.


Interviewer: What is your general project experience?

Candidate: My general experience about projects is - most of the times they are in pipeline!


Interviewer: Can you tell me about your current job?

Candidate: Sure, Currently I am working for Bata InfoTech ltd. Since joining BIL, I am on Bench. Before joining BIL, I used to think that Bench was another software like Windows.


Interviewer: Do you have any project management experience?
Candidate: No, but I gues! s it shouldn't be difficult. I know Word and Excel. I can talk a lot. I know how to dial for International
phone call and use speaker facility. And very important - I know few words like - 'Showstoppers ' , 'hotfixes', 'SEI- CMM','quality','versioncontrol','deadlines' , 'Customer Satisfaction'etc. Also I can blame others for my mistakes!


Interviewer: What are your expectations from our company?

Candidate: Not much.
1. I should at least get 40,000 in hand.
2. I would like to work on a live EJB project. But it should not have deadlines. I personally feel that pressure affects natural talent.
3. I believe in flexi-timings.
4. Dress code is against basic freedom, so I would like to wear t-shirt and jeans.
5. We must have sat-sun off. I will suggest Wednesday off also, so as to avoid breakdown due to overwork.
6. I would like to go abroad 3 times a year on short term preferably 1-2 months) assignments. Personally I prefer US, Australia and Europe . But considering the fact that there is a world cup in West Indies in 2007, I don't mind going there in that period. As you can see I am modest and don't have many expectations. So can I assume my selection?


Interviewer: he he he ha ha ha. Thanks for your interest in our organization. In fact I was never entertained so much before.
Welcome to INFOSYS .. :-))

Smart Investing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [:)]

A city boy, Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day.


The next day the farmer drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died last night."

Kenny replied: "Well then, just give me my money back."

The farmer said: "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

Kenny said: "OK then, just unload the donkey."

The farmer asked: "What you gonna to do with him?"

Kenny: "I'm going to raffle him off." (Note: To raffle is to sell a thing by lottery - draw lot -! To a group of people each paying the same amount for a ticket)

Farmer: "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

Kenny: "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead."

A month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"

Kenny: "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998.00."

Farmer: "Didn't anyone complain?"

Kenny: "Just the guy who won. So I gave him back his two dollars."

HOW TO DETECT HIDDEN CAMERA...really it works...!!!

How to detect HIDDEN CAMERA in trial rooms....... ..

Infront of the trial room take your mobile and make sure that mobile can make calls....... .

Then enter into the trail room, take your mobile and make a call.....

If u can't make a call......!! !!

There is a hidden camera......

This is due to the interference of fibre optic during the signal transfer....

Pass on the message to all you know for their safety...It costs nothing.. :p

Saudi woman hits cop who stopped her for walking with man

A Saudi religious policeman who stopped a young woman for walking with a man in an amusement park received a rude shock - the woman lost her cool and repeatedly punched him.

The policeman was from the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The incident took place in the Saudi Arabia's eastern city of Hofuf Mubarraz.

He asked the man and the woman, who was in mid-twenties, to confirm their identities and relationship to one another, Daily Mail reported Wednesday.


Jerusalem Post said that the man collapsed on being questioned.

Even before the policeman could react, the woman began hitting him. She punched him repeatedly on the head and upper torso.

The policeman had to be taken to hospital as he suffered from severe bruising.

Unmarried men and women are not allowed to mix under Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic rules.

"People are fed up with these religious police, and now they have to pay the price for the humiliation they put people through for years and years," Media Line news agency quoted Saudi human rights activist Wajiha Al Huwaidar as saying. (IANS)

Start Your Own Business Without Money

@ 'Grow' some passion and determination. Determination is the separating factor. Passion drives determination. Find some areas you are passionate about and grow your skills in those areas through studies, training courses and the practical application of knowledge and skill. Find ways to make money out of your passion rather than resorting to making the niche that makes you money your passion.

@Be prepared to reinvent yourself. Flexibility is also a great asset as you may have to ‘reinvent’ yourself a few times to find the right slant to tackle the niche you have chosen to operate in. Be prepared to give up one niche for another in the short term, moving with the times and changes in the economic climate and consumer demand.

@Conduct a few tests run on your ideas to evolve them. Preparation and planning is vital before setting out on any venture. Business plans are evolving documents. Draft one and then ignore it for one year. Compare the practical rolling out of your business venture with your original business plan, and then refine the plan again. Work on this at least once a year going forward. Favour the least expensive idea over the cost-heavy one.


@Start your business whilst still employed. 90% of entrepreneurs started off as employees in some or another capacity prior to venturing out on their own. Firstly, never sign an employment contract containing a restraint of trade. Then, once you have adequate knowledge and experience, the ideal is to make the transition from a full time employee to a consultant, still in the same industry or even better, within the same Company. Slowly set yourself free from your familiar working environment in this manner. This allows you a soft landing, which is good for your mind and emotions and also gives you opportunity to have more flexibility of time in order to grow business opportunities and test business ideas without impacting your pocket too adversely within the first vital year of trade.

@Find opportunities to build skills you require to succeed in the area you intend operating in, with as little cost as possible. Find ways to make lucrative deals with training institutions or Companies to have them pay for your training in exchange for services rendered. We live in a results-driven society.

@Remember that the customer is most important. Always understand what the customer wants. Derive the best way to satisfy those wants. The main focus of any business is customer satisfaction. (secondary focus should then be quality, cost/profit, apperance, function of product/service, ect...)

@Let your creativity replace your money. Get back to basics. Leverage and minimize the need for cash and aggressively increase sales activity through developing and implementing creative ideas and concepts. Always think big. Take massive action towards your goals and persist until you succeed.

@Remember you are your best employee. Keep it small and cost free in the beginning. Be loathe and hesitant to employ people, unless you are guaranteed of their return on investment. If this is a grey area, rather don’t do it. Salaries are usually the greatest management expense in any business. You want to keep these costs as low as possible, in the beginning and throughout the life cycle of your business.

@Involve your family in your business (wife, husband and children). Give them joined ownership of the success of your business. Many large Corporations have been in family generations for years. At the very least, entrepreneurs who started these great Companies have, in their children, totally dedicated Company leaders who can be entrusted with anything. Make sure your family agrees what you are planning to do. This is because you will use the family resources, the time, the money, the health, the nerves. After becoming the boss in your business you may soon become bossy in your family too. To avoid jeopardizing your family-life, discuss the business rules with your family and stick to the agreed plans. After all it still may be fun to run a family business, but things can go terribly bad, if you divorce yourself from your family-life.


@Try to avoid Partnerships. Few were made in heaven. Most were born in hell. Rather make people ‘partners’ in various aspects, but never sign anything on a dotted line in this regard. Be careful when using the term ‘partner’ with business associates, as the legal concept of promissory estoppels (the spoken word superseding a written contract) might bite you at a later stage, especially if you start making money.

@If you have a home, this is where your first office has to be. Write off a part of your home to ‘rental’ in your books, and pay this money into your bond, if you have one. The reason for suggesting this is obvious.

@Build your ability to barter. When all else fails, negotiate. This is often the dividing line between a full time employee of a Company and an entrepreneur. In some countries, you have to negotiate a price for virtually anything. Try visiting one of those countries for a while to get some fun practice in. This is a skill you need to build as it requires strategic know-how and confidence. Take risks (but protect your legal rights) and you may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

@Give discounts and offer better value for money than competitors. Money talks. Consumers want value for money and abhor the idea of being ‘ripped off’. Make good on your promises and never be tempted to engage in false advertising as it will ruin your and your business’ reputation in no time. Ensure your profit margins are protected when deciding on this aspect.

@Make up for the absence of money with hard work. If you enjoy what you do, investing long hours in your business will often feel like ‘fun’ and you will do it willingly. If you are forced to do something you don’t enjoy too much to bring in income (only allow this for short term spurts) and are required to spend excess time doing it; ensure you carefully manage your stress levels. You may experience burnout before you start making real money or get anywhere in the ventures you are truly passionate about. This is a sure path back to becoming a paid employee all over again.

@Know your rights. Having sound knowledge of Commercial Law, especially the Law of Contract and your Countries’ Legislative requirements in as far as business owners are concerned is important to succeed as an entrepreneur. Seeking Legal Counsel for every small aspect concerning the law will bankrupt you in no time. Rather build this skill and knowledge as far as you can before you begin forking out money to pay for it.

@Look after your physical, mental and emotional state. If you lose your health, you lose it all. A healthy body, mind and soul (emotions included) are vital to success as a business owner. Try and get some income protector insurance in place as a self-employed person cannot afford to lose income to this possibility. Your gym fee is an important monthly expense and don’t be tempted to compromise on that when finances become tight. Keep grounded in your faith as you will need strength of spirit to survive the ‘jungle’ out there.

@Get the balance right. Live life within balance. Even when you are starting out a business without a cent in the bank. Losing your balance and perspective in life will make you poorer in the long run and is never a risk worth taking. Never miss a night’s sleep. Additionally, it is a bad idea to be taking drugs to aid your performance ability or to meddle with your regular healthy eating and exercise plans. This will break you down and cause you to make irrational, emotional decisions which are never a good thing in business.

Practical Humour..:) !!! Just For Laugh Gags ;) Good One

A man hated his wife's cat and he decided to get rid of it. He drove20 blocks away from home and dropped the cat there. The cat was
already walking up the driveway when he approached his home.
The next day, he decided to drop the cat 40 blocks away but the same
thing happened. He kept increasing the number of blocks but the cat
kept coming home before him.
At last he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left,
past the bridge, then right again and another right and so on until he
reached what he thought was a perfect spot and dropped the cat there.
An hour later.... The man phoned his wife at home and asked her, "Jen
is the cat there?" "Yes, why do you ask?" answered the wife.
Frustrated the man said," Put that damn cat on the phone, I am lost
and I need directions to reach home!!!


Moral:
"How much ever we dislike somebody, someday we will need their
assistance. So never worry how many people dislike you.... "

Short History of GOOGLE !!!!!!!!

On September 7th 2008, the largest search engine in the world, Google celebrates its tenth anniversary. It was on this day in 1998, that Google was founded in a meager garage in Menlo Park, California. Google has the most fascinating history for a company in our age. It started off as the brainchild of two Stanford University students, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, in 1996. They were making a research project about rating web pages according to their importance.

Google’s name comes from the word Googol, which represents the number, one followed by hundred zeros. After registering the company as Google, Inc. in 1997, the founders, Brin and Page, set up the company in a garage belonging to a friend on September 7, 1998. It was in Menlo Park in California bay area. Later Google moved to Amphitheater Parkway office in Mountain View and it became the headquarters.

Google Timeline

Sept 7, 1998: Founded in Menlo Park, California in a garage, belonging to the friend of Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Sept 21, 1998: Google’s first employee, Craig Silverstein is hired. He is now the director of technology at Google.

February 9, 1999: Opens an office at Paulo Alto at University Avenue. Google was answering half a million queries by that time daily.

June 7, 1999: Google gets a funding of USD 25 million.

September 21, 1999: Google goes out of Beta and their office in Menlo Park is shifted to Googleplex in Mountain View. Now Google is answering 3 million searches daily.

May 2000: Google is awarded the Webby award and People’s Voice award for the best technical achievement.

June 26, 2000: Google and Yahoo announced their partnership (Google becomes Yahoo’s search provider!). Now Google is answering about 18 million queries a day. Later that year, Google announced the Google Toolbar. By the end of 2000, Google started to answer more than 100 million search queries daily.

October 23, 2000: Google’s advertisement platform, Google Adwords comes alive.

February 2001: Google acquires Deja.com and integrates volumes of data in Usenet groups to a searchable format.

July 19, 2001: ‘Don’t be evil’ becomes the motto of Google. However, this motto is used several times against Google now.

August 2001: Dr Eric Shmidt, who was the CEO of Novell Inc., and CTO of Sun Microsystems, joins Google as CEO. He is still the chairman and CEO of Google Inc.

October 2001: With partnership with Lycos group, Google becomes default search engine for Asian Internet users. Soon enough, Google becomes Latin American search provider with partnership with Universo Online (UOL).

Summer 2001: Saw Google indexing 250 million images to a searchable index. Also launched Google catalog search for the online shopping.

December 2001: Google now indexes 3 billion Internet documents in a searchable form.

February 2002: Google Search Appliance is launched, in order to search through e-commerce sites, private networks, and intranets.

February 2002: 2001 Search Engine Watch awards is announced, and Google is Outstanding Search Service, Best Image Search Engine, Best Design, Most Webmaster Friendly Search Engine, and Best Search Feature.

February 2002: Adwords incorporates CPC campaigns (cost per click).

May 2002: AOL calls Google ‘the reigning champ of online search’ and uses it to provide search service to millions of its members.

September 2002: Google News Service starts off in Beta, offering news from nearly 5000 online sources.

December 2002: Froogle, the Google product search service is launched. Now almost a forgotten feature of all-inclusive Google.

February 2003: Google acquires Pyra Labs, the then owner of Blogger, the popular blogging platform. Though Google owns Blogger now, it is still retaining its separate domain and logos.

April 2003: Google acquired Applied Semantics, which would later revolutionize the lives of thousands of Internet entrepreneurs in the form of Google Adsense.

Fall 2003: Google Deskbar, which is used for desktop search is launched through Google Toolbar. This feature is also almost forgotten now.

2004: Google is announced as the ‘Brand of the Year’ by Brandchannel.

January 2004: Orkut, Google’s social network is born as the brainchild of Orkut Buyukkokten, an employee of Google. The social network is not popular in the US. Most of its members are confined to Brazil and India.

February 17, 2004: Google’s search index crosses 6 billion items (4.28 billion web pages, 880 million images, 845 million Usenet discussions, and a number of book-related info pages).

2004: Google Local search is announced.

April 1, 2004: The currently most popular email service, GMail is announced. It was launched with a Gigabyte of free storage space (and now growing at 7GB). And it made several email providers like Yahoo, MSN, and rediff increase their storage space to stay alive in mail service.

April 29, 2004: Google’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) is filed with the SEC (the Securities and Exchange Commission).

June 13, 2004: Acquisition of Picasa Inc., which is a digital photo management service online, which was initially a standalone software. Picasa web albums is used now in picture hosting for Blogger.

August 18, 2004: Google goes public with a market of $23 billion. In three years, a whopping growth per share from $85 to $741 was seen.

2004: Also saw Code Jam, an event targeting the best and brightest computer programmers out there.

October 14, 2004: The first version of Google desktop search is released.

October 2004: Google SMS is launched. Also, in October, Google announced record revenues of 805.9 million USD. It also announced a book search platform, Google Print.

October end 2004: Google acquires Keyhole Corp., another digital picture management group like Picasa. This helps provide 3D images of earth, which later becomes Google Earth’s backbone.

December 2004: Google Groups, the new version of Usenet groups is launched.

2005: Sees Google Mini, which takes root from Google Search Appliance. Also, Google Store, Google Maps, Google Web Accelerator, and Google Videos are launched.

March 2005: Acquires San Francisco based firm, Urchin Software, specializing in Web Analytics. This would later become Google Analytics. The first JavaScript tracker was named ‘urchin.js’ now it is renewed to ‘ga.js’ for Google Analytics.

May 2005: Adsense for Feeds is first announced, with approval only for a few top feed publishers.

June 28, 2005: The acquisition of Keyhole Corp we saw earlier led to the most innovative application from Google, Google Earth, which gives us closest satellite pictures of the Earth and its features.

August 2005: Sees the launch of Google Talk and Google Desktop.

September 2005: By the middle of September, Google announces blog search, which searches not only Blogger blogs but every blog on the planet.

October 2005: Google Reader, which is a popular feed reading application is launched.

November 2005: Google Base is launched. It helps people to upload content in a searchable structured format. It’s now almost forgotten. By the same time, Google announces Google Analytics, an innovative web analytics platform, Google Analytics, which takes birth from Urchin Software, which we saw Google acquired earlier. Now, it is the most popular web analytics platform.

Fall 2005: Also saw Google Book search, which was the new name of Google Print.

End of 2005: Saw Google innovating again with music search.

Start of 2006: Google video store comes alive. And so does Google Video Player. It is a standalone software player for web based videos.

Later we also saw Google Pack, a number of applications for improved browsing.

Jan 2006: Google launches their standalone server in China, tapping Chinese population’s Internet search volume.

Jan 2006: Also saw a successful Google court battle. The Justice Department made a demand to unveil Google’s records at the concern of people’s privacy. However, this incident seeded serious paranoia among the public.

February 2006: Google.org, the philanthropic pathway of Google conglomeration, is launched, with Dr Larry Brilliant as the director.

Google Chat is incorporated to GMail.

May 2006: Google’s tools to improve search experience, Co-op, Desktop trends, and Notebook are launched. Co-op later becomes Google Custom Search and gets incorporated to Adsense.

June 2006: Google Checkout, the new Google shopping feature was introduced. It is slowly becoming popular.

June 15, 2006: Oxford English Dictionary recognizes the term 'Google'.

August 8, 2006: Social network, Myspace and Google make agreement to provide Google search facility and advertisement on Myspace. This deal was for 900 million dollars.

August 9, 2006: Google Book Search partnered with University of California, University of Virginia, and University of Wisconsin, to digitize several thousands of books, and to provide free downloads of public domain books in PDF form.

August 2006: Saw Google launching the largest free WiFi network in the US around Mountain View, California.

October 9, 2006: Google announces acquisition of YouTube for 1.65 billion dollars. But YouTube still retains its logo, just like Blogger. In fact, most of the people don’t know that YouTube is now Google property.

2006: Also saw Google’s partnership with eBay, Adobe for toolbar distribution, and Dell to install search software on Dell computers. This move prompted Microsoft to partner with HP to install Live Search on HP computers as the default.

January 2007: Fortune Magazine calls Google ‘the Best company to work for’.

February 2007: GMail is open to everyone. Until then, it was a free service through invitation.

March 13, 2007: Viacom sues Google accusing that Google allows video piracy through YouTube. Later a compromise was done, with Google handing over the data to Viacom keeping the user information anonymous.

April 13, 2007: Google announces acquisition of DoubleClick Performics for 3 billion USD, which would later pave way to Google Affiliate Program.

February 28, 2008: New Google venture, Google Health is announced by Marissa Mayer, VP of search and user products in Google.

June 12, 2008: Yahoo agrees on Google ads on its search engine. A significant move for Google in the search engine warfront.

September 1, 2008: Google announces its browser venture, Google Chrome, a lightweight, open-source browser running on Java.

The Birth of Google

It began with an argument. When he first met Larry Page in the summer of 1995, Sergey Brin was a second-year grad student in the computer science department at Stanford University. Gregarious by nature, Brin had volunteered as a guide of sorts for potential first-years - students who had been admitted, but were still deciding whether to attend. His duties included showing recruits the campus and leading a tour of nearby San Francisco. Page, an engineering major from the University of Michigan, ended up in Brin's group.



It was hardly love at first sight. Walking up and down the city's hills that day, the two clashed incessantly, debating, among other things, the value of various approaches to urban planning. "Sergey is pretty social; he likes meeting people," Page recalls, contrasting that quality with his own reticence. "I thought he was pretty obnoxious. He had really strong opinions about things, and I guess I did, too."

"We both found each other obnoxious," Brin counters when I tell him of Page's response. "But we say it a little bit jokingly. Obviously we spent a lot of time talking to each other, so there was something there. We had a kind of bantering thing going." Page and Brin may have clashed, but they were clearly drawn together - two swords sharpening one another.

When Page showed up at Stanford a few months later, he selected human-computer interaction pioneer Terry Winograd as his adviser. Soon thereafter he began searching for a topic for his doctoral thesis. It was an important decision. As Page had learned from his father, a computer science professor at Michigan State, a dissertation can frame one's entire academic career. He kicked around 10 or so intriguing ideas, but found himself attracted to the burgeoning World Wide Web.


Google CEO, Eric Shmidt, Sergey Brin, and Larry Page (left to right)

Page didn't start out looking for a better way to search the Web. Despite the fact that Stanford alumni were getting rich founding Internet companies, Page found the Web interesting primarily for its mathematical characteristics. Each computer was a node, and each link on a Web page was a connection between nodes - a classic graph structure. "Computer scientists love graphs," Page tells me. The World Wide Web, Page theorized, may have been the largest graph ever created, and it was growing at a breakneck pace. Many useful insights lurked in its vertices, awaiting discovery by inquiring graduate students. Winograd agreed, and Page set about pondering the link structure of the Web.

Ajmal Kasab to be hanged till dead

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the Pakistani terrorist who killed scores of people during the attacks on Mumbai in November 2008, was on Thursday sentenced to death.

Special Judge M L Tahaliyani gave Kasab, 22, death sentence on five counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, waging war against the country, abetting murder and indulging in terrorist activities.

26/11 CRIME SCENE: A tea vendor celebrates at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal after hearing the Kasab judgment.

Kasab was also awarded life imprisonment on five other counts, which included attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and violation of the Explosive Substances Act.



"To be hanged by the neck till death," said Tahaliyani after reading out each count.

"In the court's opinion, Kasab has no chance to reform. Keeping such a terrorist alive will be a lingering danger to the society and the Indian government," said Tahaliyani while pronouncing his verdict, three days after he convicted him for the attacks.

The judge cited the example of the Kandahar hijack case in which arrested terrorists were swapped for passengers held hostage. "If Kasab is kept alive, this situation may occur again," he said.

Tahaliyani said the common man would lose faith in the court if Kasab was given life. "The death sentence is required," he said as he wound up his statement.

The court said Kasab had gone to the Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Pakistan militant group blamed for the Mumbai attacks, voluntarily and offered to become a mujahideen.

Soon after pronouncing the judgement, when Kasab was asked if he had anything to say, he folded his hands and stood quietly - indicating as if the ruling was acceptable to him.

The judge said during the proceedings that Kasab could go out for some time if he wanted water. When Kasab returned to the court, he had tears in his eyes.

The court rejected defence lawyer K P Pawar's argument that Kasab had acted on the directions of Laskhar founder Hafiz Sayeed.

Pawar’s plea that his client should be given life sentence because he was young and was "blinded by religion" was rejected by the judge.

Kasab was found guilty of 80 offences, including waging war against the nation, which is punishable with the death penalty.

Kasab and his associate, Abu Ismail, killed over 70 people at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, before heading for the Cama hospital, where they killed three senior police officers.

While convicting him on Monday, the judge had ruled that Kasab was guilty of directly killing seven people and a total of 59 with associate Abu Ismail, who was shot dead after running into a police picket at Girgaun Chowpatty early Nov 27 - shortly after the terror assault began in the heart of India's financial capital on Nov 26 night.

His conviction was based on CCTV footage showing him striding across the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus with an AK-47 and a backpack.

The 60-hour audacious attack that began on the night of Nov 26, 2008 and went on till the afternoon of Nov 29, 2009 was carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists including Kasab.

They targeted sites like the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, the nearby Hotel Oberoi-Trident, the Cama Hospital and the Chabad House, a Jewish prayer centre, and Leopold Café, a hangout popular with Indians and foreigners.

As per the law, the death penalty will have to be confirmed by the Bombay High Court. Kasab also has the right to move the High Court against the trial court verdict.

Even if the High Court upholds the judgment, he can go in appeal to the Supreme Court. If the apex court too upholds the sentence, he has the option of filing a mercy petition before the President of India.