Venus may once have been more Earth-like

Venus Express has charted the first map of the planet's southern hemisphere at infrared wavelengths, which hints that Venus may once have been more Earth-like, with both, a plate tectonics system and an ocean of water. The map comprises over a thousand individual images, recorded between May 2006 and December 2007. Because Venus is covered in clouds, normal cameras cannot see the surface, but Venus Express used a particular infrared wavelength that can see through them. Although radar systems have been used in the past to provide high-resolution maps of Venus's surface, Venus Express is the first orbiting spacecraft to produce a map that hints at the chemical composition of the rocks. The new data is consistent with suspicions that the highland plateaus of Venus are ancient continents, once surrounded by ocean and produced by past volcanic activity. "This is not proof, but it is consistent. All we can really say at the moment is that the plateau rocks look different from elsewhere," said Nils Muller at the Joint Planetary Interior Physics Research Group of the University Munster and DLR Berlin, who headed the mapping efforts. The rocks look different because of the amount of infrared light they radiate into space, similar to the way a brick wall heats up during the day and gives off its heat at night. Besides, different surfaces radiate different amounts of heat at infrared wavelengths due to a material characteristic known as emissivity, which varies in different materials. The Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) instrument captured this infrared radiation during Venus's night-time orbits around the planet's southern hemisphere. The new map shows that the rocks on the Phoebe and Alpha Regio plateaus are lighter in colour and look old compared to the majority of the planet. On Earth, such light-coloured rocks are usually granite and form continents. Granite is formed when ancient rocks, made of basalt, are driven down into the planet by shifting continents, a process known as plate tectonics. The water combines with the basalt to form granite and the mixture is reborn through volcanic eruptions. "If there is granite on Venus, there must have been an ocean and plate tectonics in the past," said Muller. The new map gives astronomers another tool in their quest to understand why Venus is so similar in size to Earth and yet has evolved so differently.

Satellite provides its first visible full disk image of Earth

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-14, provided its first visible full disk image of Earth on July 27. The prime instrument on GOES, called the Imager, is taking images of Earth with a 1 kilometer (km) or 0.62 mile resolution from an altitude of 36,000 km (22,240 miles) above Earth's surface, equivalent to taking a picture of a dime from a distance of seven football fields. "The first GOES-14 visible full disk image shows little activity in the Atlantic Ocean and two tropical waves located in the East Pacific Ocean with a low probability of becoming a tropical cyclone," said Thomas Renkevens, a User Services Coordinator from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service, Camp Springs, Maryland. "Numerous thunderstorms are seen scattered along the east coast and western Atlantic Ocean, with more significant rains and thunderstorms in the southeast Oklahoma and northeast Texas area," he added. "NOAA will continue to follow the tropical waves and thunderstorms for possible further development, he further added. The GOES satellite system aids forecasters in locating severe weather events and is instrumental in providing early warnings for residents located in the surrounding areas. "Being able to predict the path of a hurricane with reasonable certainty and only evacuating the areas at risk saves communities roughly a million dollars per mile," said Renkevens. "This GOES-14 image also shows a mostly cloud-free southwest United States, with a blanket of low clouds along over the Pacific Ocean off the west coast," he added.. "Capturing this first sharp image is a major milestone for our GOES team. It represents a culmination of this team's hard work and dedication. We still have more to do but full mission success is clearly in our sights," stated Andre' Dress, the NASA GOES N Series Deputy Project Manager, at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. Launched as GOES-O on June 27, 2009, the satellite was renamed GOES-14 after reaching geostationary orbit on July 8, 2009. The satellite is now approximately 22,300 miles above Earth's surface located at 89.5 west longitude where it will remain during the 5 month checkout period.

120,000 yr old frozen microbe in Greenland may hold clues to alien life

A team of scientists has found a tiny frozen microbe trapped more than three kilometres under glacial ice in Greenland for over 120,000 years, which may hold clues as to what life forms might exist on other planets. The novel microbe was found by Dr Jennifer Loveland-Curtze and a team of scientists from Pennsylvania State University, US. The team coaxed the dormant microbe back to life; first incubating their samples at 2 degree Celsius for seven months and then at 5 degree C for a further four and a half months, after which colonies of very small purple-brown bacteria were seen. H. glaciei is small even by bacterial standards. It is 10 to 50 times smaller than E. coli. Its small size probably helped it to survive in the liquid veins among ice crystals and the thin liquid film on their surfaces. Small cell size is considered to be advantageous for more efficient nutrient uptake, protection against predators and occupation of micro-niches and it has been shown that ultramicrobacteria are dominant in many soil and marine environments. Most life on our planet has always consisted of microorganisms, so it is reasonable to consider that this might be true on other planets as well. Studying microorganisms living under extreme conditions on Earth may provide insight into what sorts of life forms could survive elsewhere in the solar system. "These extremely cold environments are the best analogues of possible extraterrestrial habitats", said Dr Loveland-Curtze. "The exceptionally low temperatures can preserve cells and nucleic acids for even millions of years. H. glaciei is one of just a handful of officially described ultra-small species and the only one so far from the Greenland ice sheet," she added. "Studying these bacteria can provide insights into how cells can survive and even grow under extremely harsh conditions, such as temperatures down to -56 degree C, little oxygen, low nutrients, high pressure and limited space," she explained.

Only three operators can offer 3G services in Delhi

Only three telecom operators can roll out third generation (3G) services in Delhi due to a spectrum crunch, Communications and IT Minister A. Raja said Monday. 'Delhi has only 15 Mhz of spectrum available making it possible only for three telecom operators to offer such services,' Raja told Lok Sabha in a written reply. The minister also told parliament that an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) had been constituted to look into matters concerning 3G spectrum auctions, scheduled to happen this year. Each telecom operator (successful bidder) will be allocated 5 MHz of 3G spectrum once the auctions are over. In Delhi, only two private players will be able to offer this high-end services as one slot is already reserved for the state-run telecom operator Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL). The minister said West Bengal will get only 10 MHz of spectrum, while Gujarat will have 15 MHz. Such a crunch may lead operators to make crazy bids to acquire spectrum in maximum number of telecom circles, industry officials worry. The government is expected to earn about Rs.35,000 crore from the 3G auctions.

Cyber criminals may have created first 'zombie' cellphone network

Experts have warned that hackers may have created a network of "zombie" cellphones, similar to a network of virus-infected personal computers, to send spam or carry out cyber attacks. 'Botnets' is the term that computer scientists use for such networks of computers. While millons of machines worldwide are said to be secretly running botnet software, no has ever been discovered running on mobile devices to date. However, security firm Symantec, headquartered in Cupertino, California, warns that a piece of software known as Sexy Space may be the first case. The firm has revealed that the software uses text messages reading "A very sexy girl, Try it now!" to jump between phones. Symantec experts say that the message contains a link that, upon being clicked, asks the user to download a software program. Just in case the user installs the software, it sends the same message to contacts stored in his/her cellphone. Although similar SMS viruses have been seen before, Sexy Space is unusual because it also communicates with a central server, and so can be controlled by the hackers who created it. Zulfikar Ramzan, Symantec's technical director of security response, says that it has yet to be determined as to how Sexy Space will use the connection to the central server. "But this has all the makings of a mobile botnet," New Scientist magazine quoted him as saying. "As PC botnets go it's unsophisticated. But it's a new development in the world of mobile malware," added Ben Feinstein of SecureWorks, a computer security firm based in Atlanta, Georgia. The experts fear that infected mobile phones may also be misused to infiltrate computer networks. This fear stems from the fact that in a demonstration last year, a team from Errata Security, also in Atlanta, used an iPhone sent to a company to spy on its IT infrastructure. While sat in the firm's mailroom the phone sent back information about the local wireless systems and computers. A criminal hacker could use the same technique to break into a company's internal computer network, Errata's researchers claim.

Engineers working on converting foot power into battery power

Engineers are developing a way to capture the energy released by the marching boots of soldiers and are trying to use it to power their equipment, according to the latest research. The new system designed to convert foot-power into battery power could help troops reduce the weight of their packs by up to 10 kg. The project has been designed to address the needs of infantrymen. Heavy packs can severely limit a soldier's mobility and also lead to long-term health problems. The typical pack weight that an infantryman carries on a six-hour patrol is around 75 kg, with batteries making up 10 kg of the load. Essential kit such as ammunition and water make up much of the rest. A similar energy harvesting idea has been used in cars for some time where braking force is stored and later used to drive the vehicle forward. However, harvesting energy from people walking has always proved difficult due to the flexibility and strength of the materials required and the fact that everyone's walking patterns are different. The devices will use high tech ceramics and crystals as piezoelectric transducers in order to convert mechanical stress into an electric charge. Andrew Bell, professor at the University of Leeds, who is leading the project says: 'It could also reduce a soldier's pack weight by around 15 percent.' 'And this technology could potentially have lots of applications in civvy street too.' Bell says his team will succeed where others have failed because they are taking a holistic approach.

IPhone Apps For Road Warriors

As smart phones keep getting smarter, more and more road warriors are leaving their laptops behind, leaning instead on their trusty phones to keep up with work away from the office. With over 50,000 apps in the App Store emporium, the iPhone offers an especially rich trove of ammo for roaming productivity mavens to turn mobile phones into mobile offices.

In Pictures: 10 Top iPhone Apps For Road Warriors

In Pictures: Cool Telescopes And Tools For Stargazing

In Pictures: 10 Great iPhone Apps

In Pictures: 10 Phone Apps Your Mother Will Hate

In Pictures: Phone Sequels

It's important to keep this little revolution in perspective: A new style of device requires a new set of work habits. Your glossy gadget can't match your laptop in every respect, and it's a mistake to try to use it the same way. No matter how blazingly fast your thumbs might be, pecking delicately away at a touch-screen keyboard won't win any speed records. Though some inevitably try, the iPhone's not a great tool for writing a novel.

In Pictures: Top 10 iPhone Apps For Road Warriors

Instead, the iPhone is a device of convenience and context. Unlike laptops, notebooks or messy collections of Post-It notes, your phone rarely leaves your side, making it a handy vessel for bottling brainstorms, managing to-dos and itineraries, or capturing on-the-go information like expenses or billable hours. The best iPhone apps (and especially the best productivity apps) emphasize quick access to your ideas, contacts, tasks and info. Most of them thrive on simplicity, offering fewer features than desktop counterparts, but also making it faster and easier to get it done quickly.

Take, for instance, the Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite. It lets you edit Word and Excel files and view a slew of others. Editing a long document on your iPhone may not be ideal--but being able to make changes on the go could be a lifesaver.

Compared to traditional computer work of long, sustained work sessions, iPhone office apps are tuned for short but frequent hits, encouraging you to capture new information and ideas as they happen, to be processed and massaged later. The iPhone is likewise ideal for reading and even editing documents in the otherwise lost time of grocery-store lines or subway commutes. (This also happens to be true of iPhone games, which are nearly all designed for quick but tasty bites of gameplay, just a few minutes at a time.) In all of its contexts, in other words, the device's quick-draw convenience lets you make the most of your downtime, whether you use it for work, play or creative contemplation.

This makes the iPhone an ideal laptop substitute between the times we traditionally consider work time, and as a can-do sidekick outside the office--at conferences, for business travel or in those sparkling (and never scheduled) moments when inspiration strikes.

We've collected the best apps for making the most of those intrawork interludes, each of them earning their place with fast, efficient interfaces that are well suited to this evolving style of work.

Grab 'em--and go.

In Pictures: Top 10 iPhone Apps For Road Warriors

Josh Clark stress-tested thousands of iPhone apps to identify the 200+ apps featured in his book, Best iPhone Apps: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders, available this month from O’Reilly Media . When he’s not tapping, flicking and swiping, he makes words and spins code at his hypertext laboratory www.globalmoxie.com in Paris, France.

Videogaming Gets Physical

For those couch potatoes who have loved smashing videogame monsters with no more than a thumb twitch, a word of warning: Videogames are getting very, very physical.

Three years ago, Nintendo introduced its Wii, built around a simple motion sensor, the Wiimote control, which did away with complicated buttons and simplified game playing. The Wii not only saved the company, it started a chain reaction in the gaming business that is now playing out. Just what videogames are all about--and who wants to play them--is changing.

In Pictures: 10 Games That Put You In Control

In Pictures: 10 Gadgets For Boosting Your Golf Game

In Pictures: 10 Tricks For Pimping Your Netbook

In Pictures: 10 Coolest Massively Multiplayer Games

In Pictures: 10 Wii Games We Love

At E3, the gaming industry's industry's annual Los Angeles confab in early June, the byproducts of this change were in full force. By next year, all three of the game console manufacturers--Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo--will have motion-sensor controllers on the market. The potential upswing for the entire industry is huge.

"I played with Microsoft's Project Natal and thought of the Arthur C. Clarke law: 'Any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,'" says Todd Howard, executive producer at Bethesda Softworks. "When people actually experience it, I'll think they'll be amazed."

Nowhere has this trend been more pronounced than at E3. Nintendo continues to make more precise motion controls a focal point of development. Its MotionPlus device connects to the tip of the Wiimote controller is currently playable on Electronic Arts' "Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Golf 10" and "Grand Slam Tennis."

"The new controls are designed to make games more accessible to a wider audience," said Chip Lange, general manager of EA's Hasbro division, which has had numerous hits on the Wii-like Nerf N-Strike.

Sony was actually the first game company to introduce motion-sensor controls to gamers as a separate peripheral with its EyeToy for PlayStation 2. Sony subsequently released the PlayStation Eye for PlayStation 3. In keeping with that tradition, Sony unveiled a motion controller at E3, slated for release in spring 2010 as a peripheral. (Nintendo will remain the only console maker to pack in its motion-sensor controllers with the hardware.) The same team behind the evolving EyeToy devices has created this next step in interactivity for Sony.

"What Sony demonstrated at E3 excited many of us in the developer world for two reasons," says Ted Price, chief executive and founder of Insomniac Games. "First, the controller's ability to sense depth and not just planar motion opens up a lot of design possibilities that aren't possible with other controllers. Second, the controller's apparent accuracy is extremely impressive. Responding to very slight controller movements is crucial for games where you're interacting with objects on the screen. The better and more accurate the response, the more designers can do."

Demonstrations of Microsoft's Project Natal, which is due out next year, have managed to wow even the most the jaded videogame savants. Unlike Nintendo and Sony, Microsoft's new technology completely does away with the gizmo controller. In essence, your body becomes the controller and uses a collection of detectors--facial recognition, voice recognition and motion detection--to sense what you're doing. To achieve the effect, Microsoft fused together its own research with efforts that had been going on at independent companies including Israeli start-ups, 3DV Systems and Prime Sense.

Mark Rein, vice president at Epic Games, believes Project Natal could open the Xbox 360 up to new styles of games similar--or even more involved-- than what gamers have experienced on the Wii. Your hand, Rein points out, is the ultimate controller.

"The industry has already shown that it's embracing motion technology with the Wii, and I expect Project Natal and PlayStation Motion to both help in further widening the gaming audience across the globe," said James Brightman, editor in chief of IndustryGamers.com. "My one concern is that the technologies from Microsoft and Sony are add-ons, and peripherals historically haven't sold well. Will the installed base be big enough? Will there be enough developer support?"

"The Wii appeals to the game audience and not just the video game audience due to its innovative controls," said Ryan Stradling, head of EA Sports' North Carolina studio. "People immediately pick up the control and understand what to do by following natural human movement. The Wii knocked down the barrier to entry with its control scheme. But this is a two-way street as well: The games must be designed to take advantage of the controls."

Lorne Lanning, founder and creative director of Oddworld Inhabitants, also cautions that building games for these novel devices involves huge risk for developers. "It's risky to develop software specifically targeting such hardware. You isolate your title to that base while sacrificing all other platforms," Lanning says. Even so, he doesn't doubt that the future of gaming will involve such novel interactions. "These devices are early indicators for what's to come with their spacial depth-sensing and voice-recognition potential. It's only a matter of time before such interfaces become the de facto means of engagement for interactive entertainment."

"Regardless of the game, I think developers can find ways to incorporate [Project Natal], even in games that also use the standard controller," says Howard from Bethesda Softworks.

The new generation of highly interactive gaming makes the sci-fi world depicted in Steven Spielberg's Minority Report seem a lot closer to reality. It was fitting, then, that Spielberg is already working on games for Project Natal. The film director has had success with his Wii franchise for Electronic Arts, Boom Blox and Boom Blox Bash Party. So technologies like Project Natal are opening new creative outlets for him, along with the rest of the game industry.

10 ways to turn your mobile phone into an efficient business tool

When you’re away from the office with only a mobile phone in hand, the application you most desire is email — or for those with less patience, SMS. But beyond messaging, you need much more from your phone if you view it as your business partner. Some requirements are crucial, such as security tools. Other additions just make life much easier, such as my fascination with mobile voice recorders, which let me dictate a note or task and give my thumbs a break, or Google Maps, since I’m often lost in the car driving to an appointment. Here are some tips road warriors shouldn’t overlook when using a mobile phone for work.

1. Choose the right platform for your business and role

There’s no single best platform for business, even though many say that for office workers, the Blackberry is still king (sorry, Apple). What’s essential is choosing a device that maps well to your business and to your individual job requirements.

Consider desktop capability replication, which entails easy access to email, opening and editing files, and accessing the business applications you need on a daily basis, says Frank Wilson, a Bellevue, WA-based product manager for technology services with Tectura. There may also be vertical-specific needs, for instance, if you work for the federal government or within a manufacturing environment.

Paul Langowski, Minneapolis-based chief architect for global services at Tectura, says there are provider-specific issues to consider, as well. “One iPhone issue is that AT&T can’t use it in a tethered mode, so it cannot be used as a connection device for your laptop.”

2: Consider battery life!

If you’re often working away from the office, you better have hearty battery life in that smartphone. If you treasure fast data connections and use Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi, your battery life will be compromised even more, warns Dan Shey, practice director for mobile services at ABI Research. “Some will say as long as the phone has battery life all day that is sufficient because they will plug their phone in at night. In practice, however, busy business customers will not always recharge daily and if their phone is near dead, it is a huge inconvenience to stop and charge somewhere or lose use of the phone.”

3: Don’t overlook these two security imperatives

Increasingly, smartphones support remote wipe so that you or your IT administrator can erase all the data from your phone if it has been lost or stolen. Then there is encryption, which may or may not be automatic and easily configured in your device. “RIM has done a good job with business customers for meeting the security requirement, since they encrypt all data traffic sent to and from the phone,” Shey says.

If you have ultra-sensitive data on your phone and/or regularly access your corporate VPN from it, there are more protections to consider. Langowski warns that a hacker can even steal data from your device when you’re offline, so now, you can buy a special case to protect your phone.

4: Fight for proper IT support

Ideally, IT needs to intimately understand the platforms it supports and preconfigure everything as much as possible for users, just as with laptops, says Wilson. “If those devices are critical to your business and you can attribute revenue loss to downtime on phones, your business needs to support the devices equally as servers.” Fortunately, outsourcing is always an option. According to Langowski, companies are starting to gravitate toward managed services, which handle provisioning and activation, updates, security, support, troubleshooting, and more. He predicts that those services will soon become affordable enough for small and midsize businesses.

5: Get the right coverage plan for your mobile life

It sounds simple, but you might easily overlook the fact that a coverage plan doesn’t support your bimonthly international trips. That could be disastrous. Be sure to align your mobile wanderings with the appropriate coverage plan. Wi-Fi, of course, can be a cost-effective option for filling in those gaps. “Wi-Fi radios will be shipped in up to 90% of all smartphones by 2014,” Shey says.

6: Use mobile apps for managing administrative and project-based tasks

There’s nothing like using some dead time while on the train, bus, airport, doctor’s office, or checkout line to take care of a few mundane tasks, such as tracking client hours and expenses or checking flight schedules. Many of these apps are quite easy to use and also keep the wheels moving on projects, especially if you can access tasks and schedules from a secure project site. Workflow approval applications, such as Microsoft SharePoint, are also becoming configured for mobile access, Langowski says.

7: Get some BI

Mobile business intelligence need not be complicated or expensive. It could be as simple as using your mobile Web browser to access and log into a secure site where you can review reports and other data from your business systems. If you want more, you’ll find plenty of interactive applications from vendors big and small (including, naturally, free iPhone apps). Such tools let you drill down into inventory, sales, and customer data, retrieve KPIs and other metrics, and do custom analysis.

8: Take advantage of mobile social networking apps

If you use social networking sites regularly, what better way to access them than from your mobile phone? In fact, I prefer to use my iPhone interface for Facebook — it is simpler and much less cluttered. And if you deliver corporate status updates regularly as part of your job (sales and marketing) or need to network with others on the fly (recruiting, engineering, business development), it might be imperative to have mobile versions of your favorite social networking sites on your device.

9: QWERTY keyboards are key

This might seem intuitive, but it’s impossible to overstress the importance of having a highly functional keyboard on your mobile phone. “Any business person who uses any mobile data services — even SMS — should make their life easy with a full character keyboard,” Shey says. And think hard before purchasing the iPhone or any other touch-screen device if you are going to be doing a lot of typing — it doesn’t work well for everyone.

10: Large-screen devices are best

Shey recommends a minimum of 1.5 inch by 2 inches of screen real estate. “You never know when you will need to review or scan a document on the mobile phone,” he says. ”In addition, a larger screen is easier on the eyes… particularly for those of us not wanting to admit that we may need bifocals!”

Now, send e-mail greetings to loved ones from beyond the grave

A new range of internet services have made it possible for users to now send e-mail greetings to their loved ones from beyond the grave. These online services are being used to send birthday wishes to friends, congratulations on a graduation, and to keep spouses happy. Before they die, internet users can programme the sites to fire off posthumous e-mails on key dates each year. People using these services can even set up their own online memorial in advance. The messages go live when the website is alerted to a subscriber's demise. According to reports, these websites are part of a growing trend for "digital wills". Though not legally binding, the online wills are aimed at ensuring that next of kin can gain full access to a dead person's musings on sites like Facebook and Hotmail, as well as passwords for internet banking and other e-documents. One Simon Gilligan, 63, from Littleport, Cambridgeshire, has made a digital will on lastmessagesclub.co.uk, which launched this month, in tandem with a paper will. "It has things like personal messages to my wife and children and various details of my bank accounts, e-mail and my Facebook account," Times Online quoted him as saying. "I did it because I have heard of situations where people have died and it has taken a long time to get the information. This will make it easier for my wife and children. "I would definitely consider setting it up to send another e-mail out to my family on a birthday. That would choke everybody up," he added.

Cruise Ship Docks With Dead Whale On Bow

A luxury cruise ship has returned to port after a summer trip with a dead whale lodged on its bow.

The animal was discovered as the Sapphire Princess prepared to dock in Vancouver after travelling from Alaska. Officials from Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans later removed the carcass from the scene at the Canada Place terminal. Tourists stopped to take pictures of the whale, while employees from the nearby Vancouver Convention Centre and Pan Pacific Hotel also gathered to watch. Princess Cruise Lines, which operates the Sapphire Princess, said it did not know how or when the whale came to be stuck to the ship. The company said: "We were shocked and saddened by this discovery, and sincerely regret the circumstances which led to the whale's death. "It is unknown how or when this could have happened, as we have strict whale avoidance procedures in place when our ships are in the vicinity of marine life." The company insisted it was not aware of any whales being sighted as the ship sailed through the Inside Passage to Vancouver. The Canadian Coast Guard was notified as soon as the dead animal was discovered, Princess Cruise Lines said. Promising to co-operate with any inquiry, the firm added: "We take our responsibility to be good stewards of the marine environment very seriously, and have clear guidelines for our ships on how to operate if whales are sighted nearby, which include altering course and reducing speed as required." The Sapphire has four swimming pools, boutiques and a spa on board. She spends each summer in Alaska and travels to Mexico, Australia and the South Pacific at other times of year.

The Nation remembers Kargil War Heroes

The Indian Air Force was pressed into service during mid May 1999 to facilitate recapture of own territory by Indian Army on the Indian side of Line of Control in Mushko Valley, Drass, Kaksar Batalik, and Turtok area. Western Air Command responded quickly and prompt air support was provided and numerous sorties were launched to airlift and reinforce position in the intruded area. Various aircraft such as MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, Jaguar, Mirage-2000, MiG-29, Canberra, AVRO and Mi-17 were utilized as a part of the ‘Operation Safed Sagar’ launched by the Indian Air Force in support of Operation Vijay launched by the Indian Army.

It was for the first time that the Indian Air Force was called upon to undertake live missions at such high altitudes. A bigger challenge was non violation of Line of Control. Mirage-2000 aircraft flew precision strike missions and dropped Lager Guided Bombs (LGBs) utilizing the Laser Designated Pods (LDPs). These missions turned the balance of power in favour of India. Offensive posturing by the Indian Air Force deterred the Pakistani Air Force from intervening in this area. Indian Air force displayed professionalism of very high order and by 12th July almost all posts were recaptured. Air power played a pivotal role in the overall victory and eviction of Pakistani intruders.

Ten years on the nation remembers the Kargil war heroes as the tenth anniversary of Op-Vijay is being celebrated at Drass on 25th and 26th July 2009. In spirit of true jointmanship, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force participating in Op Vijay Diwas celebrations. Flypast by MiG-21s and Mi-17s as well as slithering operations by Mi-17 and para drop of nine Para Jump Instructors, three each from the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force will be on display as the nation salutes the spirit, courage of those brave men who participated in ‘Operation Vijay’ ready to surmount any challenges in the line of duty.

After war, soldiers are forgotten

At 65, 'veteran' Colonel S S Rajan is still prepared for another 33 years of service. He joined the Indian Army with a single star on his epaulet when 18. And today he refuses to acknowledge his 'retired' status — even on his signature. The passion and pride is all in his family. His father was a World War-II veteran, his son-in-law is a doctor and surgeon in the army; and his son is now preparing to join the forces. "There's nothing like being in the Army," says Rajan. But what worries him is a lack of public awareness about a soldier’s life and their sacrifices that are often trivialised by political minds. ‘‘Even the Kargil war could not change much of this mindset,’’ he says. So, 10 years after the victory, on Vijay Diwas, how does he feel? Has there been any significant change in the lives of the jawans? Says Rajan, ‘‘Soldiers are heroes while the war lasts. After it’s over, they are forgotten. We are an ‘ungrateful’ country but nobody can be blamed for it as we still haven’t understood the significance of freedom. We take our freedom for granted.’’ Are the sacrifices, that led to a surge in patriotism among the people, still remembered — beyond the tokenism of an anniversary day celebrations? Says Rajan, ‘‘The pride of being in the Army is surely intact. But today, we have a shortage of at least 12,000 officers of the rank of a lieutenant, captain and colonel. This, despite the increase in basic pay. When I joined in 1963, my basic was Rs 400 and today the same has risen to Rs 25,000. But still, it doesn’t attract youngsters. What’s needed is educating people about the defence services. And this should begin with textbooks in schools.’’

India’s first indigenous nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, to launch today

India today reached a milestone when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched the country's first indigenous nuclear-powered submarine 'INS Arihant' for sea trials. The 6000-tonne submarine will first be put on sea trials for two years before being commissioned into full service. In these two years, the submarine will also undergo harbour trials of its nuclear reactor and other systems. Sunday's launch coincides with Vijay Diwas marking India's triumph over Pakistani intruders in Kargil. With the launch of the submarine India will join the exclusive club of US, Russia, China, France and the UK with similar capabilities. The ENC headquarters in Visakhapatnam has been decked up for this historic event. INS Arihant has been built under the advanced technology vessels (ATV) programme at a cost of $2.9 billion at the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam. Code-named Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV), the submarine christened 'INS Arihant' (destroyer of enemy) was launched for sea trials at the Matsya naval dockyard here. As India has declared "no first use" of nuclear weapons, the country's weapons system must survive a first strike for retaliation. Therefore, Arihant's primary weapon is stealth as it can lurk in ocean depths of half a kilometre or more and fire its missiles from under the sea. The 6000-tonne submarine is powered by an 85 megawatt capacity nuclear reactor and can acquire surface speeds of 22 to 28 kmph (12-15 knots) and submerged speed upto 44 kmph (24 knots). It will be carrying a crew of 95 men and will be armed with torpedoes and missiles including 12 ballistic missiles. Four more nuclear-powered submarine of this class have already got government's nod and these would add to the Navy's underwater combat potential in the years to come. Defence Minister A K Antony, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy witnessed the event. The Prime Minister flew to Vishakapatnam this morning by the IAF's newly acquired Boeing business jet and reached the venue of the submarine launch by road. Sea trials of the submarine will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal off Vishakapatnam, where the vessel was under construction for the last two decades.

The 30,000-croresecret nuclear submarine project was started in the 1980s though it was conceived by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the 1970s. The first official admission of the project nearing completion came this February when Antony had announced it during the AeroIndia show in Bangalore. INS Arihant can also be armed with cruise missiles. The DRDO is already working on an equally secretive Sagarika project for a 700-km K-15 missile, capable of carrying nuclear weapons. With US, Russia and China already fielding 5,000-km range SLBMs, the DRDO too has recently tested an SLBM based on the design of 3,500-km range Agni-III. The induction of ATV will help India to complete the nuclear weapons triad, as envisaged under its nuclear doctrine to deliver nuke-tipped missiles from land, air and sea. India has land-based nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missiles, apart from IAF fighters such as Mirage-2000 that can deliver tactical nukes. Two decades ago, India had operated a Charlie-class nuclear submarine, christened INS Chakra, leased from Russia for three years between 1989 and 1991. Moscow will again lease out two Akula-class nuclear submarines to New Delhi for 10 years. Plans to deliver the submarines this June were hit by a mishap during sea trials late last year. But hopes have soared for its delivery in 2010 after Russia took out the repaired vessel for sea trials again early this month.

Jackson's hair made into diamonds -- for real

Since Michael Jackson's sudden death on June 25, the rumor mill over details of his bizarre personal life has ground away nearly non-stop, and on Friday, one company said it was turning his hair into diamonds. That one is true.

The claims this week included a report in Rolling Stone magazine that a prosthetic nose he wore apparently went missing when he was taken to the morgue, and a British tabloid trumpeted a headline that he fathered a secret love-child.

In one by-product of the "Thriller" singer's death, a Chicago company said on Friday it had obtained some of the hair Jackson burned while filming a 1984 Pepsi commercial and planned to create a limited edition of diamonds from it.

"Absolutely this is for real," said Dean VandenBiesen, founder of LifeGem, which has a patent on a process that extracts carbon from hair, turns it into crystals and then into high-quality laboratory diamonds.

VandenBiesen told Reuters he thought the company could make about 10 diamonds. No sale price has been set but VandenBiesen said LifeGem created three diamonds from locks of Beethoven's hair in 2007, and sold one of them for around $200,000.

Separately, the Aug. 6 issue of Rolling Stone magazine reported that not only was the left arm of Jackson's dead body "scored with needle marks" -- claims that have arisen before -- but he wore an artificial nose that was missing when he was taken to the Los Angeles county morgue.

"The prosthesis that he normally attached to his damaged nose was missing, revealing bits of cartilage surrounding a small dark hole," the magazine said in an unsourced report.

While that report could not be confirmed, Los Angeles coroner's officials did say earlier this week they were probing security breaches in their offices.

The coroner's office is expected to release an official cause of death next week which could shed light on some of the reports, including Jackson's possible use of powerful drugs.

And even as custody of Jackson's three children is set to be decided in court on Aug. 3, The Sun newspaper speculated the singer may have had a love-child raised in Norway.

Omer Bhatti, 25, sparked interest when he was spotted sitting with the singer's immediate family at Jackson's public memorial earlier this month. Bhatti reportedly spent time with Jackson at his Neverland Valley Ranch in the 1990s and was known as "Little Michael".

But another of Jackson's former proteges, singer Ricky Harlow, told celebrity website People.com on Friday that although they were close he doubted Bhatti was Jackson's son.

"They had a father-and-son type of connection," Harlow, 26, told People, "but I never thought he (Jackson) was his biological father."

In Jackson's 2002 will, the singer listed only three children now living: Prince Michael Jackson, Jr, Paris Michael Kathering Jackson and Prince Michael Joseph Jackson II.

Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb On Microsoft. And It’s Made of Chrome

Wow. So you know all those whispers about a Google desktop operating system that never seem to go away? You thought they might with the launch of Android, Google’s mobile OS. But they persisted. And for good reason, because it’s real.

In the second half of 2010, Google plans to launch the Google Chrome OS, an operating system designed from the ground up to run the Chrome web browser on netbooks. “It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be,” Google writes tonight on its blog.

But let’s be clear on what this really is. This is Google dropping the mother of bombs on its chief rival, Microsoft. It even says as much in the first paragraph of its post, “However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web.” Yeah, who do you think they mean by that?

And it’s a genius play. So many people are buying netbooks right now, but are running WIndows XP on them. Windows XP is 8 years old. It was built to run on Pentium IIIs and Pentium 4s. Google Chrome OS is built to run on both x86 architecture chips and ARM chips, like the ones increasingly found in netbooks. It is also working with multiple OEMs to get the new OS up and running next year.

Obviously, this Chrome OS will be lightweight and fast just like the browser itself. But also just like the browser, it will be open-sourced. Think Microsoft will be open-sourcing Windows anytime soon?

As Google writes, “We have a lot of work to do, and we’re definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision.” They might as well set up enlistment booths on college campuses for their war against Microsoft.

Google says the software architecture will basically be the current Chrome browser running inside “a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel.” So in other words, it basically is the web as an OS. And applications developers will develop for it just as they would on the web. This is similar to the approach Palm has taken with its new webOS for the Palm Pre, but Google notes that any app developed for Google Chrome OS will work in any standards-compliant browser on any OS.

What Google is doing is not recreating a new kind of OS, they’re creating the best way to not need one at all.

So why release this new OS instead of using Android? After all, it has already been successfully ported to netbooks. Google admits that there is some overlap there. But a key difference they don’t mention is the ability to run on the x86 architecture. Android cannot do that (though there are ports), Chrome OS can and will. But more, Google wants to emphasize that Chrome OS is all about the web, whereas Android is about a lot of different things. Including apps that are not standard browser-based web apps.

But Chrome OS will be all about the web apps. And no doubt HTML 5 is going to be a huge part of all of this. A lot of people are still wary about running web apps for when their computer isn’t connected to the web. But HTML 5 has the potential to change that, as you’ll be able to work in the browser even when not connected, and upload when you are again.

We’re starting to see more clearly why Google’s Vic Gundotra was pushing HTML 5 so hard at Google I/O this year. Sure, part of it was about things like Google Wave, but Google Wave is just one of many new-style apps in this new Chrome OS universe.

But there is a wild card in all of this still for Microsoft: Windows 7. While Windows XP is 8 years old, and Windows Vista is just generally considered to be a bad OS for netbooks, Windows 7 could offer a good netbook experience. And Microsoft had better hope so, or its claim that 96% of netbooks run Windows is going to be very different in a year.

Google plans to release the open source code for Chrome OS later this year ahead of the launch next year. Don’t be surprised if this code drops around the same time as Windows 7.

Secret questions 'make emails vulnerable to hacking'

What's the name of the school you attended? What is the first name of your favourite cousin? Well, email services often protect accounts with these kind of security questions in case holders forget their password. Now, a new study in the US has revealed just how easy the answers of such security questions are for other people to guess -- in fact these facts make life simple for hackers, the 'New Scientist' reported. Researchers at Microsoft have based their findings on an analysis of an experiment, involving 32 email users. Acquaintances of the email users - people with whom they wouldn't normally share their login details - were asked to try and guess the answers users assigned to protect their accounts. The volunteers managed to guess correctly a fifth of the time, raising questions over how secure the commonly used system is, the study found. However, a second study by software giant Microsoft has suggested a more secure alternative - relying on trusted friends to vouch for you if an account becomes locked. "Securing webmail is important because email accounts typically allow an attacker access to other accounts, for example, eBay and Amazon. If I can recover these passwords via your email account then I can spend the balance of your credit card on flat-screen TVs," Ross Anderson of Cambridge University was quoted as saying. Under the new system proposed by Stuart Schechter and Rob Reeder at Microsoft, users select several "trustees". If a user becomes locked out of their account their trustees receive a message asking them to download a "recovery code". The user must collect codes from multiple trustees to unlock their account. A group of 19 Hotmail users trialed the system and 17 successfully regained access to their Hotmail account. That 90-per-cent success rate compares favourably to 80-per-cent success rate of the secret question system, say Reeder. In the trial, most users recovered their accounts within two days. However, when the researchers got users' acquaintances to ask the trustees to give up the codes, many of them did so. Reeder said this attack could be avoided by getting account holders to advise trustees of their role in advance. In the trial, trustees simply received an email containing the code out of the blue. Rather than replacing the standard secret questions approach, the new method should be an optional choice for users, according to Anderson, who agrees that it is important to train trustees to be appropriately security conscious. But the idea has promise, said Reeder, pointing out that it is not a new idea to have people use third parties to back up their identity.

The latest tech must-haves

Sony products continue to amuse its consumers. The 80 GB version of one of the most wanted gaming consoles was launched in February this year. The latest version of PS3 comes with an extra space of 20 GB. It has a user friendly interface and requires no external power supply. It also has the benefit of a free online play.

It looks like the veteran E90 Communicator. Communicator was launched solely for business purposes and Nokia N97 serves the same purpose but in a different era. The huge difference between the two phones is the touch screen feature. But when touch screen phones are thronging the markets, N97 cannot boast about this feature with its not so user friendly touch screen. This phone, however, has a proximity sensor which switches off the screen when you receive a call to prevent the opening of unwanted application like a music player while talking.

It gives you real time turn by turn directions through the Global Positioning System (GPS). The device uses satellite to determine the important highways and national highways and landmarks in India.

HD TV offers you a picture resolution comparable to a 35mm movie screen. It also removes the jarring effect from the screen. In India, National Geographic is coming up with its popular HD TV service. Recently, Samsung launched its HD LED TV in India, Samsung became the first company to do so. HD LED TV display is completely different from LCD televisions and Plasma screens. Samsung’s latest technology will bring a sea change in flat panel displays in Indian market. The next technology which is knocking the Indian doors is OLED screens.

Mars, a seething cauldron for 100 million years

Mars may have been a seething cauldron for nearly a 100 million years after its formation, thwarting evolution of life on the planet, according to an analysis of meteorites. The research has shown that the red planet remained excessively hot - with temperatures over 1,000 degrees Celsius - for 100 million years following its formation. A team of scientists from the US, Belgium, and Australia and workers at NASA's Johnson Space Centre, studied the radioactive clocks ticking away in a particularly rare and ancient type of Martian meteorite called a Nakhlite (named after Nakhla in Egypt). 'We were able to reconstruct the time scale for Mars' earliest evolution,' said Craig O'Neill, planetary scientist at Macquarie University. 'Our measurements are up to 20 times more accurate than previous studies, so we've really been able to nail the time scale,' O'Neill said.' Contrary to the popular belief that it only took a few thousand years for Mars to cool and solidify from an initially molten ball, their study suggests that there was a thick steam atmosphere on Mars very early in the planet's history that kept the surface a magma ocean for 100 million years - and essentially sterile the whole time. 'The toughest extremophile bacteria on Earth can withstand up to 130 degrees Celsius, so that makes it very difficult to see how life could have evolved under the conditions on primeval Mars,' said O'Neill. 'The conditions for life wouldn't have existed, unless you could really handle the heat,' he added. These results were recently published in Nature Geoscience.

A wealth of information at your fingertips

OneSearch gives you the Internet plus Mobile Web content – delivering a wealth of information in the way that best suits you. From Yahoo! features like Finance, Flickr^® and Answers to Wikipedia^®and the latest news headlines – you'll get information that is current, comprehensive, accurate and easy to navigate. Your results will appear on one page, conveniently grouped into key categories. oneSearch means you can now use your phone to locate anything you would have previously searched for on your PC.