Saturday, November 16, 2013

Zillow Mortgage
Current
Mortgage Rates

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Downloading, Installing, and Configuring TSM 6.2 for Windows XP/Vista/7 and Windows Server 2003/2008

Question:
How do I download, install, and configure Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) 6.2 for Windows XP/Vista/7 and Windows Server 2003/2008?
Answer:
Important: These instructions are for a new installation of the TSM client. To upgrade to a newer version of the client, perform only steps 2, 3, and 16.
Important: If you are behind a firewall, port 1500 must be opened in the firewall for the backup client to work. You must add the TSM server's IP address (198.82.162.47) to your list of trusted IP addresses.
To download, install, and configure TSM:
  1. Contact Eliza Lau at lau@vt.edu to register your computer's node name.
  2. If it exists, delete the folder [C]:\tsm_images\TSM_BA_Client.
    Note: Replace [C] with the letter of the drive containing a previous TSM installation.
  3. Install the TSM Windows client:
    1. Log on to your computer with an account that has computer administrator privileges.
    2. Go to the Network Backup Service page (http://www.computing.vt.edu/security_and_viruses/network_backup/).
    3. Depending on whether your operating system is 32-bit or 64-bit, download and install the appropriate file:
      • If you are running a 32-bit version of Windows:
        1. Click the TSM Client 6.2.3.0 Download for Windows 32-bit link.
        2. Click the 6.2.3.0-TIV-TSMBAC-WinX32.exe link.
      • If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows:
        1. Click the TSM Client 6.2.3.0 Download for Windows 64-bit link.
        2. Click the 6.2.3.0-TIV-TSMBAC-WinX64.exe link.
      Note: If you are unsure whether you are running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, see Determining Whether an Operating System is 32-bit or 64-bit in Windows XP/Vista/7 (http://answers.vt.edu/kb/entry/3528/)
    4. Save the file to your desktop.
    5. Run the installer that you downloaded:
      • If you downloaded the 32-bit version, on your desktop, double-click the 6.2.3.0-TIV-TSMBAC-WinX32.exe icon.
      • If you downloaded the 64-bit version, on your desktop, double-click the 6.2.3.0-TIV-TSMBAC-WinX64.exe icon.
      Note: If you are prompted by a user control window:
      • In Windows Vista, click the Continue button.
      • In Windows 7, click the Yes button.
    6. Click Next.
    7. If not already selected, in the Choose Setup Language window, from the drop-down list, select English (United States).
    8. Click OK.
    9. Click Next.
    10. Click Next.
    11. Select the Typical option.
    12. Click Next.
    13. Click the Install button.
    14. Click Finish.
    15. Click the Yes button to restart your computer.
      Note: If you are not prompted to restart, then manually restart your computer.
  4. After your computer restarts, configure the TSM backup-archive client:
    1. Go to the Index of /~lau (http://filebox.vt.edu/~lau/) filebox page.
    2. Right-click the dsm.opt link.
    3. Save the file to your computer:
      • In Firefox, from the drop-down list, select Save Link As....
      • In Internet Explorer 7/8, from the drop-down list, select Save Target As....
    4. Save the file to the path [C]:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\baclient
      Note: Replace [C] with the letter of the drive where you installed TSM.
    5. Open the file [C]:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\baclient\dsm.opt.
      Note: Replace [C] with the letter of the drive where you installed TSM.
      Important: Make sure you open the dsm.opt file, not the dsm.opt.txt file.
    6. Select a program to open the dsm.opt file:
      • In Windows XP, select the Select the Program from a List option.
      • In Windows Vista/7, select the Select a Program from a List of Installed Programs option.
    7. Click OK.
    8. Select Notepad.
    9. Click OK.
    10. After NODENAME, type your computer's fully qualified node name.
      Example: NODENAME abcd1234.vt.edu
      Note: If you are using Windows Vista or 7, add extra information to the dsm.opt file:
      1. Place the cursor after Domain All-Local.
      2. Press the Space Bar key.
      3. Type: -systemstate
        Example: domain all-local -systemstate
    11. From the File menu, select Save.
    12. From the File menu, select Exit.
  5. Start the TSM Backup-Archive GUI:
    1. Click the Start button.
    2. Select All Programs.
    3. Select Tivoli Storage Manager.
    4. Select Backup-Archive GUI.
      Note: If you are prompted by a user control or security alert window:
      • In Windows XP, click the Unblock button.
      • In Windows Vista:
        1. Click the Continue button.
        2. Click the Unblock button.
      • In Windows 7:
        1. Click the Yes button.
        2. Click the Unblock button.
  6. In the Password text box, type: changeme
  7. Change your password:
    1. From the Utilities menu, select Change Password....
    2. In the Old Password text box, type: changeme
    3. Enter a new password and confirm it.
    4. Click the Change button.
  8. Click the Backup button.
  9. Double-click Local.
  10. These are all the partitions that are eligible for backup. Expand any folder and place a check in the check box next to a small file that you want to back up.
    Note: Do not check the C: drive or other hard drives. The initial backup is a full backup, and it will take a long time to run. Right now, you just want to test your connection.
  11. Click the Backup button.
  12. Verify that the backup was successful.
  13. Set up the backup scheduler:
    Note: Set up the backup scheduler only if you have never installed TSM before. If you have deleted a previous version of TSM, the scheduler already exists.
    1. If you were able to successfully run a backup, close the Backup window.
    2. From the Utilities menu, select Setup Wizard.
    3. Place a check in the Help Me Configure the TSM Client Scheduler check box.
    4. Click Next.
    5. Click Next.
    6. Select the Install a New or Additional Scheduler option.
    7. Click Next.
    8. In the TSM Schedular Name text box, type: TSM Scheduler
    9. If not already selected, select the Local Machine option.
    10. Place a check in the Use the Client Acceptor Daemon [CAD] to Manage the Scheduler check box.
    11. Click Next.
    12. In the TSM Acceptor Name text box, type: TSM Client Acceptor Daemon
    13. Click Next.
    14. Click Next.
    15. Click Next.
    16. In the Node Name text box, type your computer's fully qualified node name.
    17. In the TSM Password text box, type the password that you chose.
    18. Click Next.
    19. If not already selected, select the The System Account option.
    20. Under When Do You Want the Service to Start?, select the Automatically When Windows Boots option.
    21. Click Next.
    22. Click Next.
    23. Select the Yes option.
    24. Click Next.
    25. Click the Apply button.
    26. Click Finish.
  14. Check the schedule log to verify that the scheduler has contacted the server:
    1. Navigate to C:\Program Files\Tivoli\TSM\baclient.
    2. Double-click the dsmsched.log icon.
    3. Verify that the scheduler has contacted the server.
    4. From the File menu, select Exit.
  15. Installation is complete. Backup will run at its scheduled time. Send an e-mail message to Eliza Lau at lau@vt.edu to tell her which computer has been set up. Give her the computer's DNS name and the person's name.
  16. Set up open file support to back up locked files (such as archived PST files in Microsoft Outlook):
    1. From the Utilities menu, select Setup Wizard.
    2. Place a check in the Help Me Configure Open File Support check box.
    3. Click Next.
    4. Click Next.
    5. Select the appropriate option:
      • In Windows 7 and Server 2008, select Volume Shadowcopy Services (VSS).
      • In Windows XP, select Logical Volume Snapshot Agent (LVSA).
    6. Click Next.
    7. Click Apply.
    8. Click Finish.
    9. Restart your computer.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Asian Games 2010 - Medal Tally




Asian Games 2010 Medal Tally


Ranking Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China 185 106 92 383
2 Korea 72 61 87 220
3 Japan 42 70 88 200
4 Iran 19 11 24 54
5 Kazakhstan 16 20 34 70
6 Chinese Taipei 12 13 34 59
7 Uzbekistan 10 19 21 50
8 India 10 14 29 53
9 Malaysia 9 17 13 39
10 Thailand 9 7 31 47
11 Hong Kong, China 8 15 16 39
12 DPR Korea 6 10 18 34
13 Indonesia 4 9 12 25
14 Singapore 4 7 6 17
15 Athletes from Kuwait 4 6 1 11
16 Qatar 4 4 6 14
17 Philippines 3 3 9 15
18 Saudi Arabia 3 3 5 11
19 Pakistan 3 2 3 8
20 Bahrain 3 0 3 6
21 Jordan 2 2 1 5
22 Viet Nam 1 17 14 32
23 Mongolia 1 3 9 13
24 Kyrgyzstan 1 2 2 5
25 Macao, China 1 1 3 5
26 Tajikistan 1 0 3 4
27 Myanmar 0 5 3 8
28 United Arab Emirates 0 4 1 5
29 Iraq 0 1 2 3
Lebanon 0 1 2 3
31 Afghanistan 0 1 1 2
Bangladesh 0 1 1 2
33 Lao PDR 0 0 2 2
34 Nepal 0 0 1 1
Oman 0 0 1 1
Syria 0 0 1 1
Total 433 435 579 1447

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

US demands world response over Korea warship sinking

Washington:US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the international community must respond in the growing crisis over the sinking of a South Korean warship.

She said there was "overwhelming" evidence that North Korea was to blame, and urged Pyongyang to halt its "policy of belligerence".

Mrs Clinton was speaking in South Korea at the end of an Asian tour.

North Korea denies it was responsible, and has warned of retaliation if action is taken against it.

After an international investigation produced proof that the ship, the Cheonan, was hit by a North Korean torpedo, South Korea announced a package of measures, including a halt to most trade. It is also seeking action via the United Nations Security Council.

The North then announced, late on Tuesday, that it was cutting all ties with the South. It has also banned South Korean ships and planes from its territory.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan told a joint news conference he and Mrs Clinton had agreed that North Korea should take responsibility for the sinking of the Cheonan, torpedoed on 26 March with the

"This was an unacceptable provocation by North Korea and the international community has a responsibility and a duty to respond," Mrs Clinton said.

The incident required "a strong but measured response," she said.

Before going to Seoul, Mrs Clinton had two days of discussions in Beijing with her Chinese counterparts.

She has been pressing China to join the international condemnation but Beijing is taking a cautious line, calling for restraint.

"I believe that the Chinese understand the seriousness of this issue and are willing to listen to the concerns expressed by both South Korea and the United States," Mrs Clinton said on Wednesday.

"We expect to be working with China as we move forward in fashioning a response."

Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun earlier said his country was still evaluating information on the sinking of the Cheonan.

"We have always believed that dialogue is better than confrontation," he added.

Tank exercises

With tensions rising rapidly, the North has reacted angrily to trade and shipping sanctions announced by the South.

It said on Wednesday it would cut off a road link across the heavily defended border if Seoul resumed propaganda broadcasts, halted six years ago.

Earlier, the North said it would match Southern sanctions with its own, and sever the few remaining lines of communication between the two governments.

South Korean ships and planes would be banned from Northern territorial waters and airspace.

All South Korean workers in the jointly run Kaesong industrial park north of the border were expected to be expelled although they were allowed to enter on Wednesday, Reuters news agency reports.

Apart from Kaesong, there is little economic relationship left between the two states, their ties almost frozen since Lee Myung-bak took office in 2008, the agency notes.

"North Korea is not closing up Kaesong immediately because it is saving the cards it needs in order to play the game," said Jang Cheol-hyeon, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Strategy.

The two states are technically still at war after the Korean conflict ended without a peace treaty in 1953.

South Korean K1 tanks could be seen on Tuesday conducting an exercise to prepare for a possible surprise attack by North Korea.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Australian Grand Prix 2010 Highlights Video

The second grand prix of the season takes the Formula 1 teams to Australia with Fernando Alonso leading the drivers championship.The most enduring feeling though after the Bahrain race that promised so much was how little it actually delivered in terms of racing excitement. The general consensus was that the much heralded rule change.


McLaren’s Jenson Button Wins the Australian Grand Prix



Janson Button has won the Australian Grand Prix in flying colours, While Kubica and Massa came 2nd and 34d respectively. Detailed results and Video Replay of the race will be available shortly.

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 58 1:33:36.531 4 25
2 11 Robert Kubica Renault 58 +12.034 9 18
3 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +14.488 5 15
4 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 58 +16.304 3 12
5 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 58 +16.683 6 10
6 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 +29.989 11












Courtesy:http://www.totalsportsmadness.com/2010/03/26/australian-grand-prix-2010-live-stream-highlights/

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Google Pulled Out From China For Personal Reasons: Google Co-Founder

New York:A leading newspaper has stated that Google’s pull-out from China is partly motivated by its co-founder Sergey Brin’s own memories of oppression in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Google suspended its China operations from March 22 after months of tussle with the Chinese government over cyber attacks.

Brin had emigrated to the USA from the former Soviet Union at the age of six in 1979. He said that the current Chinese web censorship and suppression of dissidents had reminded him of the ‘tyranny’ of his youth.

"In some aspects of their policy, particularly with respect to censorship, with respect to surveillance of dissidents, I see the same earmarks of totalitarianism, and I find that personally quite troubling," he said.

Brin is still taking responsibility for the day-to-day running of Google along with other co-founder Larry Page and CEO Eric Schmidt. He said that he couldn’t do more compromises for operating in China.

China exercised its grip over Google’s activity after the Summer Olympics of 2008.

"China was ever-present," he said.

"One out of five meetings that I attended, there was some component specifically applied to China in a different way than other countries," he added.

Google has re-routed its searches to a site in Hong Kong that is not censored. But, for the past few days, users are complaining of limitations to their searches.

At the same time, Brin has also sent a signal to other countries like Australia which plans to come up with a system that would filter out information judged objectionable to children.

"One of the reasons I am glad we are making this move in China is that the China situation was really emboldening other countries to try and implement their own firewalls," he said.


Thursday, March 25, 2010

Cricket Live: IPL 3 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

China no threat to India's IT industry - just yet

NEW DELHI: One of the perpetual fears of the export-oriented Indian software industry is that one day it is going to be overtaken by China. Well, there is cause for cheer - at least for the moment - as a recent McKinsey study says that it will be quite a while before China can really threaten India in this sector.

"To compete with India, China will have to consolidate its highly fragmented industry to gain the size and expertise needed to capture large international projects. Currently, there is little movement in this direction," says the McKinsey study. It shows that only about 12% of Chinese software services companies see mergers, acquisitions (M&As)and alliances as important in their agenda.

"Managers in China have little M&A experience, while several Indian companies are considering acquisition of Chinese firms to expand their operations," the study says. "No company has emerged from this crowded pack. Only five have more than 2,000 employees. India, on the other hand, has a little less than 3,000 software services companies. Of these, at least 15 have more than 2,000 workers and some, including Infosys Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Technologies, have garnered international recognition and a global clientele," says the study.

Only six of China's 30 biggest software companies are qualified at level five or four of the capability-maturity model. On the other hand, all of the top 30 Indian software companies have surpassed these benchmarks. While China has about 8,000 software services providers, close to 75% of them have fewer than 50 employees. Without adequate scale, Chinese players are unlikely to attract top international clients. "Chinese software services providers do little to develop their employees and very few use stock options, training programs or other incentives to build talent," McKinsey notes.

The top 10 Chinese information technology (IT) services companies have only about 20% share of the market compared with 45% garnered by India's top 10. "Shortcomings in the structure of China's IT industry prevent it from taking full advantage of an increasing English-speaking graduate force. Although revenues from IT services are on the rise, they are barely half of India's $12.7 billion a year. Growth is driven by domestic demand - most customers are small and mid-size Chinese enterprises who want their software customized to their own needs," says the report.

According to it, Japanese customers, who seek mostly low-value application-development contracts rather than more lucrative ones for design, supply about 65% of the income. Despite lower costs, operating margins in Chinese software services companies average only 7% compared with 11% at similar companies around the world because many projects are below optimal scale and suppliers often compete on price.

Optimism belied

In the past, studies conducted by McKinsey as well as NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies, a body that represents the Indian software industry) have warned that China could pose a major threat to the Indian IT industry. In 2002, while McKinsey sounded an optimistic note about India's IT sector, it cautioned that if India did not promote itself aggressively, China, the Philippines and Singapore could walk off with most of the business from global majors. McKinsey was especially concerned about China, despite the fact that the top 10 Indian companies exported more software than Russia and China put together. "The country has recognized the opportunity and both the government and the industry are making a concerted effort to give a fillip to the IT space," McKinsey had said.

Another study by the global consulting major had even said that India would be left behind by a Chinese government and industry program that is channeling billions of dollars to nine Chinese universities, shaping tie-ups with colleges abroad and investing millions of dollars in research laboratories and equipment. With more than 100,000 Indians migrating to the United States each year for better-paid software jobs, Indian industry has already started hiring from China to meet the shortfall, the study said.

"Many Indian companies have already started recruiting from Chinese universities. China has a systematic program of funding universities." The studies by McKinsey and NASSCOM showed that Indian technical institutes would be unable to meet the projected demand of 500,000 professionals in 2006. Experts warned that the only stumbling block preventing China from overtaking India, given its cost advantage and large trained manpower, was the language barrier, which could be surmounted.

The future

Clearly, in the continually changing business paradigm, it is never easy to predict definitively how a particular sector is going to shape up. The latest McKinsey study comes in response to intense speculation that China, inundating the world with cheap manufacturing goods, will beat India in the software sector as well. But while technical expertise and manpower are one aspect of a booming IT industry, fresh management practices, economies of scale, mergers and acquisitions, access to finance, client interface and relationships are equally important in the longer run.

The rules of the game are changing by the year. As Indian IT firms reach global scales, there is talk of reverse outsourcing - engineers from the West finding employment in overseas operations of Indian firms. This, in addition to the many out-of-work executives from the US who have shifted base to India in search of better opportunities. Faced with rising business from the West, spiraling salaries of high-cost employees who constantly hop jobs as well as a predicted shortage of skilled workers, Indian IT firms are doing the next best thing - outsourcing work from the US to China, with the added advantage of leveraging more intra-Asian business from Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

According to research firm Gartner Group, the global IT services market is worth $580 billion, of which only $19 billion is outsourced, but India commands 80% of this offshore market. The figure for outsourced IT services is expected to grow very rapidly. The IT services market is broadly divided into two sections - IT/tech services that require skilled manpower, which China possesses, and the business and process outsourcing (BPO) segment which requires a knowledge of English and thus cannot be further outsourced to China. India garners the bulk of the outsourced BPO business as well, which makes its position in the international IT industry rock solid, for now at least.

Priyanka Bhardwaj is a New Delhi-based writer
Asia Times

Friday, February 5, 2010

US defends $6.4bn weapons sale to Taiwan

Washington: The US has defended a proposed weapons sale to Taiwan following a furious response from China.The US State Department said on Saturday that the sale contributed to "security and stability" between Taiwan and China, Reuters reported.Beijing announced a series of moves against the US in retaliation for the proposed $6.4bn (£4bn) sale.Ties between the two countries are already strained by rows over trade and internet censorship.

"Such sales contribute to maintaining security and stability across the Taiwan Strait," said US State Department spokeswoman Laura Tischler, quoted by Reuters.
The US is the leading arms supplier to Taiwan and has a treaty obligation to provide it with defensive arms.

Severe harm:Beijing said it would suspend military exchanges with the US, review co-operation on major issues and impose sanctions on companies selling arms.However, the US - like the EU - has banned its companies selling arms to China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, so it was not clear what effect Chinese sanctions would have.Chinese defence ministry spokesman Huang Xueping said the measures reflected the "severe harm" posed by the deal.A foreign ministry spokesman said the arms deal would have "repercussions that neither side wishes to see".

Difficult ties:Taiwan and China have been ruled by separate governments since the end of a civil war in 1949.Beijing has hundreds of missiles pointed at the island and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control if Taiwan moved towards formal independence.Defence ties between Washington and Beijing have been on ice for several years because of differences over Taiwan, though the two countries' leaders pledged to improve them in 2009.

Taiwan, meanwhile, welcomed the US move."It will let Taiwan feel more confident and secure so we can have more interactions with China," the Central News Agency quoted President Ma Ying-jeou as saying.The Pentagon earlier notified the US Congress of the proposed arms sale, which forms part of a package first pledged by the Bush administration.Friday's notification to Congress by the Defense Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA) was required by law. It does not mean the sale has been concluded.US lawmakers have 30 days to comment on the proposed sale, Associated Press reported. If there are no objections, it would proceed.

The arms package includes 114 Patriot missiles, 60 Black Hawk helicopters and communications equipment for Taiwan's F-16 fleet, the agency said in a statement.
It does not include F-16 fighter jets, which Taiwan's military has been seeking.
Last week US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton angered Beijing with a call to China to investigate cyber attacks on search giant Google, after the company said email accounts of human rights activists had been hacked.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Virgin Atlantic unveils first commercial spaceship

California: Virgin Atlantic on Monday unveiled the first commercial passenger spaceship, a sleek black-and-white vessel that represents an expensive gamble on creating a commercial space tourism industry.

An artist's conception of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo during a sub-orbital flight into space is pictured in this undated publicity photograph from Virgin Galactic.

The company hopes the winged, minivan-sized SpaceShipTwo will rocket tourists into zero gravity beginning in two or three years.

"This will be the start of commercial space travel," Virgin Atlantic Airways founder and billionaire Richard Branson said at the launch in California's Mojave Desert. "You become an astronaut."

The project, with a $450 million budget, would see the construction of six commercial spaceships that would take passengers high enough to achieve weightlessness and see the curvature of Earth set against the backdrop of space.

An artist's conception of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo during a sub-orbital flight into space is pictured in this undated publicity photograph from Virgin Galactic

A twin-hulled aircraft named Eve would carry SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of about 60,000 feet before releasing it. The spaceship would then fire its onboard rocket engines, climbing to about 65 miles above Earth.

The trip would take about 2-1/2 hours, with passengers experiencing about five minutes of weightlessness.

Some 300 aspiring astronauts have put down deposits for the $200,000 ride, which includes three days of training.

Eventually, Virgin Galactic, the offshoot of Virgin Atlantic, may offer suborbital travel that could dramatically cut the length of flights.

"Subject to American government permission, we may well start developing a program to try to take people from continent to continent, you know, two hours from Los Angeles to Australia," Branson said in an interview with Reuters TV.

"Can't promise that we're going to be able to do it, but if you don't try things you don't succeed, so we'll definitely give it a go," he said.

BRANSON SAYS SAFER THAN NASA

Other potential business ventures include flying scientists and experiments and launching small payloads into space.

Branson hired aircraft designer Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites to build the commercial spaceship fleet after a Rutan prototype named SpaceShipOne won the $10 million Ansari X Prize in 2004 for the first private piloted spaceflight.

Commercial space flight has been a dream for decades, but the 2004 flight was the first proof that industry might be able to achieve it without the help of government, which historically has dominated space travel.

A lethal 2007 explosion during a rocket engine test by Scaled Composites, however, illustrated the danger and risk to creating a safe and profitable venture.

Branson, in the Reuters Television interview, said that the flights would be safer than NASA's Space Shuttle.

"I think because it's so much younger, it's just that much safer than what NASA has done using old technology which is 50, 60 years old," he said.

SpaceShipOne, which is on display at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, made three suborbital flights.

A 10-month atmospheric test flight program is expected to begin on Tuesday and would be followed by extensive test flights into space before passenger travel in 2011 or 2012.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Dynamic Architecture: Rotating Buildings in Dubai and Moscow

Revolution in Architecture: We have seen tall buildings, we have seen strange buildings, but have you seen buildings in motion that actually change their shape? Sounds unbelievable but not to Dr. David Fisher.

Visionary architect Dr. David Fisher is the creator of the world’s first building in motion - the revolutionary Dynamic Tower. It will adjust itself to the sun, wind, weather and views by rotating each floor separately.This building will never appear exactly the same twice.

               Dynamic Architecture
It is amazing but you will have the choice of waking up to sunrise in your bedroom and enjoying sunsets over the ocean at dinner.

In addition to being such an incredible engineering miracle it will produce energy for itself and even for other buildings because it will have wind turbines fitted between each rotating floor. So an 80-story building will have up to 79 wind turbines, making it a true green power plant.

               Dynamic Architecture
There are currently two projects of such Dynamic Architecture in the world - Dubai and Moscow.

Dubai Project

             Dynamic Tower In Dubai
The Dynamic Tower in Dubai will be 1,380 feet (420 meters) tall, 80 floors, apartments will range in size from 1,330 square feet (124 square meters), to Villas of 12,900 square feet (1,200 square meters) complete with a parking space inside the apartment. It will consist of offices, a luxury hotel, residential apartments, and the top 10 floors will be for luxury villas located in a prime location in Dubai.

              Dynamic Tower In Dubai
The Dynamic Tower in Dubai will be the first skyscraper to be entirely constructed in a factory from prefabricated parts. So instead of some 2000 workers, only 680 will be sufficient. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2010.

Moscow Project

The tower will be 1312 ft (400 meters) tall. The investments into the tower construction is going to be more than $400 million. The beginning of construction is planned for the end of 2008, and the commissioning of the tower into operation will
be for 2010.

              Dynamic Tower In Moscow

Monday, November 23, 2009

Is India poor, who says? Ask Swiss banks

Switzerland:With personal account deposit bank of $1500 billion in foreign reserve which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the country's foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor country?

DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal accounts a sum of about $ 1500 billion, which have been misappropriated by them. This amount is about 13 times larger than the country’s foreign debt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 each. This huge amount has been appropriated from the people of India by exploiting and betraying them.

Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India, the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours. After paying the entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in earning interest, the amount of interest will be more than the annual budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain the country very comfortably.

Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently. “Obviously, these people won’t be tourists. They must be travelling there for some other reason,” believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, clearly, he isn’t referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats who’ve been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin!

Just read the following details and note how these dishonest industrialists, scandalous politicians, corrupt officers, cricketers, film actors, illegal sex trade and protected wildlife operators, to name just a few, sucked this country’s wealth and prosperity. This may be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only. What about other international banks?

Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of following countries:

Top five

India---- $1456 billion
Russia---$ 470 billion
UK-------$390 billion
Ukraine- $100 billion
China-----$ 96 billion

Now do the maths - India with $1456 billion or $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than rest of the world combined. Public loot since 1947: Can we bring back our money? It is one of the biggest loots witnessed by mankind -- the loot of the Aam Aadmi (common man) since 1947, by his brethren occupying public office. It has been orchestrated by politicians, bureaucrats and some businessmen. The list is almost all-encompassing. No wonder, everyone in India loots with impunity and without any fear.

What is even more depressing in that this ill-gotten wealth of ours has been stashed away abroad into secret bank accounts located in some of the world’s best known tax havens. And to that extent the Indian economy has been stripped of its wealth. Ordinary Indians may not be exactly aware of how such secret accounts operate and what are the rules and regulations that go on to govern such tax havens. However, one may well be aware of ’Swiss bank accounts,’ the shorthand for murky dealings, secrecy and of course pilferage from developing countries into rich developed ones.

In fact, some finance experts and economists believe tax havens to be a conspiracy of the western world against the poor countries. By allowing the proliferation of tax havens in the twentieth century, the western world explicitly encourages the movement of scarce capital from the developing countries to the rich.

In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research finding demonstrating that $11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held offshore by rich individuals across the globe. The findings estimated that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from some 70 tax havens.

Further, augmenting these studies of TJN, Raymond Baker -- in his widely celebrated book titled ’Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free Market System’ -- estimates that at least $5 trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries to the West since the mid-1970. It is further estimated by experts that one per cent of the world’s population holds more than 57 per cent of total global wealth, routing it invariably through these tax havens. How much of this is from India is anybody’s guess.

What is to be noted here is that most of the wealth of Indians parked in these tax havens is illegitimate money acquired through corrupt means. Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank accounts in such places is central to the issue, not their low tax rates as the term ’tax havens’ suggests. Remember Bofors and how India could not trace the ultimate beneficiary of those transactions because of the secrecy associated with these bank accounts?

India's English growth 'too slow' a study says

India is falling behind countries such as China in its attempts to increase the use of English among its population, a new report says.

The study by the British Council says a "huge shortage" of teachers and quality institutions is hampering India despite a growing demand for English skills.

The study says China may now have more people who speak English than India.

India's emergence as a major software and IT hub has in part been possible due to its English-educated workers.

'Poor English'

The study, English Next India, by British author David Gradoll says English is a "casualty of wider problems in Indian education".

"The rate of improvement in the English language skills of the Indian population is at present too slow to prevent India from falling behind other countries which have implemented the teaching of English in primary schools sooner, and more successfully.

"China may already have more people who speak English than India."

The report says India will need many more people speaking English to sustain its economic growth.

"Much of the world is catching India up in terms of the English proficiency of their populations"

Increasing demand for English language schools, a rising number of jobs which require English skills as well as growing social mobility are driving demand for English in India, the study says.

But the spread of the language, according to the report, is being hindered by a shortage of English language teaching in schools.

The report says Indian universities fall far short of rival countries in the quality of teaching and research, and "poor English is one of the causes".

Also, the report adds, it is "impossible" to improve standards of English without addressing the problem of "very low levels of academic achievement" of students studying in government and private schools.

The study says a range of approaches is required to improve English proficiency in India, and no single method will help.

English has been spoken in India from the days of colonial rule, but there are no precise estimates on how many Indians speak, read and write English.

One estimate suggests 333 million people in India "use English", but India's National Knowledge Commission says "even now, no more than 1% of our people use English as a second language, let alone a first language".

China vs. India - Entrepreneurship

There are scores of articles in every major newspaper and every major magazine comparing India with China on various economic progress indicators. There are even books written about Tiger of India pitted against Dragon of China. To those who base their opinions on such reports, articles and books, it looks as though India is posing a strong completion to China, when in fact every measurable economic indicator suggests that China is clearly leading India on all fronts. Moreover the gap between these two countries is only widening with each passing year. And yet, many Indian commentators continue to complacently believe that India has some edge somewhere when in fact none exists.


The tone of these reports and analysis comparing India with China suggest that India is actually inching towards China. That is not the case. In reality China is leaving behind India by a bigger margin every year. It is becoming tougher and tougher for India to catch up. In the last few years, Chinese have built the biggest dam on the planet, built the longest bridges, built the fastest cities, built their own planes, submarines, ships, magnetic trains, and even the highest railways while India continued to lay another layer of asphalt on its decrepit roads after each rainfall.

India is not even showing a promise of catching up. None of its policies suggest this. None of its initiatives give a glimmer of hope. Even the Indian industry is not thinking big. It is still content to play a small game.

Is English really India’s edge?

Indian commentators continue to tell us that all this China-leading-India comments are based in myth, because Indians have English which Chinese don’t have.

Is English really India’s edge? Only when India looks at itself as servicing the West using its BPOs then yes, English gives India the edge. However, if the competitor is bent on actually creating its own technology product industry to take on the West, does English still matter?
When was the last time a Japanese car company could not sell its cars because the makers were not good at English? When was the last time someone in Europe balked at buying a Sony Walkman because its makers couldn’t speak English? When it comes to China, how come their lack of good English not stop Huawei from becoming world #2 in telecom equipment? How come it did not stop Lenovo, Haier and ZTE from becoming leading global brands? Just to give a perspective to Indian readers – 2 telecom equipment companies of China, Huawei and ZTE put together made USD 30 Billion in 2008 while the entire IT-ITES industry of India put together made USD 58 Billion in 2008-09.

China is changing the rules of the games. It is taking on the West where the West has dominated so far, bringing the fight closer to the technology leaders, while India has conveniently told itself that it will not even play this game.

Indians are in self-denial. They foolishly believe everything Thomas Friedman tells them, and they are happy serving their European and American masters setting up BPOs, KPOs, LPOs, software services, helping them do their things in a cheap and cost-effective way, while Chinese are poised to take on these European and American masters head on. It’s as though the Chinese have completely overthrown their colonial inferiority complex.

For many years now, Indians gloated over the characterization that India is good at software services while China is good at manufacturing. This was a convenient characterization that only Indians believed because the books were written in English which only Indians could understand. Chinese blissfully unaware of what Friedman said were not constrained by this characterization and hence clearly violated all hierarchies.

Indians limited themselves to serving the West. When they looked in the mirror, they said, “I am an Indian. I am good at services. I should just stick to it”. That India is only good at software services became a cultural phenomenon with every major industry bigwig repeating it on various forums. Even Indian government fell into this trap where all incentives and subsidies were geared only to promote the software services companies. Go to a hardware park in India and compare it with a software park in India, you will recognize the step-motherly treatment meted out to the hardware companies.

India made no attempts at taking on China in manufacturing. Nor did they attempt to take on the West to go up the value chain to actually deliver technology and products. The Flat World theories told them that they can just concentrate on what they were good at, that is Software Services, KPOs, BPOs and LPOs, giving up on manufacturing forever thereby handing over the race on a silver platter to China, and giving up on technology products thereby continuing to serve the West.

China not only won the race in manufacturing and consolidated its position, it is now entering the technology product space, the domain held closely by the European, American and Japanese technology leaders. What more, it has started to beat these leaders at their own game. Huawei has recently won the contract to supply 3G equipment in Norway, the bastion of Nokia. While India made feeble attempts with C-DOT and ITI who are not even able to sell into BSNL, China has launched not one but two major telecom companies – Huawei and ZTE, that not only sells within their countries, they sell to BSNL also.

China vs. India

CK Prahlad in his closing comments at Nasscom Summit of February 2009 advised that Indian companies should foster more startups because they are the ones which bring vibrancy to the economy. His advice comes late, and even when it comes, it falls on deaf ears.
Infosys, TCS and Wipro, the giants of Indian software services which Thomas Friedman lauds, did not do much to sponsor or promote startups in India (barring few exceptions).
Their presence in India did not help any startup, except that many ex-employees went out and started companies on their own without any support or encouragement from these parent companies.

Meanwhile, China has launched extensive nationwide program to promote entrepreneurship in China. I was told that even a district head, equivalent to Indian District Collector, could invest up to half a million US dollars to a company that sets up shop in his district. Writing about China, a report says:

An analysis of documenting the tremendous growth of the Chinese entrepreneurial and cultural initiatives since the demise of Communist leader Mao Zedong reveals that this accounts for the Chinese economy’s double digit growth in the last couple of decades.

It is clear to some countries that startups are essential for the growth in economy. Not so, thinks India. Indian has never believed in startups. They don’t think they add up to anything. The government is obsessed with giants because they look at them as employment provider – therefore the bigger the employer the better it is. Not a single major initiative has been taken in the last few years to promote startups in India. While the government boasts of loans to SMEs, when startups actually approach the banks, they feign ignorance of any such initiative.

All initiatives and decision making bodies in India are headed by people who have been good software services and therefore there is not a single policy that actually aids home grown brands, products and technologies. STPI still thinks that software is exported only as floppy, ftp or a CD. If you put that software in telecom equipment, a mobile handset, or a DVD player, then it does not recognize it as software and hence are not given the incentives. If Apple existed in India, there is not category for recognizing it. The prevailing mood is clear – you serve a foreign master you get the incentives; you try to become a master you don’t get any incentives.

Also, there are not many places a startup can raise funds in India. That’s why most startups continue to be family-owned or family-backed. First generation entrepreneurs find it impossible to raise money. The number of VC firms in India is limited while the government funds are small. Most government funds are small and therefore their mandate does not allow them to fund big ideas, while the miniscule few bigger size funds do not fund loss-making companies which completely rules out startups.


China, on the other hand, is actively promoting startups through various forums and incentives. Though it is a communist country it hosts millions of entrepreneurs and VC firms which is aiding its economy.


China currently has over 200 million entrepreneurs and it houses 200 venture capital firms. The country accounts for 24.6% of the total entrepreneurship activities across the world, far ahead of Indian at 13.9% and the US at 14%, according to a survey by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

About 116 Chinese companies are listed on NASDAQ, as against 2568 US firms, Israel’s 63, and a handful from India, says the study.

China is even popularizing entrepreneurship as a cultural attitude with various initiatives including TV programs.

…a Chinese reality TV show “Win in China” has received applications for entrepreneurial ventures from over 1,20,000 aspirants. Of these, 108 were chosen for prize money and working capital of $5 Million.

Indians don’t know what to do. They are confused. They don’t know if they are socialist or capitalist. The reality is that they are clueless – they are neither capitalist nor socialist. China is both socialist and capitalist playing these two cards really well. The only floating hope for Indians has been their mastery of English. And the following observation should submerge that hope as well.

To give competition to India and other cost-effective English speaking countries like the Philippines, millions of Chinese students are learning English systematically. “China will become the largest English speaking geography in the world by the end of this year”, Compton added.

Courtesy:Guest article by Sujai Karampuri, CEO/Founder of Sloka Telecom from his/>

Google PC will start in seven seconds or less

CALIFORNIA:New Google Inc software will start up a computer as fast as a television can be turned on, the search company said on Thursday as it showed off its Chrome operating system designed for PCs that do their work on the Web.

Google gave the first public look at its Chrome OS four months after declaring its intention of developing the PC's main software, a move that pits it directly against Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc.

True to Google's Internet-pedigree, the Chrome OS resembles a Web browser more than it does a traditional computer operating system like Microsoft Windows, matching Google's ambition to drive people to the Web -- where they can see Google ads.

Google said the software will initially be available by the holiday season of 2010 on low-cost netbooks that meet Google's hardware specifications, such as using only memory chips to store data instead of slower hard drives, the current standard.

Netbooks running Chrome OS will only be able to run Web applications and the user's data will automatically be stored on the Web in the so-called cloud of Internet servers, Google executives said at an event at the company's Mountain View, California headquarters on Thursday.

"It's basically a Web browsing machine," said Altimeter Group analyst Charlene Li, referring to the netbooks powered by Chrome OS.

Such a machine is made for a world of near-constant, extremely fast Web connection, without the type of software that made Microsoft famous, since most of the work would be done by big machines on the Web which take directions and send information to relatively uncomplicated devices like a Chrome PC.

Sundar Pichai, vice-president of product management for Google's Chrome OS, said that computers running Chrome OS will be able to start in less than seven seconds.

"From the time you press boot you want it to be like a TV: You turn it on and you should be on the Web using your applications," Pichai said.

MORE WEB USE DRIVES MORE GOOGLE ADS

Google said it is giving away the software for free, similar to its Android smartphone software, with the idea that improving the Web experience will ultimately benefit its Internet search advertising business, which generated roughly $22 billion in revenue in 2008.

"They're doing it to get further and further entrenched in whatever people are doing to go online, whether that's a browser, an operating system or in applications," said Todd Greenwald, an analyst with Signal Hill Group.

"If Chrome is the OS then the attach (access) rate on Google searches will be a lot higher," he said.

But analysts noted that the differences between conventional PCs and Chrome OS netbooks might give some consumers pause.

"If they view it from the conventional perspective, then it falls short," Gartner analyst Ray Valdes said of Chrome OS, citing its lack of compatibility with traditional software and its limited offline capabilities.

Google officials said Chrome OS netbooks will be able to provide some functions when offline, but that the product was primarily designed to be connected to the Internet.

But Valdes said if Google can deliver on the products' promises, such as fast performance, then consumers may view Chrome OS netbooks as distinct class of products with attractive benefits.

"I think that it's initially going to appeal to small subset of the general consumer population," said Valdes. "The question is can they build on that and expand that over time."

Google made the computer code for the Chrome OS available to outside developers on Thursday, allowing developers to tinker with the software and potentially design new applications to run alongside it.

With Chrome, Google is seeking to challenge the dominance of Microsoft Corp's Windows, which runs on nine out of 10 personal computers.

The Chrome OS also challenges makers of traditional, desktop software, including Microsoft and its lucrative Office suite of productivity software, since Chrome OS only runs Web applications.

Google's Pichai, noted during a demonstration on Thursday, that Chrome OS-based PCs would be interoperable with Web-based versions of software, such as Microsoft's online version of its Excel spreadsheet.

Google said all data in Chrome will automatically be housed in the so-called cloud, or on external servers, but also cached on the computer's internal hardware to boost performance.

If a person loses their netbook, Google Engineering Director Matt Papakipos explained, they can buy a new one, log in and within seconds have a machine with access to all the same data as their previous device.

"What really makes this a cloud device is that all the user data is synced back to the cloud in real time," said Papakipos.

Shares of Mountain View, California-based Google fell $3.66 to $572.99 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Australian PM apologizes to "Forgotten Australians"

CANBERRA: Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made apology on Monday to thousands of Australians who suffered in state and church care, saying the nation looked back in shame.

The prime minister said sorry for the abuses children suffered up until the late 1970s.

Rudd told those gathered that Australia was "sorry for the physical suffering, emotional starvation and the cold absence of love, of tenderness, of care".

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd makes a national apology to the forgotten Australians and former child migrants at a ceremony in the great hall at Parliament House in Canberra November 16, 2009. Rudd apologised on Monday for years of abuse and pain suffered by thousands of orphans and children sent to Australia from Britain, often without the knowledge of their parents.

"As a nation we must now reflect on those who did not receive proper care. We look back with shame that so many of you were left cold, hungry and alone and with nowhere to hide and nobody, absolutely nobody, to whom to turn," Rudd said.

"Robbed of your families, robbed of your homeland, regarded not as innocent children, but regarded instead as a source of child labor," said the prime minister.

He told the audience further that "To those of you who were told you were orphans, brought here without your parents' knowledge or consent, we acknowledge the lies you were told, the lies told to your mothers, fathers and the pain these lies have caused for a lifetime."

Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd comforts a victim after giving a national apology to the forgotten Australians and former child migrants at a ceremony in the great hall at Parliament House in Canberra

The audience included former child migrants separated from their families in Britain and shipped to Australia, as well as others placed with foster parents or in orphanages run by the states and churches.

Many suffered ill-treatment and some sexual abuse. They have been dubbed the "forgotten Australians".

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Dinosaur footprints found in New Zealand

HAMILTON:Seventy million-year-old dinosaur footprints have been found in New Zealand, a geologist said.

The footprints were found in the South Island region of Nelson - the first evidence of the dinosaur's existence in the country.

Geologist Greg Browne of the New Zealand government-owned research organisation, G.N.S. Science, found the footprints while he was investigating rock and sediment formations in Whanganui inlet at Golden Bay, said a press release of Tourism New Zealand here.

The footprints were in six locations spread over an area of about 10km.

Browne said the prints were made by sauropods - large herbivorous dinosaurs with long necks and tails and pillar-like legs.

Palaeontologist Hamish Campbell said the find was 'hugely exciting' and added: 'We will now go and examine rocks of comparable age'.

Browne said the footprints were made in beach sands and were probably quickly covered and preserved by mud from subsequent tides.

'What makes this discovery special is the unique preservation of the footprints in an environment where they could easily have been destroyed by waves, tides, or wind.'

Up to 20 footprints were found at one location and the depressions are roughly circular, with the largest about 60cm in diameter. Most are smaller, typically between 10cm and 20cm in diameter, and were probably formed by dinosaurs between 2m and 6m in length and weighing several tonnes, said Browne.

Dinosaur bones, mostly vertebrae, have been found at three locations - northern Hawkes Bay, Port Waikato, and the Chatham Islands.

Browne said the footprints added a considerable amount of information about how dinosaurs moved, how fast they moved and how big they were.

'This discovery opens the way for further study on a range of dinosaur-related issues in New Zealand.'

Browne's discovery will be published in the December issue of New Zealand Journal of Geology & Geophysics.

Stem cell banking, a Rs 100-crore business in India

New Delhi: Almost non-existent a few years ago in the country, stem cell banking is now a flourishing business with more and more people wishing to store their baby''s cord blood as a form of bio-insurance, even though it comes at a heavy price. Cord blood storage is fast gaining momentum as a less traumatic alternative to treat neurological illnesses, and as a guarantee for the family against a host of diseases.

Stem cell treatment is a therapy in which new cells are injected into damaged tissues and banks generally charge anything between Rs 60,000 and Rs 80,000 to harvest the cord blood for private use. Increased awareness about the benefits of stem cell therapies has led to mushrooming of several firms providing treatment and blood storing services in less than six years.

According to Stem Cell Global Foundation (SCGF), a Delhi-based organisation promoting research, stem cell banking is a Rs 100 crore business in India and at an annual growth of over 35 per cent, it is expected to touch Rs 140 crore by 2010. The overall market for stem cell research is also growing very fast and it could reach Rs 2,200 crore by next year, said Karan Goel, chairman and founder of the foundation.

"The reason behind the exceptional growth is because therapies using stem cells are giving hopes to millions of patients afflicted with chronic diseases and not responding to conventional treatment".

Monday, November 9, 2009

Chandrayaan-II mission to be completed by 2012-13

Bangalore: Chandrayaan-II moon mission, which will help in analysis of mineral composition and undertake terrain mapping of the moon, will be completed by 2012-13, project director of Chandrayaan Dr M Annadurai said today.

"The Rs425-crore project will be completed by 2012-13. As opposed to Chandrayaan-1 which was a moon orbiter, in Chandrayaan-II, the two moon rovers will actually land on the moon surface," and "Chadrayaan-II will consist of the spacecraft and a landing platform with two moon rovers, one from India and one from Russia, which will land on the moon and move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, do a chemical analysis and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above," Annadurai said.

Annadurai said the Chardrayaan-I which was the 70th satellite to go on the moon "created history with discovery of water there (moon)".

"The Rs386-crore project (Chandrayaan-I) which took four-and-a-half years to be completed has provided 6 terabits of data which will take the scientists three years to mull over," he said.

Annadurai gave the credit of Chandrayaan-I success to the "teamwork of the 3,000 scientists who worked tirelessly on the project".

"The students of today have the capacity to lead the world in 2020 through innovation", he said.