Earth Quake in Sumatra Island

It was 6:15 PM in Singapore and I was at my desk working as usual. And then I felt that some one is rocking my chair. And after few seconds I realised that it was an earthquake. The building was shaking and we all should rush down to a safety place. But imagine coming down from 30th floor as ideally that’s what you should do in case of emergency. But nah! I took the elivator hoping that it won’t crash in between the floors. And we all came down safely and stood outside a 60 storey building. If you look for a safer shelter in the city limit I would say that we do not have one. We are surrounded by tall buildings and I could not imagine what would happen if any one of them crashed.

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Welcome Back Steve

Imagine…

End of days for Apple …
All over the place….iPods, iPhones, Macs are lying dead…
And PC’s are taking over….with help of Windows 7…
And….And…much more things…which I can’t imagine right now… 🙂
Steve Jobs dressed in an aluminium dress..perfectly cased as if it was custom made for him….
With iPhone 3GS dangling all over his shoulders and Leopard Snow held in his right hand as if he is holding a Big Gun…

And then he says “I am Back”

in the exact same tone…how Arnold used to say in Terminator :).

Yes indeed…Steve is back to office yesterday. For full story read the CNBC Story

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Types of US Visa’s

Ever wondered what type of Visa you need if you want to enter USA. Here are the different types of Visa for USA.

A – Official Visa

A-1: For Ambassadors, public ministers & consular officers

A-2: For immediate family members of A-1

A-3: Attendants & servants of A-1 and A-2 holders

B – Business/Visitor Visa

B-1: Temporary visitor for business

B-2: Temporary visitor for leisure

C & D Visa (For Aliens in transit)

C-1,2: Alien in transit directly through US

C-3: Family of C-1,C-2 in transit

C-4: Transit without Visa(TWOV)

D-1: Sailors departing on vessel of arrival

D-2: Sailors departing by other means

E – Visa (For Traders/Investors)

E-1: Treaty Trader, spouse and children

E-2: Treaty Investor, spouse and children

F Visa (Students)

Want to study or research at a U.S. college? Then F is the visa for you –

F-1: Academic Student

F-2: Spouse or child of F-1

H (Temporary Worker) Visa

H-1B: Persons in a specialty occupation

H-2B: Seasonal nonagricultural workers

H-3: Trainees other than medical/academic; also training of handicaps

H-4: Dependants of H visa holders

I Visa (Mediapersons)

Are you a reporter, film person, Editor? Then you require an I-visa –
Essential documents: Your press ID, a letter from the editor.

J & Q Exchange Visitor Visa

J-1: Visas for exchange visitors. exchange visitors may be academics, scientists, businesspeople or students.

J-2: Spouse or ‘child’ of J-1 under 21

K Fiance(e) of US Citizen

K-1: Fiance(e)

K-2: Minor child of K-1

K-3: Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (LIFE Act)

K-4: Child of K-3 (LIFE Act)Essential documents: Marriage certificate & Photos, Intent of marrying within 90 days in US(for K1).

L Visa (Intracompany Transferees)

L-1A: Executive, managerial

L-1B: Specialized knowledge

L-2: Spouse or child of L-1

M Visa – Vocational and Language Students

M-1: Vocational student or other non-academic student

M-2: Spouse or child of M-1

O Visa – For Prodigies

O-1: For a Genius in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business, or Athletics.

O-2: Alien’s (support) accompanying O-1

O-3: Spouse or child of O-1 or O-2

P Visa – Athletes and Entertainers

P-1: Athletes & Entertainment groups

P-2: Entertainers in exchange programs

P-3: Entertainers in cultural programs

P-4: Spouse or child of P-1, 2, or 3

R Visa – Religious Workers

R-1: Religious workers

R-2: Spouse or child of R-1

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Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet discovered

Archaeologists in Italy have dug a pair of human skeletons, their arms still wrapped around each other in an eternal embrace.

Archaeologists unearthed the skeletons dating back to the late Neolithic period outside Mantua, 25 miles south of Verona, the city of Shakespeare’s story of doomed love.

Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, because their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.

Experts will now study the artifacts and the skeletons to determine the burial site’s age and how old the two were when they died, she said. The finds will then go on display at Mantua’s Archaeological Museum.Establishing the cause of death could prove almost impossible, unless they were killed by a debilitating disease, a knife or something else that might have left marks on the bones.

The two bodies, which cuddle closely while facing each other on their sides, were probably buried at the same time, an indication of a possible sudden and tragic death.

 

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No GMail for Europe

German users can’t sign up for “gmail.com” accounts, they get “googlemail.com” instead.

Daniel Giersch, a German-born 32-year old entrepreneur, has just announced that his company received a positive ruling last week from the Harmonization Office supporting his claim that “Gmail” and his own “G-mail” are confusingly similar. G-mail is a German service that provides a “gmail.de” email address, but also allows for a sort of “hybrid mail” system in which documents can be sent electronically, printed out by the company, and delivered in paper format to local addresses.

Giersch has been successful in German courts so far, which is why German users can’t sign up for “gmail.com” accounts, and he has now taken his fight to the EU office that handles trademark disputes for the continent.

Google is certainly interested in using the Gmail name wherever it can—Giersch claims the company offered him $250,000 for it at one point—but it now looks it will be “Google Mail” throughout Europe.

For More Information Visit Here and Here

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Free Wireless@SG with SingTel

This deal is applicable only for Singapore

Now you can check your emails or Instant Messaging (IM) for FREE wherever you are, with SingTel Wireless@SG.

SingTel Wireless@SG is proud to be part of Intelligent Nation 2015 (iN2015) which offers everyone wireless broadband access at both indoor and outdoor public areas. What’s more, SingTel is offering the basic service at 512kbps FREE for 3 years till 31 December 2009.

Wireless@SG is also mobility beyond laptops. It is applicable for Internet tablets, PDAs or WiFi enabled handsets such as Nokia N80, E60, E61, E70 and Samsung i600.

Wireless@SG is available FREE at a speed of 512kbps, or you can choose to take up the higher speed of 1Mbps plan at a nominal fee of $10.40/month (with GST).

SIGN UP NOW !!!

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Google Reader can now show feed’s embedded videos

Google Reader should now show videos from YouTube and Google Video (and a few other sites) that you have embedded in your blog posts and articles.

Other video sites they support currently are MySpace, Jumpcut, Grouper, IFILM, Metacafe, Revver, Vimeo, vSocial, and games from Monsters and Critics.

If your favorite site isn’t listed, please tell them in the Reader group.

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How to slow down HIV progression

Source: Google News

A new US study suggests that HIV patients who take a daily supplement of selenium experience a slower rate of HIV progression.

Selenium is a non metal similar to sulphur in its chemical properties. In large amounts it is toxic, but in trace amounts it enables organisms to produce enzymes that help cells to function.

Selenosis is a serious disease caused by taking too much selenium. The upper tolerance level in humans is about 400 micrograms a day. Selenosis causes stomach problems, loss of hair and nails, liver and brain damage. It can be fatal.

In the trial 262 male and female patients with HIV were randomly assigned to take a prescription of either 200 micrograms of selenium supplements (as a high-yield yeast formulation) or a placebo every day. Their blood serum was then monitored for 9 months for level of selenium, HIV viral load (the extent to which the virus had replicated), and their CD4 T-cell count (an indication of how healthy their immune system was).

174 patients completed the 9 month programme. Of these, the ones who took the selenium supplements every day, compared to the placebo group, experienced a reduced HIV viral load, and an increase in their CD4 T-Cell count. The placebo group experienced an increase in their HIV viral load and a decrease in their CD4 T-cell count.

The scientists concluded that a daily supplement of selenium can “suppress the progression of HIV-1 viral burden and provide indirect improvement of CD4 count.” They suggest that these results “support the use of Selenium as a simple, inexpensive, and safe adjunct therapy in HIV spectrum disease.”

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James Kim – A Husband, A Father, A Hero

About James Kim

James Kim was a senior editor covering digital audio who also co-hosted a weekly video podcast for the Crave gadgets blog. He had been writing a book on Microsoft’s Zune MP3 player. Formerly, he was an on-air personality on the now-defunct cable television network TechTV.

James Final Trip

James Kim, Kati, Penelope and Sabine left their home in San Francisco two weeks ago on a Thanksgiving road trip to the Pacific Northwest. They had been last seen on the Saturday after the holiday in Portland and later at a Denny’s restaurant in Roseburg, according to a San Francisco Police Department missing persons report.

Kim had been missing in the remote southwestern Oregon wilderness for 11 days and was found at approximately noon Wednesday about half a mile from the Rogue River.

Kim, 35, left his family’s stranded car Saturday morning searching for help and never returned. Kim apparently traveled in an 8-mile circle and was found less than a mile, separated by a sheer cliff, from where his family’s station wagon got stuck in the snow. Officers said there was no way to determine whether he was trying to return to his starting point or if he became disoriented.

After being rescued in good condition Monday, Kim’s 30-year-old wife, Kati, and daughters Penelope (4 years) and Sabine (7 months) have been reunited with family members. Kati Kim suffered frostbite on two toes, but will not lose those toes, according to a close family friend.

While stranded, the family stayed warm using the car heater, then burned tires when they ran out of gas, authorities said. Kati Kim also nursed the girls.

James Kim found deceased 

The body of the 35-year-old Kim was discovered Wednesday in a rugged wilderness area in southern Oregon. He had set out across snow and ice with only tennis shoes to protect his feet. He had eaten little in the seven days since his car got stuck.

A True Hero – His passion towards his family

James kept his wife and kids alive while sacrificing his own life and I believe all men who read this story will hold James in the highest regard as a man among men who gave his two children the rest of their lives.

“Anyone that knows James will tell you that he would do anything to protect his family,” said Jason Zemlicka, a friend of 10 years and former co-worker. “I know him and he must have believed he was going to get somewhere.”

“He wouldn’t even sneak away for a few hours once and while to play nine holes,” Zemlicka said. “The truth is that it wasn’t that big of a sacrifice–hanging out with a bunch of guys. James had more important things to tend to. He taught me to be a dedicated husband. He’s always putting his wife and kids first.”

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Bollywood Star – Sanjay Dutt found guilty for Mumbai Bombs

Source: BBC

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt has been found guilty of involvement in a string of deadly bombings in the western Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) in 1993.

Dutt, 47, was convicted by the court of illegally possessing weapons. He will be sentenced at a later date.

He was among 123 defendants facing trial over 12 blasts that killed 257 people and injured more than 700.

UPDATE: Sanjay Dutt was convicted on illegally possessing weapons but cleared of conspiracy charges in connection with a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993.

Sentences will be handed after all the verdicts are delivered, expected to take two more weeks. The offence could attract a sentence of up to three years, but Dutt has already served more than year in prison during investigations.

Judge PD Kode said the actor was guilty of illegally possessing weapons that had been given to him by some of the men accused of carrying out the bomb attacks, but he added: “I’ve not found him to be a terrorist or destructor.”

Accepting Dutt’s confession, Kode observed: “Considering matters in his confession and also taking into account certain admissions from other evidence, I accept the stand of Sanjay of acquiring and possessing weapons for self defence.”

Sanjay Dutt’s confession

In his confession recorded on April 22,1993, Sanjay Dutt had admitted that Salem had visited his Pali Hill residence in January 1993.

The actor maintained that Salem was brought to his home by Samir Hingora and Hanif Kadawala – proprietors of Magnum Video, who are close associates of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Salem, according to Dutt, had brought three AK 56 rifles, some magazines and 250 rounds. But Dutt said he kept only one and returned two AK 56s back to Samir and Hanif.

Dutt said he needed the weapons to protect his family as they had received threatening calls during the 1992 Mumbai riots.

Despite repeated complaints, he said the police did not give the family any protection. But when he heard about the blasts and the arrest of Samir and Hanif, he asked his friend Nulwala to destroy the gun.

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