Pakistan blocks Facebook over 'Draw Mohammed Day'

Pakistan is blocking access to Facebook in response to an online group calling on people to draw the Prophet Mohammed, officials said Wednesday.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority issued the order a day before "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day," scheduled by a Facebook group with the same name, because of "the objectionable material" on the social networking site, said Khoram Ali Mehran of the telecommunication authority.

Pakistan blocks Facebook over 'Draw Mohammed Day'

10 things you didn’t know about Twitter

 Courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

1. Twitter has its own DJ booth

Located in the centre of the office’s "breakout" space, it’s the place where celebrities come and "guest mix". The latest starlet was no other than Conan O’Brien, a US TV host and comedian, who then joined the host of other DJs and signed a cartoon version on himself on the Twitter wall of fame.

2. Tea time with Twitter

DJing usually goes on during the company’s weekly "tea time" session on Friday afternoons. It may sound very English and proper– but tea has long been replaced with beer to the soundtrack of someone jamming.


3. Twitter’s office was once home to Bebo

Michael Birch, the British-born entrepreneur who co-founded Bebo with his wife Xochi, was once based in Twitter's offices. Birch, who is now working on a host of new web start-ups in a building just down the road, proudly informed me that the Twitter DJ booth was indeed his creation. However, in his new office space, he’s opting for a more relaxing option this time round: a massage room.

10 things you didn’t know about Twitter

More than half of Facebook users 'could quit the site over privacy worries'

Report claims that around 60 per cent of Facebook users are considering deleting their profile.

Concerns about privacy are running so high that 60 per cent of the 1,588 Facebook users questioned by Sophos, a computer security organisation, said they were considering deleting their accounts on the social networking site.

A further 16 per cent said they had already stopped using Facebook because they felt they had inadequate control over their data, while a quarter said that they would not be quitting the social networking site, which has almost 500 million users worldwide.

More than half of Facebook users 'could quit the site over privacy worries'

Cow may help to run small computing center at a bank.

Google's and Microsoft's data centers can be now powered by Cows manure. This might be strange to hear but it might be possible,  says Hewlett-Packard engineers.

With the right skills, a dairy farmer could rent out land and power to technology companies and recoup an investment in the waste-to-fuel systems within two years, Hewlett-Packard engineers say in a research paper to be made public on Wednesday.

Cow may help to run small computing center at a bank.

MIT-designed plane to use 70 % less fuel.

A 'green airplane' designed by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-led research team is likely to use 70 per cent less fuel than existing ones while slashing noise and emission of nitrogen oxides.

The design was one of two that the team, led by faculty from the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro), presented to the Nasa last month as part of a $2.1 million research contract.

MIT was the only university to lead one of the six US teams that won contracts from Nasa in October 2008. Ed Greitzer, professor of aeronautics and astronautics was the principal investigator of the project.

MIT-designed plane to use 70 % less fuel.

Hyderabad Scientist invents a pocket size fridge.

An engineer with a diploma in Fine Arts, Subrata Dutta works for CMC, Research and Development in Hyderabad and is an example of how arts (imagination) and science (technology) can come together with staggering results.

A mini-fridge which makes ice exactly in a minute, can be the most handy thing you’ve got when out on the road. Running on a rechargeable battery, the fridge was originally made with the idea of carrying medicines during long journies but can be used for a varied purposes.

Hyderabad Scientist invents a pocket size fridge.

Chinese scientist demonstrate 2 Mbps Internet connect with LED

LED data transmission used to be all the rage -- we fondly remember beaming Palm Pilot contacts via IrDA. Then we got omni-directional Bluetooth and building-penetrating WiFi, and put all that caveman stuff behind us. But now, scientists the world over are looking to bring back line-of-sight networking, and the latest demonstation has Chinese researchers streaming video to a laptop with naught but ceiling-mounted blue LEDs.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences claims to have realized a 2Mbit per second internet connection that transmits data simply by modulating the flicker of the little diodes, and imperceptibly enough to have them serve as room lighting as well.

Like Boston University before them, the Chinese scholars see short-range LED networks controlling smart appliances. It's not quite the gigabit speed you'd get from laser diodes.

Chinese scientist demonstrate 2 Mbps Internet connect with LED

The mighty Piratebay is down.

The most popular file sharing site has been taken down after several Hollywood film studios won an injunction against its bandwidth provider CB3ROB via a court in Hamburg.

A Pirate Bay source told TorrentFreak that it is already working on a backup solution to bring the site online; the servers themselves haven't been touched (or moved) rom their well-guarded - and highly secret - location; they simply need to be routed through another provider.

The mighty Piratebay is down.

Half an hour of mobile use a day 'increases brain cancer risk'.

Article appeared on telegraph.co.uk

A landmark study into the health dangers posed by mobiles has found people who speak on their handset for more than half an hour a day over 10 years are at greater risk of brain cancer.

The World Health Organisation's Interphone report, to be published this week, will say that "heavy users" are more at risk of developing glioma tumours.

It concludes that there is no increased risk of developing the disease in other users.

However, the minimum amount of time which researchers designated at heavy use was just 30 minutes a day.

Half an hour of mobile use a day 'increases brain cancer risk'.

YouTube hits two billion views a day.

YouTube has exceeded two billions views a day as it celebrates the fifth anniversary since first launching in beta in 2005.

The Google-owned video site, released the statistic to commemorate the occasion and has also launched a new channel called: “YouTube 5 Year Channel” which brings together a group of clips from people around the world talking about how the video-sharing service has affected their lives. The videos, collectively called the ‘My YouTube Story’, were filmed by the documentary maker Stephen Higgins.

Five years ago the first beta version of YouTube went live and 18 months later it was purchased by Google for $1.65 billion (£883m) in 2006.

YouTube hits two billion views a day.

At YouTube, Adolescence Begins at 5

Article appeared on nytimes.com

By BRAD STONE

SAN FRANCISCO — Early this year, the most popular YouTube video of all time — a 2007 clip of a British toddler gleefully biting the finger of his older brother — was supplanted by a brash newcomer.

The upstart was Lady Gaga’s slithering, sci-fi-themed music video for her hit single “Bad Romance.”

The shift was symbolic: YouTube, a subsidiary of the search giant Google, is growing up. Once known primarily for skateboard-riding cats, dancing geeks and a variety of cute-baby high jinks, YouTube now features a smorgasbord of more professional video that is drawing ever larger and more engaged audiences.

At YouTube, Adolescence Begins at 5

Nuclear capable Agni II succesfully test fired.

Nuclear-capable Agni-II missile, with a range of 2000 kms, was on Monday successfully test-fired by the Army as part of user trial from the Wheelers Island off Orissa coast.

The trial was conducted from a rail mobile system in Launch Complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) at around 9.15 am, defence sources said soon after the versatile
surface-to-surface missile blasted off.

Nuclear capable Agni II succesfully test fired.

We love Apple, say Adobe ads, as companies' battle enters new phase

Article appeared on guardian.co.uk

The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal were both carrying full-page "We Love Apple" adverts on Friday morning, but the space was not bought by the Californian technology giant but by Adobe, the web technology firm that is locked in a bitter dispute with Steve Jobs.

The adverts, using a variant of the famous "I love New York" motif created by Milton Glaser, have appeared in newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and San Jose Mercury and online on websites including Wired and TechCrunch.

They present the latest front in an increasingly nasty war between the two companies. Adobe's web video technology Flash is not supported by Apple's iPad or iPhone and Jobs has publicly criticised it for causing battery problems and crashes.

We love Apple, say Adobe ads, as companies' battle enters new phase

Internet soon be run out of addresses

Rod Beckstrom, chief executive of ICANN, said only 8 or 9 per cent of ipv4 addresses were left, and companies needed to switch to the new standard of ipv6 as quickly as possible.

"We are running out," he told Reuters in an interview. "That move really needs to be made, we're seeing this scarce resource run down." Ipv4, used ever since the Internet became public in the 1980s, was created with space for only a few billion addresses, whereas ipv6 has trillions.

Internet soon be run out of addresses

Facebook rolls out its new feature.

With the privacy concern from all over the world the facebook had recently added a new feature in which you can as to notify via mail or text if you account has been accessed from unfamiliar address.

Facebook is also adding roadblocks when it notices unusual activity, such as simultaneous log-ins from opposite sides of the planet. For example, you might be shown a photo with your friends tagged, and be asked to correctly identify who they are before the second log-in goes through.

Facebook rolls out its new feature.

Google to stop selling nexus one offline.

Google in it's official blog stated that it will no longer sell its Nexus One smartphone through its web store. Instead it will sell through its Retailed Outlets.

In it's blog it said that the web store, which opened in January this year, had not lived up to its hopes.

Google Engineering vice-president Andy Rubin said in a blog post that the web store had "remained a niche channel for early adopters".

Mr Rubin added: "It's clear that many customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone."

Google to stop selling nexus one offline.

Sony PSP2 to be revealed at E3?

Are you a fan of PSP ?? Then there might be good news for you. There is a speculation the Sony might launch its PSP2 ,as it is named by iits fans. Sony PSP2 might be revealed at Electronic Exhibition Expo (E3). This launch might be true since Nintendo said they are going to launch 3DS.

Sony PSP2 to be revealed at E3?

Google tablet confirmed for Verizon Wireless

Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon, announced that a Google tablet would be coming to his company's network, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: "What do we think the next big wave of opportunities are? We're working on tablets together, for example. We're looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience." This would further cement the relationship between Google and Verizon, which launched the immensely popular Droid and Droid Incredible smartphones recently, based on Google's Android platform.

Google tablet confirmed for Verizon Wireless

World's First 4G Phone

This summer the battle for the new phone is heating up. This june worlds most anticipated launch of apple's 4G iPhone is awaited. Though there are some sneak peaks of iPhone 4G, Here is the world's first 4G phone launched by HTC. This htc EVO will be available this summer with contract by Sprint wireless carrier.

World's First 4G Phone

Phantom Ray unmanned aircraft makes its debut

After only two years of development, the Phantom Ray unmanned airborne system (UAS) was unveiled at a ceremony in St. Louis on May 10. Built by Boeing in St. Louis, the sleek, fighter-sized UAS combines survivability with a powerful arsenal of new capabilities.

“Phantom Ray offers a host of options for our customers as a test bed for advanced technologies, including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses; electronic attack and autonomous aerial refueling - the possibilities are nearly endless,” said Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

With a 50-foot wingspan and measuring 36 feet long, Phantom Ray was designed and developed by Boeing Phantom Works based on a prototype the company had originally created less than a decade ago for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program. Using a rapid-prototyping approach, Phantom Ray evolved into the technology demonstrator unveiled today on the floor of Boeing’s St. Louis facility.

Phantom Ray unmanned aircraft makes its debut