Safe Reusable Water Bottles

There are 2.7 million tons of plastic worldwide used each year to make disposable drinking bottles. Manufacturing these bottles requires an estimated 47 millions gallons of oil and, in the U.S., less than 20 percent of these bottles are recycled. This means that plastic bottles clog landfills, where they can sit for up to a thousand years. By carrying a safe reusable bottle, you will keep plastic bottles out of the landfill and reduce the use of non-renewable resources required to make these bottles.


If you love the qualities of Klean Kanteen, but are looking for a bottle with a bit more pizazz, check out EarthLust's line of stainless steel bottles. This is where water bottle meets fashion accessory! Each colorful, eye-catching design is inspired by the natural beauty we want to protect. You can buy EarthLust bottles at BrightandBold.


Green Bottle follows the great, stainless steel model. However, their bottles tend to be priced a bit lower. If you're looking to save a few dollars, this could be the bottle for you. Check out their site for different sizes and designs.


This little guy is made with BPA-free plastic that is strong enough to withstand boiling and freezing temperatures. When empty, the half litter bottle weighs less than an ounce and rolls up into a tiny package. The Platy bottle is ideal for days when you need to travel light.


This clear, 24 oz bottle is made from BPA-free copolyester, the same material as the improved Nalgene. What makes this bottle extra special is that it's part of Aladdin's Sustain line, which uses on average 25% post-consumer content per product. That means that your reusable bottle is actually made from recycled materials!


Klean Kanteen's line of reusable bottles was introduced in 2004, as the first stainless steel option. Their bottles are 100% recyclable and BPA-free. They are a perennial favorite among the eco-conscious because they are durable, lightweight, easy to clean, capable of holding cold and warm (not hot) beverages. Klean Kanteens are available in many sizes and vibrant colors.


Nalgene, once the ubiquitous bottle of college students, came under fire a few years ago for using a plastic containing BPA in their bottles. Nalgene has since cleaned up their act. Their new Choice line is made of BPA-free stainless steel or copolyester and is recyclable. They offer an incredible variety of sizes and styles, including microwave-safe bottles. To find your best option, visit the
Nalgene site, plug in your drinking needs, and Nalgene will come up with a list of personalized recommendations for you.


Swiss company Sigg has been manufacturing aluminum water bottles since 1908. People love Sigg bottles for their durabitlity, eye-catching designs, and taste and odor-free interiors. Sigg bottles have even been featured in a MOMA exhibit. However, Sigg is not immune to criticism. In 2009, it came out that the inner-lining of Sigg bottles is not BPA-free. Sigg and the FDA have assured consumers that the bottles have been rigorously tested to ensure absolutely no leaching of BPA.


EcoUsable has managed to take a good thing and make it even better with their Ech2o Filtered bottle. This stainless steel bottle includes a cap with a mico-filtration system so that you can filter tap water on the go for fresh-tasting, chemical-free H2O.


The Thermos brand has brought their reputation for quality and durability to the water bottle market. The Vacuum Insulated Commuter Bottle is a great, versatile container for everyday use. Made from BPA-free stainless steel, the vacuum insulation gives this bottle a greater temperature range than most. It stays cool to the touch, even when filled with hot liquids. It will keep your tea hot for up to 8 hours and your water cold for 12 hours.

Recommended reading:
* How to limit your family from BPA exposure
* Bottled Water vs Tap Water
* Harmful effects of BPA on brain

China Leading Global Green Energy Race

China is very notorious for its heavily polluted cities. And surprisingly, China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants.

These efforts to dominate the global manufacture of renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China.

The United States and other countries are offering incentives to develop their own renewable energy industries. Yet many Western and Chinese executives expect China to prevail in the energy-technology race.

Multinational corporations are responding to the rapid growth of China’s market by building big, state-of-the-art factories in China. Vestas of Denmark has just erected the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturing complex here in northeastern China, and transferred the technology to build the latest electronic controls and generators.

Renewable energy industries here are adding jobs rapidly, reaching 1.12 million in 2008 and climbing by 100,000 a year, according to the government-backed Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association.

Yet renewable energy may be doing more for China’s economy than for the environment. Total power generation in China is on track to pass the United States in 2012 — and most of the added capacity will still be from coal.

China intends for wind, solar and biomass energy to represent 8 percent of its electricity generation capacity by 2020. That compares with less than 4 percent now in China and the United States. Coal will still represent two-thirds of China’s capacity in 2020, and nuclear and hydropower most of the rest.

As China seeks to dominate energy-equipment exports, it has the advantage of being the world’s largest market for power equipment. The government spends heavily to upgrade the electricity grid, committing $45 billion in 2009 alone. State-owned banks provide generous financing.

China has led the way into the clean-energy race and the US and other western countries, instead of being vocal in environment conferences, could do something concrete to catch up in the race.

Recommended reading:
* Massive lead-poisoning in China Shaanxi province

Make money from a wreck

Is it possible to make money from a wreck? Definitely. The only problem is that, the opportunity is rare. It's like making money from thin air. That’s what happened at the Bonhams Retromobile auction in Paris, where this rare 1920s Bugatti Brescia sports car sold for €260,500 ($409,000), which is almost €90,000 higher than the uppermost pre-auction estimate.

Would you pay more than $400,000 for a wreck?


The corroded classic was salvaged from the depths of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy.

Although about 20 per cent of the car's parts are reusable, the new owner plans to display the roadster in its current condition.

The 1925 Brescia Type 22 Roadster, a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder sports car, was first registered in France in 1925.

British automotive website Autocar says the car was then unofficially imported to Switzerland, but the Swiss government demanded the owner pay import duty.

The Bugatti was then dumped into the lake by Swiss Customs in 1936.

''The officials were left with a quandary,'' Bonhams Auction House spokesman James Knight said. ''They came up with a neat solution.''

The wreck was submerged 53 metres under water and was partially preserved thanks to being caked in mud on the lake floor.

It was salvaged by members of a diving club in Ascona in July last year.

Proceeds from the sale of the car will be donated to Fondazione Damiano Tamagni – a charity established for Damiano Tamangi, a former member of the club, who was killed in 2008.

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Cars Recall 2010

It is a bad time for the car industry as it struggles to lure buyers back to showrooms after a sales slump, yet a few big brands have recall their cars due to technical and safety issues.

Nissan 2010 Recall

Nissan is recalling 540,000 vehicles worldwide to fix faulty brake pedal pins and inaccurate fuel gauges. UPDATES: Nov 12, 2010 - Nissan recalls 586,000 Frontier and Xterra vehicles

GM 2010 Recall - power steering issue

General Motors Co. said Monday it will recall 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac compact cars sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to fix power steering motors that can fail. The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Chevrolet Cobalts, 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G5s, 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Pursuits sold in Canada and 2005 and 2006 Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico.

Toyota 2010 Recall - Gas pedal issue

Toyota recalled 4.2 million vehicles worldwide because of floor mats that can bend and hold down the gas. The gas pedal system recall includes 2009-2010 RAV4, the 2009-2010 Corolla, the 2009-2010 Matrix, the 2005-2010 Avalon, the 2007-2010 Camry, the 2010 Highlander, the 2007-2010 Tundra and the 2008-2010 Sequoia.

Honda 2010 Recall - Window issue

The 2010 Toyota recall affects some 646,000 cars and was announced due to an apparent window issue. The concern is that window switches can overheat if exposed to liquid, causing smoke, melting or even a fire, the Wall Street Journal reports. Jazz models, known as Fit in some countries, are affected by the Honda recall, which spans the globe but does not include Japan itself.

UPDATES - Feb 10, 2010 - Honda Motor Co. is adding 437,000 vehicles to its 15-month old global recall for faulty airbags in the latest quality problem to hit a Japanese automaker.

Pontiac Vibe 2010 Recall

General Motors Co. has halted sales of about two dozen Pontiac Vibe cars as part of Toyota Motor Co.'s recall of 2.3 million U.S. vehicles. GM's Vibe is essentially the same car as the Toyota Matrix, one of eight Toyota models the Japanese car maker told dealers to stop selling while it investigates possible defects that may cause the vehicle to accelerate unintentionally.

Chrysler 2010 Recall

Chrysler recall 600,000 vehicles due to doors that could catch fire, brakes that could fail and accelerators that could stick.

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Revenge Verde - Australia Supercar

Not actually a pure Australian supercar but the idea is from an Australian. Revenge Designs, a US based company is set to produce Revenge Verde, a supercar that has 300kW of power and close to 680Nm of torque but with less fuel consumption.

It's the sexy green supercar with an Australian link.

The Revenge Verde is the brainchild of Queensland-born Peter Collorafi (pictured) and is set to be produced in the US by his company, Revenge Designs.

Collorafi wants the Verde concept to rewrite the supercar rulebook by using less than half the fuel of the most efficient petrol cars on the road — just 2.2 litres/100 kilometres.

It will do this using cleaner-burning 85 per cent ethanol-blend fuel (E85).

The secret is a frugal petrol-electric hybrid V8 engine, named the HP2ge. Revenge says it will be capable of Prius-and-ECOnetic-beating fuel consumption while pumping out almost 300kW of power and close to 680Nm of torque.

The Verde is expected to go on sale in the US this year for $US190,000 ($205,650).

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Eat pork to spice up your sex life

"Eat pork, spice up your sex life". This is a sex advice from Argentina President Cristina Kirchner from her personal experience. "Pork consumption improves sexual activity," Kirchner informed a surprised gathering of business people at a meeting at the presidential palace.

Eating pork is at least as effective as popping a Viagra pill to spice up your sex life, according to Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, who claims to have tested the theory.

"This is not a small detail," she said at the gathering to announce a reduction in the price of pork. "Besides, some nicely grilled pork is much more gratifying than taking Viagra."

Kirchner said she ate some roasted pork over the weekend with her husband, former president Nestor Kirchner, at the couple's retreat in Argentina's bucolic southern Patagonia region, with "impressive" results.

"We were in high spirits the whole weekend," she said, smiling.

"I'm a pork fanatic," she added, "and I'm not saying this just to impress you, or for self-promotion."

The head of the association of pork producers, Juan Uccelli, on Thursday backed up Kirchner's claims.

He said people in Denmark and Japan, where pork consumption is high, "have much more harmonious sexual lives than us Argentines have". DID YOU KNOW: Japan World Sex Record

Argentines, however, are the world's most voracious beef eaters, with an annual per capita consumption of between 68 and 73 kg.

President Kirchner has been the target of fierce criticism lately for seeking to remove the head of the Central Bank, Martin Redrado.

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Make money with Apple iPad

Introducing the latest keyword, "make money with Apple iPad". That's the keyword that lead visitors to this site. There are some ideas on how to make money with Apple iPad. Check out the details below.

Make money with Apple iPad by selling iPad accessories. Apple's iPad site doesn't offer much information or release dates for the recently announced accessories, but expect the vibrant third-party market to step in and offer cheaper alternatives once the device is available. Be the first to be distributor or dealer of such accessories.

Make money with Apple iPad games. iPad is designed as a leisure gadget and very much suitable for gamers. This present a money making opportunity if you are a game developer.

Make money with Apple iPad application. Beside games, software developer can also make money by developing application specifically for iPad. Just like iPhone apps.

Make money with Apple iPad communication. Communication features of Apple iPad is still in its earlier stage but be prepare of next generation of iPad that is capable to communicate with various options such as WIFI, 3G, 4G, etc.

Make money with Apple iPad related sites. Create a blog or site and dedicate it with Apple iPad related posts. Market that new blog and once it has steady traffic, monetised the blog.

And if the above is too ambitious, use the keyword "make money with Apple iPad" to generate more traffics for your blog.

Links:
* Turns Your iPad Into A Cash Register

Recommended reading:
* Features not found in Apple iPad

Features not found in Applie iPad

As the awe and adulation surrounding Apple's iPad announcement died down, chatter quickly turned to the plethora of features Apple deliberately excluded from the device. This post is expecting some flames from Apple's fanboys. Read below:

1. iBooks is initially US-only.

2. No built-in camera. No front facing camera is one thing. But no back facing camera either? Why the hell not? I can't imagine what the downside was for including at least one camera. Could this thing not handle video iChat?

3. No USB ports. So much for those smooth lines. If you want to plug anything into this, such as a digital camera, you need all sorts of ugly adapters. You need an adapter for USB for god's sake.

4. No memory card read.

5. Keyboard dock sold separately. So much for Apple revolutionizing tablet inputs; this is the same big, ugly touchscreen keyboard we've seen on other tablets, and unless you're lying on the couch with your knees propping it up, it'll be awkward to use.

6. No multi-tasking. This is a backbreaker. If this is supposed to be a replacement for netbooks, how can it possibly not have multitasking? Are you saying I can't listen to Pandora while writing a document? I can't have my Twitter app open at the same time as my browser? I can't have AIM open at the same time as my email? Are you kidding me? This alone guarantees that I will not buy this product.

7. No Adobe Flash support. No Flash is annoying but not a dealbreaker on the iPhone and iPod Touch. On something that's supposed to be closer to a netbook or laptop? It will leave huge, gaping holes in websites. I hope you don't care about streaming video! God knows not many casual internet users do. Oh wait, nevermind, they all do.

8. Can only run Apple-sanctioned apps.

9. Can only access iTunes videos and music.

10. Lacks HDMI port. Want to watch those nice HD videos you downloaded from iTunes on your TV? Too damned bad! If you were truly loyal, you'd just buy an AppleTV already.

11. Screen is 4:3 aspect ratio, not 16:9 widescreen. Widescreen movies look lousy on this thing thanks to its 4:3 screen, according to Blam, who checked out some of Star Trek on one. It's like owning a 4:3 TV all over again!

12. No full GPS support.

13. Doesn't Support T-Mobile 3G. Sure, it's "unlocked." But it won't work on T-Mobile, and it uses microSIMs that literally no one else uses.

14. The Name iPad. Get ready for Maxi pad jokes, and lots of 'em!

More Analog Band Room for RFID Tracking

Remember when American TV Transmission Goes Fully Digital? The analog switch-off render all non-digital televisions obsolete and that supposedly make more room for Analog Band, to track RFID signal. Clearing out the high power analog TV emissions will improve signal to noise ratio for RFID emitting in the 700MHz band, and potentially allow passive satellite tracking of these RFID signals. How does this affect you if you are an American? Basically, other people (the government and foes) has the possibility to track your whereabouts.

So while the American people, especially those in Texas and other busy border states, have been inundated lately with news reports advising them to hurry and get their expensive passports, “enhanced driver’s licenses,” passport cards and other “chipped” or otherwise trackable identification devices that they are being forced to own, this digital television/RFID connection has been hidden.

These RFID chips, many of which are as small, or smaller, than the tip of a sharp pencil, also are embedded in all new U.S. passports, some medical cards, a growing number of credit and debit cards and so on. More than two billion of them were sold in 2007.

Whether active, semi-passive or passive, these “transponder chips,” as they’re sometimes called, can be accessed or activated with “readers” that can pick up the unique signal given off by each chip and glean information from it on the identity and whereabouts of the product or person, depending on design and circumstances.

The reason they are doing this is that the [UHF-VHF] analog frequencies are being used for the chips. They do not want to overload the chips with television signals, so the chips’ signals are going to be taking those [analog] frequencies. They plan to sell the frequencies to private companies and other groups who will use them to monitor the chips.

Nigel Gilbert of the Royal Academy of Engineering said that by 2011 you should be able to go on Google and find out where someone is at anytime from chips on clothing, in cars, in cellphones and inside many people themselves.

The rapidly expanding use of this technology has far-reaching and damaging consequences for individual privacy and freedom from governmental (and non-governmental) surveillance. There are many compelling reasons that individuals should fear this insidious technology, including the heightened risk of identity theft, privacy violations, detrimental health consequences, and the Globalist’s aim to brand humans like barnyard chattel.

RFID technology will soon be employed on a global scale for the purpose of monitoring every living being. Even if the RFID chips are not placed on the person, their attachment to clothes (and other personal articles) will allow for constant indirect monitoring of the individual. This surveillance promotes the constant fear of a snoop looking over your shoulder, and if left unchecked, will result in the erosion of privacy rights and individual autonomy. Though many security protection measures have been implemented to protect privacy, they will be eroded over time through reverse engineering or legislative measures that invalidate their protections.

Now you really has little place to hid.

About RFID

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the use of an object (typically referred to as an RFID tag) applied to or incorporated into a product, animal, or person for the purpose of identification and tracking using radio waves. Some tags can be read from several meters away and beyond the line of sight of the reader.

Most RFID tags contain at least two parts. One is an integrated circuit for storing and processing information, modulating and demodulating a radio-frequency (RF) signal, and other specialized functions. The second is an antenna for receiving and transmitting the signal.

Farting at Tiffany's Diamond Store

A lady walks into Tiffany's .. She looks around, spots a beautiful diamond bracelet and walks over to inspect it ..

As she bends over to look more closely, she unexpectedly farts ..

Very embarrassed, she looks around nervously to see if anyone noticed her little woops and prays that a sales person was not anywhere near ..

As she turns around, her worst nightmare materializes in the form of a salesman standing right behind her ..

Good looking as well .. Cool as a cucumber, he displays all of the qualities one would expect of a professional in a store like Tiffany's ..

He politely greets the lady with, 'Good day, Madam .. How may we help you today ?? Blushing & uncomfortable, but still hoping that the salesman somehow missed her little 'incident', she asks, 'Sir, what is the price of this lovely bracelet ??'

He answers, "Madam .. if you farted just looking at it - you're going to shit when I tell you the price .."

More jokes to lighten up your day.

Apple iPad unveiled

Some much guesswork and finally, it's iPad (without wings). The device looks like a larger, flatter iPhone and uses the same iPhone operating system and the same business model. That means that most of the existing 140,000-plus apps on Apple’s App Store can be used on the device. Users can as check emails, watch videos, play games, surf the web, organise photos, prepare documents and present them.

Some of Apple iPad characteristics are listed below:

Oversize iPhone - The multimedia, touchscreen device sports a 24.6 cm display (9.7 inches) and looks like a wider, flatter iPhone. It is 1.27 cm thick (half an inch) and weighs 700 grams (1.5 pounds).

Longer Fun - The iPad will have a ten hour battery life in passive mode, though using the WiFi or watching video will reduce that.

iPad connectivity - The device will come in two key versions. One with just WiFi connectivity and the other with WiFi and 3G, allowing the iPad to be used where ever a 3G mobile phone network can be picked up.

How much - The non-3G iPads will be available worldwide in late March for a suggested retail price of $US499 for the basic 16GB model. There will also be a $US599 32GB model and a $US699 64GB model. The WiFi plus 3G models will be go on sale in April in the US and selected countries for a suggested retail price of $US629 for the 16GB model, $US729 for the 32GB model and $US829 for the 64GB model.

US Data plan - Apple also announced two reasonable plans via AT&T, its telecommunications partner here, that will give users 250MB of data a month for $US14.99 or an unlimited plan for $US29.99 a month.

Electronic Books Applications - Another big feature of the iPad is its ability to allow user to buy and download digital books. Electronic books currently make up only about 3 to 5 per cent of all book sales, leaving a largely untapped market ripe for the picking.

Reading e-newspaper on iPad - There was no mention of what the newspaper would charge users to access its content using the special apps, but it’s already clear that it will not be free.

Recommended links:
* APPLEIPADTABLETS.COM

Recommended reading:
* Apple iPad advertisement photo


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Apple iPad advertisement photo

Could the photo below be the real Apple iPad tablet advertisement or another fake gimmick?



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How Melamine got into China's dairy products

Before melamine-laced milk killed and sickened Chinese babies and led to recalls around the world, the routine spiking of milk with illicit substances was an open secret in China's dairy regions, according to the accounts of farmers and others with knowledge of the industry. The image below illustrates how the toxic Melamine got into China's diary products.

Farmers in Hebei province say in interviews that "protein powder" of often-uncertain origin has been employed for years as a cheap way to help the milk of undernourished cows fool dairy companies' quality checks. When the big companies caught on, some additive makers switched to toxic melamine -- which mimics protein in lab tests and can cause severe kidney damage -- to evade detection.


The routine spiking of milk with illicit substances was an open secret in China's dairy regions, according to farmers and people with knowledge of the industry.

Melamine in feed hasn't led to the same kind of high concentrations of the chemical in eggs that were found when it was directly poured into milk -- thousands of parts per million in some cases. But amounts found in eggs have been above the safety standard China and several other countries established of 2.5 parts per million.

Manufacturers of melamine, an industrial chemical used in plastics, say they have noticed demand for their factory's scrap rising. In the small Hebei farming village of Zhangzhuang, residents say, melamine bought as scrap from a nearby factory often was stored on the pavement outside the village school before it was turned into a milk additive. "They kept it in big piles," says one village elder. Business in the powder became so brisk that villagers involved worked long hours and through holidays to meet demand, residents say.

China's biggest local seller of liquid milk, Mengniu Dairy Co., and multinational food company Nestlé SA both say they were aware that Chinese farmers and traders added unauthorized substances to raw milk, but that they didn't know melamine was among them. "We knew there was adulteration" going on for many years, says Zhao Yuanhua, Mengniu's spokeswoman. Among other common milk additives: a viscous yellow liquid containing fat and a combination of preservatives and antibiotics, known as "fresh-keeping liquid."

More than 2,300 Chinese children remain hospitalized for melamine-related kidney problems, almost two months after the adulteration was publicly disclosed. At least three children died and tens of thousands of others were sickened. The national scandal has badly shaken Chinese consumers' faith in the safety of their food and reawakened fears abroad about the standards of Chinese products. Some brands of foods made with Chinese milk, such as candy, have been recalled as a precaution as far away as the U.S.

Melamine's chemical properties boost the apparent presence of protein in food. Actual protein powders -- which farmers are also prohibited from adding to raw milk -- use protein from ground animal parts, soy and other sources. Additive makers sometimes mix melamine with food additives such as the starch derivative maltodextrin, and repackage it for sale to dairy farmers without disclosing the ingredients.

Similarly, melamine has been mixed into animal feed by producers who want to make the feed seem as though it is higher in protein than it actually is. Yang Yong, part owner of a feed mill in Henna province says the practice is "very common" and hard to detect. He tries to choose trustworthy suppliers because "our testing can't pick it up," he says. "I can't guarantee there's no melamine in our feed."

Corrupted milk still persists

The Chinese government has punished the culprits in the Melamine scandal but enforcement is still lacking and other firms is still secretly producing the fake milk. Read also Death sentence over fake milk and melamine

Source: Tainting of Milk Is Open Secret in China

Bangladeshi rape victim get 101 lashes

Eight months after being raped, a 16-year-old Bangladeshi girl at Khargor of Kasba upazila in Brahmanbaria had to receive 101 lashes as "punishment". Islam religion is indeed illogical whereby the rape victim get punished and the culprit is scot-free. Read also Saudi schoolgirl get 90 lashes for assaulting headmistress

A village arbitration found her guilty and issued the 101 lashes fatwa (religious edict) but amazingly left alleged rapist Enamul Mia, 20, untouched.

The arbitration also fined the victim's father Tk 1,000 and issued another fatwa that her family would be forced into isolation if he failed to pay up.

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Village matbar (local leader) Delwar Hossain alias Ullashi executed the durra (lashes) on January 17.

Family sources said Enamul Mia of Gabbari used to eve-tease the girl on her way to Sathgram Advocate Haroon-or-Rashid High School. He raped her April last year. Fearing the shame, the girl did not disclose the incident.

The girl's family had married her off to a man of neighbouring Ghatiara village but after a month into the marriage medical test discovered she was seven months pregnant.

She was divorced and she had to live at her father's place after an abortion. Following her return, a group of so-called matbars led by Manik Mia declared that her family is to be isolated until punished.

On January 17, the influential group arranged the arbitration at the yard of the victim.

At one stage of the inhuman torture, the girl collapsed and fainted. She regained her sense after two hours.

Ullashi presided over the arbitration while Wahid Mia, Basu Mia, Manik Mia, Shahjahan Mia, Dulal Mia, Maulana Md Kawser Mia, Imam of Gupinathpur Baro Mosque, Maulana Md Ishaque Mia, Imam of Khargor Jame Mosque, and a few others played key roles.

"Enamul has spoiled my life. I want justice," said the girl as tears rolled down from her eyes.

Talking to The Daily Star, neighbours spoke in favour of the girl and blamed Enamul. They did not dare to say anything against the so-called village arbitration.

The girl's father said members of the influential group are now keeping a watch on them so that they could not move or seek legal action.

Wahid Mia said they executed the 101 lashes on the girl following the religious edict and they did not call Enamul during the arbitration as he belongs to another village.

A team of human rights activists led by advocate Mili Chowdhury visited the spot.

Their organisation will help the victim file separate cases against the culprits, Mili said.

Kasba Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Jahirul Islam Khan said they would take appropriate action if the victim files a case in this regard.

Three women were whipped as a result of fatwas in the district during the last six months.

Response from the Bangladesh community
1. What a shame for Bangladesh society where females are treated so inhumane by the so-called keepers of religion ,dictated by fatwa & following religious edict . The interesting thing is that this is tolerated and even sometimes supported by majority of the female population , who accept these male dominated religious orders in the name of proper observance of religion . The Govt. is mostly passive & reluctant to take any bold actions against these people and bring them to proper justice .
: Manzoor Husain Sarkar

2. As women, we will be tortured and considered the men sinless like flower that is natural. Actually we need to more conscious who are working on this issue for development of Bangladesh.
: Shahanaj

3. I love Islam but I would never support the non-Islamic activities of unauthorized Mullahs & Matbar in this poor village in Bangladesh. The Rapist Enamul must be given capital punishment for raping a 16-year-old girl. The people, who gave the fatwa against the victim, must be given exemplary punishment. They must be given rigorous imprisonment (RI). The father & the girl must be provided with due compensations and be rehabilitated in normal life and the government must stop it now & forever. : M. Hossain

Source: The Daily Star

Google Voice available on iPhone

Owners of the iPhone and Palm's WebOS devices can now get in on the mobile Google Voice experience with the Web app, which will run in the browsers of iPhones with the 3.0 software installed and all Palm WebOS devices.

The application should be available for current users of Google Voice, which is still an invitation-only service, as of Tuesday at m.google.com/voice.

Google Voice allows incoming calls to ring mobile phones, office phones, or desk phones depending on how the user sets their Google Voice profile. It also treats voice mail like e-mail, transcribing voice messages into an in-box where they can be read and deleted.

Last year Google submitted a native version of Google Voice to Apple in hopes of getting the software onto the iPhone. As most will recall, Apple and Google then entered into a semantic war of words over whether Apple rejected the application (Google's version) or merely continues to study it (Apple's version).

Either way, the FCC got involved and Google Voice remains in App Store limbo. Now that the Web app is ready iPhone users will be able to get essentially the same experience that the native app would have delivered, although the user interface will be slightly different because the application will be running in the browser.

Paquet declined to comment on whether Google plans to continue the App Store approval process with the native version.

The Web application is another sign of Google's strong desire to encourage people to think of Web-based applications as a ready alternative to native applications. The company has spoken about its plans for Web development at length, and even plans to develop a lightweight operating system based on its Chrome browser as a sort of proof-of-concept for the Web development mindset.

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iPad, iTablet, iSlate, iCanvas or iBook - Apple new tablet computer

Apple is set to unveil its new tablet computer, keenly watched by gadget-obsessed consumers, envious competitors and eager content partners. The tablet, to be named either the iPad, iTablet, iSlate, iCanvas or iBook, will inherit the gaming, music and video capabilities available on the iPhone and some of the newer iPods.

The new touch-screen device will be modelled - physically and functionally - on the three-year-old iPhone. Read also Next generation iPhone 4G

And just like the iPhone and the iPod before it, the device will be part of an integrated ''ecosystem'' of services tipped to include functions and content for the education sector, digital books, newspapers and magazines.

According to the blog AppleInsider, the device looks like an iPhone that has ''met its match with a rolling pin''. As well as wireless connectivity, the tablet is almost certain to be configured to use the latest high-speed mobile networks.

India national advertisement accidentally promotes former Pakistani air force chief

Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed, a former Pakistani air force chief suddenly got popular in India when the India government unintentionally showed him in a national advertisement aimed at promoting female children. The India PMO (prime minister's office) quickly apologized for this ad gaffe.

India apologized to its citizens for a government advertisement, aimed at promoting female children, that showed a former Pakistani air force chief.

The office of the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, ordered a probe into what it called a lapse, but television statements branded a faux pas.

"While an internal inquiry has been instituted, the PMO (prime minister's office) apologizes to the public for this lapse," an official statement read.

The full-page newspaper advertisement in the Sunday Times of India was put out by India's woman and child development ministry to mark National Girl-Child Day. The day is aimed at promoting and protecting female children and raising awareness of female feticide -- sex-selective abortions blamed for a skewed ratio of males to females in India.

The ad showed several well-known Indian citizens -- cricketer Virender Sehwag, former cricket captain Kapil Dev and musician Amjad Ali Khan with his two sons playing the sarod, a stringed instrument -- along with the former air force chief, identified by the Times of India as Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed.

"Where would you be if your mother was not allowed to be born?" the ad says.

Relations between India and Pakistan have been tense for decades, and the two nations have fought three wars.

Krishna Tirath, minister for women and child development, told the Times of India that the "message is more important than the image. The photograph is only symbolic. The message for the girl child is more important. She should be protected."

In a quick statement after the media outcry, the Indian government said it regretted that the ad showed a "foreign national."

The same paper also had another government advertisement featuring NASA astronaut Sunita Williams. Although born and raised in the United States, Williams was welcomed to India as a symbol of national pride when she visited the home of her father's side of the family in 2007.

India froze a fragile peace dialogue with Pakistan after the 2008 terror attacks on its financial capital of Mumbai. Indian authorities blamed Pakistan-based militants for the assault.

In their latest row, the two South Asian archrivals exchanged diplomatic barbs after club owners of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament shunned all Pakistani players in a multi-million dollar auction in Mumbai on Tuesday.

About Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed S Bt, SI (M), HI (M), NI (M)

Born in 1952, Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed got his initial education in Lahore. Subsequently, after doing his F. Sc from PAF Public School, Sargodha, he joined Pakistan Air Force.

He graduated from PAF Academy, Risalpur in April, 1972 and went on to do Fighter Conversion Course and Operational Conversion Course.

He first flew the American F-86 (Sabre) and later all types of Chinese and French fighter aircraft on PAF inventory. He is an accomplished fighter pilot with rich experience on F-16s and Mirages.

Guizhou firms selling food with fake milk

Some Chinese firms just show little concern when it come to food health and safety. Heck, those firms are only interested in maximizing their company's profit. Three Chinese companies in the province of Guizhou have been found selling food products tainted with melamine, the chemical blamed for the deaths of six babies in a huge dairy scandal in 2008, state media said on Monday.

The authorities in the southwestern province of Guizhou found that the products, said to include "popsicles," contained levels of the industrial chemical that were above allowable limits, the China Daily newspaper said.

One official quoted in the paper said the products may have contained tainted milk that was recalled after the scandal but had found its way back on to the market.

The paper said the food companies involved had blamed the problem on milk powder bought from suppliers.

In 2008, melamine was found to have been added to milk to give the appearance of a higher protein content.

It found its way into a range of products including baby formula, leading to the death of six infants and making almost 300,000 ill, according to official figures.

The scandal triggered an uproar in China and abroad, and many products containing Chinese dairy ingredients were taken off shelves around the world.

A total of 21 people have been reportedly convicted and two have been executed over the scandal.

Photo: monacome.com

Next generation iPhone 4G

The Apple iSlate tablet hasn't even been released (or officially confirmed, for that matter), and already the blogosphere is abuzz over another rumored Apple device: the next generation iPhone, or the iPhone 4G.

The website Nowhere Else has created a visual guide to the major rumors surrounding the potentially impending smartphone.

Check them out in the picture below.


Below are the rumored featured for the new iPhone 4G
* Removable battery (
* Glowing Apple logo on the back
* Full Metal case (unibody)
* 5 Megapixel Camera
* LED Flash
* Touch Sensitive Case
* Front Facing Video Camera
* Contacts on Home Screen
* Portable DVR Functionality
* 64Gb NAND Flash Memory Model
* OLED Display
* Dual-Core Processor and more RAM
* Built-in RFID

How to lower blood pressure

In this modern age society, we stress ourselves in our work and home life. We worry too much about our careers and finances. And our culture has answered this challenge by getting less sleep. Some think it's a badge of honor. But trying to get through your life without enough rest (sleep macho) is nothing to be proud of. It's quite simply very detrimental to your health. In fact, new research shows that getting less than seven or eight hours a night (as an adult) increases your risk of high blood pressure, along with a host of other problems such as encouraging weight gain.

Normal Blood Pressure
120/80

A few months ago, researchers published the results of a unique study on the connection between a good night's sleep and high blood pressure.

They found that when the subjects slept fewer than seven or eight hours and/or if their quality of sleep was poor, the subjects were more likely to have high blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) at both the beginning of the study and five years later.

This makes sense. Physiologically, anything that increases inflammation or contributes to chronic inflammation is going to negatively affect the cardiovascular system. Sleep is, hands down, the body's most effective way of digesting excess stress hormones from your day. If you don't get enough sleep, your stress hormones stay elevated and this increases inflammation throughout your body. This causes your arteries to narrow and even constrict, which results in higher blood pressure.

Not getting enough sleep has become an epidemic in our society. So has obesity. And these two are connected. Obese people are more likely to develop sleep apnea than their thinner counterparts. When you have sleep apnea, you don't get enough sleep, and the quality of your sleep is often poor. Sleep apnea has been shown to obstruct the flow of oxygen to the body. And this condition has been connected to an increased risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in obese people.

The health benefits of living in harmony with our body's wisdom are too numerous to count. Sleep is a prime example. In addition to the benefits already mentioned, getting enough sleep has also been shown to help keep weight down. It also helps promote brain health and an upbeat mood. So sleep when you're tired and don't feel guilty.

More about sleep

Sleep is the original transformative technology. Through sleep we rebuild, rewire and renew ourselves - literally. The process is fast. The skin on your face is replaced in two weeks. Gut lining cells take two days. And that's complete replacement. Partial rebuilding is even faster.

So why does rest get so little respect? Why do people resist getting enough sleep? Is it because a Calvinist culture thinks sleep is laziness? Or is it that we don't really know what sleep does?

Because it's as the Romans said, time rules life. Sleep is the invisible part of our time, the part that rebuilds and remakes us every day.

Saudi schoolgirl get 90 lashes for assaulting headmistress

A schoolgirl in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 90 lashes and two months in prison for assaulting her headmistress after a confrontation over a cell phone, sparking an outcry from a government-sponsored rights group. This punishment is way too much. Can't the school authority just confiscate the cellphone and give the schoolgirl a public canning with one or two lashes?

Saudi Arabia's National Society for Human Rights said it is surprised by the verdict and called for the punishment be reconsidered, according to statement by the group.

The verdict was handed down by a court in the eastern province city of Jubail as a punishment for the 13-year-old who allegedly assaulted her headmistress.

Saudi daily newspaper, Al-Watan, which first reported the sentence, said the girl struck the headmistress on the head with a glass after a confrontation over the confiscation of the girl's camera-equipped cell phone.

Dr. Saleh Al-Khaslan, a spokesman for the rights group, said the penalty was too severe.

"The court should have looked for an alternative sentence," he said, adding that the rights group is calling on an appeals court in Jubail to hear the case again.

Al-Watan did not provide the name of the school, its headmistress or the girl. Efforts to reach the Saudi Ministry of Justice were unsuccessful.

Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism, and lashings are a common form of punishment.

In October 2009, a court sentenced a man to five years in prison and 1,000 lashes after he bragged about his sex life on television.

In March of the same year, a Saudi court sentenced a 75-year-old Syrian woman to 40 lashes, four months imprisonment and deportation from the kingdom for having two unrelated men in her house.

In 2007, a 19-year-old gang-rape victim in the Saudi city of Qatif was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison for meeting with an unrelated male. The seven attackers, who abducted the man and woman, got sentences ranging from 10 months to five years in prison. The case sparked international outrage, prompting Saudi's King Abdullah to pardon the girl and the unrelated male. Read also Qatif sorcerer sentenced to death

Updated
* Jan 25, 2010 - A schoolgirl in Saudi Arabia has accepted her sentence of 90 lashes and two months in prison for assaulting her headmistress after a confrontation over a cell phone, according to Saudi daily newspaper Al-Watan. "The verdict was accepted by the girl -- she did not reject it, which means it will be carried out," Dr. Riyadh Al-Muhaidib, the Head of the Court in the Saudi city of Jubail, told Al-Watan.

Recommended reading:
* Crucifixion in Saudi Arabia

NoDoFollow extension for FireFox 3.6

Looking for the latest NoDoFollow extension for FireFox 3.6? I know I am. The previous NoDoFollow 1.1 only works on FireFox 3.5 and it is not compatible with FireFox 3.6. Apparently, only about 75% of older version of extensions and plugins work on FireFox 3.6. You have to sit tight until the remaining 25% of extensions and plugins are updated or patched. Or if you want to avoid the hassle, just stick to FireFox 3.5 until the dust settled (maybe up to middle of 2010).

And if you do know where to get the latest NoDoFollow extension, please let me know.

NoDoFollow is a simple extension to highlight links in a page according to nofollow / dofollow status. Great for SEO task and important during backlink building process.

Top 10 Hacker's Favourite Passwords

Internet users are leaving the door to their online accounts wide open, with an analysis of tens of millions of leaked passwords revealing the most common are basic number strings such as "123456" and obvious keywords including "password" and "abc123". What does this means? It means hackers are not necessary a superbeing clever of hacking other people's people password but careless Internet users who used easily-guessed passwords that make their hacking job an easy meal.

Data security provider Imperva, which analysed the passwords in a new report, says such laziness is often equivalent to having no locks on the account at all as simple passwords are easily broken using "brute force" techniques.

The report, Consumer Password Worst Practices, analysed 32 million passwords that were exposed in a Rockyou.com breach in December.

Not only did it expose commonly used passwords, but it was also similar to a 1990 Unix study, which showed a password selection that had a similar pattern to that which consumers use today.

The company estimates that putting minimal effort into a password means that a hacker can access a new account every second or 1000 accounts every 17 minutes.

The shortness and simplicity of passwords means many users select credentials that will make them susceptible to basic forms of cyber attacks known as “brute force attacks”.

For companies, password insecurity can have serious consequences. Employees using the same passwords on Facebook and also in the workplace bring the possibility of compromising the system, especially if it's as easy to crack as "123456".

Top 10 commonly used passwords and number of users with it

1. 123456 (290,731)

2. 12345 (79,078)

3. 123456789 (76,790)

4. Password (61,958)

5. iloveyou (51,622)

6. princess (35,231)

7. rockyou (22,588)

8. 1234567 (21,726)

9. 12345678 (20,553)

10. abc123 (17,542)

Recommended reading:
* Google Trends Hacked - Google funds terrorism
* Hacking iPhone 3GS Encryption
* How to use SkyGrabber to hack U.S. Predator drones

Elena Di Cioccio groped David Beckham's piccolo Goldenballs

During an interview in Italy, a rubber-gloved reporter approached the soccer superstar and grabbed for his nether regions. According to the Sun, the stunt was an attempt by the Italian TV show Le Iene to determine whether he is as endowed as he appears in Armani ads.

The reporter, Elena Di Cioccio, was disappointed by her findings. "I touched it, but it's small," she said afterwards. She went running down the street shouting "E piccolo, Beckham", which translates into "Beckham is small".

The journalist apparently wanted to see whether or not Beckham's package was as impressive in real life as it appeared in his Armani underwear campaign.

I'm sure Victoria will protest that David's Goldenballs are bigalo.


'Goldenballs' Beckham groped - Italian pranksters find out if David Beckham's famous bulge really belongs to him.

SEO: beckham piccolo | beckham picolo | Di Cioccio Beckham

What yearly performance reviews words really mean

It's that time of the year when employees get reviewed before any salary increment or bonuses are given. Check out the real meaning of the words that appeared in your review file.

What yearly performance reviews words really mean:

1. OUTGOING PERSONALITY - Always going out of the office

2. GREAT PRESENTATION SKILLS - Able to bullshit

3. GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS - Spends a lots of time on phone

4. WORK IS FIRST PRIORITY - Too ugly to get a date

5. ACTIVE SOCIALLY - Drinks a lot

6. INDEPENDENT WORKER - Nobody knows what he/she does

7. QUICK THINKER - Offers plausible excuses

8. CAREFUL THINKER - Won't make a decision

9. USES LOGIC ON DIFFICULT JOBS - Gets someone else to do it

10. EXPRESS THEMSELVES WELL - Speaks English

11. KEEN SENSE OF HUMOUR - Knows a lot dirty jokes

12. HAS LEADERSHIP QUALITIES - Is tall or has louder voice

13. EXCEPTIONALLY GOOD JUDGEMENT - Lucky

14. KEEN SENSE OF HUMOUR - Knows a lot of dirty jokes

15. CAREER MINDED - Back stabber

16. LOYAL - Can't get a job anywhere else

17. PLANS FOR PROMOTION/ADVANCEMENT - Buys drinks for all the boys

18. OF GREAT VALUE TO THE ORGANISATION - Gets to work on time

19. RELAXED ATTITUDE - Sleeps at desk

Qatif sorcerer sentenced to death

The "Qatif sorcerer" from Saudi Arabia was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1000 lashes for sexually abusing women, but after more victims came forth the sentence was changed to execution, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported on Wednesday. The Saudi man reported to have raped more than 100 women after posing as a spell-caster to lure them into his clutches. The Saudi man terrified women around the eastern city of Qatif for several years.

He first drew them in by saying he could cast love spells, but then surreptitiously filmed their meeting and used his work for extortion and to rape them, according to Arab News.

This turn of event (from prison term to capital punishment) is surprising as Muslim law required several witnesses of the rape to convict the rapist.

Recommended reading:
* Crucifixion in Saudi Arabia
* Saudi Man Get 1,000 Lashes For Sex Bragging
* Adulterers can be sentenced to death by stoning

Hundreds killed in Nigerian Muslim-Christian clashes

Clashes between Muslim and Christian gangs subsided on Wednesday in the Nigerian city of Jos, where rights activists said the death toll has topped 200, but sporadic gunfire could be heard in neighboring communities. Another meaningless tragedy and future revenge is sure to erupt. There is just no end to this kind of religious violence.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said 151 bodies had been taken to the city's mosque for burial since the violence started on Sunday, while the number of Christian dead was put at 65.

The official police figures were significantly lower with 20 people dead, 40 injured and 168 arrested since Sunday.

Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, in his first use of executive power, ordered troops to Jos on Tuesday to restore calm and prevent a repetition of clashes in November 2008, when hundreds of residents were killed in the country's worst sectarian fighting in years.

It was not clear whether President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has been in hospital in Saudi Arabia for nearly two months, had been briefed on the situation.

This week's violence erupted after an argument between Muslim and Christian neighbors over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in the 2008 clashes.

The fighting is unlikely to have a big impact on sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy. Its oil industry is in the south and its banking sector mainly in the commercial capital Lagos.

Nigeria has roughly equal numbers of Christians and Muslims, although traditional animist beliefs underpin many people's faiths.

More than 200 ethnic groups generally live peacefully side-by-side in the West African country, although 1 million people were killed in a civil war between 1967 and 1970 and there have been outbreaks of religious unrest since then.

Jos has been the center of several major religious clashes in Africa's most populous nation.

The November 2008 clashes killed around 700 people, according to U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, while more than 1,000 Jos residents died in similar fighting in September 2001.

Apple switching iPhone search engine to Bing

Apple and Google relationship is getting sour. In recent news, Apple is discussing ways to make Bing the default search engine on the iPhone. Currently, the default search engine for iPhone is Google.

The discussions reflect the accelerating rivalry between Apple and Google, now the main provider of Web search on the iPhone. While the two companies have worked as partners in the past and Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt had a seat on Apple's board, Apple and Google have more recently begun competing in several markets, including mobile phones. Google sells a smartphone, the Nexus One, that competes directly with the iPhone and it has spearheaded development of a wireless handset operating system that rivals the iPhone OS.

Read iPhone vs Nexus One and Nexus One smartphone to rival iPhones

Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy. Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle. Apple is also working on ways to manage ad placement on its mobile devices, a move that would encroach on Google's ad-serving business.

A deal between Apple and Microsoft may mean iPhone owners would automatically get Microsoft's Bing as the main search engine, possibly requiring users to actively change phone settings if they want to search via Google. Google is now the default search engine on the iPhone. To search via Bing, a user needs to download a Bing application or go through the browser to call up www.bing.com. Microsoft may also be lobbying to make Bing an alternative on Apple's Safari browser for Mac users. Currently, Mac users can choose either Google or Yahoo search through the Safari browser.

Being the default search engine on the iPhone carries financial benefits for Google, which collects revenue from ads placed alongside its search results and shares a portion of that with Apple. Most mobile advertising now is viewed on Apple's iPhone and iPod touch, according to mobile advertising company AdMob. To clinch the deal, Microsoft may be willing to share a higher portion of its revenue or pay a larger flat annual fee than Google does. Neither Apple nor Google discloses the financial terms of their search partnership.

Clinching the coveted default spot on the iPhone would also help Bing gain market share in the quickly growing area of mobile search. Of people who use mobile search, 86% used Google in November, according to the Nielsen Co. Only 11% used Bing.

Apple initially agreed with little hesitation to use Google as the default search engine in the iPhone before it was launched in 2007. Besides using the search bar, the companies worked together to create special versions of Google Maps and the YouTube video player tailored to run faster on the device. At the time, Apple had little hesitation because Google's popular software could help drive the popularity of the iPhone—and because Google wasn't seen as a potential rival.

That began changing more than a year ago as the two companies encroached further on each other's turf. Apple has refused to approve two Google applications for distribution in its App Store—including one called Latitude that uses GPS data and other types of information to show users which friends are nearby.

Even if it's consummated, an Apple-Bing deal may prove short-lived. Apple has a "skunk works" looking at a search offering of its own, and believes that "if Apple does do a search deal with Microsoft, it's about buying itself time." Given the importance of search and its tie to mobile advertising—and the iPhone maker's desire to slow Google—"Apple isn't going to outsource the future."

10-10-10 and 20-10-2010 wedding dates

10-10-10 or Oct 01, 2010 as well as 20-10-2010 or Oct 20, 2010 are two hot dates this year for Chinese wedding. And I do believe there are some non-Chinese couples out there eyeing for either one of the dates as well.

Astrologically there is no significant in the two hot dates other than it being easy to remember and it only come once this century. And that should make the date auspicious and once in a life time!

The next occurrence of 10-10-10 would be in Oct 10, 2110 !

Anyway, do expect a lot of mass wedding on the two mentioned dates happening in Asia.

Apple to unveil iSlate tablet at January event

Apple has announced it will unveil its "latest creation" in San Francisco on January 27, an event expected to feature the release of a long-awaited tablet computer. And the name of that table is rumored to be "iSlate". Of course, some also expected it to be called iTablet.

"Please join Apple on January 27 for a special event," said a typically cryptic email invitation to journalists from the company behind the Macintosh computer, the iPod and the iPhone.

"Come see our latest creation," said the invitation.

The California-based company did not supply any further details about the event to be held at 10am local time (0500 AEDT January 28) in San Francisco.

Silicon Valley has been buzzing for months with rumours that Apple plans to release a touchscreen tablet computer that resembles an oversized iPod Touch.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the colour multimedia device will allow users to browse the web, watch movies or television shows and also serve as an electronic book and newspaper reader.

Apple routinely refuses to comment on products ahead of their release and - true to form - the company has ignored the rumours sweeping technology blogs.

The spectre of an Apple tablet, however, hovered over the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, with manufacturers of tablet computers jockeying for a head-start in the marketplace.

Computer giant Hewlett-Packard was among the companies seeking to get a jump on Apple and Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer provided a glimpse on stage of an HP "slate" computer during an appearance at the annual gadget show.

But few companies generate the buzz of Apple and a tablet computer would be the company's first major product release since it came out with the popular iPhone three years ago.

How to limit your family from BPA exposure

The US Food and Drug Administration's has new "concerns" about Bisphenol A (BPA) health risks but still short of banning it from being used in consumer products. It's a known fact that government agency despite their power and authority, is still scare of the big players in BPA related industry. So how do we rid our homes of BPA and limit the BPA exposure from your family.

Research has linked the BPA chemical to cancer, heart disease, brain problem (read Harmful effects of BPA on brain), Type-II diabetes, obesity, sexual dysfunction and early-onset puberty. FDA officials said they are especially concerned about its developmental impact on fetuses, infants and young children.

BPA, used to harden plastics, leaches from containers into food and drinks, even cold ones. It's so ubiquitous that more than 90% of Americans have traces of it in their urine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here are tips, from a leading environmental group and the U.S. government, on how to reduce BPA exposure:

The Environmental Working Group recommends using ceramic and glass -- not plastic -- containers to heat food in microwaves. It also says to avoid old and scratched plastic bottles. Its other tips:

* Infant formula: Choose powdered formula which may not have BPA in packaging and which is more diluted with water. If your baby needs liquid formula, look for types sold in plastic or glass containers. All U.S. manufacturers use BPA-based lining on the metal portions of the formula containers. Tests of liquid formulas by FDA and EWG show that BPA leaches into the formula from all brands tested. Enfamil formula appears to have the highest concentrations of the 20 tests.

* Canned foods. Our testing of canned foods found that BPA leaches from the liner into the food itself. Sensitive groups such as kids and pregnant women should limit canned food consumption. Beverages appear to contain less BPA residues, while canned pasta and soups contain the highest levels. Rinsing canned fruit or vegetables with water prior to heating and serving could lessen BPA ingestion.

* Plastic food containers. BPA is found in polycarbonate plastic food containers often marked on the bottom with the letters "PC" recycling label #7..... Plastics with the recycling labels #1, #2 and #4 on the bottom are safer choices and do not contain BPA. Find baby bottles in glass versions, or those made from the safer plastics including polyamine, polypropylene and polyethylene.

* Metal water bottles. Many are lined with a plastic coating that contains BPA. Look for stainless steel bottles that do not have a plastic liner.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on this website, also offers guidance. It recommends breast-feeding infants, but if that's not possible, carefully selecting formula and warming it. It says:

Do not put boiling or very hot water, infant formula, or other liquids into BPA-containing bottles while preparing them for your child. Before mixing water with powdered infant formula, the water should be boiled in a BPA-free container and allowed to cool to lukewarm. Ready-to-feed liquid formula can be served at room temperature or gently warmed up by running warm water over the outside of the bottle.

HHS addresses other common questions:

* Should I throw away baby bottles that contain BPA? Parents should examine bottles and discard them if worn or scratched because scratches can both harbor germs and, in BPA-containing bottles, lead to greater release of BPA. For those who want to use baby bottles and feeding cups not made with BPA, consumers should know that such products are now widely available in the U.S. market.

* Is liquid infant formula sold in cans safe? There are small amounts of BPA in liquid infant formulas sold in cans. The benefits of good nutrition from liquid infant formula sold in cans far outweigh the potential risk of exposure to a small amount of BPA. As a result, HHS does not advise against the use of liquid infant formula in cans.

* Is powdered infant formula sold in cans safe? FDA has found that powdered infant formula mix typically has no detectable level of BPA. In rare cases, small amounts of BPA are found in infant formula sold in powdered form. Families using powdered infant formula need to carefully follow instructions about preparing the formula.

* My baby always puts his plastic toys in his mouth. Should I throw them away? No. In general, children's toys are made of plastics that are not made with BPA.

* Is BPA in pacifiers? The part of the pacifier that a child puts in his or her mouth is made from latex or silicone and does not contain BPA. In some pacifiers, the hard plastic shield designed to prevent swallowing might contain BPA; however, the only exposure would come from the child mouthing the shield, and the transfer of BPA is negligible.

* Should adults be concerned about exposure to BPA? Concern over potential harm from BPA is highest for young children, because their bodies are early in development and have immature systems for detoxifying chemicals. Adults and older children should follow reasonable food preparation practices to reduce exposure to BPA. The National Institutes of Health is supporting additional studies to better understand BPA and adults.

Supercar 2010 Ferrari Gemballa

The 2010 Ferrari Gemballa (or Gemballa MIG U-1) is a supercar injected with jet-fighter-inspired add-ons and targeted at anyone with a spare few million dollars. German tuning house Gemballa - renowned for tweaking, tuning and titivating Porsches - is poking its nose over the border and taking a shot at an Italian.

Gemballa's MIG U-1 starts life as a $1.5 million Ferrari Enzo supercar but with changes to make an Italian weep.

The Ferrari Enzo's 6.0-litre V12 engine has been tweaked to boost the power to 515kW, double that of a high performance V8 muscle car.

Keeping the MIG U-1 stuck to the road is a reworked carbon-constructed aerodynamic kit, including a front lip spoiler with incorporated foglights and an overstated rear wing.

Gemballa has also added some rather conspicuous additions including what it calls "greedy air intakes" mounted on the roof and bonnet. Another standout of the design is the jet-thruster-inspired quad-exhaust tips.

Keeping the car's components cool is critical for an extreme car like the Enzo, so Gemballa has added louvred slats on the wheel arches and gaping openings in the side-skirts which aid in keeping the brake temperatures down.

If the forged alloy wheels look large, that's because they are. In fact, they're enormous. The front wheels are 19-inchers, and the 20-inch rear wheels are fitted with mammoth 335mm tyres.

The exterior of the MIG U-1 does have a lot going on, but don't think that's where all the attention has gone there. The equally-outlandish cockpit of the car gains quilted upholstery, redesigned seats, and a premium multimedia system with a touch-screen and iPod connection.

According to Gemballa, the bespoke MIG-U1 will be produced in a limited run of just 25 vehicles, all of which will be individually tailored to order.







Recommended reading:
* Spirra - Korea's Super Car

How do I make money with GMail

That's the keyword that visitors searched for, leading them to this blog. An odd keyword but there are people interested in the answers. However, I am doubtful if those people really want to know how to make money with GMail. After all, almost everyone know that GMail is a Google-powered free email account. But then again, it could be someone who is actually researching on the keyword popularity of "how do I make money with GMail".

Technically, you cannot make money with GMail other than the fact that it is GMail that is making money for Google. Even though Google doesn't charge the users a single cent for the email account, Google make money from the sponsored links (ads) that come out in the GMail.

Anyway, as with any online tools, you can still use GMail to create emails and invitations to invite your friends and new acquaintances to your blog or offering. That's promotion for short. Use GMail as part of your promotional tools to expose your blog or perhaps your online business. If GMail cannot make cash directly for you, use it to promote your business and only then, maybe you can make money from that promotional efforts.

Recommended reading:
* Google GMail Breakdown

binged.it URL shortener is not actually short

Everyone is getting into the URL shortening game these days. Google, YouTube, and Facebook are just a few joining the likes of the established players such as Bit.ly. And now Microsoft is jumping in. But there’s something weird about their URL. Microsoft URL shortener has more characters to it.

As the UK blog My Microsoft Life noticed, some of Microsoft’s Bing employees have begun publicly tweeting with the binged.it URL. Seattle PI confirmed with Microsoft that it has been used internally and is likely to be made public soon. But the odd thing about binged.it is that it’s actually one character longer than Bing’s own domain, complete with the .com part. Sure, many Bing search query URLs are going to be much longer, but then why not just shorten them using the Bing.com domain or something smaller? I don’t know how much Microsoft paid for the Bing domain, but I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. And wasn’t part of the point to be shorter than Google? Why not spring for bin.gd or something?

Google’s shortener, goo.gl, is 5 characters. Facebook’s (fb.me) is 4 characters. Bing’s (binged.it) is 8 characters. Bing.com is 7 characters. Fa.il.

Recommended reading:
* The death of URL shortener sites
* TechCrunch - Fa.il: Bing’s URL Shortener Is Longer Than Bing’s Own Domain
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Harmful effects of BPA on brain

In a shift of position, the JS Food and Drug Administration is expressing concerns about possible health risks from bisphenol-A, or BPA, a widely used component of plastic bottles and food packaging that it declared safe in 2008. Now the agency is saying that it had “some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children,” and would join other federal health agencies in studying the chemical in both animals and humans.

The action is another example of the drug agency under the Obama administration becoming far more aggressive in taking hard looks at what it sees as threats to public health. In recent months, the agency has stepped up its oversight of food safety and has promised to tighten approval standards for medical devices.

Concerns about BPA are based on studies that have found harmful effects in animals, and on the recognition that the chemical seeps into food and baby formula, and that nearly everyone is exposed to it, starting in the womb. Read also Bisphenol A (BPA) found in canned foods

But health officials said there was no proof that BPA was dangerous to humans.

“If we thought it was unsafe, we would be taking strong regulatory action,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the principal deputy commissioner of the drug agency, at a news briefing.

Nonetheless, health officials suggested a number of things people could do to limit their exposure to BPA, like throwing away scratched or worn bottles or cups made with BPA (it can leak from the scratches), not putting very hot liquids into cups or bottles with BPA and checking the labels on containers to make sure they are microwave safe. The drug agency also recommended that mothers breastfeed their infants for at least 12 months; liquid formula contains traces of BPA.

BPA has been used since the 1960s to make hard plastic bottles, sippy cups for toddlers and the linings of food and beverage cans, including the cans used to hold infant formula and soda. Until recently, it was used in baby bottles, but major manufacturers are now making bottles without it. Plastic items containing BPA are generally marked with a 7 on the bottom for recycling purposes.

The chemical can leach into food, and a study of more than 2,000 people found that more than 90 percent of them had BPA in their urine. Traces have also been found in breast milk, the blood of pregnant women and umbilical cord blood.

Reports of potential health effects have made BPA notorious, especially among parents, and led to widespread shunning of products thought to contain the chemical. Canada, Chicago and Suffolk County, N.Y., have banned BPA from children’s products.

The government will spend $30 million on BPA research in humans and animals, to take place over 18 to 24 months, health officials said at a news briefing on Friday.

Dr. Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said the research would involve potential effects on behavior, obesity, diabetes, reproductive disorders, cancer, asthma, heart disease and effects that could be carried from one generation to the next.

Activists on both sides of the passionately debated issue said they were disappointed in the government’s action. The American Chemical Council, which represents companies that make and use BPA, issued a statement saying BPA was safe, praising the health agencies as confirming that there was no proof of harm to people by it, but also saying, “We are disappointed that some of the recommendations are likely to worry consumers and are not well founded.”

Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women and Families, said the F.D.A. had not gone far enough, because its recommendations put the responsibility on families and not on companies making products containing BPA. In addition, Ms. Zuckerman said, the focus on safety should not be limited to children, because studies have linked the chemicals to heart and liver disease and other problems in adults.

Government evaluations of BPA have had a contentious history. The drug agency wrote a draft report calling it safe in 2008. But shortly after that, the National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, said BPA was cause for “some concern,” citing the same issues that the drug agency is now agreeing to: potential effects on the brain, behavior and prostate in fetuses, infants and children.

Then the drug agency asked an independent panel of scientific advisers to review its draft report, and the panel gave it a scathing review. It accused the F.D.A. of ignoring important evidence and giving consumers a false sense of security about the chemical. The drug agency promised to reconsider BPA, and the announcement on Friday fulfilled that pledge.

“We are for the first time saying we believe there is some concern about the substance’s safety, and we’ve closed the gap between N.I.H. and F.D.A.,” Dr. Sharfstein of the F.D.A. said in an interview.

Dr. Sharfstein said the drug agency had become more receptive to new techniques of studying the safety of chemicals. Old methods involved giving test animals large doses and looking for clear evidence of effects like illness, tumors or organ damage. Newer methods involve studying small doses — similar to human exposures — and looking for more subtle effects, like changes in behavior or biochemistry. Results can be harder to interpret and may demand more study.

Dr. Sharfstein said the drug agency was also re-evaluating the way it regulates BPA. The substance is now classified as a food additive, a category that requires a cumbersome and time-consuming process to make regulatory changes. Dr. Sharfstein said he hoped its status could be changed to “food contact substance,” which would give the F.D.A. more regulatory power and let it act more quickly if it needed to do so.