Make money selling technique at Neekr.com

Do you have any new technique which you discovered or devised yourself? If you have one, you can sell it at a newly launched site called Neekr.com. They are offering 88 percent of your gross sale.

Neekr.com is created by Nick Oba, one of the ex-founder of Qondio.com

What is Neekr?

Neekr is a marketplace for buying and selling techniques (tech-neeks, get it?). What kind of techniques? Techniques for improving the performance of websites.

Trade a technique and make money

Techniques are traded regularly, but mostly in the form of ebooks. An ebook will contain a large number of techniques. Neekr enables buyers to gain access to just one technique of their choosing, at a much lower price. Technique trading also goes on in forums, on a limited scale

Why is Neekr the best thing since sliced bread with melted cheese on top?

Before Neekr, you had to buy an entire ebook at significant cost to gain access to advanced web techniques. Neekr allows you to buy techniques piecemeal, at much lower cost. Also, Neekr lists techniques by a number of sellers. Sooner or later, you'll be able to come to Neekr and get your pick of dozens of techniques. Cool, huh?

What is the earning potential of selling a technique on Neekr?

Neekr will keep 12 percent of your gross. That's means your earning is 88% of the sale.

What are the requirements for listing a technique?

You must have thought of it yourself, and it must be a specific step-by-step guide to achieving a particular task. General advice such as "write great content" or "submit your site to website.com" are not techniques.

How do I know these techniques work?

Because each and every technique is investigated by the operators of this website. We have a brand and reputation to protect, and we will not allow scams or crap to be listed.

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Who is MEDIA DYNAMIX

Ever noticed some payment from MEDIA DYNAMIX appeared in your bank statement and wondered who is MEDIA DYNAMIX? MEDIA DYNAMIX owned and operates a Made-in-Malaysia affiliate program called "OnlyInMalaysiaMah.com"

So now, you remembered that you are actually an affiliate to OnlyInMalaysiaMah.com.

It happened to me because it has been a while since I received my commission from OnlyInMalaysiaMah. Furthermore, I was not that active with that affiliate program. And I thought they will never pay me the outstanding balance.

OnlyInMalaysiaMah commission is 45% of the product amount.

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Yellow Sea Oil Spill

China's worst known oil spill is dozens of times larger than the government has reported - bigger than the famous Exxon Valdez spill two decades ago - and some of the oil was dumped deliberately to avoid further disaster, an American expert said Friday.

China's government has said 1,500 tons (461,790 gallons) of oil spilled after a pipeline exploded two weeks ago near the northeastern city of Dalian, sending 100-foot- (30-meter-) high flames raging for hours near one of the country's key strategic oil reserves. Such public estimates stopped within a few days of the spill.

But Rick Steiner, a former University of Alaska marine conservation specialist, estimated 60,000 tons (18.47 million gallons) to 90,000 tons (27.70 million gallons) of oil actually spilled into the Yellow Sea.

"It's enormous. That's at least as large as the official estimate of the Exxon Valdez disaster" in Alaska, he told The Associated Press. The size of the offshore area affected by the spill is likely more than 400 square miles (1,000 square kilometers), he added.





Photos: Workers unload oil barrels collected from the spill at Dalian Port.

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Blackpad BlackBerry Tablet

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, plans to introduce a tablet computer (likely to be called BlackPad) in November to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad, according to two people familiar with the company’s plans.

The device will have roughly the same dimensions as the iPad, which has a 9.7-inch diagonal screen, said the two people who wouldn’t be identified because the plans haven’t been made public. The device will include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology that will allow people to connect to the Internet through their BlackBerry smartphones, the two people said.

RIM is racing to come out with a product to rival the iPad in the fast-growing market for devices that bridge the gap between smartphones and notebook computers. Apple, based in Cupertino, California, last month said it sold 3 million iPad tablet computers in 80 days after they debuted in the U.S.

“They can’t wait for a second generation of devices from Apple or they’ll fall too far behind,” said Ashok Kumar, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw Inc. in New York.

RIM rose $1.83, or 3.3 percent, to $57.53 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, reversing an earlier decline of as much as 2.5 percent. The stock has dropped 15 percent this year, as Apple has climbed 22 percent.

Marisa Conway, a spokeswoman for RIM, declined to comment, citing company policy not to comment on rumor or speculation.

Blackpad Pricing

RIM plans to call the tablet Blackpad, according to one of the people familiar with the company’s plans. RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, acquired the Internet rights to blackpad.com this month, according to the Whois database of domain names.

Pricing for the device will be in line with the iPad, which starts at $499, the person said. RIM is focused on reaping additional profits from the tablet effort, rather than competing on price to sell a large number of devices, the person said.

RIM is stepping up its competition with Apple on multiple fronts. The company is hosting an event in New York Aug. 3 at which it will debut its BlackBerry 9800 slider phone, according to one person familiar with its plans. The device will feature a full touchscreen like Apple’s iPhone and a slideout Qwerty keyboard to allow for easy e-mail typing, the person said.

RIM plans to use the phone to regain the market share it has lost recently to its U.S. rival. RIM’s share of the smartphone market fell to 19.4 percent of global shipments in the first quarter from 20.9 percent a year earlier, according to researcher IDC, based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Apple claimed 16.1 percent of the smartphone market, up from 10.9 percent a year earlier.

Uphill Battle?

In the tablet market, RIM will have to demonstrate how its device can stand out against products including the iPad, which has attracted buyers because of its integration with Apple’s iTunes service and many software applications, or apps. More than 225,000 apps are available for Apple devices, the company said in June. RIM said in April it had more than 6,000 apps.

“With the success of the iPad, RIM faces an uphill battle,” said William Power, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co., who has a “neutral” rating on the stock. “RIM really has yet to demonstrate that it can roll out touchscreen technology to match the leaders in the space, most noticeably Apple.”

RIM’s tablet will capitalize on the BlackBerry’s e-mail capabilities and the phone’s popularity with corporate users, one person said. The tablet will be closely integrated with the smartphone’s e-mail system and will have similar security for messaging, the person said.

Cameras for Video

Wi-Fi would allow the device to connect to the Internet anywhere the wireless technology is available, including a home, office or coffee shop. When not near such Wi-Fi “hotspots,” people could connect wirelessly to their mobile phone with Bluetooth and then to the Internet. The device will not be able to connect directly to the cellular network the way some iPads can, the two people said.

The RIM tablet will also have front- and back-facing cameras for videoconferencing, Rodman & Renshaw’s Kumar said, citing sources at suppliers in Asia.

“I don’t think it’s a zero-sum game,” he said, saying that innovation by Apple, RIM and other competitors will increase the size of the tablet market.

Hewlett-Packard Co., which bought smartphone maker Palm Inc. this month, said it plans to produce a tablet device that runs on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system. Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. said this month it plans to introduce a tablet computer in the fourth quarter that runs on Google Inc.’s Android software. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said yesterday the software company plans to increase its focus on tablets.

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Judge Ellen DeGeneres is out of American Idol show

"American Idol" appears on course for a wholesale make-over after the abrupt departure of Ellen DeGeneres left the aging singing contest with two holes to fill as it seeks to retain its crown as the most-watched show on U.S. television.

DeGeneres quit on Thursday after just a year of her five-year contract on the TV show, following the exit in May of abrasive British judge Simon Cowell to run his own show.

With no replacements announced, Fox executives meet TV journalists on Monday after a week of fevered rumors, and some denials, that singers Jessica Simpson, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Chris Isaak and Steven Tyler may be among the contenders for the job of new "American Idol" judge.

Reports that Briton Nigel Lythgoe, one of the original executive producers, is returning, have sparked talk of a "nuclear option" for the show's 10th season, starting in January 2011.

That could entail throwing out remaining judges Randy Jackson and pop songwriter Kara DioGuardi, as well as major changes to the format, TV watchers say.

"I thought (with Simon's exit) that 'Idol' was in a unique position to really make some dramatic fixes to the show, and it looks now that maybe that's what they are going to do," said Brian Mansfield, who runs USA Today's Idol Chatter blog.

Fox has declined to confirm or deny any of the reports. "There has been a lot of speculation and we are not commenting on anything," a network spokesperson said.

Fox presents it 2010-11 new season line-up to TV critics on Monday but the network has until September to put a new panel in place in time for filmed auditions for next year's show.

IDOLS LOSING THEIR SHINE

After four years of declining audiences, lukewarm record sales for the 2010 "American Idol" Lee DeWyze, and a two-week cut in the Top 10 "Idols" summer tour, the money-spinning jewel in Fox's crown could use some polishing, TV watchers say.

"Idol" producers 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia have also taken note. They have already said that the minimum age for contestants will be lowered to 15, in what was seen as a bid to find the next Justin Bieber, who signed his first record contract at the age of 14.

Results shows next year will be cut in half to 30 minutes, and contestants can audition over MySpace.

Fans on the official AmericanIdol.com website were given an unprecedented and detailed questionnaire in May, asking for feedback on their favorite judges, guest judges, weekly musical themes, and whether they would like more informal moments with the contestants backstage.

"You can bet the producers are poring over that," said Todd Gold, managing editor of Fancast.com.

Gold said edgier contestants rather than the family-friendly singers seen in past seasons could give the contest a lift.

"This is a time in TV when playing it safe doesn't seem like it will work. The producers understand that," he said.

Lurking in the background is Cowell's own talent show "The X-Factor" due in the fall of 2011, also on Fox. The British version of the show has a more cut-throat format and Cowell is also out recruiting for judges.

"'X-Factor' is going to get all sorts of attention and so making really wholesale changes to 'Idol' is one way that you can pre-empt the buzz that 'X Factor' is going to get," said Mansfield.

As for the newcomers to the "Idol" panel, Mansfield noted the surprise factor surrounding the appointment of DioGuardi in 2008 and the hiring, and sudden exit, of DeGeneres.

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Underwater Kite generate electricity from tidal energy

Developed by Swedish start-up Minesto, the ‘underwater kite’ functions beneath the surface of the ocean. It comprises of a turbine fastened to a wing and a rudder that are strapped to the ocean floor using a 100 meter long cable. The turbine can generate 500 KW of power by capturing energy from tidal waves.

According to Minesto, the kites’ small size comprising 12 meters wingspan and one meter for the turbine – and the ability to operate efficiently under low current velocity conditions, at greater depths, gives it a relative advantage over other tidal-energy designs.

With trials expected to begin by 2011, the commercial model for “Deep Green” will only be available within four years.

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Review of AviSys 6.0 - Superior Birding Software

With many software options available for the avid birder one is leading the pack in taxonomy - the AviSys 6.0 birding software. With a vast database that incorporates findings from across the world while also providing complete integration into the Official James Clements and Shawneen Finnegan World-Wide Nation Checklists, the AviSys 6.0 is a proven source for birders worldwide.

The first main feature that sets AviSys 6.0 apart from other birding software is the intuitive band code finder. To find virtually any bird in the wild one needs to only type the simple 4 digit code assigned to each bird - at the same time both simple and easy to learn.

Another intuitive feature of the AviSys 6.0 is the bird family jump table. Say you recognize characteristics of a bird based on it's family, but don't know the exact species. With the AviSys all it takes is one click to narrow down a bird's family, and from then on the exact species. This feature is also complete with a "hot-key"
function, where one letter stroke immediately jumps to a family for fast referencing on the go. With an interface that shows over 44 species at the same time (compared to 16 of the leading competitor) narrowing possibilities of birds is a snap.

One of the main features for any software is ease of use and help reference. With the AviSys 6.0 a birder is able to quickly learn how to use and navigate the software with ease in part due to the provided illustrated user guide and on-line support. Many other software companies provide some support, but none as superior as the company behind AviSys 6.0. With a fully illustrated guide and helpful support system, the AviSys helps any birder get away from the computer and back to birding quickly.

Of the many options for birders on the market today, the AviSys 6.0 is sure to be a superior choice. For the technologically savvy birder on the go, one should never go birding without it.

About the author: James Mowery is a computer geek that writes about technology and related topics. To read more blog posts by him, go to monitors.

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Why you stop drinking bottled water

Bottled water is healthy water -- or so marketers would have us believe. Just look at the bottled water labels or ads: deep, pristine pools of spring water; majestic alpine peaks ... In reality, bottled water is just water; however, that fact isn't stopping people from buying a lot of it.

Here are some solid reasons to kick the bottled water habit from our friends at Term Life Insurance. Read also Bottled Water vs Tap Water.


Via: Term Life Insurance

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Airblue Jet Crashes near Islamabad Pakistan

A passenger jet that officials suspect veered off course in monsoon rains and thick clouds crashed into hills overlooking Pakistan's capital Wednesday, killing all 152 people on board and scattering body parts and twisted metal far and wide.

The Airblue jet's crash was the deadliest ever in Pakistan, and just the latest tragedy to jolt a country that has suffered numerous deaths in recent years due to al-Qaida and Taliban attacks. At least two U.S. citizens were on the plane, which carried mostly Pakistanis.

The plane left the southern city of Karachi at 7:45 a.m. for a two-hour flight to Islamabad and was trying to land when it lost contact with the control tower, said Pervez George, a civil aviation official. Airblue is a private airline based in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

The aircraft, an Airbus A321, crashed some 15 kilometers from the airport, scorching a wide stretch of the Margalla Hills, including a section behind Faisal Mosque, one of Islamabad's most prominent landmarks. Twisted metal wreckage hung from trees and lay scattered across the ground. Smoke rose from the scene as helicopters hovered.

The exact cause of the crash was not immediately clear, and rescue workers were seeking the "black box" flight data recorder amid the wreckage. But Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said the government did not suspect terrorism.

Rescue workers and citizen volunteers were hampered by the rain, mud and rugged terrain. The crash was so severe it would have been nearly impossible for any of the 146 passengers and six crew members to survive, rescue officials said.

In 2007, the European Union temporarily banned flights in its airspace of most of the aircraft operated by Pakistan's national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, because of concerns over the age of the aircraft and poor maintenance. The bloc lifted the ban later that year after the airline took action to comply with safety standards.

The last major plane crash in Pakistan was in July 2006 when a Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft operated by PIA slammed into a wheat field on the outskirts of the central Pakistani city of Multan, killing all 45 people on board.

In August 1989, another PIA Fokker, with 54 people onboard, went down in northern Pakistan on a domestic flight. The plane's wreckage was never found. In September 1992, a PIA Airbus A300 crashed into a mountain in Nepal, killing all 167 people on board.

The Airbus 320 family of medium-range jets, which includes the A321 model that crashed Wednesday, is one of the most popular in the world, with about 4,300 jets delivered since deliveries began in 1988.

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Top 10 Richest People In Thailand

Thailand, the land of smiles has seemed more like the land of uncertainty lately. It has had to deal with not just the global economic slowdown but also self-inflicted political instability that has seen five prime ministers in three years. But that probably, has no impact to Thailand elite list of richest peoples.

#1 Chaleo Yoovidhya, NET WORTH $4 billion, AGE 77, MARITAL STATUS Married, 5 children

Chaleo Yoovidhya owns 49% of $4.8 billion (sales) Red Bull, energy drink giant he cofounded with an Austrian marketing whiz. Launched new all-natural Red Bull Cola in 2008, helping boost sales 8%. Starting to sell Energy Shots, a concentrated, noncarbonated mini version of original Red Bull.

#2 Dhanin Chearavanont, NET WORTH $3 billion, AGE 70, MARITAL STATUS Married, 5 children

Dhanin Chearavanont heads agribusiness conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group, in which he and 3 older brothers own 13% apiece. Stocks of its CP All, which operates 5,000 7-Eleven stores in Thailand, and CP Foods, one of Asia's biggest food producers, gained in past year. Opened feed mill in Russia in June. Fortune up in part because of new information.

#3 Chirathivat family, NET WORTH $2.9 billion

Descendants of Central Group's founder, Tiang Chirathivat, including families of his 3 wives and 25 children, share fortune largely derived from ownership of Central Retail and 60% stake in listed developer, Central Pattana, which is opening 3 malls in 2009. Tiang's son Wanchai, 82, is Central's chairman.

#4 Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, NET WORTH $2.8 billion, AGE 65. MARITAL STATUS Married, 5 children

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi is the founder of Thai Beverage, maker of top-selling Chang beer, whiskey; has 18 distilleries, 3 breweries in Thailand, 5 whiskey distilleries in Scotland. Runs large property developer TCC Land, owner of Bangkok's tech-mall Pantip Plaza, Hotel Plaza Athénée New York, other hotels in Asia plus new one in New Zealand.

#5 Krit Ratanarak, NET WORTH $1.2 billion, AGE 63, MARITAL STATUS Divorced, 1 child

Scion of Ratanarak family runs its Bangkok Broadcasting & TV, which operates Channel 7. Recently filed suit in California against a company that allegedly copied its programming to sell to Thais living in U.S. Also has stakes in Bank of Ayudhaya and Siam City Cement. Shares fortune with family, including mom, son, 5 sisters.

#6 Chamnong Bhirombhakdi, NET WORTH $975 million, AGE 81, MARITAL STATUS Married, 3 children

Chamnong Bhirombhakdi is the Chairman of Boon Rawd Brewery, country's oldest, founded by late father. Sells Singha, Thai, Leo beer brands; sales of its nonalcoholic drinks like soda water, iced tea holding up. Company lambasted Democratic Party over recent 27% tax hike on beer. Shares fortune with families of 2 late brothers.

#7 Praneetsilpa Vacharaphol, NET WORTH $940 million, AGE 77, MARITAL STATUS Widowed, 4 children

Family's newspaper, Thai Rath, made international headlines in June when it published photos of the dead body of American actor David Carradine, who died in Thailand. Shares fortune with son Saravut, editor-in-chief, and daughter Yinglak, president.

#8 Isara Vongkusolkit, NET WORTH $900 million, AGE 61, MARITAL STATUS NA

Chairman of Mitr Phol Sugar, Thailand's largest sugar producer; second largest in China; also involved in ethanol, particleboard production, biomass power. He and 6 siblings own business through Mid-Siam Sugar. Brother Chanin is chief executive of coal producer Banpu; brother Vitoon chairs warehousing firm United Standard Terminal.

#9 Vichai Maleenont, NET WORTH $650 million, AGE 91, MARITAL STATUS Married, 7 children

BEC World, media group that Vichai cofounded and chairs, suffering from drop in ad sales; stock price down a fourth from last year, but company expecting third-quarter turnaround. Has 23 subsidiaries involved in television and radio broadcasting, Internet. Transferred shares to his children.

#10 Anant Asavabhokin, NET WORTH $500 million, AGE 59, MARITAL STATUS Married, 3 children

He and his mother founded real estate developer Land & Houses in 1973; now nation's largest property developer, catering to middle class.

NOTE: The net fortunes of the above mentioned named was extracted from year 2009 Forbes's list.

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Sharon Mevsimler eating herself to death

Here’s a piece of bad news for those who have been following the story of Britain’s fattest woman Sharon Mevsimler. The 40-year-old woman, who weighed over 260kg the last time we checked, succumbed to heart failure and passed away last weekend. Sharon Mevsimler was literally eating herself to death.

During her last two months, she was lying on a specially strengthened bed in Broomfield Hospital and relying on an oxygen mask to live.

Earlier on, the mother of four complained that she had been “left to die”, because her enormous weight was preventing her from getting any life-saving surgery.

“If I was anorexic I would get proper help but no one has sympathy for obese people,” she said in interviews.

However, sources claimed otherwise regarding the circumstances that contributed to her tragic death.

Witnesses at the institution claimed that her family reportedly sneaked takeaways of fast food as well as junk food into the hospital for her consumption.

“She obviously had a serious underlying problem with food, but did nothing to help herself.

“Those who came to visit her in hospital did her no favours.

“We saw them bringing in various fatty foods like fish and chips and huge portions of fried chicken when she should not have been eating these things.

“It was infuriating to see her literally eating herself to death,” British newspaper The Sun quoted “an NHS (National Health Service) source” as saying.

There was no comment so far from the hospital.

Mevsimler’s weight ballooned when she suffered severe post-natal depression and started relying heavily on food for comfort.

Don't die like Sharon Mevsimler. Change your eating habits and read the following:
* Top 10 Food That Cut Bad Cholesterol
* Super foods that the healthiest people eat
* Top 10 Fattest Countries in the world

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Gambar Porno Malaysia

"Gambar Porno Malaysia" or rather porno photos from Malaysia. The previous is the keyword that lead some curious perverts to this blog. Unfortunately for them, there is no "gambar porno" here.

Anyway, since Google introduced the keyword to this blog, I reckon I just post the keyword as the blog title. Who knows, the "Gambar Porno Malaysia" keyword can become popular and this post should occupy the top spot in the search index. That would mean more traffic.

I supposed beside Gambar Porno Malaysia, Malaysian perverts are also keen from the keywords such as gambar bogel, gadis bogel, gambar buah dada and anything naked.

So, I writing this post to bait for traffic and not for porno fun.

Photo: Green Porno by Isabella Rossellini. The Green Porno shorts feature a comical reenactment of the sex lives and reproductive talents of insects and marine life.

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* Gambar Porno Indonesia
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* Internet Pornography Statistics 2010
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Be what's next - Microsoft latest tagline

"Be what's next" could be Microsoft latest tag line. It looks like Microsoft may have revealed something big at its annual MGX (Microsoft Global Exchange) event, namely... a fresh brand motto.

"Be What's Next" touts a teaser which has been posted on YouTube, along with a fast moving sequence of morphing logos, shuffling from Windows, to Windows Phone, Xbox, Bing, and finally the familiar Office logo that's been kicking around for a little longer.

It's unclear if these are just treatments used for a promo at the event, or if this is a signal that Redmond is dumping its familiar (and frankly dated) iconography for something a little looser, leaner, and hipper, but we can't say it would be a bad thing.

It would certainly make sense against a backdrop of potential comeback in the mobile space, gains in search, and the seemingly successful (or at least satisfying) Windows 7 launch. One thing is for sure, MGX is a corporate, non-public opportunity for the Microsoft faithful to cheer the brand (Ballmer received a 30 year commemoration at MGX 2010), so this would definitely be the place to unfurl some new branding.




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Jean Gregoire Sagbo First Russian Black Politician Elected

People in this Russian town used to stare at Jean Gregoire Sagbo because they had never seen a black man. Now they say they see in him something equally rare – an honest politician. Sagbo last month became the first black to be elected to office in Russia.

In a country where racism is entrenched and often violent, Sagbo's election as one of Novozavidovo's 10 municipal councilors is a milestone. But among the town's 10,000 people, the 48-year-old from the West African country of Benin is viewed simply a Russian who cares about his hometown.

He promises to revive the impoverished, garbage-strewn town where he has lived for 21 years and raised a family. His plans include reducing rampant drug addiction, cleaning up a polluted lake and delivering heating to homes.

"Novozavidovo is dying," Sagbo said in an interview in the ramshackle municipal building. "This is my home, my town. We can't live like this."

"His skin is black but he is Russian inside," said Vyacheslav Arakelov, the mayor. "The way he cares about this place, only a Russian can care."

Sagbo isn't the first black in Russian politics. Another West African, Joaquin Crima of Guinea-Bissau, ran for head of a southern Russian district a year ago but was heavily defeated.

Crima was dubbed by the media "Russia's Obama." Now they've shifted the title to Sagbo, much to his annoyance.

"My name is not Obama. It's sensationalism," he said. "He is black and I am black, but it's a totally different situation."

Inspired by communist ideology, Sagbo came to Soviet Russia in 1982 to study economics in Moscow. There he met his wife, a Novozavidovo native. He moved to the town about 100 kilometers (65 miles) north of Moscow in 1989 to be close to his in-laws.

Today he is a father of two, and negotiates real estate sales for a Moscow conglomerate. His council job is unpaid.

Sagbo says neither he nor his wife wanted him to get into politics, viewing it as a dirty, dangerous business, but the town council and residents persuaded him to run for office.

They already knew him as a man of strong civic impulse. He had cleaned the entrance to his apartment building, planted flowers and spent his own money on street improvements. Ten years ago he organized volunteers and started what became an annual day of collecting garbage.

He said he feels no racism in the town. "I am one of them. I am home here," Sagbo said.

He felt that during his first year in the town, when his 4-year-old son Maxim came home in tears, saying a teenage boy spat at him. Sagbo ran outside in a rage, demanding that the spitter explain himself. Women sitting nearby also berated the teenager. Then the whole street joined in.

Russia's black population hasn't been officially counted but some studies estimate about 40,000 "Afro-Russians." Many are attracted by universities that are less costly than in the West. Scores of them suffer racially motivated attacks every year – 49 in Moscow alone in 2009, according to the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy Task Force on Racial Violence and Harassment, an advocacy group.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, Novozavidovo's industries were rapidly privatized, leaving it in financial ruin.

High unemployment, corruption, alcoholism and pollution blight what was once an idyllic town, just a short distance from the Zavidovo National Park, where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev take nature retreats.

Denis Voronin, a 33-year-old engineer in Novozavidovo, said Sagbo was the town's first politician to get elected fairly, without resorting to buying votes

"Previous politicians were all criminals," he said.

A former administration head – the equivalent of mayor in rural Russia – was shot to death by unknown assailants two years ago.

The post is now held by Arakelov, a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan who says he also wants to clean up corruption. He says money used to constantly disappear from the town budget and is being investigated by tax police.

Residents say they pay providers for heat and hot water, but because of ineffective monitoring by the municipality they don't get much of either. The toilet in the municipal building is a room with a hole in the floor.

As a councilor, Sagbo has already scored some successes. He mobilized residents to collect money and turn dilapidated lots between buildings into colorful playgrounds with new swings and painted fences.

As he strolled around his neighborhood everyone greeted him and he responded in his fluent, French-African-accented Russian. Boys waved to Sagbo, who had promised them a soccer field.

Sitting in the newly painted playground with her son, Irina Danilenko said it was the only improvement she has seen in the five years she has lived here.

"We don't care about his race," said Danilenko, 31. "We consider him one of us."

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British Monarchy Flickr

Looking for British Monarchy Flickr photostream link? Here it is, the official British Monarchy Flickr.

Queen Elizabeth II is joining other proud parents starting Monday in showing off and sharing her photo albums - and those of the House of Windsor - on the online Flickr photo site.

The launch of the British Monarchy Flickr account will beef up Buckingham Palace's online presence, adding to its Twitter account and YouTube channel. The site will stream the latest images of royal engagements as well as contain historic photos from the archives, the palace said.

The British Monarchy Flickr account contained photos that are either copyrighted by the British Press Association or British Crown. For link spammers, you are not allowed to leave any comments in the crown's Flickr photostreams.

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Kaing Guek Eav gets 30 years for war crimes in Cambodia

The Khmer Rouge's top prison chief was yesterday sentenced to 30 years in jail by a United Nations-backed war crimes court for his role in Cambodia's mass killings and other atrocities in the late 1970s.

Kaing Guek Eav - better known as Duch - is the first member of the regime to be convicted in an international tribunal over the deaths of up to 2 million people through starvation, overwork and execution.

The 67-year-old was initially given 35 years but the court reduced the sentence after ruling that he had been detained illegally for years before the UN-backed tribunal was established.

Duch apologised during his trial for overseeing the murders of about 15,000 men, women and children at Tuol Sleng prison, also known as S-21, but shocked the court in November by finally asking to be acquitted.

The maths teacher-turned-revolutionary was convicted of charges including crimes against humanity and war crimes.

''The role of the accused as the undisputed head of S-21 is confirmed by the accused's own admission, the testimony of witnesses and civil parties,'' the head judge, Nil Nonn, said as he read out the verdict yesterday.

''Every individual detained within S-21 was destined for execution in accordance with the Communist Party of Kampuchea policy to smash all enemies.''

Tuol Sleng was the centre of the Khmer Rouge security apparatus and thousands of inmates were taken from there for execution in a nearby orchard that served as a ''Killing Field''.

Crowds of Cambodians, including regime survivors and Buddhist monks, turned up at the specially built court on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, hoping to finally see justice for the Khmer Rouge's crimes during its rule from 1975 to 1979.

Prosecutors had asked for a 40-year prison sentence from the tribunal, which did not have the power to impose the death penalty. Duch, wearing a blue shirt, slumped in his chair as the tribunal read out the verdict in a courtroom shielded by a huge bullet-proof screen.

Led by ''Brother Number One'', Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge were responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the 20th century, wiping out nearly a quarter of the Cambodian population.

Rising to power as a tragic spin-off of the US war in Vietnam, the movement emptied Cambodia's cities to take society back to a rural ''Year Zero'', purging city dwellers, intellectuals and even people who wore glasses.

Fifty-five witnesses testified at the trial, including 22 victims who talked about how prison officials tortured them with electric shocks, suffocation and beatings.

''I could never forget the suffering that I received until the day that I die,'' Chum Mey, who had his toenails ripped out at the prison, told the court. ''Once justice can be done, then I would feel better.''

The Khmer Rouge were ousted by Vietnamese-backed forces in 1979 but continued to fight a civil war until 1998. Pol Pot died in the same year.

Duch has been detained since 1999, when he was found working as a Christian aid worker in the jungle, and was formally arrested by the tribunal in July 2007.

The joint trial of four more senior Khmer Rouge leaders charged with genocide is expected to start next year.

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Top 5 Careers That Make The Most Money

Recent surveys show that a lot of people are itching to find new jobs and human resource managers are expecting a lot of movement - both signs that employers may need to sweeten the pot. The only problem is that there is a lot of skilled workers but less job openings. Blame it on the poor global economy.

Anyway, below is a list of in-demand workers in top five arenas.

Accounting

In the US, those who have a few years of corporate auditing experience working for a large public accounting firm can negotiate a sweet package for themselves when they change jobs.

That applies whether they're leaving the accounting firm to go work for a corporation or if they're seeking to return to the public accounting firm from an auditing job at an individual company.

College graduates with an accounting degree but not yet a CPA designation might make between $35,000 and $45,000 a year, or up to $50,000 in large cities like New York. After a couple of years they can command a substantial pay hike if they move to large company as an internal staff auditor or to a smaller company as controller. At that point, their salary can jump to anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000.

The expectation is that they will obtain their CPA designation.

If they choose to return to a public accounting firm as an audit manager after a couple of years at a corporation they can earn a salary of $70,000 to $85,000.

Sales and marketing

The healthcare and biomedical fields offer some handsome earnings opportunities for those on the business side.

Business development directors, product managers and associate product managers working for medical device makers, for instance, can do quite well for themselves if they develop a successful track record managing the concept, execution and sales strategy for a medical device before jumping ship.

Typically, they have an MBA in marketing plus at least two to three years' experience on the junior end to between five and eight years' experience at the more senior levels. That experience ideally will be in the industry where they're seeking work.

An associate product manager might make a base salary of $55,000 to $75,000. A product manager can make a base of $75,000 to $95,000, while a business development director may make $120,000 to $160,000. Those salaries don't include bonuses.

The business development director seeking a vice president position could boost his base to between $150,000 to $200,000 -- depending on whether the new company is a risky start-up or established device maker.

Legal

Intellectual property attorneys specializing in patent law and the legal secretaries who have experience helping to prepare patent applications are highly desirable these days.

The most in demand are those lawyers with not only a J.D. but also an advanced degree in electrical and mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, biotechnology, pharmacology or computer science.

Even those patent lawyers who just have an undergraduate degree in those fields have a leg up.

Patent lawyers working for a law firm might make $125,000 to $135,000 to start or about $90,000 if they work for a corporation that's trying to get a patent or to protect one they already have. With a couple of years' experience, they can expect a 10 percent jump or better when they get another job.

Legal secretaries, meanwhile, might make $65,000 at a law firm or $55,000 at a corporation. Should they choose to move to a new employer, they can command close to a 10 percent bump in pay.

Technology

Two tech jobs in high demand these days are .NET (dot net) developers and quality assurance analysts.

Developers who are expert users of Microsoft's software programming language .NET can make between $75,000 and $85,000 a year in major cities. If they pursue a job at a company that seeks someone with a background in a given field (say, a firm looking for a .NET developer experienced in using software related to derivatives) they might snag a salary hike of 15 percent or more when they switch jobs.

Those who work in software quality management, meanwhile, might make $65,000 to $75,000 a year and be able to negotiate a 10 percent to 15 percent jump in pay if they switch jobs.

Manufacturing and engineering

Despite all the announced job cuts in the automotive industry, quality and process engineers, as well as plant managers certified in what's known as "Lean Manufacturing" techniques, are hot commodities.

The same applies to professionals in similar positions at other types of manufacturers.

One Lean Manufacturing technique is to use video cameras to capture the manufacturing process. A quality engineer will analyze the tapes to identify areas in the process that create inefficiencies or excess waste, both in terms of materials and workers' time.

Process and manufacturing engineers might make between $65,000 and $75,000. With a certification in lean manufacturing and a few years' experience, they can command pay hikes of between 15 percent and 20 percent if they choose to switch jobs.

Recommended reading:
* Top 10 Jobs That Make The Most Money


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Top 10 Emerging Technologies 2010

Each year, Technology Review selects what it believes are the 10 most important emerging technologies. The winners are chosen based on the editors’ coverage of key fields.

The question that we ask is simple: is the technology likely to change the world? Some of these changes are on the largest scale possible: better biofuels, more efficient solar cells, and green concrete all aim at tackling global warming in the years ahead.

Other changes will be more local and involve how we use technology: for example, 3-D screens on mobile devices, new applications for cloud computing, and social television. And new ways to implant medical electronics and develop drugs for diseases will affect us on the most intimate level of all, with the promise of making our lives healthier.

Here's the list of top 10 emerging technologies for year 2010:

1. Real-Time Search

Social networking is changing the way we find information. Real-time search is a response to a fundamental shift in the way people use the Web. People used to visit a page, click a link, and visit another page. Now they spend a lot of time monitoring streams of data--tweets, status updates, headlines--from services like Facebook and Twitter, as well as from blogs and news outlets.

2. Mobile 3-D

Smart phones will take 3-D mainstream. The technology can be used with the much-hyped 3-D televisions announced in January (which require glasses), but its biggest impact will be as a way to create content for mobile devices with auto stereoscopic 3-D displays, which work by directing light to deliver different versions of an image directly to each of a viewer's eyes. The effect works best over a narrow range of viewing angles, so it is ill suited to television or cinema screens. But phones are generally used by one person at a time and are easily held at the optimum angle. That's why mobile multimedia devices are likely to win the race to bring 3-D into the mainstream.

3. Engineered Stem Cells

Mimicking human disease in a dish. Scientists can create stem cells from the adult cells of people with different disorders, such as diabetes, and induce them to differentiate into the types of cells damaged by the disease. This could allow researchers to watch the disease as it unfolds and trace the molecular processes that have gone awry.

4. Solar Fuel

Designing the perfect renewable fuel. When Noubar Afeyan, the CEO of Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, MA, set out to invent the ideal renewable fuel, he decided to eliminate the middleman. Biofuels ultimately come from carbon dioxide and water, so why persist in making them from biomass--corn or switchgrass or algae? "What we wanted to know," Afeyan says, "is could we engineer a system that could convert carbon dioxide directly into any fuel that we wanted?"

The answer seems to be yes, according to Joule Biotechnologies, the company that Afeyan founded (also in Cambridge) to design this new fuel. By manipulating and designing genes, Joule has created photosynthetic microörganisms that use sunlight to efficiently convert carbon dioxide into ethanol or diesel--the first time this has ever been done, the company says. Joule grows the microbes in photobioreactors that need no fresh water and occupy only a fraction of the land needed for biomass-based approaches. The creatures secrete fuel continuously, so it's easy to collect. Lab tests and small trials lead Afeyan to estimate that the process will yield 100 times as much fuel per hectare as fermenting corn to produce ethanol, and 10 times as much as making it from sources such as agricultural waste. He says costs could be competitive with those of fossil fuels.

5. Light-Trapping Photovoltaics

Nanoparticles boost solar power's prospects. Plasmons are a type of wave that moves through the electrons at the surface of a metal when they are excited by incident light. Others had tried harnessing plasmonic effects to make conventional silicon photovoltaics more efficient, but no one had tried it with thin-film solar cells. Kylie Catchpole, a research fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra found that nanoparticles of silver she deposited on the surface of a thin-film silicon solar cell did not reflect back light that fell directly onto them, as would happen with a mirror. Instead, plasmons that formed at the particles' surface deflected the photons so that they bounced back and forth within the cell, allowing longer wavelengths to be absorbed.

Catchpole's experimental devices produce 30 percent more electrical current than conventional thin-film silicon cells. If Catchpole can integrate her nanoparticle technology with the processes used to mass-produce thin films commercially, it could shift the balance of technology used in solar cells. Thin-film photovoltaics could not only gain market share (they currently have just 30 percent of the market in the United States) but sustain growth in the solar industry overall.


6. Social TV

Relying on relationships to rebuild TV audiences. The viewership for live television broadcasts has generally been declining for years. But something surprising is happening: events such as the winter Olympics and the Grammys are drawing more viewers and more buzz. The rebound is happening at least in part because of new viewing habits: while people watch, they are using smart phones or laptops to swap texts, tweets, and status updates about celebrities, characters, and even commercials.

Carriers, networks, and content producers hope that making it easier for viewers to link up with friends will help them hold on to their audiences rather than losing them to services like Hulu, which stream shows over the Internet. And opening TV to social networking could make it easier for companies to provide personalized programming.

7. Green Concrete

Storing carbon dioxide in cement. Making cement for concrete involves heating pulverized limestone, clay, and sand to 1,450 °C with a fuel such as coal or natural gas. The process generates a lot of carbon dioxide: making one metric ton of commonly used Portland cement releases 650 to 920 kilograms of it. The 2.8 billion metric tons of cement produced worldwide in 2009 contributed about 5 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions.

Nikolaos Vlasopoulos, chief scientist at London-based startup Novacem, discovered the recipe for Novacem's cement as a grad student at Imperial College London. "I was investigating cements produced by mixing magnesium oxides with Portland cement," he says. But when he added water to the magnesium compounds without any Portland in the mix, he found he could still make a solid-setting cement that didn't rely on carbon-rich limestone. And as it hardened, atmospheric carbon dioxide reacted with the magnesium to make carbonates that strengthened the cement while trapping the gas. Novacem is now refining the formula so that the product's mechanical performance will equal that of Portland cement.

8. Implantable Electronics

Dissolvable devices make better medical implants. The next generation of implantable medical devices will rely on a high-tech material forged not in the foundry but in the belly of a worm. Tufts University biomedical engineer Fiorenzo Omenetto is using silk as the basis for implantable optical and electronic devices that will act like a combination vital-sign monitor, blood test, imaging center, and pharmacy--and will safely break down when no longer needed.

Implanted electronics could provide a clearer picture of what's going on inside the body to help monitor chronic diseases or progress after surgery, but biocompatibility issues restrict their use. Many materials commonly used in electronics cause immune reactions when implanted. And in most cases today's implantable devices must be surgically replaced or removed at some point, so it's only worth using an implant for critical devices such as pacemakers. Silk, however, is biodegradable and soft; it carries light like optical glass; and while it can't be made into a transistor or an electrical wire, it can serve as a mechanical support for arrays of electrically active devices, allowing them to sit right on top of biological tissues without causing irritation. Depending on how it's processed, silk can be made to break down inside the body almost instantly or to persist for years. And it can be used to store delicate molecules like enzymes for a long time.

9. Dual-Action Antibodies

Fighting cancer more efficiently. At Genentech's sprawling headquarters south of San Francisco, senior scientist Germaine Fuh has been genetically redesigning two of the company's most lucrative cancer drugs. One, Herceptin, is a monoclonal antibody that shuts down HER2, a growth accelerator in about 20 percent of breast tumors. The other, Avastin, is an antibody that blocks a protein that stimulates the formation of tumor- feeding blood vessels. Last year the drugs had combined sales of $11 billion; a full course of Herceptin at wholesale costs about $43,000, while treating a breast cancer patient with a full course of Avastin costs about $55,000. Fuh's goal: to show she can provide greater benefit for people fighting breast cancer by combining the action of the antibodies in one molecule. Last year, she and her coworkers showed that a modified version of the Herceptin antibody not only shut down the HER2 receptor in mice but also locked onto VEGF, Avastin's target.

10. Cloud Programming

A new language will improve online applications.Cloud computing offers the promise of virtually unlimited processing and storage power, courtesy of vast data centers run by companies like Amazon and Google. But programmers don't know how best to exploit this power.

Today, many developers are converting existing programs to run on clouds, rather than creating new types of applications that could work nowhere else. And they are held back by difficulties in keeping track of data and getting reliable information about what's going on across a cloud. If programmers could solve those problems, they could start to really take advantage of what's possible with a cloud. For example, an online music retailer could monitor popular social-media feeds; if a singer suddenly became a hot topic, advertising and special offers across the retailer's site could be instantly reconfigured to make the most of the spike in interest.

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Facebook going for 1 Billion Mark

Social networking site Facebook officially has 500 million users, the company announced Wednesday. The milestone means that the six-year old website now reaches eight percent of the planet's population, just 18 months after it passed the 150 million user mark

Facebook going for 1 billion mark

Last month Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said there is a "good chance" that the social networking site could boast one billion users within three to five years. Facebook marked the milestone with the launch of a special section in which users are encouraged to post their personal stories about how Facebook has affected them.

How Facebook impact your life

"Half a billion is a nice number but the number isn't what really matters here. What matters are all of the stories we hear from all of you about the impact your connections have had on your lives," Zuckerberg said in a video message.

Privacy issues

Facebook has continued adding users at a record-setting pace despite growing concerns about the privacy policies of a site that has more data on its users than any other website.

Facebook want to connect your lives

Instead of focusing on numbers, Facebook want to help people around the world hear about these stories for themselves, and Facebook want to let you tell your own story.

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Annoying vuvuzelas banned in English football stadiums

The noisy horns were one of the biggest talking points of the 2010 World Cup, but vuvuzelas are unlikely to take hold in British football stadiums in the upcoming season.

Eight English Premier League clubs have banned the South African instruments ahead of the August 14 kick-off of the 2010-11 campaign, calling them potential weapons, annoyances and a health risk.

Champions League qualifiers Tottenham were the first in the top flight to outlaw the droning plastic trumpets, following in the footsteps of several lower-league clubs.

"Following discussions with the police and representatives from the local licensing authorities, the club will not be permitting vuvuzelas or similar instruments into White Hart Lane on match days," the Londoners said on their website.

"We are concerned that the presence of the instruments within the stadium pose unnecessary risks to public safety and could impact on the ability of all supporters to hear any emergency safety announcements.

"We are very proud of the fantastic atmosphere that our supporters produce organically at White Hart Lane and we are all very much looking forward to this continuing into the forthcoming season."

London rivals Arsenal swiftly followed suit.

"Further to their hugely debated involvement at this summer's World Cup finals in South Africa, Arsenal Football Club has decided to forbid the use of vuvuzelas within Emirates Stadium with immediate effect," read a statement.

"This decision has been taken to ensure the enjoyment and safety of supporters on match-days, which is of paramount importance to the club."

Another London club, West Ham, said vuvuzelas were ruled out under the health and safety regulations of their Upton Park stadium, which already bars musical bands.

"We would not allow them into the stadium as they could be considered a weapon and could also be considered to be an annoyance to others," read a Hammers statement.

"The health and safety regulation that all of this comes under is already in place.

The club wishes at all times to ensure that all supporters are allowed to enjoy the game they are watching and prides itself on the passionate, loud and robust support from our fans at all matches at Upton Park."

Sunderland said it had similar policies about musical instruments at the Stadium of Light, while Liverpool, Birmingham, Everton and Fulham have also banned vuvuzelas.

However, the English Football Association has no plans to stop fans taking the horns to the national stadium Wembley, the UK Press Association reported on Wednesday.

England play Hungary in an international friendly there on August 11, while the traditional season curtain-raiser, the Community Shield, will take place at the London venue three days earlier.

Recommended reading:
* Bring the vuvuzela noise to your home page
* Top 10 Most Annoying Sounds

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Naked Cowboy sues Naked Cowgirl

New York City's famous Naked Cowboy is headed to court to protect his trademark from the Naked Cowgirl.

Robert Burck aka Naked Cowboy says Sandy Kane aka Naked Cowgirl is damaging the brand he built through more than a decade of strumming his guitar wearing only briefs and a cowboy hat.

He's earned as much as US$1,000 a day working Times Square from about 11 am to 2 pm.

Kane wears a bikini, cowboy hat and guitar in her role as the Naked Cowgirl.

The federal suit filed Wednesday asks the court to keep Kane from doing anything that would violate Burck's trademark.

Kane is a former stripper who's now a fixture of the city comedy scene.

Her attorney says he hasn't seen the lawsuit, but Kane has the right to do what she's doing.

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Top 10 Web’s Worst in Customer Satisfaction

The 2010 American Customer Survey Index conducted by ForeSee Results revealed that some popular websites received abysmal rating in customer satisfaction.

The rating is measured between 0-100. 100 denotes the best rating.

10. Myspace 63
9. Facebook 64 out of 100 points
8. Other Internet Social Media websites get 72
7. Ask.com, YouTube and CNN.com landed at 73
6. AOL and MSNBC.com received 74
5. MSN and ABCNews.com at 75
4. NYTimes.com and Yahoo pulled a 76
3. USAToday.com, Bing and Wikipedia managed a 77
2. Google rated at 80
1. AltaVista and FOXNews.com received 82

Even though Facebook’s users are dissatisfied, they haven’t demonstrated the will to leave. Perhaps it’s because there is no strong competitor, or because their social lives would suffer tremendously if they opted out of this now-essential tool for communication and event planning.

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Make money with .co domain names

Missed out on a great .com domain name? Well, maybe you can still get the .co variety and make money out of it. Registry operator of .co domains, .CO Internet S.A.S., today announced that .co domains are available through registers such as GoDaddy.com, Register.com, Network Solutions, and others.

For all practical purposes, .co domains are the same as .com domains; that means they are available to everyone and come on a first-come, first-serve basis. One of the biggest advantages of the .co TLDs, besides the fact that they’re similar to .com TLDs, is the fact that they are already widely recognized. More than 20 countries, including the UK (.co.uk) and Japan (.co.jp), already use them for their country-specific domains.

One of the early adopters of the .co domain name is Twitter, which snatched the domain t.co, and is currently using it as a link service.

Recommended reading:
* Top 10 Most Expensive Domain Names Ever
* xxx Porn Domain
* Make money with .tel domain
* Cheap .my Domain Sale

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Fresher look for Google Images 2010

Google Images was built in 2001 with around 250 million images indexed. By 2005, Google had indexed over 1 billion. And today, Google have an index of over 10 billion images.

Since 2001, Google Images has been powered with varieties of sophisticated technology and deep computer science to make it even faster and easier for you to find precisely the right images.

Meanwhile, the quantity and variety of images on the web has ballooned since 2001, and images have become one of the most popular types of content people search for.

So over the next few days Google’re rolling out an update to Google Images to match the scope and beauty of this fast-growing visual web, and to bring to the surface some of the powerful technology behind Images.

Here’s what’s new in this refreshed design of Google Images:
* Dense tiled layout designed to make it easy to look at lots of images at once. We want to get the app out of the way so you can find what you’re really looking for.

* Instant scrolling between pages, without letting you get lost in the images. You can now get up to 1,000 images, all in one scrolling page. And we’ll show small, unobtrusive page numbers so you don’t lose track of where you are.

* Larger thumbnail previews on the results page, designed for modern browsers and high-res screens.

* A hover pane that appears when you mouse over a given thumbnail image, giving you a larger preview, more info about the image and other image-specific features such as “Similar images.”

* Once you click on an image, you’re taken to a new landing page that displays a large image in context, with the website it’s hosted on visible right behind it. Click anywhere outside the image, and you’re right in the original page where you can learn more about the source and context.

* Optimized keyboard navigation for faster scrolling through many pages, taking advantage of standard web keyboard shortcuts such as Page Up / Page Down. It’s all about getting you to the info you need quickly, so you can get on with actually building that treehouse or buying those flowers.

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Tenofovir gel can prevent AIDS infection

For the first time, a vaginal gel has proved capable of blocking the AIDS virus: It cut in half a woman's chances of getting HIV from an infected partner in a study in South Africa. Scientists called it a breakthrough in the long quest for a tool to help women whose partners won't use condoms.

The results need to be confirmed in another study, and that level of protection may not be enough to win approval of the microbicide gel in countries like the United States, researchers say. But they are optimistic it can be improved.

"It's the first time we've ever seen any microbicide give a positive result" that scientists agree is true evidence of protection, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The gel, spiked with the AIDS drug tenofovir, cut the risk of HIV infection by 50 percent after one year of use and 39 percent after 2 1/2 years, compared to a gel that contained no medicine.

To be licensed in the U.S., a gel or cream to prevent HIV infection may need to be at least 80 percent effective, Fauci said. That might be achieved by adding more tenofovir or getting women to use it more consistently. In the study, women used the gel only 60 percent of the time; those who used it more often had higher rates of protection.

The gel also cut in half the chances of getting HSV-2, the herpes virus that causes genital warts.

Even partial protection is a huge victory that could be a boon not just in poor countries but for couples anywhere when one partner has HIV and the other does not, said Dr. Salim Abdool Karim, the South African researcher who led the study. In the U.S., nearly a third of new infections each year are among heterosexuals, he noted.

He will present results of the study Tuesday at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna. The research was published online Monday by the journal Science.

The gel is in limited supply; it's not a commercial product, and was made for this and another ongoing study from drug donated by California-based Gilead Sciences Inc. , which sells tenofovir in pill form as Viread. If further study proves the gel effective, a full-scale production system would need to be geared up to make it.

Recommended reading:
* $260 million worth of Swine Flu vaccine to be burn
* Pink Viagra won't help in female sexual dysfunction
* Boehringer Ingelheim - Female Viagra rejected


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Top 10 Fastest-Growing Jobs For Women

With the US unemployment rate stuck at a disturbing 9.5%, millions of Americans are contemplating a career change, especially the ladies.

For the women who are looking for jobs in fields that are growing, here's a helping hand. Researcher Laurence Shatkin, author of Best Jobs for the 21st Century, analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics data to determine the fastest-growing jobs for women. Using job-growth projections from 2008 to 2018, and factoring in fields that are comprised of 70% or more women, he came up with a list of the top 20 jobs that will be in demand over the next 10 years, and are particularly attractive to women interested in job flexibility.

Below is the top 10 Fastest-Growing Jobs For Women for 2010

1. Home Health Aides

Projected Growth by 2018: 50.0%
Women in this Position: 88.0%
Median Annual Wage: $20,500

2. Skin Care Specialists

Projected Growth by 2018: 37.8%
Women in this Position: 78.6%
Median Annual Wage: $28,500

3. Athletic Trainers

Projected Growth by 2018: 36.9%
Women in this Position: 88.9%
Median Annual Wage: $41,500

4. Physical Therapist Aides

Projected Growth by 2018: 36.3%
Women in this Position: 78.6%
Median Annual Wage: $24,000

5. Dental Hygienists

Projected Growth by 2018: 36.1%
Women in this Position: 96.1%
Median Annual Wage: $67,500

6. Veterinary Technologists and Technicians

Projected Growth by 2018: 35.8%
Women in this Position: 77.6%
Median Annual Wage: $29,500

7. Dental Assistants

Projected Growth by 2018: 35.7%
Women in this Position: 96.7%
Median Annual Wage: $33,000

8. Medical Assistants

Projected Growth by 2018: 33.9%
Women in this Position: 90.4%
Median Annual Wage: $28,500

9. Physical Therapist Assistants

Projected Growth by 2018: 33.3%
Women in this Position: 78.6%
Median Annual Wage: $48,500

10. Occupational Therapist Aides

Projected Growth by 2018: 30.6%
Women in this Position: 77.8%
Median Annual Wage: $25,500

Recommended reading:
* Highest paying job in the United States 2010
* Worst Jobs 2010
* Top 10 Best Jobs for 2010



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Google Nexus One not iPhone killer after all

Google's first-ever phone, the Nexus One, launched to great fanfare earlier this year. There was talk of the Android handset becoming an "iPhone killer" and speculation that Google's direct-to-consumer sales strategy for its unlocked phone would change the mobile market as we knew it.

But now, some six months after its launch, Google is discontinuing the Nexus One. So much about how Nexus One is 7 times better than iPhone. Well, it is now a total reverse.

ReadWriteWeb reports that dismal sales have doomed the phone: "In the same amount of time it took Apple to sell 1 million iPhones, Google only sold 135,000 of the Android-powered Nexus."

Google announced in a blog post that the final order of Nexus One phones had been delivered from HTC, the phone's manufacturer:

This week we received our last shipment of Nexus One phones. Once we sell these devices, the Nexus One will no longer be available online from Google. Customer support will still be available for current Nexus One customers. And Nexus One will continue to be sold by partners including Vodafone in Europe, KT in Korea, and possibly others based on local market conditions.

Verizon, which was to receive the Nexus One, canceled the phone in April. Sprint followed suit in May and Google shuttered its online store for the Nexus One this past May, as well.

What doomed the phone? Read Why product and brand failed.

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Phone case not required for BlackBerry

Apple Inc appears to be deliberately distorting the issues surrounding the iPhone 4's antenna design by asserting that Research In Motion's BlackBerry has similar reception problems, RIM said.

"Apple's attempt to draw RIM into Apple's self-made debacle is unacceptable," RIM co-Chief Executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie said in a statement emailed late Friday.

"Apple's claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public's understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple's difficult situation."

Since the June 24 launch of the iPhone 4, some users have reported drastically reduced signal strength when they held the touch-screen phone a certain way, leading to dropped calls.

In response to the complaints Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Friday the entire smartphone industry shared such reception problems, naming specifically Research in Motion, Samsung Electronics and HTC Corp.

At a rare, 90-minute press conference, Jobs maintained there were no problems with the iPhone 4's wraparound antenna design and accused the media of trying to "tear down" a company that had grown so successful.

"This is life in the smartphone world. Phones aren't perfect. Most every smartphone we tested behaved like this," Jobs said.

In response of Jobs' comments, RIM's co-chief executives issued a statement defending the BlackBerry's design and criticizing Apple's approach to dealing with the iPhone 4's antenna issue.

"RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage," they said.

"One thing is for certain, RIM's customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity," the statement said.

RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, was referring to Jobs' offer to provide iPhone 4 users with free phone cases to address the reception complaints.

Recommended reading:
* Top 5 Mobile Phone Manufacturers

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Watch out for Google Database or Google Pedia

Google has acquired Metaweb, a company that maintains an open database of things in the world. And I thought it was Google who know a lot of things in the world.

Metaweb’s kept free and open database of over 12 million things, including movies, books, TV shows, celebrities, locations, companies and more in their Freebase datamines. Google and Metaweb plan to maintain Freebase as a free and open database for the world.

Anyone can contribute data to Freebase, and you can also build your own schema in a Base if Freebase does not yet have schema for a subject you're interested in. Well, this sound like a cloned Wikipedia.

Knowing Google, they are up to something. Perhaps Google Database? That will put them in the same league as Oracle, IBM DB2, IBM Informix, Microsoft SQL, Sybase and MySQL.

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India's Rupee Symbol

The dollar is $. The Euro is €. The pound is £. But the rupee was stranded without a symbol, until today.

The Indian Press Information Bureau, for the first time, released images of the newly selected symbol. According to the Associated Press, ministers made the executive decision at a cabinet meeting after considering five finalist symbol options, all of which it was said, drew inspiration from “the letter R”” in the Roman alphabet and “Ra” from the ancient Devanagari script used in Hindi.

Formerly, the Rupee was indicated by abbreviations, hardly official enough for the currency of one of the world's fastest-growing economic forces. It prompted more than 3,000 design submissions to aid this cultural and historical event.

Udaya Kumar's design was ultimately the symbol chosen. Kumar, a post graduate student at the Indian Institute of Technology, now not only gets accolades for contributing to India's culture, but also will receive a cash prize of 250,000 rupees (now with symbol attached).

Indian Rupee Symbol – How to Type it?

Indian Rupee symbol has been announced and has been sent to the government for approval. And if you are wondering how will you type the rupee symbol using your keyboard, well it might take a year or so to get the symbol in action (to gain acceptance in India) and two years for international acceptance.

Technically speaking, the symbol will be first sent to Unicode Consortium’s technical committee, in order to include the same in Unicode database.

The symbol will also be included in the Indian Standards, viz. 13194:1991 – Indian Script Code for Information Interchange (ISCII), through an amendment to the existing list by the Bureau of Indian Standards. The ISCII specifies various codes for Indian languages for processing on computers along with the key-board lay outs.

While the Government of India can mandate hardware manufacturers to include the symbol in keyboards, it can also be accessed through assigned keyboard combination or via the operating system’s Character Map, post approval from the Unicode Consortium.

Maybe, to get the official Rupee symbol, you would have to wait for the new keyboards or hack from a typographer.

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Indonesia’s Muslims have been praying in the wrong direction

Indonesia’s Muslims learned today they have been praying in the wrong direction, after the country’s highest Islamic authority said its directive on the direction of Mecca actually had people facing Africa.
Muslims are supposed to face the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia during prayer and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) issued an edict in March stipulating westward was the correct direction from the world’s most populous Muslim country.

“But it has been decided that actually the mosques are facing Somalia or Kenya, so we are now suggesting people shift the direction slightly to the north-west,” the head of the MUI, Cholil Ridwan, told Reuters. “There’s no need to knock down mosques, just shift your direction slightly during prayer.”

Ridwan said Muslims need not fear that their prayers have been wasted because they were facing the wrong way.

“Their prayers will still be heard by Allah,” he said.

Said Agil Siradj, head of Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, told English language newspaper the Jakarta Globe that the confusion showed the MUI issued edicts too fast and that this was a lesson for them.

The MUI has, in the past, issued controversial edicts banning Muslims from chanting during yoga, and from smoking.

Indonesia is a majority Muslim but officially secular country. — Reuters

Recommended reading:
* Global Ikhwan polygamy club
* FaceBook is haram if used for gossiping and lying


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Facebook is unIslamic

Go to Facebook Blog and read the comments on any of the recent blog posts. You can’t help but notice a templated comment left by quite a few people who are threatening to boycott Facebook on 21st of July if their demands are not met.

The group in question belongs to the Muslim community that is angered by Facebook’s decision of removing a few hugely popular Islamic pages from the social networking site.

Fans of the removed pages are demanding that Facebook brings back those pages which did not violate any of the Facebook’s policies and also create new policies that stop people from posting anti-religious or Islamic messages on Facebook.

Most of the fans are allegedly planning to quite Facebook on 21st of July if their demands are not met and join, what looks like a Facebook knockoff, Madina.com, made for Muslim community.

An overall of 2.5 million fans are said to be effected by the removal of those Islamic fan pages. It will be interesting to see how many of the 2.5 million fans switch from a social networking site that has all of their friends (Muslims/Non-Muslims) and family to something that’s engineered for Muslims only (though the site does not say that).

Read more at 2.5 Million Muslims Threaten to Quit Facebook on 21st of July!

Recommended reading:
* Earth is now 25% populated by Muslim
* American Family Association asking Muslim-Americans to convert to Christianity
* YouTube is Haram and unIslamic
* Making Money in Islam


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Facebook Economy 2010

Facebook has over 500 million users -- outnumbering the population of the United States--and is growing larger every day.

Visual Economics has synthesized data from Facebook Insider, Reuters, BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, and Syncaspe to create an infographic called The Republic of Facebook that reimagines the social network as if it were a country on a map and examines its "national economy."



The infographic values the Republic of Facebook's economy at between $7.9 and $11 billion and ranks the Facebook "nation" as the world's third-largest country. Only China and India are larger.

According to the infographic, 70% of Facebook users engage with the site's 500,000 apps every month. In the Republic of Facebook infographic, these apps are presented as landmasses. The most popular app developers appear as the larger "provinces" on the Facebook "map": Zynga is the largest by far, followed by Electronic Arts and RockYou!.

The stats also suggest that if the 200 million users who use Facebook daily (spending an average of 55 minutes on it per day) were to pass that time working instead of browsing Facebook, they would collectively earn $916,000,000 a day (at a wage of $5.00 per hour).

The Facebook Economy

There are 550,000+ apps that are used on Facebook. Seventy percent of users engage with apps each month. There are one million app developers. Zynga, the top app developer, made $250 million in 2009. Of that amount, $80-$150 million is estimated to be profit, more net profit than Facebook itself made.

The most popular Facebook apps are:

Zynga

Rock You!

Electric Arts

CrowdStar

Playdom

Causes

Slide

6 Waves

Topzy

iLike

MindJolt

RIM

Facebook Pages

There are 1,500,000 active Facebook pages. The average value per fan is $136.38. Extrapolating on that, many celebrity pages would be worth enormous sums:

Michael Jackson, with 13.3 million fans, would have a page worth $1.8 billion. Family Guy has 9.5 million fans for a worth of $1.3 billion. Lady Gaga and Barack Obama each have 9.1 million fans, worth $1.2 billion each. Vin Diesel has nine million fans, worth $1.1 billion. Starbucks has 8.2 million fans, worth $1.1 billion. South Park has 6.2 million fans for a worth of $845 million.

Popular Facebook pages include:

Barack Obama

Lady Gaga

Michael Jackson

Family Guy

Vin Diesel

Megan Fox

House

Twilight Saga

Starbucks

Users

There are 500,000,000+ users of Facebook. Of those, 200 million users use it daily for an average of 55 minutes a day. If those users were all working for $5 an hour instead of going on Facebook, they would collectively earn $916,000,000 a day.

Advertisers

In Q1 2010, 176 billion display ads were posted on Facebook, 16 percent of the display ad market. Facebook says its advertisers have quadrupled since 2009.

If Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populous in the world after China and India. Today’s valuation of Facebook is $7.9-$11 billion.

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* Human Communication redefined by Google Voice
* Internet Pornography Statistics 2010

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