Today, Google has updated the Google.com Home Page UI design. It had already updated the Top menu with Black background few days back.
Today's update has changed the left side menu design also. Now, the icons are changed to match with the Black design.
Find below the screenshot of Google.com homepage. Click on the Image to see the Enlarged view.
I am not sure whether it is just a UI design change, or any other functionality got changed. If you have noticed any new feature you can share it thro' the comments.
I have just noticed one significant change. Now, the snippet is getting displayed after the URL of search result pages.
Do you like this new design? You can take this poll.
Google has announced about its Social media project Google +.
It seems Google is planning to make this Google + as competition for the Facebook.
Google's previous attempts (Google Wave, Google buzz) didn't help Google to enter into to Social Network as Facebook rival.
Do you think that Google+ will challenge Facebook in Social Network battle?
Watch the below video to know about Google+.
+ Circles - Google + will allow you to have more control over what to share whom. It will be something similar to the real life relationship circle. You can have friends circle, family circle, business circle, etc. And, you can share specific things with specific circle.
+Sparks - Sparks will help you to get interesting content from internet based on your interests. You can read them and share them with right circles.
+Hangouts -By combining the casual meetup with live multi-person video, Hangouts lets you stop by when you're free, and spend time with your Circles.
Noah Everett is having more than 2.7 million Twitter followers.
Right now, the reason for his arrest is unknown. If you know any more details you can share it thro' the comments.
His latest tweet is "...I guess you can't walk down your own street half naked...who knew - I got a free ride home by the nice police officer"
TwitPic is a website which allows Twitter users to easily post pictures to the Twitter. TwitPic is often used by citizen journalists to upload and distribute pictures in near real-time as an event is taking place.
Noah Everett founded TwitPic in 2008. Noah Everett said that he had been offered a price within the region of 10 million US dollars for his company, and he didn't accept the offer. (Do you want to start your own Twitter business? You can use this opportunity)
You can see the LinkedIn profile of Noah Everett here.
Photos can be uploaded to TwitPic easily from various smart phones.
TweetDeck, Echofon, Tweetie, Twitfile, and Twitterrific are iPhone applications for uploading photos from iPhones to TwitPic.
And, Android phones can upload pictures to TwitPic with the Twidroid and Seesmic applications.
It seems Google is developing an interesting website for promoting its products.
This site is WDYL.Com with the Title "What do you Love?".
Remember to include www before the wdyl.com, otherwise we will be getting "404 page not found" error.
The search result screen is showing search result from various Google products.
And, the results are arranged in attractive way.
It looks like Google is going to use this WDYL site for promoting its products such as Picasa, Google News, Google books, Google product search, Google groups, Google translate, Google Earth, Google blogger, gmail, Google image search, Google calendar and YouTube.
When I tried to search QualityPoint, WDYL showed some relevant results and it showed some irrelevant results also. Obviously it is difficult to get relevant results in all Google products for most of the search words. So, the WDYL site will be more useful for promoting Google products among beginners. And, it can be used as a bookmarking for various Google products. Apart from this promotion and bookmarking, this WDYL may not add any additional value for the users.
Note that few days back, I had announced about OnePass for accessing all the QualityPoint products.
It seems Google's WDYL is something similar to our OnePass.
Since Google is planning to use WDYL for promoting the Google products, I think our onepass approach will be helpful to promote our products and websites. So, I am planning to focus more on promoting our OnePass. I will be giving PR3 link for any one who includes link for our onePass site in their blog/site.
Since we are having good experience in php cURL, I think we can implement WDYL like promotion plan in our OnePass site.
WSJ has reported that the Federal law-enforcement officials arrested former Citigroup Vice President Gary Foster and charged him with bank fraud for allegedly embezzling more than $19 million from Citigroup.
Foster is charged with transferring money from Citigroup accounts into a cash account and then he wired the money into his personal account at another bank. Foster caused an incorrect contract or deal number to be placed in the wire transfer instructions to hide his activities.
Foster was arrested Sunday morning at JFK Airport when he arrived on a flight from Bangkok.
If convicted, he will face a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment on the bank fraud charges.
Find below "Press Release" released by United States Attorney office.
Gary Foster, a former vice president in Citigroup, Inc.’s treasury finance department has been arrested on bank fraud charges arising from his embezzlement of more than $19 million. Foster was apprehended at John F. Kennedy International Airport Sunday morning when he arrived on a flight from Bangkok.
(The charges in the complaint are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty.)
The defendant’s initial appearance is scheduled this afternoon before United States
Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr. at the United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York.
The charges and arrest were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.
According to the complaint, Foster transferred money from various Citigroup accounts to Citigroup’s cash account and then to his personal account at a different bank. Between July 2010 and December 2010, he allegedly caused approximately $900,000 to be moved from Citigroup’s interest expense account and approximately $14.4 million from Citigroup’s debt adjustment account to the bank’s cash account, and then caused the money to be wired out of Citigroup’s cash account to his personal account at another bank in eight separate wire transfers.
The complaint further charges that Foster caused a fraudulent contract or deal number to be placed in the reference line of the wire transfer instructions to create the appearance that the transfers were in support of an existing contract.
“The defendant allegedly used his knowledge of bank operations to commit the ultimate inside job. We are committed to ensuring the integrity of the banking system and to prosecuting those who would undermine it for their personal gain,” stated United States Attorney Lynch.
Ms. Lynch expressed her appreciation to Citigroup, which brought this matter to the attention of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“The egregious behavior of those who would exploit our banking system for personal and criminal gain will not be tolerated. We remain committed to investigating and apprehending those who cheat the system,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Fedarcyk.
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment on the bank fraud charges.
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael L. Yaeger and Karen Hennigan.
And, Citigroup has acknowledged that about $2.7 million was stolen from about 3,400 accounts on May 10 th Hack attack.
Citigroup mentioned that the customers will not be responsible from financial losses stemming from the attacks.
Pre-Trial Chamber I considers that there are reasonable grounds to believe that, under article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute, Muammar Gaddafi and Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi are criminally responsible as indirect co-perpetrators and Abdullah Al-Senussi is criminally responsible as indirect perpetrator, for two counts of crimes against humanity:
• Murder, within the meaning of article 7(1)(a) of the Statute; and
• Persecution, within the meaning of article 7(1)(h) of the Statute.
Alleged crimes (non-exhaustive list)
Pre-Trial Chamber I found that there are reasonable grounds to believe:
• that following the events in Tunisia and Egypt in the early months of 2011, a State policy was designed at the highest level of the Libyan State machinery and aimed at deterring and quelling, by any means, including by the use of lethal force, the demonstrations of civilians against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi which started in ebruary 2011; and • that in furtherance of the above-mentioned State policy, from 15 February 2011 until at least 28 February 2011 the Libyan Security Forces, which encompass units of the security and military systems, carried out throughout Libya
– and in particular in Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi as well as in cities near Benghazi such as Al-Bayda, Derna, Tobruk and Ajdabiya – an attack against the civilian population taking part in demonstrations against Gaddafi’s
regime or those perceived to be dissidents, killing and injuring as well as arresting and imprisoning hundreds of civilians.
Pre-Trial Chamber I also found that there are reasonable grounds to believe:
• that Muammar Gaddafi, as the recognised and undisputed leader of Libya had absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control over the Libyan State apparatus of power, including the Security Forces;
• that, although not having an official position, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi is Muammar Gaddafi’s unspoken successor and the most influential person within his inner circle and, as such, he exercised control over crucial parts of the State apparatus, including finances and logistics and had the powers of a de facto Prime Minister;
• that Muammar Gaddafi, in coordination with his inner circle, including Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, conceived a plan to deter and quell, by all means, the civilian demonstrations against the regime, and that both of them made an essential contribution to implement that plan; and
• that, once instructed by Muammar Gaddafi to implement the plan, Abdullah Al-Senussi used his powers over the military forces, commanded the forces in Benghazi and directly instructed the troops to attack civilians demonstrating in the city.
Since, most of our new sites got Google Page rank, it will be useful for selling them easily. i-e The potential buyer can easily understand the hard work done by our SEO Team just by seeing the Page Rank.
Interestingly, Page rank of this blog (qualitypoint.blogspot.com) got reduced from 4 to 3.
I have published a post in our OnePass site about bringing the Onepass site into Google First Position for the Search word "OnePass".
I welcome any suggestions for achieving this target soon. Right now, we are focusing on getting inbound links and Social media promotion.
If you have any other good way, you can share it thro' the comments sections.
And, I need to know whether you want to keep onepass.biz as the single entry for all the free applications of QualityPoint, or whether we can start developing meta flight search application for onepass.biz.
Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is reporting that the Domain registration and hosting company GoDaddy.com is about to be bought for $2 billion by Private-equity firms KKR, Silver Lake Partners, and another investment group.
GoDaddy.com is the world's largest registrar of domain names. The site also sells e-commerce, security and other services to people and businesses looking to manage their online presence. Customers pay GoDaddy monthly fees, which brings the company steady cash flow.
GoDaddy was founded in 1997 by Bob Parsons, who continues to be the company's owner and chief executive. It is known for its edgy advertising, including Super Bowl commercials. And, 2 months back Bob Parsons was criticized for killing elephant and putting the video of elephant killing in his website.
Now you can easily switch between any of your multiple Twitter accounts easily. And, you can see the Timeline and Mentions of any Account without doing login and logouts.
And, you can use Direct Message for any of the multiple Twitter accounts.
Similar to Twitter web interface, you can Reply and Retweet for any Tweet in Timeline and Mention.
And, you can do it for any Tweet in Timeline/Mention of any Twitter Account.
And, we have added "Great Quotes" Tweet option also.
Just by clicking ‘Great Quotes’ link from left side menu box you can enable "Great Quotes" feature which will automatically send Great Quotes as tweets to your added accounts.
The default time gap is 60 min. You can change it for individual accounts at any time. And, you need not add the tweets manually. We have set of predefined Quotes selected from Great Quotes Site.
I believe all the predefined Quotes will help you to get more followers. Anyway, if you want to have more control over the Quotes/tweets, you can always use our AutoTweet feature.
i-e You can get more followers to your multiple Twitter accounts just by doing simple click one time to enable "Great Quotes" in our Free Twitter application.
Let me know if you have any questions about our new features.
And, you can buy the source code of this script. Anyway, you can freely use all the features of this application in our server.
A cellphone of Osama bin Laden's trusted courier seized by U.S. forces shows links between the former Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and a militant group connected to Pakistan's intelligence agency "ISI". [Source: New York Times]
ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate) is Pakistan's military equivalent of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
U.S. forces recovered the phone during a raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
The contact numbers in the phone reveals that bin Laden used the militant group Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen as part of his support network when he lived in Pakistan. The group has been mentored by Pakistan's spy agency ISI
In tracing the calls on the cellphone, American analysts have determined that Harakat commanders had called Pakistani intelligence officials.
Even today, the Harakat leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman Khalil lives unbothered by Pakistani authorities on the outskirts of Islamabad.
Harakat “is one of the oldest and closest allies of Al Qaeda, and they are very, very close to the ISI,” said Bruce O. Riedel, a former CIA officer.
The question of ISI and Pakistani Army complicity in Bin Laden’s hide-out now hangs like a dark cloud over the entire relationship between Pakistan and the United States, Mr. Riedel said.
The phone discovery might also provide clues as to how bin Laden escaped from the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan nearly 10 years ago when American forces tried to capture him.
The Pakistan-based Harakat ul-Mujahideen is classified as a "terrorist" organisation by the United States.
Defence analysis group Jane's said the outfit has conducted raids on Indian security positions and is active in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. [Source: AFP]
Bin Laden's youngest wife, Amal Ahmed al-Sadah, is expected to leave Pakistan and return to her homeland, Yemen, in the following few days. U.S. forces have been holding Sadah, 29, since the May 2 raid on bin Laden's compound.
And, it seems Osama wanted to have new name for al-Quida to repair the image. [Source:AP] Bin Laden wrote in a letter recovered from his compound in Pakistan, was that al-Quida lacked a religious element, something to convince Muslims worldwide that they are in a holy war with America. Maybe something like Taifat al-Tawhed Wal-Jihad, meaning Monotheism and Jihad Group, would do the trick, he wrote.
I had previously mentioned about launching a separate website "TimeSheetScript.Com" for selling our Time Sheet Script.
Since we have completed initial version of the new time Sheet website, I had redirected the time sheet sales page hosted in qualitypointtech.net into the new site.
So, if you are interested in dong link exchange for our Time Sheet page, you can use our new website.
IEA (International Energy Agency) has announced that 28 members of IEA would release 2 million barrels a day (bpd) over an initial 30 days to fill the gap in supplies left by the disruption to Libya's output.
"Greater tightness in the oil market threatens to undermine the fragile global economic recovery," the IEA said.
Energy Department of United States said that it will release 30 million barrels of oil from its 727 million barrel reserve, about half of the 60 million barrels to be released globally. The U.S. release would be equivalent to 1.5 days of total U.S. oil consumption.
It typically takes about 13 days for oil from the reserves to reach the market once the order is issued.
This is the third time IEA member-country stocks have been used. IEA member countries released oil stocks in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina damaged oil and gas refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. And, IEA member countries mandated a stock release at the time of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990/1991.
This Oil stock release plan may not lower the oil price.
U.S President Barack Obama has announced the withdrawal of 10,000 US troops from Afghanistan this year and another 23,000 by the end of September 2012.
Obama says "it is the beginning, but not the end, of our effort to wind down this war".
He said: "Al-Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11... We have taken out more than half of al-Qaeda's leadership. We have put al-Qaeda on a path to defeat, and we will not relent until the job is done."
At least 68,000 US troops will remain in Afghanistan.
All US combat troops are scheduled to leave by 2013, provided that Afghan forces are ready to take over security.
Although the size of the Afghan army, police and other security forces has grown to 290,000, according to NATO, their readiness to step up and replace U.S. forces is a question.
Obama said the US was starting the withdrawal "from a position of strength"
He wants to focus more on growth of U.S instead of involving in other countries. He said: "We will not try to make Afghanistan a perfect place. We will not police its streets or patrol its mountains indefinitely. That is the responsibility of the Afghan government." "Six thousand Americans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and $1 trillion has been spent. It was time to focus on nation-building at home.
Watch below the video of Obama addressing "way forward in Afghanistan" from White House.
Obama said al-Qaeda has been dramatically weakened, particularly by the May 1 raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Documents found in bin Laden's compound, Obama said, showed the extent of the damage done to al-Qaeda's operations.
Obama rejected the advice of Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of troops in Afghanistan. He urged that fewer troops be withdrawn.
Reaction to the Obama's drawdown announcement was mixed: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said continuing to degrade al-Qaeda must "take priority over any calendar dates"; House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California called the drawdown too slow and said she would "continue to press for a better outcome." [Source USToday]
Outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he supports Obama's decision.
The Taliban said the insurgency would continue until all foreign forces left. Taliban's Statement says that Obama's announcement was "symbolic".
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan once again wants to make it clear that the solution for the Afghan crisis lies in the full withdrawal of all foreign troops immediately and this does not happen, our armed struggle will increase from day to day," the Taliban statement said. [Source BBC]
The Afghan defence ministry said that it was ready to take responsibility for fighting the Taliban and securing the country.
"We appreciate the efforts and sacrifices made by the foreign forces in Afghanistan, but at the same time we congratulate them for returning back to their homelands after a long period of war," a spokesman said.
See below the photo of Soldiers watching a rebroadcast of Barack Obama's speech on proposed troop withdrawal at Kandahar Airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo Source: Asssociated Press. Click on the image to see the enlarged Image.
Following Obama’s announcement of a withdrawal of 33,000 US troops in Afghanistan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy released a statement saying that France would also begin a “gradual withdrawal” of its force. France currently has 4,000 troops in Afghanistan. 62 French soldiers have died in the mission since the end of 2001
Recently I had registered a domain name OnePass in .Biz gTLD.
This domain is having Good Keywords with large Search volume.
AdWord Keywords Tool is showing 135,000 Global monthly searches of the exact match keyword "onepass" itself.
Right now, I am going to use this domain for keeping links of all our free applications. It will be useful for our users to access the free applications easily as anyone can easily remember this domain name "onepass.biz".
And, we have started doing SEO to bring this site in Google first page for many keywords including "onepass".
As part of this SEO effort, I am planning to do Link Exchange.
If you are interested in doing link exchange you can add below link in your website or blog.
Once after promoting this site, I am planning to start developing an web application which will help the users to search flights of any Airlines without leaving the OnePass.Biz. This Meta Search application will be developed using php cURL. Our Team is having good experience in cURL. We have already developed a web script for automatically submitting resume in more than 60 U.S. job sites. So, I believe this flight meta search engine will be launched soon in OnePass.Biz.
I have published an online Tech News paper "The QualityPoint Daily" . It will be updated every 24 hours.
You can subscribe to get the news in your email inbox daily.
Or, you can embedd the below code in your blog or site to show this News Paper to your reader.
And, I have published Medical Daily also. If you are interested to read health care news updates you can read this Medical Daily and you subscribe to get this Medical Daily into your email every day.
Now we can search anything on Google.com by speaking the words instead of Typing them.
We just need Chrome browser (Google Chrome 11 or higher ) and a built-in or attached mic
Currently Voice Search is available for US English only.
Just click the Mic icon in the Search box of Google.com in Chrome browser to start using the Voice Search Feature.
This Voice Search is Useful For,
Hard-to-spell searches- Makes searching words you're not sure how to spell quicker and easier.
Longer searches- Search long queries, even really, really long queries, just by talking.
Searches that are just more fun to search out loud - Now you can ask your computer anything.
Searching without typing - Use it in the kitchen, in the garage or anytime your hands might be full.
Watch below video to know more about Google Voice Search.
I have tried this Voice Search feature for searching TheGreatQuotes.com site by speaking "the Great Quotes".
It looks like the processing time is more comparing the speed shown in the Demo video released by Google.
You can refer the below video.
I am not sure how many people will start using this feature frequently. But if many people start using this feature, SEO approaches need to be changed. For example, theGreatQuotes.com site will be appearing in the first position if some one search for the word "thegreatquotes" by typing it in the search box.
But if they start using "voice search", they can NOT use the word "thegreatquotes". It will be taken as "The Great Quotes" only. So, the search volume of certain keywords will be reduced and therefore keyword selection process needs to be redefined.
And, Google has introduced "Search by Image" also. i-e We can do search on Google by inputting images/pictures.
See the details in this video.
We can do search by giving Image in any of the below ways.
Drag and drop -Drag and drop an image from the web or your computer into the search box on images.google.com.
Upload an image -On images.google.com, click the camera icon, then select “Upload an image.” Select the image you want to use to start your search
Copy and paste the URL for an image -Found an image on the web you’re curious about? Right-click the image to copy the URL. On images.google.com, click the camera icon, and “Paste image URL”.
Right-click an image on the web-To search by image even faster, download the Chrome extension or the Firefox extension. With the extension installed, simply right-click an image on the web to search Google with that image.
Just specify an image using any of the above approaches, and you'll find other similar or related images as well as relevant results from across the Web.
Google uses computer vision techniques to match your image to other images in the Google Images index and additional image collections. From those matches, it tries to generate an accurate "best guess" text description of your image, as well as find other images that have the same content as your search image. Your search results page can show results for that text description as well as related images.
We had added new features (Timeline & Mentions) to our Twitter Applications. You can see the details here.
So, now you can switch between any of your twitter accounts connected with our Twitter Application, to see the timeline and mentions. And, you can reply and retweet from our application itself.
i-e you can use all your Twitter accounts easily without signing in and signing out multiple times.
You can freely use all the features (Autotweet, multipost, bulk add, stats) of our Twitter application in our site.
Even you can buy the source code of this Twitter application to start your own business.
I haven't increased the price even after adding these new features. But I will be doing it within few days. So, you can buy this script now to get it at current price.
Nine new graphic cigarette warning labels were unveiled by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which recently got powers to regulate tobacco and tobacco products.
Cigarette packages will now carry one vivid color image and one of the below warnings about the consequences of smoking.
.
Cigarettes are addictive
Tobacco smoke can harm your children
Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease
Cigarettes cause cancer
Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease
Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby
Smoking can kill you
Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers
Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health.
The warnings will cover the upper portion of the pack both front and back. Fifty percent of the package must be covered.
The Cigarette packet will look like below one once after implementing this warning labels.
Image Source - Washingtonpost.com
Dead bodies, diseased lungs and a man on a ventilator were among the graphic images released by the FDA officials.
FDA statement says, "These labels will encourage smokers to quit and prevent children from smoking. President Obama wants to make tobacco-related death and disease part of the nation's past, and not our future."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 443,000 people in the U.S. die from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke annually and more than 8 million are living with a disease that's directly tied to smoking. The CDC says smoking is responsible for 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men.
The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act called for cigarette packages to include warning statements in large type covering half of the front and back of each package and graphic images showing adverse health effects from smoking.
Smoking causes lung diseases such as emphysema, bronchitis, and chronic airway obstruction. About 90 percent of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease are caused by smoking.
Secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems in children. Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke are inhaling many of the same cancer-causing substances and poisons as smokers.
Quitting at any age and at any time is beneficial. It's never too late to quit, but the sooner the better. Quitting gives your body a chance to heal the damage caused by smoking.
Timeline: Key Dates for Implementing Health Warnings
November 12, 2010 – FDA released 36 proposed color graphic images and a proposed rule for public comment
June 21, 2011 – FDA announced its selection of nine new cigarette health warnings
June 22, 2011 – FDA’s final rule, “Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements,” publishes in the Federal Register
September 22, 2012 – Cigarettes for sale or distribution in the United States can no longer be manufactured or advertised without the new cigarette health warnings
October 22, 2012 – Cigarette manufacturers can no longer distribute cigarettes for sale in the United States unless they display the new cigarette health warnings
You can watch below video to see the nine labels issued by the FDA.
R.J. Reynolds, maker of some the U.S.'s best-selling brands like Camel, Kool, Winston and Salem, said the new requirements violate the First and Fifth Amendments. The company said,
"The anti-smoking message is not intended to provide information that smokers and potential smokers can consider rationally in weighing the risks and perceived benefits from smoking. Rather, it plainly conveys -- through graphic images and designs intended to elicit loathing, disgust, and repulsion -- the Government's viewpoint that the risks associated with smoking cigarettes outweigh the pleasure that smokers derive from them and, therefore, that no one should use these lawful products."
With this new move, the United States will be the 40th country to have picture warnings on cigarette packs, making the country compliant with the World Health Organization's global treaty on tobacco. Under the treaty, 35% of a cigarette pack must have warnings and pictures.
Canada started using "warning labels" like this in 2000. Since then, number of smokers went down 20%.
Images used on cigarette packs in countries such as Canada are so disturbing that some smokers buy covers for their cigarette packs to block out the images.
Today (June 21st, 2011 Tuesday) Google is showing Special Doodle for Summer Solstice (i-e longest day time). This "First Day of Summer" Doodle was created by Takashi Murakami.
Takashi Murakami is a Japanese artist who works in both fine arts media—such as painting—as well as digital and commercial media.
The summer solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's and the moon's axial tilt is most inclined towards the sun, at its maximum of 23° 26'.
Sol + stice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" + "to stand still."
As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky.
Countries (Including India) lying to the north of the equator witness"Summer Solstice" Today.
Summer Solstice results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The Northern Hemisphere celebrates in June, but the people on the Southern half of the earth have their longest summer day in December.
However, contrary to popular belief, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset do not coincide with the summer solstice. For mid-northern latitudes, the earliest sunrise actually occurred on June 14, while the latest sunset is not due until June 27 .
Watch the below video to know how to measure the tilt of the Earth. If you measure it today (ie Summer Solstice Day) you will find the value as 23° 26'
Watch the below video showing Sunrise on the summer solstice.
Similarly, winter solstice occurs exactly when the axial tilt of a planet is farthest away from its star, depending on the polar hemisphere of reference.
Winter solstice usually occurs on Dec. 21 or 22 each year in the Northern Hemisphere, and June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere.
In my previous post, I had explained about using reliable and inexpensive hosting HostGatorfor hosing our products.
As you will be getting inexpensive scripts and inexpensive hosting, you may be interested in buying our scripts. But right now, our sales pages are having only PayPal buttons. i-e Either you have to use your PayPal balance or Credit card for buying our Scripts.
And, Indian PayPal users may see below message while trying to buy our script as paypal blocked the use/transfer of paypal balance between two paypal accounts.
We notice that you are attempting to pay an Indian resident user. The payment you initiated has been blocked. PayPal only facilitates international payments and cannot be used for domestic payments within India. We suggest you find alternative methods to complete the payment. If you believe that the person you attempted to pay is not based in India, please contact PayPal customer support.
If anyone face any difficulty in using paypal or credit card for buying our script, you can contact me (rajamanickam.a@gmail.com) to get my bank account details. You can transfer the money to my bank account.
Skype Technologies is firing its senior executives before the Microsoft deal closes, a move that reduces the value of their payout.
As per Bloomberg News, Vice Presidents David Gurle, Christopher Dean, Russ Shaw and Don Albert were dismissed.
Chief Marketing Officer Doug Bewsher and Anne Gillespie, head of human resources, were also fired.
If the executives had stayed until after the Microsoft deal closed, their stock options would be worth more, so Skype and Microsoft save money by firing them now.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it approved the Microsfot-Skype deal.
Recently Comcast and Skype announced a partnership that will let Comcast customers make and accept widescreen, HD video calls through their television sets.
Today, Skype announced a deeper integration with Facebook. i-e In the new version of the Skype, Skype for Windows users can instant message their Facebook friends via Skype, "like" and comment on friends’ Facebook status updates without logging into Facebook and view all their Facebook contacts in a new Facebook-dedicated contacts tab.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has cancer and his health is poor, Fareed Al-Deeb, a lawyer for the former President told Al-Arabiya television in an interview.
"He is not dying, but he might reach this stage soon" Al-Deeb told the network.
Few months back Mubarakresigned the Egypt President post.
Mubarak has been ordered to stand trial on August 3 on charges of killing of protesters, which could carry the death penalty. He is also accused of abuse of influence, wasting public funds and unlawfully making private financial gains.
He was admitted to hospital in April after reportedly suffering heart problems during his initial questioning.
His two sons, Gamal, who was once viewed as a possible future president, and Alaa, are also in jail and will also stand trial alongside their father.
The trial of Hosni Mubarak, due in August, could be moved from Cairo to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for ‘security or health reasons’, the head of the Cairo Appeals Court, el-Sayyed Abdel-Aziz Omar, told a private TV channel.
People will be remembering about the incident of Mubarak blocking the Internet within Egypt to suppress the protests against him in the start of February month.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) plans to increase the number of domain name extensions (i-e gTLD such as .com, .net, .org, .info)
Currently it had allowed only 22 gTLDs(generic top level domains)
This important decision is made at ICANN meeting in Singapore.
This decision was made by votes of ICANN Directors.
The Board vote was 13 approving, 1 opposed, and 2 abstaining.
New gTLDs will change the way people find information on the Internet and how businesses plan and structure their online presence.
This is the biggest change to domain names since the creation of '.com' 26 years ago.
Internet address names will be able to end with almost any word, and be in any language.
"Icann has opened the Internet's addressing system to the limitless possibilities of the human imagination," said Rod Beckstrom, president and chief executive officer for Icann
Global giants such as Apple, Toyota and BMW can launch websites with their own domain name extensions. i-e We can get websites such as www.ipad.apple, www.iphone.apple, www.mainframe.ibm and www.pc.ibm
But it will cost nearly $200,000 even to apply for the suffixes, and companies would need to show they have a legitimate claim to the name they are buying. But I am not sure how ICANN will verify the claim.
Applications for new gTLDs will be accepted from 12 January 2012 to 12 April 2012.
Hnarakis,chief executive of Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services, told that the companies that will benefit most are "big brands with a clear marketing and customer education strategy to exploit the name for competitive advantage."
Hundreds more suffixes could be created beginning as early as late next year.
The new domains could be categorized by subjects including industry, geography, etc.
Brands need to act now if they want to apply for one of these new domain names as it is not as simple as registering a .com address. It is a complex task that needs thought and investment.
Some people feel that the new gTLDs will cause confusion.
For example, assume that we are creating many websites with extension ".qpt" If some one else create a website with .qpt extension, our customers will be confused.
But ICANN believe that this can be managed effectively using appropriate Tools. Let us see how it is going to handle.
I think this new decision will make significant changes in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) also.
Recently we had launched an Inspiring and Motivational Quotes Site TheGreatQuotes.com.
We have added lot of features such as sharing thro' email, facebook and Twitter, ability for marking favorite quotes and Quotes search features.
And, we made this Great Quotes Site SEO friendly and started adding lot of Quotes in various Topics. We are adding both Text Quotes and Picture(Image) Quotes.
Today we added Two new pages to this Great Quotes website.
One page is for listing the Authors of the Great Quotes.
In this Authors page, we can see the list of Authors and two icons near each Author name. Clicking on the First icon () will show the list of Quotes said by that particular Author in Text format.
The next Icon () will show the list of Quotes said by that particular Author in Image/Picture format.
The other page is for listing various Topics available in the Great Quotes site.
This one is also having two icons, one for showing Text Quotes and another for showing Image Quotes on that particular Topic.
Passengers were stranded at airports after a failure in United Airlines’ computer system.
The Computer Failure affects United Airlines' at airports in San Francisco, Chicago and Washington. Many passengers left sitting in terminals or stuck on planes that were grounded.
The problems began at 8:15 p.m. New York time, when the computer failure knocked out its flight departures, airport processing and reservations systems.
This evening, United Airlines experienced a computer outage interrupting the airline’s flight departures, airport processing and reservations systems. As a result, customers may experience difficulties completing transactions at united.com and United reservations. Our technology team is working to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We apologize for the disruption being caused to travelers at affected airports and we are seeking to resume operations as quickly as possible.
You can follow the United Airlines twitter account @united for getting the latest updates.
As of now, the latest update is " We're still trying to fix the issue. We will keep you posted."
Update
It seems the United Airlines solved the issue. Their latest tweet says "Our systems are up. We are in the process of resuming ops for UA. We again apologize for the disruption caused to our customers."
And, United Airlines has issued a waiver for travel plans impacted by the computer outage on June 17 & 18.
You can see the details United Airlines website.
Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June month every year in many Countries including USA for honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society.
This year (2011) Father's Day will be celebrated on June 19th.
The idea of Father's Day was conceived slightly more than a century ago by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Washington, while she listened to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm.
In United States, the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when the U.S President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day.
Father's Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when the U.S President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.
U.S. President Barack Obama grew up without his dad, and has said that being a father is the most important job he has.
“Over the course of my life, I have been an attorney, I’ve been a professor, I’ve been a state senator, I’ve been a U.S. senator -- and I currently am serving as President of the United States. But I can say without hesitation that the most challenging, most fulfilling, most important job I will have during my time on this Earth is to be Sasha and Malia’s dad.”
It seems Father's Day is getting more commercial interest in recent years.
Father's Day Gift sales is growing every year.
Watch below the video of few Father's Day Quotes Collection.
Obama's 2011 Father's Day Speech.
Watch below the Viedo of U.S President Barack Obama's Father's Day Address for this year.
You can read below the Transcript of this speech.
Hi, everybody. This Father’s Day weekend, I’d like to spend a couple minutes talking about what’s sometimes my hardest, but always my most rewarding job – being a dad.
I grew up without my father around. He left when I was two years old, and even though my sister and I were lucky enough to have a wonderful mother and caring grandparents to raise us, I felt his absence. And I wonder what my life would have been like had he been a greater presence.
That’s why I’ve tried so hard to be a good dad for my own children. I haven’t always succeeded, of course – in the past, my job has kept me away from home more often than I liked, and the burden of raising two young girls would sometimes fall too heavily on Michelle.
But between my own experiences growing up, and my ongoing efforts to be the best father I can be, I’ve learned a few things about what our children need most from their parents.
First, they need our time. And more important than the quantity of hours we spend with them is the quality of those hours. Maybe it’s just asking about their day, or talking a walk together, but the smallest moments can have the biggest impact.
They also need structure, including learning the values of self-discipline and responsibility. Malia and Sasha may live in the White House these days, but Michelle and I still make sure they finish their schoolwork, do their chores, and walk the dog.
And above all, children need our unconditional love – whether they succeed or make mistakes; when life is easy and when life is tough.
And life is tough for a lot of Americans today. More and more kids grow up without a father figure. Others miss a father who’s away serving his country in uniform. And even for those dads who are present in their children’s lives, the recession has taken a harsh toll. If you’re out of a job or struggling to pay the bills, doing whatever it takes to keep the kids healthy, happy and safe can understandably take precedence over all else.
That’s why my administration has offered men who want to be good fathers a little extra support. We’ve boosted community and faith-based groups focused on fatherhood, partnered with businesses to offer opportunities for fathers to spend time with their kids at the bowling alley or ballpark, and worked with military chaplains to help deployed dads connect with their children.
We’re doing this because we all have a stake in forging stronger bonds between fathers and their children. And you can find out more about some of what we’re doing at Fatherhood.gov.
But we also know that every father has a personal responsibility to do right by our kids as well. All of us can encourage our children to turn off the video games and pick up a book. All of us can pack a healthy lunch for our son, or go outside and play ball with our daughter. And all of us can teach our children the difference between right and wrong, and show them through our own example the value in treating one another as we wish to be treated.
Our kids are pretty smart. They understand that life won’t always be perfect, that sometimes, the road gets rough, that even great parents don’t get everything right.
But more than anything, they just want us to be a part of their lives.
So recently, I took on a second job: assistant coach for Sasha’s basketball team. On Sundays, we’d get the team together to practice, and a couple of times, I’d help coach the games. It was a lot of fun – even if Sasha rolled her eyes when her dad voiced his displeasure with the refs.
But I was so proud watching her run up and down the court, seeing her learn and improve and gain confidence. And I was hopeful that in the years to come, she’d look back on experiences like these as the ones that helped define her as a person – and as a parent herself.
In the end, that’s what being a parent is all about – those precious moments with our children that fill us with pride and excitement for their future; the chances we have to set an example or offer a piece of advice; the opportunities to just be there and show them that we love them.
That’s something worth remembering this Father’s Day, and every day.
Thanks, and Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Have a great weekend.
Google is showing below Doodle for this Father's Day. Note that this Doodle appears in selected countries only.
Google showed below "Father's Day Doodles" in the previous decade.
June 20th 2010 Father's Day
June 21, 2009 Father's Day
June 15, 2008 Father's Day
June 17, 2007 Father's Day
June 18, 2006 Father's Day
June 19, 2005 Father's Day
June 20, 2004 Father's Day (Global)
June 15, 2003 Father's Day
June 16, 2002 Father's Day
June 17, 2001 Father's Day
June 18, 2000 Father's Day
We can notice that all the Doodles created till 2005 are having "TM" symbol. But this "TM" symbol is NOT there in the Doodles that are created after 2005. I would like to know why Google had removed "TM" symbol from Doodle. If you know any details about this, you can share it thro' the comments.