BBC News - DIY $1 solar panel maker heads to Africa for charity

BBC News - DIY solar panel maker heads to Africa for charity: "$1 (64p) solar charger which has at least a five year lifespan."

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Why programmers work at night

"Working on large abstract systems involves fitting the whole thing into your mind – somebody once likened this to constructing a house out of expensive crystal glassand as soon as someone distracts you, it all comes barreling down and shatters into a thousand pieces.

This is why programmers are so annoyed when you distract them."
A geek with a hat » Why programmers work at night:
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andriod market growth

10B_2_lg.png (427×1600)/>:

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Facebook History of the World | CollegeHumor

Facebook History of the World | CollegeHumor:

Nice way to describe history.

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Inside DreamHack, the 12,000-computer LAN party - Slideshow | ExtremeTech

Inside DreamHack, the 12,000-computer LAN party - Slideshow | ExtremeTech: "Last weekend, over 12,000 LAN party goers turned up at DreamHack Winter 2011 in Jonkoping, Sweden with a PC under the arm, on their back, or packed carefully in the trunk of their car. Every single attendee is squeezed into just three massive halls — the largest holding 5,000 computers — for four days, only taking brief breaks to sleep or check out one of the many stages (including some of the largest e-sport tournaments of the year)."

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TEDxKids@Brussels - Gabe Zichermann - Gamification - YouTube

TEDxKids@Brussels - Gabe Zichermann - Gamification - YouTube: ""

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BBC News - Changes to the world's time scale debated

BBC News - Changes to the world's time scale debated: "This week, scientists at the Royal Society are discussing whether we need to come up with a new definition of the world's time scale: Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

And the main issue up for debate is the leap second - and whether we should abolish it.

The leap second came into existence in 1972. It is added to keep the time-scale based on atomic clocks in phase with the time-scale that is based on the Earth's rotation."

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Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains | Video on TED.com

Daniel Wolpert: The real reason for brains | Video on TED.com:

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Computer game solves AIDS mystery - IDG.se

"In the computer game Foldit is quite ordinary players with virus researchers succeeded in determining the shape of one of the virus that causes AIDS, the M-PMV virus. "
Computer game solves AIDS mystery - IDG.se:
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Introducing Galaxy Nexus. Simple, beautiful, beyond smart - YouTube

Introducing Galaxy Nexus. Simple, beautiful, beyond smart - YouTube: ""

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Android 4.0 Platform | Android Developers

"Android 4.0 is a major platform release that adds a variety of new features for users and app developers. Besides all the new features and APIs discussed below, Android 4.0 is an important platform release because it brings the extensive set of APIs and Holographic themes from Android 3.x to smaller screens. As an app developer, you now have a single platform and unified API framework that enables you to develop and publish your application with a single APK that provides an optimized user experience for handsets, tablets, and more, when running the same version of Android—Android 4.0 (API level 14) or greater."

for details: Android 4.0 Platform | Android Developers:
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IT Industry Competitiveness Index 2011

"The IT Industry Competitiveness Index compares 66 countries on the extent to which they are capable of supporting a strong IT production sector. The Index and analysis as well as this site were created by the Economist Intelligence Unit for BSA"

America, Finland, Singapore, Sweden and UK are ranked top five.

For Details:IT Industry Competitiveness Index 2011:

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free fall joy

Experience Zero Gravity from Betty Wants In on Vimeo.

70 Things Every Computer Geek Should Know. | Arrow Webzine

70 Things Every Computer Geek Should Know. | Arrow Webzine: "

1. Default Password List

One of the best list of default passwords. http://www.searchlores.org/defpasslist1.htm 1A. Usability of passwords http://www.baekdal.com/tips/password-security-usability.

2. A bit, about How to hack some common gadgets.

If you rolled your eyes here, that is a good thing. If not, you have many things to learn, young padawan. It’s amazing how few people know how to do this. If you’re unsure, hit up the link below to find out how: http://www.aagneyam.com/blog/?cat=708

3. Identify Keyloggers

Internet cafes are the most likely place you’ll find them, followed by library, perhaps, and maybe even you own house if you’ve some unscrupulous friends/family. Identity theft groups warn about keyloggers and advocate checking out the keyboard yourself before continuing. Can you identify a keylogger, however, if one is plugged into the back of the system? Here’s what one looks like: Hit up this link for excellent info on keyloggers on public computers and how to protect yourself: , http://www.ghacks.net/2007/06/28/how-to-defeat-most-keyloggers-on-public-computers/

4. Surf the Web Anonymously

We won’t make any assumptions about why you may need this particular skill, but the fact remains that every geek should know how to traverse the Internet with the highest amount of security possible. Aside from the safest method–which is using a connection that is not yours–you will need the ultimate in proxies…Tor. Tor is an onion-routing system which makes it ‘impossible’ for someone to find out who you actually are.

5. Bypass a Computer Password on All Major Operating Systems

Obviously you shouldn’t use this to gain unlawful access to a computer. If you’re a geek, however, you’ll eventually end up in a situation where someone forgets their password, you acquire a machine with an operating system you cannot access, or similar situation. See this tutorial for info on how to bypass the password on the three major operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux. http://www.joetech.com/2009/01/29/how-to-crack-the-account-password-on-any-operating-system/

6. Find a Users IP Address on AIM

Knowing someones IP address is actually pretty useless in this case, but most people don’t realize that. If someone is harassing you via AIM and you can’t get them to stop, discovering their IP and sending it to them–with a nicely worded threat of law enforcement involvement should they not stop–is likely enough to send them scamping away with tail between legs. http://www.ehow.com/how_5529416_someones-ip-address-aim-chat.html

7. Hide a File Behind a JPEG

So you need a nice spot to hide your blackmail personal files. You could, of course, bury them deeply within a series of random, useless folders, but there’s always the chance of them being discovered. A password protected RAR is the best choice, but it’s a bit obvious despite the most boring title you could give it. A sneaky person would hide the important file behind a completely random and boring family reunion photo, where no person in their right mind would shift through. http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/hide-file-in-picture/

8. Crack a Wifi Password

This is one of those things you don’t need to do (hopefully), but that you still need to know just for the sake of knowledge. A strong WPA password is very secure, but most people don’t want to bother learning a convoluted series of letters, numbers, and symbols, instead opting for random everyday words. A good overall tutorial on wifi and cracking can be found here: http://www.aagneyam.com/blog/?p=623

9. Monitor Network Traffic

The Internet is a vast place with a bit of everything. Whether you’re curious about what your roommate is downloading, your kid is getting into, or any leeches living around you who’ve unscrupulously breached your wifi, knowing how to analyze network traffic is an invaluable skill. Here is a list of dozens of network analyzers, as well as some general info to get you started: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/xorg/nmtf/nmtf-tools.html

10. Recover Master Boot Record

A virus or other problem can lead to an MBR error, which will make it impossible to access install. Many users would simply become frustrated and reinstall, but not you! Every geek should know how to recover the master book record. Here is an excellent guide to get started: http://www.ntfs.com/mbr-damaged.htm"

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Swedish app developers to pay VAT twice - The Local

Swedish app developers to pay VAT twice - The Local: "As of October 1st, the Swedish developers will in effect have to pay VAT twice - once within Sweden and a second time in the country where the app is purchased, if they sell the apps via an intermediary like Facebook, the Apple Store or other third parties, according to a report from Sveriges Radio (SR).

The VAT burden could end up being as much as 25 percent, making it very hard for Swedish companies to be competitive, according to developers, especially as these rules do not apply to those in other EU countries."

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Quantum Diaries

"OPERA was built mostly to detect the appearance of tau neutrinos from a beam of muon neutrinos, a phenomenon called “oscillation” that enables one type of neutrinos to mutate into a completely different type when travelling over a large distance. This is something that had never been observed directly before but OPERA spotted one such event last year. To do so, they need to correlate the appearance of tau neutrinos in their detector with the arrival of muon neutrinos sent from CERN. Obviously, getting the timing right was essential, hence their careful checks on the arrival time of the muon neutrinos in Gran Sasso.
And there, surprise! The neutrinos reached the Gran Sasso laboratory 60 nanoseconds (i.e. 60 billionth of a second) faster than light travelling over the same distance, even though neutrinos are expected to travel slightly below the speed of light."

"they are just sneaky little neutrinos taking a shortcut through some extra dimension…"
read more: Quantum Diaries:
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Eid Mubarak

Steve Jobs Resigns As CEO Of Apple | TechCrunch

Steve Jobs Resigns As CEO Of Apple | TechCrunch:

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How IBM's Watson supercomputer wins at Jeopardy, with IBM's Dave Gondek - YouTube

How IBM's Watson supercomputer wins at Jeopardy, with IBM's Dave Gondek - YouTube:

A beginner's guide to caching data in Drupal 7 | Lullabot

"Building complicated, dynamic content in Drupal is easy, but it can come at a price. A lot of the stuff that makes a site engaging can spell 'performance nightmare' under heavy load, thrashing the database to perform complex queries and expensive calculations every time a user looks at a node or loads a particular page.

One solution is to turn on page caching on Drupal's performance options administration page. That speeds things up for anonymous users by caching the output of each page, greatly reducing the number of DB queries needed when they hit the site. That doesn't help with logged in users, however: because page level caching is an all-or-nothing affair, it only works for the standardized, always-the-same view that anonymous users see when they arrive.

Eventually there comes a time when you have to dig in to your code, identify the database access hot spots, and add caching yourself. Fortunately, Drupal's built-in caching APIs and some simple guidelines can make that task easy."

details on : A beginner's guide to caching data in Drupal 7 | Lullabot:

Computable Document Format for Interactive Content

"Today's online documents are like yesterday's paper—flat, lifeless, inactive. Instead, the Computable Document Format (CDF) puts easy-to-author interactivity at its core, empowering readers to drive content and generate results live.

Launched by the Wolfram Group, the CDF standard is a computation-powered knowledge container—as everyday as a document, but as interactive as an app.

Adopting CDF gives ideas a broad communication pipeline—accelerating research, education, technical development, and progress."
From:Computable Document Format for Interactive Content

internet of things

for more details: levelx.me

Reverse Ajax, Part 2: WebSockets

"WebSockets, which emerged in HTML5, is a much more recent Reverse Ajax technique than Comet. WebSockets enables bi-directional, full-duplex communication channels, and many browsers (Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari) already support it. The connection is opened through an HTTP request, called a WebSockets handshake, with some special headers. The connection is kept alive, and you can write and receive data in JavaScript as if you were using a raw TCP socket.
A WebSocket URL is started by typing ws:// or wss:// (on SSL).
The timeline in Figure 1 shows communication using WebSockets. An HTTP handshake is sent to the server with specific headers. Then, a type of socket is made available either on the server or on the client side in JavaScript. This socket can be used to asynchronously receive data through an event handler."

for Detaila: see Reverse Ajax, Part 2: WebSockets:

Create GPS-enabling web applications

"Web sites that provide services based on your geographic location are quite popular on the Internet. Sites such as Foursquare, Yelp, and Google Maps all make use of where you are to give you information relevant to you right in that location. You can easily get someone’s location and give them information based on that locale."

for details: Create GPS-enabling web applications:

‪A robot that flies like a bird‬‏ - YouTube

‪A robot that flies like a bird‬‏ - YouTube: "http://youtu.be/Fg_JcKSHUtQ"

WTF Code - StumbleUpon

“ Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live. Martin Golding

WTF Code - StumbleUpon

Students Create 'JediBot' Stanford uni

This Week: SDL, Adobe Lead in Customer Experience Management + Publishing for Tablets

"Oracle may not be leading in customer experience, but it has announced that WebCenter is now its primary suite for CXM (and it will include the recently acquired FatWire WEM platform)."

for Details:
This Week: SDL, Adobe Lead in Customer Experience Management + Publishing for Tablets:

34% of iPhone users think they have a 4G phone – Android and Me

"IPhone users blindly love their device so much, 40% of iPhone owners claimed they would buy the next iPhone even if the device does not have 4G connectivity."

for details : 34% of iPhone users think they have a 4G phone – Android and Me

The weakness of gravity

"One of such questions and indeed one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in our understanding of the Universe is; why is gravity so much weaker than the other forces of nature? It is questions like this that the Large Hadron Collider, the most powerful particle accelerator in the world"

for Details:

The weakness of gravity | Blog | DAWN.COM:

Arieb Azhar Mery Des Main Post by Zagham

Arieb Azhar,kalam e bulleh shah. Na Raindee Hai. Coke Studio‬‏

YouTube - ‪Arieb Azhar,kalam e bulleh shah. Na Raindee Hai. Coke Studio‬‏

Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus

Stuxnet: Anatomy of a Computer Virus from Patrick Clair on Vimeo.

Genome mapping of first Pakistani | Sci-tech | DAWN.COM

Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman was the first Muslim and Pakistani whose complete genome was mapped by Dr. Kamran Azim.

For Details.

Genome mapping of first Pakistani | Sci-tech | DAWN.COM

Ideone.com | Online PHP Interpreter & Debugging Tool

I found nice online Interpreter & Debugging Tool in which you choose a programming language and paste program in textbox. You submit code and WOW!!! is compiled and run!!

Ideone.com | Online PHP Interpreter & Debugging Tool

Summary of web application testing methodologies and tools

Summary: New methods and tools emerge quickly in the web application testing arena. The methodology and tools you select depend on the characteristics of the application and the development parameters, such as language and software. The use case for the application can also have an influence. For example, for banking applications, security takes a higher priority than usability; for health systems, availability and reliability are key factors. This article provides a consolidated reference of methodologies and the corresponding tools and frameworks for testing your web applications.

For details:

Summary of web application testing methodologies and tools

Tech Review 2010

For Details : Tech Review 2010

¡Increíble! Google Turns Your Android Phone Into An On-The-Fly Conversation Interpreter

When it came to translations, you used to either need an interpreter or a book to navigate another language. That was either costly or cumbersome, respectively. Then the Internet came along and made things significantly easier. Except you had to be chained to your computer to translate something. A year ago, Google made things easier again by launching their Translate app for Android. But that’s nothing compared to what they’re releasing today.

For Details : ¡Increíble! Google Turns Your Android Phone Into An On-The-Fly Conversation Interpreter

Beijing Tightens Its Control of Vital Minerals - NYTimes.com

A Chinese government agency has taken steps to more tightly manage the production and export of rare earthminerals, crucial materials used in a wide range of technologies and products vital to the West.

For details : Beijing Tightens Its Control of Vital Minerals - NYTimes.com

2010 in pictures

For more details http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/12/charts_2010