NASA satellite breaks up in plunge to Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.  - A six-tonnes NASA science satellite fell back to Earth, the U.S. space agency said on Saturday, but it was not yet known where the remains landed.

NASA said its decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was "passing over Canada and Africa as well as vast portions of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans" as it returned to Earth, and that "the precise re-entry time and location are not yet known with certainty."

The 20-year-old satellite, which took an unpredictable course as it tumbled through the upper atmosphere, fell to Earth sometime between 11:23 p.m EDT on Friday and 1:09 a.m. EDT on Saturday (0323 to 0509 GMT on Saturday), NASA said.

There were reports on Twitter of debris falling over Okotoks, a town south of Calgary in western Canada, most likely satellite remains.

Stretching 35 feet (10.6 metres) long and 15 feet (4.5 metres) in diameter, UARS was among the largest spacecraft to plummet uncontrollably through the atmosphere, although it is a slim cousin to NASA's 75-tonnes Skylab station, which crashed to Earth in 1979.

Russia's last space station, the 135-tonnes Mir, crashed into the Pacific Ocean in 2001, but it was a guided descent.

NASA now plans for the controlled re-entry of large spacecraft, but it did not when UARS was designed.

The 13,000-pound (5,897 kg) satellite was dispatched into orbit by a space shuttle crew in 1991 to study ozone and other chemicals in Earth's atmosphere. It completed its mission in 2005 and had been slowly losing altitude ever since, pulled by the planet's gravity.

Most of the spacecraft burned up during the fiery plunge through the atmosphere, but about 26 individual pieces, weighing a total of about 1,100 pounds (500 kg) could have survived the incineration.

The debris field spans about 500 miles (805 km), but exactly where it is located depends on when UARS descended.

With most of the planet covered in water and vast uninhabited deserts and other land directly beneath the satellite's flight path, the chance that someone would be hit by falling debris was 1-in-3,200, NASA said.

"The risk to public safety is very remote," it said.

The satellite flew over most of the planet, traveling between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator.

UARS was one of about 20,000 pieces of space debris in orbit around Earth. Something the size of UARS falls back into the atmosphere about once a year.

Source: Reuters

Now, an iPhone app that parks your car for you

An iPhone app that enables motorists to park their vehicles without even being in the driving seat has been unveiled at the 2011 International Motor Show in Frankfurt, Germany.

The application works in conjunction with Park4U, a preloaded system that uses steering wheel control and sensors to automatically guide the car into parking spots, Sky News reported.

The driver would usually have to be behind the wheel when using the programme, but now motorists will be able to control the brake and accelerator pedals from their phone while standing outside the vehicle.

Further reviews have said the app will help when squeezing cars into tight spaces.

Source: ANI

Google to launch local shopping service in Japan - Nikkei

Google Inc's Japanese unit will launch an online search service on Friday that will display the prices and availability of products at stores near the shopper's location, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Seven Japanese retail giants, including Yodobashi Camera Co, Matsumotokiyoshi Holdings Co and Ryohin Keikaku Co, have already agreed to send production information to Google daily, and the Internet search company hopes to sign up 100 companies by the end of 2012, the paper said.

Google Local Shopping, as the service will be called, is targeted at users of personal computers and smartphones, the daily said.

The users will not just able to track the stores on a map along with their business hours and phone numbers, but will also be able to access product information and compare prices, the Nikkei reported.

Source: Reuters

Petrol prices to be raised by 3.14 rupees from Friday

Mumbai: State-run oil firms will raise petrol prices by nearly 5 percent from Friday, a move that eases their subsidy burden but adds near-term pressure to stubbornly high inflation in Asia's third-largest economy.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Indian Oil Corp, which dominate fuel retailing in India, said they will increase their petrol prices by 3.14 rupees per litre.

The overall inflationary impact of the price increase is expected to be modest, at between 4 and 15 basis points, economists said. Petrol accounts for just 1.09 percent of the wholesale price index , while diesel, which is much more widely used, has a weight of 4.67 percent.

Oil companies in India have been free since June 2010 to set their own prices for petrol, which is considered a rich person's fuel. Raising the petrol price is politically easier than lifting state-controlled diesel prices, which New Delhi did in June after months of delay.

India has been increasing fuel prices in order to ease its fiscal burden, but doing so is sensitive for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's ruling Congress party, whose voter base is heavily rural and poor.

Singh's government has been on the back foot over persistent inflation as well as a slew of corruption scandals that have weakened its ability to push through reforms.

"It is never a right time in India for a petrol price hike, and what this shows is the government is prepared to take some unpopular decisions," said political columnist Amulya Ganguli.

"It has been on the defensive for a long while, and now is realising it cannot sit still and do nothing and must take the economic steps that it must," he said.

Headline inflation in India rose to 9.78 percent for August, data on Wednesday showed, its highest in 13 months, adding to expectations that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will raise interest rates on Friday for the 12th time since March 2010.

RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao has repeatedly called on New Delhi to improve its fiscal position to help manage inflation over the longer term.

Nitesh Ranjan, an economist with Union Bank of India, said the inflationary impact of the petrol price increase would be minimal and is positive from the central bank's perspective.

"In tackling inflation, fiscal policy actions need to be in consonance with the monetary policy, else fiscal deficit will counter the moderating trend in aggregate demand," he said.

"Considering the government's rhetoric and today's move, odds for a pause in policy rate has increased," Ranjan said.

The central bank is widely expected to be nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Indian Oil Corp has lost 11.5 billion rupees ($241.4 million) thus far in the fiscal year that began in April on petrol subsidies, Chairman R.S. Butola told local media.

The recent depreciation of the rupee, which has fallen nearly 8 percent from its 2011 high, adds to the subsidy burden for oil marketing companies.

"With this hike, all the under-recovery associated with petrol ends and one can expect no more hikes in petrol in the near future," said D.K Aggarwal, chairman and managing director of SMC Investments and Advisors Ltd.

Brent crude oil traded at over $115 a barrel on Thursday, up over $3 buoyed by a rally in European equities. At $89.4 a barrel, Nymex light crude has risen over 18 percent from a 2011 low reached in early August.

The petrol price increase to about 66.5 rupees per litre comes after a record 5 rupee hike in May.

($1 = 47.640 Indian Rupees)

Source: Reuters via Yahoo News

'Reimagining' Windows with Hardware and Cloud at Build

At this morning's Build keynote, Microsoft's Michael Angiulo showed off some new hardware running Windows 8, including quick booting, tablets based on multiple processors, and a number of new "Ultrabooks."

Of course, the audience was happiest when he announced that 5,000 attendees would receive a Samsung tablet based on an Intel Core i5, including a year of 2GB AT&T broadband service and the developer preview version of Windows 8, as well as all of the tools. Windows head Steve Sinofsky said it was a "very cool machine," but clearly just a preview, stressing a recovery console.

A new feature, called UEFI, allows machines to boot very quickly. Angiulo demonstrated this with one desktop that came up almost immediately, and a desktop system that booted in eight seconds. 

He also booted from a USB drive and showed an "instant-on" solution on a prototype machine running a Qualcomm ARM chip that used very little energy. All the "SoC" type systems ran the same kind of power saving features as phones use.

Angiulo showed Qualcomm, Nvidia and TI designs based on the ARM architecture, then turned to an Intel Atom-based SoC. Sinofsky highlighted how well Intel is improving battery life, though he provided no details.

Later the duo showed off a number of different "Ultrabooks" based on Intel's new design for very thin notebooks. These looked great and seemed to resume almost instantly.  

In other hardware changes, Angiulo displayed native drivers for USB 3.0 and discussed changes that let Windows now put from drivers with over 200 terabytes of data (vs. the old 2TB level).

Also shown was a system with multiple water-cooled GPUs that could handle 4.7 teraflops of performance, DirectCompute, and DirectX 11 games.  The entire UI of Windows 8 now uses hardware-accelerated graphics.

In addition, Angiulo talked about what Microsoft was doing to increase the speed and accuracy of touch. He touched on working at multiple screen sizes; supports for gyro, accelerometer and magnetometer sensors all working together; and Near Field Communications (NFC).

Metro-style device applications more tightly integrate hardware with other applications, such as adding printer-specific options to the print command within each Metro app.    

An interesting demo showed how users could get information on wireless accounts, without making an IP-based connection, and thus getting roadmaps.

The final demo in this section used Windows 8 in a "professional platform," which showcased things like more subtle warnings of future required updates and logging in via a PIN.

On a new task manager, Metro applications are automatically suspended if they aren't doing anything. Applications are now grouped by type, and new options include a  history of the applications run and the ability to immediately stop any startup applications. New copying capabilities let you hit the Windows key to toggle between the Start menu and the traditional Windows desktop.

Other new features let you reset the computer, removing all your personal files and applications and reverting all settings back to default. Alternatively, you can now "refresh" your machine, which keeps your files but reinstalls all the applications you want, removing malware, etc. All this works for Metro applications, but for traditional applications, developers and IT shops can set up a baseline to which the machine will restore.

There's a new Windows Assessment Console that monitors how the machine is running, and a new Metro-style Remote Desktop Connection application, that adds features like a keyboard for controlling a desktop from a tablet.

Sinofsky also showed a client version of Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization console running on the client, letting the machine load virtual hard drives (VHDs) and optical system images (ISOs) on the system.

Other features include a new quick access toolbar and an Up button to Windows Explorer. For multiple monitors, you can now spread your desktop image across multiple screens; create task bars that are specific to each monitor; and view the new Start screen on one system with the traditional Windows desktop on another. Sinofsky made it clear that keyboards still work, with new keyboard shortcuts, and showed the old "CMD" command by typing it on the start screen. 

It all sounds very flexible, but it will take some getting used to.

Internet Explorer 10 can easily clone a page or open a new tab with a keystroke and can even search by selecting some text and hitting a shortcut. You can run IE 10 either in a full-screen "Metro" view or in the desktop as a traditional browser window.

Other features include a screen magnifier that works right for the tablet; the ability to change to other keyboards; the ability to add ink and handwriting using a stylus; and an optional ability to sync your PC settings across multiple systems, including applications if they support that. 

Live applications were all rewritten for the Metro UI, with tiles showing mail, calendar, and more, said Senior Vice President of Windows Live Chris Jones. The mail application lets you switch between Hotmail and Exchange mail, and the calendar application lets you view multiple calendars and share them with other people.  

A People application uses a connected address book that pulls together all contacts from multiple mail accounts, Facebook, LinkedIn and other networks. A Photos application also consolidates photos from Facebook and Flickr, with very fast transitions, and automatically pulls things down to the local machine.   

"Every Windows 8 user has a Skydrive," Jones said, and you can access files stored on Skydrive just as on the local machine. It also lets you connect to another system that you have linked to Skydrive, and gives you access to files on that system, even across firewalls.

Jones demonstrated all this in a browser (in addition to the Metro-sytle apps) and on Windows Phone 7.5. For instance, the camera roll from the phone can be automatically uploaded to Skydrive.

All of these applications were just previews, created in HTML and Javascript by 17 teams of two to three college interns over a ten week period.

Tonight, the company rolls out the "Windows 8 Developer Preview," which Jones said has the full user interface (unlike the Windows 7 developer preview). 

The preview will be available at 8:00 PDT at dev.windows.com, with no support but no activation required.

This preview will be followed by updates, and then later by a beta, release candidate, release to manufacturing, and finally general release. The schedule of releases is "driven by the quality, not by a date," Sinofsky said.

Source: PCMagazine

Facebook revamps 'Friend Lists system' to take on Google+

Social networking giant Facebook has unveiled its new friends list system that would allow users to categorize groups of friends more easily.

According to the BBC, Facebook's updated 'Friend Lists system', is seen as a reaction to the Circles feature on Google+.

Users would now have better control over how their connections are grouped, with some lists, such as work and family, created automatically.

According to the report, the new Smart Lists feature will create categories based on the relationship between a user and their friends.

Now, new "close friends" and "acquaintances" lists would allow users to filter who they see updates from.

The changes appear to be aimed at users who are attracted by the ability to create groups using Google Circles.

Presently, Facebook remains the world's most popular social network, but Google+ is expected to hit 100 million users this year.
Source: ANI

"We Need Creative Scientists" - APJ Abdul Kalam Speaks to youngsters

In science, impossible does not exist. Inventions and discoveries are the products of constant endeavour by creative minds, envisioning ever-new outcomes. With vivid imagination and consistent effort, the forces of the universe can be made to work for an inspired mind. How do we fire up the minds of India's youth who are the foundation for cutting edge research and usher in a renaissance in Indian science?

We need a new generation of creative scientists. For that, we need an environment for research and challenging missions. Above all, academic institutions must have well-equipped laboratories and professors who have the proven capacity to attract youth to science. I have noticed that Indian universities lack a research culture. I believe where there is good research, good teaching is possible; where there is good teaching, good research emanates. Hence, I visualise our universities transforming into research-cum-teaching hubs. This calls for the presence of a number of renowned research professors on campus to attract bright students. Such a research environment will provide credibility to university departments and, in turn, bring in funding by industry and R&D laboratories for research programmes and projects.

For a conducive environment for research the actions of two Nobel laureates who have facilitated research in their own unique way are instructive. The first is the culture of magnanimity demonstrated by Norman E. Borlaug. When he was given the M.S. Swaminathan Award on March 15, 2005, at the age of 91, in Delhi, he did not stop at just naming the founding fathers of the Green Revolution in India. He recalled with pride the White Revolution. Then came the surprise. He identified scientists in the audience-Sanjay Rajaram, a wheat specialist; S.K. Vasal, a maize specialist; and B.R. Barwale, a seed specialist-asked them to rise, commended their contribution to Indian and Asian agriculture and ensured the audience cheered. Such magnanimity is what motivates the scientific community and it should spread in all our research institutions.

The second is an incident narrated in G. Venkataraman's book The Big and the Small about Sir C.V. Raman. When President Rajendra Prasad invited him to stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and receive the first Bharat Ratna award in the last week of January 1954, Raman declined and wrote back in polite terms saying that he was unable to make it to the investiture ceremony. He explained that as the guide of a student in the final stages of submitting a PhD thesis ahead of the January 31 deadline, he felt that he should be with the student until it was completed and signed. He gave up the pomp of a glittering ceremony associated with the highest national honour because he felt his duty required him to be with the student.

Will our experienced scientists inspire research scholars by emulating the standards set by such great masters? That is not all. We need a pragmatic blueprint for a revolution in Indian science research and technological applications that offer challenging missions to attract youth. For this, there are goals and priorities that must address the national need for growth. Here are the top 10:

Ability to spot talent in the young and the inexperienced. He was a unique find for India in the early 20th century-Srinivasa Ramanujan, a hardworking youth who failed in all subjects except mathematics in the intermediate examination. A dockyard officer in then Madras came across a mathematics research paper by the student. He sent this paper to Professor G.H. Hardy at Cambridge University, which led to the discovery of the mathematics legend. Recognition from the Royal Society of London followed. The Srinivasa Ramanujan Museum at Kumbakonam speaks volumes about his genius. Even today, throughout the world, researchers are trying to solve the challenging mathematical problems postulated by Ramanujan. What we need in our country is that both educational and research institutions should have the capacity to spot unique talent wherever it springs up, with or without formal qualifications.

Research in the area of forecasting earthquakes hours before, days before and even weeks before they strike is of paramount importance. This calls for multinational and multidisciplinary research on geology, earthquake science, earth sciences, nuclear science, electromagne-tism as well as a modelling and simulation environment using super computers.

In another 20 years, Earth, Moon and Mars will become an integrated economic entity. It is essential for India to mount a programme in planetary sciences and life sciences related to different planets.

Today, the cost for orbiting one kilogram in space is nearly $20,000. It is essential to work for low-cost access to space, so that orbital costs can be reduced to about $2,000 per kg. This will result in more satellite launches, our communication transponders in orbit would increase and connect India's 600,000 villages in a cost-effective manner. In parallel, fibre optic connectivity must reach all panchayats by 2020.

Malaria is again appearing with a vengeance. It is essential for our life science scientists to work on the development and deployment of a vaccine to combat multiple malaria vectors in a time-bound manner.

The only way to control and finally eliminate HIV AIDS coupled with tuberculosis is by inventing a vaccine. Research and development must be intensified towards this end.

The bulk of India's population lives in its 600,000 villages. Provision of urban amenities in rural areas, which envisages provision of physical connectivity, electronic connectivity and knowledge connectivity, will lead to economic connectivity and employment generation in multiple skills in rural areas. The Government has taken up the Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) programme in nine states in a public-private partnership. India needs 7,000 puras. A mission mode programme has to emerge for completing all 7,000 PURA projects in the next 10 years.

As part of an energy independence programme, every state must frame a policy to become carbon-neutral by 2030. That means all transportation systems-land, air and sea-and static power generation systems must switch to electric, biofuel or solar power, or a combination of all three. Emulsification technology for substituting petrol and diesel in automobiles and static installations has to be developed. With thorium ore available in the country in plenty, we have to design and develop large scale nuclear power plants that run on thorium-fuelled reactors. Intensive research is essential to convert thorium into a fissile material for this application.

The present trend among young people after Class XII is to take up engineering, medicine or management courses because of an assurance of employment. To attract the best minds to science research at the MSc and doctoral programmes, it is essential that an exclusive science cadre is introduced to facilitate a career in well known scientific laboratories and universities.

The nation needs a smart water way grid similar to the Golden Quadrilateral for national highways. This would definitely enable low-cost carbon-efficient transport of people and goods across the length and breadth of the country, provide year-round irrigation, contain floods and droughts, generate much-needed additional power and also serve as an economic asset with provision for fishing and eco-tourism. The water way grid will also serve a strategic purpose in times of war.

This is, at best, a beginning towards becoming a stronger nation, one that is concerned about the progress and welfare of its people. There are many more areas in which scientific research programmes and projects are to be initiated for economic development. This is our national challenge this century.

The writer is former president of India and an eminent scientist. He received the Bharat Ratna in 1997.

Reproduced From India Today. © 2011. LMIL. All rights reserved.

Smart phone app helps cut fuel use at red lights

A smart phone app that's being tested by researchers at Princeton and MIT is set to help lessen a car's fuel consumption while at the red light.

Signal Guru, which can show drivers how fast or slow they can go to avoid stopping at the next red light, is geared towards fuel efficiency and lessening traffic congestion, Discovery News reported.

According to the researchers, if drivers avoid idling at red lights, fuel use is cut by 20 percent.

When the smart phone is mounted on the dash, the app uses the phone's ability to connect to others who are also running it, as well as the camera, to keep track of signals.

Researchers tested the app in Cambridge, Mass., where fixed schedules are used, and in Singapore, where signals adapt to traffic volume.

The fixed schedule tests were off by two-thirds, and the adapting tests were one to two seconds away from complete accuracy.

As long as people use the app for its intended purposes, this app and others like it, when released for commercial use, could help lessen energy consumption.
Source: ANI via Yahoo Tech News!

Mum 'reunites with kidnapped son via Facebook after 12 yrs'

Washington, Sept 13 : Facebook has reunited a Costa Rican mother with her son, who was only five years old when he was kidnapped in 1999, after 12 years.

Kattia Liebers was mired in a bitter custody dispute with her husband in her native Costa Rica in 1999. And when her husband fled the country, he abducted her son.

"He told me, 'I'm going take your son away from you. I'm going to destroy you'," Liebers told Fox News.

For years she searched for Jared, unsure where her husband had taken the boy.

"I was crying every day. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep," she said.

Now, more than a decade later, the wait is over. Her life has changed once again with a single message on Facebook.

"Hi, is this Kattia Chacon Sanchez by any chance?" the original message asked.

Jared had been living with his father in Israel. On Sunday, the 17-year-old moved back to the United States to be with his mother.
Source: ANI

Now, a futuristic fuel efficient lightweight car

London: MUTE is here. It's an agile, sporty two-seater, eco-friendly electric vehicle capable of hitting a peak speed of 120 kmph.

Its lithium-ion battery is designed to guarantee a range of at least 100 km, which can be extended by a reserve zinc-air battery when required.

MUTE's stable frame, made of aluminum and carbon fibre reinforced plastic chasis, reduces the curb weight, including batteries, to a mere 500 kg.

'Low weight is essential for an electric vehicle,' says the Germany-based Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) vehicle engineer Markus Lienkamp, according to a TUM statement.

'Greater weight requires more battery performance for the same range, which results in higher costs. Greater weight also results in reduced dynamics for a given power output. But we want a car that is affordable and fun to drive,' said Lienkamp.

TUM engineers have developed MUTE from scratch. Every part has been optimized for three main factors: efficiency, low overall cost and safety.

Preliminary studies were carried out to ascertain what mobility of the future will look like, what customer requirements will be and how these might be fulfilled in a cost-effective and weight-saving manner.

Over 200 staff members of 20 departments of Technische Universitaet Muenchen's Science Center for Electromobility joined forces to develop the MUTE concept.

TUM holds the intellectual property rights for overall concept. Over 30 partners from industry support the project as a whole.

MUTE will showcase the TUM's answer to future challenges in personal mobility at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany.

Source: IANS via Yahoo News!

Now, a futuristic fuel efficient lightweight car

London: MUTE is here. It's an agile, sporty two-seater, eco-friendly electric vehicle capable of hitting a peak speed of 120 kmph.

Its lithium-ion battery is designed to guarantee a range of at least 100 km, which can be extended by a reserve zinc-air battery when required.

MUTE's stable frame, made of aluminum and carbon fibre reinforced plastic chasis, reduces the curb weight, including batteries, to a mere 500 kg.

'Low weight is essential for an electric vehicle,' says the Germany-based Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) vehicle engineer Markus Lienkamp, according to a TUM statement.

'Greater weight requires more battery performance for the same range, which results in higher costs. Greater weight also results in reduced dynamics for a given power output. But we want a car that is affordable and fun to drive,' said Lienkamp.

TUM engineers have developed MUTE from scratch. Every part has been optimized for three main factors: efficiency, low overall cost and safety.

Preliminary studies were carried out to ascertain what mobility of the future will look like, what customer requirements will be and how these might be fulfilled in a cost-effective and weight-saving manner.

Over 200 staff members of 20 departments of Technische Universitaet Muenchen's Science Center for Electromobility joined forces to develop the MUTE concept.

TUM holds the intellectual property rights for overall concept. Over 30 partners from industry support the project as a whole.

MUTE will showcase the TUM's answer to future challenges in personal mobility at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany.

Source: IANS via Yahoo News!

Now, a futuristic fuel efficient lightweight car

London: MUTE is here. It's an agile, sporty two-seater, eco-friendly electric vehicle capable of hitting a peak speed of 120 kmph.

Its lithium-ion battery is designed to guarantee a range of at least 100 km, which can be extended by a reserve zinc-air battery when required.

MUTE's stable frame, made of aluminum and carbon fibre reinforced plastic chasis, reduces the curb weight, including batteries, to a mere 500 kg.

'Low weight is essential for an electric vehicle,' says the Germany-based Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) vehicle engineer Markus Lienkamp, according to a TUM statement.

'Greater weight requires more battery performance for the same range, which results in higher costs. Greater weight also results in reduced dynamics for a given power output. But we want a car that is affordable and fun to drive,' said Lienkamp.

TUM engineers have developed MUTE from scratch. Every part has been optimized for three main factors: efficiency, low overall cost and safety.

Preliminary studies were carried out to ascertain what mobility of the future will look like, what customer requirements will be and how these might be fulfilled in a cost-effective and weight-saving manner.

Over 200 staff members of 20 departments of Technische Universitaet Muenchen's Science Center for Electromobility joined forces to develop the MUTE concept.

TUM holds the intellectual property rights for overall concept. Over 30 partners from industry support the project as a whole.

MUTE will showcase the TUM's answer to future challenges in personal mobility at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany.

Source: IANS via Yahoo News!

Now, Facebook users can screen which pics they are tagged in

Facebook has launched a new privacy setting, which allows users to screen which pictures they are tagged in before they appear online.

The move will give people much greater control over what pictures they are linked to and has the potential to stop partners or employers finding incriminating or embarrassing shots online.

The new tagging feature significantly improves users' ability to mould their Facebook personas, and eliminate those snaps of a drunken night out ever becoming visible.

Earlier, their only option was damage control - a tagged photo would appear instantly on a profile and remain there until the user was able to get to a computer to de-tag it.

The update also allows users to vet when they are mentioned by other people in their posts. And it has expanded its 'de-tagging' tool so users can request a photo be removed, report abusive posts and even block other users.

Facebook in its announcement of the privacy upgrades said that the changes have been a long time coming.

"One of the top requests we've heard is for the ability to approve these tags before they show up on your profile," the Daily Mail quoted the company as saying.

"This new way of protecting your privacy is balanced against the more liberal features, which allow users to tag anyone in their posts, whether they are friends with that person or not," it said.

Another big switch rolled out by Facebook will allow people to see how their profiles are viewed by others, simply by typing in the name of that person.
Source: ANI

Internet boom likely to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in UK

The European head of search engine giant Google has predicted that despite the economic downturn hundreds of thousands of jobs could be opened up in Britain within five years because of a boom in internet businesses.

Philipp Schindler said that there could be as many as 365,000 jobs by 2015 as online businesses and companies continue to grow.

"In the UK, given the rate of job creation that economists associate with a rise in GDP, this translates into an expectation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs, thanks to the internet," Express.co.uk quoted Schindler, as saying.

"And I think that is on the conservative side. That is what could be achieved by putting a focus on this sector. That feels to me like a sizeable number," he added.

He called internet as the "biggest driver of export opportunity you will find over the next decades".

The Google boss also said that it would be prompting the possibility for many small and medium-sized businesses to sell their products overseas and target new markets.

"We know from a data perspective that for every pound that is imported, the UK exports close to three dollars in internet commerce goods and services," Schindler said.

"So the UK is already doing relatively well in that sector, but the ratio could be significantly higher," he said.

"Whatever can be done on broadband connectivity, on the mobile side is a fundamental pillar of a successful digital economy. I have never seen a place where more bandwidth can hurt. Whatever can be done, while preserving competition and not allowing monopolistic practices, to drive broadband penetration the better," he added.

Schindler further said businesses must also understand "mini-trends" if they are to take advantage of online opportunities, pointing towards smartphone technology, "cloud" computing and the use of consumer data.
Source: ANI

Twitter now has 100 million active users

London, Sept 11 (ANI): The micro-blogging site Twitter has revealed that its active users have passed the 100 million mark.

Active users, who log on at least once a month, rose 82 percent this year, and half of these 100 million log on at least once a day.

The company's chief executive Dick Costolo said that it was preparing to increase its business range by broadening the areas of its service where adverts appear.

Costolo, however, added that he wanted the business to remain independent, as he is concerned that commercialisation sometimes alienates users of social media

"We want to be able to remain independent, grow the business the way we want to, and not be beholden to public markets until we feel like we want to be, the BBC quoted Costolo, as saying.

Costolo said the results had exceeded Twitter's expectations.

"We now feel that based on the engagement rates we're seeing, that we're ready to expand this further," he said.

Costolo also claimed the business could work relying solely on advertising income.

"It's our firm belief that our advertising platform is the only revenue component that we need to have in the market in order to be a huge independent business," he said. (ANI)

Source: ANI

Live Score Card - First ODI: India vs England Match - Live Streaming - Live Scores from Bird Eye

Source: NDTV