The Empty Jar And 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your life seem, Almost too much to handle, When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the story of the empty jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students, If the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open Areas between the golf balls.
He then asked The students again If the jar was full..
They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with an unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced Two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents Into the jar, effectively
Filling the Empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, As the laughter subsided,
'I want you to recognize that This jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things - God, family, children, health, friends, and favorite passions – things that if everything else was lost
and only they remained, Your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter Like your job, house, and car.
The sand is everything else -- The small stuff.

'If you put the sand into the jar first,' He continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...

Pay attention to the things That are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time
To clean the house and fix the disposal.

'Take care of the golf balls first -- The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.
'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a cup of coffee with a friend.

Read your cheque

Many of us frequently use chequebooks to pay for all kinds of things. But do you know how to read a cheque beyond those first six digits, known as the cheque number? What do other numbers on the cheque say and how do they help the banking industry facilitate the processing of cheques? Here is a lowdown on chequebook and some banking jargon:

First six-digit block: It is common wisdom that the first six digits on your cheque are your cheque number. It is important to note the number because if your cheque gets lost or the money has not been credited, you can know the status of the cheque by providing the cheque number.

Magnetic ink character recognition

Magnetic ink character recognition or MICR comprises nine digits, which are further sub-divided as city, bank and branch code. It works the same way as your home or office address, enabling your snail mail to reach you from far-flung places. But unlike your addresses, the banking address is all numerical, where:

1.City code:The first three digits specify the city in which you have a bank account.

2.Bank code:The next three digits of MICR specify your bank in thatparticular city.

3.Branch code: The last three digits of MICR help in figuring out the specific branch of the specific bank.

The nine-digit code is called MICR because it is printed with magnetic ink, which is usually made of iron oxide. Magnetic ink is used so that numbers are readable even if it is stamped over.

4.A/c with RBI: The third numeral block represents your account number maintained by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The number helps in cheque processing when it goes to RBI for clearance.

5.Transaction code: The last two digits at the bottom of the cheque help in decoding whether the cheque is current or a saving account cheque. MICR also tells whether the cheque is at par. It helps in processing an intra-city cheque as a local one with a faster turnaround time.

6.Drawee/paying bank: A bank making the payment.

7.Payee: The beneficiary to whom the drawer issues the cheque.

8.Drawer:A person writing the cheque.

Inward clearing:It is important to be aware of the concept because the type of clearing affects the speed of transaction. Inward clearing is for the bank that issues the cheque.

Outward clearing:Outward clearing is for the bank in whose name the cheque has been issued. The inward and outward clearing bank can be same if the bank that issues and the bank in whose name the cheque has been issued are the same.

Source: http://www.livemint.com

Microsoft Windows Screen shots - Windows 1.0 to Se7en

Microsoft Windows Screen shots - Windows 1.0 to Se7en

Windows 1.0

Windows 2.0

Windows 3.0

Windows 3.11

Windows 95

Windows 98

Windows 2000

Windows Millennium

Windows XP

Windows Vista

Windows 7 - Se7en

Microsoft IE8 explorer has some cool new features

Can Microsoft's (MSFT) Internet Explorer Web browser reclaim chunks of market share swiped by upstart Firefox?

The arrival last week of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), just two years after Microsoft's last major browser upgrade, IE7, should help answer that question.

IE8, which can be downloaded free, has cool new features: "Web slices" let you quickly call up selected content from a Web page — such as updates from an eBay auction page — via the IE8 favorites bar; "accelerators" make it easier to cut and paste text from one page and insert it on another.

Beyond that, IE8 has restored some of Microsoft's lost bravado. Mike Nash, corporate vice president of Windows product management, insists IE8 is uniformly faster at loading Web pages than Firefox 3, despite debate in tech circles about this claim.

"I feel very good that IE8 will be a reason to keep using IE," Nash said in an interview. "And for our previous customers, who may not be using IE today, IE8 will be a compelling reason to come back.

"Web browsers were once so mundane that Microsoft took five years to upgrade IE6, introduced with Windows XP in 2001, to IE7. Millions still use IE6. Meanwhile, Firefox, introduced in late 2004, has racked up significant market share and popularized features, such as tab browsing, which lets you quickly click back to several open Web pages.

As of last month, Firefox commanded a 22% global market share vs. 68% for IE, according to Net Applications. Meanwhile, Opera, Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome are staking out potentially huge new turf for browsers on computing devices other than laptops and desktop PCs.

Web browsers have emerged as the doorway to an interactive Internet, which people are increasingly accessing on mobile devices, cars, TV recorders, even video gaming consoles. "We're really happy to see Microsoft isn't standing still anymore," says Mike Beltzner, Firefox director of development. "But we're not standing still, either."

Firefox 3.5, due this summer, will up the ante by supporting HTML 5, a new Web standard that makes it easier to embed videos on Web pages, and "canvas," which lets artists hand draw images on Web pages.

Apple and Google are moving aggressively in browsing on cellphones, while Opera is gaining a foothold with its Opera Mini, a free cellphone browser popular with BlackBerry and Windows Mobile users. And Opera is the browser that connects Nintendo's Wii gaming console to the Web.

"Our browser runs on any platform or device," says Rod Hamlin, Opera senior vice president. Microsoft supplies a version of IE for Windows Mobile devices, and a separate Web interface for Xbox 360.

IE8 could help the software giant regain ground in these browser wars. "So long as IE8 delivers as advertised, I believe it could help slow or even largely halt Windows users moving to alternative browsers," says Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. "Whether that will be enough to draw back customers who have already migrated remains to be seen."

source: usatoday.com

IE8 Has Arrived

With a greater focus on standards-compliance, it seems possible that Microsoft’s latest browser may redeem itself in the eyes of standards-savvy designers and developers.

As you may have heard, yesterday marked the official release of Internet Explorer 8. This new version of the oft-reviled browser has a completely rewritten rendering engine that was built, from the ground up, with the CSS 2.1 spec in hand. Improvements in this version include

• the death of hasLayout
• object fallbacks
• stylable legend elements
• generated content (including support for dynamic attribute insertion via attr())
• CSS counters
• support for the quotes property
• outline control
• data URIs
• full access to the style attribute via the DOM
• mutable DOM prototypes
• and much more

This browser is a giant leap forward for standards support at Microsoft, but reviews so far seem mixed. What do you think?

source: http://www.webstandards.org/

For better internet speed

Following complaints from subscribers regarding inadequate broadband speed being provided by the Internet Service Providers (ISP), TRAI has today issued guidelines for better Internet/ broadband services.

The majority of the grievances received by TRAI allege that the available broadband speed is lower than the subscribed speed.

The regulatory body states that non-availability of subscribed speed at the subscriber's end deteriorates the performance of applications run by users and in turn restricts the utility of broadband connection.

The trouble arises in spite of the existing "Quality of service of Broadband Service" regulation that was issued in the year 2006.

TRAI states that a number of factors impact broadband speed such as length and quality of local loop, bandwidth availability at ISP gateway, congestion in the global internet, problems with subscribers' equipment like insufficient memory, Operating System, Virus, etc.

Even though the existing regulation stipulates parameters for speed of connection and bandwidth utilization, it is because of such complexities monitoring of these parameters is complex, says TRAI.

The authority proposes, to begin with, that it is important to enhance subscriber education and awareness for better understanding of Internet services.

Based on the above point, the following are the guidelines for ISPs:

1. Provide adequate information to subscribers regarding Internet/broadband services being offered and marketed as a good business practice.

2. Provide information regarding contention ratios (number of users competing for the same bandwidth) adopted for different services by service providers in their tariff plans submitted to TRAI, manual of practice, call centers and on their websites."

3. Publish contention ratio for different Internet/broadband services on their website quarterly to facilitate subscribers to take informed decision.

4. Ensure availability of minimum required bandwidth in their network according to maximum contention ratio suggested by TRAI for different services based on number of subscribers.

Since guidelines are recommendations, and in this case, it means there aren't any deadlines to meet by the ISPs to start adhering to these guidelines.

Moreover, it is mentioned in the guidelines issuance notification that "any regulatory burden in present economic environment of Internet sector may increase the cost of service provisioning and will adversely impact the growth of broadband. The Authority prefers least regulatory intervention while providing greater flexibility to service providers to ensure better quality of service to internet/broadband subscribers."

Therefore, subscribers cannot expect ISPs to be in a hurry to enlighten subscribers with the nitty-gritty of why they cannot be assured better broadband services.

Source: Techtree.com

Nokia's laptop confirmed by CEO

A couple of days back when the initial reports about Nokia planning to enter the laptop business first came out, they were treated with skepticism.

However, with confirmation coming from the head-honcho at Nokia, its CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, it seems pretty sure we'll be seeing Nokia competing with the likes of Dell, HP and Acer in the coveted Notebook PC segment. Please note that Nokia has confirmed that it is THINKING of entering this segment, so if you were looking for specs and scoop pictures, you're here a tad too early.

The Finnish handset maker seems to be flowing against the current as far as this move is concerned. This is because; in the past, we have seen PC Makers jump in to the mobile phones market. This might just be the first time that someone with deep phone manufacturing experience goes the other way round, and enters the laptops segment.

Now, if Nokia decides to enter the Netbook segment as well, that would make one interesting news!

Source: Techtree.com

Chrome Logo Vs Microsoft Logo(funny)

Yes, its true, this cool drawing by Federico Fieni says this all. It seems that Google somehow cheated the Microsoft official logo.


Well the picture above been divided into 3 columns. In the first column, Mr Google is planning to have some fun with Microsoft logo. In the second column Google is playing and amalgamating Microsoft logo with the circle and finally Google came up with the same Microsoft logo but what it did is just circled the original one. I wonder if Google have atleast changed the colours.

How To Block Ads In Firefox

• Hope you have Mozilla Firefox installed. If not then download it from here. Download Firfox
• Install GreaseMonkey Extension for firefox from here. Download GM.
• Restart Firfox.
• Now its time to install the adblock script provided by adsweep. Just Drag and GM will ask you to install it. Download Script Here.
• Restart Firfox
• And enjoy the ad-free fast browsing.

Other than this procedure there are many other firefox extensions evailable you may find on Mozilla Addons website. These extensions are also useful but some require updates on daily basis.

Where is the debugger or host application running?

A connection to the debugger or profiler could not be established by adobe flash player 9 message followed by a Where is the debugger or host application running? dialog box could be a sign of a corrupted flash player 9 install. Or a flash player 9 installation that is missing components. In the following simple solution, I show you how to resolve this broken adobe flash player 9 problem.

Where is the debugger or host application running?

How to fix the Flash Player 9 debugger problem:

1. If your being prompted with this dialog box in Internet Explorer, Download and install Flash Player 9 ActiveX control content debugger (for IE)
2. If your being prompted with this dialog box in Firefox, Download and install Flash Player 9 Plugin content debugger (for Netscape-compatible browsers)

If all goes well, your Flash Player 9 Debugger issues should now be history.

Enjoy!

I am deliriously happy: A R Rahman

The honour of being the first Indian music director to be nominated for three Oscars sits lightly on the shoulders of A.R. Rahman, who attributes his success and fame to divinity.

"Allah the merciful has blessed Indian music. I am lucky to be one of his chosen representatives," said Rahman.

The humble music maestro is, however, proud of India's musical heritage.

"Our scintillating sounds have moved billions for ages. Our musical gurus could make the oceans throb and the skies pour nectar to quench mother earth's thirst. But we have waited for eight decades for this sort of recognition," said Rahman.

Rahman received the three Oscar nominations for the music he composed for British filmmaker Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches Bollywood style musical Slumdog Millionaire. While one nomination is for best original score, two are for the best original songs - Jai ho and O saya.

"My inspiration to compose the music was the movie, its thought and the message in the film," he said.

"I am already deliriously happy about the nominations. But the happiness will be manifold if and when we get at least one Oscar," Rahman added.

After winning a Golden Globe award for his music for the same film earlier this month, Rahman had said: "For the people of India to get an Oscar is a big thing. So for their sake, more than mine, I hope my song Jai ho and my music score in Slumdog Millionaire win the Oscar."

Born as A.S. Dileep Kumar on Jan 6, 1966, Rahman's family converted to Islam in 1989. His father R.K. Shekhar, a music arranger for Malayalam films, died when Rahman was just nine years old. The family earned its living by hiring out musical instruments.

Rahman began his musical Odyssey at the age of 11 as an accompanist in a troupe that hired his father's wares. It was run by the then rage of Tamil films Ilayaraja.

Soon Rahman was also seen in the company of another maestro M.S. Vishwanathan. His arranging in the band Roots with childhood friend and percussionist par excellence Sivamani provided opportunities to create jingles, musical ambiences for television serials and documentaries.

Rahman got his first big break in Mani Ratnam's "Roja" and later composed music for many films in southern India. His first full-fledged Bollywood project was Ram Gopal Varma's hit "Rangeela". Most of the songs, including "Tanha Tanha", "Hai Rama" and "Yaaro sun lo Zara", were chartbusters. After that there was no looking back for him.

In the late 90s, S.S. International, one of the earliest FM radio companies, approached Rahman for a byte on New Year.

"My late husband Aiyappan went with his portable recorder and was asked to wait by Rahman 'for a few minutes' that lasted for almost three hours," recalled the company's director A. Chitra.

"Finally, Rahman came out from his music room with a cassette that had a short composition. When it was broadcast, fan mail flooded us for a fortnight. They were enough to fill 10 sacks," Chitra added.

Rahman became a household name with soulful compositions in Dil Se , 1947 Earth, Taal, Lagaan, Guru, Rang De Basanti and Jodhaa Akbar.

Rahman not only won hearts in India, but also made a mark on the global music scene. He got his first international break when Andrew Lloyd Webber invited him to compose music for Broadway musical Bombay Dreams, which won him immense international fame. He also composed for the stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings that premiered in Canada in 2006 and in London in 2007.

Rahman launched his first full-fledged orchestra last year. It has been named Global Music and is the first homegrown orchestra.

He is all set to enthral his fans with his upcoming projects Delhi-6 and Blue.

source: NDTV.com

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE - Review

Forget the Oscar nominations, the Golden Globe wins, the rousing reception at dozens of film festivals and the approximately $60 million grossed so far. Slumdog Millionaire is inherently a Bollywood film. I mean that in the best sense of the word.

Slumdog is unapologetically life-affirming, fantastical and totally implausible.

For years, Bollywood directors have aspired to create a Hindi Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. That is a Hindi film that can shatter barriers of language, geography and sensibility and connect across the globe. Slumdog Millionaire is that film. Only its creator isn’t Indian, he's British.

Slumdog Millionaire is director Danny Boyle’s passionate love letter to the city of Mumbai. Danny and his cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle perfectly capture the grime, grotesqueness and frayed glory of our maximum city.

It’s a horrifying, Dickensian space in which children are casually orphaned, mutilated and prostituted. But it’s also a space in which an improbable love story, which has its origins in a totally Hindi film-like childhood romance, finds a happy ending.

Working from the novel by Vikas Swarup, Danny and his writer Simon Beaufoy have essentially turned the Bollywood film on its head.

So, instead of realistic emotions tethered to an unrealistic landscape and plot, we have an unrealistic plot tethered to a hyper-realistic landscape. Mantle’s camera pores over Mumbai, from its over-arching high-rises to its filthiest slums. But the story that takes place here is pure fairy tale.

So Jamal Malik, a chaiwalla at a call center, played by Dev Patel, is on the brink of winning the top prize on Kaun Banega Crorepati. The show’s arrogant and creepy host Prem Kumar, played terrifically by Anil Kapoor, has Jamal arrested because he is sure that Jamal is cheating. But as the police interrogate him, we go into a series of flashbacks and discover how and why the slumdog has all the right answers.

At one point in the film, the police inspector, who has been listening to Jamal’s story remarks "It is bizarrely plausible". Actually it’s not.

Would the Mumbai police, for all its corruption and brutality, torture a young boy only because he may have cheated on a quiz show. Would a famous talk show host publicly belittle a winning contestant only because he is poor? I don't think so.

There are many places in which the film stretches credulity to snapping point but Danny tells the his story with such a propulsive momentum that you can’t stop watching or ask 'how can this happen'. The visuals are superb and even when the plot wobbles, the acting stays on target.

Three sets of actors play the three leads - Jamal, his brother Salim and the love of his life, Latika. The child actors Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail and Rubina Ali, are the lifebloods of Slumdog. They are excellent. Their section is the best part of the film.

Dev Patel has an endearing presence but a shaky accent and Frieda Pinto, playing Latika, seems more fashion model than slumdog.

Unfortunately, the two also have to exchange dialogue that might make Karan Johar cringe. At one point Jamal says to Latika, "Come away with me". She asks, "...and live on what?" to which he replies, "On love".

Eventually then, Slumdog Millionaire isn’t a great film but it is an immensely pleasurable one. As Veeru said in Sholay, "is story main emotion hai, drama hai, tragedy hai".

What more can you ask for? Slumdog Millionaire is a must-watch. I strongly recommend that you see it.

source: NDTV.com

Terrorists in Pak, Afghan a global threat: Obama

President Barack Obama has sounded a stern warning to the world on terrorists operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Speaking to State Department officials, Obama said the worsening situation in the region poses a grave threat to global security. Obama made it clear that his administration's terror policy would be reviewed and refocussed on the region.

He said: "Afghanistan and Pakistan are the central front in the America's war against terrorism and the deteriorating situation in the region poses a grave threat to the global security. It's an international challenge of the highest order. That's why we are pursuing a careful review of our policy"

President Obama has not yet said anything on India.

In Delhi, Defence Minister A K Antony said India welcomes Obama's remark on terrorists in Pakistan. "World has realised Pakistan is the epicentre of terror," he said.

PTI adds: Addressing the officials of the State Department after Richard Holbrooke was appointed Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Obama said, "There, as in the Middle East, we must understand that we cannot deal with our problems in isolation."

Obama said his administration is committed to refocusing attention and resources on Afghanistan and Pakistan and to spending those resources wisely. "That's why we are pursuing a careful review of our policy," he said.

Terming it as an international challenge of the "highest order", he said, "There is no answer in Afghanistan that does not confront the Al-Qaida and Taliban bases along the border, and there will be no lasting peace unless we expand spheres of opportunity for the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan."

However, Obama said the situation can't be resolved so quickly in the region.

Meanwhile, special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke said he would soon head towards the troubled region in South Asia to have a firsthand assessment of the situation on the ground.

In his acceptance speech, soon after he was appointed as the Special US Representative for the troubled region by the Secretary of State

, Hillary Clinton, Holbrooke termed Pakistan situation as extremely complex.

"I don't think I would advance our goals if I tried to discuss it today," he said yesterday in presence of the President, Barack Obama, and the Vice President, Joe Biden, besides Clinton at a function held at the State Department headquarters.

source : NDTV.com

Team Slumdog celebrates 10 Oscar nominations

Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle's rag-to-riches story about the coming of age of a Mumbai slum child, has bagged 10 Oscar nominations this year. Though the nominations for the 81st Academy Awards also known as Oscars were announced in Los Angeles, the real party was on in Mumbai.

The team of Slumdog Millionaire celebrated the 10 nominations and many Bollywood, too, turned out in full support.

"They have showed us the way and we'll now follow," said Hrithik Roshan while Sonam Kapoor added, "I am overwhelmed. It's film about underdog, which India is all about. It's a story about love, it's a story about resilience."

Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit too backed the film for Oscars.

"I have heard a lot about the film. There are a lot of expectations from the film and especially after the Oscar nominations," said Madhuri.

Priety Zinta and Ness Wadia also acclaimed the film.

"I think it's a very good film," said Priety. "It is high time Indian cinema gets recognition," said Ness.

The film premiered in Mumbai on Thursday shortly after it earned 10 Oscar nominations and the talk of the premiere was the man of the moment AR Rahman, who was incidentally was not present, whose three nominations at the Oscars made not just Team Slumdog but the country proud.

"He will only go higher and higher. Wow, he is such an inspiration. What a genius," Hrithik said about Rahman.

Irrfan Khan who plays the key role of an inspector in the film said, "He (Rahman) will get back one award back. I am sure."

And if the film wins Oscars, then one can be sure that Team Slumdog and the entire country will celebrate it in a big way.

source : ibnlive.com