Are you waiting to paint your masterpiece? More than the imagination and the interest that the artist finds deep down in him, there are other attributes that contribute to his picture’s quality. He needs to be careful and diligent with a hawk’s eye to choose the best of the art supplies that are available in the market. These will include easels, paint brushes and good quality paint. These art supplies might be the simple requirements but since these are what define the quality of the final picture that the artist paints, it is imperative that he chooses the best of the lot. Like they say, what you sow, so shall you reap, if the artist takes good effort to use the best easels, and other necessary hardware, it goes without saying that he will be able to get the best result out of this and he will be the proud owner of a beautiful art form. The best of the art supplies available in the market and the imagination of the painter can indeed form a beautiful end result – a beauty to the beholder’s view point, a blessing to every knowing eye, a real tribute to the creator of the art itself!
Archive for November, 2008
Paint your world
Thursday, November 27th, 2008E-Learning the Easy Way
Thursday, November 27th, 2008K Alliance is one of the lead organizations that have brought entirely new and evolving concept of e-learning. The innovative e learning course modules form the part of K Alliance training curriculum. This qualitatively helps the learner to achieve its goals in a more direct manner. Being interactive in nature, the powerful elearning strategies defined by the K Alliance also helps the learner to grasp the concepts of a particular domain or subject are right from the scratch. Different course curriculums are designed for explaining different concepts. Moreover, each of the course curricula is also designed keeping in mind the age as well as the scope of learning. The more the scope, greater will be the depth of e learning module.
K Alliance also makes use of advanced computer based training methodologies into practice. These methodologies take into account the learning environment; and also the target audience into purview. For K-12 learning, more emphasis is given on the graphical methodologies of teaching and explaining the things. For graduate, postgraduate and higher studies, altogether different learning approach is applied. K Alliance training is totally customized and optimized program that ensures that at the end what a learner gets is perfect and updated knowledge. And knowledge is the power of doing the things in a better way.
Just Sit Back and Relax
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008If you think that undergoing training is all-hassle and you will just end up getting a minimal amount of knowledge and skill, think again. Today, if you are familiar with the computer training videos, you can grab one of those if you want to learn and you want to be trained within the convenience of your own home. You will be the sole factor with the time, manner and the frequency on how bad you want it to have. The computer training CD enables you to be at par with all the necessary needs that you have on line so you will no longer be getting the old fashioned way. For this, it will really have you the peace of mind that you have been yearning for and you will really be getting the facts through respectable and reviewed materials that they have to offer to you. It will also be a great opportunity for you to hold a good cause so it will be easier for you to go through the learning process in a good and inevitable way that you possibly can so you have to be sure with what you are doing and what your abilities are.
The Blockbuster Set-top Box Has Arrived
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008Blockbuster has officially entered the “battle of the boxes” with the launch of its new set-top box yesterday. The box will serve movies to TVs over the Internet and is going against Netflix’s set-top box solutions (Xbox, Roku, and Tivo). Blockbuster’s MediaPoint box allows users to watch thousands of movies without the need of a monthly subscription.
To get the MediaPoint player, made by 2Wire, Blockbuster subscribers will have to pay a one-off $99 fee, which also includes 25 pre-paid movies. After that, users will have to pay between $1.99 and $3.99 for each DVD rented, without a monthly subscription fee. Netflix’s box also costs $99, besides your chosen monthly subscription. But unlike Blockbuster’s 2,500 “of the best, biggest and most current movies available“, Netflix offers its whole 10,000 DVD collection for rental through its box.
The major difference between the MediaPoint box and Netflix’s is that Blockbuster does “progressive playback” in comparison to Netflix’s streaming, meaning that the video quality is independent of you broadband’s connection speed. By progressively downloading the movie on the box (up to five movies storage capacity), Blockbuster’s solution can offer a much more consistent video quality. In comparison, Netflix’s service which can reduce the movie’s quality if your Internet connection slows down.
Spec-wise, Blockbuster’s MediaPoint can store up to five full length feature films (rented films must be viewed within 24 hours of downloading) and can connect to both SD and HD television sets. For the SD crowd, you can connect the MediaPoint to your TV with Composite A/V cables and if you have an HD TV you can use an HDMI cable. If none of the above matches you television set, you can use the box’s Component Video and Line Audio connections.
In terms of Internet connectivity, the MediaPoint box can use both wireless and an Ethernet cable from your router. For the full specs, check out MediaPoint’s user manual (PDF link).
Blood tests may show inherited diseases in fetuses
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008Doctors may soon be able to diagnose inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis, thalassaemia and sickle cell anemia in fetuses by simply testing a blood sample taken from the mother.
Until now, prenatal diagnoses of such disorders have been possible only through invasive procedures like amniocentesis, which carry a risk of fetal miscarriage.
Amniocentesis is the extraction of a small amount of fluid from the sac surrounding a developing fetus.
But scientists in Hong Kong and Thailand may have found a way to diagnose in fetuses such “monogenic” diseases, which are caused by a single error in a single gene in the human DNA.
“Such diseases can be diagnosed by a simple blood test (taken from the mother) … and by counting the relative ratio of the mutant genes against the normal genes,” said lead researcher Dennis Lo at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
This is only possible because fetal DNA circulates in maternal blood, a discovery Lo and his colleagues made several years ago.
Many scientists have since been trying to find the best way to differentiate fetal DNA from maternal DNA, before they can even get down to looking for any anomalies in the fetal DNA. But these efforts have not met with much success.
In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lo and his colleagues said they had devised a counting system that could “bring non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of monogenic diseases closer to reality.”
Using highly precise digital blood testing technology, both mutant and normal DNA sequences are counted in maternal plasma and that is then used to calculate the number of mutant genes inherited by the fetus and to determine the probability of the fetus developing any monogenic disease.
Lo, however, noted that the accuracy of this method would depend on the concentration of fetal DNA in maternal blood.
Thalassaemia is a blood related genetic disease that can result in reduced fertility or even infertility. Early treatment can improve the quality of life of patients.
Cystic fibrosis affects the respiratory, digestive and reproductive systems and can lead to fatal lung infections.
New testing method to determine if milk is toxic or not
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008The Ministry of Agriculture in the Chinese Government has announced a new testing method to determine the actual protein in milk products, and help determine if the milk is toxic or not.The method will eliminate the protein content of added products and thus help find if toxic chemicals such as melamine have been mixed with the milk products.
The method, recommended for food producers and regulators across the country, will separate melamine and other crude compounds that contain nitrogen from the real protein before analyzing the content, according to Hou Caiyun, a food testing expert who led the research team.
“The ratio of melamine, if it has been mixed with milk, can be calculated indirectly in the process,” said Hou. Food producers and quality supervisors have been determining the protein content in food products by also testing the nitrogen content, a method developed by Danish chemist Johan Kjeldahl in 1883.But recently, scientists found that the Kjeldahl method does not distinguish melamine and other false nitrogen compounds from real protein.
The white, talc-like chemical melamine can be mixed with animal feed, and milk and other food products to falsely raise the protein content.
Using this to their advantage and ignoring the health threat it could cause, some manufacturers mixed melamine with milk products causing 54,000 infants to fall ill.
Four of these infants died, prompting the government to swing into action and crack down on milk sellers, as well as officials.
According to Hou, the new method announced by the ministry uses a chemical to distinguish real protein from other nitrogen-containing compounds and can be conducted through common laboratory equipment.
Moreover, the test costs far less than the exorbitant high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, used till now to detect melamine in milk, Hou added.
“Though it (the method) is not compulsory, it will enhance the standard of food additives, too. I hope it can raise the bar and stop some manufacturers from cutting corners to raise their profit,” she said.
Hou said that the HPLC method, used specifically to detect melamine in fresh milk, should be resorted to in emergency cases.
Watchdog group cites video games for violence, sex
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008Gang members slitting the throats of their rivals and beating up strippers. Combatants hacking away with chain saw-equipped assault rifles. Football players taking steroids and celebrating game victories with hookers.
Those images flicker across the screen in some of the 10 video games that a media watchdog group warns should be avoided by kids and teens under 17.
The National Institute on Media and the Family is unveiling its 13th annual video game report card Tuesday to help parents choose games that are appropriate for their children as the holiday shopping season picks up.
The institute in past years has urged the video game industry to develop better ratings and retailers to do more to prevent kids from being able to buy mature-themed games. This year, citing the positive steps taken by industry officials and retailers, the group is focusing on ways parents can play a more active role in safeguarding their children from games that glamorize sex, drugs and violence.
“In spite of the fact that all of the games are rated, in spite of the fact that the retailers are doing a better job, we still know that there are a lot of teenagers who still spend a lot of time playing adult-rated games,” said institute president David Walsh.
The institute cited figures from the Pew Internet and American Life Project showing 97 percent of all teens, boys as well as girls, play video games regularly, and most parents pay attention to what their kids are playing. The group wants stronger parental oversight.
“We parents need to wake up and realize that the games our kids play do influence them,” said Walsh. “And it’s our job to make sure they are playing age-appropriate games. It’s the next big step.”
A video game guide for parents, including tips on using the parental controls on game consoles, is highlighted in the new report, which will be available on the group’s Web site.
Bloodshed and brutality are staples in the list of 10 games to avoid. All the games were M-rated, intended for those aged 17 and over.
“Blitz: The League II” players can target which body part of their football rivals they want to injure. Warriors in “Gears of War 2” use a combination rifle and chain saw. “Saints Row 2” features gang violence and allows players to shoot police officers.
Other games listed were “Dead Space,” “Fallout 3,” “Far Cry 2,” “Legendary,” “Left 4 Dead,” “Resistance 2″ and “Silent Hill: Homecoming.”
Meanwhile, the institute recommended five T-rated games, intended for ages 13 and older: “Guitar Hero World Tour,” “Rock Band 2,” “Rock Revolution” “Spider-Man: Web of Shadows” and “Shaun White Snowboarding.”
I am unlucky in love: Celina
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008Former Miss India and Bollywood actress Celina Jaitley, who turned 27 recently, says she has been unlucky in love but hopes god will bless her with more romance in life.
‘So maybe for my birthday, god will grant me romance and love. About time I got lucky in love,’ Celina, who celebrated her birthday Nov 24 with destitute girls, told IANS.
Celina sponsors poor girls at Regina Spaces and she threw a party Monday at the NGO premises for them.
‘I threw a birthday party for my girls. Nothing makes me happier than seeing them smile. Wish my family was here.’
None of the family members of Celina were in Mumbai to celebrate her birthday.
‘So for me it was not a very happy birthday. My parents left Mumbai and my dog didn’t take well to their absence. So she swallowed plastic. The entire day before my birthday the vet was trying to pull the plastic out of her throat. Not a very pleasant way to bring in my birthday.’
However, the actress tried to cheer herself up by buying a BMW on her birthday.
‘I need that boost. I’ve been working hard and my ‘Golmaal Returns’ is a hit. So I need to indulge myself. I know a girl’s best friend are diamonds. But she needs a posh car to get to the jewellery store. So a BMW,’ said the actress.
Harvard project proposes rich nations cut CO2 first
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008Rich nations should make the first cuts in greenhouse gases while developing countries carry on business as usual for the time being, according to a plan set out on Monday by a Harvard University project.
This is one of four proposals by the American university’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs to negotiators who meet for U.N. climate talks next week in Poland.
The current climate pact, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in 2012 and governments are scrambling to agree a new treaty by the end of next year.
“The new agreement should be scientifically sound, economically rational and politically pragmatic,” Professor Robert Stavins of the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements said.
The Harvard report calls on rich nations to lead in cutting emissions, while developing countries can “maintain their business-as-usual emissions in the first decades, but over the longer term agree to binding targets that ultimately reduce emissions below business as usual.”
U.N. scientists have warned global warming caused by high atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide will lead to rising seas, big storms, mass heatwaves and droughts.
“The agreement should be cost-effective and consistent with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,” Stavins said, referring to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning scientific body.
Observers hope a new pact will include the U.S., which did not ratify the original agreement, and commit developing nations like China and India to binding emissions targets.
“We need an agreement that can be ratified in the U.S. Senate and provide increasingly meaningful roles for developing countries. We see those as essential ingredients,” Stavins said.
Last week President-elect Barack Obama said the U.S. would “engage vigorously” in climate change talks when he takes office next year.
Obama wants to reduce U.S. carbon emissions to their 1990 levels by 2020 and cut them by an additional 80 percent by 2050.
FAIR DEAL
The Harvard report proposes introducing national carbon taxes, linking emissions trading schemes or pursuing a series of simpler, possibly bilateral agreements that separately address the different gases and their sources as the other ways to fight warming.
“Countries will only participate in an international agreement if they believe they received a fair deal,” the initiative said in a statement.
But the line dividing rich and poor nations set out in Kyoto may need to be redrawn, as the global economic landscape has altered in the past 10 years.
“If you look at the non-Annex I countries, 50 of them have higher per-capita income than the poorest Annex I countries,” Stavins told Reuters.
The report said other key components of a new deal should promote clean energy technology transfer between rich and poor nations, reform Kyoto’s emissions trading schemes and combat deforestation, something the original treaty failed to address.
It emphasized that any new deal must be compatible with global trade policy to prevent potential trade wars.
“Global efforts to address climate change may be on a ‘collision course’ with the World Trade Organization, as nations that have agreed to put a price on carbon look for ways to keep their companies competitive globally,” the report said.
Citing the WTO as an example, the report suggests an independent international institution be set up to survey and review the policies, actions and outcomes of participating countries’ climate change policies.
The report combines the work of 28 research teams from around the world, including China, India, the U.S. and Europe.
AIDS cure good for only 1% patients
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008Physicians in Germany who say they have “functionally cured” a patient with HIV/AIDS are warning that their accidental breakthrough is effective for only about one percent of patients who suffer from AIDS.
Headlines in November heralded an “AIDS cure” after Gero Huetter and Eckhard Thiel, blood-cancer specialists at Charite Hospital in Berlin, reported that they had seemingly cured a 42-year-old US patient of HIV/AIDS by giving him a bone-marrow transplant whilst treating him for cancer.
Headlines in November heralded an “AIDS cure” after Gero Huetter and Eckhard Thiel, blood-cancer specialists at Charite Hospital in Berlin, reported that they had seemingly cured a 42-year-old US patient of HIV/AIDS by giving him a bone-marrow transplant whilst treating him for cancer.Their breakthrough was made possible by studies in the late 1990s revealing that some people were resistant to HIV/AIDS, according to a report in New Scientist magazine on the Berlin haematologists’ discovery.
In these people, the virus cannot enter and destroy the white blood cells that it infects and destroys in most other people. They owed their resistance to a mutation in the gene that makes the molecular “door handle” by which HIV/AIDS gains access to cells.
Called CCR5, the protein door handle was misshapen in the immune individuals, locking HIV/AIDS out of their white blood cells, the New Scientist report noted.
Since the discovery, it has been established that about one percent of Europeans have the same mutation, making them resistant to HIV/AIDS. To be resistant, they had to inherit the same mutation from both parents.
Huetter and Thiel made use of this when treating their patient for leukaemia, which he had developed in addition to HIV/AIDS. To treat the leukaemia, the two doctors did the usual thing and sought a bone-marrow donor to replenish the patient’s blood supply following chemotherapy to kill the existing, cancerous blood cells.
But the Berlin doctors’ new approach was to get a donor who had the double HIV-resistant CCR5 mutation. This meant that the patient’s replenished blood system would effectively be resistant to HIV/AIDS, locking out the virus for good.
This is what appears to have happened, according to the New Scientist analysis, and Huetter declared his patient “functionally cured”.
Attempts to use bone-marrow transplants in HIV/AIDS treatment have been made since the 1980s. In one case, a patient with both HIV/AIDS and lymphoma died of the cancer two months later, but was found to harbour no HIV/AIDS. It was not known if something in the transplant had protected him.
And in a famous 1995 case, Jeff Getty, a prominent San Francisco advocate for HIV/AIDS patients, received bone marrow from a baboon, which is resistant to the human virus. The New York Times reported that he survived for 11 years, but died of HIV/AIDS and cancer.
The Times said the transplant had not protected him but anti-retroviral triple therapy had been invented in time to help.
Hotter and Thiel have been quick to say that it is far too early to speak of a widespread general cure for HIV/AIDS.
They stress that their breakthrough is a sound proof of principle, demonstrating that there is hope for treatments that literally lock HIV/AIDS out in the cold.
But they warn that an all-out cure for the millions of HIV/AIDS patients worldwide is still a long way off.