If you have an iPod video, then you may consider getting the following accessories :
iTrip® by Griffin
FM Transmitter with Dock Connector for your iPod Video and older generation iPod's as well. Just connect it to your iPod through the Dock Connector, choose an FM frequency, and voila, you can hear the music on your iPod through a FM receiver. It also has a screen with backlight which displays the current frequency selected. It operates between 88.1 - 107.9 MHz frequencies and at a distance of 10-30 ft from the reciever. More info here.
Belkin Battery Pack for iPod®
Just bought your iPod video but came to know that it dosen't have an excellent battery life when it comes to playing videos? If yes, then get this battery pack which uses 4 "AA" batteries and gives around 15 hours of additional battery life (up to 6 hours of video playtime on your iPod video). More info here.
Widgets are by definition mini applications that live on your desktop. Widgets are sometimes qualified as virtual to distinguish them from their physical counterparts, e.g. virtual buttons that can be clicked with a mouse cursor, vs. physical buttons that can be pressed with a finger. Widgets are often packaged together in widget toolkits. Programmers use widgets to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
The 2006 FIFA World Cup (officially titled 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, sometimes referred to as the Football World Cup) finals are scheduled to take place in Germany between 9 June and 9 July 2006. Qualification for the tournament is now complete, with all 32 competing teams confirmed. The 2006 finals are the 18th to be contested. Germany wins the right to host the event in June 2000 beating the bids of England, Brazil, Morocco and South Africa who will be the host of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Groups
Group A: Germany, Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador
Group B: England, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden
Group C: Argentina, Ivory Coast, Serbia & Montenegro, Holland
StyleXP is developed by TGTsoft while, WindowBlinds is developed by StarDock.
Both are good in respective fields. While, WindowBlinds is a resource-hogger, you can use some really great themes with it. If you have a well-equiped computer, running WindowBlinds shouldn't be more of a problem. StyleXp also, has a great collection of themes and its major plus-point is that it can be closed after applying a theme unlike WindowBlinds. It is entirely your choice as to which software to go for.
Although, both these softwares come pre-packed with themes, they are simply not enough.
To get more themes, you can visit the following sites :
These software are no-where close to the limit of skinning. There are also many shell replacements available for more skinning.
A shell is the interface between you and the system, which shows you stuff and lets you do things and interact with the Operating system. By default, Explorer is the shell that window uses. The default shell can safely be replaced because it is not the core of the system, just part of the user interface. Your applications don't know or care what you are using as a shell. Replacement shells (or Alt Shells as the geeks like to call it) do the same basic jobs as explorer.exe, but they don't necessarily try to mimic the usual Taskbar and Start Menu with merely cosmetic changes. Instead they usually provide one or more toolbars, popup menus, hotkeys, an alternative Desktop, etc.
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?
Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?
Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check
When you say the paint is wet?
Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?
Why do they use sterilized needles for death by lethal injection?
Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?
Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?
Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?
Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "lisp"?
If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?
Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?
Is there ever a day that mattresses are not on sale?
Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?
Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?
Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?
How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?
When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"
Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?
In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?
Your mate's up a ladder, so you decide to "help out," and lean a foot against the bottom? Unfortunately, it's not very safe practice. So say the authors of a recent sudy by the Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute at Loughborough University in the UK which conducted 780 tests on 52 typical ladder users. Instead, stand on the lowest rung with both feet well apart. That way the ladder won't slide across the wall or fall backwards and the base won't slide outwards .
Linkin Park is a nu metal/rapcore band from Los Angeles, California, currently signed to Warner Brothers Records. They are often considered the most famous and most commercially successful exponents of the nu metal genre, mainly due to their debut album Hybrid Theory (2000), which has sold 19 million copies worldwide to date.
Linkin Park have a global music publishing deal with Zomba Music Publishing, a division of BMG Music Publishing. Their entire song catalogue is represented by Zomba.
Band members
* Chester Bennington—lead vocals * Rob Bourdon—drums * Brad Delson—guitar * Dave "Phoenix" Farrell—bass guitar * Joseph Hahn—turntablist, samples * Mike Shinoda—vocals, sampling, emcee, keyboardist, rhythm guitarist
Band history
1994-99: From Xero to Hybrid Theory
Upon graduating from Washington High School in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1994, vocalist Chester Bennington joined a band called Grey Daze. The band released two albums, No Sun Today and Wake Me. However, due to personal conflicts within the band, Bennington decided to leave.
Meanwhile, in 1996, guitarist Brad Delson and emcee Mike Shinoda graduated from Agoura High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills, California. Upon graduation, the two men formed a band with their friend, drummer Rob Bourdon, under the moniker SuperXero. Previously, Delson and Bourdon were in a band together for about a year called "Relative Degree".
The three played archaic forms of their music together while at college. Delson attended the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, California. Shinoda went to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. While at UCLA, Delson met bassist Dave Farrell. Delson and Farrell were roommates and often practiced and played together. Previously, Farrell used to play in a band called Tasty Snax with Mark Fiore, who later changed their name to The Snax. Fiore later became Linkin Park's cinematographer. While at the Art Center College, Shinoda met Joe Hahn.
Farrell and Hahn joined SuperXero and the name of the band was shortened to just Xero. The five men were joined by vocalist Mark Wakefield and, together, they recorded their first, self-titled demo tape. The tape was sent out to various record labels but it was never considered and the band was never signed. Shortly thereafter, Wakefield left the band.
Shinoda advertised for a new vocalist and Delson began interning for a Warner Brothers Records A&R representative named Jeff Blue as part of his communications degree. Blue alerted Delson and Shinoda to Bennington, a young vocalist from Phoenix who was looking to join another band .
Shinoda and Delson sent Bennington a tape containing an instrumental song and he recorded vocals for it. He then called Shinoda and played the song over the phone. The band was instantly impressed and asked Bennington to fly to Los Angeles from Phoenix to audition. At the audition, several other potential vocalists vying for the position simply left when they heard Bennington sing.
Once Bennington had joined the group, they changed their moniker to Hybrid Theory and the band's line-up solidified — almost. Farrell temporarily left the band due to previous commitments with The Snax/Tasty Snax and, as such, wasn't able to record bass for their first, self-titled EP. Instead, Delson and a bassist named Kyle Christener played bass. Released in mid-1999, only one thousand copies of the EP were pressed. Several copies were sent to various record labels, including Warner Brothers Records. The rest of the copies were given to early members of the band's newly formed street team. Farrell was temporarily replaced by Scott Koziol. Scott appears in the video for "One Step Closer" from the Hybrid Theory album.
The band was subsequently signed to Warner Brothers in 1999 thanks to Blue. However, they were forced to change their name due to a copyright issue with a British electronic group called Hybrid. There were several suggestions for the band's new name, including Clear, Probing Lagers, Ten P.M. Stocker (an inside joke for the band since they were always recording and practicing material late at night) and Platinum Lotus Foundation.
Bennington eventually suggested the use of Lincoln Park because he would drive by Lincoln Park in Santa Monica, California (now known as Christine Reed Park), on his way to the recording studio every day when the band was recording demos for its debut album. Bennington thought that it would be a good name for the band because there are Lincoln Parks all over the country. He figured that the band would be recognized as a local band no matter where they went. However, since the domain name lincolnpark.com was already taken and the band couldn't afford to purchase it, they changed the spelling from "Lincoln" to "Linkin" so they could purchase the domain name linkinpark.com.
2000-02: From Hybrid Theory to Reanimation
On October 24, 2000, Linkin Park's debut album, Hybrid Theory, was released in the United
States. Only one track was cut from the album, a remake of a hip hop song called "High Voltage" that appeared on the band's EP. Several songs from the EP were re-recorded as demos for Hybrid Theory, but it is unknown whether the tracks will ever appear as official B-sides or not. The record's first single, "One Step Closer", was a rock anthem on MTV.
The band performed in its first nationally-recognized concert on December 17th 2000 as a part of KROQ Radio's Almost Acoustic Christmas concert special. Shinoda wrote a brand-new song entitled "My December" for the occasion. The song was not featured on Hybrid Theory and is often mistaken as a B-side. It was later featured on a Christmas album released by KROQ DJs Kevin and Bean.
In early 2001, Farrell joined Linkin Park once again and the band's second single, "Crawling", was released and won the band a Grammy Award for the "Best Hard Rock Performance". The band embarked on its first ever national festival tour, the Ozzfest, with other acts such as Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Papa Roach, Disturbed, Crazy Town and Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society.
In mid-2001, the band released its third single, "In the End". The song would prove to be the band's biggest hit and was one of the most-spun songs of 2001. The video for the song was directed by Nathan "Karma" Cox and Hahn, and featured the band playing atop a massive statue in the rain. The video had a massive amount of CGI compared to most music videos at the time.
On September 2, 2001, the band released its first DVD humorously titled Frat Party at the Pankake Festival. The DVD featured all of the band's videos up to this point in their career and featured a documentary of the band touring in support of Hybrid Theory. There are also a lot of hidden Easter eggs allowing viewers to access hidden videos on the DVD, including a studio performance of a demo of "A Place for My Head" from 1999.
In November, a friend of the band, Jessica Bardas, suggested forming a fan club. The band thought that it was a good idea, and the Linkin Park Underground (LPU) was born. Members of the fan club receive a package every year (assuming that they renew their membership) containing a T-shirt, a CD and several odds and ends, including guitar picks, stickers and posters. The first CD featured was a re-issue of the band's Hybrid Theory EP with new artwork.
In early 2002, the band put together its first headlining tour called Projekt Revolution. The first leg of the tour featured Adema, Cypress Hill and DJ Z-Trip. During the course of the tour, Shinoda and Hahn collaborated with the X-ecutioners on the song "It's Goin' Down". Shortly after the tour ended, the band headed back to the studio for the first time since early 2000.
After being sent several remixes of Linkin Park songs, Shinoda decided to release a remix album. Initially, Shinoda only wanted to remix a couple of songs and release an EP. However, thanks to encouragement from his bandmates (Delson and Hahn especially), Shinoda decided to take the project a step further.
The project, which would take on the name Reanimation, featured one remix for each song from Hybrid Theory, as well as remixes of the songs "My December" and "High Voltage". Each song was remixed by a different artist and there were rumors that there were over fifty remixes that Shinoda received during the course of the project. Shinoda went through and listened to each remix, hand-picking the best ones. Only two of the remixes that didn't make the album were ever released, those being the Crystal Method's remix of "Points of Authority" (featuring on the CD of the second installment of the LPU) and Marilyn Manson's remix of "By Myself". The only other confirmed remix was of "My December" by Team Sleep. The remix was turned away because it made the song even darker; Shinoda went with the version on the CD because it made the song seem more up-beat and happier.
Some of the artists featuring on the album included Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Stephen Richards of Taproot, Kelli Ali of Sneaker Pimps, Aaron Lewis of Staind, the Humble Brothers, Jonathan Davis of Korn, Aceyalone, The X-Ecutioners, Black Thought and Jay Gordon of Orgy.
The project was released on July 30, 2002 and its first and only single was "Pts.of.Athrty" ("Points of Authority") remixed by Orgy's Jay Gordon. In November, the second edition of the LPU launched as "Underground 2.0" and the second package was revealed. The new fan club-only EP featured the Crystal Method's remix of "Points of Authority" and a song called "Dedicated", which has been speculated as being cut from the band's EP before it was pressed. There's also a fifty-second instrumental track entitled "A.06" which showcases a harder side of the band. This instrumental gave fans a new hope allowing them to believe that the band's second album would be harder than Hybrid Theory. It also elevated hype for the band's follow-up.
2003-05: From Meteora to Collision Course
The band headed back to the studio in late 2002 to record their follow-up to Hybrid Theory. The name of the album was kept a secret until December, where it was revealed to be named after Meteora, a series of monasteries high atop rock formations in Greece, which they learned about from looking at pictures in a travel magazine. "It's this really spiritual, mythical place," Delson said, "Just looking at those pictures was inspirational to us in terms of how epic it felt. I think some of the guys hadn't even seen the pictures when they heard the name Meteora, and they just really responded to the energy of the name. We think that suitably matches the spirit we tried to create with the record." [1] The album's first single, "Somewhere I Belong", was released in February of 2003 to critical acclaim. On March 25, 2003, Meteora was released and debuted at number one on Billboard's music chart after selling 810,000 copies in its first week. It has sold 10 million copies worldwide, more than a half in the US alone.
Following the release of the album, the band embarked on its second Projekt Revolution tour with blindside, Mudvayne and Xzibit. "Faint" was released as a single toward the end of the tour. Following PR02, the band joined Metallica on their Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003 with Limp Bizkit, Deftones and, once again, Mudvayne.
Shortly after the Sanitarium tour came to a close, the band released "Numb" as a single. They shot a video for the single in Prague, Czech Republic. Simultaneously, the band shot a video for the song "From the Inside". Oddly enough, the video for "From the Inside" was shot before the video for "Numb". Bennington became ill before the video for "Numb" could be completed, so the remainder was filmed in a church in Los Angeles.
On November 18, 2003, Linkin Park released a brand-new DVD/CD live set entitled Live in Texas. The footage was shot while on the Sanitarium tour in Dallas and Houston, Texas. The DVD was unique because it combined two live shows together; the video from both shows were used as well as the audio for both shows, but they were all edited together. Because of this, the band had to wear the same clothing for both shows on consecutive days. If one pays attention, one shot early in the video shows Bennington with a back soaked with sweat but later in the video, his back is dry. The DVD featured seventeen songs and the CD featured a selection of twelve of those.
In November, the third edition of the LPU launched. The package's CD contained the five tracks that were cut from the Live in Texas DVD for its CD. This did not sit well with many fan club members, who claimed that the band should have placed rare songs on the CD (as with year two) instead of the live tracks.
At the end of 2003, the band performed at its third KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concert. They headlined night two and played a seventeen-song set. At the end of Linkin Park's set, they played "One Step Closer" and were joined on stage by P.O.D.'s frontman, Sonny Sandoval.
At the beginning of 2004, the band set off on its "Meteora World Tour" with P.O.D., Hoobastank and Story of the Year. The band claimed that this was the final leg of the world-wide tour that the band had been on since Meteora was released.
During the tour, the band's video for "From the Inside" was released internationally. Following the "Meteora World Tour", the band began work on their most ambitious music video to date. The video, which was to be based around the song "Breaking the Habit", featured Japanese-style animation by the same studio that created the animated scenes in Kill Bill, Production I.G., and was directed by Kazuto Nakazawa and Hahn. The video featured Bennington's soul travelling through an old apartment building visiting various people struggling with various habits that they were trying to break. Some of the habits included were drug and sexual abuse. Prior to the release of "Breaking the Habit" as a single, "Lying From You" was released to radios to serve as a radio-only single.
Linkin Park then set off on its third Projekt Revolution tour. It would prove to be the band's most ambitious tour as it included two stages and what the band called the Revolution Village. The tour was very similar to the Ozzfest and the Vans Warped Tour. The main stage featured Linkin Park, Korn, Snoop Dogg, the Used and Less Than Jake while the second stage featured Ghostface, Funeral for a Friend, M.O.P., downset., No Warning, instruction and Autopilot Off. DJ Z-Trip also travelled with the tour, serving as the between-sets entertainment. During the hip-hop sets, Ivan the Urban Action Figure danced on stage. The Revolution Village featured lots of entertainment, including video game kiosks, miniature skate parks, batting cages, remixing stages and more. Projekt Revolution 2004 was the biggest-selling tour of the year.
At the end of 2004, Linkin Park announced a collaboration with Jay-Z at the request of MTV. The resulting LP, Collision Course, was released on November 30. It featured mashups of seven Linkin Park songs and six Jay-Z songs. The EP's first single, "Numb/Encore", peaked at number one on the charts and remained in the charts for six months, going on to win a Grammy. The album itself debuted at number one on the charts.
The fourth edition of the LPU launched in November. The CD that shipped with the package featured two new songs; one was a roughly two-minute long instrumental piece called "Sold My Soul to Yo Mama" by Mr. Hahn, and the other a song called "Standing in the Middle", a collaboration with Motion Man. "Standing in the Middle" was originally recorded in 2001 as a "practice" song for Reanimation. Motion Man was eventually featured on Kutmasta Kurt's reinterpretation of "In the End", "Enth E ND".
2005: From The Rising Tied to the future
The year 2005 marked a rather quiet year for Linkin Park. The band established Music for Relief, an organization dedicated to helping those affected by the Boxing Day tsunami. It has since expanded to become a program dedicated to helping those affected by a number of natural disasters, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The band played two shows in 2005, one in California for Music for Relief, and one during the Live 8 series of concerts.
In May, the band demanded to be released from its contract with Warner Brothers on the grounds of "a lack of confidence". The band was recently in negotiations with the label over a new record contract. Linkin Park had four albums left outstanding on its 2000 record contract. In December 2005 the band announced that they had finally reached a settlement with Warner Brother Records. The settlement came from a new agreement signed by both parties that Warner Brothers will pay $1.5 million advance for their new album, along with an increase of royalty payments to 20% of total revenue generated from units sold. The length of the new contract is five releases, bringing the total number of releases under Linkin Park's contract since 2000 to an eventual eleven, one more than the previously agreed upon ten.
In July, Shinoda announced a hip-hop side project, Fort Minor. Shinoda explained that Fort Minor was a way for him to return to his hip-hop roots. He wanted the record to feature some of his best and closest friends in the business, including Styles of Beyond, Black Thought of The Roots and Common (some of whom also helped produce the Reanimation album).
About a month and a half before Fort Minor's album was set to be released, a song called "Remember the Name" was leaked onto the Internet. Because of this, Warner Brothers threatened a website completely unrelated to the cause, resulting in others stepping in. Through constant perseverance, Warner were forced to back down, whilst other sites complied and removed the song from their servers. "Remember the name" is now featured on NBA Live 2006.
On October 30 2005, a Fort Minor mixtape entitled DJ Green Lantern Presents Fort Minor: We Major was released onto the Internet. Fans of the project were sent searching all over the Web trying to find the mixtape before it was finally made public on Rap Basement. On November 22 2005, The Rising Tied, Fort Minor's first album, was released. The album's first single, "Petrified", has yet to receive much airplay. Though the album has been praised by many hip-hop fans, it failed to do well on the charts. Bennington is also working on his own solo album with Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck of Orgy, who also play guitar on the album. Little is known about Bennington's side project other than its name, Snow White Tan. One of Snow White Tan's songs, "The Morning After", is a remake of a song that Bennington wrote before he joined Linkin Park. Bennington is also involved with Julien-K, a side project of Derakh and Shuck. It is unknown as to how exactly Bennington is involved. Bennington also has a cover band called Bucket of Weenies. During some shows that the band played, they covered Snow White Tan's "The Morning After". Snow White Tan's debut album is speculated to be released after Linkin Park's third studio effort.
Because of Shinoda's and Bennington's projects, rumours began to circulate that the band was splitting up, a rumour that both Shinoda and Bennington denied. Shinoda added recently that he has "[…] a demo of some new Linkin Park songs. I'm not making that up, either. I have to pull my CD changer magazine out when I get out of my car, in case it gets stolen — I couldn't let the LP stuff leak." [2] "We are glad to go back to the studio," stated Brad Delson in a statement posted on linkinpark.com, "We're ready to put out a new album". The band expects to release their new album some time in the summer of 2006, though Shinoda states that new music could come sooner.
The band's fifth installment of the LPU fan club launched on November 21, 2005. The CD shipped with the fifth fan club package featured live tracks from the band's performance during Live 8 plus several songs with Jay-Z.
In November, it was revealed by Dave "Phoenix" Farrell that Linkin Park had recorded a new song for the Machine Shop Mixtape series. The song has still to be publicly heard. Mike Shinoda was confirmed as the co-producer for the next Linkin Park album in December 2005. Shinoda produced the Hybrid Theory EP. On February 8, 2006 Linkin Park annouced the producer for their third studio album would be Rick Rubin, who has worked with Weezer, Metallica, Audioslave, Slipknot, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, System Of A Down and countless others.
During the Grammy Award Ceremony 2006 Linkin Park performed with Jay-Z and Paul McCartney collaborating on the song "Yesterday". During the Grammy awards, Rolling Stone had an interview with Chester Bennington, he stated that the new album will be different from their previous albums, which fused hard rock and rap. "It's dark and spooky, poppy and very melodic," says Bennington. "Not a hard, heavy rock record. What it is, is fucking insane!" Linkin Park have already come up with fifty new tracks and are in the recording phase of the album [3]. The album title is said to be inspired by passages from James Fray's book "A Million Little Pieces". Shinoda reported on Australian radio that the album is scheduled to be released between July and September. [4]. Rob Bourdon recently said in an LPU chat that the band have narrowed down 70 ideas for songs down to 32, and Linkin Park should be playing with Metallica at this year's Summer Sonic Festival in Japan and they also hope to go to South Africa before the end of the year. [5]Linkin Park expect to have a new album and new single out by the end of 2006.
Are you one of those people who taps at the bottom of an inverted ketchup bottle, waiting in frustration for the sauce to pour? I am speaking of traditional ketchup bottles, not squeeze tubes, wide-mouth jars, or bottles designed to stand on their heads. Have you ever wondered if there is a right way to do it – a way that works, and makes scientific sense?
Yes, folks, there is a right way to do it, and it does make sense. Here is how, and why:
First, let's look at the most common wrong way to do it. Remember the old "anticipation" commercials from the 1970s? The bottle is held upside down, then the hungry diner waits... and waits. Most people I know attempt to improve on this by tapping the bottom (that is, the upper end when the bottle is upside-down). That may help, but not necessarily for the reasons you imagine.
Ketchup can be regarded as a highly viscous liquid, or a thixotropic (flows under pressure) solid. Neither term is exactly correct, but the problem is not what to call it. The problem is how to get the ketchup out of the bottle, in measured quantities, without making a mess.
In order for the ketchup to emerge, air must enter the bottle. With an ordinary liquid such as water, a very narrow (dropper) neck would prevent the displacement of water by, air, but even a ketchup bottle has a neck that is much too thick to prevent water escaping, and air rising in, when the bottle is inverted. In the case of ketchup, however, the sauce is thick enough that the gravitational pull on the ketchup does not suffice.
Ketchup will certainly fall, of its own accord. In the case of a partly empty bottle, tapping the base can expel some ketchup without the need for air to enter. This is because the air that is already inside the bottle can slightly de-pressurize. Tapping the inverted base may slightly liquify the ketchup, enough for some to drop out even though no air is taken in. But in a full bottle, the ketchup must move to the side so that the air can rise through the neck at the same time that the ketchup escapes. The weight of ketchup is not great enough for this to happen in most circumstances.
So, in the case of the full ketchup bottle, the problem can be divided into two issues: (1) How can I get the ketchup to move aside, so that air can enter on the opposite side? (2) How can I give the ketchup "extra weight," so that it will be pulled out of the bottle faster?
The first issue is solved by holding the bottle sideways, with a slight downward tilt, rather than upside-down. In this position, the ketchup naturally is pulled to the lower side of the neck, and the air naturally will channel along the higher side of the neck. Anyone who pours an ordinary liquid from a bottle knows this. Yet it is amazing how the experience is forgotten when it comes to ketchup.
Merely holding the bottle in the correct position is not very effective. It is necessary to "increase the weight" of the ketchup by applying some G-force. This can be done by making a fist, and tapping the bottle downwards against the fist, to bring the bottle to an abrupt halt. Don't hurt yourself! If your hands are delicate, you may try some other method of applying an abrupt stop to the bottle, provided that the stop is not rigid or fragile, and that you mind where the ketchup is going to emerge. Striking the bottle at the upper side of the neck is much less effective, since it applies the G-force in the wrong direction.
Tapping the inverted bottom of a full bottle – the customary way – is counterproductive. If you do that, most of the G-force will tend to keep the ketchup in the bottle. But now you know the right way, thanks to the amazing power of the Internet to unleash this kind of information. Of course, it would be possible to print instructions on the side of the ketchup bottle, but you wouldn't read them if they were there, now would you?
Bob Kane (October 24, 1915–November 3, 1998) was the creator of Batman, although many feel that Bill Finger should be unofficially acknowledged as the co-creator of the character.
He was born Robert Kahn but legally changed his name to the familiar "Kane" at age 18. An eager young artist, Kane came to the burgeoning comics world in 1936 with his own book that led to various assignments in the following years. Following the success of Superman in Action Comics, editors at National Publications (now DC Comics) requested more superheroes comics. In response, Kane created a character called "bird-man" among many, before settling on "The Bat-Man" which was partly influenced by his love of Douglas Fairbanks' Zorro and Mary Rinehart's mysterious villain The Bat.
Kane's collaborator/studio writer, Bill Finger offered such suggestions as giving the character a cowl instead of a simple domino mask, giving him a cape instead of wings, gloves, and removing the bright red sections of the original costume, suggesting a gray/black color scheme that would echo that worn by THE PHANTOM, right down to leaving the eyeholes in the cowl blank to connote mystery. Finger wrote the first Batman story, while Kane provided art. Because Kane had already submitted the proposal for a Batman character to his editors at DC Comics, Kane was the only person given official credit at the time for the creation of Batman, in a tradition that was absent in the comic books but was routine in the more lucrative field of the daily newspaper strips; the most notable being AL CAPP, LIL' ABNER'S creator who also never gave his writer(s) a byline.
The character was a breakout hit, but National sought to improve sales even further. Editors suggested that the character receive a youthful sidekick whom the readers could use as an audience surrogate. Kane,partly inspired by the Junior character from DICK TRACY, initially suggested an impish character named Mercury, while Finger suggested a more down-to-earth character. The name "Robin" was suggested by Jerry Robinson (Kane's inker) after the then popular Errol Flynn movie The Adventures of Robin Hood. (Robinson also created the basic concept of the Joker, which was eventually re-modeled by Kane and Finger into the "Clown Prince of Crime" that we know of today.)
Kane, the more business-savvy of the Kane-Finger creative team, negotiated a contract with National, signing away any ownership that he might have in the character in exchange for, among other compensations, a mandatory byline on all Batman comics stating "Batman created by Bob Kane", regardless of whether he was involved in the specific issue. Bill Finger's contract, by comparison, left him with a monetary pittance and no credit even on the stories that he wrote without Kane, as was the standard policy during that era.
Kane's major contributions to Batman were in the 1940s. When DC wanted still more product than Kane's studio could deliver, DC hired several "ghost pencilers" to produce "cloned" in-house stories. Eventually, towards the close of the 40s, Kane hired his own personal "ghosts" although he would still act, essentially, as an "art director".
As Kane's comic work tapered off later in his career, Kane parlayed his official status as sole creator of Batman into a low level of celebrity. He enjoyed a post-comic book career as a painter, showing his work in art galleries. Even some of these paintings were produced by other, uncredited artists, now ghost-painting under Kane's name. He wrote an album The Adventures of Batman & Rubin (Jewish Boy Wonder) for the team of Allen & Rossi to capitalize on the popularity of the television show. In 1989 he published his autobiography, Batman and Me in 1989, and a second volume Batman and Me, The Saga Continues in 1996. He made numerous appearances to promote the first book.
Kane is interred in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
I drew this car with the help from http://www.cardesignnews.com/studio/tutorials/frye/ . I know it is not very good but I drew this in near about 4-5 min and without any intension of drawing a good sketch.
Many of us own LCD monitors or laptops. They tend to get dirty easily.
To clean the LCD screens, try a dampened soft cotton or non-abrasive cloth with a little water, and gently wipe down the screen. For heavier buildup, try adding a little vinegar to the water.
When cleaning, make sure your LCD is unplugged, and if you use a damp cloth, wait until the screen if completely dry before turning the set back on. Be sure to read your owner's manual or contact your LCD manufacturer to see what they recommend because some manufacturers may have other solutions not covered in this tip.
While it is good to clean your screen every now and then, LCD screens are not made for constant touching, so be careful when cleaning because you don't want to damage the pixels within the screen.
http://www.itsawonderfulinternet.com/ This is a site [in flash] which shows how wonderful is the internet and what would have happened if it wasn't there. Short and sweet.
Top 10 hacking incidents of all time — instances where some of the most seemingly secure computer networks were compromised
Early 1990s
Kevin Mitnick, often incorrectly called by many as god of hackers, broke into the computer systems of the world's top technology and telecommunications companies Nokia, Fujitsu, Motorola, and Sun Microsystems. He was arrested by the FBI in 1995, but later released on parole in 2000. He never termed his activity hacking, instead he called it social engineering.
November 2002
Englishman Gary McKinnon was arrested in November 2002 following an accusation that he hacked into more than 90 US military computer systems in the UK. He is currently undergoing trial in a British court for a "fast-track extradition" to the US where he is a wanted man. The next hearing in the case is slated for today.
1995
Russian computer geek Vladimir Levin effected what can easily be called The Italian Job online - he was the first person to hack into a bank to extract money. Early 1995, he hacked into Citibank and robbed $10 million. Interpol arrested him in the UK in 1995, after he had transferred money to his accounts in the US, Finland, Holland, Germany and Israel.
1990
When a Los Angeles area radio station announced a contest that awarded a Porsche 944S2 for the 102nd caller, Kevin Poulsen took control of the entire city's telephone network, ensured he is the 102nd caller, and took away the Porsche beauty. He was arrested later that year and sentenced to three years in prison. He is currently a senior editor at Wired News.
1983
Kevin Poulsen again. A little-known incident when Poulsen, then just a student, hacked into Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet was hacked into. Arpanet was a global network of computers, and Poulsen took advantage of a loophole in its architecture to gain temporary control of the US-wide network.
1996
US hacker Timothy Lloyd planted six lines of malicious software code in the computer network of Omega Engineering which was a prime supplier of components for NASA and the US Navy. The code allowed a "logic bomb" to explode that deleted software running Omega's manufacturing operations. Omega lost $10 million due to the attack.
1988
Twenty-three-year-old Cornell University graduate Robert Morris unleashed the first Internet worm on to the world. Morris released 99 lines of code to the internet as an experiment, but realised that his program infected machines as it went along. Computers crashed across the US and elsewhere. He was arrested and sentenced in 1990.
1999
The Melissa virus was the first of its kind to wreak damage on a global scale. Written by David Smith (then 30), Melissa spread to more than 300 companies across the world completely destroying their computer networks. Damages reported amounted to nearly $400 million. Smith was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison.
2000
MafiaBoy, whose real identity has been kept under wraps because he is a minor, hacked into some of the largest sites in the world, including eBay, Amazon and Yahoo between February 6 and Valentine's Day in 2000. He gained access to 75 computers in 52 networks, and ordered a Denial of Service attack on them. He was arrested in 2000.
1993
They called themselves Masters of Deception, targeting US phone systems. The group hacked into the National Security Agency, AT&T, and Bank of America. It created a system that let them bypass long-distance phone call systems, and gain access to private lines.
One very old PC whose configuration is ass follows : Intel® Pentium® 4 1.79 GHz 512 MB SD-RAM No GFX Card [It dosent support even AGP] Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Sony DVD combo drive Samsung CD Drive [which dosen't work] Samsung Samtron 50E 15 inch monitor.
And a new Laptop which I like very much. It is a SONY VAIO and its config is as follows: Intel® Pentium® M Processor 750 (1.86GHz) Centrino Technology Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2 512MB DDR2 SDRAM DVD±RW Drive NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 6400 with TurboCache (PCI Express x16 connection) 128 MB 13.3" Wide (WXGA: 1280 x 800) TFT colour display Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11b/802.11g
After I got my laptop, I dont use my desktop much and when I look back.... I haven't used it for than a week!... COOL!
Ferrari is an Italian constructor in the Formula One World Championship, as well as a manufacturer of high-end and high-performance race cars, exotic cars, and sports cars formed by Enzo Ferrari in 1929. At first, Scuderia Ferrari sponsored drivers and manufactured racecars; the company went into independent car production in 1946, eventually became Ferrari S.p.A., and is now controlled by the Fiat group. The company is based in Maranello, near Modena, Italy.
History
1929-1946
Enzo Ferrari never intended to produce road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929 as a sponsor for amateur drivers headquartered in Modena. Ferrari prepared and successfully raced various drivers in Alfa Romeo cars until 1938, when he was officially hired by Alfa as head of their racing department.
In 1940, upon learning of the company's plan to absorb his beloved Scuderia and take control of his racing efforts, he quit Alfa. Because he was prohibited by contract from racing for several years, the Scuderia briefly became Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari, which ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. Also known as SEFAC Ferrari did in fact produce one racecar, the Tipo 815, in the non-competition period; it was thus the first actual Ferrari car (it debuted at the 1940 Mille Miglia), but due to World War II it saw little competition. In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained ever since. The factory was bombed in 1944 and rebuilt in 1946 to include a works for road car production. Right up to Il Commendatore's death, this would remain little more than a source of funding for his first love, racing.
"Scuderia Ferrari" literally means "Ferrari Stable" in keeping with the prancing horse emblem; the name is figuratively translated as "Team Ferrari." (It is correctly pronounced "skoo dee ry ah".)
1945-present
The first Ferrari road car was the 1947 125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine; Enzo reluctantly built and sold his automobiles to fund the Scuderia. While his beautiful and blazingly fast cars quickly gained a reputation for excellence, Enzo maintained a famous distaste for his customers, most of whom he felt were buying his cars for the prestige and not the performance.
Ferrari road cars, noted for magnificent styling by design houses like Pininfarina, have long been one of the ultimate accessories for the rich. Other design houses that have done work for Ferrari over the years include Scaglietti, Bertone, Touring, Ghia, and Vignale.
As of 2004, FIAT owns 56% of Ferrari, Mediobanca 15%, Commerzbank 10%, Lehman Brothers 7%, and Enzo's son Piero Ferrari 10%.
Racing
Enzo Ferrari's true passion, despite his extensive road car business, was always auto racing. His Scuderia started as an independent sponsor for drivers in various cars, but soon became the Alfa Romeo in-house racing team. After Ferrari's departure from Alfa, he began to design and produce cars of his own; the Ferrari team first appeared on the European grand prix scene after the end of World War II.
The Scuderia joined the Formula One World Championship in the first year of its existence, 1950. José Froilán González gave the team its first victory at the 1951 British Grand Prix. Alberto Ascari gave Ferrari its first World Championship a year later. Ferrari is the oldest team left in the championship, not to mention the most successful: the team holds nearly every Formula One record. As of 2004, the team's records include fourteen World Drivers Championship titles (1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004), fourteen World Constructors Championship titles (1961, 1964, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004), 179 grand prix victories, 3445 and a half points, 544 podium finishes, 174 pole positions, 11,182 laps led, and 180 fastest laps in 1622 grands prix contested.
Famous drivers include Tazio Nuvolari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari, Phil Hill, Mike Hawthorn, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Gerhard Berger, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Jean Alesi and Michael Schumacher.
The "Cavallino Rampante"
The famous symbol of the Ferrari race team is a black prancing horse on yellow shield-shaped background, usually with the letters S F for Scuderia Ferrari, and with three stripes of the Italian national colors green-white-red on top. The road cars have a rectangular badge on the bonnet.
Curiously, a similar black horse on a yellow shield is the Coat of Arms of the German city of Stuttgart. This name is derived from Stutengarten, an ancient form of the modern German word Gestüt, which translates into English as stud farm and into Italian as scuderia. Stuttgart, called Stoccarda by the Italians, is the home of Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari's rival Porsche, which also uses the Stuttgart sign in its corporate logo, centred in the emblem of the state of Württemberg just like the city is placed within the state. Enzo Ferrari met these competitors many times since the 1920s while competing for Alfa.
On June 17, 1923, Enzo Ferrari won a race at the Savio track in Ravenna where he met the Countess Paolina, mother of Count Francesco Baracca, a legendary asso (ace) of the Italian air force and national hero during World War I, who used to paint a horse on the side of his planes. The Countess asked Enzo to use this horse on his cars, suggesting that it would grant him good luck. Ferrari left the horse black as it had been on Baracca's plane; however, he added a canary yellow background as this is the color of the city of Modena, his birthplace. It has been supposed the choice of a horse was perhaps partly because his noble family was known for having many horses on their estates at Lugo di Romagna. Another theory suggests Baracca copied the rampant horse design from a shot-down German pilot who had the emblem of the city of Stuttgart on his plane. This is supported by the evidence Barraca's horse looks more similar to the one of Stuttgart (not changed since 1938) than the current Ferrari design, especially as the legs of the horses are concerned. Baracca using the Stuttgart horse from a shot-down plane ties in with the fact that his family owned many horses.
Ferrari used the cavallino rampante on official company stationery beginning in 1929. The first race at which Alfa Romeo would let Ferrari use the horse on the Alfas entered by his Scuderia Ferrari was the Spa 24 Hours on July 9, 1932, which the Ferrari-led Alfa team won. Ever since, the cavallino was shown on the Alfas that were competing against the Silver Arrows of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, among others.
The prancing horse has not always been uniquely identified with the Ferrari brand: Fabio Taglioni used it on his Ducati motorbikes. Taglioni's father was, in fact, a companion of Baracca's and fought with him in the 91st Air Squad. But, as Ferrari's fame grew, Ducati abandoned the horse; this may have been the result of a private agreement between the two brands. The prancing horse is now a trademark of Ferrari. Yet, other companies use similar logos. One example is quite prominent next to roads in Austria and Eastern European countries, as an Austrian company, named "avanti" (http://www.avanti.at) since 1972, operates over 100 filling stations marked with a prancing horse logo which is nearly identical to Ferrari's.
List of models
Until the mid-1990s, Ferrari followed a three-number naming scheme based on engine displacement:
* V6 and V8 models used the total displacement (in decilitres) for the first two digits and the number of cylinders as the third. Thus, the 206 was a 2.0 L V6-powered vehicle, while the 348 used a 3.4 L V8. * V12 models used the displacement (in cubic centimetres) of one cylinder. Therefore, the famed 365 Daytona had a 4380 cc V12. * Flat twelve (boxer) models used the displacement in litres. Therefore, the 512BB was five litre flat 12 (a Berlinetta Boxer, in this case).
Most Ferraris were also given designations referring to their body style. In general, the following conventions were used:
* M standing for "Modificata," this suffix is placed to the end of a model's number designation to denote that it is a modified version of its predecessor and not a complete evolution (see F512M and 575M Maranello). * GTB models are closed Berlinettas, or coupes * GTS models, in older models, are convertibles (see 365 GTS4); however, in late models, this suffix is used for targa top models (see 348 GTS, and F355 GTS; exception being the 348 TS, which is the only targa named differently). The convertible models now use the suffix "Spider" (see F355 Spider, and Ferrari 360 Spider).
This naming system can be confusing, as some entirely different vehicles used the same engine type and body style. Many Ferraris also had other names affixed (like Daytona) to identify them further. Many such names are actually not official factory names. The 365 GTB4 model only became known as a Daytona after racing variants run by N.A.R.T. (North American Racing Team, who raced Ferrari's in America) won the famous 24 hour race of the same name. As well, the 250 GTO's famous acronym, which means Gran Turismo Omologato, was simply a name the Italian press gave the car which referred to the way Ferrari had, in a sense, avoided the rules and successfully homologated the car for racing purposes (Somehow, Ferrari had convinced the FIA, the 250 GTO was the same car as previous 250's). This was probably to avoid confusion with the multiple 250 models produced before the GTO.
The various Dino models were named for Enzo's son.
In the mid 1990s, Ferrari added the letter "F" to the beginning of all models (a practice quickly abandoned after the F512M and F355, but recently picked up again with the F430). From : Wikipedia. Source
Yahoo! ID : pickster_cool
