Best 50 Websites of 2009

Washington, Aug 27 (ANI): The hottest thing on the Internet is not social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, but Flickr-the popular photo-sharing portal - and the proof is: it has topped TIME's list of the best 50 websites this year.

One of the noticeable trends in this year's list, which was released this week, was on-demand video services, like YouTube, Vimeo and US services Hulu and Netflix.
However, the top two in the list were related to photographs, with California Coastline following Flickr at the second spot.
Third in the list was bookmark website Delicious, while community weblog Metafilter stood at the fourth place.
Popurls, the mashup of the web's most visited social news sites and portals, grabbed the fifth spot in the list.
Twitter ranked sixth and Facebook came 31st in the list, while YouTube and Hulu came at 12th and 14th place in the list.
TIME's list of 50 Best Websites of 2009 is:. Flickr
2. California Coastline
3. Delicious
4. Metafilter
5. popurls
6. Twitter
7. Skype
8. Boing Boing
9. Academic Earth
10. OpenTable
11. Google
12. YouTube
13. Wolfram|Alpha
14. Hulu
15. Vimeo
16. Fora TV
17. Craiglook
18. Shop Goodwill
19. Amazon
20. Kayak
21. Netflix
22. Etsy
23. PropertyShark.com
24. Redfin
25. Wikipedia
26. Internet Archive
27. Kiva
28. ConsumerSearch
29. Metacritic
30. Pollster
31. Facebook
32. Pandora and Last.fm
33. Musicovery
34. Spotify
35. Supercook
36. Yelp
37. Visuwords
38. CouchSurfing
39. BabyNameWizard.com's NameVoyager
40. Mint
41. TripIt
42. Aardvark
43. drop.io
44. Issuu
45. Photosynth
46. OMGPOP
47. WorldWideTelescope
48. Fonolo
49. Get High Now
50. Know Your Meme (ANI)

'Open source software is gaining momentum'

Kim Polese shot to fame as the brand manager at Sun Microsystems, when she devised the name Java for the firm's computer programming language. Currently, the CEO of SpikeSource, she spoke to Rahul Sachitanand on a recent visit to India. Excerpts:

Why are so many companies suddenly interested in open source software?

The current slowdown has slashed most companies' IT budgets and they now need to manage their IT requirements with smaller budgets. Open source software allows them a lower cost of ownership and more freedom to customise their infrastructure.

PC can be your partner

Year's biggest data breach

But aren't people more familiar with Microsoft and other closed software?

Yes, but I think mixed source is the future. We have seen many companies opt for Linux to run their mission-critical applications, but the end-users' familiarity with Microsoft Office, for example, means it will not go away soon. However, open source software has become much more interoperable.

You've seen the Oracle-Sun deal from close quarters. What is the future for a relatively small company like SpikeSource?

Most dangerous websites

Despite mega deals, we think there is space for a niche, independent software company. We started out as an open source shop, but our technology (SpikeSource Factory) plays an important role in helping customers improve their software development processes.

Rahul Sachitanand

Marriage 'cuts men's risk of health problems'

London, Aug 23 (ANI): No matter how much you bicker after marriage, but walking down the aisle is actually good for health, especially for men, say scientists.

In the University of Arizona study, boffins reviewed blood samples from 1,715 volunteers aged 57 to 85 to measure the level of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is produced by the liver in response to inflammation.

Women like to target men who are already in relationships

CRP has been linked in previous studies to heart disease, depression and even stroke.

From the analyses, the research team found that a long marriage lowers a man's chance of developing serious health problems. In fact, the union is more effective than giving up smoking when guarding against potentially fatal diseases, the researchers said.

The study, published in Psychosomatic Medicine journal, found that married men had the lowest CRP levels of any group: an average of 1.16 milligrams per litre of blood compared to 2.72 for unmarried men, reports The Daily Mail.

Professor Tony Cassidy, of Ulster University, said: "This shows how strong the effect of being married and having strong social bonds can be.

"Men don't necessarily get the same kind of support from their friendships - that's why marriage is so important." (ANI)

Travel Picks: World's tallest, coldest, greenest hotels

1. World's Tallest Hotel: Burj Al Arab - Dubai
Currently the tallest operating hotel in the world until it is surpassed by Dubai's Rose Tower later this year, the Burj Al Arab stands 321 metres (1,050 feet) high. A self-rated 7 star hotel built on a man-made island 280 metres from shore, Burj Al Arab also boasts its own Rolls Royce fleet, Versace bedspreads, and private shopper and helicopter landing platform.


2. World's Largest Hotel (by no. of rooms): The Palazzo Resort Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas, USA
The Palazzo Resort Hotel & Casino, which operates under the same license as The Venetian hotel next door, has 8,108 rooms combined. The hotel is like a mini city, with a large selection of restaurants, fashion stores, its own casino, and seven pools.


3. World's Oldest Hotel: Hoshi Ryokan - Komatsu, Japan
The Hoshi Ryokan has been in operation for over 1,300 years. The 100-room hotel has been run by the same family for 46 generations.


4. World's Most Expensive Hotel Room: Royal Villa at Grand Resort Lagonissi - Athens, Greece
Featuring a dedicated butler, chef and pianist, the Royal Villa at Grand Resort Lagonissi is the world's most expensive hotel room at $50,000 a night. The room overlooks the Aegean Sea, which you can view from a private pool with a hydro massage device. The resort also has a private Lear jet.


5. World's Most Expensive Hotel to Build: Emirates Palace - Abu Dhabi
The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2005, cost over $3 billion to build with silver, gold and marble used throughout the hotel and the 1,002 chandeliers made from Swarovski crystals.


6. World's Largest Hotel Room: Royal Suite in the Grand Hills Hotel & Spa - Broummana, Lebanon
The Royal Suite in the Grand Hills Hotel & Spa is set over six floors for a total 8,000 square metres (86,110 sq ft) with half of this living space and the rest two swimming pools, a garden, terrace and pavilions.


7. World's Coldest Hotel: Icehotel - Jukkasjarvi, Sweden
The Icehotel has rooms built entirely from ice and snow, decorated with handcrafted ice art and sculptures, an ice chapel licensed for marriages and baptisms, and two restaurants serving a range of Lappish and Swedish dishes. Activities include snowmobile trips, northern lights tours, and dog sled tours.


8. World's Highest Hotel (floor height): Park Hyatt - Shanghai, China
The Park Hyatt in Shanghai occupies floors 79 to 93 of the 101 story Shanghai World Finance Centre with views over the Huangpu River and the city skyline and located in the heart of Lujiazui business district in Pudong.


9. World's Highest Hotel (altitude above sea level): Hotel Everest View - Nepal
The Hotel Everest View is 3,880 metres (12,730 ft) above sea level and is set in the Sagarmatha National Park. All rooms have views of Mount Everest standing at 8,848 metres (29,030 ft) and the only direct access is by chartered helicopter.


10. World's Most Eco-Friendly Hotel: Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa - Queensland, Australia
Set in the world's oldest rainforest, Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa has 15 villas nestled inside the Daintree Rainforest, and is committed to complying with sustainable tourism standards. Practices in place include using solar power, low energy lights and an organic farm to grow its own produce.

RBI curtails use of third-party ATMs

The Reserve Bank, which made third party ATM transactions free from April, has said not more than Rs 10,000 can be withdrawn each time they are used and limited the number of such transactions to five a month.

The apex bank has sent a communication in this regard to Indian Banks' Association (IBA) and this is expected to be implemented shortly, IBA Chairman K Ramakrishnan said.

"The Reserve Bank has agreed to put a cap of Rs 10,000 per withdrawal in such (third party) transactions. Also, the number of such transactions will be limited to five times a month," Ramakrishnan said.

IBA, which is the industry lobby of Indian banks, had submitted its recommendations to the central bank last month citing the financial burden faced by banks on account of huge number of third party usage and small-ticket withdrawals.

Since April 1, RBI had declared third party ATM usage, including cash withdrawals and account enquiries, free for all customers and said that banks can charge Rs 18-20 per month from other banks in case of third party ATM transaction.

With the number of third party transactions surging post-April, banks approached the Reserve Bank through IBA to revisit the current norms and make necessary modifications.

RBI Executive Director, G Gopalakrishna said on the sidelines of a summit that the Reserve Bank has received suggestions from IBA on the matter, which has been examined by the central bank.

Though IBA had also recommended a minimum limit of Rs 1,000 on third party ATM withdrawals, this was rejected by the Reserve Bank to protect the interest of small withdrawer.

Exposure to daylight could help control obesity: Study

London, Aug 22 (PTI) Exposure to sunlight might be the answer to weight problems during winter months, according to a new British research, which might lead to new treatments for the prevention or reversal of obesity. Researchers from the University of Nottingham have found exposure to daylight could promote Brown adipose tissue (BAT) function, more common in females, leading to new ways of preventing obesity.

BAT brown fat''s primary function is to generate body heat to keep one from shivering. It is capable of producing up to 300 times more heat per unit mass compared with all other tissues.

Therefore, promoting BAT function could prevent or reduce obesity in some people, the researchers said. The new study, led by Michael Symonds, Professor of Developmental Physiology at the university, has shown for the first time that daylight is a major factor in controlling BAT activity.

"Our research has suggested a previously unknown mechanism for controlling BAT function in humans and this could potentially lead to new treatments for the prevention or reversal of obesity," said Professor Symonds. The body''s requirements for BAT has been reduced in recent times by central heating plus global warming.

The presence of BAT was documented and correlated in studied over 3500 patients with monthly changes in daylight and ambient temperature. Their results showed that BAT was more common in females and that changes in BAT activity were more closely associated with day light.

Venezuela made history at the Miss Universe pageant by winning the crown for the second year running, even as Miss India exited the contest without even making it to the top 15.

Eighteen-year-old Stefania Fernandez [ Images ] was crowned Miss Universe 2009 by the incumbent crown holder, her compatriot Dayana Mendoza [ Images ], on Sunday night.

She became the sixth Miss Universe from the South American country, known for it beauty obsessed culture.

But 22-year-old Delhiite, Ekta Chowdhury, made an early exit and did not make the cut for the top 15.

Venezuela has won five Miss Universe titles, five Miss World and four Miss International crowns, more than any other country.

The first runner-up title is shared by Miss Australia [ Images ] Rachael Finch [ Images ] and Miss Puerto Rico Mayra Matos Perez, with the title of second runner-up going to Miss Kosovo Gona Dragusha, reported Los Angeles Times.

The televised event included musical performances by Flo Rida, Heidi Montag, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland. Hosts were Billy Bush, co-anchor of "Access Hollywood," and Claudia Jordan, former Miss Rhode Island USA who has appeared on several TV shows.

Judges included actor Dean Cain and supermodel Valeria Mazza. Miss China, Wang Jingyao, was named Miss Congeniality and Miss Thailand, Chutima Durongdej [ Images ], won Miss Photogenic.

Image: Miss Venezuela, Stefania Fernandez celebrates onstage after winning the Miss Universe 2009 pageant in the Bahamas

Your computers may soon be having 'rich interaction' with you as a partner

Washington, August 20 (ANI): A computer similar to the Hal 9000 system in the movie '2010', which claims enjoying working with human beings and having stimulating relationships with them, may soon be created, thanks to a new research project.

Oregon State University researchers are pioneering the concept of "rich interaction" that can pave the way for computers that do want to communicate with, learn from and get to know humans better as persons.

The idea behind this "meaningful" interaction is one of the latest advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, in which a computer doesn't just try to learn from its own experiences, it listens to the user, tries to combine what it "hears" with its internal reasoning, and changes its program as a result.

When ordinary users spot the machine's errors they should be able to step in, and explain directly to the machine the logic it should be using.

"There are limits to what the computer can do just by its own observations and efforts to learn from experiences. It needs to understand not just what it did right or wrong, but why. And for that, it has to continue interacting with human beings and make constant changes in its own programming, based on their feedback," said Margaret Burnett, an associate professor of computer science at OSU.

According to the researchers, for a computer to be of optimal help to its user, it has to customize itself to the end user and get more personal.

"We all have fairly specific life experiences, personal preferences, ways of doing things, different types of jobs. For machine learning to reach its potential the computer and the user have to interact with each other in a fairly meaningful way, the computer really needs to get to know your situations and understand why it made a mistake, so that it can try not to make the same mistake again," Burnett said.

The researchers say that a major part of this challenge is to create interactive systems that are easy enough to operate without one needing a computer programmer's qualification, which they believe may be possible.

Another challenge before the researchers is to ensure that the learning in such systems happens to be a two-way street, as a stubborn human user may insist that the computer "learn" something that is incorrect.

Having recently received a 1million-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation for their research, the OSU researchers now believe that the era of humans as passive observers in the field of artificial intelligence may be coming to a close.

"In the future we believe the computer should be like your partner. You help teach it, it gets to know you, you learn from each other, and it becomes more useful," Burnett said. (ANI)

The top 100 most dangerous websites for your PC enlisted

Melbourne, Aug 20 (ANI): Internet security company Norton Symantec has come up with a list of Top 100 Dirtiest sites, which could infect your computer with malware.

Malware is a software that can damage or compromise a computer system without the owner's consent.

Natalie Connor, spokeswoman of the anti-virus company, said that even visiting any of the named websites could expose a computer to infection and put the personal information into the hands of unwanted people.

"What people don't realise is when you type in a website, you're bringing down information on a page and with it could be malware," News.com.au quoted her as saying.

The list was compiled with the help of global data collected on Norton Safe Web, a site that analysed websites' security risks.

The infected sites had on average 18,000 threats and 40 per cent of the sites had more than 20,000 threats, while 75 per cent of websites on the list were found to be spreading malware for over six months.

According to Connor, most websites in the list had adult content with unprintable names, suggesting they contained hardcore pornography.

Some others sites include those on ice skating, deer hunting, catering and legal services.

Hackers can apparently obtain personal information using keystroke-logging software from both PCs and Mac computers.he reps said that hackers are a force to reckon with as cyber crime is increasing rapidly.

She added: "The last thing we want to do is scare people, we want to educate them so they know how to protect themselves.

"It's not about the fame any more of creating viruses and getting in the media. They're making money."

Norton released a sample of the dirtiest websites:

17ebook.com

aladel.net

bpwhamburgorchardpark.org

clicnews.com

dfwdiesel.net

divineenterprises.net

fantasticfilms.ru

gardensrestaurantandcatering.com

ginedis.com

gncr.org

hdvideoforums.org

hihanin.com

kingfamilyphotoalbum.com

likaraoke.com

mactep.org

magic4you.nu

marbling.pe.kr

nacjalneg.info

pronline.ru

purplehoodie.com

qsng.cn

seksburada.net

sportsmansclub.net

stock888.cn

tathli.com

teamclouds.com

texaswhitetailfever.com

wadefamilytree.org

xnescat.info

yt118.com (ANI)

Infosys bids for over 10 govt deals

Infosys Technologies, India's second-largest IT services exporter, has bid for more than 10 large government projects in India as part of a drive to lower its dependence on the U.S. market, an official said.

Infosys, which gets more than half its business from the United States, plans to generate $1 billion in revenue from the Indian market in 2-3 years versus an insignificant level now, the head of its India business unit said.

"There are large opportunities in India. So we are definitely going to go after these kinds of businesses very aggressively in India," Binod Rangadore told Reuters in an interview. "We have a very healthy pipeline right now."

The market for technology and business outsourcing services in India is expected to expand five-fold by 2020 to $90 billion to $100 billion on the back of a growing economy, according to a recent study by lobby group NASSCOM and consultancy McKinsey.

Outsourcing firms such as Infosys and bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services are tapping new markets such as India, China, Japan and countries in Europe to beat a recession in the United States.

The Indian firms face competition from big global players such as IBM Inc, Hewlett-Packard, and Accenture that have raided their home turf as they look for growth outside their mature markets.

U.S. business software maker CA expects its bookings, an indicator of future business, will rise 50 percent in the year to March 2010 and by 30-40 percent for the following two years on growing technology spending.

Infosys, which set up its India business unit in late 2007 as part of a strategy to diversify its revenue base, has put in bids for IT services contracts from railways and state-run telecoms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) among others, Rangadore said.

He declined to set a timeframe for the outcome of the bids.

The U.S. market had contributed 63.2 percent of Infosys's 2008/09 revenue of $4.4 billion, with just 1.3 percent coming from India.

Rangadore said the business from IT services in India was very small and bulk of the revenue in India came from Finacle, the banking solutions and services unit of Infosys.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

Last month, Infosys said it had won a contract to design, develop and support a portal for the ministry of commerce and industry. A government official said the contract was valued at 150 million rupees ($3 million) for three years.

Infosys, which has a market value of $23 billion, has also won a project from the tax authorities for a project to enable electronic filing by taxpayers, Rangadore said.

He said spending on technology by private companies was seeing a slowdown in India due to the economic downturn, but investment by the government remained robust and was likely to increase in the near term.

A host of IT services firms are expected to vie for the government's initiative to provide the country's more than 1 billion people with identity cards, a new project which is being headed by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani.

"The window of opportunity in India is probably in the next one to two years when most of the decisions will be made for large spending in India," Rangadore said.

Shares in Infosys, which counts Goldman Sachs, BT Group, and Philips Electronics among its more than 550 global clients, ended down 1.1 percent at 1,950.70 rupees in the main market that fell 1.5 percent.

The Infosys stock has jumped about 75 percent this year, compared with a 54 percent rise in the main index.

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Popcorn may help keep heart disease, cancer at bay

Eating a bowl of popcorn while watching movies could give your health a boost, according to a new research.

Scientists have found that snack foods like popcorn and many popular breakfast cereals contain ''surprisingly large'' amounts of healthful antioxidant substances called ''polyphenols.''

Polyphenols are a major reason why fruits and vegetables - and foods like chocolate, wine, coffee, and tea - have become famous for their potential role in reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

The is the first-of-its kind study to establish that whole grain cereals - regarded as healthful for their fiber content - and snack foods also were a source of polyphenols.

"Early researchers thought the fiber was the active ingredient for these benefits in whole grains, the reason why they may reduce the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease," said Joe Vinson, a chemist at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania and lead author of the study.

IT spend in Asia-Pacific improving: TCS

Bangalore :

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, India's top IT services firm by sales, is seeing an increase in corporate technology spending in Asia Pacific in the current quarter on signs of economic revival, an official said on Monday.

"I think there is a generally positive view that Asian economies are coming back," Girija Pande, Tata Consultancy's head of Asia Pacific operations outside India, said in an interview.

"Both global and local companies are investing back in Asia and the IT spend, therefore, is going up," he said. "I can already see green shoots in many countries in Asia where the growth is starting to come back again."

After posting a scorching pace of growth for years, India's outsourcing sector has been battling a slowdown as top global customers struggled were hit by the global financial crisis and economic downturn.

Indian software services firms such as Tata Consultancy and second-ranked Infosys Technologies are expanding in Europe and elsewhere to cut their dependence on the US market, which accounts for over half the sector's revenues.

Bhuvan, ISRO's new eye in the sky

Overview

ISRO launched the beta version of its web-based 3-D satellite imagery tool, Bhuvan, on August 12, 2009. Bhuvan will offer superior imagery of Indian locations compared to other Virtual Globe software with spatial resolutions ranging from 10 m to 100 m. Locations can be viewed from different perspectives and will allow for the measurement of distances. The Bhuvan portal is designed to run on slow Internet connections. The imagery would steer clear of all sensitive military installations in India for security concerns.^[4]

Bhuvan displays better images of India than the ones relayed by Google Earth along with a number of other interesting features which include weather information and even administrative boundaries of all states and districts, relevant only to the country. Bhuvan is equally capable of offering images of the globe, but the best resolution area includes India at the moment. In the Indian subcontinent, Bhuvan will be able to display a picture from ten meters away that is; a commuter moving on the road can be easily spotted.^[5]

Features

• Bhuvan allows users to access, explore and visualize 2D and 3D image data along with rich thematic information on soil, wasteland, water resources etc in the Indian subcontinent.
• It displays multi-resolution, multi-sensor, multi-temporal image data.
• Users can superpose administrative boundaries of choice on images as required.
• It allows visualization of AWS(Automatic Weather Stations) data in a graphic view and use tabular weather data of user choice .
• Fly to locations (Enables users to fly from the current location directly to the selected location)
• It features a Heads-Up Display(HUD) navigation controls (Tilt slider, north indicator, opacity, compass ring, zoom slider)
• Allows navigation using the 3D view Pop-up menu (Fly-in, Fly out, jump in, jump around, view point)
• 3D Fly through (3D view to fly to locations, objects in the terrain, and navigate freely using the mouse or keyboard)
• Drawing 2D objects (Text labels, polylines, polygons, rectangles, 2D arrows, circles, ellipse)
• Drawing 3D Objects (placing of expressive 3D models, 3D polygons, boxes)
• Snapshot creation (copies the 3D view to a floating window and allows to save to a external file)
• Measurement tools (Horizontal distance, aerial distance, vertical distance, measure area)
• Shadow Analysis (it sets the sun position based on the given time creating shadows and effects the lighting on the terrain)

There would be many more value added functions and facilities which will be added into the package from time to time. Particular interest of ISRO/DOS would be to provide such functionalities to common man so that they can adopt participatory approach with scientists to solve simple problems easily and interactively.

Some of the advanced functionalities to be provided in future versions:

• Urban Design Tools (to build roads, junctions and traffic lights in an urban setting)
• Contour map (Displays a colorized terrain map and contour lines)
• Terrain profile (Displays the terrain elevation profile along a path)
• Draw tools (Creates simple markers, free hand lines, urban designs)
• Navigation map (to jump to and view locations in the 3D India)

National Remote Sensing Agency played an important role in the creation of this product. ISRO has used data provided by satellites including Resourcesat-1, Cartosat-1 and Cartosat-2 to get the best possible imagery for India. ISRO claims that the application can provide imagery of up to 10 metres for major Indian cities compared to 200 meters provided by Google Earth.^[6]

Bhuvan is based on TerraExplorer software a product of Skyline Software Systems

Google Earth	Bhuvan
Zoom levels up to 200 mt	Zoom levels up to 10 mt
Single layer information	Multi-layer information
Images upgraded every 4 years	Images upgraded every year
No alternate viewing options	Options of viewing on different dates
Uses international satellites	Uses Indian satellites

Download

Bhuvan can be downloaded from these links:

• Bhuvan Download (nrsc.gov.in)
• Bhuvan Download (alternate)

Technical Requirements

The Beta version of Bhuvan can run only on windows system and is optimized for Internet Explorer 6. or higher. and turn off internet explorer protected mode.

Hardware and software Minimum Requirements

• Operating System: Windows XP/Vista
• CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz+ or AMD 2400xp+
• System Memory (RAM): 512MB
• Hard Disk: 2GB free space
• Network Speed: 256 Kbits/sec
• Graphics Card: 3D-capable with 32MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1280x1024, 32-bit True Color (for best results)
• Framework : .NET Framework 2.0
• Graphics: Directx 9.0
• Other: Requires the Bhuvan software (see external links for download)