The 10 Most Amazing Flowers in the World
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Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
CAT 2010: How you should start your prep
The Common Admission Test or CAT for admission to the country's top B-schools is one of the most competitive examinations in India. Lakhs of students and working professionals across the country vie for the few thousand coveted seats. To help these B-school hopefuls give CAT 2010 their best shot, Rediff.com launches its CAT 2010 coverage which will include expert tips and chats, topper experiences, section-wise analysis and many other useful articles and features. Kicking things off is an article by Rahul Singh, who scored in the 100-percentile in CAT 2010.
A lot of you would probably be starting out now on your preparation for CAT. Five to six months is a lot of time if utilised properly and should be spent on building the basic skills required to crack an exam of the form of CAT. I believe that a lot of us commit the mistake of prematurely concentrating on the so called "tips, tricks and strategies" for cracking CAT without paying enough attention to the fundamentals.
So if you want to go about preparing in a more sensible and steady manner, now is a good time to start. I have given below my section-wise approach to preparation in the first three or four months.
Quantitative ability
Start by revising your basic class X mathematics. Make sure you have a fair idea of how the so-called 'shortcut formulas' mentioned in the umpteen CAT guidebooks are actually derived.
Quantitative ability
Start by revising your basic class X mathematics. Make sure you have a fair idea of how the so-called 'shortcut formulas' mentioned in the umpteen CAT guidebooks are actually derived.
Initially concentrate on the accuracy part of things. You should aim to solve almost every problem you come across, even if it's in an inefficient and time-consuming manner occasionally. This is probably easier for students with an engineering background as they stay in touch with maths throughout their coursework, but three-four months of sincere and steady preparation ought to bring most students up to this level.
It is highly inadvisable to start memorising the 'tips' and 'tricks' at this stage as they are no substitute for a good grasp of the concepts. Almost all CAT problems can be solved quickly enough from basic principles themselves, irrespective of whether you know the relevant tricks and shortcuts or not.
Once you become fairly confident about solving problems you can start working on the speed factor. Even after you have successfully solved a problem, critically analyse your solution and see if you can make it any shorter by removing redundant steps or if a totally different approach is possible. This is quite often possible in time and work, speed, probability, permutation and combination based problems.
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation
This is one section where almost every candidate starts preparing from scratch unless he has taken CAT before. At the same time I believe that this is the section where consistent hard work pays off the most. The best way to begin is to set aside a fixed number of hours each day (or every week if you don't want to be so rigid in your schedule) for attempting DI problems. There are a few things you can pay special attention to while working on this section:
It is highly inadvisable to start memorising the 'tips' and 'tricks' at this stage as they are no substitute for a good grasp of the concepts. Almost all CAT problems can be solved quickly enough from basic principles themselves, irrespective of whether you know the relevant tricks and shortcuts or not.
Once you become fairly confident about solving problems you can start working on the speed factor. Even after you have successfully solved a problem, critically analyse your solution and see if you can make it any shorter by removing redundant steps or if a totally different approach is possible. This is quite often possible in time and work, speed, probability, permutation and combination based problems.
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation
This is one section where almost every candidate starts preparing from scratch unless he has taken CAT before. At the same time I believe that this is the section where consistent hard work pays off the most. The best way to begin is to set aside a fixed number of hours each day (or every week if you don't want to be so rigid in your schedule) for attempting DI problems. There are a few things you can pay special attention to while working on this section:
Spend ample time analysing the solutions. In fact I often spent more time reviewing solutions than I did solving problems. Pay special attention to how the information is represented in a more readable and analysable form through tables etc. This is particularly crucial in solving problems where all the information is just written in the form of a simple, continuous piece of text.
Learn to identify the problems in a set which could have been solved by using just a couple of lines of information from the whole paragraph. This ability proves critical in tackling a tough DI set or when you are running out of time.
Some problems tend to be calculation intensive. In most cases making rough assumptions and rounding off gives the correct answer. Herein the knack of simplifying ugly looking fractions, calculating percentages easily, etc comes in handy.
I was never too good at calculations so I attempted these problems in the very end, but I have seen some of my friends who bank heavily on these problems and it pays off well. I often tried to round off three-digit numbers to the nearest five or ten and two-digit numbers to nearest multiple of two or four in order to simplify my calculations.
Verbal Ability
This is usually the section that engineering students struggle most with and it can get awfully tough for students at times. I often hear students complaining that their vocabulary is not good enough for CAT, which I believe is a very narrow approach. CAT is not about your vocabulary or your grammar per se; in general it tests your reading experience. So a 'start from the basics' approach is absolutely essential in this regard, if you are not an avid reader to begin with.
Verbal Ability
This is usually the section that engineering students struggle most with and it can get awfully tough for students at times. I often hear students complaining that their vocabulary is not good enough for CAT, which I believe is a very narrow approach. CAT is not about your vocabulary or your grammar per se; in general it tests your reading experience. So a 'start from the basics' approach is absolutely essential in this regard, if you are not an avid reader to begin with.
The first step is to increase your appetite for reading. Newspapers are an obvious place to start, but if you find them heavy reading then you can start with some light fiction. I know most of my friends picked up reading after their first Harry Potter or Chetan Bhagat. You will find that your speed picks up considerably as you near the end of such books. As you move on, you should gradually increase the amount of stuff you read in newspapers every day. Their advantage is two-fold: they tell us both about contemporary issues and contemporary language.
Being well read on a variety of topics is a huge bonus while attempting RCs in a CAT paper. You will soon realise this once you start taking mock CATs; you can glide through passages faster if it's about something you have already read about, and it's not uncommon to find such passages in your exam paper.
As it is in the DI section, analysing solutions to RC passages is a very beneficial exercise. Writing down new words that you come across every day is very helpful in remembering them. Spending time memorising word lists and grammar rules would be futile at this stage as the amount of information will become too overwhelming. Hence, the focus should be on developing your reading habit at this stage. If you are already a keen reader, then you can work on your reading speed and grammar.
To summarise, I would like to say that patience is a key factor here. In the beginning one must patiently work on building the aforementioned basic skills before attempting to augment them with tips, tricks and strategies. Initially progress might be slow and unrewarding, but this steady foundation will assure you of a good CAT score irrespective of how tough the individual sections are in the paper or how different the test format turns out to be from your expectations.
As it is in the DI section, analysing solutions to RC passages is a very beneficial exercise. Writing down new words that you come across every day is very helpful in remembering them. Spending time memorising word lists and grammar rules would be futile at this stage as the amount of information will become too overwhelming. Hence, the focus should be on developing your reading habit at this stage. If you are already a keen reader, then you can work on your reading speed and grammar.
To summarise, I would like to say that patience is a key factor here. In the beginning one must patiently work on building the aforementioned basic skills before attempting to augment them with tips, tricks and strategies. Initially progress might be slow and unrewarding, but this steady foundation will assure you of a good CAT score irrespective of how tough the individual sections are in the paper or how different the test format turns out to be from your expectations.
10,000 Hindus to attend Toronto temple opening
Toronto, June 15 (IANS) About 10,000 Hindus from Canada and the US will join week-long ceremonies here Friday for the opening of a unique south Indian temple modelled on the 9th century Sringeri Peetam.
Built at a cost of $11 million and named after the goddess of wisdom Sri Sharadamba, the temple will be consecrated with water from more than 250 rivers around the world.
These include the Ganga and the Yamuna and the Manosarovar Lake.
The temple, which will also have nine other deities, has been built with marble and granite imported from India.
'Apart from serving as a religious shrine, the temple will also house a museum on the life of Adi Shakaracharya who set up four matts in all four corners of India,' temple president Lucky Lakshmanan told IANS.
Twenty pandits have arrived from Sringeri in Karnataka for performing the consecration ceremonies. They will be joined by 10 priests from North America.
'The statues of the deities have also come from Jaipur,' temple publicity committee chairman K. Sundaram said.
The consecration ceremonies will begin Friday, with the chanting of mantras from the four Vedas to 'energise' the water from over 250 rivers.
'The chanting will continue for two days after which the holy water be fully energised. We will start the actual ceremony June 20,' temple religious affairs chief Raghu Ranganathan said.
Called Mahakumbhabhishekam, the consecration ceremony will include the chanting of mantras and bathing of the deities with the holy water to pass the 'energy' to the deities.
'This ceremony will make the deities divine and powerful to bestow their blessings on the devotees,' says Ranganathan.
The ceremonies will continue till June 27 during which havan will be performed to propitiate the deities. These will conclude with the pouring of 1,004 vessels of 'energised' waters on the deities.
Famous Indian singers, including Narendra Chanchal, will sing bhajans during the ceremonies.
Many Canadian leaders, including Indo-Canadian minister Harinder Takhar, will attend the ceremonies.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Will the Earth blackout in 2013?
If you’ve had your fill of apocalyptic scenarios, earthquakes, volcanoes and global warming, here comes a new threat which may wipe out the world in 2013.
Imagine a scene from any of Hollywood’s disaster films. An eerie scene where mobile phones go on the blink, GPS is knocked out, TVs go blank and the world is plunged into chaos.
Looks like disaster flicks aren’t too removed from reality since all this could well be the potential result of a gigantic solar storm, according to a new report by NASA. The report, a warning, says Earth and space are coming together in a way that’s new to human history.
A solar storm, which is essentially violent eruptions in the sun, can eject destructive radiation and charged particles into space. These are closely connected to magnetic fields – which are hazardous for satellites and space stations.
There are reports of a geomagnetic storm sparked by a huge solar flare that swept over the Earth in 1859. Telegraph wires shorted out and set houses on fire. A brilliant aurora was seen in Hawaii—so bright that “people could read newspapers by [its] red and green glow.” Scientists predict that in May 2013, the sun’s solar cycle will peak at about the same level as in 1859. (This content courtesy a post onGawker.com)
High-tech systems are critical for life as we know it today. Everything that we depend on and take for granted – air travel, GPS navigation, banking services (even a credit card transaction uses a satellite) and emergency radio communications – can all be knocked out by intense solar activity.
To get an idea of scale, a massive solar storm could result in 20 times more damage than the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina which hit south-eastern US in August 2005. The storm killed 1,800 people and caused damages worth $81 billion.
Some good news is that some of the damage and destruction can be avoided with warning of an impending solar storm. There is technology to put satellites in ‘safe mode’ and disconnect transformers to protect them from destructive electrical surges.
The task of accurately forecasting a solar storm lies with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US. “Space weather forecasting is still in its infancy, but we’re making rapid progress,” said Thomas Bogdan, director of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado.
The key for Bogdan lies in NASA and NOAA collaborating. “NASA’s fleet of heliophysics research spacecraft provides us with up-to-the-minute information about what’s happening on the sun. They are an important complement to our own GOES and POES satellites, which focus more on the near-Earth environment.”
Says Bogdon, “I believe we’re on the threshold of a new era in which space weather can be as influential in our daily lives as ordinary terrestrial weather.”
So far, we’ve been lucky to escape any big solar storms. I guess we could send Bruce Willis (a la Armageddon) to save us from the Sun in true Hollywood style. But then I would rather wait for NASA and NOAA to save us from space weather.
Images: A hyperactive sun
Imagine a scene from any of Hollywood’s disaster films. An eerie scene where mobile phones go on the blink, GPS is knocked out, TVs go blank and the world is plunged into chaos.
Looks like disaster flicks aren’t too removed from reality since all this could well be the potential result of a gigantic solar storm, according to a new report by NASA. The report, a warning, says Earth and space are coming together in a way that’s new to human history.
A solar storm, which is essentially violent eruptions in the sun, can eject destructive radiation and charged particles into space. These are closely connected to magnetic fields – which are hazardous for satellites and space stations.
There are reports of a geomagnetic storm sparked by a huge solar flare that swept over the Earth in 1859. Telegraph wires shorted out and set houses on fire. A brilliant aurora was seen in Hawaii—so bright that “people could read newspapers by [its] red and green glow.” Scientists predict that in May 2013, the sun’s solar cycle will peak at about the same level as in 1859. (This content courtesy a post onGawker.com)
High-tech systems are critical for life as we know it today. Everything that we depend on and take for granted – air travel, GPS navigation, banking services (even a credit card transaction uses a satellite) and emergency radio communications – can all be knocked out by intense solar activity.
To get an idea of scale, a massive solar storm could result in 20 times more damage than the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina which hit south-eastern US in August 2005. The storm killed 1,800 people and caused damages worth $81 billion.
Some good news is that some of the damage and destruction can be avoided with warning of an impending solar storm. There is technology to put satellites in ‘safe mode’ and disconnect transformers to protect them from destructive electrical surges.
The task of accurately forecasting a solar storm lies with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US. “Space weather forecasting is still in its infancy, but we’re making rapid progress,” said Thomas Bogdan, director of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado.
The key for Bogdan lies in NASA and NOAA collaborating. “NASA’s fleet of heliophysics research spacecraft provides us with up-to-the-minute information about what’s happening on the sun. They are an important complement to our own GOES and POES satellites, which focus more on the near-Earth environment.”
Says Bogdon, “I believe we’re on the threshold of a new era in which space weather can be as influential in our daily lives as ordinary terrestrial weather.”
So far, we’ve been lucky to escape any big solar storms. I guess we could send Bruce Willis (a la Armageddon) to save us from the Sun in true Hollywood style. But then I would rather wait for NASA and NOAA to save us from space weather.
Images: A hyperactive sun
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
TN state board books are online in PDF and downloadable
Please pass this information to your friends. Whose children are studying in the state board. Now the TN state board books are online in PDF and downloadable. From std 1 to std 12. All subjects... Any good heart person can print this material & handover some poor people.
http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in
http://www.textbooksonline.tn.nic.in
Friday, June 4, 2010
Nokia unveils 4 cheap phones, bicycle charger
Nokia Oyj unveiled on Thursday four new cheap phone models, and a first bicycle charger from the world's top cellphone maker, aiming to protect its dominant market share on emerging markets.
Nokia controls more than 50 percent of phone sales in India and Africa, and has a strong prosition on most other emerging markets.
"Tens of millions of these products will be sold, but competition is intensifying as Chinese vendors aggressively target the ultra low cost segment," said Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight.
"With all the focus on its smartphone woes it is easy to forget that Nokia is a power house in entry level products."
Nokia has struggled to keep up with rivals like Apple and RIM in the high-end of the market, and its ailing smartphone offering has hurt the stock price over the last few months.
The four new simple phone models sales prices, excluding possible operators subsidies and local taxes, range from 30 euros ($36.9) to 45 euros.
Two of the new phones, including the cheapest 30 euro model, will enable usage of two different SIM cards -- helping sharing a phone between family members or friends.
Nokia introduced also its first bicycle charger, targeting especially consumers with limited access to electricity, and it will go on sale for roughly 15 euros price, depending on market, later this year, said a company spokesman.
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