Be a Part of It: February 2008

Monday, February 25, 2008

Chris Cantell annouces Virtualna realita pomaha detom

Nie je to vtip. A nie je to ani dalsi marketingovy slogan alebo reklama. Nie je rec o pocitacovych hrach, ktore vase deti prilepia na monitor obrazovky a oni potom zleniveju a prestanu sa zaujimat o okolity svet. Nova era je tu- to je fakt. Mali by sme preskumat jej moznosti a vziat si z nej to najlepsie, tak ako lekari v niektorych americkych nemocniciach. Vyskumnici len nedavno objavili novy sposob pomoci pre dti, ktore utrpeli zranenie sposobene popalenim. Novy pristup na pochopenie pocitov pocas hry. Deti, ktore utrpeli emocnu trauma, stres a sok pri nehode, prezivaju svoje najtazsie chvile pocas cistenia ran a upevnovania obvazov. Lieky a sedative niekedy nestacia pomoct prekonat to cim si mali paienti museli prejst. "Odvedenie pozornosti ma skvele ucinky pri znizeni detskej nervozity, ktore sa moze prejavit zo strachu z prevadzanych procedur, teda s odvedenim pozornosti pacientov, su lekarske ukony ovela plynulejsie a pre dieta menej bolestive " povedal Dr.Butz z Nationwide Children`s Hospital v Ohiu. Vacsina deti, ktore sa ocitli pod tymto specialnym pozorovanim neskor hovorilo o vyznamonom rozdiele medzi intenzitou bolesti pred a potom ako hrali spominanu hru. Zdravotne sestry a rodicia potvrdili tieto vysledky a tvrdia, ze deti vykazovali zretelne mensi stupen bolesti pocas hry. Iny pracovny tym z Purdue University v Indiane vyvinul project, pri ktorom sa pouziva virtualna realita ako medium pri vyucbe matematiky u hluchonemych deti. Virtualna realita moze byt novym prelomom na poli medicine, ucitelstva a v oblasti lepsieho pochopenia deti so zdravotnymi poruchami.

Written by Romana Schlesingerova Edited by Zuzana Tylkova
These news are brought to you by CantellTV, its technology partner SigEx Telecom and its founder Chris Cantell. CantellTV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with enhanced communications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface. CantellTV has relationships with a growing network of international clients delivering millions of videos per day with more than 50,000 new videos uploaded and 200 hours of new TV shows broadcasted daily to a wide range of viewers, from 5 to 7 year olds of LiveCartoons; to 16 to 24 year old active social users of MyJumps; to fortune 50 corporate clients utilizing enhanced broadcasting services. CantellTV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers. Chris Cantell retains consulting arrangements with several pre-IPO companies.

Chris Cantell annouces World dealing with greenhouse gas

World greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster and impacts on oceans and the atmosphere are worse than scientists thought. We are all contributing with or without this knowledge. The majority of us probably knows how the acid rains arise or why is the ozone hole systematically growing, but how many of us have ever came with a single constructive idea and turned it into a helpful reality? New York City Major Michael Bloomberg proposed a national "pollution pricing" plan in the beginning of this month. He thinks the government should tax the companies directly for the greenhouse gasses they are releasing. He suggested a fee of $15 for every ton of greenhouse gas companies emit, with the money used to reduce payroll taxes and finance tax credits for companies that reduce their greenhouse gas pollution. George W. Bush put USA in the bad light after turning down the Kyoto Protocol in the beginning of his presidency in March 2001. His biggest concern was a fear about the country financial damage. This selfish gesture brought about the expected effect. Emissions in America have continued to rise and are now 11% higher than in 1990, even though when they did temporarily sign up to Kyoto, they promised a 6% reduction. The need for a solid solution made the USA sit to the same table right next to China. These two world biggest oil consumers had decided to work on a plan of reducing the greenhouse emissions and creating the pact on biofuels, American officials announced on Friday. This first agreement between Washington and Asia will be particularly discussed at the meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue, an economic and trade forum being held December 12th of this year.

Chris Cantell annouces Virtual reality helps kids

It is not a joke; it is not another marketing slogan or commercial. We are not talking about computer games that will glue your children to the screen making them lazy and not interested in the outside world. The new era is here- that's a fact. We should explore the options and take the best of it, as the doctors in some of American hospitals. Researchers just recently found the new way of distraction for burn victims and a different approaching of their feelings trough the game. Kids, who suffered emotional trauma and stress connected to the injury are having the worst time during the cleaning and dressing of their wounds. Pain killers and sedatives are sometimes not enough to help such a young human being to overcome what they have been put through. "Distraction does a great job in decreasing any kind of anxiety that might be associated with the anticipated procedures, so by distracting patients and keeping anxiety at a minimum, procedures tend to go much more smoothly and be much less painful for the child." said Dr.Butz from the Nationwide Children`s Hospital in Ohio. The majority of the kids under this special observation talked about a significant difference between the intensity of their pain level before and after they played the game. Nurses and parents confirmed these results and said that the children clearly showed less signs of pain while playing the game. Another working team from the Purdue University (Indiana) developed a project using the virtual reality as a medium that teaches deaf children math skills. The virtual reality can be a new breakthrough in the field of medicine, teaching and approaching the young population with disabilities.

Chris Cantell annouces Violence in oil industry

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility to the attack from November 15th 2007. Attackers blew up a crude oil pipeline on Thursday, after a month full of violence against Africa`s top oil producer. "We will continue to nibble on the oil industry until they feel the pains," said the group of militants known as MEND. The results of its action caused major problems in the industry. Nigeria- a former source of corruption and national shame Years before the violence started in the Delta, the oil business had been a mess. Changing military leaders and governments found this to be a source of their personal account and spent more money supporting lucrative contracts than investing in refineries. It looked like nobody succeeded to understand that some acts will be sooner or later followed by results. Those are now alarming and way beyond the national Nigeria's politics. Oil prices rising above Crude prices have been erratic this week, falling more than $3 on Tuesday and rising more than $2 on Wednesday after hitting a record of $98.62 a barrel last week. Shell declined to specify the volume of production affected, but an industry source estimated it between 20,000 and 50,000 barrels per day. Other major exporters as Nymex, Petromatrix and others followed. "The federal government is not serious about the whole thing. We have been saying this for weeks and now everything is going out of control," said Jonjon Oyeinfie, a delta activist. The oil industry creates 76% of government revenues and Nigeria is existentially dependent on it. The new government is taking all kinds of actions to rebuild the corrupted business into a modern and functioned company. However, this will not work without securing the pipelines against another wave of violence.

Written by Romana Schloesingerova Edited by Zuzana Tylkova
These news are brought to you by CantellTV, its technology partner SigEx Telecom and its founder Chris Cantell. CantellTV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with enhanced communications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface. CantellTV has relationships with a growing network of international clients delivering millions of videos per day with more than 50,000 new videos uploaded and 200 hours of new TV shows broadcasted daily to a wide range of viewers, from 5 to 7 year olds of LiveCartoons; to 16 to 24 year old active social users of MyJumps; to fortune 50 corporate clients utilizing enhanced broadcasting services. CantellTV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers. Chris Cantell retains consulting arrangements with several pre-IPO companies.

Chris Cantell annouces De la razboi la aeroporturi

Cand Bush se plictiseste de razboi, de nesfarsita lupta pe tema cine are dreptate si cine nu cand vine vorba de Afganistan si Irac, se implica in intarzierile aeroporturilor. Este pentru a doua oara din Septembrie cand ia atitudine si ordona Departamentului Transporturilor si Administratia Federala a Aviatiei sa vina cu solutii pentru a rezolva congestionarea traficului. Nici un alt presedinte nu s-a mai implicat in astfel de probleme si multi experti in aviatie cred ca problema are doar solutii pe termen lung. Pentagonul va oferi doua coridoare aeriene din partea eastica a marii, care in mod normal sunt restrictionate zborurilor militare, pentru zboruri comerciale cread un espres de Ziua Recunostintei de la 4 pm miercuri si pana duminica. Bush a spus ca pasageri ramasi in aeroporturi, aeroporturi aglomerate si zboruri intarziate se dovedesc foarte scumpe atat pentru oameni cat si pentru afaceri. Daca reprezentanti afacerilor precum liniile aeriene si aeroporturile au fost incantati de actiunea lui Bush, controlorii de trafic si pilotii spun ca este o masura drastica si ei nu sunt capabili sa se descurce. Totusi, democratii din Congres au apreciat-o, desi si-au rezervat dreptul la comentariu pentru ca a venit prea tarziu conform lui Jerry Costello, presedintele subcomitetului aviatiei, in timp ce americanul obisnuit calatorind prin unul din punctele de control, Aeroportul International Newark Liberty al New Jersey-ului, vede actiunea ca ineficienta pentru ca problema este eficienta personalului aeroporturului. Directorii aeroporturilor vin si ei cu solutii la Capitol precum reducerea supra-rezervarilor in timpul sarbatorilor si adaugarea de personal pentru acordarea de tichete, in timp ce pentru cei ramasi in aeroporturi se vor oferi locuri unde sa doarma, incluzand mancare, haine si apa. Mai mult, Nancy Kalinowski, vice-presedintele sistemului de operare al FAA a spus ca oferta Pentagonului inseamna o iesire mai rapida pentru pasagerii aeroportului din New York, mai ales daca Coasta de Est este afectata de vreme urata, ceea ce inseamna ca 75 de procente din intarzieri isi vor gasi solutie. Din deciziile lui Bush multe vor intra in vigoare de la Craciun, in timp ce alte solutii pe termen scurt precum dublarea penalitatilor aeroporturilor pentru pasagerii care nu au loc datorita supra aglomerarii. Motiunea sa de reautorizare a FAA care ar finanta o modernizare de miliarde de doalri a controlului traficului aerian prin inlocuirea de radare cu sateliti globali de pozitionare, este pe lisat de astptare a Congresului. Solutiile pe termen scurt include un memorandum de sarbatori pe proiecte de intretinere (personalul si echipamentul vor fi orientate pe zborurile la timp); noi piste pentru aeroportul Kennedy International al New Yorkului permitand intre 4 si 6 avioane sa aterizeze in ora in ora; un site al FAA http://www.Fly.FAA.Gov oferind date la zi despre posibile intarzieri. De asemenea Departamentul Transporturilor a propus noi amenzi pentru aeroporturi in cazul pasagerilor cu billet dar fara loc de la $200 pentru cei intarziati mai mult de o ora si $400 pentru cei care asteapta mai mult de doua ore si chiar pana la 400, 800 de dolari. for those who wait more than two hours to $400 and $800. Intre timp Secretarul Transporturilor Peters recunoaste ca liniile aeriene ar trece o parte din costurile amenzilor si penalitatilor pasagerilor, dar adauga si ca pasagerii deja pierd bani din cauza intarzierilor.

Written by Claudia Sonea Edited by Zuzana Tylkova
These news are brought to you by CantellTV, its technology partner SigEx Telecom and its founder Chris Cantell. CantellTV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with enhanced communications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface. CantellTV has relationships with a growing network of international clients delivering millions of videos per day with more than 50,000 new videos uploaded and 200 hours of new TV shows broadcasted daily to a wide range of viewers, from 5 to 7 year olds of LiveCartoons; to 16 to 24 year old active social users of MyJumps; to fortune 50 corporate clients utilizing enhanced broadcasting services. CantellTV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers. Chris Cantell retains consulting arrangements with several pre-IPO companies.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Qtrax Casts Off The Vow Of Free Online Music Service

Many of serious questions concerning future strategies of music industry have been discussed in Cannes last weekend. Names like Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube, Joanna Shields, Bebo international president, Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Music GM Ian Rogers, Steve Purdham, We7 CEO, Guy Hands, the new owner of British major EMI have appeared on the annual industry meeting. According to the valuation report, the music business is coming down, hardly surviving a huge crises, due to free internet sharing and downloading, simply called network piracy. The crises is calling for new alternative business models. Despite of increasing number of internet subscribers, which has advanced the strategy of online sales, provided by Apple Inc.'s iTunes or Amazon, the report claims they couldn't cover music industry losses. One of the most discussed topic, concerned Qtrax, ad-supported music service, that promised to lead off the sharing of its free online music. The initial plan featured the number of one million music tracks. The company reports that over 61,000 unique users per hour are using the Qtrax software by midday. The agreement was about to unravel, when a rejection came. Warmer Music Group Corp. declassified their attitude of no authorizing the firm to distribute it's artists music. This attitude was held by other major recording companies, Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group and Britain's EMI Group PLC. Allan Klepfisz, Qtrax President and Chief Executive admitted the difficulties while negotiating with the labels. For now, Qtrax's ambitious and courageous promise is about to fail, although Klepfisz declared an expectation to put off the service in the following months.

Edited by: Katarina Bosanska

These news are brought to you by CantellTV, it's technology partner SigEx Telecom and it’s founder Christopher M. Cantell. CantellTV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with enhanced communications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface. CantellTV has relationships with a growing network of international clients delivering millions of videos per day with more than 50,000 new videos uploaded and 200 hours of new TV shows broadcasted daily to a wide range of viewers, from 5 to 7 year olds of LiveCartoons; to 16 to 24 year old active social users of MyJumps; to fortune 50 corporate clients utilizing enhanced broadcasting services. CantellTV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers.

'Crash' on the small screen

The hit movie about the complexities of racial tolerance became a sensation in 2005. It won several Oscars including the one for Best Picture of the year. The cast was first-class, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Philippe, Thandie Newton, rapper Ludacris, and Don Cheadle who was also one of the producers. Now it is set to appear as TV series for Starz network, the pay cable channel. The 13-episode one hour series will be aired as its first drama series. Several members of the crew that worked on the movie will be back for the series. Paul Haggis, the film's director, co-writer and producer, will return as an executive producer along with Don Cheadle. Co-writer and producer Bobby Moresco, producer Bob Yari, producer Mark R. Harrisa and executive producer Tom Nunan of the original 'Crash' will participate as well. The cast is not known yet. It is rumored though that Don Cheadle might reprise his role as police detective and eventually also persuade the other actors from the film to join the series. Starz programming executive Stephen Shelanski said the producers are reluctant to bring back the movie characters unless the same actors are to appear in the roles. The production of the series is scheduled to begin this spring.

Social Networks

Are you a member of Facebook, MySpace, BlackPlanet, YouthRoots, Linkdeln or SigEx? If yes, you are in luck and you could pride on the fact, that you are a part of one big family. If not, hurry up! Social Networking is an innovative and creative approach, how can people be connected to each other and how they can communicate. This is the way how to share music, videos, photos as well as feelings with your friends wherever and whenever you are. Social networks as SigEx provides talks, views, blogs, websites, video clips, video mails and also communication through SMS, and allows communication from cell phones to the Internet. Niche social networks are designed for different communities, which have, certainly, different interests. But don't worries, creators of these networks have only one interest. Their aim is to keep people lucky, thanks to facilitating communication among them. Kay M. Madati, vice president of marketing at Community Connect and owner of five niche social networks said:"Whether you're an athlete and play sports, or you're religious and you like to go to church, people want to coalesce around things that are culturally relevant to them." SigEx telecom has a different strategy, how to keep their users satisfied. "Our focus on the 'meet or delete' strategy continues to drive the network," said Chris Cantell, SigEx Chief Executive Officer. Social networking is becoming more and more powerful industry, as every day, this digital stream of communication attract new members. Testimony to this is the amount of users, which have joined social networks from the beginning of their existence.

A latest feature in recruitment - paid job interviews

Yes, it is exactly as it is written. We can all forget tireless begging for a job interview. Instead, you will be paid for being interviewed and in addition to this, you will set the price. NotchUp.com has conceived a novel idea. It has proposed the way of luring the most appropriate, talented, experienced and satisfied applicants. Consequently, if the applicants become employed they are afterwards called "passive job seekers." According to Jim Ambras and Rob Ellis, the founders of NotchUp.com, this excellent method will fill in all the monetary gaps that are common results of a new hire's salary charged by recruiters and those who accumulate all probable resumes. Thus, the company saves time and money, the applicant gets paid, so everybody wins. What more can be expected than this happy-ending? Now, how to get your own price? It is quite simple and easy to do. You write down all information like the industry, job, pay, experience, etc. (setting up a profile is really easy), and you put it into calculator on the NotchUp web site. NotchUp gives advice to set a range between $200 and $ 500. Afterwards, you just submit your profile and you are ready to go! The companies which follow this method are Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Facebook. NotchUp started its DEMO startup on Monday in Palm Desert. Since that, the amount of responses of possible seekers is significantly high. In spite of being password-protected, it begun from 445 and ended in 10,500 members in 5 days till Friday. As Ambras said, "In every job I've had, I've had to, under time pressure, build a team of engineers. I learned years ago that the best people you want to hire are the people who aren't in the job market."

PayPal is purchasing

After many people lost their trust in the integrity PayPal once had, the online financial transactions firm announced on Monday that they just purchased an Israeli company that specializes in uncovering fraud. Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group takes the new acquisition as a very good investment that will build trust in PayPal and eBay services and transactions. Owned by veteran Internet auction service eBay, PayPal lost much of the clients' trust due to the so called phenomenon "phishing"- bogus e-mails sent by scammers to trick people into divulging passwords or other sensitive information linked to accounts. Therefore in order to regain its integrity and also to have better advantages in the competition it faces from popular Internet firms Google and Craigslist, which offer ways for people to sell items online, PayPal signed a deal with Fraud Sciences Ltd. And the purchase will be complete in less than 30 days. PayPal president Scott Thompson did not revealed details of the acquisition except that it will cost them 169 million dollars and that the company's expertise will be used to expose scams and deceptions targeted at PayPal and eBay users. Also, due to a clause of the deal Shvat Shaked and Saar Wilf, Fraud Science founders, and its chief operating officer Yossi Barak, will become part of PayPal's fraud management team. By improving its fraud detection, PayPal has a wider range of opportunities including to expand into more types of financial services on the Internet. Analysts perceive the purchase as a step towards the regain of the firm's integrity and to a revival of it. The safer it becomes, the more used it will be. Still, I would advice to wait and see the result before doing anything. Don't go away, more to come!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Zbierka minci predana za 10.7 miliona dolarov

V piatkovy vecer boli navstevnici Aukcnej galerie dedicstva v kalifornskom Long Beach svedkami napinaveho drazobneho suboja medzi poprednymi americkymi zberatelmi minci. Ti ponukali stovky tisicov dolarov, aby ziskali zatial najhodnotnejsiu zbierku americkych centov. Zbierka 301 centov obsahovala tie najojedinelejsie a najstarsie ukazky americkej penny. Jednym z najvyznamnejsich, zaroven aj najvzacnejsich kuskov bol americky cent z roku 1793, ktory bol v novootvorenej mincovni vo Philadelphii razeny iba dva tyzdne, kym to kongres nezamietol s tym, ze Lady Libertine na nej vyzerala vystrasene. Tato historicka minca, poklad zberatela, dodala najvacsiu hodnotu zbierke, ktora sa nakoniec predala za 10.7 miliona dolarov. Prezident Aukcii dedicstva Greg Rohan povedal, ze tato aukcia bola zatial najvacsia v historii kolekcii centov, so stovkami drazitelov doslova zavodiacimi o mince. Predpokladana hodnota zbierky bola odhadnuta na 7 milionov dolarov. ,,Bol to senzacny vecer," povedal Rohan. ,,Vsetci popredni zberatelia americkych centov tam boli bud osobne, drazili online alebo telefonicky." Kolekcia bola vlastnictvom Waltera J. Husaka, ktoreho bavilo zbierat mince od svojich trinastich rokov, a znacne mu k tejto dnes uz vysokohodnotnej zbierke pomohla aj jeho stara mama, ktora mu starymi mincami platila za pomoc na farme. Chlapcov otec, ktory pracoval v miestnej banke, sa v praci pochvalil konickom svojho syna, a prave tak ziskal maly Walter prve kontakty, a pustil sa do nakupovania starych minci. Ked priniesol domov dvanast indiánských centov, ktore kupil u otcovo kolegu za 12 dolarov, babka sa rozplakala, ze ho okradli. No napokon mu tato kupa predsa len priniesla vytuzeny zisk - v miestnom obchode s mincami predal jeden kus za 13 dolarov! Zrejme sa im v tej dobe ani nesnivalo, ze sa Waltrovi raz podari predat 301 centov za vyse 10.7 miliona.

Biggest, baddest and meanest frog ever hopping on Earth

It is incredible! Every time I am reading an article about some new founded fossil it always shows it was an extra big animal, with some incredible features and I am always thankful I have no possibility to meet it today. This time scientists unearthed fossil of a fog which was living among dinosaurs million years ago and was as big as bowling ball. That's why they dubbed it Beelzebufo or Devil Toad. Beelzebufo is a word consisted from greek Beelzebub what means "devil" and Latin word "bufo" which means toad. Another reason why is this extraordinary ancient frog called devil is because of its big mouth. Scientists think it may except lizards, mammals and smaller fogs even ate newborn dinosaurs. This XXL toad wasn't special just because of its 10 pounds and 16 inches length, what made it look like it "was on steroids" jokingly said paleontologist David Krause from New York's Tony Brook University. This discovery was led by him and it shows on very close relatedness of this big toad to todays normal-sized frogs who live in South America. They are called "Pac-Man" due to their huge mouths and ability to swallow a mouse. But the importance of this discovery lies in the fact, that it points on challenging assumptions about ancient geography. The fact he Beelzebufo was found on Madagascar and its relatives are now only in South America points on possibility that once may have existed a land bridge which was connecting Madagascar to Antarctica (which was much warmer than it is today) and South America. It would then enabled animals move from one place to another and so this looks as one of the best explanations of this discovery. Krause began his research of fossils on the coast of Africa in 1993 when he was also finding dinosaur and crocodile fossils. After discovery of this large fossil of toad his team also confirmed that Beelzebufo didn't live an aquatic lifestyle, but it lived in a semi-arid environment where it camouflage itself. By this incredible discovery we are closer to knowledge of the ancient world and life on it.

Alvin Drew finally appeared in Nelson's music video

When Willie Nelson, a legend of country music, set out to make video to his song "You Don't Think I'm Funny Anymore," premiering this Saturday on MTV, he named some of his celebrity friends and invited them to appear alongside him, such as Owen Wilson or Woody Harrelson, he somehow forgot to invite Alvin Drew. NASA astronaut Alvin Drew said "I do listen to Willie Nelson's music, but I wouldn't call myself a rabid fan, where I would go out and look for places to go check Willie Nelson out,", who logged 13 days in space as a mission specialist on shuttle Endeavour's August 2007 flight to the International Space Station. When his friend had invited him to join him at his running club, they met another regular, a friend of the singer. Drew explained: "So we get all done running and cleaned up, and he says, 'Hey, you want us to go over and spend some time at Willie Nelson's bar?' The friend I was with in Austin is a huge Willie Nelson fan, so he said, 'Why don't you come with us. It would be a great thing to do. We'll go over to Willie Nelson's bar and have a beer, meet Willie Nelson and then have a relaxing afternoon.'" However, when they arrived to Nelson's ranch, a problem occurred-the security would not let them in. "It turns out because they were shooting a video." continued Drew. "It turns out they needed extras for the final scene when they are giving out awards. They were looking for people to be extras, especially people with flash cameras. So, that is why I got recruited to go out there with a flash camera." At last, the many times awarded astronaut and NASA's mission specialist was just part of the general public. He did what he was told and stood in the crowd of cheering people, behind Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson. "It was only after they were all done and it was a wrap, and we were sitting around in Willie Nelson's bar, that it came up," Drew said with a laugh. "I sat there and had a good long chat with Willie Nelson." Nelson proved good sense of humor, when he after this incident, said: "He thought it was pretty interesting."

Want to success?...focus on potential!

On the example of a successful team of National Football League, The Patriots, the author demonstrated the best strategy to achieve success, no matter whether it applies to football championship or any other sphere of business. If the business leaders want to achieve such sustainable success as The New England Patriots, they should at first take their time to really align their talent to drive their business strategy. Instead, most of them just see talent management as an initiative driven by HR, with only little direct involvement of top leadership and separated from the explicit business requirements. Instead of creating a strategic context, they focus first on individual talent. For instance, instead of hiring football stars, who are expensive for what they have achieved, they focus on less-known players with high potential, which they are planning to develop. The New England Patriots know that talent should be a top priority for their whole leadership team. They separated three key functions -- player selection, coaching and business operations, to emphasise on team over individual. Coordination of separate leadership roles has enhanced the Patriots' operational effectiveness and, well, except for this year's surprising 2nd place at Superbowl, it has led to a long winning streak. Having mentioned all this admirable stuff about the team, I must not ommit a person, who is, to a large degree, responsible for all success!it is their head coach of The New England Patriots. Bill Belichich guided the Patriots to their first league title with a dramatic victory in Super Bowl XXXVI. In the seasons since then, he has directed New England to sustained success. Now, he is in his 33rd season and is the only head coach in NFL history to win three Super Bowl championships in a four-year span. He managed to lead his teams to own all of the major winning streaks in NFL history.

Let It Snow!?

Obviously those are the last words that would come to minds of Chinese people. I'm pretty sure that they are fed up with snow, with impassable roads, railways, with planes that cannot take off, freezing snowstorms, with the fact that they are stuck home even though that's the last place they would like to be (especially when it's New Year's time). It's calamity, it's disaster. The snow divided whole families and cause real tragedies. And the shops and businessmen are sorrowful as well. People are in their houses, just watching the hell outside, not even thinking about going out. And when they are in safety of their homes, how could they go to do some shopping? And no shopping means no money. By the time of Chinese New Year there's a buzz all around and busy days, hyper-buying activity, hyper-sales, myriads of young (and well-paid) people are coming back home to visit their parents and to give them money to buy things. And that's what makes poor retailers so sad (the snow will be gone for sure, but who will recompense the losses they all have recorded because of the storms?). And maybe they are planning revenge. Those retailers who are selling warm clothes, elementary supplies etc. are doing much more better. That's the way it goes. When nature's in a rage, you evidently don't need high heels, nail polish, plasma TV and so on. Simply, you just revalue your needs. And maybe people in China should get used to such a weather. Current volume of CO2 production, systematical pollution of air, land and water in order to achieve fast economic growth means that China becomes a ticking bomb. The point is, ticking doesn't include only annoying sound but mainly weather changes and environmental disasters.

Olivant's Black Horse Out Of The Game

After six month running British bank Northern Rock' s auction, one of the most serious candidates, Olivant Investment group, announces a withdrawal. The problems in the credit markets caused by US subprime mortage financial crisis induced Northern Rock, situated at Regent Centre near Newcastle upon Tyne to proclaim a bankruptcy, on September 14, 2007. Olivant, as a nominal candidate was expected to increase the rise of declining Northern Rock up to the 650 million pounds by issuing new shares in the bank. The current value of the bank has plunged to less than 0,53 billion pounds, that is less than a tenth of its initial last year. Luqman Arnold, current chairman of Olivant Investment group declared that despite of intensive work they had been unable to formulate a value creation proposal, which met their investment criteria, while respecting (the British government's) proposed financing terms and the interests of other stakeholders in the company. Just few minutes after a surprising decision, a leader of Virgin consortium, Richard Branson advanced its plans, according that, the bank would gain an injection of 1.25 billion pounds, whilst coming under the Virgin co. Following Brian Pitman, the potential bank leader acclaim, Virgin just 'seeks to stabilize the company and rebuild it as a trusted and thriving institution under its brand with a long-term future'. On the other side, the question, if Northern Bank should be nationalized is still unclear. Despite of last month' s government decision to keep the Northern Rock in a private sector, one of the real possibilities is to buy a share, having lent the bank about 25 billion pounds in emergency funding to keep it afloat.

Recession possible also in other countries

The financial turmoil the United States are currently facing seems not to affect just the North-American world's leader, but its consequences touch another countries' environment as well. Not talking about developing countries such as China or India which are nowadays experiencing their welfare and boom mainly in outputs and economy, the biggest countries of the world with the greatest influence are overcoming a shaking and or possibly a slump in the economic area. Canada seems to be the next one to worry about how to forestall the recession. All the concerns about the possible recession came to the evidence last year. Before that the boom in construction was high, what ensured the expansion in providing the mortgages. But the current situation indicates that the rate of home construction started to slow down, the prices for the houses lowered. Consequently there is a need to guarantee for the mortgage with a higher value than just the house and the conditions for providing of mortgages tightened. Mortgage business belongs to one of the strongest ones in the northern continent, what is related to the life style of Americans to live in debit constantly. Indebtedness of households has rapidly grown in the recent past. While at the beginning of 90s it represented 80 per cent of their earnings, at the rise of new decade the percentage reached the figure of 100. Nowadays it's even more staggering - the indebtedness is on the level of 130 per cent. As you can see, according to the situation on the mortgage or building market, the possible scenario of the US recession seems to be really likely to happen. The only way how to solve the unpleasant situation is to force the government to take the needed steps to avert or at least to soften the recession. Hopefully, the worsening conditions in the North America won't have any deep influence on the European market.

"The (Red) Auction"

Non-profit-making organizations, famous or successful people or several companies all around the world are often dealing with preparing or running different auctions, which should help old, ill, befallen people, or easily people in need. Similar idea raised also in the heads of Bono and Hirst, two years ago, when they were together on holiday in the south of France. The biggest art world's stars of these times, like Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, are included in this huge project of auction. Earnings from this project will be assigned to provide AIDS relief in Africa. This auction is located in New York and it is expected to bring up approximately $29 million. The auction is considered to be the biggest Sotheby's art charity auction of our times. Works, including photographs, paintings, sculptures and other, are displayed from Monday and people interested could find them at Manhattan's Gagosian Gallery until February 14. On Valentine's Day it will be sold, to establish United Nation's HIV relief program in Africa. "It's a cream of the international contemporary art crop," said Oliver Barker, specialist for contemporary art at Sotheby's in London, observing such names as Willem de Kooning, Takashi Murakami, Jasper Johns and Richard Prince. A big amount of these works was created especially for Valentine's Day auction and are unit because they are made in shades of red, or this color is used as a thematic element. The collection implies for example Hirst's "Where there's a will there's a way" or Koons's "Ballon rabbit wall relief (Red)". The artists also cooperate with organizations such as the Gap, Hallmark, Apple and Microsoft.

Advertisements won Superbowl 2008

American Superbowl is almost every year the most watched event on television. Superbowl 2008, played on 3. February at University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, Arizona was this year watched by 97.5 million of people. With the american tradition, sport mentality and these great ratings it is probably the goldest mine for TV and also for commercial makers. Superbowl is usually broadcasted by channel FOX, which sells its broadcasting time for an average price $2.7 million for a 30-second spot & conditions quite incomparable to Slovak's. Advertising polls showed that good laugh is above all for U.S. audiences. As a result that the best weapon of commercials is sense of humor are the five most successful commercials of Superbowl 2008 chosen by USA Today's Ad Meter. The highest mark scored spot for Budweiser beer showing a Dalmatian training an underdog Clydesdale horse & the beer' s mascot. Other four places went to ads from Fedex, Bridgestone, Doritos and Bud Light. Another reviews rated commercials from E-trade or Tide, which featured a talking stain. Among the bloggers, the first place went to Pepsi commercial with singer Justin Timberlake. Professor Tim Calkins from Northwestern University said, that "overall it was a great year for Superbowl advertising." However, there were also companies which spent millions of dollars for their forgettable or poorly received advertisements, like for example an animated spot showing two panda bears worried about going out of business. As always, Superbowl has its winners and losers, as well as in the level of commercials. And by the way, New York Giants won over New England Patriots.

Killing the Earth

Can you imagine that in 1000 years there won't be any life on Earth? It will be dead, dirty planet. Or that in 50 years there won't be any rain forest, any big producer of oxygen? Or there won't be any ice in the Arctic. All these things can happen. It's up to us. To be honest, I think all of this can be, and it is, our fault. All the global warming is caused by us. Of course there are some opponents of this theory. Some of them think that global warming is a natural process, and need no explanation, or others think that this era is just the end of the last ice age, so it's natural that Earth is getting warmer. But when you think about these theories, are those people normal? We can see that, for example the ice in the polar areas is melting; we can see how the animals over there are loosing their natural world. We can see how the climate in some countries is changing rapidly, they have floods, or they are without any rain. We can see how dirty everything is, you even have to be careful what water do you drink, everyday is a new factory build, you can see it. People are leaking the dirt to the oceans and air or dig it into the ground. So then don't be surprised when some huge disaster will come and kill us. We still have time to do something about this. Some things on this planet we have already destroyed, but there are still lots of things we have to save. Only thing we have to do is to join. And together we can do almost everything.

Downgrades cause market fall

As brokerages downgraded banks and credit card companies, the stocks slumped on Monday. Thus it seems that another economy pillar is unstable. These downgrades together with reports of sluggish factory orders have the vivid impact on economically sensitive sectors including banks, home builders, and home retailers. Paradoxically, this same group was bearing recovery last week. American Express was among the first one to sell at the beginning of 2008 for a recession. Its stocks went under 4 percent. It said that the whole situation would lead to higher unemployment. According to Scott Wren, a senior equity strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc in New York, the previous last weeks were too cyclical. He expressed his doubts whether it is really good to have such cyclings. He reckoned that it was too early for cyclical process as we were going to have slower short lasting economic news in the future. The economic reports showed that the Dow Jones industrial average dropped by 108.03 points to 12,635.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index decreased to 1,380.82 by 14.60 points. The Nasdaq composite Index declined by 1.26 percent to 2,392.85 points. The greatest furl to the Nasdaq was the result of Google's shares abating by 4 percent to $495.43.The Internet media Yahoo Inc would recognize definitely this slump as a repudiation to the alliance proposed on Sunday by Google. Yahoo stock went up by 3.3 percent to $29.33. All in all, dropping stocks phased out flourishing stocks by a ratio 3:2 on the New York Stock Exchange and by 4:3 on Nasdaq.

"Super Tuesday" in presidential elections

The presidential struggle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton slowly graduates. In November's presidential election they fought for the nomination for the Democratic party and were trying to get as much voters as they were able to get. Both of them were sharing the first for mayor contests. Hillary Clinton was the one who suffered from the election by sore throat and strong caught after a long lasted election activity. Hillary Clinton expressed her attitude towards the presidential elections, she said: "My objective is to get everybody into this system. I am running for president because I know we can do better than we have." The Democrats have its own appointees in each state, especially in Texas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It is sure that the election race will continue until someone will get enough appointees to secure his nomination. Mark Penn, a strategist working for Hillary Clinton said: "The likelihood is the nomination will be decided somewhere in those states. This race will continue until someone has the delegates necessary to secure the nomination." On the other hand, John McCain and his republican party have a strong day, his contests are winning, which could mean a leading position in the elections. John McCain said that he hopes "to do well enough to hopefully draw this process to a close, but if not we'll be prepared to continue to go out and campaign."

Successful Finish of 2007

On the world is another finished acquisition. The quarter report of Media-entertainment giant News Corp. joined with the Wall Street Journal and a parent of newspaper Dow Jones & Co. It was realized on December 13 and the whole business cost the New York-based conglomerate huge amount of money. It had to pay about 5.6 billion dollars. Today the company covers Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, the New York Post newspaper, the Fox Hollywood film studios and television network and the Internet social networking site MySpace. The last year company finished the second fiscal quarter up 1.2 % than the year before. The analysts think it could be at 27 cents per share. Earnings increased 9.5 % for the same period, which is about 8.59 billion dollars. . It was the highest operating income quarter in history of the company. The company is proud of its own results by rights. All this is only a result of never ending fixation on coming opportunities. All these activities have brought results. The company is becoming one of the strongest leaders on market. The company was able to put about 402million dollars, one year earlier it was about 470 million dollars. And the whole endeavor returned in films "Juno" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and their positive impact. Also Cable network programming raised 23 %. What brought a profit about 337 million dollars. Operating profits of newspapers raised 15 % to 196 million dollars. Management of the company believes everything is going to continue also in the future. Another company with the leading position in communication market is SigEx. The total reported equity is €347M for the last year. The last quarter brought the company 19 % of the total amount. The share price is still increasing. In the end of 2007 is the price 30.80 per share. From 2006 it is an increase of 117%. SigEx Telecom is quickly becoming a leader on the social communications telecom network. The company offers wide services connected with online communication.

SigEx brings new social networking technologies

Every individual belongs to some kind of social network & a social structure describing the individual and his relationship to the other people and organizations. It is made out of "nodes" & the actual individuals and organizations and "ties" & that, what brings two nods together, for example friendship, hobbies, etc. The Internet boom brought the social networks to the new level & it provides online social network services. Social network services are online communities of people willing to meet others with similar interests and sharing them. Usually, the base of the social network service is a software, which enables people to meet and share their thoughts. The one of first social network service websites was in year 1996 website Classmates.com, which mediated contact between former class and schoolmates. Since then, the number of social networking sites has notably risen and they became a good tool for moneymaking through various fees and advertisement. SigEx Telecom is a company bringing new innovative social networking technologies. It provides a wide variety of online services & communication, viewing and sharing videos, online TV broadcast, websites, blogs, videomails and SMS communication between cell phone and Internet. Their unlimited voice and video communication tools enable more online users to talk together at once. Its services are used in almost every country around the world. SigEx Telecom's founders hope that by providing their media device products and services to business companies and individuals, eventually, they will connect different networks, users and content together.

Elections

Oh my God, politics again. I know some people hate politics, they don't speak about it, they don't think about it. I used to be the same before. But then after my last year on High School, I understood the importance of it. We are happy because in our country we can choose our politicians, the most important persons, directly. Who get the most votes is the winner. But in the US it's different. The elections are totally different. I know you are probably not interested, but I will tell you only the main things. Citizens give vote for their favorite candidate to special person called elector. After that elector is voting for that candidate who got the most votes. And it's like this in every state in the US. A little complicated. Anything can happen. I spoke to many Americans, and I asked them about the president. And everyone told me that they didn't vote for Bush. So tell me how is possible that he won? So who voted for him then? Some of those people didn't understand too, but it was late. The States are the most powerful state & president is the most powerful person in the world. I can imagine that in so big country can be chaos. But that's why they should be more careful. People should decide and act responsibly. Many Americans don't even go vote, because they don't care. They are loosing the chance to decide, and they are loosing this chance for others too. But there are always some who can't wait to wake up and go vote.

Rebels in Chad show the nature of locals

On the first sight it might seem in developing countries where people do not have the opportunities to live a life of welfare and sufficiency of almost everything, the only problem is to ensure everybody gets an adequate supply of the primary stuff such as water, food and health care. Although most of us consider it this way, the true is a bit different. Kenya or Chad act as recent examples of prevalence of solving the social and political conflicts over assuring the basic day existence. The post-election unrest and violence in Kenya caused deaths of about 1,000 people. The conflicts originate more in political misunderstandings, but the ethnic discrepancy contributed to the still worsening situation as well, or as the analysts affirm, exactly the ethnicity mobilized the outrage. However, Kenya isn't the only African country that is facing serious troubles among the inhabitants themselves. Also Chad belongs to the list of countries where the violence prevails the peaceful existence of the local people side by side. The conflict has its roots in disagreement between Chad and Sudan. Chad has accused Sudan of being behind the latest violence in Chad to prevent Europe from deploying a peacekeeping force to the border region, a mission Sudan has resisted. Both countries have long exchanged charges and denials of supporting the other's rebels. This year the violence sharpened when the rebels stormed into the capital of the oil-producing central African country and caused extensive turmoil. Chad Red Cross officials said hundreds of civilians have died, most from bullet wounds and the figure of wounded ones mounted up to 1,000. One wouldn't conceive the solving of mainly political conflicts can overweight the basic needs. Countries, where people are in serious danger due to an insufficient supply of water or health care, unveil their natural character. Revenge exceeds the primary needs, desire to express their own opinions or status is apparently more than basic survival.

Super Tuesday back for Clinton!

Last 24 hours brought a lot of calculation not only for recent favorite Hillary Clinton and John McCain. The result proved that about 4 million voters nationally turned out for Democrats, than for Republicans. Despite of Obama' s victory in 13 states - Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, North Dakota and Utah, Clinton gained the biggest California, New York and Arizona, Arkansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Tennessee. According expectations, Clinton scored between the groups of women, that made up from 55 to 59 percent of voters, Latinos and working class whites, winning the Latino California, counting with the Latino majority in Texas primaries(March 4). Obama won basically the Negro South. Analysts claim although Obama's good position, he didn't achieve that success, he had been counting on. As Sandy Maisel, Colby political scientist suggests, Obama could end tonight, if he could win one of the big states. His campaign got support mostly from black, independents and educated young voters & that is "all well and good, but not significant enough to counteract the traditional Democratic base." "He's shown he is viable, but I don't think he has proven he can knock her off yet," she says. The next week's primaries in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and March's one in Ohio and Texas are expected to bring though results for both candidates. While Democratic race continues, as for Republicans, John McCain got the definitive nomination, highly tumbling over Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. There is no doubt that conservative and traditional McCain will fight up to the last moment, holding strong positions all over the states. Question remains & will both of Democrats, either modern, almost revolutionary Obama, eiher women supported Clinton be able to stand his sure hard attacks?

Exhausted

I'm exhausted. And I'm not even running for president. I'm exhausted just because of hearing all that campaign news and stuff. And I really regret all those brave and strong candidates as they have to defense themselves just for being themselves. Aren't you little too old? Do you think everyhing's allright when it comes to your religion? My dear, what about the drugs in your youth? And you, do really you wanna live in White House once again? Every single world they have said in their entire life can be used like a weapon that shoot them down to their knees and spoil their hopes to be president once and for all. So, children, be very careful of what you're saying. You just never know whether it will bury you later career. I'm exhausted. And I'm not even flying all over the U.S. trying to persuade the important people (the ordinary people are yet waiting for their chance to be important) that I'm the best. And I really admire all those candidates as they have to speak about economics, health care, insurance, military, war, protection of environment, national security, international affairs and all other important issues and be both intransigent and a co-operative in the same minute. Smiling, crying, emotions, racio, arguments, waving to the crowd, balloons, banners. I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted of listening how much all those caring people spent on their campaigns and rallies. Who attracted more attractive celebrity, whose musician wrote better supporting song? Whose speech is more unforgettable? Who will be the one? Aren't they exhausted doing all of that and flying here, there, everywhere? I guess I'll take a break.

Missing Lake Tahoe skiers are safe and sound

Patrick Frost, 35 and Christopher Gerwig, 32 were found safe on Monday morning, spotted by a Placer County Sheriff's Department helicopter just two miles from Alpine Meadows ski resort. The two skiers went missing near Lake Tahoe after the savage winter storm, which brought heaps of snow into the area. They were last seen on Saturday morning at the ski resort mentioned above, which is situated west of the lake. The two skiers, both of them San Francisco dwellers, have survived by making a snow cave and cuddling together for warmth. "They said they kind of got their knowledge of building snow caves from the Discovery channel," said sheriff's Lt. Jeff Ausnow. Fortunately, they had some Power Bars with them so they were not starving either. They melted snow in plastic bag to have something to drink. After the rescue team found them they were transported to Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital. According to the hospital spokeswoman they have suffered no grave injuries, only minor frostbite. "We never ever considered giving up. We were going to make it," Frost said as they left the hospital. When the storm left Lake Tahoe area it moved towards Southern California, where subsequently 53-year-old Ellen Coleman of Riverside was reported missing on Sunday on Mount San Jacinto. She was about to hike to the summit. The woman was found Monday on the mountain. Snow and ice was also the reason for closing the Grapevine section of Interstate 5, which passes through the mountains about 65 miles north of Los Angeles. It was reopened Monday morning.

Another triumph of Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods, actual golf world No. 1 won his second tournament this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on February 3,2008. Woods finished at 14-under 274 one shot over Martin Kaymer, talented golfer form Germany. It is third time he started season 2-0. "It's the ideal start isn't it? You play to win. So far, I've done that this year." said Woods. In his career he has won 62 on the PGA Tour and 13 professional major golf world championships. Each tournament has it's winner and it's losers. For Ernie Els it was a real tragedy. Now, he is in the middle of his three-year plan to overtake Tiger Woods as the world's No.1, but now it seems to be a lost cause. Els started final round with one-shot lead over Henrik Stenson and had a chance to force playoff. But lately, all went wrong and after second ball ended in the water 38-year South African walked starring at the ground. Tiger Woods is ranked one of the best golf players of all time. He has been named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year four times and Golf Digest predicted him to become the world first billionaire athlete in 2010. Woods aroused the interest in golf, which most of people considered to be insular, among the multicultural audience, doubled attendance and TV ratings. Tiger Woods started this year with two wins as well as in year 2000 and 2006. Now he has few days to decide whether he will play The Northern Trust Open at Riviera or he will not return until Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona, begins February, 20.

Un regulament rutier mai strict

Prins in flagrant! Nu mai poti sa te rujezi, nici sa te razi sau sa ti un animal in brate cand te afli pe locul soferului si bine inteles daca locuiesti in nordul Mexicului. Nu te opreste nimeni sa o faci, dar va duce la niste amenzi usturatoare. Aceasta fiind doar un alt pas in planul autoritatilor mexicane de a reduce accidentele. Doar ca sa va creati o imagine a cum decurge sistemul rutier mexican haideti sa aruncam o privire asupra a cat de mult ai plati daca te-ai machia sau barbieri cu un aparat electric. Conform relatarii din media de duminica amenziile vor fi de pana la 346 de pesos ($32) in orasul Torreon din nordul Mexicului incepand cu luna ceasta. Primaria orasului Torreon a clasificat ca si contraventi conducerea sub influenta alcoolului sau a drogurilor, depasirea vitezei legale, vorbitul la telefon fara casca, aruncarea gunoiului afara din masina sau conducerea cu o alta persoana sau un animal in poala. Pentru toate acestea amenziile sunt mult mai mari si orasul deschide astfel calea catre un regulament rutier mai strict pe care soferii mexicani il vor ignora cel mai probabil la fel cum o fac cu semafoarele, condusul in stare de ebrietate sau copii pe scaunul din fata.Comportamentul lor face din accidentele fatale un lucru banal. Daca va ajuta sau nu, autoritatiile mexicane nu stiu inca, dar se asteapta la o oarecare imbunatatire, astfel ca nu vor mai fi situatii ca cele din videoclipul lui Pink: Stupid Girls. Deschideti ochii, aveti grija si nu dormiti la volan pentru ca vieti depind de dumneavoastra.

Traffic regulation tightening

Busted! You can no longer put on lipstick, nor shaving or carrying a pet at the wheel if you are on the driver seat and of course if you live in northern Mexico. No one stops you, but it would lead to hefty fines. It is another step in the plan of authorities that are trying to cut down on traffic accidents. Just to make an image of how the Mexican driving system works lets see how much you would pay for putting on make-up or shaving with an electric razor. According to Mexican media report on Saturday the fines will be up to 346 pesos ($32) in the northern Mexican city of Torreon from this month. Torreon city hall classified as misdemeanors driving while intoxicated, speeding, and talking on a telephone without a headset, throwing trash out of a car window, and driving with another person or an animal on a motorist's lap. For these demeanors the fines are higher and this city opens way to a stiffening traffic law that Mexican drivers will most probably ignore like they do it with stop lights, drive drunk or with children in the front seat, and carry passengers in the back of pick-up trucks. Their behavior however makes from fatal accidents a common thing. If it will help, the Mexican authorities don’t know yet, but they expect at least an improvement to be seen, so there will not be anymore situations like that from Pink’s video: Stupid Girls. Watch out, open your eyes and don’t sleep while driving, lives depend on you.

Robots taking over

You never get bored reading about the latest inventions in technology especially. Since ever the main goal of researchers was to create an artificial form of life- a robot. Well, their quest is getting closer and closer to that point. If until now you could see robots only on TV or on the Internet, now you can meet one in everyday life. On Monday, Dutch inventors presented their latest creation: a 75,000 euro ($111,100) car-fuelling robot. Drivers will no longer feel the nostalgia for braved windswept garage forecourts that filled their tanks due to this Dutch robot, first of its kind. It is created to accomplish tasks like registering the car on arrival at the filling station and matching it to a database of fuel cap designs and fuel types. Just imagine the entire situation: a robotic arm fitted with multiple sensors extends from a regular petrol pump, opens the car's flap, picks up the fuel nozzle and directs it toward the tank opening, just like a living person, perhaps even more efficient. The idea started from a robotic arm milking a cow that determined the developer and petrol station operator Nico van Staveren to create a robot to pump up gas, for all motorists to be excerpted from getting dirty and smelly. His aim is to introduce the "Tankpitstop" robot by the end of the year in as much as possible Dutch gas station. However, it works only for any car whose tank can be opened without a key, and whose contours and dimensions have been recorded to avoid scratching. The drivers are not scared by the robot, but they hope the gas station has a very good insurance. Stay connected and see when your town will get one. Enjoy!

Eclipse or the end of life

Sun, Moon, planets! they are so esoteric for me. I know that today's science makes big improvement in this topic but there is still something what we don't know exactly. That is really fascinating! People have been interested in these themes since the pass. I think that we all know that people had different theories about our Earth and space. They thought that our Earth was centre of space and everything was rotating around it. Then there were theories about modality of our planet; that Earth was some design of "slapjack" or "slab". Today we know true. We know what the reason of variation day and night is. But can you imagine the reactions of people in the pass when they saw first eclipse? They thought that it is the end of life or that some gods are angry with them. Anyway I want to say that today's technology, science, analyses or calculations can say more and make humanity ready for different situation. Of course we don't know everything yet but we know date of the next lunar eclipse. When? It is going to happen on Wednesday, 20th February, 2008. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes into Earth's shadow. The moon will start to enter the darkest part of Earth's shadow at 8.43p.m. EST. Total eclipse will be from 10.01p.m. to 10.51p.m. We can watch it with the naked eye from 8.43p.m. to 10.01p.m. The moon will take red color that is effect of light which is bent by Earth's atmosphere and combination of light from sunsets and sunrises. An eclipse is credited with saving the life if Christopher Columbus and his crew in 1504. The next eclipse will be on December 21, 2010.

Alain Robbe-Grillet dies

His name is associated mainly with the nouveau roman phenomena, which has its origins in 1950s France and basically rejects all the main features or characteristics of the novel such as plot and emotion. Alain Robbe-Grillet also nicknamed "enfant terrible" of the French literary society died on Monday, February 18 in Caen in Normandy aged 85. The cause of death is not known. He was born in 1922 in Brest to the well-educated family of scientists and engineers and was later trained himself as an agricultural engineer. In 1953 his first novel called Les Gommes (The Erasers) was published. Robbe-Grillet became a full-time writer soon after. The most praised of his novels is probably The Voyeur from 1955 which focuses on a young girl's murder. The dialogue is very scarce and there are no inner thoughts or emotions of the characters expressed. In 1961, he was invited to write the script for Alain Resnais' film L'Année derniÃ¨re Ã Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad), which was later highly acclaimed by the critics and even considered as one of the best French films of 1960s. But that was not the end of his career in film industry for later he directed himself several films, including Trans-Euro-Express or Le jeu avec le feu (Playing with Fire). From 1971 to 1995 he dwelt in the United States and taught at New York University. In 2004, he was elected to Académie franÃ§aise but being a rebel till the end he refused to buy required outfit and make an eulogy to his predecessor and therefore he was never officially admitted to the institution.

American economy falling into recession

The centerpiece of U.S. government efforts to rescue a national economy, that is slowly falling into recession. The main goal is simple - to make people spend more money. But this apparently easy target is harder to achieve than it might seem. Why should people start spending more money than they are used to? Everybody knows what they can afford, have no other option than live according to it. People with invariable income only rarely exceed their usual expenditures. But if you want them to, you should, well, except of literally giving them some extra money, give them a motivation. Congress, President Bush, the Federal Reserve and Wall Street came up with a slightly unusual way to motivate them. Recently, Bush signed legislation to rush rebates ranging from $300 to $1,200 to millions of people. Firstly, they must file their 2007 tax return. The authors of the idea believe the people who receive the rebates will not be able to resist spending it. However, according to a research, only 19 % of respondents are planning to actually spend the money, while the rest of them claim to save or invest it, or, mainly, just pay off the bills. "We have come together on a single mission — and that is to put the people's interests first," said Bush, who called the measure "a booster shot for our economy". It might appear as an easy solution, but it naturally evokes a question & Where will the U.S. government get billions of dollars to pay for the rebates from? Altogether, it is estimated to cost about $117 billion over the next two years. The government will have to borrow more money, enlarging the budget deficit. The obvious gameness of this decision is an unmistakable proof, that the necessity of rescuing the already wobbling economy is urgent.

Zachrani Bush vlastnu upadajucu ekonomiku?

Najnovsim vrcholom programu americkeho parlamentu su snahy o zachranu statnej ekonomiky, ktora postupne zaznamenava pokles hospodarskej aktivity. Hlavny ciel je prosty - donutit ludi, aby minali viac penazi. No tento zdanlivo jednoduchy ciel je omnoho tazsie dosiahnut, ako by sa mohlo zdat. Preco by mali ludia zrazu minat viac ako su zvyknuti? Kazdy vie co si moze dovolit a co nie, a nema inu moznost ako prisposobit tomu svoj zivotny styl. Ludia s nemennym prijmom len zriedka prekracuju svoje bezne vydavky. No ak chcete aby tak urobili, musite im & samozrejme, okrem doslova darovania penazi - dat motivaciu. Kongres, prezident Bush a Wall Street prisli s trosku nezvycajnym sposobom, ako ich motivovat. Bush nedavno podpisal legislativu na urychlenie rabatov, v rozsahu 300 az 1200 dolarov, milionom ludi. Najprv vsak musia podat danove priznanie za rok 2007. Autori tejto myslienky dufaju, ze ludia, ktori takto dostanu peniaze, ich potom nedokazu odolat minut. Avsak, podla prieskumu, len 19 % opytanych planuje tieto peniaze minut. Ostatni si ich chcu odlozit alebo investovat, no vacsina ich chce pouzit na vyplatenie uctov. ,,Zhodli sme sa na priamej misii & a to dat do popredia ludske zaujmy,"povedal Bush, ktory nazval toto opatrenie 'posilujucou davkou pre nasu ekonomiku'. Toto riesenie sa moze zdat ako jednoduche, no prirodzene vyvolava otazku & Odkial ziska stat biliony dolarov na vyplatenie rabatov? Dohromady, predpokladane vydavky vo vyske okolo 117 bilionov dolarov za nasledujuce dva roky. Stat si bude musiet pozicat viac penazi, co este zvysi nedostatok prostriedkov. Ocividna riskantnost tohto rozhodnutia je jasnym dokazom, ze potreba zachrany uz teraz upadajucej ekonomiky je surna.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Blog Archive

About Me