Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

Inveterate note takers cum net browsers can now make use of a new product available online Google notebook. It accompanies you unobtrusively when you browse the Net and is at hand when you want to note down, clip or paste anything. You can do it without leaving the site you are browsing. The notebook may prove to be useful for students, researchers and those diligent types who like to scribble. The content can be organised in terms of subjects. It all looks very neat and tidy. You can also decide to share it online with your friends or publish it as a webpage after a while. And there is no need to worry about losing the notebook, since it is kept secure in a Google server.

Jordin Sparks grew up on American Idol, watching the television singing competition since she was 12 years old and telling her mother it was what she wanted to do. "Now I‘m actually doing it," the 17-year-old told reporters backstage after winning in Wednesday's season finale. The announcement that the Arizona teenager bested Blake Lewis, 25, the beat-boxer from Washington, came at the end of a two-hour extravaganza at the Kodak Theatre. "I've just been trying to top myself each week," Sparks said. "I would sing my song and after I was done I was like, ‘OK, what am I going to do next week that's going to be ... either just as good or better.'" Sparks, with a floor-length gown and movie-star hair, gushed like a teenager when her name was called. "Thank you so much for everything," she told the crowd. "Mom, Dad, I love you. Nana, Papa, P.J., thank you guys." Then she began This Is My Now, the tune picked by viewers in a ne

Kathmandu: A British man has set a world record by making the first mobile telephone call from the summit of Mount Everest, taking the blessing — or curse — of the cellphone to new heights. “It’s cold, it’s fantastic, the Himalayas are everywhere,” Rod Baber said in the phone call from the top of the 8,848-metre (29,198foot) peak early on Monday morning, according to a voice recording posted on his web log. “I can’t feel my toes, everyone is in good spirits — we got here in record time, it is amazing,” said Baber. His achievement was made possible by China Telecom, which has set up a mobile phone tower at base camp on the north side of the mountain. It is good news because communications are essential in the mountains where climbers face risk.

Breaking News!! Flash News!! Since we stare at work so much, I had wondered if I had read it correct. Yes I had read it right, much to one’s disbelief but then it could have also been a typo error (a big one it would have been) but then it was THE NEWS everywhere. This new law has an immediate effect and by the words of the City commissioner Mr. Balwinder Singh you can expect more such laws to ‘protect citizens’ (no it isn’t the typical Sardarji joke, it’s for real). This has come in effect due to a recent incident, where a pillion rider had been responsible for a stabbing incident. These rules are becoming ridiculous with every passing day and hampering normal existence. We had the Fire department disprove many high-rise projects (higher than a 5 storey building) due to lack on fire safety equipment. This was least expected for a bloating city population supported by a floating suburban population. Recently we also had the Karnataka government ban woman working in night shifts, this

Will Dunham Washington: TREATING SKIN wounds with a gel made from a patient's own blood platelets can speed healing, said researchers in a study showing how doctors may be able to harness the body's innate healing ability. Skin wounds treated with this gel healed about 10 per cent more quickly than wounds in the same people treated with only an antibiotic ointment, a recent study in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery showed. The researchers cautioned that this was a small pilot study - only eight people were examined - but said the concept could change the way doctors deal with wounds, from surgical incisions to, potentially, internal injuries. "I'm excited about it because it changes our way of thinking about wounds. Instead of passively just watching it heal, we can now actively intervene to possibly speed it up," said study leader Dr David Hom of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio. Hom said in a telephonic interview that improving woun

Jaipur: Habib Miyan, acknowledged as the oldest person of India in the Limca Book of Records , celebrated his 138th birthday on Sunday, with people from all walks of life thronging his residence here to greet him. Miyan cut a cake, firecrackers were burst and 139 balloons released to mark the celebrations, joined in by people from as far as Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, as also chairman of Rajasthan Minority Com mission Sardar Jasbir Singh. "Kisi raees ki mehfil ka jikra kya hai amir, khuda ke ghar bhi na jayenge bin bulawe ke (May you discuss a party of a rich man, I will not even go to god's house without invitation)," Miyan quipped at his house. Asked about his eating habits, he said, "I am open to any kind of food," but added that he is a great fan of meat preparations, even if these are considered too oily for his age. "Gosht roti khao, Allah ke gun gao," Miyan said. Habib Miyan is a very optimistic person, said Dr R.K. Verma, an

Friday, 18 May , 2007 Hyderabad: Five persons were killed and eight others, including two children, were injured when a powerful bomb exploded during Friday prayers at the historic Mecca mosque in the Charminar area of the old city in Hyderabad. Two live bombs were also detected from the spot soon after the explosions and were defused. The bomb exploded when thousands of people were gathered in the mosque for Friday prayers, DCP, South Zone, Kanta Rao, said. The injured, some of them bleeding profusely, were rushed to Osmania and other hospitals by the worshippers in whatever modes of transport they could arrange. The explosion created such a panic that those gathered for the prayers started running towards the exit gate of the mosque, said to be over 400 years old and considered sacred by Muslims in and outside the state. A large posse of police personnel, who arrived on the scene, faced an angry crowd, who pelted stones at them and the shops in the vicinity. Police resorted to lath