Please note that some of the 'facts' below have been proven false myths. An example is the duck's echo which does not echo (but proved that it does).
It is impossible to lick your elbow
A crocodile can't stick it's tongue out.
A shrimp's heart is in it's head.
People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze,your heart stops for a mili-second.
In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand.
It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
Rats and horses can't vomit.
If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib.
If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
If you keep your eyes open by force when you sneeze, you might pop an eyeball out.
Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants.
Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.
23% of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their butts.
In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders.
Most lipstick contains fish scales.
Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
Over 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.
A crocodile can't move its tongue and cannot chew. Its digestive juices are so strong that it can digest a steel nail.
Money notes are not made from paper, they are made mostly from a special blend of cotton and linen. In 1932, when a shortage of cash occurred in Tenino, Washington, USA, notes were made out of wood for a brief period.
The Grammy Awards were introduced to counter the threat of rock music. In the late 1950s, a group of record executives were alarmed by the explosive success of rock ‘n roll, considering it a threat to "quality" music.
Tea is said to have been discovered in 2737 BC by a Chinese emperor when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water. The tea bag was introduced in 1908 by Thomas Sullivan of New York.
Over the last 150 years the average height of people in industrialised nations has increased 10 cm (about 4 inches). In the 19th century, American men were the tallest in the world, averaging 1,71m (5'6"). Today, the average height for American men is 1,75m (5'7"), compared to 1,77 (5'8") for Swedes, and 1,78 (5'8.5") for the Dutch. The tallest nation in the world is the Watusis of Burundi.
In 1955 the richest woman in the world was Mrs Hetty Green Wilks, who left an estate of $95 million in a will that was found in a tin box with four pieces of soap. Queen Elizabeth of Britain and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands count under the 10 wealthiest women in the world.
Joseph Niepce developed the world's first photographic image in 1827. Thomas Edison and W K L Dickson introduced the film camera in 1894. But the first projection of an image on a screen was made by a German priest. In 1646, Athanasius Kircher used a candle or oil lamp to project hand-painted images onto a white screen.
In 1935 a writer named Dudley Nichols refused to accept the Oscar for his movie The Informer because the Writers Guild was on strike against the movie studios. In 1970 George C. Scott refused the Best Actor Oscar for Patton. In 1972 Marlon Brando refused the Oscar for his role in The Godfather.
The system of democracy was introduced 2 500 years ago in Athens, Greece. The oldest existing governing body operates in Althing in Iceland. It was established in 930 AD.
A person can live without food for about a month, but only about a week without water.If the amount of water in your body is reduced by just 1%, you'll feel thirsty.If it's reduced by 10%, you'll die.
According to a study by the Economic Research Service, 27% of all food production in Western nations ends up in garbage cans. Yet, 1,2 billion people are underfed - the same number of people who are overweight.
Camels are called "ships of the desert" because of the way they move, not because of their transport capabilities. A Dromedary camel has one hump and a Bactrian camel two humps. The humps are used as fat storage. Thus, an undernourished camel will not have a hump
In the Durango desert, in Mexico, there's a creepy spot called the "Zone of Silence." You can't pick up clear TV or radio signals. And locals say fireballs sometimes appear in the sky.
Ethernet is a registered trademark of Xerox, Unix is a registered trademark of AT&T.
Bill Gates' first business was Traff-O-Data, a company that created machines which recorded the number of cars passing a given point on a road.
Uranus' orbital axis is tilted at 90 degrees.
The final resting-place for Dr. Eugene Shoemaker - the Moon. The famed U.S. Geological Survey astronomer, trained the Apollo astronauts about craters, but never made it into space. Mr. Shoemaker had wanted to be an astronaut but was rejected because of a medical problem. His ashes were placed on board the Lunar Prospector spacecraft before it was launched on January 6, 1998. NASA crashed the probe into a crater on the moon in an attempt to learn if there is water on the moon.
Outside the USA, Ireland is the largest software producing country in the world.
The first fossilized specimen of Australopithecus afarenisis was named Lucy after the paleontologists' favorite song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," by the Beatles.
Figlet, an ASCII font converter program, stands for Frank, Ian and Glenn's LETters.
Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.
Every year about 98% of atoms in your body are replaced.
Hot water is heavier than cold.
Plutonium - first weighed on August 20th, 1942, by University of Chicago scientists Glenn Seaborg and his colleagues - was the first man-made element.
If you went out into space, you would explode before you suffocated because there's no air pressure.
The radioactive substance, Americanium - 241 is used in many smoke detectors.
The original IBM-PCs, that had hard drives, referred to the hard drives as Winchester drives.
This is due to the fact that the original Winchester drive had a model number of 3030. This is, of course, a Winchester firearm.
Sound travels 15 times faster through steel than through the air.
On average, half of all false teeth have some form of radioactivity.
Only one satellite has been ever been destroyed by a meteor: the European Space Agency's Olympus in 1993.
Starch is used as a binder in the production of paper. It is the use of a starch coating that controls ink penetration when printing. Cheaper papers do not use as much starch, and this is why your elbows get black when you are leaning over your morning paper.
Sterling silver is not pure silver. Because pure silver is too soft to be used in most tableware it is mixed with copper in the proportion of 92.5 percent silver to 7.5 percent copper.
A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber.
A ball of solid steel will bounce higher than one made entirely of glass.
A chip of silicon a quarter-inch square has the capacity of the original 1949 ENIAC computer, which occupied a city block.
An ordinary TNT bomb involves atomic reaction, and could be called an atomic bomb. What we call an A-bomb involves nuclear reactions and should be called a nuclear bomb.
At a glance, the Celsius scale makes more sense than the Fahrenheit scale for temperature measuring. But its creator, Anders Celsius, was an oddball scientist. When he first developed his scale, he made freezing 100 degrees and boiling 0 degrees, or upside down. No one dared point this out to him, so fellow scientists waited until Celsius died to change the scale.
At a jet plane's speed of 1,000 km (620mi) per hour, the length of the plane becomes one atom shorter than its original length.
The first full moon to occur on the winter solstice, Dec. 22, commonly called the first day of winter, happened in 1999. Since a full moon on the winter solstice occurred in conjunction with a lunar perigee (point in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth), the moon appeared about 14% larger than it does at apogee (the point in it's elliptical orbit that is farthest from the Earth). Since the Earth is also several million miles closer to the sun at that time of the year than in the summer, sunlight striking the moon was about 7% stronger making it brighter. Also, this was the closest perigee of the Moon of the year since the moon's orbit is constantly deforming. In places where the weather was clear and there was a snow cover, even car headlights were superfluous.
According to security equipment specialists, security systems that utilize motion detectors won't function properly if walls and floors are too hot. When an infrared beam is used in a motion detector, it will pick up a person's body temperature of 98.6 degrees compared to the cooler walls and floor.If the room is too hot, the motion detector won't register a change in the radiated heat of that person's body when it enters the room and breaks the infrared beam. Your home's safety might be compromised if you turn your air conditioning off or set the thermostat too high while on summer vacation.
Western Electric successfully brought sound to motion pictures and introduced systems of mobile communications which culminated in the cellular telephone.
On December 23, 1947, Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., held a secret demonstration of the transistor which marked the foundation of modern electronics.
The wick of a trick candle has small amounts of magnesium in them. When you light the candle, you are also lighting the magnesium. When someone tries to blow out the flame, the magnesium inside the wick continues to burn and, in just a split second (or two or three), relights the wick.
Ostriches are often not taken seriously. They can run faster than horses, and the males can roar like lions.
Seals used for their fur get extremely sick when taken aboard ships.
Sloths take two weeks to digest their food.
Guinea pigs and rabbits can't sweat.
The pet food company Ralston Purina recently introduced, from its subsidiary Purina Philippines, power chicken feed designed to help roosters build muscles for cockfighting, which is popular in many areas of the world.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the cockfighting market is huge: The Philippines has five million roosters used for exactly that.
Sharks and rays are the only animals known to man that don't get cancer. Scientists believe this has something to do with the fact that they don't have bones, but cartilage.
The porpoise is second to man as the most intelligent animal on the planet.
Young beavers stay with their parents for the first two years of their lives before going out on their own.
Skunks can accurately spray their smelly fluid as far as ten feet.
Deer can't eat hay.
Gopher snakes in Arizona are not poisonous, but when frightened they may hiss and shake their tails like rattlesnakes.
On average, dogs have better eyesight than humans, although not as colorful.
The duckbill platypus can store as many as six hundred worms in the pouches of its cheeks.
The lifespan of a squirrel is about nine years.
North American oysters do not make pearls of any value.
Human birth control pills work on gorillas.
Many sharks lay eggs, but hammerheads give birth to live babies that look like very small duplicates of their parents. Young hammerheads are usually born headfirst, with the tip of their hammer-shaped head folded backward to make them more streamlined for birth.
Gorillas sleep as much as fourteen hours per day.
A biological reserve has been made for golden toads because they are so rare.
There are more than fifty different kinds of kangaroos.
Jellyfish like salt water. A rainy season often reduces the jellyfish population by putting more fresh water into normally salty waters where they live.
The female lion does ninety percent of the hunting.
The odds of seeing three albino deer at once are one in seventy-nine billion, yet one man in
Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, took a picture of three albino deer in the woods.
A group of twelve or more cows is called a flink.
Cats often rub up against people and furniture to lay their scent and mark their territory. They do it this way, as opposed to the way dogs do it, because they have scent glands in their faces.
Cats sleep up to eighteen hours a day, but never quite as deep as humans. Instead, they fall asleep quickly and wake up intermittently to check to see if their environment is still safe.
Catnip, or Nepeta cataria, is an herb with nepetalactone in it. Many think that when cats inhale nepetalactone, it affects hormones that arouse sexual feelings, or at least alter their brain functioning to make them feel "high." Catnip was originally made, using nepetalactone as a natural bug repellant, but roaming cats would rip up the plants before they could be put to their intended task.
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans ages the equivalent of five human years for every day they live, so they usually die after about fourteen days. When stressed, though, the worm goes into a comatose state that can last for two or more months. The human equivalent would be to sleep for about two hundred years.
You can tell the sex of a horse by its teeth. Most males have 40, females have 36.
Money isn't made out of paper; it's made out of cotton.
The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottle represents the varieties of pickle the company once had.
Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks - otherwise it will digest itself.
The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.
Every person has a unique tongue print as well as fingerprints.
315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.
During the chariot scene in 'Ben Hur' a small red car can be seen in the distance.
Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.
Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
Most lipstick contains fish scales.
Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear any pants.
Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.
Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.
Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.
Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan, there was never a recorded Wendy before!
There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple, and silver!
Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors.
A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was a Captain Kirk mask painted white.
If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples!
Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!
The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages them.
The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.
Of all the words in the English language, the word ’set’ has the most definitions!
What is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France.
"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
"Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.
In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child
A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off.
Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath
There is a city called Rome on every continent.
It’s against the law to have a pet dog in Iceland.
Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day.
Horatio Nelson, one of England’s most illustrious admirals was throughout his life, never able to find a cure for his sea-sickness.
The skeleton of Jeremy Bentham is present at all important meetings of the University of London
Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people
Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe!
The elephant is the only mammal that can’t jump!
One quarter of the bones in your body, are in your feet!
Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different!
The first known transfusion of blood was performed as early as 1667, when Jean-Baptiste, transfused two pints of blood from a sheep to a young man
Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails!
Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin!
The present population of 5 billion plus people of the world is predicted to become 15 billion by 2080.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only ONE testicle.
Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.
Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."
Coca-Cola would be green if colouring weren’t added to it.
On average a hedgehog’s heart beats 300 times a minute.
More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.
The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.
More people are allergic to cow’s milk than any other food.
Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.
The placement of a donkey’s eyes in its’ heads enables it to see all four feet at all times!
The six official languages of the United Nations are: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
It’s against the law to burp, or sneeze in a church in Nebraska, USA.
You’re born with 300 bones, but by the time you become an adult, you only have 206.
Some worms will eat themselves if they can’t find any food!
Dolphins sleep with one eye open!
It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open
The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old!
The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
Queen Elizabeth I regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not
Slugs have 4 noses.
Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.
A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 69 years!
A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!
The average person laughs 10 times a day!
An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain
If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
The human heart! creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.
A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death!
Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories a hour
The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping the length of a football field.
The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.
Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
Butterflies taste with their feet.
The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
A cat's urine glows under a black light.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Starfish have no brains.
Polar bears are left-handed.
Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
LAPTOP TIPS
LAPTOP MAINTENANCE TIPS
Laptops are expensive gadgets made for mobility. Generally, they are not very tough, and are not known to take too well to being mishandled. If you do end up messing your laptop, even the smallest of repairs will set you back by thousands of rupees. Read on to learn how to care for your laptop. We have also included some important pointers you need to stick to before, during and after using your laptop.
Clean It Right
Since your laptop is such an expensive gadget (falling prices notwithstanding), be extremely careful while cleaning the screen. Make sure the cloth is very soft, and has no imprints or monograms on it, as these may scratch the screen. Also ensure that the cloth is lint-free, else it will leave fibres on the screen, and make the display unclear. Make sure you don't spray any cleaner directly on the screen. Instead, spray onto the cleaning cloth, and allow the cloth to capture the dirt and contaminants.
Choosing The Spray
The screen is the most expensive component of your laptop. Adequate care must be taken while choosing the cleaning spray. Harsh sprays could turn the screen yellow, and may even cause cracking. Use plain water or vinegar to clean the screen.
Placing The Laptop
Hard drives work on the property of magnetic flux, so any electrical field may damage the hard disk and the data on it. Make sure your laptop is at least 13 cm away from any electrical appliance that generates a strong magnetic field-such as a microwave oven.
Give It A Breather
If you have just shut down your laptop, give it 30 seconds before you start it up again. This ensures that the hard drive has spun down, and is not subjected to sudden switching on and off.
Data Backup
Always back up your data. Laptops are mobile devices, and are susceptible to breakage. Also, it's possible that the hard disk simply crashes. Remember, you can never back up too frequently.
Laptop Battery Care
The bane of most laptop users is the lack of a really long battery life. There are three main types of laptop batteries:
Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd)
Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH)
Lithium Ion (Li-ion).
Nickel-Cadmium
This type of battery must be fully discharged and then fully recharged every few weeks. If you don’t do this, it will quickly lose battery life due to what is known as the `memory effect'.
The memory effect means if you don't follow the above procedure, your battery will only charge up to the percentage of the last charge. For instance, if you discharge it to 30 per cent, it will only charge up the remaining 70 per cent. Do this repeatedly, and the 30 per cent will become unusable, giving you an effective 70 percent charge even though the indicator will still show a 100 per cent charge each time you charge it.
Nickel Metal Hydride
Ni-MH batteries are similar to Ni-Cd batteries, although they are less susceptible to the memory effect. They also have a higher capacity.
Lithium Ion
These are the latest type of batteries, and have no real problems as far as the memory effect is concerned. The problem with these is that they lose their effectiveness if overcharged or left for a long time with a full charge. Always discharge these batteries if you're going to be storing them away.
Keep Your Battery Healthy
Before the first use, charge the batteries for 12 hours or the minimum charge time, as mentioned in the manual.
For daily use, charge the battery to capacity, then run the laptop on battery power until it is completely drained (for Ni-Cd or Ni-MH batteries, this prevents the memory effect) or almost drained. (For Li-ion batteries, this can help prevent overcharging).
Don't leave your battery unused for long periods of time. Even if you use AC power most of the time, use the battery regularly to keep it in good condition. Switch off your AC adapter when the laptop is not in use. This prevents overcharging.
To extend battery life, you can try decreasing the LCD brightness while using your notebook. You can activate the `Standby' and `Hibernation' powersaving modes, too, for better battery life.
Battery Storage
If you do not use your laptop for extended periods of time-a week or more remove the battery pack from the laptop, but only after discharging it fully.
The batteries should be stored in a cool dry place, removed from heat, humidity and dust as well as metal objects.
Use A Laptop Case
It is advisable to spend a couple of thousand rupees and get a sturdy carry-case for your laptop.The case should ideally be hard from the outside and soft on the inside, while being a comfortable fit. It should be able to absorb shocks and carry your laptop accessories.
Keep Eatables Away
Obviously, no eating and drinking near or around your laptop. The least bit of water could short-circuit some sensitive laptop circuits, and render it useless.
No Hard Booting
You may sometimes be tempted to turn your laptop off by simply holding down the power button until it powers down. Although quick, this method is harmful to the laptop and could cause data loss.A hard reboot should only be used as a last resort. Sometimes this is inevitable, for instance, when Windows hangs. But this should not be a regular practice.
General Tips
Shortcuts To Success
Create shortcuts to your most commonly used applications, folders and files on the desktop. This way, you can access them quickly. If you like your desktop clutter-free, you can also create custom toolbars in Windows XP.To do this, right-click on the Windows taskbar, go to `Toolbars' and click `New Toolbar'. Next, choose the drive or folder you want to access using the toolbar. You can create different toolbars for different drives and folders.This is expecially useful for sales executives who want easy access to presentations, pro and other information they use on a day-to-day basis.
Clean up The Junk
Uninstall applications you don't use. Apart from saving on disk space, you'll also prevent your notebook from slowing down.Be resourceful-keep backups of the OS, drivers and commonly used applications on a secondary partition so you can do some reinstalling on your own if you face any issues when travelling. Carry driver CDs and recovery disks.
Laptop Security
Don't Be A Jerk
Don't subject your laptop to jerks and shocks. This will help avoid damage to your hard drive.Preferably, power the notebook off before moving it from one place to another.
Dusty Notebooks Don't Impress
Protect your laptop from dust. Ensure vents are clean to enable good air flow.
Drinks And Laptops A No-No
Don't place any containers filled with beverages (hot or cold) near your notebook, to prevent accidental spills.
Power Saving Tips
Let Power Be Managed By The Pros
Set the device to switch off the LCD screen, and hard drive after fixed intervals of time.
Disconnect
External peripherals and accessories such as external optical drives, PC cards and USB keyboard lights draw power from the notebook. Disconnect such devices when not in use.
Suspend Your Notebook
Booting the notebook when it is not connected to a power source draws a lot of power from the battery. Instead of shutting down your laptop in the middle of a meeting, choose the `Suspend' mode if you wish to use it again after just a short interval. This will save battery and help you restart your work faster
These weekly laptop maintenance tips will help you keep your data protected and safe while on the road. Companies with mobile professionals should consider making these tips part of their mobile work policies and check periodically that their mobile professionals are completing these maintenance tasks. For those who frequent hot spots, this is especially important. It takes only one mobile professional to be lax in their maintenance for a company to risk losing important data.
Anti-Virus Updates
Checking for virus’ on your laptop is probably the most important weekly maintenance task you should do. Even if you forget or don’t have time to do the rest – keep your anti-virus software up to date. Whether you are using a free or paid anti-virus program, you have to keep that program up to date in order for it to be effective. I normally run my anti-virus updates each Monday morning.
Just as you keep your anti-virus software up to date, you must also keep your firewall program up to date. Gone are the days when dial-up access users were safe from intrusions. Remember with your laptop that you are not only protecting personal data but corporate information as well. Mobile professionals may face more opportunities for unauthorized access just by virtue of the nature of their work; make sure you don’t become an easy target.
Back Up Data and Email
Backing-up your data and email on a weekly basis will help you ensure another layer of protection. There are plenty of external storage solutions which you can use to keep your information safe. If you lose your laptop or suffer a hard drive crash, knowing that you have a back-up made will make your working life much easier. I've heard countless tales of lost data and emails that were important and not recoverable. Save yourself the frustration by doing a weekly back-up.
Last Christmas Santa may have gifted you a new laptop or some laptop accessories, but most probably he did not tell you how to take care of it. So you need to have some top five laptop maintenance tips developed in your mind before you get yourself into trouble. Here are some of the top five laptop maintenance tips to keep your laptop running smoothly: One of the top five laptop maintenance tips is that you should never ever turn your laptop off with the power switch until windows has completely shut down. The only exception to this is when your laptop gets hanged and your hard drive is not running smoothly. If this is the situation, you can turn the power off without causing any harm to the hard drive. You should remember that cutting the power can also result in loss of data or windows files which can land you in trouble. You should remember that laptops are expensive gadgets facilitating the mobile users. Generally, they are very delicate so you just cannot mishandle them. If you end up messing your laptop, even the minutest of repairs will burn a big hole in your pocket by the excessive cash that you will end up spending. Secondly, since your laptop is one of the expensive gadgets that you possess, be extremely careful while cleaning the screen. Ensure that the cloth you are using is a soft one, and has no imprints or monograms on it, as these may scratch the screen. Also make sure that you are using lint-free cloth, else it will end up leaving fibres on the screen, and make the display not visible. Please be sure that you do not clean with a spray by directly pouring it on the screen .You should always spray onto the cleaning cloth then allow the cloth to wipe off the dirt and contaminants of the screen. This is one of the top five laptop maintenance tips. One of the top five laptop maintenance tips is also to ensure that you place your laptop properly. The Hard drives has the property of magnetic flux, so any electrical field may damage the hard disk and the data on it.
Always make sure that your laptop is at least at a distance of 13 cm away from any electrical appliance that generates a strong magnetic field for example the microwave oven. Fourthly if you need to shut down your laptop, then give it at least 30 seconds before you start it up again. This will ensure that the hard drive has spun down, and is not subjected to sudden switching on and off. The last but not the least the top five laptop maintenance tips is to always back up your data. The Laptops are mobile devices, and are susceptible to breakage. There is also a possibility that the hard disk simply crashes. Just remember you can never back up too frequently.
You must also take care of laptop batteries .You must go for batteries which have long lives. There are three main types of laptop batteries like Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd),Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH),Lithium Ion (Li-ion) and Nickel-Cadmium. The batteries must be fully discharged and then fully recharged every few weeks. This gives a long life to the batteries due to the “memory effect”. The memory effect means your battery will only charge up to the percentage of the last charge. You should also remember that you should not eat nor drink near or around your laptop. Even a bit of water could be the cause of short-circuit. You may sometimes turn your laptop off by simply holding down the power button until it powers down. Though this is a quick method it is quite harmful for your laptop and can cause data loss. A hard reboot should only be used as a last resort. Always remember that downloading software and screen savers often create conflicts and use valuable memory. Laptop is a great mobile tool for accomplishing your task in an efficient manner and keeping it free of extras will let it work quicker with less of freezing. These are some of the laptop maintenance tips
Laptops are the small sized computers that are found to be portable. The usefulness of the laptops is felt in the contemporary age which is marked by the massive expansion of the information technology. The laptops are really expensive. Thus, the laptops need good care. Cleaning laptop is the primary requisite to keep the laptops in proper condition. As far as Cleaning Laptop is concerned, certain steps have to be followed in order to keep the computers clean. Certain things are needed for cleaning laptop. These things include cotton swabs, Compressed Air, soft cloth and a mixture of vinegar and water. Instead of the mixture of water and vinegar, you can also use laptop cleaning solutions. The blend of vinegar and water has proved to be extremely useful in cleaning laptop.
Before the cleaning of laptop, it is always recommended to read thorough the manual. It is by going through the manual that you will be able to know a lot regarding the cleaning of laptop. The use of harsh cleaning substances is thoroughly discouraged while making the laptop clean. Cleaning agents containing ammonia also should not be used to clean the laptops. Take proper care to eliminate the dirt that gets stuck in the inner portion of the laptops. Because these dirt and dust particles are often found to hinder the proper functioning of the fans inside the laptop. In order to clean the casing of the laptops, you can also make use of the damp cotton. But make sure that the cotton you use in cleaning the laptop casing is soft.
The compressed air is required for cleaning the cooling vents. After cleaning the vents, it is required to clean the I/O Ports. The cotton swabs are used to remove the large fragments of dirt gets accumulated in the laptop. One should always remain cautious that the dirt does not enter into the I/O Ports. There are certain other points that have to be thoroughly kept in mind while cleaning laptop. It is really needed to turn off the laptop before you start cleaning the laptop. Paper towels must not be used to while cleaning laptops. As a solution for cleaning laptops, you may also make use a mixture of water and alcohol. Ammonia based cleaning solutions are not to be used for the purpose of cleaning the laptops. Clean your laptop and ensure its longevity.
Laptop is a small mobile computer, which weights about 2-18 pounds or 1 to 6 kilograms depending on size, material and others factors. A laptop computer is smaller than a desktop. It has been unanimously accepted that the most significant advantage of a laptop over a desktop is that it is portable. But against this advatage there are a number of laptop disadvantages also. The first that heads the list is that it is expensive than a desktop. It is also slower than a desktop. Moreover, it cannot be upgraded as much as a desktop can. There are also certain other disadvantages like it quickly gets heated and the lifespan is relatively shorter. So against the more overwhelming advantage of being portable, it suffers from a bunch of laptop disadvantages also.Again it has been reported that one of the prime laptop disadvantages is the fact that it has a smaller disk storage than a desktop. The maximum disk storage of a laptop now is 120 GB.
Another important diadvantage is that it lasts for only 2 to 3 years if it is a good make and is used under average treatment. Laptops are generally more fragile than desktops. Even the life span of laptops is shorter than that of normal desktops. But the prime disadvantage of a laptop that is creating health hazards is that it is creating worse ergonomics, as the keyboard and the screen in not in the best place for wrists and eyes. So there a number of disadvantages to counter the single most advantage of a laptop. But the laptop proves to be a boon for the business travelers as they have to travel most of the time and also needs to carry the entire data with them.
Miscellaneous Laptop Facts
Planning to buy a laptop? Then you need to know about some of the miscellaneous laptop facts. Laptops have replaced the desktop computers and have gained ample popularity over the PCs by offering a number of advantages to its users. The most important advantage of laptop is its portability. You can carry your laptop to your office and can use it in your home. The portability factor has become a requirement for every individual. One major drawback of laptops is that it can not be easily upgraded. It is the main hindrance of buying a laptop. Technical as well as economic reasons make its upgradeability limited. The basic facts that you need to keep in mind while purchasing any laptop are its price, screen size, storage capacity, battery longevity and wireless connectivity. Read on to gather detailed idea on miscellaneous laptop facts. Important facts about laptops:
A laptop normally weighs between 2-18 pounds. The weight depends on on the size, material and on its specifications.
It functions with the help of a single battery. You can also use the AC or DC adepter to charge its battery.
A laptop features certain basic parts. It has a 12 inch display screen with a minimum resolutions of 1024X768 pixels. The internal hard disks of a laptop is usually 2.5 inches.
High end laptop models such as Dell Inspiron E1705 and E1505 offer graphics processor. The processor used in a laptop are offered by Intel. It include Celeron, Intel Core, Intel Core 2 and Pentium M. Other companies, which offer laptop processors are VIA Technologies and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
The touch pad or the pointing stick helps to control the cursor on the screen. The touch pad is very sensitive and you can navigate the cursor by using your finger. Pointing stick is another option. You can also use the optical mouse to navigate your cursor.
The nickel metal hydride technology has been replaced by lithium ion. The current laptop models use lithium polymer batteries.
Laptop accessories:The accessories which are available with a laptop include DVD and CD writer, printer, pen drive, carry case, headset, data card, webcam, speakers, . All these products can be bought separately. Companies offering Laptops:The prominent laptop manufacturing companies are IBM, Sony Vaio, Apple, Lenovo, Toshiba, Compaq, Samsung, Acer laptop and HCL. All these companies offer warranty for at least one year to the customers. Some companies such as Intel, Quanta, Asus and Compal Electronics have created a standard for all the laptop parts. Many companies offer you the option to buy laptops in installments. For further information about Miscellaneous Laptop Facts refer to our website laptopxl.com
Things to Remember Before Buying a Laptop Bag
Your laptop is a computing device, which makes most important tasks in your life easy and comfortable. Moreover, since this electronic device is a sensitive item, it needs to be protected from outer dangers. In order to secure laptops, the laptop bags are used that protects it from scratch and other hard substances. There are certain things to remember before buying a laptop bag. As the safety of a laptop is related to its bag, hence, you must assure that these bags are soft and waterproof. Today, laptops have become most important things just after the mobile phones. Therefore, laptop bags, like mobile cases have become some of the major aspects of fashion statement. Users of laptop bags range from students to the retired people. Hence, the patterns and styles of the laptop bags are not same for all. It is highly depended upon an individual’s choice. Hence, there are certain things to remember before you buy a laptop bag. A bag must have all the provisions to carry those items as well. So, everything needs to be judged according to your requirements.
Durability of the laptop bag is the most important feature, which needs to be judged. There are different materials used for these bags. Being waterproof is of utmost importance. This is because all the electronic gadgets are subjects to be harmed when exposed to water. Yet another thing that should be considered is the size of the laptop bag. This is reason that you should always measure the bag according to the size of your machine. You should ensure that the bag does not exert pressure on the laptop's surface. Weight of the laptop bag is also an important thing to be judged.
The anti-theft laptop bags are some of the most required ones throughout the world. Some of the known models in this field are Meshsafe m 100, Meshsafe m 200, Daysafe 200, Couriersafe 100, Commutasafe 100, and likewise. Some bags have alarming systems as well, which ensures further safety. The locks are made in such a way that no one will be able to open it except the owner.
Laptop Battery Basics
A laptop computer is a small mobile computer which usually weighs around 2-18 pounds, depending on size, materials, and several other factors. To take proper care of your computer ensures that the battery is safe and is ready to work when it is required urgently. Following the laptop battery basics or the tips the things to consider include the following:
Avoid extreme temperatures
Don’t leave a laptop outside in cold weather
Do not leave it inside a hot car
The cold batteries fail to create power while the hot batteries easily discharge. One must always use electrical power to keep the battery charged if available. You can also use electrical power for charging the batteries. Try to use the battery quite often and do not let your laptop go for long periods of time without using the battery. Following the laptop battery basics it is good to follow certain safety options: The smaller models are always handy. Hence, instead of going for a desktop replacement option, try to consider an ultraportable or thin-and-light laptop model. Usually the display of a smaller laptop uses less power. In smaller versions you can also opt for a hard drive that runs at 4200rpm and uses less power than a hard drive running at 5400rpm.
Before using the laptop turn down the lights and adjust the brightness a bit low. However, ensure that you can comfortably view the screen without putting pressure on your eyes. The color brightness can also be adjusted to suit the conditions of working. Power control is also one important laptop battery basics. Use less power by adjusting the laptop settings. Keep on using the power options to make the computer stop oeprating after a set amount of time. Properly set the adjustments so that at first the display goes off, then the hard drive stays active a bit longer and stores the system content’s into the RAM.
Always keep note on your battery consumption and also have the idea that how much power is left. For this you can use the battery power icon on the system tray or you can also buy batteries with little LED gauges on the outside of the battery itself. The battery should continuously be charged whenever you have access to a power source. If you are going for a long journey try to fully charge the battery especially if you don’t know where or when you might have access to any electrical outlets. Several other important laptop battery basics include the following important tips:
Get another Battery
Drain the Battery
Clean Batteries
Facts about CELLPHONE
Would you like to know if your mobile is original or not ?????
Press the following on your mobile *#06# and the-international mobile equipment identity number appears. Then check the 7th and 8th numbers:
Phone serial no.
IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 02 or 20 this means your cell phone was assembled in Emirates which is very Bad quality
* IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 08 or 80 this means your cell phone was manufactured in Germany which is fair quality
* IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 01 or 10 this means your cell phone was manufactured in Finland which is very Good
* IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 00 this means your cell phone was manufactured in original factory which is the best Mobile Quality
*IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 13 this means your cell phone was assembled in Azerbaijan which is very Bad quality and also dangerous for your health
THINGS YOU NEVER K! NEW YOUR CELL PHONE COULD DO There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.
Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it: -
(1 ) EMERGENCY * The Emergency Number worldwide for **Mobile** is 112 ..* If you find yourself out of coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. **Try it out.**
(2) Have you locked your keys in the car? Does you car have remote keys? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock.
Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk). Editor's Note: *It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!'*
(3) Hidden Battery power Imagine your cell battery is very low , you are expecting an important call and you don't have a charger. Nokia instrument comes with a reserve battery. To activate, press the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time. AND
(4 ) How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone? To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 # A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. when your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.
Press the following on your mobile *#06# and the-international mobile equipment identity number appears. Then check the 7th and 8th numbers:
Phone serial no.
IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 02 or 20 this means your cell phone was assembled in Emirates which is very Bad quality
* IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 08 or 80 this means your cell phone was manufactured in Germany which is fair quality
* IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 01 or 10 this means your cell phone was manufactured in Finland which is very Good
* IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 00 this means your cell phone was manufactured in original factory which is the best Mobile Quality
*IF the Seventh & Eighth digits are 13 this means your cell phone was assembled in Azerbaijan which is very Bad quality and also dangerous for your health
THINGS YOU NEVER K! NEW YOUR CELL PHONE COULD DO There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.
Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check out the things that you can do with it: -
(1 ) EMERGENCY * The Emergency Number worldwide for **Mobile** is 112 ..* If you find yourself out of coverage area of your mobile network and there is an emergency, dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked. **Try it out.**
(2) Have you locked your keys in the car? Does you car have remote keys? This may come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock.
Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other 'remote' for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk). Editor's Note: *It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone!'*
(3) Hidden Battery power Imagine your cell battery is very low , you are expecting an important call and you don't have a charger. Nokia instrument comes with a reserve battery. To activate, press the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell next time. AND
(4 ) How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone? To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 # A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. when your phone get stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.
COMPUTER ETHICS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
A very short history of computer ethics
‘A very short History of computer ethics’ was adapted from the article ‘From the internet’ by Terrell ward Bynum. Published in the summer 2000 issue of the American Philosophical Association’s newsletter on philosophy and computing. Terrell ward Bynum is professor of philosophy at southern Connecticut state university& visiting professor at De- mont fort university in Leicester (England).On the topic of computing and human values Dr. Bynum has published many articles & books. He organized conferences and work shops. He has given speeches, addresses and developed a website. In 1968 he created the scholarly journal ‘metaphilosoply’ which he edited for 25 years. He was co- creator and co – director of the ‘ethicomp’ series of international computer ethics conferences held in many countries.
Computer ethics as a field of study was founded by Norbert Wiener, a professor in the MIT. In 1940, while developing an anti-aircraft cannon capable of shooting down fast warplanes, he dealt with a new branch of science. The engineering challenge of developing a cannon which could track an airplane and calculate its likely trajectory and inform to another part of the cannon to fire shells caused Wiener and some of his colleagues to create a new branch of science. Wiener called this science of information feed back system as cybernetics. The concept of cybernetics, when combined with the digital computers led wiener to draw some remarkably insightful ethical conclusions. He foresaw revolutionary social and ethical consequences. In his book cybernetics : or control and communication in the animal and the machine, he pointed that we were in a position to construct artificial machines of high degree performance that was to say, that we were in the presence of another social potentiality for good and for evil.
Wiener published his monumental book “ The Human use of Human Being” which established him as the founder of computer ethics. It laid down a comprehensive computer ethics foundation which remains today a powerful basis for research and analysis in the field. According to wiener, the integration of computer technology into society would result in second industrial revolution, which affects every major aspect of life. Computer aided bank robberies and other crimes attracted the attention of Donn parker, who wrote books and articles on computer crime. He created a code of ethics for the members of the association for computing machinery. Also computer enabled invasions of privacy became a public worry and led to books, articles and government studies which proposed privacy legislation. Organizations of computer professionals also adapted codes of conduct for their members. Joseph weizenbaum,
a computer scientist in MIT, created a computer program called ‘ELIZA’, which provided automated psychotherapy. Concerned by the ethical implications, weizenbaum wrote the book ‘computer power and human reason’ which is now considered a classic in computer ethics.
Walter Maner, while teaching a medical ethics course, noticed the need for a separate branch of applied ethics which he named ‘computer’ ethics. Maner defined computer ethics as that branch of applied ethics which studies ethical problems aggravated transformed created by computer technology. He offered guidelines for dealing with the subject in the classroom in ‘A starter kit for teaching computer ethics’. Inspired by his work, Terrell ward Bynum not only developed curriculum material for a university course but also conducted essay competition to generate interest in computer ethics. James Moor, the winner of the essay competition, described computer ethics in his essay ‘ what is computer ethics ?’ He says that the computers provide us with new capabilities and these in turn give us new choices for action. Computer ethics includes consideration of both personal and social policies for the ethical use of computer technology. The year 1985 was a watershed year for computer ethics because Deborah Johnson published the first major text book in the field of computer ethics. In her book Johnson defined ethics as a field which examines new versions of standards and moral problems and moral dilemmas placed by computers. She forces us to apply ordinary moral norms. Johnson did not think like Maner that computer created wholly new ethical problems but rather gave a ‘new twist’ to already familiar issues such as ownership, power, privacy and responsibility. New university courses, research centres, articles and text books have appeared. A wide diversity of additional scholars and topics has involved. International conferences such as the ‘ethicomp’ series of conferences were being organized.
Gorniak has predicted that computer ethics, which is considered just as a branch of applied ethics will evolve into a new system of global ethics, applicable in every culture on earth. Computer ethics, then will become the ordinary ethics, of the information age. According to Johnson ethical theories and principles will remain the bedrock foundation of ethical thinking and analysis and the computer revolution will not lead to a revolution in ethics. At the dawn of the 21st century, the thinkers of computer ethics have offered the world two very different views. According to Wiener- Maner- Gorniak the revolution in computer technology may lead to revolution in ethics and forces human beings to reexamine the foundation in ethics and the very definition of a human life. Johnson believes that fundamental ethical theories will remain unaffected and computer ethics as a distinct branch of applied philosophy will ultimately disappear.
A very short history of computer ethics
‘A very short History of computer ethics’ was adapted from the article ‘From the internet’ by Terrell ward Bynum. Published in the summer 2000 issue of the American Philosophical Association’s newsletter on philosophy and computing. Terrell ward Bynum is professor of philosophy at southern Connecticut state university& visiting professor at De- mont fort university in Leicester (England).On the topic of computing and human values Dr. Bynum has published many articles & books. He organized conferences and work shops. He has given speeches, addresses and developed a website. In 1968 he created the scholarly journal ‘metaphilosoply’ which he edited for 25 years. He was co- creator and co – director of the ‘ethicomp’ series of international computer ethics conferences held in many countries.
Computer ethics as a field of study was founded by Norbert Wiener, a professor in the MIT. In 1940, while developing an anti-aircraft cannon capable of shooting down fast warplanes, he dealt with a new branch of science. The engineering challenge of developing a cannon which could track an airplane and calculate its likely trajectory and inform to another part of the cannon to fire shells caused Wiener and some of his colleagues to create a new branch of science. Wiener called this science of information feed back system as cybernetics. The concept of cybernetics, when combined with the digital computers led wiener to draw some remarkably insightful ethical conclusions. He foresaw revolutionary social and ethical consequences. In his book cybernetics : or control and communication in the animal and the machine, he pointed that we were in a position to construct artificial machines of high degree performance that was to say, that we were in the presence of another social potentiality for good and for evil.
Wiener published his monumental book “ The Human use of Human Being” which established him as the founder of computer ethics. It laid down a comprehensive computer ethics foundation which remains today a powerful basis for research and analysis in the field. According to wiener, the integration of computer technology into society would result in second industrial revolution, which affects every major aspect of life. Computer aided bank robberies and other crimes attracted the attention of Donn parker, who wrote books and articles on computer crime. He created a code of ethics for the members of the association for computing machinery. Also computer enabled invasions of privacy became a public worry and led to books, articles and government studies which proposed privacy legislation. Organizations of computer professionals also adapted codes of conduct for their members. Joseph weizenbaum,
a computer scientist in MIT, created a computer program called ‘ELIZA’, which provided automated psychotherapy. Concerned by the ethical implications, weizenbaum wrote the book ‘computer power and human reason’ which is now considered a classic in computer ethics.
Walter Maner, while teaching a medical ethics course, noticed the need for a separate branch of applied ethics which he named ‘computer’ ethics. Maner defined computer ethics as that branch of applied ethics which studies ethical problems aggravated transformed created by computer technology. He offered guidelines for dealing with the subject in the classroom in ‘A starter kit for teaching computer ethics’. Inspired by his work, Terrell ward Bynum not only developed curriculum material for a university course but also conducted essay competition to generate interest in computer ethics. James Moor, the winner of the essay competition, described computer ethics in his essay ‘ what is computer ethics ?’ He says that the computers provide us with new capabilities and these in turn give us new choices for action. Computer ethics includes consideration of both personal and social policies for the ethical use of computer technology. The year 1985 was a watershed year for computer ethics because Deborah Johnson published the first major text book in the field of computer ethics. In her book Johnson defined ethics as a field which examines new versions of standards and moral problems and moral dilemmas placed by computers. She forces us to apply ordinary moral norms. Johnson did not think like Maner that computer created wholly new ethical problems but rather gave a ‘new twist’ to already familiar issues such as ownership, power, privacy and responsibility. New university courses, research centres, articles and text books have appeared. A wide diversity of additional scholars and topics has involved. International conferences such as the ‘ethicomp’ series of conferences were being organized.
Gorniak has predicted that computer ethics, which is considered just as a branch of applied ethics will evolve into a new system of global ethics, applicable in every culture on earth. Computer ethics, then will become the ordinary ethics, of the information age. According to Johnson ethical theories and principles will remain the bedrock foundation of ethical thinking and analysis and the computer revolution will not lead to a revolution in ethics. At the dawn of the 21st century, the thinkers of computer ethics have offered the world two very different views. According to Wiener- Maner- Gorniak the revolution in computer technology may lead to revolution in ethics and forces human beings to reexamine the foundation in ethics and the very definition of a human life. Johnson believes that fundamental ethical theories will remain unaffected and computer ethics as a distinct branch of applied philosophy will ultimately disappear.
ASTRONOMY
ASTRONOMY
Unit I our picture of the universe
The lesson ‘Our picture of the universe’ has been adapted from Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief history of time’. It is the most popular book about ‘Cosmology’. More than 10 million copies have been sold. Even a film has been made on that book. stephen Hawking is one of the well known living scientists. At the age of twenty, he was diagnosed with a terrible disease ‘ALS’ (Amyo trophic lateral sclerosis).He was expected to live two years but with his strong will he completed his research and still he is alive .This lesson makes us think about some long-standing questions like whether the universe had the beginning and if so when? What is the nature of the time? And many more which doesn’t have an exact answer.
Our ancestors believed that the earth was a flat plate supported on the back of a gaint tortoise standing on an infinite tower of tortoises. In 340bc the greek philosopher Aristotle, in his book ‘on the heavens’, put forward two arguments for believing that the earth was a round sphere rather than a flat plate. First, he realized that eclipses of the moon were caused by the earth coming between the sun and the moon. The earth’s shadow on the moon was always round which would be true only if the earth was spherical. Second, the Greeks knew from their travels that the North Star appeared lower in the sky when viewed in the south than it did in more northerly regions. Aristotle thought that the earth was stationary and the sun, the moon, the plants and the stars moved in circular orbits about the earth. This idea was elaborated by Ptolemy in the second century AD into a complete cosmological model. The earth stood at the centre, surrounded by eight spheres that carried the moon, the sun, the stars, and the five planets known at that time: mercury, venus, mars Jupiter and Saturn.
In 1514 Nicholas copernicus proposed that the sun was stationary at the centre and the planets moved in circular orbits around the sun. In 1609 galileo found that several small satellites rotate around the planet Jupiter. This implied that the planets need not orbit directly around the earth as Aristotle and Ptolemy had thought. At the same time Johannes kepler had modified Copernicus theory and suggested that the planets moved not in circles but in ellipses. But he could not prove that the planets were made to orbit the sun by magnetic forces. In 1687, sir Issac Newton in his book ‘philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica’, postulated a law of vniversal gravitation according to which each body in the universe is attracted towards every other body by a force depending on their mass and distance between them. Also it is due to this gravitational force the earth and the planets follow elliptical paths around the sun.
According to Newton’s law of gravity the stars should attract each other and they may fall in at some points. But in an infinite space, if infinite stars are distributed uniformly, this would not happen because there is no central point for them to fall. When we consider a finite situation the stars fall in on each other. If we add additional stars outside this region, the extra stars would make no difference at all and would fall in just as fast. Also it is realized that it is impossible to have an infinite static model of the universe in which gravity is always attractive. Newton‘s theory of gravity is modified by making the gravitational force repulsive at very large distances. It allows an infinite distribution of stars to remain in equilibrium as the attractive forces are balanced by the repulsive forces.
In 1929 Edwin Hubble observed that the distant galaxies were moving rapidly from us. This implied that the universe is expanding. This means that at earlier times objects would have been closer together. Hubble’s observations suggested that there was a time, called the big bang when the universe was infinitesimally small and infinitely dense. It may be supposed that time had a beginning at the big bang. In an unchanging universe a beginning in time is something that has to be imposed by some being outside the universe. One could imagine that god created the universe at the instant of the big Bang.
Any physical theory is always provisional in the sense that is only a hypothesis. The eventual goal of science is to provide a single theory that describes the whole universe. If everything in the universe depends on everything else in a fundamental way. It might be impossible to get close to a full solution by investigating parts of the problem in isolation even though these partial theories holds good in describing and predicting certain class of observations. Today scientists describe the universe in terms of two basic partial theories namely the general theory of relativity and Quantum mechanics. The general theory of relativity describes the force of gravity and the large- scale structure of the universe. Quantum mechanics deals with phenomena on extremely small scales such as a millionth of a millionth of an inch. Unfortunately, these two theories are known to be inconsistent with each other i.e. they both cannot be correct. One of the major endeavours in physics today is the search for a new theory that will incorporate both of them. It seems difficult to justify on practical grounds. But ever since the dawn of civilization, people’s desire for knowledge of the underlying order in the world is justified. We still yearn to know why we are here and where we came from. Our goal is to describe the universe we live in with the help of a complete unified theory.
Unit I our picture of the universe
The lesson ‘Our picture of the universe’ has been adapted from Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief history of time’. It is the most popular book about ‘Cosmology’. More than 10 million copies have been sold. Even a film has been made on that book. stephen Hawking is one of the well known living scientists. At the age of twenty, he was diagnosed with a terrible disease ‘ALS’ (Amyo trophic lateral sclerosis).He was expected to live two years but with his strong will he completed his research and still he is alive .This lesson makes us think about some long-standing questions like whether the universe had the beginning and if so when? What is the nature of the time? And many more which doesn’t have an exact answer.
Our ancestors believed that the earth was a flat plate supported on the back of a gaint tortoise standing on an infinite tower of tortoises. In 340bc the greek philosopher Aristotle, in his book ‘on the heavens’, put forward two arguments for believing that the earth was a round sphere rather than a flat plate. First, he realized that eclipses of the moon were caused by the earth coming between the sun and the moon. The earth’s shadow on the moon was always round which would be true only if the earth was spherical. Second, the Greeks knew from their travels that the North Star appeared lower in the sky when viewed in the south than it did in more northerly regions. Aristotle thought that the earth was stationary and the sun, the moon, the plants and the stars moved in circular orbits about the earth. This idea was elaborated by Ptolemy in the second century AD into a complete cosmological model. The earth stood at the centre, surrounded by eight spheres that carried the moon, the sun, the stars, and the five planets known at that time: mercury, venus, mars Jupiter and Saturn.
In 1514 Nicholas copernicus proposed that the sun was stationary at the centre and the planets moved in circular orbits around the sun. In 1609 galileo found that several small satellites rotate around the planet Jupiter. This implied that the planets need not orbit directly around the earth as Aristotle and Ptolemy had thought. At the same time Johannes kepler had modified Copernicus theory and suggested that the planets moved not in circles but in ellipses. But he could not prove that the planets were made to orbit the sun by magnetic forces. In 1687, sir Issac Newton in his book ‘philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica’, postulated a law of vniversal gravitation according to which each body in the universe is attracted towards every other body by a force depending on their mass and distance between them. Also it is due to this gravitational force the earth and the planets follow elliptical paths around the sun.
According to Newton’s law of gravity the stars should attract each other and they may fall in at some points. But in an infinite space, if infinite stars are distributed uniformly, this would not happen because there is no central point for them to fall. When we consider a finite situation the stars fall in on each other. If we add additional stars outside this region, the extra stars would make no difference at all and would fall in just as fast. Also it is realized that it is impossible to have an infinite static model of the universe in which gravity is always attractive. Newton‘s theory of gravity is modified by making the gravitational force repulsive at very large distances. It allows an infinite distribution of stars to remain in equilibrium as the attractive forces are balanced by the repulsive forces.
In 1929 Edwin Hubble observed that the distant galaxies were moving rapidly from us. This implied that the universe is expanding. This means that at earlier times objects would have been closer together. Hubble’s observations suggested that there was a time, called the big bang when the universe was infinitesimally small and infinitely dense. It may be supposed that time had a beginning at the big bang. In an unchanging universe a beginning in time is something that has to be imposed by some being outside the universe. One could imagine that god created the universe at the instant of the big Bang.
Any physical theory is always provisional in the sense that is only a hypothesis. The eventual goal of science is to provide a single theory that describes the whole universe. If everything in the universe depends on everything else in a fundamental way. It might be impossible to get close to a full solution by investigating parts of the problem in isolation even though these partial theories holds good in describing and predicting certain class of observations. Today scientists describe the universe in terms of two basic partial theories namely the general theory of relativity and Quantum mechanics. The general theory of relativity describes the force of gravity and the large- scale structure of the universe. Quantum mechanics deals with phenomena on extremely small scales such as a millionth of a millionth of an inch. Unfortunately, these two theories are known to be inconsistent with each other i.e. they both cannot be correct. One of the major endeavours in physics today is the search for a new theory that will incorporate both of them. It seems difficult to justify on practical grounds. But ever since the dawn of civilization, people’s desire for knowledge of the underlying order in the world is justified. We still yearn to know why we are here and where we came from. Our goal is to describe the universe we live in with the help of a complete unified theory.
HUMOUR JIST
H U M O U R
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman was born in Mysore in 1924.He began cartooning for the ‘free press journal’ in 1947.He joined ‘The Times of India’ as staff cartoonist and continued to draw for the news paper even today. .He has written and published numerous short stories and essays and travel articles. He has won numerous awards for his cartoons including Asia’s top journalism award ,Ramon Magsaysay award in 1984.In 2005 the government of India honored him with the Padma Visbhushan.
The present humorous story ‘The Gold Frame’ is also written by him. Datta, the owner of ‘the modern frame works’ ,is a silent and hard working man. His shop is actually an extra large wooden packing cage mounted on wobbly legs tucked in a gap between a drug store and a radio repair shop.Datta wears a silver rimmed glasses .He has a complexion of seasoned timber. He gives only laconic answers to the questions of his costumers and friends.
One day a customer came to his shop and showed a photograph which he wanted it to be framed. Datta with his habitual indifference ignored him. He continued with his routine work. The customer wanted a good job to be done no matter how much it costs. The customer volunteered the information and unwrapped a news paper. He exposed a sepia brown photograph of an old man. Datta felt that it was a standard portrait of a grand father, a philanthropist or a social worker of those days.
Datta asked the customer about the kind of frame he wanted for the picture. The customer wanted to have the best of its kind. Then Datta showed him different types of frames. The customer was baffled by the variety. Datta also showed him various mounts. He suggested that a cut mount with an oval shape would look more elegant. Finally the customer placed an order for a gold frame of a cut mount. Its cost was seventeen rupees. Datta asked him to come after two weeks.
Ten days later the tall, rustic- looking customer enquired Datta if the photograph had been framed. He thought that he could collect it if was ready. Datta cast a side glance at him and continued with his work. The customer realized that he had come four days earlier. He asked datta whether it would be ready by Tuesday. Datta generally do not execute the orders of his customers until they visit him at least twice as they never come punctually. Datta, realised that there would be trouble if he did not deliver the order on the promised date.
Next morning he made his first job keeping aside all others. He took the photograph and carefully placed it on a wooden plank on the floor. Then he looked for the pencil stub for marking the measurements. As usual it was missing he shook the folds of his dhoti so violently, that he upset a tin containing white enamel paint it fell right on the sacred photograph of the old great man, emptying its thick slimy contents on it.Datta stood stared at the disaster at his feet as if he had suddenly lost all faculty of movement. In his attempt to save the photograph he made a worse mess of it. He rubbed the picture so hard with a cloth that he peeled off thin strips of filmy coating from its surface. Datta sat helplessly with both hands clutching his head.
Datta had no idea of how to answer for the mutilated photograph. His imagination ran wild suggesting nightmarish consequences as the customer had a fanatic devotion to the photograph he accepted the situation with a hopeless resignation meanwhile an idea flashed in his mind. He searched all the unclaimed photographs to find a substitute for the photograph of the old man. He found a photograph which was a little bit yellowed. But the dazzling gold frame rendered it safe.
The customer turned up promptly after a couple of days. He was struck by its grandeur. Datta held his breath that in another moment he could betray the big hoax he had played. Angrily the customer questioned datta what he had done before he could open his mouth, the customer shouted, that he asked for a cut mount with an oval shape. But the mount was square in shape. Datta was relieved from his tension, as the customer concentrated more on the shape of the mount than on the photograph of the old man for whom he claimed to have a great devotion.
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Laxman was born in Mysore in 1924.He began cartooning for the ‘free press journal’ in 1947.He joined ‘The Times of India’ as staff cartoonist and continued to draw for the news paper even today. .He has written and published numerous short stories and essays and travel articles. He has won numerous awards for his cartoons including Asia’s top journalism award ,Ramon Magsaysay award in 1984.In 2005 the government of India honored him with the Padma Visbhushan.
The present humorous story ‘The Gold Frame’ is also written by him. Datta, the owner of ‘the modern frame works’ ,is a silent and hard working man. His shop is actually an extra large wooden packing cage mounted on wobbly legs tucked in a gap between a drug store and a radio repair shop.Datta wears a silver rimmed glasses .He has a complexion of seasoned timber. He gives only laconic answers to the questions of his costumers and friends.
One day a customer came to his shop and showed a photograph which he wanted it to be framed. Datta with his habitual indifference ignored him. He continued with his routine work. The customer wanted a good job to be done no matter how much it costs. The customer volunteered the information and unwrapped a news paper. He exposed a sepia brown photograph of an old man. Datta felt that it was a standard portrait of a grand father, a philanthropist or a social worker of those days.
Datta asked the customer about the kind of frame he wanted for the picture. The customer wanted to have the best of its kind. Then Datta showed him different types of frames. The customer was baffled by the variety. Datta also showed him various mounts. He suggested that a cut mount with an oval shape would look more elegant. Finally the customer placed an order for a gold frame of a cut mount. Its cost was seventeen rupees. Datta asked him to come after two weeks.
Ten days later the tall, rustic- looking customer enquired Datta if the photograph had been framed. He thought that he could collect it if was ready. Datta cast a side glance at him and continued with his work. The customer realized that he had come four days earlier. He asked datta whether it would be ready by Tuesday. Datta generally do not execute the orders of his customers until they visit him at least twice as they never come punctually. Datta, realised that there would be trouble if he did not deliver the order on the promised date.
Next morning he made his first job keeping aside all others. He took the photograph and carefully placed it on a wooden plank on the floor. Then he looked for the pencil stub for marking the measurements. As usual it was missing he shook the folds of his dhoti so violently, that he upset a tin containing white enamel paint it fell right on the sacred photograph of the old great man, emptying its thick slimy contents on it.Datta stood stared at the disaster at his feet as if he had suddenly lost all faculty of movement. In his attempt to save the photograph he made a worse mess of it. He rubbed the picture so hard with a cloth that he peeled off thin strips of filmy coating from its surface. Datta sat helplessly with both hands clutching his head.
Datta had no idea of how to answer for the mutilated photograph. His imagination ran wild suggesting nightmarish consequences as the customer had a fanatic devotion to the photograph he accepted the situation with a hopeless resignation meanwhile an idea flashed in his mind. He searched all the unclaimed photographs to find a substitute for the photograph of the old man. He found a photograph which was a little bit yellowed. But the dazzling gold frame rendered it safe.
The customer turned up promptly after a couple of days. He was struck by its grandeur. Datta held his breath that in another moment he could betray the big hoax he had played. Angrily the customer questioned datta what he had done before he could open his mouth, the customer shouted, that he asked for a cut mount with an oval shape. But the mount was square in shape. Datta was relieved from his tension, as the customer concentrated more on the shape of the mount than on the photograph of the old man for whom he claimed to have a great devotion.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
LAB 1 INTERNAL
English Language and Communication Skills Lab
BTECH Internal – I
Answer the Following Max. Marks: 10
Segment –I (5 M)
1) Write all the phonemic symbols of English language. (4 M)
(Or)
Write the rules of accentual pattern .
2) Write the phonetic transcription for the following words. (1 M)
1) Height 6) Neck
2) Believe 7) Touch
3) Bus 8) Boil
4) Yes 9) Rings
5) Blue 10)Shoe
Segment – II (5 M)
Oral presentation:
a) Dress code in colleges.
b) Education can de meaningful only when the syllabus is relevant to the job.
c) Computer and its influence on the society.
BTECH Internal – I
Answer the Following Max. Marks: 10
Segment –I (5 M)
1) Write all the phonemic symbols of English language. (4 M)
(Or)
Write the rules of accentual pattern .
2) Write the phonetic transcription for the following words. (1 M)
1) Height 6) Neck
2) Believe 7) Touch
3) Bus 8) Boil
4) Yes 9) Rings
5) Blue 10)Shoe
Segment – II (5 M)
Oral presentation:
a) Dress code in colleges.
b) Education can de meaningful only when the syllabus is relevant to the job.
c) Computer and its influence on the society.
LAB 1 INTERNAL
English Language and Communication Skills Lab
BTECH Internal – I
Answer the Following Max. Marks: 10
Segment –I (5 M)
1) Write all the phonemic symbols of English language. (4 M)
(Or)
Write the rules of accentual pattern .
2) Write the phonetic transcription for the following words. (1 M)
1) Height 6) Neck
2) Believe 7) Touch
3) Bus 8) Boil
4) Yes 9) Rings
5) Blue 10)Shoe
Segment – II (5 M)
Oral presentation:
a) Dress code in colleges.
b) Education can de meaningful only when the syllabus is relevant to the job.
c) Computer and its influence on the society.
BTECH Internal – I
Answer the Following Max. Marks: 10
Segment –I (5 M)
1) Write all the phonemic symbols of English language. (4 M)
(Or)
Write the rules of accentual pattern .
2) Write the phonetic transcription for the following words. (1 M)
1) Height 6) Neck
2) Believe 7) Touch
3) Bus 8) Boil
4) Yes 9) Rings
5) Blue 10)Shoe
Segment – II (5 M)
Oral presentation:
a) Dress code in colleges.
b) Education can de meaningful only when the syllabus is relevant to the job.
c) Computer and its influence on the society.
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