Scuba Diving

The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus or scuba diving system, as we know it today, is the result of technological developments and innovations that began almost 300 years ago. Scuba diving is the most extensively used system for breathing underwater by recreational divers throughout the world, and in various forms is also widely used to perform underwater work for military, scientific and commercial purposes.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Scuba diving has many advantages over free diving, mixed gas, helmeted, saturation, and other forms of “technical” diving. Scuba divers have great freedom of movement under water because they swim with fins and without heavy equipment; The gear is relatively inexpensive, simple to operate and maintain, and requires a small support crew, or none at all.

Despite all of these apparent advantages, recreational scuba also has its drawbacks. These include no direct link between the diver and the surface; no method of communicating with the diver or monitoring his activities; limited dive time (since the diver must carry all of his air in a tank); and limited depth (since decompression diving is normally avoided due to the limited quantity of air in the tanks).

Quit India Movement ('Do or Die' call)

In August 1942, Gandhiji started the 'Quit India Movement' and decided to launch a mass civil disobedience movement 'Do or Die' call to force the British to leave India. The movement was followed, nonetheless, by large-scale violence directed at railway stations, telegraph offices, government buildings, and other emblems and institutions of colonial rule. There were widespread acts of sabotage, and the government held Gandhi responsible for these acts of violence, suggesting that they were a deliberate act of Congress policy. However, all the prominent leaders were arrested, the Congress was banned and the police and army were brought out to suppress the movement.

Meanwhile, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who stealthily ran away from the British detention in Calcutta, reached foreign lands and organized the Indian National Army (INA) to overthrow the British from India.

The Second World War broke out in September of 1939 and without consulting the Indian leaders, India was declared a warring state (on behalf of the British) by the Governor General. Subhash Chandra Bose, with the help of Japan, preceded fighting the British forces and not only freed Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the Britishers but also entered the north-eastern border of India. In 1945 Japan was defeated and Netaji proceeded from Japan through an aeroplane to a place of safety but met with an accident and it was given out that he died in that air-crash itself.

"Give me blood and I shall give you freedom" - was one of the most popular statements made by him, where he urges the people of India to join him in his freedom movement.

Check out the new features added to Apple - iPod touch

More games
With the App Store on iPod touch, hundreds of exciting games and innovative applications are just a tap away.

New design
iPod touch feels even better in your hand thanks to the stunningly thin, contoured enclosure made of polished stainless steel.


Volume controls
Volume buttons are built into the left side of iPod touch, giving you easy access to the most frequently used controls.


Long battery life
Now you can keep on rocking (and watching and playing) even longer. Improved battery life means iPod touch provides up to 36 hours of audio playback or 6 hours of video playback — enough to watch three or four movies between charges.


Built-in speaker
A built-in speaker lets you hear the music, dialogue, and action without headphones, perfect for casual listening.


Rock ’n’ run with Nike+
iPod touch offers built-in wireless support for Nike + iPod. All you need to do is insert a Nike + iPod sensor into your shoe and start running.

Honda Siel to launch Jazz in India soon news

Honda announced yesterday that it would launch its new hatchback 'Jazz' in India in mid-2009. According to Masahiro Takedagawa, president and chief executive officer, Honda Siel Cars India, "Honda Jazz is a premium hatchback and the company does not expect that it will overcome the sales numbers of the City sedan in India."

The Jazz will be powered by a 1.2-litre intelligent variable valve timing and lift electronic control (i-VTEC) petrol engine. The premium hatchback will have 70 per cent local content initially, which will be scaled up in phases.

Based on the Honda City platform, the 5-door compact car is speculated to be priced above Rs 4.5 lakh, and would be rolled out from the company's Greater Noida facility. Once launched, it will be pitted against other super-hatches like Skoda Fabia, Maruti Suzuki Swift, Ford Fusion and Hyundai i20, and the yet-to-be-launched Fiat Grand Punto in the Indian market.

It is widely believed that Jazz is coming in early in view of the importance of small cars in India and the enthusiastic response to the car at the January 2008 Auto Expo in Delhi. However, pricing may be a problem, as it is priced higher than the City in foreign markets, but this may not be possible in India.

Takedagawa said the Jazz will be a premium segment hatchback with an engine specifically made for the Indian market. This will be Honda's first small car for the domestic market, which means that under government specifications, it must be less than 4-m long, with maximum engine capacity of 1.2 litres and 1.5 litres for the petrol and diesel versions respectively.

Jazz gets the premium tag due to the company's focus on luxury and safety by adding features like airbags, active headrests, pre-tensioner seat belts, ABS, and G-CON Technology (an advanced passive shield that offers extra protection in an accident). Honda believes that customers would be willing to pay for the additional features.

source : http://www.domain-b.com/companies/companies_h/Honda_Siel_Cars/20090318_honda_siel.html

Gartner says key to BI is talk, not tech.

Research firm Gartner has warned organisations against splurging on technology for Business Intelligence (BI) projects.

Speaking of the discipline of Business Intelligence, rather than the technology, Gartner global BI manager Ian Bertram said organisations will fail if they "throw products at the problem" and do not invest in training or acquire business support.

The BI discipline involves analysis of raw data through data mining and online analytical processing which companies can use to find malfunctioning machines, improve manufacturing processors and cut costs.

The sticking points, Bertram said, are as much about improving poor communication and BI skills, as sifting useful data from the rubbish.

"Organisations tend to throw technology at BI problems. You could have the right tool, but it could be doomed to failure because of political and cultural issues, an absence of executive support so the message doesn't get out, and poor communication and training," Bertram said.

"It provides transparency through all levels of business right down to the forklift driver and can help business to react fast to competition and change."

Gartner says BI is top of mind for CIOs, along with enterprise information and content management, data management and integration, and social software and collaboration. It has remained in top spot for three years in the firm's annual Executive Programmes survey, while the firm predicts BI vendor revenue in the Asia Pacific region will increase by a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 15.5 percent by 2011, thanks in part to emerging green field developments.

Bertram said many organisations struggle to find benchmarks and metrics and do not know where to define objectives.

"Having a standard set of enterprise metrics sounds easy but can be quite complex, we've come across organisations with a 1000 metrics, but follow the old Kaplan and Norton balanced scorecard and focus on 'visionary' metrics at the top," he said.

Subsequent metrics gathered from all levels of an organisation should assist with achieving the "visionary" objectives.

Gartner has defined the BI competency centre to resolve problems it claims derive from poor communication between businesses units. Representatives from each unit chair the centre and are tasked with deciding how BI can best serve their field of work, including defining governance, appropriate metrics and architecture, and staff training.

for more information log on to:http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/022309-gartner-says-key-to-bi.html

Spice announces S-590 phone with Popat VAS application

Spice Mobiles unveils its latest handset called the Spice S-590 phone. The new mobile phone is one of the most affordable video camera phones available in India. The phone integrates host of great features along with a unique VAS application.

The novel mobile phone features a 3D user interface and comes with 13 various options. The S-590 phone sports a 1.8 inch screen and a digital camera with voice recording function. Other features included in the phone are a FM radio, MP3 player, dazzle ringtones, torch, SMS scheduler, Mobile Tracker and call blacklist.

The main aspect of the phone is the voice prompt application called Popat. The application will actually transform the phone into a talking parrot. It will speak out the number of incoming calls as well as the phonebook and other keys that are accessed on the keypad.

The Popat technology enabled phone can be a boon for blind people or for those who do not know to read or write. The Spice S-590 phone supports GPS and expansion of memory upto 2GB.

The S-590 phone is available in India at an affordable price of Rs 2,499.

source:http://www.mobiletor.com/2009/02/16/spice-announces-s-590-phone-with-popat-vas-application/

Privacy Group: Google Latitude Could Track Unsuspecting Users

One day after Google released Google Latitude, a new feature for Google Maps on mobile devices that lets users track and find their friends and family from a smartphone, laptop or desktop computer, a privacy group has come forward to criticize the application, saying it can endanger user privacy.

Privacy International, a London-based advocacy group, said Latitude can be used to track unsuspecting users.

"Latitude appears to present an immediate privacy threat," said Privacy International Thursday. "The danger arises when a second party can gain physical access to a user's phone and enables Latitude without the owner's knowledge."

The privacy watchdog said abuse of Latitude could result when an employer gives an employee a Latitude-enabled phone on which reciprocal information-sharing agreement has been enabled, but doesn't tell the employee, or when a person gains access to an unattended phone and enables Latitude without the user's knowledge.

Google introduced the application Wednesday. Latitude gives users the ability to "see if your spouse is stuck in traffic on the way home from work, notice that a buddy is in town for the weekend, or take comfort in knowing that a loved one's flight landed safely, despite bad weather," wrote Vic Gundotra, vice president of engineering for Google's mobile team, in a Google blog. Privicay concerns were also addressed in the announcement.

"Fun aside, we recognize the sensitivity of location data, so we've built fine-grained privacy controls right into the application. Everything about Latitude is opt-in. You not only control exactly who gets to see your location, but you also decide the location that they see," Gundotra wrote.

But Privacy International is more concerned potentially sinister uses of the feature.

"As it stands right now, Latitude could be a gift to stalkers, prying employers, jealous partners and obsessive friends," the group said, somewhat dramatically. "The dangers to a user's privacy and security are as limitless as the imagination of those who would abuse this technology."

sources:http://www.crn.com/mobile/213202180