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From today onwards, computer users will be forced to operate on Window Vista as Window XP will not be available in the market. Microsoft Corporation is scheduled to stop selling its Windows XP operating system to retailers and major computer makers from Monday.

A slice of PC users although protest this decision who don’t want to be forced into using XP’s successor, Vista. A group of vocal computer users who rallied around a “Save XP” petition posted on the industry news site InfoWorld had been yelling for Microsoft to keep selling XP until its next operating system, Windows 7, is available.

The software maker has said it expects to release Windows 7 sometime in 2009.  Last week, Microsoft said it would provide full technical support for six-year-old Windows XP through 2009, and limited support through 2014.

Once computers loaded with XP have been cleared from the inventory of PC makers such as Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., consumers who can’t live without the old operating system on their new machine will have to buy Vista Ultimate or Vista Business and then legally “downgrade” to XP.

Microsoft will still allow smaller mom-and-pop PC builder shops to buy XP for resale through the end of January. A version of XP will also remain available for ultra-low-cost PCs such as the Asus Eee PC.

Tags: Microsoft, PC, Windows XP, XP

Tech world is surrounded with lots of myths and many people do believe them without having any knowledge of truth. The myths give unnecessary troubles the tech users. Here are a few myths which can help you to get rid of your superfluous worries.

1) Shut down the PC before switching off power: Many users believe that turning power off without shutting down PC physically damages their hard drives. However, this is an age-old myth and has no grounding. However, if the user is working and did not save the data before switching off, the data will be lost.

Many users also believe that one should shut down PC every couple of hour so it can rest. This may be fine, but shutting down your PC every few hours may actually be harmful to your PC. Components in the PC are most stressed when they have to either boot or shut down. However, this doesn’t mean you must keep your computer on forever. Operating systems do need a shut down once in a while, because even the best OS’ crash if not given a rest.

2) Emptying recycle bin ensures permanent deletion: You might be relaxed after deleting the files from recycle bin but that doesn’t mean a permanent deletion. Actually Windows just marks the area of the disk occupied by such files as empty, but the data still resides there until the disk area is overwritten by any new data. There are many file recovery software available such as TOKIWA Data Recovery that enables you to undelete files, even if they have been removed from the recycle bin. Such programs can track the deleted files in the hard disk. Recovery of the deleted files is possible as long as the disk area is not overwritten by any new disk.

3) No magnets near PC: It is a common saying that there should be no magnet or magnetic substance near computer but it is a myth. Although floppy can get affected by a magnet but hard drives and laptops are insensitive to magnetic field as they are free from magnetic composition. Similarly thumb drives, memory cards and CDs are also immune to it.

4) Radiations from PC monitor are cancerous: Radiations coming out of monitor are harmless and don’t cause any risk of cancer. Radiation from your cell phone might give you a brain tumor, but a monitor can’t do this. So don’t get panic to sit before your computer as these radiations are weak in nature and human body is safe from them. In fact, according to many studies the amount of ultraviolet radiation produced by a computer monitor is a small fraction of that produced by florescent lighting.

5) Cookies from sites track every move: Cookies do track your activities on a website. But they simply make sure your next visit to the site remain easy and hassle free. Basically these are small text files that help the browser remember specific information like your id and password, preferences, shopping cart information etc. Plus they are usually deleted when you shut down your browser. To delete cookies in IE, you can follow this route: Tools -> Internet Options ->Privacy tab ->Advanced and select override automatic cookie handling.

6) A USB device always stopped before unplugging: This statement applies to only a few cases. This is said to ensure that the USB device is not unplugged while data is being read from or written to it. Doing so would corrupt the file being transferred or maybe damage the USB drive. However, when the USB is in the idle mode it can be unplugged without going through the entire process of ‘Safely Remove hardware’. Keyboard, mouse, printers, scanners, can be just unplugged when not in use.

7) If you have antivirus you can click anything: No single antivirus program can completely safeguard you against virus, trojan, malware and spyware attack. Though an anti-virus is a must-must, but one cannot just relax especially in a 24X7 connected world. There are always chances of getting infected. The anti-virus program loaded in your PC may not be effective against spyware or other kinds of malware not classified as viruses. Also, in case of a bigger attack, the security vendor may take long time to issue a security update. Hence, anti-spyware program is needed for the PC and a regular updation of anti-virus software is must to keep the PC safe.

Tags: Knowledge, PC, Technology Myths, Truth

In the fresh protest against the decision of hand over of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board by BJP and Shiv sena activists, 70 protesters were arrested during the clash which left 9 people injured.

Protesters were throwing stones to show their anger and also attacked houses of State Health Minister and senior Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma and People’s Democratic Party legislator Shanti Devi as said by official sources. However, there was no major incident reported so far.

Ten activists were arrested in Jammu and 60 arrested in Kathua district. Police baton charged over 1,000 BJP activists to resort traffic on Tawi Bridge.

Effigies of Governor Vohra, CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and former deputy CM Muzaffar Hussain Baig were also burnt during the agitation.

Transport system was also affected due to the protest. Pathankot-Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was blocked at six places in Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Udhampur districts, where protestors put up barricades, thereby stranding over 2,000 vehicles.

It was reported that BJP and Shiv Sena activists clashed with police at Ragunath Bazaar, City Chowk, Bikram Chowk, Muthi, Kathua, R S Pura, Udhampur, Nagrota, Bari Brahamana, Vijaypur and Samba areas in Jammu district during the bandh.

“The situation is under control. There is no major incident reported from anywhere in Jammu region. Some preventive arrests were made,” Inspector General of Police Jammu K Rajindra said.

Tags: Amarnath, BJP, Jammu, Jammu Band, Kashmir, Police, Shiv Sena

The Bollywood big star Amitabh Bachchan is issued a notice from Goa Bench of Mumbai High Court on Monday for allegedly violating the Anti-Tobacco Act after National Organization for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) had filed the case against Bachchan and others.

Along with Big B, Anchor Electric appliances, Keshu Ramsay and others were also issued the notice followed by a hearing of the case on Monday after billboards showing the megastar smoking a cigar were raised on the Goa highway.

The notices have been issued before admission and the respondents will have to appear in person or through lawyers, court officials said.

NOTE had taken strong objection to Bachchan’s still from a film Family which was displayed on the billboards raised along the Panaji-Margao highway depicting Big B smoking a cigar. The organization had contended the billboards violated anti-tobacco laws applicable in the state.

Earlier, the lower court had refused to entertain the case stating that there is no substance in it. Bachchan had apologized to NOTE but the organization than challenged the case in high court who issued the notice against them.

“I am deeply apologetic of the advertisement that has hurt the sentiments of the people at large and organizations such as yours,” Bachchan had said in a letter to NOTE India general secretary Shekhar Salkar.

Bachchan tried to make the things clear by saying in the letter that: The publicity banner carrying my photograph was a still from my film Family in which I am portraying the character of an underworld don.

“While I was not instrumental in designing the publicity campaign, I find from the photograph of the billboard stated to be put out on NH 17 in Goa that the manufacturers of Anchor electric switches are seeking to promote their own products. Neither B Corp Limited nor I have promoted Anchor products or tobacco products.” He added

“I have made a note of anti-tobacco legislation and informed my producers and told them to take immediate steps so that no such violation takes place as far as I am concerned,” he said.

“I am a teetotaler, I do not drink nor smoke and I have not indulged in these activities for almost 30 years and have no intentions of indulging in them in the future,” Bachchan had said in his letter.

NOTE had issued legal notice to Bachchan on January five for violating Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003.

Tags: Amitabh Bachchan, Anti-Tobacco Act, Bachchan, Bollywood, Legal Notice

61 new mega stores are on its way by the very famous Big Bazaar making a total of 150 stores. Future’s group retail chain on Sunday said it will open additional 61 stores by the year end expecting a high turnover of Rs 5,000 crore in the current fiscal year.  The new stores would come up on an area of 30,000-1, 25,000 sq ft.

“The company is looking for a turnover of Rs 5,000 crore during the current fiscal. As part of the plan, 61 new hypermarkets are going will be established across the country,” Big Bazaar (sourcing and production head) Sharmila Nadkarni said on sidelines of the Pure&Play retail summit here.

Most of the new stores would be set up in tier-II and smaller cities. Big Bazaar has presence in 16 tier-II and smaller cities.

“We want to bring items in all segments under one roof and tap Rs 35,000 crore women’s wear markets in India,” she said.

Out of the total sale of Big Bazar, Women’s and kid’s wear comprised 30 % and 18 % respectively and now the company is planning to increase the figures by 5% to touch 35 % and 23 % respectively by the end this fiscal. Presently the company has total 89 stores across 55 cities.

“The company is also in talks with certain manufacturing companies to launch their own labels. It has certain specialized labels in women’s wear like Biba, Shylla, and Shristi,” she said.

“The new project will initially cover some high market stores in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai,” she added.

Special space will be given to kids wear as Special Kids Zone are expected to be set up in selected stores. It also plans special youth zones in those selected stores.

Tags: Big Bazaar, Kids wear, Mall, Mega Mall, Mens Wear, Womens Wear

The bleeding Jesus Christ in church! Yes, surprising but it is true. The framed picture of Jesus Christ in the St Michael’s Church in Mumbai on Friday started ‘bleeding’ a dark red liquid resembling blood. Thousands of people gathered to catch a glimpse of this miracle.

On June 27, a portion of the picture around the heart of Jesus got dark red stains which deepened with time and the believers said it is the blood of Jesus.

Crowds keep flocking in till about 1 a.m. on the day and it was a hard time for the church authorities to handle the crowd. The Catholic Church, however, said it is not regarding this as a miracle.

Father Antony Charanghat said, “People are drawn to God in different ways and this could be one of them. The Catholic Church has a lengthy and vigorous process of inquiry before it declares any incident a miracle.”

Fr Donat D’Souza of St Michael parish said the darkening of the stain was noticed soon after the last service in the Church on Friday at around 8.45 pm. “It could be caused by moisture,” he said.

On Saturday the devotees were only allowed in single file into the church compound. Some touched the picture; others kissed it and said brief prayers.

Sandeep Piedade, one of the Church attendants, said “I think it is a miracle, what else it can be,” he said. P Moses another usher exclaimed,” Can it be anything other than a miracle.”

Police said worshipers claimed the heart of Christ in the picture first appeared to get darker and then a red liquid resembling blood began flowing from it. This resulted in at least 3,000 people from different faiths flocking to church till the wee hours of this morning.

Do you people believe this as a miracle or there can be some scientific reason behind it?

Tags: Bleeding Christ, Bleeding Jesus, Christ, Jesus, Mumbai, St Michael Church

‘New Passport Seva’ Project which was launched in December last year, is expected to start by next year which will issue passports under Tatkal service within a day of application.

Passports under Tatkal service project, which is planned to be completed within 19 months, will also ensure that an applicant gets his passport within three days of application if police verification is not required.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who inaugurated a Passport Centre, said on Saturday, “the steps are being taken to make the system applicant-friendly while balancing the needs of security.”

Mukerjee said verification will be expedited through electronic linkage of the Passport Facilitation Centers with the police authorities in state capitals.

Mukherjee told that e-passports with biometric information will be issued to the general public beginning September next year.

“About 50 lakh passports were issued last year all over India by the Central Passport Organization, compared to 22 lakh seven years ago. The total demand for passports is expected to grow to over 80 lakhs in 2010.” He added.

Tags: India, New Passport Seva, Passport, Passport Seva, Tatkal, Tatkal Service

Tata Motors on Sunday told that their much awaited Nano car will be out in the market from its Singur facility by October this year in spite of the project was facing cost overrun.

“We have already sunk in Rs 2000 crore”’, the company’s Managing Director Mr. Ravi Kant said, adding earlier the project cost was pegged at Rs 1700 crore.

Mr. Ravi Kant, who met the West Bengal Chief Minister Mr. Buddhadev Bhattacharjee at Writer’s Buildings in Kolkata, told reporters that the entire project had been reworked at the plant site at Singur due to floods last year which had led to the cost escalation.

Mr. Ravi Kant had visited the Singur plant yesterday to review progress and discussed all the relevant issues with suppliers and vendors regarding the manufacture of the car

He sated that if everything will go according to the plans, Nano would be rolled out during Durga Puja. “We hope to start trial production during July or August and Nano will be produced out of West Bengal”, he said.

Mr. Kant had earlier stated that while the company’s focus would remain the domestic market for the first couple of years, Tata Motors was keen to take the car to Africa and Latin America as the global interest for the small car is increased meanwhile.

Tags: Bengal, Nano, Singur, Tata, Tata Motors, Tata Nano

A reality show slipped a 16-year-old teenage girl in to a tragic situation after rebuked by the judges. Trauma from public humiliation is said to have damaged her central nervous system and ended with paralysis. Shinjini Sengupta (16) a student of Class XI of a south Kolkata school has now all her dreams crushed on the bed of Bangalore inert hospital.

The girl was a participant of a reality show on a Bengali television channel. On May 19, the talented girl was allegedly rebuked by the judges. It is alleged that the judges wondered out aloud what she was doing in a dance contest, which carried prize money of rupees five lakhs. The public humiliation had a traumatic effect on the girl but she did not burst into tears. This bottled emotion took her into depression and finally left her paralyzed.

After she was admitted to a city nursing home and later to a hospital, the doctors were unable to diagnose the problem. She was then subjected to a MRI and a CT scan but the same yielded no clues.

“The doctors here have not been able to diagnose her problem. She can’t speak or express herself. An MRI and a CT scan have been done, but we still don’t know what she is suffering from,” said Sibani Sengupta, Shinjini’s mother.

Till three days ago, she was able to write down on note paper if she needed something. But now her mother told her school teachers, “Now she cannot even do that.”

Her mother told that after the failure in the reality show, she was upset and almost stopped eating. She slept for most part of the day and listened to music when awake. “Being our only child we never stopped her from doing what she wanted to do. Education was our first priority. If she could manage to learn dance without hampering her studies we were okay with it. Now, I don’t know what we will do. All parents should learn a lesson from us,” said D K Sengupta, Shinjini’s father.

Some days later, Shinjini was at Fun City shooting for a tele-serial. That was the first time her parents realized she was facing a medical problem. “She couldn’t say her dialogues. The director was a bit surprised since she hadn’t behaved like this ever before. We thought she was deliberately doing this. Then we realized that there was a problem,” Sibani said.

Now she was flown to Bangalore, on Friday evening. Psychiatrists invited to news channels said her case was extreme in nature but is definitely not rare. Doctors are now saying it is called the GB syndrome.

Shinjini is a good student with letter marks in her Madhyamik (Class X) examinations. She featured in television serials and also in a film in Bengali going to be released in August. Unable to walk and talk, she is now staring with a glazed look in her eyes.

Serious questions are arising after the incident as whether the wanton use of children and teenagers in reality shows all in the name of talent hunt for that elusive element called fame is really worth it?? What you say?

Tags: Emotion, Paralysis, Reality Show, Shinjini, Tension

Recent findings in Aarushi murder probe tightly encircled Raj Kumar, Durrani’s servant, into clouds of suspicion. Followed by his arrest after a blood stained washed T-shirt of Rajkumar was recovered from his house by CBI, the special court in Ghaziabad sent him to 14-day CBI custody on Saturday.

“The T-shirt had been sent to Gujarat for examination and a forensic team there had confirmed that it contained blood stains of a human being. It has now been sent for advanced investigation to Hyderabad and Rajkumar has been arrested,” Arun Kumar had stated.

CBI claimed in the court that Rajkumar had confessed to his involvement in both Aarushi and Hemraj’s murder. Rajkumar confirmed that he had switched off her mobile and then eventually destroyed it.

In his statement to the investigative agency under 161 of Code of Criminal Procedure, Rajkumar said, “I broke and destroyed Aarushi’s mobile phone. I could however help CBI in recovering Hemraj’s mobile phone and the weapon used in the murder - the khukri.”

CBI told media on Saturday that Rajkumar’s role in the case is peripheral and he could face punishment with regard to destruction of evidence. The CBI also went on to say that the murders were clearly pre-planned and those involved in the case have made sure that all evidence was destroyed.

Rajkumar had already been subjected to brain-mapping, lie-detector tests and a narco-analysis when he was held earlier. The CBI is now claiming that there were discrepancies in Rajkumar’s statements. Rajkumar’s confession does not take away the focus from prime suspects Dr Rajesh Talwar and his compounder Krishna, as told by CBI.

The T-shirt is an important piece of evidence. The team in Hyderabad will conduct a DNA test on the blood on the T-shirt so that they can determine whose blood it is. If the blood comes out to be of Aarushi or Hemraj, then definitely Rajkumar will be involved in murder otherwise he can escape.

Rajkumar had been picked up by the CBI and questioned twice before. He was named by Dr Talwar’s compounder, Krishna, during interrogation.

Tags: Aarushi, Aarushi Murder Case, Double Murder Case, Krishna, Noida Murder Case, Talwar, Twin Murder Case