There still might be hope

In a world where fanatical extremists attack innocent people and large companies spend their free time suing each other, it’s reassuring to see world leaders and CEOs showing that they care about what is happening in the world. Tony Blair was the first leader before the G8 summit to show his support for Africa and the environment and unlike other leaders, he wants to do all he can to help. Bill Gates made a surprise appearance at the Live 8 show to voice his support and as much as people may dislike Bill Gates and Microsoft, he has done a lot as a philanthropist. Bill and Melinda Gates have endowed a foundation with more than $27 billion to support philanthropic initiatives in the areas of global health and learning. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, called up the family of a teenager who was killed for an iPod. Steve Jobs spoke to Errol Rose who was Christopher's (the victim's) father and asked how he was doing and conveyed his sympathies. "He told me that he understood my pain," Rose said. "He told me if there is anything, anything, anything he could do, to not be afraid to call him. It really lightened me a bit."

I am sure there are many more stories out there that will support the title of this post and if you do know of any, please share them with us.

Just a second

An extra second will be added to the year 2005 to make up for the slowing down of the Earth’s rotation. This second is called a ‘Leap Second’ and it is the first one to be added since 1998. One of the culprits behind Earth’s unpredictable (to an extent) rotation is our moon because the tidal force exerted by the moon affects the rotation of our planet.
The first Leap Second was added in 1972 as the technology was developed for accurate time-keeping and between the years 1972 and 1983, a second was added every year. The clock on Dec. 31st this year will read 23h 59m 59s ... 23h 59m 60s ... 00h 00m 00s. Normally, the seconds would roll from 59 directly to 00. So just wait a second longer before you wish everyone a happy new year.

(The picture is of a very old astrological clock from Prague.)

GoldenPalace.com gets Ahead

You have heard of crazy auctions on eBay and this one isn’t any different. Karolyne Smith, from Utah, auctioned off her forehead as advertising space to any company that was willing to pay $10,000. Her auction reached the No.2 spot for the most watched auctions and the bidding amount was at $999.99 before GoldenPalace.com hit the ‘buy now’ button on eBay and agreed to meet her demand of $10,000. The employees at the tattoo parlor spent 7 hours trying to talk her out of it but she would not listen. She believes her 10 year old son needs a private education after falling behind in school and the money will go towards that education.

Click here if you want to see videos of her getting tattooed.

I might be willing to give a spot somewhere on my arm as advertising space to Alexander Keiths for a life-time supply for their beer (amount of beer is negotiable) and I would like to have them delivered home on a periodic basis (delivery terms are negotiable too). Are you listening Mr.Keiths?

Honey, I shrunk the Corporation

A Taiwanese stock broker accidentally bought 251 million worth of shares (!!!!!) with a wrong keystroke. The company she works for, Fubon Securities, is looking at a paper loss of more than $12 million. However, the company has decided to keep the shares as their outlook looks pretty good but they will still be firing her. Apparently, they had a new computer system installed and she was not familiar with the system. Makes you wonder why wasn’t she trained properly and also, how did the new system allow such a huge buy? Shouldn’t there be some kind of check to see if you are either Gordon Gecko or just plain crazy before you press the 'enter' button? I think the company is as guilty as the stock broker.

Batman Begins Well

I finally got to see the movie i was waiting for. Read my review for Batman Begins on Reel 2 Reel. I would like to thank Dumas for giving me an opportunity to contribute towards her blog.

The review

Where there’s a will, there is wireless

What the local council of Glastonbury did not know when they had imposed noise restrictions is that they will be setting the stage for a new fad. Silent Discos. These restrictions affected the festivities at the music festival as the music had to be stopped shortly after midnight which prompted the organizers to use a simple solution – wireless headphones. The music, instead of being played on loud speakers and bass bins, is streamed into wireless headphones that audience will be using. I am sure it will look weird to see people dancing if you don’t have a headphone on and to make things even stranger; there are 2 radio frequencies with 2 different kinds of music. So if you see one person jumping and another person grooving, it is ‘most likely’ that they are listening to different kinds of music. There will also be some ambience music for those who would prefer to have just a conversation at the music festival.
I hope this gets popular, would be great to have parties at home and not disturb the whole neighborhood. Would you go to a Silent Party?

Deep Impact: The real thing

NASA has sent out a probe called ‘Deep Impact’ that will meet the comet ‘Tempel 1’ at 1:52 a.m. EDT Monday. ‘Deep Impact’ will release a 816-pound projectile into the comet and then record the result from a safe distance. This study is being carried out to study the formations underneath the surface of the comet. Hopefully, we will find what comets are made of and if we can blast the bejesus out of any comet that is on a collision course with Earth. I have always had this fear, among other things, of a comet colliding with Earth and killing every living being. Isn't that a scary thought?

To read more about Deep Impact, click on the links below.

Impactor Away: Deep Impact Probe En Route to Comet

Scientists brace for a deep-space impact