A must-read Crime Thriller!!!

Detective by Arthur Hailey

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the kind of book that you'd call "unputdownable". Fast-paced, wasting the least of pulp in describing a dog's ponytail or the sullen expression on the Gibbon's face in a zoo, the author takes you on a ride, letting you know more about Crime Scene Investigation(CSI) than any other author before. The author takes you high as the story unfurls, never letting you down or consider your time a waste. With most of the story taking place in the Homicide HQ, Crime, Duty, Law, Lust and Loneliness intertwine at various degrees in various stages of the plot, bringing another Best-Seller from one of the finest authors of our time.




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A Book better left on the Bookshelf

The Vorpal Blade by Colin Forbes

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars


Slow-paced and outrageously, outrightly boring, in it's best pages the book can be dubbed average. All we come across in the book are people indulging themselves in excessive Double Scotch and Coffee all along; a pathetic reporter who pops out of any wall or any table for that matter at the turn of every conversation, the deputy director of SIS moving around with a bunch of hillbillies and relying on dreams and psychosis experts to guess the murderer; a detective who showers at every possible opportunity and pokes her nose around every conversation in town, unfortunately for the reader, solving the complicated case by drinking gallons of Tea, Coffee, Water and Chardonnay alone. Too many loose ends and flaws in the plot, The Vorpal Blade certainly isn't the better of Colin's works. The only reason I had to complete the book is to write my first book review on Goodreads.


View all my reviews.

What is BitTorrent?

Originally posted on Zeropaid

Easy, step-by-step guide for those who have heard of KaZaA and other file-sharing programs, but are looking for a faster and safer way to download movies, music, TV shows, anime, and just about anything else you can think of.

Many people are still unaware of what exactly BitTorrent is or what it does. BitTorrent is a P2P protocol, or method, that allows people to share data much more efficiently and at much greater transfer speeds than previous file-sharing software like KaZaA, Morpheus, and WinMX. These programs were Direct Connect types in that each person connected directly and solely to one other user in order to share files. The drawback of this is that the person receiving the data is limited by the upload connection speed of the person sending it.

What BitTorrent does is remove this limitation by allowing a virtually unlimited number of people to connect to one another and share the same file at the same time. Instead of being limited by the upload speed of the other user one is suddenly in the welcome position of being limited by ones own download speed.

The idea behind BitTorrent is to allow massive distribution of popular files without penalizing the source by soaring bandwidth costs and possible crashes due to demand that exceeds the capability of the server. In this way, anyone who creates a popular program, music file or other product can make it available to the public regardless of assets, even if the file becomes highly popular.

To understand how BitTorrent functions, first consider how normal downloading works. Personal computers connected to the Internet are known as clients while the websites visited reside on Internet servers. Servers "serve up information" to clients. If you surf to a site and click on a link to download a program, you create a one-on-one connection to that server that uses whatever bandwidth is necessary to serve you the file. When you have received the entire file, the connection is released so the server can utilize that stream of bandwidth for handling other connections.

The problem arises when unusually high numbers of clients visit a site simultaneously. This can cause the server to effectively run out of available bandwidth and "crash." When this happens, clients are refused a connection. "The site is down."



To avoid this, BitTorrent creates a different networking scheme. It uses the other clients who are also downloading the file to effectively act as servers to one another, simultaneously uploading the parts of the file received to others requesting the file. Hence, when you click on a file to download, several connections will be made to receive "slices" of the file that combine to create the entire file. Meanwhile, as you are downloading these "slices" you are also uploading them to anyone else that needs the parts you are receiving. Once the entire file is received it is considered polite to keep your client connected to act as a seed. A seed refers to a source that has the entire file available.

In this way BitTorrent relieves the burden of the servers but more significantly it makes it possible for anyone to disseminate a file quickly and easily without requiring expensive servers or an infrastructure of distribution. If the demand is there, the file will spread.

Tips for maximising a BSNL Dataone(Broadband) connection.

Note: even if you aren't an Indian BSNL Dataone customer, you may find a thing or two of interest in this post.

I'm writing this post because:-

Reason 1. Murali wanted me to mail him few links for the softwares( auto-dialer, Datafox plug-in etc.) for his new Data-One 500C package.

Reason 2. The post may help some out there, who want to download Gigs of movies, mp3s, games, porn from the net but don't have the time or the patience to sit in front of their computer the whole day.

Reason 3. Last but not the least, I'm a blogger and my blog has a post more than it did before.


So going into the post itself, the things I'll be talking about in this post are

a) How to check your BSNL Broadband usage in the lower right corner of your firefox browser (sorry I don't know the plug-in for other browsers) instead of the boring routine of going to http://dataone.in/ everytime you want to know your usage (here again, while this link can be used for checking the usage of both limited and the unlimited usage packages, I don't find a reason why some unlimited package user is prompted to check his usage unless he's half as inquisitive as me). The plug-in is called Datafox. As the name itself tells you, a plug-in for Dataone made for the browser Firefox. All you have to do is go HERE, download the plug-in and open the xpi file (the extension of the file you just downloaded is .xpi, the format for firefox plug-ins) with firefox explorer or just drag the 80 kb file into an open firefox tab. After installing, you need to restart the browser when prompted (the firefox browser, not windows) and configure the plug-in straight away. Double-click on the "X" marked Datafox icon in the lower-right most corner of the browser and select "BSNL" for the ISP, enter your password and username for your connection (believe me, no harm here because no one can use your connection details for any other purpose on an outsider BSNL connection save for checking your usage details, the fact is that only you may connect to internet with those details only on your phone number's connection), tick "save password", "override default domain" and login. One last configuration, right-click on the Datafox icon, go into preferences, tick "login on startup", "display data in Gib", "upto 3 decimal places", "Bandwidth limit (according to your package, if you're not sure go HERE )", in the statusbar string input "{cX}/{tX}". If you're only interested in your usage excluding the happy hours(2:00-8:00 am), just go for {cX}.

b) How to get your system to start up on it's own, download your files and shutdown when done. Many of the motherboards today come with a built-in RTC(Real-Time Clock, the time set in your Motherboard's BIOS) wake up alarm, meaning that you can set them to start on their own at a pre-desired time on a single day or the same time everyday, the whole month. My motherboard is configured to power up every night at 2:05 am and shutdown at 7:55 am in the morning (making the most of Happy Hours excluding 10 minutes right?). In my next post, which I insist you shouldn't miss by any chance, I'll let you know a major flaw in the Happy Hours browsing system which can practically doom you and the reason why I power up my system only after 2:00 am and not before. Also, one thing I should remind you here is that while I use an RTC alarm on the motherboard to start the pc, in order to shutdown the system, a 600 kb software "Autoshutdown" is used. Once the system is up and working, you need a dial-up software to establish the connection (luckily, if you asked your technician to setup your connection to be on always, I mean without having to dial a connection, you don't need to do this part at all). This software is "Winpoet", you may download it HERE. After installing the software, you may configure it to connect on system start-up. This much said, you're able to get the system up and connected to the internet but who'll take care of the downloads? Just setup your utorrent or other clients or Download managers to start with system startup. Happy Downloading. BUT don't forget leaving your UPS and BSNL Modem switched on or configuring your Autoshutdown to shutdown at 7:55 am everyday.


Checklist:-

1) Download Datafox plugin HERE.

datafox-1_0_1.xpi

Hosted by eSnips

2) Download Winpoet HERE.

WinPoET403.zip

Hosted by eSnips

3) Download Autoshutdown HERE.

AutoShutdown.zip

Hosted by eSnips

4) Configure Autoshutdown to shutdown at 7:55 am everyday (contact me/ comment back for detailed instructions on the same).

5) Configure BIOS to start up at 2:05 am in the night (search a bit for this option in your BIOS, it almost always exists).

6) Configure Winpoet to startup and use auto-connect.

7) Configure your Download Manager or torrent client to auto-start with system startup.

8) Don't forget leaving your UPS and Modem switched on and your Monitor switched off and CPU shutdown.

Happy Downloading, and make the most of BSNL Broadband. If you think all these steps are a pain, consider the 138 GB(yeah that's right, 138 Gigabytes) that I downloaded last month, or rather that my system downloaded :). Comments are welcome and suggestions are valued. Queries are answered at the earliest.

Death on the Football Field: Angels of Football

Originally posted by Lonely for Sportales


Football or soccer, is the most popular sport in many parts of the world. We lock our hearts and brains to the results of the matches at weekends, Champions League or UEFA Cup. Every goal scored is enough to make us fall from our chairs


However, there are some moments in football that upset all followers. They are the deaths and injuries on football fields. This article is devoted to three memorable footballers who died on the field, Marc Vivien Foe, Miklos Feher and Antonio Puerta.

Marc-Vivien Foé

Foe was born in Cameroon in 1975. He started his football career as a junior in Union Garoua, then he transferred to Canon Yaounde team. His success in Cameroon, carried him to the France League. He played for RC Lens and Olympique Lyonnais teams in France and for Westham United and Manchester City in United Kingdom. He was choosen for the Cameroon National team and played 64 times scoring 8 goals. His team was invited to Fifa Confederations Cup in Lyon. After he played against Brazil and Turkey, Cameroon deserved to face Colombia in the semifinal of the cup.


He died in the 72nd minute of the game in Stade De Gerland in Lyon. Autopsies showed that his death was because of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.



Miklós Fehér

Feher was born in Hungary in 1979 and started his football career in Gyori Eto FC. His goals and technique moved him to the famous Portugal club FC Porto. He couldn't show his talent in Porto. Hence, he was hired to SC Salguerios and Sporting Braga teams. Finally, he was transferred to another famous Portugal club Benfica. Feher died in 2004 while playing against Vitoria Guimaraes. His death is still in my mind. Fehér, who had just come on as a substitute, received a yellow card in injury time and suddenly bent forward seemingly in pain and then fell backwards to the ground. Team mates rushed immediately to aid Fehér before medical personnel arrived on the pitch.


CPR was performed as players looked on in visible distress. An ambulance arrived on the pitch and Fehér was rushed to the hospital. His condition was covered by the Portuguese media throughout the day but before midnight Fehér's death was confirmed. The Public Prosecutor (the Portuguese agency responsible for the release of autopsy details) announced that Fehér died from a heart attack. He was 24 years old. Many wouldn't yet forget his last smile when the referee gave him an yellow card, just as he fell down on the field, in the middle of the last game he played.

Antonio Puerta


Puerta was born in Spain in 1984. In his career, he played only for Seville team. He played for Seville B team first and moved to Seville A team due to his success. His youth and talented football impressed famous clubs Real Madrid, Manchester United and Arsenal teams and he entered to the transfer list of these clubs. He died in 2007 while he was playing against Getafe in Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. It was announced that his death was because of Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy (multiple organ failure, in short). At the time of his death, his girlfriend was expecting his first child.

What's in a Hero's statue?

(Source: http://www.snopes.com/military/statue.asp)

Why are some war heroes horses statues reared up, and others on all four legs, or the heroes swords are drawn? Do the number of hooves lifted into the air on equestrian statues reveal how the riders died?

Folk wisdom has it that equestrian statues contain a code whereby the rider's fate can be determined by noting how many hooves the horse has raised.

The most common theory is this:

One hoof is raised = the rider was wounded in battle


The hoof code seems to mostly hold true for all statues. However, James Longstreet wasn't wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg yet his horse has one foot raised. Maybe it had an itch?


Two raised hooves / horse is reared back on its hind legs = the rider died in battle


All four hooves on the ground = the rider survived all battles unharmed and passed away by a natural cause.


As far as the sword being drawn or not, It's assumed that it simply symbolizes the charging towards the enemy; a signal for the rest of his troops to follow him into battle. Most likely its up to the sculptor if he wanted to have the sword drawn or not.

Is Ramayana true? Part-1

NASA Images Discover Ancient Bridge (Adam's Bridge) between India and Sri Lanka

(Courtesy : NASA Digital Image Collection)



Space images taken by NASA reveal a mysterious ancient bridge in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. The recently discovered bridge currently named as Adam´s Bridge is made of chain of shoals, c.18 mi (30 km) long.

The bridge´s unique curvature and composition by age reveals that it is man made. The legends as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to the a primitive age, about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge´s age is also almost equivalent.



This information is a crucial aspect for an insight into the mysterious legend called Ramayana, which was supposed to have taken place in tredha yuga (more than 1,700,000 years ago).

In this epic, there is a mentioning about a bridge, which was built between Rameshwaram (India) and Srilankan coast under the supervision of a dynamic and invincible figure called Rama who is supposed to be the incarnation of the supreme.



This information may not be of much importance to the archeologists who are interested in exploring the origins of man, but it is sure to open the spiritual gates of the people of the world to have come to know an ancient history linked to the Indian mythology.

Stand up, Shout aloud












Get paid for just showing a Banner!!!

Easier than any other way of earning online yet, you can make money just by displaying Banners as simple as those below on any part of your homepage. Sounds Grrrt doesn't it? Click on the banner to join the program and make some chunk of it yourself!!!


Referral

Praise as good as cash to Brain

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Paying people a compliment appears to activate the same reward center in the brain as paying them cash, Japanese researchers said on Wednesday.

They said the study offers scientific support for the long-held assumption that people get a psychological boost from having a good reputation.

"We found that these seemingly different kinds of rewards -- a good reputation versus money -- are biologically coded by the same neural structure, the striatum," said Dr. Norihiro Sadato of the Japanese National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Okazaki, Japan.

"This provides the biological basis of our everyday experience that personal reputation is felt as rewards," Sadato said in an e-mail.

Sadato's team studied 19 healthy people using a brain imaging technique known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI.

In one set of experiments, people played a gambling game in which they were told one of three cards would yield a payout. The researchers then monitored the brain activity triggered when the subjects got a cash reward.

In a second set of experiments, people were told they were being evaluated by strangers based on information from a personality questionnaire and a video they had made.

The researchers then monitored reactions to these staged evaluations -- including when the subjects thought strangers had paid them a compliment.

For MORE go HERE

Life's Perspective

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country side with the purpose of showing him how poor people lived.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what the son would consider a very poor family.

On their return trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what have you learned from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered:

"I saw that we have one dog and they had four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night...

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve themselves.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have in life, especially people around you !

Why you shouldn't be using Heels

Please click on the picture to see the enlarged and clearer one, I couldn't manage to fit the Hi-Resolution pic in this template's width.

Mind-Boggling

Found this one in my mailbox this morning; Thanks to the courtesy of Fun & Fun Only, this illusion is like nothing I've ever seen before.


Did you take a close look at the picture? let me tell you it is not animated. Your eyes are making it move.To test this, stare at one spot for a couple of seconds and everything will stop moving. Or look at the black center of each circle and it will stop moving. But move your eyes over to the next black center and the previous one will appear to move after you take your eyes away from it.... Weird ???

How Creative are you?

You Are 87% Creative

You are an incredibly creative person. For you, there are no bounds or limits to your creativity. Your next creation could be something very great... Or at least very cool!

Found out this one while browsing the other day on Enchanted Crafts

How Creative Are You?

Glass Head!!

For the full post on " A visit to the The Corning Museum of Glass" go here.

Amazing Light-Trails

There is a light-trail of a Boeing taking off among these, can you find it?

Hello Entrecarders

Hello Entrecard friends, please care to spare a minute or two for me, I'd like to have a word with you. For the past 10-11 days I've been pretty seriously dropping 300 cards everyday, and to read atleast 1/3rd of the articles and yet promote my new site( and second entrecard) hardly leaves me any time to manage or modify my dropping list. Sorry to all those who've been consistently dropping on me and yet aren't getting any return drops; as I said I was busy what with end labs approaching and all that. So I thought better of it today and started writing this post, for the same reason I've changed the place of my widget, hoping that powerdroppers may find this post in the pursuit of my widget.


Those who have remained my regular droppers but haven't been getting my drop/blog watch in return kindly comment at the end of this post, giving me your entrecard url and your blog url. I promise you I'll add you to my dropping list within 3 hours. You can as well mail me or message me on the Entrecard in-house message system; I'll act promptly. Thanx for being a loyal dropper.

Killer Bear? I'm just a big teddy, really!

(article originally published in the newspaper Dailymail )

It was a chance encounter that could have ended with flying fur and bloodshed in the snow.

Wildlife photographer Norbert Rosing was taking pictures of a team of huskies in Canada's frozen north when a polar bear gatecrashed the party.

Along with dog handler Brian Ladoon, Mr Rosing watched helplessly as the bear and one of the dogs approached each other.

1 - This floe ain't big enough for the both of us: The bear gives the husky a stare that says beware

2 - Watch out, I'm a southpaw: The dog cowers as his adversary threatens to land a knockout blow

3 - On second thoughts, you're not so bad: A nuzzle with the muzzle clinches the peace deal

4 - Go on, give me a (bear) hug: The new friends enjoy a cuddle

5 - If I lie here long enough I might even get a tickle on the tummy: The bear is playful, the husky is a little bemused and the handler (out of shot) is extremely relieved