Doomsday prophecies prompt discussion on predictions’ validity

The countdown has begun. It’s not to the end of finals but potentially to the end of the world.

Some have predicted, based on the conclusion of the Mayan calendar cycle, that the world may come to an end in eight days, on Dec. 21, 2012. While some are bracing for the potential apocalypse, many are working to discredit the theory.

Around the world, people are bracing for what is believed to be the apocalypse on Dec. 21. In western Turkey, thousands are pouring into a small village where Christians believe the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven. In the U.S., some believers are ready to run to sophisticated underground bunkers to survive a possible catastrophe.

At Ithaca College, some professors have brought doomsday discussions to the classroom. Ron Denson, assistant professor of writing, has taught the honors course, “2012: The End of Time,” for four years. His class focuses on Mayan culture and the famous calendar that ends in 2012 and has managed to spook — at least a little — an entire generation.

“There is this sort of inchoate fear that the end of the world is happening, and [students] don’t quite know where that sense comes from,” Denson said.

Michael Richardson, associate professor of modern languages and literatures, teaches the freshman Ithaca seminar, “Disaster and Dystopia and the End of the World.”

“There’s always a perverse sort of fascination with the end of the world, and some of that comes from a dissatisfaction with the way that society or civilization as a whole is headed,” Richardson said.

This is not the first time the world has been prophesied to end. There have been more than 150 predicted apocalypses. On Dec. 21, 1954, according to a UFO cult, the Brotherhood of Seven Rays, an epic flood was supposed to destroy the world. On Jan. 1, 2000, the Y2K computer bug was supposed to cause global chaos. If all doesn’t fail next week, there are more dates in the future. According to Jeanne Dixon, a 20th-century astrologer, Armageddon will take place between 2020 and 2037.

Thanks: http://theithacan.org/29099

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Posted in: Doomsday

A 100-year-old glance of British India

A century-old collection of photographs of India has been discovered in the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland archive.

The rare and fragile glass plate negatives, which date back to around 1912, show life on the subcontinent at the high point of the British Raj.

The 178 negatives were found in a shoebox for a pair of grey, size 9, slip-on shoes, and were stored in their original five-by-eight-inch plate boxes, wrapped in copies of The Statesman newspaper dating from 1914. The identity of the photographer is not known yet.

Highlights from the imagery include celebrations for the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Calcutta in 1912 -- the only visit by a British monarch to India as Emperor of the subcontinent -- with the city's buildings lit up at night in tribute

Thanks:rediff.com/news

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Posted in: PHOTOS

Microsoft scores patent for web-based spying technology

Microsoft has been granted a patent for a technology that could create wiretaps for several kinds of Internet communications, including video and voice calls over Skype, which Microsoft acquired in May.
Federal law enforcement agencies have had difficulties with tracking and recording criminal and terrorist conversations online. Back in September, it was reported that law enforcement officials wanted to expand the government’s powers to wiretap Internet services. Microsoft’s new technology could help make this a reality.

The spying technology, called “Legal Intercept,” allows currently existing products to be modified to “cause the communication to be established via a path that includes a recording agent,” according to the filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Once a connection is established, the agent is able to “silently record” a conversation.

The filing specifically calls out the ability to record any kind of voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) communications. “VoIP may include audio messages transmitted via gaming systems, instant messaging protocols that transmit audio, Skype and Skype-like applications, meeting software, video conferencing software, and the like,” Microsoft said in the filing.

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Posted in: Computer,Technlolgy

How cricket will change

Cricket will undergo a slew of transformations if suggestions made by the ICC Chief Executives' Committee are taken on board by the ICC Executive Board. Once approved, the following changes will come into effect on October 1, with far-reaching implications for the future of the game:

No runners: Injured batsmen will not be able to call on a teammate to run for them, and will either have to hobble on in pain or retire hurt. Controversy had always surrounded the provision of a runner, especially with regard to the fielding captain's say in the batsman being allowed one. In Chennai in 1997, Saeed Anwar blasted a then-record ODI score of 194, with Shahid Afridi doing his running for nearly 30 overs. Later in the same match, Rahul Dravid also suffered cramps on his way to a century, but only had a runner's assistance for two overs, before Pakistan skipper Rameez Raja objected.

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Posted in: CRICKET

Toyota launches hatchback car Etios Liva

Eyeing the huge compact car market in India, Japanese automobile major Toyota Monday launched its entry-level hatchback car Etios Liva priced between Rs.3.99 lakh to Rs. 5.99 lakh.

"Etios Liva has been designed focusing on the Indian customer's aspirations, taste and preferences that were gathered, studied and understood through extensive research," said Hiroji Onishi, president for marketing and sales at Toyota Motor Asia Pacific.

According to Onishi, the new hatchback will help in strengthening Toyota's presence in the country and reinforce its brand.

The company said that the car would be available in four variants of J,G,V and VX, which are powered by a newly developed 1.2-litre petrol engine. The four-cylinder engine comes with a 5-speed manual gear shift transmission.

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Posted in: Travel

Renault Drives Into India. Launches its first car … FLUENCE

Speaking to journalists during the launch of the Fluence, Mr. Marc NASSIF, Managing Directorsaid, “It is a very proud moment for us at Renault India to launch not only the”Mr. Sudhir RAO, Dy. MD of Renault, said, “Today, we have reached the first big milestone in our India story. It was a promise of Renault India to launch not only the Renault FLUENCE, our first built-in-India car, but also to introduce the Renault brand to our Indian customers. For Renault, India is one of the three key countries in Renault’s international development strategy. The Renault Fluence was designed for the Asian markets, hence we are confident that it will not only shake up the segment, but also give the Indian customer their first taste of what Renault is capable of bringing to the Indian market With a committed investment of Rs. 45 billion by 2015, the Alliance plant in Chennai is now fully operational with one assembly line and the second line will be installed soon, taking the total capacity to 400,000 cars per year.

There are also plans to set up a Powertrain assembly line in the near future. The Fluence is the first Renault car to be produced at this state-of-the-art manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Chennai.Elaborating on Renault’s plans for the Indian market, Mr. Sudhir RAO, Dy. MD of Renault India, said, “Today, we have reached the first big milestone in our India story. It was a promise we made a year ago, not only to the Indian customer, but to ourselves, that we would work hard to ensure we meet the seemingly difficult timelines we had set for our independent entry into theIndian market. We have set aggressive targets for ourselves and are well on track to meet them. Against our plan to start with 8 Dealer outlets, we are now in a position where we will have 14 dealers fully operational and ready to sell the cars from today, ramping up to 40 dealers by the end of this year … and the full range of 5 cars and 100 dealerships by December 2012. We understand that the Indian

customer is extremely value conscious, hence not only will our products be in tune with customer expectations, but our commitment will be visible through every aspect of a customer’s interface with us … globally benchmarked Product Quality, Service quality, Network quality and our After Sales Service commitment.”

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Posted in: Travel

Renault may pull out of car project with Bajaj

It's troubles galore for the ultra-low-cost car (ULC) project of Bajaj-Renault-Nissan alliance, that was expected to spring a rival to the Tata Nano. Renault, the French car major, sounded non-committal on the ambitious project on Monday, saying it may pull out if the car being developed and manufactured by Bajaj does not not meet its expectations.

"If it matches our DNA, we will go for it. If it does not, we will find other solutions," Renault India MD Marc Nassif said after the company launched its first product Fluence sedan after the split with Mahindra & Mahindra. The sedan is priced between Rs 12.9 lakh and Rs 14.4 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

Making it clear that Renault was not obliged to buy the car that Bajaj develops, Nassif said there was no formal joint venture between the partners. "As such, there is no joint venture. If the quality of development matches with the promise, we will go for it." Asked what would be the company's strategy if it decided against buying the car from Bajaj, he said, "We will do something different.

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Posted in: Travel