Email attachments be dangerous

Some of the characteristics that make email attachments convenient and popular are also the ones that make them a common tool for attackers:

• Email is easily circulated - Forwarding email is so simple that viruses can quickly infect many machines. Most viruses don't even require users to forward the email—they scan a users' computer for email addresses and automatically send the infected message to all of the addresses they find. Attackers take advantage of the reality that most users will automatically trust and open any message that comes from someone they know.


• Email programs try to address all users' needs - Almost any type of file can be attached to an email message, so attackers have more freedom with the types of viruses they can send.


• Email programs offer many "user-friendly" features - Some email programs have the option to automatically download email attachments, which immediately exposes your computer to any viruses within the attachments.

Landmark Completion of South Pole Telescope to Help Scientists Learn What the Universe Is Made of and How it Got Here

Just days before nations around the world were set to begin a coordinated global research campaign called the International Polar Year (IPY); scientists at the South Pole aimed a massive new telescope at Jupiter and successfully collected the instrument's first test observations.

Soon, a far more distant quarry will enter the South Pole telescope's (SPT) sights, as a team of researchers from nine institutions tackles fundamental mysteries of modern cosmology and the nature of the universe: What, for example, is dark energy, the force that dominates the universe?

The $19.2 million telescope is funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), with additional support from the Kavli Foundation of Oxnard, Calif., and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation of San Francisco.

"The telescope, camera and optics are all working as designed," said John Carlstrom, the S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Chicago, who heads the SPT team that tested the scope on Feb. 26. "SPT's first light is a major milestone for the project and a fitting conclusion to a remarkably productive summer at the South Pole station. We now look forward to fully characterizing the instrument and beginning cosmological observations."

"First light" is the scientific term for the time when a telescope becomes operational.

The telescope stands 75 feet (22.8 meters) tall, measures 33 feet (10 meters) across and weighs 280 tons (254 metric tons). It was assembled in Kilgore, Texas, then taken apart, shipped across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand, and flown from there to the South Pole. Since November, the SPT team under the guidance of project manager Steve Padin has worked furiously to reassemble and deploy the telescope.

As with any construction project at the Earth southern extremity, SPT was supported by a long and complex logistical chain stretching around the globe. All cargo to the South Pole is delivered by ski-equipped LC-130 aircraft, and the components must be able to be broken down to fit into the aircraft cargo bay. Flown by the N.Y. Air National Guard, the aircraft are elements of Operation Deep Freeze, the military support arm of the U.S. Antarctic Program, which also includes Air Force cargo jets and U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers, Navy cargo handlers and many other logistical and personnel assets.

Raytheon Polar Services Co, of Centennial, Colo. is NSF's logistics contractor in Antarctica. RPSC personnel played a variety of essential roles in the successful completion of the SPT project, NSF officials noted.

Astrophysicists know that the universe has been expanding since the Big Bang occurred 13.8 billion years ago. In the late 1990s, astronomers using exploding stars as cosmic tape measures discovered that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. This led them to the idea that dark energy pushes the universe apart, overwhelming gravity, the attractive force exerted by all matter in the universe.

"We would like to know what makes the universe evolve," said Stephan Meyer, professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Chicago.

WHITE ASH - Fraxinus americana, Linn

ALMOST EVERY AMERICAN boy knows a great deal about white ash wood. He has felt the familiar "tock" and tingling jolt which accompanies the swinging of the ball bat made from white ash. White ash grows over most of the state on moist, deep, well-drained soils in small isolated stands. Other relatives found in Missouri are blue, green and pumpkin ash.

Winged seeds are borne in clusters on the twig. These are spread by wind or water or a combination of both.Leaves are opposite and compound with 5 to 7 leaflets which are oval and usually smooth-edged.

Smaller branches are stout, round and smooth. At the tip of the twig there are always three buds, the large, brown, pyramidal terminal and two small lateral buds. On older portions of the tree, bark is thick, dark brown, or gray and broken into flat ridges.

Because of its toughness, strength, and flexibility, the wood is used in the manufacture of athletic equipment, machinery, tools and furniture. It is a beautiful, light-colored wood with a distinctive grain.

In Missouri, white ash seldom exceeds 100 feet in height and 2 1/2 feet in diameter. Because it is so hardy and has good form, it has been widely planted as an ornamental tree. It is rarely planted in forest plantations.

Ash is a lover of light, therefore it will not grow rapidly under shaded conditions.

Coating to Keep Apple Slices Crisp, Fresh, Gains Popularity

Sliced applies, protected by an invisible, vitamin- and mineral-based coating, can keep their appealing color and texture for up to 28 days in the refrigerator, home cooks and gourmet chefs alike are discovering. The invisible coating—an easy-to-apply dip—was patented by ARS and co-investigators at Mantrose-Haeuser, Co., Inc., Westport, Conn., several years ago.

Today, marketed as NatureSeal, it's used in homes, school cafeterias, supermarket delicatessens, upscale restaurants and in fast-food restaurants nationwide. Some supermarkets sell packets of NatureSeal for home use. It's also available on the World Wide Web.

Unlike lemon juice—a traditional option for keeping apple slices from turning mushy and brown—the coating doesn't change the crisp texture and natural flavor of freshly sliced apples.

Namibia- Diamonds

Namibia is world-renowned for its gem quality placer diamonds that occur along the Orange River as well as, onshore and offshore along the coastline of Namibia. The Namibian diamonds were originally transported via the Orange River into the Atlantic Ocean and distributed northwards by long-shore currents. Diamonds typically occur as placers within raised and“drowned” beach terraces, gullies in the bedrock, and eluvial deposits in wind corridors within southern Namibia. As onshore diamond reserves are depleted, future diamond production will predominately come from the seabed. Mid-water to deep-water mining operations requires sophisticated marine vessels and crawlers that are capable of retrieving diamondiferous gravels/sands from the seafloor.

The major diamond producing company in Namibia is Namdeb Diamond Corporation (Pty) Ltd, which accounts for an average of 1.6 million carats per annum. Other companies mining diamonds in Namibia include Sakawe Mining Corporation (Samincor) and Diamond Fields Namibia (Pty) Ltd.

Parking Clocks

Charges apply in most of the Council's town and village car parks. In order to help motorists (particularly residents and those who work in our towns/villages) the council operates a clock parking scheme.
Car Park Photo
Car Parks at Ringwood

The display of a correctly set valid clock, will allow motorists to park in the relevant NFDC car parks without incurring a further charge. Motorists who do not wish to purchase a clock can pay at the ticket machine. Holders of the clock are subject to the waiting restrictions which apply in NFDC car parks.Parking is free for those displaying a valid Blue Disabled Parking Badge.

Funds of hedge funds

"Funds of hedge funds," a relatively new type of investment product, are investment companies that invest in hedge funds. Some, but not all, register with the SEC and file semi-annual reports. They often have lower minimum investment thresholds than traditional, unregistered hedge funds and can sell their shares to a larger number of investors. Like hedge funds, funds of hedge funds are not mutual funds. Unlike open-end mutual funds, funds of hedge funds offer very limited rights of redemption. And, unlike ETFs, their shares are not typically listed on an exchange.

FDI measured and compared between countries

There is no one simple method of measuring inward investment, but most methods of measuring it either focus on the number of projects or jobs, or the financial value. Financial measurements are either of stocks or flows.

FDI stocksFDI stocks measure the level of cumulative FDI stock of capital investment by foreign enterprises at a single point of time that takes account of both new investment and disinvestment. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) produces annual statistics of global stock movements in their World Investment Report.

FDI flowsFDI flows are new investments by foreign enterprises made during a period of time – either by calendar or tax year. While much inward investment is included in FDI flow statistics, not all of it will be. For example, if an inward investor decided to expand its facilities in the UK but used local finance, this would not appear in FDI flow statistics as it involves no inflow of
money to the country.

Italian painting of the 16th century

In a brief moment of equilibrium, artists achieved the harmonious balance and elevated conception that is the High Renaissance. In Rome this was shortly replaced by the self-conscious artifice of the style we call mannerism. Venice, on the other hand, produced a succession of artists devoted to color, light, and a more sensual approach to paint.

In the early sixteenth century, the center of patronage in the arts shifted to Rome. Pope Julius II recruited the finest artists of the day for his ambitious building program; Raphael and Michelangelo continued and expanded Leonardo's High Renaissance style, characterized by classical balance, controlled movement, and an elevated conception. Raphael learned from Leonardo that a fully resolved composition was attained only after intensive study of the human figure.

The High Renaissance drew to a close in the 1520s with the death of Raphael and the political and social upheaval following the Sack of Rome. Raphael's gifted Roman pupils dispersed as new ideas were ripening elsewhere in Italy. In Venice, for example, brilliant painters came forward at a phenomenal rate. New subjects for painting were devised: landscapes and cityscapes, still lifes, ecstatic visions of saints, and genre scenes of everyday life. Artists greatly expanded the expressive potential of the relatively new medium of oil paint.

Subsequent generations of artists reassessed the Renaissance norm of superb drawing combined with an idealization of nature, which had been established by Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo. A group of central Italian painters, including Perino del Vaga and Pontormo, devised mannerism, a style of self- consciously elegant poses and markedly unnatural colors. The style of these artists was not fully accepted by Venetian artists, however, who were more interested in effects of color, light, atmosphere, and texture: Titian instilled a new sensuality in his art, while Tintoretto's scenes are boldly sketched and highly dramatic in mood.

Later in the sixteenth century came stylistic developments that are now called the baroque. A family of artists in Bologna, the Carracci, set about reinvigorating the grand tradition of Italian painting. Their efforts to combine central-Italian skill in drawing with the lifelike warmth and coloristic richness of the Venetians led to a new synthesis of nature and the ideal. The revolutionary dramatic naturalism of the short-lived Caravaggio influenced the work of dozens of artists all over Europe.

How the US President is elected

The election to the world's most powerful job isn't based on the popular vote. It's a bit more complicated than in India.

This is how it works:

Basically, the ballots have Obama, McCain's names although elections are also held for the Congress simultaneously sometimes.But votes cast for Obama or McCain don't go to them directly but to the Electoral College which consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the President.

At this point it's all or nothing.

The size of the Electoral College is equal to the total membership of both Houses of Congress (435 Representatives and 100 Senators plus the three electors allocated to Washington, D.C.), totaling 538 electors.

Each state is allocated as many electors as it has Representatives and Senators in the United States Congress. Since the most populous states have the most seats in the House of Representatives, they also have the most electors.

The six states with the most electors are California (55), Texas (34), New York (31), Florida (27), Illinois (21) and Pennsylvania (21).

Ballots have Obama, McCain's names

But votes cast go to the Electoral College

Whoever wins most votes in a state, wins all Electoral votes

Whoever gets 270 Electors (out of 538), wins

Whichever Presidential candidate wins the most votes in a state, wins all the Electoral votes, even if the popular vote was split 51-49 percent.And whoever gets 270 Electors (out of 538), wins the US Presidential election.

Abrams Falls

Although Abrams Falls is only 20 feet high, the large volume of water rushing over falls more than makes up for its lack of height. The long, deep pool at its base is very picturesque. The waterfall and creek are named for Cherokee Chief Abram or Abraham whose village once stood several miles downstream.

The trail to the falls traverses pine-oak forest on the ridges and hemlock and rhododendron forest along the creek. The hike is 5 miles roundtrip and considered moderate in difficulty.Due to strong currents and an undertow, swimming in the pool at the base of the falls is extremely dangerous.

Access trail: Abrams Falls
Trailhead: The turnoff for the trailhead is located past stop #10 on the Cades Cove Loop Road. The turnoff is signed.

Scars

Also called: Cicatrix, Keloid scar
A scar is a permanent patch of skin that grows over a wound. It forms when your body heals itself after a cut, scrape, burn or sore. You can also get scars from surgery that cuts through the skin, from infections like chickenpox, or skin conditions like acne. Scars are often thicker, as well as pinker, redder or shinier, than the rest of your skin.

How your scar looks depends on
* How big and deep your wound is

* Where it is

* How long it takes to heal

* Your age

* Your inherited tendency to scar

Scars usually fade over time but never go away completely. If the way a scar looks bothers you, various treatments might minimize it. These include surgical revision, dermabrasion, laser treatments, injections, chemical peels and cream.

Aggregate fruit

An aggregate fruit, or etaerio, develops from a flower with numerous simple pistils. An example is the raspberry, whose simple fruits are termed drupelets because each is like a small drupe attached to the receptacle. In some bramble fruits (such as blackberry) the receptacle is elongated and part of the ripe fruit, making the blackberry an aggregate-accessory fruit. The strawberry is also an aggregate-accessory fruit, only one in which the seeds are contained in achenes.In all these examples, the fruit develops from a single flower with numerous pistils. Some kinds of aggregate fruits are called berries, yet in the botanical sense they are not.

Candidate John McCain seemed to have it all.

Few in America did not know about his decades of service, his breath-taking heroism as a war hero in Vietnam, his foreign policy expertise and his ability to reach across the Congressional aisle.

Mr McCain's opponent was largely untested, inexperienced and, initially at least, unknown; his race only added to his challenge.

If there is such a thing as a perfect political storm though, John McCain found himself caught in the middle of it. In a leaky boat. With limited fuel.

Hopes dashed

This was another aspect of the McCain strategy that seemed to backfire. Although Mr McCain ran only 10% more purely negative adverts than his rival, according to media monitoring groups, they were more deeply personal attacks - accusing Mr Obama of having a close relationship with a "domestic terrorist", for example.Such ads created a backlash from independent voters, according to the polls, and Mr McCain was forced to change his tone.

In fact, he could never quite find a narrative that worked. He went from being war hero, to the voice of experience, to maverick, to tax-cutter, but he never found a way to lift himself in the polls.His team hoped the three presidential debates would finally reveal their candidate to be best qualified for the job. But in the "town hall" setting Mr McCain favoured, he wandered around the stage and forgot that what may work in a real town hall doesn't necessarily work with a TV audience.In other debates he tried confronting Mr Obama, but was never able to shake the younger man's almost unnatural cool. At times, Mr McCain seemed to be trying to keep a simmering rage under control, which brought more negative coverage.

When the credit crisis erupted and the economy stalled, it seemed a damning indictment of an era of Republican deregulation and "trickle-down" economics.Mr McCain's past quotes about the fundamentals of the economy being strong came back to haunt him. His tax plan - which seemed to favour the wealthy - rang hollow with people facing foreclosure and job losses.His abrupt suspension of his campaign to return to Washington and "fix the problem" seemed erratic and was ultimately ineffectual.In the end, he projected an image as a man from America's past, who had been through much and served his country well.

But in a disgruntled nation, deeply disenchanted with Republicanism, he couldn't match the appeal of his younger opponent and his message of change.

GPS

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S. space-based radionavigation system that provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to civilian users on a continuous worldwide basis -- freely available to all. For anyone with a GPS receiver, the system will provide location and time. GPS provides accurate location and time information for an unlimited number of people in all weather, day and night, anywhere in the world.

The GPS is made up of three parts: satellites orbiting the Earth; control and monitoring stations on Earth; and the GPS receivers owned by users. GPS satellites broadcast signals from space that are picked up and identified by GPS receivers. Each GPS receiver then provides three-dimensional location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) plus the time.

Individuals may purchase GPS handsets that are readily available through commercial retailers. Equipped with these GPS receivers, users can accurately locate where they are and easily navigate to where they want to go, whether walking, driving, flying, or boating. GPS has become a mainstay of transportation systems worldwide, providing navigation for aviation, ground, and maritime operations. Disaster relief and emergency services depend upon GPS for location and timing capabilities in their life-saving missions. Everyday activities such as banking, mobile phone operations, and even the control of power grids, are facilitated by the accurate timing provided by GPS. Farmers, surveyors, geologists and countless others perform their work more efficiently, safely, economically, and accurately using the free and open GPS signals.

Indian Finance

Finance Department largely performs the function of advising the Government on all financial matters. The formulation of the Budget is one of its most important functions. Finance department is also entrusted with the responsibility of framing rules regulating pay, emoluments and other service conditions of all Government employees. It has administrative control over the departments of Local Fund Audit, Directorates of National Savings, Lotteries, Insurance and Treasuries.

Regulatory Function of the department is the most important. It is the nodal center for monitoring all financial transactions of the Country. It performs all the important function of budget preparation as well as monitoring the receipts and expenditure incurred during the year. Another important task of the department is to monitor the reappropriation of funds. Preparation of Rules relating to financial matters and its interpretation sought by the departments is also an important function.

Scientists: Earth May Exist in Giant Cosmic Bubble

Earth may be trapped in an abnormal bubble of space-time that is particularly devoid of matter.Scientists say this condition could account for the apparent acceleration of the universe's expansion, for which dark energy currently is the leading explanation.

Dark energy is the name given to the hypothetical force that could be drawing all the stuff in the universe outward at an ever-increasing rate.Current thinking is that 74 percent of the universe could be made up of this exotic dark energy, with another 21 percent being dark matter, and normal matter comprising the remaining 5 percent.

Broadband Speed Tests Questioned

Virgin Media has criticised some broadband speed tests, saying they rely on "dirty data".

It said current tests were often inaccurate.It is concerned that tests for 50Mbps (megabits per second) services, which are starting to launch, will be even more inaccurate.More people are using broadband speed tests to find out whether the speed they are actually getting comes close to what service providers promise.

Error margin

Most broadband consumers in the UK are currently using a service which offers speeds of up to 8Mbps but there are wide variations in the actual speeds they receive.Virgin Media has been testing the testers and has pinpointed some issues with such services.Online speed tests generally work by sending a file to a computer and timing how long it takes. This so-called payload is often too small, according to Virgin, to give an accurate result.The error margin is amplified when speeds get up to 50Mbps, it said.It is also concerned by the way web-based speed tests measure only how fast data is able to travel from one part of the internet to another, which is subject to bottlenecks and delays.Other factors that affect results include the number of people using the test at any given time and the processing power of individual computers.

Too costly

Michael Phillips, head of broadbandchoices.co.uk, said some of the issues raised by Virgin were fair.He said he would be putting some caveats on his site's speed test.But he believes that for the majority of users on lower broadband speeds, such tests remained an important barometer of services.He said that the costs involved in creating an accurate test for faster speeds may be too high for those sites that make no money from the tests and simply offer them as an additional service to consumers."It is very costly. If you host a server you have to pay for a feed to the internet and to get one that is reliable could prove prohibitive," he said.Virgin Media pledged to work with speed test providers to improve accuracy.

Overall performance

It recommended tests such as that devised by broadband comparison site SamKnows that uses hardware directly attached to customers' modems.The SamKnows kit has been adopted by Ofcom and attracted thousands of triallists keen to test out the system.It came about because the founders of SamKnows were themselves unhappy with the accuracy of other broadband speed tests.

"We wanted to make it much more comprehensive, not so much about speed as overall performance," said Sam Crawford, the founder of SamKnows.

Andrew Ferguson, head of broadband comparison site ThinkBroadband is happy his speed tester is accurate."We are confident that our speed tester is in a position to handle 50Mbps and faster broadband connections," he said.At the beginning of September 2008 the site adjusted the amount of data used during the tests to ensure reliable results were provided for fast connections."As we test ever-faster connections, we will evolve the testing procedures," he said.According to analyst firm Forrester only 12% of UK users have used a such a speed test.Despite its concerns Virgin Media appears to be performing well in such tests.

Latest figures from independent broadband comparison site Point Topic put Virgin Media at the top of the league for delivering on its speed promises.

Outsourcing Advantages

Software Outsourcing has long passed the fad or buzzword stage. It is here to stay as an IT trend which has evolved, grown, matured and is living up to and outgrowing its potential. Especially with companies that wish to cut costs while gaining access to world-class software engineers, it is no more an option but a smart decision. One of the strongest factors that attracts most of the Fortune 500 companies worldwide to the outsourcing industry is the significant savings attached to an software outsourcing project. On an average, companies report 40% to 60% increase in net savings with the help of Offshore IT Outsourcing.

Half of all the fortune 500 companies today target offshore software development in India. The core reason for preferring India, as an offshore development partner, to other competing destinations in offshore IT Outsourcing business is a vast pool of educated human resource combined with world-class quality offerings and ever encouraging Government policies for the IT sectors.

Samsung Sticking to Microchip Investment Plans

Despite a slump in the global semiconductor market, Samsung Electronics will stick a plan to invest W7 trillion in computer chips in the second half of this year( US$1=W1,149). Kwon Oh-hyun, the head of Samsung's semiconductor division, confirmed this at the launch of the new growing industry forum held in the National Assembly on Tuesday. This contrasts starkly with other global semiconductor companies like Hynix, Elpida and Power Chip who have decided to cut production this year due to oversupply and the recession. In March, Hynix cut investment plans for the second half of this year from W1.7 trillion to W700 billion.

But Kwon said while the semiconductor industry is in its most serious slump ever, “the crisis offers new opportunities. We won’t be shaken by short-term factors and will stick to our original plan again next year with a long-term outlook.”

Kwon also revealed that takeover negotiations for U.S.-based memory chip maker SanDisk are still in progress. “We are still negotiating the price, and we have finished the legal review to see if we would violate antitrust laws if we acquire SanDisk,” he said. Samsung Electronics last Wednesday officially offered to buy SanDisk for $26 per share, or $5.85 billion in total, but the SanDisk board rejected the offer.