AyushSaran.com

Intresting post over at the Signal vs Noise blog about Convenience over quality
 
 
CD-quality sound is being replaced by further downsampled downloadable digital music.
 
Now you can buy TV shows and movies online that are lower quality than the ones you can see for free on an actual TV.
…………………………..
 
Judging by quality, these products are getting better by “getting worse.�
 
 

Be sure to read the comments.

 
Ferrari and HAMANN - a combination to set the pulse racing of all fans of Italian sports cars. The vehicle tuning specialist from Laupheim, Germany, has various new details and a power boost up its sleeve for the latest model from the Maranello stable. The power is produced by fitting an HAMANN high-performance sports header (export only), including racing catalytic converters, to generate an extra 39 kW/53 bhp. This takes the peak power output of this 6 l V12 engine, already familiar to us from the Ferrari Enzo, up to a majestic 673 bhp. You will rarely encounter more power than this on the open road. As a result, HAMANN has reduced the power-to-weight ratio from 2.5 to 2.3 kg per bhp. 

check out this beast at AutoMotoPortal - Italian Batmobile: HAMANN Ferrari 599 GTB with 673 bhp

The domino effect refers to a small change which will cause a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in linear sequence, by analogy to a falling row of dominoes standing on end. Domino effect also relates to chain of events.
 
 
 
The domino theory was a 20th Century foreign policy theory, promoted by the government of the United States, that speculated if one land in a region came under the influence of Communists, then more would follow in a domino effect. The domino effect suggests that some change, small in itself, will cause a similar change nearby, which then will cause another similar change, and so on in linear sequence, by analogy to a falling row of dominoes standing on end. The Domino Theory was prosecuted by successive United States administrations during the Cold War, to justify American intervention around the world.
 
The domino theory was first proposed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his top advisers in 1954 to describe the prospects of communist expansion across Asia if Indochina were to fall. Eisenhower argued that all of Southeast Asia could fall under the sway of Communism (and by implication, under the de facto control of Communist China and/or the Soviet Union) unless America and its allies took direct action against Communist-backed “national liberation” movements in countries like South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, which were seen as being especially vulnerable to a Communist takeovers.
 
Although widely accepted and actively promoted by the politicians and diplomats of the United States and its allies (including Australia), the theory’s ultimate validity was and remains highly dubious. Opponents of the Domino Theory argue that it was concocted to support America’s overt military involvement in Southeast Asia, which was underpinned by extensive covert activity in the region, through agencies including the CIA, who secretly gave financial and logistical support to puppet regimes in countries like South Vietnam, and who were active in many Asian nations, secretly undermining and obstructing left-wing political parties, national liberation movements, trade unions and other associations and actions which the U.S. perceived as being contrary to its strategic and economic interests.
 
 
All this kinda reminds me of the Middle East region, using WMDs and Terrorism as an excuse to maintain military and strategic power in the region, to preserve its economic interests.

Apple signs contracts to make 12 million iPhones ( via Bloomberg.com )
 
Nintendo Wii Reviews ( via Engadget.com )
 
PS3 Reviews ( via Engadget.com )
 
Michael Jackson is Greedy! ( via TheSuperficial.com )
 
How-to free up space in Gmail ( via LifeHacker.com )
 
Michael Jackson is Greedy! ( via TheSuperficial.com )

via TechCrunch
 
 

In an encouraging act of collaboration, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft announced tonight that they will all begin using the same Sitemaps protocol to index sites around the web. Now based at Sitemaps.org, the system instructs web masters on how to install an XML file on their servers that all three engines can use to track updates to pages. This should make it easier to get your pages indexed in a simple and standardized way. People who use Google Sitemaps don’t need to change anything, those maps will now be indexed by Yahoo and Microsoft.

read more at TechCrunch, GigaOM

Sprint has raised its text-messaging fees to $.15, giving you a “get-out-contract-free” card.

The change constitutes a material change to service. According to Sprint’s fine-print contracts, if there’s a material change to service, you can cancel service within 30 days without penalty.

The changes went into effect Oct 1, so you have until All Hallow’s Eve if you want to dropkick Sprint.

read more at the consumerist

 
CAIRNS, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.
 
Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called “Ocean’s Deadliest” when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.
 
“He came on top of the stingray and the stingray’s barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart,” said Stainton, who was on board Irwin’s boat at the time.
 
Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.
 
Read More….

The Movie I’ve Seen the Most

What movie have you seen the most? That’s the question Slate asked a collection of filmmakers and critics, knowing that what’s addictive is different than what’s deemed the best.

 
Spike Lee, director, Inside Man : West Side Story.

Adam McKay, director, Anchorman : Election

Paul Schrader, writer, Taxi Driver : Pickpocket.

Liev Schreiber, director, Everything Is Illuminated : Citizen Kane.

Laura Ziskin, producer, Spider-Man : All the President’s Men

Peter Farrelly, director, There’s Something About Mary : Something Wild

Judd Apatow, director, The 40-Year-Old Virgin : Bottle Rocket

Phillip Lopate, editor, American Movie Critics : From the Silents Until Now

Albert Maysles, cinematographer, Gimme Shelter : Rocco and His Brothers.

Tony Hendra, actor, This Is Spinal Tap : Dr. Strangelove.

Michael Sragow, critic, the Baltimore Sun : The Wild Bunch

Jake Kasdan, director, Orange County : Ghostbusters

Jonathan Rosenbaum, critic, Chicago Reader : Jacques Tati’s Playtime

Steven Kloves, writer, Harry Potter movies : Summer of ‘42

Kathleen Kennedy, producer, Munich : Doctor Zhivago

Stacy Peralta, director, Dogtown and Z-Boys : Sexy Beast

L.A. police turn to an adhesive GPS dart to lasso the getaway car

Virginia-based company StarChase has proposed a safer way to catch fast- moving crooks—shoot GPS homing devices like darts and stick them to the back of fleeing vehicles. Instead of a frantic pursuit, an officer eases off the chase and lets police headquarters track the suspect by computer. Police can then move in for a calmer arrest. read the full story here

Some lists to keep you buzy

Business 2.0s 50 People who matter and 10 that dont

The Wired 2006: Top 40

Office Pirate .coms 10 people that REALLY DONT MATTER