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Since the regular use of internet started, websites came along from around mid-nineties. Currently there are over 100 million website addresses. It includes big and small websites, personal blogs, home pages, etc.
With the increasing use of websites, it has become necessary to differentiate between different websites, based on various parameters. One of the parameters is the web traffic rankings. It defines how good is the website to attract unique visitors (with distinct computer IDs, as opposed to repeat visitors) visits per day, per month or per year. It also includes average time spent on the site by each visitor, visitor’s profile, number of times of visits/day, etc. Usually, better the traffic rank, the better the website appear in Google Search. Google Page Ranking also depends upon other parameters such as, how the site is linked to (or referred to) in other websites, how the user picks the site during Search, etc. The advertisers are also attracted towards websites with higher (better) traffic rankings.
Alexa's traffic rankings are based on the usage patterns of Alexa Toolbar users and data collected from other, diverse sources over a rolling 3 month period. A site's ranking is based on a combined measure of reach and page views. Reach is determined by the number of unique Alexa users who visit a site on a given day. Pageviews are the total number of Alexa user URL requests for a site. However, multiple requests for the same URL on the same day by the same user are counted as a single page view. The site with the highest combination of users and page views is ranked #1.
Below please find snapshots of our website www.itbhuglobal.org on Alexa.com site rankings. It shows 1 week, 1 month and 3 month traffic rankings. The 3 month data are less volatile and hence more reliable. Thus our 3 month traffic rank is 775,691. It is easier to jump at the bottom, (say from the 5 million to 1 million rank) but increasingly difficult as one climbs higher (say from 500,000 to 100,000) as the top is always crowded.
What is the significance of traffic ranking numbers?
10 million + = It includes many small websites (personal blogs) where the author talks only about his pet cat or his great alma-matar, with very low traffic rankings.
1 million = Any site with less than this ranking is supposed to be fairly active.
500,000 = Below this number, the site is attractive to online advertisers, such as Google Ad-Sense
200,000 = Respectable website with lots of interested readers.
20,000 = Very active site with lots of articles linked/referred to by other website
1,000 = The site with international traffic and millions of viewers
Examples of some news media/information websites with (3 month average) rankings (lower the number, the better the traffic and website):
#1 Google www.google.com
# 73 Rediff.com www.rediff.com
# 2,962 The Hindustan Times newspaper (www.hindustantimes.com)
#18,364 The Outlook India weekly newsmagazine (www.outlookindia.com)
# 78,520 Harvard Crimson campus newspaper (www.thecrimson.com)
# 398,441 Nanopolitan Blog (www.nanopolitanblogspot.com)
# 775,691 The IT-BHU Chronicle (www.itbhuglobal.org)
#27,444,263 My Voice Through My Words-personal blog (amit414voice.blogspot.com)
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There are other websites for traffic ranking, but alexa.com is considered as gold standard for traffic measurement. The site gives consistent and reasonably accurate information about traffic patterns. These rankings are generally consistent with the amount of traffic they have. This is one of the most accurate freely available tools to find out how well your site ranks up against millions of other sites on the Web.
There are other websites available for free web traffic monitoring, such as Quantcast (www.quantcast.com). Some websites recommend using their accelerator tool bar to be installed on user’s website to measure or to increase traffic data. You can find our traffic ranking of any website, by entering its web address alexa.com
Traffic Ranking of www.itbhuglobal.org as on Thursday April 28, 2009
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Additional links:
Alexa website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexa_Internet
Web traffic in Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_traffic
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http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photoshow/msid-4392351.cms
The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is an annual field hockey tournament held in Malaysia. It began in 1983 as a biennial contest. The tournament became an annual event after 1998, following its growth and popularity. The tournament is named after the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia, Sultan Azlan Shah, an avid fan of field hockey. India became the winner of 2009 cup by defeating Malaysia 3-1 in the finals.
(.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultan_Azlan_Shah_Hockey_Tournament)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
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Article: http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/04/youtube-symphon.html
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cS653udPCM
Run time: 1 hr 25 min
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Article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,514719,00.html
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Article: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/04/cherry.blossom/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/image/529298/index.html?cat=62
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/06/print.on.demand.publishing/index.html
Updated 2:03 p.m. EDT, Mon April 6, 2009
By Elham Khatami
CNN
(CNN) -- "Still Alice," written by Lisa Genova, is a novel about a 50-year-old Harvard professor's struggle with Alzheimer's disease. It's also a book, Genova was told, that nobody would want to read.
Lisa Genova, author of "Still Alice," found success after self-publishing her novel.
After spending 1½ years writing "Still Alice," Genova spent just as much time trying to find a literary agent. "I never heard a response from most of the query letters I sent," Genova said. "Four literary agents asked to see the book. One of them said she just didn't think there was a general audience that would want to read about Alzheimer's."
When she was turned down by several traditional publishing houses, Genova decided to follow a different route: self-publishing via Web-based companies. When she informed one of the literary agents of her decision, his response was daunting.
"He said, 'Don't do that, you'll kill your writing career before it starts,' " said Genova.
But she decided to press forward. Turning to the Author Solutions self-publishing brand, iUniverse, Genova published her book for $450, a cost that included an ISBN -- the International Standard Book Number that uniquely identifies books -- and the ability to sell on Amazon.com.
Months later, after receiving positive reviews on Amazon.com and a favorable review in the Boston Globe, Genova's book was picked up by Simon & Schuster and is in its 12th week on The New York Times Bestsellers List.
"If you believe in your book, I think you should give it a chance," Genova said. "Still Alice" "was a book that people already identified with and [Simon & Schuster] saw the book's potential in a very real way."
Genova is not alone. As the economy takes its toll on traditional publishing houses -- HarperCollins dropped its Collins division in February, losing major executives and editors, and Random House continues with cutbacks -- more authors are looking to online self-publishing companies.
Companies like Author Solutions or Lulu.com allow any budding author to submit a digital file of their manuscript on any subject matter. Unlike traditional publishing companies, these publishers only produce hard copies of the books when a customer buys one, a process known as print on demand.
"Anyone can publish, that's the beauty of it," said Gail Jordan, Director of Public Relations at Lulu. "Nobody's going to say, 'We don't like your cover. Chapter 10 should be Chapter 6.' "
This means that the author retains the copyright to his or her book and is responsible for almost everything, from the costs for printing to, if they choose, marketing the book.
Manufacturing prices with Lulu range from $4 to $19 per copy, depending on whether the book is a hardback or paperback and on the number of pages. Authors pay only when they buy a book. Lulu also offers publishing packages that include formatting, cover design, editing, marketing and more, beginning at $299.
Since its inception in 2002, Lulu has digitally published more than 820,000 titles, Jordan said. About 5,000 new titles are added each week.
"With this economy, there are people who really need to make money and people with more time on their hands," Jordan said. "We've been seeing a surge since November in people publishing."
Since 1997, Author Solutions has helped more than 70,000 authors publish more than 100,000 titles, according to Keith Ogorek, the company's vice president of marketing.
Depending on the brand chosen, publishing with Author Solutions can cost an author anywhere from $399 to $12,999. Wordclay, another Author Solutions brand, offers basic do-it-yourself publishing free, although other Wordclay services, such as a custom cover or illustrations, are sold individually.
Ogorek cited several pluses of print-on-demand publishing: the speed with which a book gets into the marketplace; the fact that readers, not critics, "decide whether your book is any good or not," and the environmental benefit of fewer printed copies.
"With print on demand, there aren't that many dead trees," said Jordan. "We hear that on our forums that people do like that."
Print on demand also allows for the "opportunity for a greater return on your investment ... it just makes sense from an economic standpoint," said Ogorek, who believes many writers who've worked with Author Solutions have had success they would not have found at traditional publishers.
Similarly, Melinda Roberts, author of "Mommy Confidential: Adventures from the Wonderbelly of Motherhood," saw success after she published with Lulu. Roberts was turned down by three publishing companies that, she said, all told her the same thing.
"People were saying, 'This is fantastic, hilarious. I'm going to throw up if I read another memoir,' " Roberts said.
Publishing companies told Roberts that her book would not appeal to mainstream audiences. But Roberts believed her stories held value for many mothers. Though she says she has sold fewer than 300 books, mostly by word-of-mouth, the book has brought her new visibility.
Roberts has appeared on various panels across the country to share her insight on being a mother and is scheduled to appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to talk about a new ABC television show called "In the Motherhood."
"I'm happy about my success because I didn't really set out for it. It just kind of happened," said Roberts.
As authors use print-on-demand publishing in growing numbers, they seem to be abandoning self-publishing through traditional "vanity presses" -- a method in which authors pay to get their books printed in bulk and then sell them on their own.
"Particularly in this economy," said Jordan, "who wants to buy a certain amount of copies of their book? That really doesn't do anybody good."
"On-demand publishing is certainly more flexible," said Kevin Gray, public relations manager at Author Solutions. "So I think more people are turning to on-demand because it's a less of a commitment on the author's part."
Ogorek believes traditional publishers can benefit from the services provided by self-publishing companies.
"Traditional publishers are looking at us to find new and upcoming authors," he said. "We provide that for them."
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by David Wessel
Thursday, April 23, 2009
provided by
There is no doubt where the economy is now. "By any measure, this downturn represents by far the deepest global recession since the Great Depression," the International Monetary Fund declared Wednesday.
But there's more than the usual uncertainty about where it is going. The key is the U.S. Even though its slice of the world economy is smaller than it once was, it's still huge. The U.S. led the world into the abyss, and it will lead the world economy out of it.
But how fast and when?
The alphabet can help to imagine the possibilities and the path of the economy. There's the letter V: the kind of quick rebound that usually follows a deep recession. Or U: a longer recession and slow recovery. There is L: years of painfully slow growth. And W: a temporary upturn as the economy feels the jolt of fiscal stimulus that quickly wears off. Finally, there's the big D, not the shape but another Great Depression.
With history a guide, consider three starkly different scenarios.
The V
The late Victor Zarnowitz, a student of the business cycle, had a rule: "Deep recessions are almost always followed by steep recoveries." The mild recession of the early 1990s and early 2000s were followed by mild recoveries. But the U.S. economy grew faster than a 6% pace in the four quarters after the deep 1973-75 recession and faster than a 7.75% pace after the even deeper 1980-82 downturn.
"In deep recessions," says Michael Mussa of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, "there is usually a growing sense of gloom as the recession deepens." Then the forces that triggered recession -- say, plunging home prices -- abate. The adrenaline of tax cuts and government spending kicks in. With inventories so lean, the slightest uptick in demand prompts a sharp increase in production, and the natural dynamism of capitalism reasserts itself.
"Experience suggests all of this should work, and I believe it will," Mr. Mussa predicts. Governments have administered huge doses of fiscal and monetary stimulus. Home-building and car-buying are so low they can't fall much further. Many consumers shy away from buying because they're frightened, not broke, and that state of mind can change quickly and liberate pent-up demand.
But the Federal Reserve caused the deep recessions of the 1970s and 1980s when it put its foot on the brake to stop inflation; it ended them when it let up. This time, Fed has its foot to the floor and the economy is still slowing. And so much stock-market and housing wealth has evaporated that a quick turn in consumer spirits seems unlikely. Plus, the repair of the banks remains far from complete, restraining lending.
The odds of the V: 15%.
The Big D
If one asked a roomful of economists two years ago to put odds on a repeat of the Great Depression, nearly all would have said zero. In early March, The Wall Street Journal posed the question to about 50 forecasters -- defining depression as a decline in output per person of more than 10%, four times worse than the decline the IMF anticipates. On average, they put odds at one in seven; several put them above one in four.
"This is a Depression-sized event," says economic historian Barry Eichengreen of the University of California at Berkeley, citing the global decline in industrial production and world trade. The big difference: In 1929, governments dithered, or worse. In 2009, they've rushed to the rescue.
To go from today's deep recession to a depression something would have to go wrong. It could be a financial catastrophe on the scale of last fall's bankruptcy by Lehman Brothers or another panic-inducing event. Or a crash in the dollar, one that forces interest rates up at just the wrong moment. Or it could be political gridlock that stops governments in the U.S. or Europe from spending enough to fix the banks before a big one fails, or keeps them for doing more on the fiscal or monetary fronts as the economy deteriorates.
Or it could be virulent deflation that pulls down prices and incomes, making debts, which don't fall when prices do, a heavier burden. The textbook remedy is easy money and big government deficits. But so much of that has been tried it's easy to question its efficacy or to imagine resistance around the world to doing.
The odds of the big D: 20%.
The L
For a decade after its stock market and real-estate bubble burst in 1990, Japan bumped along at an annual growth of just 0.5%. It was dubbed the Lost Decade, and it could happen here. The recession ends but the economy plods along, growing too slowly to bring down unemployment for years.
As the IMF observed this week, recoveries following recession caused by financial crises are "typically slower." Those following recessions that occur simultaneously across the globe "have typically been weak." Back in the 1990s, as U.S. banks struggled, the Fed talked a lot about "financial headwinds." Those were zephyrs compared to the gale-force winds that the economy confronts today.
If financial markets stabilize but don't improve steadily, or if housing prices continue to drift down, or if confidence remains shaky, the U.S. economy could languish for a time. American consumers, once known for spending in the face of prosperity or adversity, could finally decide to prepare for retirement by saving more, having just learned that neither 401(k) retirement accounts nor home values rise inexorably. And the U.S. can't count on increasing exports, the solution when emerging-market economies run into financial trouble and the reason Japan didn't do even worse in the 1990s. The rest of the world is in no shape to buy.
An unfolding depression could scare Congress to act boldly, but the L is less ominous -- and perhaps more likely as a result. There would be months when the economy appeared to be strengthening so the temptation to wait-and-see would be strong.
Put the odds of the L at 55%. That adds to 90%. So put 10% odds on the U, less pleasant than the euphoric V but far less painful than a Lost Decade. That's the rough consensus of economic forecasters; it means U.S. unemployment grows for another year and a half.
Bottom line: The odds favor a long slog.
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Boasting unified messaging features such as speech-to-text transcription of voice mails, the production version of Exchange Server 2010 is due in the second half of this year.
April 15, 2009 09:30 AM
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) took the covers off the first pieces of the next version of its e-mail software on Wednesday, releasing test versions of Exchange Server 2010 and Outlook Web Access.
The company plans to release Exchange Server 2010 in the second half of this year. The rest of Office is due in the first half of 2010, with limited test releases beginning the third quarter of this year. Outlook 2010 will come as part of the rest of the Office suite, though it's unclear when the next version of Outlook Mobile will be available.
Until this version of Exchange, companies seeking to archive their e-mail centrally have had to rely on third-party software. That costly proposition has hurt adoption, and according to Osterman Research, only 28% of companies currently have central e-mail archives. Exchange 2010 will include integrated archiving and multi-mailbox search capabilities at no extra cost, making it easier for companies to, for example, comply with e-discovery requirements. But Microsoft will have to be careful not to alienate third-party archiving vendors such as Symantec and Quest.
Exchange 2010 will power a number of new features, including the ability to view e-mail conversations in threaded form a la Gmail, and a button to ignore e-mail threads. Exchange 2007 introduced some unified messaging features, and Exchange 2010 will build on that with speech-to-text transcription of voice mails as well as customized voice-mail menus.
Outlook Web Access -- and likely the other versions of Outlook, though Microsoft wouldn't confirm -- will include an instant messaging client compatible with Microsoft Office Communications Server and Live Messenger. Microsoft will offer APIs to allow other third-party IM clients to work in Outlook Web Access.
A feature called MailTips will be "like having X-ray vision into your e-mail before you send it," Julia White, Microsoft's director of Exchange product management, said in an interview. Before e-mails are sent, a bit of text near the top of the e-mail client will give senders additional information to prevent them from sending unwarranted or unnecessary e-mails, warning them about how many people are on a distribution list, that the e-mail is headed for someone outside of the sender's organization, and whether someone has an out-of-office notification up.
Other new user features in Exchange 2010 and Outlook Web Access include easier calendar sharing, an infinite scroll instead of page-by-page views of e-mails in Outlook Web Access, and the ability to send text messages to and from Outlook, Outlook Web Access, and Outlook Mobile.
Though they will be released at different times, the user interfaces across Outlook, Outlook Web Access, and Outlook Mobile will become more and more consistent. For example, previously, when someone sent an e-mail, automatic address completion information was stored locally, so if someone sent an e-mail to a new co-worker with Outlook, and then tried to e-mail the same person from Outlook Web Access, auto-complete wouldn't work. Now, that data will be stored centrally and auto-complete will work across Outlook clients.
The company will continue offering Outlook Web Access Lite -- and fewer features -- for "legacy" browsers, though Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer will now power a "premium" Web experience in a departure from the current version of Outlook Web Access, which is more powerful with IE than other browsers.
In announcing progress of Live@edu in January, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) also said that Exchange 2010 would include content filtering features for administrators, message tracking to confirm e-mail delivery, the ability for servers to stay up while moving mailboxes between them, a new Web interface for Exchange administrators, and an improved ability to manage and edit distribution lists. Other new features include better performance regardless of the type of storage Exchange uses, and simpler disaster recovery.
There's also new role-based administration, which means that Exchange administrators can delegate responsibility for some non-IT tasks to non-IT workers. For example, human resources managers could update employee information, the legal department could handle e-discovery and audits, and employees could create their own distribution lists.
Exchange 2010 has been heavily tested already. There are now about 5 million users of Microsoft's Outlook Live@edu program, which is a beta test of the multitenant, cloud-based version of Exchange 2010. That number is up from 3.5 million just at the beginning of this year. Microsoft also is testing Exchange Server externally with a few hundred customers, and is using Exchange 2010 as a production e-mail server for "thousands" of Microsoft employees.
InformationWeek has published an in-depth report on the business uses of social networks. Download the report here (registration required).
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Posted on: April 15, 2009
It is thought that Microsoft will later announce the release date of Office 2010, it is assumed that it will be sometime in the first half of next year, 2010 and will be available as 32-bit and 64-bit options, previous versions of Microsoft have only been available in 16-bit or 32-bit.
Offering a 64-bit version will offer users greater performance with those who have better operating systems. This means that those operating systems will not have to emulate a 32-bit environment so that Office 2010 can run.
Chanel Register also says that Microsoft will announce later today that the new software has been given the official name of Office 2010. The Office suite is expected to come with all the usual suspects, such as Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,515984,00.html
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
NASA/MSFC
This image shows a power generator harvesting energy from the Sun for a variety of uses back on Earth.
Solar power beamed down from space will generate electricity for California homes as soon as 2016, under a new plan by a utility company to ramp up renewable energy technology far beyond solar panels on roofs.
PG&E would buy 200 megawatts of space solar power from Solaren Corp. over 15 years under a power purchase agreement, enough to power tens of thousands of homes. The utility company has begun seeking approval for the deal from California state regulators.
Solaren would use solar panels on satellites in orbit to capture the sun's power, and then convert it into radio frequency energy that could beam down to a receiving station. The energy would then undergo a conversion to electricity and feed into PG&E's power grid.
Having solar panels in orbit could provide a clean, reliable source of solar power that avoids the interruptions of cloudy days and bad weather on Earth. That tempting prospect has led NASA and the U.S. Defense Department to investigate possibilities for space solar power, despite the hefty cost of launching solar panels into orbit.
A former NASA scientist went so far as to demonstrate the radio wave transmission technology that would carry energy from space to Earth. He and his team transmitted solar power over a distance of 92 miles between two Hawaiian islands, during a four-month experiment in 2008.
No one has built a system with equivalent size and scale to what Solaren envisions. But the transmission technology is "very mature" and based on what communications satellites use today, said Gary Spirnak, Solaren CEO.
"For over 45 years, satellites have collected solar energy in Earth orbit via solar cells, and converted it to radio frequency energy for transmissions to Earth receive stations," Spirnak noted.
The pilot power satellites designed by Solaren would make use of existing launch capabilities, meaning that the plan does not require new types of rockets. The ground receiving station would also sit close to existing power transmission lines, somewhere in Fresno County, Calif.
More details about Solaren's pilot project for its power satellites are expected this summer.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090416144525.htm
This is a strontium atomic clock operating at JILA, University of Colorado. Laser light is used to cool and manipulate the atoms for optimal operation of the clock. Carefully designed magnetic field coils compensate for the Earth magnetic field. (Credit: University of Colorado)
ScienceDaily (Apr. 17, 2009) — Physicists have measured and controlled seemingly forbidden collisions between neutral strontium atoms—a class of antisocial atoms known as fermions that are not supposed to collide when in identical energy states. The advance makes possible a significant boost in the accuracy of atomic clocks based on hundreds or thousands of neutral atoms.
Described in the April 17 issue of the journal Science, the research was performed at JILA, a joint institute of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder.
"This is one of the most precise measurements of collisional effects in a clock," says NIST/JILA Fellow Jun Ye, whose strontium atomic clock design enables scientists to "peek into very tiny effects."
The new techniques make JILA's strontium clock 50 percent more accurate than the results reported last year, so that it now would neither gain nor lose 1 second in more than 300 million years. The method could also be applicable to many other atomic clocks based on neutral atoms.
Co-authors of the paper include scientists from nearby NIST-Boulder, who provided signals from a calcium atomic clock via fiber-optic cable to serve as the "ruler" for the JILA measurements, and a NIST theorist from the Joint Quantum Institute in Maryland who helped explain why the collisions occur.
JILA's strontium clock is one of several next-generation atomic clocks under development around the world. These experimental clocks are based on a variety of different atoms and designs, from single ions (electrically charged atoms) to thousands of neutral atoms; it is not yet clear which design will emerge as the best and be chosen as the future international time standard.
The latest JILA work helps eliminate a significant drawback to clock designs based on ensembles of neutral atoms. The presence of many atoms increases both the precision and signal of a clock based on the oscillations between energy levels, or "ticks," in those atoms. However, uncontrolled interactions between atoms can perturb their internal energy states and shift the number of clock ticks per second, reducing overall accuracy.
Fermions, according to the rules of quantum physics, cannot occupy the same energy state and location in space at the same time. Therefore, fermions, such as a collection of identical strontium atoms, are not supposed to collide. However, as Ye and his research group improved the performance of their strontium clock over the past two years, they began to observe small shifts in the frequencies of the clock ticks due to atomic collisions. The extreme precision of their clock unveiled in 2008 enabled the group to measure these minute interactions systematically, including the dynamic effect of the measurement process itself, and to significantly reduce the resulting uncertainties in clock operation.
"There's a fundamental question here: Why do fermions actually collide?" Ye asks. "Now we understand why there is a frequency shift, and we can zero the shift ... [This result] does not change theory. The value is from the practical possibilities: We can control multi-particle interactions."
The JILA clock used in the latest experiments contains about 2,000 strontium atoms cooled to temperatures of a few microKelvin (a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero) and trapped in multiple levels of a crisscrossed pattern of light, known as an optical lattice. The lattice is shaped like a tall stack of pancakes, or wells. About 30 atoms are grouped together in each well, and these neighboring atoms sometimes collide.
Ye's group discovered that two atoms located some distance apart in the same well are subjected to slight variations in the direction of the laser pulses used to boost the atoms from one energy level to another. The non-uniform interaction with light excites the atoms unevenly. Strontium atoms in different internal states are no longer completely identical, and become distinguishable enough to collide, if given a sufficient amount of time. This differential effect can be suppressed by making the atoms even colder or increasing the trap depth.
The probability of atomic collisions depends on the extent of the variation in the excitation of the ensemble of atoms. Significantly for clock operations, the JILA scientists determined that when the atoms are excited to about halfway between the ground state and the more energetic excited state, the collision-related shifts in the clock frequencies goes to zero. This knowledge enables scientists to reduce or even eliminate the need for a significant correction in the clock output, thereby increasing accuracy.
The discoveries described in Science also would apply to clocks using atoms known as bosons, which, unlike fermions, can exist in the same place and energy state at the same time. This category of clocks includes NIST-F1, which is operated by NIST Boulder as the U.S. civilian time and frequency standard. In the case of bosons, variations in light-matter interactions would reduce (rather than increase) the probability of collisions.
Beyond atomic clocks, the high precision of JILA's strontium lattice experimental setup is expected to be useful in other applications requiring exquisite control of atoms, such as quantum computing—potentially ultra-powerful computers based on quantum physics—and simulations to improve understanding of other quantum phenomena such as superconductivity.
The research described in Science was supported by NIST, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. A visiting professor at JILA from the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark made important contributions helping to explain why the collisions occur. Ye is also a professor adjoint of physics at CU.
Journal reference:
1. G.K. Campbell, M.M. Boyd, J.W. Thomsen, M.J. Martin, S. Blatt, M.D. Swallows, T.L. Nicholson, T. Fortier, C.W. Oates, S.A. Diddams, N.D. Lemke, P. Naidon, P. Julienne, Jun Ye, and A. D. Ludlow. Probing Interactions Between Ultracold Fermions. Science, 2009; 324 (5925): 360 DOI: 10.1126/science.1169724
Adapted from materials provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090409/sc_space/edgeofspacefound
Reuters – Backdropped by the blackness of space and Earth's horizon, the International Space Station is seen …
Andrea Thompson Senior Writer
SPACE.com– Thu Apr 9, 4:19 pm ET
Hold on to your hats, or in this case, your helmets: Scientists have finally pinpointed the so-called edge of space — the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.
With data from a new instrument developed by scientists at the University of Calgary, scientists confirmed that space begins 73 miles (118 kilometers) above Earth's surface.
A lot remains very fuzzy, however, as the boundary is surrounded by a host of misconceptions and confusing, conflicting definitions.
For starters, astronauts can say they've been to space after only passing the 50-mile (80-kilometer) mark.
Meanwhile the boundary recognized by many in the space industry is also a somewhat arbitrary 62 miles (100 kilometers). Scientist Theodore von Kármán long ago calculated that at this altitude the atmosphere is so thin that it's negligible, and conventional aircraft can no longer function because they can't go fast enough to get any kind of aerodynamic lift. This 62-mile boundary is accepted by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), which sets aeronautical standards.
The United States, however, has never officially adopted a set boundary standard because it would complicate the issue of overflight rights of satellites and other orbiting bodies, according to NASA.
NASA's mission control uses 76 miles (122 kilometers) as their re-entry altitude because that's where the shuttle switches from steering with thrusters to maneuvering with air surfaces, NASA states. Others point out that the "Now Entering Space" sign should be posted way out at 13 million miles (21 million kilometers) because that's the boundary where Earth's gravity is no longer dominant.
(While astronauts experience weightlessness in space, this isn't because there's no gravity there, it's due to the balance of forces acting on them as they orbit.)
In the new study, an instrument called the Supra-Thermal Ion Imager detected the boundary by tracking the relatively gentle winds of Earth's atmosphere and the more violent flows of charged particles in space, which can reach speeds well over 600 mph (1,000 kph).
The ability to gather data in that area is significant because it's very difficult to make measurements in this region, which is too high for balloons and too low for satellites.
"It's only the second time that direct measurements of charged particle flows have been made in this region, and the first time all the ingredients – such as the upper atmospheric winds – have been included," says project scientist David Knudsen of the University of Calgary.
The instrument was carried by the JOULE-II rocket on Jan. 19, 2007. It traveled to an altitude of about 124 miles (200 kilometers) above sea level and collected data for the five minutes it was moving through the "edge of space."
The finding, detailed in the Journal of Geophysical Research on April 7, could aid the study of space weather and its impacts on Earth.
The data "allows us to calculate energy flows into the Earth's atmosphere that ultimately may be able to help us understand the interaction between space and our environment," Knudsen said. "That could mean a greater understanding of the link between sunspots and the warming and cooling of the Earth's climate as well as how space weather impacts satellites, communications, navigation, and power systems."
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http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/indiaelections/2009/04/2009411195735580794.html
The Great Indian Open By N Ram in Chennai
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Pre-election public opinion polls have predicted a fragmented election outcome [Reuters] |
There is nothing quite like an Indian general election. In scale, complexity, duration and decibel level, it can be identified without hyperbole as one of the wonders of the world.
But fascination with the process must not lead to an uncritical attitude towards the outcomes, writes veteran Indian journalist N Ram.
Between April 16 and May 13, close to 60 per cent of 714 million eligible Indian voters will go to the polls.
They will do so in five phases, in mostly sweltering weather, to elect 543 members of the 15th Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament where the core of popular sovereignty resides, at least in democratic theory.
In charge of the whole exercise is an election commission, vested by the constitution with "the superintendence, direction and control of elections" and increasingly from the early 1990s pro-active in a game effort to curb the rumbustiousness, the venality, the muscle power, and other excesses that come with being the world's most populous, diverse, and wilful elective democracy.
What will be mind-boggling to outsiders is the army of four million civil staff members and two million security personnel who will be deployed for the conduct - and protection - of the democratic exercise.
But fascination with the process must not lead to an uncritical attitude towards the outcomes.
Virtually every pre-election public opinion poll has predicted that the outcome of the 15th general election will be fragmentation and political instability of a kind that has not been witnessed in India for a decade.
It is not for nothing that this particular contest is being described as the Great Indian Open.
This is not particularly a problem arising from coalition politics because that has been a given for two decades now.
Decline of Congress
The long-term trend behind this has been the decline and degeneration of the dominant party of the freedom struggle, the Congress, which grew flabby, corrupt, and arrogant through two decades of wielding unchallenged power at the federal level and in most States.
The first turning point came with the 1967 elections, which saw the dominant party's parliamentary majority reduced substantially and the party losing power simultaneously in several states.
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Leftist parties see the election as their chance to seize the initiative and set the terms [EPA] |
But 1989 was the point of no return for single party dominance at the centre: from then on, there has been no question of any party ruling with a parliamentary majority of its own.
In fact, all nine of the governments in office in New Delhi between 1989 and 2009 have been minority dispensations living on external support and eight of them have been coalitions (the exception was the PV Narasimha Rao government that was in office, by hook and crook, between 1991 and 1996).
Given the steady decline in the Congress party's share of the popular vote (from 49.10 per cent in 1984 through 39. 53 per cent in 1989, 36.2 per cent in 1991, 28.80 per cent in 1996, 25.82 per cent in 1998, and 28.30 per cent in 1999 to 26.53 per cent in 2004); the inability of the party of the Hindu right, the Bharatiya Janata Party (despite its rapid electoral advance between 1984, when it had a 7.74 per cent vote share, and 1998, when it peaked at 25.59 per cent), to go much beyond the 25 per cent threshold; and the instructive fact that between them the Congress and the BJP could not poll even 50 per cent of the national vote in 2004, coalitionism has been the only game in New Delhi.
The chattering classes may not like this but nothing else is even remotely conceivable.
'Era of coalitionism'
What can be said in favour of the "era of coalitionism" is this: As in the case of the Indian press, the diversity and pluralism in the political system reflects more realistically and inclusively than anything seen in the pre-coalition era the vast regional, religious, caste, linguistic, socio-economic, and cultural heterogeneity of India.
If over-centralisation of power, marked by some authoritarian tendencies, characterised the first two decades of independence, this is "political federalism" with a vengeance.
The BJP, which was supposed to pursue its pipe dream of "Hindu Rashtra", began to understand this reality well before the Congress, which continues to fantasise about a return to single-party rule, did.
But the parties that have region-specific bases and have resourcefully grown them by appealing to caste, regional pride, ethnicity, or vaguely "socialist" populist ideologies, as well as the left parties, have understood the reality better than either of the two leading all-India parties. And in 2009 they see their chance to seize the initiative and set the terms for now and the future.
Between 1999 and 2009, the two leading parties in the political system, first the BJP and then the Congress, were able, on the strength of emerging as the single largest party, to cobble together viable coalitions with a measure of external support and complete their terms, even managing in the process an unexpected continuity of domestic (especially economic and security) and foreign policies.
In most cases, it was the magnet of power that brought the constituent parties into the BJP-led or Congress-led coalitions.
But naked opportunism was also dressed up in pseudo-ideological clothes and given some respectability through the National Agenda for Governance (1998-2004) and the National Common Minimum Programme (2004-2009).
Major weaknesses
There are at least four major weaknesses that can be observed as political India heads into elections.
The first is the absence of any serious ideological and programmatic basis for the current and prospective coalition arrangements.
The Congress and BJP election manifestos are virtually indistinguishable on most counts, so much so there have been charges of intellectual property right infringement.
The BJP has been able to avoid the malaise of dynastic politics but not factionalism [AFP] |
While the Congress has moved closer to the BJP's rightwing position on security and foreign policy issues, the BJP has sought to give the impression of moderating its virulent communal stance by making vague development-oriented promises to India's 155 million Muslims.
Such "mainstreaming" of policy stances, it has been observed by political commentators, makes for shallow and cynical politics - when the democratic imperative is ideological and programmatic differentiation that offers a clear and meaningful choice to voters.
Secondly, the democratic character of most political organisations has been dangerously eroded by the absence of inner-party democracy, including genuine organisational elections, internal debate, and collective decision-making.
Dynastic politics and its inseparable associate, cronyism, are taking a huge toll on political democracy.
The Congress, back for a decade under the hegemony of the Nehru-Gandhi family, has become the role model for regional parties of diverse hue. Only the left parties and the BJP among the national parties seem immune to this malaise but factionalism, springing from different roots, has begun to affect their functioning as well.
Muscle power
A third problem is the tolerance of, and in some cases active reliance on, those who muscle their way in politics, notably in election season.
Not all politicians who have criminal cases registered against them can be said to have "criminal antecedents" (to cite the middle-class term of art in the present discourse on criminality in politics). But knowledge that 93 members of the 14th Lok Sabha had criminal charges pending against them is chastening.
It says a great deal about the value systems of the political parties that chose their candidates.
At the legal level, the presumption of innocence (unless a person is proved guilty and convicted) acts as a shield against disqualification for the truly criminal elements in various political parties.
But the public perception of rampant criminality contributes to an exaggerated picture of the state of politics, breeding cynicism and apolitical attitudes, especially among the middle classes. This cannot possibly be good for democracy.
Code violation
Finally, the conduct of several parties, their leaders, and candidates thus far in this election campaign has tested the patience of the Election Commission of India and exposed its lack of teeth in enforcement, while providing riveting copy and footage to fuel newspaper circulations and television ratings during a time of economic slowdown.
A Model Code of Conduct for the guidance of political parties and candidates, "evolved" by the election commission through a "consensus" of political parties, is supposed to be in force.
But many of the parties and their leaders have already exercised their vocal chords and flexed their muscle in ways that suggest that, for now and the future, their way of honouring the code is in its breach.
The early stage of the 2009 campaign has gone beyond previous experiences in featuring hate speech, flagrant appeals to communal prejudices, personal attacks, incitement to violence, and tit-for-tat threats, all in defiance of the code.
Several criminal cases have been registered under orders from the commission but the political parties seem to have taken them in their stride as part of the electoral game.
The hope is that with such a start, things can only improve.
N Ram is editor-in-chief of The Hindu and group publications based in Chennai, India. The views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Al Jazeera.
Source: | Al Jazeera |
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090416/ap_on_re_us/mystery_gifts
By Michael J. Crumb, Associated Press Writer – Thu Apr 16, 7:48 pm ET
DES MOINES, Iowa – A mystery is unfolding in the world of college fundraising: During the past few weeks, at least nine universities have received gifts totaling more than $45 million, and the schools had to promise not to try to find out the giver's identity.
One school went so far as to check with the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security just to make sure a $1.5 million gift didn't come from illegal sources.
"In my last 28 years in fundraising ... this is the first time I've dealt with a gift that the institution didn't know who the donor is," said Phillip D. Adams, vice president for university advancement at Norfolk State University, which received $3.5 million.
The gifts ranged from $8 million at Purdue to $1.5 million donated to the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The University of Iowa received $7 million; the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Maryland University College got $6 million each; the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs was given $5.5 million; and Penn State-Harrisburg received $3 million.
It's not clear whether the gifts came from an individual, an organization or a group of people with similar interests. In every case, the donor or donors dealt with the universities through lawyers or other middlemen. Some of the money came in cashier's checks, while other schools received checks from a law firm or another representative.
All the schools had to agree not to investigate the identity of the giver. Some were required to make such a promise in writing.
"Our chancellor was called to a Denver law office and had to sign a confidentiality agreement that she would not try to find out," said Tom Hutton, spokesman at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. "Once the chancellor signed it, she was emphatic that we don't try to find out."
Each was delivered since March 1 and came with the same stipulation: Most of the money must be used for student scholarships, and the remainder can be spent on various costs such as research, equipment, strategic goals and operating support.
"We have no idea who this generous individual is, but we're extremely grateful," said Lynette Marshall, president and chief executive of the University of Iowa foundation. "This is the first time in my 25-year career that something of this magnitude has happened."
Usually when schools receive anonymous donations, the school knows the identity of the benefactor but agrees to keep it secret. Not knowing who is giving the money can raise thorny problems.
William Massey, vice chancellor for alumni and development at UNC-Asheville, said the school contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS to make sure the money was legal before accepting it.
"There may be an ethical problem if you knowingly accept funds from ill-gotten gains," said Colorado Springs' Hutton. University officials "do due diligence and ask the appropriate questions and receive satisfactory answers."
The $6 million donated to the University of Southern Mississippi was the largest single gift ever bestowed to the school.
"It was a remarkable gift particularly during these economic times," said David Wolf, vice president of advancement.
"I think somebody is out there, or potentially a group of people, that has a great respect for the value of a college education and the power that it brings," Wolf said. "Gosh, if it's the same person or the same collective group of people, it's an amazing story."
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/06/hm.caffeine.withdrawal/index.html
Updated 10:21 a.m. EDT, Mon April 6, 2009
By Judy Fortin
CNN Medical Correspondent
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Susan Todd loves her daily coffee fix. "I can drink four or five cups, easily, comfortably," said Todd, 59, of Clinton Township, Michigan.
Skeet Spillane (right) got severe headaches when he quit caffeine. His wife said he was cranky most of the time.
But if she skips her regular dose of caffeine, Todd warned, watch out.
"I feel lousy all over. It's not that anything hurts," she explained. "I just feel sluggish, and a cup of caffeine will cure that."
Todd is among the estimated 80 to 90 percent of North American adults and children who consume caffeine products every day. Experts estimate about half that number will experience headaches and other symptoms from caffeine withdrawal syndrome.
There are a number of reasons why someone might need to reduce or stop their daily caffeine intake. Experts tell pregnant women not to consume more than 200 milligrams of caffeine a day (about one 12-ounce cup of coffee). Caffeinated products are not recommended for people who are prone to panic attacks or those who suffer from anxiety. Some surgical patients may also experience the symptoms of caffeine withdrawal syndrome on the day of surgery, because they are told not to eat or drink anything.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, recognized the condition as a disorder five years ago after reviewing decades of studies. They concluded the higher the caffeine intake, the more likely a patient was to suffer from severe withdrawal symptoms when denied the ingredient. 
Researchers also reported that some caffeine users considered themselves addicted to caffeine because they were unable to quit or cut down on their usage.
Michael Kuhar, chief of the division of neuroscience at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, prefers to use the word "dependent" rather than "addicted." Even though he called caffeine a drug, Kuhar wouldn't go so far as saying it has reached the status of cocaine or heroin.
According to Kuhar, caffeine is a mild stimulant. "If you take a cup of caffeine you're likely to feel good and energized," he said.
Miss that cup of "Joe" or can of cola and don't be surprised if you start feeling funny, Kuhar warned. He said some people complain of "headache, fatigue, sleepiness, inability to focus and concentrate." Others report experiencing flu- like symptoms, irritability, depression and anxiety after skipping as little as one cup of coffee a day.
Kuhar explained that caffeine blocks receptors in the brain that can dilate blood vessels causing headaches. "Withdrawal symptoms can start from 12 to 20 hours after your last cup of coffee and peak about two days later and can last about as long as a week," Kuhar added.
It is not just coffee that can lead to caffeine withdrawal. While a 6-ounce cup of brewed coffee contains about 100 milligrams of caffeine, tea and cola have about 40 milligrams each, a bar of milk chocolate has about 10 milligrams and hot chocolate has about 7 milligrams.
Kuhar said that means adults as well as children may be suffering daily physiological and personality effects of caffeine withdrawal.
He recommended that people who are motivated to give up caffeine, or cut back on consumption, do so very carefully. "The thing to do is what we do with so many drugs -- basically you wean yourself off slowly," Kuhar suggested. "That doesn't mean it is going to be easy at every step, but it should be easier than going cold turkey."
Johns Hopkins researchers also endorsed a stepped approach to quitting caffeine. They instruct patients to gradually substitute decaffeinated products or noncaffeinated products over time in order to reduce the likelihood of experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
Kuhar suggested the process also can begin with reducing caffeine consumption by a half to a whole cup a day.