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Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Rahul Gandhi was Impressive with his emotional speech at the Nuke Deal Debate session
His speech was rudely cut short by the opposition but Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday still managed to make his pitch for energy security through the stories of two poverty-stricken women he had met in Vidarbha. Participating in the debate on the trust vote that will decide the fate of the Manmohan Singh government, an earnest, confident Gandhi started by saying that he was speaking not as the member of a political party but as an Indian. The disruptions started as soon as he began his speech, finally forcing a harried Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn the session till 2 p.m.“I was thinking about what I want to say and I came to a simple conclusion. I decided that it is important at this point not to speak as a member of a political party but to speak as an Indian,” began Gandhi, clad in his usual white kurta-pyjama. Yesterday, I was thinking why we are meeting here. Why this house needs to meet. I came to the conclusion that we are meeting because there is a serious problem in India and the problem is our energy security,” he said.
When the opposition stood up to protest, an unfazed Gandhi said: “I request everybody to give me 10 minutes and to listen to me for 10 minutes.” He didn’t get the 10 minutes and didn’t once mention the India-US civil nuclear deal in the few minutes that he had before the interruptions, but managed to tell the stories of Sasikala and Kalavati in drought hit Vidarbha and their need for power.
“Three days ago, I went to Vidarbha and met a young woman who had three sons. She is a landless labourer and earns Rs.60 a day; her husband works in the field and earns Rs.90. With their total earning, they ensure that their three children go to a private school. I spent an hour with them. They live in a slum.” He went on to say: “The eldest son dreams of being a district collector, while the middle one dreams of becoming a engineer. And the youngest wants to do a private job.”
Amidst the chaois, he said: “Poverty is directly connected to energy security.”
“When I asked Sasikala whether her children would be successful. She said, ‘absolutely, they will succeed’.” “As I was walking out, I noticed no electricity in the house. I asked the children how do you study. They pointed to a little brass lamp and they said we study by that lamp.” “Energy security reflects itself in everyday life. It reflects on the industry, reflects itself among all Indians,” said Gandhi, whose sister Priyanka and brother-in-law Robert Vadra were in the visitors’ gallery. He said that energy affects “India’s growth. And energy allows us to grow at nine percent and that growth is responsible for allowing us to help poor and make programmes for poor like those”.
“The point is if we don’t secure our energy our growth will stop,” he insisted. Gandhi, who spoke in English and frequently broke into Hindi, then began the story of another woman called Kalavati, who has nine children and whose farmer husband is one of the many in Vidarbha to commit suicide. That story was cut short, but Gandhi did manage to say that he would go back to Vidarbha to see the problem. When he was not allowed to speak, a harassed honourablw speaker Somnath Chatterjee said: “What is happening, Can’t you people understand anything? The parliament has reached its lowest position; its nadir.” As the Bahujan Samaj Party members stood up to protest, the speaker was forced to adjourn the session till after lunch.
The 2 things he specified was
1. Poverty is directly connected to energy security.
2. Dont look at, what world will think of you but think what impact that you create which will make the world see at you.
Indian National Congress (UPA) proves a point to their opposition
India's Congress party-led government has survived a vote of confidence over a civilian nuclear deal with the US. The vote came after the government's left-wing allies withdrew their support in protest at the controversial accord. The government motion received 275 votes with 256 against, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said, hours after adjourning the debate amid claims of vote buying. If the government had lost the vote, India would have faced early elections, casting the nuclear deal in doubt.There was brief confusion over the counting process. Most voting was electronic, but about 50 votes were cast on paper which delayed the count. At least four MPs were too ill to vote from the chamber of the 543-seat house itself, but it is still not clear why so many MPs cast paper ballots.
India faces a general election next year and many political parties have used the debate over the nuclear deal to stake out their positions ahead of the polls, our correspondent says. Two days of debate on the nuclear accord ended in uproar amid opposition allegations of vote buying.
Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members waved fistfuls of money in the air, alleging that they had been offered bribes to abstain. Mr Chatterjee adjourned proceedings for several hours. He called it a "very sad day" for the Indian parliament, adding: "Nobody will be spared if found guilty."
Under the accord, India, which has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, would gain access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel. In return its civilian nuclear facilities would be opened to inspection. Nuclear weapons sites would remain off-limits. The communists fear the accord could give the US too much influence over Indian foreign and nuclear policy. The main opposition Hindu nationalist BJP fears that the deal could compromise India's ability to test nuclear weapons in the future.
With the left withdrawing support, the government could rely on only 226 members in the 543-seat parliament, and needed 46 more to be absolutely sure of a majority. The Congress party hoped to get the backing of the regional Samajwadi party and other smaller parties to help it win. India's media was awash with reports of alleged defections and desertions among MPs ahead of the vote. India is under pressure from Washington to sign the accord before the US presidential election in November. Last week, Indian officials met members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world nuclear regulatory body, in Vienna to discuss plans to safeguard India's civilian nuclear facilities. The IAEA's approval of the plan is a key condition for enacting the deal.
If the IAEA signs the agreement, the deal will go to the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which regulates global civilian nuclear trade, for approval. It must then be approved by the US Congress before President Bush can sign it into law. Critics of the deal fear assistance to India's civil programme could free-up additional radioactive material for bomb-making purposes.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Satyam Songs Free Download
1.Ada Gada Gada... where do i begin! When i heard this song and saw the sets by thotha tharani ... I was amazed. This song features Nayantara, me and large no of children... this super fantasy song will be a big hit with children... I had a blast shooting for this song ... It was simply fantastic
2. Ennanbe... This song was shot in turkey in incrideble locations... Mind blowing scenery... You have to see to believe it... Harris Jeyaraj has his way of getting it just perfect when it come to a romantic song.
3. Aradi Kathey... This is my introduction song. It shows me in various aspects of the character i play in the film... This song is sung by Hariharan... who is simply amazing .
4. Challame Challame... Oh my god one of the most erotic songs in Tamil Cinema. Everything is perfect right from the song, lyrics, the camera... Nayantara is looking absolutly stunning... People who have seen the pictures and heard the song are going gaga about it...
5. Pal Pali... This is a folk song... This was shot in Thenkasi and Coutrallam. You all will love this song. Its a total dance song where one can dance to...
2. Ennanbe... This song was shot in turkey in incrideble locations... Mind blowing scenery... You have to see to believe it... Harris Jeyaraj has his way of getting it just perfect when it come to a romantic song.
3. Aradi Kathey... This is my introduction song. It shows me in various aspects of the character i play in the film... This song is sung by Hariharan... who is simply amazing .
4. Challame Challame... Oh my god one of the most erotic songs in Tamil Cinema. Everything is perfect right from the song, lyrics, the camera... Nayantara is looking absolutly stunning... People who have seen the pictures and heard the song are going gaga about it...
5. Pal Pali... This is a folk song... This was shot in Thenkasi and Coutrallam. You all will love this song. Its a total dance song where one can dance to...
Friday, July 18, 2008
Kismat Konnection - Review
Kismat Konnection is one of the most awaited films this season and there is lots of hype surrounding it. However, it happens quite frequently that many hyped movies turn out to be big disappointments such as Tashan, Love Story 2050, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic,etc. Fortunately, this is not the case with Kismat Konnection. It`s not just all hype and no substance but a movie with a soul that will immediately connect with the audience.The basic plot of the movie revolves around Raj Malhotra (Shahid Kapoor) (doesn`t the name sound too SRKish?…but the film is not as cliched as the name sounds, thankfullysmiling smiley, an architect, who was touted as the next BIG thing during his college days…be it academics,sports,dramatics…he was an all-rounder and his friends had made a TIME magazine cover with Raj`s face on it. Despite his potential and abilities, Raj failed to make it big in life and after 5 years of his graduation he is still not able to achieve success in his life because luck never supported him. Something or the other always goes wrong with him…when he has to wake up at the morning, his alarm clock doesn`t ring, when he is about to be appointed as an architect, the boss of the contracting company dies and so on. Raj tries his luck once again to be appointed for a shopping mall construction project by Mr.Gill (Om Puri) but luck once again betrays him when an old school friend (Manoj Joshi) of his attempts to take away the contract from Raj`s hands and secure it for himself. A disappointed Raj one night sees an advertisment on the television which claims to provide the solution to everyone`s problems in life. The advertisment states that anyone who contacts Haseena Bano Jaan (Juhi Chawla) will be freed from all his worries forever. So, Raj obviously notes down her address and drops in at her premises. Haseena Bano Jaan states that there is a force that is his lucky charm and would remove all his problems but he has to recognize that ’force’. Raj meets Priya (Vidya Balan) several times…once when his car is about to collide with hers…or at the ATM card machine spot or at a bar. Each time he meets her, things turn out to be in his favour and miracles take place with him. He manages to secure a construction contract and also manages to impress Mr.Gill, when it seems impossible to him. It is then when he realizes that Priya is that force that is his lucky charm. However, there are two problems; Priya runs an old citizens hospital and Gill`s shopping mall is constructed at the same place as the hospital and secondly, Priya is about to get married within a few days and Raj won`t have his lucky charm for very long, with him. Plus, Raj also realises by then that he is in love with Priya.
The soundtrack composed by Pritam is another strong point. My favourite songs from the movie are Aai Paapi, Bakhuda Tum Hi Ho, Sohni and Move Your Body (which appears during the end credits). Other than that, the camerawork of the movie si fantastic. Most of the movie has been shot in Canada and it has been shot so beautifully that I felt like going on a vacation there smiling smiley The film carries a very stylish look but thank God that the story didn`t suffer due to this style…the impact of the movie only enhanced with it.
Performances are also top-notch. Shahid Kapoor, even though looks quite young (he can`t help it smiling smiley has undoubtedly matured as an actor and is a complete natural. Vidya Balan is the best thing that has happened to Bollywood since last three years. She is one of the most talented actresses today. Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, etc. maybe some of the top actresses today but not any of them is half as talented as Vidya, when it comes to acting. Vidya almost instantly clicks with the audience and the ease with which she performs makes it a treat to watch her act. She also looks amazingly gorgeous, throughout.
Vishal Malhotra who played Shahid`s best friend in Ishq Vishk is back with Shahid once again and does a fantastic job, complementing Shahid throughout and gives a spontaneous performance. Juhi Chawla does something quite different in the role of a numerologist (a la Sunita Menon) and manages to entertain in her special appearance.The surprise factor of the movie is Himani Shivpuri as Om Puri`s wife. For the first time, she does not irritate but actually makes you laugh, thanks to her perfect comic timing, this time around. You will just love her (loved her dialogue, ’’first,reduce your tone”). Om Puri, Boman Irani and others also do a fine job.
On the whole, Kismat Konnection is a complete family entertainer which is sure to lure everyone`s hearts and do well at the box-office too. You should definitely give this one a watch.
BTW, I was just thinking, while watching the movie that how come everyone in Canada speaks Hindi?
The movie is very simple without any ’mirch-masala’ or item number…yet this very simplicity is the reason which manages to hold the viewers` interest because it makes the film look more believable and realistic. There is a lot of humour in the film but thank God that director Aziz Mirza`s sense of humour is very subtle, not loud and cheap, which works big time because the audience of today has matured and Johnny Lever or even Rajpal Yadav type comedy is out of fashion, now. The movie has a lot of entertaining moments, the best ones being; when Raj and his friend (played by Vishal Malhotra) get to know that the boss of the company with whom they had contracted has died, when both the friends go to Gill`s office for the first time, when Shahid and Vidya meet for the first time in a road accident, Juhi Chawla`s introduction scene, all the light moments between Shahid and Vidya, when Vidya finds out the reality of her fiance` and the climax of the movie, especially with the twist in the story brought about by Boman Irani.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
China Olympics Fireworks Rehersal
China has held a rehearsal of the Olympics opening ceremony in the main venue for the Games, the 'Bird's Nest' stadium. Fireworks lit up Beijing's skyline as the rehearsal was carried out under tight security.
Click Here to watch those Moments
Click Here to watch those Moments
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
How to Increase your Web Traffic
1. Write quality content to draw inbound links.
Although you may not have much influence over your search engine rankings for the first few months you will always have control over the content you create for your website. Quality content that attracts people’s attention will draw inbound links which will bring visitors and get your site indexed by search engines quickly. Inbound links are critical to the success of any website. In order to entice others to link to your site you must produce something of quality.
2. Start a blog.
A blog is an ideal format for the content that you will be creating. Blogs make it easy to add new articles and they also tend to draw more inbound links. Bloggers link to other blogs when they find something the like, so combining these first two points is a great decision.
Additionally, blogs can help to get your pages indexed by search engines because they ping the search engines when new content is added, rather than waiting for search engines to find new pages on their own.
If you consistently add new posts to your blog, the sizeable amount of content that develops over time will put you in a better position to receive much more traffic from the search engines.
3. Run a contest or a giveaway.
One of the best ways to generate some buzz is to give away something of value. You can give away just about anything, but downloadable products tend to work well. Many websites have generated huge amounts of traffic by giving away a free e-book or special report. Of course, this only works if you are giving away something that people will actually want. One method is to give the freebie to new email list or RSS subscribers, which forces people to subscribe if they want what you are offering.
The best contests and giveaways will create a lot of attention and inbound links. The cost of whatever you’re giving away may be more than offset by the free publicity.
4. Write a press release.
Without help from search engines many of the traffic building techniques that we’re looking at involve creating publicity and attention to your website. An effective press release can do just that. However, a press release must tell about something newsworthy or it will get no attention. Just announcing the launch of a new website (unless it’s extremely unusual or groundbreaking, or if the creator is already well known) is not anything that will catch an editor’s attention.
A good press release for your website will work in conjunction with point numbers 1 and 3, creating quality content and the contest/giveaway. If you truly have something of value that people will want, your press release is bound to get some attention.
Press releases are now very easy to submit online (at sites such as PRWeb, PRBuzz, and I-NewsWire). By submitting your press release online your story will be available on websites like PRBuzz and Google News. A successful press release will also receive a lot of incoming links from people who see the story. The end result is new inbound links and a lot of interested visitors.
To learn more about how to properly write a press release see www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp.
5. Social media websites.
In the past few years social media websites (like Digg, Reddit, Stumble Upon, Del.icio.us and Netscape) have become extremely popular. Although they each have their differences, social media sites essentially present information that users have submitted. Popular articles can receive thousands of visitors in a day.
While traffic from social media sites is short term, the effects of that traffic can carry over to the long-term. Repeat traffic, increased RSS or email subscriptions, increased sales, brand recognition, and inbound links are just some of the results of a successful social media campaign.
6. Write for other blogs.
Guest blogging for another blogger that shares your target audience is one of the most effective ways to get your writing noticed by new people. To have success writing for other blogs you will need to offer original content, not just an article that you’ve already used on your own website.
You can find blogs that are looking for guest bloggers at Guest-Blogger.com. Another way to find blogs is to visit community sites like MyBlogLog and Bumpzee. Find a community that matches with your blog’s audience and contact some of the bloggers about providing content for them to use.
A different variation of the guest blogging idea is to participate in blog carnivals. A blog carnival is a group of blog posts from various writers on a particular subject hosted on one blog. The host blog will provide the post title and a brief description of each post with a link to the full post on the writer’s website. You can find blog carnivals to participate in at BlogCarnival.com.
7. Join or start a blog community.
The blog community sites like MyBlogLog and Bumpzee that were mentioned in the previous point provide another way for you to draw traffic. There are communities of bloggers who write about topics of all kinds. Being a part of these communities can help you to get noticed by other bloggers, which can lead to inbound links and guest blogging opportunities.
8. Pay-per-click advertising.
PPC ads are a relatively inexpensive way to get targeted traffic for your website. One of the greatest benefits of PPC ads is that no budget is too large or too small. It’s up to you to decide how much you want to spend. The most successful PPC campaigns will either generate direct sales or create leads that will lead to repeat traffic.
When setting up your PPC ads don’t just send traffic to your homepage and hope that visitors find their way to your sales pages. Pick the specific page that you want visitors to go to (or create a special one especially for PPC ads) and create the ad so they can land directly where you want them. The largest PPC ad networks are Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing.
9. Paid website reviews.
There are a growing number of services that offer you the option to pay to have your website reviewed on another website or blog. The review may bring traffic and a link to your site. The cost of the review depends on which website you want to review your site. Those with larger audiences charge more because they expose your site to a greater number of readers.
Some of the leading programs are:
PayPerPost
ReviewMe
10. Comment in forums and on other blogs.
Forums and blogs are great places to demonstrate your knowledge by providing intelligent feedback, answering other people’s questions, or posting a thought-provoking question. As a result, some people may click through to your site. Neither forums nor other people’s blogs should be used to advertise your site – if you do must likely your comment will be deleted. Focus on helping others and they will see you as a useful resource.
Although you may not have much influence over your search engine rankings for the first few months you will always have control over the content you create for your website. Quality content that attracts people’s attention will draw inbound links which will bring visitors and get your site indexed by search engines quickly. Inbound links are critical to the success of any website. In order to entice others to link to your site you must produce something of quality.
2. Start a blog.
A blog is an ideal format for the content that you will be creating. Blogs make it easy to add new articles and they also tend to draw more inbound links. Bloggers link to other blogs when they find something the like, so combining these first two points is a great decision.
Additionally, blogs can help to get your pages indexed by search engines because they ping the search engines when new content is added, rather than waiting for search engines to find new pages on their own.
If you consistently add new posts to your blog, the sizeable amount of content that develops over time will put you in a better position to receive much more traffic from the search engines.
3. Run a contest or a giveaway.
One of the best ways to generate some buzz is to give away something of value. You can give away just about anything, but downloadable products tend to work well. Many websites have generated huge amounts of traffic by giving away a free e-book or special report. Of course, this only works if you are giving away something that people will actually want. One method is to give the freebie to new email list or RSS subscribers, which forces people to subscribe if they want what you are offering.
The best contests and giveaways will create a lot of attention and inbound links. The cost of whatever you’re giving away may be more than offset by the free publicity.
4. Write a press release.
Without help from search engines many of the traffic building techniques that we’re looking at involve creating publicity and attention to your website. An effective press release can do just that. However, a press release must tell about something newsworthy or it will get no attention. Just announcing the launch of a new website (unless it’s extremely unusual or groundbreaking, or if the creator is already well known) is not anything that will catch an editor’s attention.
A good press release for your website will work in conjunction with point numbers 1 and 3, creating quality content and the contest/giveaway. If you truly have something of value that people will want, your press release is bound to get some attention.
Press releases are now very easy to submit online (at sites such as PRWeb, PRBuzz, and I-NewsWire). By submitting your press release online your story will be available on websites like PRBuzz and Google News. A successful press release will also receive a lot of incoming links from people who see the story. The end result is new inbound links and a lot of interested visitors.
To learn more about how to properly write a press release see www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp.
5. Social media websites.
In the past few years social media websites (like Digg, Reddit, Stumble Upon, Del.icio.us and Netscape) have become extremely popular. Although they each have their differences, social media sites essentially present information that users have submitted. Popular articles can receive thousands of visitors in a day.
While traffic from social media sites is short term, the effects of that traffic can carry over to the long-term. Repeat traffic, increased RSS or email subscriptions, increased sales, brand recognition, and inbound links are just some of the results of a successful social media campaign.
6. Write for other blogs.
Guest blogging for another blogger that shares your target audience is one of the most effective ways to get your writing noticed by new people. To have success writing for other blogs you will need to offer original content, not just an article that you’ve already used on your own website.
You can find blogs that are looking for guest bloggers at Guest-Blogger.com. Another way to find blogs is to visit community sites like MyBlogLog and Bumpzee. Find a community that matches with your blog’s audience and contact some of the bloggers about providing content for them to use.
A different variation of the guest blogging idea is to participate in blog carnivals. A blog carnival is a group of blog posts from various writers on a particular subject hosted on one blog. The host blog will provide the post title and a brief description of each post with a link to the full post on the writer’s website. You can find blog carnivals to participate in at BlogCarnival.com.
7. Join or start a blog community.
The blog community sites like MyBlogLog and Bumpzee that were mentioned in the previous point provide another way for you to draw traffic. There are communities of bloggers who write about topics of all kinds. Being a part of these communities can help you to get noticed by other bloggers, which can lead to inbound links and guest blogging opportunities.
8. Pay-per-click advertising.
PPC ads are a relatively inexpensive way to get targeted traffic for your website. One of the greatest benefits of PPC ads is that no budget is too large or too small. It’s up to you to decide how much you want to spend. The most successful PPC campaigns will either generate direct sales or create leads that will lead to repeat traffic.
When setting up your PPC ads don’t just send traffic to your homepage and hope that visitors find their way to your sales pages. Pick the specific page that you want visitors to go to (or create a special one especially for PPC ads) and create the ad so they can land directly where you want them. The largest PPC ad networks are Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing.
9. Paid website reviews.
There are a growing number of services that offer you the option to pay to have your website reviewed on another website or blog. The review may bring traffic and a link to your site. The cost of the review depends on which website you want to review your site. Those with larger audiences charge more because they expose your site to a greater number of readers.
Some of the leading programs are:
PayPerPost
ReviewMe
10. Comment in forums and on other blogs.
Forums and blogs are great places to demonstrate your knowledge by providing intelligent feedback, answering other people’s questions, or posting a thought-provoking question. As a result, some people may click through to your site. Neither forums nor other people’s blogs should be used to advertise your site – if you do must likely your comment will be deleted. Focus on helping others and they will see you as a useful resource.
South Indian Filmfare awards 2008
It was the 55th Tiger Balm Filmfare Awards 2007 which took place at the Nehru Indoor Stadium. The stadium was filled with stars and celebrities like Tabu, Shriya Saran, Madhavan and Chiranjeevi. The movie Paruthiveeran made winning successes of 12 awards.
Best Actor: Karthi,
Best Actress: Priyamani,
Best Supporting Actor: Saravanan and Sujatha
Best Director: Ameer.
The film won the Best Film Award for producer Gnanavel Raja. Best music Director went to AR Rahman for the movie Sivaji. Best Lyricist For the movie Unnale Unnale Lyricist Pa Vijay. Best Playback winners are SP Balasubramaniyam and Sadhana Sargam.
Jaya Prada walked away with Lifetime Achievement award. Actor Sivakumar received a standing ovation and was presented with Lifetime Award for his achievements. Shriya Saran said, “Filmfare awards are always a lot fun, people wait for these awards here. I’m really excited as I’m performing. So it’s a double-bonus.” Actress Trisha expressed her feeling, “It’s always a very nice feeling. You get to meet the entire industry and it’s a lot of pomp and grandeur. It’s always nice to be there.”
Best Actor: Karthi,
Best Actress: Priyamani,
Best Supporting Actor: Saravanan and Sujatha
Best Director: Ameer.
The film won the Best Film Award for producer Gnanavel Raja. Best music Director went to AR Rahman for the movie Sivaji. Best Lyricist For the movie Unnale Unnale Lyricist Pa Vijay. Best Playback winners are SP Balasubramaniyam and Sadhana Sargam.
Jaya Prada walked away with Lifetime Achievement award. Actor Sivakumar received a standing ovation and was presented with Lifetime Award for his achievements. Shriya Saran said, “Filmfare awards are always a lot fun, people wait for these awards here. I’m really excited as I’m performing. So it’s a double-bonus.” Actress Trisha expressed her feeling, “It’s always a very nice feeling. You get to meet the entire industry and it’s a lot of pomp and grandeur. It’s always nice to be there.”
Viacom backs off YouTube demand
Viacom has "backed off" from demands to divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched a video on YouTube, the website has claimed. Google had been ordered to provide personal details of millions of YouTube users to help Viacom prepare its case on alleged copyright infringement. Google, owners of YouTube, will now hand over the database but without data that could identify users. Viacom has a $1bn (£497m) copyright infringement lawsuit against Google. A class action by other organisations including the English Premier League has also agreed to the new terms.
"We are pleased to report that Viacom, MTV and other litigants have backed off their original demand for all users' viewing histories and we will not be providing that information," said a statement on the YouTube blog. The decision will be welcomed by privacy activists, many of whom expressed concern over a US judge's order for Google to provide the data in early July. YouTube, which was bought by Google in 2006, is in battle with Viacom, which owns MTV and Paramount Pictures, over alleged copyright infringement. Viacom alleges clips from its programmes have been viewed on YouTube without its consent.
When it initiated legal action in March 2007, it said it had identified about 160,000 unauthorised clips of its programmes on the website, which had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times. Following the launch of its billion-dollar lawsuit, YouTube introduced filtering tools in an effort to prevent content that infringes copyright from appearing on the site. Viacom had said it wanted the log data to "compare the attractiveness of allegedly infringing video with that of non-infringing videos".
But privacy activists argued in response that the original order "threatens to expose deeply private information" and was in breach of a 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act, which was passed after the rental habits of a Supreme Court nominee were publicised. The new ruling means that Google will still have to hand over the data logs but in an "anonymized form", meaning YouTube can swap user logins and IP addresses with other random signifiers. An earlier Viacom request that Google be forced to hand over the source code of YouTube has already been denied by a US court on the grounds it is a "trade secret". Despite Tuesday's agreement, the companies are yet to agree the process of information disclosure regarding viewing of YouTube clips by employees of YouTube and Google. This is expected to be settled in the coming weeks. The cases are expected to come to trial in 2009 or 2010.
"We are pleased to report that Viacom, MTV and other litigants have backed off their original demand for all users' viewing histories and we will not be providing that information," said a statement on the YouTube blog. The decision will be welcomed by privacy activists, many of whom expressed concern over a US judge's order for Google to provide the data in early July. YouTube, which was bought by Google in 2006, is in battle with Viacom, which owns MTV and Paramount Pictures, over alleged copyright infringement. Viacom alleges clips from its programmes have been viewed on YouTube without its consent.
When it initiated legal action in March 2007, it said it had identified about 160,000 unauthorised clips of its programmes on the website, which had been viewed more than 1.5 billion times. Following the launch of its billion-dollar lawsuit, YouTube introduced filtering tools in an effort to prevent content that infringes copyright from appearing on the site. Viacom had said it wanted the log data to "compare the attractiveness of allegedly infringing video with that of non-infringing videos".
But privacy activists argued in response that the original order "threatens to expose deeply private information" and was in breach of a 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act, which was passed after the rental habits of a Supreme Court nominee were publicised. The new ruling means that Google will still have to hand over the data logs but in an "anonymized form", meaning YouTube can swap user logins and IP addresses with other random signifiers. An earlier Viacom request that Google be forced to hand over the source code of YouTube has already been denied by a US court on the grounds it is a "trade secret". Despite Tuesday's agreement, the companies are yet to agree the process of information disclosure regarding viewing of YouTube clips by employees of YouTube and Google. This is expected to be settled in the coming weeks. The cases are expected to come to trial in 2009 or 2010.
History Behind famous names
Apache:
It got its name because its founders got started by applying patches
to code written for NCSA's httpd daemon. The result was 'A PAtCHy'
server - thus, the name Apache.
Jakarta (project from Apache):
A project constituted by SUN and Apache to create a web server
handling servlets and JSPs. Jakarta was name of the conference room at
SUN where most of the meetings between SUN and Apache took place.
Tomcat:
The servlet part of the Jakarta project. Tomcat was the code name for
the JSDK 2.1 project inside SUN.
C :
Dennis Ritchie improved on the B programming language and called it
'New B'. He later called it C. Earlier B was created by Ken Thompson
as a revision of the Bon programming language (named after his wife
Bonnie).
C++ :
Bjarne Stroustrup called his new language 'C with Classes' and then
'new C'. Because of which the original C began to be called 'old C'
which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick
Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C.
GNU :
A species of African antelope. Founder of the GNU project Richard
Stallman liked the name because of the humor associated with its
pronunciation and was also influenced by the children's song 'The Gnu
Song' which is a song sung by a gnu. Also it fitted into the recursive
acronym culture with 'GNU's Not Unix'.
Java:
Originally called Oak by creator James Gosling, from the tree that
stood outside his window, the programming team had to look for a
substitute, as there was no other language with the same name. Java
was selected from a list of suggestions. It came from the name of the
coffee that the programmers drank.
LG:
Combination of two popular Korean brands Lucky and Goldstar.
Linux:
Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix OS on his system, which he
replaced by his OS. Hence the working name was Linux (Linus' Minix).
He thought the name to be too egotistical and planned to name it Freax
(free + freak + x). His friend Ari Lemmke encouraged Linus to upload
it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave Linus a
directory called Linux on his FTP server, as he did not like the name
Freax. (Linus's parents named him after two-time Nobel Prize winner
Linus Pauling).
Mozilla:
When Marc Andreesen, founder of Netscape, created a browser to replace
Mosaic (also developed by him), it was named Mozilla (Mosaic-Killer
Godzilla). The marketing guys didn't like the name however and it was
re-christened Netscape Navigator.
Red Hat:
Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap
(with red and white stripes) while at college by his grandfather. He
lost it and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta
version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return his Red
Hat if found by anyone!
SAP:
"Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing", formed by 4
ex-IBM employees who used to work in the
'Systems/Applications/Projects' group of IBM.
SCO (UNIX) :
From Santa Cruz Operation. The company's office was in Santa Cruz.
UNIX :
When Bell Labs pulled out of MULTICS (MULTiplexed Information and
Computing System), which was originally a joint Bell/GE/MIT project,
Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs wrote a simpler version
of the OS. They needed the OS to run the game Space War that was
compiled under MULTICS. It was called UNICS - UNIplexed operating and
Computing System by Brian Kernighan. It was later shortened to UNIX.
Xerox:
The inventor, Chestor Carlson, named his product trying to say `dry'
(as it was dry copying, markedly different from the then prevailing
wet copying). The Greek root `xer' means dry.
3M:
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company started off by mining the
material corundum used to make sandpaper.
Interesting facts behind some of the most famous brands.
There are many companies / brands / products whose
names were derived from strange circumstances.
Mercedes:
This was actually the financier's daughter's name.
Adobe:
This came from name of the river Adobe Creek that ran
behind the house of founder John Warnock.
Apple Computers:
It was the favorite fruit of founder Steve Jobs. He was three months
late in filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his
company Apple Computers if the other colleagues didn't suggest a
better name by 5 O'clock.
CISCO:
It is not an acronym as popularly believed. It is short for San Francisco.
Compaq:
This name was formed by using COMp, for computer, and PAQ to denote a
small integral object.
Corel:
The name was derived from the founder's name Dr. Michael Cowpland. It
stands for COwpland REsearch Laboratory.
Google:
The name started as a joke boasting about the amount of information
the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named
'Googol', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100
zeros. After founders Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry
Page presented their project to an angel investor, they received a
cheque made out to 'Google'
Hotmail:
Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a
computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the
business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending
in 'mail' and finally settled for hotmail as it included! the letters
"html" - the programming language used to write web pages. It was
initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.
Hewlett Packard:
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the
company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or
Packard-Hewlett.
Intel:
Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company 'Moore
Noyce' but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain so they had
to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.
Lotus (Notes):
Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from 'The Lotus Position' or
'Padmasana'. Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental Meditation
of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Microsoft:
Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to
MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft! , the '-'
was removed later on.
Motorola:
Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started
manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time
was called Victrola.
ORACLE:
Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a consulting project for
the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The code name for the project
was called Oracle (the CIA saw this as the system to give answers to
all questions or something such). The project was designed to help use
the newly written SQL code by IBM. The project eventually was
terminated but Larry and Bob decided to finish what they started and
bring it to the world. They kept the name Oracle and created the RDBMS
engine. Later they kept the same name for the company.
Sony:
It originated from the Latin word 'sonus' meaning sound, and 'sonny' a
slang used ! by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.
SUN:
Founded by 4 Stanford University buddies, SUN is the acronym for
Stanford University Network. Andreas Bechtolsheim built a
microcomputer; Vinod Khosla recruited him and Scott McNealy to
manufacture computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a
UNIX-based OS for the computer.
Yahoo!:
The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book
'Gulliver's Travels'. It represents a person who is repulsive in
appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! Founders Jerry Yang
and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves
yahoos.
It got its name because its founders got started by applying patches
to code written for NCSA's httpd daemon. The result was 'A PAtCHy'
server - thus, the name Apache.
Jakarta (project from Apache):
A project constituted by SUN and Apache to create a web server
handling servlets and JSPs. Jakarta was name of the conference room at
SUN where most of the meetings between SUN and Apache took place.
Tomcat:
The servlet part of the Jakarta project. Tomcat was the code name for
the JSDK 2.1 project inside SUN.
C :
Dennis Ritchie improved on the B programming language and called it
'New B'. He later called it C. Earlier B was created by Ken Thompson
as a revision of the Bon programming language (named after his wife
Bonnie).
C++ :
Bjarne Stroustrup called his new language 'C with Classes' and then
'new C'. Because of which the original C began to be called 'old C'
which was considered insulting to the C community. At this time Rick
Mascitti suggested the name C++ as a successor to C.
GNU :
A species of African antelope. Founder of the GNU project Richard
Stallman liked the name because of the humor associated with its
pronunciation and was also influenced by the children's song 'The Gnu
Song' which is a song sung by a gnu. Also it fitted into the recursive
acronym culture with 'GNU's Not Unix'.
Java:
Originally called Oak by creator James Gosling, from the tree that
stood outside his window, the programming team had to look for a
substitute, as there was no other language with the same name. Java
was selected from a list of suggestions. It came from the name of the
coffee that the programmers drank.
LG:
Combination of two popular Korean brands Lucky and Goldstar.
Linux:
Linus Torvalds originally used the Minix OS on his system, which he
replaced by his OS. Hence the working name was Linux (Linus' Minix).
He thought the name to be too egotistical and planned to name it Freax
(free + freak + x). His friend Ari Lemmke encouraged Linus to upload
it to a network so it could be easily downloaded. Ari gave Linus a
directory called Linux on his FTP server, as he did not like the name
Freax. (Linus's parents named him after two-time Nobel Prize winner
Linus Pauling).
Mozilla:
When Marc Andreesen, founder of Netscape, created a browser to replace
Mosaic (also developed by him), it was named Mozilla (Mosaic-Killer
Godzilla). The marketing guys didn't like the name however and it was
re-christened Netscape Navigator.
Red Hat:
Company founder Marc Ewing was given the Cornell lacrosse team cap
(with red and white stripes) while at college by his grandfather. He
lost it and had to search for it desperately. The manual of the beta
version of Red Hat Linux had an appeal to readers to return his Red
Hat if found by anyone!
SAP:
"Systems, Applications, Products in Data Processing", formed by 4
ex-IBM employees who used to work in the
'Systems/Applications/Projects' group of IBM.
SCO (UNIX) :
From Santa Cruz Operation. The company's office was in Santa Cruz.
UNIX :
When Bell Labs pulled out of MULTICS (MULTiplexed Information and
Computing System), which was originally a joint Bell/GE/MIT project,
Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie of Bell Labs wrote a simpler version
of the OS. They needed the OS to run the game Space War that was
compiled under MULTICS. It was called UNICS - UNIplexed operating and
Computing System by Brian Kernighan. It was later shortened to UNIX.
Xerox:
The inventor, Chestor Carlson, named his product trying to say `dry'
(as it was dry copying, markedly different from the then prevailing
wet copying). The Greek root `xer' means dry.
3M:
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company started off by mining the
material corundum used to make sandpaper.
Interesting facts behind some of the most famous brands.
There are many companies / brands / products whose
names were derived from strange circumstances.
Mercedes:
This was actually the financier's daughter's name.
Adobe:
This came from name of the river Adobe Creek that ran
behind the house of founder John Warnock.
Apple Computers:
It was the favorite fruit of founder Steve Jobs. He was three months
late in filing a name for the business, and he threatened to call his
company Apple Computers if the other colleagues didn't suggest a
better name by 5 O'clock.
CISCO:
It is not an acronym as popularly believed. It is short for San Francisco.
Compaq:
This name was formed by using COMp, for computer, and PAQ to denote a
small integral object.
Corel:
The name was derived from the founder's name Dr. Michael Cowpland. It
stands for COwpland REsearch Laboratory.
Google:
The name started as a joke boasting about the amount of information
the search-engine would be able to search. It was originally named
'Googol', a word for the number represented by 1 followed by 100
zeros. After founders Stanford graduate students Sergey Brin and Larry
Page presented their project to an angel investor, they received a
cheque made out to 'Google'
Hotmail:
Founder Jack Smith got the idea of accessing e-mail via the web from a
computer anywhere in the world. When Sabeer Bhatia came up with the
business plan for the mail service, he tried all kinds of names ending
in 'mail' and finally settled for hotmail as it included! the letters
"html" - the programming language used to write web pages. It was
initially referred to as HoTMaiL with selective uppercasing.
Hewlett Packard:
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the
company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or
Packard-Hewlett.
Intel:
Bob Noyce and Gordon Moore wanted to name their new company 'Moore
Noyce' but that was already trademarked by a hotel chain so they had
to settle for an acronym of INTegrated ELectronics.
Lotus (Notes):
Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from 'The Lotus Position' or
'Padmasana'. Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental Meditation
of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Microsoft:
Coined by Bill Gates to represent the company that was devoted to
MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft! , the '-'
was removed later on.
Motorola:
Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started
manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time
was called Victrola.
ORACLE:
Larry Ellison and Bob Oats were working on a consulting project for
the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). The code name for the project
was called Oracle (the CIA saw this as the system to give answers to
all questions or something such). The project was designed to help use
the newly written SQL code by IBM. The project eventually was
terminated but Larry and Bob decided to finish what they started and
bring it to the world. They kept the name Oracle and created the RDBMS
engine. Later they kept the same name for the company.
Sony:
It originated from the Latin word 'sonus' meaning sound, and 'sonny' a
slang used ! by Americans to refer to a bright youngster.
SUN:
Founded by 4 Stanford University buddies, SUN is the acronym for
Stanford University Network. Andreas Bechtolsheim built a
microcomputer; Vinod Khosla recruited him and Scott McNealy to
manufacture computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a
UNIX-based OS for the computer.
Yahoo!:
The word was invented by Jonathan Swift and used in his book
'Gulliver's Travels'. It represents a person who is repulsive in
appearance and action and is barely human. Yahoo! Founders Jerry Yang
and David Filo selected the name because they considered themselves
yahoos.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Jeyam Kondaan Songs Free Download
Adaimazhai Kalam
Singer : Karthik
Adhaikoodavaa
Singer : Sriram Parthasarathy
Naan Varaindhu Vaitha
Singer : Madhushree, Hariharan
Ore Or Naal
Singer : Benny Dhayal
Sutrivarum Boomi
Singer : Sadhana Sargam
Ullaasa Ulagam
Singer : Tippu
Singer : Karthik
Adhaikoodavaa
Singer : Sriram Parthasarathy
Naan Varaindhu Vaitha
Singer : Madhushree, Hariharan
Ore Or Naal
Singer : Benny Dhayal
Sutrivarum Boomi
Singer : Sadhana Sargam
Ullaasa Ulagam
Singer : Tippu
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Senior Srilankan Players prefer IPL over the Tour to England
Sri Lanka's top players will be allowed to appear in next year's Indian Premier League instead of touring England. Officials say they cannot guarantee to send a full strength side and will now discuss alternative plans with the England and Wales Cricket Board. "The players were already committed to play in the IPL," said Sri Lanka Cricket chief executive Duleep Mendis.
"They assured us they would give the 2011 tour of England priority ahead of the IPL, so we couldn't let them down." Earlier this week, Sri Lanka accepted an invitation to tour England and play two Tests and three one-day internationals after the ECB severed sporting relations with Zimbabwe. But the majority of Sri Lanka's top players are signed up to three-year deals with the IPL's eight team franchises.
The six-week tournament will start on 10 April, and will clash with the first England v Sri Lanka Test, which is scheduled for 8 May. Mendis added: "We will be taking up the matter with the ECB shortly to find what alternatives we can arrive at without upsetting both parties. "The players were already committed to the IPL, therefore it was agreed that the players be allowed to play in the IPL next year."
Sri Lanka Cricket hope the tour can be rescheduled, but there is little room for manouvre with the ICC World Twenty20 in England starting in June. If England cannot change dates, then Sri Lanka may offer to send a weakened squad. Captain Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya and Upal Tharanga are among the players to have signed lucrative three-year deals with IPL franchises.
"They assured us they would give the 2011 tour of England priority ahead of the IPL, so we couldn't let them down." Earlier this week, Sri Lanka accepted an invitation to tour England and play two Tests and three one-day internationals after the ECB severed sporting relations with Zimbabwe. But the majority of Sri Lanka's top players are signed up to three-year deals with the IPL's eight team franchises.
The six-week tournament will start on 10 April, and will clash with the first England v Sri Lanka Test, which is scheduled for 8 May. Mendis added: "We will be taking up the matter with the ECB shortly to find what alternatives we can arrive at without upsetting both parties. "The players were already committed to the IPL, therefore it was agreed that the players be allowed to play in the IPL next year."
Sri Lanka Cricket hope the tour can be rescheduled, but there is little room for manouvre with the ICC World Twenty20 in England starting in June. If England cannot change dates, then Sri Lanka may offer to send a weakened squad. Captain Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya and Upal Tharanga are among the players to have signed lucrative three-year deals with IPL franchises.
Pieterson as a captain leads from the front for England, Scores a fine Century against SA
England 295-3 v South Africa (evening session, day one)
Kevin Pietersen fired a masterful century to revive England on the opening day of the series at Lord's. In his first Test against South Africa, Pietersen struck 13 fours and a six to record his 13th Test century. He shared a vital century stand with Ian Bell, who struck an attractive fifty, after three wickets had fallen for three runs in 13 balls after lunch. Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook gave England a fine start with a stand of 114 after the tourists opted to bowl.
Kevin Pietersen fired a masterful century to revive England on the opening day of the series at Lord's. In his first Test against South Africa, Pietersen struck 13 fours and a six to record his 13th Test century. He shared a vital century stand with Ian Bell, who struck an attractive fifty, after three wickets had fallen for three runs in 13 balls after lunch. Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook gave England a fine start with a stand of 114 after the tourists opted to bowl.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Watch Dasavatharam Online
Part 1: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4784
Part 2: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4785
Part 3: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4786
Part 4: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4787
Part 5: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4788
Part 6: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4789
Part 7: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4790
Part 2: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4785
Part 3: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4786
Part 4: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4787
Part 5: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4788
Part 6: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4789
Part 7: http://www.artkerala.com/node/4790
Tamil Movie Download Links 1
Rameshwaram:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=38
Machakkaran:
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Parattai:
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Naan Avan Illai:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=34
Muni:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=23
Lee:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=18
Paruthiveeran:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=17
Deepavali:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=11
Pokkiri:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=6
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=38
Machakkaran:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=37
Parattai:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=35
Naan Avan Illai:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=34
Muni:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=23
Lee:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=18
Paruthiveeran:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=17
Deepavali:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=11
Pokkiri:
http://www.directtamil.com/show.php?id=6
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Venus Williams claims her 5th Wimbeldon Title beating Serena williams
Venus Williams captured her fifth Wimbledon title by beating her sister Serena 7-5 6-4 in a high-quality final. The 28-year-old becomes one of only four players to lift the trophy five times or more in the Open era. Serena made a blistering start, forging a 4-2 lead, but Venus clawed her way back to 4-4 before breaking at 6-5 to snatch the first set in 53 minutes. Both players maintained a high standard throughout in blustery conditions, but Venus had the edge when it counted. She sealed victory when Serena sprayed a backhand into the tramlines but her celebrations were muted as she approached the net to give her sister a hug. "I can't believe that it's five. When you're in the final against Serena, five seems so far away. She played so awesome so it was really a task," said Venus, now a seven-time Grand Slam champion.
"It's unbelievable that I have won five, especially with some of the injuries that I've had. To know every time I come back I have the chance to make history... I love this place." Venus now needs one more Wimbledon singles title to match Billie Jean King's record of six, with only Steffi Graf (7) and Martina Navratilova (9) ahead of that. She had lost to her younger sister in their two previous Wimbledon finals in 2002 and 2003, but Serena admitted Venus deserved victory on Saturday. "She was a little better today. It didn't work out the way I planned," she said.
"It's a great celebration for our family, we're really happy. I've been working really hard and I'm so happy at least one of us was able to win."
It was Venus's first win over Serena in a Grand Slam final since the 2001 US Open, and levelled their head-to-head to 8-8. The sisters have always struggled to produce their best against each other but their seventh Grand Slam final exceeded all expectations. The competitive tone was set early in the way Serena took on Venus's serve from the outset and broke in the opening game thanks to a stunning backhand winner. She pressed home the advantage by holding to love and if there remained any doubt that there would no quarter given, it was banished when Serena approached a short ball and hit it straight at her sister - with Venus somehow putting away the volley. Serena had a point for a 4-1 lead but Venus saved it with another deft volley.
The defending champion clawed her way back to 4-4 but then had to save another two break points before the crowd witnessed the first indication that the two competitors might be related. Serena hit a backhand which she thought was going wide, audibly admonishing herself as she did so, but the wind kept the ball in, and the umpire was forced to call a let.
It was a set which featured 38 winners and only 13 unforced errors and the level hardly dipped in the second. In a gripping 14-minute game, Serena broke to take a 2-1lead but Venus, who was the more composed of the two throughout, hit straight back. Just as in the first set, Venus got stronger as the set went on and after seeing one break point slip by at 3-2, she struck at 5-4 to end Serena's hopes.
"It's unbelievable that I have won five, especially with some of the injuries that I've had. To know every time I come back I have the chance to make history... I love this place." Venus now needs one more Wimbledon singles title to match Billie Jean King's record of six, with only Steffi Graf (7) and Martina Navratilova (9) ahead of that. She had lost to her younger sister in their two previous Wimbledon finals in 2002 and 2003, but Serena admitted Venus deserved victory on Saturday. "She was a little better today. It didn't work out the way I planned," she said.
"It's a great celebration for our family, we're really happy. I've been working really hard and I'm so happy at least one of us was able to win."
It was Venus's first win over Serena in a Grand Slam final since the 2001 US Open, and levelled their head-to-head to 8-8. The sisters have always struggled to produce their best against each other but their seventh Grand Slam final exceeded all expectations. The competitive tone was set early in the way Serena took on Venus's serve from the outset and broke in the opening game thanks to a stunning backhand winner. She pressed home the advantage by holding to love and if there remained any doubt that there would no quarter given, it was banished when Serena approached a short ball and hit it straight at her sister - with Venus somehow putting away the volley. Serena had a point for a 4-1 lead but Venus saved it with another deft volley.
The defending champion clawed her way back to 4-4 but then had to save another two break points before the crowd witnessed the first indication that the two competitors might be related. Serena hit a backhand which she thought was going wide, audibly admonishing herself as she did so, but the wind kept the ball in, and the umpire was forced to call a let.
It was a set which featured 38 winners and only 13 unforced errors and the level hardly dipped in the second. In a gripping 14-minute game, Serena broke to take a 2-1lead but Venus, who was the more composed of the two throughout, hit straight back. Just as in the first set, Venus got stronger as the set went on and after seeing one break point slip by at 3-2, she struck at 5-4 to end Serena's hopes.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Zimbabwe needs to be united : Africa
African leaders have urged Zimbabwe's leadership and opposition to form a national unity government, following last week's disputed election. The call was made at an African Union summit, which also saw strong criticism of Zimbabwe by Botswana. President Robert Mugabe won the presidential election run-off. It was boycotted by the opposition, which cited widespread violence. Both sides have so far ruled out forming a power-sharing government. Delegates at the AU summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt said a resolution calling for a government of national unity in Zimbabwe had been approved to resolve the crisis. However, briefing reporters earlier, Mr Mugabe's spokesman was asked whether Zimbabwe should follow Kenya's example and create such a government.
Mr Tsvangirai was arrested several times ahead of the run-off "Kenya is Kenya. Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe," George Charamba responded. "We have our own history of evolving dialogue and resolving political impasses the Zimbabwean way. The Zimbabwean way, not the Kenyan way. Not at all." Mr Charamba also said the West had no basis to speak about the situation - and could "go hang a thousand times".
Meanwhile the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said Friday's one-man election had killed off any prospect of a negotiated settlement. Tendai Biti, the MDC's secretary-general who faces treason charges in Zimbabwe, said the country's "sham election" last week "totally and completely exterminated any prospect of a negotiated settlement". One of them grabbed my arm and flung me to the ground... They dragged me by my hair to where my husband was lying.
He denied any negotiations were going on between the two parties, or that an agreement was in the offing. African leaders have faced growing pressure to take a stand against Zimbabwe's president. At the meeting the vice-president of Botswana strongly condemned Mr Mugabe over the run-off - from which the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew. Mompati Merfahe said the vote "did not reflect the unfettered will of the people" and Zimbabwe should be excluded from African Union and regional talks. Sierra Leonean President Ernest Koroma told the BBC that the people of Zimbabwe had "been denied their democratic rights". But Africa's longest-serving leader, Gabon President Omar Bongo, said Mr Mugabe should be accepted as the country's elected president.
The US has outlined a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for sanctions on Zimbabwe and Italy has recalled its ambassador to the country for consultations. In Zimbabwe, meanwhile, an elderly farmer, his wife and their son-in-law were found alive but badly beaten on Monday. Mike Campbell, 75, his wife Angela, 66 and Ben Freeth had been kidnapped at gunpoint from their Harare farm by a heavily armed mob on Sunday. Mrs Campbell said a mob of Zanu-PF supporters had attacked her with sticks, just as Mr Mugabe was being re-inaugurated as Zimbabwe's president. "One of them grabbed my arm and flung me to the ground, hence I have a rather serious break in my upper arm," she said. A friend of the family said the Campbells had been forced to sign a document withdrawing an appeal against the seizure of his farm.
Mr Tsvangirai defeated Mr Mugabe in the presidential vote on 29 March but failed to win an absolute majority. He reluctantly agreed to participate in the 27 June run-off but withdrew blaming violence which he said had killed nearly 90 of his followers.
Mr Tsvangirai was arrested several times ahead of the run-off "Kenya is Kenya. Zimbabwe is Zimbabwe," George Charamba responded. "We have our own history of evolving dialogue and resolving political impasses the Zimbabwean way. The Zimbabwean way, not the Kenyan way. Not at all." Mr Charamba also said the West had no basis to speak about the situation - and could "go hang a thousand times".
Meanwhile the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said Friday's one-man election had killed off any prospect of a negotiated settlement. Tendai Biti, the MDC's secretary-general who faces treason charges in Zimbabwe, said the country's "sham election" last week "totally and completely exterminated any prospect of a negotiated settlement". One of them grabbed my arm and flung me to the ground... They dragged me by my hair to where my husband was lying.
He denied any negotiations were going on between the two parties, or that an agreement was in the offing. African leaders have faced growing pressure to take a stand against Zimbabwe's president. At the meeting the vice-president of Botswana strongly condemned Mr Mugabe over the run-off - from which the MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew. Mompati Merfahe said the vote "did not reflect the unfettered will of the people" and Zimbabwe should be excluded from African Union and regional talks. Sierra Leonean President Ernest Koroma told the BBC that the people of Zimbabwe had "been denied their democratic rights". But Africa's longest-serving leader, Gabon President Omar Bongo, said Mr Mugabe should be accepted as the country's elected president.
The US has outlined a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for sanctions on Zimbabwe and Italy has recalled its ambassador to the country for consultations. In Zimbabwe, meanwhile, an elderly farmer, his wife and their son-in-law were found alive but badly beaten on Monday. Mike Campbell, 75, his wife Angela, 66 and Ben Freeth had been kidnapped at gunpoint from their Harare farm by a heavily armed mob on Sunday. Mrs Campbell said a mob of Zanu-PF supporters had attacked her with sticks, just as Mr Mugabe was being re-inaugurated as Zimbabwe's president. "One of them grabbed my arm and flung me to the ground, hence I have a rather serious break in my upper arm," she said. A friend of the family said the Campbells had been forced to sign a document withdrawing an appeal against the seizure of his farm.
Mr Tsvangirai defeated Mr Mugabe in the presidential vote on 29 March but failed to win an absolute majority. He reluctantly agreed to participate in the 27 June run-off but withdrew blaming violence which he said had killed nearly 90 of his followers.
Navya In AutoGraph2
Navya was in town for film function at the Le Meridien, where a media person asked about her marriage and would she marry a Tamilian. To that she replied that she it would be an Indian. “Why not? If he is a good man and also if my parents like him, we’ll get married.” The is doing a project in Kannada and just completed the movie Rasikkum Seemane, a movie with Srikanth. She has also signed for the movies Moserbaer and Aval Paer Tamilarasi. But the biggest news is that she is going to be in the movie Autograph sequel Autograph 2 with Cheran being the hero.
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