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Showing posts from November 8, 2009

Cyclone Phyan threatens India's west coast

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Mumbai, Nov 11 (IANS) The cyclone over the Arabian Sea Wednesday was 'likely to intensify further' and cross the Indian coast between north Maharashtra and south Gujarat in the early hours of Thursday, says the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Now named Phyan, the cyclone was about 250 km directly west of Goa at 2.30 a.m. Thursday, the IMD said on its website, even as it it issued an 'orange' alert. That is one step below the red alert put out for a really severe cyclone. At that hour, Phyan was 420 km south-southwest of Mumbai and 670 km south-southwest of Surat in south Gujarat. 'The system is likely to intensify further and move north-northeastwards and cross south Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast between Mahuva and Dahanu by early hours of Nov 12,' the website reported. Fishermen have already been asked not to go out to sea, and oil rigs in Bombay High were battening down, according to local media reports. The IMD expects that maximum sustain...

10 failed doomsday prophecies

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Washington, November 9 (ANI): Scientists have listed ten failed doomsday prophecies, which undermines the seriousness of the 2012 end of the world prediction by the ancient Mayans. According to National geographic News, the first failed domsday prophecy was when some ancient Romans saw the A.D. 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius as a sign of a coming apocalypse, which never came. Then, there is the case of many Christian Europeans entering the year 1666 with trepidation, as the Bible describes 666 as the ominous Number of the Beast. A prolonged plague that had wiped out much of London's populace in 1665 didn't help assuage fears, and when the Great Fire of London occurred, many believed their time had come. The appearance of Halley's comet in 1910 stirred apocalyptic hysteria among Europeans and Americans, many of whom believed that the comet's tail contained a gas "that would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet," according...

Acer goes 3-D

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3D Laptop Close on the heels of the first Android laptop, Acer has announced a full-size laptop that displays 3-D content. Just put on a pair of those strange wraparound glasses, a pair of which is packed with the computer. It is a novelty, and one that we expect will run out of gas sooner or later. But innovation is the name of the game here, and the $780 Acer 5738DG hits that mark with its TriDef 3D package, which includes the specially coated 15-inch screen and software. The TriDef app also enables 2-D to 3-D conversion in games and applications supporting DirectX 9 and above. And, yes, it comes with Windows 7. The thinnest one Sony claims its latest VAIO X is the world's lightest and thinnest laptop. At 655 gm and just about a half-inch thin, it is anyway setting a new benchmark in notebook technology. Despite its slender looks, the durable carbon fiber body ensures the X Series absorbs the bumps and knocks of daily use and travel. For reinforced durability, the X featur...