Eyecatchers-91: "8 New IITs Approved"

The Cabinet on Thursday (July 17, 2008) approved the creation of eight new IITs during the current academic session at an estimated cost of Rs.6,080 crore, Finance Minister P.Chidambaram said. – PTI

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, July 18, 2008.

Article on “Indian Institutes of Techhnology” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institutes_of_Technology

Grateful thanks to The Hindu and Wikipedia, the encyclopedia.

India Watch-2: "Inflation touches 11.91% "

India Watch: Inflation touches 11.91%

For the full article in The Hindu, July 18, 2008:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/18/stories/2008071857180100.htm

Article on “Inflation” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation

Grateful thanks to The Hindu and Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

How to Find a Job Online

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit


This article needs to be converted to wikiHow format as specified by the Writer's Guide. You can help by editing it now and then removing this notice. Notice added on 2007-11-08.
The Internet is the world's biggest library, newspaper, notice board and network all rolled into one. So - as you might imagine - it's usually a great place to start looking for your next job. It's important to remember though, whether you are a novice at Internet job searching or whether you're used to searching online. The first step in any job hunting process is build a resume that accurately describes your talents and experience to your employer.

Steps

1. 
   

Job Boards: Job boards are big business these days, with some of the more popular ones being amongst the Internet's 20 most popular sites. Job Boards try as hard as they can to get as many job seekers to input their resumes as possible and then they sell job ads to businesses for a fee. The good thing about job boards is that a job seeker can often do a keyword / location search to find job opportunites in their local area and their field of employment.
A list of some of the major job boards on the Internet today would include ...

• 
  www.monster.com
  


• 
  http://www.hotjobs.yahoo.com
  


• 
  http://www.careerbuilder.com
  http://indeed.com
  

1. 
   

Job Listings
Listing sites are the Internet equivalent to the backpage of your local newspaper. Typically they'll feature not just jobs, but also house listings, buy and sell and other community posting.
The two major listing sites both have seperate sites for different cities, however only Craigslist is international.

• 
  http://www.backpage.com
  


• 
  http://www.craigslist.com
  

1. 
   

Recruiters:
Recruiters typically work by trying to find as many suitable candidates for a companies job position as possible. A recruiter will work for a fee, paid by the employer to find a job seeker to work at that company. Since a recruiter will place themselves between you and the company, they will often find themselves placing job seekers in positions about which they know little about.
Many job seekers won't use recruiters because they find the whole recruitment process to be frustrating and not worth their while. However it may still be worth your while submitting your resume to a local recruiter just to see whether you get any responses.
You can find a list of recruiters for your area by simply entering a Google search.

1. 
   

Candidate Submittal Services:
A candidate submittal service will submit your application to a company on your behalf. Typically, a candidate submittal service will require you to source your own job (eg. from Job Boards, Newspapers, Company Websites ). The candidate submittal service will then review and edit your application - then forward it on to your prospective employer.
The benefit of a candidate submittal service to the candidate is multifold. A candidate submittal service will typically refund 50% of the recruitment fee back to the candidate upon successful placement with the employer. Also, since the candidate sources their own jobs - the candidate is in control of where their resume gets sent to, and has full information with regards to the job description.
At the moment - the top candidate submittal service on the Internet is located at
http://www.saverecruit.com
It's always worth your while to apply for some positions through the candidate submittal service - as opposed to applying directly yourself. Not only will you get advice from career professionals, but your resume will be reviewed and improved upon, and you stand to earn a large sign-on bonus if successful.

1. 
   

The End
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this guide to finding a job on the Internet. Best of luck with your job hunting ... !

Tips

Resume Tips:
Here's some resume tips to get you started ...

• 
  Write your resume to suit the job that you'll apply for:
  If you're applying for a job as a computer programmer, then unless you think it has some relevance to your present application, don't include your part-time job waiting tables at your local cafe during college.
  


• 
  Keyword load your resume:
  Many agencies and companies don't even get the chance to properly read resume applications anymore. Most use programs that will sort your resume based on the keywords that it contains. If you're a database administrator or you have experience with Excel spreadsheets ... then clearly state that on your resume.
  


• 
  Word documents only:
  Most recruitment agencies and companies will only accept resumes in Word format. That means no pdf, odt's, txt's or any format that you might care to think of.
  


• 
  Succinct Cover Letter:
  Write a succinct, apt cover letter that is addressed to the recruiter / HR person by name. This your first chance to impress whoever it is that is hiring. Don't include boring copy that isn't relevant.
  
  
  
• 
  
• SpellCheck:NEVER send away your resume or cover letter without running it through a spell checker first. Spell checkers are built into almost all kinds of word processing programs these days so you have no excuse to get this wrong.
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Find a Job Online. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Challenge People About Global Warming Theories

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

The scientific community has come to the consensus that Earth is warming and humans are the cause of it. While Earth has always had natural cycles of warming and cooling, the rate at which the current warming is increase is far beyond the normal variation. The International Panel on Climate Change and all scientific societies have accepted anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming as fact. Yet there are still those who argue that it simply isn't happening or that humans cannot be the cause. Here are a few of the more popular claims made by the skeptics and how to refute their claims.

Steps

1. Explain that scientists have measured increasing temperatures and CO2 levels in several ways if skeptics argue that the only real evidence for global warming is CO2 in ice core samples where it's very cold. It's true that scientists have measured historical levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and temperature from ice core samples, but this is not the only way. The most obvious and direct way of measuring temperature directly is with thermometers, but weather balloons and satellites are also being used to monitor temperature. Atmospheric CO2 is measured with sensitive equipment as well as flask samples. CO2 can also be measured in seawater. The overall trend of CO2 is that it has been increasing since the industrial revolution. Coupled with historical data, contemporary measurements, and computer models, CO2 is shown to have a strong correlation with recent warming.
   
2. Explain that human's recent contribution to the total levels of CO2 have offset the natural process and have caused the world to warm if skeptics argue that the total human-produced CO2 levels are small compared to natural sources. It is estimated that if humans were not present, 95% of CO2 emissions would still occur. However, natural emissions are balanced by other natural processes which absorb CO2, such as plants and oceans. Additionally, CO2 causes heating through the greenhouse effect even in small quantities. CO2 has a long atmospheric lifetime. Once it's released can stay in the atmosphere for 200-450 years.
   
3. Explain the importance of offsetting human contributions to the atmospheric CO2 levels as opposed to eliminating CO2 if skeptics argue that greenhouse gases are some of the most vital elements of this planet that keep it in order. Oceans and volcanoes help produce atmosphere on a planet. CO2 and other greenhouse gases are vital to our existence on this planet. Explain that we do not want to completely remove CO2 from the atmosphere. It's estimated Earth would be 30° C (54° F) colder without CO2, making Earth uninhabitable. However, too much CO2 has caused warming.
   
4. Explain that the wavelength at which solar radiation passes through the atmosphere is not same as the infrared radiation Earth radiates back into space if skeptics argue that very notion of the greenhouse effect is flawed because UV rays from the sun which penetrate the CO2 in first place ought to be able to escape. The greenhouse effect was discovered in 1824. Greenhouse gases, such as CO2, hinder the process of allowing radiation to reflect back into space. This is the greenhouse effect.
   
5. Explain that troposphere temperatures have been rising.22 to .4° F per decade, since 1979 if skeptics argue that the troposphere, the area that would be the hottest if greenhouse gases were causing climate change, is relatively cool. The troposphere is warming, just like the land temperatures.
   

Tips

• The urban heat island, the warmer area around urban center, has not shown to effect global temperature measurements. Globally, temperatures are rising. Local temperatures, of course, fluctuate with weather patterns. Additionally, if you look at the oceans, where the urban heat island has no effect, you can find similar increases in temperature.
  
• The reduction of ozone depletion is a result of our efforts to reduce our CFC emissions, and has virtually nothing to do with our CO2 emissions.
  
• By exhaling, humans are a natural source of CO2 emissions. By burning fossil fuels, humans are also an unnatural source of CO2 emissions. The burning of fossil fuels is considered the main cause of global warming.
  
• The current level of CO2 is approximately 383 parts per million. This is the highest level in 20 million years.
  
• The most abundant gases in our atmosphere are, in order of highest to lowest, nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and then carbon dioxide.
  
• Keep in mind that not every scientist believes in Global warming and many are not even sure that Man is responsible. Many believe that Global warming is a natural occurrence with our earth, but it's still a good idea to keep your energy use to a minimum.
  
• Keep global warming and cooling patterns in healthy perspective. The temperature of the earth has never been stagnant. The planet has always been either warming or cooling. Thus at any given time, one may employ an "if the trend continues" argument to suggest an impending global climate catastrophe.
  

Warnings

• Avoid partisan think tanks and other self-interested organizations (from both sides). They usually misrepresent the science or cherry pick information that may be inadequate or not relevant to the issue at hand.
  
• Follow the money. Who is receiving money, how much, and from what source is the money coming from? Do the research.
  
• Consider the messenger. Is the messenger giving a message of fear or hope (both suggest less than honest motives), one of sensationalist or of a sound rational approach? Doom and gloom is not helpful. Condemnation of those that don't agree and labeling them doesn't prove your position. Ad hominem attacks (name calling) is the sure sign of a weak argument!
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Stop Greenhouse Gases/Global Warming
  
• How to Reduce Your Greenhouse Gas Emissions
  
• How to Take Action to Reduce Global Warming
  
• How to Create Urban Rainforests
  

Sources and Citations

• Wiki About Global Warming Topics
  
• A great and easy to understand documentary, the lame mans first stop. http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=4340135300469846467
  
• Pretty interesting uk article, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/6460635.stm
  
• An article about a once believer turned skeptoc,http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6115644.stm
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Challenge People About Global Warming Theories. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Exercise Your Brain

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Scientists believe that exercising your brain can create a 'cognitive reserve' that will help you stay sharp as you age.

Steps

1. Take a class to learn something you have always wanted to know about. Learn to play bridge, or study Spanish, or take a seminar in photoshop.
   
2. Do games and puzzles such as crossword puzzles and Sudoku puzzles. You can also play word games like Scrabble.
   
3. Read often and read a lot of different types of books. Take a magazine and dedicate a certain amount of time to reading it each day or each week. Read the newspaper. Set your computer homepage to bring up news items of particular interest to you. And then read them each time you open the computer.
   
4. Remember and repeat groups of words. Try memorizing your grocery list.
   
5. Play computer brain games, such as Brain Age for Nintendo DS.
   
6. Test and monitor your memory and attention with special computer games.
   
7. Write or edit a wikiHow article every now and then.
   
8. Meditate often. Take calm, deep breaths. Your brain needs a lot of fresh air.
   
9. Eat foods containing omega fatty acids such as flax seeds, hemp seeds and fish. Omega fatty acids have been known to boost intellectual stamina.
   
10. Perform math functions regularly.
    
11. Learn new words from a word a day calendar or from a dictionary.
    
12. Use your left hand if you are right handed, and reverse. You will be exercising the opposite side of the brain.
    
13. Mess around with a twisty puzzle.
    
14. Learn to read and play music (classical music is known to have the best effects.)
    
15. Use the Mozart Effect - classical music increases brain activity more positively than other kinds of music. Two pieces of Mozart's music; Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major (K. 448) and Piano Concerto No. 23 (K. 488), were found to have this effect.
    
16. Draw or paint.
    

Tips

• Remember to exercise your body - a healthier mind results from a healthy body. Get plenty of physical exercise.
  
• There are plenty of programs out there that will help with your memory. "Brain Age" or "Big Brain Academy" for the Nintendo DS are recommended and fun. These games were specifically made for improving your memory.
  
• Try doing a few things regularly, like memorizing something each day, or using a Rubik's cube for 15 minutes a day.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Finish Jigsaw Puzzles Faster
  
• How to Solve a Fifteen Puzzle
  
• How to Solve the Wonderword Puzzle
  
• How to Finish a Crossword Puzzle
  

Sources and Citations

• alz.org on Alzheimer's Disease
  
• Here is a free cognitive test with no strings
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Exercise Your Brain. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Break Any Old Addiction

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit


This article is a stub. You can help by expanding and clarifying it. Notice added on 2007-08-28.
Any addiction is not necessarily a bad one, but most are, such as gaming or watching TV. Those two are worthless pursuits, TV often has immoral and unnecessary content, the news side isn't accurate, and gaming is normally full of language, and highly suggestive themes, and over all, could be easily substituted

Steps

1. Identify what addiction you have. It may be smoking or gambling. Or something less significant like a certain colour or televison programme. Whatever your addiction, there's a healthy way to stop it.
   
2. Consider activities or habits that are more worthwhile. If you're a heavy drinker, think about what damage it's causing to your health and life span. Instead, drink smoothies or good, healthy water. They're much better for your health, and you'll live a much longer, happy life.
   
3. Replace your addiction with a new hobby or healthier habit. You could try reading, writing or joining a club. Exercise helps clear any unwanted thoughts from your brain, and is a healthy way to think straight and live.
   
4. Try and join a club or group that can help you with your problems.
   

Tips

• If it is a more serious addiction such as smoking, I would suggest seeing a physician or doctor for help and reassurance, and if this would be acceptable, I would recommend seeking help from the LORD, Jesus Christ.
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Break Any Old Addiction. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Be Assertive

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit


This article needs to be converted to wikiHow format as specified by the Writer's Guide. You can help by editing it now and then removing this notice. Notice added on 2008-07-14.
To be assertive isn't to say you are mean or rude. It doesn't make you pushy or annoying. It just means that you say the truth and get things done.

Steps

1. Appearance. - How you look tells a lot about you. If you're wearing clothes that look like you've just got out of bed, or if you wear a pound of make-up with fluffy high-heels, people won't take you seriously. If you look like you're ready to get things done, people will know what to expect from you. A good motto is "Dress for Success." This will let people respect you more.
   
2. Demeanor. You give away a lot before you ever open your mouth. Try not to be easy to read, even if you are nervous or uncertain. Keep your shoulders squared and your chin up. Even if you are confused, you can be confident. There's no shame in asking questions. Try to look people in the eye. This can be hard for people who are naturally nervous or timid, but it shows people that you don't intend to be brushed off.
   
3. Voice. Use a clear, calm voice. You don't need to be loud, but you do need to make yourself heard. If people aren't noticing you and you need service, say clearly "Excuse me?". Also, whatever you are trying to say, try to be concise.
   
4. Know what you want. People can tell if you already know what you want out of them, and it's much easier for them to do what you ask them if you can tell them clearly what that is. Whether you're speaking to an insurance agent or a waiter, their job is to serve you and you'll make their job about ten times easier if you know what you want.
   
5. Know when to hold 'em; know when to fold 'em. Like anything else in life, being assertive is about balance. If the waiter made a mistake and brought you something you're allergic to, speak up--and keep at it until the problem is corrected. But if a cashier growls at you, it's not your job to educate them on manners and customer service, so let it go. It's important to get what you deserve in life, but it's just as important to understand what it is that you deserve in the first place! Pick your battles.
   
6. Don't misdirect your frustration. If the airline counter agent tells you you must pay extra for your heavy bag, don't get angry at the agent! Your beef is with the airline's policy (and possibly your failure to read the fine print). Instead, treat the agent like an ally. If the policy was made available to you, apologize and ask for an exception. If you were never informed of the policy, say so, and ask for an exception. Either way, the agent herself did you no harm, so do not direct your frustration at her! She is not the aggressor; she's your potential ally. So treat her well and negotiate respectfully...then take the matter up with the airline's customer service agents.
   

Tips

• If you're about to engage in an important encounter, like asking for a raise or getting out of an unhealthy relationship, ask a friend to role-play with you. Practice what you are going to say, and have your friend give you feedback. If you aren't assertive enough, try it again. This works best if the friend knows the person with whom you're about to engage.
  
• Being assertive does not mean that you should be rude. People are more willing to help and bend for someone who is both direct and respectful
  
• If you're doing everything right and whoever you're talking to isn't getting you anywhere, ask to talk to their superior and be very insistent. Most of the time you'll see immediate results.
  
• Do not be afraid to ask questions. This way, in the future, the same person you are talking to will know, you know what you are talking about.
  
• Remember that even if you don't know everything, you can still be certain of what you expect.
  
• Don't be afraid to tell someone exactly what you think, but do so in a polite way. Speak your mind.
  
• If you have to deliver bad news, don't offer unnecessary details. If you explain every single reason for your decision, the other person can use those reasons as negotiation points. Your decision is firm, and this will come across most clearly if you are short and to the point.
  
• Avoid having to put your foot in your mouth! Ask for what you want, and be assertive--but choose your words so that you can walk away from the encounter with your dignity, no matter what the outcome.
  
• How willing are you to help someone who is yelling at you? Not very, right? Anger and belittlement are not only rude, they're completely ineffective. Do not resort to these tactics; they simply don't work.
  
• Remember the big picture. True assertiveness, as opposed to pushiness, allows you to come away from any situation respectably. Pushy people may win battles, but only assertive people win wars. (And only assertive people keep the respect of their peers after a conflict.)
  

Warnings

• While you can use these techniques on authority figures, such as police officers and military officers, know where to draw the line. Arguing too much on the spot can backfire, even if you have a good case.
  
• In confrontations especially, emotions can run high. Remember to be respectful and keep a cool head.
  
• The key to success in confrontations is to use an appropriate tone of voice and the correct words. Speak to someone like you would like to be spoken to!
  
• Try asking first; don't demand things right off the bat. Gather information and make the other person an ally. If that approach doesn't work, then you may put your foot down. Rule out miscommunications first--make sure the person actually slighted you, and knowingly, before you come out with guns blazing. You wouldn't try to kill a fly with a shotgun, would you?
  
• Remember, be friendly, because if not, you won't be assertive, you'll just be a jerk.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Have Good Manners
  
• How to Be Proud, Not Cocky and Conceited
  
• How to Be Likable
  
• How to Be an Excellent Leader
  
• How to Be Polite at a Dinner
  
• How to Be Sincere
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Be Assertive. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Put Old Greeting Cards to Use

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Saving old pics and storing digital formats in one easy place... In this day of technology, there are many options to save this type of information.

Steps

1. One of the more common ways is to use Microsoft Media Center, it allows you to store all of your digital pics in one place.
   
2. If you have a flatbed scanner, other types of pics can be saved in the same program.
   
3. Scan your pictures with the scanner.
   
4. Save them.
   
5. You are now free to edit the pictures with any photo editor.
   
6. You can even reprint the cards as blank, new cards.
   

Tips

• If you are not using the front of a greeting card, you can donate it to St. Jude Ranch for Children. They reuse them to make "new" greeting cards by pasting the front to a folded piece of card stock. Then they sell them as a fund-raiser for the kids. The cards are wonderful and they have information on the back about the cause. You can email St. Jude's at anv.net for more info.
  

Things You'll Need

• pictures you would like to use
  
• flatbed scanner (optional)
  
• Microsoft Media Center
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Make Your First Soulcollage Card
  
• How to Create a Collage As Birthday or Valentine Card
  
• How to Design Beach Party Invitations
  
• How to Make a Pop up Greeting Card
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Put Old Greeting Cards to Use. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Environment-8: Global Warming, Global Cooling, Global Politics and Global Hoax!

I am a non-technical man, with very little scientific background. Probably because I am surrounded by scientists, I started picking up an interest in S&T. Environment and especially, Global Warming, has been one of my concerns and so have taken an interest to read articles about Ecology and have even posted some info in this blog. But a recent article entitled, "Challenging the basis of Kyoto Protocol" by Vladimir Radyuhin in The Hindu, July 10, 2008, has been shattering.

Whether we have all been taken for a ride by vested interests, the question arises naturally. Articles like this make you lose faith in the so-called expert opinions. If you are like me, you may also find this article disturbing. I have tried to put it in as simple language as possible, point-by-point, for the benefit lay people like me:

1. Russian scientists reject the very idea that carbon dioxide may be responsible for global warming. They say it is without scientific basis and the Kyoto theorists put the cart before the horse as global warming triggers higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, not the other way round.

2. Water vapours are a far more potent factor in creating the greenhouse effect as their concentration in the atmosphere is 5 to 10 times higher than that of CO2. Even if all CO2 were removed from the earth atmosphere, global climate would not become any cooler.

3. Global climate depends predominantly on natural factors, such as solar activity, precession(wobbling) of the Earth's axis, changes in ocean currents, fluctuations in saltiness of ocean surface water, and some other factors, whereas industrial emissions do not play any significant role.

4. When four years ago, the Russian Academy of Sciences advised Putin to reject the Kyoto Protocol as having no scientific foundation, he reportedly ignored the advice purely for political reasons: Moscow traded its approval of the Kyoto Protocol for the Ruopean Union's support for Russia's bid to join WTO. Russian endorsement was critical, as without it the Kyoto Protocol would have fallen through due to a shortage of signatories.

5. The Kyoto Protocol is a huge waste of money. The Earth's atmosphere has built-in regulatory mechanisms that moderate climate changes. When temperatures rise, ocean water evaporation increases, denser clouds stop solar rays and surface temperatures decline.

6. Academician Kapitsa denounced the Kyoto Protocol as "the biggest ever scientific fraud." The pact was lobbied by European politicians and industrialists, in order to improve the competitiveness of European products and slow down economic growth in emerging economies.

7. A large number of critical documents submitted at the 1995 UN conference in Madrid vanished without a trace. As a result, the discussion was one-sided and heavily biased, and the UN declared global warming to be a scientific fact.

8. It shifts the emphasis away from genuine ecological problems, such as industrial, air and water pollution, to the wasteful fight against harmless gases.

9. Ecological treaties should seek to curb emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals and other highly-toxic pollutants instead of targeting carbon dioxide, which is a non-toxic gas whose impact on global warming has not been proved.

10. Russian researchers cite the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which called for phasing out Freon-12 as a preferred refrigerant. It has since been proved that chlorine-containing Freon-12 destroys ozone only in laboratory conditions whereas in the atmosphere, it interacts with hydrogen and falls back to Earth as acid rain before it can harm ozone. The Montreal Protocol brought billions of dollars in profits for U.S. DuPont, which held global patent rights for Freon-134, an alternative refrigerant that does not interact with ozone. "Within 10 years of the Montreal Protocol the output of refrigeration compressors in the U.S. increased by 60 per cent, whereas in Europe it declined by a similar proportion. In Russia, which accounted for a quarter of the global market of refrigerants, the industry ground to a complete stop

11. The ultimate irony of the Montreal Protocol is that the new refrigerant is the most potent among greenhouse gases blacklisted under the Kyoto Protocol, and moreover is explosion-prone. The Freon bubble burst when, in 1989, the ozone layer suddenly jumped to the pre-Montreal Protocol level and has since continued to rise. Russian critics of the Kyoto Protocol are convinced that the greenhouse gases bubble will likewise prove short-lived.

12. Russian scientists say global warming and global cooling are cyclic (60 year cycle) and one does not have worry about, as nature has built-in correcting mechanism in itself. They cite how global cooling warnings were made in the 1970s.

Further, I was taught at school that carbon dioxide is essential for the survival of plants as they take it for their growth and give out oxygen which is essential for the existence of human beings.

I repeat I am after all a non-technical man and hence would appreciate receiving your comments/views on the above.

For the full article, “Challenging the basis of Kyoto Protocol" by Vladimir Radyuhin in The Hindu, July 10, 2008:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2008071055521000.htm&date=2008/07/10/&prd=th&

Grateful thanks to Vladimir Radyuhin and The Hindu. (I have learnt a lot from The Hindu and Wikipedia; they have been my great teachers.)

Eyecatchers-90: "Senator McCain Net-blind?"

As if jabs about being stuck in the past were not enough, John McCain makes it worse by admitting he never uses e-mail and needs help to go online.

Courtesy: MumbaiMirror.com, July 15, 2008.

For the full article in Mumbai Mirror.com:
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article&sectid=4&contentid=20080715200807150204359695bd7476c&pageno=1

Article on “John McCain” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senator_McCain

Grateful thanks to MumbaiMirror.com and Wikipedia.

Eyecatchers-89: "World’s Oldest Blogger Logs Out"

An Australian woman described as the world’s oldest Internet blogger has died at age 108 after posting a final message about singing “a happy song” in her nursing home.

Olive Riley “passed away peacefully on July 12 and will be mourned by thousands of Internet friends and hundreds of descendents and other relatives,” a note on her website said.

Riley had posted more than 70 entries on her blog from Woy Woy on the east coast since February 2007, sharing her thoughts on modern life and her experiences living through the 20th century.

Born in the Outback town of Broken Hill on October 20, 1899, she lived through two World Wars and raised three children, while doing various jobs, including ranch cook and barmaid – AFP.

Courtesy: The Hindu, Madurai, July 15, 2008.

“The Life of Riley Blog”:
http://www.allaboutolive.com.au/

Eric Shackle’s “World’s Oldest Blogger”
http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com/

Article on “Olive Riley” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Riley

Grateful thanks to AFP, The Hindu, Eric Shackle and Wikipedia.

Letters-29: "Pedal Power"

Your cover story (‘Green Life’, The Week, June 15, 2008) was very encouraging. I am a gynaecologist based in Vadodara. Five years ago, I sold my car and two-wheeler and bough a bicycle, as I wanted to go the green way. Since then, I commute to hospital on my bicycle, which I feel is healthy and pocket-friendly. More people should use bicycles for the sake of health and the environment. If thousands of office-goers pedal every day to work in the west, then why can’t we? (Bhagwati Oza, on email)

Courtesy: The Week, July 13, 2008 (Letters).

Article on “Bicycle - the worlds most efficient form of transportation” from Gotoes.org:
http://gotoes.org/bikestuff/index.htm

“Bicycle commuting” from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_commuting

“Commuting 101” from CommuteByBike.com:
http://www.commutebybike.net/

Grateful thanks to Dr.Bhagwati Oza, The Week, Gotoes.org, CommuteByBike.com and Wikipedia.

Eyecatchers-88: "Osama Bin Laden's son writes a Poem"

Osama Bin Laden’s teenage son, Hamza, wrote and posted online a poem asking God for help against Western “gangs of infidels”.

Courtesy: Harper’s Weekly, July 15, 2008 (Gemma Sieff)

For a detailed report with a color photo of Hamza bin Laden from Mumbai Mirror:
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article&sectid=4&contentid=200807102008071002133548352fb240f

Grateful thanks to Gemma Sieff, Harper’s Weekly and Mumbai Mirror.

Eyecatchers-87: "The World's Biggest Polluter!"

President George W.Bush met with other world leaders at the G8 summit to discuss climate change.

“Goodbye,” he said as he left, grinning and punching the air, “from the world’s biggest polluter.”

Courtesy: Harper’s Weekly, July 15, 2008 (Gemma Sieff).
Grateful thanks to Gemma Sieff and Harper’s Weekly.

Health Watch-18: "The Magic in Being Active"

It prevents diabetes.
It prevents strokes
It strengthens the heart and the blood vessels
It prevents osteoporosis
It prevents arthiritis
It prevents obesity
It tones your muscles
It prevents high blood pressure.
It prevents heart attacks
It increases your stamina.
It lowers cholestrol in blood
It lowers triglycerides in blood
It makes you younger
It keeps you mentally alert

Regular exercise makes you more energetic even at the end of the day.

Exercise and activity also relaxes, it reduces stress.

Regular exercise is important for promoting weight control or weight loss. Exercise helps you burn calories, so it helps you loose weight, which in-turn protects from chronic disease, like coronary heart disease (heart disease), diabetes and osteo-arthritis. It also decreases the appetite.

Courtesy: Healthy-India.org
http://www.healthy-india.org/beingactive.asp

Grateful thanks to the Public Health Foundation of India and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Eyecatchers-86: "Biofuels and Food Grains"

USA which was exporting 36% of its agricultural produce is now exporting less, as it is diverting this for production of biofuel.

The land used for wheat production has now come down to 6.38 crore hectares from 7.7 crore hectares.

US is diverting 18% of its agricultural production to biofuel production. In another ten years, this may go up to 30%.

Farmers are under pressure to produce wheat and sugarcane, which are used to produce ethanol, a biofuel.

Source: ‘Dinamalar’, Tamil daily, July 13, 2008.

Detailed article on "Biofuels" from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofuels

Grateful thanks to Dinamalar and Wikipedia.

Have a Hearty Laugh-2:

UP Chief Minister Mayavati was worth Rs.1.5 crores as per the property statement submitted by her before the 2004 elections and Rs.52 crores before the 2007 elections. Reporters queried her how 1.5 crores became 52 crores. She is reported to have told them that it was from small contributions of Rs.5 and 10 from party workers and the general public who knew her to be the champion of the poor and backward classes.

Source: ‘Dinamalar’, Tamil daily, July 13, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Dinamalar.

Facts & Figures-35: "English Language Nears Milestone"

According to Global Language Monitor, a Texas-based company, English language will reach the milestone of one million words on April 29, 2009.

According to its publication on June 14, 2008, the number was 995,892 words.

As Rupert Cornwell writes in The Independent(UK), no one argues about the huge richness of the English language – fed by Germanic, Scandinavian and Latin streams, unrivalled in its readiness to borrow from every language. If there is such a thing as a world language, it is English, spread by the British Empire, then by the economic, cultural and military juggernaut of the US, and now by the Internet.. And, at every step on the way, new words are coined, or scooped up from other languages. English is evolving faster than other languages.

The native speakers of English have been estimated to be around 500 million.

Link to Global Language Monitor’s article, “English will hit its Millionth Word on April 29, 2009”:
http://www.languagemonitor.com/

Link to Rupert Cornwell’s article, “English Language nears the one million-word milestone” in the Independent(UK):
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/english-language-nears-the-one-millionword-milestone-473935.html

Links to “Global Language Monitor” and "English Language" in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Language_Monitor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language

Grateful thanks to 'Global Language Monitor', 'Rupert Cornwell', 'The Independent(UK)' and Wikipedia.

Open Access-1: A Very Brief Introduction to Open Access by Peter Suber

Open-access (OA) literature is digital, online, free of charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. What makes it possible is the internet and the consent of the author or copyright-holder.

In most fields, scholarly journals do not pay authors, who can therefore consent to OA without losing revenue. In this respect scholars and scientists are very differently situated from most musicians and movie-makers, and controversies about OA to music and movies do not carry over to research literature.

OA is entirely compatible with peer review, and all the major OA initiatives for scientific and scholarly literature insist on its importance. Just as authors of journal articles donate their labor, so do most journal editors and referees participating in peer review. The campaign for OA focuses on (1) royalty-free literature, i.e. that which authors give to the world without expectation of payment, or (2) literature reporting publicly-funded research. Peer-reviewed journal articles in nearly every field and every country have the first property. Articles in the sciences tend to have both properties. -->

OA literature is not free to produce, even if it is less expensive to produce than conventionally published literature. The question is not whether scholarly literature can be made costless, but whether there are better ways to pay the bills than by charging readers and creating access barriers. Business models for paying the bills depend on how OA is delivered.

There are two primary vehicles for delivering OA to research articles: OA journals and OA archives or repositories.

OA archives or repositories do not perform peer review, but simply make their contents freely available to the world. They may contain unrefereed preprints, refereed postprints, or both. Archives may belong to institutions, such as universities and laboratories, or disciplines, such as physics and economics. Authors may archive their preprints without anyone else's permission, and a majority of journals already permit authors to archive their postprints. When archives comply with the metadata harvesting protocol of the Open Archives Initiative, then they are interoperable and users can find their contents without knowing which archives exist, where they are located, or what they contain. There is now open-source software for building and maintaining OAI-compliant archives and worldwide momentum for using it. The costs of an archive are negligible: some server space and a fraction of the time of a technician.

OA journals perform peer review and then make the approved contents freely available to the world. Their expenses consist of peer review, manuscript preparation, and server space. OA journals pay their bills very much the way broadcast television and radio stations do: those with an interest in disseminating the content pay the production costs upfront so that access can be free of charge for everyone with the right equipment. Sometimes this means that journals have a subsidy from the hosting university or professional society. Sometimes it means that journals charge a processing fee on accepted articles, to be paid by the author or the author's sponsor (employer, funding agency). OA journals that charge processing fees usually waive them in cases of economic hardship. OA journals with institutional subsidies tend to charge no processing fees. OA journals can get by on lower subsidies or fees if they have income from other publications, advertising, priced add-ons, or auxiliary services. Some institutions and consortia arrange fee discounts. Some OA publishers waive the fee for all researchers affiliated with institutions that have purchased an annual membership. There's a lot of room for creativity in finding ways to pay the costs of a peer-reviewed OA journal, and we're far from having exhausted our cleverness and imagination.

For a longer introduction, with live links for further reading, see my Open Access Overview, http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm.

This is an open-access document.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Peter Suber Open Access Project Director, Public Knowledge Research Professor of Philosophy, Earlham College Senior Researcher, SPARC peters@earlham.edu

Article on "Open Access" from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access

Grateful thanks to Peter Suber and Wikipedia.

Facts & Figures-34: Rs.200 crores for 70,000 eVoting Machines!

The Election Commissioner of Tamil Nadu, Mr.Chandrasekaran, has stated that for total implementation electronic voting in the elections to the Local Bodies of Tamilnadu, 70,000 electronic voting machines would be required. The cost for this would work out to Rs.200 crores.

Based on news item in ‘Dinamalar’ (Tamil daily), Madurai, June 23, 2008.

Grateful thanks to Dinamalar.