Look, I'm quite fed up of you!

Fossil Bluetooth Watch Eyes Caller ID

Fossil, in partnership with Sony Ericsson, today introduced a new line of Bluetooth-enabled watches that deliver the time in a traditional analog format, but connects to a user’s mobile phone wirelessly to do a whole lot more digitally. Based on existing Fossil designs, the water resistant timepieces include a bright OLED display to allow people to view Caller ID and number information plus a vibrating alert for incoming calls or SMS/MMS messages. There's also an out of range warning where the watch vibrates after 10 meters.


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`I have always dreamed,' he mouthed, fiercely, `of a band of men absolute in their resolve to discard all scruples in the choice of means, strong enough to give themselves frankly the name of destroyers, and free from the taint of that resigned pessimism which rots the world. No pity for anything on earth, including themselves, and death enlisted for good and all in the service of humanity - that's what I would have liked to see.'

-- Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent

Nokia and Apple take gaming to new level

The battle for wireless gaming is hotting up with Nokia securing the rights to EA’s franchises and Apple unveiling a games download service for iPod.

EA will become a supplier to to Nokia’s Content Discoverer service – the online shopping ‘mall’ for mobile games, available on the handset manufacturer’s S40 and S60 systems. From today, customers can download seven existing EA titles, including Tetris, The Sims 2, Doom and FIFA 06.

The market leading games publisher has also promised custom-designed games for Nokia’s next generation mobile games platforms, which it says are already in development. “The line-up details are not finalised, but we obviously have the EA Sports line-up and a lot of other branded mobile titles to look forward to,” said Jaakko Kaidesoja, director of games multimedia at Nokia.

Meanwhile Apple entered the handheld space by adding games functionally to its latest iPod models and a download service via iTunes. Two new iPods, plus a refreshed iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle have been unveiled, all featuring increased battery life.

Users can purchase games via the iTunes store for $4.99 each and play them using the device’s scroll wheel. Titles featured in the initial range include Pac Man, Tetris, Bejeweled, Mini Golf and Texas Hold ‘Em.

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/newsitem.php?id=24377

Hair's days are so over!

What a horrible mess. Darrell Hair must have known what he was getting into this afternoon. He must have. This is a man who has allowed controversy to stalk his every waking hour, from the no-ballings of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shoaib Akhtar to the run-out decision he gave against Inzamam at Faisalabad this winter.

Andrew Miller
http://wwwc4.cricinfo.com/engvpak/content/current/story/257299.html

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Did Darrell Hair actually see a member of the Pakistan team tampering with a cricket ball? Has he got proof?

If he hasn't then he has made a massive mistake.

If I had been accused of cheating in this way then, as long as I was sure of our innocence, I would have done exactly the same thing as Pakistan.

I wouldn't have come out after tea, either.

People have said that Pakistan should have waited until the close of play and then gone down the right channels, but they wouldn't have seen it that way.

To Pakistan, if they had carried on playing, they would have been admitting their guilt.

Nasser Hussain
Former England captain

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/5270038.stm

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International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed says Pakistan could face additional charges after forfeiting The Oval Test.

Pakistan refused to take to the field for the final session in protest at being penalised for ball-tampering.

It was the first time in 129 years, and 1,814 matches, that a Test had been conceded by forfeit.

"The umpires are meeting this morning to consider whether there should be any further charges," Speed told BBC Radio.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/5269906.stm

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Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has reportedly entered the debate over the controversial final cricket Test match with England.

He called captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to back the team after Pakistan was deemed to have forfeited the match in London on Sunday, Pakistani media reported.

Pakistan refused to resume play after the team was accused by umpires of tampering with the ball.

The accusation has provoked widespread anger in Pakistan.

Mr Musharraf is also reported to have said Australian umpire Darrell Hair had insulted Pakistan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5270176.stm

Karachi [not Venice;)]

Heat index raised to 50 degree Celcius in Islamabad

Few days ago, heat index in Islamabad was raised to 50 degrees Celcius, as reported by a news item in The News, a local daily:

The severity of the heat wave that resulted in the ‘heat index’ soaring to record-breaking 50 degrees in most parts of the Punjab, including Islamabad.

So what exactly is "Heat Index"??

The heat index (HI) or humidex and carries is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity to determine an apparent temperature — how hot it actually feels. The human body normally cools itself by perspiration, or sweating, in which the water in the sweat evaporates heat away from the body. However, when the relative humidity is high, the evaporation rate of the water is reduced. This means heat is removed from the body at a lower rate, causing it to retain more heat than it would in dry air. Measurements have been taken based on subjective descriptions of how hot subjects feel for a given temperature and humidity, allowing an index to be made which corresponds a temperature and humidity combination to a higher temperature in dry air.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_index

The Fast and The Furious

From 'Google' to just plain google

One of Google's worst fears may have been realised. The latest edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary includes the word "google" which means to use the well-known search engine to look for information on the web.

The entry means that in addition to being a proper noun, the word "google" - without capitalisation of the "g" - is now a common transitive verb.

In the latest publicly available filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission made available earlier this week, Google identified the key risks it faced in seeking to to maintain its dominance in the search market and preserving its revenue growth rate.

Among the risks listed by Google in its what is called the Q-10 filing was a concern that there may be a downside to too much success.

To quote Google: "We also face risks associated with our trademarks. For example, there is a risk that the word 'Google' could become so commonly used that it becomes synonymous with the word 'search'. If this happens, we could lose protection for this trademark, which could result in other people using the word 'Google' to refer to their own products, thus diminishing our brand."

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"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

View of a nearby jogging trail.

Why the West is Losing the War on Terror