Contraband - 2012

An upcoming action thriller film about a man trying to stay out of a world he worked so hard to leave behind and the family he'll do anything to protect.

Chris Farraday abandoned his life of crime long ago, but after his brother-in-law, Andy, botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs. Chris is forced back into doing what he does best -- running contraband -- to settle Andy's debt. Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops, and hit men before his wife, Kate, and sons become their target.

The film is directed Baltasar Kormakur starring Mark Wahlberg as Chris Farraday and Kate Beckinsale as Kate Farraday , scheduled to be released on January 13, 2012 by Universal Pictures.

The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay

From the New York Times bestselling author of "Sarah’s Key" and "A Secret Kept" comes an absorbing new novel about one woman’s resistance during an epoque that shook Paris to its very core. In The House I Loved, Tatiana de Rosnay takes readers to Paris in the 1860s. It is a story of memory, love and change that de Rosnay's fans and those who enjoy historical fiction will be drawn to.

Paris, France: 1860’s. Hundreds of houses are being razed, whole neighborhoods reduced to ashes. By order of Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussman has set into motion a series of large-scale renovations that will permanently alter the face of old Paris, moulding it into a “modern city.” The reforms will erase generations of history, but in the midst of the tumult, one woman will take a stand.
Rose Bazelet is determined to fight against the destruction of her family home until the very end, as others flee, she stakes her claim in the basement of the old house, ignoring the sounds of change that come closer and closer each day. Attempting to overcome the loneliness of her daily life, she begins to write letters to Armand, her beloved late husband. And as she delves into the ritual of remembering, Rose is forced to come to terms with a secret that has been buried deep in her heart for thirty years.

German Tourism Industry Breaks Records

While recent financial news from the European Union has not been particularly bright, the German tourism industry is booming. This fiscal year has brought a record result.

The latest political and financial news reaching European audience does not promise spectacular future, yet when looking back at the business year 2010/2011 which concluded in October, German travelers have been very generous. The tourism industry has a new record result with massive sales revenue of 22.5 billion Euros (20.4 billion Euros previous year) as well as a number of participants.

According to the German Travel Association, German travel agencies recorded a 9.5 percent increase in holiday bookings, similar to tour operators, who speak of a 9 percent growth. While 2009 was the year when crisis hit hard and many locals reconsidered their travel plans, the situation in the following months and years has been gradually improving. Even the cruise industry has been gradually growing.

German tour operators have also concluded an additional 5 percent more travelers chose to book their holidays through them.

Former Miss Venezuela Dies of Breast Cancer at 28

Eva Ekvall, who was crowned Miss Venezuela at the age of 17 in 2000, and was third runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico in the following year, died at the age 28 due to breast cancer. Her struggle with breast cancer was closely followed by Venezuelans.

The Venezuelan television channel Globovision reports that Ekvall, mother-of-one died on Saturday, December 17 in a Houston, Texas hospital after a two year struggle with breast cancer.

"In the beginning I wasn't sure if I looked good or not. Then I realized that wasn't the point. I wasn't supposed to look good, I had cancer", said Eva Ekvall on taking photographs for her book, Fuera de Foco.

Giambattista Valli to Join Haute Couture Club

Italian designer Giambattista Valli is to join the exclusive club of haute couture fashion, showing a spring-summer collection in Paris next month.

Paris commission including existing haute couture labels has awarded the 45-year-old designer the coveted appellation, France's fashion federation said in a statement ahead of the January 23-26 shows.

Valli showed a first couture collection in Paris in July, as a guest member invited by existing couture houses.

Haute couture exists only in Paris, where it is a legally protected appellation subject to strict criteria such as the amount of work carried out by hand, the limited number of pieces and the size of a house's workforce.

Amir should be treated with leniency, says Mike Brearley

Mike Brearley, the former England captain, belives that Amir fixed the match because he was subjected to pressure and the young man should be treated more leniently.

"We also need to recognise that the pressure put on the young player by criminal bookies or their agents, or by their corrupt team-mates, can be appalling," Brearley said in his Voice of Cricket Lecture at the Raj Singh Dungarpur World Cricket Summit in Mumbai. "As a result, some of those involved might need to be treated with compassion, especially if they admit their guilt and are willing to be enlisted in the battle against corruption. Deterrent and retributive justice tempered with mercy and discrimination is vital in sentencing and punishing.

"I don't think the whole truth has been told yet, or can be told. The 18-year old Mohammad Amir, who was subject to pressure and was, I believe, uninterested in any illegal financial gain, should have been, and I think should now be, treated much more leniently."

The 18-year-old was sentenced to jail for to six months after the allegations to accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat were proved. 

 Butt and Asif, jailed for 30 months and 12 months respecively, were found guilty after a 21-day trial but Amir had pleaded guilty before the trial began which played a part in the reduction of his jail term from nine to six months.

Brearley said cheating was cricket's most important issue and called for stakeholders to speak out against it. "Whistleblowing should become an absolute duty for everyone in the game."

AC Milan to discuss Tevez with Manchester City

AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani claims that he is to meet with officials of Manchester City on Thursday to discuss the possible transfer of Carlos Tévez.
Galliani said: "On Thursday we have an appointment with Manchester City for Tévez but it will probably not be the decisive one to conclude negotiations."
Milan is eager to buy Tévez on loan but Manchester City wants to sell the player immediately.
Galliani added: "We're not going to take him outright: we're offering a free loan with the right to buy in June."
Ligue 1 title contenders Paris St Germain have also shown interest, with a big-money move, in the 27-year-old Argentenian.
"The player wants to come to us and not PSG (Paris St Germain) and we hope City accept the offer," said Galliani.
But the French club have said they will only attempt to sign Tevez if European heavyweights Milan fail in their efforts, saying that we would not "steal Tévez from Milan".
Tevez has not played for City since refusing to warm up during a UEFA Champions League game against Bayern Munich in September. He is currently in his country Argentina.

BoloTel is hiring Female Technical Executive

BoloTel is looking for Female Technical Executive for their Islamabad office.

Qualification :
BS(Telecom or Networking) or
MS(Telecom or Networking).

Salary is negotiable.

Contact:
cv@bolotel.com

Headline Dec 20,2011/Delaying Gratification of Twitter Generation

DELAYING GRATIFICATION

OF

THE TWITTER GENERATION

Please, can you stop to consider this INEXPERIENCE. The World around is reeling. USA is in a tail spiral. Do you know about the street protests mounting and growing, everyday ! If Americans look their disposable income and if irrational pessimism sets in, an economic panic will gyrate. What then will happen to the Chinese manufacturing model? What then would Chinese do with their goods? The black economic darkness will wipe out Free Trade. And that will doom the World !

Also consider what the German chancellor Angela Merkel recently said on the Euro-Zone debt crisis "EUROPE IS IN PERHAPS THE TOUGHEST HOUR SINCE WORLD WAR II." Greece, Italy and Spain are all reeling inverted. And France finds itself in a dangerous mood. Frankly nobody knows what to do. The World is about to unfold !

In Pakistan, we are fragile. Inflation is rampant, the manufacturing base dying out. Labour is violent and depressed while the value of our currency is in a free fall. 

All of us are duty bound to help build the mentality of savings. We should discipline ourselves to avoid the instant gratification and instant access mind set. We must train ourselves to delay gratification for a better future and for our future generations. 

Latest research shows that self discipline improves good short term memory, which is associated with being able to project yourself into the future and plan for it. This is the prerequisite of saving. This is the crown of a great society everywhere. 

So we must develop a talent for saving. Only this mentality can see us thru to a great and prosperous destiny. Save on everything ! Every great nation must run its course ! Good night and best wishes !

SAM Daily Times - "The Voice of the Voiceless"

Will Helium Make A Football Fly Farther?

Since 1970s, when scientists gave a clue that helium filled balloons can fly higher, the theory has remained a myth.

Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage (hosts for MYTHBUSTERS) decided to test this out..Their prediction was that a helium filled ball would travel farther than an "air-filled" one, since the former weighs less (about 7 grams in total), but... Newton’s Second Law of Motion proved unbeatable… even for the MythBusters.

Reiterating our middle school lessons— Newton’s Second Law of Motion says that the greater the mass of an object, the greater the force (or inertia). Hence," the slightly heavier air-filled football actually pushes through the air with greater force, flying slightly farther than a lighter helium-filled football".

References: Discovery News

Erasing Cocaine Memory - A Breakthrough In Treating Addiction

Cocaine drug does not trigger physical addiction but a psychological one triggered in 20% of its users has unique consequences.

If someone has taken cocaine while passing by a building then the person would feel temptation to use the drug again every time passing by that building. Brain will forever remember having taken that drug. 

Cocaine abnormally raises dopamine levels in the brain, a substance responsible for the transmission of  information between both parts of the brain. Due to which a recovering addict can still be tempted by the drug.

Recently researchers from Geneva University may have found a way to erase that memory through a new laser technique. Experiments were conducted successfully on mice. Using laser, researchers were able to control brain activity and bring information transmission levels back to normal.

China's Alarming Stats

 China ranks since 2010 as the world's 2^nd largest economy after the United States. It has also been the world's fastest-growing major economy, with consistent growth rates of around 10% over the past 30 years. China is also the largest exporter and second largest importer of goods in the world.


At the same time China shows alarming situations in many areas. The western regions and the majority of the countryside are still poor; the living standards of workers and farmers are low; the majority of the population does not have social security; private enterprises have great difficulty moving forward; there are hardly any domestic brands; and technological education is stymied. Most of this is the result of the seriously imbalanced development of China's economy.

The government is rich, but the total amount of workers' salaries makes up only 12-15 percent of the GDP, which is far lower than the world average of 40-50 percent.

Physicists dislike the name 'God Particle'

Physicists hate the nickname 'God Particle' given to Higgs boson.
"I detest the name 'God particle,'" Vivek Sharma, a physicist at the University of California, San Diego, and the leader of the Higgs search at LHC's CMS experiment, wrote in an email. "I am not particularly religious, but I find the term an 'in your face' affront to those who [are]. I do experimental physics not GOD."
"It's an awful name," Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist at the City College of New York, told LiveScience. "It does not convey the particle's true role, that it is the last missing piece of the Standard Model, and that it gives mass to the other particles."

Particle tracks from a event at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

Events (a proton-proton collision) like in the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are a possible sign of the Higgs particle.
Many of the strongest objections to the name come because of its religious bent.
The name "carries almost no information about why the Higgs particle is important, it makes physicists sound pompous and arrogant, and it reinforces a very harmful presumption that physicists are trying to replace or compete with 'God,'" New York University physicist Kyle Cranmer wrote in an email to LiveScience. "In reality, physicists cover the full range from devotee to atheist. Physicists are generally driven to understand how nature works — as 'natural philosophers' we appreciate the beauty of its order and its chaos, perhaps more than most."
"'God particle' is a bad name, in every way," wrote University of Michigan physicist Gordon Kane. "It has nothing to do with the physics. Most (all?) physicists dislike it."
However some of the physicists like it.
"It's a catchy name, so why not? :)" wrote Brown University physicist Greg Landsberg.
Some physicists along with LiveScience's Facebook fans have offered up ideas for a nickname which range from "masson" and "OOM" like the Buddhist chant, to "Super Cool Non-Denominational Particle." Of course, others think "Higgs boson" works just fine.
"Maybe we should call it the "Billion" to remind us how much it cost to find the damn thing :-)" Cranmer wrote.

81% Americans support the legalization of Marijuana

70,167 people out of 86443 support the legalization of Marijuana in America.

Canned Energy (Drinks)

Manufacturers of Energy Drinks promise to make you confident, daring and reckless. And as per public opinion this is no lie, these drinks do indeed provide immense instant energy.However, have you wondered of their medical side affects?

These drinks,  cause ‘adrenaline rushes’, and are essentially beverages constituting sugars, caffeine and other substances. The caffeine in a single can of energy drink is between 70-200 mg, which is actually higher than the advised level of daily caffeine intake for younger consumers.Moreover,energy drinks contain ingredients which release additional caffeine beyond the ingredient listing on the label.

Besides,energy drinks have other well-known adverse effects. These include anxiety, irritability, sleeplessness, digestive problems and changes in blood which set your heart racing and thumping increasing blood pressure. Another danger is "caffeine intoxication", especially when one intakes a larger amount i.e uses a bigger can packaged by the company.Another one is excessive urine discharge due to high caffeine intake, hence causing discomfort and also dehydration, ultimately.Also,Ginseng, a constituent of these drinks can interact with any other medicines being taken and produce noticeable side affects.


Athletes, children with heart conditions and insomniacs need especially be aware of the consequences of inappropriate use of these beverages.

Rapid Growth of Luxury Cars in China

Luxury car sales in China soared 66 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, well ahead of 14 percent growth in the United States and a 6 percent fall in Germany.
According to China’s Hurun Report there are an amazing 8,800 billionaires and 143,000 millionaires in Beijing in March, 2010. Most of wealthy own between a minimum of two to five luxury cars.

iPhone Lens Dial Triples Your Photo Options

Lens Dial offers you a triple lens upgrade for your iPhone using which you can avail features such as telephoto, wide angle, and fisheye shots.Three optical-quality glass lenses are built onto an aircraft-grade aluminum frame which fits over your iPhone, making sure that you don’t have to find and attach anything when you want to take a picture. Switching between lenses is as easy as rotating the lens disc to the one you want to use – the .7x wide angle lens, the 1.5x telephoto lens, or the .33x fisheye lens. Plus, the iPhone Lens dial has not one, but two tripod mounts, so you can get steady shots, no matter which orientation you choose.

Discovery News

Instilling Consciousness

By Sarah Mahmood

Many of those reading this are the privileged few of the billion-inhabited world. Those who are gifted with material luxuries, emotional anchorage, promising abilities and what-not. But where are all these being utilized in? Maybe in getting cinema tickets for the latest blockbuster hit? Or maybe in making the less-privileged ones feel inferior? How about in wasting their time to the fullest, watching, talking, reading, doing useless stuff?

Strike a chord? I hope it does. Sit and ponder a little, and it might just move you on to yet higher echelons of consciousness. Happy trying!

Serial Killer 'Black Panther' Dies

Donald Neilson, the serial killer dubbed 'Black Panther' is dead at 75.

He was taken from prison to Norwich Hospital after suffering breathing difficulties early Saturday morning and was pronounced dead on Sunday.

Neilson was convicted of four murders including that of 17-year old heiress Lesley White, and had lost an appeal to have his life sentence reduced to 30 years. He was also responsible for about 400 burglaries.

Kim Jong-il Dies

North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il dies of a heart attack aged 69.

The news saw hundreds of North Koreans weeping openly on streets of the capital Pyongyang, with the announcer trying hard to hold back her tears while breaking the news on the state television.

The funeral is scheduled for Decemeber 28 in Pyongyang.

The leader is expected to be succeeded by son Kim Jong-un who, the official agency KCNA says, the North Koreans should unite behind.

Sweden: Saab files for bankruptcy

After failing to secure investment from several Chinese companies, the Swedish company has now filed for bankruptcy. 


The talks with the potential Chinese investors broke down after intervention from General Motors, which vetoed the decision to procure any investment from the former. It acted as the "last nail in the coffin of this beautiful company," according to Saab Chief Executive Victor Muller. 

"The US automotive giant remains a stakeholder and supplier" (BBC News), even after selling the company to Dutch carmaker Spyker in 2010.


The company has been struggling to pay its suppliers since April, with workers going unpaid for the last month.

World's Worst Ecological Oil Catastrophe

Russia: Near the Arctic Circle outside oil town, from a decommissioned well, oil is oozing out continuously like a viscous jam.

Environmentalists estimate at least 1 percent of Russia's annual oil production, or 5 million tons, is spilled every year. That is equivalent to one Deepwater Horizon-scale leak about every two months. Crumbling infrastructure and a harsh climate combine to spell disaster in the world's largest oil producer, responsible for 13 percent of global output.

"Oil and oil products get spilled literally every day," said Dr. Grigory Barenboim, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Water Problems.
Other than oil wastage, it contamintaes soil, kills all plants that grow on it and also destroys habitats for mammals and birds. Every year 0.5 million tons get into rivers every year that flow into the Arctic Ocean which is upsetting the delicate environmental balance in those waters.

Kids Saving For After Retirement

Many of the old people who have not started saving for their old age can learn lesson from these kids.
Many kids stock 1000s of dollars for their golden years.

They use services like eTrade and start inesting very little amounts. A kid named Fabian Fernandez-Han 14 years of age started saving at the age of 10 years. Today he owns $10,000  for his old age. More amazingly he has stocks in Apple, Googl Microsoft and Rim.

British Women’s Feet Are Getting Bigger

Jane Winkworth is the woman who introduced Britain to the fashion for wearing ballet pumps. She is now a wardrobe staple for millions of women. In the late Sixties and a grandmother of 3, she has great experience of examining feet of great ladies like Lady Diana.

In her interview she revealed interesting fact about British women that she’s launching a new collection specialising in sizes nine to 11 because British women’s feet are getting bigger.
Comparison has come from celebrities like Lady Diana, Kate Middleton, Medonna, Angelina Jolie, Katie Holmes, Helen Mirren, Sarah Jessica Parker and Emma Watson.

Saudi Prince Announces $300m Twitter Investment

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has announced a $300m cash-injection in social media site Twitter.
                           

From Time Specials

Twitter is the latest in a series of globally-renowned corporations in which the Saudi billionaire own stakes.


"Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact," the Prince said.