We all know how tedious it is to take a large computer to LAN parties. Carrying a 30 or even 40 pound PC to and from the LAN party makes some people wonder if the hassle is worth it. There are quite a few SFF (small form factor) cases out there, but there seems to be drawbacks like lack of space for big powerful graphic cards or inadequate power supplies for today’s high end systems.

Thermaltake has designed a case with those problems in mind. The user can install the newest hardware and a power supply of their choice in the case. This gives the user the possibility to carry his entire computer comfortably with one hand. The Lanbox has a solid handle, so you will even have one hand free to wave everyone else good bye or hold the prices you won.

The Thermaltake Lanbox comes in two colors: black and silver. The different colors also denote the materials used. The black Lanbox is made of steel with an aluminum front while the silver Lanbox is constructed completely of aluminum. You can get both variants either with or without handle and window.

Specifications

Julia Roberts’ niece, Emma Roberts, will be the new face of accessories label Dooney & Burke.

The 16-year-old will appear in the company’s new ads which debut in the October issue of Teen Vogue.

As the line’s spokesperson, Emma follows in the dainty footsteps of Lindsay Lohan and Mischa Barton in promoting what every American teenage girl needs,a 200 dollar handbag!

The new line hits stores in October and features a limited edition bag created by Emma that bears “her signature style.” Whatever that may be.

Emma, who is following her “Pretty Woman” aunts’, stars in the Nickelodeon series “Unfabulous” and will soon be seen in the 2007 film “Nancy Drew.”

Producer- Subhash K Jha

Starring - Abhay Deol, Soha Ali Khan, Shayan Munshi

Directed by - Shivam Nair

Rating- **

Preview – What if Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s favourite actresss Sharmila Tagore was cast with Basu Chatterjee’s favourite actor Amol Palekar in one of those easy winsome breezy romantic comedies of the 1970s?

The result would’ve been something like this… Ahista Ahista…. Nice ‘n’ slow yet fluently absorbing. For a large part of the narrative you sincerely want to know what happens to the runaway girl Megha (Soha Ali Khan) and the working-class routine guy Ankush (Abhay Deol) who comes to her rescue after she is stood up by her groom-to-be.

A simple story, seemingly original and fresh Ahista Ahista sweeps you gently into its arc of mint-flavoured emotions. The characters, minor or major are utterly believable.

Whether it’s Ankush’s friends at the marriage registry office (and these include that wonderful child actor Ashwin Chitale from the Marathi film Shwaas as the chai-wallah) or the whole Jama Masjid Muslim locality that defines a major portion of the narrative, the proceedings are kept subdued and stress-free.

The art and camera-work are unostentatious yet eye-catching.

Somehow you feel things are going to work out just fine for these two seeming losers who discover love togetherness and finally a wretchedly unhappy ending to their short-lived relationship.

The happy ending is denied to this utterly unaffected couple. But the brief, finally grief, encounter is sweet-timbred and endearing while it lasts.

Both Abhay Deol and Soha Ali Khan add considerably to the plot’s plausibility. They are natural, sincere and endearing though Deol needs to improve his dialogue delivery and gauche body language.

Soha has been shot (by cinemtographer Prakash Kutty) like her mother Sharmila Tagore… She’s heartbreakingly expressive and fragile. Among the peripheral characters Shakeel Khan as Deol’s Muslim buddy is surprisingly effective.

A sweet sincere tender film with enough heart to tell it apart from the pretenders which try to sweep you off you feet, Ahista Ahista keeps you rooted to reality most of the way…even when the kind and generous hero decides to keep his sweetheart’s fiance’s return a secret, you don’t really hate him for that bit of deception.

How can you, when the couple is so absorbed in the task of living with dignity in a society that makes the middle-class answerable for all its aspirations and dreams.

Writer Imtiaz Ali and debutant director Shivam Nair deserve high praise for delving into those quiet shared moments of anguished togetherness between a couple which is too busy surviving today to dare to dream about tomorrow.

To download the songs of the movie click here

To download the Wallpapers of the movie click here

Apple Computer Inc. on Monday introduced the last of its computer models to be converted to Intel chips and said it would launch the next version of its operating system in spring 2007, but some investors expecting a new iPod were disappointed.

Shares in Apple fell 1.6 percent after Chief Executive Steve Jobs did not have his trademark surprise at Apple’s annual software developers conference, such as a new music player or new digital movie rental service.

“They announced exactly what people were expecting. To get a rise (in stock price) you have to surprise investors,” said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray.

The week-long conference has long focused on the Macintosh computer and is aimed at developers who create applications for the Mac beyond what Apple turns out.

Apple announced the new line of high-end desktop computers called the Mac Pro that will use Intel Corp.’s (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Xeon chipset and run twice as fast as the version it replaces.

The Mac Pro line replaces the Power Mac series and will use dual Xeon chips in each computer. Apple said a computer in the new line with a suggested configuration would retail for about $2,500. The new machines were shipping on Monday.

Apple ended the second quarter with 4.8 percent of the overall U.S. PC market, up from 4.4 percent a year earlier, according to market research firm IDC. Apple’s share of the U.S. retail notebook market doubled to 12 percent as measured by units in June from January.

In Apple’s most recent quarter, better-than-expected sales of Mac and iPods helped fuel a 48 percent rise in net income. Investors took the strong computer sales to mean Apple can look to its Mac platform for future growth and not just to the iPod.

Sony Corp. said it is set to introduce its first wireless broadband communications and entertainment device, aimed at heavy users of instant messaging.

Sony’s new “mylo” personal communicator is a hybrid electronic device that competes with a range of gadgets already on the market, including the Sidekick, created by Danger Inc., and Nokia’s 770 wireless Internet mini-tablet.

The name mylo stands for “my life online” and provides users access to online instant messaging services, HTML Web pages, e-mails and to play music or view photos. Mylo will be available in September retail for about $350, Sony said.

Sony is borrowing the name mylo from a prior, ill-fated generation of its handheld devices the Japanese consumer electronics giant had planned to launch in the United States on September 11, 2001 but subsequently canceled.

The mylo was the last product in its discontinued line of Clie devices, which were aimed at business and professional users and would have competed with Research in Motion’s Blackberry or Palm Treo devices.

The mylo is meant to operate on Wi-Fi wireless networks, which are increasingly available on college campuses, in busy public spaces and in homes with wireless broadband connections.

It is a small, oblong device with a 2.4 inch screen and a slide out keyboard designed for typing with one’s thumbs.

The device bears similarities to Sony’s PSP gaming device, but is targeted at a different market: socializers who are heavy text message users and music fans, rather than gamers.

China, dubbed as the `World`s Factory`, discharged 25.49 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide in 2005, ranking number one in the world, the country`s national environmental watchdog said here on Thursday.

The amount of sulphur dioxide released last year was 27 per cent over that in 2000, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), said.

Out of the 25.49 million tonnes, 21.684 million tonnes was industrial discharge and 3.89 million tonnes was living discharge.

SEPA quoted a researcher as saying that each tonne of the discharge may cause 20,000 Yuan (about 2,500 U.S. dollars) of economic losses.

Calculating on that basis, china may have suffered a total of 509.8 billion Yuan (63.625 billion U.S. Dollars) the whole year of 2005.

The watchdog said China`s coal consumption increased more than 800 million tonnes in the 2001-2005 period, among which 500 million were used by the power industry which is under pressure to boost output to cater to the growing demand for electricity.

Meanwhile, air pollution, especially acid rain, posed great challenge to china’s goal of building a well-off society, SEPA officials said.

The degree of acid rain contamination had climbed up in 2005 and a SEPA study finds 357, or 51.3 per cent, of all the 696 cities and counties that carried out acid rain monitoring across the country had experienced the acid rain.

At least 100 people were killed and thousands rendered homeless as heavy rains left a trail of destruction in coastal Andhra Pradesh. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, will undertake an aerial survey of the affected districts on Saturday. He asked the officials to take up relief measures on war footing and assist the Railways in helping the stranded passengers at various places.

As torrential rains, triggered by deep depression in Bay of Bengal, threw normal life out of gear for the second day yesterday, the north coastal districts of Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam bore the brunt of nature’s fury with severe disruptions in power supply, road and rail traffic and communications network.

Eighteen people died following landslides triggered by incessant rains — 11 in Parvathipuram of Vizianagaram district and seven at Araku Valley in Visakhapatnam districts, officials said.

Three members of a family died when a tree fell on their house in East Godavari district while six others were killed in wall collapses and flash floods in Srikakulam district bordering Orissa.

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, who reviewed the rain situation at a high-level meeting here yesterday, directed the officials to take the help of the Army and Navy, if necessary, to carry out relief operations.

Vizag airport flooded

The airport at Visakhapatnam was flooded following heavy rains, prompting the authorities to cancel about half-a-dozen flights for the second day yesterday. The runway was under one feet deep water while power supply to the airport was disrupted following incessant rains.

The cancellation of air services to and from the steel city brought back the memories of similar disruption when the airport was closed for 15 days in October last year.

State Information Minister Mohammad Ali Shabbir said 600 villages, most of them in coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagarm and Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari, were affected by heavy rains.

Director of the Hyderabad weather office M Satyakumar said heavy rains were likely to lash Telangana districts of Khammam, Warangal and Karimnagar over the next two days while incessant rains in the city would continue for another day.

In Vijayawada, 60 of the 130 farmers marooned in four villages– Poonavali, Kasarabala, Ganiathuru, Ramannapeta — have been rescued and two boats have been pressed into service, District Collector Naveen Mittal said.

Power supply was affected in many villages in Srikakulam district where Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers were in spate following heavy rains in the upper reaches in neighbouring Orissa. As many as 238 villages were affected in the district while 1,500 families had been shifted to safer places.

Many trains on Eastern Railway section were running behind schedule as rainwater inundated tracks near Palasa. Services on Kothavalasa-Kirandul were affected as boulders fell on the tracks, sources said.

With the authorities releasing excess water from Nagavali and Vamsadhara, 86 villages in Hiramandalam, Bhamini, Kothuru and Burja Mandals were inundated.

Road traffic was disrupted as flood water overflowed on the roads in Tekkali and Palakonda divisions.

Crops in over 50,000 acres were damaged. The flood discharge at Gotta barrage on Vamsadhara crossed 1.12 lakh cusecs and the river was still receiving heavy inflows.

In Vizianagaram, heavy discharges from Nagavali River at Thotapalli barrage inundated low-lying areas in Vizianagaram, Salur and Bobbili mandals.

The government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 each to the families of those killed in the rains.

Kolkata, Aug 03: Microsoft India would launch its seventh generation gaming console `Xbox 360` in India and seven other countries in September-October.

“Microsoft has targeted to sell 10 million units of Xbox 360 by November this year from 5.5 million sold till June, Microsoft Country Manager (entertainment) Mohit Anand said here today.

The company would ultimately cover 40 countries with the high definition product now available in 19 countries, he said.

“New countries will help the company to achieve the numbers. India holds huge potential in volume terms,” he told reporters at a roadshow of the gaming console.

India was a market of 1.6 million serious gamers and estimated at USD 50 million. The industry in India was growing by over 100 per cent in the last two years and was expected to continue with the trend in the next five years, Anand said.

Microsoft also planned to use local languages for the games in the console, but further details were not provided. The games would be rated in India for proper parental guidance.

Xbox models would cost would cost between Rs 19,990 and Rs 23,990. They would be distributed by redington.

Source- Zeenews.com

Las Vegas, Aug 03: Atomic testing museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, would host an exhibition in August on atomic bombs and its effects on people. The event is the museum’s first international exhibition.

William Johnson, a director of the museum and an archaeologist, said that the institution is open to any people or organizations to hold exhibitions and discussions about nuclear-related materials.

“My understanding (of the Nagasaki peace hall) is that they advocate abolition of nuclear weapons and we welcomed the advocacy group,” Johnson said. “We don’t care if you are pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear. If you want to come here and talk about nuclear issues, that’s what we want people to do.”

According to Johnson, the Nagasaki Peace Hall approached the museum last august, asking about the possibility of organizing an exhibition on atomic bombs and its effects. The museum immediately expressed interest and accepted their proposal because the Nagasaki museum has items and expertise related to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Not a single member of the executive committee of trustees was opposed to it, Johnson said.

The museum does not take a political position on nuclear policy but rather tries to put on exhibitions with a balanced perspective, he said, adding that he believes balance is a necessity for museums.

The museum opened in February last year with the purpose of preserving the legacy of the Nevada test site and its more than 50-year history of nuclear weapons research.
Source- Zeenews.com

New Delhi, Aug 04: Delhi government on Friday banned the sale of soft drinks in schools in the Capital. Many political parties yesterday sought a ban on the sale and production of colas in the country following studies showing the presence of pesticide in them.

Centre for Science and Environment came out with a fresh study claiming the presence of “pesticide cocktail” in 11 brands of soft drink giants Coca Cola and Pepsico, three years after the same brands were found to have contained pesticides.

The Indian Soft Drink Manufacturers Association, of which Pepsico and Coca-Cola are members, said the soft drinks were safe to consume.

“The soft drinks manufactured in India comply with stringent international norms and all applicable national regulations,” the industry body said in a statement.

The new study found three to five different pesticides in 57 samples of Coca-Cola and Pepsico drinks produced in 12 states, CSE said.

The average amount of pesticide residues found in the samples was 11.85 parts per billion (ppb), 24 times higher than the permitted limit of 0.5 ppb recently drafted — but not yet implemented– by the Bureau of Indian Standards, a government agency that sets safety and hygiene standards for commercial products.

In some cases, the levels were up to 200 times the limit.

Source- Zeenews.com