Google launches “Ingress” A reality Based Game on Android

Google just launched Ingress—a World of Warcraft-like alternate reality game.

Ingress is a game that uses real world locations to allow you play a global game via an Android smartphone, which is not unlike Shadow Cities, an Android game we looked at earlier. The goal in Ingress is to discover augmented reality clues and messages embedded in physical locales, and gather virtual energy that allows you to continue playing the game. The fictional premise is centered on a conspiracy originating in Europe dealing with some new form of energy being released into various locations around the planet.

Developed by John Hanke and his team at Niantic Labs, Ingress is inspired by J. J. Abrams’s “Lost,” although Hanke says that they don’t want to leave people in that similar situation where they get into fiction of world but then it never ends. Currently in closed-beta, Ingress transforms the real world into a landscape for a global game of mystery, intrigue, and competition. To play the game, players will need to generate a virtual energy called “Exotic Matter” (XM) which can be collected by visiting real locations.

Google launches “Ingress” A reality Based Game on Android

XM can then be spent to launch missions around the world via “portals” that are virtually associated with public art, libraries, and other widely accessible places. Players can get to pick two sides – “The Enlightened,” who embrace the power, and “The Resistence,” who fights the power. “The concept is something like World of Warcraft, where everyone in world is playing the same game,” Hanke said. Ingress is free to play and it’s now available on Android. And iOS version of the game is coming soon. 

Those who want to test Ingress now must first request an invite at Ingress.com.

10 Facts About Europe

1.Europe is the second smallest continent in the world in terms of surface area with an area of 10,180,000 sq. km.

2.Mount Elbrus in Russia is the highest mountain in Europe.

3.Lake Balaton Hungary is the largest Lake in Europe.

4.Volga and Danube are the longest River in Europe.

5.The biggest European island is Great Britain.

Europe - Volga River

6.The European country with the highest number of volcanoes is Italy.

7.Europeans are living longer.Life expectancy in the European Union is rising.

8.Currency of Europe is Euro.

9.The First World War is supposed to have started in Europe, with the assassination of the archduke of Austria and involved almost the whole of Europe in it.

10.The largest city in Europe is Paris with a population of just under 10 million
people.The Vatican City is considered to be the smallest independent state in Europe.

10 Facts About North America

1.North America is the third largest continent.

2.North America is rich in minerals and other natural resources.

3.The longest river in North America is the Mississippi River.

4.Greenland is the biggest island on the planet and it is located in NA.

5.Lake Superior in North America is the largest fresh water lake in the world.

 North America - Mississippi River

6.The continent is named after Americo Vespucci, the Italian explorer.

7.Mount McKinley (also known as Denali)in Alaska is the highest mountain in North America.

8.North America is known for its many different cultures and food.

9.The American Buffalo is the heaviest land animal in North America.

10.North America is the only continent that has all kind of climate.

10 Facts About South America

1.It is the fourth-largest continent in the world.

2.Amazon Basin in South America is considered to be the home of many resources which
include copper, iron ore, tin and oil.

3.River Amazon is one of the largest rivers in the world is situated here.

4.Santo del Angel,the highest waterfall in the world is situated here.

5.The continent is named after Americo Vespucci, the Italian explorer.

South America - Amazon Basin

6.Mount Aconcagua in Argentina is the highest mountain on the South American continent.

7.Most spoken language is Spanish.

8.Amazon Basin in South America is the world's largest and most famous rainforest.

9.In South America each country has their own currency.

10.South America is home to many interesting species of animals including parrots,
tarantulas, snakes, and mammals.

More Detailed 17 Facts about South America - MUST read.(Post Updated)

Security Hole Allows Anyone To Hijack Your Skype Account Using Only Your Email Address

A new security hole has been discovered in Microsoft’s Skype that allows anyone to change password and hijack account.The issue was first posted on a Russian forum two months ago and has been confirmed by The Next Web.


Skype shared the following statement with The Next Web:

“We have had reports of a new security vulnerability issue. As a precautionary step we have temporarily disabled password reset as we continue to investigate the issue further. We apologize for the inconvenience but user experience and safety is our first priority”

Skype

A number of hours after The Next Web revealed a flaw in the way Skype handled password resets, allowing third-parties to hijack accounts using just an email address, Skype has said that it has now fixed the issue. The company has confirmed it first mitigated the issue, but has now updated its password reset process so that it doesn’t send tokens to the client. Now it is confirmed that this flaw has been fixed.

What is Google’s Knowledge Graph?

The Knowledge Graph is a knowledge base used by Google to enhance its search engine's search results with semantic-search information gathered from a wide variety of sources. Knowledge Graph display was added to Google's search engine in 2012, starting in the United States, having been announced on May 16, 2012. It provides structured and detailed information about the topic in addition to a list of links to other sites. The goal is that users would be able to use this information to resolve their query without having to navigate to other sites and assemble the information themselves.

According to Google, this information is derived from many sources, including the CIA World Factbook, Freebase and Wikipedia.The feature is similar in intent to answer engines such as Ask Jeeves and Wolfram Alpha. As of 2012, its semantic network contained over 500 million objects and more than 3.5 billion facts about and relationships between these different objects which are used to understand the meaning of the keywords entered for the search.Source : Wikipedia

Google’s Knowledge Graph is launched in all countries for English search.It is amazing.The new Knowledge Graph will appear in the form of short snippets to the right column of its results and provide users more information on a topic and help users explore related items as well.

What is special in Google’s Knowledge Graph?

Information from the Knowledge Graph is available on desktop, tablet, and your smartphone. So wherever you search on Google, you’ll find that answers and discovery are at your fingertips.

Language can be ambiguous—do you mean Rio the city, the movie, or the casino? With the Knowledge Graph, Google can understand the difference, helping you more precisely express what you mean as you enter your search.

But currently when you search in Google's  knowledge graph, it shows you up to five related people, books, albums, movies and so on. If you want more, no option. That's why Google is testing new Google’s Expandable Knowledge Graph Test.In which, Google is adding an “explore more” more link that gives you a lot more related topics to scroll through right at the top of the page.

At the moment, a lot of searches don’t have answers from Knowledge Graph or other sources, so instead you get a conspicuously large amount of white space on the right side of the screen. But if anything, the new design seems like foreshadowing. Knowledge Graph may not provide too many answers now, but Google is leaving plenty of room for it to do so in the future.

Google’s Knowledge Graph results (Right side)

In the above picture, you can use the arrows on each side to scroll through more related people or topics.

Indians in Forbes Top 15 'Classroom Revolutionaries'

 Indians have been listed among the top 15 education innovators list by the Forbes magazine.The 15 education innovators named in the list are the people who are on the wheel to harness the disruptive technologies for the purpose of training the next generation teachers.

Indian Classroom Revolutionaries who are transforming education are,

Suneet Tuli, Indian origin CEO of British manufacturing and marketing company DataWind, Anant Agarwal, professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),The founder of Khan Academy, Salman Khan who holds multiple degrees from MIT and Harvard, are identified as "classroom revolutionaries" by Forbes for their contribution to the education field globally.

Suneet Tuli

 1.Tuli, the brain behind India's cheapest tablet Aakash, revolutionized the education system with the Aakash tablet which gave the technology access to many students.

"Tuli is the mastermind behind the world's cheapest tablet computer, the Aakash 2, which has the potential to revolutionize educational access in the developing world," the Forbes said.

"I don't care about creating the iPad killer. I care about the 3 billion people who can afford this device," the publication quoted Tuli as saying.

Tuli has a price target of $35 for his the device, even though it is selling for closer to $40 now. Even at the higher price Datawind has a backlog of “millions” of orders. “I care about the 3 billion people who can afford this device.”

2.The other Indian who is among the top 15 innovators is Anant Agarwal, the President of edX, online learning initiative of MIT under the joint partnership of MIT and Harvard University. The 53-year-old Agarwal, who aspires to educate billion people, is also a computer architecture researcher.

Anant Agarwal, the President of edX.

"EdX continues to up the ante by increasing partners (Pearson has signed on), classes (seven to dozens for spring 2013) and innovations, such as virtual laboratories," Forbes added.

Salman Khan 

3. The founder of Khan Academy, Salman Khan, is also in the list. The 36-year-old Khan, who holds multiple degrees from MIT and Harvard, is credited for creating 3,400 tutorial videos which have 400,000 subscribers in YouTube alone.

A single (and rather difficult) electrical engineering course from MIT attracted 155,000 students this past spring, and Coursera, a Mountain View, Calif.-based startup that hosts classes from 33 different universities (and received $16 million in venture funding earlier this year), claims 1.7 million people have signed up for at least one of its courses.

Salman Khan - (One Teacher.Millions of students)

10 Facts About Asia

1.It is the world's largest and most populous continent.

2.It covers about 60 percent of Earth's total land area.

3.Mount Everest is the highest mountain in Asia and also the highest mountain in the world.

4.Caspian Sea (salt lake) is the Largest Lake in Asia.

5.Yangtze in China is the Longest River in Asia.

Facts About Asia

6.Asia is the continent of diversity.

7.The Dead Sea or The Salt Sea is the lowest place on earth is situated in Asia.

8.Asia divided into 6 subcontinents :
Central Asia,East Asia,North Asia,India Subcontinent,Southeast Asia,Southwest Asia

9.Asia is enormously rich in known mineral resources.

10.Mining is an important activity in most Asian countries.

You must also read(Updated)

12 Amazing facts about Asia

Facts About Australia

1.It is the smallest continent in the world but the sixth largest country in the world.

2.Canberra, the capital of Australia and Mount Kosciuszko is the highest mountain in Australia.

3.Lake Eyre is the largest Lake in Australia.

4.Murray-Darling river system is the Longest River in Australia.

 Facts About Australia

5.It is sometimes called the land "Down Under".This is because if u look on a map,it is located in the bottom of the Earth.

6.Koalas,Kangaroos and platypuses are the animals mostly found in Australia.

7.Sydney is the biggest city in Australia.The Sydney Opera House is made to look like the white sails of the ship.

8.Australia is completely surrounded by water on all sides and so referred as " Island Continent".

9.Its population density is one of the lowest in the whole world.

10.Australia has many natural resources which include natural gas and petroleum, diamonds, nickel, uranium, bauxite, coal, zinc, tin, iron ore, mineral sands, silver, lead, and tungsten.


Discover more about Australia here:

                          

what are comets?

Comets are small planets, ranging in size from baseball-sized meteors to 1/3 the size of the moon. They are the rocky and icy bodies left over from the formation of the solar system. Their average diameters usually range from 750 meters (2,460 feet) or less to about 20 kilometers (12 miles). 

A comet can best be described as a "giant dirty snowball." It is a large mass of ice, dirt and rock that orbits the Sun. As it gets nearer to the Sun, parts of it begin to melt and make a vapor trail, that makes the "tail" of the comet.

The word "comet" came to the English language through Latin cometes from the Greek word komē, meaning "hair of the head"; Aristotle first used the derivation komētēs to depict comets as "stars with hair." The astronomical symbol for comets (☄) accordingly consists of a disc with a hairlike tail.

Comet

In Simple words, Comets are small, fragile, irregularly shaped bodies composed of a mixture of non-volatile grains and frozen gases. They usually follow highly elongated paths around the Sun. Most become visible, even in telescopes, only when they get near enough to the Sun for the Sun's radiation to start subliming the volatile gases, which in turn blow away small bits of the solid material.
.

In other words, A chunk of frozen gasses, ice, and rocky debris that orbits the Sun. A comet nucleus is about the size of a mountain on Earth. When a comet nears the Sun, heat vaporizes the icy material producing a cloud of gaseous material surrounding the nucleus, called a coma. As the nucleus begins to disintegrate, it also produces a trail of dust or dust tail in its orbital path and a gas or ion tail pointing away from the Sun. Comet comas can extend up to a million miles from the nucleus and comet tails can be millions of miles long. There are thought to be literally trillions of comets in our solar system out past Neptune and Pluto, but only once a decade or so does one become near and bright enough to see easily without binoculars or a telescope.


In other words, Comets are small Solar System bodies that orbit the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibit a visible coma (atmosphere) or a tail — both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the comet's nucleus. Comet nuclei are themselves loose collections of ice, dust and small rocky particles, measuring a few kilometres or tens of kilometres across.

Comets have a variety of different orbital periods, ranging from a few years, to hundreds of thousands of years, while some are believed to pass through the inner Solar System only once before being thrown out into interstellar space. 

Short-period comets are thought to originate in the Kuiper Belt, or associated scattered disc, which lie beyond the orbit of Neptune.

 Long-period comets are believed to originate at a very much greater distance from the Sun, in a cloud (the Oort cloud) consisting of debris left over from the condensation of the solar nebula.

Tattoo Personalities

• David Beckham unveils his latest tattoo, a Chinese proverb which means 'Death and life have determined appointments. Riches and honour depend upon heaven'.

David Beckham 

Angelina Jolie

• Becks has the names of his sons on his back, along with a crucifixion scene. He also has Victoria's name in Hindi and the Roman numeral VII - the number on his Man U shirt.

• The Hebrew script on Victoria Beckham's upper back reads: 'I am my beloved's, my beloved is mine'. She also has five stars on her lower back and the initials DB on her wrist.

• Amy Winehouse has become a big fan of tattoos which include a winged angel on her back and the word's 'Daddy's Girl', a horseshoe, a lightning bolt and various pin-up girls.

• Angelina Jolie has many tattoos, including the latitude and longtitude of the birthplaces of her children on her back and an 'M' on the palm of her hand to represent her mother

• Simple Life star Nicole Richie has the tattoo of an ankle bracelet with a cross on her ankle. She also apparently has a pair of ballerina slippers.

• The pop singer has 'Xtina' on the back of her neck and some Hebrew writing on the small of her back, amongst others. She also has several piercings.

A.R Rahman

Allahrakka Rahman is an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, musician, multi-instrumentalist and philanthropist.His film scoring career began in the early 1990s. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards, eleven Filmfare Awards South, four National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe.

Rahman obtained a degree in western classical music from the Trinity College of Music in London, and set up his own in-house studio called Panchathan Record Inn at Chennai, arguably one of Asia’s most sophisticated and high-tech studios.

Later by working in India’s various film industries, international cinema and theatre, by 2004, Rahman, in a career spanning nearly two decades, had sold more than 150 million records of his film scores and soundtracks worldwide, and sold over 200 million cassettes, making him one of the world’s all-time top selling recording artists.

A R Rahman was described as “India’s most prominent movie songwriter” by Time magazine in 2005. His works are notable for integrating eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres, new technology and traditional orchestral arrangements.

Time magazine has referred to him as the “Mozart of Madras” and several Tamil commentators have coined him the nickname Isai Puyal (Tamil: இசைப் புயல்; English: Music Storm). In 2009, Time magazine placed Rahman in its list of World’s Most Influential People.

A R Rahman Early Life

A. R. Rahman was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to a musically affluent Mudaliar Tamil family. His father R. K. Shekhar, was a Chennai based composer and conductor for Malayalam films. Rahman lost his father at the age of 9 and his family rented out his father’s musical equipment as a source of income.

A.R Rahman

A R Rahman was raised by his mother Kareema ( previously called Kashturi ). During these formative years, Rahman served as a keyboard player and an arranger in bands such as “Roots”, with childhood friend and percussionist Sivamani, John Anthony, Suresh Peters, JoJo and Raja.

A R Rahman Quotes

• Music is language itself. It should not have any barriers of caste, creed, language or anything. Music is one, only cultures are different. 

• Music is the language of languages. It is the ultimate mother of languages.”

• “Film music in India is like pop music in the West. Movies are the channels for this music.”

• “But music stays on long after the films. – If a music artiste wants to blossom into a full-fledged person, it’s not enough if he knows only classical music; nor is it enough if he’s well-versed only in Raagas and techniques. 
• Instead, he should be a knowledgeable person interested in life and philosophy. In his personal life there should be, at least in some corner of his heart, a tinge of lingering sorrow.”

• “Music is a gift from God and every note should be blessed. Otherwise music becomes noiseif it is not blessed. I am influenced by Sufism, which is also connected with music. Before composing I pray and beg to God to give me something. I believe every song should have a pure soul in it to reach people.”

• “I like music that is able to stir my soul. My music is a spiritual exercise” “Criticism is fine – at the end of the day, my music speaks for itself.”

• “You can’t have everything in life: What one thinks is possible might not always be so. I try to do my best but, finally, everything lies in God’s hands. I consider my skills as a musician to be a blessing from God. Even today, before I perform, I am unsure of whether I will be able to move my audience. I leave everything to Him… He pulls the strings in my life.”

• “I dont have time to cherish the joys and repent the failures in life . I go on with my work not caring about the response i have got of my previous works.”
• “Awards come with the blessings from God and it encourages you. At the same time it is not the end and it’s a promise and you feel ashamed and ask yourself “What have I done to get this?”
• “The search is more important than the destination” “You are what your deepest desire is. As you desire, so is your intention. As your intention, so is your will. As is your will so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny.”
• “I am like a boat without an oar. I let life take its own course. I know only my work and God, I pray a lot. You get dejected if you plan something and it does not happen.”

• “What cannot be put into words can be expressed through music…”

• “Trusting in God never makes the mountain smaller, it just makes the climbing easier. I never ask Him for the lighter load, but only for the stronger back.”

• “I wanted to go beyond the restrictions of language, religion and caste and music is really the only thing that allows you to do that. Besides, all the inspiration and all the good things to me come from God…”
• “I think we need to concentrate more on unity. Sometimes people get carried away. I feel each of us should concentrate on progress as a citizen. That’s enough for the nation. Each person should be like a brother to the other. I think eventually there will be unity and we will move forward in the world”

• “I’m a deeply spiritual person. Sufism is about love – love for a fellow human, love for all round humanity, and ultimately love for God. For me, it’s where music and religion meet – at dargahs, you will find qawwalis. That’s my inspiration.”

• “I wasn’t too happy with the I-don’t-want-to-listen-to-it attitude of our youngsters towards film music. Why can’t we get our guys to listen to our own music rather than to Michael Jackson? I didn’t want us to lose the market to the West. The music had to be cool and rooted, and yet had to branch out. It was like the wild imagination of a child… but it worked… it did travel beyond Madras and attract people.”

• “I do get emotionally attached to some film-makers. And that’s a problem.”

• “It had to be unlike the one played on the radio for years. I wanted a sound that would connect me with people and capture a collective energy.” (On his Song Vande Mataram)

• “Rather than making money I believe in making people happy, all other things are secondary. Money isn’t important, creative satisfaction is”

• “I used to sign autographs with the phrase with lots of love. I do not know how to speak or write a lot. My language is different. …”

• “One can be a big creator or one can be very hard-working. But to bring out these qualities, one needs the right time and opportunity.”

• “In my case dust has become Gold”

• “I only know music. I communicate with my fellow-human beings with that. That is sufficient for me.”

• “Is there anything more sorrowful than the whistle of the train or more happiness than in the saaral of the rain?”

A.R. RAHMAN AWARDS

Rahman was the 1995 recipient of the Mauritius National Award and the Malaysian Award for contributions to music. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his first West-End production.

A four-time National Film Award winner and conferred the Padma Shri from the Government of India, Rahman has also received six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fourteen Filmfare Awards and eleven Filmfare Awards South for his music and scores.

In 2006, he received an honorary award from Stanford University for contributions to global music. In 2009, for his score of Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman won the Critics’ Choice Award, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and two Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song at the 2009 Oscars. Rahman has received honorary doctorates from Middlesex University and Aligarh Muslim University.

Later the year Rahman was conferred the honorary doctorate from Anna University in Chennai. He has also won two Grammy Awards, for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Song Written for a Visual Media. Rahman was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honor, in 2010.

Rahman was nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score for the film 127 Hours. He is also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music for the same film. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Trinity College of Music in London.

Sleepless Night :Stories for Kids

There was an old Iranian who was intensely proud of two things – his long, white beard that reached down to his chest, and his ability to sleep the moment his head touched the pillow. One day, his 3-year-old grandson asked him how he arranged his beard when he slept: did it go under the blanket or did it remain above it? The old man had never paid attention to this detail, and he confessed he didn’t remember whether his beard remained above or went under the blanket. He promised to find out. It was very cold that night. The old man got into bed and pulled the blanket over himself. Then he suddenly remembered his grandson’s question. Long White Beard Old Man He became acutely conscious that his beard was under the blanket. He lifted it from under the blanket, and placed it above it. This made him feel that something was not quite right. So he tucked the beard under the blanket again. But he soon felt it would be better if it were out. In and out went the beard; first under the blanket, then above it, then under once again. The old man spent a sleepless night. The next morning the first thing he did was cut his beard to chin level, to the great joy of his daughter who, for several months, had been urging him to do just that.

Cooking the Khichdi : Kids stories

Birbal Stories It was winter. The ponds were all frozen. At the court, Akbar asked Birbal, "Tell me Birbal! Will a man do anything for money?" Birbal replied, 'Yes'. The emperor ordered him to prove it. The next day Birbal came to the court along with a poor brahmin who merely had a penny left with him. His family was starving. Birbal told the king that the brahmin was ready to do anything for the sake of money. The king ordered the brahmin to be inside the frozen pond all through the night without any attire if he needed money. The poor brahmin had no choice. The whole night he was inside the pond, shivering. He returned to the durbar the next day to receive his reward. The king asked "Tell me Oh poor brahmin! How could you withstand the extreme temperature all through the night?" The innocent brahmin replied "I could see a faintly glowing light a kilometre away and I withstood with that ray of light." Akbar refused to pay the brahmin his reward saying that he had got warmth from the light and withstood the cold and that was cheating. The poor brahmin could not argue with him and so returned disappointed and bare-handed. Birbal tried to explain to the king but the king was in no mood to listen to him. Thereafter, Birbal stopped coming to the durbar and sent a messenger to the king saying that he would come to the court only after cooking his khichdi. As Birbal did not turn up even after 5 days, the king himself went to Birbal's house to see what he was doing. Birbal had lit the fire and kept the pot of uncooked khichdi one metre away from it. Akbar questioned him "How will the khichdi get cooked with the fire one metre away? What is wrong with you Birbal?" Birbal replied "Oh my great King of Hindustan! When it was possible for a person to receive warmth from a light that was a kilometre away, then it is possible for this khichdi, which is just a metre away from the source of heat, to get cooked." Akbar understood his mistake. He called the poor brahmin and rewarded him 2000 gold coins.