Lenovo ThinkPad X301 Notebook PC

Lenovo has announced the ultra thin ThinkPad X301, joining the X300 to challenge the MacBook Air. The Lenovo ThinkPad X301 is powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV U9300 1.2GHz or U9400 1.4GHz processor. Both processor come with 6MB L2 cache and 1066MHz FSB. The ThinkPad X301 gets up to 2GB of RAM and 80GB or 128GB SSDs.
As for connectivity, X301 supports Bluetooth and WiFi. It also offers several options, Mobile boradband, WiMax, and GPS. The X301 will be available on 26th August and the starting price is $2599.

8th Olympic gold record: Michael Phelps breaks Mark Spitz record

BEIJING — Michael Phelps won his record eighth gold medal Sunday at the Beijing Olympics as a member of the victorious U.S. 400-meter medley relay team, breaking a tie with Mark Spitz for most golds in a single games.
Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Phelps and Jason Lezak won in a world-record of 3 minutes, 29.34 seconds, lowering the old mark of 3:30.68 set four years ago in Athens.
The U.S. swept the men's relays in Beijing, with Phelps leading off in the 400 and 800 free relays. Lezak anchored the 400 free to a narrow victory over France to preserve Phelps' historic bid.
Australia took the silver in 3:30.04.
Japan earned the bronze in 3:31.18.

Winster.com: a new social gaming site where you help others win

Housewife planned it all.

The games on http://www.winster.com/home.jsp are
Bingo bash
Poker pals
Burger buddy
Spell squad
Picture magic
Match Makers
Chain Gang
Facets
Doku deluxe
slot Social

the prizes to be won are

$25 Dinner Certificate
Movie Ticket
Omaha Steaks Gift Cert
$15 Music Gift Cert
5 Pairs of Earrings
Kodak Digital Camera

San Mateo, CA (PRWEB) July 23, 2008 -- Sometimes mothers make the best inventions. If you play games over the Internet, you have lots of company. Like many women, Michelle Kaplan plays games on her home computer to relax after a long day. But somehow, the typical games she found online just didn't seem right to her. Most of them pitted players against each other to win points, status or prizes.
"It seems to me most online games are better suited for young men that like to slay monsters or make touchdowns," says Winster Co-Founder Michelle Kaplan. "But I'm just not like that. I socialize with my friends by helping them, not competing with them. The last thing I need is more stress in my life."
So Kaplan got the idea to build a different kind of game -- one where people cooperate, rather than compete, to help each other win. Working with her husband, a computer engineer, she came up with a new type of game where people win prizes faster if they work together. The result was Winster.com -- where, as it says on the web site, '...friends help friends win free prizes'.
"I wanted games people would play with each other rather than against each other in a relaxing, friendly environment," says Kaplan. "Then I realized players could help each other win prizes. That's when it all came together."
More Like a Coffee Klatch:
"Winster is more like a coffee klatch than a game site," Kaplan explains. "People make new friends quickly and easily because they aren't trying to beat each other. Helping out other people is much
more fun than you might think."
Kathleen Valentino, a regular Winster member, says, "Due to health reasons, I am housebound, which can be very isolating. Since I started playing Winster, I have found a network of friends to socialize and play fun games with."
To date, the husband and wife team has created ten games to choose from. To play a game on Winster.com, you first pick a prize you want to win, and then solve some sort of puzzle to earn points until you have enough points to claim your prize. Up to five players sit side by side in a virtual room where they can see each other's puzzles. The trick is they can help each other by trading pieces they don't need for pieces they do need -- so everyone wins.
A Hobby Turns into a Business:
What started as a home project in their garage quickly grew into a real business. Michelle's husband Jerry Kaplan now works full time managing a team of Silicon Valley engineers building games in the Winster style. "Who knew this would be such a big deal?" he says. "We've had hundreds of thousands of people play games at Winster.com, and some of them spend many hours each day making friends, winning prizes, and just plain having fun."
To design the games, the Kaplan's took familiar activities like Poker, Scrabble, and Bingo and adapted them to this new concept. For instance, on Winster everyone can see your Poker hand, and the goal is to trade cards with your neighbors so that everyone gets the best hand they can.
Valentino concludes, "It has been very difficult for me to stay connected with my friends outside my home. Now, I play Winster.com with old friends and continue to meet new friends as well. I finally feel like I have my social life back."
About Winster:
Winster, Inc. operates a new type of Internet game site that caters to people who play online games as a social outlet rather than a competitive one. The site offers innovative games designed to foster a sense of community and promote positive social interaction by enabling players to help each other winnprizes. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California

Vornado 615L 3 Speed Hi Velocity Floor Fan

The Vornado 615L 3 Speed Hi Velocity Floor Fan is not like your usual air moving device, this model looks pretty cool. Most fans I have had are very noisy, but the 615L is very quiet and you will barely be able to hear it.
The Vornado 615L 3 Speed Hi Velocity Floor Fan stands 34-inches tall and has a 12-inch diameter blade to help move. As we said the fan is quite but still offers great performance.
The fan has 3 speed controls which can push the air up to 80 feet. The air is directable which provides a great movement of air at many angles.
The fan is light which makes it more portable. The fan also improves your heating and cooling in your home, as it helps to circulate the air in your room.

Men's bantam : 54 KG: Light flyweight : Olympic boxing KUMAR Akhil (Ind) vs GOJAN Veaceslav (Moldova)

Off the three Indian boxers into the quaterfinals, AkhilKumar faces an equal opponent and he has high chances of making into the semis thus ensuring an Olympic medal for India. His bout with Gojan Veaceslav (Moldova) is slated for August 18th evening. good luck to Akhil Kumar.

Men's fly 51 Kg: Olympic Boxing :BALAKSHIN Georgy (Russian fed) vs Jitendra kumar (Ind)

It will be tough bout for jitendra who faces an experienced Balakshin Georgy who finished 5th in Athens and has won european Championship. ಗಳವು ಅಗಲಿಯೆಂದು ಕೆಳುತೇನೆ.

Usian Bolt: fastest man from Jamaica breaks the 9.70 sec barrier

Usain Bolt smashed olympic and world records to become the fastest man on earth.His timing was 9.69 seconds. He is seen waving to media cameras even before he finishes. Bravo usain Bolt. seems he can beat 9.65 as well

Usain Bolt of Jamaica won the 100 meters Saturday night, set a world record, and did it so easily he was mugging for the camera before he crossed the finish line.
Bolt finished in 9.69 seconds, despite dropping his hands and losing his form about 20 meters from the finish line.
He appeared to glance at the video screen overhead and to his left, then lowered his hands and slowed as he neared the finish line. As he crossed he thumped his chest with his right hand.
Bolt had set the record of 9.72 seconds at a meet on May 31 in New York.
Richard Thompson of Trinidad & Tobago was second. Walter Dix of the U.S. took the bronze.

The achievements of Usain Bolt before the final.

Rank Event Year Venue Result

Olympic Games

Heats 200m 2004 Athens, GRE 21.05

World Championships

2 200m 2007 Osaka, JPN 19.91

2 4 x 100m Relay 2007 Osaka, JPN 37.89

8 200m 2005 Helsinki, FIN 26.27

Golden League

2 200m 2007 Zurich, SUI 20.19

2 4 x 100m Relay 2007 Zurich, SUI 38.82

3 200m 2007 Brussels, BEL 20.14

Super Grand Prix

1 200m 2008 London, GBR 19.76

1 200m 2007 London, GBR 20.06

2 100m 2008 Stockholm, SWE 9.89

2 200m 2007 Lausanne, SUI 20.11

2 200m 2005 London, GBR 19.99

3 200m 2006 Lausanne, SUI 19.88

4 200m 2006 London, GBR 20.54

Grand Prix

1 100m 2008 New York, NY, USA 9.72

1 200m 2008 Athens, GRE 19.67

1 200m 2008 Ostrava, CZE 19.83

1 200m 2006 Zagreb, CRO 20.49

1 200m 2006 Ostrava, CZE 20.28

2 200m 2007 Sheffield, GBR 20.08

2 200m 2007 New York, NY, USA 19.89

World Athletics Final

3 200m 2006 Stuttgart, GER 20.1

Men's Middle (75kg): Olympic boxing: KUMAR Vijender (IND) vs GONGORA Carlos (Ecuador)

Kumar vijendra will have a tough bout against GONGORA Carlos (Ecuador) on august 20th. Gongora was ranked 9th at World Championships Middleweight 2007 Chicago, IL, USA while Vijendra was distant 17th.

If Vijendra manges to create an upset, India can dream of a Olympic bronze.

0.01 seconds and 50.58 and Phelps beats all odds and even destiny to win

Smiling michael phelps after a destiny miracle victory thus equally Mark spitz's 7 Olmypic golds record

BEIJING - It must be destiny at work. There was no way, absolutely no way that Michael Phelps could have won his record-tying seventh Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in the 100-meter butterfly this morning. He was seventh at the turn, more than six-10ths of a second behind Serbia's Milorad Cavic. He was half a body length behind with 25 meters to go. He was still in midair when Cavic was at the finish.
And yet somehow, Phelps got his hand on the wall first to win by a hundredth of a second, setting an Olympic record (50.58), equaling the standard for most victories at one Games, which countryman Mark Spitz set in 1972 in Munich, and picking up a $1 million bonus from sponsor Speedo.
"When I took that last stroke, I thought I lost the race there, but it turns out that was the difference," said Phelps, who's almost certain to pick up his eighth gold in tomorrow's 4 x 100 medley relay (broadcast tonight at 10:58 EDT), which the Americans never have lost at Olympus. "I'm at a loss for words."
It was the closest finish imaginable. After Serbian team officials filed a written protest contesting the result, the Omega timing people slowed the video replay to a thousandth of a second and the freeze frame showed that Phelps had won. "The timing system was in perfect condition, perfect order," said race referee Ben Ekumbo. "There is no doubt."
It was an eerie replay of the same event in Athens four years ago, when Phelps trailed for the entire race before touching out countryman Ian Crocker by four-100ths. The difference was that Phelps already had missed his chance for seven golds by then. This time, he still was chasing history, and he seemed to be impossibly behind.
Cavic, a University of California graduate who'd come out of retirement more than a year ago, seemed an unlikely man to beat Phelps. He hadn't made the final in 2004 and was only sixth at last year's world meet. Yet he was a finger's length from pulling off the greatest upset in Olympic swimming history.
"A hundredth of a second is the most difficult loss you can have, especially at the Olympics," said the 24-year-old Cavic. "But it's a complete miracle to me that I'm here. I'm enjoying this moment, from my heart."
This was the individual race Phelps was most worried about, after swimming 15 heats, semis, and finals during a marathon week. What he needed, with his tank running low, was a fuel injection, which coach Bob Bowman impishly provided. "Beforehand, Bob said it would be good for me if I lost," said Phelps. "When he said that, I was fired up. I said, 'I'm going to go for it.' "


Phelps always has had a monster back half in the 100 fly, running down rivals over the final 50. As he had in Athens, Phelps went into overdrive, picking off rivals one at a time - Jason Dunford of Kenya, Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea, Andrew Lauterstein of Australia (who won the bronze), Andrii Serdinov of Ukraine, and then Crocker. But this time, it appeared that he had too much ground to make up.
Phelps could see the Serb ahead of him, reaching for the wall. Though he's the master of the fingernail touch, the magic hand that comes out of nowhere, Phelps had never done it when he still had open water ahead of him. If he hadn't been in mid-surge, and if Cavic hadn't been gliding, Phelps would have had six golds and one silver.
As it was, he had no idea whether he'd won or lost. "I had to take my goggles off first to make sure the 1 was next to my name," he said. "When I saw the 50.58 and the 50.59 and I saw the 1 next to my name, that's when I sort of let my roar out."
It was a day of stunning accomplishments that otherwise would have made headlines. Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington wiped out the oldest record on the books - Janet Evans's 8:16.22 in the 800 freestyle, which had stood since 1989. "I knew when I touched the wall I was going to win the gold, but I didn't expect to get the record," said Adlington, who chopped more than two seconds off the mark in 8:14.10. "And by that much is unbelievable."
Brazil's Cesar Cielo Filho shocked everyone in the men's 50 free, winning his country's first swimming gold medal in an Olympic-record 21.30, as Australian world record-holder Eamon Sullivan finished sixth. "My dream was to be an Olympic champion," said Cielo Filho, "and that dream is now realized."
And Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, who'd won three silver medals here, finally collected a gold in the women's 200 backstroke in a world-record 2:05.24, ahead of US rival Margaret Hoelzer (2:06.23), with Rhode Island teenager Elizabeth Beisel fifth in 2:08.23.
"This was a great experience," said the 15-year-old from Saunderstown, who represents the Bluefish Swim Club in Attleboro, Mass., and who was fourth in the 400 individual medley. "I'm a little disappointed in my swim, because my best time would have been third, but it's my first Olympics and it's great to have it under my belt for the future."
Phelps also was 15 when he made his first appearance at the Games, finishing fifth in his only race. Now, he's the master of the pool, with only 100 meters between him and immortality. "I have seven out of seven so far," said Phelps, who'll swim the butterfly leg on the medley relay. "I don't know what to say."

India monsoon from June 2008 to August 15 2008

FULL DISC image from kalpana satellite showing water vapour as of August 16th. Shows trpoical depression in orissa spreading across India creating more water vapour dense zones

Despite the global warming, India has received normal rainfall and recently some areas got intense downpours. See the map attached.

The Indian food security that is entirely dependent on monsoon must heave a sign of relief.

MAIN EVENTS for week ending august 13.

Ø A depression formed over Orissa coast, close to Puri in the evening of 9th August. It weakened into a low pressure area on 10th evening over north Orissa. It then moved northwestwards across Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh during 11th & 12th. This system caused widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls occurred over Orissa, north Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and East Rajasthan during the week.
Ø Widespread/fairly widespread rainfall occurred along west coast, Gujarat Region, Madhya Maharashtra and South Interior Karnataka during the week with increase in intensity during second half of the week.

Outlook For The Week Ending On 20th August 2008

· Under the influence of the interaction between mid-latitude westerly trough and a cyclonic circulation in lower levels fairly widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls is likely over northwest India during 1st half of the week.
· Fairly widespread rainfall activity likely over the Gangetic Plains, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim and northeastern States.
· Subdued rainfall activity is likely over the remaining parts of the country.