The new Facebook Home ad, complete with drag queen

Facebook releases the launch ad for its new attempt to take over your Android phone. Here, Home takes over an airplane, with some interesting characters.

Such a drag.

The lovely thing about Facebook Home is that it allows Facebook to follow you, everywhere you go. You've always wanted that, haven't you?
You've always wanted Facebook to follow you onto your flight to Chicago, for example. Yes, even when you're flying coach.
So here's the launch TV spot for Facebook's new app-less Windows Phone-inspired creation.
A very nice-looking man is on a plane and he wants one last look at everything that's happening to and with his closest humans, before the airplane doors shut and the flight attendants start being passionately rude.
So we are offered a real-life enactment of the things he sees on his Home screen.
Yes, there are topless and barely underpanted men secreted in the overhead luggage bins.

And then there's noted drag queen Shangela Laquifa Wadley, the so-called Debutantess of the Deep South, who clearly has been a deep and southerly part of this passenger's or his friends' life in the very recent past.
What kinds of friends does this passenger have? What kind of secret life does he enjoy? Is his little nephew, here smeared in chocolate cake, aware of all this sexual liberalism his uncle espouses?
At heart, this ad is a delight.
No, not because it makes me instantly want to have Facebook Home on my Android phone. I would rather shave my eyebrows with a lawnmower, while lying underpanted in my neighbor's garden.
What is surely pulsating, though, is that it will immediately incite those who believe this nation is disappearing into a Web of depravity and vice to rail against Facebook's apparent support for men wearing very shiny dresses.
I can see the same sorts who oppose gay marriage -- or even gay, lesbian, bisexual or transexual people in general -- fulminating to within an inch of pulmonary expiration at this affront to America's values.
This is Facebook, the place where parents and grandparents feel comfortable sharing pictures of their cats and dogs and tending to their virtual pigs and goats.
Please take your front seat for the debate about whether Home is where America's heart is.

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Selectors leave Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan in the cold

Virender Sehwag is the only player after Sachin Tendulkar to score a double hundred in the 50-over format.

MUMBAI: The signs are ominous for Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. The national selection committee headed by Sandeep Patil has left them out of the 30-man preliminary squad for the Champions Trophy to be played in England in June.

The struggling trio had burst on the international scene under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy more than a decade ago. While form has long deserted Sehwag and Harbhajan, lack of fitness is said to be the reason behind Zaheer's non-inclusion. Collectively, Sehwag, Harbhajan and Zaheer have featured in 680 ODIs for India and their axing sends out a clear message that the selectors are thinking beyond big names as they plan for the next World Cup in 2015.

Surprisingly, prolific run-getter Cheteshwar Pujara, too, has not been included in the provisional list which will be pruned to 15 for the tournament which begins on June 5. Pujara is likely to lead the India 'A' team to South Africa at around the same time. The rule, however, doesn't stop the selectors from picking a player not named in the provisional squad. Off-spinner Parvez Rasool has been named in the list, making him the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to join the senior ranks.

Sehwag is the only player after Sachin Tendulkar to score a double hundred in the 50-over format. His 219 against the West Indies in December 2011 is the highest individual score. The 34-year-old, who has scored 8,273 runs in 251 ODIs with 15 centuries, was also been left out of the last two Tests in the recent series against Australia, which India won 4-0. Harbhajan has not played in an ODI since June 2011 while Zaheer has struggled with a calf muscle injury for the entire season.

Ganguly, however, has backed Sehwag, Harbhajan and Zaheer to stage a comeback. "Sehwag is 34, Harbhajan 32 and Zaheer 34. Age is on their side and I am sure they are motivated enough to stage a comeback," he said.

Patil's committee would have been encouraged by the fact that every player that they have picked has delivered when it mattered. For them, blooding youth seems to be the way forward. The likes of Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed have not let the selectors down in the opportunities that have been provided to them. Their coming good has only made the comeback trail tougher for the stars.

India are drawn with South Africa, Pakistan and the West Indies in group B of the Champions Trophy, from which the top two will qualify for the semifinals. The other group comprises England, Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Champions Trophy Probables

MS Dhoni, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Wriddhiman Saha, Dinesh Karthik, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Jalaj Saxena, Parvez Rasool, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav, Shami Ahmed, Irfan Pathan, Vinay Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Ishwar Pandey, Sidharth Kaul.

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Today`s quotes

“I finally understood what true love meant...love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.”

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Sustainable development, energy conservation, high on corporate agenda: Delhi Meet

In a recent Techgig.com meet, industry leaders discussed the need to use technology to further the green agenda of businesses

Understanding the urgent need for environmental reforms, businesses around the world are increasingly adopting green initiatives. Technological innovations and green solutions are enabling organisations to cut down their carbon foot-print. While advancements in technology have catapulted us into a different era, this has had some major environmental repercussions as well. In 2012, data centres worldwide consumed 322 TeraWattHours of electricity – the environmental impact of which is equivalent to cutting down billions of trees. Recently, news reports have been published about pollution due to internet which is estimated at 830 million Tonnes of CO2 every year. With the agenda of sustainable development, TechGig.com, in association with Vigyanlabs Innovations and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), recently organised a panel discussion with a focus on: ‘How technology can foster the corporate green agenda’.
Earth Hour, a WWF’s global campaign inspiring governments, businesses, communities and individuals to take a stand against climate change, was one of the key focal points of this discussion. The discussion witnessed the presence of many industry leaders and technology visionaries, representing an array of industries, highlighting the various green initiatives undertaken by them as well as the challenges associated with implementing them. The panellists included, Daya Prakash, CIO, LG, Samiron Ghoshal, Partner and Head – IT Advisory Services, Ernst & Young, Ramnik Kohli, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, EAFT Technologies,  Ravish Jhala, Corporate Head – IT, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, SK Wali, Head-CSR Projects, JK Organisations, Anil Veer, VP-IT, Aricent Technologies, Dharanibalan Gurunathan, Executive, Offerings Management & Development, Global Technology Services, IBM, India/South Asia, Srinivas Varadarajan, CEO, Vigyanlabs Innovations and Neha Simlai, Manager – Communications for Business and Sustainability, WWF.
Talking about the importance of green agenda in his organisation, SK Wali, Head-CSR Projects, JK Organisation stated, “Green means to deliver a product which utilizes less energy and recycle the product which is not used by the people. This might have been driven by the systems of getting more profitable figures, but now, along with the profitability, we see it’s giving huge dividends in terms of actually operating our manufacturing units. We are becoming more and more efficient across all domains. So, for us, green means to sustain our manufacturing base for a longer period.”
He also highlighted that they have started using silica based products instead of carbon black for making eco-friendly green tyres, which are already being used on roads.
Anil Veer, VP-IT, Aricent Technologies, stated, “Green means to do more with less. When our company started expanding, we noticed that there were numerous data centres. In the last two years, we have started consolidating and have migrated five data centres into one. In the past two years we have consolidated 85% of our IT infrastructure servers to a virtual environment. So, for us, green also means effectively and efficiently consolidating to energy efficient devices.”
He also pointed out that, with offices all across the globe, employees utilise a large amount of resources while travelling and for inter-office collaboration. “We provide an environment where they can collaborate extensively using various audio and video conferencing mediums. This helps to bring down the travelling requirements tremendously.”
Stressing the significance of green agenda in his organisation, Dharanibalan Gurunathan, Executive, Offerings Management & Development, Global Technology Services, IBM, India/South Asia, stated that green for IBM is far beyond technology, it is religion. “In an Indian context, buildings contribute close to about 30% of energy consumption and that is one of the biggest challenges we have. So, one of the themes that we have embarked upon is start building a smarter planet, building by building.”
Talking about IBM’s future agenda in terms of promoting green, he added, “All our research is on cloud. All our development labs are on virtualised desktops. That is again cloud. We want to take this entire agenda with our clients as well, and make an impact. Our ex-chairman has made a commitment that by 2015 we would build a 7 billion $ cloud terminal. This is because every cloud initiative translates to energy saving.”
Ravish Jhala, Corporate Head – IT, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts highlighted that every employee of the organisation follows a set of green guidelines called the green ethos. “In all our properties that we have built, 25-30% of the total area is marked as the green zone. This means a lot in today’s business scenario as this space could be utilised for extra rooms or business inventories. We dedicate this space for tree plantation and landscaping and build an overall environment for the neighbourhood.”
“Most of our hotels are built as lead certified hotels. Both IT and engineering play a major role in terms of lead certification. Our hotel in Bangalore is one of the first hotels in the country to be awarded the energy conservation consistency award by the President in 2012. The complete focus has been given on energy saving, sustainability and environment,” he added.
Daya Prakash, CIO, LG, pointed out that most of their products are built keeping in mind the energy efficiency agenda so as to ensure lesser consumption of energy while the product is being used.
Understanding the need to cut down on paper wastage during the office documentation process, he also pointed out that in his organisation, the complete workflow management and documentation has been IT-enabled. This has considerably helped them to bring down the wastage of paper as well as the time requirement of the approval cycles.
Ramnik Kohli, Vice President – Sales & Marketing, EAFT Technologies, stated, “As an organisation, our first focus towards going green is going paperless. We are offering our clients paperless solutions. We have partnered with various top institutions of India wherein, they would be distributing tablets among students to cut down the paper usage. Also, the whole courseware would be bundled through that. “
According to Samiron Ghoshal, Partner and Head – IT Advisory Services, Ernst & Young, from an end user perspective there are few pointers of how an industry looks at the whole green initiative. Bottom-line is paramount. Every entrepreneur looks at the bottom-line. Secondly, green agenda adds to the brand value and visibility, especially with the younger generation.
Srinivas Varadarajan, CEO, Vigyanlabs Innovations, stated, “While building intelligent power management solutions across industries, we found that awareness regarding what consumes how much of power in still lacking in most industries. People have to be made aware of how much power is consumed.”
Talking about their future agenda, Varadarajan stated, “We are going to come out with more and more energy efficient products and at the same time create more awareness and help people reap the benefits of energy savings in terms of ROI.”
Neha Simlai, Manager – Communications for Business and Sustainability, WWF, stated, “In terms of what we do on a daily basis, it is critical for organisations like us to engage with businesses on a more direct level. It’s necessary at this point for WWF as an organisation to leverage its position with businesses. But having said that, a lot of the NGO space, fortunately or unfortunately, runs on emotional movements and I don’t think we can break away from them at this point. Especially, given the general level of awareness in India and abroad as well.”

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Beauty benefits of neem leaves

Beauty benefits of neem leaves

Neem leaves are easy to obtain and can be used as a beauty aid in many simple ways. We tell you why it should be in your beauty list...

The humble neem is often ignored by urban folks in favour of more synthetic ingredients, but it has been used in Ayurveda for over 4,000 years.

Purifying water
Boil a concoction of neem leaves (about 50 leaves in two litres of water) till the leaves are soft and discoloured, and the water turns green. Strain and store in a bottle. Add about 100 ml of this to your bath water to rid the skin of infections, acne and white heads.

Skin toner
This can also be used as a skin toner — just dip a cotton-ball into the liquid and wipe your face with it every night. This will clear acne, scars, pigmentation and blackheads. This potion can be used as a hair rinse to treat dandruff and excessive hair fall.

Face pack
Cut about 10 neem leaves and boil them with small segments of orange peel in a little water. Pound them to a pulp. Add a little honey, yoghurt and soy milk, to form a smooth paste. Apply this to your face (can be done thrice a week). This will clear acne and breakouts, dry up white heads, pull out blackheads and even reduce the appearance of pores. Honey and neem are excellent moisturisers.

Hair conditioner
A paste made of neem leaves boiled in water and honey, and applied to the hair, leaves it well-conditioned, without frizz and dandruff free.

Healer
Extracts of neem leaves and seeds produce pain-relieving, antiinflammatory and fever-reducing compounds that can aid in the healing of cuts, burns, ear aches, sprains and headaches.

Root cure
The bark and roots of the neem tree have medicinal properties; in powdered form, they can be used to control lice and dandruff. Neem has anti-bacterial properties that help fight against skin infections such as acne, psoriasis, scabies and eczema among others.

Pour oil on it
Neem oil, leaves and neem extracts are used to manufacture health and beauty care products. Some products that use neem include soaps, bath powders, shampoos, lotions and creams, toothpastes and neem leaf capsules. They can be used to increase immunity, as a skin purifier or even as insect repellents, and pet care products.

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7 sources of vitamin D

7 sources of vitamin D

We list foods that are a great source vitamin D
Salmon
Salmon is known to be high in fat content, thus being an excellent source of vitamin D. One serving of salmon will provide you with your daily recommended vitamin D intake. In addition to salmon, tuna, catfish and mackerel are also some options for vitamin D.

Milk
Milk is also an excellent source of vitamin D. A single glass of vitamin D will provide you up to a quarter of the recommended vitamin D.

Cereal
Many cereals are also fortified with vitamin D. Before picking up a cereal box, remember to check the nutritional information to be sure of the level of vitamin D.

Eggs
The egg yolk is said to be high in vitamin D. Though the whole egg does not contain vitamin D, still it is advisable to have the whole egg.

Orange juice
In addition to milk and cereal, orange juice is commonly fortified. One glass of orange juice a day will give you a good dose of vitamin D.

Mushrooms
Mushrooms have a significant amount of vitamin D. The amount varies according to its type or varieties. Shitake mushrooms are considered to be one of the best sources of vitamin D.

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How Facebook Home may hurt Google

Facebook Home will operate on phones running Google's Android software and present Facebook status updates, messages and other content on the home screen.

NEW YORK: Facebook Home, the new application that takes over the front screen of a smartphone, is a bit of a corporate home invasion. Facebook is essentially moving into Google's turf, taking advantage of software the search giant and competitor created.

Facebook Home will operate on phones running Google's Android software and present Facebook status updates, messages and other content on the home screen, rather than making the user fire up Facebook's app. The software will be available for users to download on April 12 and will come preloaded on a new phone from HTC, sold by AT&T in the US.

Google gives away Android, the most popular smartphone software in the world, in the hope that it will steer phone users toward Google services, such as Maps and Gmail, and the ads it sells. Compared to ads targeting PC surfers, mobile ads are a small market, but it's growing quickly. Research firm eMarketer expects US mobile ad spending to grow 77 per cent this year to $7.29 billion.

With Home, Facebook is inserting itself between users and Google, diverting them to the social network's own ads and services. It's taking advantage of the fact that Google places few restrictions on how phone manufacturers and software developers modify Android. By contrast, Facebook Home would not work on the iPhone without approval from Apple, and close collaboration with the company.

"Facebook Home can only reside on Android because only Google was daft enough to allow it," said independent phone analyst Horace Dediu, via Twitter.

At the launch event Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Google was aware of the project, but Facebook didn't work them to create Home. Asked if he believed Google could change tactics and restrict apps like Home, he said it was theoretically possible, but highly unlikely for Google to do a "180-degree change" in its stance on Android's openness.

It's not the first time a big internet company has co-opted Android: Amazon.com has gone much farther with its Kindle Fire tablets. They run a version of Android that strips out all Google services, replacing them with Amazon's equivalents. Barnes & Noble Inc. does the same thing with its Nook tablets. These devices lie outside the Google system, whereas phones running Facebook Home still come with Google apps like Maps and the Play Store for music, movies and applications.

The Play Store has many examples of downloadable applications that modify the Android home screen - so-called "launchers." Home, however, represents the first time a major Internet company and Google competitor has created a downloadable launcher.

JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said Home may increase the pressure on Google to find ways to get people to spend more time on its Plus social network, which so far hasn't been as magnetic as Facebook's hangout. Anmuth also thinks the communication tools built into Home could decrease usage of Google's Gmail and Google chat services.

But Zuckerberg said the app will help Google.

"I think this is really good for Android," he told the audience at the launch event in Menlo Park, California Developers do their best work on the iPhone first, but with Home, Facebook is putting Android first. If consumers want the Facebook Home experience, they'll have to get an Android phone.

In a statement, Google seemed to agree. "This latest device demonstrates the openness and flexibility that has made Android so popular," it said.

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Depleted Delhi's first test at home against Rajasthan

Delhi's skipper Mahela Jayawardene with David Warner (left)and Kevin Pietersen (right).

NEW DELHI: The way things stand for Delhi at the moment, Mahela Jayawardene will gleefully take a hobbling Kevin Pietersen into his side for their second T20 league fixture against Rajasthan at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Saturday. Plagued by injuries to their top players including Pietersen, the outfit, which reached the playoffs last season, is suffering from starting troubles.

Jayawardene has the big task at hand of picking the side up from their six-wicket loss to defending champions Kolkata in the opening match of this year's league. His job is not made any easier with former skipper Virender Sehwag yet to recover from the back spasms that ruled him out of the previous match. "Viru will not be playing tomorrow (Saturday). His condition has improved and he has been putting in a lot of hard work with the physio but is still not fit to play," opener David Warner said here on Friday.

The worrying fact for the Delhi management is that apart from Jayawardene's fighting half-century, the side had very little to show from their opening tie. Their pace attack featuring Umesh Yadav, Irfan Pathan and Ashish Nehra was less than formidable. As things started to drift, the shoulders started to droop, which is not a pleasant sight for any skipper this early in the tournament.

The perfect way to boost spirits will be a win over Rajasthan on Saturday. The Rahul Dravid-led side is not the strongest unit going around the league and with Aussie powerhouse Shane Watson yet to join the side, this will be Delhi's opportunity to catch them on the wrong foot.

Dravid can call upon his two tearaways -- Fidel Edwards and Shaun Tait -- to unleash their thunderbolts. But considering Delhi's struggles against spin the other night, West Indian Samuel Badree and Aussie Brad Hogg might not be bad options too.

Maybe one of the Delhi batsmen needs to bat through the innings, much like Bangalore's Chris Gayle did on Thursday night. Warner, though, refused comparisons with Gayle. "Not all of us are six foot tall like him who can wield a 3kg willow with ease. He's a freak of nature and even his mishits go for sixes. All of us need to realise that we are not Gayle and the best thing will be to get off to a good start," Warner said.

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Clash of the Titans: Star-studded Mumbai gear up to take on Chennai

The clash between two-time champions Chennai and the cash-rich Mumbai is already showing signs of developing into the competition's El Clasico. (TOI Photo)

CHENNAI: Although India's annual T20 extravaganza is a relatively young tournament, the clash between two-time champions Chennai and the cash-rich Mumbai is already showing signs of developing into the competition's El Clasico. Such is the intensity when the two meet.

T20 action can be compelling and battles within battles only add spice. The sparks will inevitably fly when star-studded Mumbai take on the league's most-decorated franchise under lights at the Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.

Chennai, who have entered the finals on four occasions, are inarguably the team to beat since they boats the tournament's best victory percentage. But Mumbai with Sachin Tendulkar as the marquee player, interestingly, are the only team to hold the better of them head to head at 6-5.

While Chennai, traditionally slow starters, will look to kickstart the tourney on a winning note, Mumbai will be keen to get their campaign back on track following their cliffhanger defeat to Bangalore away on Thursday.

Mumbai are among the few teams to have breached 'Fortress Chepauk' -- home has always been Chennai's stronghold -- and had, in fact, defeated Chennai both home and away last season, when the franchise from the southern metropolis were the defending champions.

That said, however, MS Dhoni-led Chennai have invariably held their own in the big games, defeating Mumbai away in the 2010 final and again last year when they won the eliminator by 38 runs in Bangalore to book a berth into the play-offs.

Chennai were eventually denied a record hat-trick of titles, ambushed by Kolkata at Chepauk, and Dhoni, who appears to have regain his touch following the record 4-0 triumph over Australia in the recent Test series at home, will be looking to re-establish Chennai's supremacy in the premier global competition.

Interestingly, Chennai bolstered their pace department, which Dhoni accepted was the side's Achilles heel on certain occasions, during this year's players' auction, with Australian Dirk Nannes one of the top signings. Chennai will be without their two Sri Lankan players (Nuwan Kulasekara and new signee Akila Danajaya) due to the governing council barring Sri Lankan players from playing in Chennai owing to the political situation in Tamil Nadu.

They are depleted further due to the absence of South Africans Faf du Plessis (injury) and allrounders Albie Morkel and Chris Morris (domestic commitments). However, Dhoni said his side is sufficiently balanced and with a back-up option for every position.

Sri Lankan quick Lasith Malinga missed the season-opener with a sore back, a game that Mumbai allowed to slip through their grasp in the final over. His absence certainly hurt. "I may lose most of my finger nails. Disappointing not to have won the game. We have to analyse our game," said Ponting.

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Debutants Hyderabad begin with win as Pune fail to chase down 127

Hyderabad's bowler Dale Steyn (second right) celebrates with team members after taking a wicket against Pune Warriors during their IPL 6 match in Hyderabad. (PTI Photo)

HYDERABAD: Dale Steyn, world's premier fast bowler, took three wickets off fours balls in his final over, the 19th of the innings, to snuff out Pune's challenge on Friday. His effort helped Hyderabad open their league campaign with an exciting 22-run win. Pune needed a modest 127 for victory but were thwarted by a spirited effort by the host bowlers, led by Steyn and leg-spinner Amit Mishra. Both ended up with three wickets each.

After a steady opening partnership of 36, Pune kept losing wickets at regular intervals and let the pressure mount every passing over as they were dismissed for 104 in 18.5 overs. Pune had little to chase down in their opening league fixture and in making 48 for three at the halfway stage showed they had pencilled in a strategy to see of Dale Steyn's torrid opening spell of four runs from two overs.

Ishant Sharma too kept the other end tight as Robin Uthappa fell to Thisara Perera. The game was finely balanced after Perera struck twice in five balls for the addition of four runs and Parthiv Patel effected a smart stumping to get rid off Yuvraj Singh off Amit Mishra. Pune's struggle was similar to Hyderabad's earlier on Friday when the newest franchisee left it till very late in the innings and settled for a modest 126 for six in their debut game.

The pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium is known to be kind to batsmen. Angelo Mathews was lucky with the toss and packed as Pune are with quality players, they felt it was wise to chase.

Shikhar Dhawan's absence left a gaping hole at the top for Hyderabad and for the first time since the league started, four local players -- Akshath Reddy, DB Ravi Teja, GH Vihari and Ashish Reddy -- featured in the same team. It was understandable they were cautious to begin with but Akshath and his opening partner Parthiv Patel struggled to get a move-on.

Something had to give and Patel left. The hosts, reduced to 60 for two at the halfway stage continued to falter in the next five overs, adding 27 runs for the loss of two more wickets. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara fell trying to heave leggie Rahul Sharma out of the ground and Akshath followed his skipper to the dugout after making 27 (30b, 2x4).

Cameron White's first real attempt to infuse life into the innings saw him hole out to Mitchell Marsh off Marlon Samuels, who opened the bowling and did well to keep the rival batsmen in check while skipper Mathews shuffled the pack, not allowing the Hyderabad batsmen any sighter.

It was left to Thisara Perera to provide some pace and substance to the innings and his breezy 30 (18b, 2x4, 1x6) included 15 from one over off Samuels when the Sri Lankan left-hander picked his spot at mid-wicket for some special treatment.

Vihari, making his debut, Ravi Teja and Ashish put on a game fight but pacers Bhuvneshwar and Dinda were not easy to get away. Yuvraj Singh too did his bit to put the brakes on Hyderabad scoring with returns of 1/8 from two overs and Rahul Sharma did a fine job of checking the run flow. That the last five overs yielded just 39 runs for the loss of two wickets is a fair indication of how Pune bowled.

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BSNL Launches Wi-Fi Technology Module For Cars

Indore: In a development which is probably the first of its kind in the country, BSNL's Indore division today launched a Wi-Fi technology module for cars which will enable people to use Internet while they are travelling.

A Wi-Fi technology module which costs around 5000 to 6000 was first installed on an experimental basis in the official car of BSNL Indore unit's General Manager G C Pandey.

Pandey said that this was probably the first model in the country where the car has an antenna which receives Wi-Fi signals with a 3.5 mbps speed, from an exchange based on CDMA technology.

The model is expected be adopted by customers in a big way, once it gains popularity, he said.

A couple of days back, it was however heard that BSNL’s internet capacity had dropped by 21 percent due to multiple fibre cuts in three undersea cable systems. Though immediate comments could not be obtained it was said that preventions were being made to stop disrupting customers.

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Google releases full Google Glass explainer video

A video from the Web giant's presentation at SXSW shows what it's like to look through the lens of Google's Project Glass.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin wearing Google Glass.

Google developer advocate Timothy Jordan envisions Google Glass, pardon the pun, as a way for people to distance themselves from technology. This seems a bit oxymoronic, however, considering it's a device people would wear on their face.
Jordan expounds on this idea and explains more about Google's wearable augmented reality project in a new video released today (see below). The video is a recording of Jordan's presentation at last month's South by Southwest Interactive conference.
"Project glass is about our relationship to technology. It's about technology that's there when you want it but out of the way when you don't," Jordan said in the video. "It feels like technology is getting in the way more than it needs to. And, that's what we are addressing with project glass. It's so that you can still have access to the technology that you love but it doesn't take you out of the moment."

The nearly hour-long video goes through what Google Glass can do, such as record videos, take photos, chat, get directions, look up facts on the Web, and more. Jordan gives viewers a preview of the project's Mirror API, explains how the device works, and plays a video of what it looks like through the lens of Google Glass. He aims to show the audience that since Google Glass is worn on a user's face, it seamlessly becomes part of their everyday movements, thoughts, and actions -- which is unlike a smartphone that people need to dig out of their pocket or purse to check.
"This is the idea," Jordan said. "By bringing technology closer, we can get it more out of the way."
While Jordan said that Google Glass is still in its beginning stages and far from being done, reports say that the device is expected to arrive on the market for the general public later this year.

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Boeing wraps up 787 Dreamliner battery testing

The aircraft maker says it has completed certification testing for a new battery system meant to replace the one at the center of an FAA investigation over fire-related incidents.

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes off on a demonstration flight marking the final certification test for its new battery system.

When it comes to aircraft in flight, "uneventful" is a good thing.
Boeing today said that it has completed certification testing for a new battery system for its 787 Dreamliner designed to replace the one at the center of a Federal Aviation Administration investigation over recent fire-related incidents. Those incidents prompted the FAA to order airlines to ground their Dreamliners until the batteries were proven safe to operate.

The certification testing wrapped up with a demonstration flight on "line number 86," a Boeing-owned production Dreamliner built for LOT Polish Airlines. Boeing said that the aircraft flew for 1 hour, 49 minutes today from an airfield in Everett, Wash., with a crew of 11 onboard, including two representatives from the FAA.
"The crew reported that the certification demonstration plan was straightforward and the flight was uneventful," Boeing said in a statement. "The purpose of the flight was to demonstrate that the new battery system performs as intended during normal and non-normal flight conditions."
Boeing did not elaborate, but said it would gather and analyze data from today's 787 flight and deliver all requisite materials to the FAA "in the coming days."
Last month, Boeing announced that it had developed additional safety features intended to prevent heat issues with the lithium-ion batteries located in the 787's auxiliary power unit. The company's plan, which was approved by the FAA, calls for the batteries to be wrapped in new thermal and electrical insulation materials and encased in a stainless steel enclosure. Other measures include narrowing the acceptable level of charge for the battery.
Worldwide, 50 of the Boeing 787 Dreamliners had entered commercial service before the grounding.

Boeing works to fireproof its 787 batteries (pictures)

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Confused about Facebook Home? Ask Maggie has answers (FAQ)

In this edition of Ask Maggie, CNET's Marguerite Reardon explains what Facebook's new Home apps are and why you should care.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Facebook Home for Android yesterday during a press conference in Menlo Park, Calif.

Facebook wants to take control of your smartphone. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? And what the heck is Facebook Home anyway?

Facebook, which has been rumored for more than a year to be building a new so-called "Facebook phone," made a big announcement yesterday at its headquarters in California. The company took the wraps off Facebook Home, a set of apps that can be installed on your smartphone and integrate your whole experience with Facebook. Following the big announcement, I started getting questions from readers, friends, and other reporters about what this new software is and what it does. Most importantly, people wanted to know if they should care. To help answer these questions and to explain what Facebook Home is all about, I put together this FAQ in the Ask Maggie column to provide some basic information about the new apps.
What did Facebook announce on Thursday?
Facebook unveiled Facebook Home, which is a suite of apps that delivers an entire Facebook experience to your smartphone. As my CNET Reviews colleague Jessica Dolcourt points out in her post, Facebook Home isn't a new phone. It's not a new operating system. And it's not a new redesign of Google Android. It's just a set of apps that act as a "skin" that operates on top of the existing Android OS on your smartphone.

The apps become the "home" for your smartphone. In short, your device's home screen is turned into a "Cover Feed" that shows a slideshow-like stream of full-screen images from your Facebook friends with status updates that are layered on top of the pictures and scroll continuously. This allows you to see information from your Facebook friends, even when the phone is locked. Because the Home apps are integrated into the Android operating system other notifications will also show up on the "Cover Feed" including e-mails, missed calls, and text messages.
You'll be able to tap on those notifications to respond to messages and chats as well as "like" and comment on images and Facebook comments. Home also includes a new Facebook messaging feature called "Chat Heads" that allows you to get into conversations and chats more easily from any app on your device.
What is "Chat Heads," and how does it work?
"Chat Heads" is a new app designed by Facebook to make messaging more accessible on a mobile device. It allows people to engage in multiple conversations at once, and conversations via Facebook chat or SMS without opening a separate app.

The "Chat Heads" are little circular icons that appear as your friends' profile pictures and pop up at the top of your screen when you get a text message or Facebook message. The icons offer message previews and you can get right into the chat with one click of the picture. Active Chat Heads will remain on your screen while you do other things on your phone, such as read an article, listen to music, play games, or access other apps.
You can close a chat by flicking the message or icon off the screen. If you receive messages from multiple people, you can pick up the whole group of messages and flick them away.
How can I get the Facebook Home apps?
Facebook Home will be available for download from the Google Play store starting April 12. I thought Facebook was announcing a new phone. What happened to the Facebook phone?
Facebook also announced a phone that will have the Facebook Home app suite preloaded. It's called the HTC First.
How much is it and when and where can I get it?
It is $99.99 with a two-year carrier contract and is exclusively available on AT&T. It will go on sale April 12. If I don't want to get the new HTC First phone, can I download the Facebook Home app on any smartphone?
Right now, Facebook Home is restricted to a select set of HTC and Samsung Google Android devices. The HTC phones that will initially get access to the app are the upcoming HTC One, as well as the One X, and One X+. You can also get it on several Samsung devices, including the Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, and upcoming Galaxy S4.

A look at the HTC First, aka the 'Facebook phone' (pictures)

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Can I get Facebook Home on my iPhone?
No, the Facebook Home suite of apps is only available for Android smartphones right now. But it sounds like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg would like to get an iOS version on the market, too. He told reporters at the event launching Home that he would like to see the Facebook experience integrated into every device. But he acknowledged that getting it on an iPhone would require a partnership with Apple.

Ultimately, it will be up to Apple whether it allows Facebook Home to be used on the iPhone. As Zuckerberg acknowledged, Apple's iOS operating system is closed. So there is no way for Facebook to develop an integrated software "skin" over the Apple iOS operating system without Apple giving Facebook permission and working with the company to make the integrations happen. That's not the case with Google Android. Because Android is an open-source operating system, Zuckerberg said the company was able to simply develop over the top of the Android OS.
Can I get the Facebook Home apps on my tablet?
Right now, Facebook Home is only available for smartphones. But the company said it is working on an Android tablet version. Can I use other apps if I have Facebook Home on my phone?
Yes, you can use other apps even with Facebook Home installed. But instead of all your apps being on your home screen, you will need to go to the "app launcher." Facebook has created an app shortcut, but you need to manually put all your favorite apps in these shortcuts to have them pop up with one click. Are there advertisements in Facebook Home? In other words, will I get different ads pushed to me like the updates are pushed to my phone?
When the Home apps first launch there will be no advertising in the integrated Facebook smartphone experience. But you are smart to ask to ask this question. Facebook is not a software or hardware company. It's a media company and it makes its money from advertising. So that has to fit into the picture in some way. CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that advertising will be part of the experience down the road. But the company spent little time discussing this.

Dress your Android up in Facebook clothes.

This is definitely something that people should watch closely. And Facebook will have to be very careful not to annoy users with a flood of scrolling advertisements on their "Cover Feed" home page.
Is there any way to customize the app so that it doesn't just take over my phone?
CNET Reviews editor Jessica Dolcourt wrote in her initial review that it's possible to tweak certain settings on the app to customize it to your own tastes. But she notes that to get everything working together, you will have to download the Facebook app and Facebook Chat. Can I uninstall it if I hate it?
Facebook Home is a suite of apps. It's not software that is deeply integrated with the operating system of the device, so you will be able to disable it if you find you don't like it. Will I like this new app? Or will it simply be too much Facebook?
This will really depend on what kind of Facebook user you are. If Facebook is one of the top apps you use on your phone, and you are constantly checking for status updates, liking your friends' pictures, and commenting on posts, then you will probably really like the new Home apps. My CNET News colleague Jennifer Van Grove, who covers Facebook, said Home offers just the right amount of Facebook for most avid users:

Notifications, which would appear to be the most egregious offender in the intrusive arena, aren't any more obnoxious than the Facebook notifications you get on your current smartphone, because they're based on your settings. They are nice to look at, and to those who say this is too much Facebook, I say, adjust your settings.
Cover Feed gets you close, but not too close, to your friends. It's the perfect feature for people who feel like they're missing out on friends' updates...But in eyeing Cover Feed, I was most struck by how the full-screen photo experience makes nearly every pic look better than it actually is. Really, it does. And because every Cover Feed update, be it text or otherwise, is a photo, your home screen is always a bright and inviting place to live.

But there are some folks who simply think this is too much Facebook for their taste. My colleague Roger Cheng likened Facebook Home to the annoying software "skins" that Samsung, Motorola, and HTC put on their Android phones. Roger's beef with Facebook Home is the fact that it makes it more cumbersome to get to other apps on your device.

In stressing Facebook Home's shift of focus to people, perhaps the company is missing the point about owning a smartphone. While users spend an estimated 20 percent of their smartphone time on Facebook, they're spending the other 80 percent doing a lot of other different things, whether it's checking e-mail with Gmail, reading an e-book with Kindle, or checking in on FourSquare.

My take on the debate is that if you are a big Facebook user, give it a try and see if you like it. It has to be an improvement over the poor design of the existing Facebook app on Android. The good news is that you can uninstall the app and go back to the way things used to be, if you don't like it. And if you rarely check Facebook on your computer, let alone on your phone, and you think you might vomit if you see another picture of someone's baby eating her first birthday cake, then don't download it.
For me, my biggest fears about using Facebook Home are that the constant push of content to my device will drain the already terrible battery life on my smartphone. And that the constant updates will eat up my data plan. And the last thing I worry about is that once Facebook integrates advertising into the "Cover Feed," my smartphone's home screen will be overrun with ads for new running shoes and baby strollers.
Ask Maggie is an advice column that answers readers' wireless and broadband questions. The column now appears twice a week on CNET offering readers a double dosage of Ask Maggie's advice. If you have a question, I'd love to hear from you. Please send me an e-mail at maggie dot reardon at cbs dot com. And please put "Ask Maggie" in the subject header. You can also follow me on Facebook on my Ask Maggie page.

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Intel's next-gen 'Haswell' chip now shipping to PC makers

The chipmaker is shipping its most power-efficient mainstream processor to date, a source tells CNET. Intel also confirmed a bug in the accompanying chipset today.

Intel's Haswell-based laptop concept that was shown at CES 2013.

Intel's "Haswell" chip is now shipping to major PC makers, a source close to the company told CNET today.
Intel's fourth-generation core, aka Haswell, is "shipping to customers now and will launch later this quarter," the source said.
Intel is expected to make a statement to this effect at the IDF Beijing conference next week.

Haswell, expected by June, is the next-generation mainstream Intel processor that will power ultrabooks and a variety of hybrids that straddle tablet and laptop designs. Haswell's new microarchitecture will deliver "the single largest generation-to-generation battery life improvement in Intel history," according to a recent statement from Intel CEO Paul Otellini.
Intel is also expected to reiterate that its next-generation Atom chip for smartphones, "Merrifield," will be shipping to customers by the end of the year.
And "Bay Trail," its next-gen Atom chip for tablets, will be in products by the end of the year.
The quad-core Bay Trail chip is Intel's "most powerful Atom processor to date" and "doubles the performance of the current tablet chip, 'Clover Trail+,'" according to recent statements from the company.
Both Bay Trail and Merrifield are based on an overhauled Atom microarchitecture that uses out-of-order execution, not unlike Intel's mainstream Core processors.
Update: Intel sent out the following note to the media Friday afternoon. Note that chipsets with the bug, aka errata, will be "in production" during the initial ramp, which is taking place this month.

4th gen Core is on track for a mid-year launch. Intel issued a PCN documenting a chipset USB errata and stating that chipsets with the errata will be in production during the initial ramp. But Intel has confirmed that there is no chance of data loss or corruption. This issue has only been observed with a small subset of USB SuperSpeed thumb drives and does not affect other USB peripherals. We take all customer issues seriously and should any customer have a question or concern they can always contact Intel customer support.

The bug can cause USB 3.0 devices, like thumb drives, to disappear after entering standby. In some cases, removable devices have to be reconnected again, according to a report at BSN.

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Today`s quotes

“A person's a person, no matter how small.”

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4 Reasons why you shouldn’t eat bread

4 Reasons why you shouldn’t eat bread

Whether its sandwiches or subs, a lot of us love eating bread and do so, on a daily basis. But it isn't exactly the most healthy foods that there are. Here's why you should stay away from bread!
It doesn't have many nutrients:
Unlike other food items, bread, especially white bread and items made from it lack nutrients. You're not getting any fiber, you're not getting the wholesomeness of grains — you're basically getting nothing important out of it. While bread made of wheat is a little better, if you're looking for nutrients, bread made out of whole grains are what you must opt for.

It contains too much salt:
Most bread varieties, especially the processe3d kind that you buy from the supermarket, contain lots of salt. So if you eat lesser bread, the amount of sodium in your body is significantly reduced. Of course, one slice of bread, every now and then won't do any damage. In fact, you can bake your own bread at home, without adding too much salt.

It makes you gain weight
If you eat too much of bread, because of all carbs, salt, refined sugar and preservatives that it contains, it can make you put on pounds! Eating it in moderation is fine; especially when you take the time to make sure it's as healthy as possible.

It's not a wholesome, filling meal
Since certain kinds of bread lack nutrients, when you eat them, you might not feel satiated, because it's not filling!

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Team Bangalore breaks jinx to beat Mumbai at home for first time

Team Bangalore players celebrate after winning by 2 runs against Mumbai at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: Team Bangalore finally broke the jinx when they beat Team Mumbai at home, on their sixth attempt, in the IPL. In what was a heart-stopping finish, Bangalore squeezed out a two-run win after Kieron Pollard could manage only one off the final ball of the innings, bowled by Vinay Kumar. Mumbai needed 157 for a win and finished at 156/5 after Dinesh Karthik gave them hope with a 37-ball 60.



Mumbai required 10 runs in the last over but Vinay Kumar was equal to the challenge, dismissing Karthik and Rayudu off consecutive balls to help Bangalore to a memorable win.

Dan Christian's fourth over changed the complexion of the match with Karthik hitting three straight sixes and a four. The over went for 24 and the required run rate came down to nine per over with 27 needed off the last three overs. But Mumbai were denied in the end.

Some things don't change too fast, do they? For all of Team Bangalore's efforts to balance the side in the player auction earlier this year, their dependence on West Indian Chris Gayle appears a hard habit to shrug. And it became all the more evident in their IPL 6 opener.

Tasked once again with lending stability to the Bangalore's innings stifled by Mumbai's attack led by young pacer Jasprit Bumrah, Gayle (92 n.o, 58b, 11x4, 5x6) braved a knee injury to carry his bat and guide his team to a respectable 156/5. Supported by wicketkeeper KB Arun Karthik's steady 20 and a quick-fire 24 from skipper Virat Kohli, Gayle stole the show in telling fashion, finishing Bangalore's innings with a six off Munaf Patel.

Earlier, Mitchell Johnson justified Mumbai skipper Ricky Ponting's decision to bowl first after winning the toss by scalping Tillakaratne Dilshan in the third over. The Sri Lankan opener completely missed the line of the ball and saw his stumps shattered.

Next man up, Kohli then made his intentions clear, beginning with a boundary off Johnson before launching Patel for a huge six over long on. Things changed just as Kohli gave the impression that he had reserved his aggression for Mumbai's impressive first-change bowler Jasprit Bumrah but lost his wicket while trying to hit him.

Gayle then decided he would take his chances. The big Jamaican followed up a stand-and-deliver six over the sight screen off Bumrah in the ninth over with a massive effort over wide-long on that cleared the ropes by a mile in fellow Kieron Pollard's 11th over that yielded 15 runs.

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70% Indian leaders create demotivating work environment: Hay study

According to a recently released global study by Hay Group, a large majority of Indian leaders have a coercive style of leadership that leads to demotivated workers. The research says that 2 in every 3 Indian leaders (62 per cent) opt for the ‘coercive’ leadership style, compared to just 37 per cent globally. A far cry from the ‘inspirational, charismatic’ personality that a global workforce demands. Both Brazil and China were found to have performed better in this aspect.
Mohinish Sinha, leadership and talent practice leader at Hay Group India comments, “While the ‘coercive’ leadership style works well in a crisis or during a period of significant change, its overuse may lead to an erosion of innovation. It is the ‘coaching’ style of leadership that is most preferred in the Asian context – 81 per cent of the most high-performing organisations had leaders using it as a dominant style. We find a ‘coaching’ leader focuses on building long-term capability, even at the expense of short-term performance.”
The study goes on to say that in the world’s emerging markets the ‘coercive’ style remains the approach of choice, with around half of Asian and South American leaders (48 per cent and 60 per cent respectively) citing it as their dominant style. On the other hand, ‘pacesetting’ leadership style remains the most scarcely used in both regions. North American leaders are the most successful in creating positive work climates.
Anwesa Sen, Global Head – Human Resources and Organisation Development, Geometric Global told TimesJobs.com Bureau that while the definition of leadership changes with every situation, the most effective type of leaders have an inclusive style of functioning. “Leadership to me is the attitude and ability to positively influence others, take people along, and build faith as well as trust amongst them. It is the art of leading yourself and others towards achieving stated goals.”
Adds Ruth Malloy, global managing director of leadership and talent at Hay Group, “Every style has its place, and each can be effective in different circumstances. In the same way a golfer uses a range of clubs, leaders need to utilise multiple approaches, and be able to adjust them to each team member or business situation. The better leaders are at adapting their style and the broader the range of styles they use, the more likely they are to create a high performance climate.”
The study is based on an analysis of Hay Group’s Styles and Climate data, covering 95,000 leaders in over 2,200 organisations across the world.

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Facebook unveils Home for Android smartphones

Facebook Inc unveiled "Home" software on Thursday to place the world's social network front and center on Android users' smartphones, a move that may divert users from Google services and steal some of its rival's momentum in the fast-growing mobile arena.

Its new family of apps will let users display mobile versions of their newsfeed and messages prominently on the home screens of a wide range of devices based on Google's Android operating system, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters.

Shares in Facebook climbed 2 percent to $26.83 in the afternoon. Google stock was off 1.5 percent at $793.81.

"Why do we need to go into those apps in the first place to see what's going on with those we care about?" Zuckerberg told the hundreds of reporters and industry executives gathered at Facebook's Menlo Park campus.

"We want to bring all this content to the front."

Facebook executives showed a new "chatheads" messaging service and "coverfeed" -- both of which dominate users' home screens and continuously feed messages, photos, status updates and other content from Facebook's network.

"Home" brings the competition between the two Web superpowers to the mobile front, which is becoming many consumers' primary conduit to the Internet. Facebook, the world's largest social network, and Google, the dominant Internet search engine, are locked in battle for Internet users' time online and for advertising dollars.

For Facebook, bolstering its mobile presence is critical. Nearly 70 percent of Facebook members used mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to access its service at the end of 2012, and 157 million of Facebook's roughly 1 billion users accessed the service solely on a mobile device.

The company has stepped up efforts to ensure that its revenue-generating ads can be viewed on mobile devices and Zuckerberg has said that the company's engineers are now focused on creating "mobile-first experiences."

Reports that Facebook was developing its own smartphone have sporadically appeared for years though Zuckerberg has shot them one down, saying that building a Facebook phone would be "the wrong strategy."

With specialized software that adds a layer on top of Android, Facebook may get many of the benefits of having its own phone without the costs and risks of actually building a hardware device.

Home will be available as a free download from the Google Play Store starting April 12. Home works on the HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung GALAXY S III and Samsung GALAXY Note II. Home will also work on the forthcoming HTC One and Samsung GALAXY S4, and on more devices in the coming months.

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Chrome beta gets just a bit faster

Chrome finds speed gains in beta by managing memory better, and tweaks some forms, some HTML5, and some offline support, too.

Better-looking calendars in Chrome 27 beta.

The latest update to Chrome beta refocuses its attention on speed through better memory management, as well as making numerous HTML5 and offline improvements in today's release.
Google reports that Web site content loaded in Chrome 27 beta for Windows, Mac, and Linux, should appear about 5 percent faster because of how the browser manages its resources. Basically, the browser's resource scheduler gives more priority to critical resources, over preloaded content.

Calendar forms should look a bit cleaner in the beta because it now uses HTML5 date and time < input > code. WebReal-Time Communication (WebRTC) also gets further support in this beta as live audio input now works with the Web Audio API for low-latency audio editing and playback, but it works only in Windows and Mac at the moment.
Chrome 27 beta includes a new Sync FileSystem API that lets developers sync app data. This could allow for significantly improved offline use of Chrome Web Apps. Developer tools have been improved as well, allowing Web developers to make more customizations to how they view their tools.

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Facebook wrestles Google for control of your phone

The social-networking giant is inserting itself between consumers and Android, and that should make Google a little nervous.

Facebook Home lies on top of the Android operating system.

Facebook doesn't want anything to come between you and your friends, not even Google or Android. Facebook today unveiled a new downloadable user interface that takes over your smartphone's home screen, lock screen, and wallpaper. Instead of the regular Android features, you're treated to a slideshow of updates, photos, and shared links.

Facebook wants to take direct control of its user base, and it's going about it in a smart way. Home, which will be available for download on April 12 on select Android phones, isn't a new phone or operating system, or even a radically customized version of Android like Amazon's Kindle Fire. Home is a collection of apps and a user interface stitched together to create the appearance of a new smartphone experience, which makes it even more dangerous. It's one that has the potential to supercede Android for some -- particularly the most devout Facebook fans. That should have Google worried.
"You can see how [Home] takes over the phone, and you see more and more of what Facebook wants you to see and less and less of what Google wants you to see," said Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin.
Because the software runs on top of Android, Facebook can get Home into a lot of devices quickly and with little restriction. Home users could conceivably stay in this newly constructed socially focused bubble, or at the very least reduce their reliance and use of core Google-built features.
"What really matters to Google is that their search gets used on all devices," Bajarin said. "I wouldn't think Google is necessarily concerned until something starts to show [Facebook Home] will tread on their search business model."
In addition to its "cover feed" slideshow presentation, Home includes an app launcher to bookmark the essential apps you want to access, as well as "chat heads" that notify you whenever someone sends you a message. Those heads don't disappear, no matter what else you access, until you respond or hide them.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook Home today at a press event in Menlo Park, Calif.

Android is a free, open-source product for a reason. Google generates most of its revenue from advertising on the phones themselves, and it relies on users to access its search, e-mail, and related products. While Facebook didn't mention its own search tool, Graph Search, during the Home launch today, it's not hard to imagine the social-networking giant adding those capabilities to its new product. And what's to say Facebook won't launch its own competing app store or build a mapping program? After all, Facebook and Google are butting up against each other in more areas all the time, such as Google getting into social networking and Facebook expanding into search. Mobile is a key battleground for the two companies, and it's certain both will be pushing to control the market. For now, Google has a massive leg up with the dominant adoption of Android.
Home will allow Facebook to track more user behavior on mobile devices, as well as serve up more advertising, said Ovum analyst Jan Dawson. Both are key advantages Google gains from Android.
"Since Facebook doesn't make an operating system for mobile devices, this is the next best thing," Dawson said.
For now, Google is staying neutral on Facebook Home.
"The Android platform has spurred the development of hundreds of different types of devices," said a Google representative. "This latest device demonstrates the openness and flexibility that has made Android so popular."

Facebook Home

Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, noted during his presentation today that Home actually "is really good for Android" as it should get app developers to bring "high-quality experiences" to the operating system. However, he also noted that Home will appear first on Android, not iOS, because Facebook could do whatever it wanted with the operating system. "Google's Android is open, so we don't have to work with them," Zuckerberg said.
That simple comment likely underscores where the two companies stand on Home. While Google doesn't outwardly oppose it because of its commitment to remain open, the search giant can't be happy about it.
Of course, Zuckerberg could be right, and Home could benefit Android. If the product really takes off, it could cause people to dump their iPhones in order to get access to Home on Android devices. And whether it takes off or not, it's unlikely the majority of users will constantly stay in the program rather than accessing other apps.
Either way, Google is likely to keep a close eye on Facebook's efforts and whatever Zuckerberg has up his sleeve next.

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KEDI BILLA KILLADI RANGA DVD RIP DOWNLOAD!!!

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Django Unchained DVD RIP DOWNLOAD!!!

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Today`s quotes

“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”

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5 things to remember during an exit interview

Prepare yourself before appearing for an exit interview. The 5 must-dos
Srilagna Saha, TimesJobs.com Bureau
Many of us still have a misconception about exit interviews. Whether it is just another platform for outgoing employees to vent or their only chance to prove a point, is highly debatable. However, irrespective of the situation, employees must remember to follow certain rules during their exit interviews. You were a good performer, but could have done more; you were a people’s person, but couldn’t gel well with some; you had multi-tasking abilities, but were overworked – are some key points to highlight during an exit interview.
Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access, says, “At times employees are apprehensive because they don’t want to spoil their relationship and thus avoid being quoted for any feedback. Companies must maintain confidentiality.” It is also crucial for the HR to invite suggestions and feedback from these outgoing employees. This only allows the management to create a more employee-friendly working atmosphere and work upon workplace issues that hamper employee productivity and motivates people to leave.
Udit Mittal, Managing Director, Unison International points out 5 points that employees should remember during an exit interview:
Maintain your composure: You might come across very trivial questions but maintaining your composure is very critical, no matter how irrelevant you feel they might be. Be graceful and witty while answering tricky questions.
Emphasis on your experience: Discuss your experiences and key learning from them. Always mention about the opportunities those were given to you and how you were able to perform on them, which has enhanced your skills for future endeavours.
Don’t be negative:  Focus on the key learning from difficult situations at the work place. You should portray that every crisis had given an opportunity for you to be adaptable in different situations and be a quick fixer to any given problem.
Comments should be constructive: Be honest but polite while putting across your grievances. Instead of accusing anyone or any process, try giving examples on how it can be improved for better results.
Don’t take out personal grudge: It’s better to express your problems in a non-personal way rather pin-pointing it to any individual. Remember, it is unnecessary for you to comment on someone (negatively) who you are not going to see for much longer.
According to Puri, exit interviews have become more like a formality and this has degraded the whole idea and importance of such interviews. Companies should encourage HR to be more proactive while dealing with these interviews, at the same time make this a process to understand and improve workforce management rather than having it as a formality for outgoing employees only.

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