5 foods we think are totally healthy

5 foods we think are healthy

You may have already made the switch from white bread to brown bread in a conscious bid to eat healthy and save your diet. But have you thought the brown bread you pick up every time from your local general store could well just be a brown colour bread?

Blame our new found consciousness for healthy eating that has led FMCG companies to up the ante by inundating the market with a host of high nutrition foods and then suavely marketing them as essential lifestyle products. From heart-healthy cooking oil, crunchy granola bars, fruit-flavoured yoghurt, to dry fruit-sprinkled muesli, we have begun hoarding everything that screams 'low calorie' in a last ditch effort to save our health.

Despite the number of hours at the gym we wonder where we are going wrong. Well, the reason behind this is foods we think are healthy, but are actually not. Delhi-based wellness expert Dr Shikha Sharma helps us identify such foods and their possible substitutes.

Healthy food trap: Brown bread
After it slowly sunk in that white bread is bad for health as it is made of all purpose flour and can lead to obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes, we made a reluctant transition to brown bread. Now, it turns out the brown bread locally available is no more than regular white bread coloured brown by using chemicals. By having brown coloured bread regularly for breakfast you are doing your body no good, worse still if you are exercising as well.
Break free with: Multi-grain bread or porridge (dalia)
Dr Sharma advises you rather get used to the more coarse multi-grain bread which may not be the most appetising in the first place, and may not make for the perfect toast with your egg or greens. Better still, if you can have a bowl of dalia or porridge everyday by stirring in a few vegetables of your choice. It is wholesome breakfast food.

Healthy food trap: Breakfast cereals
You have been stocking all sorts of breakfast cereals for a while since you discovered parathas are lousy for breakfast. But reconsider a moment. Not all breakfast cereals on the market are low-calorie, or the least bit healthy. When buying breakfast cereals be extremely picky about the ingredients of your pack; check for the sugar content, artificial colouring, salt, fibre and fat content. It is always advisable to steer clear of the sugar-frosted, chocolate-coated varieties as you don't want your first meal to do anything but pump sugar into your body.
Break free with: Oatmeal or wheat flakes
A bowl of oats in the morning is good for those suffering high cholesterol and diabetes, provided you don't add extra sugar to it. The high fibre content in oats balances the blood sugar, and relieves people prone to depression. You can even alternate it with wheat porridge which is a nice change from run-of-the-mill breakfast cereals.

Healthy food trap: Flavoured yoghurt/milk
Your local dairy shop will first produce a strawberry-flavoured yoghurt cup when you ask for yoghurt. Such is the hoopla surrounding every food that's flavoured. Its novel and apparently healthy. But it is only preposterous to think that they contain real fruit pulp and probably as good as plain yoghurt. All your strawberry, blueberry and mango flavoured yoghurts are loaded with sugar and chemicals to get the desired colour and sweetness, for real fruit pulp can never be that sweet. The same goes with flavoured milk.
Break free with: Plain yoghurt or fruits
Plain yoghurt preferably set at home is the ideal and the only way you should have yoghurt if you are truly concerned about healthy living. Fruits are another healthy addition to your diet provided you do not squeeze the pulp out every time.

Healthy food trap: White rice
Devoid of nutrition, white rice is nothing but a refined grain that has been stripped of its vitamins, minerals and fibre. Cooked white rice is all starch that easily converts to glucose in our body and shoots up our blood pressure, or gives a tummy bulge. White rice should especially be avoided by those who are carb sensitive as even a little bit of rice could make them feel full, and even fat. Also, white rice leaves you hungry too soon as your body takes very little time to break it down and digest it.
Break free with: Brown rice
If rice is a must for you, switch over to brown rice as it is healthier and less fattening. Brown rice is not as refined as white rice, and hence retains some of the nutrition. Besides, it takes longer to deliver the glucose into your bloodstream allowing your blood pressure to stay unaffected.

Healthy food trap: Granola bars
Crispy cereal bars are all over the market and are marketed as a healthy snack option, one that satisfies our sugar craving. The truth is granola bars are simply loaded with refined sugar. They of course do a lot of favouring and add muesli among other cereals to it, but ultimately it is a sugar bar packaged with cereals. You can have them once in a while to purge your sugar urge, but don't get addicted.
Break free with: Dry fruits or sprout salad
Sweet craving can be sated with dates, raisins, and dry apricot among other dry fruits. But if you wish to have something more filling, make a quick sprout salad by taking a bowlful of sprouts, squeezing in half a lemon, small shreds of green chilli and onion, and tossing it together.

Carbohydrates, dairy, sugar and oil are our established dietary villains; we could do better by tweaking our diet routines to include less of these and more of others.

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Won't play for South Africa again: Albie Morkel

"By all accounts, I won't play for South Africa again," said Albie Morkel.

CHENNAI: Albie Morkel has been a crucial component of the Chennai Super Kings team since the beginning. However, his indifferent form for South Africa has seen him dropped from the national side and the 32-year-old even went on to lose the central contract.

Albie appears to be disillusioned with the manner he has been treated by the national selectors and he told the TOI on Wednesday that he has no national ambitions left. The allrounder, who is currently playing for Titans in the South African T20 tournament, is looking forward to a great season with CSK. Excerpts from a chat:

This is your sixth season with CSK. How do you see it going for yourself and the franchise?

I've really enjoyed the last five seasons at CSK. We've grown into a very strong squad, and have had some good success. This year we will have some new faces and I'm looking forward to knowing them better. As always CSK will be a team competing for the trophy. If we can keep it simple and play pressure situations well, we will do well.

You lost the central contract with South Africa sometime back. Are you targeting IPL to stage a comeback?

No not at all. By all accounts, I won't play for South Africa again, so it's not a desire of mine to prove anything to anyone. My focus will be to do my best for CSK and contribute on and off the field. I've enjoyed playing for the Titans the last month or so and have done well. I would like to carry my form into IPL 6 and enjoy the tournament.

What makes you so important in CSK, a team which is so full of talent?

T20 cricket requires players that can change a game on its head very quickly. That's why we are a strong team because we have many players who can do that. I guess I'm one of them.

Dhoni reckons you are one of the best finishers. What is the secret of being such a good finisher?

Nice to receive a compliment like that from the captain. Obviously a lot of hard work at training, hitting a lot of balls. You have to try and stay calm, read the situation and most importantly, in my position, be ready from ball one.

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Kolkata Knight Riders begin with a bang

KKR players greet bowler Sunil Narine (second left) after the dismissal of Delhi Daredevils' batsman David Warner during their IPL match in Kolkata.

KOLKATA: Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a winning start in IPL 6 with a six-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils at a packed Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

The hosts did face a few hiccups as they chased a modest 129 for victory. But, in the end, they romped home comfortably, with six wickets and eight balls remaining. Captain Gautam Gambhir led the chase with a 29-ball 42 while Jacques Kallis (23), Manoj Tiwary (23) and Yusuf Pathan (18 not out) playing the supporting role.

The win, though, was facilitated by last season's Man of the Tournament, Sunil Narine whose spell of 4-0-13-4 made sure Kolkata did not have to chase many.

Gambhir had everything going his way --- he won the toss, put the rivals into bat and wrapped up their innings for 128 only. He then led from the front to steer his team to a position of strength as the DD bowling and fielding looked rusty.

DD skipper Mahela Jayawardene hoped that the youngsters will come good in the absence of key players like Virender Sehwag and Mornie Morkel. But Unmukt Chand and Manprit Juneja failed to deliver as the onus fell on the skipper to put up a challenge before the Knights at a jam-packed Eden Gardens.

KKR bowling mentor-cum-pacer Brett Lee straightaway set up the tone of the tournament by sending Chand's off-stump for a walk with the very first delivery of the evening. But Jayawardene and David Warner steadied the ship thanks to some wayward bowling by both Lee and Jacques Kallis.

Gambhir then had to throw the ball to Narine to force a breakthrough and the mystery bowler responded immediately. The West Indian got his fifth ball to jump a bit more to have Warner edge it to the safe hands of Kallis at first slip.

Juneja never looked comfortable in the middle and his frustration got the better of him when he tried to lift Balaji over the in-field only to be caught beautifully by a diving LR Shukla at deep point.

Naman Ojha and Johan Botha also left in quick succession. The going was so smooth for KKR, that Gauti, who removed Narine from the attack after just one over, brought him back only in the 16th and the spinner claimed three more overs in his last three overs to finish off with four for 13, restricting Delhi to a modest total.

Losing wickets at regular intervals prevented Jayawardene on the other end from breaking loose. The former Sri Lankan skipper had to stay in the middle and he resorted to those tiny nudges and tickles to keep the scoreboard moving.

It was only after completing his 50 off 46 balls, that Jaywardene opened up and hit Lee for the first six of the match over mid-wicket and followed it up with a four through long-on. But he fell in the next ball in a rather soft way, being caught at cover by Narine off a full toss. But it was only because of his 52-ball 66 that DD were able to post something on the board.

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Mozilla Firefox 20 brings enhanced private browsing, new download manager

Mozilla Firefox 20, latest version of the popular web browser, is now available for Windows, Mac, Linux, as well as, Android.

The new version offers a better implementation of web browsing in Private mode as it allows users to open a new private browsing window without closing or changing their current browsing session. This essentially means that users can open a separate window for private browsing, while the other windows remain unaffected and continue to record browsing history. The feature has even been extended to the Android version of the browser allowing users to open a private tab. The feature also enables users to check multiple email accounts of one service provider simultaneously.

The new Firefox release also comes with a new download manager in the Firefox toolbar, allowing users to monitor, view and locate downloaded files without the need to switch to another window. The download manager is similar to the one offered by the Safari web browser.

In addition to the above features, Firefox for Android adds support for additional devices running on a less powerful processor architecture, ARMv6 processors. This means that phones  like Samsung Galaxy Next, HTC Aria, HTC Legend, Samsung Dart, Samsung Galaxy Pop and the Samsung Galaxy Q will be able to run Firefox for Android. So the browser extends support to 50 million more phones, according to Mozilla.

The release also brings features for developers For developers including getUserMedia, a part of the WebRTC specification that allows developers to quickly and easily write code that accesses the user's camera or microphones. The new version also includes a developer toolbox that offers quick access to developer tools in one window and gives developers easy-to-remember ways to switch between tools. It also offers Canvas Blend Modes that allows developers to define how they want the Canvas to draw over an existing image to create different visual effects.

The new release of the browser can be downloaded from Firefox.com.

Change Log for Firefox 20 for Windows, Mac and Linux:

- NEW: Per-window Private Browsing.
- NEW: New download experience.
- NEW: Ability to close hanging plugins, without the browser hanging
- CHANGED: CContinued performance improvements around common browser tasks (page loads, downloads, shutdown, etc.)
- DEVELOPER: Continued implementation of draft ECMAScript 6 - clear() and Math.imul
- DEVELOPER: New JavaScript Profiler tool.
- HTML5: getUserMedia implemented for web access to the user's camera and microphone (with user permission)
- HTML5: <canvas> now supports blend modes
- HTML5: Various <audio> and <video> improvements.
- FIXED: Details button on Crash Reporter
- FIXED: Unity plugin doesn't display in HiDPI mode

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Yahoo Mail announces partnership with Dropbox

Ever since Marissa Mayer took over the realms of Yahoo in her hands, the company has managed to create quite a buzz. In its latest move, the company has announced that it has partnered with Dropbox to help Yahoo Mail users attach files easily and quickly.Yahoo users can link their Dropbox account to their Mail account by logging in with their Dropbox credentials. Once this is done, they can easily attach any file on their Dropbox to any email, or save received attachments directly on their Dropbox. If you need to send a big attachment (>25MB) from your Desktop, you can drag and drop the attachment into your email, but send it through Dropbox, so the recipient's mailbox isn't flooded.
Yahoo, which is the third most used mail service behind Gmail and Hotmail, has been trying hard to revamp the user experience on its Web and mobile services. Both Gmail and Hotmail already offer integrated cloud storage in the form of Google Drive and SkyDrive respectively. Now with the help of this integration, Yahoo too joins the league.

The integration will also be fruitful for Dropbox as they will be able to tap new customers. The new Dropbox users will be able to create an account from within the Yahoo Mail and start using the same.
Commenting on the integration, David McDowell, Senior Director of Product Management on Yahoo! Mail said in blog post, "Starting today, Dropbox is available within Yahoo! Mail. This integration allows you to share and store files more easily, whether they are vacation photos or important documents like tax returns and research papers. And, because files can be stored in your Dropbox account online, it's easy to find the files you want even when you are away from your desktop."
He further added, "Dropbox is available within Yahoo! Mail for the Web in English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. For those of you new to Dropbox, you can quickly create an account from within Yahoo! Mail".
Yahoo has recently acquired mobile news aggregator Summly. The company has been making series of small acquisitions over the past year with the intention to strengthen its mobile services.

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Full-size photos arrive for real on Google+

Trying to keep its photo fans happy, Google now lets people upload full-resolution images to Google+. But big photos count against Google's 5GB free limit.

People can enable full-size photo uploads through Google+ settings.

(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Google now lets Google+ users override a setting that limited photos they uploaded to a maximum width or height of 2,048 pixels, a move that photo enthusiasts will welcome but that will mean people will have to keep a closer eye on how much data they have stored at Google.
Previously, Google+ photos were limited unless they were uploaded automatically from an Android device using Google's software, or unless people embarked on a somewhat complicated workaround using Google's Picasa photo editing and cataloging software. Now, by changing Google+ settings, people can upload full-resolution photos through the usual Google interface.

A size of 2,048 pixels may sound like a lot, and in most cases, it is. But with high-resolution displays on the market, it's not enough for top quality. Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro has a resolution of 2,880x1,800, its 13-inch sibling is at 2,560x1,600, and the Chromebook Pixel is at 2,560x1,700.
There's a big catch with big photos: they count against the 5GB of storage space Google offers for free for this and Google Drive. You can buy more Google storage capacity at $2.49 a month for 25GB or $4.99 a month for 100GB. Or Chrome OS customers get 100GB for three years along with Chromebooks and Chromeboxes, except for Chromebook Pixel customers who get 1TB for three years.
Photography is increasingly important to social activities on the Net, in particular since smartphones married cameras and full-time network connections. Google is racing to build a photography hub that rivals old-time sites like Yahoo's Flickr, top destinations such as Facebook's ordinary photos and Instagram photo-sharing service, and newer services such as 500px
Google programmer Jon Emerson described the new Google+ option in a Google+ post last night:

To enable full-size desktop uploads, just visit your settings at www.google.com/settings/plus, and check "Upload my photos at full size." Afterwards, any files larger than 2048px will count towards your Google storage (up to 5GB free). Photo storage at 2048px or smaller remains free and unlimited.

The feature dovetails nicely with the Google+ pan-and-zoom ability that Google has added to Google+, which lets people explore high-resolution images better. If you want to try that out, here are some high-resolution 60- and 80-megapixel shots I took with Phase One medium-format cameras

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The first call from a cell phone was made 40 years ago today

In the past four decades, the world has gone from monster handsets to pocket-sized portable computers.

 

Martin Cooper changed the world when he made the first cell phone call 40 years ago.
The former Motorola vice president and division manager made the call on the company's DynaTAC phone while standing in front of the New York Hilton on Sixth Avenue. His first call: to the head of research at Bell Labs, a company that also was attempting to build the first cell phone.
Cooper's call did more than untether people from their fixed phone lines; it opened the door to true mobility and continues to affect virtually every aspect of our lives.
Long gone are the clunky phones, such as the DynaTAC, or the large cell phone famously used by Zack Morris on the television sitcom "Saved by the Bell." In their places are sleek smartphones and tablets with massive brains and access to a super-fast wireless connection. People don't just use their mobile devices to make phone calls. In fact, they do a lot less of that now. They use their phones to browse the Internet, order delivery food, play word games with each other, and keep up with the ever-increasing tsunami of e-mails and text messages.
Cooper remains a revered figure in cell phone history. He had another moment to shine at Motorola's Razr event last fall. When current Motorola executives introduced him, the throngs of jaded bloggers and reporters stopped their typing to pay their respects for his accomplishments.

Martin Cooper and his Motorola DynaTAC.

A lot has changed since Cooper worked at Motorola and the company was a world-beating giant in the telecom industry. Now, what's left of the Motorola cell phone division largely has been swallowed up by Google, which now dominates the industry with its Android mobile operating system. What hasn't been gobbled up by Google and its partners (primarily Samsung Electronics) is left to Apple, the other major player in the field.
As part of the 40th anniversary, Cisco put together an infographic (above) that highlights some of the milestones that got us from Cooper's first call to today's Google Glass and beyond. In 1992, the first commercial text message is sent ("LOL"). Two years later, Tetris makes its debut as the first cell phone game. In 2004, the first Wi-Fi-certified cell phone is introduced and is now a commonplace feature as the wireless carriers look to unload as much traffic as possible on Wi-Fi.

From brick phones to pocket computers in 40 years (pictures)

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The graphic also highlights the introduction of Apple's App Store in 2008, marking the first of a new generation of application stores and inspiring legions of developers.
Looking ahead, the advent of cellular technology has enabled wholly new connected devices, as evidenced by an image of Google Glass making its way to the infographic. The carriers, meanwhile, are looking to connect everything from cars to dog collars and medicine pill bottles. Cisco projects by 2017 there will be more than 10 billion mobile devices around the world, with video accounting for 66 percent of all traffic.
But it all goes back to that first phone call.

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Google parts ways with Apple over WebKit, launches Blink

Both Chrome and Safari will move faster when uncoupled from each other, Google argues. But it's not just about technology: Social issues also factored into the schism.

A years-long marriage of convenience that linked Google and Apple browser technologies is ending in divorce.
In a move that Google says will technologically liberate both Chrome and Safari, the company has begun its own offshoot of the WebKit browser engine project called Blink. Initially it uses the same software code base that all WebKit-based browsers share, but over time it will diverge into a totally separate project, Google announced today.
The move marks the end of years of direct WebKit programming cooperation between the two rivals. WebKit is an open-source project, meaning that anyone can use and modify the software, but previously Google and Apple were all contributing to the same code base. With Blink, each company will go its own way, working separately to add new features and to support new Web standards rather than being able to capitalize on the other's work.
Major "forks" in open-source projects can be divisive and bitter, though a certain collegiality among Web programmers seems likely to forestall that negative outcome in the case of Blink. The pains of forking WebKit into Blink are worth it, argued Linus Upson, the Google vice president of engineering for Chrome.

"We're confident this will allow us to move faster and allow the rest of the WebKit community to move faster, which ultimately will allow the Web to move faster," Upson said.
Apple declined to comment for this story. Opera Software, which scrapped its own Presto engine and adopted Google's Chromium version of WebKit, will use and contribute to Blink, according to Opera Web evangelist Bruce Lawson.
The Blink name is a reference to the despised and now extinct blink tag of early HTML that made text blink off and on. It follows the pattern of Google naming projects after what it deems relics from the past: Chrome is designed to minimize user-interface "chrome" that surrounds Web pages; the Chromebook Pixel's high-resolution screen is designed to make pixels disappear; and Blink is designed to do away with browser engine irritations.
WebKit is a browser engine, software with the job of processing Web pages' instructions and rendering the result on a computing device's screen. Google used WebKit to give its browser a running start, but now Chrome is mature enough to stand on its own.
It's not just technical matters that led to the split, though. There never has been a single WebKit agenda for Apple and Google, and social tensions persisted as the two groups tried to work together.
Technical differences: Multiprocess design
One major example of how the Apple and Google WebKit projects have diverged involves how the browsers divide up computing processes running in parallel.
"Chromium has a very different multiprocess architecture than the other WebKit-based browsers," said Alex Komoroske, product manager for Google's Open Web Platform team. And because that's such a foundational part of the software, not some high-level module tacked onto the core, it's really hard to accommodate multiple approaches, he said.
One example of something Google would like to do is assign different sections of Web pages called iframes to various computing processes. "It would be great for security and stability and performance if we could have iframes embedded in pages be a separate process," Komoroske said. "But it would require a lot of change that would really disrupt the rest of the WebKit community."

Linus Upson, vice president of engineering for Chrome, speaking at Google I/O in 2011.

As Web apps have become more sophisticated and the Internet has become a foundation for so much work, entertainment, communication, and learning, Web engines have risen commensurately in importance. They're now effectively operating systems unto themselves -- sometimes explicitly, as in the case of Google's Chrome OS and Mozilla's Firefox OS. Those heavy browser responsibilities mean core design decisions, such as multiprocess management, are critical.
Initially, Blink and WebKit will be identical as the former first splits off from the latter. But from that point forth, divergence becomes a reality.
"Over time they'll evolve in different directions, which will make it harder to share code," Komoroske said. "It'll be increasingly difficult to share a straightforward patch."
That forking also means others using the WebKit engine -- a list that includes Samsung, BlackBerry, Opera, Amazon, and others -- will have to decide which side of the fence they want to end up on.
WebKit growing pains
In principle, WebKit benefits from many contributors and from a dominant foothold among mobile browsing by virtue of iOS and Android. In practice, however, WebKit has been fragmenting as more and more parties get involved.
Google's Paul Irish described the WebKit variety well in February, shortly after Opera announced its plan to scrap Presto. Apple and Google WebKit implementations differ in how they display text and graphics, use hardware acceleration, and communicate over the network, for example. And even from its first days in public, Chrome had a different engine for running JavaScript programs.
In addition to Opera's big move, Google and Apple have also been expanding WebKit. Previously, Google's Android browser was a separate project, although based on WebKit, but the company pulled it into the main WebKit code base as it built Chrome for Android.
And Apple is doing the same thing, "upstreaming" elements of its iOS browser into the main WebKit project rather than maintaining them downstream in a separate software repository. (Open-source software development is an exercise in metaphor: Code comes in trees that can branch or fork into separate projects, and code changes can flow downstream to subprojects or upstream to higher-level master repositories.)
Apple's iOS move illustrated some frictions between Google and Apple engineers.
In one discussion, Chrome programmer Adam Barth objected to what he called a "growing trend of unilateral action by Apple in this project."
In response, Apple's Maciej Stachowiak tried to ease diffferences:

If we'd taken an equally hard line when Google wanted to merge the Chromium port to trunk, with a number of design choices in place that we didn't agree with but which were hard to change, it probably still wouldn't be in the tree to this day. I don't think that would have been a good thing for the WebKit project.

Perhaps the most succinct summary of the situation came in a long post titled "WebKit wishes" by Chrome programmer and former Safari programmer Eric Seidel. He pointed to the difficulties of supporting no fewer than eight separate systems for building software off the same code base; to the lack of an overarching decision-making process to decide upon what new features to bring to a huge fraction of Web users; and to social difficulties between the Apple and Google teams:

The WebKit community is full of brilliant engineers. Yet I frequently feel a lack of trust in my (or others') judgment, or witness hot-headed remarks on bugs, lists or IRC...Social problems are perhaps harder to solve for us technical types, but I worry that for many of us it's just become "us" and "them," and we've stopped trying.

Compatibility changes?
WebKit's power on the Web -- especially in the mobile world -- has triggered some angst and teeth-gnashing. Mozilla and Opera, for example, fretted when Web programmers built mobile sites that worked only with WebKit browsers.
When Opera threw in its lot with WebKit, more people fretted at the loss of an independent browser engine.
But Blink means that some of that independence is returning.
"It's our belief that having multiple rendering engines will spur innovation," Komoroske said. "In the long term, we're increasing our commitment to standards."
One downside of that independence means that Web programmers will have to test their sites with more browsers. To invoke existing features that aren't yet standards on Blink, programmers will be able to use the "-webkit" prefix in their code. For new features, Google wants to avoid such prefixes altogether by adopting Mozilla's practice of keeping immature features behind a flag. Users must specifically set the flag before the feature is enabled.
Another downside is that programmers won't be able to share as much work supporting new features.
"By sharing the code base, we gain certain efficiencies," Upson said. Overall, though, it's worth it, he argued. There are inefficiencies, too, in trying to get engineers to agree on a single approach or to accommodate different approaches. "We only wanted to do this if the net efficiency gain would be positive for everyone."

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Today`s quotes

“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

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8 Most Expensive Players of IPL 6

8 Most Expensive Players of IPL 6

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The stage is set for the 6th edition of the highly anticipated Indian Premier League, and emotions are running high in the field as well as the stands. Another thing that has run high is the prices at which the top players for the championship were bought.
We give you a list of the 8 most expensive IPL players this season.

1. Glenn Maxwell, Australia

Image Credit: © BCCL
This Aussie all-rounder got the biggest slice of the auction pie, with the Mumbai Indians team buying him for a whopping 1 million dollars. This makes Maxwell the first and only million-dollar player till now in the IPL series. For a young player who debuted in international cricket only over a year ago, he has come a long way in a short span of time. With such a heavy investment, Mumbai Indians are all set to get their hands on the Cup for the very first time.

2. Ajantha Mendis, Sri Lanka

Image Credit: © BCCL
The next top earner in the IPL 6 auction was Sri Lankan bowler Ajantha Mendis. Pune Warriors acquired Mendis at $725,000. A Second Lieutenant in the Sri Lankan Army, Mendis began his international cricketing career in 2008 and has stowed away quite a number of laurels in his kitty already. These include the Man of the Series Award in Asia Cup 2008 and the Emerging Player of the Year in LC ICC Awards ceremony in the same year.

3. Kane Richardson, Australia

Image Credit: cricketteams (dot) info
Another acquisition of the Pune Warriors was Kane Richardson, a right-arm fast-medium bowler from Australia. Pune Warriors, who has not won any IPL or Champions League championship as yet, bought this young Aussie for $700,000. Debuting in international cricket just this year with only 1 ODI to his name, this paceman was suffering from a back ‘hot spot’ a few weeks ago. However, he confirms that he is now “good to go” for IPL. For the sake of Pune Warriors, we certainly hope so!

4. Abhishek Nayar, India

Image Credit: © BCCL
Pune Warriors have splurged quite a bit on getting the perfect team, and their third acquisition was Indian all-rounder Abhishek Nayar. The franchise team bought Nayar at $675,000, more than 6 times his base price (which was $100,000). This makes him the most expensive Indian player in IPL 6. Nayar, who has already played for Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab earlier in his career, has a batting average of 23.47 in T20.

5. Thisara Perera, Sri Lanka

Image Credit: espncricinfo (dot) com
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera was roped in by the newly founded Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will be playing their maiden match this IPL, at $675,000 as well. Perera became an IPL player in 2010, when he was purchased by the Chennai Super Kings. He was later bought by the Kochi Tuskers and subsequently by Mumbai Indians.

6. Christopher Morris, South Africa

Image Credit: espncricinfo (dot) com
After a frantic bidding between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, South African all-rounder Chris Morris went to the latter for $625,000 (over 30 times the base price). Morris had recently sustained a quad injury in December last year, in his T20I debut against New Zealand.

7. Sachithra Senanayake, Sri Lanka

Image Credit: espncricinfo (dot) com
Another all-rounder that was purchased at the same price ($625,000) was Sri Lankan Sachithra Senanayake. Kolkata Knight Riders, who are looking to defend the IPL trophy after their victory in the last season, purchased Senanayake on the suggestion of coach Trevor Bayliss.

8. Dirk Nannes, Australia

Image Credit: © BCCL
The oldest of the lot, 36-year-old Aussie left-arm fast bowler Dirk Nannes was roped in by the Chennai Super Kings at $600,000. A T20 specialist, he previously played for Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Nannes will bring in an element of confidence in the CSK team, and there is more to him than meets the eye. Not only is he a professional skier, but has also played for Netherlands cricket team previously.
9 teams bid, 37 players sold and around 12 million dollars spent – the game just got hotter with more than just the trophy at stake. How the auctioned players perform in the field will unfold in the days to come.

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World's first solar plane to fly across US

The Solar Impulse plane, which requires zero fuel and relies solely on solar panels and battery power, would be the world's first plane powered purely by solar energy.

HOUSTON: A first of its kind ultra-lightweight plane powered completely by the sun is set to fly coast-to-coast this spring.

The Solar Impulse plane will stop in Dallas city in Texas during its historic cross-country journey that begins on May 1, its creators announced today.

The plane, which requires zero fuel and relies solely on solar panels and battery power, would be the world's first plane powered purely by solar energy.

The two Swiss pilots of the plane, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, want to complete a flight from Moffett Field to New York City, after spending 10 years designing it.

It is expected to arrive in the Big Apple by early July and will stop in Phoenix (Arizona), Dallas-Ft. Worth, Washington DC and either Nashville (Tennessee), Atlanta (Georgia) or St. Louis along the way.

"It carries only one pilot and no passengers, but it carries a lot of message," Piccard said.

"Today we can't imagine having a solar plane with 200 passengers. But in 1903 it was exactly the same," he said, noting the sense of impossibility that surrounded the first airplane flight that took place that year.

"We don't know what's going to happen in the future, but we have to start and see where technology takes us," he said.

The US flight is the latest step towards the ultimate goal of Solar Impulse team; that of making a flight around the world by 2015.

The plane uses creative engineering and physics to harness the sun's energy for power even after the sun sets.

It has a wingspan equivalent to a 747 jetliner, the weight of a station-wagon, and the power needs of a small scooter.

The solar panels across its wings harness power from the sun during the day and lithium-polymer batteries store that energy for overnight trips.

A carbon-fibre material formed in a honeycomb structure makes up the bulk of the plane, which allows for its feather-weight.

In 2010, the Solar Impulse plane completed a 26-hour overnight flight and in 2012 flew from Switzerland to Morocco without any fuel.

To fly around the world, the team needs to fly for five days continuously, which the current plane isn't equipped for.

They would also need to find more efficient batteries and motors, as well as improve the plane's reliability, Borschberg said.

"You have no time to do maintenance and no possibility to change parts," he said of an around-the-world trip.

Piccard is also known for his flying adventures: in 1999 he travelled around the world in a hot air balloon.

In its current form, however, the Solar Impulse is far from having any major practical application. The plane travels at a leisurely cruising speed that is lower than the highway speed limit in the United States and can hold just one passenger in a cramped cockpit.

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8 Indian spices that prevent cancer

8 Indian spices that prevent cancer (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

Not every battle is struck by a wave of violence and not every fight culminates in bloodshed.

When the opposition in question is an adamant disease like cancer, our armoury should be packed with a lifestyle of regular health check-ups and a diet including foods that double as anti-cancer agents.

When actress Lisa Ray was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a relatively rare cancer of the bone marrow, all she said was, "I'll beat cancer". Carrying this spirit of defeating a disease often labelled 'incurable', we try to find out diet methods, especially in the selection of spices that can avert the multiplying of malignant cells in the body that gradually mature into insurmountable cancer cells.

Our grandmothers would in no time prepare us a glass of warm milk with saffron sprinkled on top when we went crying to her with bruise on our knee or wound on the elbow. The herbal turmeric paste soothed minor cuts and healed all skin rashes. These age-old kitchen tricks are little more than mere quick-fix tactics. Spices like turmeric and saffron are inherent with medicinal properties that, when incorporated to our diet from an early stage strengthens our bodies against invasion of toxins, bacteria and virus.

Senior consultant surgical oncologist Dr. B. Niranjan Naik and senior clinical nutritionist, Fortis La Femme, Shipra Saklani Mishra, inform us about the goodness of Indian spices with cancer-fighting properties and the necessity of their inclusion to our eating habits.

Turmeric/Curcumin: This is the king of spices when it comes to dealing with cancer diseases, besides it adding a zesty colour to our food on the platter. Turmeric contains the powerful polyphenol Curcumin that has been clinically proven to retard the growth of cancer cells causing prostrate cancer, melanoma, breast cancer, brain tumour, pancreatic cancer and leukemia amongst a host of others. Curcumin promotes 'Apoptosis'- (programmed cell death/cell suicide) that safely eliminates cancer breeding cells without posing a threat to the development of other healthy cells. In cases of conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the surrounding cells too become a target in addition to the cancer cells. Therefore, the side-effects are imminent.

Fennel: Armed with phyto-nutrients and antioxidants, cancer cells have nothing but to accept defeat when the spice is fennel. 'Anethole', a major constituent of fennel resists and restricts the adhesive and invasive activities of cancer cells. It suppresses the enzymatic regulated activities behind cancer cell multiplication. A tomato-fennel soup with garlic or fresh salads with fennel bulbs make for an ideal entree prior to an elaborate course meal. Roasted fennel with parmesan can be another star pick.

Saffron: A natural carotenoid dicarboxylic acid called 'Crocetin' is the primary cancer-fighting element that saffron contains. It not only inhibits the progression of the disease but also decreases the size of the tumour by half, guaranteeing a complete goodbye to cancer. Though it is the most expensive spice in the world for it is derived from around 250,000 flower stigmas (saffron crocus) that make just about half a kilo, a few saffron threads come loaded with benefits you won't regret paying for. Saffron threads can be used in various ways:

Cumin: Yes, it aids digestion and probably that is why we like chewing a handful of cumin seeds at the end of every meal. However, its health benefits go beyond. A portent herb with anti-oxidant characteristics, cumin seeds contain a compound called 'Thymoquinone' that checks proliferation of cells responsible for prostate cancer. So, instead of loading your usual snack options with calories and oil, add this seasoning to your bread, fried beans or sauce and make the dish rich in flavour and high on health. You can rediscover the magic of cumin in your regular bowl of tadka dal and rice too!

Cinnamon: It takes not more than a half teaspoon of cinnamon powder every day to keep cancer risk away. A natural food preservative, cinnamon is a source of iron and calcium. Useful in reducing tumour growth, it blocks the formation of new vessels in the human body. Some of the effective ways of including cinnamon in your diet are:

-Start your day with a cup of cinnamon tea (in leaf or sachet)
-Make your breakfast meal a super healthy one; just add this wonder spice to your
morning oatmeal and you are going well!
-A fruity delight comprising chopped apples, a few walnuts and your magic potion cinnamon
-Honey and cinnamon in your glass of milk before going to bed; no cancer nightmares assured!

Oregano: More than a pizza or pasta topping, oregano confirms its worth as a potential agent against prostate cancer. Consisting of anti-microbial compounds, just one teaspoon of oregano has the power of two cups of red grapes! Phyto-chemical 'Quercetin' present in oregano restricts growth of malignant cells in the body and acts like a drug against cancer-centric diseases.

Cayenne Pepper/Capsaicin (Chilli peppers): A promising spice with anti-cancer properties, an overdose of chilli peppers however should be restrained. Capsaicin induces the process of apoptosis that destroys potential cancer cells and reduces the size of leukemia tumour cells considerably. It can be concluded that apart from setting our tongues on fire, chilli peppers can scare cancer pathogens off too.

Ginger: This humble spice boasts of medicinal qualities that help lowering cholesterol, boost metabolism and kill cancer cells. Easily added to vegetable dishes, fish preparations and salads, ginger enhances the flavour in cooking. Chew on fresh parsley if the odour bothers you.

Others: Cloves, anise, basil, garlic, caraway, fenugreek, mustard, mint leaves, rosemary, Limonin (fresh lemon), virgin olive, vinegar and avocado are other cancer-fighting diet components.

Dr. K Medhi, Senior Consultant, Medical Oncology informs us on other diet habits that can keep cancer risk at bay:

1. A plant-based diet with a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains and beans is the best organic way to fight cancer.
2. Add fibre: Replace white rice with brown rice in meals
3. Substitute whole-grain bread for white bread; choose a bran muffin over a pastry
4. Snack on popcorn instead of potato chips.
5. Eat fresh fruits with skin.
6. Omega-3 fatty acids fight inflammation.
7. Cook with olive oil instead of regular vegetable oil
8. Avoid packaged or fried foods that are high in trans-fats
9. Avoid processed salt. Celtic sea salt/Himalayan salt can be consumed sparingly.
10. Cancer patients: Do not load your diet with turmeric or Curcumin supplements without doctor's consult or prescribed dosage.

Cancer fighting salad recipe: Couscous salad with sun dried tomato

Ingredients:

Couscous Wheat- 120 gms

Turmeric - 1 gm

Salt/pepper To Taste

Sun dried tomato- 2 nos

Olives (black/Green) - 2 nos each

Mint leaves- 2 sprig

Lemon juice

Ginger dices

Bell pepper dices- 15 gm

Olive oil- 2 Tsp

Saffron

Pickle onion- 2 nos

Lettuce leaves

Method:

1. Take a pan and add salt, pepper, turmeric, couscous, olive oil and saffron. Steam the couscous for 5 minutes and chill immediately.

2. Now add lemon juice, bell pepper, olives, sun dried tomato, pickle onion (chopped) and dice ginger. Mix well and add mint. Mould it on top of lettuce leaves and serve chilled.

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YouTube video showing woman using 'mobile phone' in the 1930s goes viral

A video running viral on Youtube which reportedly shows a woman speaking on a wireless device in a 1938 film could be the proof of the world's first mobile phone.

The short video clip, which is believed to have attracted over 342,000 views on YouTube, features a woman named Gertrude Jones.

In the clip, she is speaking on a prewar prototype of a mobile phone which was developed by a communications factory in Leominster, Massachusetts.

The video titled 'Time Traveler in 1938 film,' was first posted on the site a year ago and was widely reported on by various blogs on the Internet, the 'Daily Express' reported.

However, a user called 'planetcheck' has come forward, claiming to have solved the mystery. "The lady you see is my great grandmother Gertrude Jones," Planetcheck said.

"She was 17 years old. I asked her about this video and she remembers it quite clearly. She says Dupont had a telephone communications section in the factory," Planetcheck said. "They were experimenting with wireless telephones. Gertrude and five other women were given these wireless phones to test out for a week.

"Gertrude is talking to one of the scientists holding another wireless phone who is off to her right as she walks by," Planetcheck said.

Although, there has been no independent verification on the claims, but if it turns out to be true then it means the video was shot more than 40 years before the first mobile phone was available in the market.

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