callomi

From spiralling fuel prices to global warming, almost everything seems to be forcing us to quit our energy-intensive, pollution-causing habits. As we blame gas guzzling SUVs and electricity-thirsty plasma screens, we don’t even notice the little power consuming gadgets that quietly contribute to the growing menace. But there is a way of retaining computing power while cutting electricity bills and reducing our carbon footprint: 1 The next time you buy a computer or laptop, check if it is Energy Star rated. Most electric and electronic devices, from household devices to nifty netbooks—are usually Energy Star compliant. This means that they use about 20-30% less energy than their non-rated brethren.

2 Also check if the device is RoHS (restriction of hazardous substances directive) compliant. This is usually mentioned both on the box and the body of the device. Although RoHS isn’t related directly to electricity use, what it means is that your device carries very little of toxic substances. This ensures that when you dispose of an electronic device, it doesn’t leak harmful toxins into the soil.

3 Once your computer is ready for use, make sure you plug it in only when you want to use it. Even if your device is switched off, there is always some power leakage if it’s plugged into the power supply.

4 Don’t leave your computer on 24 hours a day, and don’t leave it connected to the charger when the battery is already fully charged. While the former ensures that power isn’t needlessly wasted, the latter will help the batteries last longer while giving optimum power. This is especially important as batteries contain toxic chemicals that are notoriously difficult to dispose of.

5 All computers and laptops have various energy settings. These can be accessed through the little battery icon present on the right hand corner of the window’s bar. You can use this setting to minimize the amount of power your computer uses. Switching off the screen when it’s idle for more than 5 minutes or switching off hard disks when not in use for more than 15 minutes ensures that less power is consumed without compromising on productivity.

6 Download any of the many energy-saving tools available on the Internet. These tools, usually free, help you keep track of where your computer’s energy is being wasted.

7 Check your computer’s brightness. Reducing a monitor’s brightness can significantly reduce the amount of electricity it uses.

8 Screen savers are a complete waste of energy. In stead, change your power settings so that every time your computer is idle for too long, it goes into “hibernation” or “sleep mode”.

9 It is very important to dispose of your computer responsibly. In the case of old computers, check if any of your friends or family can use some components. Companies such as Dell and HP now take your old computers if you buy a new one from them. This way you can ensure that your computer won’t make it straight into a landfill.

10 Contact e-Parisaraa (www.ewasteindia.in/ obj.asp), a Bangalore-based e-waste disposal company and send them your old computer.

R educing carbon emissions is the order of the day.

Congress has always had a soft spot for “experts” who tell members what they want to hear, whether it’s supply-side economists declaring that tax cuts increase revenue or climate-change skeptics insisting that global warming is a myth.

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Paul KrUGMAN

Right now, the welcome mat is out for analysts who claim that out-of-control speculators are responsible for $4-a-gallon gas.

Back in May, Michael Masters, a hedge fund manager, made a big splash when he told a Senate committee that speculation is the main cause of rising prices for oil and other raw materials. He presented charts showing the growth of the oil futures market, in which investors buy and sell promises to deliver oil at a later date, and claimed that “the increase in demand from index speculators” — his term for institutional investors who buy commodity futures — “is almost equal to the increase in demand from China.”

Many economists scoffed: Mr. Masters was making the bizarre claim that betting on a higher price of oil — for that is what it means to buy a futures contract — is equivalent to actually burning the stuff.

But members of Congress liked what they heard, and since that testimony much of Capitol Hill has jumped on the blame-the-speculators bandwagon.

Somewhat surprisingly, Republicans have been at least as willing as Democrats to denounce evil speculators. But it turns out that conservative faith in free markets somehow evaporates when it comes to oil. For example, National Review has been publishing articles blaming speculators for high oil prices for years, ever since the price passed $50 a barrel.

And it was John McCain, not Barack Obama, who recently said this: “While a few reckless speculators are counting their paper profits, most Americans are coming up on the short end — using more and more of their hard-earned paychecks to buy gas.”

Why are politicians so eager to pin the blame for oil prices on speculators? Because it lets them believe that we don’t have to adapt to a world of expensive gas.

Indeed, this past Monday Mr. Masters assured a House subcommittee that a return to the days of cheap oil is more or less there for the asking. If Congress passed legislation restricting speculation, he said, gasoline prices would fall almost 50 percent in a matter of weeks.

O.K., let’s talk about the reality.

Is speculation playing a role in high oil prices? It’s not out of the question. Economists were right to scoff at Mr. Masters — buying a futures contract doesn’t directly reduce the supply of oil to consumers — but under some circumstances, speculation in the oil futures market can indirectly raise prices, encouraging producers and other players to hoard oil rather than making it available for use.

Whether that’s happening now is a subject of highly technical dispute. (Readers who want to wonk themselves out can go to my blog, krugman.blogs.nytimes.com, and follow the links.) Suffice it to say that some economists, myself included, make much of the fact that the usual telltale signs of a speculative price boom are missing. But other economists argue, in effect, that absence of evidence isn’t solid evidence of absence.

What about those who argue that speculative excess is the only way to explain the speed with which oil prices have risen? Well, I have two words for them: iron ore.

You see, iron ore isn’t traded on a global exchange; its price is set in direct deals between producers and consumers. So there’s no easy way to speculate on ore prices. Yet the price of iron ore, like that of oil, has surged over the past year. In particular, the price Chinese steel makers pay to Australian mines has just jumped 96 percent. This suggests that growing demand from emerging economies, not speculation, is the real story behind rising prices of raw materials, oil included.

In any case, one thing is clear: the hyperventilation over oil-market speculation is distracting us from the real issues.

Regulating futures markets more tightly isn’t a bad idea, but it won’t bring back the days of cheap oil. Nothing will. Oil prices will fluctuate in the coming years — I wouldn’t be surprised if they slip for a while as consumers drive less, switch to more fuel-efficient cars, and so on — but the long-term trend is surely up.

Most of the adjustment to higher oil prices will take place through private initiative, but the government can help the private sector in a variety of ways, such as helping develop alternative-energy technologies and new methods of conservation and expanding the availability of public transit.

But we won’t have even the beginnings of a rational energy policy if we listen to people who assure us that we can just wish high oil prices away.

hello everyone its been days since haven't posted any entries on my diary so today being a perfect lazy Sunday afternoon gave a thought of penning down my inner most and much more emphatic expressions on how we accept things given to us by near and dear ones or name it anyone on this planet or how life takes us or we go by the laws of nature…..sounds very mirage like stuff but life too seems very hazy to us though we pretend to be very strong in saying that we know everything instead of simply accepting that sometimes even big think-tanks do fail to learn the basis…..and end up committing great mistakes of there lives as today I woke up and switched on my best friend my laptop and found a dear friend from Chicago online so started chatting with her but in a nutshell it left a sour taste in my mouth though I know she didn’t did anything actually or on reality grounds but I became very much cynic moved ahead with my stereotype thoughts in rather bricking up false stuffs and started criticizing me though me not among those but today I don’t know under the influence of which unlucky star I woke up with a tipsy mood but now after half complete movement of moon I feel very much ok type mood as I started recapitulating so here I found the true wisdom!!!!!!!!it was so fool of me bugging myself but though I loved this process of criticizing oneself as one gets to know where one stands……..a good self help exercise for us…..

It’s famously said that “one man’s food is another man’s poison” so true so in this context I would like to lament that we should make our own rules and never to be carried away by someone else’s notions about us or anything……its very much ok with clashes of ideas of two people whether spouses or friends or even ex relations…..in-fact take lessons from these happenings and try to work upon them for this you just need to change the way you look and accept things and believe me if we cultivate this habit within us then it will surely work wonders as in this case we will always look for alternatives mind it better alternatives to compliment each other and get to know life in an almost different manner as said” scarcity leads inventions”

As today I learnt a lesson which seemed life changing which I never got from my alma mater even but life taught me as it was my mental state which allowed me to take it as a critical comment and then I thought and thought…….over it………and now it feels that I woke up now after a long sleep and me going to fix a lovely and decorative mirror in my room……folks don’t get vexed upon the mirror as it’s a different story all together………I feel very much light and me smiling after a long time with myself………

FOR THIS I OWE TO MY FRIEND WHO ACCIDENTALLY TURNED OUT TO BE MY PHILOSPHER AND GUIDE………….thanks…….I wont name her as I am quiet apprehensive about unwanted publicity………..seems light after dark so friends follow my foot prints if are also suffering same trauma as its an hidden disease of which symptoms are hard to detect only if someone says it…….why give others chance be self-employed!!!

after lyf in calcutta due to some mishappeinings or call it a bad taste in my mouth is still lingering and was eating me so planned to move to delhi but eventually landed up at a place called gurgaon as known as an emerging IT hub of india or the world....life did kicked off with an initial sense of nostalgic fellings of the by lanes of kolkata my home town but my 8gm brain didi'nt allowed the air of calcutta's foul memories to sweep into me so made myself busy in futile stuffs though it was my job but life seemed hopeless but a hollow existence as i didn't overdrove some very painful memories......made new friends and bondings were strong firstly as normally it happens and as usual falls down one-by-one like cards...ist phase joining stage then came the confronting stage where we had some misunderstandings and under blanket dirty politics and then came the performing stage where each one is trying to give their best shot of life to acclaim appreciation....and now is the time for adjourning stage where we will bid adieu to some of our batch mates who r moving somewhere in uk......in the fare well time i did feel a strong note of bonding with some of mine batch mates who  turned to be my soul mates and saying them good bye was the toughes words my lips could utter....now that my lyf bought me where i was a couple of years back 360 degree cirlce....i feel that its just a matter of few months to leave IT hub area and work harder and do acclaim some brownie points in eyes of my future employers and then move to bombay or call it mumbai by the shiv sena gang as while doing my industrial trainnig at mumbai i felt the city is undergoing the same sort of roller coaster ride like my life with happy moments and sorrow moments like bomb blasts etc the list is endless as mine in context of sorows....but famously said time heals every wounds and there is light after dark etc. etc......i too started following the path of great and scholars and try to make my life sustainable...lets hope for the best and be prepared for the worst...but trust me now i feel i have gained the true wisdom of life to give a damn to who are least bothered about my feelings and emotions and to learn to speak NO sometimes when demanded....i feel very light and optimism is developing within me and me trying to discard all those remorse feelings and enjoy life to the fullest........i am very much confident that i can reach the heights which i've dreamt of as being an entrepreneuer and make my rules.....i hope after reading this trash for others you might have felt an urgence of self-actualisation and judge where you stand???????THANK YOU FOR YOUR PAITENCE

• In the weightlessness of space a frozen pea will explode if it comes in contact with Pepsi.

• The increased electricity used by modern appliances is causing a shift in the Earth's magnetic field. By the year 2327, the North Pole will be located in mid-Kansas, while the South Pole will be just off the coast of East Africa.

• The idea for "tribbles" in "Star Trek" came from gerbils, since some gerbils are actually born pregnant.

• Male rhesus monkeys often hang from tree branches by their amazing prehensile penises.

• Johnny Plessey batted .331 for the Cleveland Spiders in 1891, even though he spent the entire season batting with a rolled-up, lacquered copy of the Toledo Post-Dispatch.

• Smearing a small amount of dog feces on an insect bite will relieve the itching and swelling.

• The Boeing 747 is capable of flying upside-down if it weren't for the fact that the wings would shear off when trying to roll it over.

• The trucking company Elvis Presley worked at as a young man was owned by Frank Sinatra.

• The only golf course on the island of Tonga has 15 holes, and there's no penalty if a monkey steals your golf ball.

• Legislation passed during WWI making it illegal to say "gesundheit" to a sneezer was never repealed.

• Manatees possess vocal chords which give them the ability to speak like humans, but don't do so because they have no ears with which to hear the sound.

• SCUBA divers cannot pass gas at depths of 33 feet or below.

• Catfish are the only animals that naturally have an ODD number of whiskers.

• Replying more than 100 times to the same piece of spam e-mail will overwhelm the sender's system and interfere with their ability to send any more spam.

• Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting.

• The first McDonald's restaurant opened for business in 1952 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and featured the McHaggis sandwich.

• The Air Force's F-117 fighter uses aerodynamics discovered during research into how bumblebees fly.

• You *can* get blood from a stone, but only if contains at least 17 percent bauxite.

• Silly Putty was "discovered" as the residue left behind after the first latex condoms were produced. It's not widely publicized for obvious reasons.

• Approximately one-sixth of your life is spent on Wednesdays.

• The skin needed for elbow transplants must be taken from the scrotum of a cadaver.

• The sport of jai alai originated from a game played by Incan priests who held cats by their tails and swung at leather balls. The cats would instinctively grab at the ball with their claws, thus enabling players to catch them.

• A cat's purr has the same romance-enhancing frequency as the voice of singer Barry White.

• The typewriter was invented by Hungarian immigrant Qwert Yuiop, who left his "signature" on the keyboard.

• The volume of water that the Giant Sequoia tree consumes in a 24-hour period contains enough suspended minerals to pave 17.3 feet of a 4-lane concrete freeway.

• King Henry VIII slept with a gigantic axe.

• Because printed materials are being replaced by CD-ROM, microfiche and the Internet, libraries that previously sank into their foundations under the weight of their books are now in danger of collapsing in extremely high winds.

• In 1843, a Parisian street mime got stuck in his imaginary box and consequently died of starvation.

• Touch-tone telephone keypads were originally planned to have buttons for Police and Fire Departments, but they were replaced with * and # when the project was cancelled in favor of developing the 911 system.

• Human saliva has a boiling point three times that of regular water.

• Calvin, of the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip, was patterned after President Calvin Coolidge, who had a pet tiger as a boy.

• Watching an hour-long soap opera burns more calories than watching a three-hour baseball game.

• Until 1978, Camel cigarettes contained minute particles of real camels.

• You can actually sharpen the blades on a pencil sharpener by wrapping your pencils in aluminum foil before inserting them.

• To human taste buds, Zima is virtually indistinguishable from zebra urine.

• Seven out of every ten hockey-playing Canadians will lose a tooth during a game. For Canadians who don't play hockey, that figure drops to five out of ten.

• A dog's naked behind leaves absolutely no bacteria when pressed against carpet.

• A team of University of Virginia researchers released a study promoting the practice of picking one's nose, claiming that the health benefits of keeping nasal passages free from infectious blockages far outweigh the negative social connotations.

• Among items left behind at Osama bin Laden's headquarters in Afghanistan were 27 issues of Mad Magazine. Al Qaeda members have admitted that bin Laden is reportedly an avid reader.

• Urine from male cape water buffaloes is so flammable that some tribes use it for lantern fuel.

• At the first World Cup championship in Uruguay, 1930, the soccer balls were actually monkey skulls wrapped in paper and leather.

• Every Labrador retriever dreams about bananas.

• If you put a bee in a film canister for two hours, it will go blind and leave behind its weight in honey.

• Due to the angle at which the optic nerve enters the brain, staring at a blue surface during sex greatly increases the intensity of orgasms.

• Never hold your nose and cover your mouth when sneezing, as it can blow out your eyeballs.

• Centuries ago, purchasing real estate often required having one or more limbs amputated in order to prevent the purchaser from running away to avoid repayment of the loan. Hence an expensive purchase was said to cost "an arm and a leg."

• When Mahatma Gandhi died, an autopsy revealed five gold Krugerrands in his small intestine.

• Aardvarks are allergic to radishes, but only during summer months.

• Coca-Cola was the favored drink of Pharaoh Ramses. An inscription found in his tomb, when translated, was found to be almost identical to the recipe used today.

• If you part your hair on the right side, you were born to be carnivorous. If you part it on the left, your physical and psychological make-up is that of a vegetarian.

• When immersed in liquid, a dead sparrow will make a sound like a crying baby.

• In WWII the US military planned to airdrop over France propaganda in the form of Playboy magazine, with coded messages hidden in the models' turn-ons and turn-offs. The plan was scrapped because of a staple shortage due to rationing of metal.

• Although difficult, it's possible to start a fire by rapidly rubbing together two Cool Ranch Doritos.

• Napoleon's favorite type of wood was knotty chestnut.

• The world's smartest pig, owned by a mathematics teacher in Madison, WI, memorized the multiplication tables up to 12.

• Due to the natural "momentum" of the ocean, saltwater fish cannot swim backwards.

• In ancient Greece, children of wealthy families were dipped in olive oil at birth to keep them hairless throughout their lives.

• It is nearly three miles farther to fly from Amarillo, Texas to Louisville, Kentucky than it is to return from Louisville to Amarillo.

• The "nine lives" attributed to cats is probably due to their having nine primary whiskers.

• The original inspiration for Barbie dolls comes from dolls developed by German propagandists in the late 1930s to impress young girls with the ideal notions of Aryan features. The proportions for Barbie were actually based on those of Eva Braun.

• The Venezuelan brown bat can detect and dodge individual raindrops in mid-flight, arriving safely back at his cave completely dry.
• refrence:www.topfive.com