LIFE...........

INTERNET PREDICTED TO BE THE WORLD’S FIFTH LARGEST ECONOMY

We all know which country’s have the world’s largest economies and which countries are predicted to have the largest economies in the future, but did you ever count the internet? According to this study the internet will have the 5th largest economy in the world by 2016! Get the details here!

Boston Consulting Group reports…

BOSTON, March 19, 2012— In the G-20 nations, the Internet economy will grow more than 10 percent a year through 2016, according to a new report published by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as part of its Connected World series.

In the developed markets of the G-20, the Internet economy will grow approximately 8 percent annually; in the developing markets, it will grow more than twice as fast—at an average annual rate of 18 percent. Argentina and India will grow the fastest, at 24 percent and 23 percent a year, respectively. The leading developed markets—Italy and the U.K.—will grow about 12 percent and 11 percent a year, respectively.

BCG projects that the Internet economy will contribute a total of $4.2 trillion to the G-20’s total GDP in 2016. “If it were a national economy, it would rank in the world’s top five, behind only the U.S., China, India, and Japan, and ahead of Germany,” said David Dean, BCG senior partner and a coauthor of the report.

In 2010, the Internet economy in the U.K. accounted for the highest percentage of national GDP, followed by South Korea (7.3 percent) and China (5.5 percent). In each of these three countries, the Internet economy would rank among the top six industry sectors. At 4.7 percent, the 2010 share of U.S. GDP contributed by the Internet was about the same as the share contributed by the federal government—and ranked slightly ahead of the developed markets’ average share of 4.3 percent.

Although it is home to some of the world’s leading Internet nations—such as the U.K., the Nordic countries, and the Netherlands—the EU-27 as a whole trailed the average of developed markets at 3.8 percent and only slightly exceeded the emerging markets average of 3.6 percent.

BCG projects significant shifts, however. By 2016 the Internet economy in the EU-27 and India will leapfrog into fourth and fifth place, respectively. Japan and the U.S. will grow more slowly and drop to sixth and seventh, respectively.

“The Internet economy offers one of the world’s few unfettered growth stories,” said Dean. “Policymakers often cite GDP growth rates of around 10 percent per year in the developing markets, but they look past similar, or even higher, rates close to home.”

Get more information from the Boston Consulting Group!

THE KEY TO ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS

To Be a Better Entrepreneur, Look to the Past

Sure, all entrepreneurs look to the future – but I’ve learned that the best ones don’t overlook the past.

As entrepreneurs, we are obsessed with the future. We question established objects, processes, and products. Then we think about how we can reinvent them. We push boundaries, disrupt industries, and build the future. This entrepreneurial obsession drives us forward, but to be better designers of the future.

But we cannot forget to look to the past. In fact, sometimes we get so involved in changing things, that we fail to stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before us.

Think about print media, for example. While it may seem today to be a dying medium, it took hundreds of years to evolve news and information into something that could be easily accessed and immediately understood. Once the Web exploded, online media companies jumped at the opportunity to push the limits of design. But look at what’s happening today. Many news sites are returning to the fundamentals, looking more and more like their physical predecessors. Flipboard, for example, became hugely successful—and it simply mimicks the layout and feel of a print magazine.

Think about medicine. Cutting edge tools and technologies are constantly being invented to help improve health care, but in the process we’re leaving behind effective medical practices that have nothing to do with technology at all. In Abraham Verghese’s TED talk, he argues that the most important innovation for medicine in the next 10 years will be human touch. New technologies are increasing the gap between people, and this can be detrimental to human health.

Think about Apple products. They look different and futuristic, but their design is deeply rooted in Dieter Rams’s more than 20-year-old 10 principles of design, which assert that “good design is as little design as possible.” Apple creates products that look totally new, but every detail is based off of something that’s familiar, from folders, to thoughtful typography, to the “desktop.”

Continue reading this article at INC.com after the break!

Catalyst Helps Store Hydrogen In Liquid Form for Simple, Safe Future Fuel Use

By Rebecca Boyle

Hydrogen Storage System This diagram shows the new catalyst in its protonated and deprotonated states. It converts hydrogen and CO2 gas to and from liquid formate or formic acid at ambient temperature and pressure. The gases can thereby be stored and transported as a liquid, and used later as a carbon-neutral energy source, simply by adjusting the pH. Brookhaven National Laboratory

A future powered by hydrogen fuel, whose only byproduct is water, has long been an eco-friendly dream too difficult to realize. Storing and transporting hydrogen can be difficult and dangerous, and hydrogen production methods can also produce unwanted carbon dioxide. A new catalyst promises to solve these problems, using CO₂ and hydrogen to store energy in liquid form. The only thing you need to worry about is pH.

It’s the first catalyst to combine hydrogen and CO₂ at room temperature and pressure, using water as the liquefying solution. As such, it could use existing fuel infrastructure built for the liquid hydrocarbons we have been using since the dawn of the combustion engine.

In basic (as in alkaline) conditions, the catalyst converts hydrogen and CO₂ into formic acid, a promising hydrogen-storage fluid that is safer to handle and transport than cryogenically stored dihydrogen. If you flip the pH switch to acidic, the resulting redox reaction frees the hydrogen from its carbon bonds, allowing you to grab and use the hydrogen for use in a fuel cell.

Scientists from Brookhaven National Laboratoryand the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan worked with iridium-based catalysts with specific types of ligands, which are clusters of atoms surrounding the central metal atom. These ligands improve the catalyst’s ability to release protons. The researchers say they drew inspiration from nature’s catalysts — enzymes — and the way they move protons and electrons around inside biological molecules.

Under the right conditions, the iridium catalyst helps hydrogen react with CO₂. The research team figured out the atomic structure of the catalyst to see exactly how it promotes this reaction. It worked extremely well, they say — they converted a 1:1 mixture of dihydrogen (the form you would want to use in a hydrogen fuel cell) and CO₂ to formate, a form of formic acid, at room temperature. Then they increased the pH of the solution, and were able to regenerate the H2 at high pressure. There were no unwanted byproducts like carbon monoxide, the researchers say.

The paper was published online Sunday in Nature Chemistry.

புளுடூத் 4 தொழில்நுட்பம் குறித்த தகவல்கள்

வயர் இணைப்பு எதுவும் இன்றி இணைப்பைத் தரும் புளுடூத் தொழில்நுட்பம்(Bluetooth Technology) எவ்வாறு செயல்படுகிறது? என்ற கேள்வி நம்மில் பலருக்கு எழலாம். புளுடூத் முதலில் நமக்கு அறிமுகமான போது, தகவல்கள் பரிமாற்றத்திற்கு மிக அருமையான வசதியாக இருந்தது. இருப்பினும் பல்வேறு பிரச்னைகளை சந்திக்க நேர்ந்தது. தகவல் பரிமாற்றத்திற்கான சாதனங்களை இணைப்பதில் சிக்கல், கடவுச்சொல் அமைத்து இயக்குவதில் பிரச்னை, திடீரென தகவல் இணைப்பு அறுந்து போதல் மற்றும் பிற உடனடியாகத் தீர்க்க இயலாத சிக்கல்களும் இருந்தன. இவை அனைத்தும் புளுடூத் 4 தொழில்நுட்பம் தீர்த்து விடும் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது. புளுடூத் 2ஐக் காட்டிலும் பதிப்பு 3, சற்றுக் கூடுதல் வேகத்தில் தகவல்களினைக் கடத்தியது. பதிப்பு 2.1 ன் வேகம் 2Mbps ஆக இருந்தது. பதிப்பு 3ன் வேகம் 26Mbps ஆக உள்ளது. இது வீடியோ ஸ்ட்ரீமிங் போன்ற பணிகளுக்கு மிகவும் உதவியது. புளுடூத் 4 இவற்றைக் காட்டிலும் கூடுதல் திறன் கொண்டதாக இருக்கும். ஐந்திலிருந்து பத்து மடங்கு வேகக் கூடுதல் இருக்கும். அதிக நாட்கள் மின்திறன் தரும் பற்றரியுடன் இயங்கும் திறன் கொண்டதாக இருக்கும். இதனால் ட்ரெட்மில் போன்ற தனி நபர் உடல் நலன் கணக்கிடும் சாதனங்களில் இதன் செயல்பாடு நமக்கு மிக மிக உதவியாக இருக்கும். இதற்கு அடுத்ததாக என்.எப்.சி எனப்படும் அண்மைக்கள தகவல் பரிமாற்றம்(Near Field Communication) திறன் கொண்ட சிப்களின் செயல்பாட்டிற்கு இந்த புளுடூத் பதிப்பு 4 மிகவும் பயன்படும். புளுடூத் 4 இந்த தொழில்நுட்பம் கொண்ட போன்களுடன் எளிதில் தகவல்களைப் பரிமாறிக் கொள்ள முடியும். மடிக்கணணி, கைபேசி மற்றும் Router போன்ற சாதனங்களின் இணைப்பு, புளுடூத் பதிப்பு 4 மூலம் அதிகத் திறன் கொண்டதாக அமையும். இந்த தொழில் நுட்பத்திற்கேற்ப வடிவமைக்கப்படும் சாதனங்கள் அனைத்தும், புளுடூத் பதிப்பு 2 மற்றும் 3 ஆகியவற்றையும் கையாளும். புளுடூத் 4 ஏற்கனவே Motorola_Droid_ Razr_Maxx ஆகிய மொபைல் போன்களில் இணைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்த புதிய தொழில் நுட்பத்திற்கு Bluetooth Smart Ready எனப் பெயரிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதுகுறித்த மேலதிக தகவல்களை இந்த தளத்தின் மூலம் அறிந்து கொள்ளலாம். Bluetooth Smart Ready

Label and Star: ஜிமெயிலின் புதிய வசதி

உலகம் முழுவதும் பெரும்பாலான நபர்களால் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் மின்னஞ்சல் ஜிமெயில் ஆகும். எனவே ஜிமெயில் தனது பயனாளர்களுக்கு புதுப்புது வசதிகளை அறிமுகப்படுத்திக் கொண்டே உள்ளது. தற்போது ஜிமெயிலில் ஏதாவது ஒரு மின்னஞ்சலை அனுப்புவதற்கு முன் அந்த மின்னஞ்சலுக்கு label மற்றும் star பொருத்தி கொள்ளலாம். இந்த புதிய வசதியினால் எத்தனை நாள் கழித்து நீங்கள் மின்னஞ்சலை பார்த்தாலும் எளிதாக அடையாளம் கண்டு கொள்ளலாம். இதற்கு முதலில் ஜிமெயிலின் Compose பகுதிக்கு செல்லுங்கள். அங்கு உங்களுடைய செய்தியை டைப் செய்து விட்டு அனுப்ப வேண்டிய மின்னஞ்சல் முகவரிகளை கொடுத்து விடவும். அங்கு labels என்ற புதிய பட்டன் ஒன்று இருக்கும், அதில் உங்களுக்கு விருப்பமான label தெரிவு செய்து கொள்ளுங்கள் அல்லது புதிதாகவும் label உருவாக்கில் கொண்டு தெரிவு செய்து கொள்ளுங்கள். அதன் பின்னர் Send பட்டனை அழுத்தி உங்கள் மின்னஞ்சலை அனுப்பி விடுங்கள். இனி அந்த மின்னஞ்சலுக்கு பதில் வந்தால் குறிப்பிட்ட லேபிளில் பார்த்தவுடன் சுலபமாக தெரிந்து கொள்ளலாம். சிறிய வசதி என்றாலும் ஒரே நாளில் நூற்றுக்கும் மேலான மின்னஞ்சல்களை Receive செய்பவர்களுக்கு இந்த வசதி மிக மிக பயனுள்ள வசதி.

ஒரே நேரத்தில் அனைத்து மென்பொருள்களையும் நிறுவுவதற்கு

கணணியில் ஏதாவது பிரச்னை ஏற்பட்டு இயங்குதளம் செயலிழந்து போகும் போது, மீண்டும் அனைத்து மென்பொருள்களையும் நிறுவ வேண்டிய நிலை ஏற்படும். இயங்குதளத்தை மீண்டும் நிறுவுவது கூட மிக சுலபம், ஆனால் அனைத்து மென்பொருள்களையும் மீண்டும் நிறுவுவது என்பது கடினமான ஒன்று. இந்த வேலையை சுலபமாக்க ஒரு மென்பொருள் உள்ளது. ஒட்டு மொத்தமாக எந்தெந்த மென்பொருள்களை நிறுவ வேண்டுமோ அவற்றை தேர்ந்தெடுத்து கொண்டு, ஒரே நேரத்தில் கணணியில் நிறுவி விடலாம். நீங்கள் இயங்குதளத்தை புதிதாக நிறுவிய பிறகு இந்த Ninite தளத்திற்கு செல்லுங்கள். அங்கு நாம் அடிக்கடி உபயோகிக்கும் பெரும்பாலான மென்பொருள்கள் பட்டியலிடப்பட்டு இருக்கும். உங்களுக்கு தேவையான மென்பொருள்களை தேர்ந்தெடுத்து கொண்டு, கீழே உள்ள Get Installer என்ற பட்டனை கிளிக் செய்து, உங்களுக்கு தேவையான மென்பொருள்களை தரவிறக்கி கொள்ளுங்கள். தற்போது அந்த மென்பொருளை இயக்கினால் நீங்கள் தேர்ந்தெடுத்த அனைத்து மென்பொருள்களும் தானாக தரவிறக்கப்பட்டு, உங்களது கணணியில் நிறுவப்பட்டு விடும். இணையதள முகவரி

Rural Women Learn Modern Irrigation Technology in China

Women at a modern irrigation technology training hosted by UN Women in Qingtongxia, China (Photo credit: UN Women/Hong Gao).

The conference room of the activity centre at Kuaiqiao Village was packed when professors from China Agricultural University and China Irrigation and Drainage Development Centre were conducting a training course.  Yet those listening attentively were not university students.  Instead, 62 out of a total of 70 trainees were female farmers from Kuaiqiao Village.  The course was held as part of the UN Women project, “Improving Gender Equality in Qingtongxia, China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, through Women’s Empowerment in Water Management.”
Since the inception of the project in April, 156 rural women have been trained.Kuaiqiao Village is located in Qingtongxia, one of the oldest and most important irrigated districts in Ningxia.  The area has a typical continental climate, with average annual precipitation of only 192mm and an evaporation volume of over 1600mm in contrast.  Irrigation in this region depends on the Qingtongxia Reservoir, which gets its water supply from the Yellow River.  Due to climate change, the water flow of the Yellow River has become uneven, which results either in floods or in droughts. If the region faces water scarcity during irrigation seasons, the productivity of the crops is directly impacted.
At the same time, many men in the district have left their villages to seek job opportunities in big cities, leaving behind their wives, children and old parents.  As a result, in addition to their traditional responsibilities, women have had to take on farming. However, because of the deeply entrenched perceptions on a gender-based division of labour, they are typically excluded from decision-making.  Due to women’s new responsibility in agriculture, this exclusion has made them more vulnerable to climate change.
UN Women has designed the current project to address this problem, keeping in mind that women can be a driving force to mitigate and adapt to climate change.  The project is funded by AusAID and is aimed at empowering rural women in Qingtongxia by equipping them with internationally advanced irrigation technology from Australia and enhancing their role in water management.
Female farmers, as primary users, have been trained to become familiar with the use, management and maintenance of the irrigation infrastructure – knowledge that empowers them and ensures the sustainable and effective use of irrigation water.
To raise villagers’ understanding of gender equality and the importance of women’s participation, a local farmers’ cultural troupe staged drama performances and cartoon brochures were distributed. In addition, training sessions and advocacy workshops were also conducted for provincial and local officials so that they can incorporate a gender perspective in their decision-making processes.

Google Science Fair 2012: How can robots aid scientific research ? ( wit...

Scientists from Cambridge University talk about using LEGO MINDSTORMS to aid their research. Daniel will also be joining the Google Science Fair (http://google.com/sciencefair) in a Hangout on Air Wednesday 14th March,11:00EST, 15:00UK, 17:00 Cape Town, to share with you his experience creating robotics. Add Google Science Fair to your G+ circle today to get 

Photography at its Best !!!

The world's longest cat

Guinness World Records has officially recognized cat named Trouble largest cat in the world.

Representatives of the Guinness Book of Records measured the cat and veterinarians Savannah breed (a cross between an African wild cats (serval) and domestic non-pedigreed cats) from the clutches of up to shoulder height (height of 48 cm) and stated that this cat is a leopard - the world's longest cat.

Despite this remarkable growth, Trouble weighs a little - only about 9 pounds, because they do not like to eat a lot and has a very active life, constantly running around like a real wild cat.

The owner of a cat-American champion Debbie Maraspina from Sacramento, Calif., said she was proud of his pet, which is 3 years, and despite the fact that it belongs to the breed, the cats that are considered the largest in the world, her cat Trouble even walked the length of the bodies of their relatives. 

SOME NICE QUOTES

Sweet

Superb Sentences By 7 Superb Persons

 

Dr Abdul Kalaam........
"It Is Very Easy To Defeat Someone,
But It Is Very Hard To Win Some

Shakespeare....."Never Play With The Feelings Of Others
Because You May Win The Game
But The Risk Is That You Will Surely Lose
The Person For A Life Time".

Napoleon........"The world suffers a lot.
Not because of the violence of bad people,
But because of the silence of good people!"

Einstein.........
"I am thankful to all those who said NO to me
Its because of them I did it myself.."

Abraham Lincoln.........
"If friendship is your weakest point then
you are the strongest person
in the world"

Shakespeare..........
"Laughing Faces Do Not Mean That There Is
Absence Of Sorrow!
But It Means That They Have The Ability To
Deal With It".

William Arthur........."Opportunities Are Like Sunrises, If You
Wait Too Long You Can Miss Them".

Hitler.....
"When You Are In The Light, Everything
Follows You,
But When You Enter Into The Dark, Even
Your Own Shadow Doesn't Follow You."

Shakespeare.............
"Coin Always Makes Sound
But The Currency Notes Are Always Silent.
So When Your Value Increases
Keep Yourself Calm and Silent"

The importance of Translation Project Management

Well, where to start? Not wanting to blow my own trumpet, as a former project manager, but project management is, in my humble opinion, vital to a smooth, problem-free, well-executed translation project!

A recent article handily backs up my opinion, stating that project managers are, in fact “indispensable to the process due to the vast number of project variables, requirements, exceptions to project scope, etc.” Project managers liaise with both clients and translators to see a project through to completion. Their role involves understanding clients’ needs and requirements, ensuring that they can all be met, and then creating a logical sequence of tasks to be carried out to a specific deadline, not to mention assigning the work to suitable translators and proofreaders who specialise in the subject in question.

Text for translation is provided to translation agencies in a range of formats, and these formats, as well as any programmes used, vary from project to project, and play a very important part in how a translation project is managed. Assigning work to a translator often involves communicating with translators to discover which programmes they are able to use, from Word to Dreamweaver to Powerpoint, with everything in between. The text must be provided to the translator in a suitable format, and this step of the process is even more important when taking into account the use of translation tools such as Trados, which enable a Translation Memory to be created and updated every time a project is carried out. Previous translations, glossaries and important stylistic information must be passed from client to translator, purchase orders created, translator invoices received, and queries answered. In addition, project managers must also be aware of budgets and costs throughout the project, ensuring that a profit is made, and are also often involved in the quoting and invoicing processes. This entire process, as well as any final formatting and editing, and adaptations to changes requested along the way, must be carried out to a deadline agreed upon by the client and translation company at the beginning of the project.

Without human project managers to oversee the process, and ensure that every step is executed to cost, deadline, and to a high standard, the number of successful translation projects completed would severely diminish. Whilst I don’t find the comparison to a “smoke detector” the most flattering, I can see the point made that a human project manager, as opposed to a machine, is important in order to catch any “early warning signs of deviations that can affect project budget or delivery date”.

Now, are you convinced? Do you see the project managers you have worked with in a new light? Should companies recognise this vital element of the translation process and understand that they are irreplaceable? In my lowly opinion, yes to all of the above!!