News

Onlypunjab.com: Microsoft India and Appin Knowledge Solutions, technology leaders in Information Security and Ethical Hacking today launched Bug Bash 2006, India’s first and biggest ever online competition on information security.

The event will see a large number of college students in India fight it out in an online competition to qualify for the final round, where they get to work at Microsoft premises in Gurgaon and compete to find bugs in Microsoft Windows Vista™, the next-generation version of Microsoft Windows expected to ship later this year.

Onlypunjab.com: First off spyware and adware are software programs that are made with the intention of allowing individuals and companies to spy on your web browsing activities. These programs literally invade your privacy, slow down your system and annoy you with constant popups.

Secondly, many novice and beginner computer users have no idea that their computer has even been infected or even know how it became infected. A computer can be easily infected if there is no protection, because every time a file or program is downloaded, or if a pop up is clicked on the computer is at risk of downloading a parasite.

Onlypunjab.com: An American firm is designing a robot dog that will help you stay fit by monitoring your daily calorie intake and exercise levels.

According to New Scientist, the health-conscious pooch connects wirelessly to the dieter’s pedometer and an electronic diary of their eating habits, and encourage people to stick to their diets.

The system is being designed at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge by Cynthia Breazeal, who is known for creating the emotional robot ‘Kismet’. The developers hope the robot, a souped-up version of Sony’s dog Aibo, could play a crucial role in fight against the obesity epidemic, which has become a major cause of concern in the western world.

BBCNews: Apart from generating a resurgence of football fever down-under, in a competition that can always throw up surprises some are saying the green and golds are the team to watch.

The Socceroos are benefiting from blossoming emerging talent, a new manager and, as with an increasing number of teams, they have not been shy to turn to technology to give them the edge.

ABCNews.com: NASA managers on Saturday picked July 1 to launch the first space shuttle in almost a year, despite recommendations against a liftoff attempt by the space agency’s chief engineer and safety offices.

The decision to launch Discovery on a trip to the international space station was made after two days of meetings by NASA’s top managers and engineers at the Kennedy Space Center. The flight would be only the second shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster in 2003.

Onlypunjab.com: The rapidly-growing field of single-cabinet audio solutions for televisions has a bold new entry from a company that was a pioneer in the category. ZVOX Audio has targeted high-priced multi-speaker systems with their new Model 325 single-cabinet surround sound system. It features high-performance speakers, a sophisticated amplifier, powered subwoofer and PhaseCue™ virtual surround technology all in a box only 17” wide. The 325 is priced at $349.99.

IndianExpress: VARIOUS roads in the city on which the palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj and Sant Tukaram Maharaj will proceed, are to be closed for traffic between Sunday and June 22.

Sant Tukaram Maharaj’s palkhi will camp at Akurdi on Sunday night and leave for Pune on Monday morning.

It will camp at Nivdungya Vithoba temple in Nana Peth till it leaves for Hadapsar on June 21. Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj palkhi will reach Pune on Tuesday and camp in Pune till June 22.

IndianExpress: SUMMER cricket camps, wall-practice in the house till the paint fell off, and hard-fought battles along cramped passages — Harshad Khadiwale’s childhood has been typical of any run-of-the-mill city boy who looked up to the likes of Kapil Dev and aspires to be like him.

That is why the shy and reserved 17-year-old is still coming to terms with the blown-up poster next-door, exalting his inclusion in the India Under-19 cricket team to tour England this month

IndianExpress: IRATE with the piling of garbage in parts of Kondhwa, residents protested by dumping garbage in front of Bibvewadi ward office on Saturday. Corporator Mahadeo Babbar, who led at least 300 to 400 residents at the ward office, said that the Pune Municipal Corporation had failed to collect the garbage from the containers. Moreover, the drainage lines in the area were choked over the past few days and this had resulted in a stink throughout the area, he said. ‘‘Even after complaining to the officers at the ward office, no action was taken by the civic administration, which forced us to take this step,’’ Babbar said.

IndianExpress: BHARATIYA Janata Party corporators Suhas Kulkarni, Gopal Chintal and Ujjwal Keskar have claimed that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been able to implement only 22.5 per cent of civic budget for the year 2005-06. The statement follows Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer’s announcement of zero budget — using up of all funds allocated in the same year.

Kulkarni said that last year’s budget was Rs 12,670 crore, which included spillover works of Rs 100 crore and loan of Rs 200 crore. While Rs 597 crore were earmarked for establishment cost, Rs 678 crore were allocated for capital works. The PMC had fixed deposits amounting to Rs 20 crore in addition to which another Rs 100 crore taken as loan were also put under fixed deposits.