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IndianExpress: WATERLOGGED streets, potholed roads, choked drainage lines and traffic snarls tested the patience of Puneites as they left their homes on Monday morning. After merely three days of rain, the city infrastructure caved in once again throwing life out of gear. Tall promises and claims by the civic body got washed away and the writing on the wall was clear — the administrators had failed. If low lying areas were inundated, other areas were no better. From trains to buses running late, the Monday morning blues got worse. Here is a rundown on how Pune coped with the rain:

Low lying areas of Aundh and Parvati were the worst affected as water entered many houses. The civic administration even had to break a compound wall of the Agriculture College to let water flow. A tree also fell near Bhavani peth police line. Many areas also saw choked drainages that led to flooding of roads. Strangely, it was the 250-metre storm water drain that was under construction by the Pune Municipal Corporation near Annapurna Society at Aundh that led to floods in that area. Stretches of Alandi Road where the PMC is carrying out construction activity under the Integrated Road Development Project were also flooded

IndianExpress:  TO reinstall the confidence among poultry farmers after the recent outbreak of bird flu and subsequent dip in the sales of poultry products, a two-day national exhibition and conference will be held from Tuesday at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch.

Manufacturers and suppliers of products for poultry farming, chicken processing and egg grading will be participating in the expo.‘‘The exhibition is mainly aimed at giving demonstrations to farmers on how to rear birds, both poultry and layers, more scientifically and economically,’’ said M A Nazeer, the expo’s secretary. The exhibition shall also have a demonstration on the status of bird flu, its after effects and methods to prevent it by Milind Limaye, director, Polchem Hygiene laboratories Pvt Ltd, Pune.

Sci-Tech-today.com: Starting next week, more than 70 million Windows users running older operating systems will no longer receive security updates from Microsoft.
Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (ME) users will have to fend for themselves without the protection of the security patches and other software fixes that Microsoft regularly issues. Without the updates, users could be vulnerable to attacks by hackers attempting to capitalize on unpatched flaws.

Microsoft, which originally planned to discontinue the security updates for these older operating systems in January 2004, decided to extend its support until July 11 in an effort to maximize the amount of time consumers and businesses still using the older software needed to upgrade.

TechTree.com: ZyXEL Communications has announced the availability of its new P-336M 802.11g Wireless MIMO firewall router, specially designed for home users seeking “no dead zone, no Internet lag” wireless connectivity.

According to company sources, the ZyXEL P-336M featuring 108Mbps Super G Wireless and MIMO Smart Antenna Technology, provides the ultimate solution for speed and coverage, and is backwards compatible with any IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-Fi certified device. Home users are free to access the Internet wirelessly from backyard to bedrooms, and enjoy the high performance of multimedia streaming or Internet surfing.

The P-336M provides Wi-Fi Protected Access and WPA2 featuring AES standard. It has Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall and VPN pass-through, creating a secure connection at any remote location.

For users who have upgraded their Windows operating system to Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, the P-336M can be set-up even easier using a USB flash drive and Microsoft Windows Connect Now (WCN).

TechTree.com: ATI Technologies has announced that its Radeon graphics technology is now available as an option for Hewlett-Packard (HP) customers that direct order a customized HP dc7600 Convertible Minitower, or any currently-shipping HP Microtower Desktop PC.

According to ATI, Radeon X1600 XT offers power users high-quality performance plus the ability to power 3D graphics in Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Vista operating system. Besides, the Radeon X1600 XT’s dual-DVI link facilitates clear pictures on multiple high-resolution displays.

Vijay Sharma, director - product marketing, ATI Technologies, said, “ATI continues to deliver the productivity and performance gains enterprise users need. With ATI’s X1600 XT, power users are well equipped to experience the breadth of Vista’s capabilities, and take advantage of changing technologies

TechTree.com: Actis Technologies has tied-up with Schneider Electric that has a presence in around 130 countries. Together, they are launching Clipsal’s C-Bus System, an intelligent home and office lighting control solution. Clipsal, which is a part of Schneider Electric, is Australia’s number one brand for electrical accessories.

An interesting concept, the Clipsal C-Bus System, is targeting being the preferred control solution for homes, hotels, and offices, by providing customers with some of the world’s most advanced, user-friendly, and exciting range of home automation solutions. The system promises to convert any premise into a “smart premise”.