IT Law :Receiving or downloading pornographic material is no offence

Consumption of pornography is no offence. All that the law forbids is its publication or transmission. If the railway police in Mumbai could still terrorise an IIT student, just by claiming that his mobile phone stored pornographic video, they were riding roughshod over his human rights.

For, even if his phone had contained porn clips, the police would have had no leverage to extort money from the student. Consumption of pornography on a personal device is frowned upon by neither the Victorian-vintage Indian Penal Code (IPC) nor the 21st Century legislation on Information Technology (IT).

Both laws, separated by over 130 years, are unsparing towards the producer or supplier of obscene material. But when it comes to the consumer, neither law offers any scope to the police to make out even the lesser charge of abetting the alleged crime of obscenity.

It is just as well that the laws are not prudish about consumption per se because mobiles have of late emerged as a major medium for pornography around the world, thanks to advances made by smart phone and 3G technologies. Mobiles can now match the capability of laptops in showing long videos of pornography, with the added advantage of offering greater privacy.

The IT Act does, however, make the end user liable if it can be shown that he had more than just consumed pornography. The consumer would fall foul of the IT Act if he had shared the video with others. The three provisions relating to pornography forbid not just publishing but also transmitting.

Section 67 of the IT Act imposes a penalty of imprisonment up to three years for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form. Section 67A prescribes imprisonment up to five years for the same offence if the material in question contains "sexually explicit act or conduct". The penalty under Section 67B too goes up to five years as this provision deals with the aggravated offence of child pornography.

The consumer would be vulnerable to one or the other of these pornography-related provisions even if he had shared the video only within his circle of friends. The very act of transmitting constitutes the offence. Thus, the consumer is safe so long as he is content receiving or downloading pornographic material.

Besides shunning the temptation of sharing salacious videos, the consumer should be wary of misusing his mobile to invade somebody's privacy. Section 66E, one of the amendments made to the IT Act in 2008, introduced punishment up to three years for whoever "intentionally or knowingly captures, publishes or transmits the image of a private area of any person without his or her consent, under circumstances violating the privacy of that person".

The rules notified under the IT Act last month make it clear that pornography can be safely consumed from one's home or from one's personal devices. But cyber cafes are required to block pornographic sites, evidently because of the danger of children gaining access to them.

The laws are not prudish about porn consumption per se because mobiles have of late emerged as a major medium for pornography around the world, thanks to advances made by smart phone and 3G technologies. Mobiles can now match the capability of laptops in showing long videos of pornography, with the added advantage of offering greater privacy.

A new browser for anonymous internet surfing

A developer involved with Tor Project, a network that allows almost anonymous surfing by routing internet traffic through several servers, has revealed in a blog post that the group will specifically build new browser to enable anonymous surfing by using Tor network.

Mike Perry, the man who developed Torbutton, wrote that the new browser will based on Firefox.

He said that even though Firefox users can currently toggle Torbutton in their browser for anonymous surfing, they also have to install the Tor software to use this add-on. According to Perry this creates additional complexity that many users find too cumbersome.

Tor — The Onion Router — is a network system that was originally developed for the US navy with an aim to allow secure government communication. It bounces network between different servers to hide the original computer from where the communication was made.

Many journalists, whistleblowers and activists use Tor network to communicate. In fact, Wikileaks claims it uses Tor network to make sure that the identities of whistleblowers remain anonymous.

While Firefox has an inbuilt stealth feature and Chrome uses Incognito, these modes don't offer any anonymity. They just tell browsers not to store new cookies or record web browsing history. In case of direct connections, websites can see the IP of the user's computer even if stealth or incognito mode is on.

Kill as many Americans as possible in a single attack:Osama writings in hideout

Deep in hiding, his terrorist organization becoming battered and fragmented, Osama bin Laden kept pressing followers to find new ways to hit the U.S., officials say, citing his private journal and other documents recovered in last week's raid.

Strike smaller cities, bin Laden suggested. Target trains as well as planes. Above all, kill as many Americans as possible in a single attack.

Though he was out of the public eye and al-Qaida seemed to be weakening, bin Laden never yielded control of his worldwide organization, U.S. officials said Wednesday. His personal, handwritten journal and his massive collection of computer files reveal his hand at work in every recent major al-Qaida threat, including plots in Europe last year that had travelers and embassies on high alert, two officials said.

They described the intelligence to The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about what was found in bin Laden's hideout. Analysts are continuing to review the documents.

Bin Laden has long been known to record his thoughts and had been thought to keep a diary. One of Bin Laden's sons, in a memoir, has described his father as recording his thoughts and plans when the family lived in Sudan and Afghanistan.

The information gleaned from the handwritten journal and other material recovered after bin Laden was killed May 2

shatters the government's conventional thinking about bin Laden, who had been regarded for years as mostly an inspirational figurehead whose years in hiding made him too marginalized to maintain operational control of the organization he founded.

.Instead, bin Laden was communicating from his walled compound in Pakistan with al-Qaida's offshoots, including the Yemen branch, which has emerged as the leading threat to the United States, the documents indicate. Though there is no evidence yet that he was directly behind the attempted Christmas Day 2009 bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner or the nearly successful attack on cargo planes heading for Chicago and Philadelphia, it's now clear that they bear some of bin Laden's hallmarks.

Pakistan hasn't shared detailed bin Laden logs, US officials say
Don't limit attacks to New York City, he said in his writings. Consider other areas such as Los Angeles or smaller cities. Spread out the targets.

In one particularly macabre bit of mathematics, bin Laden's writings show him musing over just how many Americans he must kill to force the U.S. to withdraw from the Arab world. He concludes that small attacks had not been enough. He tells his disciples that only a body count of thousands, something on the scale of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, would shift U.S. policy.
 
He also schemed about ways to sow political dissent in Washington and play political figures against one another, officials said.

The communications were in missives sent via plug-in computer storage devices called flash drives. The devices were ferried to bin Laden's compound by couriers, a process that is slow but exceptionally difficult to track.

Intelligence officials have not identified any new planned targets or plots in their initial analysis of the 100 or so flash drives and five computers that Navy SEALs hauled away after killing bin Laden. Last week, the FBI and Homeland Security Department warned law enforcement officials nationwide to be on alert for possible attacks against trains, though officials said there was no specific plot.

Officials have not yet seen any indication that bin Laden had the ability to coordinate timing of attacks across the various al-Qaida affiliates in Pakistan, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq and Somalia, and it is also unclear from bin Laden's documents how much the affiliate groups relied on his guidance. The Yemen group, for instance, has embraced the smaller-scale attacks that bin Laden's writings indicate he regarded as unsuccessful. The Yemen branch had already surpassed his central operation as al-Qaida's leading fundraising, propaganda and operational arm.

Al-Qaida has not named bin Laden's successor, but all indications point to his No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri. The question is whether Zawahri, or anyone, has the ability to keep so many disparate groups under the al-Qaida banner. The groups in Somalia and Algeria, for instance, have very different goals focused on local grievances. Without bin Laden to serve as their shepherd, it's possible al-Qaida will further fragment.

Viewing the photos
Meanwhile, some members of Congress will be allowed to view photographs of bin Laden's body.

Senate Armed Services committee members Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., confirmed Wednesday they've been invited by the CIA to see the photos.

Lieberman and Ayotte said they plan to do so; Graham said he didn't know if he would or not. He reiterated his position that the Obama administration should have released the photos publicly for "closure."

Heather Molino, a spokeswoman for Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., said the congressman is planning to view the photos at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., either Wednesday or Thursday.

"He is interested and wants to see them," Molino said.

Ruppersberger is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. All of that committee's members are among the congressional representatives who have been offered a chance to view the photographs, Molino said.

But Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said she won't view the photos. She said she had received top secret briefings and noted that al-Qaida had conceded bin Laden's death.

"I am certain that Osama bin Laden is dead and have no need to see the pictures," Collins said

A royal welcome to DADA

The roar
It was almost as if the match was being played out at Eden Gardens. At the toss, when Yuvraj Singh let everybody know that Sourav Ganguly was playing, the half-full stadium in Hyderabad let out a thunderous roar, welcoming back one of Indian cricket's most influential players with much affection even though he was part of the opposing side.

The oops moment
The start to the tournament wasn't a particularly good one for Ganguly, who was the cynosure of all eyes this game. He had stayed out of the limelight on the field for a majority of the Deccan Chargers innings but experienced an embarrassing moment when Bharat Chipli drove one at him in the 16th over. The shot was a firm one and Ganguly failed to get his body behind it at extra cover to concede four runs, much to the crowd's disappointment. He was to make up for it later with the bat, though.

An eventful over
The penultimate over of the Deccan innings, bowled by Mitchell Marsh, was action-packed, to say the least. JP Duminy holed out first ball, Bharat Chipli edged one to the third-man boundary the next, had a return catch dropped immediately after before Sunny Sohal was caught behind by Robin Uthappa, who clasped it one-handed. Amit Mishra fell the next ball, offering a catch to mid-off but the over ended in a bit of an anti-climax, as Dale Steyn rather comfortably survived the hat-trick delivery.

The brothers-in-arms moment
Yuvraj Singh and Daniel Christian burst into spontaneous laughter after Christian tripped due to a collision between the two in the 12th over. Yuvraj tried to field a ball off his own bowling and ran into Christian at the non-striker's end, though it was all in good fun after contact. The oozing camaraderie was put to a stop when Yuvraj trapped him in front in the next over.

The dispiriting moment
Deccan had been restricted to a modest score and needed an encouraging start with the ball but what transpired was the opposite. A steaming Dale Steyn was tamed by Jesse Ryder, who punched him through the covers, then smote him next ball for a massive six into the second tier before crunching him for another four to steal 15 in the first over. It set the tone for the chase, which ended in a comfortable win for Pune Warriors.

The gift
JP Duminy, in an act of generosity towards the visitors, doled out freebies to Manish Pandey in the eighth over. Three absolute long hops, each treated with disdain. Two pulled over midwicket for four and one sent into the crowd. So much for the hospitable treatment.

The trademark shot
Five months of absence but it seemed not much was lost in Ganguly when he made room to Ishant Sharma and slapped him over extra cover for his first boundary. It was fitting that his first forceful shot upon his return was one that defined him during his international career.

The intrusion
Watching fans run onto the field to celebrate their cricketers' success was a common sight once in Indian cricket, but not anymore. However, one fan just couldn't control his emotions while watching Ganguly bat. Not only did he run onto the field for his 15 seconds of fame (not captured on TV), but fell at his idol's feet as devotees blinded by faith do. Who wouldn't want to be a cricketer in India?

The recovery
A moment the TV did capture, that of Christian throwing up during the 13th over. Possibly a bad stomach, possibly dehydration but he recovered quickly. Not only did he finish the over, but in the process dismissed Robin Uthappa with a good bouncer, though was fortunate to get that wicket as Uthappa was given caught-behind after being hit on the shoulder. There was more, when he got rid of Yuvraj Singh not long after.

Microsoft buys skype for 36000Cr

US software giant Microsoft will buy Internet phone service company Skype for $8.5 billion dollars, the companies announced.

"Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

"Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world."

Microsoft said Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft, and that Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Ballmer.

Microsoft and Skype said the deal has been approved by the boards of directors of both the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft and the Luxembourg-based Skype, which is owned by investor group Silver Lake.

Bates said Microsoft and Skype "share the vision of bringing software innovation and products to our customers.

"Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype's plans to extend our global community and introduce new ways for everyone to communicate and collaborate," Bates said.

Silver Lake managing director Egon Durban said he is "excited about Skype's long-term future with Microsoft, as it is poised to become one of the world's most dynamic and comprehensive communications platforms."

The companies said Skype will support Microsoft devices like the Xbox game console and Kinect motion controller, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices.

Microsoft will also support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms, they said.

Skype was founded in 2003 and acquired by online auction giant eBay in September 2005. It was sold to the investment group led by Silver Lake in November 2009.

Millions of people use Skype to make low cost or free phone calls over the Internet using their computers or smartphones. Skype bypasses the standard telephone network by channeling voice and video calls over the Web.

Buying Skype could be a way for Microsoft to shed some of its business software image and gain momentum in a hot smartphone market at a time when Internet lifestyles are going mobile.

Skype last year announced plans for an initial public offering of stock and appeared on its way to profitability, but investors are evidently eager for a payoff.

Power cut timings in CHENNAI

New Power cut timings at CHENNAI

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Electricity Board has announced the new schedule of load shedding in the city and suburbs, which comes into effect force on Monday.

The load shedding in the city will be for one and a half hour daily. In suburban areas, it will be for three hours with two hours of power shutdown between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and one hour from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The list of areas that would have load shedding for one and a half hour daily is as follows:

6 a.m. to 7.30 a.m.: Adyar, Anna Salai, B&C Mills, Bells Road, ICF, India Piston, Alwarthirunagar, Egmore, Ambattur Industrial Estate and Anna Nagar.

7.30 a.m. to 9 a.m.: Valluvar Kottam, Cooks Road, DMS, EDC, Kodungaiyur, Guindy, Ramasamy Salai, Arumbakkam, Nanganallur and Porur.

9 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.: Besant Nagar, Flower Bazaar, Foreshore Estate, Government Estate, MHU Compound, OHP, Papermills Road, IIT, K.K.Nagar, Ashok Nagar, J.J.Nagar, New Avadi Road and Kilpauk Garden Road.

10.30 a.m. to noon: Madras High Court, Parrys, West Mambalam, Luz, T.Nagar, Periyar Nagar, Royapuram, Mylapore, Kodambakkam, Choolaimedu, Vadapalani, parts of Ashok Nagar, Kottivakkam, Madipakkam, Padi and Raj Bhavan.

Noon to 1.30 p.m.: MRC Nagar, Mambalam, Gopalapuram, Nandanam, Periamet, Sembium, Madhavaram, Villivakkam, Chetpet, Sterling Road and Padi Industrial Estate.

1.30 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Nungambakkam, Anna Salai, Whites Road, Kamarajar Salai, Pulianthope, Royapettah, Stanley Hospital area, Koyambedu Market, Tondiarpet High Road, Chinmaya Nagar, Ekkaduthangal, Guindy and Spastic Society.

3 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.: R.R.Colony, Sardarjung, Seven Wells, Spencer Plaza, Ethiraj Salai, Mannady, Spurtank Road, Tollgate, Thiruvanmiyur, SAF Games Village and Anna Nagar Shanthi Colony.

4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m.: Saidapet, CIT Nagar, North Usman Road, Chintadripet, Pudupet, Mint, Kondithope, part of Esplanade, Kilpauk, Purasawalkam, Tondiarpet, Vysarpadi Industrial Estate, Velachery, Vijaya Nagar, Virugambakkam, Dasarathapuram, Thirumangalam and Anna Nagar West.

The list of suburban areas that would have load shedding for three hours is as follows:

6 a.m. to 8 a.m.: Maduvankarai, Adambakkam, Alandur, Selaiyur, Tambaram, Chromepet, Pallavaram, Kadaperi, MEPZ Area, Kovoor Kundrathur, Mangadu, Girugambakkam, Avadi.

8 a.m. to 10 a.m.: GST Road, Kadaperi, Pallavaram, Pammal, Perungalathur, Vangaram, Maduravoyal, Nolambur, Pandeswaram, Thiruninravur and Tiruvallur High Road.

10 a.m. to noon: Ennore, Manali, Bharati Salai, Ramavaram and Poonamallee High Road.

Noon to 2 p.m.: Tiruvottiyur, Mathur, St. Thomas Mount, Taramani, Thoraipakkam, Sothuperumbedu, Thirumullaivoyal, part of Ambattur and TI Cycles.

2 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Sholinganallur, Perungudi, Poonamallee, Karaiyanchavadi, Noombal, Kaduvetti, Siruseri, Puzhal and Kamaraj Nagar.

4 p.m. to 6 p.m.: Kaladipet, Rajakadai, Thirumudivakkam, Chromepet, Pallavaram, parts of Ambattur Industrial Estate, Pattravakkam, Ayyapakkam and Red Hills.

6 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Alandur, Tambaram, Pallavaram, Kadaperi, Kundrathur, Madambakkam, Avadi, Ramavaram, Pammal, Maduravoyal and Nolambur.

7 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Kadaperi, parts of Pallavaram, Perungalathur, Ambattur Sidco, Ennore and Pattabiram.

8 p.m. to 9 p.m.: Tiruvottiyur, Mathur, Adambakkam, St.Thomas Mount, Taramani, Thoraipakkam, Sothuperumbedu, parts of Ambattur, Manali and Thirumullaivoyal.

9 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Sholinganallur, Perungudi, Poonamallee, Siruseri, Puzhal, Kamaraj Nagar, Madrapakkam, Ponneri, Kaladipet, Thirumudivakkam, Radha Nagar, parts of Ambattur Industrial Estate, Menambedu, Ayyapakkam and Red Hills.

Why Ganguly is the eighth wonder of Indian cricket

Sometimes fairytales come true. In the case of Sourav Ganguly, it almost always does. Playing for Pune Warriors India in his debut IPL 4 game on Tuesday, the former India captain showed once again why he would always be the prince of hearts for his fans.

On the face of it, an unbeaten innings of 32 runs off 32 balls can be dismissed as anything but special. Ten out of those 32 runs happened due to errors -- a miscued pull that fell in no man's land and went for two, a Dale Steyn fielding mistake that got him a boundary and a French cut off the South African paceman that fetched him four.

Only two shots -- the smashing drive over extra-cover off a 143.2 km fast delivery against Ishant Sharma and a six over mid-wicket off leg-spinner Amit Mishra - were of any substance.

But that's entirely missing the human drama that this innings was all about. When PWI announced that they had signed Ganguly to play for the remainder of the IPL, even his most ardent fans had mixed feelings. They wanted him to succeed but they were not sure if he could.

After all, the 38-year-old cricketer had not picked up a bat in the past five months, as he himself revealed after the match.

Many others would have refused the offer. Ganguly didn't. He had always maintained he wanted to play in the IPL. Of course, the money was a factor. But it was also evident that he enjoyed playing the game. Perhaps he also accepted the offer even at this late stage because he wanted to show that the fat cats had made a mistake in not selecting him at the auction.

On Tuesday against Deccan Chargers, the left-hander once again showed that it is possible to put mind over matter. You can, if you think you can.

The crowd understood this frisson between the heart and the body that happened in Hyderabad as Ganguly guided his team to a victory. They applauded him as much for his courage -– he prefers batting to pontificating from the commentators' box or passing judgments like Javagal Srinath in his column -- as for his shots.

No single has been more cheered and clapped in IPL history than the first run he scored. And he was not even the home boy.

Sportsmen generally generate only two emotions: euphoria and despair. But like a rock star, Ganguly can make you run through the entire gamut of emotions.

Being a Ganguly fan means being part of an unpredictable emotional journey. You never know what will come your way on a particular day. Nobody else has the power to enthrall and exasperate like him.

His fans understand the wonder of Sourav Ganguly.

Graeme Smith will flirt with anyone: IPL cheer leader blogs

South African cheerleader Gabriella Pasqualotto has become an internet sensation and a mini-celebrity back home after being kicked out of the IPL for secretly blogging on player behavior in post-match parties. The 22-year-old Gabriella, from Pietermaritzburg, was one of the 40 South African cheerleaders in the IPL and was employed by Mumbai Indians. She reportedly wrote about "flirtatious" and "inappropriate" behavior by the cricketers and even mentioned some of them. South African media reported that her blogs created "privacy concerns" for the players.

Gabriella told the press she believed many cheerleaders had intimate relations with cricketers and accused her employers of being "hypocritical". Reports suggest she was sacked after a cricketer and another cheerleader complained to the IPL chairperson.

"On Tuesday last week I was sent home as if I was a criminal. I was treated as if I had taken drugs or done something awful and I was never offered an opportunity to give my side of the story," Gabriella told the Witness. "It's a joke. There are cameras everywhere at these after-parties watching what they (the players) got up to. The guys treated us like pieces of meat. We couldn't go anywhere without the crowds mobbing us and many of the girls did not behave. But nothing I wrote was directed at any one person. I think the cricketers who complained had a guilty conscience."

Gabriella initially began to tweet comments about her experiences at the after-parties, and was then approached by a website to write a blog. After two posts created a sensation, she was sacked.

One of her posts stated, "We are practically like walking porn. These cricketers are the most loose and mischievous I have come across. I have a long while still here, so I must remember my tip list: beware of the cricketers!"

Already, support for Pasqualotto has been gathering steam on Twitter, forcing Cricket South Africa media officer Michael Owen-Smith to state that SA cricketers were expected to adhere to the board's code of conduct.

Another post which she was forced to remove states: "The men see your face, then your b***s, then your a**, then your b***s again, Ol' Graeme Smith will flirt with anyone while his girlfriend walks behind him. The Australian cricketers are naughty, a certain someone played kissing catches with three girls. He told them, 'Come to my room, I want to cuddle'."

However, she was all praise for a few Indian players: "The few Indian players we have met, such as MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma have been very polite and keep to themselves in the dark corners.

"Hotshots like Tendulkar with families at home are never present. The likes of Jonty Rhodes and Albie Morkel are notorious for having a good time with friends!"

Pasqualotto, who lost a month's earnings, around 8000 rand, now says, "People think you are like handmaidens to the cricket gods, and I'm thrown out for a silly blog." Graeme Smith's agent Craig Livingstone refused to comment.

Disqualified/Blacklisted consulting comapanies in US

H-1B season is here again! Starting April 1, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) started accepting H-1B visa applications for the fiscal year 2011-12.

However, with H-1B visa professiobnals increasingly being blamed for job losses in the US, the visa has become a sensitive with political contours. Last few years, have seen several attempts to restrict the number and use of H-1B visas through legislations. The year 2010 also saw a steep hike in visa fees, a 'discriminatory' move which puts additional financial burden on Indian IT companies.

The stringent rules also resulted in many companies getting disqualified. In legal terms, a company faces debarment over what is seen as an H-1B abuse under US laws.

Below are IT and IT-related companies that have been debarred from applying for H-1B visas

 

Company: 4MY2C, Inc

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 6/1/2009 to 5/31/2011

 

Company: Allied Rehabilitation and Pain Management, Inc

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 7/31/2010 to 7/30/2011

 

Company: Allied Solutions Group, Inc

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 10/31/2010 to 10/30/2012

 

Company: Asian Journal Publications, Inc

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 7/31/2010 to 7/30/2012

 

Company: Bradley Consulting Services, Inc

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 6/1/2009 to 5/31/2011

 

Company: Citizens Mortgage Corporation and John DeLosSantos

Individually and as President

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 7/31/2010 to 7/30/2012

 

Company: Comdata Consulting, Inc

Willful violater: Yes

Debarment Period: 9/30/2010 to 9/29/2012

 

Company: Complete Systems Solutions, Inc

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 6/1/2009 to 5/31/2011

 

Company: Cyberworld Enterprise Technologies, Inc

Willful violator: No

Debarment Period: 7/31/2010 to 7/30/2011

 

Company: Healthcrest Enterprises, Inc

Willful Violator: No

Debarment Period: 7/31/2010 to 7/30/2011

 

Company: Integrated Global Systems, Inc

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2011

 

Company: Juno Healthcare Staffing System, Inc and Dante Teodoro

Willful violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 7/31/2010 to 7/30/2012

 

Company: K-Soft Information Technologies, Inc

Willful violater: Yes

Debarment Period: 7/31/2010 to 7/30/2012

 

Company: Magnolia Pool Supply, Inc

Willful Violator: Yes

Debarment Period: 6/1/2009 to 5/31/2011

 

Company: Mahadeep Virk DMD

Willful violater: Yes

Debarment Period: 9/30/2010 to 9/29/2012

Photobucket Challenges Trendy Mobile Photo-Sharing Apps With Snapbucket

Veteran photo and video hosting company Photobucket is getting hip with the mobile photo-sharing and filter-ific times by releasing Snapbucket mobile apps for iPhone and Android Tuesday. 

Snapbucket, a distinct application separate from Photobucket's existing mobile apps for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7, encourages users to stylize and share their photos in much the same way they would with Instagram, Picplz, Path or Camera+.

Users can snap a photo and select from filters, vignettes, frames and effects to apply artistic elements to the photo. Then, just as with other mobile photo-sharing apps, Snapbucket users can quickly share the shot on Facebook and Twitter.

With Snapbucket, both the original capture and the stylized version of each snapshot are also saved to the user's Photobucket account.

The new Photobucket offering, albeit late to market, is not without its unique features: Snapbucket lets users mix-and-match different filters, effects and frames into their own customized sets. The app will also reward active users with additional filters.

Photobucket has 100 million site users, and is adding 1 million new users a month, says CEO Tom Munro. The company has 15 million Photobucket Mobile users, and uploads via mobile apps are said to have increased 600% year-over-year, which equates to users adding more than 20 million photos and videos uploads each month.

Fake bin Laden links spreading malicious software

 As news spread that the White House won't release photos of Osama bin Laden's body, federal authorities and security experts on Wednesday were urging Web users to be careful clicking on fake links claiming to offer images or video about his death.

Since the U.S.-led raid that killed bin Laden on Sunday, e-mail inboxes and social-media sites like Facebook have been flooded with bad links that, at best, are unwanted spam and, at worst, contain harmful computer viruses.

People in the cybersecurity industry aren't surprised. Big news events, as well as popular public figures (think Anna Kournikova and Justin Bieber) are often used as click bait for spammers and scammers.

"I suppose this was inevitable," Dave Marcus, head of security research for McAfee Labs, wrote in a blog post. "The reported death of Osama Bin Laden is just too good a lure for cybercriminals and scammers to pass up."

His post lists multiple examples of bin Laden-related malware.

One message claims to link to a photo of the terror leader holding a newspaper to prove he's still alive. One e-mail, written in Spanish, uploads a Trojan horse virus when a photo link is clicked. And a phony Facebook page asks users to paste a script in their browsers which, in turn, spams their friends with the same link.

That page is called "Osama bin Laden Killed (Live on Video)."

"Beware of any verbiage, subject lines in emails, or links via Facebook or Twitter that contain words like these -- as they will almost certainly get you into trouble," Marcus wrote. "Make sure your security software is fully updated and be sure to use safe browsing software as well."

An administration official briefed by the White House told CNN on Wednesday that the president has decided against releasing photos of bin Laden.

Faked photos purporting to show bin Laden's corpse already are circulating online.

On Wednesday Facebook Security posted a message encouraging users to be careful when clicking questionable links and to use the site's "Mark As Spam" links to report that content.

The FBI has released a warning about malicious software being spread with the fake links.

The agency's Internet Crime Complaint Center urges the following:

• Adjust privacy settings on your social-networking sites, like Facebook, to make it harder for friends or non-friends to post items to your wall.

• Do not agree to download new software in order to view a video. This often masks applications that can infect your computer.

• Read e-mails and social-media posts carefully. Malicious messages often contain poor grammar, misspellings and "nonstandard English."

• Report messages that claim to be from the FBI or other security agencies. Their names are often used to try to establish legitimacy.

Most valuable player of IPL4:Lathish malinga and Best value for money of Ipl4:Paul valthaty

Lasith Malinga is the most valuable player (MVP) of IPL 4 so far, beating emerging star Paul Valthaty to second place by just a bit.

When it comes to value for money (VFM), however, the Malayali from Mumbai who's making waves for Kings XI Punjab is streets ahead of all competition.

Behind Malinga and Valthaty in the MVP list are Johan Botha, Robin Uthappa and Doug Bollinger. Sachin Tendulkar heads the second half of the top 10 with Virat Kohli, Kumar Sangakkara, Yusuf Pathan and Jesse Ryder rounding it off.

None of these names, apart of course from Valthaty, makes it anywhere close to the top 10 in the VFM list. That's not surprising given that most of them count their annual fees in millions of dollars while uncapped Indian players like the Kings XI opener have to make do with a maximum of $50,000.

The others on the VFM list are, therefore, predictably local players who have more than pulled their weight for their squads. At No. 2 is Rahul Sharma, followed by Ambati Rayudu, Iqbal Abdulla and Sunny Sohal, in that order. The second half of the top 10 consists of Siddharth Trivedi, Ashok Menaria, Amit Singh, M S Bisla and A G Murtaza.

How have we arrived at these names? A fair bit of number crunching went into it, involving assigning points for batting, bowling, fielding and captaincy on the basis of objective parameters, not subjective opinion, to construct an MVP index.

Here's what we did. Batting points were calculated on the principle that both the quantity of runs scored and how fast they are scored should count. So we took the average strike rate of 130 that has actually been achieved by all batsmen and used that as a base.

The total runs scored by each batsman was multiplied by his actual strike rate and divided by this par figure. Thus, a batsman who has scored, say, 300 runs in the tournament so far would get batting points equal to 300 if he has scored at a strike rate of 130, fewer points if he has accumulated them slower and more if he has got them at a better clip.

For bowlers, we used the principle that both economy and wicket taking should count. Again the average economy rate of 7.5 runs per over for the tournament so far was used as the benchmark. Bowlers with a better economy rate than this were regarded as having saved runs for their team. For instance, if a bowler has been going at 6 runs per over and has bowled 20 overs, he would actually have conceded 120 runs. At the average rate he would have conceded 150. So he is given 30 points for saving those many runs. In addition, every wicket gets him 25 points.

Fielding points are given for catches, run outs and stumpings. Catches count for 10 points, run outs for 15. In the case of wicket-keepers, however, catches and stumpings fetch 25 points each, since they are in the side mainly for their fielding.

Finally, captains are given points for the performance of their teams, 25 points for each win and minus 25 for each loss. Adding all of these points together gives us the total points accumulated by each player.

Since it would be unfair to compare someone who has played, say, five matches with another who has played nine, we then divided the total points by the number of matches played by each player to get the points per match. This was the basis for the MVP rankings.

As for the VFM rankings, that was simply a matter of dividing the points per match score by the fees payable to each player per match to get a figure for the number of points per $100,000 of fees.

To ensure that a couple of outstanding performances don't unduly skew the results, we took only those who had played at least five matches. That meant, for instance, that Chris Gayle, who would otherwise have been by far the leader in the MVP stakes, had to be dropped. But that's only fair.

What is interesting is that the MVP list has at its top some like Malinga and Bollinger who are purely bowlers, some like Sachin and Virat Kohli who are wholly or entirely batsmen and many all-rounders. The VFM list also has a similar structure. This is a departure from the past when the same index tended to yield predominantly all-rounders at the top.

It is also a change from the first three seasons that there are no foreign players at the top of the VFM list. But that is due to the fact that the likes of Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh and David Warner, who came for a pittance initially are today commanding huge fees.

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Player	Batting Pts	Bowling Pts	Fielding Pts	Captaincy Pts	Total	Pts/Match
L Malinga	0	530	35		565	70.6
P Valthaty	372	91	20		483	69.0
J Botha	192	147	50		389	64.8
R Uthappa	220	0	240		460	57.5
D Bollinger	0	278	10		288	57.5
S Tendulkar	313	0	45	100	458	57.2
V Kohli	329	24	30		383	54.7
KSangakkara	267	0	300	-75	492	54.7
Y Pathan	183	264	35		481	53.5
J Ryder	300	101	20		421	52.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VALUE FOR MONEY
Player	Pts/Match	Pts/$100000
Paul Valthaty	69.0	1932
Rahul Sharma	43.7	1223
Ambati Rayudu	41.4	1159
Iqbal Abdulla	40.9	1145
Sunny Sohal	32.3	905
Siddharth Trivedi	28.8	807
Ashok Menaria	27.9	782
Amit Singh	27.0	755
MS Bisla	24.7	692
AG Murtaza	23.7	665

Plot on moon is yours for $20

Plots for sale on MOON

Kenneth Sewell was startled to find an out-of-this-world offer on the back of his Pak 'n Save receipt this week.
The New Plymouth man was scanning the back of his docket for good deals when he discovered, amid the vouchers for cheap pizza and accommodation, an advertisement encouraging him to buy an acre of land on the moon for $20.
"I thought, `what the heck's this?' and wondered if it was a scam," he said.
"It says it's filed with the United Nations so it seems bona fide."
But he still was not keen on investing in a piece of prime moon real estate. "If you can't plant a tree on it, walk on it, stand on it or even get to it, what would you do with it? Stake it out with a piece of string?"
The advertisement directs potential buyers to the website redeem.co.nz, where they are informed that because of a legal loophole, the sale of moon land is legitimate and filed with the UN.
"So unless someone currently lives there it's yours. There are no ongoing charges and taxes and unless you borrowed the $20, no mortgage," the website says.
This is, however, followed by a quick disclaimer.
"While all this is ratified it is a novelty gift. So don't get bent out of shape if you do visit it and some shack is there."
Superdockets, who are responsible for much of the advertising and vouchers on the back of supermarket receipts, did some research on the deal before running it and were satisfied it was not bogus, promotions manager Perrin Reilly said.
"It makes a good gift. You get a nice framed certificate to put on your wall – it's not 100 per cent guaranteed, but I think people understand that," he said.
"As long as the consumer sees value in the advertisement, we're happy to run it."
While a mere $27 (including packaging and postage) might seem like a reasonably cheap deal for an acre of moon land, daily deal website ilovedeals.co.nz offered a more competitive price of $24.55 in their recent deals.
Either option is a bargain compared to buying directly from the supplier Hursh Saha, the "Authorised Reseller for the Lunar Embassy (for New Zealand)", who sells title to a parcel of moon land for $40, unless you want to buy it bundled with a stake of the dwarf planet Ceres for $50.
Harcourts real estate agent Ian Gundesen has been in the property game for 30 years and says he would be more than happy to call an auction on the moon if given the opportunity.
"If someone was prepared to send me I'd be up for the trip. My advice to the buyers though would be to check the title out with a lawyer first.
"It would be a fantastic sale to be part of but I don't know that I would be doing too many open homes up there," he said.
GET IN QUICK
Other odd online buys:
An acre on Mars: $40
Chunks of dinosaur bone: $14; or a tooth: $120
The ability to name a star: US$54-$489
Dirt from Roswell: US$4.99
The soul of an American: US$5
Nothing: 5.99