Marilyn Monroe chest X-rays sell for $45,000

  

The apparently endless market for images of Marilyn Monroe now extends to inside the bombshell's body.

A set of three Monroe Chest X-rays from a 1954 hospital visit sold Sunday for $45,000 at the Hollywood Legends auction at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

Julien's Auctions, which sold the X-rays, estmated that they would only fetch a total of about $3,000. Other Monroe-abilia that sold included a chair from her last photo shoot that went for $35,000.

The auction included items from other actresses, including a pair of earrings worn by Kate Winslet in "Titanic" that sold for $25,000 and a dress Audrey Hepburn wore when she starred opposite Fred Astaire in the musical "Funny Face" that fetched $56,250.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/marilyn-monroe-chest-x-rays-sell-for-45-000-34430?cp

Saina Nehwal confident of becoming No 1 in world rankings

After notching up an incredible hat-trick of international titles, ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal on Tuesday said she is confident of becoming the world's number one player soon.
Saina, who rounded a hat-trick of titles by defending her Indonesia Open Super Series trophy in Jakarta, said she would now have to work harder to improve her ranking from number three to one.
"Now it is important for me to work harder and win the next international events rather than concentrating on the ranking. If I can become number three, then I can also become number one," Saina said at a press conference.
"I enjoyed all the matches in the three tournaments. I was a little tired but was confident that I could do it. Finally I am happy that I have won three titles in a row. Now I want to win the upcoming tournaments," she added.
Before winning in Jakarta, which was the 20-year-old's third Super Series title overall, Saina had won the Indian Open Grand Prix at home and the Singapore Open Super Series Tournament.
"Last year it was tough for me to win the Indonesia Open and it was something special as it was my first super series title. But the recent one is special because I have won three tournaments in a row," said Saina.

J&K: Mobile services suspended, tension spreads to Anantnag

     Mobile services have been suspended in north Kashmir and SMS services have been blocked in the entire Valley, with the situation remaining tense on Tuesday morning. Sources said this has been done to stop rumour mongering in an already incendiary situation.  

In Sopore, the town worst hit by violent protests over civilian deaths allegedly in the use of force by CRPF against agitators, there is indefinite curfew since Friday and it would continue to be in place, sources say. Restrictions under Section 144, which prohibits assembly of more than four persons, are in place in and around Srinagar and Baramulla. Additional companies of the CRPF have been deployed in Sopore.

The tension in the north and central parts of the valley has spread to south Kashmir where curfew like restrictions have been imposed in Anantnag after one person was injured in firing by security forces.

Crowds assembled at Mattan bus stand in Anantnag on Tuesday morning to protest the killing of five youths in Sopore and Baramulla, in alleged firing by CRPF.

Police and paramilitary forces deployed in the town asked them to disperse but when they refused to budge, they fired tear gas shells and batons to disperse them. Protestors then pelted stones at security forces and in the ensuing clashes, one person was injured.

The J&K government has asked the Centre for help and said last evening that the Army could be called in if the situation was not brought under control soon. But there has been no Army deployment for riot or crowd control. Sources said the Army and Rashtriya Rifles would continue mobile patrolling for counter-insurgency as usual in Sopore, Baramulla and the surrounding areas.Protests are on in Delina, in Baramullah where a nine-year-old boy was killed in CRPF firing yesterday. On Monday morning, a crowd had gathered for the funeral of a youth, 20-year-old Bilal Ahmad Wani, who was killed in Sopore on Sunday, allegedly hit by a rubber bullet fired from a CRPF picket. Raising anti-government and pro-freedom slogans, nearly 4,000 protestors carried Bilal's body and marched on the streets of the town.

The funeral procession turned violent and five people were injured in CRPF firing. Soon, protesters marching near Sopore clashed with the police. As they headed towards a CRPF post, a jawan fired from the picket killing another 20-year-old, Tajamul.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/j-k-mobile-services-suspended-tension-spreads-to-anantnag-34483?cp

'America will be nuked by 2013'

Terrorists will set off an atom bomb in the US within the next three years, retired nuclear scientist Robert Beeman has predicted in his just-released novel, No More Time For Sorrow. Beeman maintains that the sacking of the commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, will only help the terrorists.

"America's enemies in Afghanistan will take renewed encouragement from General McChrystal's firing," the 65-year-old debutant author says. "They will interpret President Barack Obama's action as ideology trumping defence," he adds. Ironically, Beeman spent much of his working life as a scientist at the Three Mile Island civilian nuclear facility, which made international headlines on March 28, 1978, when one of its reactors had a meltdown. It was the most serious accident to have taken place ever in an American nuclear facility.
Beeman, who sounds hawkish in the positions he takes on issues, says General McChrystal had been called back to the "woodshed" in Washington because he spoke out against administrative policies.
"Instead of making an example of him, Obama should applaud his passion. Terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan are planning the next major assault on the US. McChrystal knows this," the author says in an email interview.
General McChrystal, who lost his job because of the derogatory comments he made on President Obama in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, has been replaced by General David Petraeus, the commander who turned around the Iraq war for America.
Beeman may be bang on target about the Taliban celebrating the general's sacking. In a media interview from an undisclosed location, senior Afghan Taliban commander Sirajuddin Haqqani has said the development showed America was frustrated and divided over the Afghan war.
"After the American invasion, my father said Afghanistan would become another Vietnam for the US which is now gradually proving to be true," Haqqani said in the interview to The Daily Beast.
In No More Time For Sorrow - which has just hit the American market - Beeman talks about why today's liberal and progressive approach to terrorism is making America less safe and how an atomic bomb can be built, transported, deployed and triggered by non-technical personnel.
The atom bomb will be a weapon of choice for three reasons, the author says. Efficiency is one of them. "Killing by means of individual explosive suicide belts tends to use up a lot of recruits," he says.
Then, fundamentalist groups have to justify their existence to their fund-providers by lining up an impressive number of corpses. An atom bomb would give them the most value for money. Above all, it's the message an atom bomb would send out that would make the terrorists zero in on it.
The uranium for the bomb, Beeman believes, will "most likely come from Iran". America will also see more bombers like the failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. "These individual lunatics are being encouraged by the current US administration's emphasis on individual criminal acts instead of a war on terror. They know the worst case is they'll be shut up in one of our comfortable prisons, and maybe even make parole eventually,” he says, adding: "Remember, the Obama administration has already released scores of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay who went right back into the fight against us." "Today, when his country is at war, he finds himself too old to fight and too slow to run away. This book is all he can do, and he hopes his reader will find it in himself to do more," says his website. This is one book Obama may want on his bookshelf.

Resume Tips

Resume is a powerful weapon in your job quest. It can literally make or mar your job prospects. Well-crafted curriculum vitae can differentiate you from the crowd of job seekers. The purpose of a resume is to bring you in the interview room and not get you a job, as most of the applicants assume. Your resume is in no way, guarantees a lucrative job offer; however it does provide you a head start.

Let’s talk about some of the common mistakes seen in resume. The first thing you need to remember is that you need to avoid clichés. Most of us think that using phrase like ‘self-motivated worker’, ‘team player’, ‘good communication skills’ or ‘proven track record’ etc will make resume more appealing but the truth is mentioning these terms does more harm than good to your chances of getting a job. The qualities and attributes you mention on your resume should speak for themselves. These terms must be backed with description and solid examples.

A resume should help you in standing out but what good will it make to your job chances if you are using the same terms that everyone else is using? So avoid clichés like ‘result oriented professional’, ‘bottom line-orientated,’ ‘special talent’ etc. Try telling teeny-tiny stories in your resume instead of indulging in boasting. Present facts or a real achievement instead of mentioning of some vague terminologies. Present examples of things you have already done. Think from an employer’s point of view. What will fascinate him? What new things you are offering that he doesn’t read every day from thousands of other applicants? Answer to these questions will help in preparing an effective resume.

Infinit solar charger backpack

Designed to charge mobile phones, multi-mediaplayers, GPS devices and much more, using the solar panel to produce stored renewable energy to charge your personal electronic devices.

Full battery storage can charge: 2 x Apple iPhones, 3 x Blackberry bolds or 4 x Apple ipod nano devices.

7 Device adapters supplied

25 Litre bag capacity

Extremely lightweight and built for comfort

Today I have the privilege of reviewing a stunning piece of eco-friendly gadgetry, namely the Infinit IV2.1 Solar Charger Backpack.
The backpack features a large 2.4W solar panel, neatly integrated on the front of the bag. The solar panel is used to charge up an internal battery, which can then be used to charge up your mobile phone, GPS navigation gadgets, the iPhone, the iPod, and devices that charge up via a mini USB socket.

Initial Impressions

When I opened the box, my first impression was, “wow, this looks really nice”! I was pleasantly surprised at just how big the solar panel is, which is about the size of a paper-back book. The fabric of the backpack is a high quality and tough material, and you can just tell that the whole product is well made.

What’s Included?

Infinit Rucksack IV2.1 with Accessories

After hunting around the internal pockets in the bag, these are all the accessories that come with the bag.

• The backpack itself
• An elasticated waterproof sack to cover your bag
• A removable rechargeable battery (2200mAh capacity)
• 8 adaptors (for charging different gadgets)
• A retractable USB cable
• An AC adaptor plug (for charging up the battery)
• An instruction booklet

Basic Construction

Straps and Back Support

The bag is roughly the size of a standard rucksack, with padded shoulder straps, a padded handle, padded back support and a reinforced base. With all this padding, the bag is very comfortable to wear for a few hours. There are lots of little pockets within the bag, which are fantastic for organising your stuff. There’s a small pocket on the front of the bag behind the solar panel, which is large enough for a mobile phone or MP3 player.

Main Section - Laptop Pocket (Before)

Laptop Pocket with Laptop Secured

Then there’s a middle section which houses the battery and accessories, covered by a protective red netting. Most of the small pockets are in the middle section of the bag. Finally, there’s the main section of the bag, which is by far the largest area for storing your stuff. There’s a large flexible pocket inside the main section which is perfect for holding your laptop securely. I’d expect the back can handle up to a 15″ display without any difficulty.
At the top of the main section, there’s a small elasticated pocket that’s designed to hold an MP3 player or other music player. You can thread through your headphones using the headphone port and keep your MP3 player out of sight and completely dry.
Since the bottom of the main section of the bag has a reinforced base (a firm bit of padding basically), then you’ll notice that heavy books or laptops don’t poke out of the bottom of the bag. This helps the bag to retain it’s structure and will definitely reduce the strain on your back.

Charging up a gadget

Battery Charging an iPod Touch

The battery is removable from the bag, since the solar panel has a standard mini USB cable that just plugs into the battery when you want to charge it up. Being able to take out the battery is very useful, as it gives you some freedom of where and when you charge up your gadgets.
The battery features some intelligent electronics which handles all of the charging stuff for you. Using the iPod adaptor and the retractable cable, I just plugged the battery into my iPod Touch, and the battery automatically started charging up my iPod for me! The iPod was at around 66% when I started charging it up, and it took about 30 minutes to charge the iPod to 100%. Of course, that will vary from gadget to gadget.
During the charging phase, the four blue LED lights on the battery indicate what charge remains in the battery. Each LED corresponds to roughly 25% of energy remaining in the battery. Once the battery had finished charging my iPod Touch, only 2 LEDs were lighting up, which indicates that battery capacity was between 20% and 50%.

Charging up the battery again

Charging up the battery with the solar panel

Charging up the battery again is very simple. You just connect the battery to the solar panel, and leave the solar panel in direct sunlight. When the battery is flat, it takes up to 10 hours for the battery to charge to full capacity again. Therefore you might want to use the AC charger if you need a full battery quickly. The blue LEDs on the battery will all light up when the battery is fully charged, so there’s no need to guess when the battery is ready.

Conclusions

The bag is very well designed and constructed, and it has clearly been created to be practical as well as desirable. The automatic charger within the battery pack takes all of the hassle out of figuring out how to charge your gadgets, it’s really a matter of just plugging in your gadgets and the battery handles the rest.
My only concern is that the bag looks slightly conspicuous with the solar panel on the front. That means it might get some unwanted attention from opportunistic thieves, who might work out that there are likely to be some valuable gadgets inside. My suggestion is that you don’t let the bag out of your sight!
However, that aside, this is a bag that I am proud to own and one that’s practical from a gadget charging perspective. For me, the real winning feature of the bag is the sturdy construction for carrying a laptop safely. Back strain is not fun, but this bag makes it a real pleasure to carry a laptop.


Infinit Solar Charging Backpack Black. £89.99. Ex VAT £76.59





 

Combating Online Plagiarism

Plagiarism has become a worldwide concern and organizations and watchdogs are finding it difficult to contain the culture of rampant plagiarism. Everyone requires quality content and that has further led to unbridled copy and paste stuff. This phenomenon is not just restricted to one single area. Whether it is software, music, movies or literature, nothing is considered safe. We keep hearing about heavy losses suffered by film and music industry because of plagiarism. No one cares whether you paid good money to get the content or have worked hard to create the stuff; plagiarism is becoming hard to stop. Technological advancement is not helping the cause either.

However, as world is becoming aware of this malice, authorities are putting into place some tough norms to contain the problem. Some wonderful tools have been invented to identify, track, and stop this trend. ‘Bad behaviour’ is one of the leading tools that helps in stopping spam apart from preventing programmed plagiarism by capturing unlawful bots that are found visiting your web pages.

‘Watermark.ws’ is a useful tool for overlaying your copyrighted pictures with fully customised logos or texts. That way, thieves will be reluctant to steal these images. Similarly, ‘PictureShark’ can easily stamp text or watermark images on your picture files. It is not easy to remove watermark created by the program.

Almost all of us have heard of ‘Copyscape’ which is perhaps one of the best tools to prevent plagiarism. This is basically duplicate content detection software which quickly searches the web for plagiarized portions. Many webmasters and writing services prefer to use this dependable tool. Google also provides you with programs like ‘Alerts’ and ‘Image Search’ which are useful in stopping stealing of pictures. Some other popular plagiarism detecting tools are ‘Maxpower Digital Fingerprint Plug-In’, ‘Copyfeed’, and domain tools.