NASA ready to find water and oxygen rich soil on moon

NASA ready to find water and oxygen rich soil on moon
Raju Srihari
It can be the most interesting discovery of the decade. NASA has demonstrated the functioning of a robot Rover equipped with a drill designed to find water and oxygen-rich soil on the moon.
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Test launch of Indian undersea nuclear capable ballistic missile successful
Juhi Singhal
India joins the undersea nuclear capable ballistic missile club. America, Russia, China, France and UK have that capability.
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Japan launches satellite for super high-speed data transmission
Nitin Sharma
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd and JAXA developed the satellite for super high-speed data transmission. is designed to enable super high-speed communications of up to 1.2 gigabit-per-second ....
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Signs of type IV extraterrestrial influence in Abell 1835 IR1916, a galaxy 13,230 million light-years away, merely 470 million years young from the time of big bang
India daily Technology Team
It is the furthest galaxy on the record. The galaxy Abell 1835 IR1916 is located about 13,230 million light-years away. Hence, it is seen at a time when the Universe was merely 470 million years young, that is, barely 3 percent of its current age.
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A scare for Chinese and Russian Military - the American SM-3 missile hit right on target to knock out the fuel tank of the spy satellite on the first attempt
Sushil Ray
It was an interesting opportunity for America to demonstrate the anti-satellite as well missile shield capabilities. It is good news that the out of control satellite is no longer there to threaten lives on the earth.
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An interesting experiment - United States will take its first shot at an out-of-control spy satellite on Thursday
Ashish Mahotra
It will prove American capabilities in knocking out satellites, but it has a larger implication. If successful, the superpower will demonstrate that it has the capability of knocking out asteroids and meteorites from the outer space.
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Indian Nano car forges ahead with the plan to produce car run by compressed air tanks at speeds below 50 km per hour
Prithiv Shah
It can be a significant achievement for a country in which the roads are not safe to drive above 50 km per hour and the cities have reached the limits of pollution from carbon emissions of car exhaust.
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tollywood latest & hotest

STARING: Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai

MUSIC: A. R. Rahman

DIRECTOR: Ashutosh Gowariker

PRODUCER: Ashutosh Gowariker, Ronnie Screwvala

RELEASE DATE: Mar 6, 2008

AVERAGE RATING: 3 of 5

MUSIC: Devi Sri Prasad

DIRECTOR: Thrivikram Srinivas

PRODUCER: Allu Aravind

RELEASE DATE: Mar. 20, 2008

AVERAGE RATING: 4.7 of


STARING: Pavan Kalyan, Iliyana
STARING: Srikanth, Kaveri Jha, Jagapathi Babu

MUSIC: Chakri

DIRECTOR: CC Srinivas

PRODUCER: Blue Sky Entertainments

RELEASE DATE: Mar. 1, 2008

AVERAGE RATING: 3 of

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U-19 WC: Team India enter final

India U/19 beat New Zealand U/19 by 3 wickets (D/L Method)
Man of the match: Virat Kohli

CRICKET

latest live score INDIA VS SRILANKA

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Just to answer a few questions I’ve received with regards to this post:

No, the hack is not complicated - download, run, wait a few seconds, reboot, done.
I have no idea whether it has any side-effects. Given how it works it is possible that it could hose a system.
Yes, I have video, but no, I’m not posting it.
No, I’m not making any links to hacks available.
No, I won’t publish virtual machine images of the compromised OS.
I’m not sure if Microsoft can sift out real genuine systems from fake genuine systems … probably can though.
I hope you understand.]

[UPDATE 02/10/08 5:05pm - It does seem that Microsoft hasn’t been successful in closing off all the hacks that allow non-genuine copies of Vista SP1 to pass off as genuine ones. After a few minutes of searching the darker corners of the Internet and a few seconds in the Command Prompt I was able to fool Windows into thinking that it was genuine, turning this:



… into this:





Close, but no cigar. ]

[UPDATE 02/10/08 4:00pm - I’m getting scattered reports claiming that there is still a hack for Windows Vista SP1 that works. I’ll investigate further later.]

With the launch of SP1 Microsoft promised to put an end to two popular hacks used by pirates to allow a non-genuine install of Windows Vista to function in the same way as a genuine install. Testing that I’ve carried out in the lab today suggests that Microsoft has been true to its word.

The two most common hacks used were the OEM BIOS hack and the grace timer hack (of which there were two flavors which were widespread).

Testing both these methods of circumventing Windows activation and Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) has shown me that SP1 effectively ignores both these hacks. Systems that previously were shown to be genuine prior to the installation of SP1 then require activation - and if the system isn’t activated it is marked at non-genuine and enters the nag state.

Pirates trying to apply these hacks to new installations of Vista which include SP1 will find that neither method works.

I’m certain that when SP1 hits the Windows Update servers that there are going to be a lot of people out there surprised to find that their systems aren’t as genuine as they thought they were. This will no doubt put a few more bucks into Microsoft’s coffers.

Will this put an end to the counterfeiting of Vista? Some I’ve spoken to in the underground community say it will, while others are confident that new circumvention methods will be discovered.

Thoughts?

The Job Interview, Starring Your Avatar

AS far as job interviews go, my recent meeting with Sandy Gould was anything but ordinary.

Mr. Gould showed up in a Superman costume. Next, he invited me to sit down next to him in a chaise longue that overlooked the crashing surf. As we talked about my strengths and weaknesses, crabs skittered along the sand at our feet. At another point, in the middle of responding to a question about overcoming professional challenges, I stood up and performed a hula dance.

Finally, after thanking me for my time, Mr. Gould stood up, shook my hand and flew away.

No, this wasn’t some technophile fantasy, nor was it my debut in local surrealist theater. Instead, Mr. Gould and I were sitting at computers on opposite sides of the same room. We were meeting in Second Life, the Web-based virtual world that is owned and operated by his employer, Linden Lab.

As big companies are spreading their brands to Web-based social networking communities like Facebook and MySpace, a handful of employers are also exploring the world of Multi-User Virtual Environments, or MUVEs.

Second Life is one of these MUVEs. A handful of corporate customers have bought virtual space, called “islands,” in this virtual reality to use for “in world” meetings, and a growing number in this group is recruiting there, too. Linden Lab doesn’t keep statistics on how many of its corporate customers handle hiring this way, but it says the number has grown exponentially since Second Life began in 2003.

Much of the recruitment is done through job fairs. TMP Worldwide Advertising & Communications, an advertising firm in New York, held two virtual job fairs last year, events that included employers like Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Verizon Communications and Sodexho, a food and facilities management services company. Bain & Company, the global management consultants in Boston, has sponsored virtual job fairs in Second Life, as well.

My interview was completely independent, an exercise I requested specifically to learn about the experience. Mr. Gould, director for recruiting and organizational development at Linden Lab, based in San Francisco, agreed to interview me the same way he does legitimate job candidates.

On the day of the interview, I started the process well before Mr. Gould had even arrived for work. After downloading Second Life software and registering for a free account, I chose a name for my avatar: Jaredpower Afarensis.

Within moments, the software took me to a virtual spot called Orientation Island, where I watched my avatar quite literally take shape: first his arms, then his legs, and finally his head.

Once my avatar materialized, a real-life friend of mine (a k a Lodro Goldkey) teleported him to another island and taught me how to get the avatar to blow kisses, bow, shake hands and hula dance. He also showed me how to make my virtual persona fly and sit down.

Next, I tackled my next challenge, personalizing my avatar. Second Life users can select hundreds of characteristics, like eye color, skin color, clothing and hairstyle. Users can also choose to make their avatars look like dragons, fairies, robots or even a bowl of Jell-O. I went for a human form, albeit one that was much larger than I am in real life.

Next, I chose the avatar’s attire: a white tank top, yellow pants and Birkenstock-like sandals. Finally, I was ready for the interview. I flew to the far side of the island and staked out a spot on a nearby beach. Like a bird or a plane, Mr. Gould (a k a Sandy Linden in our encounter) arrived out of nowhere. The interrogation began.

In a text-based chat window, he asked me about my thoughts on social networking technology and my opinion on the importance of virtual environments.

Later, I turned the questions on him, asking what he thought of the spot I had selected for our chat (“relaxing and calm,” he said, and “fantastic in the paradise sense”), and to what degree he thought the appearance of my avatar reflected how I really looked. (He hadn’t thought about it at all, save for my decision to dress casually.)

Over the course of 30 minutes, our conversation played out much like an instant-message chat I might have with friends: lots of text, a smattering of emoticons and furious typing, all without capitalization. When each of us typed in the chat boxes, our avatars would do nothing but look around.

AT one point — largely because of all of the attention I was paying to the chat box — Jaredpower Afarensis even appeared to slump over and go to sleep. So much of the interview revolved around the chat box that it seemed as if the avatars were barely there. That’s when it hit me: these newfangled Second Life job interviews might be fun, but they’re not exactly effective for everyone — at least not yet.

Granted, if I were a legitimate candidate applying for a job at Linden Lab, my ability to create the avatar and get him to the right place at the right time would have demonstrated a familiarity with Second Life.

Furthermore, if I were in a place like Iceland , an in-world interview might be cheaper and more efficient than flying so far away. But let’s say I was applying for a position as a chef or a lawyer. In these cases, 30 minutes in a Second Life interview would convey very little about my ability to do a job — besides a general affinity for technology.

When asked about these issues, Mr. Gould said that in most cases it’s best to use in-world interviews as one part of a recruitment process that also includes a combination of telephone interviews, videoconferences, e-mail exchanges or face-to-face meetings.

The question remains: With all of these other methods to evaluate a job candidate, do we really need another tool?

ATLANATE PAD 39

The Impossible Art of Deciphering Manuscripts

Robert Frost has been having a hard winter. First the remote Vermont farmhouse where he summered from 1939 to 1963 was vandalized by partying teenagers. Windows were smashed, dishes broken, a chair split up for firewood, precious artwork and antiques splattered with beer and bodily fluids. Then last month, charges were raised against a scholarly edition of Frost's private notebooks. The work, first published in early 2007, had been heralded as offering a rare glimpse into the reclusive poet's creative process. But now the notebook transcriptions appear to be riddled with errors that made Frost look like "a dyslexic and deranged speller," who often "made no sense," according to poet William Logan, a professor at the University of Florida who compared sections of the published version with manuscript originals from the archives at Dartmouth College.

Where was the greatest damage done? In the minds of documentary editors—the people who prepare historical and literary documents for the press, not documentary film editors—probably on the page, not in the summer cottage. Current editorial standards require print versions of authors' journals to reproduce as faithfully as possible every stroke of the pen, every cross-out or insertion, even sometimes the look of the handwritten page, with ragged margins and random gaps. For dead writers, diary pages are the best evidence scholars have of the ways their minds worked—their first thoughts on a poem or story, their innermost ambitions and fears as human beings. No one wants to get that wrong.

The five years that Claremont-McKenna literature professor Robert Faggen spent transcribing, editing, and proofreading Frost's 48 notebooks for publication by Harvard University Press may seem like a long time. But it pales in comparison with the number of years many scholars—and teams of scholars—have devoted to making sense of the hard-to-decipher handwriting of authors from Thoreau to Henry James to the less-well-known but no less prolific 19th-century American diarist Caroline Healey Dall. The mistakes that have come to light in The Notebooks of Robert Frost speak to the challenges that all such toilers after the truth encounter in learning to read and represent in print a difficult or archaic "hand." And Frost's, cramped and crabbed like the man himself, is certainly one of them.
"Human beings were not meant to be consistent," explains Elizabeth Witherell, director of the Thoreau Edition—an enterprise begun at Princeton in 1966, three years after Robert Frost's death, and now based at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She might have been summing up the spiritual philosophy of Henry David Thoreau, the iconoclastic writer and naturalist, as notorious in documentary editing circles for his terrible handwriting as for the night he spent in jail after refusing to pay taxes in an anti-slavery protest. But no, it is the mistake-prone editor she speaks of: "Every time we force ourselves into consistency, we fail." Accurately rendering authors' jottings, often intended only as notes to self, into regular type verges on the impossible.

The solution is "many eyes." To catch inevitable errors, documentary editors arrange to have as many fresh readings of their transcriptions against the original documents as possible, a process that no doubt would have alarmed the very writers who hastily scribbled their private musings into so many cheap notebooks in the first place. Editors, who sometimes employ graduate students to help with the laborious task, train themselves and their assistants in the idiosyncrasies of a writer's hand, his common phrasings, and the "gestalt" of the era—likely references to people and places, world events and literary allusions, that must be annotated for today's readers.


A Robert Frost manuscript
One such reference seems to have tripped up Robert Faggen. A passage in which Frost alluded to fifth-century Mediterranean voyager Hanno the Carthaginian came out as "Hannof the Carlingian." Context is all. That same sentence mentioned the "coast of West Africa." Carthage, at least, should have popped to mind. In another passage, in which Frost compared a poet's early drafts to a baseball player's trial swings before stepping up to the plate, Faggen offered the phrase "picktie exhibition." Yes, "public" was hard to read—but even a "pickle" exhibition would have made more sense. When you're reduced to "counting humps," as documentary editors refer to those moments of despair when they find themselves decoding words letter by letter, you know you're in trouble. And, as always, the more complete read-throughs, the better. Faggen actually corrected himself on Hanno farther down on the same page, and got the annotation right. But the first mistaken reference remained for critics to pounce on.


From a Thoreau journal
Elizabeth Witherell describes the process of reading Thoreau's journals for the press as "like driving over a deeply potholed road—you read along and when you come to a word you can't understand you back up and run at it again with the force of what you do understand as momentum." Drawing on her knowledge of Thoreau's usual subjects and vocabulary, the context of the passage, and the range of word choices in mid-19th-century American English, Witherell finds the passage eventually "resolves into something recognizable." Although graduate students trained by editors like Witherell to help in the process are increasingly unfamiliar with 19th-century script–or even any script at all in the keyboard age–Internet expertise can be a help. Googling "Hanno the Carthaginian" nets pages of hits; "Hannof the Carlingian," none.


A letter with a note by John Winthrop
These days, university presses can no longer afford to employ the roomful of proofreaders that, at Princeton anyway, examined the earliest volumes put out by the Thoreau Edition. Now it's all up to the project editors. The Massachusetts Historical Society, which houses the long-running Adams Papers project—devoted to the publication of every extant letter by Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams and most of their family members—is one of the few organizations that still does transcribing, editing, proofreading, and formatting for many of its editions all under one roof. MHS archivists still recall the struggle to decipher the handwriting of Massachusetts Bay Colony's founding Gov. John Winthrop for the Society's edition of The Winthrop Papers. Plenty of guesswork was involved, and some go so far as to suggest that if Winthrop's famous "we shall be as a city upon a hill" sermon had been recorded in his own inscrutable hand, rather than that of an unknown 17th-century copyist, politicians today would be lacking some key material for speechifying.

Yet the rewards of the task can be great for a determined researcher. Dean Grodzins, biographer of radical abolitionist minister Theodore Parker, first read a Parker letter as an undergraduate at Williams College in 1982, and he was hooked. The letter, which by a fluke wound up in the college archives, told of Parker's protest against the Fugitive Slave Law—which landed him in jail—but contained so many references to obscure figures of the time that Grodzins was still unraveling the connections nearly 20 years and countless manuscript boxes and microfilm reels later as he prepared American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism for publication. By then, Grodzins was so familiar with Parker's handwriting—often just a shorthand—and his characteristic speech patterns that he could tell when Parker wrote "m. c. h. & s." in his sermon notes he meant "mind, conscience, heart and soul."


From the journal of Theodore Parker
Parker, too, had famously bad handwriting. William Lloyd Garrison, hard-line abolitionist and editor of the Liberator, once complained that an essay Parker submitted was so unreadable it would require a dozen assistants to interpret his clotted sentences for the printer "without any serious blunders." Grodzins, nevertheless, found ways to decipher Parker's private journals, even one stunning passage written in code. Grodzins sensed Parker was unhappily married, but he had little direct evidence. Parker's wife, Lydia, often read through her husband's journals when he was out of the house, so the preacher couldn't bare his soul there. Parker sometimes wrote in Greek or Latin, however, languages Lydia didn't know. One such passage, Grodzins divined from its uncharacteristic word spacings, was actually English written with Greek characters. Putting together crossed out words and the Greek alphabet spellings, Grodzins found that Parker had written: "My wife is a DEVIL. I. HAVE. NO. HOPE. in. LIFE."

Britain kow tows to China as athletes are forced to sign no criticism contracts

British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not to speak out about China's appalling human rights record – or face being banned from travelling to Beijing.

The move – which raises the spectre of the order given to the England football team to give a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1938 – immediately provoked a storm of protest.

The controversial clause has been inserted into athletes' contracts for the first time and forbids them from making any political comment about countries staging the Olympic Games.

It is contained in a 32-page document that will be presented to all those who reach the qualifying standard and are chosen for the team.

From the moment they sign up, the competitors – likely to include the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips and world record holder Paula Radcliffe – will be effectively gagged from commenting on China's politics, human rights abuses or illegal occupation of Tibet.

Prince Charles has already let it be known that he will not be going to China, even if he is invited by Games organisers.

His views on the Communist dictatorship are well known, after this newspaper revealed how he described China's leaders as “appalling old waxworks” in a journal written after he attended the handover of Hong Kong. The Prince is also a long-time supporter of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader.

Yesterday the British Olympic Association (BOA) confirmed to The Mail on Sunday that any athlete who refuses to sign the agreements will not be allowed to travel to Beijing.

Roy Scheider, Actor in ‘Jaws,’ Dies at 75

a stage actor with a background in the classics who became one of the leading figures in the American film renaissance of the 1970s, died on Sunday afternoon in Little Rock, Ark. He was 75 and lived in Sag Harbor, N.Y.

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Roy Scheider, right, with Richard Dreyfuss in “Jaws” (1975). Mr. Scheider played the police chief of a resort town menaced by a shark.


Everett Collection
Mr. Scheider played the lead role in Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz” (1979).
Mr. Scheider had suffered from multiple myeloma for several years, and died of complications from a staph infection, his wife, Brenda Seimer, said.

Mr. Scheider’s rangy figure, gaunt face and emotional openness made him particularly appealing in everyman roles, most famously as the agonized police chief of “Jaws,” Steven Spielberg’s 1975 breakthrough hit, about a New England resort town haunted by the knowledge that a killer shark is preying on the local beaches.

Mr. Scheider conveyed an accelerated metabolism in movies like “Klute” (1971), his first major film role, in which he played a threatening pimp to Jane Fonda’s New York call girl; and in William Friedkin’s “French Connection” (also 1971), as Buddy Russo, the slightly more restrained partner to Gene Hackman’s marauding police detective, Popeye Doyle. That role earned Mr. Scheider the first of two Oscar nominations.

Born in 1932 in Orange, N.J., Mr. Scheider earned his distinctive broken nose in the New Jersey Diamond Gloves Competition. He studied at Rutgers and at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., where he graduated as a history major with the intention of going to law school. He served three years in the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. When he was discharged, he returned to Franklin and Marshall to star in a production of “Richard III.”

His professional debut was as Mercutio in a 1961 New York Shakespeare Festival production of “Romeo and Juliet.” While continuing to work onstage, he made his movie debut in “The Curse of the Living Corpse” (1964), a low-budget horror film by the prolific schlockmeister Del Tenney. “He had to bend his knees to die into a moat full of quicksand up in Connecticut,” recalled Ms. Seimer, a documentary filmmaker. “He loved to demonstrate that.”

In 1977 Mr. Scheider worked with Mr. Friedkin again in “Sorcerer,” a big-budget remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 French thriller, “The Wages of Fear,” about transporting a dangerous load of nitroglycerine in South America.

Offered a leading role in “The Deer Hunter” (1979), Mr. Scheider had to turn it down in order to fulfill his contract with Universal for a sequel to “Jaws.” (The part went to Robert De Niro.)

“Jaws 2” failed to recapture the appeal of the first film, but Mr. Scheider bounced back, accepting the principal role in Bob Fosse’s autobiographical phantasmagoria of 1979, “All That Jazz.” Equipped with Mr. Fosse’s Mephistophelean beard and manic drive, Mr. Scheider’s character, Joe Gideon, gobbled amphetamines in an attempt to stage a new Broadway show while completing the editing of a film (and pursuing a parade of alluring young women) — a monumental act of self-abuse that leads to open-heart surgery. This won Mr. Scheider an Academy Award nomination in the best actor category. (Dustin Hoffman won that year, for “Kramer vs. Kramer.”)

In 1980, Mr. Scheider returned to his first love, the stage, where his performance in a production of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” opposite Blythe Danner and Raul Julia earned him the Drama League of New York award for distinguished performance. Although he continued to be active in films, notably in Robert Benton’s “Still of the Night” (1982) and John Badham’s action spectacular “Blue Thunder” (1983), he moved from leading men to character roles, including an American spy in Fred Schepisi’s “Russia House” (1990) and a calculating Mafia don in “Romeo Is Bleeding” (1993).

One of the most memorable performances of his late career was as the sinister, wisecracking Dr. Benway in David Cronenberg’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s “Naked Lunch” (1991).

Living in Sag Harbor, Mr. Scheider continued to appear in films and lend his voice to documentaries, becoming, Ms. Seimer said, increasingly politically active. With the poet Kathy Engle, he helped to found the Hayground School in Bridgehampton, dedicated to creating an innovative, culturally diverse learning environment for local children. At the time of his death, Mr. Scheider was involved in a project to build a film studio in Florence, Italy, for a series about the history of the Renaissance.

Besides his wife, his survivors include three children, Christian Verrier Scheider and Molly Mae Scheider, with Ms. Seimer, and Maximillia Connelly Lord, from an earlier marriage, to Cynthia Bebout; a brother, Glenn Scheider of Summit, N.J.; and two grandchildren.

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Tendulkar offers batting tips to youngsters

Cricinfo staff

February 9, 2008



Masterclass from Tendulkar © Getty Images




Sachin Tendulkar has offered valuable technical tips to the younger members of the Indian team in the training sessions in Melbourne ahead of the ODI against Australia on February 10.

Tendulkar advised Robin Uthappa and Suresh Raina on techniques to adapt to the conditions and the pitches in Australia, suggested tips to Rohit Sharma to improve his front-foot drives and counselled Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary on their stance.

Gambhir was told not to have a completely side-on position at the crease, and instead open up his stance for a slightly two-eyed look at the bowler. This would allow him to offer the full face of the bat, and help him play through the on side more effectively.

"The plan is simple, see the ball, hit the ball and play in the 'V," Gambhir had earlier revealed his theory of batting in Australia. "The conditions here give a batsman full value for his strokes, though you need a lot of courage and determination. It's difficult to get on to the front foot when you are facing genuine quick bowlers like Brett Lee or Mitchell Johnson but there is very little chance when you are sitting on the back foot." Tendulkar's tips are designed to enable Gambhir score more freely in his preferred area down the ground.

It is learnt that Tendulkar, while praising Rohit for his back-foot play, was keen that he leans more on to his strokes while driving through the off side to add more power and punch. After his session with Tendulkar, Rohit had his batting video taped by the team's computer analyst Dhananjay.

Rohit considers Tendulkar his favourite player and has sought his advice in the past too. In an earlier interview with Rediff, Rohit said, "It [Tendulkar's advice] was very different from what you always hear from coaches. I mean what he said was practical, based on his own vast experience. He also told me when to take singles and twos and also when and how to accelerate, and so on and so forth. Believe me, it was very, very different from what we juniors hear from others almost every day."

Tendulkar worked with Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary too. Uthappa's tendency to commit himself to the front foot came in for scrutiny, and Tendulkar suggested a slight sideways trigger movement instead of a big stride forward.

Tendulkar noted that Tiwary places his feet too close to each other in his stance, which inhibits his movement either forward or back. Like he did with Gambhir, Tendulkar suggested that Tiwary open up in his stance which would help him drive towards mid-off and mid-on rather than committing himself to a cover drive.

Tendulkar has also advised the youngsters to opt for lighter bats on the bouncier pitches of Australia as it would allow them to move more quickly into position.

Barcelona buzz moves mobile beyond voice and text

O2 WILL today unveil the first UK trial of a much-heralded technology that boosts mobile signals in the home and poses a threat to fixed line operators such as O2's former parent BT.



Mobile broadband will be high on the agenda at the Mobile
World Congress in Barcelona [above]


O2, now owned by Spain's Telefonica, will use the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona - where 50,000 visitors are descending for the mobile industry's annual jamboree - to reveal that it is exploring different business models for so-called "femtocells".

Femtocells are tiny 3G base stations that could allow cheaper calls in homes and businesses over mobiles by routing that signal over the fixed line broadband network. O2 recently became the latest mobile network to offer its own fixed line broadband offer to compete with its former parent. It is plotting a commercial launch of the femtocells next year using technology by equipment vendor NEC.

Industry watchers Analysis predict that femtocells will be cheap to produce in huge volumes and will accelerate the migration of voice traffic from fixed to mobile networks, until 3G networks carry most voice traffic.

Vivek Dev, chief operating officer of Telefónica O2 Europe, claimed femtocells "could play a crucial role in underpinning the explosive growth of mobile broadband usage".

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Mobile broadband will be high on the agenda in Barcelona, where more than 1,200 companies will use the sprawling exhibition to showcase their wares.

After years of hype, and billions spent on 3G licences and networks, mobile networks are finally being used by many people for more than just voice calls and texts.

According to the Mobile Data Association, the number of picture or video messages sent over mobiles leapt 55pc in December 2007 versus a year earlier.

It is welcome news for mobile networks such as Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and Orange, whose voice revenues are under pressure as rising call volumes fail to keep pace with tumbling prices. The number of Britons using their mobiles to access the internet is growing at a slower pace, however, at 17.6m last December - up less than 1.5m from a year earlier.

However, Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight, predicts 2008 will be "the year of the 'dongle'," - the 3G datacards students and businessmen use to plug into their laptops to access the web without a fixed connection.

Mr Wood expects the European market for 3G datacards will grow from an estimated 2m in 2007 to in excess of 10m units this year.

And tomorrow T-Mobile is expected to expand on its plans to offer higher surfing speeds over its mobile network, having seen a huge rise in the number connecting to the web over its 3G network using datacards. Also in Barcelona, Google and Microsoft will go deeper into the battle to supply the operating systems behind the powerful new breed of mobile phones.

British silicon chip designer ARM Holdings is expected to show Google's so-called Android platform in action - the first time a mobile has been displayed featuring the operating system.

And today Microsoft, which is seeking to extend its dominance of computer operating systems to mobile, will show several new Sony-Ericsson phones using its Windows Mobile platform - its first such deal with the Japanese-Swedish joint venture.

"It's an important deal for us in the sense we are really pushing beyond the business devices market into the broader consumer market, which Sony-Ericsson is well known for with phones like the Walkman range," said John Starkweather, international director of product management for Microsoft.

Meanwhile, the organisers, the GSM Association, will today announce five leading members - Vodafone, Telefonica O2 Europe, T-Mobile, Orange and 3 - are linking to define standards for the as-yet unproven mobile advertising market.

The working group is studying how each company's UK business can make it easier for advertisers and agencies to reach audiences through the mobile web. Vodafone chief Arun Sarin has targeted mobile advertising as a growth area.

Britain's Omnifone will tomorrow take on Nokia and Apple with a handset offering unlimited music downloads direct to the mobile rather than via a wire.

And no Congress would be complete without a sprinkle of stardust: Hollywood actor Robert Redford will on Wednesday discuss how the mobile could become the "fourth-screen" for the entertainment industry.

The 100 Best Companies to Work For 2006 toooooooooooo 20008

By treating employees well, these firms are thriving.
by Geoff Colvin
January 11, 2006: 10:53 AM EST


(FORTUNE Magazine) - It had to happen: Globalization's pressure is turning the screws on even the best U.S. companies, making it tougher than ever for them to treat employees well. The good news is that some companies are doing it anyway. Extraordinary by definition, America's 100 Best Companies to Work for have pushed their employee-pleasing ways further than ever in the past year, blazing a trail for all organizations wanting to thrive in today's economic world.

See the list.

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It's obvious why being a great employer is getting so hard. Globalizing everything creates merciless cost pressures no one can avoid. So, yes, Delta and United are cutting pensions, and General Motors is reducing medical benefits. But so are America's very best employers. Back in 2001, 33 companies on our list paid 100% of employees' health-care premiums. Today only 14 do. Just since last year, 27 companies on the list have reduced what they pay in health-care premiums. Pensions are a similar story: The number of companies on the list offering a defined-benefit pension to new employees has dropped from 40 to 27 in only three years. Sorry, the expectations of even a great employer have to be recalibrated.

But for the best, that's an opportunity. They're still finding ways to differentiate themselves. Many of them have the good fortune to be in businesses that can escape at least some of globalization's pressures. Peruse the list, and you'll be struck by the clumping of firms into certain industries. Most notable: 17 health-care and child-care companies. Those businesses have to be conducted in a specific place and thus are less susceptible to global competition. It's true that radiologists in India are reading U.S. X-rays, but in general we need our doctors where we are. The other most heavily represented industries are also place-based. The list includes 16 retailers and 16 financial services firms. Some of their back-office work is being offshored, but the essence of their business demands physical presence. Heartland brokerages Edward Jones and A.G. Edwards built their business models on meeting clients face-to-face.That's nearly half the list (49 companies) in just three place-based industries; add the five construction firms, and you've got a majority.

But while those companies may largely escape global competition, they still have to beat hundreds of domestic competitors in attracting the best employees. How do they do it? Partly it's skill at finding staff-friendly ideas that don't cost much. Back in 1999 only 18 companies on the list allowed telecommuting; now 79 do. Today 81 companies offer compressed workweeks, such as four ten-hour days with Fridays off; in 1999 only 25 did. More companies are offering personal-concierge services, take-home meals, and free or subsidized lunches. Such benefits do make a difference, and they're a lot less expensive than health insurance. But those are tactics anyone can match. Winning requires something more: a sense of purpose. Employees get deep satisfaction, and become devoted to their employer, from feeling that what they do is good and right. It's easy to understand how workers at Genentech (No. 1 on the list; see "The Best Place to Work Now") or the Mayo Clinic feel they're serving a noble cause. More instructive are the companies where the connection isn't obvious. Lots of companies sell mutual funds, but at Vanguard, helping people pay for retirement is a mission. Timberland (see page 116) is about more than boots: It's about outdoors and the environment; that's why it gives employees $3,000 to buy a hybrid vehicle.

It isn't the nature of the business that makes a company purpose-driven. It's the management. When Coca-Cola was flying high in the '90s, CEO Roberto Goizueta used to say, "Coca-Cola is a religion." He was referring to more than the company's growth fervor; he talked often about its charitable work and the millions of small merchants who could make a living because they sold Coke. That's why his successor called Coke "the most noble business on earth." If Coca-Cola can have a noble purpose, so can any enterprise.

here's one thing that we know from experience does not qualify as a noble purpose: trying to make the stock go up. It's the foundation of shareholder capitalism, but it doesn't make people get out of bed in the morning. One of the striking features of our list is the number of companies that are not-for-profit enterprises or privately owned. When we published our first 100 Best list in 1998, 71 of the firms were public; this year, 50. Nonpublic ownership can be a simple economic advantage. Not-for-profits receive tax breaks and don't have to earn a return on capital for owners. Employee-owned firms can reward shareholders and employees simultaneously. The nonfinancial advantages may be greater. At PCL Construction, an employee-owned builder, a worker says, "Working here is like being with a group of old friends who look out for each other." A "we're all in this together" culture gives meaning to work that money never can. The list includes many publicly traded companies. But even among those, amazingly, many are still run by the founder or the founder's family: Fred Smith at FedEx, the Nordstroms at Nordstrom, the Smuckers at J.M. Smucker, John Macke at Whole Foods Market, for example.

Powerful as those factors are, they aren't the only elements in a great place to work. Two that have never changed and never will are worth citing: trust and recognition. Employees treasure the freedom to do their job as they think best, and great employers trust them. That's the message in comments by employees of the list's firms. Will workers screw up? Yes. It's worth it. As for recognition, it's probably the fattest pitch managers miss. Telling employees they're doing a great job costs nothing but counts big. And it's so easy to do more. Give them free bagels and doughnuts twice a week (CDW). Wash their cars (General Mills). Take them to a movie on Friday (Yahoo). The cost is insignificant. More generous rewards like taking everybody to Maui (David Weekley Homes) cost little in the scheme of things yet pay off immeasurably. One last observation: These firms are highly successful. The average American business lasts less than 20 years before it fails or gets bought. The 100 Best companies, on average, are an incredible 85 years old. Bottom line: Being a great place to work pays.

Infosys Technologies

A company that adds an organization equivalent to half its size every year poses a very stiff challenge to those reclusive strategists-the board of directories.With annual growth revenue of $1 billion plus,the board of directories include N.R. Narayana Murthy,Nandan Nilekani,Omkar Goswami,Larry pressler and Claude Smadja.

Infosys Technologies Ltd. provides consulting and IT services to clients globally - as partners to conceptualize and realize technology driven business transformation initiatives. With over 58,000 employees worldwide, we use a low-risk Global Delivery Model (GDM) to accelerate schedules with a high degree of time and cost predictability.
As one of the pioneers in strategic offshore outsourcing of software services, Infosys has leveraged the global trend of offshore outsourcing. Even as many software outsourcing companies were blamed for diverting global jobs to cheaper offshore outsourcing destinations like India and China, Infosys was recently applauded by Wired magazine for its unique offshore outsourcing strategy — it singled out Infosys for turning the outsourcing myth around and bringing jobs back to the US.

Reliance Industries
Dhirubhai Ambani founded Reliance as a textile company and led its evolution as a global leader in the materials and energy value chain businesses. He is credited to have brought about the equity cult in India in the late seventies and is regarded as an icon for enterprise in India. He epitomized the spirit 'dare to dream and learn to excel'.

Today Mukesh Ambani,chairman of the India’s biggest private sector company. By investing Rs 10,500 crore at one go in Reliance Infocomm,the group’s telecom venture,has proved that Reliance can pull off big projects-not just in petrochemicals,but also in any other field it lays hands on.

In just one year after its launch, Reliance Infocomm has garnered 7 million subscribers for its mobile telephone services.Its services are now available in more cities and towns than any competitor,baring the state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam which has been in the business for than four decades.

Wipro
Azim Premji,chairman of Wipro says continuing to believe in our long term strategy ,building a complete range of IT and BPO solutions for our customers,deep engagement in R&D services and technology domain and significant leverage from our India Business.

Premji says he will not easily forget the hammering Wipro received from analysts when it entered the BPO space buyout of spectramind in july 2002.Wipro’s entire focuss is now on getting the organization ready to handle huge IT outsourcing deals-perhaps in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Hindustan Lever
Hindustan Lever Limited (also called HLL) is India's largest consumer products company and is headquartered in Mumbai. Lever Brothers India Limited was formed in 1933 which became Hindustan Lever Limited. It has 41,000 employees. HLL is the market leader in Indian products such as tea, soaps, detergents. As of May 2006, it is headed by Mr Douglas Bailey.

Hind Lever's water debut in Jan Consumer foods giant Hindustan Lever will launch its water business in January 2004. The foray was significant for Hindustan Lever because its British parent, Unilever Plc, was likely to go in for a global launch of the water business in select markets if the experiment turned out to be successful in India, Hindustan Lever executives said.
The company has ruled out its entry through the "purified water in bottles" line, and is looking at tapping the purified water dispensers market by targeting the household sector, a market that is estimated at around Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion).
The equipment would provide purified water much cheaper to domestic consumers, compared with bottled water, Hindustan Lever sources said.
With Hindustan Lever entering the water business, the competition is expected to heat up in the domestic market.

Maruti Udyog
Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in Feb 1981 through an Act of Parliament, to meet the growing demand of a personal mode of transport caused by the lack of an efficient public transport system.

Suzuki Motor Company was chosen from seven prospective partners worldwide. This was due not only to their undisputed leadership in small cars but also to their commitment to actively bring to MUL contemporary technology and Japanese management practices (which had catapulted Japan over USA to the status of the top auto manufacturing country in the world).

A licence and a Joint Venture agreement was signed between Govt of India and Suzuki Motor Company (now Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan) in Oct 1982

As opposed to marketshare,opportunities share-as conceived by Maruti Udyog’s managing director Jagdish Khattar – Is the portion of business that a company captures from new opportunities which the company itself creates. Khattar believes that all market leaders must concentrate more on creating fundamentally new opportunities and grabbing a larger share of business from those than existing market.


DR.Reddy’s Lab

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories was founded by Dr Anji Reddy, a entrepreneur-scientist, in 1984. The DNA of the company is drawn from its founder and his vision to establish India’s first discovery led global pharmaceutical company. In fact, it is this spirit of entrepreneurship that has shaped the company to become what it is today.

Dr Anji Reddy, having moved out of Standard Organics Limited, a company he had successfully co-founded, started Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories with $ 40,000 in cash and $120,000 in bank loan! Today, the company with revenues of Rs.1947 crore (US $446 million), as of fiscal year 2005, is India’s second largest pharmaceutical company and the youngest among its peer group.

The company has several distinctions to its credit. Being the first pharmaceutical company from Asia Pacific (outside Japan) to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (on April 11, 2001) is only one among them. And as always, Dr. Reddy’s chose to do it in the most difficult of circumstances against widespread skepticism. Dr. Reddy’s came up trumps not only having its stock oversubscribed but also becoming the best performing IPO that year.

Dr. Anji Reddy is well known for his passion for research and drug discovery. Dr. Reddy’s started its drug discovery programme in 1993 and within three years it achieved its first breakthrough by outlicensing an anti-diabetes molecule to Novo Nordisk in March 1997. With this very small but significant step, the Indian industry went through a paradigm shift in its image from being known as just ‘copycats’ to ‘innovators’! Through its success, Dr. Reddy’s pioneered drug discovery in India. There are several
such inflection points in the company’s evolution from a bulk drug (API) manufacturer into a vertically integrated global pharmaceutical company today.

Today, the company manufactures and markets API (Bulk Actives), Finished Dosages and Biologics in over 100 countries worldwide, in addition to having a very promising Drug Discovery Pipeline. When Dr. Reddy’s started its first big move in 1986 from manufacturing and marketing bulk actives to the domestic (Indian) market to manufacturing and exporting difficult-to-manufacture bulk actives such as Methyldopa to highly regulated overseas markets, it had to not only overcome regulatory and legal hurdles but also battle deeply entrenched mind-set issues of Indian Pharma being seen as producers of 'cheap' and therefore ‘low quality’ pharmaceuticals. Today, the Indian pharma industry, in stark contrast, is known globally for its proven high quality-low cost advantage in delivering safe and effective pharmaceuticals. This transition, a tough and often-perilous one, was made possible thanks to the pioneering efforts of companies such as Dr. Reddy’s.

Top Companies of India

Consumer needs drive the emergence and growth of companies. Alternately it can be claimed that the growth of companies have fuelled the ever-increasing consumer demand. In short it can be said that the growth of the companies is directly proportional to the consumer needs. The top companies of India determine the economic health of the country. If the top companies run on profit then the economy of the country will also improve. The profits earned by the top companies of India help to drive the economy northwards. Thus the top companies of India play a pivotal role in influencing the economy of the country. Introduce yourself to the top companies of India and learn about them by visiting the following sites:

bestindiansites.com:

Stay informed with the Best Indian Sites. This is a one-stop information portal where you can get precise and comprehensive information on any topic you want. Best Indian Sites is the web portal of the Compare Infobase Limited which was launched in 1999. It is a complete information hub where you can find perfect information on the top web portals of India. Always keep yourself updated by browsing through this site. Well are you scouting for information on the top companies of India? Click on this site to get a precise and clear knowledge about the top companies of India in all the sectors.

fundoodata.com:

Introduce yourself to the top companies of India by logging on to fundoodata.com. You will find an extensive database of the top companies of India on this portal. Check-out the leading companies of India and get detailed information on these companies. You can also run a search by mentioning the names of the industries and you will the list of top companies in that sector. The portal offers you a handy search box which will make your search very easy and convenient.

indiamart.com:

Expose yourself to the top companies of India with indiamart.com. This web portal will offer you a comprehensive directory. Look-out for the top companies of India. Check-out the list of the top companies of India and go through their profile. Acquire detailed information on these companies. Avail the search box and look for any topic you want. Here you will also find navigational links on a host of related topics-browse through those links.


khoj.com:

Searching for the top Indian companies? Click on khoj.com and look-up the directory. There you will find a comprehensive list of the top companies of India. Gain precise and detailed information on the top companies of India in all the sectors. You will find the search box on the top of the portal. Look for any topic you want by simply mentioning the name of the topic. The search box will make your search extremely easy and exciting.

surfindia.com:

Acquaint yourself with the top companies of India. The surfindia.com is a comprehensive web directory where you can find a list of the top Indian companies. Access this online directory to look for detailed and precise information on the leading companies of India in all the sectors right from advertising to healthcare. This is a user friendly website where you can browse through the navigational links on a whole host of topics related to India. The portal also offers online shopping facilities.

yahoo.com:

Check-out for the top companies of India by clicking on this search engine. You will find the search box at the top of this web portal. Avail the search box and take a look at the top Indian companies. Collect relevant information on these companies. Stay informed by clicking on the news section. Check-out the latest news on finance and infotainment.

All the visitors who are not able to find information regarding a particular topic but have their own source for the same may kindly write to the email address given below: isha@infobase.in.

Click on the link above www.bestindiansites.com

For more information on Top Companies please click the following links

Top Banks
Top Hotels
Top Legal/Law Firms
Top Advertising Companies
Top Domain Registration Companies
Top Insurance Companies
Top Import and Export Companies
Top Web Designing Companies
Top Automobile Companies
Top Finance Companies
Top Manufacturing Companies
Top Consultants
Top HR Companies
Top Real Estate Companies
Top Travel Companies
Top Accounting Companies
Top BPO Companies
Top E-commerce Companies
Top leading-biotechnology Companies
Top Interior-Decoration Companies
Top Airlines Companies
Top Fashion-Houses Companies
Top Marketing Companies
Top Health Companies
Top Entertainment Companies
Top Oil and Gas Companies
Top Architech Companies
Top Logistics Companies
Top Packaging Companies
Top R&D Companies

Report: Yahoo Board to Reject Microsoft

Feb 9 01:02 PM US/Eastern
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Yahoo Inc.'s board plans to reject Microsoft Corp.'s bid to buy the Internet pioneer, The Wall Street Jornal reported on its Web site Saturday.
Board members concluded the unsolicited $44.6 billion offer massively undervalues the Web pioneer, a person familiar with the situation told the newspaper.

AMD delaying quad-core Phenom 9700 and 9900 once again? UPDATE: AMD says everything's on track

The sun just refuses to shine on AMD -- according to several Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, AMD is saying that the quad-core Phenom 9700 and 9900 are going to be delayed yet again, this time to the end of Q3. Apparently there's a buffer-related glitch in the original design, so AMD is actually "canceling" the two chips and "reintroducing" the revised versions in Q3 as the 9750 and 9950 to "improve consumer confidence." That's certainly an interesting tactic for a chip that's never seen the light of day -- but we'd say that the best thing AMD could do to improve consumer confidence is stop talking and start shipping, no?

Update: We just got off the phone with AMD, who told us that they're actually ahead of schedule on the "B3" Phenom silicon, which fixes that buffer error without requiring a new BIOS, and that they expect to ship higher frequency quad-core Phenoms in Q2 as planned. They would not, however, give us model numbers or clock speeds, and wouldn't commit to a date in Q2 -- so don't be surprised if these hit as the 9750 and 9950 on the last day of Q2 after all.

Why We Love the Sweet Life

By J.DINESH SHARMA. Small, LiveScience's Human Nature Columnist

posted: 08 February 2008 09:00 am ET
I agree with nutritionists that breakfast is the most important meal, and my idea of the perfect breakfast is an ultra-sweet frappucchino and a brownie, a brownie with chocolate frosting, that is.

Like most people, I have a sugar Jones, and thank goodness a workshop on glycoscience organized recently by the European Science Foundation has underscored the vital role of complex sugars in biological systems.

The researchers were, of course, talking about the science of sugars in things like brain function and the immune system, but someone at that workshop should have brought up how necessary sweets are to the survival of our species.

Where would we be without honey, sugar cane, molasses, maple syrup and corn syrup? Down in the dumps, for sure.

But it's not our fault. It's the fault of our primate heritage.

The human tongue can detect four basic flavors — salt, sour, bitter and sweet, but humans are naturally drawn to sweet because we are primates, animals that evolved eating fruit in the trees.

Monkeys and ape spend their days in the forest searching for ripe fruit. They have been selected to prefer sweet, ripe fruit over unripe, bitter fruit because it has higher sugar content and supplies more ready energy. Ripe fruit also has more water, which can be hard to find high in the canopy.

So it makes sense for primates, including us, to have a highly developed palate for sweet things. And we primates have extended that preference beyond mere fruit.

In the 1990s, William McGrew, now at Cambridge University, reported that chimpanzees used sticks to dip into beehives and extract honey.

And they suffer to get it. Chimps break into a hive with their fingers, ignoring the buzz of angry bees and the sting of those that bite, and get down to business like Winnie-the-Pooh with his hand in the honey jar.

Researchers have also discovered that honey dipping is a multi-cultural chimpanzee behavior; at different sites across Africa, chimps use different sort of tools to pull out the sweet stuff.

With this sweet heritage, it's no wonder that humans followed our sweet tooth out of the forest.

We domesticated sugar cane, a tropical grass, and carried it across the world; Arabs spread sugar cane as their empire grew, Crusaders brought cane back to Northern Europe and Columbus introduced sugar cane plants into the Caribbean where it grew like a weed.

Once people figured out how to extract sugar from beets and corn that grew in more temperate climates, there was no turning back. Today, according to Sugar Knowledge International, an independent sugar technology organization, we eat 120 million tons of sugar a year, and it's an expanding market.

As the food industry has discovered, pop a little (or a lot) of sugar into any kind of processed food and we like it a lot, no matter that sugar is not good for us.

Much like a chimpanzee drawn to a hive in spite of the bees, we, too, ignore the stinging consequences of bad teeth and thick waistlines as we down our personal share of those 120 million kilos of sugar.

And, apparently, I like to down my daily quota before 8 a.m., if possible.

The Pirate Bay and Filesharers Backed by Swedish Politicians

In recent years, the Swedish Green Party, which holds 19 seats in parliament, has taken a clear stance on filesharing. Following the raid on The Pirate Bay in 2006, the party board released a memo entitled “Free the files!” in which they suggested to fully legalize non-commercial filesharing.

When asked about the purpose of the memo in 2006, party spokesperson Peter Eriksson said: “Our aim is to make laws in line with the new technologies. The other option is to pretend that you can go on like you always have, although it’s practically impossible. Reality has changed.”

One of the driving forces behind the recent “I Wouldn’t Steal” campaign from the European Green parties was the Swedish politician Carl Schlyter, and his initiative seems to have spurred others in the party to join the debate. Earlier this week, an editorial was published in two local Swedish newspapers. It was titled “Filesharing is not theft” and was written by Akko Karlsson, member of the Swedish Green Party’s executive board.

In the editorial, Akko argued that filesharing can’t be compared to theft, as theft is when someone takes away the possibility for another person to use something, whereas filesharing only creates a new copy without erasing the original.

“For me, this is a generation issue,” said Akko Karlsson when TorrentFreak asked her why she decided to write the editorial. “You should always endorse the new technologies’ possibilities.”

In her editorial, Akko criticizes the entertainment industry’s failing to enter the information age with working business models:

“You could argue that filesharing hinders some people from earning as much money as they would have if filesharing was not possible. But now it is possible, the technology is there, and then the industry needs to find new ways of handling it. They’ve had the chance to work on new ways for 10 years but haven’t come up with much else than silly trailers that say filesharing is theft. […] When new technology emerges, it’s not necessarily it that must be adapted to the old ways. Sometimes, the industry itself must adapt.”

Akko further told TorrentFreak that she’s convinced that filesharing, copyright and integrity will be important issues for Green Party in the 2009 elections for the European Parliament and the 2010 elections in Sweden.

“Because there is also the democratic aspect of this,” she says, “There are so many people under repressive regimes for whom filesharing and the Internet is the link to the rest of the world that inspires, gives hope and makes it endurable to fight for human rights and democracy. The state’s control system is expanding. We used to heavily criticize the intrusions of privacy and control systems in place behind the Iron Curtain, but now we are building this ourselves.”

In Swedish old media, there’s currently a heated argument against filesharing, with novelists like Liza Marklund and Jan Guillou using every inch of their weekly columns in Swedish newspapers to lobby for tougher measures. With the trial against The Pirate Bay coming up, the debate has sunk even deeper in the trenches. In this climate, for politicians to step up to the plate with sound arguments why filesharing should be legalized seems like a bold move.

But Akko Karlsson is not alone.

On January 31, an editorial was published in Gothenburg’s daily newspaper. It was written by Green Party’s Lage Rahm, member of Parliament, party spokesperson on IT issues and substitute member on The Committee on Industry and Trade. On the subject of the ongoing case against The Pirate Bay, he called for reason when it comes to impose tougher measures on filesharing:

“Not only is the struggle [to end illegal filesharing] doomed to fail, it also creates a risk that filesharing on the Internet becomes anonymized and encrypted. An increased availability of untraceable networks will make it harder to fight organized crime.”

As an example, Lage Rahm put forward the bust of a pedophile ring with more than 700 suspects in 33 countries last year. This was done by tracking chatrooms, downloaded photos and e-mail.

“Most people realize that the police and copyright interest groups are fighting against windmills. […] Convicting sentences against The Pirate Bay would have merely marginal effects on the scope of illegal filesharing. More severe is that the hunt will lead to an increased interest for absolute anonymity among Sweden’s approximately 1 million filesharers. Their activity will move to untraceable darknets.”

He focused on the dangers of Internet communities going underground and concluded:

“New technologies mean we as legislators are faced with an entirely new reality. Tougher measures against filesharing means risking the police’s possibilities of fighting child pornography and organized crime. It is worrying that the Minister of Justice doesn’t seem to realize this. For The Green Party, this is one of the main arguments of legalizing non-commercial downloading. […] The Minister of Justice should leave to the industry to clear up the mess they have made for themselves. Judicial resources should be diverted to fight severe online criminality instead of hunting filesharing sixteen-year-olds.”

So, what does this all mean for the European filesharer? Well, one thing is sure, political parties that actually have power are taking a pro-filesharing stance. A sign that things are moving forward, slowly, but in the right direction.

Birds, Bats And Insects Hold Secrets For Aerospace Engineers

ScienceDaily (Feb. 9, 2008) — Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.


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See also:
Plants & Animals
Birds
Nature
Extreme Survival
Matter & Energy
Aviation
Wind Energy
Vehicles
Reference
Automotive aerodynamics
Aerodynamics
Wright brothers
Military aviation
A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75. The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second.

Select military aircraft can withstand gravitational forces of 8-10 G. Many birds routinely experience positive G-forces greater than 10 G and up to 14 G.

“Natural flyers obviously have some highly varied mechanical properties that we really have not incorporated in engineering,” said Wei Shyy, chair of the Aerospace Engineering department and an author of the new book “The Aerodynamics of Low Reynolds Number Flyers.”

“They’re not only lighter, but also have much more adaptive structures as well as capabilities of integrating aerodynamics with wing and body shapes, which change all the time,” Shyy said. “Natural flyers have outstanding capabilities to remain airborne through wind gusts, rain, and snow.” Shyy photographs birds to help him understand their aerodynamics.

Pressure generated during flight cause the flapping wings to deform, he explained. In turn, the deformed wing tells the air that the wing shape is different than it appears in still air. If appropriately handled, this phenomenon can delay stall, enhance stability and increase thrust.

Flapping flight is inherently unsteady, but that’s why it works so well. Birds, bats and insects fly in a messy environment full of gusts traveling at speeds similar to their own. Yet they can react almost instantaneously and adapt with their flexible wings.

Shyy and his colleagues have several grants from the Air Force totaling more than $1 million a year to research small flapping wing aircraft. Such aircraft would fly slower than their fixed wing counterparts, and more importantly, they would be able to hover and possibly perch in order to monitor the environment or a hostile area. Shyy’s current focus is on the aerodynamics of flexible wings related to micro air vehicles with wingspans between 1 and 3 inches.

“These days, if you want to design a flapping wing vehicle, you could build one with trial and error, but in a controlled environment with no wind gusts,” Shyy said. “We are trying to figure out how to design a vehicle that can perform a mission in an uncertain environment. When the wind blows, how do they stay on course?”

A dragonfly, Shyy says, has remarkable resilience to wind, considering how light it is. The professor chalks that up to its wing structure and flight control. But the details are still questions.

“We’re really just at the beginning of this,” Shyy said.

Shyy is the Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson Collegiate Professor of Aerospace Engineering. Other authors of the book, “Aerodynamics of Low Reynolds Number Flyers” are: U-M research scientists Yongsheng Lian, Jian Tang and Dragos Viieru, and Hao Liu, professor of Biomechanical Engineering at Chiba University in Japan.

Other collaborators on this research include professors Luis Bernal, Carlos Cesnik and Peretz Friedmann of the University of Michigan; Hao Liu of Chiba University in Japan; Peter Ifju, Rick Lind and Larry Ukeiley of University of Florida, and Sean Humbert of University of Maryland.

Adapted from materials provided by University of Michigan.

Wash. -- Washington Gov. Chris

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire endorsed Barack Obama for president Friday, providing a last-minute lift to the Illinois senator on the eve of the state's hotly contested Democratic caucuses.

Gregoire, announcing her choice in an interview with The Associated Press, said that taking sides in the close contest for the Democratic nomination was tough, given her great admiration for Sen. Hillary Clinton.

But she said Obama is a charismatic and skilled leader who can bring the country together, help solve nagging problems, and restore the country's image abroad.

Gregoire planned to join Obama in a major campaign rally at Seattle's KeyArena on Friday....

Gregoire was the state's first female attorney general and is only the second woman governor in Washington since statehood. Washington is the only state with a female governor and both U.S. senators.

But Obama is quite popular in the Democratic strongholds of Seattle and other urban areas, and the Obama endorsement could help centrist Gregoire there.

"Lots of people said, 'Just stay out of it,'" said Gregoire, who faces a potentially tough re-election campaign of her own this fall.

"But all of my friends are going to caucus on Saturday and will be asked to make up their mind, so why shouldn't I? It was time for me to make up my mind."

Fellow Govs. Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas also have endorsed Obama.

...

"I gave it a lot of thought and it was a very difficult decision because I think Democrats and the nation are very blessed to have two outstanding candidates, both of whom would make a great president.

"Back when I was 18 years old, if anyone had told me in my lifetime we would have a choice between the first woman president and the first African American, I would have laughed out loud," she said. "They are both breaking the glass ceiling if you will."

Gregoire said Obama brings hope and inspiration to young and old alike.

"He is leading us toward a positive feeling of hope in our country and I love seeing that happen," she said. "I believe the nation faces significant challenges domestically and internationally and Obama is the person who has the ability to reach across artificial divides and move our national forward. Barack is that kind of leader."

The ACSA challenges

The ACSA challenges Senator McCain on his legislative history of Human Rights Violations: "a Skeleton in his closet: UNFIT to hold public office!"

(Public Law 93-531 as amended in 1996 (Partition), 1999 (Settlement), 2001 (Enforcement of Resettlement) and 2005 (Expansion of Resettlement) by bills introduced by Senator McCain - has led to the United Nations Special Rapporteur, Hon Abdeltalif Amor's condemnation of human rights violations inside the US, over the stripping of rights and forced resettlement of these gentle and deeply spiritual band of Dineh-Navajo Indians from Arizona, swept off of lands they'd owned since 1500 A.D. so that Peabody Western Coal could mine the Coal from beneath their farmlands and tap their wells to slurry pipe it to a power station in Nevada).

ACSA study reveals that after assembling a team of "pro-Peabody Western Coal" Indians and obtaining a false "Hopi-Navajo" Tribal Counsel designation by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for these paid Tribal representatives, in the period 1974-1996, Senator McCain was able to get large bands of the Dineh-Navajo relocated off their lands, so that Peabody Western could mine the coal under their farms at nominal expense. Common Cause has suggested McCain was indirectly compensated by street name cash contributions to his Federal Election Fund during three Presidential runs, and through family business with Las Vegas Casinos who benefited from the coal driven power he supplied.

PRESS RELEASE
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(Advances Magazine - February 5, 2008)

A public research website: http://www.cain2008.org has brought together diverse historical elements of factual proof that Senator John McCain's was the key "point man" introducing, enacting and enforcing law that removed Dineh-Navajo Families from their reservation on the Black Mesa in Arizona. The McCain revised law relocated them to Church's Hill, Nevada (a Nuclear Waste Superfund Site, called "the New Lands" in PL 93-531). The Dineh-Navajo, a deeply spiritual and peaceful people, engaged in only peaceful resistance to being moved off lands they'd owned since 1500 A.D. Nonetheless, the Public Press and UN depicted brutalization, rights deprivation and forcible relocation.

According to the website (and the United Nations studies) a small band of Indians claiming to be of the "Hopi-Navajo" band (an impossibility as Hopi is the parent culture of all Indian tribes), consisting of 3-5 local Arizona individuals assembled originally by Kennecott attorney John Boyden, Esq (Kennecott is a predecessor owner of the Peabody Western Group) and Congressman Wayne Owens, progressively laid claim to more and more of the lands actually owned by the "Dineh-Navaho" and subsequently offered the "Dineh's" coal rights to Peabody Western Group at nominal cost, while laws enacted by McCain, the Senate and signed into law, forced the relocation of the Dineh-Navajo.

Senator McCain and his predecessors introduced legislation (S1973-1 and S.1003) which they claimed were justified by what has turned out to be a non-existent range war between the Dineh (mainly consisting of grandfathers and grandmothers in their 70's living on farmlands that had belonged to their tribe since 1500 AD) and the Hopi (the 3-5 individuals rapidly assembled to assist Peabody Western Group by Senator McCain, Congressman Owens and John Boyden).

Subsequently, as the Dineh were removed from their farms by the "Relocation Commission" authorized by the US Senate at the behest of the revisions to the Public Law 93-531 introduced as S.1973-1 (1996 Partition) and S.1003 (2001 and 2005 accelerated removal of the Dineh by amendment) by Senator McCain, expanded Coal Mining Rights to their lands were granted to Peabody Western who with Bechtel Corp, have been mining the lands formerly occupied by the Dineh, and piping the coal to the Mohave Generating Station in Nevada, which serves the Las Vegas and Reno areas power needs. A map of the Mining and Piping operations are found depicted below.

Not that long ago, the United Nations performed a Human Rights Investigation of the forced Navajo resettlement from Arizona to Nevada, under Special Rapporteur A. Amor. A law revised and submitted to Congress by Senator John McCain and others before him was determined to be the root cause of violations, which after ratification by President Clinton in 1999 during a globally publicized sit in by Songstress Julia Butterfly Hill at Big Mountain, Arizona. The enactment led to the removal of the Dineh band of Navajo from the Black Mesa to free the lands up to mining, and could lead to relocation of the Dineh-Navaho from Big Mountain, all based on a tissue of deceit, false claims of prior ownership by a small group of paid Arizona locals of Indian descent led by one Wayne Taylor, working for McCain and Peabody. To quote the UN website
(http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/mgroups/wedo.htm#dineh) :

"The Black Mesa region in Arizona, USA is home to the indigenous communities of the Dineh (Navajo) and Hopi peoples. This region also contains major deposits of coal which are being extracted by North America's largest strip mining operation. The coal mines have had a major impact on families in the region. Local water sources have been poisoned, resulting in the death of livestock. Homes near the mines suffer from blasting damage. The coal dust is pervasive, as well as smoke from frequent fires in the stockpiles. Not coincidentally, the people in the area have an unusually high incidence of kidney and respiratory disease. "

"The Dineh (otherwise known as Navajo) were stripped of all land title and forced to relocate. Their land was turned over to the coal companies without making any provisions to protect the burial or sacred sites that would be destroyed by the mines. People whose lives were based in their deep spiritual and life-giving relationship with the land were relocated into cities, often without compensation, forbidden to return to the land that their families had occupied for generations. People became homeless with significant increases in alcoholism, suicide, family break up, emotional abuse and death. "

-- Marsha Monestersky for the UN Commission on Human Rights and Women Enacting Change at the UN

"The forcible relocation of over 10,000 (Dineh) Navajo people is a tragedy of genocide and injustice that will be a blot on the conscience of this country for many generations."

-- Leon Berger, Executive Director, Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation Commission upon resignation in 2001

"I feel that in relocating these elderly people, we are as bad as the Nazis that ran the concentration camps in World War II."

-- Roger Lewis, federally appointed Dineh Relocation Commissioner upon resignation in 1998

"I believe that the forced relocation of Navajo and Hopi people that followed from the passage in 1974 of Public Law 93-531 is a major violation of these people's human rights. Indeed this forced relocation of over 12,000 Native Americans is one of the worst cases of involuntary community resettlement that I have studied throughout the world over the past 40 years."

-- Thayer Scudder, Professor of Anthropology, California Institute of Technology in a letter to Mr. Abdelfattah Amor, UN Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance in 1999

According to http://www.cain2008.org, as verified by the Library of Congress and the Congressional Record, Senator McCain, as author and as chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, created the final agreement and amended 1974 Act as captained through the Senate in 1996. Senator McCain proposed a land partitioning scheme which led to the construction of a fence along the Dineh Range blocking their ability to field range their cattle (PL S.1973-1 1996 Dineh Proposal for Land Partitioning), eventually leading to seizure of their cattle for bridging the fence, and capping of their wells, which water was then sequestered for use by Peabody Western Group.

In what can only be called a miscarriage of justices, a grossly misinformed Supreme Court
(http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/01-1375.pdf) unfortunately upheld the right of Peabody Western Group to mine the lands vacated by the Dineh under the law that forcibly relocated them, and for the Dineh to be compensated for only $2500 per farm seized by Peabody for mining under the auspices of the Bureau of Mines, royalties paid solely to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Navaho Resettlement Act P.L. 93-531 (as amended). License fees for coal under Dineh lands were never turned over to the Dineh-Navajo by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and have simply just "disappeared" according to the budget director of the BIA, allegedly used for contractor cleanups of Peabody's strip mines (cit. ref. on http://www.cain2008.org).

In its 2007 study of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee's support for Peabody's mine and tapping of wells for mining in the Dineh's territories, the current Special Rapporteur's (Hon. Abdel. Amor) office of the UN Human Rights Commission is quoted as stating :

"There are other detrimental impacts due to government failure to enforce environmental regulations. The presence of the mine and the use of the water source were destroying the Navajo and Hopi cultures. Both the aquifer and the land are sacred to the Hopi and Navajo tribes." (see UN website).

The ACSA website "Am I My Brother's Keeper" (http://www.cain2008.org) goes into the greatest detail of the history of this tragic series of events, accurately showing how Senator McCain and others capitalized on the tragic relocation of the gentle tribe of artisans, elders and grandmothers that has had such horrible consequences.

The ACSA believes in this Election Year that the behavior of each and every candidate or any political affiliation be brought to light in the Public Eye.

ACSA has determined that the law in question (25 U.S.C. 640d-11) has been amended many times, since it's introduction by Congressman Wayne Owens, and signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1974. Among the key amendments introduced by Senator McCain were the organization of a Hopi-Navajo Resettlement Commission (a Commission actually charged with relocating the Dineh-Navaho) and modifying the Settlement allegedly agreed to by the Hopi-Navajo to remove any Dineh who sought sanctuary legally under their membership in the Hopi "parent culture" of all Indians in America. These and other amendments were introduced by Senator McCain as public law in 1996 through 1999, and some were submitted to the Senate and House in 2005 as PL S.1003, subsequently incorporated into the language of the 2005 amendment of 25 U.S.C. 40d-11, all to rig the situation for the Senator's sponsors, Peabody Western Coal Company (Peabody Group today) and Bechtel, who operates the Mohave Generating Station, so they could more easily remove the coal from the Dineh-Navaho's rightful properties.

Within the legal maneuverings of Senator McCain, the non-existent tribal counsel, called: the "Hopi-Navajo Counsel", made up of Peabody Group proxies of local Kayenta, Arizona area origin, surfaced false claims of prior ownership and eminent domain, and then successfully testified before the Senate (the Dineh were not invited to testify about their own fate before the Senate by Senator McCain, leading to a hue and cry in 1999) and demanded the removal of the rightful landowners, the Dineh-Navajo, claiming "encroachment on lands granted us by President Chester A. Arthur." They demand completion of the removal of the Dineh-Navaho from the Black Mesa and Big Mountain.

Or course, as it turns out, the term "Hopi" refers to all Indians everywhere in the USA, and not any single tribal unit. The testimony by alleged "Hopis" from Arizona who count in number some five individuals, has with the help of Senator McCain, managed to testify at every hearing without the Senate every once questioning whether such a tribe exists, or whether it has rights to the territories which, now with many of the Dineh-Navajo having been forcibly removed, some 25,000 families and growing, are now being mined by Peabody Group in Black Mesa, with its sights set on Big Mountain.

For an example of testimony by the fake Hopi tribal counsel: leader Wayne Taylor, at Senate Hearings on the forcible resettlement of the Dineh Navajo, tried to claim encroachment of lands he claimed "were occupied by our people for 1000 years", falsely alleging that the Navajo were relative newcomers. The claims are historical falsehoods, as the Navajo and all Indian Tribes of America are sub-units of the overall Hopi, which term refers to all Indian Tribes.
(see Wayne Taylor's statement before the Senate: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411336)

The behavior by Senator John McCain in manipulating the laws and circumstances of this horrific affair is pervasively criminal, in the ACSA's opinion, and also quite worthy of the prosecution and incarceration of Senator McCain, and his associates in sponsorship of the bills, the proxy Hopi "wooden indians" bought and paid for by McCain and Peabody, and the profiteering from the coal mining of the Black Mesa, for Criminal Fraud, Conspiracy and Misconduct of Office. ACSA would further not be in a position to hand McCain any endorsement in his Presidential run, we opine and consider his election, the election of a known criminal, would ultimately damage the United States in ways as of yet not conceived.

Hence: http://www.cain2008.org "Am I My Brother's Keeper" -- visit it and view a remarkable film online for free: VANISHING PRAYER, which film cinematically documents many of the tragic events that led to this ongoing Holocaust.

The ACSA is the world's largest computer science foundation with some 9.5 million registered members, and 15,000 sponsoring companies. Its primary charter is one of Public Advocacy and its website is found at http://acsa.net .

Copyright (c) 2008 ACSA

MONSTER

Ever wonder why gadget store employees push Monster cables like they're crack? Bitchin' markups, just like you suspected (or knew) all along. That's what we found when a Radio Shack employee sent us his store's entire inventory list, which included the wholesale and retail price of every item in stock.

Some cables, like the 19ft HDMI-DVI cable, have markups as high as 80%. Retail: $179.99. Wholesale, $99.40, a profit of $80.54. Or consider the 16 ft S-Video cable, which Radio Shack buys for $61.24 and sells for $114.99. We found non-name brand versions of both on Meritline.com for under $20. It's not just limited to Radio Shack, Best Buy charges the same retail price, and, presumably, gets them for a similar wholesale price.

Here's the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss. A cable is either digital or it's not. As long as its built to HDMI standards, the only difference between a "fancy" digital cable and a no-name one is the price.

The worst part isn't really the markup. Stereo equipment routinely has markups of 80 to 100 to 200% by the time it hits the shelves. It's the initial inflated price, and how gadget stores try to push the cables so hard, telling people that Monster cables offer superior picture and sound then what you would get with another cable. But that simply isn't the case. Our sister site Gizmodo ran a battery of tests and found Monster cables are for the most part, completely unnecessary. (see The Truth About Monster Cable - Grand Finale (Part III), HDMI Cable Battlemodo Resumes, The Truth About Monster Cable, Part 2 (Verdict: Cheap Cables Keep Up...Usually), and The Truth About Monster Cable).

Our recommendation? Buy generic digital cables on Monoprice.com, Meritline.com, eBay, or other places online. If you're the type who wants Gucci-brand cables, then god bless, and at least buy them on eBay. Our tv looks fine without Monsters.

Full price list of Monster products below.

Item | Retail Price | Wholesale Price | Profit Margin

MONSTER 19FT HDMI-DVI | $179.99 | $99.94 | $80.05
MONSTER 8M L 26.24' | $137.99 | $73.49 | $64.5
MONSTER 19FT HDMI-HDMI CA | $169.99 | $105.5 | $64.49
"MONSTER 21' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $149.99 | $88.87 | $61.12
MONSTER HTS 950 | $149.99 | $90.89 | $59.1
MONSTER SLVR FLAT MNT-37I | $149.99 | $91.44 | $58.55
MONSTER 16FT DVI-DVI CABL | $149.99 | $93.08 | $56.91
MONSTER 13FT HDMI-DVI CAB | $149.99 | $93.08 | $56.91
MONSTER 6M L 19.68' - COM | $114.99 | $61.24 | $53.75
MONSTER 8' DIGITAL FIBER | $114.99 | $61.24 | $53.75
MONSTER 25' SUBWOOFER W/R | $114.99 | $61.24 | $53.75
MONSTER 16' S-VIDEO CABLE | $114.99 | $61.24 | $53.75
MONSTER ULTRA 8FT HDMI CA | $119.99 | $69.3 | $50.69
MONSTER ULTRA 4FT HDMI CA | $99.99 | $49.5 | $50.49
MONSTER 8FT COMPONENT CAB | $91.99 | $41.6 | $50.39
MONSTER 50' GOLD XLRS | $119.99 | $71.1 | $48.89
MONSTER 4M L 13.12' | $103.99 | $55.25 | $48.74
MONSTER 8FT HDMI CABLE | $99.99 | $52.23 | $47.76
MONSTER FLAT SCREEN HDMI | $99.99 | $55.7 | $44.29
MONSTER 20' GOLD XLR | $129.99 | $86.05 | $43.94
MONSTER HTS1000 MKII SURG | $149.99 | $107.04 | $42.95
MONSTER THX V600 4' HDMI | $79.99 | $38.23 | $41.76
MONSTER THX 600 4FT COMPO | $68.99 | $27.52 | $41.47
"MONSTER 12' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $99.99 | $59.24 | $40.75
MONSTER 4FT HDMI CABLE | $79.99 | $41.78 | $38.21
MONSTER 3FT HDMI-DVI CABL | $99.99 | $62.04 | $37.95
MONSTER 3FT HDMI-HDMI CAB | $99.99 | $62.04 | $37.95
MONSTER 36' PIECE 10.97M | $84.99 | $47.1 | $37.89
MONSTER 16' SUBWOOFER W/R | $84.99 | $47.1 | $37.89
MONSTER 19' RCA ADV AUDIO | $89.99 | $55.83 | $34.16
MONSTER 8' RCA AUDIO INTE | $74.99 | $41.38 | $33.61
MONSTER 30' GOLD XLRS | $79.99 | $47.39 | $32.6
MONSTER THX V500 CV-8 | $54.99 | $22.41 | $32.58
MONSTER 24' PIECE 7.32M | $67.99 | $36.47 | $31.52
MONSTER 6FT HDMI-HDMI CAB | $89.97 | $58.57 | $31.4
MONSTER 10' GOLD XLR | $74.99 | $44.42 | $30.57
MONSTER 18' PIECE 5.49M | $57.99 | $28.13 | $29.86
MONSTER 8' DIGITAL COAX C | $99.99 | $70.31 | $29.68
MONSTER 16' RCA AUDIO INT | $99.99 | $70.31 | $29.68
MONSTER HTS800 HP SURGE | $99.99 | $70.31 | $29.68
MONSTER 4M OPTICAL CABLE | $64.99 | $35.66 | $29.33
MONSTER 12' PIECE 3.66M | $64.99 | $35.66 | $29.33
MONSTER 24' PIECE 7.32M | $79.99 | $51.27 | $28.72
MONSTER RADIOPLAY 300 | $59.99 | $31.9 | $28.09
MONSTER THX V500 CV-4 | $45.99 | $18.35 | $27.64
MONSTER 500 SPEAKER CABLE | $64.99 | $37.47 | $27.52
MONSTER 19FT AUDIO W/RCA | $54.99 | $27.53 | $27.46
"MONSTER 6' 1/4"" AUDIO CAB" | $54.99 | $27.53 | $27.46
MONSTER 3FT DVI-DVI CABLE | $69.99 | $43.05 | $26.94
MONSTER GAME TO GO MOBILE | $99.99 | $73.15 | $26.84
MONSTER 6M 19.68' | $51.99 | $25.28 | $26.71
MONSTER 13' RCA ADV AUDIO | $69.99 | $43.43 | $26.56
MONSTER 18' PIECE 5.49M | $69.99 | $44.87 | $25.12
MONSTER 4' DIGITAL COAX C | $62.99 | $38.14 | $24.85
"MONSTER 21' ANGLED 1/4"" P" | $59.99 | $35.54 | $24.45
MONSTER 1000 SPEAKER CABL | $59.99 | $35.54 | $24.45
MONSTER FLAT SCREEN F-PIN | $49.99 | $25.69 | $24.3
MONSTER HT800 SURGE | $79.99 | $56.24 | $23.75
MONSTER PC800 HP SURGE | $79.99 | $56.24 | $23.75
MONSTER 4M 13.12' | $45.99 | $22.42 | $23.57
MONSTER 13FT AUDIO W/RCA | $44.99 | $22.22 | $22.77
"MONSTER 21' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $49.99 | $29.61 | $20.38
"MONSTER 21' 1/4"" PLUGS " | $49.99 | $29.61 | $20.38
MONSTER 15' GOLD XLRS | $49.99 | $29.61 | $20.38
MONSTER 50' PRECISION XLR | $59.99 | $39.7 | $20.29
MONSTER 4FTDIGITAL OPTIC | $35.99 | $16.25 | $19.74
MONSTER SIRIUS HOME ANTEN | $49.99 | $30.31 | $19.68
MONSTER HDMI TO DVI ADAPT | $34.99 | $16 | $18.99
MONSTER DVI TO HDMI ADAPT | $34.99 | $16 | $18.99
MONSTER 6' RCA ADV AUDIO | $49.99 | $31.01 | $18.98
MONSTER 2M DIGITAL COAX | $49.99 | $31.01 | $18.98
"MONSTER 1M 1/4"" SEND&RETU" | $39.99 | $21.08 | $18.91
MONSTER GAMELINK 450 COMP | $69.99 | $51.2 | $18.79
MONSTER AV800 | $39.97 | $21.42 | $18.55
"MONSTER 12FT ANGLED 1/4"" " | $44.99 | $26.65 | $18.34
MONSTER 6' PEICE 1.83M | $34.99 | $16.91 | $18.08
MONSTER 6' RCA TO 1/8 MIN | $49.99 | $32.04 | $17.95
MONSTER 8M L 26.24' | $40.99 | $23.08 | $17.91
MONSTER 12FT SUB | $39.99 | $22.32 | $17.67
"MONSTER 4M STEREO 1/4"" PL" | $39.99 | $22.5 | $17.49
MONSTER 4M XLR CONNECTORS | $39.99 | $22.5 | $17.49
"MONSTER 21' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $49.99 | $33.07 | $16.92
MONSTER 400 STEREO RCA TO | $32.99 | $16.51 | $16.48
"MONSTER 400 1/4"" .75M " | $32.99 | $16.51 | $16.48
MONSTER INSTRUMENT 12'-1/ | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
MONSTER 12' 1/4 PLUGS | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
MONSTER 10' GOLD XLRS | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
MONSTER 500 SPEAKER CABLE | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
"MONSTER 10' STRT 1/4"" PLU" | $39.99 | $23.69 | $16.3
MONSTER 2M OPTICAL CABLE | $44.99 | $28.83 | $16.16
MONSTER 1M S-VID | $29.97 | $13.93 | $16.04
"MONSTER 4M 1/4"" RCA " | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
"MONSTER 4M RCA-1/4"" " | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 4M 1/4 | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 4M RCA | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
MONSTER 500 SPEAKER CABLE | $34.99 | $19.51 | $15.48
MONSTER 100 SPEAKER CABLE | $44.99 | $29.76 | $15.23
MONSTER 3FT ADV AUDIO W/R | $39.99 | $24.8 | $15.19
MONSTER 1.5M L 4.92' | $28.99 | $14.05 | $14.94
MONSTER TYPE A MALE TO TY | $34.99 | $20.55 | $14.44
MONSTER 6M L 19.68' - COM | $39.99 | $25.62 | $14.37
MONSTER 4M TRS-TRS CABLE | $34.99 | $20.72 | $14.27
MONSTER 4M XLRM-XLRF CABL | $34.99 | $20.72 | $14.27
"MONSTER 6' STRAIGHT 1/4"" " | $34.99 | $20.72 | $14.27
MONSTER 13FT HDMI-HDMI CA | $99.97 | $85.74 | $14.23
MONSTER SIRIUS ANTENNA EX | $44.97 | $31 | $13.97
"MONSTER 2M 1/4"" SEND/RETU" | $44.99 | $31.09 | $13.9
MONSTER PRINTER HIGH SPEE | $39.99 | $26.45 | $13.54
MONSTER KEYBOARD 12' -1/4 | $39.99 | $26.45 | $13.54
MONSTER 30' PRECISION XLR | $39.99 | $26.45 | $13.54
"MONSTER 8"" ANGLED 1/4"" PL" | $29.99 | $16.52 | $13.47
"MONSTER 2M STEREO 1/4"" PL" | $29.99 | $16.52 | $13.47
MONSTER GAMELINK 350 S-VI | $49.99 | $36.55 | $13.44
MONSTER GAMELINK 400 COMP | $49.99 | $36.55 | $13.44
MONSTER 3FT AUDIO W/RCA | $26.99 | $13.65 | $13.34
MONSTER 2 HIGH RES VID CA | $34.99 | $22.43 | $12.56
"MONSTER DJ CABLE 4M 1/4""-" | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
MONSTER DJ CABLE 4M RCA-R | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
MONSTER 4M ANGLED RCA-RCA | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
"MONSTER 8"" ANGLED 1/4"" PL" | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
MONSTER 1000 SPEAKER CABL | $29.99 | $17.76 | $12.23
MONSTER GAMELINK 300 S-VI | $44.99 | $32.9 | $12.09
"MONSTER 2M 1/4""-RCA " | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
"MONSTER 2M RCA-1/4"" " | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 2M 1/4 | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
"MONSTER 1M STEREO 1/4"" PL" | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
MONSTER 500 SPEAKER CABLE | $24.99 | $13.52 | $11.47
MONSTER LCD POWER PROTECT | $29.99 | $18.78 | $11.21
MONSTER 2M L 6.56' | $29.99 | $19.2 | $10.79
MONSTER GAMELINK 300 S-VI | $39.99 | $29.25 | $10.74
MONSTER 2M TRS-TRS CABLE | $24.99 | $14.79 | $10.2
MONSTER 12' 5 PIN DIN | $24.99 | $14.79 | $10.2
MONSTER PRINTER HIGH SPEE | $29.99 | $19.82 | $10.17
"MONSTER 4M RCA-1/4"" CABLE" | $29.99 | $19.82 | $10.17
MONSTER 100 SPEAKER CABLE | $29.99 | $19.82 | $10.17
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 1M 1/4 | $19.99 | $10.54 | $9.45
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 1M RCA | $19.99 | $10.54 | $9.45
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 1M RCA | $19.99 | $10.54 | $9.45
MONSTER GAMELINK 200 A/V | $34.99 | $25.58 | $9.41
MONSTER MALE DVI-FEM HDMI | $29.97 | $21.06 | $8.91
MONSTER 2M XLRM-XLRF CABL | $24.99 | $16.51 | $8.48
MONSTER 2M XLR CONNECTORS | $24.99 | $16.51 | $8.48
"MONSTER 21' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $24.99 | $16.51 | $8.48
MONSTER 15' PRECISION XLR | $24.99 | $16.51 | $8.48
"MONSTER 2M RCA-1/4"" CABLE" | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
MONSTER DJ CABLE 2M RCA-R | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
MONSTER 1M TRS-TRS-CABLE | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 2M RCA | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
"MONSTER 8"" 1/4"" PLUG " | $19.99 | $11.83 | $8.16
MONSTER GAMELINK 200 PS2 | $29.99 | $21.92 | $8.07
MONSTER LIGHTWAVE 100 FIB | $29.99 | $21.92 | $8.07
MONSTER OUTLETS TO GO | $19.99 | $11.97 | $8.02
MONSTER SIRIUS CAR ANTENN | $39.99 | $32.13 | $7.86
MONSTER ICARPLAY 200 | $49.99 | $42.46 | $7.53
MONSTER 10' PRECISION XLR | $21.99 | $14.53 | $7.46
MONSTER 1M XLR CONNECTROS | $24.99 | $17.78 | $7.21
MONSTER 1M L 3.28' | $19.99 | $12.79 | $7.2
MONSTER LCD SCREEN CLEAN | $19.99 | $12.95 | $7.04
MONSTER HTS850 SUR | $67 | $59.97 | $7.03
"MONSTER DJ CABLE 2M 1/4""-" | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
MONSTER 2M ANGLED RCA-RCA | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
MONSTER 1M XLRM-XLRF CABL | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
"MONSTER 8"" ANGLED 1/4"" " | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
"MONSTER 12' STRAIGHT 1/4""" | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
MONSTER 100 SPEAKER CABLE | $19.99 | $13.2 | $6.79
MONSTER 6' 5 PIN DIN | $19.99 | $13.23 | $6.76
MONSTER STUDIOLINK 1M 1/4 | $19.99 | $13.31 | $6.68
MONSTER 2M S-VID | $26.97 | $20.45 | $6.52
MONSTER DJ CABLE 1M RCA-R | $14.99 | $8.87 | $6.12
MONSTER 1M ANGLED RCA-RCA | $14.99 | $8.87 | $6.12
MONSTER 3' 5 PIN DIN | $14.99 | $8.87 | $6.12
MONSTER PLX12 AC POWER CO | $19.97 | $14.03 | $5.94
MONSTER GAMELINK STD 100 | $19.99 | $14.6 | $5.39
MONSTER GAMELINK STD 100 | $19.99 | $14.6 | $5.39
MONSTER GAMELINK X-LINK E | $19.99 | $14.6 | $5.39
MONSTER GAMELINK STD 100 | $19.99 | $14.6 | $5.39
MONSTER 7' USB | $12.97 | $7.83 | $5.14
MONSTER DJ CABLE 1M RCA-1 | $14.99 | $9.9 | $5.09
"MONSTER DL CABLE 1M 1/4""-" | $14.99 | $9.9 | $5.09
MONSTER 7' USB CABLE | $19.99 | $14.97 | $5.02
MONSTER 6FT HDMI-DVI CABL | $69.97 | $65.08 | $4.89
MONSTER ICLEAN SCREEN CLE | $14.99 | $10.5 | $4.49
"MONSTER 3' STRAIGHT 1/4"" " | $12.99 | $8.58 | $4.41
MONSTER GC COMPOSITE CABL | $19.97 | $15.82 | $4.15
"MONSTER 8"" STRAIGHT 1/4"" " | $9.99 | $6.59 | $3.4
MONS AUDIO W/RCA | $19.97 | $16.73 | $3.24
MONSTER MINI-AV | $19.97 | $17.91 | $2.06
MONSTER PATOL 49MH | $19.57 | $17.97 | $1.6
MONSTER PATROL 27M | $19.02 | $17.97 | $1.05
MONS 1M COMPONENT | $29.97 | $28.94 | $1.03
MONSTER IEZ CLICK | $9.97 | $9.97 | $0
MONSTER DVI400 2 M DVI CA | $29.97 | $29.97 | $0
MONS 1M OPT CABLE | $19.97 | $19.97 | $0
MONS 2M COMPONENT | $29.97 | $29.97 | $0
MONSTER SNOWBOARD (D) | $0.97 | $0.97 | $0
MONSTER PATROL (D) | $19.97 | $19.97 | $0
MONSTER TRUCK SPEED BOOST | $0.97 | $0.97 | $0
MONSTER TRUCK TIRE/WHEEL | $0.97 | $4.09 | $-3.12
MONSTER PWR PS2 | $4.97 | $9.82 | $-4.85
MONS 1M DIG COAX | $8.97 | $22.32 | $-13.35
MONSTER 360 COMPONENT AV | $29.97 | $43.88 | $-13.91
MONSTER 360 VGA VIDEO CAB | $9.97 | $29.97 | $-20
MONSTER SIRIUS RADIO/TV C | $29.97 | $52 | $-22.03
MONSTER ICASE TRAVEL PACK | $6.97 | $42.16 | $-35.19
MONSTER MP AVS2000 | $1499.99 | $909.12 | $590.87
MONSTER MP HTS7000 | $1299.99 | $787.9 | $512.09
MONSTER MP HTS5100 | $699.99 | $453.5 | $246.49
MONSTER MP HTS3600 | $499.99 | $355.27 | $144.72
MONSTER BLACK TILT MOUNT- | $249.99 | $152.43 | $97.56
MONSTER SILVER TILT MOUNT | $249.99 | $152.43 | $97.56
MONSTER HTS2600 SURGE | $349.99 | $253.43 | $96.56
MONSTER MP HTFS500 SURGE | $299.99 | $211 | $88.99
MONSTER FLAT BLK MOUNT-60 | $199.99 | $121.94 | $78.05
MONSTER FLAT SLV MOUNT-60 | $199.99 | $121.94 | $78.05
MONSTER BLK TLIT MNT-37IN | $179.99 | $109.74 | $70.25


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Read More:
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10:16 PM ON THU FEB 7 2008
BY BEN POPKEN
57,588 views


Tagged:

EXCLUSIVES, FEATURES, GIZMODO, INSIDERS, LEAKS, LIFEHACKER, MONSTER CABLES, RADIO SHACK, TOP, TVS
Subscribe BY PHOSPHOLIPID AT 02/07/08 04:05 PM oh god. i love it. monster has been a rip for YEARS now. :D home made audio cables FTW? yes. as for hdmi cables, newegg is the win for cheap prices :D!
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BY SASHAZUR AT 02/07/08 04:06 PM Monster cables are a ripoff? I'm shocked! Who woulda thunk it?!!
It must be a slow news day at Consumerist :-)
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BY SMITTY1123 AT 02/07/08 04:07 PM Constipated Mr. Holmes?
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BY HOMERJAY AT 02/07/08 04:07 PM Gizmodo has been harping on this for about two years now. They went so far as to do side-by-side comparisons of Monster to cheap cables and, if I remember right, got Monster to actually do some testing "in their facility."
Monoprice.com FTW!
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BY BEERNUT AT 02/07/08 04:08 PM Monoprice.com........... only place to buy cables!
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BY SHADOWMAN615 AT 02/07/08 04:10 PM Yup, I just got 2 hdmi cables for a total of under 20 bucks, after shipping from monoprice.
[www.monoprice.com]
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BY UNKLEGWAR AT 02/07/08 04:11 PM funny thing is that RadioShack is getting ripped off too.
I was in a high end audio store (inSANE high end, as in $168,000 for a pair of speakers). They had speaker cables that lookes like they belonged on the USS Enterprise (the spaceship, not the AirCraft Carrier). I think it was $1700 for 6 feet.
Why is that insane? because the you are connecting that cable between crappy cabling inside your receiver and inside your speakers.
I had a salesdork at Circuit City try to tell me that COAX digital cables were better than optical digital cables because they were thicker and had better bass response. Could not make him see that in the digital world, there's no such thing as loss of bass because of bandwidth issues.
Never shop for anything unless you know everything about it already.
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BY LEMKEPF AT 02/07/08 04:12 PM @beernut: Monoprice is awesome. 1080p resolution comes through my hdmi cable just fine.
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BY PINGPONGDARTS AT 02/07/08 04:12 PM Monoprice, Monoprice, Monoprice.
For the love of god, Monoprice!
Never Best Buy, just Monoprice!
If I (Monoprice) repeat it enough (Monoprice) to annoy people (ecirponoM), it'll be more than worth it (M.o.n.o.p.r.i.c.e.) if they end up checking out Monoprice (Monoprice).
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BY UNKLEGWAR AT 02/07/08 04:12 PM @Shadowman615: But I want my sound in stereo. Is there a StereoPrice.com?
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BY TOMOK97 AT 02/07/08 04:13 PM
I've always used www.showmecables.com. I paid $10 for a 1 meter HDMI cable.

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BY CRONICK AT 02/07/08 04:13 PM digital is digital. it either works or it doesn't. paying $90 for an hdmi cable won't make the picture any clearer than a $20 hdmi cable.
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BY SOHP101 AT 02/07/08 04:13 PM Perhaps a '| Profit' should be added to the title of the list?
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BY MYOTHERALT AT 02/07/08 04:16 PM Holy Monster Cable Batman!
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BY TODDIOT AT 02/07/08 04:18 PM SOhp101: Agreed. Took me a few seconds to realize what that column was for.
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BY HUMPHRMI AT 02/07/08 04:19 PM
@PingPongDarts: But where can I buy decent cables for a reasonable price?

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BY ATLANTYS AT 02/07/08 04:19 PM monoprice.com is your best friend in the world for cables
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BY COAN_NET AT 02/07/08 04:21 PM The problem is - 80% of the time when you figure out you need a cable - you want it right then and there. You don't want to wait days to order online and get it shipped - so you run to the store and buy the expensive stuff so you can get your cool new gadgets at home hooked up.
Retailers know this - so they know they can mark those items up a lot more since most who come into the store looking for those will walk away with them - no matter what the price is.
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BY FEARLESSUSER AT 02/07/08 04:21 PM
Yep. Monoprice.com for me too. No one needs to buy Monster. If you really like throwing your money away, I can give you my address and you can me all you extra money.

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BY SPAMWICH AT 02/07/08 04:22 PM @unklegwar: That'll teach you to try and reason with Circuit City/Source staff :)
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BY BRICKSWITHOUTSTRAW AT 02/07/08 04:23 PM
Some BIG LOTS stores actually received 3ft HDMI cables. 12 bucks. I bought two for my HDTV.
If you ever see anyone at a Circuit City or Best Buy in line with Monster Cables, please stop them and save our fellow comrades some cash.

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BY GIT EM STEVEDAVE AT 02/07/08 04:23 PM @coan_net: Well, there's still a difference between Monster and other brand cables at the store.
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BY DORKINS AT 02/07/08 04:24 PM You want stereoprice? Try Best Buy; I'm told sometimes they have two prices on the same item.
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BY MONKEYMONK AT 02/07/08 04:25 PM
Watch out Consumerist! Monster will somehow figure out a way to accuse you of copyright or trademark infringement for this news item.

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BY LASERJOBS AT 02/07/08 04:26 PM
HA HA!!! A sucker born every minute. You get what you negotiate not what you pay for.
Monster Cables = Great Marketing to Uneducated Suckers


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BY COPIOUS28 AT 02/07/08 04:30 PM
You know, retail needs to be marked up a cazy amount to make a profit. That is just gross profit--there are still people to pay, shipping costs, etc. Its not wrong to make a profit--but it is wrong to not make informed decisions about what you are buying. Caveat emptor!

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BY PTKDUDE AT 02/07/08 04:30 PM
"Well you see, Monster uses special "gold" connectors, which transmit the signal much better than those cheapo copper cables most people buy. "
I've actually been told that by a salesperson before at Circuit Shitty. I told him I was partially deaf and wouldn't notice the difference. He was unable to tell me if the connectors were actually made out of gold, or if they were just gold-colored.

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BY XEROTOPE AT 02/07/08 04:38 PM So I don't see the markup as being horrible. IIRC, it's pretty typical for retail to be about twice wholesale.
Monster Cables are a ripoff, even at the wholsale price.
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BY ECO AT 02/07/08 04:39 PM It's odd that there's a commotion about this, if consumers haven't realized by now, most home theater set items in the home theater section at best buy or circuit city are at least marked up by at least 40%. Most consumer electronic stores make most of their profits through the sales made from the Home Theater department. I know at best buy around Super Bowl time, we were always pushed to send customers to the Magnolia Home Theater center. Bigger items = bigger mark up.
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BY NIGHTHAWKE AT 02/07/08 04:41 PM We knew about this for years working the shack. Managers would harass their poor peons to sell sell sell that monster cable.
Stories of woe doing retail at [www.radioshacksucks.biz] .
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BY BELISLE AT 02/07/08 04:43 PM Only time I bought Monster Cable was when I worked at Best Buy and got the discount.
But it's the revenues that make salespeople push Monster Cable, not the margins. The cheap store brand cables have even more ridiculous margins. You know that special harness for your car stereo that cost $20? Costs $1.50. Monster Cable, by comparison, might be half-off.
(Also, this totally unsourced pie chart of Monster Cable's budget is great.)
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BY MONOPLEX AT 02/07/08 04:44 PM @cronick: I've watched cable TV where there has been interference (e.g., thunderstorm). There was "blocking" but i was still able to see a picture. IMVHO, this seems to me that you have an incomplete digital picture. No?
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BY CLAYS AT 02/07/08 04:44 PM
Those are the retail markups...the profit margin to Radio Shack. What I'd like to know is the manufacturing cost of their cable products. I'll bet that Monster's margins are even greater.

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BY DARKJEDI26 AT 02/07/08 04:47 PM I was as best buy once and i saw a sales guy trying to talk this poor fellow into a monster HDMI cable that was $120. The guy seemed reluctant. When the sales guy walked over to him, I told him about monoprice.com. He wrote it down and thanked me a lot. He had a feeling that $120 for an HDMI seemed a little wrong.
Felt good to help out someone not in the know.
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BY WORMFATHER AT 02/07/08 04:50 PM
Here's the thing about HDMI, as my friend who works in AV put it. It's a digital signal so, it either works or it doesnt. The whole conductivity thing they try to sell you at the store is BS.

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BY MMMMNA AT 02/07/08 04:50 PM Monster Cable once claimed their OFHC Copper and their special sheathing increased audio response by reducing parasitic losses. I'm a career Electronic Engineering Technician; the differences between common lamp cord and equivalent gauge Monster cable would only measure a fraction of a decibel in the audible portion of the frequency range. Take the frequency higher (above the audible range), and whaddya know, there is a difference! Doubt anyone can hear it, though. Bass response improvements would need lower resistance wire, and again, Monster wins by a fraction. The fraction depends, like UNKLEGWAR observed, on the amplifiers wiring.
The perception of value is quite important.
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BY MATTO AT 02/07/08 05:01 PM Just another happy monoprice.com customer.
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BY JBNLSD AT 02/07/08 05:07 PM Monster does have a good warranty though. I've never had a need for high end cables but I do have the ridiculously named Monster iCarPlay Wireless to play my iPod through FM in my car. After two or three years of it living in my car through Chicago weather, it finally broke. Monster replaced it for just the price of sending the old one back to them. It saved me a few bucks.
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BY DAVEBG5 AT 02/07/08 05:08 PM
@Coan_Net: A little planning goes a long way. I just had a new LCD delivered and installed 2 days before the Super Bowl. I ordered my cables (a 12 foot HDMI and a 15 foot component) from monoprice.com a couple of days in advance and paid for 2 day shipping. The shipping cost more than the cables, but the total cost (of both cables with shipping) still came to less than half of what I would have paid in a retail store for a single 8ft Monster HDMI cable.

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BY WARF0X0R AT 02/07/08 05:11 PM I worked at BBY when I bought all my HT equipment so I got a hella nice deal on all monster cable. Like 300 bucks worth for 50 dollars.
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BY MONOPLEX AT 02/07/08 05:12 PM @ClayS: I guess that would depend on what you would call "markup." From business classes (IIRC), a product needs to have a retail price point 13 times what its manufacturing costs are.
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BY JIMINIM AT 02/07/08 05:15 PM Once when I needed some speaker wire I went to Radio Shack and the salesman tried to sell me the Monster branded wire. He actually told me that the thickness of the gauge would let the bass frequencies have more surface area to travel on the outside of the wire. This was so nuts I didn't even call him on it, I just purchased the cheapo wire and got out of there.
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BY MIGUELGGARCIA AT 02/07/08 05:15 PM I don't see why you guys have a problem with this, this is America, and that's capitalism, if you don't want to buy Monster cables, you can buy whatever brand you find appropriate and nothing happens. If people felt ripped-off by Monster I don't think that it would be the successful company it is now.
At the end, it's all a matter of supply and demand, if people want to buy Monster cables, there will be Monster; if people want to stop buying them, the company could ultimately fail.
So, probably for the person that put on this "leak" think that Monster is a rip-off because it has an X% mark-up... Are we expecting companies to have a certain level for their mark-ups before their prices are considered rip-offs? Aren't customers who decide what is a rip-off and what is not?
I'm sorry, but I feel this story like if it came out of a communist country.
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BY ENDLESS AT 02/07/08 05:16 PM I like the "digital is digital" argument. I mean, my wireless internet is digital, so i mean, its not like its speed is affected by how far away i am from my router now does it?... yah right.
MMMMNA makes the correct point. Monster cables are almost always BETTER cables. Now by their pricing they should be 10 times better not just 1.1 times better.... i usually buy the cheapys.
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BY SHIFTLESS AT 02/07/08 05:17 PM Gads. Only get these things unless they're massively discounted. I got an optical audio cable for $8 that was originally $100. So, hooray.
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BY DONTHED AT 02/07/08 05:17 PM Monster still makes great car stereo cables. As far as HDMI..Comcast gave me more cords than I will need anytime soon.
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BY BADHATHARRY AT 02/07/08 05:20 PM Seriously? $90.00 RCA cables are a rip-off?
This just in: Water is wet and monkeys are awesome.
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BY CLAYS AT 02/07/08 05:28 PM
@Monoplex:
Good information, I didn't know that.


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BY TECHNODESTRUCTO AT 02/07/08 05:28 PM @jbnlsd:
The fact that you had a cable fail at all is more an argument AGAINST Monster Cable than the warranty is FOR them.
@miguelggarcia:
"That's Capitalism" I can agree with. At least you didn't say "that's the free market." The two may overlap but they aren't the same thing.
Monster Cable only exists because of MASSIVE inequality in information between the seller and the buyer, and the concentration of retail into fewer and fewer hands (which only weakens market forces).
Regardless of their markup, their insane lawsuits are enough to boycott them. (They sue just about any business or organization with the word "monster" in its name, whether it has anything to do with cabling or even electronics or not)
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BY VALARMORGHULIS AT 02/07/08 05:29 PM
While yes, Monster Cables are INSANELY overpriced, it is worth noting that the Monster does have one of the only lossless HDMI cables out there currently in their 12.2 Gb/s. Any other cable out there is not going to give full throughput. Best solution I found was to have a relative/neighbor/friend who works at a retail location buy it for you. My cable went from being over $120.00 to less than $45.00 (and that's for the 4').

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BY FROSTBERG AT 02/07/08 05:29 PM
Newsflash: Stores make money on the stuff they sell. It is also not entirely true that all digital cables are the same. Consumerist is silly to think this. Monster cables have speed ratings. An HDMI 1000 series cable will move data @ 10.2Gbps while a 600 series cable will operate at 4.95Gbps. If you want 120Hz refresh, X.V.Color, and really the best, you have to pay more for it. I will not argie that stores make a profit, thats why they exist. Open up a nonprofit store and there will be a revelation.

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BY FDX3K1 AT 02/07/08 05:32 PM The "wholesale" prices might not even be the actual cost. When I worked for CompUsa (I'm a gluten for punishment), we had a "wholesale" cost that was figured out a different way. They would order 10,000 cables and each store got 100. Then they would take the amount that the cable cost if they bought 100 of them and that was "wholesale" in store...which means they still make money even if it is sold at cost. I know that at one time Radio Shack did the same thing (because my old Comp manager was a district with RS...but he could have been lying...that was typical).
An example was a 25ft gold plated printer cable. We sold them for $100 and our cost was $34...but the manager showed me that the company actually paid $21 because they bought a huge amount. So even at "cost", they were making $13.
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BY LAZLONIBBLE AT 02/07/08 05:32 PM Time for another repost of the digital coat hanger story:
[web.archive.org]
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BY SACRABOS AT 02/07/08 05:33 PM Yes it is a rip-off. However, it is brilliant marketing. They deserve every dollar they make, at least from the retailers.
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BY JBNLSD AT 02/07/08 05:44 PM @TechnoDestructo:
Touchè... It also proves their cables are nothing special.
Now after reading about all their marketing bullshit, forcing the cheap cable makers out of electronics stores, and suing anyone who thinks of the word "Monster" I just feel dirty.
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BY TOOKI AT 02/07/08 05:46 PM It's not true that "digital is digital" and that the cable quality is consequently irrelevant. If that were true, we'd still have iron wires instead of copper. There would also be no need for "fancy" cat-5 network cable, we could just use cheap "silver satin" cord.
HDMI/DVI is a sensitive signal that demands a particular type of cable -- it couldn't run over, say, a bundle of speaker wires. (As it turns out, the DVI signal is actually unusually sensitive to wiring. A better design would have allowed for longer runs on cheaper wire.)
This isn't to say that Monster is worth it. They're selling $15 cables for 20 times that. For most purposes (e.g. a typical 3-6 foot HDMI run), any HDMI cable will provide a completely clear signal at any resolution. But at longer lengths at high resolutions, a better cable IS necessary. But a top-grade cable as good as or better than Monster can be had for peanuts.
Monoprice is great for standard cables. For top-notch ones, I've heard that [www.bluejeanscable.com] is good, though I haven't used them myself. (That site also has a great analysis of HDMI itself and its cable requirements.)
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BY TOOKI AT 02/07/08 05:48 PM Also, way back when I worked at a mom'n'pop computer store, I remember us ordering Belkin brand USB cables from the distributor. Since we ordered only a dozen at a time, tops, we paid a whopping $3 a piece for them. (We sold them for $12.) These were the same exact cables sold at CompUSA for $29.95, and I'm sure that they weren't paying anywhere near $3 a piece!
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BY SKEPTIC AT 02/07/08 05:49 PM
Here's the thing: digital cables, by definition, have no signal loss. A cable is either digital or it's not.
Sorry. That is false. Digital signals are sent as square waves through these copper wires. An out of spec or overly long cable causes degradation in the waveform that makes the signal un-readable. Digital signal transmission schemes have error correction to try and account for the inevitable errors that are made during transmission, but after a point correction is not possible and the signal degradation shows up as quantization on your screen or complete signal failure. However, as long as a cable meets a the proper specification, there is no additional benefit to a more expensive cable.
Monster cables are high quality cables, but there is no need for overpriced Monster cable since you can buy cheap HDMI Certified cables that will work just as well. Just remember to keep your cable lengths as short as possible--digital doesn't mean no signal loss.
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BY BINARYSLYDER AT 02/07/08 05:54 PM If it hasn't been said already, I'll say it. Monster cables come with a life time guarantee. Meaning if a shark breaks into your house and snaps your cable in half, monster will give you a new one for free.
Now, I happen to live in a neighborhood that has very few incidents of shark attacks. So I opt to purchase $10 cables for my products and just hope that it never happens to me.
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BY MANTARI AT 02/07/08 05:56 PM My friend, while he worked at Best Buy, explained to me that in cheaper audio cables, the low frequency noises will travel faster than the high frequency noises. The result is that the signal gets distorted before it hits the speakers. But Monster Cables do not have that problem, and that's why they sound so much better.
Perhaps somewhat related? He was fired by Best Buy.
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BY PRIVATEJOKER75 AT 02/07/08 05:56 PM
www.firefold.com
cheap as hell and great product

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BY MANTARI AT 02/07/08 05:58 PM Did anyone else catch the items that they lose money selling ??
.
MONSTER TRUCK TIRE/WHEEL | $0.97 | $4.09 | $-3.12
MONSTER PWR PS2 | $4.97 | $9.82 | $-4.85
MONS 1M DIG COAX | $8.97 | $22.32 | $-13.35
MONSTER 360 COMPONENT AV | $29.97 | $43.88 | $-13.91
MONSTER 360 VGA VIDEO CAB | $9.97 | $29.97 | $-20
MONSTER SIRIUS RADIO/TV C | $29.97 | $52 | $-22.03
MONSTER ICASE TRAVEL PACK | $6.97 | $42.16 | $-35.19
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BY JMH AT 02/07/08 06:00 PM If you REALLY want to buy Monster cables, you can find them for a lot cheaper on Ebay than in stores.
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BY JAREDHARLEY AT 02/07/08 06:03 PM @mantari: So I WASN'T the only one! I believe it is our civic duty to buy all of the iCase Travel Packs we can to cut into RS's profit margin!
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BY TABER AT 02/07/08 06:04 PM Check the link in the post -- it leads to and reads "mertiline," probably meant "meritline" :)
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BY M4XIMUSPRIM3 AT 02/07/08 06:04 PM
@mantari: Did he go into mortgages?

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BY EVSLIN AT 02/07/08 06:14 PM My dad got suckered into a $90 set of component cables at Best Buy a couple years ago. I had to have a talk with him when I found out.
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BY GUEVERA AT 02/07/08 06:26 PM Funny, monster has a pretty good rep for quality car audio cabling -- but w/power cables you really do see improvement w/quality and size.
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BY ALADDYN AT 02/07/08 06:29 PM Although I agree that monster cables are ridiculous, I bought a monster surge protector. The reason why is because you know how those surge protectors have the guarantees for stuff you have plugged into them? Read the fine print, you have to ship whatever breaks to them for them to diagnose it, and they only fix it if they think that their surge protector caused the problem. If you read the fine print on the monster surge protector they only require a statement from a repair technician stating that your damage was caused by a surge. Now actually having them honor that is a different story but since they only have to sell about 10 cables to cover the cost of a new tv I would imagine they could certainly afford it.
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BY JESTERPHUN AT 02/07/08 06:39 PM
@fdx3k1: Gluten for punishment...
That's why I try to be gluten-free :)

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BY CLANK-O-TRON AT 02/07/08 06:50 PM Has it really gone this far without a consumerist 'make your own if you don't like it' argument? That's what I do fairly often; wire is cheap.
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BY TIMMUS AT 02/07/08 06:52 PM Where do they make Monster Cables? Are they made in China? I'd like to see that markup from the Chinese factory to the distributor.
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BY DRAGONDORM AT 02/07/08 06:55 PM
I work for RadioShack and I offer the Monster but won't push it on people. I own and fully believe in monster cables. I've seen the quality. You pay for what you get. The better the cable the less interferance, less noise that will enter it. Monster cables are also handle more bandwith.

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BY JOHN_NYC AT 02/07/08 07:02 PM
OMG!!! Monster cables are a ripoff?
Crap. What am I going to do now?
Crap crap crap.

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BY RIKKUS256 AT 02/07/08 07:07 PM I've bought over 20 cables from monoprice.com for myself, friends, and families. Great quality at an unbeatable price. (and reasonable shipping too!)
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BY RACHACHA AT 02/07/08 07:09 PM
@Skeptic: Shhh...don't tell too many people that digital signals are square waves as Monster will come out with square cables so that the square waves can glide easily through them with no restriction, and if you want to have a higher bandwidth, you need to have a bigger square cable so that you can squeeze more square waves inside them. :-)

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BY SWOOP41 AT 02/07/08 07:15 PM When you guys find that non-profit retail electronics chain be sure to let me know.
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BY AFTERIMAGEB AT 02/07/08 07:17 PM
If you think audio cables are a rip off then you should try pricing computer cables. I worked for Magnolia Audio/Video a few years ago and since Best Buy was in the process of buying them we also got employee discount at Best Buy stores. I needed a network cable for home so I went over and grabbed one. The price was marked as $18.99. When I got to the register and they applied my discout the cable rang up as $1.86, a 1020% mark up.

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BY EMPIRE AT 02/07/08 07:30 PM @miguelggarcia: I'm actually with you on the margin thing. If I can produce something for $0.01 and people will buy it for $1,000.00, hey why not? But Monster claims their cables are better, and they're not. That's deceptive.
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BY THORNY AT 02/07/08 07:37 PM It's not just cables, most accessories are marked up ridiculously. When I worked at one of the big electronics stores several years ago, our discount was 5% over their cost. Things like laptop cases, camera bags, headphones, adapters, you name it was all marked up like that.
It's sort of like soda at fast food places. You know a huge thing of coke costs like 9 cents, which is why drink prices have gone up significantly over the last years to compensate for the lack of margin on the $1 menus.
So I never order a drink anymore as a passive aggressive maneuver.
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BY GORKY AT 02/07/08 07:45 PM They HAVE to charge big markups on them to make up for the razor thin margin on the TVs they sell. Most retailers make less than 75 bucks on a 2000 dollar TV so in order to make up for it they overprice accessories. Online stores like Newegg have NO overhead and dont sell core products that are margin drainers, therefor they can charge less.
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BY LOGIE-AL AT 02/07/08 07:47 PM Cable markups are nothing. The clothing industry is where the true crimes are. Those Silver jeans that you just had to have at $75-100 a pair? Retailer cost is around $25 each. More than 200% markup at times. Never ever ever buy clothes at full price.
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BY OMYARD AT 02/07/08 07:55 PM Duh?
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BY OMYARD AT 02/07/08 08:00 PM @ptkdude: From what I've been told the gold and silver connectors do make a difference. Too bad they're not exclusive to Monster Cables and even the sub $6 HDMI cable I bought on monoprice the other day is gold plated.
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BY OROLAN AT 02/07/08 08:16 PM @privatejoker75: I second firefold.com. I find they tend to be a little cheaper than NewEgg for cables since shipping rates are variable and are sent in the cheapest appropriate packaging (a padded envelope for a handful of SATA cables).
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BY MATT AT 02/07/08 08:27 PM You're JUST discovering this?
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BY SHADOWFALLS AT 02/07/08 08:46 PM @ptkdude:
Check to see if they are Made in China. If so, they are probably lead connectors :P
@Binaryslyder:
A lifetime warranty doesn't always mean what you think. Many companies have limited lifetime warranties which do not cover abuse or other random actions not part of normal usage.
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BY STOOPIDDOOD AT 02/07/08 08:50 PM @Skeptic: Correct. Additionally, for the longer cable runs, you need a heavier gauge wire within your cables. Wire gauging is rated from large gauge # (thinner wire) to small gauge # (thicker wire). Smaller gauge/thicker wire = more metal to conduct electricity = less resistance to the flow of electricity. For shorter cable runs of, say, less than 15ft, 28 gauge wire is just fine and is used frequently for the 1.5/3/6/10 ft HDMI cable lengths without significant loss of signal quality or noticeable degradation of picture quality. Of course, other factors do come into play when considering signal transmission (like shielding), but for the most part, size does matter for the longer runs. Once you start running lengths of 20 ft or more, then wire gauge becomes an issue and a smaller gauge is required, say, a 24 or 22 gauge. Since HDMI cables have around 20 isolated wires making up the internal structure of the cable, gauge size is an important factor in cable construction. Some brands might overbuild the shorter cables to justify the high prices they charge by using the smaller gauges (and other stuff), but save your money.
Also, MonoPrice is not the only inexpensive cable seller in town. I have been pleased with Rite-AV.com (rite-av.com) for my audio/video wiring and they have an equally appealing pricing structure. For example: 25 ft. "premium" HDMI cable (24 gauge) sells for about $23.50; Monoprice is around $26 for a 22 guage 25 ft. HDMI cable; and BestBuy online $170 for same length (gauge not stated), $100 for for 6ft. Ouch.
@ CLANK-O-TRON: yeah, but time is costly for those without the DIY time (or initiative) budget.
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BY MAC-PHISTO AT 02/07/08 09:34 PM @unklegwar: see fdx3k1's post regarding radioshack getting ripped off. the wholesale cost =/= actual cost. radioshack actually marks up the cables that they ship to the stores! why? good question...a manager once explained to me that they are bundling in other costs (warehousing, shipping, etc.), but also that passing on as much cost as possible to the store gives them specific write-off benefits come tax time. something about distribution of cost...i dunno, it's been awhile.
@mantari: anything ending in a 7 is a clearance item & won't be around much longer. stock is extremely limited & yes, they often take losses on it to get it the hell out...a little tip for you next time you're in a radioshack. =P
@Skeptic: right on. does everyone need high-quality quad-shielded, goo-injected, made-in-a-sealed-lab (whatever) monster cables? no. but those running longer-than-normal lengths (>6ft) should consider it, as well as people that have other loss-of-signal issues due to rf or other interference.
oh, & if you think these are a rip-off, you have no idea. the radioshack brand 12-ft s-video retails at $26.99. store cost on that is ~$7. that may only be a $20 margin, but it's also a 400% markup. & if you think that's bad, consider the watch batteries - they're at ~4000% markup (retail $4.99, cost to store ~$0.11).
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BY HUMPHRMI AT 02/07/08 09:46 PM @dragondorm: While it's true that you get what you pay for, it's also true that you can pay for more than you need.
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BY EDREBBER AT 02/07/08 10:03 PM The dollar tree and big lots sell cables.
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BY SUFFOLKHOUSE AT 02/07/08 10:34 PM Here's another idea. Don't buy anything at Radio Sack.
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BY ETHEREALSTRIFE AT 02/07/08 10:36 PM MONSTER 7' USB | $12.97 | $7.83 | $5.14
Looks like I paid 23% of wholesale ($10.97 for 6 of them). Yup major ripoff.
The cables are much nicer looking than the standard and are easier to manipulate, so I don't mind paying [a fraction of wholesale] for Monster products.
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BY DOOGA AT 02/07/08 10:38 PM Wow... I really feel bad for spending 50$ on a single coaxial cable...
This blows.
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BY SHERRYNESS AT 02/07/08 10:41 PM
Wow - talk about "Monster Madness...."

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BY FAUST1200 AT 02/07/08 10:42 PM @clank-o-tron: No it hasn't. Read the very first comment.
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BY PHILBERTTRW AT 02/07/08 11:00 PM Guys, I am one of those craaaaazy kids that manages a RadioShack. I'm one of the first people to tell my customers that except in extremely long cable runs or other atypical situations, it's not necessary to buy the best. I acknowledge the fact that everything comes at a markup. It's a fact of life in our capitalist society. I have to pay my associates, I have to get the crap into my stores, and I have to keep the lights on. Not to mention, I have to factor in a loss percentage for all the dumbasses who haven't worked an honest day in their life and decide to steal from my store. Blah blah blah, i know. After all that, I still tell people day in and day out that Monster cables are manufactured to wonderfully exacting standards, and that they're really nifty looking, but they don't work any better in standard home applications than our own store-branded stuff.
Long story short is this: buy shit from people in stores that you trust. Don't take people's word for a product. Get to know your salesperson, and he/she won't steer you wrong. I don't lie to any of my customers. If I don't know, I tell them. I don't make anything up to sell a product I don't have faith in. Oh... And stop dogging my company for trying to stay afloat in the world of online discounters and cheap bastards, would ya? When's the last time you could say you're actually PROUD of your employer? Hmmm?
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BY EMAX4 AT 02/07/08 11:03 PM I used to work at Guitar Center and learned a lot about Monster cables. There ARE differences. Already people have posted comments regarding the warranty. If you break your cable for ANY reason after purchasing it from Guitar Center, your fault or not, you could bring in the damaged cable (with or without receipt as they can look up past purchases by name), and just walk out with a replacement cable. I don't know if the same rule applies with Best Buy, Circuit City or other Monster retailers.
Some people commented on the thickness of the cable. Monster cable or not, that can make a difference depending on the application. You never see muscle cars with tires from a Corolla on them, expensive jewelry held together by cheap tin, or the latest computers with a 5 GB drive. There are math calculations involved, but you'll never see professional audio engineers using thin (not talking about price, just thickness) cables in high-end setups. Do you need those same cables for consumer audio and video? Most likely not.
Keep in mind that no matter if it's a home theater, live concert audio, or even a garage band setup; you'll only sound as good as your weakest link. Playing a '56 Les Paul sunburst with Monster Cables and using a guitar amplifier purchased at Wal Mart? The best you'll sound is that from the Wal Mart Amp. The latest Mac using a vintage 13" CRT monitor? The monitor is the best you'll get. I can go on and on.
Does price dictate quality? Not with everything. If you use standard RCA video cable from Monster to hook up your DVD to a TV, it still won't be as crisp as non-Monster brand S-Video cable or a non-Monster brand optical cables to achieve a more desirable video quality.
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BY RABIDDACHSHUND AT 02/07/08 11:12 PM I got eight 7' Monster USB cables for $11 (including shipping) from woot.com the other day. Problem is what the hell am I going to do with 8 USB cables? Any suggestions?
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BY AWPERK AT 02/07/08 11:15 PM this is such a common practice in retail. they don't make money on tv's and such so they make up for that in accessories. Finishline is the same way with their stuff. Shoes make little to no profit for them but insoles, socks, and shoe laces make up the majority of their profit.
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sulthan the warrier

Sivaji the boss has became a 100% success in this year. Its released om friday the 15th june but got a collection of nearly 2 crores in the 1st day. Its now Rajinikanth’s Daughters turn to play with her dad. Yea you are right folks Rajinikanth’s daughter Soundarya is directing the film Sultan the Warrior.
Recently in a press meet Soundarya said that Sultan the Warrior is a complete Animation picture in which Rajinikanth
will play a Major role. Soundarya is running an 3D animation school at her place which is named a Ocher Animation Studios.
Okar Animation studios is woking with “Addlabs” which is a famous Animation studio and making this film. The film is under the script writing and will be released in the next summer. Hope Sultan-the warrior brings double luck to Rajinikanth than Sivaji-theboss.
It is said that A.R.Rahman will be composing Music for the movie Sultan-the warrior.

BOLLYWOOD LATEST FILMS

"Politics? No Thanks!" says Amitabh Bachchan
Strongly refuting the lately-perpetrated speculation on his return to politics Amitabh Bachchan says, "I'm not into politics at all of any kind. There's absolutely no question of my going into politics. I've repeatedly said I don't understand politics, nor do I have any wish to get into it in any capacity. Let me say once and for all I'm not going to get into it .

Naseruddin Shah's son in a train accident
Naseruddin Shah's son fell off the local train in Mumbai yesterday. In a freak accident, Imaad Khan, fell off the train while he was on his way to college. He suffered multiple fractures. The doctors say that even though his condition is critical, he is out of danger and will be under observation for three-four days.

Shahrukh's office raided by I.T.
The Income Tax department carried out a survey of actor Shah Rukh Khan's company Red Chillies Entertainment on Thursday. The survey was to find out whether norms relating to TDS had been followed out by the superstars company of which his wife Gauri is the director.

Farah Khan's take on film critics
After playing the role of a choreographer and a director, Farah Khan off late was seen as a celebrity judge on a television dance competition Jhalak Dikhala Jaa where she had to judge the dance performances from a critic's point of view. While Farah was to play the role of a critic for the show

Baburao in his new avatar
Here's some bad news on Paresh Rawal's character in Anurag Kashyap's film No Smoking starring John Abraham and Ayesha Takia. Bad as in his characterization that seems to be real bad!

Award for Mundhra, Shabana, Farah
University Of Leicester Law Society has selected Jagmohan Mundhra for David Flynt Honorary Award as a South Asian achiever in the Global Mainstream Media this year for Provoked. Shabana Azmi and Farah Khan are two other awardees chosen by the Triangle Media Group for their contributions to cinema.

International Award for 'Come December'
Come December has been awarded International Special Award of Cultural Vision in storytelling at Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival in America. Internationally acclaimed actress Siboney Lo, who also stars in Faisal Saif's next film SOFIA, specially flew from Chile to attend the Festival.

Paresh Rawal to produce TV serials
Paresh Rawal has donned a new cap. He will now be producing a Television Serial along with a business partner. Even though he will be producing he is not going to act in the serial.

Chunky Pandey wants to feature in sequels of Don and Aankhenn
With Apna Sapna Money Money, Chunky Pandey has proved that his magic is not yet over. After doing a cameo in Don, Chunky now has a desire that if Don 2 gets made, he would like to come back in the film. Says Chunky, "See, I was not allowed to talk about it before since the climax had a twist.

Indian entertainment searches for business on little screen
The little 'screens' are there - in the millions of mobile sets - and so is the creativity. But can these little screens work to promote the big screen, ask members of India's entertainment industry as they search for new ways to rake in the moolah.

No threat to 'Vivah' from 'Dhoom II': Barjatya
Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya on Thursday said, his film 'Vivah' faces no threat from the upcoming Yashraj Pictures production Dhoom II (a sequel of hit Dhoom). "When I started the screenplay of the film, some of the journalist friends and others told me that this kind of movie will never run at the box office well.

Kaushik thrilled with role in 'Brick Lane'
Comic actor and "Tere Naam" director Satish Kaushik has just returned from the most satisfying experience of his life -- he got to play the role of Chanu, the bigoted Bangladeshi husband, in the screen adaptation of Monica Ali's "Brick Lane".

J.P. Dutta retorts on reports that he doesn't pay his stars
A report stating that J.P. Dutta has paid Abhishek Bachchan a mere Rs 5 lakhs for his role in Umrao Jaan has the filmmaker withdrawing into an angry and hurt shell. "I'd not like to say anything on this. Why don't you ask Abhishek and Ash what they've been paid? Abhishek is like my own child.

Bipasha Basu to launch her own website
Bipasha Basu has found herself a new source of excitement - a website of her own with regular updates on her life. Bipasha, who is as excited as she was when she signed her first film, says: "It will be maintained entirely by me. And it will have regular, almost daily updates of my life...

The destructive side of love
Neel Oberoi, a billionaire bachelor. The world was his oyster. Truly the man who had it all. But did he? Diagnosed with a fatal heart ailment, Neel's life had come to a screeching halt. Only a miracle could save him and yes, a deadly crash led him to his miracle - Anahita.

Mass production?
Everyone's into mass production of feature films in Bollywood. Yash Raj, Dharma, Rajshri, UTV, Vishesh Films, P.N.C., Percept, Sahara, Venus, Tips, Mukta Arts, RGV, Firoz A. Nadiadwala, Sanjay Gupta, Vidhu Vinod Chopra... everyone's involved in two/three projects

Adlabs organizes yacht parties at IFFI
This year's IFFI at Goa, India's equivalent to the prestigious Cannes film festival will have an added attraction. Adlabs, India's premier entertainment company will have its own yacht off the Goa shore named 'Adlabs Adda'. Adlabs Adda in the form of a fashionable yacht will be the venue that will host a lot of movie celebrities and business honchos.

'The Train': First Hindi film in Bangkok's Sky Train
The Train - Some Lines Should Never Be Crossed is the first Hindi film to be shot in the Sky Trains of Bangkok. Powered by Bangkok Mass Transit System [BTS], the Sky Train plied to and fro continuously [one-sided running time: twenty minutes] from National Stadium Station to Siam Square Station for three hours [7 a.m. to 10 a.m.]

Casino Royale action director for Himesh's film
Himesh has already created a wave by launching a film, Aak Ka Suroor, starring himself in a lead role. And now, heres a latest addition to it. Himesh has roped in Gary Powell, the stunt director of the latest Bond Flick, Casino Royale. Gary, who has directed stunts for films like The Legend of Zorro, The Mummy and Mission Impossible among many others, will now be directing Himesh.

Goa IFFI to pack in 'hours of fun and entertainment'
Goa is getting a hurried fresh coat of paint ahead of the 11-day International Film Festival of India (IFFI) beginning here Thursday that promises to pack in hours of sheer entertainment and fun. The 37th IFFI, ending Dec 3, is showcased as "India's Cannes" and is expected to bring in crowds of film buffs, say organisers.

Debutante Jiah set for Bollywood entry
Director Ram Gopal Varma's latest protege Jiah Khan, set to woo audiences with "Nishabd", is being touted as his best discovery since Urmila Matondkar. Jiah is completely smitten by co-star Amitabh Bachchan.

Customs sleuths give clean chit to Aishwarya
Bollywood glamour girl Aishwarya Rai was Monday questioned and given a clean chit by sleuths of the customs department in connection with the recovery of euros 23,000 (Rs.3.7 million) from a mystery parcel sent to her from The Netherlands last week. Accompanied by her lawyer Girish Kulkarni

Onir and Suri on a high
Director Onir and Sanjay Suri will be on a high in the days to come. Their film Bas Ek Pal will be screened at IFFI on the 2nd of December.

Bhushan Kumar's wife to direct music videos
She started of her career as a model, appeared in music videos and now, Divya Khosla Kumar is thinking of directing music videos. Divya says that in a few months time, she might start directing music videos for T-series. She has already completed a course in film editing and is now working on cinematography. .

Uttar Pradesh honours Abhishek Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan was Monday conferred Uttar Pradesh's highest cultural honour - Yash Bharti - at a ceremony here to honour the star actor. Abhishek's parents, Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, were also present at the function.

Farah, Shirish join Shah Rukh in Australia
An Australian holiday is just what the doctor ordered for hardworking Bollywood couple Farah Khan and husband Shirish Kunder, especially when good friend Shah Rukh Khan is already there to help them unwind.

PM calls for end to corruption, cites 'Lage Raho...?
Likening corruption to a canker that would blight the system, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday called for a comprehensive approach to eliminate sleaze and emphasised that lessons must be learnt from the Bollywood blockbuster "Lage Raho Munna Bhai".

Guild to host dinner party at I.F.FI. 2006
The Film & Television Producers? Guild of India is organizing a dinner party on 26th November in Goa against the backdrop of the International Film Festival of India 2006. The venue of the event is Hotel Cidade De Goa.

Together... for the first time!
Glam-brand Provogue has been roped in as the Title Sponsor of Global Indian Film Awards 2006. G.I.F.A. - a global brand and the brainchild of Popcorn Entertainment and Global Events - has been re-christened as PROVOGUE G.I.F.A. 2006 AWARDS. The event will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 7th to 9th December.

Together... for the first time!
Glam-brand Provogue has been roped in as the Title Sponsor of Global Indian Film Awards 2006. G.I.F.A. - a global brand and the brainchild of Popcorn Entertainment and Global Events - has been re-christened as PROVOGUE G.I.F.A. 2006 AWARDS. The event will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 7th to 9th December.

B.O. Update: James Bond takes on Hindi films
Last week's Vivah and Apna Sapna Money Money opened to a heartening response, but the opening numbers of the three new Hindi releases, Rehguzar, Janani and Unns, were dull on Friday. Meanwhile, the new James Bond film, Casino Royale, has opened to a good response [75%-80%] in India, simultaneously with its U.S. release.

'Krrish' receives two awards
Anandlok, Kolkata has announced two awards - Best Film and Best Actor - for Rakesh Roshan's Krrish. Rakesh Roshan attended the award function on 18th November in Kolkata.

Rajshri markets 'Vivah' differently
Ladies are patronizing the film in a major way. The attendance of ladies in the 12 noon and 3 pm shows is as high as 70 to 80% in many of the cinemas.Special d飯r was put up at METRO ADLABS in Mumbai. A prominent spot inside the multiplex sported the VIVAH look. As a special part of the setup, the real 'Doli' from the film was set up there.

Saregama celebrates association with Bhatts
To celebrate their long and successful association with Vishesh Films [Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt], music company Saregama India Ltd. has hosted an event on 20th November.

Shashi Kapoor to innaugrate IFFI
Shashi Kapoor will be inaugurating IFFI to be held in Goa later this month. There will be special retrospective of Prithviraj Kapoor's films at the fest. Last year the film festival was inaugurated by Dev Anand. IFFI will start from the 23rd of November.

Another hurdle for Jodha-Akbar
It was only recently that the Nawabs of Lucknow questioned the authenticity of the Jodha-Akbar story. Even before that issue gets resolved, Ashutosh Gowarikar has landed up in another trouble. This time it is for the use of animals during the shoot. The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (SPCA) has sent a notice to Gowarikar

Anu Malik is now Annu Malek
Anu Malik has finally decided to get his name spelling changed to Annu Malek in consultation with numerologist, tarot, handwriting and signatures specialist Niraj Mancchanda. According to Niraj, "Annu's good time period has begun from his birthday 2nd November and now he will go on signing movies and will get full credit for his work"

'Khosla Ka Ghosla' heads for Karachi
UTV's Khosla Ka Ghosla will be screened at the Kara Film Festival, to be held in Karachi between 7th and 17th December. The film had also received acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival.

Item girl Sambhavna Seth in Sunny Deol starrer Kaafila
Item girl Sambhavna Seth, who came to lime light with films like, 36 China Town, Sauda, Pagalpan and her T-Series music video Tere Mere Charche will now be seen in a sexy item song in Sunny Deol starrer Kaafila. The item song called 'Chala kafila tere naam ka' is shot on a ship

Shahid, Amrita enthrall patrons at Fame Malad
It was a golden opportunity for moviegoers to meet and greet with the suave Shahid Kapoor and the shy Amrita Rao, who have been paired in the recently released VIVAH. The evening was organized by Fame Malad on 14th November.

Nicholas Cage to shoot in India for Sadhu
Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage has been signed up to play the lead of James Jenson in an action thriller film based on the graphic novel The Sadhu written by Gotham Chopra. The film is to be produced by the trio Deepak Chopra-Richard Branson-Shekhar Kapoor.

'Banaras' for Indian Panorama
Setu Creations' Banaras - A Mystic Love Story will be screened at the Indian Panorama section of the forthcoming International Film Festival of India, to be held this month in Goa. Directed by Pankuj Parashar,

A real shootout tape for Shootout At Lokhandwala
Director Apoorva Lakhia is leaving no stone unturned to see to it that his forthcoming film Shootout at Lokhandwala is nothing short of realistic. The film is based on the encounter between the Mumbai police and Dawood Ibrahim's men in 1992. Apoorva has apparently sourced materials related to the encounter from Madhu Trehan's news agency News Track.

Soojit Sarkar hunts for Amitabh's love interest

Director Soojit Sircar of Yahaan fame is looking for a suitable actress to play Amitabh Bachchan's love interest in his untitled venture to be produced by UTV, one of the most prestigious productions houses in Bollywood.

After Cheeni Kum, one would have expected the filmmaker to bring the Amitabh Bachchan-Tabu pair together. And so it was, when Shoojit Sircar decided to make a film about a 50-plus couple, who discover togetherness and love. But Tabu reportedly dropped out.

Interestingly, the script written by Renzel d'Silva of Rang De Basanti fame is inspired by a concept from a Hollywood film.

"That Hollywood film is yet to be made. But my producer, UTV, has decided to acquire proper copyrights anyway. When we told Amitabh Bachchan about the subject, he also approved of getting the proper right from Bollywood. We don't believe in doing things underhand," Sircar told IANS.

He will begin shooting his yet untitled film by the end of January but hasn't finalised the leading lady yet.

"We're looking at a few names. Apart from Amitabh Bachchan, it features Diya Mirza in a key role. As for the leading lady, we need to take a call right away," said Sircar.

Though he refuses to speak about it, the fact of the matter is that after Tabu dropped out of the script, several names were being considered.

Apparently, UTV has zeroed in on Shefali Shah and Sarika as the two strongest contenders for the coveted part opposite the Big B.

UTV seems to be hooked to 50 plus love stories. The other such UTV film on the anvil about a 50-plus couple re-discovering love is called Phir Kabhi.

Mithun Chakraborty and Dimple Kapadia play a couple in the movie.

HOLLYWOOOOD RAMBOOOOOOO

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Paul Schulze, Matthew Marsden


Directed By: Sylvester Stallone


Released By: Lionsgate


Genre: Action and Adventure, Drama


Theatrical Release Date: 01/25/2008

When a group of missionary aid workers in Myanmar disappear into the vast green inferno, vigilante Vietnam War veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) leaves his job as a Salween River boatman behind to accompany a group of mercenaries on a daring rescue mission. It's been twenty years since Rambo helped mujahedeen rebels fend off Soviet invaders in Afghanistan, and these days the former soldier lives a simple life in northern Thailand. Yet despite the fact that Rambo has long since traded his guns for a fishing reel, the world's longest running civil war rages into it's sixtieth year on the nearby Thai-Burma border. It seems like every day more rebels, mercenaries, medics, and peace workers cross through the remote village where Rambo lives, most of them never to be seen again. One day, human rights missionaries Sarah (Julie Benz) and Michael Bennett (Paul Schulze) show up asking Rambo to guide them up the Salween so they can get some much needed food and medical supplies to the desperate Karen tribe. According to Sarah and Michael, the Burmese military has planted landmines all along the roads leading into the tribe's village, making it virtually impossible to reach the tribe via land. At first Rambo flatly refuses to cross into Burma, but these refugees will most certainly die without aid and he eventually relents. Two weeks after Rambo drops the group off in dangerous territory, pastor Arthur Marsh (Ken Howard) arrives with a chilling message: the aid workers never returned from their mission into the jungle, and the embassies refuse to help Marsh and his fellow missionaries find their missing friends. Pastor Marsh knows that Sarah, Michael, and the rest of the missing missionaries are being held hostage by the Burmese army, and in order to hire the mercenaries needed for a rescue mission he has mortgaged his house and taken up a special collection from his congregation. Now, despite the fact that Rambo has long since sworn off all forms of violence, the knowledge that innocent missionaries are being used as pawns in a brutal war leaves him with no other choice than to venture behind enemy lines on his most dangerous mission to date. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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02 Feb 2008 Pakistan vs Zimbabwe
5th One Day International, Sheikhupura Stadium
Pakistan won by 7 wickets
Scorecard| Match Summary
01 Feb 2008 Australia vs India
Only Twenty20 International, Melbourne Cricket Ground
Australia won by 9 wickets
Scorecard| Match Summary
01 Feb 2008 South Africa vs West Indies
4th One Day International, Kingsmead, Durban (D/N)
South Africa won by 5 wickets
Scorecard| Match Summary
30 Jan 2008 Pakistan vs Zimbabwe
4th One Day International, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (D/N)
Pakistan won by 7 wickets
Scorecard| Match Summary
27 Jan 2008 Pakistan vs Zimbabwe
3rd One Day International, Multan Cricket Stadium (D/N)
Pakistan won by 37 runs
Scorecard| Match Summary
27 Jan 2008 South Africa vs West Indies
3rd One Day International, St George"s Park, Port Elizabeth
South Africa won by 7 wickets
Scorecard| Match Summary

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Lost negatives reveal war, famed photographer
Thousands of photographic negatives, presumed lost for decades, document the Spanish Civil War, thanks to famed photographer Robert Capa. Capa's negatives have found a permanent home at a photography center founded by his brother. full story