Written on 2:41 AM by Rahul Mathur
Premier League leaders Manchester United beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 at Old Trafford to stay six points clear of Chelsea on Saturday after the champions beat Middlesbrough 3-0 at Stamford Bridge.
South Korea midfielder Park Ji-sung and Scotland's Darren Fletcher scored in each half to take Alex Ferguson's side to 66 points and a step closer to their first league title since 2003.
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba scored twice for Chelsea from freekicks and Boro defender Abel Xavier gifted them the other by deflecting an Arjen Robben effort into his own net.
Liverpool lost 2-1 at Newcastle United, Reading were 2-0 winners over Aston Villa, Sheffield United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 and Watford won a relegation scrap at West Ham United 1-0 after Marlon Harewood missed a penalty for the hosts.
Striker Andy Johnson celebrated his 26th birthday by scoring Everton's winner as they beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0.
Though Manchester United's victory did not increase their lead, Ferguson's men will at least be comforted by knowing there are now only 11 games left in the season.
Park delivered the killer blow with a header from French wingback Patrice Evra's cross in the 24th minute and Fletcher wrapped up the win off a Wayne Rooney cross in the 82nd.
Chelsea lacked fluency against a Boro side who had beaten them 2-1 at the Riverside in August but made the breakthrough with Drogba's freekick on the stroke of halftime.
Xavier put the result beyond doubt by turning in a wayward shot by Dutch substitute Robben, who had only arrived a minute earlier, and Drogba finished the job to become the Premier League's leading scorer with his 17th of the season.
Along with the points, Chelsea also made sure of a three-year run without a home league defeat -- the last coming against Arsenal in a London derby on Feb 21, 2004.
Their next home fixture is next month against Sheffield United.
CHELSEA'S LEAD
With 60 points, Chelsea now have a useful lead over Liverpool, who are stuck on 50 after letting slip an early lead at St James' Park from their former Newcastle forward Craig Bellamy, who was booed on his return.
Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins equalised after a goalkeeping blunder by Liverpool's Jose Reina and Peruvian midfielder Nolberto Solano converted a penalty to win it.
Fourth-placed Arsenal, who play Wigan Athletic on Sunday and have a further game in hand, have 46 points.
Down at the other end of the table, Watford remain bottom after Darius Henderson secured their first away league win of the season with a 12th minute penalty.
But it did move them on to 18 points -- just two behind Charlton and West Ham and seven adrift of Wigan.
Arsenal had to come from behind to snatch a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic and reclaim fourth place in the Premier League from Bolton Wanderers on Sunday.
Arsenal looked set for a first defeat at the Emirates Stadium after a stunning 35th-minute strike by Wigan's Dutch midfielder Denny Landzaat.
But Wigan defender Fitz Hall's own goal in the 81st minute and an 84th minute winner from Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky turned the game -- soon after Wigan were denied a penalty.
Arsenal are fourth on 49 points and back in front of Bolton, who had reached 47 points with an earlier 2-1 win over Fulham.
Manchester United, who beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 on Saturday, are top with 66, six ahead of Chelsea who beat Middlesbrough 3-0.
Liverpool are third on 50 points, with Arsenal holding a game in hand on all three.
Wigan will consider themselves very unlucky after leading through Landzaat's stunning 30-metre shot.
They threatened to score more but were floored at the end when Hall turned a cross into his own net and Rosicky headed his first league goal from Julio Baptista's cross
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sports
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Written on 2:39 AM by Rahul Mathur
The announcement of the 15-member Indian team for the cricket World Cup has brought both happiness and annoyance for the fans and family members of cricketers.
Parents of fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth distributed sweets and offered thanks giving prayers at temples after their son made it to the World Cup squad.
"Inclusion into the World Cup team (was a dream) that came true and he has to perform well during the World Cup," he said.
Savitri Devi, his mother, said it was always his dream to be part of a World Cup winning team.
"His dream is to bring the World Cup to India. Please pray for that dream," she said
The 24-year-old fast bowler from Kerala has so far played 26 One-Day Internationals (ODI) and taken 34 wickets with 6 for 55 being his best performance. In Test cricket, he has taken 37 wickets from just eight matches.
Inclusion of another pacer Munaf Patel brought happiness to his Ikhar village in Gujarat.
"The entire village is celebrating after his name came in the World Cup squad. By God's grace, he will bowl very well and take wickets for India," said Maqbool Kankana, the village head.
The 22-year-old pacer has taken 21 wickets from 16 ODIs.
Patel and Sreesanth would be making their World Cup debut along with Karnataka opener Robin Uthappa, wicketkeepers Mahendra Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik and paceman Irfan Pathan.
Meanwhile, fans of batsman Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina were irked over their exclusion from the team.
The fans of these two Uttar Pradesh players alleged that this was a strategy of national selectors for not taking any player from the State.
"We want that at least one player of Uttar Pradesh should be in the Indian cricket team. Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina are good players and they should have been selected in the team," said Ankur, a fan.
"Mohammad Kaif is not taken in the team. It is not good because he is a good fielder as well as good batsman. If they (selectors) are seeing bad performance, Sehwag has also not done well and there should be at least one Uttar Pradesh player in the team," said Harish, another fan.
As a mark of their protest against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its selection committee, they burnt effigies board president Sharad Pawar and chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar.
The Indian team leaves for the Caribbean on March 1 and will play two warm-up matches before first group match against Bangladesh on March 17 at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain. Sri Lanka and Bermuda are other two teams in this group. Indian squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Ajit Agarkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket keeper), Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Munaf Patel, Irfan Pathan, Virender Sehwag, Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa and Yuvraj Singh
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sports
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Written on 2:07 AM by Rahul Mathur
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Written on 8:13 AM by Rahul Mathur
The Wii (IPA: /wiː/) is Nintendo's seventh-generation video game console. Previously known by its project code name of Revolution, it is the successor to the Nintendo GameCube and competes against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.
A distinguishing feature of the Wii console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which may be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect motion and rotation in three dimensions. The console also notably features WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while consuming very little electrical power.
Nintendo first mentioned the console in the 2004 E3 press conference and later unveiled the system at the 2005 E3. Satoru Iwata revealed a prototype of the controller at the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show.[3] At E3 2006, the Wii console won the Game Critics Awards for Best of Show and Best Hardware.[4] In the December 2006 issue of Popular Science the console was awarded with the Grand Award Winner in Home Entertainment. The console was first launched in some markets in 2006 (see release date and price for detailed information).
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tech
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Written on 1:38 AM by Rahul Mathur
Like it or not, you'll probably be using Windows Vista before you know it.
Microsoft expects to sell 200 million copies of the new operating system within 24 months. By comparison, Windows 95 sold 67 million copies in its first two years.
Vista is being marketed as a "breakthrough computing experience." That may be pushing it, especially since some of the more radical innovations were cut when the project bogged down two years ago, but it will rapidly change the way many people use a PC.
Most of those 200 million Vista users will really like the new software, after they've worked through the transition from Windows XP.
But Vista's not perfect, and it has plenty of things to gripe about. This isn't a comprehensive preview, but a heads-up about some of the best and worst things to expect.
THE GOOD
Appearance
Vista looks and feels great. In fact, it's dazzling. Its 3-D icons, transparent "glass" effect and improved buttons and layout feel crisp, modern and sharp — as if you're using a high-definition PC. Mac users will note that OS X has had a similar feel for years; still, Vista feels new and different.
Microsoft says this is more than eye candy. It's easier to find things on the desktop, and you get a preview of what's inside file folders — a thumbnail shows the first document or photo in a folder, for instance.
Vista also finally gives Windows a built-in search bar, like OS X, that makes it as easy to search for computer files as it is to search the Web.
At the very least, it's a refreshing change from that XP screen you've been staring at for five years now.
Security
This is Microsoft's first new operating system since the company realized in 2002 that it had to make security and reliability its top priority. Vista includes an improved firewall, a browser that runs in a "protected mode," built-in malware protection and changes that will reduce the damage an attack can cause to a system.
Out of the box, the system is configured to run more safely, although you'll still want to have additional virus protection.
It's early to say, but it appears that Vista will remove the cloud of uncertainty about computer attacks that have loomed over Windows users for the past five years.
Networking
During the long life of Windows XP, broadband came to a majority of the U.S. population, home networking proliferated, laptop sales outpaced desktops and wireless became a standard feature on most PCs. The circa 2001 networking tools in XP needed an overhaul.
Vista has an innovative tool for connecting a PC to networks, setting up a home network and connecting other devices. The software makes it easier to share files on a network, and it includes a troubleshooter that diagnoses problems and suggests a fix.
Windows Media Player
Digital music will move further into the mainstream, and the media player built into Vista introduces the phenomenon to tens of millions of people. Good thing it's a great piece of software.
When you copy a CD onto your PC, the software automatically finds information about the music, including a crisp image of the album cover — without requiring you to register as other music jukeboxes do.
Your digital music collection appears in Windows Media Player 11 as a collection of colorful albums, instead of a list of file names, and its big control buttons make it feel less like you're using a database to play music.
Best of all, the player is available free to Windows XP users.
Applications
It's easier than ever to find high-quality, free software applications. Google, in particular, is trying to lure users by offering a word processor, desktop tools and photo-management applications.
Microsoft's response includes several great applications bundled with Vista that make the system more useful out of the box. They include an improved e-mail program that replaces Outlook Express, and a slick calendar that you can synchronize with other users.
Also included are Photo Gallery, for managing and editing digital photos, and Movie Maker for working with digital video.
THE BAD
Security
It's vastly improved, but at times that's going to make the software frustrating to use. It could be especially frustrating shortly after Vista is released, if other software companies haven't updated their applications to work smoothly with Vista's more restrictive settings.
A cornerstone of Vista's security is User Account Control. What this does is make it easier to run the system in a restricted mode. Users in restricted mode don't have authority to do things like download new programs. This prevents attacks from taking over a PC. When users want to change settings or download a program, a window pops up and asks if the user wants to invoke administrative privileges and proceed.
The system can also ask for the administrator password, so children can't override parental controls, for instance.
Microsoft has been fine-tuning the system to minimize the pop-up privilege requests, but this feature is likely to interrupt users more than they'd like. It's probably a small price to pay for improved security.
Cost
Standard home and business versions of Vista will cost the same as XP. But given all the concern about security and stolen information, consumers and businesses will want Vista Ultimate, a pricey premium version with the new BitLocker Drive Encryption security feature.
Businesses, in particular, will want BitLocker because it locks down files if a computer is stolen. Unfortunately it's only available to big corporations, governments and people who buy Ultimate, which costs $399 — double the price of XP Home and $100 more than XP Professional.
That's just part of the cost. Many will have to buy a faster PC or upgrade their current machine to run Vista smoothly. At a minimum, you'll need a system with a recent processor, 1 gigabyte of system memory and 128 megabytes of graphics memory. The word from insiders, including Dell's chief executive, is that you'll really need at least 2 gigabytes of RAM.
The price of Windows XP desktops has fallen to around $300. It's going to be a shock when you have to pay two or three times that much for a decent Vista machine.
Confusing versions
Vista comes in six flavors, four available to consumers. Home users are being targeted with Vista Home Basic, a barebones version without the cool new desktop appearance, and Home Premium, which includes the 3-D stuff, support for handwriting recognition and the Media Center entertainment features.
There's also a Windows Vista Business, which is roughly the equivalent of XP Professional. Microsoft is producing a high-end enterprise version for corporations and governments and a low-end Starter Edition for developing countries.
But what's really confusing are the "Vista ready" labels Microsoft and PC makers have on machines available now.
Some "Vista capable" PCs may only be able to run Vista Home Basic.
If you want that "breakthrough computing experience," buy a PC that's labeled "Vista Premium Ready."
Digital-rights management
Vista works in tandem with new chip sets to create powerful new system locks.
The locks will prevent illegal copying of Vista itself. But they can also be used by Microsoft, movie studios and record companies to restrict how people use digital media files on Vista PCs.
Combined with Microsoft's sophisticated copy-protection software, the locks enable new subscription services — so you can rent a movie by downloading a copy that will expire after three days, for instance.
But expect the system to add even more restrictions to digital content in the future, particularly high-definition video content.
Timing
It may seem like ancient history after Vista is widely available, but Microsoft's long and troubled development process created uncertainty and confusion for consumers, software developers and the PC industry.
The project also forced Microsoft to confront one of its biggest weaknesses, its bloated bureaucracy. The delays and tribulations demoralized employees.
It turns out Microsoft itself was also due for a system upgrade
Posted in
tech
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Written on 1:23 AM by Rahul Mathur
Oh k so here the specifications of MS Zune-
Size and Weight
4.4 in. x 2.4 in. x 0.6 in. (h x w x d)
Weight: 5.6 ounces
Battery[2]
Music, up to 14 hours (wireless off), up to 13 hours (wireless on); pictures, up to 4 hours; video, up to 4 hours
Charge Time: 3 hours; 2 hours to 90%
Display
Size: 3.0 inches
Orientation: Vertical and Horizontal
Resolution: 320 x 240 pixels
Audio
Windows Media® Audio Standard (.wma): Up to 320 Kbps, CBR and VBR, up to 48-kHz sample rate
MP3 (.mp3): Up to 320 Kbps, CBR and VBR, up to 48-kHz sample rate
AAC (.mp4, .m4a, .m4b, .mov): Up to 320 Kbps, Low Complexity (LC), up to 48-kHz sample rate
Pictures
JPEG (.jpg): All resolutions (desktop software will automatically convert to 640x480 at sync time)
Video
Windows Media Video (.wmv): Main Profile, CBR or VBR, up to 1.5 Mbps peak video bitrate, 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames per sec., with Windows Media Audio up to 192 Kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo audio; Simple Profile, CBR, up to 736 Kbps video bitrate, 320 x 240 pixels, 30 frames per sec., with Windows Media Audio up to 192 Kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo audio.
Wireless
Connectivity: 802.11 b/g
Range: Up to 30 feet
Language
English
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tech
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Written on 1:19 AM by Rahul Mathur
Play B3YOND™
PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system unleashes a brilliant, high-definition entertainment experience.
As its digital soul, the Cell Broadband Engine™ represents a tour de force in parallel processing, which means a gaming experience that is beyond what you know today. Its built-in Blu-ray Disc™ drive delivers a whole new generation in high-definition gaming and unmatched digital media storage. Whether it’s gaming, Blu-ray movies, music or online services, PLAYSTATION®3 invites you to Play Beyond.
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Enjoy high-definition entertainment, HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) means you can use your PLAYSTATION®3 with High-Definition displays as well as conventional or standard TVs.
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Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
The PLAYSTATION®3 comes with either a 20GB or 60GB removable hard disk drive (HDD).
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PLAYSTATION®3 and PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) play nice together. Easily exchange media like photos, videos and music from your PLAYSTATION®3 system to your PSP® system. And get ready to witness an explosion in creativity as developers take on the challenge of integrating the PSP system into PLAYSTATION®3 games.
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Backwards Compatibility
Play thousands of PS one® and PlayStation®2 games as well as your CDs and DVDs on the PLAYSTATION®3.
Cell Broadband Engine™
The online capability of the PLAYSTATION®3 features the unpredictability of live competition. Play, strategize and compete with friends and opponents, even if they're in a different time zone.
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Blu-ray Disc™
The built-in Blu-ray Disc™ player means you can enjoy next-generation high-definition entertainment, including games and movies.
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Always On
PLAYSTATION®3 delivers “always-on” online connectivity; offering a world of online possibilities including multiplayer gaming, text and video messaging, voice chatting, downloading content and browsing the internet.
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SIXAXIS™ wireless controller
The new SIXAXIS™ wireless controller enables you to harness the powerful potential of the PLAYSTATION®3 system.
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Games
Experience high-definition gaming with PLAYSTATION®3 games!
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Multimedia:
Music, Photos, Internet,
Videos & Movies
PLAYSTATION®3 provides an endless array of multimedia activities, all without even inserting a game.
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Product Details
Which is right for you? The PLAYSTATION®3 is available in two configurations: 20GB hard disk drive (HDD) and 60GB HDD.
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tech
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