Yahoo, Facebook settle patent dispute, ad alliance

Facebook and Yahoo have agreed to settle a patent dispute, averting a potentially lengthy battle over the technology.

In dropping the lawsuits, the companies agreed to license their patents to each other. They are also agreeing to an advertising alliance that expands their existing partnership. Friday’s settlement involves no exchange of money.

Now that the antagonism is dissolving into an accord that could benefit both companies, the hundreds of millions of Web surfers who use both Yahoo and Facebook should find even more common ground on the two services.

The advertising alliance could help Yahoo recover some of the revenue that it has been losing as marketers shift more of their spending to a larger and more engaged audience on Facebook’s online social network. Facebook, in turn, gains the opportunity to show the ads tailored to fit the individual interests of its 900 million users in other heavily trafficked areas besides its own website.

 

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Twitter pulls tweets from LinkedIn

search now.

LinkedIn will no longer display tweets as a result of a policy change by Twitter.

WASHINGTON: Business social network LinkedIn has announced it will no longer display tweets on its site as a result of a policy change by Twitter.
Twitter, the popular micro blogging platform, reiterated on its blog on Friday that it is no longer allowing third-party developers to use its content in ways that mimic the main Twitter experience.
LinkedIn posted a blog of its own announcing that it will no longer display tweets, to comply with Twitter's policy.

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Sony First to Launch Google TV Devices in Canada

Sony

On June 25th, Sony Canada announced the first Google TV devices to be available at retail in Canada. The NSZ-GS7 Sony Internet Player with Google TV will be in stores in August, at $199.99. It's also been available for pre-order since June 27, at Sony's online store.

A second device, the NSZ-GP9 Internet Blu-ray Disc Player with Google TV, will launch "in time for the holiday season (likely October or November, according to one spokesperson), priced at $329.99. Sony reps described it as a high-end Blu-ray player, with Google TV built-in as a bonus.

"We are proud to continue our relationship with Google and be the first manufacturer in Canada to introduce a product powered by the Google TV platform," said Hideki Ito, Senior Director of Marketing, Home Network Products at Sony Canada. He added that the new products would be "expanding the reach and connectivity of the powerful Android platform," which already powers Sony's smartphones, tablet and AV products.

Canadian availability of Sony's Google TV products follows closely after their UK launch; Australia, France, Germany and other countries are soon to follow.

The Specs

Previewed at a press event held at Sony's Eaton Centre store, the initial NSZ-GS7 player looked very promising.

Physically, it's a sleek black box, with a surprisingly appealing dimple-grid finish on the top surface. It's got a full complement of ports: 3D-capable HDMI, both in and out; 100 megabit Ethernet; optical audio out; and two USB 2.0 ports. Plus built-in Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n support (albeit limited to the 2.4GHz band).

The inclusion of both in and out ports allows the output of a cable or satellite box to be fed into the Google TV device, then passed on to the TV. This has two benefits. First, the Google TV box needs no extra HDMI input on the receiver or TV. And second, the box can display broadcast content in a picture-in-picture window, on top of the Android ‘desktop.'

Internally, the NSZ-GS7 has 8GB of storage, which makes it a bit less roomy than even a low-end tablet. But all of that space will presumably be available for apps, since media would be stored externally on USB devices. The exact type of processor wasn't specified, but Sony's specs mention that it's a 1.2 GHz dual-core chip. Software is based on Android 3.2.

Media support seems comparable to what you'd find on existing players such as Western Digital's WD TV or D-Link's Boxee Box, and somewhat ahead of the more narrowly focused Apple TV.

Video formats include: Flash FLV; QuickTime MOV; Ogg Vorbis; various flavors of MPEG1, MPEG2 and MPEG4; and even power-user favorites like H.264 in an MKV container. Oddly, Sony's specs show no mention of Google's own WebM format, but we have to assume that's going to be there at some point.

Audio formats include the ubiquitous MP3 and AAC. But, alas, not the open FLAC lossless format (supported by both WD TV and Boxee). Image formats include JPG, PNG, BMP and GIF, plus a couple of Sony ‘Panorama' formats.

The Remote

Both of Sony's Google TV devices will come with a unique new remote, incorporating a laptop-style touchpad on one side, and a smartphone-style button keyboard on the other. Built-in gyro and accelerometer will sense which side is active (i.e. facing up), and disable spurious input from the other. Connection is via either IR or Bluetooth.

In demos, I found touchpad control a bit dodgy. The little arrow pointer tended to jump and make unexpected changes in direction, while the pressure-sensitive pad would occasionally register unintended ‘clicks.' However, the circumstances of the in-store setup were hardly ideal. Also, users will probably do better with two-handed operation, as opposed to my one-handed grip, with a thumb operating the touchpad.

Scrolling can also be handled by page up/down buttons on the side of the remote. And most operations can also be controlled using a set of directional arrows set above the touchpad. These would probably be the most obvious way of selecting app icons, while the touchpad would be needed mainly when occasionally browsing Web pages.

A dedicated Guide button pops up the listings from the user's cable or satellite box. Similarly, a DVR button accesses recordings that may be on that device. A PIP button displays the video window, which can be switched between two sizes, and moved to any of the four corners of the screen.

Volume control buttons can be set to control the user's AV receiver. In fact, Sony states that full ‘universal remote' capability is available, so the single remote can hopefully replace most of the user's coffee-table clutter.

The Google TV Blu-ray player will ship with a slightly enhanced remote, that includes a microphone. This will apparently enable voice searches and other voice functions similar to those we've seen on Android tablets.

Not surprisingly, given Google TV's Android foundation, users also have the option of downloading a Media Remote app. (And it's available for iOS as well.) In addition to taking over control of the Google TV box, the app allows sending of Web pages to the TV, for display in the Chrome browser.

Sony reps also point out that the included USB ports will allow users to connect their own control devices, such as a mouse or desktop keyboard.

The Software

The user interface of the Google TV looks at least as good as we've seen with previous media players (though, of course, Apple TV fans will probably disagree).

In the demos, we saw a basic desktop arrangement, with a configurable launch bar at the bottom, to hold any of the user's favourite apps. There's also a full apps list, similar to what you'd find on any Android tablet.

Apps on show included the built-in Chrome browser, as well as the usual media services such as Sony's own Video Unlimited and Audio Unlimited. The browser looks to be the full implementation you'd find on a tablet, and includes the ability to run Java and Flash. Users can zoom in and out to optimize text size. Also, Web sites will have the option of offering a view customized for TV display, just as they do now for smartphones.

The included YouTube app looked even better, with a slide-out menu that lets users follow channels and create their own subscription lists.

Many more apps will of course be available for download. When browsing the Google Play store, users will see only apps specifically flagged as Google TV compatible. Obviously, the selection was limited at launch, but the potential seems good.

A selection of simple games showed up: solitaire, sudoku and a few others. Sony also demonstrated an app that controls one of the new four-fan flying toy drones, even down to exploiting the movement-sensing ability of the Sony remote to do stunt flying.

Some apps will apparently allow PIP operation, but this will be up to the developers.

By the way, in answer to questions, Sony did not make clear how the new Google user interface would relate to its existing ‘crossbar' menu interface, developed for the PlayStation 3 and subsequently made standard across various Sony AV devices. Perhaps it will depend on which proves more popular with users...

The Verdict

One feature conspicuously not shown at the Sony event was Google TV's much-touted ability to aggregate content via a universal search capability. Users should be able to search, say, Corner Gas, and find all available viewing options, whether from cable, Internet services or stored local content.

Of course, the in-store demo systems weren't really connected for all this, and had no local storage. They came off, at minimum , as very good media players, priced to compete strongly with existing products like the Apple TV or Boxee Box. However, it does seems apparent that the additional capabilities of the Google TV platform will require stores to do some extra planning, if consumers are going to really ‘get' their full potential.

Also not clear (owing to the early departure of the Google representatives), was how updates would be handled. Will Google TV owners wait and wait on hardware vendors to provide updates, as Android tablet and smartphone owners already do? Or will Google be able to speedily push new OS features directly to the user base?

On the other hand, what was obvious from the demo was the strong desirability of a ‘universal' smart TV platform. (Sony was in fact quick to emphasize that it's two Google TV devices would work just fine with any brand of TV.) For consumers, it means a consistent user interface for accessing all their media content. As well as access to the widest possible base of apps.

Sony seems to have done a good job building this first generation of Google TV devices. Now the bigger problem will be getting the message out to consumers.

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Difference between ipad3 and glaxy tab2(10.1)

Samsung galaxy tab 10.1 has been launched with many features than its old versions. Ipad 3 has come up with also important features but not so much added features as compared to ipad 2. Both of these devices have made remarkable popularity in the world.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 2 vs iPad 3

So today I will discuss the differences between these two devices one by one. First I start with Samsung galaxy tab 10.1.
Samsung galaxy tab 10.1
Here are the features that are included in Samsung galaxy tab 10.1:-

• You can share your internet speed with others through wi-fi.
• Battery runs 9 hours without charging.
• 1 Ghz dual core processor.
• The operating system of galaxy tab is android os of version 3.2 also called honeycomb but you can upgrade to version 4 of android also called icecream version.
• 1280 x 800 pixels resolution which is less than ipad 3.
• Density of 149 ppi.
• Supports 3.15 MP camera which is less than ipad 3 but it can capture good movie at 720 pixels. The movie is recorded at 30 fps.
• If you want to connect to internet then Samsung galaxy tab 2 has HSDPA connection.
• The processor of galaxy tab 10.1 is with NvidiaTegra 3 chipset.
• Samsung claims that its processor is 12 cores which is faster than ipad 3 processor.
• 256.7 mm in height.
• 175.3 mm in width.
• 8.6 mm in thickness this is less than ipad 3.
• Weight is 565 g.
• Available in black color. But I have seen white color also on internet.
• 10.1 inch screen size.
• Browser is webkit by android.
• Flash player supported.
• 1 Ghz built in Ram.
• 16 gb and 32 gb space are supported.
• No siri support.
• As Samsung galaxy tab is running android os so there are more than 5 lakh apps available in android market to download.
• The camera on front has low quality than its previous version i.e Samsung galaxy tab 1 but it is good for just using as web cam or video conferencing.
• No led flash.
• Battery cannot be replaced.
• You can use this device to change your television channels also.
• Better calendar app.
• More icons (35) on screen.
• Netflix app can now be installed also.
• Battery charges faster than ipad 3.
• Apps are less expensive than apple apps.
• Spell checking is not fast and reliable.

Ipad 3
Ipad has following features in it:-

• The operating system of ipad 3 is iOS 5.1.
• Thicker and heavier than ipad 2 (also heavier than Samsung galaxy tab 10.1).
• A5X dual core processor.
• 2048 x 1536 pixels resolution that make it sharp in display.
• Density of 264 ppi.
• Supports 5 MP camera which can take movie of 1080 pixels at the rate of 30 fps.
• You can connect to internet by wi-fi and 4G technology i.e LTE connection.
• Apple Company says that ipad 3 processor is two times faster than galaxy tab 2 processor.
• Quard core Gpu processor.
• 241.2 mm in height.
• 185.7 mm in width.
• 9.4 mm in thickness.
• Weight of ipad 3 is 652 g.
• Available in black and white color.
• Screen size is 9.7 inch.
• On ipad 3 the default browser installed is safari from apple.
• No flash player supported.
• ipad 3 has 1 Ghz built in RAM.
• Memory space of 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB can be supported.
• Supports siri.
• The calendar app is very nice and handy to use.
• Less apps and icons (25) on screen.

As you have seen on the above features, you have noted that ipad 3 has 5 mp camera and siri support also but in my point of view Samsung galaxy tab is better than ipad 3. Ipad 3 has also more resolution but if you compare ipad 2 and ipad 3 then a normal man cannot differentiate between both. Samsung galaxy tab 10.1 has also good resolution and the icons are very sharp in display and playing games on it is very interesting because of picture quality. So you can have your choice to choose which one suit you better.

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Hardware of A Computer

Motherboards tie everything in your computer together. Wonder what all those parts are on your motherboard? See a labeled picture on the next.

A typical motherboard contains areas for computer memory, CPU, AGP, PCI and more. See a close up of motherboard slots on the next .

 

Computer hardware, such as memory, PCI and AGP connect to the motherboard through slots. Have you ever seen a motherboard bridge? See the next...

The chipset is the "glue" that connects the microprocessor to the rest of the motherboard and therefore to the rest of the computer. On a PC, it consists of two basic parts -- the north bridge and the south bridge. Take a look at computer memory next

Computer memory has a big effect on system performance. Pictured above is SIMM memory, or single in-line memory module, which is a type of RAM memory module. See DIMM memory on the next...

 

DIMM, or dual in-line memory module, has a 64-bit path to memory chips, whereas the SIMM has only a 32-bit. The next type of memory is often found in notebooks, printers and networking equipment.

SODIMM, or small outline dual in-line memory module, is made with integrated circuits and is about half the size of DIMM modules. See where RAM is located inside a desktop computer next.

A RAM upgrade can greatly extend your computer's lifespan. The next picture is of a type of memory that your computer uses on start-up.

 

The basic input-output system BIOS is the first thing you see when you turn on your computer. BIOS gives important instructions to the computer hardware on the next..

A microprocessor -- also known as a CPU or central processing unit -- is a complete computation engine that is fabricated on a single chip. See a high-performance processor on the next page that was originally used in supercomputers.

64-bit processors have entered the mainstream, such as this eight-generation Athlon processor. However, you need the hard drive on the next page to store all the information processed by your computer.

A hard disk is a sealed aluminum box, which has been opened in this photo. The controller electronics are attached to one side, controlling the read/write mechanism and the motor that spins the platters. See a close up of the disk and platters next.

 

This hard drive has three platters, also called hard disks, and six read/write heads. See how the hard disk is read on the next..

The arm on a hard disk holds the read/write heads and has to be incredibly fast and precise. There is one arm per read/write head, and all of them are lined up to form one unit. See what connects your hard drive to your PC in the next picture.

 

The Integrated Drive Electronics interface is the most popular way to connect a hard drive to a PC. See the drive that connects your peripherals next.

The Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus provides direct access to system memory for connected devices. PCI slots can be used for network, graphics and sound cards. See a PCI card on the next ...

PCI cards use 47 pins to attach to a PCI slot. Pins are thin metal feet that allow computer chips to be attached to a circuit board. The next piece of hardware replaced the PCI as the standard way to connect a graphic card.

An AGP, or accelerated graphics port, allows the operating system to designate RAM for use by the graphics card (like the one above) on the fly. Take a closer look at a graphics card on the next page.

 

Like a motherboard, a graphics card is a printed circuit board that houses a processor and RAM. If you are into computer games, you probably want this next piece of hardware.

PCI Express or PCIe eliminates the need for the AGP by accepting more data and supplying more power to video cards. However, the item in the next picture has been replacing PCIe as the new standard.

Just about any computer that you buy today comes with Universal Serial Bus connectors let you attach everything from mice to printers. 

This PC power supply has been removed from its PC case. The small, red switch at right, above the power-cord connector, is for changing line voltages in various countries. See the interior of the power supply next.

PC power supplies use switcher technology to convert the AC input to lower DC voltages. The 3.3- and 5-volts are typically used by digital circuits, while the 12-volt is used to run motors in disk drives and fans. See power supply transformers next.

In this photo you can see three small transformers (yellow) in the center. To the left are two cylindrical capacitors. The large finned pieces of aluminum are heat sinks. Take a closer look at a heat sink next.

Here you can see a heat sink and fan in a laptop, similar to the hardware in a desktop.

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Android Trojan could steal data by monitoring phone movement

Devin Coldewey / MSNBC.com

Your data is always vulnerable to being stolen or hacked, but sometimes the ways in which it is vulnerable can be quite surprising. Determining keystrokes based on phone vibration and movement is the latest ingenious method of parting a device and its data.
The culprit is a new Trojan horse program, tame as it were, created by security researchers at Pennsylvania State University. It takes advantage of a flaw in Google's Android mobile operating system that lets background apps monitor the device's sensors -- like the accelerometer, which detects movement and orientation.

The malicious app, which it should be noted is not in the wild, first "trains" by getting the user to put in numbers on the keypad within the app, and logs the vibration patterns created by tapping on different numbers. And then, when the user is putting in passwords or card data elsewhere, the app continues to listen in to those vibrations, matching them to different numbers.

It's further proof that security isn't just a matter of keeping your files encrypted and your password secret. As the things our devices are capable of multiply, so do the vulnerabilities they have. Innovative and unexpected means of circumventing security measures are the rule, not the exception.

TapLogger, as the app is called, was described (PDF) at a conference as a proof of concept by Zhi Xu, a graduate student at PSU, and two other researchers. Google has not responded to questions regarding the vulnerability, but this article will be updated if and when they do.
Update: Google does not have a specific response regarding this app, but emphasized that they are always actively policing the app store for apps that, like this one, abuse the permissions that they are given by users.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

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Facebook to open its own app store

Facebook

Facebook Wednesday announced its own app store, called the App Center, a move that puts the social networking giant in good company with other tech giants like Apple, with its App Store, and Google, with its Android-based Google Play store, as a way to buy and download applications, or programs.
"In the coming weeks, people will be able to access the App Center on the Web and in the iOS and Android Facebook apps," wrote Aaron Brady on Facebook's developer blog.
Brady said for the 901 million Facebook users worldwide, the App Center "will become the new, central place to find great apps like 'Draw Something,' 'Pinterest,' 'Spotify,' 'Battle Pirates,' 'Viddy' and 'Bubble Witch Saga.'
"Everything has an app detail page, which helps people see what makes an app unique and lets them install it before going to an app."
Apps will be both free and paid.
"Success through the App Center is tied to the quality of an app," Brady wrote. Facebook will "use a variety of signals, such as user ratings and engagement, to determine if an app is listed in the App Center."
And to gauge user feedback for app developers, Facebook said it's " introducing a new app ratings metric in Insights to report how users rate your app over time.
"Well-designed apps that people enjoy will be prominently displayed. Apps that receive poor user ratings or don’t meet the quality guidelines won't be listed."
The new App Center is meant to "grow mobile apps that use Facebook — whether they're on iOS, Android or the mobile Web," Brady wrote. "From the mobile App Center, users can browse apps that are compatible with their device, and if a mobile app requires installation, they will be sent to download the app from the App Store or Google Play."
Mobile is a key element for Facebook as it moves forward with an initial public offering of its stock next week. Potential investors are looking at how Facebook plans to increase advertising revenue via mobile as more people access Facebook using smartphones, and not just computers.
Facebook said Wednesday that usage of its social networking service is growing faster than its ad deliveries, reflecting a shift toward mobile devices and away from computers. 

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ALERT iPhone: ‘Siri’ hidden feature in a new iPhone 5 concept

Iphones 

London: As speculation about the Apple iPhone 5 continues to mount there is a lot of talk about new features and specs the phone may have and also what sort of design Apple will come up with.

The video created by AatmaStudio imagines Apple’s artificial intelligence programme Siri disabling an iPhone by cracking its screen after wrong password is entered three times in a row. The assumption is that this of course renders the phone useless to the thief.

Wondering what about your data on the smartphone? After the three unuccessfult strikes, Siri quickly transfers your data to your iTunes account; and goes on to wipe out all your information on the phone. You will be notified on iTunes, where according to the site valuewalk.com, the iPhone data recovery is now available only to you. The Siri then amusingly in all courteousness says goodbye before exterminating the iPhone.

The video titled “Siri Hidden Feature on iPhone 5″ comes from the same team which also made concept videos on ‘iPad 3′. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a video that had a 3D multiplayer hologram for gaming, a feature that allows a movie to be displayed across two connected iPad screens at the same time, thus enlarging the screen size.

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Abida Parveen A Great QAWAl Admitted in Hospital

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Information Technology Site selected in Lahore.

LAHORE

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Saturday that suitable site had been selected on Lahore Ring Road to set up the most modern Information Technology University of Pakistan.

The university, he said, was being established with the collaboration of Turkey’s Middle East Technical University. The first campus of this university will be set up in Arfa Software Technology Park for the facilitation of students. Thy university would set new educational standards in Pakistan with regard to providing education of international level in computer and other science subjects, he hoped.

The chief minister was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the website of a computer company CAR4U regarding traffic management.

The Punjab Information Technology Board chairman Dr. Umar Saif and a large number of girl and boy students were also present.

The chief minister said that Punjab government was setting up Daanish Technical University for providing international standard computer education to Pakistani youth. The Punjab cabinet had already given approval in principle to the establishment of the university while the formal approval would be sought in the next cabinet meeting, he added. Lauding the website designed by Sakib Berjess Tahir for providing guidance in traffic management, the CM said that Pakistani youth was talented and would put the country on the road to progress and prosperity by ridding it of problems. He directed Sakib Berjess Tahir to plan such safety projects in consultation with education, transport and other concerned departments which would help educate the people regarding safe driving and saving the human lives in accidents on the roads.

Sakib Berjess Tahir, while speaking on the occasion, said that lives and properties were lost in accidents every year in Pakistan which could be avoided by adopting safety measures. He said that information had been provided in the website prepared by CAR4U Company regarding averting traffic accidents, getting driving license, road safety and other matters.

Meanwhile, different Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between the Punjab government and the world renowned IT companies for enhancing mutual cooperation in information technology sector.

A function in this regard was held at Arfa Software Technology Park which was attended by Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, the Planning & Development chairman, the provincial secretaries, the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) chairman, representatives of IT companies and computer experts. Under the MoUs, American company, Microsoft, will train students in internet-based self-employment methods, Cisco will set up Cisco Network Academy while through Hawaway Company, besides infrastructure development of information and communication technology, various training facilities will also be provided in the province.

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Imran and Orban By Fouad Khan

For a few days during the month of cusp between 2011 and 2012, in those shallows of packaged punditry called New York Times Op-Ed Section, Pakistan was no longer the country frothing the most foreboding omens for future. That dubious honor was moved, albeit temporarily to the shoulders of Hungary; a landlocked little nation sitting squat in the middle of Europe.
It all started with Paul Krugman running into his next door neighbor one fine New York morning. She said something about Hungary and a new constitution and freedom. It must’ve been the words ‘a central bank under the influence of an elected government’ that would’ve caught his ears. They must’ve decided to talk about it in detail later.
After all, that next door neighbor was Dr. Kim Lane Schepple; director of Law and Public Affairs program at Princeton. If she was saying democracy was under threat from a democratically elected government in the heart of Europe, that must be the case. If nothing else, at least a Nazi analogy could be drawn from the entire fiasco, no matter how feeble or lame. Even lame Nazi analogies sparkle in an Op-Ed piece like diamonds on a Harry Winston dial.
So they met again over the next few days, and armed with grand new alarmist high squeak, the man sat down and wrote. “… democratic values are under siege…  I am not being alarmist… it’s important not to fall into the “not as bad as” trap… ominous political trends shouldn’t be dismissed just because there’s no Hitler in sight.”
Over the next three weeks, Dr. Schepple, borrowing Krugman’s Op-Ed column in New York Times, would pontificate on the subject in detail. She is the foremost authority on Hungarian constitution in the US.
During the 2010 election in Hungary, a center right party, Fidesz, under the charismatic leadership of one Victor Orban rose to a landslide victory and two thirds majority in parliament. True to his word, Orban went about setting in action widespread constitutional changes, something which the Hungarian populace had given him mandate for through the two thirds majority. On January 1st of this year, the old constitution was replaced entirely with a new one. According to Dr. Schepple, the new constitution conspires to concentrate the power in Fidesz’ hands.
Media, judiciary, opposing political parties all have been cut short, says Dr. Schepple. According to her, it’s an ‘unconstitutional constitution’. The part that’s really made the European Union sit up and take notice though, is the deployment of new laws for management of the Central Bank. The new law gives the Prime Minister the right to appoint vice presidents of the Central Bank. An ‘infringement procedure’ has been initiated against Hungary for violating EU laws.
What Dr. Schepple fails to acknowledge is the fact that none of what Fidesz government is doing is actually either illegal or unconstitutional. Fidesz continues to be the most popular party in Hungary, despite not having uniform support countrywide for some of the constitutional amendments being put in place. The demonstrations in favor of Fidesz continue to bring out people to the streets in the hundreds of thousands and there’s no real indication that the massive wave of popular support Fidesz rode to power in 2010 elections has broken along those banks of Danube where the Hungarian parliament legislates.
At Central European University in Budapest on Tuesday (February 1), Dr. Schepple tried to make the case that the new Hungarian constitution is not a ‘liberal’ constitution. But not being liberal is not the same as not being democratic. Fidesz government, and by consequence, the new constitution, enjoys democratic legitimacy and support.
What’s happening in Hungary is not merely a right leaning political party’s mad dash for absolute power at the first shot of the starting pistol of legislative authority, but Hungary, as a nation’s, slow slide away –nose tightly clenched between thumb and index finger- from the stinking corpse of economic liberalism’s false dreams. The loss of some social and personal liberty in the process, is merely collateral damage.
Of course the popular democratic lean towards right can now be described as a global phenomenon without much hesitation. In Austria, the Freedom Party is gaining momentum, in Finland there are the True Finns. The Arab spring has been led by a bevy of religious parties who in different countries lie in a different spot on the spectrum from Hamas to Jamat-e-Islami, but no further left. In America, the Tea Party draws its strength from a strong religious and fiscal conservatism and hard right lunacy. As far as popular resistances go, the Tea Party movement is one that comes pre-hijacked (by the machine), but it is channeling a discontent that is very real. All across the world, nationalism seems to be the flavor of the political epoch and religiosity pervades the zeitgeist. The right is on the rise.
Pakistan is no exception. Imran’s popular movement is built on a base of staunch nationalistic pride with sprinklings of religious machismo on top. This new global right though, of which Imran is a part, is right of center only in the sense that it views free trade neo-liberalism suspiciously. What binds this ‘right’ together is its wholehearted embrace of the economic values of an old, forgotten ‘left’.
They are religious because they need a narrative to drive inspiration from, they view conventional media with suspicion because they feel mainstream media has sold them out, they want change but they’d rather have the change come through democratic means. And above all, they feel that they’ve had just about enough of economic exploitation in the name of freedom and democracy. In opposing economic imperialism they stand together, Imran, Orban and the rest.
The Paul Krugmans of the world are wrong to see shades of 1933 in the rise of the likes of Orban or his ideological brother from another mother, Imran. Which is not to say that there aren’t parallels here to be drawn from history. In the spring of 1848, not too long after installation of the first telegraph lines and on the back of nearly two decades of relative stability and prosperity, the French populace coagulated into a violent mass in opposition to the ‘Citizen King’ Louis Philippe.
The echoes of this revolution would be heard all around the world with eruption of riots and many minor revolutions in other European principalities and nations from Prussia to Switzerland. Within a couple of decades Indians deep down in the south would also try their hand at ‘mutiny’ and Marx and Engel, inspired by a vacuum would go on to write and publish a little title named Das Kapital. So would the world change forever?
Imran, Orban and their kin, leaders of such ilk are born of this vacuum. That vacuum -crass and tired as yet another reference to class warfare may sound to twenty-first century ears- is simply a chasm between haves and have-nots that has grown past a certain threshold. That threshold is like a tripwire; the events it may trigger can never be predicted pre-factum. This threshold, this vacuum, and this chasm… we’ve been here before, just not in 1933. The date you are looking for Mr. Krugman is 1848.

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Black Money (Pakistani Curraption

The decision of the government to allow, through a presidential order, investment of ‘black money’ in the capital market to whiten millions of dollars of undeclared earnings is unethical to say the least.

Pakistan ranks among the 10 most corrupt countries, and with a corruption score of 2.5 out of 10 in 2011, initiating such a scheme would encourage further corruption in the country as people involved in black-market activities will be able to float their money in the stock market to make it legal.

Nisma Chauhan Rajput

Oman

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4 Pakistani universities ranked among top 200 Asian universities

London, Four Pakistani Universities have been selected in top 200 Asian universities by a leading educational research institute.
In its research about top Asian universities, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) found only four Pakistani universities offering educational research and facilities. QS is the prominent worldwide career and education network for motivated experts who wants to excel in personal and professional progress.

The universities that have been included in top Asian universities are National University of Sciences And Technology (NUST) Islamabad who got the rank of 84 with 52.4 score, University of Karachi, second largest university of Pakistan, is at 138th spot and got 38.8 score, University of Lahore has earned 32.5 was given rank of 177, University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Lahore is at 180 number with 31.8 points.

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Punjab govt schools & laptop's scheme

17,020 govt schools lack basic amenities in Punjab: survey
Islamabad, April 19: As many as 10,020 government schools, both primary and high, across Punjab remain without latrines and over 7,000 are deprived of clean drinking water facility, as the provincial government pushes ahead with its free distribution of laptops among brilliant students, a scheme costing it well over Rs4 billion.
A survey by the Ministry of Education Punjab for 2010-11 has made startling revelations, which arguably makes the multi-billion laptops scheme highly questionable and needless in the given exceedingly deplorable state of the government schools, which reflects a huge disconnect between the on-ground situation and the lavishly publicised laptop scheme.
Education experts believe that a nation moves forward on the basis of conducive and enabling environment in educational institutions. They pointed out young girls' school drop-out remains alarmingly high and one of the major reasons of this worrying trend is non-availability of latrines inside their schools.
They billed the laptop policy as a political gimmick, which was performed by young generation of PML-N such as Hamza Shahbaz and Maryam Nawaz, not holding any government position. "Our students desperately need provision of basic facilities such as clean drinking water, latrines, electricity and boundary walls. First ensure these and then you may go for laptops policy," they contended.
A representative of an NGO claimed that whenever a donor agency intended to extend aid or grand for educational institutions, their prime focus was on provision of latrines and clean drinking water.
A senior office-bearer of PML-N, which heads the provincial government, Senator Mushahidullah Khan, agreed that side by side with the laptop scheme, attention must also be paid towards the condition of schools.
Senator Mushahidullah, who is also PML-N Central Information Secretary, said that apart from the laptop scheme, the provincial government was setting up IT labs in 4286 schools besides improving the school infrastructure.
He claimed the government schools situation in general had improved during the last four years but conceded things were yet to improve in far-flung areas and a lot of work needed to be done there.
The PML-N senator also agreed that revolutionary changes needed to be carried out in the education sector and said everybody wanted drastic measures but these could not be done overnight.
There are a total of 59,054 schools in the government sector, electricity is available only in 38,588 (65%) of them, whereas 10,000 (17%) are without boundary walls and despite rapid deterioration in drinking water quality, clean drinking water is not available in over 7,000 schools

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Comsats Institute 45th Convocation

600 students awarded degrees
Islamabad, April 26: The Comsats Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) held its 45th Convocation at the Jinnah Convention Centre on Wednesday in which graduate and postgraduate degrees were given to more than 600 students.
National Assembly Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi was the chief guest on the occasion.
CIIT Rector Dr. SM Junaid Zaidi (SI), while speaking on the occasion, said that knowledge acquirement and higher education are transforming virtually every aspect of today's world. IT institutions have been trusted to be the centre stage of academia. These Institutions have the mandate to evolve a knowledge based socio-economic culture in the country to help the nation to face the modern challenges of globalisation.
The campus report was presented by Professor Dr. Shahid Ahmed Khan, dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Islamabad Campus. Anayat-ur-Rehman, assistant controller of examination at the CIIT, presented scroll to the chancellor.
There were more than 600 students in two different ceremonies, who secured BS degrees in disciplines of Bachelor of Science in Bioinformatics, Biosciences, Business Administration, Computer Engineering, Electrical (Telecommunication and Computer Engineering), Electronics, Mathematics and Architecture from Islamabad Campus. MS degrees were awarded to 25 students in Management Sciences, Electrical Engineering, Architecture, Physics, Computer Science, Bio Sciences, Metrology and Mathematics. PhD degrees were awarded to four students in disciplines of Physics and Mathematics.
On the occasion Chancellor's, Institute, Campus and Patron Medals were also awarded to position-holding students from different campuses of CIIT. Graduate and postgraduate students bagged campus medals, Institute medals and Chancellor's Gold medals with 3.75 CGPA while patron medal was given to Madiha Tariq with 4 CGPA. CIIT announced Dr. Q.K Ghori award for the best performer in Mathematics, this semester award was given to Munazza Batool.
Faisal Karim Kundi awarded degrees and medals to successful students. He addressed the gathering and appreciated the efforts of CIIT faculty and management. He said that the CIIT, recognising its duties, is committed to provide the best opportunities for learning and personal development within a caring and supportive environment.
The Chancellor's Gold Medallists included Hafiz Muhammad Faisal Javid, Nimra Atiq Lodhi, Sajid Sarwar, Huma Hayat, Salina Shahid, Syed Awais Wahab Shah, Sufyan Hafeez Khan, Zakir Ur Rehman, Syed Meesam Raza Naqvi, Sarmad Makhdoom, Inum Arshad and Noreen Afzal for Spring 2012

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Mughal art — might in miniature Special News

AT the peak of their power in the mid-17th century, the great Mughals were the richest and most powerful Islamic dynasty. They ruled over 100 million subjects five times the number commanded by their only rivals, the Ottomans. From the ramparts of the Delhi Red Fort, the seat of power, Shah Jahan the emperor who commissioned the Taj Mahal controlled almost all of India, the whole of what is now Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as much of Afghanistan. The Mughals held the latter, then known as Khorasan, more successfully than any other invader, before or since.
For their impoverished contemporaries in the distant west, floundering in their codpieces and doublets, the Mughals became symbols of power, sophistication, luxury and might in Paradise Lost, for example, the cities of Mughal India are revealed to Adam after the fall as future wonders of God’s creation. These are attributes with which the word “mogul” is still loaded 400 years later: when someone writes today of a Hollywood or real estate mogul, they are unwittingly recalling the impression the Mughals made on our befuddled Elizabethan ancestors.
Sooner or later, all empires fall, and by the beginning of the 18th century, just as the British were beginning to make their presence felt on the coasts and seaports of India, the political power of the Mughals had begun to fall apart in the most spectacular fashion. As the provinces broke off one by one, the imperial capital of Delhi descended into violent chaos. Three emperors were murdered, while one of them, Farrukhsiyar, was imprisoned and starved, then later blinded with a hot needle and strangled; the mother of another ruler was throttled while the father of a third was forced off a precipice on his elephant.
It has long been believed that the art and architecture of the Mughals followed a similar trajectory to their political fortunes: that from the triumphs of the period of Shah Jahan, notably the great Padshahnama (subject of a spectacular exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery in London, in 1997), Mughal art rapidly declined. Shah Jahan’s puritanical son, the emperor Aurangzeb, is often said to have disbanded the imperial painting atelier, and later emperors were assumed to have failed to muster either the resources, or the energy, to restore it. Successive sackings of Delhi by Persian and Afghan invaders, the coming of the colonial British, followed finally by the arrival of photography, have traditionally been seen to have dealt the final death blows to the Mughal miniature tradition.
Today few specialists would hold with such a bald version of events, but it certainly remains true that the art of the later Mughals remains under-studied and under-appreciated. This is one reason why, over the past five years, the art historian Yuthika Sharma and I have been sourcing and putting together the first ever exhibition of late Mughal art, aiming to showcase the neglected masterpieces of this fascinating transitional period and to provide a taste of the strength, colour, and vivacity of the work produced in the Mughal capital at this time. The result, Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi 1707-1857, opened recently at the Asia Society in New York.
The show is part of a much wider reassessment of the later Mughal period that has been going on for some time. It is now recognised that despite its political decline, Delhi remained a major artistic and cultural centre for 150 years after its military and economic power had ebbed, and despite diminished resources, the later emperors continued to patronise remarkable artists and poets with Medici-like discrimination.
One of the first exhibits shows the longest surviving sovereign of the age, the Emperor Muhammad Shah II, 1719-48 (called Rangila, the Merrymaker), playing during Holi, the Bacchanalian Hindu spring festival of colours. The painting, by Bhupali Singh, dates from about 1737, less than three decades after the death of Aurangzeb, yet already we have moved as far as can be imagined from the joyless world of the puritan Mughal. A Muslim emperor joins in a Hindu festival, throwing colour bombs at his favourite courtesan, Gulab Bai, as female musicians play tablas and sarangis and the court dissolves into a riot of bright yellows, purples, oranges and inferno reds.
Muhammad Shah, depicted by Bhupali Singh as an eye-shadow-wearing dandy, was the longest surviving sovereign of the age. He seems to have survived by the simple ruse of giving up any pretence of ruling: in the morning he watched partridge and elephant fights; in the evenings he was entertained by jugglers, ventriloquists and mime artists; he was often dressed in a lady’s peshwaz and pearl-embroidered shoes. But while presiding over the decline of Mughal political power, Muhammad Shah also proved to be a discerning patron, employing such master artists as Nidha Mal (active 1735-75) and Chitarman (active 1715-1760), whose masterworks show bucolic scenes of court life, Diwali firework parties alive with sprinklers and rockets, hunting and hawking, etc.
Again and again the artists of the period return to the idyll of the Mughal pleasure garden, a hint of escapism, perhaps in reaction to violent reality. There is a direct parallel to the spirit of Restoration London: after the chill of Cromwell’s Commonwealth in England, with the theatres closed and festivities banned, society reacted to the enforced puritanism by heading in the opposite direction. In Delhi this was, for example, the age of the great poet-courtesans: Ad Begum would turn up at parties without dress, but so cleverly painted that no one would notice: “She decorates her legs with beautiful drawings in the style of pyjamas instead of actually wearing them.”
In addition to re-establishing the imperial painting atelier, Muhammad Shah presided over a cultural and intellectual renaissance, as Delhi’s scholars, mystics, musicians, poets and painters increased in fame as fast as its military fortunes diminished, and the city was enlivened by a culture of coffee houses and literary salons.

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PM, cabinet functioning constitutionally

ISLAMABAD: Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naek said on Saturday the prime minister and the cabinet were functioning constitutionally as the Supreme Court had not given any directive for the disqualification of Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in its contempt case order.
He was addressing a press conference in Islamabad along with federal ministers Qamar Zaman Kaira and Sardar Umar Gorgaij.
Though criticising the decision of the Apex Court, Naek at the same time also said that if the Supreme Court orders the disqualification of the prime minister, the government is ready to comply.
The law minister said an appeal in the contempt case would be filed once the Suprme Court released its detailed verdict. The chief election commissioner has also sought the detailed judgement.
The appeal will be the continuation of the proceedings, he added. He said it was the prerogative of Speaker of National Assembly and Senate Chairman to send references to the Election Commission regarding disqualification of parliamentarians.
The law minister said the prime minister could not be disqualified under Article 63(1) G.
He alleged that the letter written by the assistant registrar supreme court to the speaker national assembly, the secretary cabinet division and the chief election commissioner was misuse of his power and the Supreme Court must hold an inquiry into it.
The law minister also criticised the Pakistan Muslim League (N), accusing the party of twisting the facts of the case.

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Hum Tum BEST DRAMA Serial in pakistan GEO TV

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Pak Dramas Yeh BeTyan (Faqeer Abad ki Reshman) Express TV Daram Part 05

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