Did you know ?

DID YOU KNOW?

The main library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

Did you know ?

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. King of spades represents King David, king of clubs depicts Alexander the Great, king of hearts represents Charlemagne and while the king of diamonds shows Julius Caesar.

Did you know ?

DID YOU KNOW?

Upper and lower case letters are named ‘upper’ and ‘lower’, because in the time when al original print had to be set in individual letters, the ‘upper case’ letters were stored in the case on top of the case stored smaller, ‘lower case’ letters.

Hic Hic Hurray

HIC HIC HURRAY: A woman wearing traditional Bavarian clothes drinks beer during the opening ceremony of the Oktoberfest in Munich on Saturday, while a decorated horse-drawn carriage makes its way through the streets of the German city. Millions of beer drinkers from around the world will come to the Bavarian capital for the world's most famous beer festival consuming 5.5 million litres of beer in the process

Mars spacecraft settles into orbit

The most powerful spacecraft ever sent to Mars has settled into a nearly circular orbit, a move that allows scientists to begin studying the planet in unprecedented detail.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its thrusters for 12 minutes on Monday to adjust to its final position six months after it arrived at the planet. Its altitude ranges between 150 kilometre to 315 kilometre above the surface.

"Getting to this point is a great achievement," said Dan Johnston, Deputy Mission Manager at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the $ 720 million mission.

Over the next several months, the orbiter will deploy its 33-foot antenna and remove a lens cap from one of its instruments.

It will begin collecting data in November, and scientists expect the resolution of those images to be nine times higher.

The unmanned orbiter safely slipped into orbit around Mars in March after a seven-month, 499-million-kilometre journey. It joined three other spacecraft currently flying around the planet and two rovers rolling across the surface.

Several weeks after entering orbit, a high-resolution camera aboard the spacecraft beamed back a test image showing the planet's southern highlands and cratered surface.

The orbiter spent the last half-year repeatedly dipping in to the upper atmosphere to shrink its orbit in a tricky process known as aerobraking. (AP)

Irwin's widow thanks fans for support

The American widow of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin on Wednesday thanked his fans for their kindness and support following the death of her "soul mate," and announced plans for his public memorial next week.

In her first public statement since Irwin's death, Terri Irwin said she "would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming outpouring of love, support and prayers for my family."

She said a public memorial service would be held next Wednesday on the grounds of the family owned Australia Zoo wildlife park in Queensland state.

Public service

A private service involving family and friends was held around a campfire at the park on Saturday. Irwin was fatally stabbed last Monday by a stingray's barb while filming a TV show off Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Although larger venues for the public event had been suggested, Terri Irwin said her husband would have wanted the service held at the 5,500-seat auditorium, called the "Crocoseum" he built himself.

"I realize that the Crocoseum has a limited capacity ... but I cannot see how a memorial service would work in any other place other than the Crocoseum, which he built here at the zoo and of which he was so proud," the statement said.

"I would therefore ask that everyone please bear with me in this wish and help me to make this happen."

Irwin's death sparked an outpouring of grief in Australia, with thousands of fans turning out to the 25-hectare (60-acre) Australia Zoo to lay flowers, candles, cards, stuffed animals and messages of support scrawled on the exuberant entertainer's trademark khaki shirts.

Live broadcast

Thousands more are expected to turn out for Irwin's memorial, for which free tickets will be distributed in advance, according to Peter Lang, a spokesperson for Australia Zoo.

Large television screens will be set up at venues in Queensland's capital, Brisbane, and the nearby Sunshine Coast, and the event will be broadcast live in Australia, the United States and Asia, the statement said.

Terri Irwin, originally from Eugene, Oregon, and her eight-year-old daughter, Bindi, will speak at the memorial service, along with Irwin's father, Bob, and his close friend and manager, John Stainton. The couple also have a son, Bob, 2. (AP)

Steve Irwin

A LIFE-long friend of Steve Irwin today told how the Crocodile Hunter pulled a deadly stingray barb from his own chest before losing consciousness and dying.

Friend John Stainton said he had viewed footage of his friend's last moments and the images were "shocking".

"It's a very hard thing to watch because you're actually witnessing somebody die ... and it's terrible," he said.

"It shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked him here (in the chest), and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone.

"That was it. The cameraman had to shut down."

Irwin , 44, was filming a television program on the Great Barrier Reef off far north Queensland when the drama unfolded yesterday.

Mr Stainton said Irwin's wife, Terri, who rushed to Queensland from a holiday in Tasmania after being told of the tragedy, was putting on a brave face for the sake of her children.

"I think she's being very strong," he said in Cairns, where Irwin's body has been taken.

"I think for the children's sake she has to be strong because they're at a very impressionable age, as you know.

"Bindi's eight and little Robert's coming up to three, so he may not totally understand, but Bindi certainly does.

"She's very mindful of how she has to control her emotions to get the kids through it."

Terri Irwin remained at the family home on the Sunshine Coast with her children today and Mr Stainton said she had no plans to go to Cairns.

The loss of an Australian icon has made headlines around the world and sparked tributes from all walks of life, with NEWS.com.au readers among the many keen to pass on their condolences.

Irwin was killed while shooting footage for a new show he was doing with Bindi.

Terri would have the final say on whether film from the project was made public, the head of the US TV company that broadcasts his show said today.

Film of the death has already been handed to Queensland police preparing a report for the Coroner.

Billy Campbell, the president of Discovery Networks, which owns the Animal Planet channel, said talks on the footage would take place with Terri at a suitable time.

"It's still too early," Mr Campbell said. "We'll have to take a look at it."

Surf Lifesavers national marine stinger adviser Lisa-Ann Gershwin said there had only been 17 fatal stingray attacks worldwide. "I think it's just an extraordinary freak accident that has happened to his heart," she said.

"A lot of people will be afraid by this, but they need to keep in mind that this was a freak accident, it was a terrible tragedy but it is not common."

Dr Gershwin said stingray stings to the legs or arms were common and, while painful, were not normally considered dangerous. She said there were many different types of stingrays, with barbs on their tails up to 30cm long, and they poisoned victims with a range of toxins.

Fire Down Below

ELECTRIFYING FEET: A Bulgarian girl performs barefoot over smouldering embers during the ancient ritual of fire dancing, Nestinari, at Varvara village, around 450 km southeast of Sofia. The Nestinari dance is one of the most authentic rituals that has its origins in Bulgaria before Christianity. The dancers were abstainers and mediators between the sky and the earth. The prayed for health, prosperity and rich harvest. The fire is lit in the afternoon by the main fire dancer. The dancing itself is performed after sunset to the accompaniment of a drum and bagpipe.

FACTS: Do you know?

WORD WITHOUT VOWEL: RHYTHM

CROCODILE: Only animal & reptile which sheds tear while eating .

BRAIN: Organ of body which has no sensation when cut .

BOOK WITHOUT LETTER 'e':

GADFY , written by Earnest Wright in 1939 is a 50,000+ word book, which doesn't contain a single word with ' e ' in it

No of Alphabets, which SOUND AS WORDS: They are

B Bee
C Sea
G Zee
I Eye
Q Queue
R Are
S Yes
T Tea
U You
Y Why

Sonia, Nooyi among most powerful women

PepsiCo's chief executive-designate Indra Nooyi has been named the fourth most powerful woman in the world, while Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is the 13the most powerful, according to the World’s Most Powerful women list released by Forbes magazine.

India-born and educated Nooyi, who was recently selected to become the top honcho of the cola giant, made a gigantic leap this year in the Forbes Top 100 Most Powerful Woman List from her 28th rank in 2005.

Sonia Gandhi, who was No 3 in the 2004 list right behind Condoleezza Rice and Wu Yi and ahead of Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton, has been ranked 13th this year.

Nooyi, who migrated to the United States in 1978 after a brief stint a textile outfit in India, has been showered with praises by the magazine.

Nooyi’s profile reads as "few people could handle either the presidential or the chief financial officer job at a $100 billion company."

Interestingly, Sonia Gandhi’s profile on the website says that she "heads the Left-leaning party of Jawaharlal Nehru, where she acts as the Opposition leader to Manmohan Singh, the pro-business prime minister."

"Gandhi is still widely revered, especially among the country's poor millions. Gandhi frequently expresses concern that India's astounding economic growth is leaving the poor behind, and that her country is not doing enough to help its farmers," the profile said.

According to the list, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who did not even figure in last year's choice, overtook US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice to become this year's most powerful woman.

The other Indians in the prestigious list are joint managing directors of ICICI Bank Lalita Gupte and Kalpana Morparia, who has been put at 93rd position in the list of 100 women.

Vidya Chhabbria, chairman of the Jumbo Group based in Dubai, is positioned at 95.

The list has 53 women from the United States and five from Britain including Melinda Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (at 12th position) and US Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton is at 18.

The US First Lady Laura Bush is found at 43rd most powerful position while Queen Elizabeth booked her place at 46th position followed by Myanmar's pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Some of India's other neighbours have also made the cut.

China's Vice premier Wu Yi was placed at third position on the power ladder while Chairman of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission Sima Samar was ranked 28th.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who is facing an opposition protest led by her bitter rival Awami League's Sheikh Haseena, is positioned at 33 while People's Bank of China's Deputy Governor Wu Xialong was at 35.
Haier Group chairman Mian Mian Yang, also from China, was rated 70th most powerful woman in the world.

KNOW NOOYI

Nooyi, who went to the US from India to attend Yale School of Management, has been PepsiCo's president and CFO since 2001.

She will take her place in an elite group of 11 female CEOs running Fortune 500 companies

Patricia Woertz at agricultural processor Archer Daniels Midland Co. ranks first. ADM is ranked 56th in the Fortune 500, while PepsiCo, the world's second-largest soft-drink company after Coca-Cola Co, is ranked 61st.

She is expected by many on Wall Street to continue the company's record of strong, consistent growth

Nooyi's elder sister Chandrika Tandon founded Tandon Capital Associates, a consulting firm that has helped the American banking industry save about $700 million.

Younger brother Krishnamurthy Tandon is a well-known investment banker in Wall Street.

source ibmlive.com