Print Only Required Content (PORC) - Green Ideas

Green Green Green, wherever you go, Individuals, Government, Organization are moving Green Revolution, There are many initiatives taken to reduce global warming across the world. Recently government has passed bill, to charge for plastic carry bags, so customers are forced to bring their own paper or jute bags. Let us also participate in this revolution and do what can be easily done by us, ofcourse without any charge.

Recently I came across a website, PrintWhatYouLike, cool website, which provides support to print what is only required by us, ie., we can remove unwanted images, headers, advertisements, background colors, margins, etc etc and what not. This website takes in the URL you want to print, and classifies the whole content into blocks, which can be removed, formatted, and then finally print what is required for us, now this saves us pages, saves toner ink, which is cost effective for us and as well a small contribution from us to EARTH.

This is now helping all webdevelopers, website owners to provide an advanced PRINTER FRIENDLY version of their webpage. Steps to generate the link for printer friendly version is

" http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/print?url=encoded url "

for example, printer friendly version of my blog will be
http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/print?url=http%3A%2F%2F2bnamed.blogspot.com%2F
URL Encoding reference is in http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_urlencode.asp
Save Paper, Save Earth. Think before you print next time

Google's Speed Unrevealed

Google recently celebrated its 13th birthday, It has accomplished a mind-boggling amount of work in the last 13 years—building the company to almost 30,000 employees and $9.03 billion in revenue last quarter. For all these years Google has surprised us with its lightning speed, but what is the reason for such speed, when we went around discussing about its speed, there were many reasons, both technical and non-technical for its high speed. I have compiled the reasons for your reference to come to a conclusion, which is very difficult :)

Technical Reasons

• Extreme savvy data management
• Keeps its entire index in RAM, so disk access times aren't a factor in responding to a query
• Geographically distributed data centers with lots of processing power and data throughput capacity.
• Clean interface- no graphic ads all over the place, no bloated code
• Big machines with lots of blinking lights. 
• Judging from some recent patent applications, google may even keep some information in firmware. This would particularly apply to semantic analysis and other data that does not change as rapidly. 
• Masters of mind who will be emperors of earth tomorrow
• They are periodically caching their results based on previous searches. More than 99.9% of the time someone else had already searched that term, so they only serve html data. 
• The largest cluster to date provides hundreds of terabytes of storage across thousands of disks on over a thousand machines
• Not real-time- The content has been indexed, and indexing algorithms are able to locate a keyword in an index of millions of entries with a very small number of disk accesses.
• google also uses a Column oriented database as opposed to a row oriented database that puny webmasters like us use. 
• google has eliminated middle tier operators and plug their data centers directly into the Internet just like top isPs. 
• "450,000 servers" according to Newsweek article... 
• By collecting flocks of pigeons in dense clusters, Google is able to process search queries at speeds superior to traditional search engines, which typically rely on birds of prey, brooding hens or slow-moving waterfowl to do their relevance rankings.
• An important thing to realize when thinking about their speed is that they are located so many different places, share loads, and they are not searching articles or websites in real time (or in the format we see them in). Also I would think that 30% of all searches are repeated quite often
• There is something that I do know about Google, a person that they hired ( and I know him 

Non Technical reasons

• Google bought an alien technology company several years ago, giving them access to trans-warp hyper-time multidimensional data processing, allowing them to offload the search processing into non-real time then feed the results back into real-time so that users do not notice any time passage in their own perceived space/time continuum.
• Google was operated by mad wizards from the Disc World and had something to do with creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions

So after reading were you able to conclude why Google is fast... really difficult to understand, until otherwise  I get to work for the Big G.

Are GODs, Aliens ? Mystery - Part 1

Hello Friends, This time am touching a very very sensitive topic, believed by 80% of humans in this world, yes about GOD. It started when I read an article about Eric VonDaniken's Chariots of God. I dont know what to tell about this person and others who have made 30+ episodes in History Channel, one of the top TV channels digging about history. Daniken's theory on a whole talks about GOD, who he projects as Aliens, who visited from other planets. He starts asking the below questions one by one

1. Earth is 4.54 billion years old(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_Earth), and according to science, living creatures started evolving in earth 3.8 billion years ago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_evolution), If Humans have found a way to reach other planets (Moon), why not extra terrestrial creatures (Aliens) find a way to reach earth ?
2. There are many planets older than earth and obviously living creatures would have evolved in other planets billion years ago ?
3. He strongly believes in #2, that aliens have visited earth billion of years ago and he cites lot of present day monuments, mysteries in to picture and surprises us with his question.

His book Chariots of God discusses in detail that GODs are ancient astronomers who visited earth billion of years ago. With all these technological development, we are still not able to find explanation to the mysteries shown below.

Am planning to put what all evidence I come across in internet, in chapters here, Series continues........

Escape Express Avenue - Boycott, Avoid

I should say it as Anti-EA, yes am that much frustrated on Express Avenue. First time I visited EA, I was amazed to see such a big mall in Chennai. I have seen such big malls while I was abroad, now Chennai has got such a good mall. This was my thought while I entered the mall, but everything got shattered when I came out, i.e., at the time they collected the parking fees. After this incident I was very upset and started searching web, which had many of us facing the same problem, some of them have even raised complaints and started blogging on this issue. Express Avenue is the worst in collecting parking fees, they are making hell lot of money in parking.

Express Avenue charges Rs:25 for 2-Wheeler and Rs.50 for 4-Wheeler, which is double the amount in weekend. Friends, this parking fee is not the whole day, its for an hour and it keeps increasing every hour, damn stupid concept.

They have a multiplex ESCAPE (Sathyam Cinemas), which obviously one would spend 3-4 hours time, and they end up paying Rs:150- Rs:200 as parking for 2-Wheeler, if its a 4-Wheeler, you pay in hundreds, close to 2 person movie ticket :)

So friends, its our duty to teach EA a lesson, Please boycott EA. Avoid going to EA, all the brands sold inside are very well available outside, so avoid going to Express Avenue.

0% Balance Transfer - How does it help us ?

Credit card debts have become increasingly common due to the economic fluctuations and recessions. Many schemes have therefore been developed to help people recover from debts and to pay the credit card companies. Balance transfer credit card is a great way out for those who are paying high interest on their current credit cards. 0 Balance transfer credit card offers enable you to move your outstanding balance from an old credit card to another one with more advantageous terms, like 0% introductory APR or low interest rates. Transfer of balance:
If the individual in debt applies for a balance transfer, then the outstanding balance from the old credit card is transferred onto a new credit card which the company offers. The outstanding amount on the new credit card will now reflect the amount due on the old credit card, and the old credit card will be cancelled.

The offer:
The offer is that the total amount due is absolutely free of any interest rates for up to 12 months. The individual trying to pay off the balance due can do so without any worries about extra costs resulting from higher interest rates. The zero-interest period ensures that any payments made towards the credit card will be used to pay the actual debt, and not the amount resulting from the interest.

The Catch:
The catch in the balance transfer offer is that the interest rates after the 12 month period will be higher than usual. Any new purchases made from the new credit card cannot be paid until the old outstanding balance is taken care of first. This means that the new purchases made will keep accumulating the interest rates until they can be paid. The balance transfer credit card must not be used for new purchases for this very reason. Once the balance is paid, then the card can be used accordingly. Even if the entire balance cannot be paid within the zero-interest period, the outstanding balance after the interest free period will be charged a very high interest rate.

Fees and other charges:
The old credit card company may charge a process fee for the balance transfer onto a new credit card. Additionally, the credit card company offering the balance transfer may charge a one-time processing fee. There may be hidden charges and clauses for the balance transfer card. Going through the offer carefully is mandatory before applying for the deal.

Advantage:
The biggest advantage of the balanced transfer card is the interest free period offered. If carefully planned, the debt can be resolved within months with regular payments. Since there is no interest rate it is easier to plan the installments and manage the debt. During this time, although using the credit cards will not be possible, it will help in developing a controlled spending habit, which will help later to manage your finance.

Downside:
Balance transfer has a negative effect on your credit history and causes your credit scores to drop further. Balance transfer fees may seem like a big amount, especially when you have a debt. Also, the individual must be ready for the no credit card phase, before applying for the balance transfer offer.

Credit Card Balance Transfer Savings Calculator

Free Free 2.95% pm 3% (min Rs.300) Barclays Bank No 0% Balance Transfer
Free Rs.750 3.1% pm 2.5% (min Rs.250) VISA Yes (All outlets) 0% Fuel Surcharge
Rs.2000 Rs.2000 2.79% pm 2.79% pm AMEX Yes (HPCL Outlets) Membership Rewards
Free Free 3.19% (38.28% PA) 2.5% pm (min Rs.250) Citibank Yes (Indian Oil Outlets) Balance Transfer
Free Free 3.15% pm 3.15% pm ICICI Bank Yes (All outlets) Rewards Program
Rs.295 Rs.595 3.1% pm 2.5% (min Rs.250) ABN Amro Yes (All Outlets) 0% Fuel Surcharge
Rs.295 Rs.595 3.5% pm 2.5% (min Rs.300) ABN Amro Yes (All outlets) Cash Back
Rs.495 Rs.495 2.95% pm 2.95% pm AMEX Yes (HPCL Outlets) EMI Option
Rs.1000 Rs.500 2.95% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.150) Axis Bank (UTI) Yes Rewards program
Rs.400 2.95% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.150) Axis Bank (UTI) No Rewards program
May vary May vary 2.65% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.300) HDFC Bank Yes (All outlets) Low interest rate
May Vary May Vary 2.5% pm 2.5% (min Rs.300) HDFC Bank Yes (All outlets) Low interest rate
Rs.1,000 Rs.3,999 2.95% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.300) HDFC Bank Yes (All outlets) Low interest rate
Rs.1,000 Rs.3,999 2.5% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.300) HDFC Bank Yes (All outlets) Low interest rate
Rs.300 Rs.700 2.95% pm 2.5% (min Rs.300)HDFC Bank No Cash Back
Free Free 3.15% pm 3.15% pm ICICI Bank Yes (HPCL Outlets) HPCL Rewards
Rs.199 Rs.299 3.5% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.300) ABN Amro Yes (All outlets) Barista Coffee Rewards
Free Free 3.15% pm 3.15% pm ICICI Bank Yes (HPCL outlets)
Free Free 2.95% pm 2.95% pm AMEX Yes (HPCL Outlets) E Card
Free Free 2.95% pm 3% (min Rs.300) Barclays Bank No Footbal Tickets
Rs.4995 Rs.6000 3.10% 3% (min Rs.300) Standard Chartered Yes (BPCL outlets) Platinum service
Rs.1000 Rs.2000 3.10% pm 3% pm (min Rs.300) Standard Chartered Yes (BPCL outlets) Dining Discounts
Rs.1000 Rs.2000 3.10% pm 3% pm (min Rs.300) Standard Chartered Yes (BPCL outlets) Contribute to Rotary
Rs.100 Rs.700 3.10% pm 3% pm (min Rs.300) Standard Chartered Yes (BPCL outlets) Balance Transfer
Free Free 3.10% pm 2.5% (min Rs.250) SBI (State Bank of India) Yes (All outlets) Platinum service
Free Free 3.10% pm 2.5%pm (min Rs.250) SBI (State Bank of India) Yes (All outlets) Cash Back
Free Free 3.10% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.250) SBI (State Bank of India) Yes (All outlets) Cash Back
Free Free 3.10% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.250) SBI (State Bank of India) Yes (All outlets) GoAir discounts
Rs.1500 Rs.1500 3.10% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.250) SBI (State Bank of India) Yes (IOC/IBP) Special offers
Free Free 3.10% pm 2.5% pm (min Rs.250) SBI (State Bank of India) Yes (IOC/IBP) Balance Transfer

Huge Platinum Mine found in Tamil Nadu

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has found two significant platinum prospects in Tamil Nadu, according to Santha Sheela Nair, Secretary of the Union Ministry of Mines. The two prospects are in Sittampundi of Namakkal district (covering Karungalpatti, Chettiyampalaiyam and Tasamapalaiym blocks) and Mettupalayam of Coimbatore (Solavanur, Mallanayakkampalaiyam and Karappadi blocks).

Describing them as “good discoveries,” Ms Nair told reporters on Thursday that “we are at the scientific stage where there is an evidence of substantial deposits of platinum which needs to be explored further to understand the exact location and quantities.”

The GSI was engaged in the exploratory work for the last three years. As of now, exploration was carried out up to 30 metres. If explored further, – say 200 to 300 metres , scientists of the GSI were of the view that "the potential will be even greater, both in quantity and quality,” the Mines Secretary said. Earlier, in the presence of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Ms. Nair and senior officials of the State government at the Secretariat, GSI Director-General N.K. Datta and Tamil Nadu Minerals (TAMIN) Chairman and Managing Director K. Manivasan signed a memorandum of understanding.

Ms. Nair said the MoU was signed to facilitate further exploration of mineral development of the State. By associating with the GSI, the TAMIN would be able to diversify its activities. At present, the organisation was focussing on granites.

Pointing out that there were greater possibilities for collaboration with the State agency, N.P. Nathan, senior scientist in the GSI, said other minerals such as limestone, magnesite and iron ore could be covered. The Union Secretary reiterated that many more levels had to be crossed before reaching the stage of mining. Under the existing constitutional framework, mineral wealth belonged to States, which would receive royalties. Durai Murugan, Law Minister, and K. Shanmugam and Rajeev Ranjan, Principal Secretaries for Finance and Industries, were present when the MOU was signed.

Actual Petrol Cost - Action Required

With the prices of petrol going up almost 4-5 times a year, people face it difficult consuming it. Poor public, do strike for day or two and settle down to do their regular work. Government has to take necessary steps in reducing the petrol price. Why I tell government has to take is because more than 50% of Pertol price we pay is taken by government as taxes. Why dont the government stop taking tax for Petrol, which is almost a great relief for public. I am damn sure, whichever government passes this bill, will rule India forever.

Lets see how much tax are we paying for 1litre of pertol in various metros.

	Delhi	Kolkatta	Mumbai	Chennai
Petrol Price	47.43	51.15	51.68	51.59
Sales Tax/VAT	7.90	10.80	11.22	11.64
Excise Duty	14.78	14.78	14.78	14.78
Custom Duty	1.73	1.73	1.73	1.73
Price Without tax	23.02	23.84	23.95	23.44

1. Anybody has an idea what are the alternate ways to avoid this tax, please tell it in comments so that government can act on it.
2. Anybody has an idea of what does government do with this tax amount, also tell it in comments, so others know.