Massive 52-Car Catastrophe On Germany's Autobahn Leaves 3 Dead

Foggy weather resulted in a huge pile up on the Autobahn near the Dutch border on Friday, leaving three dead and dozens injured. According to Autoblog, this normally sedate area of the Autobahn was overcome with fog late Friday, and the poor conditions immediately resulted in a minor two car fender bender. However, with the weather rapidly deteriorating and visibility at a minimum, the quickly approaching traffic did not have the time needed to react. Two women and a man were killed while 34 others were injured. Two of the fatalities were individuals who had left their cars after the accident, the third was found in his car at the bottom of an embankment. The vast majority of Germany's Autobahn is now speed limited and it appears this was a case of multiple drivers going far too quickly for the conditions. Check out the video for the scene after the crash.

Free Government Scheme Endangers Channel

The free notebook scheme of the Tamil Nadu government is a dangerous precedent that could have a devastating effect on IT channels. As is well known by now, the current TN government plans to dole out 6.8 million notebooks over the next five years to students ranging from those in class 8 to those pursuing post-graduation. For the first year of the scheme alone the government’s electronics purchasing arm (Elcot) has already awarded the tender to Lenovo for the supply of over 9 lakh notebooks at Rs 13,970 per unit. The specs of the notebook: either an Intel Pentium 6200 or 2.1 GHz AMD processor with dual core, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, DVD rewriter and 14” screen with 3-year support. A similar configuration with a 3-year extended warranty would cost Rs 22,000 in the open market today. Total annual PC sales in TN are estimated at around 240,000 notebooks and 300,000 desktops, with the consumer PC component being close to 45 percent. The free notebook scheme will wipe out a very large chunk of this consumer market. Resellers selling to home users and education could see a massive dent in their sales as 60-70 percent of a reseller’s business is from PC sales. Although the TN government and Elcot have taken some precautions against pilferage, the crooked will still find ways to divert the notebooks to the gray market; for example, they may lure poor students into selling their notebooks. And students from affluent families may trade their free notebooks for a higher-end version. Such actions will crash the market prices of PCs not just in TN but also in other states. It’s a known fact that the free-TV scheme floated by the previous TN government saw thousands of TVs land in small-city markets not just in TN but also in neighboring states such as Kerala and Karnataka. With most states going to the polls over the next three years, you could trust parties in other states as well to promise such freebies to please the voters. This could affect IT channels across the country. The IT channel provides employment to significant numbers of people. This would be jeopardized if channel companies go out of business which is the most likely outcome of the TN scheme. Already many partners are quitting the business because margins are falling in the IT market; they are turning to other businesses and professions that give higher ROI. It is time leading IT channel associations across the country deliberate on the matter and prepare a plan to let the TN government know how such schemes will endanger the health of an entire industry and all its stake holders.

Violinist in the Metro (story)

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing? My additional thoughts would only be that so many people do things because they are "fashionable" that they forget to look at things with their own eyes, listen with their own ears, and appreciate anything with their own hearts. Source: WashingtonPost.com

50 Stress Relievers That Take 5 Minutes Or Less

1. Take ten deep breaths. 2. Do push-ups, crunches, or pull-ups 3. Play with a pet 4. Take a short walk 5. Read an article in the newspaper 6. Call a friend 7. Listen to a song 8. Watch a video on YouTube 9. Play an instrument 10. Meditate 11. Eat a healthy snack 12. Spark a conversation 13. Make yourself a cup of coffee 14. Sit in the sun and get some fresh air 15. Doodle 16. Sing a favorite song 17. Dance 18. Drum on your desk 19. Count your blessings 20. Make plans to go out to dinner 21. Go outside and feed the birds 22. Do a small favor for someone 23. Write a note to a loved one 24. Water the plants 25. Look through a photo album 26. Take a shot of liquor or take a hit of cannabis – unwind a bit 27. Do a search on Google for “funny jokes” 28. Gaze at the stars 29. Get a back massage 30. Stretch or do yoga 31. Take a quick shower 32. Write a poem 33. Check your email or Facebook 34. Make a list of old things around the house to donate 35. Clean your desk 36. Try a word puzzle or Sudoku 37. Spend a moment with your children 38. Do jumping jacks 39. Scream at the top of your lungs (or into a pillow if you don’t want to disturb anyone) 40. Go to the bathroom 41. Play a game of billiards or ping pong 42. Check the local weather report 43. Sit somewhere with good scenery 44. Make a list of things to do on the weekend 45. Recite a prayer 46. Daydream 47. Wash your face with cold water 48. Take a power nap (make sure to set an alarm!) 49. Read your affirmations 50. Drive around town briefly

The 10 college majors with the lowest unemployment rates

Majors and their unemployment rate: Actuarial Science—0 percent Astronomy and Astrophysics—0 percent Educational Administration and Supervision—0 percent Geological and Geophysical Engineering—0 percent Pharmacology—0 percent School Student Counseling—0 percent Agricultural Economics—1.3 percent Medical Technologies Technicians—1.4 percent Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology—1.6 percent Environmental Engineering, Nursing, and Nuclear Industrial Radiology and Biological Technologies—2.2 percent

Synaptics shows conceptual trackpad interface with Windows 8, better make it a reality

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all are king: Many nations to eliminate malaria

all are king: Many nations to eliminate malaria: Malaria Malaria is a parasitic disease that involves high fevers, shaking chills, flu-like symptoms, and anemia. Nearly a third of all c...

Many nations to eliminate malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a parasitic disease that involves high fevers, shaking chills, flu-like symptoms, and anemia.

Nearly a third of all countries affected by malaria are on course to eliminate the mosquito-borne disease over the next 10 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.

Up to a third of the 108 countries and territories across the world where malaria is endemic are moving toward being able to wipe out the disease within their borders.

Almost half the world's population -- or 3.3 billion people -- are at risk of malaria and the parasitic disease killed 781,000 people in 2009, according to the latest data. Most of its victims are in Africa.

Malaria elimination -- halting the disease's transmission and reducing infections to zero within a defined area -- was first attempted on a large scale during the Global Malaria Eradication Program from 1955 to 1972.

During that time, 20 countries were certified by WHO as malaria-free. But that number dropped to just four countries during the following 30 years when efforts to control the spread of the disease lapsed.

Monday's report said seven countries had recently eliminated malaria and were working to prevent re-introduction, another 10 countries were monitoring transmission to get down to zero malaria cases, and a further nine were "preparing to move toward nationwide elimination of malaria."

"The extraordinary commitment, the ... financing, and the coordination of efforts to realize malaria targets over the last ten years have resulted in a situation today where we could see 10 more countries reaching a malaria-free status in a relatively short time.

PROGRESS MADE

RBM said in a report in September that a rapid scale-up of a range of malaria control measures -- such as insecticide-treated mosquito nets, indoor spraying, faster and more accurate diagnosis and access to anti-malaria drugs -- has saved an estimated 1.1 million lives in Africa over the past 10 years.

International funding for the fight against malaria has also risen substantially in recent years, reaching about $1.5 billion in 2010, up from $100 million in 2003.

David Brandling-Bennett, deputy director for malaria at the Gates Foundation, which was hosting the Seattle conference, said it was vital for global health authorities, donors and national governments not to take their eye off the ball.

The Malaria Forum is hosted and funded by the Gates Foundation, a $34 billion fund run by the billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The foundation is devoted largely to health projects in poor countries.

In 2007, Gates and his wife Melinda urged the international community to fight for the global eradication of malaria, saying that to aspire to anything less would be "timid."