Microsoft to pick CEO on early 2014

SAN FRANCISCO -- Microsoft on Tuesday said its executive search committee expects to pick CEO Steve Ballmer's successor by early next year, a decision that could determine two strikingly different paths for the software giant's future.

Microsoft's search committee said it has identified more than 100 possible candidates to fill the role. Board member John Thompson says the committee, which includes Chairman Bill Gates, has talked with "several dozen" and focused its energy on a group of "about 20 individuals" as candidates.

Facing a battered PC market, the company has been reported considered former Microsoft executives, current insiders as well as marquee business executives to map its next course in a new mobile frontier.

"We're moving ahead well, and I expect we'll complete our work in the early part of 2014," Thompson said on Microsoft's blog.

Ford Motor CEO Alan Mulally and Qualcomm's recently named CEO, Steve Mollenkopf, were at one point -- and no longer -- among the high-profile contenders reported in the running to replace CEO Steve Ballmer.

Yet in the four months since the search began following Microsoft's announcement in August that Ballmer would retire, two divergent company directions have emerged for the software giant's choice in leadership. The decisions, say analysts, amount to whether the company wants to bet on mobile and cloud services in a long-term vision versus cut costs to please Wall Street short term.

"Microsoft has two paths it can take: it can hire a product visionary or a professional manager," says Rocky Agrawal, analyst at reDesign mobile and a former Microsoft employee. "It seems from all the talk to date, Microsoft is headed in the direction of hiring a professional manager."

Others cautioned Microsoft may have become too much of a behemoth to change its stripes into that of a nimble player. "Microsoft is corporate in mind and body –- in danger of kidding itself like a late middle-aged man who buys a red Porsche to show he's a stud at heart but will still look fat behind the wheel," says Nigel Nicholson, a professor at the London School of Business.

A series of missteps over the past decade have revealed Microsoft lacking a trendsetting chief capable of big bets on the next computing revolution, a void some expected to be filled by its new CEO.

Ballmer may have blown it one too many times. The launch of Windows 8 was troubled. Ditto for its mobile versions. But Ballmer's latest foray into tablets, its Surface line, resulted in a $900 million write down and may have been the last straw for the embattled CEO.

"Ballmer's biggest failure is his lack of vision. He showed a lot of fear and derision of any new, emerging product categories," says Mark Rolston, chief creative officer at Frog Design. "That fear rubs on an organization."

Things also took a turn for the worse for Ballmer when activist investor Jeff Ubben took a stake in Microsoft in April and began exerting pressure on the company to change. Microsoft in August announced Ballmer would retire within a year.

He told The Wall Street Journal he couldn't change Microsoft quickly enough. ""Maybe I'm an emblem of an old era, and I have to move on," the 57-year-old Ballmer told the paper as his eyes reportedly welled up.

Or maybe the task of software soothsayer was too much for Ballmer. With the announcement of a search for his replacement, investors have bid up Microsoft's stock on the prospects for change. "The opportunity for a new CEO to implement strategic changes at Microsoft represents a decent portion of the >40% YTD return in the shares," says Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss.

With Ballmer better known as a take-no-prisoners, hard-charging salesman, the company was widely expected to search for a leader to shore up his deficiency in predicting technology hits of the future.

To date, Microsoft has been reported considering at least two boomerang employees in the likes of Paul Maritz and Stephen Elop as well as current company insiders Tony Bates and Satya Nadella, among others.

But analyst and former Microsoft employee Agrawal says the software juggernaut needs someone more along the lines of Yammer's CEO and founder to right its direction. "(David) Sacks is still my top pick," Agrawal says. "I've spent some time with him. Having worked at Microsoft, I know they need someone like him."

Shares of Microsoft fell 0.9% to $36.54 in trading Tuesday.

How to be COOL Person

Being stated cool is the hippest statement amongst guys and gals. A cool person is generally referred to as someone, who does things in his own distinct way and does not care much about the world. Cool people have a charismatic personality and are popular amongst their social community. Thus, it becomes a secret wish for everyone to be termed as cool. Though many people feel it is difficult to achieve the milestone, it should be noted that being cool just requires a bit of attitude change. Read on for some tips on how to be cool.

Tips to be cool

• Do not care about what people think of you.  Most of us are always concerned about what other people think of us. Remember that it’s not possible to please everyone. So, it is better if you live your life the way you like, rather than bothering about the world.
• Though you should be immune to other people’s opinion about you, you should keep a check on how they perceive you. This might sound contradictory, but carries significance. Being cool is all about learning how to perceive yourself better. With regard to physical appearance, beware of bad breath, body odor, etc. In terms of body language, stand/sit up straight, look and feel confident, smile generously, do not stare, etc.
• Present yourself in the most comfortable and confident way. While interacting with people, make sure to maintain a good posture and look them in the eye. For acquiring the respect of others, you need to look and feel positive.
• Find real friends and stay in their company. Real friends respect you for what you are and cherish the time spent with you, making you feel positive and happy.
• Don't shy away from being different, whether it means standing up for yourself, defending someone else or taking interest in something that no one else dares to do. People who break against the tide and question the status quo are quite often regarded as the coolest.
• Speak your mind. Cool people usually speak confidently and clearly, that too with a good pace. However, this does not mean chattering uselessly. Make sure you say what you mean and vice versa. Be confident about what you speak and don't bother if people disagree with your opinion. At times, it is good to be respected for what you believe in.
• Cultivate the habit of laughing at yourself. Remember being cool essentially states finding humor in moments of clumsiness and discomfort. You will not only gain respect for it, but people will like you for being so earthly.
• Another thing to be remembered is that for being cool, one should create his own identity. Find your talent in terms of sports, music, art and the like and pursue it with excellence. Being known for your passion is certainly deemed cool.
• Being cool is all about staying relaxed and comfortable in any and every situation. If at times you do feel vulnerable, and end up losing your temper, bursting into tears or losing control, take a deep breath and mellow down. Don't be disruptive and annoying or have unpredictable mood changes. Your serenity and steadfastness shows your coolness.
• Be friendly and social, but not excessively eager and clingy. It’s good to be outgoing, but do not be overly excited. Do not force yourself on people. Smile and be genuine.

Why Halley's Comet May Be Linked to Famine 1,500 Years Ago

SAN FRANCISCO — The ancients had ample reason to view comets as harbingers of doom, it would appear.

A piece of the famous Halley's comet likely slammed into Earth in A.D. 536, blasting so much dust into the atmosphere that the planet cooled considerably, a new study suggests. This dramatic climate shift is linked to drought and famine around the world, which may have made humanity more susceptible to "Justinian's plague" in A.D. 541-542 — the first recorded emergence of the Black Death in Europe.

The new results come from an analysis of Greenland ice that was laid down between A.D. 533 and 540. The ice cores record large amounts of atmospheric dust during this seven-year period, not all of it originating on Earth. [‪Photos of Halley's Comet Through History]

"I have all this extraterrestrial stuff in my ice core," study leader Dallas Abbott, of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, told LiveScience here last week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Certain characteristics, such as high levels of tin, identify a comet as the origin of the alien dust, Abbott said. And the stuff was deposited during the Northern Hemisphere spring, suggesting that it came from the Eta Aquarid meteor shower — material shed by Halley's comet that Earth plows through every April-May.

The Eta Aquarid dust may be responsible for a period of mild cooling in 533, Abbott said, but it alone cannot explain the global dimming event of 536-537, during which the planet may have cooled by as much as 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius). For that, something more dramatic is required.

Ice core data record evidence of a volcanic eruption in 536, but it almost certainly wasn't big enough to change the climate so dramatically, Abbott said.

"There was, I think, a small volcanic effect," she said. "But I think the major thing is that something hit the ocean."

She and her colleagues have found circumstantial evidence of such an impact. The Greenland ice cores contain fossils of tiny tropical marine organisms — specifically, certain species of diatoms and silicoflagellates.

An extraterrestrial impact in the tropical ocean likely blasted these little low-latitude organisms all the way to chilly Greenland, researchers said. And Abbott believes the object responsible was once a piece of Halley's comet.

Halley zooms by Earth once every 76 years or so. It appeared in Earth's skies in A.D. 530 and was astonishingly bright at the time, Abbott said. (In fact, observations of Halley's comet go way back, with research suggesting the ancient Greeks saw the comet streaking across their skies in 466 B.C.)

"Of the two brightest apparitions of Comet Halley, one of them is in 530," Abbott said. "Comets are normally these dirty snowballs, but when they're breaking up or they're shedding lots of debris, then that outer layer of dark stuff goes away, and so the comet looks brighter."

It's unclear where exactly the putative comet chunk hit Earth or how big it was, she added. However, a 2004 study estimated that a comet fragment just 2,000 feet (600 meters) wide could have caused the 536-537 cooling event if it exploded in the atmosphere and its constituent dust were spread evenly around the globe.

Tujhse Door Jo Hota Hu Lyrics from Hold My Hand

Tujhse Door Jo Hota Hu Lyrics from Hold My Hand: This is the song for Durjoy Datta's new book "Hold My Hand". The song is sung & composed by Tune Mera Jaana singer Gajendra Verma while lyrics are penned by Aseem Ahmed Abbasee.

Song: Tujse Door Jo Hota Hun
Singer: Gajendra Verma
Music: Gajendra Verma
Lyrics: Aseem Ahmed Abbasee
Music on: Virtual Planet Production

Tujhse Door Jo Hota Hoon Lyrics

Teri aankhon ke sahaare
Main khwaab dekhun saare
Ab lamha lamha guzre
Teri palkon ke kiinaare
Pehle tha main tanha
Main tha awaara lamha
Ab tham gayi tujhme duniya meri
Tham gaye nazaare

Tujhse se door jo hota hoon
Tukda tukda sota hun
Aankhon mein pirota hoon
Main raatein

Tujhse se door jo hota hoon
Khudko jaise khota hoon
Hothon pe sanjota hu, teri baatein

Hooo.....

Tujhme hi ab saans chalegi
Tujhme hi dhadkan dhadkegi
Ab toh paas rahegi paas rahegi dil ke
Raatein na hongi tere bin
Naa honge ab mere ye din
Waqt chalega mera tujhko mill ke

Tujhse se door jo hota hoon
Tukda tukda sota hun
Aankhon mein pirota hoon main raatein
Tujhse se door jo hota hoon
Khudko jaise khota hoon
Hothon pe sanjota hu, teri baatein

Aaja, beh jaa, gallaan kariye
Dil 'ch apne pyaar bhariye
Deja leja mera dil, deja
Aaja, beh jaa, gallaan kariye

Hooo...

Tujhse se door jo hota hoon
Tukda tukda sota hun
Aankhon mein pirota hoon main raatein
Tujhse se door jo hota hoon
Khudko jaise khota hoon
Hothon pe sanjota hu, teri baatein

Tujhse se door jo hota hoon
Tukda tukda sota hun
Aankhon mein pirota hoon pirota hoon main raatein

Aaja, beh jaa, gallaan kariye
Dil 'ch apne pyaar bhariye
Deja leja mera dil, deja
Aaja, beh jaa, gallaan kariye

Surveillance State: NSA Spying And More

At the start of June 2013, a large number of documents detailing surveillance by intelligence agencies such as the US’s NSA and UK’s GCHQ started to be revealed, based on information supplied by NSA whistle blower, Edward Snowden.

These leaks revealed a massive surveillance program that included interception of email and other Internet communications and phone call tapping. Some of it appears illegal, while other revelations show the US spying on friendly nations during various international summits.

Unsurprisingly, there has been a lot of furor. While some countries are no doubt using this to win some diplomatic points, there has been an increase in tension with the US and other regions around the world.

Much of the US surveillance programs came from the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the US in 2001. Concerns about a crackdown on civil rights in the wake of the so-called war on terror have been expressed for a long time, and these revelations seem to be confirming some of those fears.

Given the widespread collection of information, apparently from central servers of major Internet companies and from other core servers that form part of the Internet backbone, activities of millions (if not billions) of citizens have been caught up in a dragnet style surveillance problem called PRISM, even when the communication has nothing to do with terrorism.

What impacts would such secretive mass surveillance have on democracy?

[Read More...]

The first around-the-world flight by a solar-powered plane

will be accomplished by now, bringing truly clean energy to air transportation for the first time. Consumer models are still far down the road, but you don’t need to let your imagination wander too far to figure out that this is definitely a game-changer. Consider this: it took humans quite a few milennia to figure out how to fly; and only a fraction of that time to do it with solar power.

A monster tablet

Tablets are sure to be a popular gift this year, but it's unlikely any will impress quite like the Panasonic Toughpad 4K UT-MB5 that was originally unveiled in prototype form at CES in January. While most of us are waiting for prices to drop before upgrading to a 4K big screen TV, Panasonic has packed 3,840 x 2,560 pixels into this tablet's 20-inch IPS Alpha LCD screen. It is powered by an Intel Core i5 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, packs a 256 GB SSD and runs Windows 8.1. Panasonic is targeting professional users with "business-rugged" durability that should see the device survive drops from up to 30 inches. And drops are a definite possibility with the tablet weighing in at a hefty 5.3 lb (2.4 kg).

While the US$5,999 price isn't exactly attractive, this monster tablet is far more attainable that most of the other entries on this list. But alas, you still won't be seeing one under the tree this year – Panasonic isn't releasing the 4K Toughpad until early 2014.