What Happy People Don’t Do ...

Happy people spend a lot of time socializing, going to church and reading newspapers — but they don’t spend a lot of time watching television, a new study finds.

That’s what unhappy people do.

Although people who describe themselves as happy enjoy watching television, it turns out to be the single activity they engage in less often than unhappy people, said John Robinson, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and the author of the study, which appeared in the journal Social Indicators Research.

While most large studies on happiness have focused on the demographic characteristics of happy people — factors like age and marital status — Dr. Robinson and his colleagues tried to identify what activities happy people engage in. The study relied primarily on the responses of 45,000 Americans collected over 35 years by the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey, and on published “time diary” studies recording the daily activities of participants.

“We looked at 8 to 10 activities that happy people engage in, and for each one, the people who did the activities more — visiting others, going to church, all those things — were more happy,” Dr. Robinson said. “TV was the one activity that showed a negative relationship. Unhappy people did it more, and happy people did it less.”

But the researchers could not tell whether unhappy people watch more television or whether being glued to the set is what makes people unhappy. “I don’t know that turning off the TV will make you more happy,” Dr. Robinson said.

Still, he said, the data show that people who spend the most time watching television are least happy in the long run.

Since the major predictor of how much time is spent watching television is whether someone works or not, Dr. Robinson added, it’s possible that rising unemployment will lead to more TV time.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/health/research/20happy.html?em

Sexiest Woman In The World

E! entertainment television has just named supermodel Karolina Kurkova the sexiest woman in the world. Kurkova will play the role of Cover Girl in Paramount's upcoming "G.I. Joe."

The complete top 10 of E!'s Sexiest Women In The World is as follows -

1. Karolina Kurkova
2. Bar Rafaeli
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Gisele Bundchen
5. Scarlett Johansson
6. Adriana Lima
7. Heidi Klum
8. Penelope Cruz
9. Manuela Arcuri
10. Shakira

Source: http://omg.yahoo.com/news/karolina-kurkova-dubbed-sexiest-woman-in-the-world/15700?nc

Hollywood's Top-Earning Couples

"Naturally, powerful people tend to gravitate toward other powerful people," explains clinical psychologist and celebrity researcher Jim Houran, for reasons that range from proximity (stars hang around other stars) to familiarity (people are attracted, at least initially, to others like them) to clearer expectations (shared priorities make it easier for celebrities to relate). No matter how they get together, the results are good for the bottom line.

Take Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. They hauled in some $85 million over the past year, making them No. 2 on our list. Though Jada's resume continues to grow, Will's the family breadwinner. He raked in $80 million in the year ending June 2008, thanks to another set of top-performing blockbusters: "I Am Legend," "The Pursuit of Happyness," and this past summer's "Hancock." Together the flicks banked $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office, making him Hollywood's most bankable star.

Jay-Z and his new bride, Beyonce Knowles, collectively raked in $162 million between June 1, 2007 and June 1, 2008. The jaw-dropping sum garners them bragging rights atop our first annual ranking of Hollywood's Top-Earning Couples, a list that also includes A-list pairings Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, David and Victoria Beckham, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, among others.

Windows Live Spaces getting into the Social Networking

Microsoft is trying to create an experience with its Windows Live site akin to Facebook and MySpace: creating a social network that they call “Your Life. Your Stuff. All Together with Windows Live.” They also call it “Keeping your life in sync.”

Prior to this, Windows Live has seemingly been a pasted-together site with Live search and other different services like email and the like. I wouldn't be surprised to see Microsoft give it a shot, but it'd have to be planned out to the tee.

Stuff is still being rolled out; it’s not all there yet. But you can find out a lot more about what’s coming out, as well as beta versions of the new applications, at www.windowslive.com/Home

Google Earth 3D recreation of ancient Rome

Google earth added the 3d recreation of the ancient rome very recently.

It is supposed to let you wander through the streets of the city, in virtual reality authenticated and developed by academics from the University of Virginia. Just as there were whole generations brought up to imagine a luscious Rome through the eyes of Alma-Tadema (full of scantily clad women and rose-petals), so there will now be millions who envisage the ancient city as a version of a well known game named Sim City – slightly threatening, over-clean, depopulated and under-coloured.

Check out Google Earth 3D recreation of ancient Rome at http://earth.google.com/rome/

Interview with BBC: Angelina Jolie is Ready to Be a Grandma!

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie recently had an interview with the BBC and said, “I don’t plan to keep acting very long. I’m ready to do a few things now and fade away and get ready to be a grandma one day. I’m not so worried that I want to keep this pace up and try to be something and be a celebrity.”

Speaking of her family, she continued, “I like being home a lot. First and foremost, I have a lot of children, and I need to make sure they’re growing right and they’ve got us there for them.”

But don’t worry - she won’t be completely going away! She added, “I don’t think I’ll ever say I’m never, ever gonna work because maybe there’s that interesting project where I feel creative.”

Check out her interview with the BBC at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7725278.stm

Google Voice Recognition Search Coming First to iPhone

Google is going to release software that will let users enter search terms on a smartphone by just saying them aloud. What is slightly controversial about this upcoming application is that it's for the Apple iPhone, not the T-Mobile G1, which runs Google's own Android OS.

Google Voice Recognition ApplicationThis new service will be part of an update to the free Google Mobile App for the iPhone, according to the New York Times. It will allow users to ask questions, such as "Where's the nearest Starbucks?" and see the search results on their smartphone's screen.

The new version of this application was supposed to be posted on the iPhone App Store this weekend, but has not yet appeared.

Ottawa university professor in court following arrest in fatal 1980 Paris bombing

Hassan Diab, a 54-year-old who has taught sociology and anthropology at both Carleton University and the University of Ottawa, was arrested by the RCMP at his home on Thursday.

A publication ban was ordered yesterday at the beginning of an extradition hearing for an Ottawa university professor arrested in connection with a fatal bombing at a Paris synagogue in 1980.

The ban, along with a separate court order sealing evidence in the case against Hassan Diab, 55, means the public is unlikely to learn what led to Diab's sudden arrest this week until after his extradition hearing ends.

But Diab's lawyer, who concurred with the ban, took time before the hearing to reiterate claims his client is a victim of mistaken identity and was not even in France when the explosion killed three French men and an Israeli woman.

Diab is said to hold Lebanese and Canadian passports and to have lived in the U.S. for several years before moving to Canada. He teaches part-time at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University and was arrested at his home in Gatineau, Que., near Ottawa.

The 1980 bombing took place at 24 Rue Copernic, the street address of the Paris Synagogue.

Read more on http://provincialblog.net/?p=1546

Online Microsoft Store launched

Microsoft has launched their first online store - Microsoft Store. Users can now buy directly from the store, straight from the source! The Microsoft Store offers the largest selection of Microsoft software, devices and hardware in one place

It is currently available to US, UK, Germany and Korea. Japan, France, Spain and the Netherlands are in the pipeline and more countries will be added throughout the year.

see the store at http://store.microsoft.com/home.aspx

Photos of 4 alien planets outside our solar system

Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers.

Astronomers say they have parted the curtains of space to take the first pictures of planets beyond our solar system. The first team, led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, used the Hubble Space Telescope to take a picture of a giant planet orbiting the star Fomalhaut 25 light-years away. "It's almost science fiction," said Berkeley astronomer Eugene Chiang. "I didn't think this day would occur until years from now." Paul Kalas, the lead astronomer for the Berkeley team, said he "nearly had a heart attack" when he found the new planet, tentatively named Fomalhaut b. "It's a profound and overwhelming experience to lay eyes on a planet never before seen."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081114/ap_on_sc/sci_new_planets_14;_ylt=ArDcklZr413YqZv2H1F0gAVsaMYA

Google Chases Skype With New Gmail Video Chat

Google has just added audio and video chat to Gmail, which is assumed to bring competition for video chat service providers like Skype. The new chat tools essentially offer most of the features of Skype, or Apple’s iChat, within the standard Gmail interface.

They have already launched SMS and soon Google’s e-mail client will be a one stop shop for almost every form of communication you can think of: e-mail, chat, video chat, audio chat, and SMS.

Once the plugin is install, using the new features is very simple, just hover over any name in your Gmail chat list and select “Start video chat” or “Start voice chat.” There’s a full screen view and you can also choose to pop out the chat into a new window.

The plugin (which you can grab from the download page) presents a significant downside though — it means that even if you install the plugin, you’ll have to wait for your friends and contacts to do likewise before you can video chat. Although it’s not a huge barrier to getting video chat in Gmail, given the Google’s chat network isn’t most people’s first choice, it may be a little while before the video options become ubiquitous among your contacts.

Read more from http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Google_Chases_Skype_With_New_Gmail_Video_Chat

Microsoft to sign deal with Sun : no more interest in Yahoo

Microsoft Corp said on Monday that it reached a Web search deal with Sun Microsystems Inc, the latest partnership struck by Microsoft aimed at chipping away at the dominance of Google Inc.

As part of this agreement, users of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser who download Sun's Java technology platform will be given the option to also download the MSN Toolbar from where users can directly access the company's search engine.

Earlier this year, Microsoft also reached an agreement with Hewlett-Packard Co, the world's largest personal computer maker, to place a toolbar on new PCs in the United States and Canada starting in January.

"This deal will expose Live Search to millions more Internet users and drive increased volume for our search advertisers," said Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of the Online Audience Business at Microsoft, in a statement.

Striking distribution deals are one part of Microsoft's strategy to close the gap on market leader Google. Microsoft said competition for these types of deals is intense and that the company had to outbid several rivals for the Sun deal.

Sun said the Java platform sits on more than 800 million personal computers around the world, or on 91 percent of Internet-connected PCs worldwide. The Java Runtime Environment is downloaded tens of millions times every month, Sun said.

Google's U.S. Web search market share reached 63 percent in August versus a 19.6 percent for Yahoo Inc and 8.3 percent for Microsoft, according to comScore.

(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi; Editing by Gary Hill)
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE4A94US20081110

Earlier in this week: No interest in buying Yahoo: Microsoft CEO

Yahoo Inc. shares dived nearly 13 percent after the chief executive of Microsoft Corp. said Friday the software giant is not interested in renewing its bid for the struggling Internet company.

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer told a business lunch in Sydney that he had moved on after Yahoo rejected its takeover bid in the spring. He did suggest a partnership in the search engine market is possible.

"We made an offer, we made another offer, and it was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us and we moved on," Ballmer said. "We are not interested in going back and re-looking at an acquisition. I don't know why they would be either, frankly. They turned us down at $33 a share."

Yahoo shares fell $1.76 to close Friday at $12.20. Microsoft shares gained 3 percent to $21.50.

Yahoo's co-founder and chief executive, Jerry Yang, said Wednesday that Microsoft should make another bid for his company, which runs the world's No. 2 search engine. His appeal came after top search engine Google Inc. backed out of an Internet advertising partnership with Yahoo to avoid a challenge from the U.S. Justice Department, which said it would sue to block the deal on antitrust grounds.

2000 year old gold earring found in Jerusalem

Israeli archeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old gold earring beneath a parking lot next to the walls of Jerusalem's old city, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday. News Source: AP, Jerusalem.

The discovery dates back to the time of Christ, during the Roman period, said Doron Ben-Ami, director of excavation at the site. The piece was found in a Byzantine structure built several centuries after the jeweled earring was made, showing it was likely passed down through generations, he said.

The find is luxurious: A large pearl inlaid in gold with two drop pieces, each with an emerald and pearl set in gold.

"It must have belonged to someone of the elite in Jerusalem," Ben-Ami said. "Such a precious item, it couldn't be one of just ordinary people."

In a statement released Monday, the authority said the piece of jewelry was "astonishingly well-preserved." Finds from the Roman period are rare in Jerusalem, Ben-Ami said, because the city was destroyed by the Roman Empire in the first century A.D.

Shimon Gibson, an American archaeologist who was not involved in the dig, said the find was truly amazing, less because of its Roman origins than for its precious nature.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081110/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_ancient_jewelry

Russian submarine accident kills 20

A new Russian submarine's fire safety system malfunctioned as the nuclear-powered vessel took a test run in the Sea of Japan, suffocating 20 people and sending 21 others to the hospital, officials said Sunday.

It was Russia's worst naval accident since torpedo explosions sank another nuclear-powered submarine, the Kursk, in the Barents Sea in 2000, killing all 118 seamen aboard.

The victims suffocated Saturday after the submarine's fire-extinguishing system accidentally turned on and released Freon gas, said Sergei Markin, an official with Russia's top investigative agency. He said forensic tests found Freon in the victims' lungs.

Read detail story here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081109/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_submarine

The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2008

On November 9, 2008 Delhi will run once again, this time for the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon.

The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2008, which also comprises the Senior Citizen Run, Great Delhi Run and a Wheelchair Event, will commence from the Central Secretariat grounds at 7.30 am. Though the marathon is expected to be over by 11.30 am, the traffic advisory will hold from 7 am to 12 noon.

In the wake of the recent security threats in the Capital, there will be adequate deployment of police personnel on the entire marathon route to ensure safety of the participants and spectators. To make sure those who are not participating don't get stuck, the traffic police have come up with clear-cut guidelines. According to the advisory, certain roads in central Delhi, which fall on the route of the marathon, should be avoided on Sunday.

The 21-km-long marathon, passing through Vinay Marg, Africa Avenue, under the railway bridge, Hoshiyar Singh Marg, Aurobindo Marg, Prithviraj Road, Mansingh Road, Akbar Road, Rajpath, Janpath, Windsor Place, will return the same route to culminate at the central secretariat grounds.

Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/delhi-half-marathon-is-a-race-for-all_100116707.html

Hurricane Paloma eyes Cuba as it becomes a Category 4 storm

Hurricane Paloma became an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm Saturday morning, raising the specter of destroyed buildings, downed trees and flooded streets in the Cayman Islands, Cuba and beyond.

The storm lashed Little Cayman and Cayman Brac -- two of three islands that make up the Cayman Islands -- with heavy rain and winds that howled at speeds of up to 135 mph (217 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said.

Forecasters expect the storm to roar on toward Cuba, possibly strengthening Saturday morning before losing some steam later Saturday and Sunday.

At 5:30 a.m. ET Saturday, the storm's center was near Cayman Brac. It was 95 miles (152 kilometers) east-northeast of Grand Cayman and about 175 miles (281 kilometers) southwest of Camaguey, Cuba, the hurricane center said.

A Category 4 hurricane can blow down trees, tear off roofs, destroy mobile homes and cause major damage to the lower floors of structures near the shore. The strongest storms are Category 5 hurricanes.

Source: http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=hurricane-paloma-eyes-cuba-as-it-be-2008-11-08

Barack Obama Election Night Pictures

Obama's campaign photographer David Katz has uploaded thousands of behind-the-scenes photos onto Flickr, Yahoo's photo-sharing site. These splendid shots of the Obama family hanging out on election night, watching history unfold are really worth seeing.

See the eyes at the televisions, tensions and joys of Obama along with his family members. Click Here to see all these pictures.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl145

Art: Nagata's award-winning motorcycles

Nagata's award-winning motorcycles are breathtaking works of art, so it is fitting that three of them are featured in an exhibit at New York's Ippodo Gallery and the Contemporary Asian Art Fair. The bikes are as meticulously crafted as they are stunningly detailed, blending vintage parts with modern design to create motorcycles that are simultaneously retro and futuristic.

Nagata's art pays tribute to the very machines that almost killed him, and to the people who saved him. "There are many ways a man can express himself, but there are not many things I can do," he writes in the notes accompanying his exhibit. "I have found something on which I will pour my life."

Nagata, 46, was 16 when a motorcycle accident nearly killed him. He endured eight months of intensive therapy and several blood transfusions during his recovery, all the while wondering why he should survive so horrible an accident when so many others haven't. Nagata, whose name means "power," decided to honor those who had died, and those who saved him, by creating art. He became a graphic designer in 1982 and launched his own studio a decade later.

Source: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/11/million-dollar.html

New James Bond Movie: Quantum of Solace World Premier

With a new promise to change the traditional James Bond movies, the world premier of the new James Bond movie , Quantum of Solace has took place in London on on 29 October, 2008.

Daniel Craig and a host of stars strolled up the red carpet in the company of Princes William and Harry on Wednesday for the world premiere of "Quantum of Solace." The royal gala, which benefited charities Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion, attracted big crowds hoping to see Craig in his second turn as James Bond.

Katt Williams death in plane crash? Rumour

A hot rumour of the day is Katt Williams has died in a plane crash. No authentic news is around so far as I have searched for most popular news sites.

The rumor seems to have started with a viral text message saying Williams died at 4 am on November 1, 2008, and forwarded on from there.

At the time of writing, there has been no official confirmation or denial of the rumor, and his Wikipedia entry includes the line “Although no official word has been released, it seems to have been a hoax or a publicity stunt.”