The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

orgoing the history lesson on an almost-20-year-old game, The Secret
of Monkey Island is a point-and-click adventure in which you assume
the role of a wannabe pirate named Guybrush Threepwood. In order to
become a pirate, Threepwood must prove himself as a swordsman, a
treasure hunter and a thief, which means you must prove that you can
both solve puzzles and move a cursor around a screen — often
simultaneously. You can expect to hit a few brick walls when you
encounter some of the more baffling puzzles, but the all-new hints
system does a great job of pointing you in the right direction if you
choose to use it, and the writing is entertaining enough to keep you
interested during extended periods of head-scratching if you don't. An
option to play the game in its original form or with greatly enhanced
audio and visuals is the foamy head on this Special Edition pint of
Grog, and you won't want to stop drinking until you can see the bottom
of your tankard.

Samsung Mondi MID With WiMAX Available Soon

Best Buy and Clearwire stores will start selling the Samsung Mondi MID
on August 1 in the three U.S. cities with live WiMAX service. The
Mondi runs Windows Mobile 6.1 and is powered by the ARM-11 processor.
The interface has been customized by Samsung, allowing widgets to be
placed as desired on the screen for a tailored user experience.

The unique MID has a 4.3-inch screen (WVGA) with a sliding QWERTY
keyboard. The inclusion of Windows Mobile makes this more of a PDA,
although with the very fast WiMAX connectivity. When used outside the
WiMAX coverage areas the Mondi falls back to Wi-Fi. Note that the
Mondi doesn't offer traditional cellular voice support — there are
settings to use VoIP, however.

First Apollo landing Image after 40 years

NASA has released photos of the Apollo landing sites taken by the
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Monday (July 20) marks the 40th anniversary of the July 20, 1969,
Apollo 11 moon landing by American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz
Aldrin and Michael Collins.
The Wall Street Journal has posted historic photos on its website.
(more photos in the link)
The Apollo 11 flight crew were given instructions by technicians and
management while undergoing training in preparation for the first
manned landing on the Moon. (NASA)

iTunes 8.2.1 Breaks Palm PRE Sync

I don't know if I should feel sorry for Palm PRE users or just shove a
'serves you right' sandwich in their face. Why? Apple issued an
update to iTunes today, 8.2.1, that essentially disables syncing with
non-Apple devices, such as the good old PRE. I mean really, did you
think Apple wouldn't take action especially after the whole pinch to
zoom and expand fiasco? Then again, is that function truly
proprietary?

For those of you who are Palm PRE users and reading this post with
your bottom lip firmly planted underneath your front teeth from
frustration, the only solace I can offers is that you hold off on
upgrading your version of iTunes until a more reasonable and rational
resolve is had.

Microsoft Now Open Retail Store Near Apple Store

Microsoft (MSFT) plans to open some of its first retail stores near
Apple (AAPL) stores, ZDNet reports.

Microsoft COO Kevin Turner mentioned this during his keynote at
Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference today.

"And stay tuned, because we're going to have some retail stores opened
up that are opened up right next door to Apple stores this fall," he
said, according to CNET. "Stay tuned, just stay tuned."

A Microsoft representative confirmed the statement to CNET:

"As we progress on our retail strategy there willbe scenarios where we
have stores in proximity to Apple. We are on track to open stores in
the Fall time frame."

This is smart, and makes sense. Considering many Apple stores are
located in malls and in affluent shopping neighborhoods, it's no
surprise that Microsoft would choose to open its stores in similar
locations.

Apple application download reached more then 1.5 billion

It seems like every other month or so we're reporting about a new
benchmark for the Apple App Store. First it was 500 million downloads,
then one billion. Well now the popular App Store has hit 1.5 billion
downloads. It was just three months ago that the App Store hit the one
billion downloads mark, at this rate it looks like they will hit two
billion downloads in another three months. Even with the controversy
over Apple not approving various apps it looks like the App Store is a
force to be reckoned with and a major reason why the iPhone has sold
so well, the iPhone 3GS sold over three million unites in three days.

Others have created their own App Store, from BlackBerry to the
Nintendo DSi, but none will see the success that Apple's has. I'm sure
a good majority of the apps downloaded are free apps (no official work
on how many apps are free or pay apps) but I'm sure Apple is raking in
the money pretty good.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince the awesome Review

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince's opening scenes are marked by
the chaos and confusion permeating both the Muggle and wizard
communities as they experience acts of terrorism via Voldemort's army
of Death Eaters, free from the shackles of Azkaban and eager to wage
war for their master. The fancy of years gone by has been replaced by
a general feeling of unease as prominent members of the wizarding
world go missing, their businesses left destroyed or abandoned. Rumors
suggest Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is getting too old and possibly
too senile to offer protection strong enough to defend against The
Dark Lord, and parents question whether Hogwarts is still the safest
place for their children. Magic has irrevocably made the leap from
pretty lights and the odd hex to a weapon of mass destruction in the
wrong hands. War, hormones, and dark magic equal a better-than-average
year for the students of Hogwarts, and the best Potter movie since
Prisoner of Azkaban.

Burgeoning love is very much the new character in this film; the
chaste smooches and not-so-subtle hints of mutual attraction have
given way to unbridled make-out sessions and scorned teens in all
their glory. Even Dumbledore wants the scoop. Ron (Rupert Grint) and
Hermione (Emma Watson) make a modicum of progress in their tumultuous
relationship, while Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) pines for Ginny (Bonnie
Wright) and occasionally bathes in his own popularity, possessing a
cockiness far removed from the wide-eyed innocence of earlier films.
The series is first and foremost a fantasy, not a romance, though
hints of sex within the hallowed halls of Hogwarts give the teens a
quality of realness, and add to the sense of easiness the young actors
have developed among themselves after spending much of their own
adolescence on the sets of Potter films. The elder actors steal the
show, as per usual — Snape (Alan Rickman) is meaner, scarier, funnier,
and more unfathomable then he's ever been, while prickly McGonagall's
(Dame Maggie Smith) strict nature is infused with the subtle but
deep-rooted loyalty for which she is known and loved in the books.
It's Jim Broadbent's turn as newly appointed potions teacher Horace
Slughorn, however, that gives the Hogwarts teachers the distinction
they deserve. Broadbent, as Slughorn, embodies the combination of ego
and charm inherent in those members of Slytherin house who haven't
fallen in step with Voldemort's anti-Muggle beliefs.

Michael Gambon's portrayal of Dumbledore, unfortunately, remains too
aloof and stern to capture the loving, albeit conflicted relationship
between headmaster and student. His private lessons with Harry seem
disjointed and abrupt; oddly, he seems more compassionate toward Tom
Riddle (aka Young Voldemort) in a series of flashbacks meant to enable
Harry to understand the nature of his enemy. Inexplicably, all of
Harry's interactions with Dumbledore are sudden and somewhat
confusing. Everyone, whether or not they've read the Potter series,
will leave this film knowing who likes whom, but far fewer will
understand how Harry and Dumbledore wound up in a mountainside cave
hunting for pieces of Voldemort's soul; and fewer still, unless
they've really been paying attention, will grasp the profundity of
Fawkes the Phoenix's departure from Hogwarts. When it came to Harry's
destiny and the fate of humankind versus high school love triangles,
well, it sure seems like humankind got shortchanged.

The Potter film franchise has never struck a proper balance between
pleasing both casual moviegoers and ardent book lovers, and Harry
Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is no exception. The good news is
that it comes closer than any of its predecessors, hitting the mark or
coming close to it on almost all fronts. With Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows being split into two films, the final installment
stands an excellent chance of getting it right.

Improve Scientifically that place your Forehead on the Ground (SAJDA) is batter for human

A Scientist(James Pares U.k) Proved that electric charge is produced
in human body due to the electromagnetic radiations from electrical
appliances around us such as: Mobile, TV ,Computer,Lights, And
Electric Wires Etc)& If u want to protect your self..from these
radiations, u should more than once in a day place your Forehead on
the Ground (SAJDA) because earth has a good Tendency 2 Absorb charges.
Quran Says:
"Aur Tum Apnay RAB Ki Kon Kon Si
Naimat Ko Jutlao Gay"

Google will be removed "Beta" from the product logos today

We're often asked why so many Google applications seem to be
perpetually in beta. For example, Gmail has worn the beta tag more
than five years. We realize this situation puzzles some people,
particularly those who subscribe to the traditional definition of
"beta" software as not being yet ready for prime time.

Ever since we launched the Google Apps suite for businesses two years
ago, it's had a service level agreement, 24/7 support, and has met or
exceeded all the other standards of non-beta software. More than 1.75
million companies around the world run their business on Google Apps,
including Google. We've come to appreciate that the beta tag just
doesn't fit for large enterprises that aren't keen to run their
business on software that sounds like it's still in the trial phase.
So we've focused our efforts on reaching our high bar for taking
products out of beta, and all the applications in the Apps suite have
now met that mark.

Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and Google Talk — both enterprise
and consumer versions — are now out of beta. "Beta" will be removed
from the product logos today, but we'll continue to innovate and
improve upon the applications whether or not there's a small "beta"
beneath the logo. Indeed, today we're also announcing some other
Google Apps features that we think will appeal to large enterprises:
mail delegation, mail retention and ongoing enhancements to Apps
reliability.

We have much more in store, and IT managers can read more about how to
make the switch to Apps in our Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes
resource centers. One more thing — for those who still like the look
of "beta", we've made it easy to re-enable the beta label for Gmail
from the Labs tab under Settings

What The Hell Happened To The Free Version Of Google Apps?

The free version of Google Apps is history. The current sign up page
makes no mention of the previously free Standard edition. Instead, new
users get a 14 day free trial, and then must pay $50 per user per year
after that trial. Google Apps is a suite of online applications like
gmail, Google calendar, Google Docs, etc. that are packaged and
tailored for business use.

Earlier this year we reported that the usage caps were being squeezed
by Google over time for Google Apps, from 200 users down to just 50.
When the service first launched in August 2006 it was free and
described as "a service available at no cost to organizations of all
shapes and sizes." A paid version first appeared in 2007.

Dave Girouard, Google's President of Enterprise, commented on our post
that talked about the decreasing number of users allowed for the free
version, saying that the cap reductions were needed to keep resellers
happy, adding "There's no reason to believe that the cap will continue
to "move down" - we have no plans whatsoever to do that."

Blogger to launch 12-inch Web Tablet Crunchpad

Michael Arrington, a blogger for TechCrunch, has incorporated a
company in Singapore to sell a 12-inch tablet for surfing the Web,
watching online video, and e-mail. Called Crunchpad, the tablet claims
to incorporate a Lunix kernal that boots a Webkit-based browser and
will feature 4GB internal memory and USB port for an external
keyboard. The Crunchpad is expected to be available soon at below
US$300.

Online Michael Jackson Memorial

Watch online to give tribute the late King of Pop, Micheal Jackson on
Tuesday, July 7, 10:00 AM PST, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
There has been a huge crroud of 1.6 million people collect to gather
to pay tribut to Jackson's memory. The huge crrod of people signed up
for just 17,500 tickets. If you do not present there to pay tribute to
Jackson's memory, don't worry you can watch it online. There will be
multiple live streams of the event on the web for you, So don't miss a
memoraible event.

Michael Jackson's memorial is a very biggest single international web
event in history, if you ramember the staggering response of the web
when he died. There are various news chanel and social networks
provide the service of live streaming for inter net users.Facebook
(Facebook)/CNN, MySpace, Hulu/Fox News, Ustream/CBS News, and others
will all carry a live video feed from the event

1. Facebook/CNN
Facenook and CNN joint togathre to provide live streaming of world
biggest international events. Facenook and CNN not only allow to watch
the event, but also allow the Facebook users to pass comments on it
via their Facebook status.
In order to watch this live stream, you should RSVP with CNN for
updates, and check out CNN.com/Live starting at 12:00 PM ET/9:00 AM
PT.

2. MySpace
MySpace provided by AEG starting at 10 AM PT .The live event will be
available at MySpace.com/MichaelJacksonMemorial. MySpace also provide
music videos of Micheal Jakson.

3. Hulu/Fox News
The most popular content video website Hulu will be carrying a feed of
the event.The event starting at 9:30 AM PST. This streaming is
provided on news chanel Fox news.

4: Ustream/CBS News
The CBS News chanel provide live-streaming service Ustream on web.
Tomorrow, Ustream provide full streams of major events, press
conferences, and keynotes via CBS News.

The geothermal field at Krafla, Iceland, where a borehole being drilled for a geothermal energy research project hit molten rock at 6,900 feet

"This is only the third time that magma has ever flowed into a
geothermal drill hole, as far as we know," said Peter Schiffman, a
geology professor at UC Davis and member of the international team
conducting the study. "A research project in Hawaii hit magma in 2005,
and in 1977 magma erupted out the top of a producing geothermal well
not far from our site in Krafla, Iceland."

In Hawaii, drilling stopped. And Schiffman is doubtful that this
project, known as the Iceland Deep Drilling Project, or IDDP, can
continue. But if the magma body is narrow — as he and the research
team expect it is — it may be possible to bore through it or around
it, he said. "We've been able to keep circulation of cold water
through the drill string, so our equipment is still functional."

The team had originally planned to drill to 11,500 feet, or almost 2.2
miles into the earth.

The main purpose of IDDP — an international research effort supported
by the National Science Foundation, the International Continental
Drilling Program, Alcoa Inc., and Icelandic power companies — is to
investigate the economic feasibility of extracting energy from
hydrothermal systems that are under extremely high temperatures and
pressures.

Drilling began at the site near Krafla in northeast Iceland in
December 2008. After reaching a depth of 2,600 feet, the project was
put on hold for two months before resuming in early March.

Around the middle of April, Schiffman said, drilling became difficult.
"We kept drilling, but had lots of technical problems. We just seemed
to be stuck at the same depth," he said. "Just yesterday we realized
that we had run into magma."

Schiffman is receiving updates from his UC Davis colleagues who are
onsite in Iceland: geology professor Robert Zierenberg and graduate
student Naomi Marks. The pair reported that a phenomenon known as
"steam flashing" seems to have occurred on Thursday (June 25), when
drilling fluid came in contact with magma, creating an explosion.
Glass shards removed from the hole provided evidence for this,
Schiffman said. These most likely formed when the fluid, which is
principally water, quenched molten rock.

Based on geophysical mapping of the area, Schiffman said, the team
suspects that it has encountered a small offshoot of a larger magma
body that lies more than two miles below the surface. "Whether we can
keep drilling or not will depend on the thickness of this magma
finger, and whether it's horizontally or vertically oriented," he
said.

If the hole cannot be drilled any deeper, it might prove useful for
testing a system of geothermal energy extraction that involves sending
cold water into one borehole to be retrieved as superheated steam from
deeper holes nearby, Schiffman said.

Daily sex makes men healthier

LONDON (Reuters) - Having sex every day improves the quality of men's
sperm and is recommended for couples trying to conceive, according to
new research.

Until now doctors have debated whether or not men should refrain from
sex for a few days before attempting to conceive with their partner to
improve the chance of pregnancy.

But a new study by Dr David Greening of Sydney IVF, an Australian
center for infertility and in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment,
suggests abstinence is not the right approach.

He studied 118 men with above-average sperm DNA damage and found the
quality of their sperm increased significantly after they were told to
ejaculate daily for seven days.

On average, their DNA fragmentation index -- a measure of sperm damage
-- fell to 26 percent from 34 percent, Greening told the European
Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

Frequent sex does decrease semen volume but for most men this is not a problem.

"It seems safe to conclude that couples with relatively normal semen
parameters should have sex daily for up to a week before the ovulation
date," he said in a statement.

"In the context of assisted reproduction, this simple treatment may
assist in improving sperm quality and ultimately achieving a
pregnancy."

Greening said it was likely frequent ejaculation improved the quality
of sperm by reducing the length of time they were exposed to
potentially damaging molecules called reactive oxygen species in the
testicular ducts.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by Paul Casciato)

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Monday is not my favorite day of the week. I have a hard time coming
back to work, especially after a fun holiday weekend. We went hiking
and spent time at the Dewey's. We enjoyed the pool, a bbq, fireworks,
etc. It was a perfect weekend.

On Saturday while the guys were playing "blood ball" in the pool, I
baked cookies. Josh was outside and the Dewey's love peanut butter so
I tried a flourless peanut butter cookie. No flour in a cookie? You
read it right. I was intrigued too. The recipe called for peanut
butter, sugar, baking soda, and an egg. How easy! Of course I had to
play around a little, so I added vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and
chocolate chips.

The cookies melt in your mouth. They are soft, delicate, and full of
peanut butter goodness. I am glad I added the chocolate chips,
everyone loved the peanut butter and chocolate combo. When I told the
group there was no flour in the cookies, they were amazed. No one even
missed it! I will have to kick Josh out of the house so I can bake
these again:)