Wikipedia faces Google-y, rival Knol launched

Web search leader Google Inc is testing an Internet site for sharing knowledge about any subject under the sun, one that could eventually compete with the popular user-edited encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Google's "knol" project started earlier this week and is working with a group of writers by invitation only, Google vice president of engineering Udi Manber wrote in a company blog post.
"There are millions of people who possess useful knowledge that they would love to share, and there are billions of people who can benefit from it," Manber said in the post.
"The goal is for knols to cover all topics, from scientific concepts, to medical information ... to how-to-fix-it instructions."
The word "knol" is used to refer to the project and to an entry on the shared website.
Google's site will identify the authors posting the information. It will not serve as an editor of the information or endorse what is written on the site.
The site will eventually be opened to the general public and allow users to submit comments, questions or edits, as well as rate posts.
Knol writers will be able to include ads in their posts, sharing the revenue with Google.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is working on a community- developed Web search service that would compete with search engines such as Google and Yahoo Inc.

Weekend wine fiesta in Pune for Rs 250

With Christmas round the corner, the coming weekend will see wine lovers across Maharashtra getting together in Pune for a one-of-a-kind festival.
Being organised by the Pune Gourmet Club at Koregaon Park, the wine tasting fiesta will be a standalone event.
"Wine tasting festivals are always a part of an agri-fest or some other festival, so we thought it would be a good idea to have an exclusive wine tasting event," says B Shankarnarayanan, an organiser.
More than 40 types of wines from Indian wineries like Chateau Indage, Vindura and ND Wines will be available for tasting.
According to Shankarnarayanan, the fest will give wine lovers an opportunity to taste even the smaller and the rarer brands for a one-time cost of Rs 250.
"In many places, for Rs 150 you get to taste only six wines, so one only tastes the best brands, and the other smaller bands lose out on the opportunity. So this time we thought by fixing the price and not the number of wines, the smaller players too will have a good opportunity," says Shankarnarayanan.
More than 10 wineries from different parts of the country have already registered. Wine expert Marie Juhasoo from Sula Wines will participate and offer her comments on various wines. Chef Parag Kanhere from Nasik will have a live cookery show with Indian wine.
Food stalls with delicious gourmet recipes paired with free exotic wines will be part of the festival. The event has no sponsors - it's purely the voluntary effort of 200-odd members of this club who are fond of good food and some tangy wine.

Prez Bush might just be on 'The Simpsons' show

Prez Bush will now be on 'The Simpsons' show
IANS
And now for the final feather in the cap for faux pas king, US President Bush. After making repeated headlines with his gaffes, goof-ups and bloopers, seems like Pres Bush might just meet his animated-television twin, Homer Simpson.
Popular animated comedy series, The Simpsons writer James L Brooks is hoping to get US President George Bush to appear on the show.
Thesun.co.uk reports Brooks as saying: "A vulnerable moment with George would be great. You cannot go wrong with George. George and Homer, George and Bart, even George and Comic Book Guy. We've never got a US president. We will take any US president willing to pass his or her love of us."
Brooks is one of the original writers of the show and was in Britain promoting The Simpsons Movie, which he co-wrote and co-produced.
Talking about the movie he said: "One of the toughest things was we cared so much and our profile was so high that it became intimidating. For a while we had to work to get past it and then we could start having fun."
So far while many celebrities have made their appearance on The Simpsons, no US president has been seen on the show. Given how Pres Bush is a favourite topic for lampooning for media, commentators and cartoonists, having him on the show will be a coup of sorts for The Simpsons.

Love chatting? Your online suitor could be a comp

Internet chatroom romantics beware: your next chat may be with a clinical computer, not a passionate person, trying to win your personal data and not your heart, an online security firm says.
A Russian website called CyberLover.ru is advertising a software tool that, it says, can simulate flirtatious chatroom exchanges. It boasts that it can chat up as many as 10 women at the same time and persuade them to hand over phone numbers.
An Australian anti-virus software firm, PC Tools, has warned that the software could be abused by identity fraudsters trying to harvest people's personal details online. The Russian site denied it was intended for identity fraud.
The program, so far available only in Russian, will go on sale around February 15, just after St Valentine's Day, said the CyberLover.ru website.
"Not a single girl has yet realized that she was communicating with a program!" it said, adding that the program could also simulate virtual sex online.
"It's happened - a program to tempt girls over the internet!" said the site. "Within half an hour the CyberLover program will introduce you to ... girls, exchange photos and perhaps even a contact phone number," it states.
Chatrooms have developed into a popular social networking section of the internet, where people can converse anonymously by keyboard on any topic, from flirting to fishing.
CyberLover's website explains that the settings on its program can be changed to attract men, persuade people to visit a website or encourage them to top up mobile telephone credit, and that all the data collected will be stored.
CAN FOOL USERS
A spokesman for PC Tools said the program had a "terrifyingly well-organized" interaction that could fool users into giving up personal details and could easily be converted to work in other languages.
"As a tool that can be used by hackers to conduct identity fraud, CyberLover demonstrates an unprecedented level of social engineering," Sergei Shevchenko, Senior Malware Analyst at PC Tools, said in a statement.
"It employs highly intelligent and customized dialogue to target users of social networking systems."
He said the program "can monitor Internet browser activity, automatically recognize and fill in the fields in the web pages, generate keystrokes and mouse clicks, and post messages, URLs, files and photos."
"It can do exactly what users normally do when they are online, only in an automated pre-programmed way."
The CyberLover.ru site denied the program did anything wrong, saying it only gathered information that chatroom users themselves were volunteering.
"The program can find no more information than the user is prepared to provide," one of the site's employees, who gave his name only as Alexander, said in an emailed reply to Reuters questions.
"It maintains a dialogue with a person, but is not engaged in hacking or any other such schemes, I think this should be obvious," he said.
If you have someone who is ready to hand over secret information to the person they are chatting to after having known them for all of five minutes, then in that case a leak of information is possible."

B'day Boss: Everybody loves Rajini

Chennai: Over 175 days and still going strong, the success of Rajinikant's latest release Sivaji demonstrates the superstar's power over cinegoers in Tamil Nadu. And that’s not all, it's celebration time once again for Rajinikant fans as the superstar turns 58 on Wednesday.
But, besides being a star and a mentor, people close to the cine icon say that what makes Rajinikant truly unassuming is his simple nature.
“It’s the way he behaves with people on the sets. He is punctual and honest. There's something so special about the man which cannot be described easily,” actress Nayanthara says.
While Rajinikant’s daughter Aiswarya says that he is a great friend and much more than a father. “We could sit and have a conversation with him like I can have with any of my friends.”
Agreeing with Aiswarya, his other daughter Soundarya also says that the superstar is a “great dad”.
“On his special day I would like to wish him a very happy birthday. We will be spending a good time together. It's going to be a close family evening, so I am looking forward to it,” she says.
Reverentially referred to as thalaivar in Tamil, it's not just family, his co-stars, too, are completely in awe of the actor.
“For all that he has achieved in the last so many years, he's so humble and so nice to people and you can see that in his behavior. He's the same with everybody, he doesn't differentiate nor is there any hierarchy in his life,” actor Ajith Kumar says.
In a career spanning over three decades Rajinikant has acted in over 150 films. Having started as a bus conductor in the State Transport Corporation in Bangalore, Rajini's rise to stardom is a lot like the legendary rags-to-riches stories.
Today, Rajinikant remains one of the highest paid actors in Asia and his latest blockbuster has just re-affirmed his position at the box-office.
Rajini will be seen next in Tamil cinema's first big budget animation film Sultan: The Warrior which is being directed by his daughter Soundarya. At 58, there is still no stopping his mega performer as he conquers greater heights.

Saying The Right Thing While Drunk - PRICELESS

A husband wakes up at home with a huge hangover. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass of water on the side table. He sits down and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. He looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotless, clean. So is the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table. "Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go shopping. Love You!"
So he goes to the kitchen and sure enough there is a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. He asks, "Son, what happened last night?" His son says, "Well, you came home around 3 AM, drunk and delirious. Broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and gave yourself a black eye when you stumbled into the door". Confused, the man asks, "So, why is everything in order and so clean, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me? I should expect a big quarrel with her!"
His son replies, "Oh, that! Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your clothes n shoes off, you said, "LADY LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M MARRIED!"
Moral
Self-induced hangover - Rs. 2000.00
Broken furniture - Rs. 20, 000.00
Breakfast - Rs. 100.00
Saying The Right Thing While Drunk - PRICELESS
There are some things that money can't buy