11.7.08

Apple launches iPhone 3G today amidst much fanfare !!!

image The much awaited new version of Apple's iPhone 3G has been launched today in selected countries amidst much fanfare. This launch has created such a rage that people in Japan and US were queuing in front of the mobile stores for the last 2-3 days, day and night, to be the first owners of this much loved/ hyped gadget. The first owners were seen jumping with joy as if they have conquered the world. Cell phone stores are limiting the sales as one phone to one person, to control demand.

Apple has launched the first version of this phone last year to a market targeting the loyal ipod customers, as an extended iPod with additinal features of a mobile phone.

Apple iPhone 2.0 is the upgraded version of the software and IPhone ver 1.0 users can upgrade it to version 2.0 by downloading the software and installing it in the old phone.

The new Features are given below

  • App Store support (so one can install third-party applications and games)image
  • 3G speed - Faster Downloading of mails and of browsing Internet thru 3G cellular networks. 3G supports simultaneous voice and data. One can talk on the phone while surfing the web, checking email, or using Maps
  • GPS- find location, get directions, and see traffic — all from phone
  • The ability to search through contacts, and more.
  • Good interoperability with Microsoft's most popular mail server system, MS exchange server.

iPhone cost is around $220 for the 8 GB and $320 for 16GB models. Indians will have to wit till August or September for an Official launch here. The lower end model expected to be priced around Rs.15000/-. Vodafone will be the service provider in India for iPhone first followed by Bharati Airtel. Both these service providers started bookings in their respective web sites. 3G spectrum over GSM networks in India is still not finalized also!!.

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Anyway the hype and passion which is shown on Apple's this coveted product is unprecedented and strange. This shows the new generation's mad infatuation with fancy gadgets like this!!!

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people in Q in front of a mobile store in Japan

2.7.08

How to have a Coffee Bean attitude.

Stories are always a good way to communicate great messages. I have grown up hearing bed time stories from my grand parents and father. I am indebted to them for this. Story telling is a easy way to inculcate good morale and lessons of life and  are widely used by not only parents but teachers and public speakers also to convey tough ideas and to build right attitude.
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. ~Winston Churchill
Please read the story below of how to have the right attitude- Coffee bean attitude. This story has influenced me a lot.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and
how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting
Coffee beansand struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots,carrot in the second, she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee 
beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.In about
twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked,"Tell me, what do you see?"
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"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," her daughter replied.She brought her daughter closer and asked her to feel the carrots.The daughter noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, the daughter observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, mother asked her daughter to sip the coffee.The
daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.Then the daughter asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained, "Each of these objects has faced the same adversity-boiling water-but each reacted differently. The carrot
went in strong, hared, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but,after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. They changed the water.""Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"Think of this:
Which am I?
Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I
wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with
the heat?
Did I once have a fluid spirit, but after death, breakup, financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff?
Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough
with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?cup_of_coffee.
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water,the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot,it releases the fragrance and flavor.When things are at their worst, do I get better and change the situation around me?
How do you handle adversity? What gives you the greatest opportunity for long term happiness?
That is our highest choice. 
Do I have "COFFEE BEAN ATTITUDE"
For a better World


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