THINGS FOR GOOD SLEEP

Feeling crabby lately? Or simply worn out?
Perhaps the solution is better sleep.

Think about all the factors that can interfere with a good night's sleep — from pressure at work and family responsibilities to unexpected challenges, such as layoffs, relationship issues or illnesses. It's no wonder that quality sleep is sometimes elusive.

Although you might not be able to control all of the factors that interfere with your sleep, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep. Start with these simple sleep tips.

1. Stick to a sleep schedule:

Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even on weekends, holidays and days off. Being consistent reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle and helps promote better sleep at night. There's a caveat, though. If you don't fall asleep within about 15 minutes, get up and do something relaxing. Go back to bed when you're tired. If you agonize over falling asleep, you might find it even tougher to nod off.

2. Pay attention to what you eat and drink

Don't go to bed either hungry or stuffed. Your discomfort might keep you up. Also limit how much you drink before bed, to prevent disruptive middle-of-the-night trips to the toilet.

Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol deserve caution, too. The stimulating effects of nicotine and caffeine -- which take hours to wear off — can wreak havoc with quality sleep. And even though alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first, it can disrupt sleep later in the night.
3. Create a bedtime ritual

Do the same things each night to tell your body it's time to wind down. This might include taking a warm bath or shower, reading a book, or listening to soothing music — preferably with the lights dimmed. Relaxing activities can promote better sleep by easing the transition between wakefulness and drowsiness.

Be wary of using the TV or other electronic devices as part of your bedtime ritual. Some research suggests that screen time or other media use before bedtime interferes with sleep.

4. Get comfortable

Create a room that's ideal for sleeping. Often, this means cool, dark and quiet. Consider using room-darkening shades, earplugs, a fan or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs.

Your mattress and pillow can contribute to better sleep, too. Since the features of good bedding are subjective, choose what feels most comfortable to you. If you share your bed, make sure there's enough room for two. If you have children or pets, set limits on how often they sleep with you — or insist on separate sleeping quarters.

5. Limit daytime naps

Long daytime naps can interfere with nighttime sleep — especially if you're struggling with insomnia or poor sleep quality at night.
If you choose to nap during the day, limit yourself to about 10 to 30 minutes and make it during the midafternoon.

If you work nights, you'll need to make an exception to the rules about daytime sleeping. In this case, keep your window coverings closed so that sunlight — which adjusts your internal clock — doesn't interrupt your daytime sleep.

6. Include physical activity in your daily routine

Regular physical activity can promote better sleep, helping you to fall asleep faster and to enjoy deeper sleep.
Timing is important, though. If you exercise too close to bedtime, you might be too energized to fall asleep. If this seems to be an issue for you, exercise earlier in the day.
7. Manage stress

When you have too much to do — and too much to think about — your sleep is likely to suffer. To help restore peace to your life, consider healthy ways to manage stress. Start with the basics, such as getting organized, setting priorities and delegating tasks. Give yourself permission to take a break when you need one. Share a good laugh with an old friend. Before bed, jot down what's on your mind and then set it aside for tomorrow.
Know when to contact your doctor
Nearly everyone has an occasional sleepless night — but if you often have trouble sleeping, contact your doctor. Identifying and treating any underlying causes can help you get the better sleep you deserve...

Anatomy of Search Engines

Search engines are the key to finding specific information on the vast expanse of the World Wide Web. Without sophisticated search engines, it would be virtually impossible to locate anything on the Web without knowing a specific URL.
But do you know how search engines work?
And do you know what makes some search engines more effective than others?

When people use the term search engine in relation to the Web, they are usually referring to the actual search forms that searches through databases of HTML documents, initially gathered by a robot.
There are basically three types of search engines:
Those that are powered by robots (called crawlers; ants or spiders) and those that are powered by human submissions; and those that are a hybrid of the two.

Crawler-based search engines are those that use automated software agents (called crawlers) that visit a Web site, read the information on the actual site, read the site's meta tags and also follow the links that the site connects to performing indexing on all linked Web sites as well. The crawler returns all that information back to a central depository, where the data is indexed. The crawler will periodically return to the sites to check for any information that has changed. The frequency with which this happens is determined by the administrators of the search engine.


Human-powered search engines rely on humans to submit information that is subsequently indexed and catalogued. Only information that is submitted is put into the index.

In both cases, when you query a search engine to locate information, you're actually searching through the index that the search engine has created —you are not actually searching the Web. These indices are giant databases of information that is collected and stored and subsequently searched. This explains why sometimes a search on a commercial search engine, such as Yahoo! or Google, will return results that are, in fact, dead links. Since the search results are based on the index, if the index hasn't been updated since a Web page became invalid the search engine treats the page as still an active link even though it no longer is. It will remain that way until the index is updated.
So why will the same search on different search engines produce different results? Part of the answer to that question is because not all indices are going to be exactly the same. It depends on what the spiders find or what the humans submitted.
But more important, not every search engine uses the same algorithm to search through the indices. The algorithm is what the search engines use to determine the relevance of the information in the index to what the user is searching for.

One of the elements that a search engine algorithm scans for is the frequency and location of keywords on a Web page. Those with higher frequency are typically considered more relevant. But search engine technology is becoming sophisticated in its attempt to discourage what is known as keyword stuffing, or spamdexing.

Another common element that algorithms analyze is the way that pages link to other pages in the Web. By analyzing how pages link to each other, an engine can both determine what a page is about (if the keywords of the linked pages are similar to the keywords on the original page) and whether that page is considered "important" and deserving of a boost in ranking. Just as the technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated to ignore keyword stuffing, it is also becoming more savvy to Web masters who build artificial links into their sites in order to build an artificial ranking.

Top Five Social Networks

"Social networking" has been around forever. It's the simple act of expanding the number of people you know by meeting your friends' friends, their friends' friends and so on. In fact, many of us today use Twitter and Facebook to promote our existing and upcoming business
After observing and running an analysis some of Social Networking sites I have listed down 5 most popular social networks across countries in detail.

1.Facebook



founder: Mark Zuckerberg
To access Facebook.com, you must create an account on the site which is free. Facebook's terms of use state that members must be at least 13 years old with valid email ID’s. After updating you're details, your Facebook profile is generated. Using Facebook.com you can:

• Browse and join networks, which are organized into four categories: regions, colleges, workplaces and high schools.
  
• Pull contacts from a Web-based e-mail account, into Facebook.com.
  
• Find friends in several ways, including search engine to look for a specific person and lot more.
  
• Facebook has recently crossed 500 million users and is the most popular Social Networking site of the world.

2.MySpace founder: Tom Anderson, Chris DeWolfe In MySpace, your social network starts growing from the first day. When you join MySpace, the first step is to create a profile. You then, invite friends to join there and search for your friends on already profiled on MySpace these friends become your initial Friend Space. Once the friendship is confirmed all the people in your friends' Friend Space become part of your network. In that sense, everyone on MySpace is in your Extended Network. As part of terms of MySpace, the user must be at least 14 years old to register. 3.Twitter founder: Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone Twitter is a very simple service that is rapidly becoming one of the most talked-about social networking service providers. When you have a Twitter account, you can use the service to post and receive messages to a network of contacts, as opposed to send bulk email messages. You can build your network of contacts, and invite others to receive your Tweets, and can follow other members' posts. Twitter makes it easy to opt into or out of networks. Additionally, you can choose to stop following a specific person’s feed. 4.LinkedIn founder: Reid Hoffman, Konstantin Guericke, Allen Blue LinkedIn is an online social network for business professionals, which is designed specifically for professional networking, to help them find a job, discover sales leads, connect with potential business partners. Unlike most of the other social networks, LinkedIn does not focus on making friends or sharing media like photos, videos and music. To start using LinkedIn you need to register and create a profile page. To register to LinkedIn, you need to provide personal information. You can update the profile with your education and job details and a summary. Additionally, you can also give and receive recommendations from co-workers and bosses. There are more than 75 million professionals registered on LinkedIn. 5.Pinterest founder: Ben Silbermann
Pinterest is a social networking site with a visually-pleasing “virtual pinboard” interface. Users collect photos and link to products they love, creating their own pinboards and following the pinboards of other people whom they find interesting.

FACEBOOK ACCOUNT SECURITY

If you are like millions out there, Facebook has become your no. 1 website on the Web. As you login to it every single day from many devices, be it from your mobile phone, computer, laptop and office workstation, there is a chance that you may leave your Facebook account on without logging out. If your account gets accessed by strangers, it’s going to open up a large can of worms, so you should seriously try to prevent unwanted access to your account.
In this article, we will go through some important options you can take to prevent others from accessing your personal Facebook account.

* Create Strong Password:

Chances are, you already have your password created for Facebook however it is advisable for you to make sure your Facebook password is one of a kind and different from your other online accounts e.g. email, blog, hosting etc.

The best passwords would have the combination of small and capital letters, numbers and symbols.

* Confirm your mobile number

Confirming your mobile number is one of many ways to enhance your account security on Facebook . This way, even when you lose or forget your password, Facebook will be able to send you a new one via SMS.

To add your mobile number, go toAccount Settings > Mobile and click on Add a Phone.

* Activate Secure browsing
Now
Among other things, to make sure your browsing activity within Facebook is safe, you can turn on the Secure browsing option. By doing this, you automatically limit all external applications that are integrated with Facebook from doing any harm or taking your personal information without your knowledge or approval.

To start securing your account, click on the drop down menu from the top right corner of your Facebook account and go to Account Settings.

Select Security from the left menu.

At the Secure Browsing section, click on the Edit link at the right.

The option panel will appear, ‘check’ the box Browse Facebook on a secure connection then click on the Save Changes button.

* Activate ‘Login Approvals'

Login approvals is an extended security feature offered by Facebook, and it will require you to enter a security code each time you try to access your Facebook account from unrecognized devices.

* Disconnect Previous Active Sessions

The good thing about Facebook is that it lets you know about your previous active sessions, where you login from, and what devices you used to access your Facebook account. Now to make sure your account is safe. Disconnect all previous active sessions

* Activate Private Browsing

Another way to prevent another person from accessing your account is by activating the ‘Private Browsing’ option from your browsers. All browsers have this private browsing option, and by activating this option, your activity will not be logged into the browsing history.

* Don’t ‘Keep Me Logged In’

The moment you want to login to your Facebook account, at the Log In page, there’s a small checkbox that says Keep me logged in. Make sure this box is unchecked. Then, log in as usual. With this on, you will be asked for your email and password every time you launch Facebook.

* Avoid Spam Link

Facebook is serious about spam and is always enhancing its features to make sure you are safe from being a victim to scams. The types of attacks include money scams through direct or indirect requests via Facebook messages, chat etc,phishing links that will redirect you to fake websites,malicious links that could retrieve your personal information or even harm your computer. There are also chances you may receive emails from ‘Facebook’ but it is actually from a phishing website, this modus operandi is part of a scam.

* Sign Out after use

Lastly which is the most important of all (and definitely worth repeating), never forget to log out from your Facebook account.
Facebook is a gone website to connect to your family and friends. Use it safely and Enjoy.
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Mars Orbitor Mission

India is inching towards a milestone in space technology with preparatory work in full swing at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota to launch the country's first inter-planetary satellite to Mars.
"The countdown for the launch, which commenced yesterday has been progressing smoothly. Things are normal. We are busy with preparatory work," an ISRO spokesman told PTI over phone


The Launch Authorisation Board of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had on November 1 given its consent for launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission after a successful launch rehearsal the previous day.

The 44.4 metre tall rocket has been mounted on the pedestal of the First Launch Pad at the spaceport,covered by a 76 metre tall Mobile Service Tower, designed to withstand a wind speed of 230 km per hour, in case of a cyclone. It will be removed as the countdown comes closer to the launch.

PSLV C 25 is scheduled to lift off at 2.38 PM tomorrow from the spaceport, about 100 km from here.
Vehicle tracking stations at Port Blair, Bylalu near Bangalore and Brunei are on an alert mode, while sea-borne terminals on board Shipping Corporation of India's vessels SCI Nalanda and SCI Yamuna have taken their positions at South Pacific Ocean, ISRO sources said.

The sea-borne terminals on board SCI ships are to capture the crucial moment of the vehicle injecting the satellite on Earth's orbit somewhere above South America.

The rocket is expected to take over 40 minutes to inject the satellite on Earth's orbit after take off.

Once launched the satellite is expected to go around Earth for 20-25 days before embarking on a nine-month voyage to the red planet on December 1 and reach the orbit of Mars on September 24, 2014.

If the Rs 450 crore MOM mission turns out to be a success, ISRO would be the fourth space agency in the world to have sent a mission to Mars.

European Space Agency (ESA) of European consortium, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US and Roscosmos of Russia are the only three agencies which have so far sent their missions to the red planet.

Only 21 of the total of 51 missions sent to Mars by various countries have been successful.

DETAILS OF LAUNCH:

Mission:Mars Orbitor Mission

Operator:ISRO

Duration:300 Days

Manufacturer:ISAC

Launch Mass:1350kg(2980lb)

Payload Mass:15kg(33lb)

Launch Date: Nov 5,2013 09:08 UTC

Vehicle: PSLV-XL C25

DEEPAVALI FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

Deepawali or Diwali is certainly the biggest and the brightest of all Hindu festivals. It's the festival of lights (deep= light and avali= a row i.e., a row of lights) that's marked by four days of celebration, which literally illumines the country with its brilliance, and dazzles all with its joy.


The Origin of Diwali

Historically, the origin of Diwali can be traced back to ancient India, when it was probably an important harvest festival. However, there are various legends pointing to the origin of Diwali or 'Deepawali.' Some believe it to be the celebration of the marriage of Lakshmi with Lord Vishnu. Whereas in Bengal the festival is dedicated to the worship of Mother Kali, the dark goddess of strength. Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, the symbol of auspiciousness and wisdom, is also worshiped in most Hindu homes on this day. In Jainism, Deepawali has an added significance to the great event of Lord Mahavira attaining the eternal bliss ofnirvana. Diwali also commemorates the return of Lord Rama along with Sita and Lakshman from his fourteen year long exile and vanquishing the demon-king Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, the Capital of Rama, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas(oil lamps) and burst crackers.

These Four Days Each day of Diwali has its own tale, legend and myth to tell. The first day of the festival Naraka Chaturdashi marks the vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama. Amavasya, the second day of Deepawali, marks the worship of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth in her most benevolent mood, fulfilling the wishes of her devotees. Amavasya also tells the story of Lord Vishnu, who in his dwarf incarnation vanquished the tyrant Bali, and banished him to hell. Bali was allowed to return to earth once a year, to light millions of lamps to dispel the darkness and ignorance, and spread the radiance of love and wisdom. It is on the third day of Deepawali —Kartika Shudda Padyami that Bali steps out of hell and rules the earth according to the boon given by Lord Vishnu. The fourth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya(also called Bhai Dooj in north india) and on this day sisters invite their brothers to their homes.

The Significance of Lights & Firecrackers

All the simple rituals of Diwali have a significance and a story to tell. The illumination of homes with lights and the skies with firecrackers is an expression of obeisance to the heavens for the attainment of health, wealth, knowledge, peace and prosperity. According to one belief, the sound of fire-crackers are an indication of the joy of the people living on earth, making the gods aware of their plentiful state. Still another possible reason has a more scientific basis: the fumes produced by the crackers kill a lot of insects and mosquitoes, found in plenty after the rains.

From Darkness to Light
...In each legend, myth and story of Deepawali lies the significance of the victory of good over evil; and it is with each Deepawali and the lights that illuminate our homes and hearts, that this simple truth finds new reason and hope. From darkness unto light — the light that empowers us to commit ourselves to good deeds, that which brings us closer to divinity. During Diwali, lights illuminate every corner of India and the scent of incense sticks hangs in the air, mingled with the sounds of fire-crackers, joy, togetherness and hope. Diwali is celebrated around the globe.
Outside India, it is more than a Hindu festival, it's a celebration of South-Asian identities.
If you are away from the sights and sounds of Diwali, light, sit quietly, shut your eyes, withdraw the senses, concentrate on this supreme light and illuminate the soul.

Once again Happy diwali to all.

IRON MAN-SARDAR PATEL

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Born: 31 October 1875

Passed Away: 15 December 1950

Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the great social leaders of India. He played a crucial role during the freedom struggle of India and was instrumental in the integration of over 500 princely states into the Indian Union. Despite the choice of the people, on the request of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel stepped down from the candidacy of Congress president. The election on that occasion eventually meant for the election of the first Prime Minister of independent India.
Life
Vallabhbhai Patel was born on October 31, 1875 in Gujarat to Zaverbhai and Ladbai. Vallabhbhai, His father had served in the army of the Queen of Jhansi while his mother was a very spiritual woman.
Starting his academic career in a Gujarati medium school Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and shifted to an English medium school. In 1897, Vallabhbhai passed his high school examination and started preparing for law examination.
In 1910, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel went to England to study law. He completed his law studies in 1913 and came back to India and started his law practice. For his Excellencies in Law, Vallabhbhai was offered many lucrative posts by the British Government but he rejected all. He was a staunch opponent of the British government and its laws and therefore decided not to work for the British.
He later started practicing at Ahmedabad. After a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi, at the Gujarat Club, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel got influenced by Gandhi's words. Later, inspired by Gandhi's work and philosophy Patel became a staunch follower of him.
Indian National Movement

In 1917, Sardar Vallabhbhai was elected as the Secretary of the Gujarat Sabha. The next year, when there was a flood in Kaira, the British insisted on collecting tax from the farmers. Sardar Vallabhbhai led a massive "No Tax campaign" that urged the farmers not to pay their land. The peaceful movement forced the British authority to return then land taken away from the farmers His effort to bring together the farmers of his area brought him the title of SARDAR to his name.

In 1928, the farmers of Bardoli faced a similar problem of "tax-hike". After prolonged summons, when the farmers refused to pay the extra tax, the government in retaliation seized their lands. Vallabhbhai Patel. The agitation took on for more than six months and after a deal struck between the government and farmer's representatives, the lands were returned.

In 1930 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was imprisoned for participating in the famous Salt Satyagraha called by Mahatma Gandhi. His inspiring speeches during the "Salt Movement"

Integration of princely states

At the time of independence, Indian territory was divided into three parts. First, the territories under the direct control of the British government, second were the territories over which the hereditary rulers had suzerainty. The regions, which had been colonized by France and Portugal, formed the last. India, without the integration of these different territories under one roof, could not be considered as a unified and total country. It was a stupendous task for the ruling party, to persuade the rulers of these states to join. According to British government, the province rulers had the liberty to choose how they wanted to be ruled. They were given two choices. They could join either of India and Pakistan or stay independently. The stance of the British government had made the task much difficult for India. At this point many leaders of the congress approached the rulers but they failed to convince. At last, they all made a request Vallabhbhai Patel to think some other options to bring the princely rulers under Indian control. Sardar Patel eventually dealt with the tough-situation and came out successfully. He had made secured their accession. Therefore, the state of India we see today was a result of the efforts put in by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Death
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's health declined in 1950. He, himself realized that he was not going to live much longer. On 2 November his health deteriorated further and was confined to bed. After suffering a massive heart attack, on 15 December 1950, the great soul left the world.