BlackBerry, and RIM (Research in Motion) for that matter, seems to be taking unfortunate punches left and right these days.
The worst was when there was an outage that affected users in Europe, Middle East and Africa on the same day Apple Inc. launched its new iPhone 5. And though the problem was fixed in a few hours, many BlackBerry users recalled last yearâ??s problems when users were left unable to access email and chat messages for up to three days.
This is another bad news for RIM investors who have lost billions with the downward spiral of the company. RIM and BlackBerry was the buzzword in the mobile phone industry in 1999 when it invented the smartphone, which was revolutionary in the mobile industry. But presently, even Apple conquered Canada, by selling more iphones than RIM sold BlackBerrys. RIM had lost its Canadian stronghold. And it seems that it will also soon lose its hold on corporate clients as well. One such client is Halliburton, one of the largest oil field services companies with operations in more than 70 countries, and which employs over 60,000 people. Under its agreement with Apple, Halliburton employees will swap their BlackBerrys for iPhones.
Further, RIM announced about three months ago that they will be firing about 5,000 employees after they have posted a $518 million loss. And worse, RIMâ??s launch of its BlackBerry 10 platform has been delayed.
Most analysts are in agreement that what is driving RIM and BlackBerry to the ground is the companyâ??s failure to innovate. RIM had relied on its BBM messaging service which is a core strength of BlackBerry. But, Apple now has iMessage and WhatsApp.
However, many believe that RIM had stuck for so long to its buttons. While Apple had been building touch screen iPhones, ipads, and ipods, RIM had insisted in putting buttons on its phones. However, it must also be taken into account that some BlackBerry users loyally stand by their buttons. Some analysts say that the tactile touch is still important in the overall phone experience. Simple folks say that the ability to press keys in the phone by feel rather than by sight makes BlackBerrys way better than the iPhone and other touch screen phones.
But even in this area, it would seem that BlackBerry would even soon be losing its edge. A Californian start-up company called Tactus had recently announced that it now has the technology to make transparent buttons rise up out of a touchscreen and disappear. This new technology could be used in tablets, phone and remote controls. Tactus says â??the layer is flat and transparent and wouldn’t add any thickness to a gadget since it would replace a layer that already exists.â? Touch Revolution, a touchscreen manufacturer, has partnered with Tactus. The products are expected to be available by mid-2013.
With this latest development, this marriage between a touchscreen and having physical buttons popping up out of it, it leaves us to ask, will RIM be able to take advantage of this and get back on track? Or will it further cause its demise?
Military engagement has been the last resort of political conflicts since the beginning of civilization. In many battles, numbers have decided the issue.
When asked what he needed to defeat Napoleon, Duke Wellington is said to have pointed at a mere infantry soldier and asked for more of him. However, the historical record is dotted with upsets in which smaller or less well-equipped forces have pulled off victories due to their tactics or their bravery.
In rating the greatest military upsets of all time, this article uses a few simple criteria. These must involve single battles and not entire conflicts such as the War of the Roses or the Second World War. They must result in the lesser force winning the battle surprising most contemporaries. They must also have a dramatic effect on the politics of the world or history in general.
The Battle of Marathon
In 490 B.C., the Persian Empire was set to invade Greece. This was not meant to be a momentous occasion. Persia was the greatest civilization on the planet and Greece was just another backward border region in need of civilizing. The 10,000 Greeks who managed to rush to meet hundreds of thousands of Persian troops on the plain of Marathon wanted to buy time for the rest of Greece as it prepared to stop these invaders after they disembarked from their ships. The Greek infantry flanked the Persians and destroyed them. Greece remained free but wary until the rise of Alexander the Great.
The Battle of the Issus
Phillip II had subdued Greece in the mid-4th century under Macedonian leadership. His son, Alexander the Great, led a small but vigorous force of 40,000 men into the heart of the Persian Empire. Near the ancient town of Issus in what is now modern-day Turkey, his forces met hundreds of thousands of Persian soldiers and their allies. Trapped between mountain cliffs and the seashore, the Persians could no use their numbers to outflank Alexander. He destroyed the Persian force and went on to roll over the remaining forces, uniting the known world from Greece to India briefly under his leadership.
The Battle of Agincourt
The French had superior forces, armored cavalry and they fought for their home territory. The English, however, had Henry V and the longbow. In 1415, near the town of Agincourt, the forces of both countries met in a restricted terrain that favored the weaker forces. That would not have been enough to defeat the French. Instead, Henry V flanked the French, who had twice as many men, with archers and mowed them down before they could devastate his infantry.
The Battle of Midway
The Japanese had sunk many of the most powerful ships of the US Navy in the Pacific in late 1941. In the six months that had passed before that first week in June 1942, the Americans had rushed naval ships to the pacific but were far from matching the strength of the Japanese. The latter brought half a dozen carriers and as many battleships to battle near the Island of Midway. The US Navy had a few carriers and little else. Their initial waves of bombers were either shot down or failed to hit their targets. The last wave, low on fuel, surprised the rearming Japanese carriers and sank three carriers, equalizing the forces in the Pacific for the first time.
The Battle of the Golan Heights
While many Israeli soldiers fasted and prayed for the Jewish Day of Atonement in 1973, the Syrians prepared for war. The Yom Kippur war began with a fierce attack on the Golan Heights from approximately 1,200 Syrian battle tanks and 50,000 troops. The Israelis had no more than 170 tanks and a few thousand defenders. In a series of bloody, head-to-head encounters, the Israelis held off the superior force and preserved the state of Israel.
Darren Walker is a military historian and guest author at MilitaryEducation.org, where he contributed to the guide to military friendly colleges.
Our bodies decline as we age, but we can lessen that decline by staying physically active, both through physical exercise and aiming to avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
The brain is a part of your body, and physical activity can help this body part as well. But you may be able to improve your brain through mental workouts as well. Here are some strategies for keeping your brain in shape:
Games and puzzles
Crossword puzzles and logic puzzles such as Sudoku are good ways to give your brain a workout. Becoming engrossed in a puzzle encourages concentration and focus. Instead of passively looking at a screen, your mind is engaged, trying to figure something out. If you donâ??t like crosswords and are not into Sudoku, there are plenty of online games you can try.
You can also add a social element to computer brain games by playing online chess or Scrabble with friends. Playing different opponents will vary your brainâ??s workout, since each opponent will have a different style of play. If you are playing in an environment in which players are rated, you can measure your progress through your rating.
Vary your routine
Itâ??s easy to fall into a rut. You take the same route to and from work. You go to the same place for lunch and get the same thing. Some things become so much a part of your routine that you donâ??t always remember having done them. Itâ??s as if you turned off your brain and are doing them without thinking.
Well, if you sometimes feel as if youâ??ve turned off your brain, it is time to turn your brain back on. Take a different route to work. Try something new for lunch. Shake up your routine.
Learn something new
School may be a distant memory, but itâ??s never too late to learn a new subject. A growing number of universities offer free courses online in a wide range of subjects. Even if you have a job that requires you to keep learning new things, studying something on your own can exercise your mind in a whole new direction.
You can also learn a new skill, such as photography or gourmet cooking.
Teach someone something
Even if you think you know something inside and out, you can still give your brain a workout by explaining it to somebody else. Â Something that may be second nature to you becomes something that requires you to think, since the person you are teaching will see things in a different way. Â In order to communicate the meaning of something, you will probably need to deepen your understanding of the subject, and end up teaching yourself something new as well.
When you were a kid you probably had some Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars. Sure you probably had the usual race cars, muscles cars and sports cars but you probably also had some hot rods thrown in as well. So what exactly is a â??hot rodâ? and how is different from other cars? Letâ??s find out.
It should come as no surprise that there is no clear cut definition for the term. Basically it is a car (usually American) with a large engine modified for maximum linear speed, usually street racing. Right, that is pretty vague. To narrow it down a little more they were almost always roadster due to their lighter weight and powerful engines. A big part of hot rod culture was that owners would modify them themselves. No going to the mechanic here.
The phrase itself could come from any number of sources. Some think it may have been a contraction of the phrase â??hot roadster.â? Hot meaning built for speed. Some believe it was a term referring to the replacement of the camshaft sometimes known as the â??stickâ? or â??rod.â? A camshaft that is designed to be more powerful was often called a â??hot stickâ? or â??hot rod.â? Whichever the case may be today we still use this term.
Hot roads tend to have their own very unique look. Usually built from roadsters, which is any open aired, two-seated car optimized for speed, the cars have created quite a stylized look. Large chrome engine often protrude from the hood and cars are often painted bright colors with flames on the sides.
The first cars were often used car for sale such as Ford Model Tâ??s or Model Aâ??s. Back in the 1930â??s these cars were races out on the vast, empty, dry lake beds located outside of Los Angeles. Other cars were created bootleggers to out run police during the prohibition years. Either way, racing foundations were laid.
It didnâ??t get popular though until after World War 2. Many returning soldiers had been given technical and mechanical training during the war and were now looking to put it to good use. Also the end of the war left any number of small, unused military air strips that provided the perfect place to hold races. As popularity rose the need for more safety and organization emerged. It wasnâ??t long before some of the more famous hot rod drivers like Wally Parks created the National Hot Rod Association. A governing body that set up rules and regulations that allowed anyone to compete on a given level.
While not as popular as they once were, there still exists a fervent hot road culture in America, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. While they technically canâ??t â??street raceâ? like they used to there are still many tracks and old airstrips that allow them to do so. There are literally hundreds of local car clubs that are dedicated to preserving the legacy of this cultural phenomenon.
Jeff Jordan lives and writes in Southern California. He writes about automobiles, education and pop culture. Jazel Auto web sites can help you market your hot rod dealership.
The idyllic beaches of Vietnam is just one of the many reasons why thousands of tourists flock in this country every year.
As more and more visitors make their way to its beach scene and discover just how great of a vacation spot this is, the government have taken steps to expand its tourism in the hopes of encouraging more foreigners. Today, there are beautiful beach resorts all over the country along with budget bungalows and beach towns.
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is situated in the province of Khanh Hoa, and is popular because of its seemingly never-ending days of sunshine. This beach is home to Rainbow Divers, the first PADI-certified diving center in the country, where divers can revel in the reefs, walls, and caves in the South China Sea. The place also offer other exciting activities such as banana boat rides, kite surfing, and wake boarding. Various commercial centers for rest and relaxation are all over the place such as the Louisiane Brewhouse, Evason Ana Mandara and Six Senses Spa, and Vinpearl Resort and Spa.
Danang
Danang was once a fighting area during the tough times of the Vietnam War. Today, it is now known for its beaches that are perfect for scuba diving and swimming. It also has a luxurious resort to match in the form of the Furama Resort. My Khe Beach, otherwise known as China Beach, was once a place of recreation for the US military but is now bathed in pines and coconuts, a backdrop for tai chi classes or just lounging around.
Doc Let
Doc Let is merely 30 miles from the beach town of Nha Trang, offering a very different experience to its visitors than its nearby neighbor. This is beach paradise for those visitors who are looking for a quiet and peaceful place, taking a break from the hustle of the busy city life. The Paradise Resort Hotel offers bungalows and tasty meals to its guests while the White Sand Doc Let Resort and Spa offers luxurious rooms with world-class facilities and services.
Phan Thiet
Phan Thiet is a fishing village and is just a 3-hour long drive from Saigon; this makes this the most accessible place to spend a weekend at the beach. This is where the wealthy expats and locals of the region head to. Going inland will treat you to red sand dunes, aside from the stretch of beach that spans 13 miles. The Coco Beach Resort is a popular place to retreat in. The Novotel Coralia Ocean Dunes Resort, with its 2 restaurants and 3 bars, will also be a good pick.
Phu Quoc Island
Phu Quoc Island provide a more unconventional beach experience to its tourists. Its white beaches are accompanied by forests lands and pepper plantations. Its island is still seemingly untouched with its quiet shores, limited tourist services, and dirt roads. The area in the Long Beach have budget resorts like the Beach Club. There is also an exclusive hotel in the area called La Veranda Resort, located in the Dong Dong Beach near the shores of the Gulf of Thailand.
Resource Box:
Amy C. is a big beach lover. She travels around the world, exploring the beach experiences that the various countries that she visits has to offer. She also helps in the office administration and blogging activities of World Climate, who also offers agent listing online. Want to know more of the best beaches to spend your summers in? Stay tuned for her next post.
If youâ??re thinking of joining the countless other people who are a part of the American Trucker League (which isnâ??t a real league), before you hit the road, you ought to know a bit of the jargon/lingo that will undoubtedly be used over the CB.
I suppose we can start there, a CB stands for the citizen band radio. These are what were used in vehicles for long road trips prior to cell phones for you kiddies who donâ??t know better.
These sayings are also funny to use during road trips amongst your friends and family to keep things light. Long trips can often wear on a person, causing them to become sleepy, restless and other more grumpy emotional states. So to keep spirits on a happier level, using actual trucker lingo while on the road can become a quick and fun past time. So without further ado, lets learn some wordsâ?¦.
Ankle Biter: Refers to small children, which are generally called this anyhow.
Baby Bear: A rookie police officer, becauseâ?¦.
Bear: A police officer, called thus because they are similar to the real marauding beast.
Bear In The Air: Refers to a police helicopter, so flying marauding creatures.
Bear Bait: A speeding car, which makes the bears hungry.
Back Door: Means behind you, just as it does for other, less reputable thingsâ?¦ such asâ?¦ having to take out the trash to the back yard.
Beaver: A woman, because they dam everything. I thinkâ?¦
Better Half: Significant other (wife/husband). Because obviouslyâ?¦
Blew The Doors Off: Car drove by at a high-speedâ?¦ duh
Catch You On The Flip Flop: Iâ??ll see you when you get back. I think because flip refers to the other sideâ?¦ not sure where the flop comes in.
County Mounty: A sheriff, donâ??t think it relates, but it sounds funny.
Coming In Loud And Proud: Strong CB signal, suppose theyâ??re happy to be heard.
Chicken Coup: Weighing station, probably because they all get cooped up togetherâ?¦ like chickens.
Dragon Fly: A vehicle that drags going up hill, then flies going down. Cleverâ?¦
Double Nickel: 55 mph speed limit, wouldnâ??t it be eleven nickels?
Four Wheeler: A regular car, which is odd. Most sayings try to shorten what it is they are describing, but here not so much.
Granny Lane: The slow laneâ?¦ like driving miss daisy.
Hammer Lane: The fast laneâ?¦ I wonder if they say â??Itâ??s Hammer Time!â? I would.
Handle: Refers to the CB nickname. How do you want to be handled?
Meat Wagon: An ambulance. Just a little disrespectful to those inside.
Motion Lotion: Gasoline or Diesel. I for some reason thought of something else.
Parking Lot: A truck hauling cars. Oddly, I knew what it was before I read more.
Pole Cat: A skunk, which makes little sense unless in reference to itâ??s stripe.
Salt Shaker: A snow plow. What would the peppershaker be then?
Shake The Bushes: Drive ahead of the others to draw out the bears. Just as it sounds.
Taking Pictures: Police using radars. I generally donâ??t like to have my picture taken by strangers.
10-4: Ok/copy.
10-33: Emergency.
10-20: Location.
10-36: What is the correct time.
At this point you should have enough knowledge about the jargon used on the road, especially by truckers. If you have a CB radio, you are invited to partake in the shenanigans so long as you first ask if the line is free for use. Truckers drive endless miles throughout their trucking career, so anything to pass the time and make it more enjoyable is welcome. But thatâ??s the way of the road, and the road is at times, a temperamental mistress.
The author of this article is Damien S. Wilhelmi. If you enjoyed this article you can follow me on twitter @FacePalmLaw. If you live in Colorado and have been involved in a commercial truck accident, it is highly advised that you seek out a Colorado Truck Accident Lawyer to represent you.
Common Scenario: You plan a trip (which can take almost a month to a year), budget for that trip, and eventually fly on to relax and have the best time of your life.
After the spectacular trip, you go home with gifts and souvenirs and a month later an outâ??of-this-world cell phone bill.
Taking your mobile phone with you on a trip can be an additional bill waiting to be paid. Cell phone bills abroad, especially roaming fees, may cost you a whopping $4 to $5 per minute. You might not notice it, but while you are chatting and keeping in touch with loved ones from your hometown and while you are enjoying the beach sun or the spectacular view abroad, your service provider is also enjoying the increase in call charges. As the charges get higher, this can leave you surprised a week or a month after youâ??ve returned home. Going on a trip abroad is not just about preparing for the budget, the time and the place to stay. If you are planning on a trip, also consider preparing your mobile phones.
How Can You Avoid the Whopping Roaming Fees?
One way to avoid the outâ??of-this-world cell phone charges when you go abroad is to buy a Subscriber Identity Module, or more popularly known as a SIM card. A SIM card is a small smart card that you can insert and remove in a mobile phone. You can purchase a SIM card in the country of destination, thus your number will change into a local number and this can significantly decrease your mobile phone bills. If you insert a local SIM card to your phone, you can receive free incoming calls, and you would only have to pay 10-25 cents per minute for local calls, and just about $1 for calls overseas. That is a big difference from the $4-5 charged per minute of your would-be calls.
How to Use the SIM Card?
Using the SIM card is fairly easy; you just have to call the SIM card provider or the wireless carrier to request a code that would allow you to use the SIM card in your mobile phone. There are certain limitations for this however; those carrying Verizon or Sprint phones cannot use the SIM cards. If you are a user of these kinds of phones, you might want to buy a cheap mobile phone once you arrive at your destination country.
You may also opt to use an International mobile phone (which you might have to purchase) or international cell phone carriers, which operate on a standard called GSM or Global Services for Mobile. These mobile phones can be used virtually anywhere on the globe and are the standard for almost 205 countries (except Japan). The GSM system can also allow the user to use as many SIM cards as they need for the countries they are visiting. When searching around for plans becomes tiresome, try looking to find the best SIM only deals by comparing them. Cell phone use abroad may not need to be a burden; preparation and proper knowledge can save you from unnecessary hassles such as hefty cell phone bills.
This guest post is written by Dr. Amarendra. He writes for SimOnly-Deals.com, where you can compare pricing and plans before signing up for a sim plan.
Having a pen pal is a great way to learn about another country. Because you speak about everything you will get to know them very well.
Sooner or later you will become great friends. That’s the best thing about having a pen pal. There are other things that aren’t quite so nice. You have to be careful. It can also be quite dangerous. I don’t say this to scare you away from having one, but only to keep you safe. You need to be able to look out for yourself, so it’s in your best interests to know what can go wrong. Let’s go over them now so you’re prepared.
People lie about who they are
Sometimes you will find that someone makes up an entirely different life. They lie about their age, where they come from and a huge number of other crazy things people feel compelled to lie about. The biggest danger in this has to be adults who pretend to be a lot younger than they are so they can chat to children. If your child has a pen pal it’s very important you vet them properly. Always check what your child is reading, but also the stuff they are sending. Even if you’re an adult and someone is doing this to you, it’s not exactly what you want. You are not there to let someone live a fantasy life.
They could beg you for money
It’s quite easy to become attached to someone when you are telling each other everything about your life’s. Eventually you could become good friends and you will want to watch out for them. There’s a good chance whoever you speak to will come from a poor country. That’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that in itself. The problem is when people have only wanted a pen pal so they can trick some poor soul into being their friend, then they will start telling you their pet buffalo needs to go in for an operation. They will soon start begging you for money knowing you’ll feel sorry for them.
Watch out for blackmail
You tell each other everything, or you eventually will sooner or later. It’s because they are a good friend, plus they live on the other side of the world so who will ever find out your deepest and darkest secrets? Your pen pal might not have been entirely honest with you. Instead of wanting to learn more about your country, they will pretend to be friends with someone and extract their secrets to use as blackmail against them. Things like that wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago, but now with the Internet it would be very easy for them to cause you damage.
Don’t allow yourself to be brainwashed
Some people seem like a lot of fun in the beginning, but after a while you might notice something about them changes. They start acting a lot more negative and try to bring you down. By this time they are already your friend, so you feel like you can’t stop speaking to them. They might be playing games with you, but it’s just as likely they could be an unhappy person. After someone has been negative with you for a length of time it will affect the way you think. You might think you’re too strong for that, but you won’t even see it coming. It could easily affect your personality.
Don’t agree to visit them
It’s very easy to get caught up in the moment and think you have found a new friend. After you have been speaking for a while they could even suggest you visit them on holiday. It’s important you don’t consider it. Assuming they were a genuine person, it could be a really nice way to spend your vacation. But unfortunately it’s not worth the risk because anything could happen. Your safety is the most important thing, so don’t worry about disappointing anyone.
Daniel Acton is an avid tech blogger and loves sharing safety tips about making pals on the Web. He has immense knowledge on franking machine; to get more information on click on the link. You can also follow Daniel on Twitter.
When you love something it becomes part of your life. It’s something you need to do all the time.
A bit like breathing. You can’t just spend the whole week in an office and type away at a computer knowing it will be days until you feel alive again. This is the way people feel about golf. Once you begin to love the game, that’s it. You can’t just play every Saturday. It needs to be every day.
Luckily you now can. With the invention of apps you now have a way to play golf while you are sitting in boring meetings. You have to keep it quiet otherwise people will get mad, but still, if you want to have a little game you can. Although not as good as the real thing and unlikely to keep you fit, it’s still much better than having nothing. If you love golf you will love golf apps, so let’s take a look and find out what ones you should use.
Worms Crazy Golf
If you are over the age of 30 I’m sure you were one of the first people to experience Worms when it first burst onto the computer scene. It was probably one of the most memorable early PC games. What do you think you’d get if you combined Worms with golf? That would be Worms Crazy Golf. It’s a great little game that takes the best parts of Worms and combines it with golf.
It’s going to take you forever to get bored of all the courses because there is 3 different ones, each with 18-holes. You have a mixture of some crazy action and chin-stroking puzzling moments. You can either play it on your own, or if you have 3 friends that want to play with you from the opposite office they can. Just don’t let the boss hear those exploding sheep.
Golf Swing Plane App
How great would it be if you could find a golf app that could improve your game without the need for thousands of dollars worth of video equipment? Well, with the Golf Swing Plane App that time could possibly have come. It’s pretty simple: you take a swing and the in-built video player will capture a video of the way you swing the club. Are you with me so far?
Now you can watch the video in real time and find out exactly what you are doing wrong. Why you spend most of your time in the rough, rather than the green. You can even watch it in slow motion if you really want to see how bad you are. Then when you are bored with that you can watch pre-installed videos and learn how the professionals hit the ball.
Golf Genie Practice Drills Pro
This little app is for when you don’t want to spend thousands on a golf instructor and would instead like one that can be tucked away in your pocket. It’s definitely going to be a winner because it was designed by PGA Tour pros. You can choose what parts of your game you’d like to work on and set up a specific practice session.
It’s going to give you great solutions to the most common problems you’re getting wrong and it won’t stop until you have corrected them. You just have to listen to it and realize it knows best. You can then take to the course at the weekend and see how much you have improved. But be warned: you could get in trouble at work as it’s hard to put down. You can also get this for the Blackberry if you don’t have the iPhone.
Steve Jhonson, a renowned blogger, is famous for providing interesting tips on golfing. Find out more fascinating facts about golfing by clicking on the specified link Titleist golf clubs.
Prev